More Books
Continued from the main page. I have varied reactions to these books as you can see. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert; these are just my own experiences based on where I’m at.
I Ching translations:
The I Ching or Book of Changes |
Paperback
by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes; brilliant foreword by C. G. Jung. Many people’s favorite, or at least first, I Ching. Complete; includes all of the Wings.
The translation and commentary rely heavily on Confucian tradition, as seen through western eyes.
This, and the fact that it is so well written, probably explain why so many westerners like it. But in light of subsequent research, it must be seen as a derivative work, not bearing much resemblance to the original bronze age Zhou Yi.
|

|
The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi
by Richard John Lynn. The major ancient non-Confucian treatment of the I Ching.
The more I use this book, the more I like it. This and Wilhelm are like bookends; they each treat the I Ching as a wisdom book, but complement each other. Contains the Great Treatise, Wang Bi’s third-century commentary, and notes by several of his successors. Printed in a narrow, almost “pocket” format for some reason; someday soon I will need a large print version.
|

|
Total I Ching: Myths for Change
by Stephen Karcher. Said to be the successor to
The I Ching Plain and Simple
and
How to Use the I Ching .
Includes lots of material about creative interpretation of consultation results, but doesn’t always credit his sources.
After using the “steps of change” that he describes, I added them to The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching.
As for the translation, Karcher takes an unconventional approach, with a number of idiosyncrasies that color the text. For example, I don’t understand why the word “harvesting” should appear in practically evey hexagram; it’s how he translates “favorable.” This sort of thing is reflected in the book with Ritsema below as well.
It looks as if he has interleaved the Confucian and Zhou Yi traditions and tried to cover them both; for example, hexagram 36 is called “Brightness Hiding/Calling Bird.”
And get ready for the ceremonial presentation:
“Charge to the Oracle”; “The Response”; “The Scholar Speaks”; “The Shaman Speaks.”
|

|
I Ching: Walking your path, creating your future
by Hilary Barrett. Finally, the translation by the legendary diviner and proprietor of the Clarity site. A fairly free and very accessible translation, accompanied by a brief introduction and practical advice about consulting the oracle. Key questions concerning the subject of each hexagram, and some personal commentary, are interleaved throughout. If you like the look of Lise Heyboer’s site, you will like this; the book uses Lise’s images of the Chinese characters, and is attractively bound and illustrated in general.
|

|
Book of Changes: an Interpretation for the Modern Age
by Chan Chiu Ming. I am very glad to have recently discovered this book. Chan Chiu Ming (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) has set out to translate the I Ching based on modern research into the original meaning of the ancient Chinese, rather than following the traditional, mostly Confucian, interpretations alone. He treats the judgment and line texts as the original Zhou dynasty oracle, conceptually separate from the much later moral precepts of the Ten Wings. Regarding the use of the former, his explanation nails it: the “omen texts” are often metaphoric; treat them as pictures, not logic, and “associate the metaphors freely with the persons and events in your life.” It’s an oracle, not an instruction manual for gentlemanly behavior. As a result, the translation is often unconventional, but always based on insight into the words themselves, and liberally footnoted. The original Chinese text is included as an appendix, and the text is accompanied by calligraphy by Xu Qinghua.
|

|
The Original I Ching: An Authentic Translation of the Book of Changes
by Margaret J. Pearson. The long-awaited “original” “authentic” translation, “based on recent discoveries” including the Mawangdui text. The title goes a little over the top; and like a number of other “unique viewpoint” versions, the translation is sometimes idiosyncratic; but the book is nonetheless an interesting look at modern knowledge of gender roles in Shang and Zhou China. I connected with the book from the start, as the acknowledgements begin with a quote from Xunzi, which I had just started reading. A major premise of this work is that, “The gendered yin/yang interpretation by Wang Bi in the third century CE is an anachronistic addition to the text . . . . While Wang Bi referred to changing lines as yin and yang, the original Zhou Changes do not.” Furthermore, most of the language of the Zhou Yi is gender-neutral, and Pearson’s goal is to level the playing field, so to speak. Includes practical advice on using the oracle, such as journaling, and some valuable material for further reading.
|

|
Scholarly works:
I Ching: The Classic Chinese Oracle of Change: The First Complete Translation With Concordance
by Rudolf Ritsema and Stephen Karcher. I own the latter; the former is said to have been slightly revised. This massive (816-page) book is a research tool, not a simple translation. Lots of introductory material; then the translation is made word-by-word, with associated lists of alternative meanings for each word. The sheer volume of information is almost overwhelming. It’s the kind of book you would use to make your own translation.

I Ching (Classics of Ancient China)
|
Hardback
translated by Edward Shaughnessy. This book fills a niche, as it is a translation of the Mawangdui manuscript discovered in 1973 in the tomb of Li Cang, Lord of Dai, who died in 168
B.C. The manuscript is by far the oldest that we have in existence, and also contains four previously unknown commentaries. The text contains a number of variations from our received text, including phonetic loan-words that shed light on the original meaning of some passages. Plus, the hexagrams are in a different order.

