The Chinese I Ching or Book of Changes is one of the oldest books in existence. Whincup presents for the first time a translation that brings new scholarship to bear on this important text. An invaluable guide, Rediscovering the I Ching clears away traditional misinterpretations and renders this Chinese oracle more accessible to the modern reader.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English
Original Language: Chinese
Original Language: Chinese
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"small gets by",
By
This review is from: Rediscovering the I Ching (Paperback)
This is one of the outstanding perspectives on the I Ching, a unique contribution that stands beside the Wilhelm, the Ritsema/Karcher translations, and the recent "Oracle of the Cosmic Way" by Anthony/Moog. What Whincup brings to the I Ching is a scaled-down, compressed version of the oracular text, without Confucian era overlay and free of excessive commentary and modern pedantry. The text is presented in an occasionally forced historical perspective, using the struggle, rise, and conquest of the Zhou leaders against the decadent leaders of the late Shang dynasty, but the benefit of the text is not in its historical context, but rather in the spare and simple beauty of the oracular messages themselves, stripped of profuse ideological encrustation. In this, Whincup does a marvelous piece of work, making the stark strength of the original text speak directly to one's entire being. An example is how he transforms the rather ponderous and confusing "Taming Power of the Great" from Hex. 26 in the Wilhelm into the blunt and direct image of "Big is Tamed." In this, Whincup restores a feeling of the time and cultural conditions under which the oracle was first written down: a time of danger, struggle, and the concomitant need for direct, forceful messages from the Cosmic source of the I Ching's text and structural proportioning. Much and needless complexity and arcana have been overlaid onto the I Ching text during the course of centuries; what Whincup has done is to give us a taste of what the oracle "felt like" in an early time of urgency and deep transformation. For this, the Whincup translation is an invaluable addition to an I Ching library, no matter what your personal favorite may be in working with your own inner life.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greg Whincup is a Sensitive Translator,
By
This review is from: Rediscovering the I Ching (Paperback)
I was first introduced to Greg's sensitive translation capabilities when I read his translations of the poetry of the Tang Dynasty poets Li Bai and Du Fu. He is probably the best translator of their Tang Dynasty poetry of anyone in the last 100 years. As someone who has also translated their poetry, I can say from experience that this is no ordinary task. Greg is able to accurately present the content is a manner that is able to show you the depth of meaning and width of tangent associations. This brilliance also show through in his translations of the I Ching.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Perspectives for an Ancient Book,
By Wudpecker (Santa Cruz, California) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Rediscovering the I Ching (Paperback)
Why another version of the I Ching?
Because we still need help understanding and using this remarkable old work. The original I Ching was short, poetic, and to the point. So is Greg Whincup's translation. More important, he does "rediscover the I Ching", with a distinctly different view of it. We get new names for many of the 64 hexagrams. New approaches to clarify the "pictures". The key numbers 1 and 2 become "Strong Action" and "Acquiescence", for instance. This is a helpful change. Fire becomes "Shining Light". Water becomes "Pits". Obstruction becomes "Stumbling", and so on. What this translation does is give the I Ching reader another way to look at the situations presented. This stimulates creative thinking. Let's face it: an ancient system of calligraphy writing is not easily pictured in English words. In his introduction to the Wilhelm/Baynes version of the I Ching, the great psychologist Carl Jung says he got this self-evaluation from the 'Ching: Hexagram 50, The Cauldron, Line 3 "The handle of the "Ting" is altered; One is impeded in his way of life..." etc. The handle means the "ears" to carry the hot Cauldron from one place to another have been changed. In other words, our "ears" have changed since the I Ching was written. We don't understand its old language. Especially when carried from one language to another. Whincup's translation says the handles are "torn away" and it cannot be used. But since we regret this, "they can be replaced." His book goes forward with some suggested replacements to the language of the I Ching. They are worth considering, and this book is worth adding to your I Ching library. ----Wallace Wood
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
