Customer Reviews

I CHING: The Ancient Book of Chinese Wisdom For Divining the Future

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While not the most technical of I Ching books, and certainly not the most detailed, Chris Marshall does a great job in giving you a complete picture of the I Ching, to begin the path of reading the oracle for yourself. I would (and have) recommended this kit for anyone interested in learning about I Ching.

This is a great introduction to the I-Ching. It is easy to read and understand, includes 3 coins, is nicely illustrated and the interpretations are consistent with other, more complicated, I-
Ching books. I'm buying a second copy to give as a gift. I have quite a few books on the I-Ching and this one ties for the lead.

There are so many books on the I Ching and how to interpret the hexagrams it's unreal. This volume is more of a general interpretation as opposed to another one that I own that is geared towards love/relationships.

I'm no expert on the subject, but the few readings I've done for myself have been scary accurate. When your Oracle speaks to you, you should listen.

Ok... to the point. This comes with three coins. I've never used yarrow sticks before so I can't really compare. I learned with coins, so that's what I'm comfortable with.

The pages of the book are split in half horizontally so that you can flip back and forth to match up the two trigrams that make the hexagram. This makes the experience incredibly easy. No flipping from one section of the book to another. Cast your first trigram and turn to it on the bottom section of the book, then cast the top and turn to the corresponding page a the top and voila! Interpret away!

The translator/authors interpretations of each trigram is very well written. It's written for you and me, not some scholar working over old scrolls in some musty old candle lit dungeon. The instructions at the beginning of the book are very good at getting you started with this endeavor. It's a great stepping stone if you want to gain a greater understanding of the I Ching or if you just want to be amazed and content with using this as your Oracle.

I have many I-Ching books, and I find this one the best for natural clear prose, to communicate to other people in conversational language, the key threads in the Hexagrams. The other books are poetic, and need for me to do more translation to convey how each hexagram may apply to a situation. I highly recommend this book for experienced as well as newbies to the I-Ching. Note that the I-Ching says about itself that it is for not only scholars but for the common folk as well. This book is for the Rest of Us, and also for scholars will find it highly accurate.

The I Ching can be an extremely complex subject, but Chris Marshall has simplified it and made it very accessible without compromising the philosophy or depth of this ancient Chinese system of divining the future. This book includes a brief history, easy-to-follow instructions, clear interpretations of the trigrams as well as three coins. This really is the best possible introduction to the I Ching.

The easy-to-use guide and coins are a nice feature to this book, but in the edition I got, the Casting of the Coins section contradicts itself. Makes it rather confusing for someone who is a beginner.