![]() The matter of interest seems to be the configurationformed by chance events in the moment of observation, and notat all the hypothetical reasons that seemingly account for thecoincidence. The moment underactual observation appears to the ancient Chinese view more ofa chance hit than a clearly defined result of concurring causalchain processes. The manner in which the I Ching tends to look upon realityseems to disfavor our causalistic procedures. The jumble of natural laws constitutingempirical reality holds more significance for him than a causalexplanation of events that, moreover, must usually be separatedfrom one another in order to be properly dealt with. The actual form, however, seems to appeal more to the Chinesesage than the ideal one. But in nature one findsno two crystals exactly alike, although all are unmistakably hexagonal. The statement is quite true inso far as an ideal crystal is envisaged. It is all very well to say that the crystalof quartz is a hexagonal prism. Theoretical considerations of causeand effect often look pale and dusty in comparison to the practicalresults of chance. An incalculable amount of humaneffort is directed to combating and restricting the nuisance ordanger represented by chance. We must admit that there is something to be said forthe immense importance of chance. What we call coincidence seems to be the chief concern of thispeculiar mind, and what we worship as causality passes almostunnoticed. ![]() The Chinese mind, as I see it at work in the I Ching, seemsto be exclusively preoccupied with the chance aspect of events. If we leave things to nature, we see a very different picture:every process is partially or totally interfered with by chance,so much so that under natural circumstances a course of eventsabsolutely conforming to specific laws is almost an exception. We have not sufficiently taken into account asyet that we need the laboratory with its incisive restrictionsin order to demonstrate the invariable validity of natural law. The axioms of causality are being shaken totheir foundations: we know now that what we term natural lawsare merely statistical truths and thus must necessarily allowfor exceptions. What Kant's Critique of Pure Reason failed to do, is being accomplishedby modern physics. But a great change in our standpoint is setting in. Our science, however, is based upon the principleof causality, and causality is considered to be an axiomatic truth. it is a curious fact that such a giftedand intelligent people as the Chinese has never developed whatwe call science. ![]() In order to understand what such abook is all about, it is imperative to cast off certain prejudicesof the Western mind. I can assuremy reader that it is not altogether easy to find the right accessto this monument of Chinese thought, which departs so completelyfrom our ways of thinking. I do not know Chinese and have never been in China. ![]() I was already fairly familiar with the I Chingwhen I first met Wilhelm in the early nineteen twenties he confirmedfor me then what I already knew, and taught me many things more. For more than thirtyyears I have interested myself in this oracle technique, or methodof exploring the unconscious, for it has seemed to me of uncommonsignificance. I am greatly indebted to Wilhelm for the light he has thrown uponthe complicated problem of the I Ching, and for insightas regards its practical application as well. His grasp of the living meaning of the text giveshis version of the I Ching a depth of perspective thatan exclusively academic knowledge of Chinese philosophy couldnever provide. He was in a position to do this because he himselfwas taught the philosophy and the use of the I Ching bythe venerable sage Lao Nai-hsüan moreover, he had over aperiod of many years put the peculiar technique of the oracleinto practice. Wilhelm, however, has made everyeffort to open the way to an understanding of the symbolism ofthe text. Legge's translation of the I Ching, up to now the onlyversion available in English, has done little to make the workaccessible to Western minds. But this is far from being the case,for there is so much that is obscure about it that Western scholarshave tended to dispose of it as a collection of "magic spells,"either too abstruse to be intelligible, or of no value whatsoever. If the meaning of the Book of Changes were easy to grasp, thework would need no foreword. He himself was profoundly aware of the culturalsignificance of his translation of the I Ching, a versionunrivaled in the West. It also affords me a welcomeopportunity to pay tribute again to the memory of my late friend,Richard Wilhelm. Since I am not a sinologue, a foreword to the Book of Changesfrom my hand must be a testimonial of my individual experiencewith this great and singular book.
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