I-ching

[tetsunihon]

Does anyone know anything about the 8 trigrams from the I-ching text?

What do the trigrams represent?

[lexico]

The History of the Yi Jing 易經 relates the traditional accounts or Yi Jing origin, the mythologies should be considered more prehistorical than historical, ending with the Confucian school of Yi Jing studies and commentary.

One thing you need to be aware of are the dangers of hyperphilosophizing Yi Jing. Historically the Yi Jing was simply a book of court oracles and nothing more during the Zhou dynasty. It became a canon during the former Han dynasty. Three periods of philosophizing are known to have obscured the direct language of the Yi Jing.

1. The pseudo-philophising of the Yi Jing which had begun in the late Warring States period by the 五行 theory of a sophist called 鄒衍 was succeeded by the New Character School 今文學派 of the classical canons.

2. The Wei-Jin period scholar 王弼 is well known for his commentary on Yi Jing as well as Laozi 老子, but he is also the source of many modern misreadings of these two interesting works.

3. During the Song dynasty, the founder of neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi 朱熙, again peudo-philosophised the Yi Jing.

Today scholars see the Yi Jing as simply a book of oracle interpretations, whereas those wishing to give more mysterious, extraneous meaning to the text continue to philosophize on the simple readings and adds notions that do not exist in the text itself.

For entertainment purposes only, it's alright to play around with vairous attempts. However it is safe not to put much trust in it as a book of philosophy which it is not.

Another source, I Ching
*note: Watch out for grandiose claims to heavenly authority, philosophy and wisdom as in

The mandate of Heaven passed to the Zhou...The Zhou people knew the deepest secret of the universe -- that the Yin and Yang are the root of all things, and together in alternation they are the moving forces of our world and all its manifestations.

Since the oracle system is based on binary numbers, you can play a coin-tossing game here

Another source, I ching.
*note: Probably not as old as 5,000 yrs, but closer to 2,500 yrs.

[Master Chang Hui]

Hello every body, I am Master Chang Hui from Hong Kong. I registered to this I-Ching Forum today and want to exchange studies with all who interested.
I had a study report "The Age Old Mystery of Antique Taiji Totom". In Chinese(古太極圖的千古之謎)
It is a new era in I-Ching studies but full of interest and science. I obtained several State Awards in PRChina for the past years.
I want to brief it in the Thread and with a hyperlink leading to a web-page or to download the full paper. The file is 1.6M in txt but can be pdf form. Are that possible in this Forum ?
I can only find this text block to fill in but not sure if it is the right place for putting my thread. If I am wrong, sorry and plese guide me to the right way.

Can contact me on this forum or by email fortunecast@yahoo.com.hk
Can view the web-page directly with link below (file link in its bottom too).
http://www.oneee.com/index.cfm?id=6757&pageid=91

[Mars Man]

Welcome to the Japan Reference and affiliated forums. It's nice to have you here, and it would be good if you introduced yourself in the 'Members Introduction' fora--that's a very friendly way to do it.

Hope to see you there !! MM

[nice gaijin]

1. The hexagrams correspond to the passage for the situation and outcome (if there are moving lines present), and tell you where in the tome to look.

2. The Wilhelm edition is the best English translation to date

3. There is a great consciousness behind the I Ching. Do not take it lightly, or use it for frivolous purposes.

4. Beware of anyone who calls themselves "master."

[Tsuyoiko]

Although I haven't used it for a long time, I Ching can be a useful aid to decision making. If you use the proper way with the yarrow stalks, not the naff way with the coins, the repetitive process can help to clear the mind. Then the answer you get will give you a new perspective on your problem, which you can consider with your calmed mind. It has helped me to make quite a few difficult decisions. I don't see it as a method of divination, but as an aid to clear thinking.

[kashiya]

I've never before heard about I-Ching and canon definetly figure out what it is from your posts. Could sm pleas explain it briefly to me?

[ArmandV]

I-Ching can be used for time travel. Barnabas Collins was able to get to the year 1897 from 1969 via I-Ching in "Dark Shadows."

[Rich303]

This thread has caught my eye because I am a fan of Science-Fiction author Philip.K.Dick, and he mentioned the I-Ching in some of his writings.

In his book 'The Man In The High Castle'(1962), set in an alternative reality America after Hitler had WON world war II - America is divided between the Germans and the Japanese and many people live their lives by following the I-Ching.
In one of his short stories the I-Ching had been programmed into the main public computer networks (story written decades before the internet)

I will have a look further at this thread to broaden my knowledge on this interesting subject. Thanks to everyone for posting!

[kashiya]

Cheers ArmandV!
COuld you tell me maybe ehwther it is some kind of fiction or whether it is believed to be true. And if it is believed to be true than by whom?

Originally Posted by Rich303

This thread has caught my eye because I am a fan of Science-Fiction author Philip.K.Dick, and he mentioned the I-Ching in some of his writings.
In his book 'The Man In The High Castle'(1962), set in an alternative reality America after Hitler had WON world war II - America is divided between the Germans and the Japanese and many people live their lives by following the I-Ching.
In one of his short stories the I-Ching had been programmed into the main public computer networks (story written decades before the internet)
I will have a look further at this thread to broaden my knowledge on this interesting subject. Thanks to everyone for posting!

Woo!!! I haven't noticed that! I luv Dick and read quite a lot of his books (among others "the man...") but I must have overlooked the I-Ching thing (probably coz I didn't know what it is...)

[ArmandV]

Originally Posted by kashiya

Cheers ArmandV!
COuld you tell me maybe ehwther it is some kind of fiction or whether it is believed to be true. blush:

No, it is not true. It was a figment of the scriptwriter's imagination.

[rhixs]

At the end of his life, Confucius was supposed to have wished he could live sixty years longer just to study the I Ching further. My first I Ching was a John Blofeld translation in paperback that helped me learn to throw the coins and find the hexagrams. I have since gone through four copies of the yellow book and, while I no longer consult it on a daily basis, there are still times when I need to find a balance and nothing else I know speaks as true to my soul as the images of the trigrams manifesting.

I have looked at many of the <<popular>> I Ching's out there and have found them all to be BULLS***. Find a translation that identifies the parts of the I apart from the interpretation if you want to allow the I into your heart.

I also keep in my library several Bible translations, several Qu'ran interpretations (as well as a Koran that I can barely spell out words in but I keep working at it (Arabic is hard)), the Gita, the complete works of William Shakespeare, Dianetics and Science of Survival by L. Ron Hubbard (no, I am not, nor have I ever been, a Scientologist) and the Holy Books of Aleister Crowley. I have spent a lot of time examining other <<Holy>> wisdom books but most have fallen to the wayside, like the Book of Mormon, because they contained no truth for me.

The problem with Holy Books is that is all they are -- BOOKS! I love books and have always, but I am not one of the people of the book, no matter what book. Books merely awaken something inside me that allows me to be more than I am. The best books encourage me to be "more better" than I am.

[learning all I can]

no..i sure dont..but i will look forward to reading all the posts to follow...