Zhouyi lüeli 周易略例

Zhouyi lüeli 周易略例, short Yi lüeli 易略例, is an interpretation of the Classic Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes" (Zhouyi 周易) written during the Three-Empires period 三國 (220~280 CE) by Wang Bi 王弼 (226-249), who was one of the protagonists of the so-called "School of the Mystery" (xuanxue 玄學), a liaison of Confucian and Daoist thought.

The book consists of 7 chapters and was commented on during the Tang period by Xing Shu 邢璹 (8th cent.). As a general interpretation of the Zhouyi, the Zhouyi lüeli must be used in combination with Wang's commentary Zhouyi zhu 周易注.

In the chapter Mingxiang 明象 "Elucidation of symbolic figures of hexagrams", Wang opposes the method to interpret the hexagrams according to the text (an wen ze gua 案文責卦) and to lay importance on the symbolism instead of on the general meaning of hexagrams (cun xiang wang yi 存象忘意). Instead, he advocates to "forget about the symbolic figure of the hexagram and instead search for its meaning" (wang xiang yi qiu qi yi 忘象以求其意). A step before this, the user would have to grasp the symbolism of a hexagram by taking distance from the literal explanation of the hexagram lines (de xiang zai wang yan 得象在忘言). To do this, Wang explains the relationship between the explanations of individual hexagram lines, the symbolism of entire hexagrams, and their meaning or interpretation. Wang's aim was to introduce a novel interpretation of the Yijing that was liberated from the numerological (shuxiang 象數) and apocryphal (chenwei 讖緯) exegeses of the Changes. He thus founded a more philosophical school of Yijing interpretation that was based on more abstract concepts not founded in concrete symbolism, but in the "appreciation of the void" (gui wu 貴無), i.e., the Way or natural guideline embedded in all aspects of the world. In the chapter Ming xiangtuan 明象彖 "Elucidating the lines of the symbols", Wang stresses that all things on earth were not arranged arbitrarily, but had their inner principles (wu wu anran, bi you qi li 物無妄然，必由其理). They were joined by a general aim, and brought together by a common fundament (tong zhi you zong, hui zhi you yuan 統之有宗，會之有元).

In the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the Zhouyi lüeli is appended to the joint commentary Zhouyi zhushu 周易注疏, which includes the comments by Wang Bi (zhu 注 commentary), Han Kangbo 韓康伯 (other zhu commentary), Lu Deming 陸德明 (yinyi 音義 commentary) and Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (shu 疏 commentary). Is it also included in the series Sibu congkan 四部叢刊, Jindai mishu 津逮秘書, and Han-Wei congshu 漢魏叢書. In 1980, the Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 published a modern edition with a commentary by Lou Yulie 樓宇烈, Wang Bi ji jiaoshi 王弼集校釋. Jin Jinfang's 金景芳 lectures Zhouyi jiangzuo 周易講座 from 1987 includes a translation of the text into modern Chinese.