I Ching: The book of change

228 Pages·1968·9.447 MB·English

by  John Blofeld

Translated and edited
by John Blofeld
The Book of Change
An important new translation
of the ancient Chinese book of divination
D212 A Dutton Paperback

I CHING

I CHING
(The Book of Change)
A New Translation of the Ancient Chinese Text
with Detailed Instructions for Its Practical
Use in Divination
by
JOHN BLOFELD
A Dutton c D Paperback
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON
This paperback edition of
“I CHING”
First published 1968 by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
Copyright © 1965 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
whatsoever without permission in writing from the
publishers, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote
brief passages in connection with a review written for
inclusion in a magazine or newspaper or broadcasts.
SBN 0-525-47212-6
DEDICATION
For Chin and Smoe with warm affection.
TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD
Can any reasonable man suppose this universe to be mere chaos? The
correspondences between the behaviour of all things great and small—
from the celestial bodies rolling in space to the minute constituent parts
of atoms—seem rather to point to a universal pattern of movement,
governed by an Immutable Law of Change. Indeed, there is much
reason to assume this Law to be eternal, to suppose that universes may
take form and dissolve, aeon upon aeon, without deflecting its action
any more than the birth and death of mayfiies.
From this it is clear that, could we but analyse the pattern of changes
governed by this Law and could we but relate our affairs to the right
point in the everlasting process of ebb and flow, increase and decrease,
rising and falling, we should be able to determine the best action to be
taken in each case. Then, by peacefully according with the necessity to
advance, remain stationary awhile or retreat, by cheerfully accepting the
promise of gain and loss when each is due, we could come close to being
masters of our lives!
This is precisely what the ancient Chinese Book of Change purports
to teach us how to do. Its authors believed that they had succeeded in
analysing Change itself into sixty-four constituent processes, each sub-
divided into six stages and all interacting upon one another. They invented
a method for relating individual affairs to the stages and processes most
closely affecting them, thus fashioning a key whereby future generations
could unlock the secrets of the future and determine the surest way to live
in harmony with the circumstances prevailing. For more than two thous-
and years, those who have learnt to use it have testified to the marvellous
results obtained. That key is now in your hands—use it well and you
will not be disappointed.
JOHN BLOFELD
Sala Santitham
Autumn 1963 Bangkok

CONTENTS
TRANSLATOR S FOREWORD Page 9
INTRODUCTION 13
PART ONE: EXPLANATORY CHAPTERS — 21
1. An Approach to the Book of Change 23
2. The Background of the Book of Change 38
3- The Symbolical Basis of the Book of Change 48
4. The Method of Divination 59
5. A Guide to Interpretation 72
6. A Summary of Instructions 719
PART TWO: THE BOOK OF CHANGE
(Text and Commentaries) 83
1. Hexagrams 1 to 30 85
2. Hexagrams 31 to 64 148
3- Postscript 212
APPENDIX: TABLES AND DIAGRAMS
FOR ASSISTING INTERPRETATION 213
1. The Trigrams with their Principal Attributes 216
2. Fu Hsi’s Arrangement of the Trigrams 217
3. Fu Hsi’s Circular Arrangement of the Trigrams 217
4. King Wén’s Arrangement of the Trigrams in Family
Relationships 217
5. King Wén’s Circular Arrangement of the Trigrams 218
6. The Trigrams in the Arrangement Used in Charms
for Warding Off Evil 218
7. Parallel Diagrams Indicating the Interaction of Yin
and Yang 219
8. The Hexagrams in the Sequence in which they Occur a0
in the Book of Change
THE BOOK OF CHANGE
9 . The Hexagrams Arranged According to the Base
Structure
221
. Fu Hsi’s Diagram of the Derivation of the Sixty-Four
IO
Hexagrams 223
. The Hexagrams Arranged According to the Number
II
of Yang Lines in Each 224
. The Seasonal Correspondences 225
Iz
13 . Table of Ruling Lines 226
I . Table of Approximate English Phonetic Equivalents
PN of the Names of the Trigrams 226