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New integrated Zhou Yi and Forest of Changes Available

C

cjgait

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I have published a radically new version of the Forest of Changes (Jiao Shi Yi Lin).

The trouble with the Forest has always been that it has many duplicates and the omens did not line up with the theme and favorability levels of the Zhou Yi texts. I have attempted a repair. My new book has s complete version of the Zhou Yi (the core hexagram and line texts, but not the Images and other Wings). Attached to each text of the Yi is three Forest of Changes verses. This division tries to lay out the three basic content layers of the text, one part intended for traveling merchants, another for farmers and shamans and the last for the nobility and scholars. Each hexagram also has an All Lines Change text drawn from the Forest.

I have based my Yi translation on the oldest available sources and tried to get close to its original use as a manual for nobles of the Zhou Clan. The book was built over the years as a way to determine the efficacy of ritual actions, including sacrifices to the Ancestors, marriages, ritual hunts and going to war. I have chosen not to include the modern interpretation of the text reflected in most popular versions of the Yi. I feel the individual can use as many versions as they like to help them understand the situation about which they are consulting, and I recommend Jack Balkin's Laws of Change as an outstanding version of the Yi for personal use. Essentially I included my version of the Yi in this text as a handy way to have it available as you use the Forest of Changes. You may actually want to limit the realm you are asking about before consulting, thus getting only one Forest verse instead of three. In this case I am selling the book so I look to the Merchant and Traveler verse. I have been disappointed at the lack of initial sales and the text points out that profit isn't important, it's all about getting others involved in using the Forest now that it is repaired. This version of the work is for diviners. It carries over the footnotes from my full translation of the Forest, but drops out the verse numbers to avoid confusion. This makes it a work differing from the both the Yi and the Forest in its composition.

https://www.amazon.com/Forest-Chang...27578&sprefix=forest+of+changes,aps,48&sr=8-3

Here is a randomly drawn reading about putting this post up as a text example:

I received 17 becomes 52. I use the Nanjing method to focus on one text. That is the nine in the fifth line. As it happens it is a line with minimal commentary on the Yi verse. I have included the Judgment text for 17 as well with its commentary as an example.

From the Forest of Changes Yi Jing:

Line 5​


Zhou Yi:​


Nine in the Fifth.

Using prisoners in the sacrifice to parents.

Good fortune.



The 嘉 Jia sacrifice was offered to a noble’s deceased parents.


Merchant/Traveler​

Losing the precious jade and the deer,

Not knowing where they have gone.[1]

Letting go of profits avoids misfortune and is a blessing for us all.

A time of sweet rain falling,

Years of plenty and good harvests.


Farmer/Shaman​


Offering a maiden to the God of the Yellow River,

A girl of the Eastern Mountain clan,

Three days after the wedding,

The clouds blow in and the rain pours down.

The dew is upon our grass,

And the myriad families receive the blessing.[2]

Noble/Scholar

The sage Shun loved the Spirits,

Venerating them with kindness as if to parents.

Reverently serving at the ancestral temple,

Even if they were angry, he observed the due rites,

Restoring our ritual propriety.


[1] Literally ‘where they are submerged’. Some commentators associate this verse with the Book of Songs, Mao 192:

The fish are in the pond,
But they cannot enjoy themselves.
Although they dive to the bottom,
They are very clearly seen.
My sorry heart is deeply pained,
When I think of the oppression in the kingdom.

[2] In contrast to the negative accounts of local officials offering maidens to the river god by drowning in the Shi Ji and other sources, this verse seems to approve of the practice and promises a good outcome. This puts the verse outside the Confucian tradition of humanitarian altruism which fought against human sacrifice and the burial of the living with the dead.

The Judgment text for 17. Note the quirky synchronicity. I got 17 changing to 52, the commentary mentions an instance of a noble getting 52 changing to 17.

Hexagram 17 Pursuit/The Chase/Following​


Judgment

Zhou Yi:​


Following.

