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Your most useful (and used) Yi translations & resources

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Freedda

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I am curious to know, which Yi translations and other resources do people find most useful?

For the sake of keeping this manageable, please list up to 4 of your most useful translations, and then up to 3 other Yi resources, such as web sites, or reference books about the Yi, or your tarot deck ... And then, if you want, tell us very briefly what you like about them.

I will start - for Yi translations, I like versions by :

Bradford Hatcher (2 volumes)
Hillary Barrett
Richard Wilhelm
Nigel Richmond

I like Bradford's version, in part, because it seems free of agendas, such as making the Yi be Taoist, or Buddhist, or Shamanistic, or simplistic ... His commentaries shed light on the gua meanings without saying, 'this gua means ....' And along with the main translation, there is information on a huge variety of Yi topics: lines, trigrams, pairs, sequences, the 'matrix' (word for word) translation, and glossary.

In particular I like the questions Hilary offers for each Hexagram. They offer a simple way to open doors to meanings, but not by providing answers. I like too that her commentaries are plain-spoken and accessible.

I don't always agree with Wilhelm, but I find he is often helpful to generate meanings... even if it's "so, that's what the Taoist may have thought, but ... maybe ... "

Nigel Richmond - I know many think he was quirky and out there, but sometimes his take on things is spot on! I will often go here if other translations don't make sense to me, or when I need to spur on my 'out of the box' thinking about what is possible.

For resources:
Bradford Hatcher's Yijing Hexagram Names and Core Meanings from his website.

Harmen Mesker's YouTube channel, which he titles Yi Tube

I use Bradford's 'Names and Core Meanings' almost every time I do a reading; I find a great deal of meaning in the gua names he lists, along with the key words and his notes. For me, they are CliffNotes for the Yi - and I mean that in a very, very good way!

I like Harmen's approach to using trigrams, but also his take on many things that some people hold sacred, such as a particular way of consulting the Yi being better than another, or having a 'proper mindset' in order to consult the Yi.

Well, I hope that gets things going. Best, David.
 
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tacrab

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My favorites change somewhat over time...so many new books and resources in recent decades.

Translations:

Wilhelm (like studying with a master teacher), Field (for new ideas), Rutt (for texture of original language), Anthony Guide to I Ching (for contemporary ideas), Hilary Barrett, Wang Bi, and others. So much depends on your interest areas.

Resources:

Biroco's Yijing Dao Is worth spending a few weeks exploring. Lots of information and reviews, hard-to-find items. Make sure to read through all pages to find links to more things.
Many other books and writings about Yijing including by Richard Smith, Iulian Shchuttski, Larry Schulz, Edward Shaughnessy, Bent Nielsen, Harmen Mesker. (I've listed a number on Contemplating I Ching.)
Also, Bradford Hatcher, et al, mammoth bibliographic project Yixue. David Keighley's work on archeological materials....
And of course, where would we be without our wonderful Online Clarity!
 
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hilary

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Books I'm most likely to pick up at the moment for a new perspective on a reading:

Stephen Field, Duke of Zhou Changes (with lots of possible links to myth and history)
RJ Lynn, I Ching (with Wang Bi's and lovely footnotes explaining other early Chinese interpretations)

And - of course - Bradford.

I greedily hoover up everything Harmen writes about the text (and wish he would do more of that).

Regular references I'd be lost without: LiSe on the characters, and Wenlin for 'reading' the Chinese, plus Richard Sears' site.
 
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Freedda

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Thanks Hilary. I went to Richard Sears' site, and saw a lots of characters there, but clicking on them only brought up a larger version. I don't see where to go for meanings or more information? And a number of the links seem to be broken. Any suggestions? David.
 

hilary

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Thanks Hilary. I went to Richard Sears' site, and saw a lots of characters there, but clicking on them only brought up a larger version. I don't see where to go for meanings or more information? And a number of the links seem to be broken. Any suggestions? David.
The search box is at the top right. Paste in a single Chinese character and you'll see variations of it going back to its first appearances (oracle bones, in many cases), with notes on its components and earliest meaning.

I use a text expander program - Breevy - and one of my most-used abbreviations is a web link to hanziyuan.net#contents-of-my-clipboard , so I just copy the character I'm interested in and go straight to the etymology.
 
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hmesker

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I greedily hoover up everything Harmen writes about the text (and wish he would do more of that).

Considering that on average I spend 2 weeks on a single Chinese character, exploring it from every angle, I think I am not doing so bad.
 

hilary

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Considering that on average I spend 2 weeks on a single Chinese character, exploring it from every angle, I think I am not doing so bad.
I still feel you could usefully economise on such time-consuming activities as eating and sleeping.
 

Liselle

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Since you are here, Harmen, thank you for your videos. Ditto everything Hilary said, about those as well, and would both of you please find someone to clone you, at least twice each.
 
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hmesker

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Since you are here, Harmen, thank you for your videos. Ditto everything Hilary said, about those as well, and would both of you please find someone to clone you, at least twice each.
I have already been cloned twice and I am not going ro do it again:

https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010869488:mpeg21:a0064

I'm the one on the right. As you can see information gets lost with every clone so more clones are not recommended.

(yes I am one of a triplet)
 

Liselle

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Aww, very cute :D

You are the first triplet I've (sort-of) encountered in real life, I think.
 
