I Ching

The I Ching or Yijing , usually translated Book of Changes or Classic of Changes, is an ancient Chinese <a href="/facts/Divination/b8gLkFfv">divination</a> text that is among the oldest of the <a href="/facts/Chinese_classics/cHVre7u2">Chinese classics</a>. The I Ching was originally a divination manual in the <a href="/facts/Western_Zhou/v0V50ewQ">Western Zhou</a> period (1000–750 BC). Over the course of the <a href="/facts/Warring_States_period/8P3avwna">Warring States</a> and early imperial periods (500–200 BC), it transformed into a <a href="/facts/Religious_cosmology/7QbJLQVy">cosmological</a> text with a series of philosophical commentaries known as the <a href="/facts/Ten_Wings/h7QnfFBG">Ten Wings</a>. After becoming part of the Chinese <a href="/facts/Five_Classics/NY6VKIY6">Five Classics</a> 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.
As a divination text, the I Ching is used for a Chinese form of <a href="/facts/Cleromancy/o3Boepsc">cleromancy</a> known as <a href="/facts/I_Ching_divination/W5cBhjUm">I Ching divination</a> in which bundles of <a href="/facts/Achillea_millefolium/4oLwWnNl">yarrow stalks</a> 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 <a href="/facts/King_Wen_sequence/BhlLbUgF">King Wen sequence</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Confucianism/Nlbwgmxw">Confucianism</a>, <a href="/facts/Taoism/Bk79rd9J">Taoism</a> and <a href="/facts/Buddhism/G0wsjrSl">Buddhism</a>. The hexagrams themselves have often acquired cosmological significance and been paralleled with many other traditional names for the processes of change such as <a href="/facts/Yin_and_yang/b0YQXM7U">yin and yang</a> and <a href="/facts/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)/52qaWtTv">Wuxing</a>.

I Ching open-in-new

I Ching