UNDERSTANDING THE I CHING

THE BOOK

     The I Ching is an ancient and revered Chinese text. It is also called the Book of Changes. It has been greatly influenced by both Confucius and Lao Tzu. Throughout the many centuries of its existence, many other Chinese sages have also studied and amplified its wisdom. In 1921, Richard Wilhelm translated it from the Chinese into German. In 1950, Cary Baynes translated it from the German into English.

      When we first open the book, we notice various prefaces and introductions. There is a preface to the third edition by Richard Wilhelm's son, Helmut. There is a illuminating forward by Carl Jung. There is both a preface as well as a very informative introduction written by Richard Wilhelm himself. All of this material is very instructive and should be read before attempting to understand this holy book. Helmut Wilhelm's book, Change. Eight Lectures on the I Ching is also extremely helpful in understanding the I Ching.

     Three separate but deeply related books follow these prefaces and introductions. These three books together make up the I Ching. Book I contains the Text. Book II contains The Material. And Book III contains the Commentaries.

      The first book is the one to consult when we have thrown the coins or used the yarrow stalks. It is the I Ching as an oracle; and it will answer our questions. This book lists, in order, each of the sixty-four hexagrams, their judgements, their images, and their lines. Each hexagram tells us what the superior man (read person here) would do in such a situation.

     The second book contains all the material that had been written by the various Chinese sages about the I Ching during the earliest years. It contains all the explanations, the underlying principles, and some interesting discussions. It also explains the basic structure and dynamics of the book, as well as how to use the coins and the yarrow stalks.

     The third book, the Commentaries, takes us through the sixty-four hexagrams once again, but this time letting us see and understand the meaning behind the archaic symbols that are used in the book, especially in the lines, the eight trigrams, and the sixty-four hexagrams.


THE HEXAGRAMS

     Each of the sixty-four hexagrams is made up of six lines. As we can see from the accompanying image, each line can be either yielding or firm, open in the middle or closed. Those that are yielding are considered to be yin or feminine. Those that are firm are considered to be yang or masculine. The hexagrams in the book begin with the first hexagram, "The Creative," followed by the second hexagram, the Receptive. The interaction of these two basic principles, sometimes seen as the father and the mother, creates the other hexagrams.

     Each hexagram has a Judgement, an Image, and the six Line Judgements, one for each of the six lines. The Judgement and the Image each present a view of the situation, but from different yet complementary points of view. The Judgement describes the situation in terms of the hexagram's total meaning. The Image focuses just on the meaning of and the relationship between the two trigrams that make up the hexagram. (See below.)


THE TRIGRAMS

     Besides the six lines, each hexagram is made up of two trigrams. Each trigram consists of three lines. There are eight trigrams in all. Each trigram represents either a son or daughter. There is the youngest son and daughter, the middle son and daughter, and the eldest son and daughter. Thus there is a father and a mother, three sons and three daughters. It is their interaction in each particular hexagram that lends much of the meaning to the hexagram. The rest of the meaning comes from the individual lines, depending on whether they are yielding or firm and where they are placed in the hexagram.

THE LINES

     The type of line, whether yielding or firm and its position in the hexagram helps determine its meaning. The line at the bottom of the hexagram is seen as just entering, while the line at the top is seen as about to leave the hexagram. The two middle lines, the second and the fifth, are at the center of each of the two trigrams. One or both of these are often the hexagram's ruler, that is, the line or lines that best expresses how the superior man (again, read person here) would behave in such a situation.

     Thus the lines give meaning to both the eight trigrams and to the sixty-four hexagrams themselves. The lines are the basic building blocks for the whole meaningful structure of each hexagram. Sometimes an open, or yielding, line is most appropriate for a particular position in the hexagram, and sometimes a closed, or firm, line is. It is largely this interplay of position and quality of line that give each hexagram its meaning.

CONSULTING THE I CHING

     We can consult the I Ching with either coins or yarrow stalks. I have used the yarrow stalks myself, but I prefer the coins. I am not going to discuss here how to use the yarrow stalks, but there are instructions in the book itself. If we do not have Chinese coins, we can use three pennies.

     After centering ourselves and thinking about our question, we throw the three coins. We throw all three together. We throw them six times, once for each line of the hexagram we are building. Each coin, of course, has two sides. One side is considered yin and has the numerical value of two. The other side is considered yang and has the numerical value of three. With pennies, heads are often seen as twos, tails as threes.

     Thus, at each throw we can create either a six (three twos), a seven (two twos and a three), an eight (one two and two threes), or a nine (all threes). If the resulting number is even, a six or an eight, the line that we were throwing the coins for will be a yielding, or open, line. If the number is odd, a seven or a nine, the line will be firm, or closed.

     With each throw of the dice, we create a line. The first line that is created is placed at the bottom of the hexagram. The next line is placed just above this bottom line. This continues until we have created all six lines, hence a hexagram.

     Some of the yielding lines will be sixes and some will be eights. The latter are fixed and do not change. The sixes are mutable and will change into their opposite, a firm line. It is the same with the firm lines, some of them will have the numerical value of seven and some will have the value of nine. The sevens are fixed, but the nines are mututable and will change into their opposite, a yielding line. This is how the first hexagram can change into a second one, through the first's changing lines, ie, it's sixes and nines.

     When we have finished throwing the coins, we have a hexagram, and if there are any changing lines, another hexagram. The traditional way of viewing these two hexagrams is that we begin our situation in the first, then go through any changing lines to the second. It is a temporal sort of view - first one, then the other. I have come to see it somewhat differently. I see the second, or changed hexagram as the larger situation, with the first hexagram as a smaller or more immediate or concise situation within the larger one. The I Ching has a definite personality and will probably adapt to fit the user's worldview. If you expect it to answer in the traditional manner, it probably will. If you come to see it as I have or in another unique manner, I am sure it will adapt to you too.

     Let us look now at a question and the I Ching's answer. Recently I asked the following question for this issue of The Caldron: "How may we be superior and conscious in today's world?" I received Hexagram 44, "Coming to Meet," changing into Hexagram 50, "The Caldron." The fifth line of the first hexagram had the numerical value of nine and was therefore the changing line that led us to "The Caldron."

     "Coming to Meet" describes a time of darkness, a time when inferior people have come into power. The fifth line, the changing line describes the way we as the superior person would be in such a situation. We would focus upon ourselves, showing the world how not to abuse power and how to better relate to those who are our responsibilities. By doing this, we would embody the Caldron within ourselves. We would become ourselves containers of spiritual worth.

     If you are interested in the I Ching's answer to the above question and want to learn more, go the article called "The Answer" in this issue of The Caldron.

     By Eugene Marks