I-Ching for Beginners

Top 12 Yijing books

Hi Abella-
I've studied almost everything in print on the Yijing (old spelling: I Ching) at least twice, and read it in Chinese too. In the bibliography below, the entries in bold have my vote for the most worthwhile or truest to the Chinese text. At the end is a separate list of the books I didn't find very useful.
http://www.hermetica.info/F-YiBib.htm
At to Wu Wei, Wu means Not, Wei means Doing, Acting, Performing, Practicing a behavior pattern that's known all the way through, i.e. not responsive or spontaneous. The phrase was popuarized by Laozi in the Daodejing.

Hi bradford, I have a question. I have been using the huge Ritsma/Karcher book and your notes, while recommending also say:

Recommended for glosses and concordance, not for the translation.

Click to expand...

Seriously!?? that huge work actually is not a good translation? That's almost shocking. I mean I know big is not necessarily the best, but it gives the appearance (right! I know) of being so scholarly.

p.s. thank you for the list, very interesting. I see the ones which received the widest circulation are of the least value. Seems to be ever such.

Top 12 Yijing books

Hi Marion-
Ritsema and Karcher have a pretty fair grasp of the range of meanings of the Chinese characters - at least as good as any dictionary I've seen. But they don't have a handle on Chinese grammar. The meanings of the Chinese characters change drastically from context to context. They change parts of speech a lot too. You can't separate them from their context. If you just mindlessly plug in an English translation, or even a set of glosses, wherever you see a particular character, you will miss the specificness of the intended meaning entirely and have something that's way too vague. I can't call something a translation that doesn't "get" the grammar - it's just a word substitution exercise, even if it IS useful.
Some of the modern scholars have big problems with Chinese grammer too, especially Rutt, who just ignores any word that doesn't fit his preconceptions, which includes to All of the particles.

Did you say you were working with my "notes"? That's seriously obsolete. It was replaced with the "translation and commentary", in PDF format (still free).

Okay, well that makes sense. I have never done any translation but think I see what you mean.

I was just looking at your web site now.

once again...

though i very very much appreciate the comments from the elders and scholars, i WOULD like to keep this thread open for beginners and curious laymen and their questions...

so, any questions?

i will work on a list of good beginning i-ching books

The classic: Wilhelm/Baynes (its a big yellow dragon that you will have to take some time to befriend)

sincerely,
serendipity

Ok, here's a beginner question!

When you cast a hexagram and get changing lines and you change the changing lines to get the second hexagram--What is the second hexagram called? What do you think it means?

I know that we read the first hexagram general reading and the changing line readings and then read the second hexagram general reading.

Does the original hex refer to the present and the the second to the future? Or cause and effect? Or situation and advice?

I usually find that I don't need to differentiate like this--The whole reading works together. But now I'm reading Karcher's Total I Ching (I just mis-typed "Total Tarot" by mistake!), in which he proposes many additional--up to like 9--hexagrams to be generated from the first.

So that got me thinking, that's more like a tarot reading. Each derived hexagram might need to have a "positional" meaning to make sense of it all.

So I hope my question makes sense! What do you think about the second hexagram? And what do you think about Karcher's Total I Ching many hexagram idea?

hello!

hi--
welcome to i-ching! i'm glad a beginner has a question...

if i were you, i would stick to just the one or possibly two hexagrams that are created from throwing one set of coins... it's best not to get too carried away...

and traditionally, the first hexagram refers to the present situation, and the second to how it will change over time.

i find, as well, that the MAIN hexagram refers more directly to MY intentions and perceptions, and the moving lines (as listed in this first hexagram) refer to the I-ching's take on the situation...

that is just my interpretation however... i find the i-ching and i sometimes have differing opinions! (but i do respect the i-ching as being wise and all-knowing)

it might seem silly, but i have begun to think of the i-ching as a wise being or entity that i can call upon to chat with me, or rather, contribute its wise two cents about a situation or my approach to it...

when i was first beginning though, i-ching was more like a puzzle to be decoded!

sincerely,
serendipity

beginner questions...

hi folks!

any more beginner questions?

okay loves

see you when you need me!

serendipity

would anyone like to see this thread continued?

has anyone tried using i ching and tarot together in their readings lately?

does anyone have any questions for me or the general public to answer?

is anyone interested in seeing this thread continued?

-serendipity

I have a question concerning I Ching, so I think that this would be the best place to ask; I just want to hear opinions from those who have experience with it.

Pretty straightforward, really: Do you think that English translations of the original Chinese texts fully do the I Ching justice?

I'm just wondering because I would think that translation from Chinese to English would result in losing some of the important meanings of what the writing is trying to convey, and that's the only reason why I'm a little hesitant to delve into I Ching any time soon.

Thanks in advance. : )