Commentary on the Zhouyi

王弼The Commercial Press · ChinaApr 2026

4.9

Word count: 94K words
Chapters: 78

Summary

Annotated Zhouyi, written by Wang Bi, the Wei-dynasty Three Kingdoms metaphysical thinker, is the founding work of philosophical Yijing studies and marks the shift of Yijing scholarship from Han Confucian image-number speculation to metaphysical philosophical inquiry. Wang Bi discarded cumbersome accretions such as mutual-body analysis, hexagram transformation, and prophetic-apocryphal lore. Taking “grasping the meaning and forgetting the images” as the core of his interpretation, he drew on the Laozi to explain the Yijing and articulated a metaphysical ontology of “taking nonbeing as root,” penetrating directly to the essence of the scripture’s meaning. His commentary is clear, concise, and coherent, integrating Confucianism and Daoism; regrettably, he did not annotate the Xici and later sections. Han Kangbo later supplied supplementary commentary, completing the work. The book thoroughly transformed the paradigm of Yijing studies, was included in the Thirteen Classics with Commentaries and Subcommentaries, and profoundly influenced Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism.

Editor's review

Annotated Zhouyi is Wang Bi’s commentary on the Zhouyi; Wang Bi was a leading figure of Wei-Jin metaphysics during the Three Kingdoms period, and the work is celebrated as a landmark in the history of Yijing studies. This edition from the Commercial Press is collated against authoritative base texts and includes detailed collation notes, offering contemporary readers a reliable and clear text. The defining feature of Wang Bi’s commentary is that he abandoned the cumbersome image-number learning of the Han dynasty and pioneered a new path of interpreting the Zhouyi through philosophical meaning. He advocated “grasping the meaning and forgetting the images”—that is, using the hexagram and line statements and the images to grasp the philosophical significance behind them, rather than fixating on concrete correspondences between images and things. This elevated the Zhouyi from a divination manual to a philosophical classic exploring the fundamental patterns of heaven, earth, and the myriad things and the wisdom of human conduct. The book is not only a commentary on the Zhouyi text but also embodies Wang Bi’s metaphysical system integrating Confucianism and Daoism; his discussions of categories such as root and branch, substance and function, and one and many profoundly shaped the later development of Chinese philosophy. In reading this book, readers can not only deepen their understanding of the original meaning of the Zhouyi but also glimpse the spiritual character and speculative depth of Wei-Jin metaphysics. For readers who wish to go beyond divination and study the Zhouyi from the perspectives of philosophy and intellectual history, Wang Bi’s commentary is an indispensable classic annotation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in exploring the philosophical content and intellectual-historical significance of the Zhouyi
Scholars and students researching Chinese philosophy, Wei-Jin metaphysics, or the history of Yijing studies
Traditional-culture enthusiasts who wish to move beyond the divination and numerological perspective and understand the Zhouyi at the level of philosophical meaning
Deep readers with some grounding in classical Chinese who are willing to devote themselves to studying a classic original commentary

Not a good fit for

Beginners who only wish to use the Zhouyi for simple divination and prediction
Casual readers seeking a complete modern Chinese translation or a story-based interpretation

Reading tips

It is advisable first to gain a preliminary understanding of the names, figures, and basic hexagram and line statements of the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi before reading Wang Bi’s commentary
Reading Annotated Laozi Daodejing (also by Wang Bi) alongside this book is recommended for a fuller grasp of his metaphysical system
When reading, pay attention to Wang Bi’s analysis of the relationship between “image” and “meaning”; this is key to understanding his methodology of interpreting the Zhouyi

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

版权信息
经（王弼注）
乾
坤
屯
蒙
需
讼
师
比
小畜
履
泰
否
同人
大有
谦
豫
随
蛊
临
观
噬嗑
贲
剥
复
无妄
大畜
颐
大过
习坎
离
咸
恒】
遁】
大壮
晋
明夷
家人
睽
蹇
解
损
益
夬
姤
萃
升
困
井
革
鼎
震
艮
渐
归妹
丰
旅
巽
兑
涣
节
中孚
小过
既济
未济
系辞传（韩康伯注）
说卦传（韩康伯注）
序卦传（韩康伯注）
杂卦传（韩康伯注）
周易略例（邢璹注）
序
明彖
明爻通变
明卦适变通爻
明象
辩位
卦略

FAQ

What are the main differences between Wang Bi’s Annotated Zhouyi and Zhu Xi’s Zhouyi Benyi?

Wang Bi’s commentary focuses on philosophical exposition, sweeping away Han-dynasty image-number learning and interpreting the Zhouyi through metaphysics; Zhu Xi’s Benyi, by contrast, restores image-number learning to a certain extent and incorporates Neo-Confucian thought, emphasizing the original divinatory meaning. The two represent different peaks in the history of Yijing studies: the “philosophical-meaning school” and the “image-number school” (from the perspective of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism).

Can I understand this book without a foundation in classical Chinese?

It is quite difficult. This book is a classical Chinese commentary from the Wei-Jin period; although the Commercial Press edition provides modern punctuation and collation, the core content still requires some ability to read classical Chinese. It is advisable first to use an authoritative modern translation to clarify the meaning, then study the original commentary alongside it.

What is special about this edition?

This Commercial Press edition typically uses the Critical Edition of Wang Bi’s Collected Works (collated and annotated by Lou Yulie) or a related authoritative compilation of ancient texts as its base text. It is meticulously collated with clear punctuation and is widely recognized in academia as a reliable edition, suitable for serious reading and research.

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About the author

王弼 Author

Wang Bi is a figure of far-reaching influence in the tradition of commentaries on the Zhouyi (Book of Changes). Public information about his life and native place is limited, and existing records provide no definite dates of birth or death. The library holds three of his works, which together reflect his core contribution to Yi studies, with the Zhouyi Commentaries and the Brief Examples of the Zhouyi as representative titles. The Zhouyi Commentaries explains the hexagram and line statements and the meaning of the classic text layer by layer, in concise language with strong philosophical reasoning, and it establishes a distinctive style of commentary. The Brief Examples of the Zhouyi discusses, at the methodological level, ways of understanding the Changes; it is short in length yet clear in organization. These works commonly fall under social culture, historical reading, and culture categories, and are notable for their intellectual content and textual interpretation; they suit readers interested in classical Chinese philosophy and the evolution of Yi studies. Because historical sources are insufficient, details of Wang Bi's life still await further public material, yet on the strength of these works alone he has left a clear and lasting influence on the history of Zhouyi commentary.