![]() ![]() There are even times when different people get almost the same fortune from the I Ching. Frank uses it in the art plot, Tagomi uses it in the spy plot, and Juliana uses it in the art-spy plot. The I Ching is one element that keeps reappearing in every story line. Leave it to Childan to be upset over sharing. It's more like a symbol of cultural borrowing and exchange. So the I Ching doesn't seem like a symbol of imperialism, as Childan thinks of it. Rather, a bunch of people use the I Ching of their own free will: Hawthorne Abendsen, Frank and Juliana Frink, Tagomi. (Childan makes that statement even after just noting that the I Ching was Chinese-he's not going to let a little self-contradiction get in the way of his racism.)īut for us, we can see that the I Ching isn't being "forced down our throats," as Childan claims. For Childan, this is just proof that (ugh) "Only the white races endowed with creativity" (7.88). The Japanese may have brought the I Ching to America after the war, but it was originally a Chinese book (7.87). ![]() Childan makes this point when he's at his most racist. The I Ching is a Chinese book brought by Japanese immigrants and adopted by a Jew and some Americans. Which is why Frank first reads the judgment of this hexagram, and then reads the extra message of that moving line. But if you were ever confused why both 6 and 8 were yin lines, that's because 6 is one of those darn moving lines. ![]() If we were going to draw that hexagram, it would look like this. The bottom line was a Seven, and so was the second and then the third. Ready for an example from the book? In Chapter Four, Frank asks the I Ching if he should go into business with Ed and he gets these lines Once you figure out which hexagram you have, you can turn to the I Ching itself to read what the hexagram means, as well as any commentary that might come with that hexagram. To get each line, you do something to get a random answer, like tossing coins, with each coin toss telling you if you've got an unbroken or broken line, and whether that line is fixed or moving. A moving line switches between Yang and Yin and carries a special message. And, on top of that, a line is either fixed-static or moving. A line is either unbroken (a Yang line) or broken (a Yin line). So, there's just a little disagreement there.īut here's what people agree on about what it is and how to use it: the I Ching contains 64 symbols (called hexagrams) each hexagram is made up of six lines-or, depending on your point of view, made up of two trigrams (which are themselves made up of three lines). That's the basics and that's all we feel comfortable talking about like, we're not going to get into the question of how old it is, since some stories say it's from 3000 BC and some evidence shows the oldest manuscript is from 475 BC. It's an old Chinese book that is used for fortunetelling. Man in the High Castle does a pretty good job of telling us what the I Ching is, but in case you got distracted by the whole "Nazis winning World War II" thing, here's a short reminder. Because, before we can talk about the I Ching as a symbol, we've got to talk about what it is. If you are super-confused about what all the coin-tossing and yarrow stalks in this book is about, you've come to the right place. ![]()
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