本文從討論所謂數字卦材料的混亂名稱與概念入手，對這一古代筮占材料的若干基本問題進行了再考察。以近年所出的大量考古發現為依據，作者認為：一、儘管數字卦與《周易》有關，但《周易》並非中國古代唯一的筮占體系，數字卦未必就是《周易》的經卦或別卦；二、數字卦可以是古代實占所得的筮數，也可以是代表筮數的卦畫；三、數字卦反映了中國古代筮占的多元發展及其不成熟的發展狀況，不僅增加了我們關於中國古代筮占的知識，同時也要求我們進一步研究其不同的體系；四、某些數字卦材料為《周易》六十四卦的重卦說提供了證據；五、數字卦材料或可為探討包括早期《周易》卦名在內的古代卦名的來源提供線索，這些卦名材料同時也是考察不同的數字卦體系的線索；六、數字卦中的覆卦的材料，對於理解數字卦與《周易》的關係至關重要；如果數字卦中的覆卦材料源出《周易》或《周易》的早期形式，學術界對於《周易》的時代、成書以及數字卦的性質等一系列重大問題的傳統認識將面臨嚴峻挑戰。

Starting from and examination of the confusing names and concepts currently used for the so-called shuzi gua or numerical allograms, this article reconsiders several fundamental issues in the early numerical divinatory material. Supported by extensive evidence form recent archaeological discoveries, this author argues that (1) although the numerical allograms are related to the Zhouyi or the Book of Changes, they are not necessarily the trigrams or hexagrams of the Zhouyi since the Zhouyi is not the only divinatory system in early China; (2) the numerical allograms could be either actual numbers obtained from early divinatory practices or allogram pictures representing those numbers; (3) the numerical allograms reflect a multivariate and immature development of early Chinese divination thus both greatly enrich our knowledge of early Chinese divination and request our further research on its various sub-traditions; (4) some numerical allograms provide evidence supporting the theory of duel trigrams, chonggua, on the formation of the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi; (5) the numerical allogram material may provide clues for both the origins of allogram names, including early hexagram names of the Zhouyi, and the examination of different numerical allogram subsystems; and (6) the evidence of inverted hexagrams, fugua, in the numerical allograms is critical to the understanding of the relationship between the numerical allograms and the Zhouyi; in particular, if the inverted hexagrams of the numerical hexagrams originated from the Zhouyi or the early forms of the Zhouyi, it would seriously challenge the conventional understandings of the data and composition of the Zhouyi, the nature of the numerical allograms and a series of important issues in the field.