論《伊川易傳》的價值與得失

The Discussion on the Valuable Contributions and Drawbacks of Chen Yi's Annotated I Ching

伊川先生積五十年之學，平生著書，惟見《易傳》，其畢生精力，於斯可見。《伊川易傳》傳於今世，垂九百年矣。其價值得失，前人之述備矣，本無庸蛇足，惟不佞平生篤嗜《程傳》，曾不揣淺陋，撰成《周易程傳註評》一書，願將一愚之見，公諸同好，就教方家。本文除前言與結語外，主要分兩部分說明，其一就《伊川易傳》之價值言。大約可歸納為（一）承先啟後影響深遠。蓋自元仁宗皇慶二年以後，五百餘年，學者靡有不習《程傳》者。（二）平實明白說理精到。蓋其以義理解《易》，罕言象數。（三）因時立教切於世用。蓋《程傳》借《易》以明理，循理以論事，故多合於世用。其一就《伊川易傳》之缺失言，亦可歸納為三部份：（一）取譬史證之缺失。其中若干引史證《易》，牽強比附，頗值商榷。（二）詮釋義理之缺失。其中有未合卦旨、爻旨、意識形態之偏失，與斷句之訛誤等等問題，均有待爭議。（三）錯亂不全之缺憾。《程傳》於伊川卒後，書頗散亡，雖經門人後學讎校，仍不免有文句錯亂，致疑而未達，同異兩存之現象。尤其〈繫辭傳〉以下，未見其書，不無遺憾。雖然如此，《伊川易傳》之缺失，究屬大醇小疵，吾人於閱讀之際，自不必迴護其短，苟能知其短長，汰粕存精，斯亦可謂善讀《易》者也。況《伊川易傳》於吾國易學著作之林，仍不失為經典之作，捨其書而不讀，則其於《易》也，吾人期期不敢謂之入門矣。

Chen Yi had studied and written books in 5 decades during his lifetime. The most prominent published work was his annotated I Ching. The book really showed the author's in-depth knowledge and unique understanding on I Ching. Chen Yi's annotated I Ching had lasted more than 900 hundred years. Lots of scholars had analyzed and annotated on the book during various generations. Any further academic research on this book may seem to be redundant. However it is the author's lifetime favor and goal to study on I Ching annotated by Chen Yi. The author also wrote and published a book ''The Analysis and Comments on Chen Yi's annotated I Ching” before he publishes this article.
This article consists of two main parts besides the prologue and epilogue sections. The first main part is to discuss the main valuable contributions of Chen Yi's annotated I Ching. These valuable contributions could be summarized into three main areas. The first area was the long lasting influence of the book. Almost every scholars studied the book during the five century period starting from 1313 AD. The second area was the clear explanation and good reasoning of the book. It tried to interpret I Ching with logic reasoning instead of working on astrology. The third part was the practical education and application of the book. It exemplified the principles of I Ching through real life application.
The second main part is to discuss the potential drawbacks of Chen Yi's annotated I Ching. These drawbacks can also be summarized into three main areas. The first drawback was lack of good historic examples in the book. Several examples used by the book were inappropriate and unrelated to the principles of I Ching. The second drawback was Chen Yi's subjective interpretation and explanation of I Ching principles. Some of Chen Yi's comments were arguably incompatible with the original meanings of Gua and Yao in I Ching. The third drawback was the incompleteness and out of order of the content Chen Yi's annotated I Ching became unoriginal and disparity after his death. Although his students and the other followers tried to edit and correct the problem, it still showed the problems of contradictory paragraphs and out of order sentences through the book.
Overall Chen Yi's annotated I Ching still provides great value to us against its minor drawbacks. There is no need for us to cover these minor drawbacks. A good reader of the annotated I Ching will know how to select and learn the important things from the book. Chen Yi's I Ching is still one of the most important and classical books in Chinese literature. How can a scholar claim to know I Ching without reading through this important book?