​From “Divination as the Basis of Instruction” to “Goodness as the Governing Principle of Divination”: Liu Yuan’s Reconstruction of Yijing Studies in the Qing Dynasty and His Approach to Self-Cultivation

From “Divination as the Basis of Instruction” to “Goodness as the Governing Principle of Divination”: Liu Yuan’s Reconstruction of Yijing Studies in the Qing Dynasty and His Approach to Self-Cultivation

YU Hongwei

(Department of Philosophy, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China)

Abstract: Liu Yuan, a Qing-dynasty scholar from the Bashu region, in his Zhou Yi Heng Jie, addresses the interpretive risk inherent in Zhu Xi’s assertion that “the Yijing is originally a book of divination”—namely, the risk that instrumental divination overrides the moral subjectivity of “exhausting principle” (窮理). To counter this, Liu constructs a distinctive hermeneutic approach in which goodness serves as the governing principle of divination. By reconstructing the Taiji as an ontological foundation that unifies Heaven and humanity, Liu strictly confines divination within the moral presupposition of “exhausting principle and fully realizing one’s nature” (窮理盡性), allowing it to function decisively only when one is caught in a genuine moral dilemma. This theoretical move transforms the Yijing from a merely potential divinatory tool into a comprehensive system of moral practice that “follows the principles of nature and destiny” (順性命之理) within everyday human relations. This approach not only responds to the internal predicaments of Song-Ming Yijing scholarship but also manifests the pragmatic, statecraft-oriented character of Qing-dynasty Confucianism. 

Key words: Liu Yuan; Bashu Yijing studies; moral practice; goodness as the governing principle of divination; the view of the Yijing as moral instruction

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