History of the I Ching

The history of the I Ching text began a very long time ago. I Ching is actually one of the oldest classic Chinese texts. The basic premise of I ching is that it uses a set of symbols to interpret seemingly random events into meaningful explanations. I Ching is sometimes believed to be a form of divination, as well as an explanation for seemingly random events.

[edit] The Traditional History of I Ching

According to the traditional I Ching history, the mythical Fu Xi was supposedly the first person that had the symbols revealed to him through supernatural means. His I Ching system used eight trigrams. However, by the time the legendary Yu appeared around 2194 BC-2149 BC, the I Ching system was composed of sixty-four hexagrams. This is when the I Ching text was written as scripture called the Lian Shan. King Wen overthrew this government of emperors, and with his son, changed and refined the I Ching system by interpreting all of the lines and symbols. This happened around 1109 BC. There is not a lot known about the history of I Ching because it is a system that is older than nearly every other religious text. Studies that modern scholars have conducted on the I Ching texts makes them believe that the history actually went a different way.

[edit] New Modern Discoveries

The I Ching history that people are now considering as more accurate than the traditional view is quite different than any other perspective. The modern belief is that almost none of the figures traditionally associated with I Ching were actually involved. People such as Confucius, King Wen, and Zhou Gong are thought to have never been a part of I Ching at all, or at least to have held different roles than what traditional histories show them as having. It is also now believed that the hexagrams were created before the trigrams. It is also now believed that I Ching was not created before 9 BC. The reason that these discoveries are being made is due to the newly revealed texts and other paraphernalia found in old Chinese tombs. How the traditional history of I Ching came about is now being thought of as similar to a fish story, where more and more exaggerations are added on to the truth until the story is completely different from actual events. The fact that the new history of I Ching doesn't match with the old beliefs really has no bearing on the actually system itself. Those who believe in the truth of the I Ching text will continue to do so, even with it having a different explanation for its origins.

[edit] What this means for believers of I Ching

Whatever the actual truth of its origins, I Ching is no different from other belief systems. Those who believe in it will not care where it came from, just how well it works. The history of I Ching is interesting, but is not a pinnacle point in the belief system. It really doesn't matter which history is the "true" version, as long as you believe.