I Ching, The Oracle [Paperback]

K Huang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 1984

This book contains a dramatic and revealing translation of this ancient classic into English. The Chinese original is set side-by-side with the translation. Two things set this translation apart from all previous ones. First, archeological findings are used to uncover the meaning of passages obscured for thousands of years. Second, it preserves the flavor of the orignal in a poetic rendition. An introductory part of this book provides the historical and philosophical background to the I Ching. The story is told of the ancient Chinese civilization, pointing out events and figures mentioned in the I Ching. The undisguised face of the I Ching will appeal to the modern reader, who will read it in his or her own individual way, as poetry, as discoverer of self, or as soothsayer. It is in the grand tradition of the I Ching for different people to see different things.- To Confucius, who was born in 550 B.C., it was a source of ethics.- T Leibnitz, the eighteenth-century inventor of calculus, it was the essence of binary mathematics.- To Jung Freud's rival in psychology, it was an explorer of the unconscious. To some Wall Streeters, it predicts the stock market.As a companion to this book, a computer software, Huang's I Ching offers computerized consultations of the I Ching. In the court of Zhou, they used to do this by counting stalks of the yarrow reed. Results of the court would indicate what passages to read. In later ages, yarrow-counting was replaced by coin-tossing, as a ritual closer to people's lifestyle. And now, the I Ching is ready for the future.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wspc (August 31, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9971966255
• ISBN-13: 978-9971966256
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,746,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good technical introduction but lacking in depth., October 30, 2009

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E. Godfrey (Eastish...) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Ching, the Oracle (Hardcover)

This particular take on the I Ching is rather scaled down, in my opinion. The buyer should be warned that this is book does not contain lengthy explanations or commentary on each line of each hexagram. Instead, only one or two sentences accompanies each line. This may frustrate the user a bit, but the overall use-ability of this book is pretty great.

The book begins with four short, 3-5 page chapters covering general info about the I Ching, the legends behind it, the legacy of Confucius and a bit about the nature of divination in its historical Chinese context. This leads us to chapters 5 & 6 that get into the technical details of casting yarrow sticks (flipping coins) and making your own reading.

In using the text for its intended purpose, it is very easy to use. In the back is a matrix with the six trigrams running horizontally and vertically. You simply follow their intersection to the hexagram they construct and that takes you to your desired hexagram. The page then has a brief bit of information on the hexagram followed by the short verse for each line. For those interested, these pages are printed across from the original Chinese.

Overall, there is really not that much information in this book for the casual reader. If you want to learn about the I Ching, this may not be the place to start, but if you make regular readings, this book acts as a handy reference manual.