Great offering.

Beneficial to divine.

No disaster.


This is a hexagram of serving and following, but also of warfare and sacrifice. The alternate name of it is pursuit. The contrast between this hexagram and the hexagram of Corruption that follows is interesting. Here we see images of youth and age counterpoised in selecting among prisoners to sacrifice. We also find an interesting contrast between this hexagram, which is considered a good omen when received in divination, and Hexagram 54. Here we have the trigram of the eldest son below that of the youngest daughter. In Hexagram 54 we have the opposite, the eldest son above the youngest daughter, and the result is the hexagram of divorce, a bad omen.

The contrast of ‘good and bad’ hexagrams should always be kept in context. One instance in which this hexagram was seen in history was when the disgraced wife of Lord Xuan of Lu divines in exile, asking if she will ever return home (Zuo Traditions, Xiang 9.3(3)). She receives Hexagram 52 becoming Hexagram 17. The diviner she employed proclaimed that she would return home based on this good omen. But she disagreed, going through the divining tags of the two hexagrams one by one and contrasting their good qualities with the bad things she did in her life, concluding with: “Since I have taken up evil, how can there be ‘no blame’? I am sure to die here. I will not be able to leave”. And indeed she did die in exile. This example is one of the most interesting divination records found in the Zuo Traditions and Guo Yu. It calls us to always remember that context is key. We all are given our roles to play in life, and what applies to the hero may not be a good fit for the villain of the piece.

The Mawangdui Yi Jing on Silk has a different character for this hexagram name, with the same sound (a homophone). The meaning of that character is to fall or be exhausted, it is also the name of a sacrifice. Scholars consider it a substitute for the modern character meaning following. The images shown here are of prisoners being led to a sacrifice. Some are spared and some released in the course of the line texts. It is a positive text, though ‘no blame’ means there is something that has been corrected.

In the Fuyang fragments of the Yi this is an omen for a sick person.

Merchant/Traveler​


Autumn is of the East and Summer of the South,

Following the path of the Sun attains merit,

And brings profit with it in due course.

Farmer/Shaman

Qian produces the sage,

Kun makes a wise woman.[1]

A harmonious partnering that brings all to completion.

Thus is long life attained.

Noble/Scholar

Eldest son meets youngest daughter,

They laugh and chat together.

Joyously offering the sacrifice,[2]

Full of peace and happiness.

[1] A reference to the trigrams of the Yi Jing, the Creative and the Yielding, or Heaven and Earth, the male and female principles of early Chinese cosmology.
[2] It is unclear what sacrifice is intended, but it was part of the marriage rite in early China for the new bride of a noble to prepare the sacrifice in the shrine of her new husband.
 

charly

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Hi Chris:

Congratulations, be with luck.
And do'n forget to grab the cash!!!
index.php


All the best!

Charly
 

IrfanK

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Hi Chris! How fascinating! I'd never even heard of this Forest of Changes until I saw this post. I looked at the blurb for this new book and the previous one on Amazon. Sigh. At the moment, because of my location, I'm limited to kindle ebooks, and your new book isn't (yet) available in that form, although the old one is. I made some kind of vow not to buy any more books on the Yijing and just to work with what I've got, but I can feel my resolution slipping.

Any plans to release the new one in ebook format?

Thanks and good luck with it!
 
C

cjgait

Guest
Hi Chris! How fascinating! I'd never even heard of this Forest of Changes until I saw this post. I looked at the blurb for this new book and the previous one on Amazon. Sigh. At the moment, because of my location, I'm limited to kindle ebooks, and your new book isn't (yet) available in that form, although the old one is. I made some kind of vow not to buy any more books on the Yijing and just to work with what I've got, but I can feel my resolution slipping.

Any plans to release the new one in ebook format?

Thanks and good luck with it!
Glad to hear you find it of interest and yes, I do plan to bring out an ebook version in future.
 

Clarity,
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