“Yi-Fa” means rational meanings and rules. Various interpretation models on Yi-Fa of Chunqiu applied by the scholars in the history are called Yi-Fa models in this study.
This paper first proposes four sources of Yi-Fa in Chunqiu: 1) the sages’ word-of-mouth; 2) official historians’ records and reports; 3) gentlemen’s profound suggestions; 4) Confucius’ ‘interpretation instead of creation’. The sources of Yi-Fa of Chunqiu are diverse, and they are the wisdom from the sages, official historians, gentlemen and Confucius.
This paper further generalizes 7 models (23 categories) regarding the past scholars’ interpretation on Yi-Fa of Chunqiu: 1) the rational example model, which suggests that the sages established rational examples and then revised Chunqiu; 2) the fable model, in which the stories of the characters in Chunqiu are compared with the statements of the Confucian School, while Confucius even becomes the character in the fables of Chunqiu and expressed the opinions of the Confucian School; 3) the association & parallelism model, which interprets Chunqiu by associating the related terms in the context and paralleling the related events; 4) the parallelism & example model, which interprets Chunqiu by the above two measures; 5) the rational meaning model, which is based on the theories of Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi, the scholars of Sung Dynasty and suggests that Chunqiu is the book of upright friendliness and bright virtue; as long as the meanings are clear, it can be universal; 6) the debate model, based on the different attitudes in the Confucian School toward three commentaries; it means to appeal, oppose, express personal opinions or review others’ theories; 7) the historic studies supportive model, which is based on classical studies and supported by historic studies. The historic factors are classified to support classical studies. For over 2000 years, the development in the field of Chunqiu is diverse. Everyone has the rights to interpret Chunqiu and there is no such concept as “exclusive right of interpretation”.
Finally, this paper suggests that 7 models of Yi-Fa of Chunqiu are from 4 sources. In other words, diverse Yi-Fa sources generate multiple Yi-Fa models. However, there is no direct corresponding relationship and Chunqiu should be the moderator. Yi-Fa of Chunqiu is formed by 4 sources, and 7 models are developed based on Yi-Fa of Chunqiu. Chunqiu is the key for the dependency between the two aspects. According to knowledge management principle in knowledge economy era, this paper attempts to thoroughly comprehend Chunqiu by generalizing 7 models of Yi-Fa of Chunqiu, thoroughly comprehend the latest professional knowledge in modern time, absorb other classics, establish the platform by integrating the professional knowledge through classical studies and restore the said studies.