begin John Harrison quotation: > > Also I wasn't aware that the I Ching was considered > > a religious book, I thought it was more on the level > > of Tarot card reading. > > That depends if you're coming from a "Hippy interested > in fortune telling" type background or a Chinese > philosophy background... > > As far as I understand it the Yi Jing is a part of > Daoist Philosophy along with the works of Lao Tzu > etc... IIRC the Yi Jing predates the Dao De Jing, so to say that it is a Daoist book is somewhat misleading. Of course, the Yi is also one of the Confucian Classics, which is even more misleading. It would be fair to say that the Yi is very consonant with Daoism, and perhaps an influence on it. In any case, I would not call the Yi a "religious" text, as there are no deities, creation myths, concepts of any afterlife, etc. associated with it. It's more of a philosophical work, and additionally, an oracle. For me as a Westerner, the most annoying thing about the Yi is that most English translations of it are terrible. The common Wilhelm/Baynes edition is an atrocity, a second-hand misunderstanding. The 19th century James Legge translation, published originally in the Oxford Sacred Books of the East series, is perhaps the best that is commonly available. Craig
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