Complete I Ching - Hardcover

Huang, Alfred

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892816562 ISBN 13: 9780892816569

Publisher: Inner Traditions, 1998

Synopsis

· The first translation to honor the authentic Chinese spirit of the Book of Change

For more than 3000 years the I Ching has been the most important book of divination in the world. Yet it has always been translated by Westerners who brought their own cultural biases to the work. Now, for the first time, an eminent Chinese scholar has translated the original ideograms of the I Ching into English. Imprisoned and sentenced to death during the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Master Alfred Huang studied the I Ching in secret with some of China's greatest minds. Released in 1979, he emigrated to the United States, where he discovered that no I Ching existed in English that truly understood the Chinese mind. This book is the product of his desire to right that situation.

To the Chinese, the I Ching is nothing without the Confucian commentaries known as the Ten Wings. Previous editions have given them only a minor place in the book, or have left them out altogether. In this new translation, they are restored to their central importance by Master Huang.

This book also emphasizes the intricate connections between the 64 possible hexagrams, and introduces several new methods for doing readings.

About this title

From the Back Cover

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY

“What is constant through this translation is both a sense of tradition and an appreciation of modernity. . . . [It is] a more useful I Ching than older, more self-conscious translations.”
--The Book Reader

“A careful comparison of Huang’s translation with the Wilhelm, Legge, and Blofeld versions reveals its superiority in nearly every respect.”
--Intuition

For more than three thousand years the I Ching has been the most important book of divination in the world. Revered by the Chinese as the Classic of Classics and consulted as a source of ancient wisdom, it has been embraced by the West in the last fifty years but has always been translated by Westerners who brought their own cultural biases to the work, distorting or misunderstanding its true meaning.

In The Complete I Ching Master Alfred Huang has restored the true essence of the I Ching by emphasizing the unity of Heaven and humanity and the Tao of Change, and, even more important, by including translations of the Ten Wings, the commentaries by Confucius, that are essential to the I Ching’s insights. Previous English translations have either given these commentaries a minor place in the book or have left them out altogether. But the Chinese say that the I Ching needs the Ten Wings to fly. Restored to their central place in the book by Master Huang, the I Ching at last flies in English.

Other features of this translation are a new emphasis on the intricate web of interrelations among the names and sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams, the preservation of the original poetic style, the introduction of several new methods of divination, and special information on the historical events out of which the I Ching was born.

A third-generation master of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan, Chi Kung, and Oriental meditation, MASTER ALFRED HUANG is a professor of Taoist philosophy who studied the I Ching with some of China’s greatest minds--only to be imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in 1966 and sentenced to death. For thirteen years in prison Master Huang meditated on the I Ching and found the strength to survive. Released in 1979 weighing only eighty pounds, he emigrated to the United States. Master Huang is the founder of New Harmony, a nonprofit organization devoted to teaching self-healing, and is the author of The Numerology of the I Ching and Complete Tai-Chi. He lives on the island of Maui.

About the Author

A professor of Taoist philosophy and former Dean of Students at Shanghai University, Master Alfred Huang is a third-generation master of Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and Oriental meditation, with over 50 years of experience.  He is the founder of New Harmony, a non-profit organization devoted to teaching self-healing, and is the author of Complete Tai Chi.  He lives on the island of Maui. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Inner Traditions
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0892816562
• ISBN 13: 9780892816569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 539