Is i-Ching biblical? It depends on the version of i-Ching that you read. In the original and undistorted version of Zhou Yi, it is very close to the Biblical Teachings: in terms of objective - harmony with God, men and nature; in terms of values - righteousness, love and blessings. In terms of repentance - to follow the right path to blessings and much more. i-Ching teaches us the how to have peace and Bible gives us the answer - Jesus Christ through whom heaven, earth and men get the harmony.What is i-Ching (易经 YiJing)?
i-Ching is an ancient book compiled over the centuries starting from as early at BC3000 and finalized at roughly BC1000, 周易, the generally accepted and commonly referred to version. It is the classic of the Chinese Classical Books of wisdom. It is the foundation of Chinese philosophies.
The Meaning
The title, literally translated, is the "Change Bible", or the "Bible on/of/for Change". It is a thinking mindset with a data base of change-patterns for enabling people to live in harmony with heaven, earth and with one another. It is purpose is the unity of heaven, earth and men.
The Objective of Unity of God and Man
Heaven (天 tian) to the Chinese, means more than just the sky, but also means God, the Creator God of all things in heaven and on earth. So the objective of i-Ching is unity of man with God and with the environment. This is exactly the same objective as the Bible of uniting everything in Christ. Ephesians 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth in Christ, the God incarnate in man and for man.
i-Ching shows the How and Bible gives us the Answer - In Jesus Christ
So we see that i-Ching tells us the how to achieve harmony with God and the Bible gives us Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of harmony that man could not do so by himself.
The Values of i-Ching
I-Ching begins with the recognition of the God of Creation and give it as the 1st hexagram of 乾 - also known as 天 God of Heaven, creative power. i-Ching principles are derived from the working of God as exhibited in the creation. The 2nd hexagram is called 坤, also known as 地 earth and represent the mother earth of love and care for the growth of all things. From this Creation and Love comes the different combinations of virtues that make up the total of 64 Hexagrams.
A quick overview of i-Ching is shown in the mind map below:
We know its highest value is harmony of Heaven(God), Earth(Nature) and Man(People). It aims to achieve good fortune or bless represented by the Chinese word 吉 ji. It means abundance flow of and interaction of diversities. Its values are righteousness, purity, fairness, justice, balance, faultless as can also be seen in the word-cloud in Word Cloud of I-Ching.
Repentance and Good Fortune
In Outcome Based Strategies from Ancient Chinese-The Principles from I-Ching, we can see that i-Ching teaches us to seek after truth and righteousness. Repentance 悔 is a key concept and value of i-Ching. Any deviation from the righteous path will lead to fault, a cause for remorse, a danger, or a worst case of disaster. Hence, repentance and a correction will help us to avoid the disaster or the danger and bring us back to benefits, progress and good fortune or blessings. If we just be remorseful and blame our faults on others, it will bring us to danger and to disaster. With such teaching, we get a better understanding of repentance of the Bible. Repentance is not just being sorry for one's wrongful act or sin, but need a change of behavior and attitude into the righteous way.
For more articles on i-Ching, please look up Ancient Chinese Wisdom.
I hope you get a good understanding of i-Ching and be opened to its teachings. You can read it with the Biblical perspective and be enriched in wisdom.
Lim Liat (C) 9 Oct 12.
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