I Ching history and background books
Over the past century (practically yesterday in I Ching terms!), there has been a host of exciting discoveries about the origins of the I Ching: the culture behind it, the mythological and historical material it contains. This results in I Ching history books that reach back beyond the origins of the commentary traditions to a different voice - perhaps hard to relate to, especially for people who've grown up in those traditions, but extraordinarily vital, and with great potential for divination that we've scarcely begun to explore.
That same voice can be heard in the poetry of the Shijing, the Book of Songs, which I've also reviewed on this page. Apart from that, this is a mixture of translations and history books, opening up a wealth of stimulating new material. Bring your own creative intuition!
On this shelf
- Women and relationships in the Yijing, Dr Margaret Pearson (Webinar recording and transcript)
- Zhouyi, the Book of Changes, Richard Rutt
- The Mandate of Heaven, S.J.Marshall
- The Book of Songs, trans. Arthur Waley
Women and relationships in the YijingMargaret Pearson |
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This is the recording of a 90-minute web seminar with Dr Margaret Pearson, Associate Professor of Asian History, and author of an upcoming new translation of the Yi. Margaret shared hard-to-find information on the role(s) and status of women in early China, on the history of the concept 'yin', as well as talking us through the translations of several hexagrams. The recording and illustrated transcript are available on CD and for instant download: details and free excerpts here.
Customer review:
"This webinar has the effect of opening a window in a stuffy and dusty ancient Chinese room which has been sealed for thousands of years. Margaret brings twenty-seven years of research into the oldest layers of the Yijing to bear in a bright and understandable way. She is sensitive to the text as both a repository of wisdom and as an Oracle which should be used to the benefit of those who consult it. In this way her talk is easy to follow and her approach is open and tentative.
She explains how the Yijing has changed over the millennia reflecting changes which have taken place in Chinese culture. One of her core themes is that of how the representation of women in the Yijing has changed to a negative image and how in the original layers women were a potent, positive, force in society who brought particular qualities to the time and situation. Margaret gives some wonderful examples of her translation of the text to demonstrate this. Her tests for accuracy being that the translated text should both make sense and be consistent within itself.
The examples she gives and the explanation of how she reached that point in her thinking, brings clarity to some difficult parts of the text. Margaret also demonstrates a model approach to the Yijing which will be helpful to those who either want to study it for its wisdom or to consult it as an Oracle."
Kevin Sheffield, London
Zhouyi, the Book of ChangesRichard Rutt |
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This is a huge, scholarly study of the probable original meanings of the earliest stratum of the I Ching, the Zhouyi. Many of the translations offered here are quite different from the traditional meanings, and it is up to the reader to find the connections. Rutt also includes translations of all the later Wings of the I Ching, but he keeps these separate from the Zhouyi texts. The introduction and notes offer fascinating insights into the lives of the first users (and perhaps the authors) of the I Ching. This book is intended for study rather than divination, but can nonetheless be thoroughly stimulating and interesting to imaginative users of the I Ching.
The Mandate of Heaven: Hidden History in the I ChingS.J.Marshall |
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Tradition says King Wen and his family wrote the Zhouyi. Those rediscovering the roots of the Yi have tended to leave this tradition out of the equation altogether, as if their work superseded it. Meanwhile traditionalists have 'kept the faith' and not taken too much notice of historical discoveries about the text. S.J. Marshall's book bridges the divide. It is a compilation of original research and thought, discovering historical references 'hidden in plain view' within the text itself.
In fact, Wen and his son, King Wu, are historical characters as well as legendary ones: Wu did overthrow the Shang dynasty in about 1000BC, at the time when the Zhouyi was being composed. Marshall's essays interweave the story of this conquest with the almost equally exciting story of how he discovered references to it in the Zhouyi. (Practically my only criticism of this book is in that 'almost'. I didn't feel I needed to know the precise wording of the message he left on an internet bulletin board when researching eclipses.)
Most of the essays are based on the lines and judgements of specific hexagrams. Most of the book is taken up with a discussion of Hexagram 55, Abundance: Marshall maintains (convincingly) that it is the record of an actual eclipse, on June 20th 1070BC. This, he feels, was the omen that transferred the mandate of heaven from the Shang to the Zhou, and he offers new ideas and translations for every line of the hexagram.
These are remarkable discoveries in themselves, but there is much more to the book, including thoughts on Hexagrams 18 (divining the source of an illness), 1 (calling the rain dragon) - and 43, 44, 53, 7, 4… The highlight for me, though, was his account of the original meaning of the title itself, Yi, as the sun breaking out from behind clouds.
Marshall's imagination and enthusiasm, as much as his scrupulous researches, challenge conventional thought on the I Ching from both sides of the history/tradition divide. One of the most satisfying aspects of this book is that Marshall himself knows the I Ching as an oracle, not just as a historical curiosity. As a result, it is a vivid, direct stimulus for anyone interested in working with the I Ching.
The Book of Songstranslated by Arthur Waley, |
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In amongst the many worthy I Ching tomes in my latest box from Amazon is a modest paperback of poetry - and I've been more excited and intrigued by this than by any of the other books. The Shijing is the classic book of songs, just as the Yijing (I Ching) is the classic book of change. These are the songs of the same Zhou people who first used and recorded the I Ching - some a few brief centuries later, but still evoking the same daily lives and beliefs that form the language of its imagery and advice.
It's impossible to read far into the Book of Songs without finding it deepening and changing your understanding of the I Ching. 'De', for instance, that very moral 'virtue' of the Daxiang, was a personal 'magic' that you strengthened with wine. Fish (like the ones in Hexagram 61 and the lines of 44) appear everywhere as signs of great good fortune. The eighth month (as in Hexagram 19) is the time for harvest, for cutting gourds and drying dates.
Then there is the occasional echo that makes you jump. Just one example: Hexagram 63, with its lines about a great Shang king and later Zhou supremacy, has the lines:
'At the beginning good fortune,And Ode 255, where King Wen of the Zhou challenges the Shang, begins:
At the end disorder.'
'Heaven gives birth to the multitudes of the people,
But its charge cannot be counted upon.
To begin well is common;
To end well is rare indeed.'
This is undoubtedly a wonderful resource if you want to make your own discoveries and reach your own conclusions about the roots of the I Ching. It's also an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in its world. But you'll want to pick it up and read it because of the poetry - the love songs especially can be startlingly direct, in celebration or in lament:
'Moon in the east!
This lovely man
Is in my bower,
Is in my bower,
His foot is upon my threshold.'
'If along the highroad
I caught hold of your cuff,
Do not hate me;
Old ways take time to overcome.
If along the highroad
I caught hold of your hand,
Do not be angry with me;
Love takes time to overcome.'
You can get hold of a copy of the Book of Songs in Legge's translation online, along with the Chinese text. But I'd still recommend buying the book! Apart from being easier to browse and read, and a much more evocative, poetic translation, this edition includes valuable notes explaining the rituals, history and traditions behind the poems. There's also a foreword surveying the culture behind the poetry, and a wonderful essay on the 'literary history' of the Shijing, which describes how the classic text coalesced out of oral tradition.
'I climb that bare hill
And look toward where my mother is.
My mother is saying, "Alas, my young one is on service;
Day and night he toils.
Grant that he is being careful of himself,
So that he may come back, and not be cast away." '
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