Illustrated I Ching

Name: Illustrated I Ching
ISBN: 9787513279208

龙若飞China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine · ChinaAug 2024

3.4

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 112
ISBN: 9787513279208

Report an error Find this book

Summary

This series is a carefully curated set of recommended readings in the Chinese classics, assembled for practitioners of Chinese medicine alongside the four great classics of the tradition, in the hope of offering readers direct exposure to traditional culture and intellectual nourishment on the path to becoming accomplished physicians. The Zhouyi, or Book of Changes, is one of the Three Changes (an alternative view holds that the Changes refers to the Three Changes as a whole rather than to the Zhouyi alone) and is one of the traditional classics. It comprises two parts, the Jing (Text) and the Zhuan (Commentaries). "Without knowing the Changes, one cannot speak of being a great physician." The Changes embodies plain yet profound natural laws and dialectical thought, and is the crystallization of five thousand years of Chinese wisdom. Hailed as the foremost of all classics, it is the master key to traditional Chinese culture. It encompasses all things and sets order among the multitude; it is an outstanding representative of Chinese culture, broad yet subtle, all-embracing, and the wellspring of Chinese civilization. Its contents touch on philosophy, politics, daily life, literature, art, science, and many other fields, making it a shared classic of every school. The main text of this book follows the punctuation and paragraphing of various editions; apart from phonetic glosses on a few difficult characters and words, it carries no extensive annotation.

Editor's review

This book is one of the readings in the Chinese classics compiled for practitioners of Chinese medicine. Its main text takes the Text and Commentaries of the Zhouyi as its object; punctuation and paragraphing draw on various editions, and apart from phonetic glosses on a few difficult characters and words, it offers no extensive annotation, leaving room for interpretation to the reader. For students of Chinese medicine, the value of reading the Changes lies not in divination but in encountering the underlying vocabulary—yin and yang, change, dialectic—that runs through traditional thought. By preserving the original text as it stands, the book suits readers willing to read slowly and chew over the text repeatedly. It is more a source-text reader to be used alongside reference works and annotated editions than an introductory lecture that fully explains the principles of the Changes. Read it as a classic to accompany you over the long term: take a little at a time and ponder it in light of your own study of Chinese medicine.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of Chinese medicine interested in the roots of traditional culture and wanting direct contact with the source text
Readers who have already read vernacular explanations of the Changes and want to return to the original text
Readers who enjoy reading classics slowly and are willing to check characters and punctuation for themselves
Practitioners of Chinese medicine hoping to understand yin-yang and change from the perspective of traditional thought

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners with no grounding in classical Chinese who want detailed annotation and explanation
Readers who only want to learn methods of divination and prediction from this book
Readers expecting a systematic treatise on Changes scholarship or detailed hexagram-by-hexagram analysis

Reading tips

Read the preface and the notes on paragraphing first to understand how the text has been punctuated, then move into the main text.
Read only one or two hexagrams at a time; when you meet a difficult character or phrase, consult a reference work first rather than reading too much into it.
Keep an annotated edition of the Zhouyi at hand for comparison, working through the original text and the explanations separately.
After reading, jot down a sentence or two of your own understanding, and look back after a while to see how your grasp has changed.

About the publisher

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Founded in 1989

China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on publishing books in traditional Chinese medicine, covering Chinese medical classics, clinical medicine, acupuncture and tuina, materia medica and formulae, and medical history and literature; its catalogue includes 3,277 titles. Representative books include Xiao Er Yao Zheng Zhi Jue, Shang Han Lun, Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu, Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, Yi Zong Jin Jian, and Guo Aichun's Annotated Huangdi Neijing Suwen (Second Edition). These works involve writings by historical physicians such as Qian Yi, Zhang Zhongjing, Wang Shuhe, and Zhang Xichun, as well as documentary studies compiled by contemporary authors including Zhao Xin, Zhen Xueyan, Zhang Yongtai, and Wang Xiangang. In terms of publishing characteristics, the press emphasizes collation and annotation of original Chinese medical classics and the systematic presentation of famous physicians' works, balancing the transmission of ancient editions with reference for clinical application. Public information is limited, and no other publishing fields are covered here.

