Hardcover
The “I Ching” originated in China as a divination manual more than three thousand years ago. In 136 BCE the emperor declared it a Confucian classic. This title tells the extraordinary story of how this cryptic and once obscure book became one of the most widely read and extensively analyzed texts in…

The I Ching

A Biography

$76.40

  • Hardcover

    304 pages

  • Release Date

    4 June 2012

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Summary

The I Ching originated in China as a divination manual more than three thousand years ago. In 136 BCE the emperor declared it a Confucian classic, and in the centuries that followed, this work had a profound influence on the philosophy, religion, art, literature, politics, science, technology, and medicine of various cultures throughout East Asia. Jesuit missionaries brought knowledge of the I Ching to Europe in the seventeenth century, and the American counterculture embraced it in the 19…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780691145099
ISBN-10:0691145091
Author:Richard J. Smith
Publisher:Princeton University Press
Imprint:Princeton University Press
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:304
Release Date:4 June 2012
Weight:378g
Dimensions:32mm x 126mm x 201mm
Series:Lives of Great Religious Books
A-Format
B-Format
The I Ching by Richard J. Smith - ISBN: 9780691145099
126 × 201 mm
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Winner of the 2013 Cover/Jacket Merit Award in the Professional, Scholarly Series category, New York Book Show

One of Choice’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012 “Smith’s book succeeds admirably in making the history and importance of this esoteric and enigmatic classic accessible and understandable to a wide audience. A must read for anyone interested in fathoming ‘the Way’ (Tao/Dao) in ancient China.”–Choice “Smith’s book demonstrates that if the Book of Changes is anything, it is alive.”–James Carter, Los Angeles Review of Books “His biography is, at every turn, full of scholarship.”–Jon Sweeney, Tablet “One of the advantages to this book is Smith’s prose; not only is it clear and accessible, but he writes in a way that brings the material to life. He is an engaging writer… This ‘biography’ of the Yijing is an attractive and thorough resource. It should prove to be a useful addition to any library (academic or not) and a valuable help in any high school or college courses that incorporate study of the Yijing in any classroom context.”–Robert Steed, Education About Asia “[N]ever before in English has the substance of this vital text been explicated with such transparency, lucidity, and–on balance–objectivity. However, even in charitably demystifying it, Smith has simultaneously retained and even enhanced the compelling attraction of this ever-tantalizing essentialist work for the would-be initiated. Such is a balancing act deftly executed, for which we should commend the author lavishly.”–Don J. Wyatt, Journal of Chinese Religions

About The Author

Richard J. Smith

Richard J. Smith is the George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities and professor of history at Rice University. His many books include Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World: The Yijing (I-Ching, or Classic of Changes) and Its Evolution in China.

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