Book Description
Modern research has revealed the Book of Changes to be a royal divination manual of the Zhou state (500100 BC). This new translation synthesizes the results of modern study, presenting the work in its historical context. The first book to render original Chinese rhymes into rhymed English.

Synopsis
Since 1930, Chinese and Western scholars have learned much more about the language and culture of China's Bronze Age, chiefly through the systematic study of bronze inscriptions and writings on oracle bones. These advances have revealed the original Book of Changes to be a royal divination manual of the Zhou state, 100-150 BC. It consists of oracles dealing with war and astronomy, from proverbs, omens and snatches of song. This new translation synthesizes the results of modern study and presents The Book of Changes in the light of the historical culture that produced it, especially in relation to the Book of Odes. It also the first to render the rhymed passages into English rhyme. The book is intended to be of interest to those who do not read Chinese characters or read very few.

First Sentence
The Book of Changes is often understood by Westerners in terms of what is commonly called 'traditional' Chinese culture but is really the culture of the last thousand year or less. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Historical-critical textually serious edition of the I Ching, 14 Feb 2006 By  Michael Robertson (Augsburg, Germany) - See all my reviews    I have investigated a large number of English translations of the I Ching and this is the only one I know of with serious historical background, including the latest archaeological data including the Mawangdui bamboo strip texts, and a critical approach. In addition to the history of the book there are histories and descriptions of various forms of divination that are presented in a scientific/anthropological fashion, as well as a history of the reception of the book in the West. I was a little alarmed by the rhyming translations of the actual text at first (they can sound rather trite in comparison with Wilhelm/Baynes), but good justifications are given to show that this is the form the original took and that it is similar to the style of the Book of Odes. For readers with critical intelligence and a sense of history this is the only English edition of the I Ching that can be taken seriously.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: Extremely Poor Value for Money, 13 Jul 2007 By  G. Yates (UK) - See all my reviews    There is no need to add comments about the content of the book. The book is clearly very important. However with numerous suppliers charging from £70 - £90 for a Print on Demand Book of only 500 pages this has got to be one of the most seriously overpriced books I have seen. It is not even what I call a proper 'Hardback' but is a 'Paperback in Disguise'. By this I mean that the spine is held together only by glue, in 'Paperback' style. This marks it as cheaply produced. It is not even a very rare book. It certainly does not merit a price above that usual for a 'Hardshell Paperback' of its kind:- around £20 - £25 Max.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 2 customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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