The Assimilation of the Yijing in Tibetan History and Culture

ABSTRACT:Tibet has had a long history of cultural interaction with China and some Chinese elements were incorporated into the Tibetan cultural system. The Yijing 易經 (Classic of Changes) and its related theories (such as yinyang wuxing 陰陽五行, the two primal forces and five agents), practices (such as divination), and symbols (such as the eight trigrams and taiji 太極) can be found in different walks of cultural and religious life in Tibet. This is the first academic study of the Yijing in Tibetan history. Based primarily on Chinese and Tibetan primary sources, this study will provide an historical overview of the impact of the Yijing in Tibet and discuss the role of the Yijing and its related ideas and symbols in the making of Tibetan culture. Assimilating Chinese knowledge into non-Sinitic tribal cultures is a complex process of cross-cultural encounter. This article reveals that the historical reception of the Yijing in Tibet was a process of assimilating Chinese knowledge into Tibetan culture and religion. It will break new ground in the comparative study of the Yijing in Asia and in China-Tibet studies.