East Asia
113 findings, grouped by tradition.
I Ching73
- The Creative (Heaven)Legge's 1882 Shuogua translation gives Qian ice, deep red and the fruit of trees, alongside its familiar heavenly associations.
- The Joyous (Lake)Legge’s 1882 Shuogua associates Dui with harvest decay as well as pleasure; its autumn place includes the taking down of fruit.
- The Clinging (Fire)Kong Yingda, in the seventh century, said fire means clinging because it lays hold of things; Legge in 1882 found this an ex post facto account.
- The Arousing (Thunder)Legge's 1882 Shuogua translation assigns Zhen decision and vehemence.
- The Gentle (Wind)Legge's 1882 Shuogua translation links Xun with seeking profit of three hundred per cent, alongside wind and wood.
- The Abysmal (Water)Legge’s 1882 Shuogua gives Kan danger as an attribute but comfort and rest in its northern seasonal position: the two lists serve different roles.
- Keeping Still (Mountain)Legge's 1882 Shuogua assigns Gen hands and the ring finger in different lists.
- The Receptive (Earth)Legge cautioned in 1882 against assigning sex to the Shuogua’s animal emblems; his Kun animal is an ox, rather than a specifically female cow.
- The Creative HeavenCary Baynes's influential 1950 English I Ching translated Richard Wilhelm's German version, rather than the Chinese directly.
- The Receptive EarthLegge's 1882 Kun gives the fighting dragons purple and yellow blood; Wilhelm and Baynes's 1950 translation makes it black and yellow.
- Difficulty at the BeginningLegge's 1882 Zhun appoints feudal princes; Wilhelm and Baynes's 1950 translation turns them into helpers.
- Youthful FollyLegge’s 1882 rendering makes the opening a divinatory exchange: the first consultation receives instruction, but troublesome second and third applications do not.
- WaitingLegge's 1882 Waiting ends with three guests arriving unbidden: respectful reception brings good fortune after the person has entered a cavern.
- ConflictLegge’s 1882 Conflict gives the final contender an official belt that is taken away three times in one morning: victory does not secure honour.
- The ArmyThe 'strong man' of the 1950 Wilhelm–Baynes Judgement renders zhangren; James Legge in 1882 read the same words as a leader 'of age and experience'.
- Holding TogetherIn Legge's 1882 Bi, the royal hunt belongs to the fifth line; the Great Image instead has kings establishing states and maintaining relations with princes.
- Small TamingIn Legge's 1882 Small Restraint, the final line already has fallen rain; the opening oracle's rainless clouds describe a temporary condition.
- TreadingThe Erya, the oldest surviving Chinese dictionary, glosses 履 lü as blessing, as emolument and as 禮 li, rites. The Sequence of the Hexagrams takes rites.
- PeaceIn Legge’s 1882 translation, Peace ends with a city wall fallen into its moat and a warning against using the army.
- StandstillOf the Image's last clause, Legge in 1882 read no opportunity to honour him with emolument; Wilhelm-Baynes in 1950, that he does not permit it.
- FellowshipLegge’s 1882 translation of Fellowship includes concealed weapons, three years without action and a conquering army: its union can involve violent rivalry.
- Great PossessionLegge’s 1882 translation makes line three a feudal prince presenting offerings to the Son of Heaven: great possession operates within political hierarchy.
- ModestyLegge’s 1882 translation permits armed action in Modesty’s fifth and sixth lines; the final line restricts it to the ruler’s own towns.
- EnthusiasmLegge’s 1882 commentary identifies the strong fourth line as a minister and the fifth as a weak ruler: its organising power lies below the throne.
- FollowingReading Sui's opening words, yuan heng li zhen, as four virtues first appears in the Zuo zhuan: Mu Jiang, confined in the Eastern Palace, draws Sui and says she lacks all four (564 BCE).
- Work on the DecayedLegge's 1882 Gu has the exemplary person nourish his own virtue; Wilhelm and Baynes's 1950 Image instead strengthens the people's spirit.
- ApproachLegge's 1882 edition puts Lin's rising strong lines in the Tuan commentary; its Great Image describes teaching and supporting the people.
- ContemplationIn Legge's 1882 edition, Guan's washing before an offering belongs to the oracle; its travelling kings belong to the Great Image.
- Biting ThroughLegge's 1882 note questions whether the first line restrains or amputates toes; he considers the latter punishment excessive to Western readers.
- GraceLegge’s 1882 translation limits Grace’s brilliance specifically in criminal litigation; the restriction concerns judicial decisions, not a general ban on beauty.
