This is one of the big, important hexagrams of the I Ching, I think. It's the inverse of the previous hexagram, "Innocence," and symbolizes the gathering of virtue -- once you're simple and virtuous, greatness follows. All these hexagrams have different levels (just look at 'em! lines all the way down!), but this one seems to be more "leveled"... more

Here's an example of why studying the I Ching is such a great window into traditional Chinese culture. This is one of the hexagrams some martial artists link to a tai chi movement. The movement here is turn body and kick, when you (get this) turn your body and kick out one leg. It's one of the trickier moves to do gracefully, but when it happens, you really feel like a martial artist, as opposed to just some hodad waving... more

This was a song on Pink Floyd's first album, you know.

A movement is accomplished in six stages... and the seventh brings return. Ba-doot-da-DWANdeedo!

Yeah, it was never as big a hit as The Byrds' take on Ecclesiastes, but some of us still think it's pretty catchy in its own very special way. Thank you, Syd Barrett.

Ahem.

OK.

So, here we are, return,... more

(Hey! Look! Someone actually reads this thing! I better look smart, quick! Uh, uh, uh... oh, heck.)

It seems to me that this is one of those hexagrams that got named for the way it looks on the page -- like a zipper opening, or a seam splitting. Personally, I can't help but think of this in terms of the previous hexagram, which was all about ornamentation. Maybe this is the collapse that follows gilding... more

Man, I'm getting lax with my I Ching studies here, just as we're about a third of the way through the book. (Well, a glancing blow at the book, but you gotta start somewhere.)

So, here we are at bi, the hexagram of rococo ornamentation. No, really. It's about things that are beautiful, but not necessarily functional - at least not at first. After the decisive, collaborative (but abrupt) action of ... more

So, after about a month's absence, I'm ready to move from watchful, contemplative guan to shi he, biting through. Is it that we're tired of watching and ready to just bite through the problem? Or is it more that, as Master Huang suggests, after facing things worth quiet contemplation, people tend to draw close... more

Here's the fun thing about I Ching hexagrams -- you can apply them to *anything*, just about. We're currently in the month ruled by hexagram 20, guan (or kuan). Yin is steadily increasing, heading towards the yin-est month of all, November.

So, this being the month o' guan, it'd behoove me to actually look it up and jot down a few notes here.

Wilhelm says the name of this hexagram is based on a pun -- the word can mean "contemplation" or... more

I feel like I've fallen behind with these dips into the Yijing, so I'll try to do this hexagram systematically rather than meandering all over the place like I usually do.

What's the name mean? According to both Huang and Wilhelm, the best way to translate this word is as "approaching." Huang says the character once meant "overlooking" as in looking down from above -- it shows a feudal leader, an official bowing respectfully to that leader, and three hungry mouths underneath them. In other words, a great man leading... more

The last time we dug into the Book of Changes, we came up with some decent advice about Following -- attracting followers, what it takes to be a good leader, all that jazz. This time, our leaders seem to be getting a little stagnant. The administration is collapsing under its own weight.

Here's what Master Huang says about the Chinese character, gu,... more

So, this excursion into traditional Chinese culture (and one of the most important books in Asia) has just gotten through its first quarter.

In a completely arbitrary way, I thought that make make this a good time to break out a whole new translation of the Yijing -- one that's not out on the web because it's not in the public domain. It was only published in 1998. This is the Alfred Huang Complete I Ching.

Where Mr. Wilhelm was a European who was more or less seduced by the wisdom of this foreign book, Master Huang... more