The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life
By Jack M. Balkin. Self-described as an explanation of how the
I Ching can benefit one’s everyday life, and an in-depth and scholarly explanation it certainly is. Treats the
I Ching as as a repository of ethical teachings, in a larger sense of how to deal with a changing universe, as opposed to a fortune-telling device. Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, Balkin offers what may be the clearest explanation of why an educated 21
st century westerner should have any interest in “divination”; in the final analysis, the
I Ching is a tool for creative thinking. Also includes a large amount of valuable background information, much of which is distilled from works such as
Zhouyi
by Richard Rutt, but always credited with helpful references. For those who wish to dig deeper into the history of
I Ching interpretation is an account of the “feud” between the Wang Bi and Chu Hsi (Zhu Xi) schools of thought. Translation is based on Wilhelm;
includes concrete and advice-oriented commentary.
People who use the Book of Changes can believe that they are communicating with gods and spirits, as the Shang did; they can believe in the impersonal forces of Heaven, like the Zhou; or they can be agnostics or atheists who merely seek self-awareness and self-understanding.

I-hsüeh ch’i meng (Introduction to the Study of the Classic of Change)
by Chu Hsi; translated by Joseph A. Adler.
Chu Hsi (1130-1200), besides turning Neo-Confucianism into what would be the dominant school of Chinese
philosophy for the next six centuries, in 1186 published this distillation of the then-current wisdom concerning the origin of the trigrams and hexagrams, the use of yarrow stalks to consult the oracle, and rules of interpreting the outcome based on the number of changing lines. The part about putting the yarrow stalk remainders between certain fingers of the hand, for example, comes from this book. He describes in detail what is now our modern method of changing 6’s and 9’s to make the transformed hexagram, and illustrates all the possibilities with extensive charts. An invaluable work if you want to get down to the origins of things. Look out for a few misprints, such as missing dots from the River Chart.
Includes the Chinese text alongside the English translation.
[Note added 6/19/2011: sadly, the stitched binding on my edition is very poor; the pages are all falling out.]
Divination, Order, and the Zhouyi
by Richard Gotshalk. A scholarly examination of what is known about the earliest form of the
Zhouyi, and reflections on its progression from simple oracle texts to verbal images, finally becoming a medium for active participation in the present by the inquirer. Lots of musing about the meaning of divination itself. The text is critically examined in light of the Mawangdui manuscript, and unabashedly edited in places (such as hexagram 52, whose text is treated as a displaced line 4, leaving it without a primary hexagram text). Lots of informative technical notes about the text, based on the latest research.

Researches on the I Ching
by Iulian K. Shchutskii. Translated from the Russian by William L. MacDonald and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, with Hellmut Wilhelm. This is an amazing work about the language, structure, and history of the understanding of the
I Ching. It is almost too much material to absorb the first time through. Shchutskii was one of the greatest Sinologists of the 20
th century, well-versed in the Chinese language as well as eastern and western philosophy, and so was uniquely qualified to write a comprehensive history of the
I Ching. Unfortunately, he died in a Soviet prison camp in 1937.
The Original Yijing: A Text, Phonetic Transcription,
Translation, and Indexes, with Sample Glosses
by Richard Alan Kunst (available from
UMI Dissertation Express, order number 8525020).
This is Kunst’s unpublished 1985 doctoral thesis, and one of the most highly respected treatments of modern research into the
I Ching. Rutt says that it is “the most convincing translation yet made of the Bronze Age document”; he, Gotshalk, and Shaughnessy all make use of this work. The
I Ching text itself occupies only 128 of the 690 pages of the huge .pdf file; the rest address topics ranging from sociology, folklore, and metaphor, to a meticulous analysis of ancient Chinese phonology and grammar. The language is a little difficult for consulting; it is more useful for research. For example, the word usually translated as “sacrifice” or “offering” is now “treat.” And some ambiguous words are included as-is along with the English. Hexagram 1, line 3, begins:
Nobles throughout the day are “g’ian-g’ian” vigorous . . . .
Richter is a little easier to read:
NOBLE PERSON END DAY ENERGY ENERGY
The NOBLE PERSON WORKS and WORKS till the END of the DAY
The I Ching Handbook
by Edward Hacker, Ph.D.
The original definitive source for anything and everything about the
I Ching, including its history, interpretation, structure, and methods of consulting. Summarizes popular topics of inquiry such as the basis of the King Wen sequence and classification of the hexagrams. Includes little-known topics such as hexagram cycles, flowers (Schoenholtz’ “first families”), and stories. Appendices include an explanation of the binary number system, tables of hexagram opposites, a Basic program for analyzing lines, and an extensive annotated bibliography. Unfortunately, due to its comprehensive nature, much of the information is merely a brief overview; it is more a survey of what is known about the
I Ching than a definitive text. Some of the information is updated and treated in more detail in
Zhouyi
by Richard Rutt.

