Title
The textual theme and namesake is hua 化 " transform, change, convert, turn into; (physically) melt, dissolve; digest; incinerate; (individually) change into; metamorphose; take the form of; disguise oneself; (Buddhism) reincarnate; (euphemism) die; pass away". Wenlin interprets this Chinese character, "化 huà depicts a person and a person upside-down. The left side is 亻 (人 rén) 'person'. The right side 匕 was originally 人 upside-down. A person who flips, changes." The closest synonym is bian 變 "change, change into, become; transform; adapt; perform (magic, etc.), and their compound is bianhua 變化 "change; vary, variation; metamorphose; transmute". Two other common hua-compounds are huaxue 化學 (lit. "transformation study") "chemistry" and wenhua 文化 ("literacy transformation") "culture; civilization".
Hua "transformations" are a key topic in the Daoist Zhuangzi. For instance, Victor H. Mair translates it as "evolution" in this context.
Nuncle Scattered and Nuncle Slippery were observing the mounds of the Earl of Darkness in the emptiness of K'unlun where the Yellow Emperor rested. Suddenly a willow began to sprout from Nuncle Slippery's left elbow. He looked startled, as though he resented it."Do you resent it?" asked Nuncle Scattered. "No," said Nuncle Slippery. "Why should I resent it? Our lives are just a borrowed pretext. That which we borrow to maintain our lives is merely so much dust. Life and death alternate like day and night. As you and I were observing evolution, it caught up with me. So why should I resent it? (1994:169)
James D. Sellmann elucidates the Daoist significance of hua.
There is no conclusion, no end, no finish for the Zhuangzi. Things transpose, and keep on changing. Therefore, the compassionate meaning and empathic understanding of "transformation" as it is mentioned in the context of the Zhuangzi encompasses each and every thing – in the natural world and the human world. From this perspective, transformation entails a magnitude of meaning, or "spiritual" dimension (in the sense of "high spirits" or "laughter"). Transformation is not just change of form and shape (bian 變) or a change of things and situations (yi 易), but it also entails a complete renewal of the experience of life's meaning (hua 化). Hua provides a way to move through various shapes or bodily forms within a species and across species to merge with each unique perspective, and to experience a mystical continuity with the particulars of nature. In chapter two of the Zhuangzi, the mystical experience is described in these terms; "heaven and earth were born together with me, and the myriad things and I are one" (5/2/52-53). The way hua is played out in the Zhuangzi is very telling, especially in the context of elaborating on the mystical experience. (1998:170)
This 10th-century Huashu "Book of Transformations", written by Tan Qiao and edited by Song Qiqiu, should be distinguished from a similarly titled 13th-century Daoist text — the Wendi huashu 文帝化書 "Book on the Transformations of Lord Wen" or Zitong dijun huashu 梓潼帝君化書 "Book of Transformations of the Divine Lord of Zitong" (tr. Kleeman 1994). It was supposedly revealed in automatic writing in 1181 and 1194 CE, and details the transformations of Wenchang 文昌, patron deity of the literary arts, also known as Zitong dijun 梓潼帝君.
The English title of the Huashu is usually "Book of Transformations" or "Book of Transformation", but it is also translated "Book of Alternations" (Moeller 2004:151) and "Scripture of Changes" — not to be confused with the Yijing" (Lembert and Schenkel 2002:213). "Book of Transformations" is used in titles of books about the Yijing (Anagarika Govinda 1981) and magic (Marian Green 2001), and "Book of Transformation" in one by the Dalai Lama (2001).
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