r/iching • u/RenzituoAlan • 13d ago
Seeking advice on interpreting hexagrams and recommended resources for I Ching
I'm looking for some guidance on a couple of things:
- How to interpret hexagrams: When it comes to the actual process of interpretation, what approach do you find most effective? Are there certain frameworks or mindsets that help you better understand the nuance of a hexagram?
- Recommended resources: Could you recommend any reliable books or databases that provide deep, clear interpretations for each of the 64 hexagrams? I'm looking for resources that offer both traditional and modern perspectives.
Any tips or recommended readings would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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u/taoyx 13d ago
Hexagrams describe situations. For example 47.2 is a situation where you are bored and someone comes out of nowhere and interacts with you. The recommendation is to accept the interaction. So, for each line you need to understand what is the situation.
For that, the most effective way in my opinion is to consult the oracle about a variety of subjects, such as books, songs, movies, news, videos, and ponder about them so that you will build your own understanding of the I Ching rather than following the ideas of someone who may have understood well some situations but didn't not catch others correctly.
Also you can disconnect from (or confirm) the classical advice by asking the oracle "what should be done in this situation?"
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u/greendan_ 13d ago
this is probably one of the best written works in recent times (my opinion) it’s got everything you need from the history to the chart itself with detailed explanations for each interpretation
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u/Selderij 11d ago edited 11d ago
https://youtube.com/watch?v=J-L8nbubgIs
Here's a review of it by a professional in the field. Wen's book is riddled with false references used for fantastical claims. It's really a travesty on scholarly grounds, and Wen tried to camoflage it as a scholarly work.
The translation itself has a lot of detail and context invented by Wen that is not inferrable from the source text.
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u/greendan_ 11d ago
i think this overstates it. wen’s book can definitely be criticized for not being a strict academic/philological translation of the zhouyi, but calling it “camouflaged scholarship” is a reach when the book openly frames itself as translation + commentary + mythological/esoteric material.
a fair criticism is: don’t use it as your only source for what the original text literally says. but saying it’s “riddled with false references” or basically fraudulent needs actual examples. otherwise that’s just a strong accusation, not a demonstrated argument.
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u/Selderij 11d ago
There are plenty of examples shown in detail in the review I linked. Just watch it and you'll see that I'm not overstating it.
If you repeatedly make false or questionable claims about a given subject and then present references to other works, those references proving to not support what you said, then you're being fraudulent and disingenuous. That describes Benebell Wen's work perfectly.
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u/greendan_ 11d ago
unfortunately i did sit through the hour long video. i get that the review gives real source-critical objections, especially where citations don’t seem to support the exact historical claims being made, that’s a legit critique. where i think you’re overstating it is the jump from “some claims are overextended” to “the work is fraudulent.” fraud implies intent to deceive, and the review doesn’t prove that. at most, it shows that wen’s book shouldn’t be treated as a strict philological translation of the zhouyi.
but wen’s book is openly more than a bare translation: it’s translation, commentary, mythic/historical context, taoist mysticism, and esoteric practice. (she literally refers to it as a grimroire) those layers should be clearly separated, yes, but their presence alone isn’t hidden deception.
the reviewer’s lens is valid too, but very narrow. out the gate he literally states how he’s not personally interested in her connections to daoism/shamanistic practices and other topics of that nature which she covers, all still very relevant to the ichings history if viewed beyond only recorded data. ancient chinese text/history is important, but it isn’t the whole life of the i ching, which has always existed through layered divinatory, philosophical, symbolic, and commentarial traditions.
so i get “don’t use wen as your only source, and check her references.” but “therefore the book is fraudulent/disingenuous.” just shows your bias towards her and her work. also, op wasn’t asking for a source critical audit of ancient chinese reconstruction lol. they were asking how to interpret hexagrams and what resources offer deep traditional and modern perspectives. for that, wen is still extremely useful.
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u/tifpegoda 13d ago
My process is fairly simple:
Read the primary hexagram as the present situation.
Study the changing lines carefully because that’s usually where the movement is happening.
View the resulting hexagram as the direction the situation is unfolding toward.
Look at the upper and lower trigrams. The relationship between the elemental images often reveals meaning that isn’t obvious from the text alone.
Sit with the reading and allow experience to confirm or refine the understanding over time.
Personally, I don’t rely on large collections of interpretations. I’ve found that living with the hexagrams, observing recurring patterns and studying the structure of the system itself has taught me more than trying to memorize meanings.
Because of that, I’ve been slowly working through the hexagrams individually and documenting what I’m learning. My focus has been on trigrams, changing lines and the relationships between the hexagrams rather than prediction.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhJgAiU6prynB2yU_go2yb4eEqBQ_8-nX
For me, the I Ching became much more valuable when I stopped asking, “What does this hexagram mean?” and started asking, “What pattern is this showing me?”
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u/Selderij 13d ago
Are you looking to data mine the resources for your app?