I Ching
The I Ching is
an ancient Chinese oracle that provides an Oriental philosophical perspective to
give insight on situations and problems.
"I" means
change. "Ching" means book. Therefore I Ching means 'The Book Of Changes'.
The I Ching is
both a book and a method of divination that represents one of the first efforts
of humans to grasp their relationship to nature and society. The I Ching is a
book of wisdom that illustrates correct and balanced action in a multitude of
situations. It is a chart of changes. The basis of the I Ching philosophy is
that nothing is static and that our task is to adjust to the ebbs and flows of
change.
The I Ching has
evolved over the centuries and is a mix of Taoist and Confucian philosophy. It
is possibly the oldest book in existence. Its origins date back about 5000 years
to the time of the ruler Fu Hsi. Fu Hsi was said to have found the eight
trigrams that form the sixty-four hexagrams on the shell of a tortoise. Fu Hsi
is credited as being the first person to give some order to what was, at that
time, an uncivilized culture. were not written until much later.
The meanings
evolved from then on but the book was used mostly for predicting natural events
until King Wen wrote the first expositions on the sixty-four hexagrams about
3000 years ago. He wrote them while in prison from a vision on the prison wall.
These were the first comments that included social and political connotations.
Many renowned Chinese philosophers such as Lao Tzu and Confucius have influenced
the I Ching through the centuries. Confucius was particularly dedicated to the
study and application of the ideas in the I Ching.
Each inquiry to
the oracle will result in a hexagram reading and possibly additional line
readings. A hexagram is made up of two trigrams. There are eight possible
trigrams: Ch'ien (Cosmos), Chen (Thunder), K'an (Water), Ken (Mountain), K'un
(Earth), Sun (Wind/Wood), Li (Fire), and Tui (Lake). Each trigram is made up of three lines. Each line is either broken
or solid, corresponding to the complementary forces Yin (negative) and Yang
(positive). Every time a coin is thrown, one line of the hexagram is determined,
thus, six throws decide a hexagram.
There are
sixty-four different hexagrams, and each hexagram has six changing lines, any
one of which may or may not apply for any particular reading. One method for
casting the oracle is to use three Chinese coins for the throws. Each throw
creates one line of the hexagram. One side of the coin represents a two and the
other a three. These numbers are added to determine the result of the throw.
Changing lines are created if there are any three-of-a-kind throws (a total of
six or nine). The secondary reading can be thought of as changing from the
primary reading and is only created if there are changing lines in the primary
reading.
Solid line are
(Yang) masculine. Broken Lines are (Yin) feminine.
