The Book of Changes (Zhouyi): A Bronze Age Document

Modern research has revealed the Book of Changes to be a royal divination manual of the Zhou state (500100 BC). This new translation synthesizes the results of modern study, presenting the work in its historical context. The first book to render original Chinese rhymes into rhymed English. * From Religious Studies Review: ‘For once, a publisher’s cover blurb is justified in hailing a book as “the most significant contribution of its kind in the twentieth century”. This is a monumental scholarly exploration of the I-ching (Yijing, “Book of Changes”, originally known as the 'Chou-l/Zhouyi'). Virtually every aspect of the Zhouyi and its history, including Western interpretations, is well covered. …Rutt’s well-documented analyses make this book mandatory reading that belongs in all collections.’ * From Asian Affairs: ‘This work presents an admirable syncretistic study and translation of the Book of Changes…The enormous corpus of explanations of related topics, the transparency of Rutt’s translation, and the comprehensive synthesis of traditional and modern scholarship make this book a fine achievement and an important reader on the Book of Changes as well as on ancient Chinese civilization.’ * From book's Preface: '… the Book of Changes is to be explained in the light of its own content and of the era to which it belongs …' When Richard Wilhelm wrote these words in 1923, he believed they described what he had done in his great German translation. Yet within ten years archaeology and philology had shed new light on ancient China, revealing that what Wilhelm had produced was a Book of Changes smothered by philosophical theories that were unknown in the era to which it belongs. Three-quarters of a century later, Chinese sinologists have shown that the book is really a Bronze Age diviner’s manual dealing with war and human sacrifice, giving advice to rulers at the dawn of literature. […] The work of professional scholars is tucked away in specialist journals and libraries: this report on twentieth-century Zhouyi studies is intended for readers who know little or no Chinese. Necessary technicalities are placed, I hope, so that they can easily be skipped. It should be clear that the translation is a possible one, not one to be staunchly defended at all points: for the time being, perhaps for ever, all translations of Zhouyi must be provisional. The notes will show students of Chinese how the work has been done and by whom, and where authoritative expositions may be found. * About the author: RICHARD RUTT was born in Bedfordshire in 1925 and distinguished himself as an outstanding linguist, reading Italian and Portuguese at Cambridge. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Navy as a translator of Japanese radio messages. Later, he was ordained in the Church of England and, in 1954, went as a missionary to Korea. It was while working as a village priest on Korea’s west coast that his parishioners gave him an abiding interest in ancient Chinese literature and poetry. He subsequently published translations of Korean and Sino-Korean literature. After twenty years in Korea he returned to Britain, becoming Bishop of Leicester in 1979. He now lives in Falmouth and is a bard of the Cornish Gorsedd. In 1994 he became a Roman Catholic priest. His other publications in English include 'Virtuous Women' (translations of traditional Korean novels in Chinese and the vernacular), 'The Bamboo Grove' (anthology and discussion of Korean sijo poetry), 'Korean Works and Days' (an account of Korean rural life in the 1950s) and, most recently (2000), he co-authored with Keith Pratt, 'Korea: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary' (Curzon Press).