This study mainly explores the development of historic Yi-ology in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), especially the four scholars in historic Yi-ology at that time---- Yang Jue, He Dengxuan, Ye Shan and Lu Han. Through the exploration, the study would induce the status and value of the historic Yi-ology in Ming Dynasty for the whole development of historic Yi-ology. A key impact on the rise of historic Yi-ology is the book Chengzhai Yi Zhuan (Chengzhai’s Commentaries on the Yi). Nevertheless, a more important factor is the scholars’ patriotic wills that arose during the social upheavals in the country. While quoting the historic documentations to comment on Yi-ology, the historic Yi-ology scholars expressed their expectations in their illustration of historic events. Such expectations may be alarms to the monarchs, or illustration of governance principles, or advocacy of sanctification, or eulogy of virtues, all of which expressed the scholars’ desires for social ideals with the expectations for a better country and society.
The scholar Yang Jue was put into jail because of his frank admonishment to the monarch by submitting a memorial named “comforting the public through governance with prosperity”. In such an corrupted age with villains in power , Yang Jue chose to adhere to the morality as a loyal official and noble scholar and thus wrote the “Clarification Record on the Book of Changes”, in which he stated that one’s virtue and moral integrity can only reveal when he is in trouble. Scholar He Dengxuan lived in the end of Ming Dynasty with political disorders. At that time, the bureaucrats formed cliques to pursue selfish interests and blocked the opportunities for airing views. While nobody else was courageous enough to criticize the status quo, scholar He Dengxuan dared to denounce it straightforwardly without any avoidance. He expressed his concerns about the political situation and power of the imperial government in his book “Yi Chen”by quoting historic events. Scholar Ye Shan said that he wrote the book “Ye Shan’s Commentaries on the Yi” under the deep influence of “Chengzhai’s Commentaries on the Yi”. Nevertheless, in this book, Ye Shan either clarified the laws and abstinence, or imparted the governance principles, or elaborated the sanctification, offering the monarch a set of norms and standards for state governance with the expectation for a better state governance performance. Scholar Lu Han used to be a government official in Yanzhou County, Teng County and Cao County in Shandong Province. During his tenure, he managed to rectify an unjust case in Yanzhou County, captured a gang of bandits in Teng County and opened the government warehouse to relieve over ten thousand victims of a natural calamity in Cao County. With such political performances and for his knowledgeableness, he was well known in Shandong Province and was honored as “Saint Lu”. His book“ On the Core of the Book of Changes” originally intended to restore the ancient Yi-ology. However, this book actually covered three major aspects, i.e. alarming on the doctrines as a monarch, complimenting wise decisions, exclaiming over bad luck, which showed the historic Yi-ology scholars’ concerns about the political situation of the state in their quotations of historic events.
The historic Yi-ology scholars in Ming Dynasty not only inherited the characteristics of historic Yi-ology since Song Dynasty (960-1276) but also carried it forward and deeply influenced the development of the historic Yi-ology scholars in Qing Dynasty(1644-1912). There is an obvious consistent line in the development of the whole historic Yi-ology from its start in Song Dynasty to the inheritance in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and Ming Dynasty until its flourishing development in Qing Dynasty. Thus we can know that historic Yi-ology in Ming Dynasty shouldered the great responsibility of carrying forward the past and opening up the future. Knowing the historic Yi-ology in Ming Dynasty could facilitate the deep understanding on the historic Yi-ology in Qing Dynasty.