Yi King - I Ching - The Book of Changes

Confucius 孔子

Lu par Geoffrey Edwards

The Book of Changes (Traditional: 易經; Simplified: 易经; Legge: Yî King, Wade-Giles: I Ching; Pīnyīn: Yìjīng; Bopomofo: ㄧˋㄐㄧㄥ; Korean: 역경; Japanese: 易経; Vietnamese: Kinh Dịch)

Fúxī (伏羲), King Tāng of Shāng (商湯), King Wén of Zhōu (周文王), his son the Duke of Zhōu (周公旦), and Confucius (孔子) have traditionally been credited as the originators of the trigrams (八卦 bāguà), hexagrams (卦 guà), hexagram statements (彖 tuàn), line statements (爻辭 yáocí), and Ten Wings (十翼) commentaries.

"The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered." — Carl Jung

Different combinations of three yang (⚊) and yin (⚋) lines create the eight trigrams, namely:

☰ (乾 Qián Heaven, the sky. S. Untiring strength; power.) or (Father. NW)
☱ (兌 Duì Lake, or marsh. Collected water. SE. Pleasure; complacent satisfaction.) or (Youngest daughter. W)
☲ (離 Lí Fire, as in lightning; the sun. E. Brightness; elegance.) or (Second daughter. S)
☳ (震 Zhèn Thunder. NE. Moving, exciting power.) or (Oldest son. E)
☴ (巽 Xùn Wind; wood. SW. Flexibility; penetration.) or (Oldest daughter. SE)
☵ (坎 Kǎn Water, as in rain, clouds, springs, streams, and defiles. The moon. NW. Peril; difficulty.) or (Second son. N)
☶ (艮 Gèn Hills, or mountains. NW. Resting; the act of arresting.) or (Youngest son. NE)
☷ (坤 Kūn The Earth. N. Capaciousness; submission.) or (Mother. SW)

When three lines are added to a trigram the resultant pairs of trigrams constitute the sixty-four hexagrams. The lower trigram is called 'the inner,' and the one above 'the outer.' The lines are numbered from one to six, commencing with the lowest. To denote the number of it and of the sixth line, the terms for 'commencing' and 'topmost' are used. The intermediate lines are simply 'second,' 'third,' &c. As the lines must be either whole or divided, technically called strong and weak, yang and yin, this distinction is indicated by the application to them of the numbers nine and six. All whole lines are nine, all divided lines, six.

The Book of Changes is included as one of the Five Classics (五經) of the Confucian canon and Confucius said, "If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yì, and might then escape falling into great errors." (Analects, VII.16)

Scottish translator James Legge was a Hong Kong missionary, Non-Conformist Pastor of the English Union Church, and the first professor of Chinese studies at Oxford University. The original manuscript of his translation was nearly destroyed after being soaked in the Red Sea for a month.

Cover: Leftmost Guardian of the Yî by cartoonist Robin Bougie (2024), released by him into the public domain.

Special thanks to Lancy (王欣兰), a graduate student at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, for her help with Chinese pronunciation.

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