I Ching: An Annotated Bibliography
by Edward Hacker, Steve Moore, and Lorraine Patsco.
A greatly expanded version of the bibliography in the
Handbook above. An all-out attempt to list
everything published in the English language about the
I Ching, and related topics such as synchronicity and the T’ai Hsüan Ching; includes books, master's and doctoral theses, journal articles, multimedia, and computer programs. Entries are mixed; some consist of publication data and a brief description, while others include detailed summaries of the text. If you are a compulsive book-buyer in recovery, you should probably avoid this one.
More translations:
The I Ching: The Book of Changes
translated by James Legge. The first major English translation; second edition, 1899. Unlike Legge’s translation of
Chuang Tzu, I did not resonate with this
I Ching at all. Which is unfortunate because it was the first
I Ching I read, and I then had no further interest in it for years. It probably didn’t help that Legge scoffs at the book itself. The hexagrams are not given English names, and the text reads as if it was purposefully made difficult. Hexagram 3,
DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING, is simply called “T
HE KUN
H
EXAGRAM:”
Kun (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be great progress and success, and the advantage will come from being correct and firm. (But) any movement in advance should not be (lightly) undertaken. There will be advantage in appointing feudal princes.
I Ching: The Book of Change
translated by John Blofeld. One of the earlier English translations and apparently influential. It doesn’t seem to me that there is much to it compared to many versions that have appeared since.
Difficulty followed by sublime success! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward; but do not seek some (new) goal (or destination); it is highly advantageous to consolidate the present position.
The Pocket I Ching
|
Import
translated by Richard Wilhelm and Cary F. Baynes; edited and simplified by W. S. Boardman.
Sounds like it would be a simple excerpt of the text of the big Wilhelm book, but it’s not; the text is significantly, well, edited and simplified. For example, hexagram 3,
DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING, is now called
RESOLVING CHAOS. The judgment:
Chaos and darkness whilst heaven creates.
In times of difficulty at the beginning,
Persevere. Appoint helpers. Do not rest.
For in this way comes success.
The succinct introduction is the one I might choose to show someone who wants to know what the I Ching
is all about.
Understanding the I Ching
translated by Tom Riseman. This one, Blofeld, and The Pocket I Ching are almost identical in size.
I think this one reads the best; but there is no index to the hexagrams by name.
Difficulty in the Beginning means great success and benfit
through perseverance.
Nothing should be begun; helpers should be found.
I Ching: The Book of Change
translated by Thomas Cleary. The smallest “pocket” version of them all (6.7 × 4.1 × 0.5 inches).
Concise, very literal, no commentary, little introductory material. Doesn’t always read well.
Great success is beneficial for the honest. Do not deliberately
hold to a specific goal. It is useful to establish local leaders.
The Taoist I Ching (Shambhala Classics)
translated by Thomas Cleary. Commentary written by Taoist adept Liu I-Ming in 1796. The “Taoism” mainly consists of pervasive references to the relationships and transformations of yin and yang in the context of metaphorical (non-oracular) interpretation of the text, and is not always what modern westerners think of as Taoism. From hexagram 7,
THE ARMY:
This hexagram represents using yang to drive back yin . . . . The method of repelling yin is to get rid of wrong by means of right, to destroy falsehood by truth, like righteousness in the leader of the army.
This doesn’t sound very Taoist to me. But after reading Liu I-Ming’s commentary to
The Inner Teachings of Taoism
by Chang Po-Tuan, I understand that this type of interpretation is typical of the 12
th century Complete Reality school of Taoism.

