《易经》新释四则

Four Cases of New Interpretation of the Yi jing

《周易》乾卦之"乾"字本作"倝"字,"倝"字初始义为旗杆。旗杆之形象与乾卦刚直之象相似,故以"倝"为卦名。又利用甲骨文研究者的新成果,认为"夬"有"迅急"、"败"、"坏"等义,将这些义项置入夬卦诸爻辞后,不仅释义畅达,且与卦象相合。将豫卦中的"勿疑朋盍簪"释作"勿疑朋狎谗",是指不要怀疑朋友、亲近佞人谗言。释睽卦中的"见舆曳,其牛掣,其人天且劓"为"见舆徹,其牛瘛,其人天且劓",意即看到牛车被毁坏,牛发了疯病,车上的人也被跌伤。

This paper offers a new interpretation of the name of hexagram Qian 乾 [The Creative, 1] and points out that the character Qian 乾 was originally the character倝, which originally refers to flagpole. The image of flagpole is similar to the image of uprightness and steadfastness of hexagram Qian, hence the name of 倝. The paper takes references from the lat- est achievements in the study of the inscriptions on oracular bones, and holds that guai 夬 has meanings of xun ji （swift- ness）, bai （deteriorating）, and huai （destroy）. If we apply these meanings to each line statement of the hexagram Guai [ Resolution, 43], not only will the interpretations become fluent but also accord to the images of the hexagram and its lines. The fourth line statement of hexagram Yu Contentment, 16 of wu yi peng he zan 勿疑朋盍簪 （lit., if no one harbors suspicions, the formation of a friendly association happens quickly） originally should be wu yi peng xia chan 勿疑朋狎谗 which means that one should not have doubts about his/her friends and be close to sycophants with slanderous talk. The third line statement of hexagram Kui [ Contrariety, 38] of jian yu ye, qi niu che, qi ren tian qie yi 见舆曳,其牛掣,其人天且劓]（here one has his wagon hauled back and oxen controlled. This one has the forehead tattooed and nose cut off） ought to bejian yu che, qi niu chi, qi ten tian qie yi 见舆徹,其牛瘛,其人天且劓（here one has his wagon destroyed and oxen mad, and those on the wagon get injured by a fall）.