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Book Review: John Minford's I Ching

tacrab

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John Minford's I Ching is a deep exploration of the Book of Changes arranged in one large volume as two translations with commentaries, either of which can be used for consultation. Part One draws from the commentary tradition; Part Two from the original Bronze Age text. This version is deep enough for dedicated students of the book, but quite accessible to newcomers. It is now also available in paperback, audio, and ebook.
I've posted a full review on the Contemplating Change blog.

Barbara
 

bradford

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It has much to recommend it, and some original insights.
But it's hit and miss and shouldn't be used as a sole source.
It's not always true to the Chinese original, and often messes
with the original's grammar. He misses the point entirely on a
significant number of the texts, in part by interpreting from a
perspective of Daojiao or "Religious" Daoism.
Still worth having if you want a decent collection.
 
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wild bergamot

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I liked Minford's introduction as well. It covers a broad sweep of the Yi's history starting from the Shang divination rites in a short space. His bronze age text isn't very different from Richard Rutt's, but his commentary on the text can be very interesting. I do agree in a way with Bradford that it can be hit or miss though. Maybe that's inevitable when you have so much text. It's a huge book.

Thanks Barbara for mentioning the online text in your blog post. I didn't know about it.

One thing I'd emphasize is the sometimes tremendous difference between the classical and bronze age texts. It's odd because sometimes they are almost identical, and then sometimes the difference is like night and day. I guess at least the hexagrams dealing with sacrifice may have received a serious do-over by the classicals.
 

Liselle

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hilary

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Superb. We can never have too many footnotes.
 

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