I Ching books

The choice

The modern I Ching enthusiast faces a bewildering plethora of I Ching books - search on I Ching at the top internet bookseller Amazon.com (or their UK shop), and you'll see what I mean. And your choice of translation is absolutely critical.

Is it a real translation?

Tip: beware of the words 'modernisation' and 'simplification'. The I Ching has been helping people for some 3 millennia; this leads some authors to conclude that it must need rewriting. Instead of the real imagery of the I Ching, rich, evocative and versatile, they give you their own explanations of it.

Don't misunderstand me - I'd strongly recommend that you use a good commentary alongside your translation, to get your own ideas flowing. But you can't get to know the I Ching through commentaries and paraphrases alone.

After all, how can the I Ching speak to you if its words are taken away? A single image contains a great concentration of significance, and can be understood on many levels at once – there are always new depths of meaning to be uncovered. Every time you ask the I Ching a question, you create a unique relationship between your question and its answer, and a unique set of meanings. Even when you’ve already received exactly the ‘same’ answer several times in response to other questions, you will find that this one is new. But if you’re stuck with someone else’s ‘one size fits all’ interpretation, this creative interaction never takes place.

How can you recognise a real translation? You need to check to see the original imagery is still there. Hexagram 48 is about a Well, Hexagram 10 describes walking behind a tiger, the clouds from the west are not yet raining in Hexagram 9... and so on. If these are missing, someone has decided that they already know what the images mean to you. There should also be helpful comments from the author on the original texts, but make sure you can see clearly which is which.

Is it complete?

The full I Ching includes the original Zhouyi, and also the '10 Wings' of later commentary. Very, very few modern translations include all of these. In fact, they may have a point - you can perform perfectly good divinations without the more metaphysical of these commentaries, especially if they are replaced by insightful interpretations from the modern author. But it is good to have the option of reading the complete book.

The only translations I know of that include every Wing are Wilhelm's, Richard John Lynn's, Richard Rutt's, and Wu Jing Nuan's. Also, if you buy one of my favourite I Chings, the Complete Translation with Concordance by Stephen Karcher, and combine it with his poetic Ta Chuan and Shuogua, then you pretty much have a complete version.

Is it for you?

Naturally, this isn't something anyone else can tell you. However, in every I Ching Bookstore review, I've suggested what kind of reader might find this book useful. Don't be too captivated by the myriad versions entitled 'the I Ching for...' (lovers, business, relationships, magicians, lop-eared rabbit owners...). The I Ching is already 'for' everything and everyone: what you need is a real translation that enables you to connect with it. Then the work of different commentators will help you to understand its many different applications.

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If you possibly can, do try to get more than one version. Even between faithful translations of the I Ching, there are enormous differences in meaning, especially in the oldest parts of the text. This is because the Chinese characters do not work in the same way as English words. The same character can be a verb, noun or adverb; it could be the object or subject of a verb. There’s practically no punctuation, and the translator’s choice of where to insert a comma can change the meaning completely. Having a second translation does more than just give you alternative versions to choose between. It liberates you from the ideas of any translator, so you can begin to develop your own, personal understanding.

I Ching Bookstore

This is a very select collection of I Ching books: I've bought every one myself, used it and found it helpful. Books I don't like, or that I just don't own (yet!) are not included.

Most of these books are available through Amazon. Their website is full of information and reviews and very enjoyable to browse... if the book you want is in print, they have it... and your new books arrive on your doorstep when Amazon say they will... What more could we ask for?

There are also a few ebooks and audio recordings that you can also order online.

On each 'shelf' of the bookstore, you'll see three links to Amazon websites by each book:

Amazon.com:
Amazon.co.uk:
Amazon.ca:

Just click on your national flag (or the one for the nearest store) to get the book.

The bookshelves