General Ancient History, Socio-Cultural Anthropology - General & Miscellaneous, Prophecy, Asian Studies - East Asia - China, Fortune Telling & Divination, Occultism

Ling CHI Ching

Name: Ling CHI Ching
Author: Ralph D. Sawyer
ISBN: 9780737234435

by Ralph D. Sawyer (Translator), Mei-chun Lee Sawyer (Translator)

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Overview

The Ling Ch'I Ching was first created by an unknown Chinese scholar who consciously sought to present the world with a more accessible oracle than the esoteric I Ching. For centuries the Ling Ch'I Chinghas been a popular divination device for attaining self-knowledge and wisdom. Like its more famous cousin, the I Ching, the Ling Ch'I Chingis rich in poetic language and metaphorical imagery, linking the dynamic principles of heaven and earth with the affairs of people. But the Ling Ch'I Chingis far more accessible than the I Ching, focusing on the concerns of day-to-day life and positive accomplishment, with no "moving lines" to interpret.

The method of consultation includes throwing twelve coins, which are then arranged in three rows to yield one of 125 possible trigraphs. In the text, each trigraph is represented by a core oracle describing a situation, problem, or event, and its internal dynamic, along with a verse emphasizing the trigraph's more subtle, intuitive qualities. To aid the reader in interpreting the oracle, selections from classical commentaries have been included, as well as the translators' own commentary on the text.

Author Biography: Ralph D. Sawyer, one of the leading scholars of Chinese warfare, has also worked extensively with major military and intelligence agencies. After study at MIT, Harvard, and National Taiwan University, and a brief period of university teaching, Sawyer has spent the past thirty years in international consulting work throughout Asia. Working from a strong technical and intelligence background, he has focused his research on the theory and practice of warfare in China, both traditional and contemporary.

For centuries, the Ling Ch'i Ching has been a popular source of wisdom and an oracle of fortune telling. The ritual for consultation involves throwing 12 disks that are said to be imbued with power. The disk would be arranged in rows yielding one of 125 possible trigrams. In the text, each trigram is represented by a core oracle describing a situation, problem, or event and its internal dynamic. Calligraphy throughout.

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Editorials

Library Journal

The Ling Ch'i Ching offers interpretations of patterns that result when 12 discs, each having one of three Chinese characters, are tossed. The discs are then arranged in three rows of four representing heaven, humankind, and Earth. Depending on which characters are visible and their position, an interpretation is offered as guidance for life decisions. The book's introduction explains in detail how the discs are interpreted, and the following 125 chapters give an oracle, verse, and commentaries for all possible patterns. For those who believe in the inherent power of such discs, the book offers a manual of interpretive guidance, though the translators offer strong cautions about such a use. For those who don't believe, the book is still recommended because it is an interesting and highly readable work in the Chinese divination tradition and will offer something in addition to the I Ching.-David Bourquin, California State Univ., San Bernardino

From Barnes & Noble

In comparison to other divination works in the Chinese tradition, the Ling Ch'i Ching is a reasonably accessible text requiring little interpretation or annotation. Developed by a Chinese scholar almost 2,000 years ago, the Ling Ch'i Ching involves 12 disks (or any common coin), and 125 triagraphs or life situations. This English translation, undertaken in an attempt to make the work easily understood by the widest audience possible, provides an oracle based on the triagraph, a verse illuminating the meaning of the oracle, and commentary drawn from classic Chinese sources. This divination method offers no cut-and-dried predictions, but rather makes prophecies from which you can draw your own wisdom.