Stephen KarcherRezensionen

Without doubt the best version of the I Ching I've come across. The author clearly explains where the images originated in the the ritual and political history of ancient china and still makes them relevant to the modern reader. I especially liked the drawings showing the evolution of the chinese characters.

If you are Serious about I Ching, then the "Classic Chinese Oracle of Change" is a Classic in itself. This is not for the novice but the serious student with at least a more than general understanding of the subject. But the insights presented here will delight, and Enlighten you no end 5 STARS

To me this is The Book on I Ching, the ultimate reference. This is the book I will turn to if other interpretations are not enough, if the answers are not clear to me. It has a very thorough introduction that will teach you a lot about the I Ching and its background. The interpretation of the hexagrams are not like anything I have ever seen before or since. It gives you a translation of (Chinese) character by character of the original text, and a thorough explanation of how each word/symbol/character should be interpreted in the I Ching context. This approach also makes it possible to include a concordance, so that you can check i what other contexts a certain character appear, in order to deepen your understanding of it, the answer, and the I Ching itself. This book is not easy reading, at least not the hexagrams, but I find it well worth the effort. I have yet to find any other interpretation/translation that can give such a deep immersion into the soul of the I Ching.

I find this to be the I Ching interpretation that speaks most directly to me. When asking important questions I tend to look in more detailed books (mostly Ritsema's wonderful interpretation) too, but often this book will give me a clear and direct answer to my question, relevant and understandable, usually not difficult to apply to the situation I find myself in. In a way I feel a bit stupid using this compact book when I have other sources of information with much more depth, but Many years of using it, together with several other interpretations of the I Ching, convinces me more and more that this one book might be all that is needed. I still want to go deeper into the mysteries, thoughts and images, of the I Ching, but even for more complex and important guidance this book seems to give me just what I need. (I have been using the 1995 edition, ISBN 1852307013.)

Let me state up front that I don't think that divination systems can reveal your destiny. What I do think is that they are ways that human beings map rich insights into human psychology on to symbol systems. These systems can then be used to gain insight into your own actions and sometimes into why other people around you are acting the way they are. This book, which has the appearance of a coffee table book with little information, actually provides a very good overview of the multitude of divination systems that humans have used. It also gives an overview of what the symbols in systems like the Tarot, the I Ching and Runes mean. I found this very useful for developing my own personal divination system. I think it would be useful to most people who wanted an overview of the topic.

This book is actually carried with me in my satchel everywhere I go. I find its language clear but not irreverent to the ancient feel. Not in very good shape due to constant travel.