I Ching

The renowned poet and scholar of Chinese literature presents a beautiful and accessible new translation of this seminal text.

In a radically new translation and interpretation of the I Ching, David Hinton strips this ancient Chinese masterwork of the usual apparatus and discovers a deeply poetic and philosophical text. Teasing out an elegant vision of the cosmos as ever-changing yet harmonious, Hinton reveals the seed from which Chinese philosophy, poetry, and painting grew. Although commonly used for divination, the I Ching is also a book of poetic philosophy, and Hinton’s translation restores it to its original lyrical form.

Unlike previous translations that present arcane language paired with extensive commentary, Hinton renders the original strata of the text as a fully formed work of literature that speaks to modern readers. The result is full of wild imagery, fables, aphorisms, and stories. Acclaimed for the eloquence of his many translations of ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy, Hinton has reinvented the I Ching as an exciting contemporary text at once primal and postmodern.