- Splitting ApartLegge’s 1882 translation of Splitting Apart moves from a couch’s damaged legs to the occupant’s skin; the threatened structure is a bed.
- ReturnLegge explained Return’s seven days in 1882 through seven successive hexagrams associated with months: his interpretation takes a day for a month.
- InnocenceLegge’s 1882 translation allows misfortune despite innocence: a stolen tethered ox brings accusations against innocent neighbours in the third line.
- Great TamingLegge’s 1882 commentary gives the name two linked meanings, restraint and accumulation; the restraint belongs to movement, while the accumulation concerns virtue.
- Mouth CornersLegge's 1882 note identifies Yi as the upper jaw; Wilhelm and Baynes's 1950 heading instead calls it the corners of the mouth.
- Great PreponderanceLegge's 1882 edition puts the weak beam in the oracle; the Great Image depicts trees under water, a distinct picture of extraordinary conditions.
- The Abysmal WaterIn 1882 Legge noted that Kan's Great Image never mentions danger; that theme is explicit in its oracle and Tuan commentary.
- The Clinging FireThe Great Appendix has Fu Xi invent nets for hunting and fishing, the idea 'taken, probably, from Li' (Legge's translation, 1882).
- InfluenceIn 1882 Legge offered Xian's supposedly missing heart as a possible explanation, rather than an established account of the character's origin.
- DurationIn Legge's 1899 translation, Heng's fifth line makes constant virtue fortunate for a wife but harmful for a husband: its counsel is explicitly gendered.
- RetreatLegge's 1899 Dun includes an unbreakable yellow oxhide thong in its second line: retreat can involve holding a purpose fast, not simply leaving.
- Great PowerIn Legge's 1899 Da Zhuang, the fifth line loses its ram-like strength without regret: retaining maximum force is not always the text's goal.
- ProgressLegge's 1899 Jin begins its line readings with advance being held back: the text does not promise progress free from resistance.
- Darkening of the LightLegge's 1899 Ming Yi gives three foodless days in line one and a left-thigh wound in line two.
- The FamilyLegge’s 1882 Family text assigns food preparation to the woman in line two; its household order preserves explicit gender hierarchy.
- OppositionThe Zuo zhuan records Kui drawn twice in Jin: judged 'not auspicious' under 645 BCE, for a marriage to Qin, and auspicious under 635 BCE.
- ObstructionLegge’s 1882 Obstruction repeatedly recommends returning to associates or accepting friends’ help; the figure does not close off every route of retreat.
- DeliveranceThe Great Treatise reads line three as theft invited: a common man riding a gentleman's carriage draws robbers. 'Did the makers of the Yi know about robbers?' Confucius asks.
- DecreaseLegge’s 1882 Decrease accepts two baskets of grain for a sincere sacrifice; his wording differs from the familiar image of two small bowls.
- IncreaseIn the Mawangdui silk manuscript, buried in 168 BCE, Increase stands not 42nd but 64th and last, in an order grouped by upper trigram.
- BreakthroughThe Great Appendix says the sages replaced knotted cords with written characters, the idea 'taken, probably, from' this hexagram (Legge's translation, 1882).
- Coming to MeetIn 1882 Legge read the first broken line as an unworthy official entering government, explicitly giving the marriage oracle a political application.
- Gathering TogetherIn Legge's 1882 Gathering, the king's ancestral temple belongs to the oracle; the Great Image instead puts weapons in order against unforeseen events.
- Pushing UpwardIn 1882 Legge distinguished Shang's Great Image of accumulating virtue from its oracle's account of an officer rising to high rank.
- OppressionIn 1882 Legge adopted a character change in Oppression's oracle: inability to make words good replaces the received wording about disbelief.
- The WellLegge's 1882 Jing preserves the fashion of wells when a town moves; Wilhelm and Baynes's 1950 version makes the well itself unchangeable.
- RevolutionLegge (1882) rendered the Judgement's 已日乃孚 'believed in only after it has been accomplished'; 'On your own day you are believed' is Wilhelm's reading, Englished in 1950.
- The CauldronLegge's 1899 Ding distinguishes a useful overturning that empties bad contents from broken feet that spill the ruler's meal: an overturned vessel is not uniformly disastrous.
- The Arousing ThunderLegge's 1899 Zhen says a hundred li, not miles; line two promises lost possessions back after seven days.
- The Keeping Still MountainRichard Kunst (1985) read gen as 'cleave', the lines cutting a sacrificial victim from feet to jaw; the Mawangdui silk copy, buried 168 BCE, writes it 根, 'root'.
