The Book of Changes is an ancient divination text and the oldest of the Chinese classics. The I Ching was originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou period, but over the course of the Warring States period and early imperial period was transformed into a cosmological text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the "Ten Wings." After becoming part of the Five Classics in the 2nd century BC, the I Ching was the subject of scholarly commentary and the basis for divination practice for centuries across the Far East, and eventually took on an influential role in Western understanding of Eastern thought.
The Book of Changes is an influential text that is read throughout the world. Several sovereign states have employed I Ching hexagrams in their flags, and the text has provided inspiration to the worlds of religion, psychoanalysis, business, literature, and art.
