I Ching - An Introduction
The I Ching and 'Aspects of Tao'
The essential beauty of the I Ching lies in its simplicity.
Without recourse to glibness or aphorism, our complex and subtle world is refined through the grace and clarity of its words and images.
In our relationships one to one another, with our families and within society, we are brought to perceive the simple within the complex, order within the chaos.
Origins
The origins of the I Ching, or Book of Changes, are thought to lie approximately 5000 years ago, somewhere on the shifting borders between history and myth.
We are told that Fu Hsi, a legendary hero-emperor from a period in China during the 3rd millennium BC, was the author of the essential core of the Book of Changes. This apparently took the form, not of writing, but of pictures, the arrangement of the eight three-line images we now call trigrams.
Fu Hsi then combined these images into the sixty-four hexagrams which together make up the 'chapters' of the I Ching.
Wherever their actual source may lie, history suggests that for something like sixteen hundred years these symbols appeared to form the foundations of an oracle-based system of divination, primarily consulted by farmers, hunters and fishermen.
At the end of this period, around 1150 BC, the historical ruler King Wen and his son the Duke of Chou are reputed to have added commentaries elaborating on the hexagrams and their lines, leading toward a more comprehensive reflection on the world and its meaning.
About 1000 years later this work was further elaborated through the studies and writings of Confucius and his followers, leading finally toward the body of writing that has come down to us today.
The Present
In the modern world, the I Ching touches the lives of millions within and beyond the boundaries of China, not only as a form of divination, but serving also as almanack and advisor, as a companion and a source of inspiration.
The depths and layers of meaning that are felt to lie within the pages of the I Ching are the source of this relationship. Its extent is founded upon the number and variety of translations that are now available throughout the world.
The I Ching as Oracle
Many translations provide instructions on how to use the I Ching as a predictive tool, and details can also be found elsewhere on the web.
The pages of this site attempt merely to supplement the books from which they are taken. Nothing can replace the personal dialogue which develops through holding a copy of the I Ching in your own hands.
Ch'ien
Chên
K'an
Kên
K'un
Sun
Li
Tui