- DevelopmentLegge's 1899 Jian ends with goose feathers fit for ornaments, not simply a bird's successful ascent: the closing line explicitly values what the geese provide.
- The Marrying MaidenLegge's 1899 Gui Mei calls the royal bride Di Yi's younger sister, rather than his daughter.
- AbundanceIn Legge's 1899 Feng, the fifth line brings praise, while the sixth describes three years without anyone appearing: the lines do not darken uniformly.
- The WandererLegge’s 1882 Wanderer loses an arrow in the fifth line before winning praise and office; the text records a cost, not an effortless shot.
- The Gentle WindLegge’s 1882 Gentle Wind places diviners and exorcists beneath a couch in line two: its penetration includes ritual consultation, not simply patient persuasion.
- The Joyous LakeIn 1882 Legge admitted difficulty explaining why the lake trigram means pleasure; he reported a later account involving spring vapours and human complexion.
- DispersionLegge’s 1882 Dispersion includes a ruler opening royal granaries in line five: dispersal is also a concrete redistribution of stored supplies.
- LimitationLegge noted in 1882 that jie first meant the joints of the bamboo, then of the body and the solar terms of the year.
- Inner TruthIn Legge's 1882 edition, Inner Truth's pigs and fish belong to the oracle; the Great Image instead concerns litigation and delaying death sentences.
- Small PreponderanceWilhelm's flying bird 'brings the message' (1950); Legge in 1882 rendered the same words as 'the notes that come down from a bird on the wing'.
- After CompletionLegge's 1882 Tuan explains After Completion's final disorder through a cessation of effort; it does not say that perfection itself automatically causes collapse.
- Before CompletionThe book ends on Before Completion only in the received order. The Mawangdui silk manuscript (buried 168 BCE, excavated 1973) places it 54th and closes on Increase (Yi).
- The Book of Changes (Zhouyi)The Mawangdui silk Zhouyi, copied about 175 BCE and found in 1973, orders the hexagrams by upper trigram, not in the received King Wen sequence.
Chinese17
- The Chinese Zodiac and the Sexagenary CycleAdam Smith (2011) finds no branch animals in the cycle's first thousand years; the earliest known twelve beasts are in Qin daybooks of the late third century BCE.
- The Rat in the Chinese ZodiacThe toe reason often given for the rat's first place, four toes in front and five behind, is set out in Lang Ying's sixteenth-century Qixiu leigao. He ended by calling his explanations a private surmise he had not seen in any book.
- The Ox in the Chinese ZodiacCai Yong (132 to 192) tied the clay ox of the winter rite to the zodiac sign. At dusk this month the Dipper's handle points to chou, he wrote, and chou is the ox. So its image is set out as the cold peaks.
- The Tiger in the Chinese ZodiacWang Chong's Lunheng, around 80 CE, reports that sign animals prey on each other by the Five Phases. Wood overcomes earth, so the tiger masters dog, ox and sheep. Then he asks why the rat's water does not drive off the horse's fire.
- The Rabbit in the Chinese ZodiacThe moon hare pounding medicine survives in a Jin couplet of disputed authorship. The Tang Yiwen leiju of 624 gives the line to Fu Xian (239 to 294). The Song Taiping yulan, compiled 977 to 983, gives a near-identical line to his father, Fu Xuan.
- The Dragon of the Chinese ZodiacChen is the only branch the oldest list leaves empty. The Shuihudi daybook of the late third century BCE writes nothing there; Yu Haoliang read it as a copyist's omission of 'dragon'. The Fangmatan and Kongjiapo daybooks write chong, a creature, at chen.
- The Snake of the Chinese ZodiacOne of the earliest records of a person's own sign is a snake. In 564 a letter written in his captive mother's name reminded the Northern Zhou regent Yuwen Hu: 'you belong to the snake'. The Book of Zhou preserves it.
- The Horse of the Chinese ZodiacThe horse did not always hold wu. The Shuihudi daybook of the late third century BCE gives wu to the deer and sets the horse at wei, the goat's place. The Fangmatan daybook of the same era already reads wu as the horse.
- The Goat of the Chinese ZodiacThe oldest list puts no yang at wei. The Shuihudi daybook of the late third century BCE gives wei to the horse, and its only yang is an 'old yang' at xu, the dog's later place. The Fangmatan daybook sets the yang at wei.
- The MonkeyMonkey's heavenly post in Journey to the West, bimawen, sounds like 'ward off horse plague'. Qian Zhongshu tied it to the belief that monkeys protect horses, recorded in Qimin yaoshu in the sixth century and repeated in Bencao gangmu in the late sixteenth.
