| Abstract |
This study attempted to explore the evolution of interpretive concepts in classical studies during the medieval period by examining the retention, deletion, or extraction of omen interpretation from “Wujing Zhengyi” to “Jiu Jingyaoyi, ” in order to understand the conceptual landscape during this transformative period. “Siku Ti Yao” cited Wang Yi’s “Zaji, ” a Ming dynasty scholar, mentioning that during the Tang dynasty, Kong Yingda often quoted passages from omen books in “Wujing Zhengyi. ” However, by the Northern Song dynasty, Ouyang Xiu proposed in his essay “A Suggestion to Remove Omen Interpretations from the Nine Classics” those interpretations in the Nine Classics should be reorganized, and passages related to omens should be deleted. This was intended to prevent confusion among scholars caused by strange interpretations and to maintain the purity of the classical meaning. Wang Yi believed that it wasn't until Liao-Weng Wei’s “Jiu Jingyaoyi” during the Southern Song dynasty that the removal of omens and astrology from the commentaries on the classics was fully achieved, stating that “all interpretations related to omens and astrology should be completely removed. ” Historically, scholars all accepted this assertion as marking the cessation of interpreting the contents of the classics through omens and astrology. However, this study conducted a comparative analysis between the surviving materials from Liao-Weng Wei’s “Jiu Jingyaoyi, ” such as those on the “Book of Documents, ” “Spring and Autumn Annals, ” “Records of Rites, ” “Rites of Zhou, ” and “Book of Odes, ” and the entries in “Wujing Zhengyi” that match the mysteries with the classics to interpret the contents of the classics. It found that Yi Wang’s statements were not entirely accurate. The reasons were: firstly, Liao-Weng Wei proposed to reinterpret the classics using the Han scholarship style of textual research, in response to the Song dynasty’s emphasis on the detriment of vacuous and abstract principles; secondly, the discussions on Chenwei in the classics, within the contexts of systems, nature, and life, have become a cultural stream. Shi-Pei Liu highlighted the merits of historical supplementation and textual examination. Wei’s “Essential Meanings” exhibited an attitude of rejecting prophecies and mysteries in the interpretation context of the classics. However, the fact that such theories were preserved for the purpose of explaining the classics indicates a necessity for re-exploration and investigation. Thus, this was to clarify the concepts and attitudes towards the use of Chenwei in interpreting the classics during the Tang and Song dynasties.
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