The Yi Jing Text

This document contains the text of the Yi Jing in chinese, written as pinyin, with hypertext links to the definitions of the words. It is intended as an aid to students of the Yi who are currently using the many English interpretations available. I've done this because Chinese does not translate well into English. Each character can be interpreted in several different ways, each subtly (or not so subtly) altering the meaning of the phrase.

For example, the text for Hexagram 20 (Contemplation) has variously been translated:

Contemplation. The ablution has been made, But not yet the offering. Full of trust they look up to him. (Wilhelm/Baynes)

and

Kuan shows (how he whom it represents) should be like the worshipper who has washed his hands, but not (yet) presented his offerings; - with sincerity and an appearance of dignity (commanding reverent regard). (Legge)

Perhaps the closest translation is the recent Eranos Foundation text, which for this hexagram reads

Viewing: hand-washing and-also not worshipping.
Possessing conformity, like a presence. (Eranos Foundation)

This is about as close as it is possible to get in English to the actual text:

guan1: guan4 er2 bu4 xu1 jian4, yu3 fu2 ruo4.

Because of the many different possible English interpretations I felt it would be useful to provide the Chinese text in a way which would make it accessible to people (like myself) who cannot read the language or only read it a little.

There are undoubtedly problems with this approach - one cannot pretend to read Chinese simply by being able to look up the words in a dictionary. However, I hope it will prove useful. More serious problems arise from the dictionary. Although a marvellous piece of work, the CEDICT dictionary I am using is designed for the translation of modern Chinese, not the ancient dialect of the Yi Jing. For example, the phrase da4ren5 is translated in the modern dictionary as "adult/grownup"; whereas in the Yi the literal translation "great man" is much more appropriate. I have tried to modify the dictionary whenever I've found such problems, but there are still many left - and I do not currently feel qualified to undertaking the massive modifications required.

Credits

Known problems

There are a few minor problems at the moment, which I'll fix soon - it just needs some slightly cleverer JavaScript and a complete rebuild of the site.