I Ching

I Ching
Title page of a Song dynasty (c. 1100) edition of the I Ching
Original title
LanguageOld Chinese
SubjectDivination, cosmology
PublishedLate 9th century BC
Publication placeChina
Original text
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 PinyinYì Jīng
Literal meaning"Classic of Changes"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYì Jīng
Bopomofoㄧˋ ㄐㄧㄥ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhYih Jing
Wade–GilesI4 Ching1
IPA[î tɕíŋ]
Wu
SuzhouneseYih Jin
Hakka
RomanizationYit6 Gang1
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationYihk Gīng
JyutpingJik6 Ging1
IPA[jèːk kíːŋ]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJIa̍h Keng (col.)
E̍k Keng (lit.)
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUCĬk Gĭng
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseyek geng
Old Chinese
Baxter (1992)*ljek (keng)
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*lek (k-lˤeng) [note 1]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetKinh Dịch
Chữ Hán經易
Korean name
Hangul역경
Hanja易經
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationYeokgyeong
Japanese name
Kanji易経
Hiraganaえききょう
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnEkikyō

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.


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  1. ^ Kern (2010), p. 17.
  2. ^ Redmond (2021); Adler (2022), chs. 1, 6, 7.