易经 (Yijing / I Ching) Hexagram 38: 睽 (Opposition)
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:16 am
I was looking through the Wilhelm translation of 易经 (Yijing / I Ching) today when I came across hexagram number 38: 睽 (kuí) translated as "opposition". I thought the passage had a certain dialectical sound to it. I particularly liked the suggestion that opposition does not preclude agreement and has "useful and important functions."
Here is the relevant page:
The I Ching, or, Book of Changes (Bollingen Series XIX) The Richard Wilhelm Translation rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes with a Foreward by C.G. Jung, Princeton, 1967
(You read that right - strangely, this book was translated first into German and then into English, for some reason.)
The name of this hexagram is translated differently by Pearson as "double vision" - which is an interesting way to think of dialectic:
The Original I Ching: An Authentic Translation of the Book of Changes translated by Margaret J. Pearson (2011)
In the Walker translation, we read: "...every opposition carries within it the seeds of agreement", and:
The I Ching or Book of Changes: A Guide to Life's Turning Points translated by Brian Browne Walker (2019)
Creating "unity by force" reminds my of what Hegel says about the understanding - that it avoids contradiction and tries to impose rigid distinctions.
In the interpretation of Wang Bi (王弼) (226 – 249), we read:
The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi, translated by Richard John Lynn (2004)
Here is the relevant page:
The I Ching, or, Book of Changes (Bollingen Series XIX) The Richard Wilhelm Translation rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes with a Foreward by C.G. Jung, Princeton, 1967
(You read that right - strangely, this book was translated first into German and then into English, for some reason.)
The name of this hexagram is translated differently by Pearson as "double vision" - which is an interesting way to think of dialectic:
The Original I Ching: An Authentic Translation of the Book of Changes translated by Margaret J. Pearson (2011)
In the Walker translation, we read: "...every opposition carries within it the seeds of agreement", and:
The I Ching or Book of Changes: A Guide to Life's Turning Points translated by Brian Browne Walker (2019)
Creating "unity by force" reminds my of what Hegel says about the understanding - that it avoids contradiction and tries to impose rigid distinctions.
In the interpretation of Wang Bi (王弼) (226 – 249), we read:
The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi, translated by Richard John Lynn (2004)