Seven I Ching principles. Julian Shutsky #1.

I’d like to share with you a great piece of work related to the study of I Ching, which was done by the Russian scientist Julian Shutsky in 1937 shortly before he was subjected to repression by Bolsheviks. He did a groundbreaking work related to the study of I Ching, which was later published in the book “The Classical Chinese Book of Changes” only available on russian language. The book contains detailed research related to the I Ching text, its origins, history. Also, there is a research related to the structure of the I Ching and, most importantly, the book contains 3 different versions of I Ching translation based on the point of view, that I Ching text can be considered as consisting of 3 layers, which were done in different historical periods.

This is the first part of the series of articles. The seven principles of I Ching from Julian Shutsky:

1. The world represents itself both changeability and constancy and, moreover, their direct unity;
2. At the heart of  it lies the polarity which is the core of everything. The antipodes of this polarity are so opposite as strongly attracted by each other. In their relationships the action of the world is presented like a rhythm;
3. Thanks to a rhythm, the past and the future unite in one system in which the future already exists in the present as “sprouts” of coming events;
4. Both theoretical understanding and practical realisation of this principle is necessary, and if activity of the man corresponds to this principle,  a person harmoniously joins in the environment;
5. Thus, the conflict of the internal and the external is eliminated, and they only develop each other that the internal is defined by the external and creates in the external;
6. Thus the person pays sufficient attention to itself and surrounding society and, being in harmony with the environment, finds possibility of the higher form of creativity: creativity of good, instead of execution of any rules of copy-book morality;
7. So, thanks to unity of abstractions and concreteness, full flexibility of system is reached.

In all sincerity,
Oleg Galkin