The Research Of The Thought Of Caution At The Beginning Of Zhouyi

"Caution at the beginning" comes from the Book of Rites.Jing Jie."ZhouYi said that a gentleman always starts with caution because if it's a mistake of a millimeter,it' s a thousand miles away." The thought of"Caution at the beginning" is one of the most important ideas of Zhouyi.There are three reasons for the generation of the thoughts.First,Yijing was created in the late Yin Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty and the YiZhuan was created in the late Chunqiu period and early Han Dynasty.These two periods are turbulent and the atmosphere of being cautious of oneself and seeking happiness permeated the whole society.Second,the keynote of ZhouYi was cautious and prudent because ZhouWenwang who create ZhouYi was a prisoner in YouLi when he created this works.Third,there has been a long tradition of divination in society."Caution" means prudence.There are two states of "caution" in Zhouyi:cautiously enterprising and cautiously latent.The "beginning" has two meanings in Zhouyi.One refers to the primary stage of things,the other refers to "goodness".Therefore,there are two connotations of the thought of "Caution at the beginning”in Zhouyi.One is to go forward and retreat cautiously in the initial stage of development of things,the other is to be cautious of goodness,or rather to be cautious of evil,that is to say,to resist potential dangers.From the point of view of the connotation of "Being cautious of going forward and retreating in the primary stage",the thought in Zhouyi has three characteristics.First,the beginning is as same as the ending.It' s like a ring which has no origin.So caution with beginning is equal to caution with ending.Second,one of the connotation of“Caution at the beginning"is to cautiously go forward and retreat in the initial stage of development of things,but compared with going forward,the ZhouYi emphasize more on retreating.Third,the dividing point between cautious advance and cautious retreat lies in "time".That is to say,“Caution at the beginning”should know the time,and advancing and retreating at the right time can lead to a good end.From the point of view of the latter connotation of "Caution at the beginning",the methods of "Caution at the beginning" conclude learning from the past and guarding unknown danger,resisting evil and being modest and gentle.Learning from the past and guarding unknown danger can help us figure out the negative factors that lead to failure and force us to fight back.This is the method of dealing with the danger from outside word.Subjectively,in order to avoid the generation of evil thought and get rid of it,people should know what is wrong and how to react and go back on the right track once one break away from the right path.After that,people should improve their moral standards by being modest and gentle.Zhouyi is open and inclusive.The thought of "Caution at the beginning"still has profound reference value in the contemporary era.The value of the thought of "Caution at the beginning" of Zhouyi is prominently embodied in the construction of legislation,the construction of a clean government and the improvement of personal morality.The hexagrams of"Song","Shi" and "Kun" in Zhouyi show that "Caution at the beginning"lies in planning at the beginning,and planning at the beginning lies in making system perfect.It emphasized on the importance of legislation and enlightened people to strengthen the construction of legislation in the contemporary era.As for the construction of a clean and honest government,it enlightens people to enhance the construction of system objectively.Subjectively,officials should learn from the past and alert about future,which can help officials avoid mistakes like Ink occupies white clothes and chair man wet his shoes.As for people,the reference of "Caution at the beginning" to contemporary personal moral cultivation is that improving moral standard requires inner concentration.People should always reflect on themselves and stop evil from germinating.A good beginning is half the battle,and a prudent beginning is for a good ending.The thought of "Caution at the beginning" of Zhouyi is of great significance to people both in the attitude of dealing with specific affairs objectively and in strengthening their moral standard subjectively.Keep in mind that good luck comes when you start carefully.