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Work #1869

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

King Wen of Zhou (traditional attribution)
c. 1050–800 BCE (core hexagram and judgment layers; commentaries later) · Classical Chinese
Divination manual and cosmological treatise (64 hexagrams with judgments and line statements) · Chinese classical canon (one of the Five Classics)

"One yin and one yang — this is the Tao" — the oldest Chinese classic, encoding cosmic process in sixty-four binary figures

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Both
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature not engaged
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Relational
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Mediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Providential
Observer · Moral Authority Custom
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Relational
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

Infinite cyclical process of change; relational (defined by changing states); both determined and free.

Space

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

Relational — heaven and earth as dynamic poles; infinite extent (tianxia); local application in divination.

Matter

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

Relational and conserved: yin-yang transforms but nothing is lost; matter as process, not substance.

Observer

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

The sage reads hexagrams to discern change; mediate knowledge; providential — Heaven bestows the Mandate.

Energy

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

Qi as vital energy: infinite, relational, conserved, reversible (yin and yang alternate).

Information

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

64 hexagrams as a discrete binary information system encoding the complete pattern of the Tao.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

I Ching (Book of Changes, attributed arrangement)

Determinism versus freedom: if hexagrams reveal the pattern of change, is the sage conforming to fate or choosing? Divinatory manual versus cosmological treatise: practical guidance versus universal philosophy.