On 25th of May, a public lecture "The Book of Changes (Yìjīng) in Chinese Taoism" was held at the Confucius Institute of Vilnius University, delivered by Associate Prof. Loreta Poškaitė. The lecture presented one of the oldest, most universal and still relevant Chinese wisdom texts - the Book of Changes (Yìjīng) and its connection with the Taoist religion.
At the beginning of the lecture, the Associate Professor introduced the Book of Changes and its first interpretations in Western sinology studies. It was explained why the connection between the Yìjīng and Taoism is often overlooked, but is in fact very important for the study of Taoist inner alchemy, concepts of cosmos and destiny, and various ritual practices. According to the lecturer, although the Book of Changes (Yìjīng) is often regarded as the text of the common Chinese worldview, the relationship between human beings and the cosmos, encoded in its open to interpretation 64 hexagrams is of particular importance to Daoists. The following section discusses the concepts of fate and nature, which are closely linked to the cosmos. The Book of Changes here plays the role of a book of divination. The Yìjīng can be a tool for the fusion of man and the cosmos, and knowledge of the changes encoded in its hexagrams can help one to solve future problems and thus control one's destiny. The speaker also introduced the concept of the elixir of immortality in Taoism, which is close to the concepts of fate and nature. Here, she highlighted the main points and organs of the human body that are involved in the production of the elixir, thus underlining the close relationship between Taoist alchemy and traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, the lecture covered the concepts of precelestial and postcelestial states, the meaning of the true nature of the Dào, the use of the Book of Changes (Yìjīng) in both ancient and modern Daoist rituals, etc. Lecture was concluded by highlighting that the Book of Changes is not only a Confucian or general Chinese cultural text, but also an important source for the interpretation of Daoist rituals, concepts, cosmology and practices.