The I Ching, Legge tr.: The Yî King Text: Section I...

This is a classical Chinese divinatory text from the *I Ching* (Book of Changes), presenting hexagram 18 (Kû/Gǔ) along with traditional line-by-line commentary. The hexagram's central argument is that Kû represents a state of decay, corruption, or difficult inherited troubles — symbolized by the image of venomous worms — which can nonetheless be remedied through great effort, careful timing, and deliberate action, much like crossing a dangerous river. The six individual lines are interpreted through the metaphor of a son addressing problems caused by his father or mother, with each line's strength or weakness (yin/yang) shaping whether the son should act boldly, gently, or hold back. The commentary is notably candid about its own interpretive limits, openly admitting that the gendered symbolism (father/son/mother) does not map cleanly onto the yin/yang properties of the lines, and rejecting a specific historical reading that identifies the figures with King Wén, his wife, and King Wǔ. The scholar-commentator's voice is unusually self-critical for this genre, quoting Latin from the Jesuit interpreter Regis to acknowledge that the nomenclature is essentially figurative and that forcing a literal or historical key onto the lines produces distortion. Overall, the passage functions as both a translation and a philological commentary on an ancient oracle text, useful to someone studying the I Ching's interpretive tradition or the history of its Western scholarly reception.

The I Ching, Legge tr.: The Yî King Text: Section I...

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