However, Van Ess writes in his book Der Konfuzianismus that the I Ching is actually the font from which the Confucian school springs, and the cosmic order it describes is the source of that strict system of hierarchical relationships.
話雖如此，葉翰教授在他前年出版的《儒學》一書中提到，《易經》其實正是儒家思想最原始的源頭。因為《易經》裡的「天地君親」各就其位有條不紊，實際上就是儒家強調的君臣父子，長幼有序。