The Living I Ching: Using Ancient Chinese

The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is an ancient manual for divining the future. Its basic text is traditionally attributed to three sages: King Wen, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius. By tossing coins, rolling dice, using a computer, or, more traditionally, counting yarrow stalks, one can create a seemingly random combination of heads and tails, odd and even, yin and yang, to construct six lines (for example, solid for odd numbers and broken for even numbers). These six lines make up a hexagram that provides advice, predictions, and answers to questions on topics from love and career to family and finance.

Archetypal observations of the human dilemma were made that long ago, and they became part of the Chinese and Taoist outlook. While there have been many variations in the ensuing centuries, the core observations of rise and fall, fortune and misfortune, and life and death remain valid. They are worthy of study because all of us living today are limited by our age and our uncertainty of the future. Studying books like the I Ching reveals the patterns of history and gives us the chance to live with greater insight.

While known mostly as a tool of divination, the I Ching is truly a repository of centuries of wisdom. Most of the existing translations offer either dense, scholarly commentary or little more than fortune-cookie platitudes, but The Living I Ching takes a more holistic approach. This translation recovers the true wisdom and philosophy of this ancient classic, so that the I Ching becomes more than just a book of fortune-telling—it becomes a manual for living.

Please see the companion website: livingiching.com