Learn with me
The I Ching,
made simple.
A 3,000-year-old Chinese book about change, explained in 60-second videos by someone learning it right alongside you. Pictures first. Stories over scripture. No fortune-telling.
易简而天下之理得矣“Grasp the simple, and the whole world makes sense.” — Commentary on the I Ching
Try it
Two symbols. Sixty-four situations.
A solid line is yang, a broken line is yin. Stack three and you get one of 8 trigrams, each a force of nature. Stack two trigrams and you get one of 64 hexagrams, each a life situation. Tap any line to change it.
Lines are read bottom to top
How we learn
No memorizing. No mysticism.
Pictures before words
先看图，再读字Every idea starts as an animation you can see. Water above fire, a dragon rising from the deep. The meaning is hiding in the image.
Stories, not scripture
先讲故事，再读经文Each episode tells a story first and shows just one or two original lines, so the ancient text finally clicks.
Wisdom, not fortune-telling
讲智慧，不讲吉凶Two thousand years ago Xunzi said those who truly understand the Changes don't divine. We study it as a way of thinking about change.
The first 13 weeks
Learning out loud, one week at a time.
I'm starting from zero this fall. Here's the plan. Follow along and learn with me.
Oct – Nov
The building blocks
- What the I Ching really is
- Yin, yang and the 3,000-year-old binary code
- The 8 trigrams of nature
- How 8 × 8 makes 64
Nov – Dec
The core hexagrams
- The Creative: a dragon's life in six lines
- The Receptive, Peace and Standstill
- The grammar of reading a hexagram
- Dec 21 · Winter solstice: Return, the light comes back
Dec – Jan
Living with change
- Why the book ends “Before Completion”
- Modesty: the only all-auspicious hexagram
- You pick the next hexagram
- Three months in: what I learned
Follow along
New 60-second episodes every week.
Find @simplyiching wherever you watch short videos.
Questions or ideas? [email protected]