I Ching

Product Information

Kern, Martin (2010). "Early Chinese literature, Beginnings through Western Han". In Owen, Stephen (ed.). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Volume 1: To 1375. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp.1–115. ISBN 978-0-521-11677-0. One of the earliest versions of the I Ching (called, Zhou I, or Changes of Zhou) was the oracle of the Zhou. It played a role in their overthrow of the Shang dynasty by Zhou King Wu in 1070BCE. An account of Wu's conquest tells of a solar eclipse believed by the King to be an omen from Heaven to march against the Shang. This account has been matched with a solar eclipse that occurred on June 20, 1070BCE. Thus, the earliest layer of the I Ching has been shown to preserve a hidden history that went undetected for three millennia. [5] The Zhou Yi has been called one of the most important sources of Chinese culture. It has influenced fields as varied as mathematics, science, medicine, martial arts, philosophy, history, literature, art, ethics, military affairs and religion. The " TransformedHex" describes the future situation, after the lines have changed, and if you follow the advice the IChing has given. This is followed by a long and interesting exegesis on the spiritual role and poetic image of mountains in the Chinese tradition. It is not difficult to recuperate how thrilling the arrival of the I Ching was both to the avant-gardists, who were emphasizing process over product in art, and to the anti-authoritarian counterculturalists. It brought, not from the soulless West, but from the mysterious East, what Wilhelm called “the seasoned wisdom of thousands of years.” It was an ancient book without an author, a cyclical configuration with no beginning or end, a religious text with neither exotic gods nor priests to whom one must submit, a do-it-yourself divination that required no professional diviner. It was a self-help book for those who wouldn’t be caught reading self-help books, and moreover one that provided an alluring glimpse of one’s personal future. It was, said Bob Dylan, “the only thing that is amazingly true.”

The method of the I Ching does indeed take into accountthe hidden individual quality in things and men, and in one'sown unconscious self as well. I have questioned the I Chingas one questions a person whom one is about to introduce to friends:one asks whether or not it will be agreeable to him. In answerthe I Ching tells me of its religious significance, ofthe fact that at present it is unknown and misjudged, of its hopeof being restored to a place of honor -- this last obviously witha sidelong glance at my as yet unwritten foreword, [9] and aboveall at the English translation. This seems a perfectly understandablereaction, such as one could expect also from a person in a similarsituation.Another important principle examined within the I Ching is how to maintain this energetic vibration of inter-connectedness by encouraging the smooth harmonious flow of Qi within yourself, your life and the world around you. There is no name or word in the West that directly translates the word ‘Qi’. The label that is often used is ‘energy’ and although this is a useful description I think the terms ‘life-force / universal-force’ or ‘love’ are perhaps more holistic and apt in widening your understanding of this profound concept. In a 1965 interview, Bob Dylan stated that the book is "the only thing that is amazingly true, period...besides being a great book to believe in, it's also very fantastic poetry" and in a mid-1970s rendition of his song Idiot Wind he sang "I threw the I-Ching yesterday, it said there might be some thunder at the well." [15] Another tradition about the I Ching was that most of it was written by Tang of Shang. [15] Structure [ edit ] Oracle turtle shell featuring the ancient form ( ) of zhēn ( 貞) "to divine"

My argument as outlined above has of course never entered a Chinesemind. On the contrary, according to the old tradition, it is "spiritualagencies," acting in a mysterious way, that make the yarrowstalks give a meaningful answer. [4] These powers form, as itwere, the living soul of the book. As the latter is thus a sortof animated being, the tradition assumes that one can put questionsto the I Ching and expect to receive intelligent answers. Thus it occurred to me that it might interest the uninitiatedreader to see the I Ching at work. For this purpose Imade an experiment strictly in accordance with the Chinese conception:I personified the book in a sense, asking its judgment about itspresent situation, i.e., my intention to present it to the Westernmind.If the meaning of the Book of Changes were easy to grasp, thework would need no foreword. But this is far from being the case,for there is so much that is obscure about it that Western scholarshave tended to dispose of it as a collection of "magic spells,"either too abstruse to be intelligible, or of no value whatsoever. Legge's translation of the I Ching, up to now the onlyversion available in English, has done little to make the workaccessible to Western minds. [1]Wilhelm, however, has made everyeffort to open the way to an understanding of the symbolism ofthe text. He was in a position to do this because he himselfwas taught the philosophy and the use of the I Ching bythe venerable sage Lao Nai-hsüan; moreover, he had over aperiod of many years put the peculiar technique of the oracleinto practice. His grasp of the living meaning of the text giveshis version of the I Ching a depth of perspective thatan exclusively academic knowledge of Chinese philosophy couldnever provide.