I Ching [Paperback]

Kerson Huang (Author), Rosemary Huang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1987

For three thousand years, people have sought personal insight and a window on the future from the I Ching, or the Book of Changes, the classic Chinese oracle and book of wisdom. Drawing on archeological findings, previously published only in Chinese, indicating how the I Ching was actually used by those who created it, and motivated by a lifetime of personal use and fascination, Kerson Huang has created a new translation of great significance.

Restoring the I Ching to its original form, Huang underscores its first use as a practical oracle by Chinese farmers. His translation beautifully preserves the starkly poetic voice of the original, while his comments clearly and simply explain the images and detail the historical references buried within the verse. Huang reveals the I Ching as an epic poem equivalent to The Iliad and The Odyssey--one hexagram recalls the dethroning of Feng Feng; a series of lines portray Wang Hai, one of the three High Ancestors of the Shang dynasty; a third contains a sage proclamation of Lord Tang.

Each hexagram and its corresponding interpretation is presented on a two-page spread, making this version unusually easy to use and understand. Introductory chapters detail the evolution of the I Ching, from the philosophical reinterpretations of Confucius to the modern musings of Carl Jung, and clearly explain both the coin method and yarrow-stalk method for consulting the oracle.

Over 55,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Three thousand years ago, the I Ching was created as a simple oracle, consulted by farmers and kings alike. Now, stripping away more than two millenia of interpretive distortion and dogma superimposed on the text by successive generations of scholars, world-renowned physicist Kerson Huang and his wife Rosemary have succeeded in restoring the book to its original form.

In this important new translation, the Huangs reveal the stark poetry of the authentic I Ching, reconstruct the numerous historical tales that were once an essential element of the text, and present the hexagrams and their judgements clearly and concisely. Most importantly, they allow the ancient classic to serve its intended purpose as a practical handbook for divination.

A professor of particle physics at MIT, Kerson Huang has been consulting the I Ching since his childhood in Canton. He brings to this work both a unique ability to bridge the cultures of East and West, and the fascinating perspective of the scientific mind confronting the great mysteries of the human soul.

"Rosemary and Kerson Huang, poet and physicist-poet, have made a superb translation and appreciation of the bone-old book." -Phillip Morrison, author of Powers of Ten

About the Author

Kerson Huang, Ph.D., grew up in Canton, China and is currently a professor of physics at MIT. He and his wife Rosemary have consulted the I Ching regularly and pursued their translation through years of research.

Rosemary Huang has consulted the I Ching regularly and pursued her translation through years of research.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 10, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894803190
• ISBN-13: 978-0894803192
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 4.1 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,107,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful introduction to the I Ching, April 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Ching (Paperback)

I have had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of several other books on the I Ching of late and have found that this one is very user friendly. I rather liked the fact that the book goes to an older tradition than the Confucian version with its over burdened moralizing. This is nice and straight forward, unlike the Confucian version translated in to German by the Christian laden Wilhelm and then into English by Baynes.

This I Ching is a delight to use.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Version of the I-Ching, August 14, 2001

By 

auati "auati" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Ching (Paperback)

The Problem with the I Ching is that you can't tell which version to buy without reading the actual text from the book, which you can not do over the computer. You actually need to go to a physical store and compare the different translations of the I-Ching and see which version suits you best, BUT THIS VERSION IS THE BEST. Its the one I bought after going to the store and reading and comparing the other versions.

The text is so much more readable and understandable than the other versions of the I-Ching they sell. It at times seems like someone who knows what you are doing is talking to you when you ask a question and then read the text from this book. Its not a jumble of confusion like the other versions. That is what made me buy the book.

Other versions of the I- Ching have lines that can not be understood, and didn't seem to realate to the question i asked. Every line of text in this book is clear to read, understand and I could usually just read the sentences and know how they related to the question I asked. That is not always true with the I ching. When the sentences in the other I-ching books don't make sense you have to figure them out before you can even apply them to your question. That does not happen with this book. It reads like someone is "talking" to you. The sentences just make sense.

Also, there is a very easy to undersand chart in the back of the book on how to form a hexagram some books leave this out or the chart is difficult to understand. In summary this book makes the I- Ching understandable.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thumbs up - Way Up, April 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: I Ching (Paperback)

If you have the patience for the historical data that fills up the front end of this nifty little volume, you'll find possibly the most clear, insightful guide to the I Ching on the market. This translation dumps a huge amount of dogmatic, confucianist baggage that has been tacked on and still clings to most translations and what remains is not only more true to the oracle's roots - it's much easier to understand. I've read many translations, and I've found that sixty percent of what you read in most translations is unnecessary and repetitive and redundant :). This clean, simple text reminds me very much of the work of Stephen Mitchell