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Arkana, 1987, softcover, illustrated, 130 pages, some wear to covers otherwise condition: very good.
This simplified pocket edition is for the modern reader who, it is admitted, may well be sceptical of a "book of oracles". But W.S.Boardman suggests that we should approach it with an open mind, allowing it to remind us of the apparent preponderance in life of chance (which might yet be something else). Recommending the traditional way of working with the text - tossing coins - W.S.Boardman says this helps us to let go of our struggle to control events and to stop taking ourselves too seriously. Both assist the detachment that can unlock us and allow real changes into our lives. Advising that we should not expect direct answers, yes or no, the author says that "almost always, what happens is that the serious user begins to look at his problem in a new way" instead. The ancient "I Ching" is itself a new way of looking at things.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the 1st efforts of the human mind to place itself within the universe. It has exerted a living influence in China for 3000 years and interest in it has spread in the West.
Set down in the dawn of history as a book of oracles, the Book of Changes deepened in meaning when ethical values were attached to the oracular pronouncements; it became a book of wisdom, eventually one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, and provided the common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy.
Wilhelm's rendering of the I Ching into German, published in 1924, presented it for the 1st time in a form intelligible to the general reader. Wilhelm, who translated many other ancient Chinese works and who wrote several books on Chinese philosophy and civilization, long resided in China. His close association with its cultural leaders gave him a unique understanding of the text of the I Ching. In the English translation, every effort has been made to preserve Wilhelm's pioneering insight into the spirit of the original.
