I Ching: The Illustrated Book of Changes

Description

I Ching: The Illustrated Book of Changes
Order No. 6087
Author: Stockwell Foster.

ISBN-13: 9787119019918

ISBN-10: 7119019910
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press
Year: 1993
Pages: 456
Size: 5×8
Language: English
Price: $24.95

The Book of Changes, or Yi Jing (known in the West as I Ching), is China’s oldest philosophical text extant. Its origins are lost in the mists of time, but scholars believe the first compilation was done early in the Zhou Dynasty. Based on a divination system using eight basic trigrams (groups of solid and broken lines), permutations of 64 pairs of trigrams were worked out. Over the ages pithy commentaries were added.

The Book of Changes charts the movements and developments (hence, ‘changes’) of all the universe’s phenomena. Many regard it as a complete system of philosophy in itself. Emperors, statesmen and generals throughout Chinese history consulted it.

Revered by Confucius, the Book of Changes was included in the five classics of Confucianism. It was one of the few books spared when Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 B.C.) ordered the burning of previous dynasties’ works. The Illustrated Book of Changes is a venerable classic made available to readers of modern Chinese and English. The 64 hexagrams and their traditional commentaries are explained with illustrations, and the Chinese text has been written by leading calligraphers.