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I Ching

I Ching Community: Yes – No answers

A very interesting question, this: can Yi answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Is it a good idea to ask ‘yes’/’no’ questions? If not, why not? I Ching Community: Yes – No answers

Chu Hsi and Divination

Joseph Adler’s fascinating article, Chu Hsi and Divination, is available free online. This small excerpt will show why I’m recommending it: After one had ascertained the intended meaning, according to Chu, a certain subjective involvement with the text is necessary for full understanding. One must extend one’s mind into the… Read more »Chu Hsi and Divination

The non-people of Hexagram 12

‘Obstructing it, non-people.
No harvest in noble one’s constancy.
Great goes, small comes.’

The ‘usual’ interpretation of the Judgement of Hexagram 12 is that there are bad people at work, dominating the environment, sabotaging the noble one’s good efforts. And sometimes, indeed, it can mean exactly that – in particular, that someone is promoting malicious rumours. But in my experience of hexagram 12, this isn’t always – or even usually – the case.

Some translations offer an alternative perspective. James Legge writes of ‘the want of good understanding between men’; Thomas Cleary, in his Taoist I Ching, has ‘denial of humanity’. The Obstruction isn’t necessarily caused by the presence of bad people, but by people denying one anothers’ humanity.

Easy ways to get into the reviewing habit

So your readings represent a priceless resource, and reviewing them is an extremely good idea. Of course, you’re more likely to get the opportunity to do so if your reading is recorded somewhere you can find it.