TL;DR: The Ten Wings (十翼, Shí Yì) are ten commentary treatises on the I Ching, including the Tuanzhuan upper and lower, Xiangzhuan upper and lower, Xici upper and lower, Wenyan, Xugua, Shuogua, and Zagua. Tradition attributes them to Confucius, but Ouyang Xiu of the Northern Song argued that from the Xici onward they are not the words of a sage, modern scholarship rejects the attribution, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy dates the treatises to between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE. Notably, Sima Guang, a contemporary, defended the view that Confucius wrote the Ten Wings, so even within the Northern Song the two stood on opposite sides. They transformed a Bronze Age divination manual into a discourse on metaphysics, ethics, and cosmology.
What is the Ten Wings and why is it called "ten wings"?
The Ten Wings (十翼, Shí Yì) are ten commentaries on the I Ching, called "zhuàn" (傳) in Chinese to distinguish them from the "jīng" (經), the original text. The word "yì" means a bird's wing, implying that these ten pieces support and expand the meaning of the I Ching the way wings lift a bird's body into flight. They are regarded as the earliest surviving interpretations of the Zhou Yi, the bronze-age divination book that underlies the I Ching as we know it today. By introducing layers of philosophical and ethical meaning, the Ten Wings turn the I Ching from a practical divination manual into a profound treatise on metaphysics, ethics and cosmology.
It is important to distinguish the two textual layers. The "jīng" consists of the 64 hexagrams with their hexagram statements and line statements, traditionally held to have been arranged by King Wen and the Duke of Zhou, while modern scholarship (Edward Shaughnessy) places it around the late 9th century BCE, in the Western Zhou period. The "zhuàn" consists of the ten pieces below, which serve to comment, expound and systematize. Not every printed edition of the I Ching places the Ten Wings together with the classic, and depending on the edition the Tuan Zhuan may be placed right after each hexagram statement or gathered separately into one volume.
Table of the ten pieces of the Ten Wings: name, Chinese characters, content and famous lines
| Sino-Vietnamese name | Chinese characters | Main content | What part of the classic it comments on | Famous line or idea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuan Zhuan, part one | 彖上傳 | Discusses the hexagram statements, explains hexagram names, line structure and the overall meaning of a hexagram | The first half of the 64 hexagram statements | The explanations of Qian, Kun and the opening hexagrams |
| Tuan Zhuan, part two | 彖下傳 | Continues the discussion of the hexagram statements, the second half of the 64 hexagrams | The second half of the 64 hexagram statements | The judgments on the final hexagrams |
| Xiang Zhuan, part one | 象上傳 | Follows the first half of the classic (hexagrams 1 to 30), containing both the Great Image (the image statement for the whole hexagram) and the Small Image (the image statement for each line) | The first half of the 64 hexagrams | "Heaven's movement is vigorous; the noble person accordingly strengthens himself without rest" |
| Xiang Zhuan, part two | 象下傳 | Follows the second half of the classic (hexagrams 31 to 64), also containing both the Great Image and the Small Image | The second half of the 64 hexagrams | The image statements for whole hexagrams and for individual lines |
| Xi Ci Zhuan, part one | 繫辭上傳 | Discusses the origin of the I Ching, the sages making the Yi, the relation between the Yi and the cosmos, the way of heaven and earth | The whole classic, the theoretical part | "In the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate, which gives rise to the two modes, the two modes give rise to the four images, the four images give rise to the eight trigrams" |
| Xi Ci Zhuan, part two | 繫辭下傳 | Continues the discussion of the Yi, treats divination, the inventions of the sages, the history of civilization | The whole classic, the theoretical part | The passages on the great expansion method, on the ancient kings |
| Wen Yan Zhuan | 文言傳 | Comments specifically on the two hexagrams Qian and Kun | The hexagrams Qian and Kun | "Yuan is the chief of the good" |
| Xu Gua Zhuan | 序卦傳 | Explains the order of the 64 hexagrams, why one hexagram follows another | The whole sequence of the 64 hexagrams | Why Tai follows Lü, why Wei Ji stands last |
| Shuo Gua Zhuan | 說卦傳 | Explains the eight trigrams, assigning them to nature, family, direction, color, animal | The eight trigrams and their relations | "The Lord comes forth in Zhen, is complete in Xun, sees one another in Li" |
| Za Gua Zhuan | 雜卦傳 | Comments briefly on each hexagram in opposing pairs, not following the order of the 64 hexagrams | Individual hexagrams, arranged in pairs | "Qian is firm, Kun is yielding" |
The two Xi Ci pieces are also jointly called the Great Commentary (大傳, Dà Zhuàn) to emphasize their importance.
What does each piece of the Ten Wings actually do?
