I Ching 101: Which I Ching Book to Buy?

One of the most often asked questions is: 'what is the best book on the I Ching'?

In this second part in the I Ching 101 series we look at two key resources - Richard Wilhelm's I Ching or Book of Changes and Stephen Karcher's Total I Ching. We chat about these wonderful books and how you can make the most use of the resources on the channel. Happy learning!

[ericmoulds]

I would just like to say that you are a very good teacher. Your passion for the subject comes through and is very motivating. Thank you.

[AWopBopaLoo]

Wow - I never thought the two books reflect left and right brain! I share that same experience when I started my iChing readings years ago. I started with the Wilhelm Bayne's book was esoteric and difficult to understand. BUT I learned to read between the lines using my intuition to decipher what I needed to know. I bought the Karcher book many years later and found it easier to read.

[peterfarnsworth]

I use both books and agree with your comments . Nice to get some confirmation independent of my own findings . However i also use the Willhelm /Baynes version which gives a bit more than the Wilhelm black paperback . I have a kindle W/B version on my i pad .

[jiahuihung]

I also like these two books. I am collecting different English translations of I Ching. So far I have collected 10 versions. Just wondering that do you know how many versions of English translation ? Thank you!!

[jerrymandering]

What’s your opinion on the Alfred Huang translation? This is the only other version I can find for my Kindle, I’ve already got the Willhelm/Baynes version for it.

[kevinu.k.]

Great choice of books. Great video. Good work. :)

One small thing 'I Ching' is pronounced ee jing.

[atanunath]

Thank you very much, it will definitely help me choose. Just one humble comment: Neanderthals were misunderstood for a very long time to be more primitive than the homosapiens, turning out to be not true! New research showing, they were probably more advanced, they had language and all.. and they were smart (smarter than Homosapiens).. but they probably lacked the aggressive fighting skills. The other thing is we all carry Neanderthal genes, so we are partly them.

[astrologynewsBtcpredictions]

Carol ANTHONY has an amazing I Ching book

[karlh]

Hey I'm new to this I just brought my first lucky chinese coin so will I need 2 books then the black book an the one on your left is one English the other chinese

[gregw]

Hi just to help you out, and to help you with your channel, the best I ching is the Shambala version translated by Thomas Cleary. By far the best, and if you get the taoist Classics they also helps translate the translation if you know what I mean.

[davidmjackson]

It seems you can't just buy and use one version of the book and I have several. The I Ching Workbook by RL Wing, The Toaist I Ching translated by Thomas Ckeary, The Pocket I Ching, The Richard Wilhelm Translation, rendered into English by Cary F Baynes and W F Boardman, a few other somewhere around my home. Learned about it from university students in Adelaide Australia when I was supposed to be a student art teacher for high school. Dropped out. Used it at 19 because I was trying to get rich. Got the hexagram, 48 line 5 at 30 which explained a lot about my life and everyone else's. Far superior to religious books like The Old and New Testaments, The Qu'ran and that one for the Hindus. I often go through them and laugh that they're all hexagram experiences. The expulsion from Eden, Jesus on the Cross and resurrection. It's basically the computer code of like. Pity more people don't know about it or use it. The hexagram explain wars, peace and how to stop politics from going bad. Best book ever written by the human mind.

[shinobu]

I Ching Praxis by Ra Un Nefer Amen is the best one IMHO and any serious student in the West should study it.

The Stephen Karcher one is very good.

[Andromedan]

Is Stephen Karcher still alive and well? Seems he's no longer active online. His FB has been inactive for a decade, and no responses come from emails sent over the years. I'd love to get his books as ebooks for my Kindle, but none are available for purchase.

[marcob.]

Would you recommend to use a book written on your mother tongue language rather then english for an interpretation better close to your own colture?

[gavinoraphaelracsod.]

Your thoughts on Sam Reifler's version?

[lottnio]

One learns Chinese and gets a Chinese version. It’s not very useful unless you’re very fluent in Chinese and understand the context etc. Even for a native Chinese scholar it takes 50 or so years to properly study the book.

[SurfingwithBen]

My dad said the best book is A guide to I Ching by Carol K. Anthony.

[YiTubeChannel]

I'm a Neanderthal and proud of it :-D