Comments on: Why ask political questions?

By: Hilary

Hilary — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 17:19:13 +0000

A response from John, whose question sparked this off:

“One thing that occurred to me is if the I-Ching doesn’t â€œlikeâ€ a question, it is certainly capable of letting one know.
I try to be sparing of â€œusingâ€ the I-Ching unless I am really having a problem deciding an issue. Also I NEVER ask about relationship or romantic issues. It doesn’t seem to like those questions but it has addressed them while answering other questions.
It never even occurred to me to ask about large political issues that I had no personal interest in, but again, if the I-Ching doesn’t like a question it is capable of letting one know, as we all know.”

Certainly more than capable.

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:34:59 +0000

How about picking a government policy (or policy of some international body, or whatever grips you) and asking about its likely effects within a specified period of time? (Specifying the time period to make the results review-able without too much debate.)

By: Sam Crane

Sam Crane — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:53:57 +0000

Assuming that some of you think that it is OK to pose political questions (perhaps in forms other than yes/no), what question should I pose this week? Tomorrow is my “Friday I Ching blogging” day and I am open to all suggestions.

By: GreenOwl

GreenOwl — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:55:08 +0000

Maybe it’s just that people back in the Chinese dynasties weren’t always careful or perfect about their questions, either! Y’know?

By: Hilary

Hilary — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 19:42:44 +0000

‘Why not?’ – always a good answer where Yi is concerned, until such time as they dig up the graven stone tablet with The Rules.

On the subject of yes/no questions – the Shang examples would be for oracle bone divination, of course, which is a different animal from an oracle book. I posted about this once before – linking to the I Ching Community, but there is a comment on the blog entry worth reading, also.

By: Sam Crane

Sam Crane — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 18:57:50 +0000

Thanks for raising this question about questions. I guess my first answer is: why not? The Yi has been used in all sorts of ways by all sorts of people over the centuries. Way back when, before the Yi, divination in the Shang Dynasty, was very much a political act. Here is a list of topics raised by Shang diviners (drawn from David Kneightly’s ariticle on the Shang in the Cambridge History of Ancient China, p. 243):
“harversts, bad omens, the capture of prisoners, child-bearing, the activities of Di (the high God), and other Powers, dreams, floods, military strategy, the issuing of orders, rain and sunshine, royal tours of inspection, sickness, sending men on a mission, settlement building, sorties and other trips, spiritual approval, assistance, harm, tribute payments, and so on.”
That’s a big list. I have seen similar sorts of topics mentioned for the Zhou Dyansty as well. So, big questions of political interest have, I believe, always been a part of the practice of Yi.
I don’t think there is any inappropriate question. Indeed, Kneightly’s piece says that questions in the Shang were often posed in dualistic ways, pretty much a “yes” or “no” query. Not all questions were like this, but asking about rain is probably looking for a “yes” or “no” kind of answer.
I would never say that big political questions are more important than more specific, personal questions. But neither would I accept the idea that big, political questions are somehow out of bounds.
And if we look at how the Yi has been and is now used in Chinese cultural contexts we will see that many yes/no questions are, and always have been, posed. And there are many different forms that the divination can take. I always loved the fortune teller in Hong Kong who had small birds in cages who, for a price, would hop out, pick a hexagram card from a deck and, voila, that was your answer. Is that less legitimate than other approaches to the Yi?
Again, good question. I look forward to what others have to say.