“Simply Do Not Divine”: On the Cosmology, Moral Constraints, and Self-Transcendence of Divination in the Yijing
Religions July 27, 2026 Xunjian Lu, Fuming Wei
The phrase “simply do not divine, that is all there is to it” (bu zhan er yi yi) attributed to Confucius in the Analects has long puzzled scholars. This paper argues that divination in the Yijing is founded on a cosmological principle—the Yi matches Heaven and Earth, so hexagram and line images mirror the cosmic order—and is governed by three moral constraints: jing (reverence), fu (sincerity/trust/correspondence), and zhen (upright steadfastness).