Chapter 153: The Dawn of Taiji

Hua Feng clearly knows that Chao Shuo zhi, who lived even earlier than Zhu Zhen, had already described the transmission of the Early Heaven Diagram: "During the Song Dynasty, Master Xiyi of Mount Hua, Chen Tuan, styled Tunan, imparted the Book of Changes to Chong Feng, the Recluse of Zhongnan, styled Mingyi. Mingyi imparted it to Mu Xi, styled Bohao, the Military Administrator of Wenyang, and Su Shunqin, styled Zimei, of Wugong, also once studied under Bohao. Bohao imparted it to Li Zhicai, styled Tingzhi, of Qingzhou, and Tingzhi imparted it to Master Shao Kangjie, styled Yaofu, of Henan" (Collected Works of Mount Song, Vol. 18, "Record of the Wang Family's Double Pine Hall").

The Cheng brothers, who lived in the same neighborhood as Shao Yong for more than thirty years, stated: "Only the Master's learning has been transmitted. The Master obtained it from Li Tingzhi, and Tingzhi obtained it from Mu Bohao. Tracing its origins and currents, it possesses distant and clear beginnings" (Cheng Hao, "Epitaph for Master Shao Yaofu"). The Cheng family only traced it back to Mu Xi; anything prior to Mu Xi was omitted with the phrase "distant and clear beginnings."

Shao Bowen, the son of Shao Yong, stated: "My late father received the Book of Changes from Li Zhicai of Qinghe, whose courtesy name was Tingzhi. He was unrestrained and extraordinary, serving Mu Xi of Wenyang as his teacher. Tingzhi learned that my late father loved learning... and thereupon my late father transmitted his learning... Bohao has a biography in the National History, and his teacher was none other than Chen Tuan" (Clarification of Doubts on the Study of Changes).

From this, it can be seen that the line of transmission mentioned by Zhu Zhen is basically reliable. Unfortunately, this "Early Heaven Diagram" was not passed down along with the aforementioned texts, leaving later generations unable to confirm whether it was actually the "Yin-Yang Fish Diagram," the "Early Heaven Eight Trigrams Spatial Sequence Diagram," or something else entirely.

Later, the person who discussed the evolution of the Diagrams of Changes in detail was Yuan Jue of the Yuan Dynasty. In his "Preface" written for Xie Zhongzhi's Three Diagrams of Changes of the late Song Dynasty, he stated: "Master Xie of Shangrao retreated to Jian'an Fanyang, and Wu Shengchan went to receive the Book of Changes before bringing out its diagram." Xie Zhongzhi, in turn, had obtained it from Old Man Peng, who had obtained it from Lord Wuyi. Lord Wuyi was likely Bai Yuchan (whose Daoist sobriquet was Old Man Wuyi).

Yuan Jue further stated: "It was not until Yuan Gai, styled Daojie, of Jingzhou received it from Old Man Xue that the Book of Changes was transmitted once again. Yuan then imparted it to Xue Jisuan of Yongjia... Finally, Master Zhu Wengong instructed his friend Cai Jitong to go to Jingzhou and re-enter the gorges, whereupon he finally obtained the three diagrams... His grandson Kang kept them secret and refused to produce them... The diagram currently held by Old Man Peng is suspected to have originated from the Cai family" (quoted from Hu Wei's Clear Discrimination of the Diagrams of Changes, Vol. 3). According to Yuan Jue's account, the transmission of the Three Diagrams of Changes roughly proceeded as follows:

What did the three diagrams obtained by Cai Yuanding from Sichuan look like? Or what did Xie Zhongzhi's "Three Diagrams of Changes" look like? They can no longer be seen today, as Yuan Jue did not explain them at the time. Hu Wei conjectured: "Therefore, among the three diagrams obtained by Jitong, one is undoubtedly the Early Heaven Taiji Diagram. The second is likely the Nine Palaces Diagram, and the third is the Diagram of the Generation of the Five Elements."

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhao Huiqian (1351–1395) recorded this diagram in his Original Meanings of the Six Scripts, stating: "This diagram was passed down in the world as having been obtained by Cai Yuanding from a recluse in Shu. It was kept secret and not transmitted, and even Master Zhu never saw it. Today, it has been obtained from the Chen Bofu family."

At the time, most people believed this account, and only Ji Pengshan expressed doubt, saying: "Master Zhu and the Cai family discussed every single book thoroughly; how could there be any reason to keep it secret and not speak of it?" (quoted from Yang Shiqiao's Complete Library of the Zhouyi of the Ming Dynasty). Hu Wei not only agreed with Yuan Jue's account but also concurred with Zhu Zhen's, believing that Chen Tuan imparted the Early Heaven Diagram to Chong Feng, which was transmitted three times to Shao Yong. Shao Yong's "Early Heaven Ancient Changes are entirely based on this diagram, as can be known." He concluded that this diagram originated from Chen Tuan and stemmed from the Cantongqi.

