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Getting written

There’s something about writing on the Yijing – it’s not like other books, that just sit there mutely and allow themselves to be translated. I think people who’ve worked through the hexagram-by-hexagram threads over the years have had similar experiences, as the line of the day just happens to show… Read more »Getting written

Pounding the drum

Hexagram 14, Great Possession, says at line 4, 匪其彭。无咎。 – Not your (or its) peng, no mistake. Peng means power and dominance – Wu Jing Nuan translates with his usual succinctness, ‘Not his to be strong’  – and the old character shows a drum with three strokes next to it, perhaps… Read more »Pounding the drum

Yi, or the Yi

A while ago, I received an email politely suggesting I stop referring to the Yi simply as ‘Yi’ without an article. The writer maintained that since the oracle is ‘not a person’, it would be better not to give it a ‘pet name’; this was not good English usage when… Read more »Yi, or the Yi

Lasting

For some reason, working through the lines of hexagram 32 recently took much longer than any other hexagram had done… 😉 I did find, looking through threads about it at the forum, that other people find it hard, too. Especially, it’s puzzling how a hexagram that describes something essentially positive… Read more »Lasting