What if you would not need to carry the Book-of-Changes and three Chinese coins with you, but that you just could ask any question any time, at work, with friends or relatives, in an internet café or a hotel, as long as there is a computer with internet connection nearby?
Of course we found several sites that promised this feature, but it never came anywhere near what we were looking for.
You can see for yourself; in DMOZ, the open directory project, many Online I Ching sites are gathered together (including this site IChingOnline).
If we found a site where we could ask a question online, and if we managed at all to understand the often difficult instructions how to get on with the procedure, we saw all kinds of things wrong.
For example, a popular Brasilian site (the I Ching is widespread in Brasil) with a smashing Flash movie for throwing the coins online:
When we analysed the Flash code, it appeared that any Hexagram would always consist of an equal amount of heads and tails.
For the six throws of three coins, there were nine heads and nine tails, mixed together randomly; an entirely wrong algorithm, and limiting the number of possible readings to just a handful.
(Try to compose Hexagram 1 or 2 this way.)
Yet, there do exist some very elegant programs you can run on your computer, but you do not always have your own laptop with you.
Actually, we had such a program ourselves, the "I Ching Empower Tool" by Roger Norton and David Miller, a beautiful and very user-friendly desktop program.
Until July 6th 2009, this program was available at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/ homepages/empowertools/, but on that date the Compuserve OurWorld was shut down permanently.
The site was not supported since 1995 and many links did not work anymore.
When we used the freeware version of the program we found a little problem with the algorithm for throwing the coins, because we got far too few changing lines.
(It was not the yarrow stalks method either.)
We never tried the registered edition.
We gratefully used the texts in this program as an initial base for IChingOnline.net, because they are the best short interpretations of the ancient texts of the Book-of-Changes that we know.
Later we added the original texts.
The classic translation from Chinese was in German, by Richard Wilhelm in 1923.
Richard Wilhelm, born in 1873 in Germany, more than any other, is responsible for opening up to the West the vast spiritual heritage of China, and thus all of Asia.
He translated the great philosophical works from Chinese into German, where they have in turn been translated into the other major languages of the world, including English.
To this day, among the dozens of translations of the I Ching now available, his 1923 translation stands head and shoulders above the rest.
An illness he caught in China as early as 1910, led eventually to his premature death in 1930.
Since Version 2.0 (see below) for every hexagram and changing line you can click through to the corresponding original Richard Wilhelm translation, rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes in 1950.
Nevertheless, the only way to read these original texts is by throwing the coins and then you can read the text for the particular hexagram or changing line as an excerpt from the Richard Wilhelm translation.
This was done deliberately.
If you want to leaf through these pages, you need a hard copy of the book
I Ching or Book of Changes (Arkana).
When we decided to develop our online webprogram, we had in mind to make it as user-friendly as possible.
The different aspects of the answer; Present, Changing Lines, Future and the separate Trigrams that make up the Cast Hexagram, can be read in tabs.
Special attention was given to the Changing Lines, because if there are two or more, one of them prevails, and the program decides which one, according to a set of rules, explained in the Instruction.
If you have any suggestions, please contact us at .
In version 2.5 (May 22nd 2010), to all Richard Wilhelm texts; hexagrams and changing lines, have been added relevant illustrations. Of course, anytime we find a better picture for some subject, we'll replace the old one, but for now the entire text is illustrated.
Version 2.4 (December 13th 2009), has some extra features when you read an original Richard Wilhelm text.
Instead of one new window that opens for the Richard Wilhelm page, three different cascading windows will open, resp. for the Cast Hexagram-, Changing Lines- and Transformed Hexagram pages.
This has been done for (Windows) Safari and Chrome users, as in these browsers, if the same window is opened the second time, it will not be on top of the last window, but remain hidden in the background.
Furthermore, the question you entered (if you did) before throwing the coins, is repeated on the Richard Wilhelm page, so that you can tell to what question is the answer.
In addition, the Cast- and Transformed Hexagram page will show you whether it is the Cast- or Transformed Hexagram as an answer to your question, because now you can have both pages open.
Version 2.3 (December 6th 2009), is a technical upgrade, in preparation to added functionality in the near future.
Apparently, the site hardly changed, at least visibly, but in fact the engine to throw the coins, visualize casting
them six times, and display the answer in different tabs, has been rewritten completely.
This was done as necessary preliminary work for intended new features that will be added to IChingOnline.net.
In version 2.2 (January 8th 2009), a major improvement was made to the Site search.
Since then, a proper Site search is made possible, by allowing Google to index the Richard Wilhelm text-pages.
If you want to read a Richard Wilhelm text again for a particular hexagram or changing line, use theSite search-button on the left of the page. For example: type in hexagram 38 line 3,
leave the radio-button checked for IChingOnline, and click theSite search-button.
A good chance that you find the page with the Richard Wilhelm text for hexagram 38 and the third line changing. Or use any headword you remember, if you have forgotten the hexagram number.
A slight improvement to the great leap of version 2.0 was made with version 2.1 (July 23rd 2008).
At the bottom of the Trigram tab now is a
Custom search button.
Pressing this generates a Google custom search for the literal question you typed in.
For this button to appear, you must have typed at least some valid characters.
The Custom Search Result page is not the same as when you had put the question to a normal Google search page, because the result is customised for people like you; interested in Eastern studies and I
Ching.
Use it for getting inspiration, the results can be amazing!
Since July 19th 2008 we have I Ching Online Version 2.0, with the original Richard Wilhelm translation integrated in the tabs for the Cast Hexagram, the Changing Lines and the Transformed Hexagram.
If applicable, at the bottom of the tab appears a Read original text button.
By pressing this button you can also read an excerpt from the original Richard Wilhelm translation for the particular hexagram or changing line.
Since January 12th 2008 we have I Ching Online Version 1.3, with a new feature for throwing the coins, which is described in detail on the instruction-page.
Before then you could only cast the coins virtually.
Nothing wrong with virtual coins, but if you insist on using your own real metal ones, you can do so now, by pushing the Throw coins by hand button, and fill in the result of your cast by flipping the coins on the screen.
The coins turn around when you click them.
When done, the Read button works as
ever.
The new feature comes in very handy as well, when you want to read
back a former reading.
When you remember the pattern of lines, you can fill them in later,
and see the answer again.
Of course, the old Throw coins virtually
button still works the same.
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