A textual research on the character in the bamboo slips manuscript Zhouyi of the Warring States period

Through a textual research on the hexagram and character of 字 in the bamboo slips manuscript Zhouyi colleeted by Shanghai Museum,this paper proves the original meaning of the character 需 as the name of a hexagram and those 需 appeared in the remarks affiliated to the hexagram is similar to the meaning defined by Xu Gua, Orderly Sequence of the Hexagrams, i. e. nourishment, more exactly, nourishment of goodness. Both character 襦 appeared in the silk manuscript Zhouyi and 嬬 appeared in the silk manuscript Yi Zhi Yi, a chapter of the Commentaries copied on silk, are variants of 需, while the configuration and meanings of the hexagram are not derived from its image.