27 January 2017
Hexagram 09, line 1 & 2
Line 1 復自道. 何其咎. 吉. I have struggled for many months with the segmentation of the first sentence, 復自道. I was not sure if I should read it as (1) 復自…
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10 September 2016
Going back to the source: the manuscripts of Richard Wilhelm (4) – The End
The prospect of spending more than three hours on a train & bus was not very tempting but the journey that I was about to make had been on my wish…
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10 September 2016
Going back to the source: the manuscripts of Richard Wilhelm (3)
Wenn die Begriffe nicht richting sind, so stimmen die Worte nicht; Stimmen die Worte nicht, so kommen die Werke nicht zustande… Lunyu, Ch. 13.3, tr. Richard Wilhelm If the terms are…
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8 September 2016
Going back to the source: the manuscripts of Richard Wilhelm (2)
Munich is a beautiful city, especially with the sunny weather that it has today. My mobile informs me that it is 25°C outside but it feels much warmer. When I arrived…
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8 September 2016
Going back to the source: the manuscripts of Richard Wilhelm (1)
A few months ago publisher AnkhHermes, who publish the Dutch translation of Richard Wilhelm’s Yijing, asked me if I wanted to be the chief editor of the new edition. This new…
Read article →28 June 2016
Hexagram 09, Judgment
小畜. 亨. 密雲不雨自我西郊。 Xu 畜: accumulate, make it grow in small amounts. According to Lu Deming 陸德明 (556-627) it was originally written as xu 蓄, ‘to store, save, grow’. The top…
Read article →22 April 2016
Hexagram 08, line 6
比之无首。凶。 Shou 首: head; chief, leader; main points, essentials; the first, the highest. Also ‘towards (direction)’ and loan for dao 道, ‘road, path’ (漢語大詞典). Without a leader or direction, without the…
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17 April 2016
Hexagram 08, line 5
顯比。王用三驅。失前禽。邑人不誡。吉。 Xian 顯: appear, become visible, make public, (to) display, (to) manifest. Also a loan for xin 欣, ‘joyful (appearance)’. Xianbi 顯比 can mean that the alliance is made public. Sanqu…
Read article →30 November 2015
Hexagram 08, line 4
外比之。貞吉。 Wai 外: those outside the clan, not related by blood, ‘outsiders’, those with different surname. In oracle bone inscriptions wai was used as a prefix for former kings that were…
Read article →29 November 2015
Hexagram 08, line 3
比之匪人. Bi 比: see line 1. Fei 匪: ‘without’: 后非眾，罔與守邦… If the sovereign had not the multitude, there would be none to guard the country (for him)… Shujing 書經 (tr. Legge) 析薪如之何、匪斧不克。…
Read article →23 November 2015
Hexagram 08, line 2
比之自內。貞吉。 Bi 比: see line 1. Zi 自: (starting) from: 自天子達於庶人…. From the emperor to the common people… (Mengzi 孟子, Lun Heng etc.) Nei 內: its regular meaning is ‘inside, interior’, but…
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22 November 2015
Hexagram 08, line 1
有孚比之.無咎.有孚盈缶.終來有它.吉. About you fu 有孚 see here. Bi 比: ‘assist, support’, ‘join (to support)’, to form a bond to reach a common goal, if necessary in a secondary position, to put yourself…
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