I Ching Translations

[Naomi]

Well I picked up a copy of the I Ching translated by Alfred Huang, the one I wanted was very old and hence a referral copy, and I was with my sister and kids so I couldn't spend six hours flipping through it. Is this a good edition?

The Complete I Ching - Alfred Huang

[Radiant Star]

I got the Huang one too but was recommended the Wilhelm, still its a start.

Just need time to work with it now, ho hum.

[m1thr0s]

Huang's knowledge is impressive but his command of english is poor enough that his explanations often leave you hanging in mid-air, even for more experienced students. One of the real advantages of beginning from the Wilhem/Baynes is that here you have a very thoroughly researched version that is also compiled expertly to english speaking people. So the ability to anticipate reader's questions and tie up all these little conceptual loose ends is very well attended to. Huang's sense of Hexagram titles and themes etc is also a little milk-toast from my perspective, but his grasp of hidden principles is very very good, so there's a peculiar trade-off in this. I have both copies personally and would recommend them both, only stipulating that you will have an easier time assimilating Huang if you begin with Wilhelm/Baynes...

m1thr0s

[Naomi]

Ok. I will try to get a copy of that one tonight, I think I actually did see it there.

I am not sure why but I was trying to check out the Legge version. I do have a lot of questions already, yet so far it is very entertaining and interesting. I like studying the paper copy much more than studying on the web.

[m1thr0s]

Master Huang is one of our genuine global treasures at this moment in time, so I don't want to dispell his value to this whole discussion. He's in his 80's right now and has the energy & enthusiasm of a 20-year old...a very remarkable individual who has spent his entire life studying the I Ching and its mysteries. He was imprisoned for a time for teaching the I Ching in his own country, which gives us some idea what a ludicrous affront to intelligence the Chinese government has become. His Numerology of the I Ching is a priceless edition to I Ching literature that any serious student will want to have and study.

m1thr0s

[Kain]

His Numerology of the I Ching is a priceless edition to I Ching literature that any serious student will want to have and study. I agree, this is a great title by this author, I'd thoroughly reccomend it. His translation of the I Ching is also a very good addition, I think, as was previously noted. As for Legge, I personally don't like his material at all and I feel he didn't really understand the system, so I'd propose Wilhelm instead.

By the way, you can find Legge's translation here (http://www.sacred-texts.com/ich/index.htm) if you want to examine it.

Kain

[Naomi]

Mm hm, I read about that in the introduction, quite a story. He's very thorough and everything is laid out in the book neatly with helpful charts in the beginning, so it is easy to navigate. I disagree even now however with some of his assessments especially after reading the Wilhelm books. I've noticed a small handful of downright odd associations that I simply don't see in the hexagram itself or the King Wen text. Hell, I don't agree with Confucius in all of the sections. I don't proclaim to know the first thing about the I Ching - I met an acquaintance at the park yesterday who I found out studies the I Ching extensively, and she taught me how to pronounce it correctly. (What - it's not my problem nobody knows how to use the alphabet...) :dull:

At least I can go into it without any preconceived marks set in my brain that causes my ideas to be jaded. The interesting thing about the hexagrams is I can understand them without even knowing anything about them - now that i have a book I can actually see their historical meaning, and suddenly the raw effect becomes clearer or affirmed.

I could only find two books authored by Wilhelm - Heaven, Earth, and Man in the Book of Changes and Understanding the I Ching:The Wilhelm Lectures on The Book of Changes.

Neither of them seem to be anything but an extensive discussion rather than a annotated version of the I Ching. I'm very accustomed to studying asiatic translations (Budo stuff mostly) so I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Huang suggested early in the book to focus on the original text itself, rather than the notes from Confucius or King Wen, so I have decided to do...just that. ;)

Thanks for the help...Kain I don't even know why I was trying to look for the Legge version, doesn't matter now, and if you didn't like it I'm sure it must be bad so I won't bother.

[Kain]

Huang suggested early in the book to focus on the original text itself, rather than the notes from Confucius or King Wen, so I have decided to do...just that. ;)That's a good attitude I think, and it is pretty much similar to mine too concerning this subject. There is often much to be gleaned of course from seeing a detailed *discussion* on a certain topic, but the main text is almost always your chief focus I think.
Thanks for the help...Kain I don't even know why I was trying to look for the Legge version, doesn't matter now, and if you didn't like it I'm sure it must be bad so I won't bother.Well, I think it was more like a simple translation of a chinese text to him rather than a conveyance and inner understanding of the system itself in a form accessible to the english speaker (like Wilhelm and Huang did), and Chinese can be quite an easy language to misinterpret when unaware of the subtler meaning due to it's highly multifacetness.

Kain