The Original Meaning of the Yijing

Commentary on the Scripture of Change

Joseph Adler, Xi Zhu

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English

Columbia University Press
05 November 2019

Literary studies: general; Oriental & Indian philosophy; Confucianism; The I Ching

Series: Translations from the Asian Classics

The Yijing (I Ching), or Scripture of Change, is traditionally considered the first and most profound of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual based on trigrams and hexagrams, by the beginning of the first millennium it had acquired written explanations and a series of appendices attributed to Confucius, which transformed it into a work of wisdom literature as well as divination. Over the centuries, hundreds of commentaries were written on it, but for the past thousand years, one of the most influential has been that of Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who synthesized the major interpretive approaches to the text and integrated it into his system of moral self-cultivation.

Joseph A. Adler's translation of the Yijing includes for the first time in any Western language Zhu Xi's commentary in full. Adler explores Zhu Xi's interpretation of the text and situates it in the context of his overall theoretical system. Zhu Xi held that the Yijing was originally composed for the purpose of divination by the mythic sage Fuxi, who intended to create a system to aid decision making. The text's meaning, therefore, could not be captured by a single commentator; it would emerge for each person through the process of divination. This translation makes available to the English-language audience a crucial text in the history of Chinese religion and philosophy, with an introduction and translator's notes that explain its intellectual and historical context.

By: Xi Zhu
Translated by: Joseph Adler
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780231191241
ISBN 10: 0231191243
Series: Translations from the Asian Classics
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 05 November 2019
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Zhu Xi (1130–1200), the most influential Chinese philosopher of the past two thousand years, was a crucial figure in the systematization of Neo-Confucian thought. Joseph A. Adler is professor emeritus of Asian studies and religious studies at Kenyon College. He is the author of Reconstructing the Confucian Dao: Zhu Xi’s Appropriation of Zhou Dunyi (2014) and The Yijing: A Guide (2022), among other works.

Reviews for The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of Change

This is an invaluable contribution to East Asian Confucian studies. Joseph Adler has rendered Zhu Xi's commentary on the Scripture of Changes accessible and engaging. His impeccable scholarship and long devotion to Zhu Xi's thought shines throughout. This is a masterpiece relevant to our times as we seek mutually enhancing human-Earth relations. -- Mary Evelyn Tucker, translator and editor of <i>The Philosophy of Qi</i> Thanks to Professor Adler's careful and thoughtful rendition, The Original Meaning of the Yijing of Zhu Xi is now available to readers who are interested in divination as a tool of moral cultivation, coming to terms with the complexity of everyday life. -- Tze-ki Hon, City University of Hong Kong A welcome addition to the text and history of the Yijing. -- Peter K. Bol, Harvard University