Zhou Wenwang is undoubtedly the most important link in the formation of Zhouyi. According to Sima Qian's records in Historical Records, in the last years of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wenwang practiced benevolent government widely, and people from far and near fled to the country, so the Zhou Dynasty became increasingly prosperous. However, all this aroused Shang Zhouwang's suspicion. Soon, Shang Zhouwang imprisoned Zhou Wenwang in prison and killed his eldest son, Bo Yikao.
During his seven years in prison, Zhou Wenwang didn't sink into despair, but devoted himself to the interpretation of the heaven and earth avenue left by Fuxi, and turned it into sixty-four hexagrams from the gossip of the former. At the same time, Zhou Wenwang integrated his understanding of the general trend of the world into it, thus promoting the performance of the oldest Book of Changes. This is the story of "King Wen was arrested and beaten in Zhouyi".
The original Book of Changes mainly reflects Zhou Wenwang's virtue and thought of self-cultivation and governing the country. Hundreds of years later, out of admiration and nostalgia, Confucius in his later years was the most obsessed with the Book of Changes, and he was tireless, even "Wei compiled three unique works". That is to say, Confucius loved the Book of Changes so much that even the string of cooked cowhide was worn off three times. Finally, Confucius and his later works explaining the Book of Changes formed the Book of Changes, which became an important part of the Book of Changes.
After Confucius wrote the Book of Changes, the Book of Changes was also regarded as a classic by Confucianism and became one of the main bases for scientific research in later generations. After the Han Dynasty, the Book of Changes, while retaining its original divination function, has also been fully developed and evolved in philosophy, and finally became a philosophical classic of governing the country and cultivating self-cultivation. It is precisely because of this that Zhouyi was blessed by the emperors of the Han Dynasty and was honored as the head of the Five Classics and the source of the avenue.
In the Song Dynasty, the study of Zhouyi reached its peak again. At that time, many Confucian sages had a strong interest in Zhouyi and achieved fruitful results. For example, Shao Yong founded a school of Neo-Confucianism called "innate learning" according to the explanation of the formation of gossip in Yi Zhuan.
Zhou Dunyi put forward a systematic theory of universe composition, Tai Chi Tu Shuo, based on Taoism. Cheng Yi's interpretation of the Book of Changes in the Biography of the Book of Changes provides new ideas for later scholars. Zhu deeply discussed the core concepts of Yin and Yang in the Book of Changes, and revealed the law of unity of opposites.