A Treatise on the Changes by Baibai, in sixteen volumes. Written by Ye Shan of the Ming dynasty. Ye Shan's courtesy name was Baibai; his place of origin is unknown. According to the author's own preface, he began studying the Book of Changes at the age of ten, and ten years later was able to surpass the language of scholars. In 1543, the twenty-second year of the Jiajing reign, he read Yang Chengzhai's (Wanli's) Treatise on the Changes at Lutian Hermitage. He then wrote his own Treatise on the Changes by Baibai in sixteen volumes. However, it was an unfinished draft, which Ye revised repeatedly. This is evidenced by two prefaces titled Preface to the Revised Treatise on the Changes and one titled Preface to the Revised and Transcribed Treatise on the Changes. He completed the final draft and made a clean copy in 1560, the thirty-ninth year of the Jiajing reign, and stored it in a stone chest, demonstrating his meticulous approach to scholarship. This book offers interpretations only of the hexagram statements and line statements of the sixty-four hexagrams, and does not address the Ten Wings, including the Tuan, the Images, and the Wenyan. Its overall approach is based on Chengzhai's Treatise on the Changes, drawing on historical and philosophical works and supporting its arguments with wide-ranging discussion. In essence, it uses the Changes to discuss human affairs, rather than focusing solely on the meaning of the classics. Its format first presents the original text of each hexagram statement and line statement, followed by an explanation introduced with the words, "Ye says." The General Catalogue of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries remarks that the book's teachings "often serve to illuminate models of conduct and cautionary lessons."
An edition is included in the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries.