- The RoosterThe bird at you was not always the cock. The Shuihudi almanac, buried about 217 BCE, writes shui there, which its editors read as zhi, the pheasant. Another Qin almanac, from Fangmatan, already has the chicken: in Qin times the twelve were not yet uniform.
- The DogFan Ye's Panhu story is older than his fifth-century history. Its Tang commentator Li Xian notes that all of it is found in the Fengsu tong, the book of customs by Ying Shao, an official of the late second century.
- The PigJapan reads the sign as i, the wild boar, though every Chinese list from the Qin almanacs on gives hai the pig, shi. Hepburn's Japanese dictionary of 1867 still defines i both as a wild hog and as one of the twelve signs.
- The Five Phases (Wu Xing)Sima Qian records that in 221 BCE the First Emperor, reckoning Zhou as fire, proclaimed Qin's virtue water, with black dress and six as the standard number. An Ziyu (2018) finds the reforms of six unmatched by Qin archaeology and older than Qin.
- The Fire HorseAkabayashi Hideo (2007) reports writing on fire-horse women from a haikai collection of 1662, but later texts curse both sexes. Only in the eighteenth century, as the Oshichi tale took shape, did the stigma settle on women alone.
- GinsengThe Divine Farmer's Classic gives ginseng no shape; the man-shaped root enters later. Wu Pu's materia medica (220 to 265) calls roots with hands, feet and a face 'spirit', as Li Shizhen quotes in 1578.
- LingzhiThe mushroom of immortality was a class, not one fungus. Ge Hong's Baopuzi, around 320, sorts zhi into stone, wood, herb, flesh and fungus kinds, about a hundred of each.
Taoism6
- The DaodejingThe title, the Dao-first order and the eighty-one chapters are later conventions. The Mawangdui silk copies, buried by 168 BCE, put De first.
- NeidanPregadio rejects the story that elixir poisoning drove alchemy inward: alchemists would have needed centuries to notice. He traces neidan to Daoist meditation on the inner gods.
- The Three TreasuresQigong's jing, qi and shen are not chapter 67's treasures. The triad is also older than internal alchemy: the Later Han Taiping jing already joins all three.
- QiIn the earliest texts qi meant vapour from heated water, then breath; Roth finds it the stuff of all things only by the Huainanzi of 139 BCE.
- QigongThe name was proposed in the early 1950s by Huang Yueting, leading a Hebei medical team, and caught on after Liu Guizhen's Tangshan clinic won a state award in 1955.
- Tao Hongjing and the Zhen'gaoIn the Zhen'gao of about 499 Tao says he knew the three scribes' hands at a glance, and blames Wang Lingqi for over fifty embellished texts.
East Asian Traditions4
- ConfuciusSima Qian (c. 94 BCE) says Confucius in old age loved the Yi and ordered its commentaries. Ouyang Xiu (eleventh century) countered that the Xici, Wenyan, Shuogua and later Wings were not the sage's work.
- KitsuneEdo scholars themselves doubted the fox's tie to Inari. Tanikawa Kotosuga (1706–1776), in his dictionary Wakun no shiori, explained it as a misreading: Inari's title Miketsu, 'August Food-provider', was read as 'three foxes', and fox worship followed. Another Edo essay found no old book calling the fox Inari's messenger.
- TenguThe word tengu entered Japan as a meteor, not a goblin. The Nihon shoki of 720 has the monk Min call a thundering shooting star of 637 a 'celestial dog', and its kana gloss reads it 'celestial fox'. De Visser found the Japanese mountain tengu only from the late tenth century.
- The Wilhelm-Baynes I ChingThe 1950 English edition was not Princeton's: Pantheon Books in New York published it in two volumes as Bollingen Series XIX, with a second edition in 1961. Princeton University Press took it over only with the third edition of 1967, the version with Hellmut Wilhelm's preface.
Chinese Divination3
- The Earlier Heaven BaguaShao Yong (d. 1077) gave final form to the order credited to Fu Xi, which the Yijing only hints at. The Later Heaven order, from the Shuogua, was used in Han times.
- The Twenty-Eight Lunar MansionsThe earliest known record is a lacquered clothes chest decorated with the mansions, a dragon and a tiger, from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, buried around 433 BCE.
- The Oracle BonesThe tale of Wang Yirong finding writing on 'dragon bones' from a Peking pharmacy in 1899 was first printed in 1930. Liu E, said to be with him, never mentioned it.
Daoism2
Chinese / Taoism1
Chinese Alchemy1
Chinese cosmology1
Japanese1
Japanese (Heian court)1
Japanese Healing1
Korean musok1
Shinto1