“元亨利贞”与《周易》春夏秋冬的四时结构模式

Yuan Heng Li Zhen and the Four-Season Structure of I-Ching

《周易》以“元亨利贞”一句开篇,而“元亨利贞”是与春夏秋冬四时相呼应的,是四时观念的总结升华。农耕文明的生产方式决定了中国文化对时间的敏感,“食哉,惟时”是早期中国的重要思想理论,《周易》特别强调“时义大矣哉”的思想。先秦经典文本存在以四时为基础的文本结构形式,《周易》与《尚书》《诗经》《周礼》《吕氏春秋》等经典文献一样,都存在一个以春夏秋冬为中心线索的文本结构形态。《周易》以元亨利贞的四时观念为文本总纲,以“雷以动之”的意象为中心而结构文本,《屯》《豫》《革》《复》四卦是春夏秋冬四时运转的具体象征形式,《周易》的四时结构体现着时之动、物之象、礼之成、义之合的基本原则。

I-Ching周易opens with the phrase“Yuan Heng Li Zhen”元亨利贞,which echoes the four seasons of spring,summer,autumn and winter,and is the summary and sublimation of the concept of the four seasons.The mode of production of agricultural civilization determines the sensitivity of Chinese culture to time.“Food being subject to time”is a significant early Chinese philosophical thought and I-Ching especially emphasizes the idea of“the profound significance of time”.Pre-Qin classical texts exhibit a text structure based on the four seasons.Like the Book of Documents尚书,Book of Songs诗经,Rites of Zhou周礼,and Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals吕氏春秋,I-Ching also features a text structure centered around the four seasons.I-Ching takes the seasonal concept of“Yuan Heng Li Zhen”as the overarching framework,and constructs the text around the imagery of“thunder initiating movement”.The four hexagrams of“Zhun”屯,“Yu”豫,“Ge”革,“Fu”复serve as specific symbolic representations of the cyclical nature of spring,summer,autumn and winter.The seasonal structure of I-Ching embodies the fundamental principles of the movement of time,the manifestation of things,the formation of rites and the combination of righteousness.