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In his Master Plan Cai Chen (1167-1230) created an original divination manual based on the Yijing and keyed it to an intricate series of 81 matrixes with the properties of "magic squares." Previously unrecognized, Cai's work is a milestone in the history of mathematics, and, in introducing it, this book dramatically expands our understanding of the Chinese number theory practiced by the "Image and Number" school within Confucian philosophy. Thinkers of that leaning devised graphic arrays of the binary figures called "trigrams" and "hexagrams" in the Yijing as a way of exploring the relationship between the random draws of divination and the classic's readings. Cai adapted this perspective to his 81 matrix series, which he saw as tracing the recurring temporal cycles of the natural world. The architecture of the matrix series is echoed in the language of his divination texts, which he called "number names"-hence, the book's title. This book will appeal to those interested in philosophy, the history of science and mathematics, and Chinese intellectual history. The divination text has significant literary as well as philosophical dimensions, and its audience lies both among specialists in these fields and with a general readership interested in recreational mathematics and topics like divination, Taiji, and Fengshui.
Sommario
List of Figures - List of Tables - Acknowledgments - Introduction - Numbers - Images - Cai Chen's Songshi Biography - Bibliographic Note - The "Hongfan School" - Hongfan Divination Method - Glossary of Yijing Hexagram and Commentary Names - Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms - Selected Bibliography - Index.
Info autore
Larry J. Schulz holds a Ph.D. in Chinese intellectual history from Princeton University. His doctoral dissertation is on the
Yijing scholarship of Lai Zhide (16th century); the
Journal of Chinese Philosophy published three articles on his discoveries regarding the architecture of the
Yijing hexagram sequence (1990 and 2011). He cotranslated
The Tower of Myriad Mirrors ¿¿¿ (2000) and is currently working on «<¿¿>¿¿¿¿¿¿»(Anthology on the Question of the Order of Hexagrams in the Zhouyi) (forthcoming). Schulz is a retired senior officer from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (serving 1986-2006).
Riassunto
This book describes Cai Chen's Master Plan and the Chinese number theory practiced by the "Image and Number" school within Confucian philosophy. Cai created an original divination manual based on the Yijing and keyed it to an intricate series of 81 matrixes with the properties of "magic squares."
