『參同契』易學考 : 太極圖の由來と關連して

Abstract

The Diagram of the Great Ultimate and The Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate are one of the most important texts in Neo-Confucianism. Scholars have not reached agreement on the issue of the meaning and origin of The Diagram of the Great Ultimate. While some scholars do not regard it as the work of ZHOU Dunyi, others take it to be ZHOU Dunyi's work. Those who do not think that The Diagram of the Great Ultimate is ZHOU Dunyi's work assert that it has a close with Cantongqi. However, they have not given enough evidence for supporting their argument. This paper examines Zhouyi Cantongqi Zhu 周易參同契注 and Zhouyi Cantongqi Tongzhenyi 周易參同契通眞義 both by anonymous authors in order to explore the possibility to prove that the Diagram has a connection with Cantongqi. Both of these two works expound Cantongqi in terms of external alchemy. This investigation along with ZHU Xi's commentary on the Diagram and the Explanation lead us to the following conclusions. First, three pictures on the top of the Diagram can be inferred from Cantongqi, if we view Cantongqi from the perspective of external alchemy. Second, we can find the trace ZHOU Dunyi's Diagram of the Great Ultimate originates from the picture that we can infer from Cantongqi.