SPIRITUALITY & RELIGION

The I Ching

A Biography
The I Ching: A Biography. Princeton Univ. (Lives of Great Religious Books). Apr. 2012. c.296p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9780691145099. $25.95. REL
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OrangeReviewStarSmith (humanities, Rice Univ.; Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World) adds a welcome volume to Princeton's ambitious series. Most writing on the hexagrams of the I Ching, however well intentioned, is either too abstruse or too enthusiastic for the Western or nonexpert reader. Smith approaches the I Ching from the perspective of its history, development, and interpretation, creating perhaps the most interesting book in English about this Chinese classic.
VERDICT Essential for academic libraries, this also makes a first-rate introduction to Chinese spirituality for nonacademic readers.
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