synopsis
A Western Approximation to the I Ching
The fish trap's purpose is to catch the fish.
Images are traps for ideas.
no2DO is based on the I Ching, an shamanic oracle tradition with roots that can be traced back to the third millennium BC. For a long time there was no fixed interpretation text and the oracle was probably determined by the questioner's intuition and according traditional rules. Yin and Yang, a basic concept of Daoism and each represented by a solid or broken line, still remains the basis of interpretation.
The various texts that form the Book of Changes, known to us under the name I Ching were created much later. Judgments (short sayings that describe the overall situation of a hexagram) date from the first millennium BC. The Ten Wings, explanatory texts and commentaries (Image: 3rd and 4th Wing; order of the hexagrams: 9th Wing), were drafted in the period 400-200 BC.
Because of their structure (brief sentences, hierarchical order) especially the Ten Wings are attributed to Confucius (see also → Wikipedia), however, this is controversial. Basically two notions regarding the I Ching developed during its eventful history over thousands of years: one explores cosmological and social principles, the other (Wang Bi, 226 - 249, see also → Wikipedia) wants to explore the ideas hidden within the images:
The images stem from the ideas. The words make the images clear. In order to fully express the ideas, there is nothing better than words. The words are a result of the images. So you can see the images by looking at the words. The images are dominated by the ideas. So you can see the ideas by examining the images. The ideas are fully captured by the images and the images made clear by the words. Therefore, the words are intended to explain the images; once you have captured the images, you can forget the words. The images are intended to explore the ideas; once you have captured the ideas, you can forget the images.
Similarly, tracking the trail of a rabbit has the purpose of getting hold of it. Once you have caught it you forget about the trail. The fish trap has the purpose of catching the fish. Once you have caught it you forget about the trap.
Well, the words are the trail towards the images. The images are the trap for the ideas. Anyone who stops at the words, therefore, will not capture the images, and who will stop at the images will not conceive the ideas.
I Ging by Georg Zimmermann, p. 64 and note no. 14
Based on Wang Bi's view that the I Ching is ultimately about ideas which are hidden in the hexagrams, I am pursuing two objectives with present contemporary interpretation:
- to understand hexagrams as descriptions of complex situations that have a natural course of development
- to develop strategies that bring about harmony and balance to these situations (→ Daoism, → classical acupuncture)
Hexagrams as descriptions of complex situations
Daoism advises that people should learn about the basic principle of continuously changing, phenomenal forms through their own observation (of nature) and realize the Dao by harmoniously adapting to it.
Sometimes in our lives we encounter situations that at first glance seem disparate and conflict-prone. no2DO wants to describe these situations in a way that a natural path of development shows up: beyond all activism, harmonizing such seemingly irreconcilable opposites through doing (almost) nothing.
For life itself is change and transformation (→ Daoism) and man is best advised to subordinate and adapt harmoniously to these movements. It's no longer about subduing the outer world but to make changes in the one place accessible to every individual: our own consciousness.
Following the interpretation model, the necessary steps to integrate the opposites lie in the visual center of the hexagram: the two nuclei.
Courses of action that bring about harmony and balance
The eight trigrams of the I Ching traditionally carry very distinct characteristics. There a various systems to categorize according the the Five Elements (Five Movements, Five Phases; Daoist theory describing nature; see also → Wikipedia).
I have chosen King Wen's Order of the Later Heaven which shows the trigrams in chronological order of their emergence during the year. However, after careful consideration I have made two modifications:
- Qian / heaven: due to its expansive characteristic, I prefer to relate it to the element of fire (instead of metal)
- Gen / mountain (rest, contemplation) corresponds in my opinion rather to the metal element (transcendence) than the earth element (nourishment)
| Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water | |
| Trigrams | Zhen, Sun | Qian, Li | Kun | Gen, Dui | Kan |
| Organsysteme | gb, li | si, he | st, sp | li, lu | ub, ki |
The theory of the Five Elements is also a basic principle of Traditional Acupuncture, a subsystem of
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM, see also → Wikipedia). Traditional Acupuncture uses mainly the meridians' element points
(Ancient Points). Its objective is to to support people in restore balance and harmony at all levels
(body, mind, soul) and to help their spirits to deepen and mature.
Acupuncture points can be understood to be as energy patterns, which can be activated not only by needles or finger pressure, but also through meditation and through opening our minds to their metaphorical concepts.
Applied to the I Ching this signifies that by analyzing a hexagram we will find attitudes and courses of action that can bring harmony and balance to the situation.
Recommended reading
I Ging - Das Buch der Wandlungen by Georg Zimmermann
I Ging (Diederichs kompakt) by Georg Zimmermann
I Ging. Das Buch der Wandlungen by Richard Wilhelm
The I Ching or Book of Changes (Bollingen Series)
I Ching or Book of Changes (Arkana) by Richard Wilhelm
A selection of books on the I Ching
