Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise [Hardcover]

Stephen Karcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

At the heart of the I Ching is China's fundamental spiritual text, Ta Chuan, "The Great Treatise." Originating in the Warring States period in China (c. 500-221 BCE) as a series of oral instruction on how to use the I Ching for personal divination, in time, it became incorporated into the I Ching. But when read as a separate book something special occurs. We can see how it changed Chinese civilization by giving people an inner life or way, created out of the myths and symbols of an old culture that was falling apart. It turned what was an Imperial court oracle into a spiritual way that everyone can use. Ta Chuan explains each part of the oracle and tells you how to use it to effect a profound transformation in your life.

Intelligently illustrated to bring out the authentic meaning and spirit of the text, this lyrical and scrupulously faithful Taoist translation and commentary will become the standard work of reference for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Karcher, PhD author, lecturer and consulting diviner, has worked with divinatory texts for thirty years as both scholar and consultant. He supervised the Eranos Foundation's I Ching Project, where he pioneered a depth-psychological approach to divination and its sense of spirit.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312264283
• ISBN-13: 978-0312264284
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,040,772 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 Ancient Chinese Wisdom made clear, December 25, 2000

By 

Michael P. McGarry (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise (Hardcover)

First, consider the wisdom of the following two quotes, taken out of context. (1) "Change is a teacher without peer." (p. 71)(2) "It is an unspoken trust that carries and supports us as we strive for the power and virtue to become who we are meant to be." (p. 110) Those two may give you a sense of the profound wisdom made available in this text. Much of the original text is somewhat hard to understand, at least on a first reading, although Karcher's translation & commentaries are radiant with clarity. The text, in its discussion of the Way (Tao) and Change, explains the spiritual/metaphysical mechanisms underlying the *I Ching*; familiarity with the *I Ching* makes this text much more accessible, although the wisdom of this text may entice some readers to work more closely with the *I Ching*. Karcher (who, with Ritsema, did one of the most brilliant English translations of the *I Ching* ever) is deeply familiar with that work, and thus is able to bring those insights to this work. This is a book one could read again and again over the years, learning more on each reading. As if the merits of the text were not enough to recommend this book on its own, the design of the book (with small photos & Chinese characters in the margins) is stunningly beautiful. This book would be particularly wonderful for the aesthetically sensitive spiritual aspirant.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Great Treatise for Coffee Tables, April 6, 2003

By 

Fu Xi (Anyang, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise (Hardcover)

The Dazhuan or great treatise is the most important of the commentaries on the I Ching which make up the so-called Ten Wings,attributed to Confucius but written centuries after him. This is a beautiful and poetic text, almost as powerful at the Tao Te Ching.
I had eagerly awaited this publication but found it disappointing. It cannot compare to the two presently existing ones which are in the standard Wilhelm/Baynes edition and in a newer one by Richard Rutt. Not only are these better, they are included with their versions of the I Ching itself.
Karcher's tends to be flat: "If you want to be benevolent, call it benevolence." Karcher's commentary ranges from the trite to the New Age: "You become a Realizing Person, someone who is becoming who they are meant to be." This sounds more like an army recruiting ad than ancient China. (We can overlook the incorrect grammar in which a single subject "who" becomes plural "they" rather than "whom".

The text of the Dazhuan itself is hard to read in this edition because each line centered rather than left-justified, giving an arty appearance. Likely the purpose was to make the rather flat translation seem poetic. The volume is produced by a book packager and is filled with attractive but unrelated stock illustrations.Considering the nearly infinite quantity of gorgeous visual art produced by the Chinese, selection of these bland photographs is inexcusable. Many pages bear the Chinese characters for Dazhuan but in stiff, child-like calligraphy.
Rather than making this a pretentious coffee table book (though for small coffee tables, it would have been better to let the Dazhuan speak for itself.
By all means read the Dazhuan; it is one of the great classics of Chinese philosophy and the basis of how the I Ching was understood in China. But get out your Wilhelm/Baynes or find Rutt's version. Then you might want to read Karcher's for comparison.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless companion to the I Ching, April 22, 2011

By 

Matthew Goddard (Sierra Nevada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise (Hardcover)

This book is beautiful to look at and read. It is an essential companion to any translation of the I Ching, as it expands and clarifies many of the concepts offered in that timeless classic of Chinese wisdom. For those who are not familiar with the I Ching, this book also serves as an excellent introduction to ancient Chinese thought.