People use this version for divination, but I feel that Wilhelm's translation is primarily a text for studying and meditation, and I find the depth of his version still surpasses any other that I have seen. If you consider the Yi Jing to be a serious book, you should obtain this translation, if only to supplement your understanding of the matter.


Chinese classic in exquisite English, repays infinite study   October 23, 2001
 20 out of 21 found this review helpful

I have been using this now-classic translation of the Book of Changes as a divinatory tool since 1968. Profoundly, elegantly transmitted from the literary Chinese, through Helmut Wilhelm's Goethe-quoting German, and finally into spiritually delicious English prose by the gifted Carey Baynes. A great pleasure of this volume is that you can sense all three aesthetic layers very clearly. This is the most-used book in my library. I'll admit, it gets a too deep sometimes. I've seen people burn their I Ching's when the truth got a little too intense for them. But if you want a sophisticated, accurate, and reliable divinatory tool that repays infinite sincere study, this is the best book in English. If I had only one book to bring to a desert island, this would be the one.


For the serious reader...   August 12, 2001
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have read many translations..worked with some of them. But the Richard Wilhelm edition has the must knowledge and the deepest meanings inside. The book will grow on you working with it.

Richard Wilhelm worked closely with chinese scholars for this translation. In other reviews is talked about the fact that Richard Wilhelm was biased as a Christian...don't let them fool you. Richard Wilhelm was deeply aware of the Chinese thoughts and makes this the best and profoundest translation there is.


The most complete version but needs Walker's help   July 12, 2001
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

At first, I found this version to be nearly incomprehensible after having used Walker's translation. I now think that Wilhem's translation is indispensible because of the commentaries but that it needs an additional volume such as Walker's to make it more accessible. My own copy of Wilhelm now has handwritten notes from Walker to make some of the more dense passages easier to understand. Does the I Ching really work? My own experience is that it does about 90% of the time when I spend time in quiet meditation before consulting it. How it does is a mystery. I prefer to think in terms of it mirroring the unconscious at the moment that the coins are cast rather than assume a more supernatural explanation.


It works; it's true.   April 1, 2001
 4 out of 11 found this review helpful

What can one say, worth more than it's reading?

bob