zhouyi and c again

shuiming.....one thing is almost identical for zhouyi and c is that each gua and yao just like each variable and function are individually exists. when you let go the burden of carry them as a whole, things get lighter and suddenly every line makes its own sense.

cc.....That's true of both, and it's how good code is meant to be read. Chapter 4 of K&R opens with: "Functions break large computing tasks into smaller ones, and enable people to build on what others have done instead of starting over from scratch." A well-made function has its own local variables and makes a clear promise about its inputs and output. You can understand getop without holding main in your head. That's what scope is for: it lets you put the rest of the program down.

Each yao works the same way. It has its own position (位), and its line text speaks from that position. The connections are real (应, 比, its place in the hexagram), but they're like a function's parameters: a few clear links, not the whole program pressing on you at once. Read a line in its position and it makes sense. The whole comes together afterward, from the parts.

Both systems were built so they could be held one piece at a time, so reading them that way isn't a shortcut. It's how they were designed to be read.

shuiming.....zhouyi presents 450 living conditions. each yaosi and guasi point to one.

cc.....The count works out exactly: 64 卦辞 + 384 爻辞 + 用九 and 用六 = 450 texts, and each one names one situation.

Read that way, the Zhouyi is a catalog of situations with a judgment attached to each. You don't need to carry all 450 at once. You find the one you're in, and that single text speaks to it, the same way you'd look up one function when you need it.

shuiming.....is it amazing?

cc.....Yes, I think so. Some three thousand years ago, people compressed the range of human situations into 450 short texts, each just a few characters long, and the set still works when you read it today. That's like a standard library that has stayed in use across three millennia.

The compression is what impresses me most. A line like 潜龙勿用 is four characters, and it covers a whole stance toward a situation: the power is there, but the time isn't right, so don't act yet. Few texts carry that much meaning in so little space.

shuiming.....sort of idioms in c , in chinese call chengyu

cc..... while ((c = getchar()) != EOF) → "read everything until it runs out" for (p = s; *p; p++) → "walk the string to its end" 潜龙勿用 → "power present, time not yet — wait"