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The I Ching |
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The I Ching: An Overviw The I Ching is an ancient Chinese text that was influenced by Taoist and Confucian philosophy. Being much older that the Bible, it is thought to be one of the oldest books in the world. Its dates to approximately 1120 BC. Essentially, the universe is regarded as influenced by the opposite forces of yin and yang -- male and female, light and dark, hard and soft. The analysis of the interaction of these forces is used as a tool for divination; that is, as a source of guidance. One method of doing this is to toss three coins or yarrow stalks. This is done six times and thus a hexagram can be formed. The hexagram is composed of broken (yin) lines and unbroken (yang) lines. The 64 possible hexagrams are assigned meanings by the I Ching. They can can be used to guide us. Fundamentally, in some sense at any rate, the book claims to be able to predict the future; or at least the sort of environment the future will have. The book is also known at The Book of Changes as the futrue is seen as continually changing. If one reads and interprets the I Ching with an open mind, the wisdom it contains can, indeed, be useful no matter whether you believe in its ability to predict the future or not. Contents of available resources Copyright 2005 by Zee Sing. Permission required to reprint. |
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