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legume

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thanks for starting this thread, will definitely be coming back!

for me it's definitely Wilhelm / Baynes & Bradford Hatcher currently. both provide vivid imagery and enough of depth to raise or stir up some symbolism in search for any sort of meaning...

i started with Wilhelm and some help from Anthony's Guide to the I Ching, but after all the years I find we might be at a bit of disagreement with the latter. i still use it every now and then, it's good when looking into myself, but not so great when in search for more of a generic outlook.

as to resources - onlineclarity of course :D
and only today learned about jamesdekorne.com & gnostic book of changes, but looks like i might become a frequent visitor...

i also use this website https://www.eclecticenergies.com/iching/virtualcoins and though i haven't got the book offered there, i actually do like some of the interpretations from the results i get, as even the translations of hexagram names give additional insight, esp. when mixed with all of the above.

I don't always agree with Wilhelm, but I find he is often helpful to generate meanings... even if it's "so, that's what the Taoist may have thought, but ... maybe ... "

funny you mention that, as even though i'd consider myself a taoist, i'm not a fan of confucianism at all and that's the usual reference in Wilhelm's translation. but i still find it weird to separate the I Ching and dao completely, after all without yin / yang and the bagua - which are the basic ideas of taoism, there would be no basis for understanding the I Ching...
or actually, maybe it's more that without the I Ching, there would be no understanding of yin / yang and the bagua, or the binary system as discovered by Leibniz nor even Jungian psychology :rofl:

recently went to a bookshop to get Wilhelm's I Ching as a gift for a friend and couldn't find it anywhere... finally asked the staff and it was under astrology... i asked the I Ching btw, how it feels about it - 45 uc. i guess it's doing just fine over there. maybe that means it's more accessible to everyone in this way, similarly to what you say - freed from any agendas?

sorry for this bit of off-topic. on that note though, just one more question - is there a pdf version of Hilary's book one could buy? couldn't find it anywhere... thank you!
 

Liselle

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@hilary; should probably weigh in here as there is one edition of her book that was published with mistakes in it & I can't remember which one. But maybe Legume already has a hard copy?

An electronic version of Hilary's book is included in the Resonance Journal software. Do you have that, Legume? You can try it for a month free of charge.

I like the 45 reading! Yi might be pointing out that itself and astrology gather together naturally, since each is a form of divination in its own way. I suspect the bookstore labels the whole thing "astrology" because it's the best known.
 
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legume

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Not sure why you want a PDF version of Hilary's book? It is available at Amazon, in both the 2016 and 2010 edition, and both are fine.

maybe because i live on the Internets? :p i appreciate the links, i did find the paper version to buy online though, hence curious if an ebook or electronic version (if not a pdf) is somehow available...

i also believe the book might actually be more than fine, i'm just not in need of more paper at the moment. thank you in advance for considering that option!
 
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legume

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An electronic version of Hilary's book is included in the Resonance Journal software. Do you have that, Legume? You can try it for a month free of charge.

i didn't know that, thank you so much for this tip!
but unfortunately, after installing the trial still cannot run it as my java most likely outdated and with apple (quietly) phasing out support for it i'm afraid it wouldn't make much sense to buy the full version either. i might give it another go when back on windows pc though, so thanks again for pointing me to something much more useful at least! :)
 

hilary

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Thanks to the wholly unpaid customer support team here, @Liselle; and @Freedda;!

@hilary; should probably weigh in here as there is one edition of her book that was published with mistakes in it & I can't remember which one.
That was the second one. 2010, the original, is fine, and so is 2018, the one with the weird pink flowers on the cover (and the 'potted history' introduction).
An electronic version of Hilary's book is included in the Resonance Journal software. Do you have that, Legume? You can try it for a month free of charge.
That's the only place you will find an electronic version of the book, yes. I was lucky enough to get permission from the publishers to include it there - and now can make revisions/ corrections when needed to that version.

i didn't know that, thank you so much for this tip!
but unfortunately, after installing the trial still cannot run it as my java most likely outdated and with apple (quietly) phasing out support for it i'm afraid it wouldn't make much sense to buy the full version either. i might give it another go when back on windows pc though, so thanks again for pointing me to something much more useful at least! :)
Hmm... if you visit the Java website you should be able to update to a more recent version and get the Journal to work. (I hope you're wrong about Apple phasing out Java support, after Justin jumped through quite a few hoops to get it working on Mac in the first place! )
 

Liselle

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:confused:

Am wondering if there's a difference between Java browser plugins (maybe also known as "Java applets" - ??) - and standalone software written in Java?

Resonance Journal has nothing to do with browser plugins - I do not have Java-anything in the list of extensions I have installed in Vivaldi (based on Chrome), but I do have java.exe installed on my laptop for running Resonance Journal.

Am guessing, though. :confused:
 

hilary

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You're guessing right - there's basically no connection. You can have a completely java-free browser (in fact I believe that's a good idea) and still use Java programs. Windows and Mac set-up experiences are a bit different for RJ, though: Java can be bundled with the download for Windows, but Apple make that impossible for Mac, so you have to install it separately from the Java website first. (See the Mac version set-up page.) Still, once it's installed you're good to go and the experience is the same.
 
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Freedda

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Dear people, just to keep things somewhat related to the thread's title, if there are more questions about the residence journal, i am asking, can you please post them in the RJ forum. And if people want to have more discussion about Hilarys book, does it make sense for you to start a new thread on that topic?

Its not that I want to stifle discussion, but I have seen too many threads go sideways in this way.

Thanks, David.
 

hilary

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It's true, conversations round here do quite often go completely sideways - it's in the nature of conversation, I suppose. Usually that takes them to some fascinating places - but I agree, varieties of Java are not the world's most interesting digression. Back to Yijing resources.

If I can have another one - the Book of Songs. Good reading, offering fascinating glimpses into the lives of the people who compiled the Yi, and just occasionally into some of its imagery. (Rutt's glorious footnotes will point out a lot of these, but it's probably more fun to stumble across them on your own.)
 

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