Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This is Part II, concluding the lecture and workshop.
Part I: Yarrow Stalk Divination, youtu.be/r9wnPOtBbK0
Worksheet download: benebellwen.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/interpreting-your-i-ching-reading.pdf
Learn more about I Ching, The Oracle: benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle
Timestamps:
00:15 Animated Walk-through of the Yarrow Counting Method
00:36 Yi Xue (I Ching scholarship)
01:02 Image & Number (Xiang Shu Pai) vs. Meaning & Principle (Yi Li Pai)
01:11 The Image and Number Tradition
01:55 The Meaning and Principle Tradition
02:42 Six Esoteric or Mystery Traditions of Interpreting the Yi
03:35 Why Philosophy and Cosmology Matters
05:00 Operative Result Yielded from I Ching Divination
06:24 Review of Part I: What Your Hexagram Result Should Look Like
06:57 Review of Relevant Taoist Cosmology
07:34 How the Primary Hexagram Changes to the Secondary/Transformed Hexagram
09:02 Identify the Trigram and Driving (Five) Movements Result
09:47 Changing Lines in Both Hexagrams are the Cruxes of Change
10:49 Consulting the Book and Reading the Entries
11:42 Innate Qi Qualities the Six Lines Exhibit
12:11 Wu Xing: Five Phases of Change (Five Movements)
12:43 Wu Xing Correspondence Reference Tables
13:45 Revisiting the Innate Qi Qualities of the Six Lines
14:41 Comparing Your Hexagram Result to Innate Qi of the Lines (Dignities)
16:06 The Confucian Concept of Lei, via I Ching philosopher Cheng Yi
17:23 Rulers of the Six Lines (Six Line General, Innate Attributes)
18:59 Reading a Locked Hexagram (Single Hexagram Result)
19:51 Reading Primary + Transformed Hexagrams (Hexagram Pair Result)
21:39 He Tu and Lo Shu Diagrams Informing the Hexagram Reading [Ref. Vid.: youtu.be/zAME24d0rGw]
22:40 Decide: Reading the Thesis Statement vs. Reading the Entire Dissertation for Divined Insight
23:14 Diving Deeper into All Lines Analysis
24:20 Interpreting the Ancient Line Text Figuratively
24:58 Interpreting the Secondary Transformed Hexagram
25:24 Primary vs. Transformed Hexagram Attributes
25:59 Comparing the I Ching to the Tarot as Divination Tools
I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023), benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle
- Amazon (US): https://a.co/d/cmm0qLP
- North Atlantic Books, a California-based non-profit publisher: northatlanticbooks.com/shop/i-ching-the-oracle
- Penguin Random House: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724023/i-ching-the-oracle-by-benebell-wen
This is Part II, concluding the lecture and workshop.
Part I: Yarrow Stalk Divination, youtu.be/r9wnPOtBbK0
Worksheet download: benebellwen.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/interpreting-your-i-ching-reading.pdf
Learn more about I Ching, The Oracle: benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle
Timestamps:
00:15 Animated Walk-through of the Yarrow Counting Method
00:36 Yi Xue (I Ching scholarship)
01:02 Image & Number (Xiang Shu Pai) vs. Meaning & Principle (Yi Li Pai)
01:11 The Image and Number Tradition
01:55 The Meaning and Principle Tradition
02:42 Six Esoteric or Mystery Traditions of Interpreting the Yi
03:35 Why Philosophy and Cosmology Matters
05:00 Operative Result Yielded from I Ching Divination
06:24 Review of Part I: What Your Hexagram Result Should Look Like
06:57 Review of Relevant Taoist Cosmology
07:34 How the Primary Hexagram Changes to the Secondary/Transformed Hexagram
09:02 Identify the Trigram and Driving (Five) Movements Result
09:47 Changing Lines in Both Hexagrams are the Cruxes of Change
10:49 Consulting the Book and Reading the Entries
11:42 Innate Qi Qualities the Six Lines Exhibit
12:11 Wu Xing: Five Phases of Change (Five Movements)
12:43 Wu Xing Correspondence Reference Tables
13:45 Revisiting the Innate Qi Qualities of the Six Lines
14:41 Comparing Your Hexagram Result to Innate Qi of the Lines (Dignities)
16:06 The Confucian Concept of Lei, via I Ching philosopher Cheng Yi
17:23 Rulers of the Six Lines (Six Line General, Innate Attributes)
18:59 Reading a Locked Hexagram (Single Hexagram Result)
19:51 Reading Primary + Transformed Hexagrams (Hexagram Pair Result)
21:39 He Tu and Lo Shu Diagrams Informing the Hexagram Reading [Ref. Vid.: youtu.be/zAME24d0rGw]
22:40 Decide: Reading the Thesis Statement vs. Reading the Entire Dissertation for Divined Insight
23:14 Diving Deeper into All Lines Analysis
24:20 Interpreting the Ancient Line Text Figuratively
24:58 Interpreting the Secondary Transformed Hexagram
25:24 Primary vs. Transformed Hexagram Attributes
25:59 Comparing the I Ching to the Tarot as Divination Tools
I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023), benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle
- Amazon (US): https://a.co/d/cmm0qLP
- North Atlantic Books, a California-based non-profit publisher: northatlanticbooks.com/shop/i-ching-the-oracle
- Penguin Random House: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724023/i-ching-the-oracle-by-benebell-wen
![Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction
We’re still having audio-video syncing issues. Be sure to turn on Closed Captioning for the subtitles. That’ll help clarify any confusion caused by audio hiccups.
