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Study on Wu Wang(无妄) Hexagram of the shanghaibochujian-Zhouyi(上海博楚簡周易)

원용준 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper restores the original text of Zhouyi(周易) in the pre-Qin period and investigates it’s meaning based on the cultural and philosophical background at the time through contemplating Wu Wang(无妄) of the Shanghaibochujian-Zhouyi(上海博楚簡周易) discovered in an antique market in Hong Kong in 1994. Wu Wang(无妄) of the Shanghaibochujian-Zhouyi(上海博楚簡周易) is composed of two bamboo slips, slip 20 and 21. The slip 20 is broken and missing about 13.7cm. It is estimated that the slip contained 16 characters: □, [又. 六晶, 亡忘之, 或繫之牛, 行]. There have been a variety of views on the meaning of “Wu Wang(无妄).” According to Zhaoli(昭力) of Yi Chuan(易傳) in Mawangdui Silk-Manuscripts(馬王堆帛書), standard edition of Xu Gua Chuan(序卦傳), Zhouyi Zhengyi(周易正義), and other textual materials, “Wu Wang(无妄)” of Zhouyi in pre-Qin means “sincere without lies.”Yaoci for Six in the second place(六二 爻辭) of Wu Wang(无妄) on the Shanghaibochujian-Zhouyi says “不耕而穫.” Standard edition of Zhouyi, on the other hand, says “不耕穫.” It has been confirmed that “不耕而穫” was written in the Zhouyi in the pre-Qin through quotations from Zhaoli and Yizhiyi(易之義) of Yi chuan in Mawangdui Silk-Manuscripts, and standard edition of Fangji(坊記) of Liji(禮記). This phrase is regarded as a war-related proverb used widely from the Warring States to early Former Han, on the process of generalization and abstraction emerged in the farming community. Therefore, the phrase can be specific evidence to prove that some line statements of Zhouyi were originated from sayings of ancient societies. Also, Confucian scholars in the Han dynasty attempted to change the sentence of the classic to an instructive lesson that seeking unearned income is ominous because the original one had a positive attitude toward unearned revenue. This means that original hexagram and line statements unrelated with Confucianism was reinterpreted, and sometimes modified, in the transformation process of Zhouyi as one of the Confucian classics.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.