The Complete Idiot's Guide to I Ching [Paperback]

Elizabeth Moran (Author), Master Joseph Yu (Author), Joseph Yu (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: July 26, 2001

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the I Ching addresses many questions: What is the I Ching? Who wrote it? How does it work? How is an oracle written 3,00 years ago relevant to the modern world? How can I use the I Ching to answer a question, concern, or dilemma? How does the I Ching relate to chaos theory, theoretical physics, psychology, and mathematics?

In The Complete Idiot's Guide to the I Ching, you'll learn that this revered work is not just a silly book of fortune-telling, a superstitious relic catering to the gullible and vulnerable. Rather, you'll come to understand the I Ching is a profound work grounded in science and mathematics. That somehow, magically and mysteriously, it connects us with the universe (or what you may choose to call the great unknown, the sea of consciousness, the spirit world, God) to provide a meaningful answer that speaks to our situation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

How would you like to have your own psychic hotline, available 24 hours a day? Readers will have just that with The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to the I-Ching, the 5,000-year-old Chinese book of divination and wisdom. In Chinese, "I" means Change and "Ching" means Book; hence, the Book of Changes. By throwing or casting yarrow sticks, coins, or seeds and interpreting the way they fall, I Ching provides one of 64 hexagrams, or possible pieces of advice.

About the Author

Elizabeth Moran is the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui, a book that seeks to educate the public about what feng shui is and is not. Master Joseph Yu is the founder of the Toronto-based Feng Shui Research Center, which offers courses on feng shui, Chinese astrology, and the I Ching. He travels extensively, delivering workshops in an effort to help Chinese traditions earn recognition in the Western world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1 edition (July 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028639790
• ISBN-13: 978-0028639796
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > I Ching
  • #37 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Chinese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Version of the I Ching, September 7, 2001

By 

Scott Ransom (Portland, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to I Ching (Paperback)

This book is definitely a worthwhile edition of the I Ching for anyone interested in the subject matter. Over the years I have collected numerous versions of the I Ching, and this one is probably the most readable of the lot of them.

The background history of the I Ching is well researched and presented, and the chapters relating it to Chaos Theory, the Holographic Paradigm, and others are extremely interesting and valuable reading.

The heart of the book is, of course, the presentations of the hexagrams. While not as "in-depth" as some of my other translations/interpretations, this isn't necessarily a bad thing - many of those other books give you enough information to thoroughly overwhelm you. The interpretations here are written in modern English, and are very understandable. What makes them truly useful, however, is the way the author relates the meanings of the hexagrams to the history of the political situations occuring when the book was put together in its "modern" form (during the time of King Wen and the Duke of Zhou). This makes the hexagrams MUCH easier to relate to your own personal situations - let's face it, most of the traditional interpretations leave this background out, and instead just present phrases for the hexagrams and individual lines which can be extraordinarily puzzling and apparently unrelated to the question at hand. By relating each hexagram to the actual historical happening that inspired the traditional interpretations, the hexagrams are put into a much clearer (and more easily applicable) light.

Some of the versions of the I Ching I have which are written in "modern English" just give the authors own personal take on the hexagrams - while sometimes useful, these "translations" are usually somewhat suspect because they often leave the original texts of the hexagrams and lines out. But that is not the case here! The traditional texts are included, and then presented with additional explanatory text by the author. So, you get the best of both worlds. Sometimes the authors own interpretations aren't quite applicable to your question, but the traditional text is, and sometimes it's the other way around. This edition of the I Ching give you both!

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. If this is your first exposure to the I Ching, it will serve as an excellent introduction, and certainly one you will use for years to come (even if you purchase several other different translations, as I have). If you are like me, someone who has studied the I Ching for years, you will immediately appreciate the clarity and depth the author presents.

Don't be fooled by the title. You do not need to be a "complete idiot" to get great value from this book!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blessèd Idiocy!, May 7, 2002

By 

JOHN MERLIN KING LEIGH (SEVILLE, SPAIN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to I Ching (Paperback)

For the past 25 or so years I have been failing to make head nor tail of the Yi Jing. My studies suggested and my intuition told me, that there was something very significant to be found there but the text, though it seemed to provide many glimpses of relevance and truth, always slipped back into obscure regions peopled only by erudite sinologists... and where these luminaries sometimes seem to have slight differences of criterion (the things Mr Cleary says about R.Wilhelm!).
There was nothing for it but to declare myself a Complete Idiot - something which had been staring me in the face for longer than I like to think - and this very Daoist act of auto-abasement was rewarded by a version of the Yi Jing, or rather the Zhouyi (its wings having been usefully clipped of Confucian confusion) which at last made sense. Sense not only for the clarity of the translation (or transliteration or whatever) but by the meaning and coherence of the text.
The sensation is rather like having a plaster removed from a broken limb.
I would like to recommend the book to anyone who wants a clear, manageable and simple (but not simplistic) version of the background to and wisdom of this classic.
Five Stars! Bravo! and Many Thanks to Ms Moran and Master Yu!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best I Ching Book Ever!, August 14, 2001

By 

Judy Adler (Pflugerville, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to I Ching (Paperback)

Joseph Yu and Elizabeth Moran have succeeded in coordinating information that is vital for students, practitioners, and teachers of Feng Shui in their new book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to The I Ching." I have been years trying to piece together and collate this kind of information. I am thrilled and delighted with the contents of the book and how it flows.

The hexagrams are interpreted in modern-day language yet the reference to the historical events are clearly established. The sections dealing with the principles of the Chinese cosmos and how modern science relates to the I-Ching are extraordinary keys to bridging the gap between ancient wisdom and today's world. The section on Feng Shui is a real treat and positioned perfectly in the book. I have a different relationship with life after having read this book.

This book is a universal guide to life.

If I were to recommend one book for everyone in the world to read, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to The I Ching" is the one!

Thank you, Joseph and Elizabeth, for all the time, attention, effort, and resources you so generously put into this book.