Oriental Health Aesthetics: The Time of Professor Qiu Zhenglun’s Explanation of the Book of Changes(45)

When we discuss the beauty of the Book of Changes (Yijing), we are essentially exploring the seeds of beauty formed between the Yijing and each specific art form, or the relationship between the Yijing and individual arts. The Commentaries on the Yijing (Yizhuan) touches upon the beauty of music. The cosmology in the “Great Music” chapter of Lüshi Chunqiu resembles that of the Yijing, while the Record of Music (Yueji) shows the influence of the Yijing through concepts like xian (resonance), xiang (symbolism), wen (pattern), and shi (ornamentation).

This morning, we discussed the Xian hexagram. The Xian hexagram is itself a symbol, an image: water resting above a mountain. If you travel to Yunnan, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Qinghai, the Tibetan Plateau, or Tibet, you’ll see many lakes on the mountains—that is the ze (marsh). The hexagram “Lake over Mountain” (Xian) symbolizes resonance. When youthful emotions awaken, when the flower of affection or love blooms, and you divine this hexagram, it signifies a divinely orchestrated, perfect love about to unfold.

This ze (marsh), when interpreted in terms of youth, represents young men and women. The Dui trigram symbolizes the youngest daughter, the maiden, while the Gen trigram signifies the youngest son. When a young man and a young woman come together, what becomes of their emotions? It is like spring flowers in full bloom—beauty so profound it transcends description. Life itself is beautiful, and this symbol is equally exquisite: water and lakes upon mountains. Think of Qinghai Lake in Qinghai, or similar landscapes in Yunnan and Guizhou. These lakes, with their deep sapphire-blue waters—azure skies and sapphire waters merging into one. As Zhuangzi wrote in The Carefree Wanderer, “The dark blue of the sky—is that its true color?” What we perceive as the cerulean sky—is that the purest hue? Zhuangzi was remarkably profound. In his time, there were no airplanes, yet he envisioned what the earth might look like from the heavens. As Nietzsche observed, “What we discover in science today was already embedded in religion and art beforehand.”

Today, we often say that innovation drives a nation’s progress—a noble sentiment. But what fuels innovation? To all of you here: cultural awareness and confidence must radiate from within you. Art is the wellspring of innovation, the primal happening of truth, and the essence of life itself.