版权信息
作者简介
内容简介
凡例
策划人语
易上经
乾卦第一
坤卦第二
屯卦第三
蒙卦第四
需卦第五
讼卦第六
师卦第七
比卦第八
小畜卦第九
履卦第十
泰卦第十一
否卦第十二
同人卦第十三
大有卦第十四
谦卦第十五
豫卦第十六
随卦第十七
蛊卦第十八
临卦第十九
观卦第二十
噬嗑卦第二十一
贲卦第二十二
剥卦第二十三
复卦第二十四
无妄卦第二十五
大畜卦第二十六
颐卦第二十七
大过卦第二十八
坎卦第二十九
离卦第三十
易下经
咸卦第三十一
恒卦第三十二
遁卦第三十三
大壮卦第三十四
晋卦第三十五
明夷卦第三十六
家人卦三十七
睽卦第三十八
蹇卦第三十九
解卦第四十
损卦第四十一
益卦第四十二
夬卦第四十三
姤卦第四十四
萃卦第四十五
升卦第四十六
困卦第四十七
井卦第四十八
革卦第四十九
鼎卦第五十
震卦第五十一
艮卦第五十二
渐卦第五十三
归妹卦第五十四
丰卦第五十五
旅卦第五十六
巽卦第五十七
兑卦第五十八
涣卦第五十九
节卦第六十
中孚卦第六十一
小过卦第六十二
既济卦第六十三
未济卦第六十四
系辞上传
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
系辞下传
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
说卦传
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
序卦传
杂卦传
易系辞册

FAQ

I have no grounding in classical Chinese—can I still read this book?

You can try, but it will be demanding. The annotation here is minimal, mainly preserving the original text as it stands. It is advisable to have on hand an annotated edition of the Zhouyi and a reference work on classical Chinese; first work out the meaning of the characters, words, and sentences, then return to this book to feel the rhythm of the original.

What does this book have to do with studying Chinese medicine?

The ideas of yin and yang, change, and dialectic set out in the Changes are an important cultural background to traditional Chinese medical thinking. Reading it is not about finding direct methods of treatment, but about understanding the linguistic and conceptual soil in which the classics of Chinese medicine grew—which helps in grasping the modes of thought in those classics.

Why is there no detailed annotation in the book?

According to the source material, the punctuation and paragraphing of the main text draw on various editions, and apart from phonetic glosses on a few difficult characters and words, no extensive annotation is provided. This approach is meant to preserve the complete form of the original and leave the space of interpretation to the reader and to accompanying annotated editions; it suits those willing to check things for themselves and read the source text slowly.

In what order should I read the original text of the Zhouyi?

You can proceed in the order of the book's paragraphing, from the Text to the Commentaries, or you can read the Commentary section first to help you grasp the approach of the Text. Either way, it is best to read a little at a time, in many sessions, alongside an annotated edition; there is no need to finish the whole book at once—what matters is accumulating understanding through repeated reading.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

龙若飞 Author · China

Long Ruofei is a compiler and editor of Chinese classical texts; publicly available information about the author is limited. The work falls roughly into two lines: collation and commentary, and accessible compilation. Long annotated the Qing scholar Liu Sibai's Zhouyi Huajie, published by Shanghai Joint Publishing in 2015, and subsequently compiled a series of illustrated classics, including illustrated editions of the Daodejing, the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, the Yijing, the Mencius, and the Analects, published by China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The series combines text and images to present the original works and their meaning for beginners and readers in Chinese medicine, aiming to provide them with readable editions of the classics. Judging from the six works held in the library, the topics center on Yijing studies and the Confucian Four Books, with major Daoist texts also included, emphasizing readability and practical use in a plain style suited to step-by-step study.