The Fortune Teller’s I Ching
by Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer, and Joanne O’Brien. Meant to be the
I Ching of the streets, “based on the editions of the book
as used by Chinese fortune tellers and ordinary people.” The Chinese text, which is appended, was taken from a 1981 commentary by Sun Tsai Shang; the implication is that it is different from the imperial edition of 1715, but this is not explained in detail. Describes the modern Pa Ch’ien method of consulting the
I Ching, using eight coins to choose two trigrams, then six coins to choose one “line of change.” The ancient yarrow stalk method is compared to writing books with a quill pen: historically accurate, but not in current use. Modern commentary is said to have been distilled from the practice of contemporary diviners and interpreters as well as modern and contemporary commentaries.
I Ching: The Shamanic Oracle of Change
by Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay, with Zhao Xiaomin. A sequel to the above, this time seeking the ancient roots of the
I Ching rather than its street use. The introduction describes the oracle as a grand epic comparable to the Iliad, a “Bayeux Tapestry of China in words.” It recounts the uprising of the Chou (Zhou), “crossing the great river” to overthrow the Shang, all through the voice of the shaman. For example, hexagrams 31-34 are said to describe adjusting to post-invasion victory. Each hexagram is accompanied by a poem by Jay Ramsay. Modern commentary is appended, rather than interleaved. A study of the radicals that comprise the hexagram names is included as well.
The Takashima Ekidan
by Shigetake Sugiura, translated from the work of Kaemon Takashima.
Published in 1893, this is a contemporary of Legge’s translation. It is something like the “Japanese Wilhelm-Baynes version,” having first been translated into Japanese, then English. Invaluable for another early, this time eastern, perspective on the
I Ching. The introduction describes the method of counting off yarrow stalks in groups of 8 to determine the trigrams, then in groups of 6 to determine one moving line, as described by several contemporary authors
(
Jou
,
2000;
A. Huang
,
2004);
this is also the “one moving line” method included in
The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching. Of note, the author points out that,
There are a great many styles of divination offered by different scholars, and no one knows which is the best of all.
Most of the hexagram texts are followed by several real-life examples of actual use. Long out-of-print, it is available for download from
Google Books (U.S. only), as well as
Joel Biroco’s site.
The I Ching Oracle
by Nigel Richmond. Privately printed but available in facsimile form, along with its predecessor,
Language of the Lines, at
Joel Biroco’s site.
When I read the introduction to
The I Ching Oracle, I feel like I am looking at art made from broken bottles and crushed cans. The wonder is that the material was used so creatively. Richmond reasons in reverse, from symbol to concept, that since the common notation for a yang line is unbroken, yang must therefore be changless and static, and yin similarly changing and active.
The symbol logic that is used here is very simple and strict; it demands that the symbol and the thing it symbolizes are clearly seen to share characteristics (like the divided line and the divided reality) . . . .
The yang symbol, —, represents something undivided and so without change, and something that is unchanging is still and tranquil; here the flow of change that alone creates manifestation is withheld . . . . Yang came to mean strong, aggressive, and active, while the yin symbolized weak, dark, and passive. None of these characteristics fit the symbols — and - - to which they have been attached, in fact they are reversed in many respects.
Whatever the logic of this, somehow the resulting explanations of the trigrams make a curious sort of sense. Plus, I consider the terse and unadorned text to be a model for
I Ching translation, and have included it in
The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching.
The Zhouyi and the First Four Wings of the Yijing
by Bradford Hatcher (downloadable from
Hermetica.Info). First comes the “simple, literal,” word-by-word translation of the received text, accompanied by “the Rogue River Commentaries And Miscellaneous Notes.”
The commentaries are intended to be extensions of the original image or metaphor, based on everyday human experience, and often expressed in colloquial and iconoclastic language. From hexagram 43, line 1:
Maybe he wants to take a strong stand, or firm steps, or to stomp out that nameless threat, or even kick some troublesome butt here. There’s trouble afoot in these times, or something is stepping on toes and this makes him hopping mad.
Next comes the really invaluable part: the Matrix Translation, which includes multiple English translations of each Chinese word, as well as other textual information. I cannot say enough about this; it lets you dig for the meaning of all the words, especially when used to accompany a simpler version such as Richter or Kunst.
There are a number of accompanying documents as well, which are explained on the Hermetica page.
Yi Jing, book of sun and moon
by LiSe Heyboer. Viewable online at
www.yijing.nl/i_ching. A popular site which includes a number of articles about the
I Ching, and a JavaScript version of consultation called “Virtual yarrow stalks.” Wherever did she get that idea, you ask? Before I uploaded my
Virtual Yarrow Stalks, I searched for the phrase on Google and Clusty and only found it used in the description of software called “AudioElla.” But according to
Clarity’s discussion groups, it appears that LiSe’s site had existed prior,
although “not in an ideal environment.” Oh, well.
The translation is based on a lot of personal research. It is not downloadable per se, and is sometimes “innovative”; hexagram 33, for example, is called “Save your bacon.”
Unveiling the Mystery of the I Ching
translated and elaborated by Tuck Chang. Viewable online at
www.iching123.com.
An interesting translation; the apparent goal is a very literal rendition, including amplification and clarification of many of the words and concepts along the lines of Legge. Each hexagram is accompanied by an illustration. Commentary includes historical notes and observations about line relationships and other structural features of the
I Ching.
Wu-Weifarer’s Yijing
Viewable online at
www.geocities.com/wu_weifarer/Yijing.html.
A fairly free but nice-sounding version, all on one page and easy to save for later reading.
Accompanied by a number of Daoist quotes and links.
The Eclectic Energies I Ching
Accompanies an online consultation script at
Eclectic Energies.
Translated from the original Chinese by the author of the site, Ewald Berkers.
Said to be intended as a difference in style and interpretation from Wilhelm. Appears to have been clarified quite
a bit by way of amplification; definitely not a literal word-for-word approach. Viewable piecemeal by
consulting the oracle, or can be purchased as a .pdf file.
Books about the I Ching:
Yijing Wondering and Wandering
by Jane Schorre and Carrin Dunne. Describes itself as a “contemplation of Yijing.” Actually two books in one. First comes “Wondering,” Jane Schorre’s pair-by-pair examination of the Chinese characters that comprise the hexagram names, dissecting the ancient primitive figures into their components in order to shed light on their meanings. In “Wandering,” Carrin Dunne explores the arrangement of the hexagrams, in particular the differences between the pairs that are mirror images of each other, and those that are reversed polar opposites. I found her idea of “foursomes” so intriguing that I generalized it and included it in
The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching.
When compared to other versions, what is most striking about the received text of Yijing is that the hexagram is viewed primarily as a whole, and only secondarily as a component of trigrams. This fundamental difference is made apparent by the sequence, no longer goverened by the placement of trigrams.
What is the ordering principle in the sequence of the received text? Put simply, it is the play of opposites.
New Directions in the I Ching: The Yellow River Legacy
by Larry Schoenholtz. This book, published in 1975, is one of the earliest of the modern English-language analyses of the
I Ching. Several concepts in current use originated here, including “the sixteen system” of using sixteen colored beads to determine each line of a hexagram, and “phantom hexagrams” made by transforming multiple moving lines one at a time. Stephen Karcher later described the latter as “steps of change.” An extension of this concept is that of hexagram “first families,” the group of 6 hexagrams made by changing the polarity of each line in the base hexagram, one at a time; they are all “one line away” from the original hexagram, and actually consist of the first 6 changed hexagrams in each of the charts published by Chu Hsi in 1186.
A little bit of ’70’s new-age philosophy pops up here and there: “Now that ESP has been scientifically proved in the laboratory . . . .” And the best page of the book may be the representation of “a celebration of life” as an Appalachian dulcimer!
Language of the Lines
by Nigel Richmond.
Language of the Lines is a remarkable work, beginning with an analysis of two-, three-, four-, five-, and six-line binary relationships from a largely Taoist perspective (“the language”), and concluding with personal and emotional observations on the meaning of the lines of each hexagram, as well as both the outer and inner (consituent and nuclear) trigrams. The language is said to recognize “a self-contained pattern of reality in the way binary lines may be combined together.” Changing lines are described as part of a cyclic flow rather than the flick of a switch. If you are looking for deeper insight into the I Ching than simple paraphrase and self-help advice, this is a place to start.
What follows is the internal oracle and is complementary to the existing Chinese oracle and its translations. Principally it is the oracle of the yarrow stalks and as it is used our reality is seen from the inside, from the depth.
It is downloadable in facsimile form, along with its successor,
The I Ching Oracle, at
Joel Biroco’s site.
The I Ching Handbook
by Mondo Secter. A summary of both traditional information and innovative techniques for
I Ching
consultation and interpretation. Introduces the transitional and evolutionary hexagrams (which are included in
The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching), and a coin method that is mathematically
equivalent to using yarrow stalks. Also describes a method of problem-solving without divination, by choosing
two trigrams based one’s own situtation. Contains some commentary on the hexagram and line texts, but no translation.
Heaven, Earth and Man in the Book of Changes
by Hellmut Wilhelm. These two books are a collection of lectures by Richard Wilhelm and his son,
Hellmut, about deeper historical and philosophical aspects of the
I Ching and their intimate understanding of it.
They go way beyond simple commentary.
A Guide to the I Ching
by Carol K. Anthony. Lots of straightforward commentary with the stated goal of self-development and
problem-solving. Tried-and-true; a good companion to Wilhelm and Baynes.
I Ching, The Oracle of the Cosmic Way
by Carol K. Anthony and Hanna Moog. Extensive commentary is written from a psychotherapeutic-like standpoint of freeing oneself from the ego; provides an interesting alternative perspective. Translation is based on Wilhelm. I had to get past the “retrospective-three-coin method,” which sounds to me like using the
I Ching as a Ouija board; one asks the Sage questions like, “Do I need to read the judgment text?” “any part of the main text?” “paragraph 1?” “Does this line refer to me?” “to a member of my family?” “a friend?” “the past?” “present?” “future?”
Just as there is something “out there” (a radio transmitter) to communicate with the radio, there is
something “in there,” that communicates with us when we have made ourselves appropriately receptive.
That which communicates is complete in its knowing—without limits.
The Everyday I Ching
by Sarah Dening. A very simple and accessible beginner’s self-help commentary. Not a translation; does not include any of the actual text or even the identities of the trigrams. Hexagram names are paraphrased;
DARKENING OF THE LIGHT is now called “Keeping a Low Profile.”
I Ching Life: Becoming Your Authentic Self
by “Wu Wei,” the person who renamed the
I Ching “The Book of Answers,” and from whom I bought the yarrow stalks that I use. I admit, I bought this mainly out of curiosity. As a beginner’s introduction, it doesn’t seem too bad. Written in an elementary self-help style: “A relationship is like a garden.” Describes using the
I Ching in everyday life, with lots of concrete examples. I like the emphasis on open-ended questions, along the lines of, “What can I expect from this course of action?” (“Wu Wei” blows his cover on the
OTHER BOOKS AND PRODUCTS page; the first two are by Chris Prentiss.)
I Ching Made Easy: Be Your Own Psychic Advisor Using the World’s Oldest Oracle
by Roderic Sorrell and Amy Max Sorrell.
The title and cover of this book make it look like a joke, but it gets better on the inside. A simple and understandable introduction to the
I Ching, it includes some basic introductory material, then a paraphrase of the hexagram and line texts, accompanied by lots of “real-life adventures.” Somewhat disappointing that it teaches only one method of casting, using six coins to choose exactly one line, with no mention of multiple lines or even a secondary hexagram. And there is no real translation included; you will need a companion book to go with it.
The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom
by Master Alfred Huang. A follow-up to
The Complete I Ching
,
but doesn't bear much resemblance. Master Huang says that the inital work follows the Moral and Reason School,
while the sequel follows the Symbol and Number School. It is a compendium of traditional lore about the arrangements
of the trigrams and hexagrams, cosmology and the five elements, line relationships, various hexagrams that have
special significance, nuclear hexagrams (mutual and core gua), and methods of fortune-telling.

