What tradition says
Confucius (孔子, 551-479 BCE) is said to have written the Ten Wings, the commentaries that turned the old text into the Yijing. The historian Sima Qian says that in old age he grew so fond of the book that the leather thongs binding its bamboo strips broke three times.
What the texts show
- In the Analects, Confucius says that if he were given more years he would study the changes and so avoid great mistakes. But another early version of the same passage has a different character with the same sound, and then the line doesn't mention the book at all.
- In another passage he quotes the third line of What Lasts, about someone who doesn't keep their virtue steady, and remarks that in such a case there's no need to consult the oracle.
- Silk manuscripts from Mawangdui, buried in 168 BCE, show him discussing the book with his students. There he says he looks in it for virtue, not omens.
What scholars think
As early as the 11th century, Ouyang Xiu doubted that the Wings were by Confucius. Most scholars now see them as the work of several hands, from the Warring States to the early Han, much of it from Confucian circles. So the book carries his mark, though probably not his pen.
Why it matters
That Confucian reading is the one that speaks to you of the noble person and of acting rightly, more than of what will happen.