There is also a theory worth analyzing which suggests that the Yin-Yang Fish Taiji Diagram originated from the "Water-Fire Enclosure Diagram" or the "Three-Five Quintessence Diagram" in the Zhouyi Cantongqi. The latter two diagrams are said to have been drawn by Peng Xiao of the Five Dynasties to interpret the Zhouyi Cantongqi. However, upon checking the Orthodox Daoist Canon, Peng Xiao's Detailed Explanation of the True Meanings of the Divided Chapters of the Zhouyi Cantongqi does not contain these two diagrams; it features only a single "Bright Mirror Diagram."

Of course, one cannot rule out the possibility that other lost editions contained these two diagrams. To take a step back, even if Peng Xiao had drawn these two diagrams, or even if they were present in the Cantongqi itself, one cannot conclude that it was the source of the Taiji Diagram. For the same reason, no traces that could derive the Taiji Diagram can be seen from the shapes of these two diagrams, yet a foundational intellectual relationship does exist. The opening chapter of the Cantongqi states: "The Kan and Li enclosures turn the hub to straighten the axle."

It especially emphasizes Kan and Li. Kan and Li represent the sun and moon, and the sun and moon constitute the "Changes." Kan represents yin containing yang, while Li represents yang containing yin. The "Water-Fire Enclosure Diagram" is precisely a figurative representation of the trigrams Kan (water) and Li (fire). Is not the concept of yin and the yang uniting, yin containing yang, yang containing yin, and yin and yang waxing, waning, and transforming the very fundamental concept of the Taiji Diagram? Viewed from the lineage of transmission described by Yuan Jue and others, the Taiji Diagram is closely related to Daoism. Lord Wuyi, Bai Yuchan, was the fifth patriarch of the Southern Lineage of the Daoist Internal Alchemy School, and the "recluse in Shu" was likely a Daoist priest from the region of Shu.

An intellectual lineage is not the same as a graphical lineage. It appears that investigating what specific diagram the Taiji Diagram originated from is a very difficult task. Let us instead examine the question of who created the earliest Taiji Diagram.

First, a standard must be established for the pattern of the Taiji Diagram (precisely because there has been no standard, all the aforementioned primitive-era patterns are indiscriminately called "Taiji Diagrams"). A true Taiji Diagram should consist of an inner pattern of intertwined yin-yang fish, surrounded by an outer circular pattern of the Eight Trigrams or the Sixty-Four Trigrams. As for whether the "Dragon Diagram" and "Early Heaven Diagram" transmitted by Chen Tuan had this pattern, it can no longer be verified. Therefore, it is difficult to judge whether Chen Tuan was the very first person to create this diagram. Whether Old Xue or the recluse in Shu created this diagram is likewise unverifiable. Upon searching extant documentary records, the earliest Taiji Diagram is found in Wings on the Xuan by Zhang Xingcheng of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Zhang Xingcheng's dates of birth and death are unknown, but he lived around the twelfth century. He became a jinshi during the Shaoxing era (1131–1137), and in the second year of Qiandao (1166), he presented seven books on the study of the Changes to the Emperor, among which Wings on the Xuan contained this diagram.

Wings on the Xuan is also known as Wings on the Yuan. Extant versions exist in two forms: one is the Hanhai edition compiled and published by Li Tiaoyuan of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty, and the other is the First Edition of the Series Collection, edited and published starting in 1935, which was typeset according to the Hanhai edition.

Modern scholar Mr. Guo Huo published an article titled "The Early Heaven Diagram of the Changes—The Armillary Sphere Is Not Zhang Xingcheng's Diagram" in the 4th issue of Studies in the Zhouyi in 1995, based on four reasons:

(1) Zhang Xingcheng's "concept of Taiji is concrete six-line trigrams, which is a matter of the corporeal realm." This is "different from the later cosmology of Zhu Xi and Cai Yuanding, who regarded the 'empty space in the center' within the circle of the 'Early Heaven Diagram' as Taiji."
(2) Hong Mai did not mention it, and Zhu Xi did not comment on it.
(3) Shao Yong did not discuss the heavens using the armillary sphere technique.
(4) Wings on the Xuan is a commentary on the Taixuan; "how could a book used to clarify the binary symbol system of the Taixuan contain a diagram of this binary symbol system?" These points are well worth debating.

