I Ching

Rating:
Summary: Difficult Subject. Good scholarship.
Review: One can predict the orbit of Moon with great accuracy - that is the realm of physics, and the first author IS a physicist of considerable repute and distinction. But when it comes to predicting the future in a given human situation, one is left with no widely-accepted way, or a theory. Yet, as the authors recoganize, it remains a human need. Whether nature meets this need, or not, cannot be deciphered by majority opinion. One must experiment with a theory, and see if the theory works. It is in that spirit that this "I Ching" comes to us from the Kerson and Rosemary Huang. The authors have done away with the "ten wings" and added a much smaller wing of their own to some extent. The authors provide the minimal, though sufficient, historical background that is necessary, and here very helpful, to understand and use this ancient tool, this ancient Chineese work called "I Ching," of predicting possibilities in a given human situation. Whether this ancient chineese craft works, or not, must be decided by each individual. Carl Jung apparently used "I Ching," along with night dreams and visions of his subjects ("patients"), to gain knowledge of the relevant human factors and possible actions - or inactions - as suggested by the combination of these diverse elements of the subjective life. For a western reader the question remains: are there information-carrying currents in the universe that can affect seemingly random events, and if yes, does "I Ching" act as an antena to these currents? Experiment, and decide. Huangs' have brought a three-thousand old craft to us in a way that, I think, carries certain poetry of its own, and on the way tell us of how nature may know the left from right and what part "I Ching" played in one physics office at Princeton - where Kerson Hunag was a postdoc then, and C. N. Yang a physicist, a few months away from his Nobel Prize with T. D. Lee.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Version of the I-Ching
Review: The Problem with the I Ching is that you can't tell which version to buy without reading the actual text from the book, which you can not do over the computer. You actually need to go to a physical store and compare the different translations of the I-Ching and see which version suits you best, BUT THIS VERSION IS THE BEST. Its the one I bought after going to the store and reading and comparing the other versions.

The text is so much more readable and understandable than the other versions of the I-Ching they sell. It at times seems like someone who knows what you are doing is talking to you when you ask a question and then read the text from this book. Its not a jumble of confusion like the other versions. That is what made me buy the book.

Other versions of the I- Ching have lines that can not be understood, and didn't seem to realate to the question i asked. Every line of text in this book is clear to read, understand and I could usually just read the sentences and know how they related to the question I asked. That is not always true with the I ching. When the sentences in the other I-ching books don't make sense you have to figure them out before you can even apply them to your question. That does not happen with this book. It reads like someone is "talking" to you. The sentences just make sense.

Also, there is a very easy to undersand chart in the back of the book on how to form a hexagram some books leave this out or the chart is difficult to understand. In summary this book makes the I- Ching understandable.

Rating:
Summary: Intro for a Western mind
Review: This author was recommended by a website. The writing is understandable with enough of the "feel" for you to ease into books with more weight. I liked the layout which gives each hexagram two facing pages. There is a line-by-line "translation" along with a commentary & a judgment. There is a concise historical background of China and the I Ching- absolutely vital to me as an American with no prior knowledge. The authors' view, as stated in the introduction, of the Wilhelm/Baynes translation is "a faithful rendition of the Confucian interpretation as seen through Christian eyes, and reveals little of the I Ching's original meaning" which probably means you won't like this translation if you follow a Confucian philosophy & the Ten Wings annotation.