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How a Noisy Rat Led to the Discovery of the Olum Blossom Yi Jing
The Yi Jing is China's most classical source of wisdom and a revered Oracle. But how did it come to be discovered? It all start with a broken porcelain pillow...
One of the most prominent intellectuals of Chinese historym Shao Yong of the Song Dynasty (960 - 1126 AD), was hard at work one day when the sound of a squeaking rat distracted him. He threw a pillow at the rat out of irritation, but being made of porcelain, the pillow broke and shattered into pieces.
Out of the broken pieces, Shao notice a slip of paper on which was written the exact time and date of the pillow's destruction! This surprised Shao greatly and piqued his curiosity, so he returned to the shop from where he brought the pillow. To his greatly surprise, the shopkeeper informed him that the pillow maker was a elderly man who had predicted Shao's appearance with this very specific query and on this very time and day!
Naturally, Shao had to find this pillow maker. Using the address given to him by the shopkeeper, he found the home or the pillow maker... who unfortunately had already passed away. However, Shao was greeted by the pillow maker's son, who had been given precise instruction to pass him a particular book. This, of course, was no ordinary book - it was accompanied by research notes on the Yi Jing!
Shao soon threw himself into reading and analysing the book he was given, spending the rest of his life towards perfecting the methods of Yi Jing calculation and reading he had learned from its pages.
It's All in a Name
While having worked so hard on perfecting the Yi Jing throughout the years, Shao was sipping some tea in beautiful garden one day when he observed a Plum Blossom tree in the distance. Doing some spur-of-the-moment calculation, he determined it was the Shen (Monkey) Hour of the seventh day of the twelfth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar's Chen (Dragon) Year.
Using his method of divination, Shao derived the hexagrams 'Reform', 'Meeting', and 'Attraction.'
Marsh & Fire 'Reform' (澤火革) indicates a call for something new and revolutionary, and to set new standards. It is time to away with old ideas.
Heaven & Wind 'Meeting' (天風姤) -wind, which represent new ideas, penetrate all corners of the sky, reaching far and wide.
Marsh & Mountain 'Attraction' (澤山咸) is a sign of long-lasting harmony and serene balance.
Having seen this, Shao felt that as though that fate had stepped in and given him a sign to continue to perfect his life's work with the Yi Jing, and so assign a name for his system right at that very moment. Inspired by what had just happend and his surroundings, Shao proceeded to call the method the 'Mei Hua Jin' (Plum Blossom Divination).
And that's how the Yi Jing Plum Blossom came into being! This story certainly provides some food for thought... showing you how fortuitous encounters with pesky rodents and beautiful trees can lead to amazing discoveries and situations!
MA Cosultant
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