Understanding the I Ching: The Wilhelm Lectures on the Book of Changes (Bollingen Series) - Softcover

Wilhelm, Hellmut; Wilhelm, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 069129190X ISBN 13: 9780691291901

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2026

Synopsis

An illuminating introduction to the ancient classic of Chinese divination—the must-have companion to the bestselling Wilhelm-Baynes translation of the I Ching, or Book of Changes

The West’s foremost translator of the I Ching, Richard Wilhelm thought deeply about how contemporary readers could benefit from this ancient work and its perennial insights into change and chance. For him and his son, Hellmut Wilhelm, the Book of Changes represented not just a mysterious book of oracles or a notable source of the Taoist and Confucian philosophies. In their hands, it emerges, as it did for C. G. Jung, as a vital key to humanity’s collective unconscious. Understanding the I Ching bring the observations and insights of the Wilhelms together in a single volume. This invaluable book is the essential introduction to the I Ching and the meaning of its hexagrams.

About this title

About the Author

Richard Wilhelm (1873–1930) was a sinologist, theologian, and missionary who translated many ancient Chinese works and wrote several books on Chinese philosophy and civilization. Hellmut Wilhelm (1905–1990) was a scholar of Chinese literature and history and a world-renowned expert on the I Ching. Cary F. Baynes (1883–1977) was a translator and Jungian psychologist. Irene Eber (1929–2019) was an Israeli sinologist and the author of several books, including Chinese and Jews: Encounters Between Cultures.

From the Back Cover

"Heraclitus, who held that life was movement and that it developed through the conflict of opposites, also conceived a harmonious world order, the Logos, that shapes this chaos. But to the Chinese, as we shall see, the two principles, movement and the unchanging law governing it, are one: they know neither kernel nor husk-heart and mind function together undivided."--Hellmut Wilhelm

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 069129190X
• ISBN 13: 9780691291901
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352