Tuan Zhuan and Xiang Zhuan: the two layers of commentary closest to the classic text
The Tuan Zhuan (彖傳) is the first layer of commentary and the closest to the hexagram statements. It explains the hexagram name, the yin-yang structure of the six lines, and the overall meaning of the hexagram in the context of the hexagram statement. For example, when the hexagram statement says "Qian: yuan, heng, li, zhen", the Tuan Zhuan unfolds those four words into a whole of cosmic and ethical meaning. The Tuan Zhuan is divided into upper and lower, each part covering half of the hexagrams.
The Xiang Zhuan (象傳) is divided into upper and lower according to the two halves of the classic, that is hexagrams 1 to 30 and hexagrams 31 to 64. Each part contains both the Great Image (大象, the image statement for the whole hexagram) and the Small Image (小象, the image statement for each line). The Great Image sets out the overall image of the hexagram, for instance that the Qian hexagram is heaven moving with vigor, from which a lesson is drawn for the noble person; the Small Image treats each line separately, often in a single short sentence, setting out the meaning of the line's position. In the Qian hexagram, within the part belonging to the upper half of the classic there is both the line 象曰: 天行健, 君子以自強不息 (the Great Image) and the line 潛龍勿用, 陽在下也 (the Small Image). In many printed editions the Xiang Zhuan is placed interleaved right after each line statement, which easily leads readers astray.
Xi Ci Zhuan: the most important piece on cosmology
The Xi Ci Zhuan (繫辭傳) is the longest and most important piece in the Ten Wings. It does not comment on each hexagram but discusses the nature of the I Ching: where the Yi comes from, what the sages made the Yi for, how the Yi relates to heaven, earth and the myriad things. This is the main source on early Chinese cosmology.
The most famous line of the Xi Ci is: "In the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate, which gives rise to the two modes, the two modes give rise to the four images, the four images give rise to the eight trigrams." That is, in the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate, the Supreme Ultimate gives rise to the two modes (yin and yang), the two modes give rise to the four images, the four images give rise to the eight trigrams. This is the most quoted line when discussing the origin of the cosmos according to the I Ching.
The Xi Ci also contains the passage on the great expansion method, that is the way of forming a hexagram with yarrow stalks. That passage gives the number 50 and says that people use 49 stalks, setting one aside. This is the basis for the whole classical technique of forming hexagrams. The step-by-step detail of the great expansion method belongs to a separate article on the method of forming hexagrams; here it is enough to note that the Xi Ci is the original text describing that method.
The Xi Ci also mentions Fu Xi, the mythical ruler, as one of the founders of the I Ching. This shows that the piece tied the I Ching to a tradition of sage inventors, not merely to a folk divination book.
Wen Yan, Xu Gua, Shuo Gua, Za Gua: four specialized pieces
The Wen Yan Zhuan (文言傳) comments only on the two hexagrams Qian and Kun. It is a short piece, focused on the way of heaven and the way of earth, and on the character of the noble person. Many scholars hold that the Wen Yan is a later layer of commentary, added after the Tuan and Xiang had taken shape.
The Xu Gua Zhuan (序卦傳) explains the order of the 64 hexagrams. It explains why one hexagram follows another in a single logical thread. For example, after the Lü hexagram (履, treading, ritual propriety) comes the Tai hexagram (泰, free flow), because only with ritual propriety is there free flow. Last is the Wei Ji hexagram (未濟, not yet complete), because the myriad things never end, they always continue. This is an important piece for anyone who wants to understand why the 64 hexagrams are arranged in the current order.
The Shuo Gua Zhuan (說卦傳) explains the eight trigrams. It assigns each trigram to nature (heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain, marsh), to the family (father, mother, eldest son, eldest daughter, middle son, middle daughter, youngest son, youngest daughter), to direction, color, animal. This is the foundation of the image-and-number system of the I Ching, and many regard this piece as the key to grasping the thought system of the I Ching, because it explains the origin and meaning of the eight trigrams and sketches the relations of transformation between them.
The Za Gua Zhuan (雜卦傳) comments briefly on each hexagram, but not in the order of the 64 hexagrams in the classic. It arranges the hexagrams in opposing pairs, one short sentence for each pair. For example "Qian is firm, Kun is yielding" is the opening line. The Za Gua is the shortest piece and also the least commented upon in the Ten Wings.
Who wrote the Ten Wings? Tradition and a debate lasting more than a thousand years
Tradition attributes the Ten Wings to Confucius. In this telling, Confucius read the I Ching, recognized its deep layers of meaning, and wrote the ten commentaries to explain it. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, volume 47, the Hereditary House of Confucius, also helped reinforce that tradition. For many centuries, students of the I Ching took it for granted that the Ten Wings were the words of Confucius.
But as early as the Northern Song period, doubts appeared. Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), in the Yi tong zi wen, volume 3 (Collected Works of Ouyang Xiu, volume 78), held that the Xi Ci, Wen Yan, Shuo Gua and the pieces after them were not the words of a sage and were not written by one person either. Edward L. Shaughnessy (2001), in The Writing of the Xici Zhuan and the Making of the Yijing, also presents Ouyang Xiu's argument along those lines. Sima Guang (1019-1086) took the opposite view: in 1069, in the Lun feng su zha zi, he criticized the new students who read the Yi without understanding the hexagrams and lines and already claimed that the Ten Wings were not the words of Confucius. In the Qing period, Yao Jiheng (1647-1715) and Kang Youwei (1858-1927) further reinforced those doubts.
