MORE ON THE I CHING

I realised that not many people know exactly what I Ching is, although I had made several references to it. Thus today I shall try to speak on the I Ching.

I Ching is also known as Book of Changes, which survived the Burning of the Books at the time of Emperor Shih Huang Ti (213BC). It was used as a Book of Divination but later after Chapters written by King Wen of Chou Dynasty (1150BC) and his son Duke of Chou, made it into a Book of Wisdom. Later Confucius added his Commentary to this Book but the name of Fu Xi (2852 BC), a legendary figure, was the earliest of the authors. The Book in its present format was derived from that arranged in the K’ang His Period (1662-1722).

It is said that it encompasses the macrocosm and microcosm of the Universe. In Chapter 6, of the Great Commentary part of I Ching, it is described as a vast and great book. It knows no limits and embraces everything. In Chapter 7, it described that when Man is in harmony with the teachings of the Book, the actions correspond with the Tao of the Universe and with Justice.

In Chapter 10, the passage mentioned that the Book contains the four Tao of the holy Sages; In speaking, we should be guided by its judgements; in action we should be guided by its changes; in making objects we be guided by its images and in seeking an oracle, we should be guided by its pronouncements.

Since I use the Book a lot for divination, I always recall the following advice from the Book – ‘First take up the words, Ponder their meaning, Then the fixed rules reveal themselves. But if you are not the right man, The meaning will not manifest itself to you.”

The entire 64 Hexagrams of the I Ching are derived from the basic 8 Trigrams.

Ch’ien	Creative	Heaven	Father
K’un	Receptive	Earth	Mother
Chen	Arousing	Thunder	Eldest son
K’an	Abysmal	Water	Middle son
Ken	Keeping still	Mountain	Youngest son
Sun	Gentle	Wind	Eldest daughter
Li	Clinging	Fire	Middle daughter
Tui	Joyous	Lake	Youngest daughter

The 64 Hexagrams are also linked to the 64 codons of the Genetic Code by modern Taoists.

I Ching for divination was devised by one Keng Fong of the Han Dynasty (206 BC) and a completely new style discovered by the famous I Ching master Shao Yung was introduced in the Sung Dynasty called the “Plum Blossom Oracle”. I consider Keng Fong’s method as the most difficult to master, although for some time I was using this method.