The Homological Cosmos Ontology, Epistemology, and Ethics in Yi Jing Prediction William Edward Matthews Department of Anthropology University College London A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Declaration I, William Edward Matthews, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis investigates cosmological theories among practitioners of Yi Jing-based prediction in Hangzhou, China. The principle focus is upon analogical reasoning as manifest in predictive practice, ontological assumptions, epistemology, and ethics, from the perspective of specialists. These aspects of cosmology are explored through a combination of ethnographic data and textual analysis, adopting a position informed by the anthropology of cosmology, ontology, and divination and related debates in the cognitive sciences and Sinology. From the perspective of predictors, Yi Jing prediction operates via the reduction of situations presented by clients to cosmic laws, from which highly specific predictions can be derived. Yi Jing hexagrams are metaphorically substituted for clients’ situations, which are then metonymically incorporated into an understanding of the cosmos as particular configurations of qi. This argument is contextualised in relation to the role of analogy in the Yi Jing itself. The ontological assumptions of predictors are rooted in resemblances between phenomena based on shared intrinsic qualities, rather than in analogical similarities between distinct ontological types. This mode of identification, which I term ‘homologism’, directly informs epistemological assumptions based on hexagrams’ ‘resemblance’ to natural phenomena. This is discussed in relation to broader conceptions of ‘science’, ‘religion’, and ‘superstition’, along with salient epistemological categories employed by predictors. Emphasis on the accuracy of prediction and its identification with ‘science’ are characteristic of predictors’ ethical discourse, grounded in a homology between cosmos and society but complicated by considerations of ethical practice. Finally, the distinction between analogy and homology is applied to the development of Chinese ‘correlative thought’, which is revealed to encompass three distinct types. Implications of the thesis are discussed for the anthropology of cosmology, ontology, and divination, and the study of Chinese cosmology, with particular focus on issues of scale and purpose. 3 Table of Contents The Homological Cosmos ...................................................................................................................... 1 Declaration ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 3 List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 10 Notes ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Scope of the Thesis .......................................................................................................................... 14 Terminology .................................................................................................................................... 16 Eight Trigrams Cosmology in Context .............................................................................................. 17 Cosmology and the Yi Jing ........................................................................................................... 17 Tradition, Legitimacy, and the Pursuit of Explanation ................................................................. 20 Anthropological and Sinological Studies of Chinese Cosmology .................................................. 21 Theoretical Orientations.................................................................................................................. 23 Analogical Reasoning ................................................................................................................... 23 Divination .................................................................................................................................... 28 Towards a Cognitively-Informed Study of Cosmology: ‘Getting Our Ontology Right’ .................. 32 Ethnographic Fieldwork and Textual Sources .................................................................................. 41 Fieldwork ..................................................................................................................................... 41 Texts and Their Importance ......................................................................................................... 48 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................................... 51 .......................................................................................................................................................... 54 1 Analogy, Category, and Scale in the Yi Jing ......................................................................................... 54 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 54 The Structure of the Yi Jing ............................................................................................................. 54 The Role of Images (象 xiang) as Two Kinds of Analogy .................................................................. 56 4 Analogy in the Epistemology of the Appended Phrases .................................................................. 63 Hexagrams, Metaphor, and Metonymy .......................................................................................... 67 The Nature of Categories in Explaining the Trigrams ...................................................................... 71 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 81 .......................................................................................................................................................... 83 2 Six Lines Prediction: Metonymic Classification and Reducing Meaning .............................................. 83 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 83 Hexagrams and Qi ........................................................................................................................... 83 The Method .................................................................................................................................... 84 Basic Principles ................................................................................................................................ 89 The Eight Palaces ......................................................................................................................... 90 The Earthly Branches................................................................................................................... 92 The Yongshen Referents .............................................................................................................. 95 The Six Beasts .............................................................................................................................. 98 Calendrics .................................................................................................................................... 98 Six Lines Prediction in Practice: Two Cases ................................................................................... 100 Example One – A Question of Personal Wealth ........................................................................ 101 Analogical Transfer and the Creation of Cosmic Intimacy ......................................................... 104 Example Two: Buying a New Shop and Making a Hospital Appointment .................................. 108 Contingency and Reduction ...................................................................................................... 112 Relevance .................................................................................................................................. 118 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 119 ........................................................................................................................................................ 121 3 Imagery Epistemology and Analogical Morality ................................................................................ 121 Introduction .................................................................................................................................