Bibliography of Yi Jing materials in Print

This bibliographical page is divided into the following sections:

1. Translations of the Yi Jing
2. Books on the Yi Jing
3. Articles on the Yi Jing
4. Background Materials

1. Translations of the Yi Jing

Translations of the Yi Jing have proliferated over recent years. The following are probably the most important editions.

• "I Ching or Book of Changes", by Richard Wilhelm, translated into English from the German by Cary. F. Baynes, Routledge Kegan Paul. This is perhaps the most authoritative edition available, containing an interpretative translation, copious notes and an introductory essay by C.G Jung. The first European edition to touch the heart of the Chinese classic.
• "The I Ching", James Legge. A very scholarly edition, but perhaps a little too dry for modern taste. Legge's translation stays close to the Chinese and is consequently not easy to understand, but it contains valuable notes.
• "The Taoist I Ching", by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Publications.
• "The Buddhist I Ching", by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Publications.
• "The Tao of Organisation", by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Publications. These three editions by Thomas Cleary are translations of the Yi Jing, and the commentaries on it written by great Chinese thinkers, expounding upon the system as it was seen in the light of Daoist and Buddhist schools and philosophies.
• "I Ching, Oracle of Change", by Alfred Douglas, Penguin Books. A short and succinct edition.
• "Rediscovering the I Ching", by Greg Whincup. He has a website of links, with extracts from his book. See Yi Jing links.
• "The Portable Dragon, the Western Man's Guide to the I Ching", R.G.H. Siu. Along with a translation of the texts of the Yi Jing, the author has added commentaries in the form of passages from works of literature, poems, news items, and aphorisms. These are from writers from all times and places.
• "The Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth", by daoist master Ni, Hua Ching. available from seven stars communications at usiw.org. This has a very worthwhile commentary from a daoist perspective.

2. Books on the Yi Jing

Most versions or translations have prefatory material on the Yi Jing, explaining the system and its origins. The following books are not editions of the Yi Jing, but researches on it or expositions of aspects of its philosophy.

• "Researches on the I Ching", Iulian Shchutskii. Probably the first critical analysis of the Yi Jing in the West. It deals with such matters as the heterogenous nature of the Yi Jing and the dating of the layers of the text.
• "Lectures on the I Ching", Richard Wilhelm. A collection of essays on philosophical and spiritual implications of the system of thought put forward by the Yi Jing.
• "Change", Helmut Wilhelm. A very good introduction for beginners, with thought-provoking ideas for advanced practitioners.
• "Heaven, Earth and Man", Helmut Wilhelm. A discussion of some of the more important concepts found in the Yi Jing.
• "The Trigrams of Han", Steve Moore. A study of the trigrams of the Yi Jing.

3. Articles on the Yi Jing & Related Subjects

Most public libraries offer a photocopy service for articles from magazines.

• "An Interpretation of the divinatory inscriptions on early Zhou bronzes", Chang Cheng-lang, English translation in "Early China 6 (1981)".
• "The Shang state as seen in the oracle bone inscriptions", David N. Keightly, in "Early China 5 (1980)".
• "Manuscripts found recently in China", Michael Loewe, in T'oung Pao 63, pp 99-136 (1977). Material on the manuscript of the Yi Jing unearthed in the excavations at Ma Wang-dui.
• "How to form a hexagram and consult the I Ching", Chen Shih-chuan, Journal of the American Oriental Society, v. 92, no. 2 (1972). An analysis of oracles in ancient Chinese manuscripts, and a reconstruction of yarrow stalk divination.
• "Some observations about milfoil divination based on Shang and Zhou bagua numerical symbols", Zhang Ya chu and Liu Yu, in "Early China 7 (1982)".
• "Wang Pi's new interpretation of the I Ching and Lun-yu", T'ang Yung T'ung, translated by Walter Liebenthal in "Harvard Journal of Asian Studies", vol. 10, pp 124-164 (1947).
• "The Book of Changes", Arthur Waley, in The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, vol. 5, (1933).
• "I Ching oracles in the Tso Chuan and the Kuo Yu", H. Wilhelm in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 79 (1959).
• "On the Authenticity and Nature of the Tso chuan", Bernard Karlgren.

4. Background Materials

• "A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy", compiled & translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Details the development of the fundamental concepts in Chinese philosophy, and traces their evolution through the major belief systems of the Chinese. Contains comments on and extracts from the major works from all schools.
• "Sources of Chinese Tradition", Editor: Wm. Theodore de Bary, in two volumes.
• "Science and Civilisation in China", Joseph Needham. The full edition of this authoritative work stretches to many volumes, but there is a shorter paperback edition in two volumes.
• "Dao de Jing", the Penguin edition has an excellent analysis of Daoism by D.C. Lau.
• "Taoism, the Quest for Immortality", John Blofeld.
• "Tao, The Watercourse Way", Alan Watts. An intuitive insight into Daoism and Chinese culture.
• "About Chinese", Richard Newnham. A short but very interesting introduction to the Chinese language.
• "Ancient China, Art and Archaeology", Jessica Rawson. A Study of Shang, Zhou and Han artefacts, and what they say about life in China in those times.

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