Yin-Yang Code: A Introduction To I-Ching
by Ning Lu, Ph.D. Another Symbol and Number School book, focusing on line relationships, trigram and hexagram transformations, and hexagrams as archetypes. Reference is made to life cycles, the seasons and elements, and astronomy. Dr. Lu is a mathematician and uses mathematics, especially bitwise operators, to explore the hexagram relationships; but he does so fairly simply, without using a lot of technical language. One of these days, I am going to use javascript to illustrate the most important of these relationships.
I Ching in Plain English
by George Hulskramer. Not much to say here. It’s the same size as the other “pocket” versions. It consists of a brief introduction, then a paraphrase with a little bit of commentary.
A difficult beginning means that success is there for the taking.
Gather all your energy, begin cautiously and persevere. Assure yourself of the necessary support.
Simply I Ching
by Kim Farnell. A brief introduction, then advice in place of a translation. Ends with “quick interpretations,” a few sentences summarizing each hexagram, for those in a hurry. The introduction describes the “mostly yang” or “mostly yin” method of coin casting, which makes a little more sense to me than the heads = 3 and tails = 2 method. Associates each trigram with a family member, body part, season, direction, motion, color, and number. And it has a “hot” marketing word in the title.
Changing Lines: A New Interpretation of the I Ching for Personal and Spiritual Growth
by Robert R. Leichtman and Carl Japikse. Actually part of a series, including
Healing Lines
,
Ruling Lines
, and
Connecting Lines
,
that was intended to accompany a computer program called “I Ching On Line” (“please specify the size of floppy disk and system being used”). The introduction includes a very Confucian description of personal growth, as well as sound practical advice and examples about formulating a good question for consulting the
I Ching. No translation; the hexagram and line texts are advice, oriented toward self-examination and change.
(The next six are a little left-of-center for me; but of course others may have different reactions.)
The Tao of I Ching: Way to Divination
by Tsung Hwa Jou. If you are looking for “alternative,” this is it. Describes an unconventional way of using the yarrow stalks: counting off by eight to get the trigrams, then by six to get one moving line (also described in the Takashima Ekidan above). Then describes the “Plum Flower Mind I Ching,” which uses numerology based on the date, and symbolism found in unusual events in the environment. One is also supposed to get ideas from the quaint woodcut images that accompany the text. Oriented toward fortune-telling; an example is learning that an old man is going to die in five days.
Through constant use for religious purposes the coins and the book take upon themselves a magical quality of their own. This is certainly true of the Christian Bible as well, which can also be used for divining.
Exact dates can be predicted, there being many people who can do this with great accuracy, but much faith is needed.
While telepathy does not influence the I Ching to any extent, sometimes, if one’s contact is not very strong, and the person for whom one is consulting the oracle is ‘pulling’ the answer to their desire, distortion may take place whilst tossing the coins.
The I Ching and Mankind
by Diana ffarington Hook. The sequel to the above; broader-ranging in its syncretistic approach to ancient and modern religions and philosophies, and more detailed in its examination of hexagram and numerologic sequences and arrangements. Describes a system of mutating hexagrams taken from W. A. Sherrill,
Heritage of Change, which I incorporated into
The Virtual Yarrow Stalks I Ching.
Some of the chapter titles:
The Sephirothal tree of life of the Kabbalah, the Chinese cosmos diagram, the secret of the Golden Flower and the raising of the kundalini
Astrology
A comparison between the I Ching, the Ten Commandments, numerology and the Tarot greater arcana
An Anthology of I Ching
by W. A. Sherrill and W. K. Chu.
Heritage of Change referred to above does not appear to be readily
available, but
Anthology is. Said to be “drawn from a variety of classical Chinese sources,” it is mostly a collection
of advanced Symbol and Number School practices, the kind of thing that I am just not into. Chapter 3, on astrology,
is 107 pages long, over 40% of the entire book. Also included are many variations on the Plum Blossom method,
and things like Geomancy (as here defined, something like feng shui) and Directionology (determining what physical
direction to travel in a given situation).

