The "I Ching": A Biography

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Overview

The I Ching originated in China as a divination manual more than three thousand years ago. In 136 BCE the emperor declared it a Confucian classic, and in the centuries that followed, this work had a profound influence on the philosophy, religion, art, literature, politics, science, technology, and medicine of various cultures throughout East Asia. Jesuit missionaries brought knowledge of the I Ching to Europe in the seventeenth century, and the American counterculture embraced it in the 1960s. Here Richard Smith ...

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Overview

The I Ching originated in China as a divination manual more than three thousand years ago. In 136 BCE the emperor declared it a Confucian classic, and in the centuries that followed, this work had a profound influence on the philosophy, religion, art, literature, politics, science, technology, and medicine of various cultures throughout East Asia. Jesuit missionaries brought knowledge of the I Ching to Europe in the seventeenth century, and the American counterculture embraced it in the 1960s. Here Richard Smith tells the extraordinary story of how this cryptic and once obscure book became one of the most widely read and extensively analyzed texts in all of world literature.

In this concise history, Smith traces the evolution of the I Ching in China and throughout the world, explaining its complex structure, its manifold uses in different cultures, and its enduring appeal. He shows how the indigenous beliefs and customs of Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet "domesticated" the text, and he reflects on whether this Chinese classic can be compared to religious books such as the Bible or the Qur'an. Smith also looks at how the I Ching came to be published in dozens of languages, providing insight and inspiration to millions worldwide—including ardent admirers in the West such as Leibniz, Carl Jung, Philip K. Dick, Allen Ginsberg, Hermann Hesse, Bob Dylan, Jorge Luis Borges, and I. M. Pei. Smith offers an unparalleled biography of the most revered book in China's entire cultural tradition, and he shows us how this enigmatic ancient classic has become a truly global phenomenon.

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Editorial Reviews

The Guardian

Smith's fascinating history of what he usually calls the Yijing—around 3,000 years old; first sanctioned by the Chinese state as a classic in 136 BCE—traces its influence on western artists such as Philip K Dick, Raymond Queneau, John Cage (who composed aleatory music with its help) and Jorge Luis Borges, as well as its enthusiastic reception by scientists (Leibniz saw in it his binary system confirmed), and its hermeneutic and political history in China itself.
— Steven Poole

Macleans Magazine

Foreigners, even foreign devotees—and they have been legion over the centuries—find The Classic of Changes fundamentally hard to engage with. . . . As Smith demonstrates, in a rather premature 'biography,' the Yijing remains vibrantly alive.
— Brian Bethune

Magonia Review of Books

[F]or its material on the (ironically) obscure history of a well-known text, it is to be highly recommended.
— Gareth J. Medway

Choice
Smith's book succeeds admirably in making the history and importance of this esoteric and enigmatic classic accessible and understandable to a wide audience. A must read for anyone interested in fathoming 'the Way' (Tao/Dao) in ancient China.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Smith's book demonstrates that if the Book of Changes is anything, it is alive.
— James Carter
Los Angeles Review of Books - James Carter
Smith's book demonstrates that if the Book of Changes is anything, it is alive.
Tablet - Jon Sweeney
His biography is, at every turn, full of scholarship.
The Guardian
Smith's fascinating history of what he usually calls the Yijing—around 3,000 years old; first sanctioned by the Chinese state as a classic in 136 BCE—traces its influence on western artists such as Philip K Dick, Raymond Queneau, John Cage (who composed aleatory music with its help) and Jorge Luis Borges, as well as its enthusiastic reception by scientists (Leibniz saw in it his binary system confirmed), and its hermeneutic and political history in China itself.
— Steven Poole
Macleans Magazine
Foreigners, even foreign devotees—and they have been legion over the centuries—find The Classic of Changes fundamentally hard to engage with. . . . As Smith demonstrates, in a rather premature 'biography,' the Yijing remains vibrantly alive.
— Brian Bethune
Library Journal
Smith (humanities, Rice Univ.; Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World) adds a welcome volume to Princeton's ambitious series. Most writing on the hexagrams of the I Ching, however well intentioned, is either too abstruse or too enthusiastic for the Western or nonexpert reader. Smith approaches the I Ching from the perspective of its history, development, and interpretation, creating perhaps the most interesting book in English about this Chinese classic. VERDICT Essential for academic libraries, this also makes a first-rate introduction to Chinese spirituality for nonacademic readers.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780691145099
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publication date: 3/25/2012
  • Series: Lives of Great Religious Books
  • Pages: 288
  • Sales rank: 679,610
  • Product dimensions: 4.90 (w) x 7.60 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Richard J. Smith is the George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities and professor of history at Rice University. His many books include "Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World: The" Yijing (I-Ching, "or" Classic of Changes) "and Its Evolution in China".

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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

The Hexagrams xi

Chronology of Chinese Dynasties xvii

Preliminary Remarks and

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction 1

Part One The Domestic Evolution of the Yijing 15

Chapter 1 Genesis of the Changes 19

Chapter 2 The Making of a Classic 48

Chapter 3 Interpreting the Changes 75

Part Two The Transnational Travels of the Yijing 125

Chapter 4 The Changes in East Asia 129

Chapter 5 The Westward Travels of the Changes 170

Concluding Remarks 211

Notes 225

Bibliography 251

Index 265

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