This book by Richard Wilhelm's son is a valuable source of additional knowledge for those who are familiar with the I Ching, the Book of Changes, and an imaginative introduction for those who want to acquaint themselves with this difficult classic of Chinese religious literature.

The little volume “consists of lectures given in Peking in the winter of 1943” to “a group of German-speaking people in the city who”—during the time of the Japanese occupation—“kept apart from the activities of the German community and everything connected with it”. Thus, it reflects something of the spirit in which the I Ching itself was completed by King Wên while he was being held captive by the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. The very limited validity of wilfully directed inquisitiveness is pointed out by the warning that the images and symbols of the I Ching should be accepted as they are, “bearing in mind that in the course of our study an explanation may emerge”.