![]() ![]() Based on a comparison of the language of the Zhou yi with dated bronze inscriptions, the American sinologist Edward Shaughnessy dated its compilation in its current form to the early decades of the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, in the last quarter of the 9th century BC. Various modern scholars suggest dates ranging between the 10th and 4th centuries BC for the assembly of the text in approximately its current form. The core of the I Chingis a Western Zhou divination text called the Changes of Zhou ( 周易 Zhōu yì). The Arabic numerals were added by Leibniz. ![]() The hexagrams themselves have often acquired cosmological significance and been paralleled with many other traditional names for the processes of change such as yin and yang and Wu Xing.Ī diagram of I Ching hexagrams sent to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz from Joachim Bouvet. The interpretation of the readings found in the I Ching is a matter of centuries’ debate, and many commentators have used the book symbolically, often to provide guidance for moral decision making as informed by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Six numbers between 6 and 9 are turned into a hexagram, which can then be looked up in the text, in which hexagrams arranged in an order known as the King Wen sequence. The I Ching is used in a type of divination called cleromancy, which uses apparently random numbers. After becoming part of the Five Classics in the 2nd century BC, the I Ching was the subject of scholarly commentary and the basis for divination practice for centuries across the Far East, and eventually took on an influential role in Western understanding of Eastern thought. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou period (1000–750 BC), over the course of the Warring States period and early imperial period (500–200 BC) it was transformed into a cosmological text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the “Ten Wings”. With more than two and a half millennia’s worth of commentary and interpretation, the I Ching is an influential text read throughout the world, providing inspiration to the worlds of religion, philosophy, literature, and art. I might be able to explain more if anyone has questions or objections but I thought it was a more satisfying way to look at it, for me at least.The I Ching or Yi Jing ( 易經 Yìjīng) usually translated as Book of Changes or Classic of Changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text and among the oldest of the Chinese classics. It is not This leading into That, but rather a kind of subject object relationship. So, I would be happy to hear other opinions but it seems clear to me that this reading gives the impression that the changing hexagram outlines the "stage" of action in which the user can have influence or makes choices, while the resultant hexagram outlines the unchangeable nature or facticity of the situation or time. My interpretation is that it is an apparent manifestation of substance which seems spontaneous (or wonderful) and yet is only a result (only a Grace or Adornment), the real driver of this thing is a deeper truth. < This resultant hexagram has always been difficult for me - Wilhelm calls it Grace, while Minford calls it Adornment - but they kind of mean the same thing. This is Yang in the second place - The axle is removed from the carriage - there is a stoppage, no work is possible here. What is the nature of the resultant hexagram? This is Yin in the third place - Increase through misfortune. What is the nature of the changing hexagram? But, a lot of readings only made sense when the resultant hexagram "occurred" or existed prior to or alongside the changing line - in terms of a conventional timeline. ![]() I had, maybe incorrectly, had the impression that the resultant hexagram was "supposed" to always happen after the changing hexagram. One thing in particular had irritated me for a while, however. I would highly recommend this version as it contains interpretations from a specifically Taoist practitioner perspective (inner-alchemy, working with yin and yang within the self). ![]() I used the Wilhelm version for a while but several months ago obtained the John Minford translation. I have been reading for a long time but began to engage in practice regularly the past year or two. Hello - I just wanted to share a perspective that eliminated some frustration I was having in reading I Ching. ![]()
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