Awards
- Commended for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2012.
- Short-listed for Choice 's Outstanding Academic Titles 2012 2012
- Short-listed for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2012
- Shortlisted for Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2012.
- Winner of 2013 Cover/Jacket Merit Award 2013
Overview
"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 1960s. Here Richard Smith tells the extraordinary story of how this cryptic and once obscure book became one of the most widely read and extensively analyzed texts in all of world literature. In this concise history, Smith traces the evolution of the I Ching in China and throughout the world, explaining its complex structure, its manifold uses in different cultures, and its enduring appeal. He shows how the indigenous beliefs and customs of Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet ""domesticated"" the text, and he reflects on whether this Chinese classic can be compared to religious books such as the Bible or the Qur'an.Smith also looks at how the I Ching came to be published in dozens of languages, providing insight and inspiration to millions worldwide--including ardent admirers in the West such as Leibniz, Carl Jung, Philip K. Dick, Allen Ginsberg, Hermann Hesse, Bob Dylan, Jorge Luis Borges, and I. M. Pei. Smith offers an unparalleled biography of the most revered book in China's entire cultural tradition, and he shows us how this enigmatic ancient classic has become a truly global phenomenon."
Full Product Details
Author: Richard J. Smith
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Volume: 9
Dimensions:
Width: 11.40cm
, Height: 2.70cm
, Length: 19.10cm
Weight: 0.369kg
ISBN: 9780691145099
ISBN 10: 0691145091
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 25 March 2012
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
General
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
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Language: English
Reviews
Smith's fascinating history of what he usually calls the Yijing--around 3,000 years old; first sanctioned by the Chinese state as a classic in 136 BCE--traces its influence on western artists such as Philip K Dick, Raymond Queneau, John Cage (who composed aleatory music with its help) and Jorge Luis Borges, as well as its enthusiastic reception by scientists (Leibniz saw in it his binary system confirmed), and its hermeneutic and political history in China itself. -- Steven Poole, The Guardian
Author Information
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.