... If a techie witnessed the wholly inefficient Luddite way I cobbled this video production together, they would probably die of a brain aneurysm …
Timestamps:
00:00 Why another “Introduction to Taoism” video
00:19 Historical textual definition of and references to the Tao 道
01:29 Canonical statement defining the Tao “一陰一陽之謂道”
02:39 Cultural understanding and usage of the term 道 [Syncretic Taoism]
03:40 Formalizing Taoism 道教 during the Eastern Han
03:50 Scope of Taoism “道教” prior to the Eastern Han
04:42 Conflating Buddhist doctrine with the Tao 道
05:33 Institutionalizing Taoism in the Common Era
05:50 Taoist Beliefs – Four Cornerstones
Wu Wei 無為 and Zi Ran 自然
True Name 真名 and True Form 真形
Taoist Cosmology
Xuan De 玄德 (The Mysteries)
06:53 The Dàoshì 道士
07:15 Taoist Practice – Four Cornerstones
Invoking Spirits 崇拜鬼神
Divination 占卜
Ceremonial Rites 祭祀
Shamanic Witchcraft 巫祝
07:59 The Fāngshì 方士 (Methods Master)
08:14 Taoism is the indigenous Chinese tradition premised on three fundamental assumptions
08:24 [1st] Working with spirit entities (and what that means) [鬼神崇拜]
09:39 Classifications of spirit entities in Taoism (and Chinese folk beliefs)
10:23 [2nd] Studying cultivation methods for transcendence [神仙信仰與方術]
10:32 Inner alchemy 內丹術 and outer alchemy 外丹術
11:43 Taoist occultism during the Warring States period (472 – 221 BC)
11:55 The five mystical arts 五術
13:02 [3rd] The Huang Lao 黃老道 doctrine [黃老學說中的神秘主義成份]
14:53 Two Key Concepts to Huang Lao Taoism (the highest priorities of the Taoist)
Political doctrine of Lì Mín 利民
Philosophical doctrine of Wu Wei 無為
16:38 Historical uses of the term Huang Lao Tao
18:16 Mathematical Structure of the Tao 道 (mirroring the Yi 易, in I Ching 易經)
19:29 Taoism and the I Ching: the Tao referenced in the I Ching
20:23 Taoism from the Hundred Schools of Thought
20:48 Taoism as a school of philosophy
22:18 Western Thought: Taoist Philosophy vs. Taoist Religion
22:37 Eastern Thought: Taoist Beliefs & Taoist Practice
23:10 Evolving understanding of the Tao in Imperial China
23:58 First use of the term Taoism 道教 (Confucius)
24:14 Taoism is exemplified by the Six Ancestral Sage Kings [堯舜禹湯文武]
24:53 Dào Dé Jing 道德經 and Dào Dé Tiān Zūn 道德天尊
25:25 Religious personifications of the Tao Te Ching
26:08 Summary and closing remarks
***
Related Past Videos:
Wu Wei 無為 (Taoist Non-Action), https://youtu.be/TzAFobogs3Q?si BNWxmGDIXqw8jn6
Your Inner Palace and the Akashic Records, https://youtu.be/iGJdxTTywHc?si=r5bY9muFzSrhdYd1
Three Mysteries of Taoist Scriptural Tradition, https://youtu.be/gJcit-CTXnc?si=EJH3n3z3Pgd50e4u
Tao Te Ching and Feminist Metaphysics, https://youtu.be/IqUlYQDtPrY?si=5w1Npbu-0QA6qxHf
What Does It Mean To Be Taoist, https://youtu.be/FbpUm82U4dg?si Ctl9NNlDNwF6rlp
The Lo Shu Magic Square (雒書, Luò Shū), https://youtu.be/zAME24d0rGw?si=h1ER0OrreB3V6gst
***
Playlist: Introduction to Taoist & Buddhist Mysticism, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0x6BzLuplwZuQpc3ubW97MwPXb1mk9hE
Learn more about I Ching, The Oracle: https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/ Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ad54Mpm5UX0/mqdefault.jpg)









