For three thousand years, people have sought personal insight and a window on the future from the I Ching, or the Book of Changes, the classic Chinese oracle and book of wisdom. Drawing on archeological findings, previously published only in Chinese, indicating how the I Ching was actually used by those who created it, and motivated by a lifetime of personal use and fascination, Kerson Huang has created a new translation of great significance.

Restoring the I Ching to its original form, Huang underscores its first use as a practical oracle by Chinese farmers. His translation beautifully preserves the starkly poetic voice of the original, while his comments clearly and simply explain the images and detail the historical references buried within the verse. Huang reveals the I Ching as an epic poem equivalent to The Iliad and The Odyssey--one hexagram recalls the dethroning of Feng Feng; a series of lines portray Wang Hai, one of the three High Ancestors of the Shang dynasty; a third contains a sage proclamation of Lord Tang.

Each hexagram and its corresponding interpretation is presented on a two-page spread, making this version unusually easy to use and understand. Introductory chapters detail the evolution of the I Ching, from the philosophical reinterpretations of Confucius to the modern musings of Carl Jung, and clearly explain both the coin method and yarrow-stalk method for consulting the oracle.

Over 55,000 copies in print.