"Many people ask me, 'Is it easy to learn the Yi Jing?' My answer, 'It's very difficult.' There are two layers of meaning of Yi (changes). One pertains to the sun and the moon, the cycle of day and night, and the transformations occurring in the world. The second meaning is 'lizard' (its Chinese name is xiyi, named for its morphological changes), particularly a chameleon, which also symbolizes 'constant change'," he explained.
Tsai used the Qian Hexagram to address a young reader's question about how to navigate a world full of change and uncertainty. He explained that lines in this hexagram, such as "Hidden dragon, do not act", "A dragon appears in the field", and "A dragon flies in the heavens", emphasize the importance of understanding timing, preparation, and knowing when to advance or retreat at different stages of life.
"The whole logic of this hexagram is to tell people to maintain a calm, balanced mindset, build a strong foundation, evaluate the situation, and act accordingly," he said.
For Tsai, the Yi Jing possesses a timeless charm. One of the key reasons is its ability to offer positive psychological guidance when facing change and uncertainty. Even when confronted with "bad" hexagrams, one can find opportunities through the concept of "turning extreme adversity into prosperity".
He believes that this wisdom — of facing and understanding change and finding hope within it — is why the Yi Jing continues to resonate with people today.
In the early 1990s, Brian Bruya, now a philosophy professor at Eastern Michigan University, reached out to Tsai, expressing his wish to translate Zhuangzi Shuo into English. The translation was later published by Princeton University Press.
PUP has long been dedicated to the publication and dissemination of Chinese classics. In 1967, it published an English version of The I Ching, or Book of Changes, translated by US psychoanalyst Cary F Baynes based on German Sinologist Richard Wilhelm's German translation, and featuring a foreword by Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung. This edition became a crucial resource for the English-speaking world to understand the Yi Jing.
In 1992, Bruya's English translation of Tsai's comic book Zhuangzi Shuo was published by PUP as Zhuangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature, launching a 30-year-plus collaboration that translated eight key works from Tsai's comic adaptations of Chinese classics into English. Bruya translated seven of them, including The Way of Nature, Dao De Jing, The Analects, The Art of War, and The Ways of Zen.
Starting in 2018, these works were collected into PUP's series "The Illustrated Library of Chinese Classics". The latest addition to this series is the bilingual English-Chinese comic Yi Jing, published last month. This edition presents the text in a side-by-side format with clear English and the original Chinese, offering a visually engaging and accessible way for readers worldwide to explore the Yi Jing.
Christie Henry, director of Princeton University Press, said that The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is already a bestseller for the publisher, but its impact extends far beyond sales.
"Its philosophy helps us navigate the world, which is itself a very, very big book of changes," she said.
For her, Tsai has illustrated, with incredible creativity, some of the most formidable and enduring books of philosophy known to humanity at a time when humanity most needs its philosophical grounding.
"In this new vibrant original edition, Tsai Chih-chung brings to the Yi Jing a new chapter, a new life. And through his artistry and imagination, we will also be able to build bridges to new readers," she said.
