Wang Anshi’s Interpretation of “Xian” in the “Kun” Hexagram: On the Rites of Sovereign and Subject
CHEN Siyu
Chen Siyu, School of Philosophy, Nankai University; Postal Code: 300350
Abstract: By citing the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu) maxim "do not substitute one Xian for another" to gloss the passage in the "Wenyan" (Words of the Text) commentary on the Kun hexagram—"Because it is Xian of having no yang, it is therefore designated as a 'dragon'"—Wang Anshi constructed a unique hermeneutical paradigm of "interpreting the Changes through the Spring and Autumn Annals." Departing from the Han, Tang, and Wei-Jin commentaries that confined Xian to a static taxonomy of substance and function (ti-yong), this interpretation elevated Xian into a political-philosophical category denoting the conflation of names and status (mingfen) as well as epistemic ambiguity. By establishing the Chunqiu principle of "differentiating ambiguities and rectifying names and status" (bie xianyi, zheng mingfen) as the fundamental methodology for resolving dilemmas of political hierarchy in the Zhouyi—the foremost of the Classics—this approach dismantled, through internal doctrinal logic, the entrenched calumny fabricated by later generations that Wang dismissed the Spring and Autumn Annals as "tattered court bulletins." Building upon this foundation, "differentiating ambiguities" was further externalized into his ritual thought and institutional practice, realizing a paradigmatic leap from cosmological ontology to the political doctrine of mingfen, and ultimately to institutional Confucianism. This trajectory fully demonstrated the coherent logic of "applying classical learning to practical statecraft" (tongjing zhiyong) within the Song-dynasty New Learning (Xinxue).
Key words: Wang Anshi; Yijing (Book of Changes); Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals); Ambiguity (Xian);Rites of Sovereign and Subject; Duanlanchaobao
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