This article was written earlier this
year for a couple yahoo lists I belong to.
Shao Yung (1011-1077) of the Northern Sung dynasty was one of China's most influential philosophers and one of the most difficult to understand. He left behind a masterpiece of a project that took him several years to comprise. This masterpiece was titled "Huanng Ji Jing Shi". It is not an easy title to translate, and most have settled with the basic consensus of roughly "Supreme Principles That Rule The World". There have been many commentaries to this work and both the translations and commentaries can vary widely. Please keep this in mind if you decide to carry on the daunting task of understanding and penetrating the HJJS. I began to write this article by looking over 1,000 + pages of personal notes I have accumulated on the HJJS over the years. I quickly saw that it was going to be a bit strenuous and so I put away all my notes and decided to write strictly from memory. If any one decides to look deeply into this article and they find something amiss please have a heart and understand that it is all from memory. I will also NOT list sources, books, page numbers, etc. Quite honestly, I doubt I'll remember where everything came from and I don't want to lose time by organizing all the sources, but I can say that you can look at 2 books : 1) Transition To Neo-Confucianism by Anne Birdwhistell 2) The Recluse Of Lo Yang by Don Wyatt.
Shao Yung was more than a philosopher and was reputed to have been an Astrologer, Diviner, Mathematician, Historian, Poet, Calendar Maker, Confucianist, Taoist, and an I Ching Master par excellence. Some have even classified him as a Buddhist (in his later years) and also a political rebel. Others have also accused him of being a scientist and a gambler. Whatever the case, we are certainly dealing with one interesting fellow. He never had a job and never worked a day in his life and refused the government exams on multiple occasions. Shao began working on his HJJS later in life and he also wrote a book consisting of poems that read like a sort of diary. There were other works that were credited to him but there has been much debate over the authenticity of these writings and most have concluded that it is not likely that he is the author. One of these doubts is the authorship of the Plum Blossom Divination method. Almost everyone gives credit to Shao for developing it, especially the modern day Masters and "masters". If you begin to delve deep into Shao's thinking and ideas you will see that it is not very likely that he developed the PB method...... but enough of that for now. The HJJS is basically broken down into 2 main sections. The first can be translated as "Inner chapters on observing things" and the second, "Outer chapters on observing things". To Shao, observation was the all important key factor in understanding nature and the reality around us. Some have suggested that the Outer Chapters is Shao's own unique interpretation of the Inner Chapters. This may be an over - simplification but may also have some validity. This is not the time to debate that point either, so we will keep moving. To properly penetrate Shao's work would take an enormous amount of time and dedication. I mention this from experience. His ideas are not easy to grasp and he doesn't make it easy. The way he writes can at times be extremely ambiguous, metaphoric, and downright complicated. He has an elaborate scheme of charts and diagrams of enormous proportions and he doesn't come out and explain how these charts work. It is safe to say that Shao gives the Ingredients but not the Recipe to his system, but someone with diligence and dedication can begin to see and understand its value if they are willing to invest the time necessary. Not many today nor in the past have had the time and patience for this and so it is easier for them to dismiss or discredit Shao's theories rather than trying to work with them and to figure them out. I have searched in vain for many years to connect with others who are interested in Shao's works, but these people are not easy to find. Regarding the learning and understanding of the classics, Shao himself warned against textual commentaries and strongly suggested that one should go straight for the classics and penetrate them on their own to avoid the biases, therefore eliminating confusion. He believed that the classics (and nature) could be grasped through deep contemplation and observation. ......by "seeing things from the viewpoint of things rather than from the viewpoint of the self".
As difficult as it may be to understand the HJJS, we can be grateful that Shao left behind some writings that can give us a glimpse into the workings of the universe as expressed by the trigrams and hexagrams of the I Ching. His whole Tao was ingrained in the I Ching and he spent his whole life in dedication and loyalty to his studies. His HJJS is very much involved with numbers and this drew a lot of criticism toward Shao because many saw his use of numbers for divination ( along with his refusal to hold government office ) as a lack of responsibility in the area of morality. But Shao was true to his ideals and refused to buckle-under the pressures of Northern Sung's social order. In retrospect it is safe to say that Shao was a Taoist moreso than a Confucianist. But whichever class one may categorize him under, it cannot be denied that Shao was true to himself and to the principles he created for himself. Truly a remarkable man.
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