![]() For that, any one of these three will do fine - probably for a long time on. New translations have emerged during the last few decades, so I might expand this list eventually.īut I see no immediate hurry, at least not for those who want to use the book in divination. Here are three English translations that are well known and respected also by scholars. Countless readers have found that this old Chinese text is still able to speak directly to them - even in a way that they feel has relevance for their future. The book's wide popularity today, though, definitely stems from an interest in it as a tool for divination. But they have no trouble finding other values in it, mainly the many insights into Chinese cosmology and philosophy at the time, as well as its revelations about human mentality and life that long ago and far away. They tend not to be that enthusiastic about the book as a utility for divination, although that's most definitely what it was set out to be already almost 3,000 years ago, when it was conceived. Most translations have been done by Sinologists, for obvious reasons. Of course, several additional translations have been made, especially in the last 50 years or so, as the book's popularity has increased. Wilhelm's version of the I Ching has in turn been translated to many other languages, also English in 1950. The most prominent version, and still in print, is the translation into German by Richard Wilhelm in 1924, with a foreword by the psychoanalyst C. The first French version was that by the diplomat Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre in 1885. A few years before that, in 1876, Thomas McClatchie had published a translation that has not stood the test of time equally well. Probably not that many, but more so with a German edit made in 1864.Ī much more famous translation - into English - was done by James Legge in 1882. In the 18th century, Latin was still well known among intellectuals, so the book could be read by plenty - depending on how many copies were made of it. He lived in China for 40 years until his death in 1738. The first complete translation of the I Ching was to Latin in the 1730's by the Jesuit missionary Jean-Baptiste Régis. That led to some debate among philosophers, which played its role in making the book known to Europeans. ![]() He had learned about it from Jesuits stationed in China. It was none other than the German philosopher Leibniz who wrote the first known Western commentary of it in 1703, pointing out its binary system. It took quite a while for the book to reach the Western world. It's sort of an honorary title for a book, signifying that it belongs to the all-time Chinese cultural treasures. The word ching is best translated as classic. I discuss that more on this webpage:Īs for the name of the book, it was changed to I Ching in 136 BC by a Chinese emperor who thereby included it among the prominent classics of Chinese literature. When they are arranged one above the other, the meaning of that hexagram starts to emerge as if by itself. There are eight trigrams, each representing a basic force of nature. Still, I would claim that it makes more sense to see the hexagrams as combinations of two trigram (three lines each). That gives a total of 64 possible combinations in hexagrams. Yin and yang are also the building blocks of the 64 hexagrams of the book, in what could very well be described as sort of a binary system: each of the six lines of a hexagram can be either solid (yang) or broken (yin). This change is described by the dynamics between yin and yang, the famous polarity of ancient Chinese cosmology. So, what's implied with the name of the book is the statement that everything changes, always. The word chou means circle or something revolving, as well as universal. ![]() Initially it was called Chou I ( Zhou Yi), The Changes of Chou, which was the name of the dynasty during which the book emerged. ![]() It probably got its present form around 800 BC, but its method of divination may well be hundreds of years older than that. The origin of the I Ching (also spelled Yi jing) is unclear because of its high age. Here's a few of the most prominent ones, and some more information about the book and its history. There are many English translations of the book. Its 64 chapters have mainly been used for divination since that distant origin, and it still is. I Ching, The Book of Change, is nearly 3,000 years old.
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