The Religious Nature of “Dao” in the Yi Zhuan

Confucian thought inherently contains a religious dimension, with its core concept, “Dao,” serving as its principal expression. The Confucian classical text Yi Zhuan, built upon the Dao of Yin and Yang, presents a system imbued with religious significance. Scholarship on the Yi Zhuan has largely approached its theory of Dao from a human-centered philosophical perspective. By contrast, this paper examines the religious nature of Dao in the Yi Zhuan, as expressed through four key dimensions. In its worldview, Dao is the universal foundation of all existence. It permeates the world through the Dao of Yin and Yang, accounting for the generation and transformation of all things. In the realm of values, Dao serves as the ultimate source, guiding individuals in cultivating virtue and realizing their true nature, thus fostering the moral ideal of unity between Heaven and humanity. Within the sphere of norms, Dao acts as the foundation of ethical principles, directing individuals in the construction of moral frameworks for the real world. This framework is realized through the divine teachings of sages and the understanding of Dao by persons in high station and exemplary persons. In religious and ethical practice, Dao serves as the ultimate point of reference for meaning, with the belief that deviation from Dao results in misfortune, while adherence brings blessings. It calls for individuals to seek practical wisdom, cultivating an awareness of the times and acting in harmony with them, thus providing a foundation for one’s life and purpose, thereby presenting a distinctive Eastern approach to religious and ethical living. This approach offers a new perspective on the interpretive tradition of the Yi Zhuan and its place in contemporary religious studies, while fostering dialogue between philosophical and religious approaches to the Yi Zhuan and Confucian thought more broadly.