The I Ching: Or Book of Changes Author: Richard Wilhelm | Language: English | ISBN:
0140192077 | Format: EPUB
The I Ching: Or Book of Changes Description
Amazon.com Review
More than just a translation, Richard Wilhelm's
I Ching is a profound introduction to the Chinese world-view. The
I Ching (
Yi Jing) is recognized by both Confucians and Taoists as a foundational work, and Wilhelm shows why. He separates his work into three books. The first book is about the hexagrams--the meanings of the lines and Wilhelm's extensive comments. The second presents two early commentaries that interpret the wisdom of the divinatory text, also with Wilhelm's helpful notes. And the third book takes us back to the hexagrams for more detailed commentary from both ancient Chinese thinkers and Wilhelm. Wilhelm is able to offer such enormous assistance because he spent the better part of a decade in China studying under classically trained scholars. His love for the work is thus as broad as his understanding.
The I Ching was originally used for divination, kind of like palm reading or interpreting the stars. It differs from simple prognostication, however, in that it demands us, as diviners, to cultivate an understanding of the world and ourselves. Without this understanding, the text is useless, hence the value of the commentaries, particularly Wilhelm's. This version is not without its biases, of course--it is a European's understanding of the I Ching, through a late-Qing dynasty Confucian perspective, translated into English by a Jungian psychoanalyst. Nonetheless, it succeeds like no other. --Brian Bruya --This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
"Princeton's Bollingen edition--still regarded as the best and most authentic by
I Ching aficionados."--
The New York Times Book Review
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
- Series: Arkana
- Paperback: 816 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK) (June 29, 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140192077
- ISBN-13: 978-0140192070
- Product Dimensions: 5 x 7.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
...and all individual beings flow into their forms." The I Ching is a book in that it has pages and printed text, but it is also an actual, living oracle, with its roots in antiquity and fresh leaves emerging every spring. It can tell you how you are doing, where you are headed if you continue in this way, and what you might do to change the course of your destiny if you don't like the results. I have had a deep relationship -- and that is precisely what it becomes -- with this book for almost 30 years, and it has never betrayed me. I have thrown it across the room in anger; I have approached it, trembling, on my knees, with my most profound existential fears and questions; I have wept with relief, or shivered with guilt at its answers and advice. It has seen through my confusion, stroked my forehead, slapped my cheek, poked me in the ribs. It has been kind or cold, bestowed blessings or blame, as was deemed cosmically necessary. It will reward even the casual visitor with wisdom and a way to be happier and more successful in this life.
I have heard many complaints about this particular edition of the I Ching. Apparantly, some people feel that it is "muddy," or encrusted somehow with the translator's limitations. However, I have read or used more than ten other versions, and the Wilhelm/Baynes remains the benchmark for them all. They all rest on a knowledge of the Wilhelm/Baynes version to provide the screen upon which their translation is projected. None are so thorough, and none provide the glorious, exalted poetry of the original. For example, Confucius says of one of the lines in the 13th hexagram, Fellowship with Men:
"Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings. Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again.
The I Ching: Or Book of Changes Preview
Link
Please Wait...