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I CHING

THE BOOK OF CHANGES

James Legge, translator (1882)

Scanned at www.sacred-texts.com, 1998
The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is the most widely read of the five Chinese Classics. The book was traditionally written by the legendary Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (2953-2838 B.C.). It is possible that the the I Ching originated from a prehistoric divination technique which dates back as far as 5000 B.C. Thus it may be the oldest text at this site. Futher commentaries were added by King Wen and the Duke of Chou in the eleventh century B.C.

An I Ching interpretation is performed by making six binary decisions (a hexagram). This is called 'casting the I Ching'. These are written down as a stack of six solid or broken lines. This was traditionally done either by tossing yarrow stalks or coins, although there is no reason why the hexagrams can't be generated by some other means (such as a computer program).

There are actually four possible values for each of the lines; the two on/off values, and a line which changes from on to off or vice versa. Thus one cast of the I Ching can generate several different hexagrams, which adds depth to the interpretation. The sophistication of this method has not escaped modern interpretation, and the four-valued logic has been compared to the biochemistry of DNA amino acids. How a Neolithic shamans' divination technique presaged the basic logic of the human genome is one of the ageless mysteries.


  • I The Khien Hexagram 2,358 bytes
  • II The Khwan Hexagram 2,423 bytes
  • III The Kun Hexagram 2,660 bytes
  • IV The Mang Hexagram 2,444 bytes
  • V The Hsu Hexagram 2,108 bytes
  • VI The Sung Hexagram 2,431 bytes
  • VII The Sze Hexagram 2,072 bytes
  • VIII The Pi Hexagram 2,440 bytes
  • IX The Hsaio Khu Hexagram 2,358 bytes
  • X The Li Hexagram 2,062 bytes
  • XI The Thai Hexagram 2,566 bytes
  • XII The Phi Hexagram 2,318 bytes
  • XIII The Thung Zan Hexagram 2,113 bytes
  • XIV The Ta Yu Hexagram 1,961 bytes
  • XV The Khien Hexagram 1,931 bytes
  • XVI The Yu Hexagram 2,020 bytes
  • XVII The Sui Hexagram 2,131 bytes
  • XVIII The Ku Hexagram 2,256 bytes
  • XIX The Lin Hexagram 1,970 bytes
  • XX The Kwan Hexagram 1,926 bytes
  • XXI The Shih Ho Hexagram 1,961 bytes
  • XXII The Pi Hexagram 1,982 bytes
  • XXIII The Po Hexagram 2,054 bytes
  • XXIV The Fu Hexagram 2,229 bytes
  • XXV The Wu Wang Hexagram 2,283 bytes
  • XXVI The Ta Khu Hexagram 2,037 bytes
  • XXVII The I Hexagram 2,264 bytes
  • XXVIII The Ta Kwo Hexagram 1,973 bytes
  • XXIX The Khan Hexagram 2,217 bytes
  • XXX The Li Hexagram 2,129 bytes
  • XXXI The Hsien Hexagram 1,920 bytes
  • XXXII The Hang Hexagram 1,829 bytes
  • XXXIII The Thun Hexagram 1,880 bytes
  • XXXIV The Ta Kwang Hexagram 2,257 bytes
  • XXXV The Chin Hexagram 2,306 bytes
  • XXXVI The Ming I Hexagram 2,310 bytes
  • XXXVII The Kia Zan Hexagram 2,094 bytes
  • XXXVIII The Khwei Hexagram 2,632 bytes
  • XXXIX The Kien Hexagram 2,150 bytes
  • XL The Kieh Hexagram 2,218 bytes
  • XLI The Sun Hexagram 2,533 bytes
  • XLII The Yi Hexagram 2,533 bytes
  • XLIII The Kwai Hexagram 2,737 bytes
  • XLIV The Kau Hexagram 2,069 bytes
  • XLV The Tsui Hexagram 2,508 bytes
  • XLVI The Shang Hexagram 1,941 bytes
  • XLVII The Khwan Hexagram 2,571 bytes
  • XLVIII The Ching Hexagram 2,318 bytes
  • XLIX The Ko Hexagram 2,254 bytes
  • L The Ting Hexagram 2,205 bytes
  • LI The Kan Hexagram 2,710 bytes
  • LII The Kan Hexagram 1,991 bytes
  • LIII The Kien Hexagram 2,301 bytes
  • LIV The Kwei Mei Hexagram 2,206 bytes
  • LV The Fang Hexagram 2,605 bytes
  • LVI The Lu Hexagram 2,116 bytes
  • LVII The Sun Hexagram 2,388 bytes
  • LVIII The Tui Hexagram 1,822 bytes
  • LIX The Hwan Hexagram 2,259 bytes
  • LX The Kieh Hexagram 2,044 bytes
  • LXI The Kung Fu Hexagram 2,060 bytes
  • LXII The Hsiao Kwo Hexagram 2,526 bytes
  • LXIII The Ki Chi Hexagram 2,070 bytes
  • LXIV The Wei Chi Hexagram 2,310 bytes