i have an i ching book... got it at a library book sale... havent gotten around to it much yet... mine links confuscious teachings/stories with the i ching... still unclear on what the point of it is except to promote a healthy life... i mean was this just the first concept of binary or what? Did they mix it up with some astrology like aspects? Like their version of tarot cards or runes... or did i get a mixed up first impression

ok sorry... you're trying to get the philosophy view and im askin what the heck its all about hope you dont mind my curiosity

Its a bit more than that. Its gives the person asking for guidance certain options. Its understands the person knows what to do but needs confirmation.It actually confirms to you the correct path..What the perfect person would do for example.It is more philosophical than prophesising. I believe the ancient sages would have known making the advice seem more profound when rapped up in mystical fortune telling and it was more than the individuals conscious mind could come to terms with.

ok so it is more of a healthy life thing... let me get my book...

this old way of inspiring a healthy psychology its all good... and im just arguing for the fun of it... but just thumbing through the book i have, i find some suggestions silly like "good people go inside and rest when the sun goes down" but i prefer to sleep during the day and feel most alive at night... i much prefer the setting of the moon and stars to the blinding sun... but i can understand if theyre saying dont over endulge in partying and get your rest, because if you dont youll be cranky and that makes you unpleasant and a nuisance...

but especially back then people needed to develop more morals and i think this is a better way to inspire it than "DONT DO IT OR YOU BURRRRRRRRN FOR ETERNITY!"

but i dont understand this one: "great people illumine the four quarters with continuing light"

First I'll admit I have 12 different interpretations of the I Ching, and that I've been reading it for 35 years. I don't think the book is properly described by saying it is a book of divination, even if that is how most use it. Let me use an analogy to explain.

Say you took an encyclopedia of management and divided it into 64 sections. The encyclopedia is a distillation of the world's finest experts on management, and so is packed with insight and wisdom. That means each of the 64 sections will contain a portion of all that is understood about managing some situation. Now, if I were a teacher, I might tell you to read that encyclopedia from beginning to end; but if I were a Chinese philosopher I might instead tell you to throw coins to decide what part you read first, second, and so on.

The I Ching is a management encyclopedia too . . . how to manage change in terms of polarity. That one reads some section or another is decided by a throw of the coins shouldn't give over-emphasis to divination because that fails to acknowledge the incredible amount of practical information derived from the Chinese obsession with polarity (and its meaning to real life situations), not to mention the brilliant contributions of Confucius and earlier thinkers to the I Ching.

IMHO, the I Ching is one of the greatest works of philosophy of mankind whose genius has been obscured (and reputation tainted in the West) by the fact that one reads it via divination and that some use it like fortune tellers. If one wishes to understand how polar dynamics affect change and our response to change, the I Ching is the best teacher I know of.

There is a Princeton Press publication called "A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy" by Wing-Tsit Chan (who when he wrote it it was a professor at Dartmouth . . . it's available through Amazon used, tho not so cheap at $20). He does a great job of detailing the history of Chinese interest in polarity (known as "yin yang philosophy"), the forces behind them, and how they affect on our perception and decisions.

I agree, it is a fanatastic book.I have not used it as much as you, thanks for the other interpretation.