The exact origin of the Chinese I Ching system is
unknown. However, it is said that the Chinese sage known as Fu Hsi who
became the country's first emperor and successfully united all the
Chinese people for the first time and propounded civilization was its
first recipient. It is said that this sage found eight trigrams on the
shell of a tortoise with a stack of three lines. From these figures, he
derived the sixty-four line figures known as ‘kua’ related to
Earth, Mankind, and Heaven. This system was refined by Wen during his
confinement in 1143 BC by the emperor tyrant Chou Shin. He renamed ‘kua’
and changed their original order. Later, his eldest son Yu overthrew
Chou Shin and bestowed the title ‘King’ upon his father. Thus,
he was known as King Wen.
King Wen’s younger son Tan who succeeded King Yu was thoroughly
instructed in the I Ching by his father and enhanced it further by
interpreting the meanings of each of the individual lines of the I Ching
and made it complete around 1109 BC. It is said that it was I Ching and
the wisdom that it gave to King Wen and his sons that made the dynasty
last for 800 years, which is the longest in the history of China. It is
said that the history of I Ching or the Book of Changes is as ancient as
that of Bible or Vedas. Its circulation has been traced as far back as
the Chou Dynasty. Fu Hsi is believed to belong to the era from 2852 BC
to 2737 BC and taught his people trawling, animal taming and silkworm
keeping. It is said that Confucius also played a role in the
constitution of the I Ching and used up at least three book rolls during
his painstaking study.