I Ching: The Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth
by Hua-Ching Ni. A free but well-written translation, introduced by a lot of Symbol and Number School material and folklore. Some of the latter is interesting, such as the relationship between the Big Dipper and the seasons, and diagrams of the 28 constellations of the Chinese zodiac. A major emphasis is rhythms of life and health, such as the effect of stress on the body, meridian systems, natural medicine, and mental illness. Describes using small seeds to determine a hexagram and one moving line. Ends with five brief tales of ancient
I Ching practitioners, and some personal notes.
The speech of spirits is at too high a frequency for the human ear to distinguish. They have a complete language, like human language, but it is spoken on the level of subtle energy waves, which a well-developed receiver may be able to understand after some training.
The sudden interference of an ill-intentioned ghost can cause vehicles or machines to stop and thus create land or air accidents . . . . Many diseases, both in men and women, are caused by ghosts, with or without reason.
The Authentic I Ching
by Dr. Wang Yang and Jon Sandifer. Describes two fortune-telling methods of using the
I Ching, the Mei Hua (Plum Blossom) and Na Jia methods, making much use of numerology, the Chinese calendar and the five elements, and line relationships. Numerous case histories are included as examples. Ends with a brief bit of advice for each hexagram and line.
Taoism:
Wen-Tzu (Shambhala Dragon Editions)
translated by Thomas Cleary. Further teachings of Lao-tzu, as if transcribed by a disciple, sometimes in the form of a dialogue with Wen-tzu. Very easy and enjoyable to read. Somewhat eclectic in content, with themes from Confucian and other schools of thought here and there.
Great people are peaceful and have no longings; they are calm and have no worries. They make the sky their canopy and the earth their car; they make the four seasons their horses and make dark and light their drivers. They travel where there is no road, roam where there is no weariness, depart through no gate.
True earth arrests true lead;
True lead controls true mercury.
Liu’s (apparently controversial) premise is that this language is symbolic, a Complete Reality school code for mental and spiritual concepts: in this case, true intent, true sense, and true essence. He goes on to criticize those who take the language literally, such as by seeking elixirs of immortality or energy circulation practices. It turns both the classic “philisophical” and later “magical” practices of Taoism on their heads, and illustrates how Taoism has been reinterpreted and variously practiced over the centuries.
Tao: The Watercourse Way
by Alan Watts. One of my early influences. A very eloquent summary of the deepest Taoist concepts: the
yin-yang polarity, the Tao as that from which one cannot depart,
wu wei, te as real virtue, even a brief description of the Chinese written language. If you are curious as to what Taoism is all about, or want to give someone else a book so that he or she can see what Taoism is all about, you might want to start here.