Modern scholarship has rejected the tradition that attributes the work to Confucius. James Legge (1882), in The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East volume 16, concluded that Confucius did not write the Xi Ci and Wen Yan (Introduction pp. 30-31). Richard Rutt, in The Book of Changes (Zhouyi) published in 1996, is said to have summarized the arguments and held that the pieces of the Ten Wings were written by many different authors over many generations; this detail could not be checked directly at pages 41-43, so here it is only noted that such a view exists, and the argument for "many authors" was already put forward by Ouyang Xiu and Shaughnessy (2001).
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), in the entry "Chinese Philosophy of Change (Yijing)" by Tze-Ki Hon (2019, revised 2023), places the pieces of the Ten Wings between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE, and calls them "seven pieces of writings from 5th century to 2nd century BCE". This is a span running through the late Spring and Autumn period, the Warring States period and the early Han, which means they cannot have been written by one person. SEP also emphasizes that the I Ching is a multi-layered text, with many authors and many layers of text stacked on one another.
One important archaeological piece of evidence is the silk manuscript of the Xi Ci found at Mawangdui (馬王堆) in Changsha in 1973. This silk manuscript was buried in tomb number 3 at Mawangdui, interred in 168 BCE, in the reign of Emperor Wen of Han; Shaughnessy estimates the copy was made around 190 BCE. The Mawangdui silk manuscript shows that the Xi Ci already existed in the early Han, and that text differs in places from the transmitted version; Shaughnessy (2001) notes that the silk manuscript lacks chapter A8 (the great expansion), most of B4 and all of B5 to B8 of the transmitted version, and holds that those chapters were added during the Han, after the time of the silk manuscript. Shaughnessy (1996) is the complete translation of the Mawangdui texts. This further strengthens the view that the Ten Wings are the product of many generations, not of a single author.
Why does the authorship debate matter?
The question of who wrote the Ten Wings is not just dry academic business. If the Ten Wings are the words of Confucius, then they carry almost canonical authority, and the I Ching is read as an orthodox Confucian book. If the Ten Wings are the product of many generations of scholars, then the I Ching must be read as a multi-layered text in which the ancient divination layer and the later philosophical layer coexist, and readers need to distinguish them.
SEP emphasizes that the I Ching focuses on one question: when we do not know fully about ourselves and the world around us because everything is always changing, how do we live meaningfully and responsibly? That question is not a purely divinatory question, it is a philosophical one. The Ten Wings, especially the Xi Ci, are precisely the layer of text that turned the I Ching from divination into philosophy.
Where do the schools disagree?
There are at least three points on which scholars do not agree. The first is authorship: the Confucian tradition attributes it to Confucius, modern scholarship rejects this, but some still hold that Confucius at least edited or transmitted part of it. The second is dating: some scholars place the Ten Wings in the Warring States period (roughly the 5th to 3rd centuries BCE), others place them in the early Han (roughly the 2nd century BCE), and SEP covers the whole span from the 5th to the 2nd centuries BCE. The third is the order of formation: some hold that the Tuan and Xiang are the earliest layer, the Xi Ci and Wen Yan later, the Za Gua latest. But others hold that the Xi Ci contains very ancient passages mixed with later ones.
This article follows the conventions of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Legge's translation: it calls the Ten Wings a collection of ten commentaries, does not attribute them to a single author, and notes that tradition attributes them to Confucius while modern scholarship rejects this. Naming the pieces in Sino-Vietnamese (Tuan Zhuan, Xiang Zhuan, Xi Ci Zhuan, Wen Yan Zhuan, Xu Gua Zhuan, Shuo Gua Zhuan, Za Gua Zhuan) is the common convention in Vietnamese books.
What is the point of reading the Ten Wings today?
For students of the I Ching, the Ten Wings are a layer of commentary that cannot be skipped. To understand why the Qian hexagram is regarded as the hexagram of the noble person, one must read the Xiang Zhuan. To understand why the 64 hexagrams are arranged in the current order, one must read the Xu Gua Zhuan. To understand the philosophical foundation of the I Ching, one must read the Xi Ci Zhuan. To understand how the eight trigrams are tied to nature and family, one must read the Shuo Gua Zhuan.
But the Ten Wings should also be read with an awareness of layers. Not every sentence in the Ten Wings has the same value, the same date, the same author. Some sentences are commentary close to the text, some are independent philosophy, some are records by later people. To read the I Ching while skipping the Ten Wings is to lack depth. To read the Ten Wings while forgetting that it is a multi-layered text easily leads to confusion between the ancient divination layer and the later philosophical layer.
