I Ching

I Ching

Title page of a Song dynasty (c. 1100) edition of the I Ching
Original title	易
Language	Old Chinese
Subject	Divination, cosmology
Published	Late 9th century BC
Publication place	China
Original text	易 at Chinese Wikisource

I Ching
"I (Ching)" in seal script (top),[note 1] traditional (middle), and simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	易經
Simplified Chinese	易经
Hanyu Pinyin	Yì Jīng
Literal meaning	"Classic of Changes"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yì Jīng Bopomofo ㄧˋ ㄐㄧㄥ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Yih Jing Wade–Giles I4 Ching1 IPA [î tɕíŋ] Wu Suzhounese Yih Jin Hakka Romanization Yit6 Gang1 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yihk Gīng Jyutping Jik6 Ging1 IPA [jèːk kíːŋ] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ia̍h Keng (col.) E̍k Keng (lit.) Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Ĭk Gĭng Middle Chinese Middle Chinese yek geng Old Chinese Baxter (1992) *ljek (keng) Baxter–Sagart (2014) *lek (k-lˤeng) [note 1]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Kinh Dịch
Chữ Hán	經易
Korean name
Hangul	역경
Hanja	易經
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Yeokgyeong
Japanese name
Kanji	易経
Hiragana	えききょう
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Ekikyō

The I Ching or Yijing (Chinese: 易經, Mandarin: [î tɕíŋ] ^ⓘ), usually translated Book of Changes or Classic of Changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The I Ching was originally a divination manual in the Western Zhou period (1000–750 BC). Over the course of the Warring States and early imperial periods (500–200 BC), it transformed into a cosmological text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the Ten Wings.^[1] After becoming part of the Chinese Five Classics in the 2nd century BC, the I Ching was the basis for divination practice for centuries across the Far East and was the subject of scholarly commentary. Between the 18th and 20th centuries, it took on an influential role in Western understanding of East Asian philosophical thought.^[2]

As a divination text, the I Ching is used for a Chinese form of cleromancy known as I Ching divination in which bundles of yarrow stalks are manipulated to produce sets of six apparently random numbers ranging from 6 to 9. Each of the 64 possible sets corresponds to a hexagram, which can be looked up in the I Ching. The hexagrams are arranged in an order known as the King Wen sequence. The interpretation of the readings found in the I Ching has been discussed and debated over the centuries. Many commentators have used the book symbolically, often to provide guidance for moral decision-making, as informed by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The hexagrams themselves have often acquired cosmological significance and been paralleled with many other traditional names for the processes of change such as yin and yang and Wu Xing.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).