Daoism: A Beginner's Guide
by James Miller. Traces the history of the proto-Daoism of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, through what are termed classical, modern, and contemporary Daoism. The author’s conviction is that Daoism has always been a living, changing set of practices and beliefs, influenced by its Buddhist, Confucian, and political environment, and interpreted and re-interpreted by many formal schools past and present. The western idea of “philosophical” as opposed to “religious” Daoism thus appears to be a gross oversimplification, in some ways the product of yet another rediscovery and reinterpretation of the classical Daoists texts by westerners over the past few centuries.
1.
There once was a great white-bearded master who appeared at the boundary of the Central Territory on his journey west. Followers came from everywhere to sit at his feet, for he was a model of universal harmony. His teaching was so simple, yet so profound. His instruction was neither ordinary religion nor worldly wisdom, yet it revealed the truth of every aspect of the universe. All of his friends and followers lived virtuously and performed whatever work came to them joyfully. They maintained a peaceful, righteous way of life and enjoyed the abundance of their being. After their daily work was completed, they cleansed themselves carefully and fed themselves properly. Then they went to the garden where the old master stayed and awaited his precious instruction.
One
I teach the Integral Way of uniting with the great and mysterious Tao.
My teachings are simple; if you try to make a religion or science of them, they will elude you.
Profound yet plain, they contain the entire truth of the universe.
Those who wish to know the whole truth take joy in doing the work and service that comes to them.
Having completed it, they take joy in cleansing and feeding themselves.
Having cared for others and for themselves, they then turn to the master for instruction.
This simple path leads to peace, virtue, and abundance.
Some say the
Hua Hu Ching (“the Classic on Converting the Barbarians”) was burned but preserved in oral form during a period of political discord in China. Others consider it a late ideologically-motivated forgery. Make of all this what you will. See this article by
Derek Lin
for more details.
Miscellaneous:
Man is an amoral creature of order and ritual. No, he is essentially good, and just needs to be nurtured. No, he is basically evil, and needs to be whipped into shape. Fortunately, I am a Taoist, and can accept all these premises at once, thanks to Confucius, Mencius, and Hsün Tzu.
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Penguin Classics)
by Pu Songling (1640–1715). Translated and edited by John Minford. I have been entranced by these stories ever since I heard them read by Rainette Yao [sp?] on the Voice of Free China in the 1980’s. Especially the ones about fox fairies. “With elegant prose, witty wordplay, and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this collection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. In his tales of shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena, haunted buildings, and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes the boundaries of human experience and enlightens as he entertains.”

