Marriage, Divorce, And Revelation: The Book Of Changes

Shaughnessy, author of Marriage, Divorce, and Revelation: Reading Between the Lines of The Book of Changes, relates the text back to its influence within Chinese history. Apparently, the marriage between the maiden and the lame man is a reference to the daughter of the former king of the Shang Dynasty, King Di Yi, and King Wen, ruler of a rivaling nation whose marriage was used political move to reconcile relations. (Shaughnessy, 588). King Di Yi is solely referenced within the sixth stanza of the poem, where he is mentioned to give away his daughter. An overall analysis of the poem would suggest that the hexagram, being a historical reference and moral guide to understanding the complexity of chance and relationships, would explain why the Yijing remains as a classical book in China and other societies.
One prominent philosopher, Confucius, is claimed to have spoken of the Yijing in the highest esteem, referring to studying the text to be free of human error. Since the poem uses a significant historical event to imply a message of moral reasoning and human thought, the success of the poem is evident through its ability to influence Chinese philosophy for more than a millennium. Not only is Chinese philosophy affected by the Yijing but western societies have also taken acute notice of the profound meanings and symbolism within the