The image of the world in the Yijing 易经 : an atempt to identify the intellectual context proper to chinese philosophy

摘要

Before we think about reality, before we talk about it or remain silent, first we have some of the most basic images. What do philosophers brought up in the given culture have in mind when they use the term ‘reality’? In this article I attempt to identify and elaborate the intellectual context proper to Chinese (especially Confucian and Daoist) philosophical culture, by presenting its most general features. How deep must we probe to find the internal network of sense that is the basis of Confucian, and daoist images of reality? What we are looking for can be found by trying to think in a context that is broader than the merely linguistic context. This broader context is that provided by philosophical understanding of the terms: ‘world,’ ‘individual being,’ ‘thing,’ ‘truth,’ ‘wisdom.’