Can anybody help me find the exact origin of this Yi sign?

hmesker

Who can tell me where this elegant form of the character 易 comes from:

There are many books here in the West which mention this symbol, Richard Wilhelm started it I believe, but nobody knows where it comes from. I have read somewhere that it is a from a stone inscription from the 17th century. Can anybody point me to the exact origin of this symbol?
Best wishes,
Harmen.

stevie

it';s a chinese character, and should have been existed for over 2000 years. One of the explanation of this word is combination of sun and moon.

hmesker

[ 這篇文章最後由hmesker在 2005/09/03 03:12pm 第 1 次編輯 ]

[ 這篇文章最後由hmesker在 2005/09/03 03:12pm 第 1 次編輯 ]
I know this explanation (although I have my reservations about it, see the picture on http://itcn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=3), but that is not what I am looking for. I am looking for the origin of this specific form of the character 易.

Best,
Harmen.

stevie

Hello,
I think it';s even better to understand the origin of this chinese character (several/few thousands ago), than to understand that particular form of character 4 to 5 hundreds years ago.
In your case, sorry, don';t know.

hmesker

I think it';s even better to understand the origin of this chinese character (several/few thousands ago), than to understand that particular form of character 4 to 5 hundreds years ago.

I agree, but as you can see on the web page I mentioned I already looked in to that. But the last few weeks I get quite some questions about this specific form. I can understand that, because it is a bit silly when you see this character in so many books and nobody knows where it comes from! Frustrating too. That is why I want to find out.
Best,
Harmen.

妙德天成

Assuming you are talking of the type of writing or the caligraphy style of the Yi charachter you put out here.
It is called the "zhuan shu" style. The style is further divided into "da zhuan" which was invented around 827 B.C. according to official history book, and "xiao zhuan" which became the official style of writing for the nation during Qin dynasty (221bc -226bc).
The symbol you presented here, is not an artistical symbol per say, ';cause at those old time brush writing was the stardand way of doing as we are using ballpoint today, only till around 20th century brush writing did become art only.
No body knows for sure the time of creation of this perticular character. But it did appear in many 3 - 4 thousands year old books. As for the creation of Chinese writing language, legent said the man invented it was "Cang Ji", he lived in a such an ancient time even the ancient people called it ancient.

The linguistic origin of this character was pretty much in the air as well, Mr. 研究京氏 had the situation pretty much right.
Hope this can be some help.

dadforbean

the world ‘易’has two symbles;the up haif is the sigh of the sun,and the below is the moon.the sun refers to "阳"，the moon refers to "阴".meaning everything in the world or out of the world is changing or exchanging.You have a lot to learn about the two Chinese charactors,thank you.

dadforbean

the world ‘易’has two symbles;the up haif is the sigh of the sun,and the below is the moon.the sun refers to "阳"，the moon refers to "阴".meaning everything in the world or out of the world is changing or exchanging.You have a lot to learn about the two Chinese charactors,thank you.