Oriental Health Aesthetics: The Time of Professor Qiu Zhenglun’s Explanation of the Book of Changes(15)

“You see, this is it—there are 384 passwords. Crack this code, and we’ll unravel the mystery. Because ancient tribes inevitably waged wars against each other. The outcome of a battle wasn’t something you knew only after fighting—that was just the result. But as a tribal leader, as the instigator of war, as someone seizing the living resources of another tribe, it often boiled down to competing for land and resources. This was unavoidable. So, what could they do? They had to observe—to strategize.

Take Zhuge Liang during the Battle of Chibi in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Zhou Yu thought everything was perfectly planned: it was winter, the battle would soon take place on the Yangtze River, at Chibi, right? And the northern forces were formidable—Cao Cao’s fleet was chained together, massive and imposing. What could they do? Zhou Yu came up with the idea of a fire attack. But Zhuge Liang immediately pressed him: How do you light the fire? How does the fire spread? How does a single spark ignite the whole field?

That’s when the ‘borrowing of the east wind’ came into play. Normally, there was no wind in winter—but watch Zhuge Liang perform rituals, waving his feather fan, and suddenly a great wind arose. The flames roared across the river, and they won a stunning victory at Chibi. Incredible, isn’t it?

But don’t dismiss this as mere superstition. Think about it: Does a dog hold superstitions? Does a chicken? Does a horse? Only humans do. That’s not to say we should indulge in superstition—but the capacity to reflect on life, as far as we know, truly belongs only to humans. As Marx noted: A spider, however skilled, doesn’t draft a blueprint before spinning its web. A bee, however clever, doesn’t sketch a plan before building its hive. But humans, even the least skilled architect or designer, will draft a blueprint first. Why? Because humans are conceptual beings—that’s what sets us apart. Only humans possess aesthetics.

Yet today, in this materialistic era, our aesthetic space is shrinking, and our sense of beauty grows poorer. This deserves deep reflection. How do we rethink this? Let’s explore it further next time.”