Chinese Fortune Sticks
by Zhao Xiaomin and Martin Palmer. I picked this up on my last trip to Hawaii. Shaking a container of
numbered sticks until one falls out is said to be the most common method of divination in real Chinese temples.
This book is an interleaving of the oracle statements of five different deities.
The deity who seems to have the biggest following these days is
Kuan Yin
,
and numerous
books
are available about her.
Knotted Doughnuts and Other Mathematical Entertainments
by Martin Gardner. Contains 21 of his
Scientific American Mathematical Games columns,
including the one about the
I Ching. Expresses my preference for including user action in the method of
consultation, rather than simple mechanical generation of random numbers:
. . . if you believe in Jungian synchronicity you might suppose that whatever acausal forces are operating they would be
stronger on a hand division of sticks than on the way one flips a coin.
Deciphering the Cosmic Number: The Strange Friendship of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung
by Arthur L. Miller. It is kind of a dual biography, focusing on their interactions, with lots of material on Pauli’s physics and Jung’s archetypes. Pauli, besides being a great physicist (Pauli exclusion principle; predictor of the neutrino), was a rather tortured soul and turned to psychoanalyst Jung for help. Their collaboration influenced many ideas such as Jung’s synchronicity, and both of them used the I Ching. The latter is not a major theme of the book, but it is referred to a number of times.
When it comes to comparing the I Ching to the genetic code,
I just can’t get into the spirit of things.
To me, the differences outweigh the similarities, and many of the latter seem contrived. The I Ching is an 8 × 8 square of binary hexagrams, and DNA is a 4 × 4 × 4 cube of base-4 “trigrams” (codons). The similarity comes from the fact that 64 (26) happens to be both a square ([23]2) and a cubic ([22]3) number. But aren’t the hexagram lines actually base 4, if moving lines are taken into account? Could be, but then there are 4096 combinations, not 64. What about arranging the I Ching into a 4 × 4 × 4 cube of bigrams? Looks interesting, but this is not historical and doesn’t change anything. One more thing: DNA’s essential nature is to be arranged into a long string with an anti-sense opposite. The similarity would have been more convincing if the King Wen sequence gave priority to the antisense hexagram pairs, not the physically inverted ones. But don’t let me stop you from seeing for yourself.
Tao Oracle: An Illuminated New Approach to the I Ching (illustrated cards and a book)
by Ma Deva Padma. I got these for father’s day! The pictures are interesting. They would be good for choosing a random “hexagram for the day.” I wish they had the oracle text printed on them; then you could prop one up on your desk and ponder, or memorize it. There would be plenty of room on the card; they are big, I have what I would consider average-sized hands and I can barely hold them well enough to shuffle them. They come with a little book that contains a paraphrase, not a translation, and some Tarot-like card layouts for reading. The book is dedicated to Osho, and quotes him several times, fwiw.
The Whole Heart of I Ching (The Whole Heart series)
by Reverend Venerable John Bright-Fey. You can’t judge this book by its cover, which is silky, padded, and nicely bound, with an attractive graphic. The inside looks like an amateur web page, using several different sans-serif fonts in both black and red, with a white-text-on-red “mystic window” accompanying each hexagram. The cover might also have pointed out that rather than any sort of translation of the
I Ching, the book is actually a guide to Taoist meditation and “alchemic wisdom,” using the structure of the
I Ching as a template. Hexagram 3, line 1:
The Qi, initially blocked by a pillar of stone
And sacred tree,
Flows around the obstacles
And seeks rest and guidance
In the company of friends.
The I Ching of the Goddess
by Barbara G. Walker. Essentially a series of 64 essays loosely based on the trigrams and main theme of each hexagram, using matriarchal goddess and feminist imagery drawn from the legends of diverse cultures and eras. Often has a fantasy comic-book sound to it:
As a result of this prophesied cataclysm, motherhood in the after-time could manifest itself only as a terrible accusation in the eyes of women clutching their dead children in a black, poisoned, starving land. The Madonna figure changes to a spirit of the Waste Land, which medieval seereses described as all that would be left of the earth after the upheavals brought on by men’s greed and rampant aggression. The Madonna figure was imagined as always merciful and forgiving, but the wronged mothers of the barren future, seeing their children dead, would never forgive. [From the Ming I hexagram.]
No actual
I Ching text, or any mention of the lines. Accompanied by illustrations with varying degrees of erotic intensity, apparently favoring the woman-on-top position. (Also comes as a
boxed set with illustrated cards
.)
The interesting thing about the book is that the hexagrams are arranged in the Fu Hsi order, the King Wen sequence being seen as less logical and therefore patriarchal. But they are numbered from 1-64 beginning with Ch’ien, rather than being assigned a logical binary value.