I Ching Image Interpretation

Author: Qian Shiming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: This book is a work that interprets the "Yi Xiang" (Hexagram Imagery). It is divided into four parts:
1. "General Explanation of Yi Xiang," which interprets the hexagram and line images of the sixty-four hexagrams in the conventional order of the I Ching;
2. "General Interpretation of the Xiang Translations," which explains the Xiang translations (images) of the sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred eighty-four lines;
3. "My Interpretation of the I Ching," which elaborates on the author's basic views on the I Ching;
4. "A Brief Exploration of the Aesthetics of the I Ching," which discusses the aesthetic ideas of the I Ching from the perspective of its symbolic imagery. The book is well-supported with references and offers fresh insights. It serves as an excellent introductory text for beginners in the study of the I Ching, and for researchers, it is an academic work that introduces the study of the I Ching into the fields of visual thinking and artistic research. This Yi Ching Xiang Shuo is a supplement and expansion of the earlier work Yi Xiang Tong Shuo. The "General Interpretation of the Xiang Translations" explains the Xiang translations. The Xiang translations are indeed meant to guide people to observe images and grasp their meanings, thereby regulating their self-cultivation. They apply the inner principles of objective phenomena to human behavior. For example, "The vigor of Heaven is ceaseless—therefore, a gentleman strives ceaselessly to strengthen himself." This draws on the ceaseless movement of celestial bodies to guide human behavior, emphasizing that one should also strive ceaselessly in life! Reading the Xiang translations is beneficial for modern people in improving their moral cultivation. In a nutshell: I wrote this book with the aim of bringing the study of Yi Xiang into the realm of art and aesthetics. To understand the achievements of ancient visual thinking, one must not be unfamiliar with the Yi Xiang.