역상은 공간적으로 드러난 괘를 통해 음양 변화의 도와 그것의 신묘함을 은미하게 상징하는 것임을 알 수 있다고 하겠다.그렇다면 주역은 왜 상으로 지어졌는가에 대해 연구해보자. 역경의 3대 요소라고 하는 상수사 가운데 일부인 상은 양의 부호(-)와 음의 부호(--)를 겹쳐서 만들었다. 초기의 괘상인 팔괘는 복희가 처음 만든 것으로 통하는데, 그가 팔괘를 부호로 지은 것은 문자가 없었기 때문이라고 한다. 그러나 부호로 괘상을 짓고 난 뒤에 이 괘상 부호가 문자보다 역도를 더욱 간단명료하게 표현할 수 있음을 알게 됐다. 서술(筮術)의 성격이 강한 역경을 바탕으로 역전을 지어 역도를 드러낸 공자가 서술을 버릴 수 있었으나 상을 버릴 수 없었던 것은 괘상이 역도를 표현하는 직접성, 활발한 변화, 심오한 함축성 등을 문자로 다 표현할 수 없었기 때문이다.攀 高懷民, 先秦易學史, (中國 廣西師範大學出版社, 2007), 8-9쪽 참고.攀攀 계사전의 다음 대목을 보자.

The problem tackled in this essay is two points of view on the Book of Changes, Time and Space of Xiang-Shu(象數) in Ancient China. As everyone knows, so-called Xiang-Shu is the hard core concept of the Book of Changes. I think that the concept of Xiang-Shu is a multi-dimensional one. The most common rendering of the Chinese term is “image and law of the Universe”, which most closely approximates the way things becomes and the law of process in changing(變化法則). Change is spoken of in various types of terminology. the title of the Book of Changes is yi(易). this character may have two possible meanings. It may be the picture of a chameleon, which can change colour, or it may be a picture of the sun and moon, which indicate times and periods of change. The term yi can be translated as transformation of dynamic reality itself in the world or universes(宇宙). The modern Chinese word for universe is a binome (yu-zhou, 宇宙) composed of characters that when read separately mean “extension(yu, 宇)” and “duration(zhou, 宙)”. There is interdependence between extension and duration in the system of Co-relational yu-zhou.

The problem tackled in this essay is two points of view on the Book of Changes, Time and Space of Xiang-Shu(象數) in Ancient China. As everyone knows, so-called Xiang-Shu is the hard core concept of the Book of Changes. I think that the concept of Xiang-Shu is a multi-dimensional one. The most common rendering of the Chinese term is “image and law of the Universe”, which most closely approximates the way things becomes and the law of process in changing(變化法則). Change is spoken of in various types of terminology. the title of the Book of Changes is yi(易). this character may have two possible meanings. It may be the picture of a chameleon, which can change colour, or it may be a picture of the sun and moon, which indicate times and periods of change. The term yi can be translated as transformation of dynamic reality itself in the world or universes(宇宙). The modern Chinese word for universe is a binome (yu-zhou, 宇宙) composed of characters that when read separately mean “extension(yu, 宇)” and “duration(zhou, 宙)”. There is interdependence between extension and duration in the system of Co-relational yu-zhou.

Xiang-Shu, the way things becomes and the law of process in changing, the Book of Changes, yi, universes