u/DimSumPimp

https://preview.redd.it/kgevt74l6pzg1.jpg?width=534&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c127121ff266bde88826664e7ad1eac23869f1bc

Two very excellent posts to supplement your journey in the Yi:

• How are the trigrams and hexagrams related?
• Which came first: trigrams or hexagrams?

Richard John Lynn's translation of Wang Bi's \"Classic Of Changes\", softbound.

​ I like Wang Bi's work (but not the Lynn translation so much, as the guy adds so much unnecessary extra words in his Chinese translation - a sign of not really grasping the essence of a text and needing to supplement with roundabout-vernacular).

When you read the original work of Wang Bi in classical Chinese, he is straight and to the point.

Bi was a prolific philosopher; he invented his own framework for how he saw the Yi and also due to his close proximity with the original Daoism of the Zhou era (post Han-Dynasty Daoism already became something different, something new age, far from the original Daoism), his views on such with the Yi are very interesting. For me it's easier to seperate his views on Daoism with the Zhou era's Changes, though he often draws parallels and concepts from the Daoism of the time; also his views on governence, morality etc is very "old skool", not fettered by Post Han dynasty Confucianist/Neo Confucianist flim flam.

Bi created a framework of viewing and using the Yi firstly away from all the clever devices (especially the whole "changing line polarity" idea) and convoluted concepts (numerology, complex mathematical calculations, mysticism); THE GREATNESS OF WANG BI was that he understood the "finger pointing to the moon" (from the Shurangama Sutra, made famous by Bruce Lee)...

The way the ancient Diviners composed the bronze age text of the Yi alludes to the "finger pointing to the moon" principle. Words to are there to describe concept/idea/theme of hexagrams images; the imagery inherent within the hexagrams captures the essence of the hexagram; and the essence lies in abstract principles, very (original) Daoist. From being stuck in the left brain mode of language, meanings, etymology, words, Wang Bi moves the reader into the realms of imagery (Diamond Sutra: once you arrive at the other shore you let go of the the raft); from there we are lead into the journey of the abstract ideas inherent within all the Yi. (Another great Author in this regard is Zhu Xi - his minimalist commentary style in the "Original meaning of the Yijing" as well as his rule of keeping his views and opinions to a bare minimum in his commentary).

An example is the argumenet that Qian #1 represents a horse in associative terms...often the Yi practioners of his time took it very literally...that Qian is a horse....but in his General Remarks and the following chapters, he strikes this fallacy down and encourages us to think otherwise.

This is important as Bi captures the intutiive way of viewing the Yi just as the old Diviners of antiquity (unhindered by language, operating on a right-brained level of lateral thinking/observation/application of the Yi); this is what is missing in the Western practice of the Yi (which as a Hong Kong man seems to me a huge case of "Chinese Whispers" gone way out of control; especially when you have Westerners supplementing their own misunderstandings of the Yi with their own interpretations, often gotten from others suffering the same problem).

Wang Bi teaches us how to learn.

What i also like about Bi's thought-framework is his views on Yin & Yang applied to hexagram structures. The general rule is that in a hexagram, the inherent interplay an relationship of the trigrams acting upon each other; the relationship of the lines; the ideas of yin yang attraction; the ideas of line phrasing; the appointment of the appropriate masters/ruler/leader of the hexagrams either by means of the hexagram essence (take #44 for example, the structure of the hexagram and it's line imagary tells you what the essence of the hexagram, where the master of the hexagram is - first 6 - before even reading any of the judgements or line texts...let alone the Wings...especially the ones created after the 3rd BC...) or by virtue of position (5th position). All of these are prolific ideas to digest.

Wang Bi's coherent thought-structure is expressed throughout the his work; he never deviants from his "world-building" (taking inspiration from fiction writers like JRR Tolkien). His Yi world-building is amazing...i would have been very nice to have a conversation with the man.

It belies his single focused mind and how he has really took the Daoist views of THE ONE in relationship to the TEN THOUSAND THANGS into his journey with the Yi.

Lynn's book is very good to hold; the book can be held and read with a single normal sized hand; it has a very good weight to it; the pages are jam packed with goodness and the book is compact! I also like the way Lynn manages the notes of each hexagram chapter....unlike say Joseph Adder's Zhu Xi book "THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE YIJING" oh my i sometimes want to rip this book apart....because the notes are at the back of the book whilst the hexagram chapters are at the front....so basically you are constantly flipping back and forth to get to the notes and further readings...

With Lynn's book, the formatting, the typography, the paper used, the ink, the binding, even in soft cover is very well done.

I enjoy taking my highlighters and using them on the pages of this book. I personally love highlighting stuffs and Lynn's book is amazing to highlight on.

Everyone needs to get this book; this one book alone, if studied exclusively for at least half a year will elevate your Yi-game to a next level.

Put down the Wilhelm, Legge, Blofield, Alfred Huang, Ritsema/Karcher, Hatcher and the elk...these are all interpretations that only pollute your understanding on whats more important: Understanding the system and principles of the Yi, rather than other people's thoughts.

I personally don't ascribe to much of Wang Bi's own interpretation of the Yi as it's still heavily influenced by early Confucianism and also pre-Zhou/Zhou/Post-Zhou dynasty Daoism. What's valuable to me is how Bi opened by eyes to the mechanics, the essence, the principles of the Yi and the hexagrams; the gift of his Yi-framework is a great boon in the practice and study of the Yi.