First, whether it is the "transcendent" view of Taiji or the "corporeal" view of Taiji, neither has a direct relationship with the Yin-Yang Fish Taiji Diagram. Mr. Guo stated: "Since Zhang Xingcheng does not regard the empty center of the Early Heaven Diagram as Taiji, he would not have this diagram of the Early Heaven Diagram of the Changes—Armillary Sphere." One truly wonders what connection exists between the two.

The center of the Yin-Yang Fish Taiji Diagram is not an empty space at all, but rather a solid space (composed of the interactive interplay of black and white colors). According to Mr. Guo's theory, this is precisely the "corporeal realm." Would it not be more natural and rational for a "corporeal" graphic to evolve from a "corporeal" concept of Taiji? (Of course, the matter is not so simple, and detailed analysis will follow.) Conversely, the so-called "transcendent" concept of Taiji, where the "center is an empty space," can only give rise to a hollow-circle Taiji Diagram, and makes it difficult to derive a "corporeal" Taiji Diagram of "interacting yin and yang fish."

Second, the assertion that Hong Mai, who was in charge of imperial history and books, would not have used black and white semicircles to represent the Two Modes if he had seen the Yin-Yang Fish Taiji Diagram ("the sixty-four trigrams are born from the diagram of the Two Modes") is an unpersuasive conjecture. Regardless of whether Hong Mai saw the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram, there is no reason to force him not to adopt the black-and-white semicircle Taiji Diagram; he could simply have disliked the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram and favored the black-and-white semicircle diagram instead.

In fact, most people at the time favored the black-and-white semicircle Taiji Diagram because it simply and vividly expressed the principle that Taiji generates the Two Modes (a point in no way inferior to the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram). As Zhu Xi commented: "Master Guishan took a piece of paper, drew a circle, and painted half of it with ink, saying: 'This is the Book of Changes.' This explanation is exceptionally good! The Book of Changes is merely one yin and one yang, producing all these various manifestations" (Classified Conversations of Master Zhu, Vol. 65). "The left side of the diagram belongs to yang, and the right side belongs to yin" (ibid.). Moreover, no matter how "learned and knowledgeable" Master Zhu was, there may still have been things he had not seen. Using this as an argument is untenable.

In truth, by the fourth year of Shaoxi (1193), Zhu Xi entrusted Cai Yuanding to enter Sichuan in search of the Diagrams of Changes. After Cai obtained the three diagrams from the recluse in Shu, he likely showed them to Zhu Xi. This is because in the second year of Qingyuan (1196), Zhu Xi wrote a letter to Cai Jitong saying: "Regarding the cliff-carved Diagrams of the Yellow River, the Luo River, and the Early Heaven mentioned the other day, I happened to see Gan Jun say that at the newly built dwelling place in Mount Gezao, there is a stone like a cut cliff, which seems suitable for carving. I have also told him to give one copy to you. The 'Early Heaven' must be carved by using a block print to stamp it, which would be splendid... The three diagrams must be done in seal script to have an ancient flavor, and I should dispatch someone to send them to Bo Mo's place" (Collected Works of Master Zhu Wengong, Sequel, Vol. 2, "Reply to Cai Jitong," Letters 60 and 61). The "Early Heaven" diagram mentioned here was very likely this "Early Heaven Taiji Diagram" (the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram enclosed within the sixty-four trigrams).

However, by the following year (the third year of Qingyuan, 1197), the diagrams carved on Mount Gezao included only the "Yellow River Diagram" and the "Luo River Diagram." Why was the "Early Heaven Diagram" ultimately not carved? There may be two reasons: First, cliff carving is relatively difficult because this diagram is enclosed by the sixty-four trigrams (this much is certain; as for whether the interior was the "Yin-Yang Fish" diagram or the sixty-four trigrams square diagram can no longer be verified). Carving these complex trigrams and lines onto stone is quite difficult, which is why Zhu Xi envisioned "carving them by stamping with a block print."

Second, compared to the River and Luo diagrams, it was not considered as important. According to Hu Wei's conjecture, this diagram "originated from Xiyi and stemmed from Boyang, which is not as authentically grounded as the Great Commentary's fifty-five numbers representing correct fundamentals." This shows that this diagram was not as orthodox as the River and Luo diagrams.

Hu Wei's statement explains the reason why Cai Jitong "kept it secret and did not transmit it." In reality, both Cai Jitong and Zhu Xi felt it was not all that important, and coupled with the difficulty of carving, they simply abandoned it and did not carve it. Regarding this, Mr. Shu Jingnan believes that the reason only two diagrams were carved is because the eight-partition "Yellow River Diagram" and the nine-palace "Luo River Diagram" already inherently contained this diagram, as the three diagrams were fundamentally one.