The I Ching, also known as the Book of Changes, is one of the earliest philosophy and cosmology texts which originated within Taoism in China about 4000 BCE. http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/timeline.htm It is a book of six-lined symbols, called hexagrams, which have symbolic meanings to derive the I Ching Oracles (or interpretations of their meaning). I Ching' interpretation can be rather open-ended, making it an interesting too to be used as an oracle, or divination tool. The hexagrams were originally derived with yarrow sticks, but in modern times, most use coins which are tossed. You can use special I Ching Coins or you can use regular coins. The I Ching is much older than the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tse, and is believed to provide the philosophical underpinning of the Tao Te Ching and some of the most penetrating chapters within the book. It is also known that Confucius regularly meditated upon the Tao Te Ching. http://www.iging.com/intro/introduc.htm

The 64 hexagrams in the I Ching are derived from 8 fundamental trigrams which are found in the Ba Gua symbol, which is also instrumental in the performing the art of Feng Shui. In this symbol and in the I Ching, the underlying idea is of change and the different ways that change can manifest. The symbolism of yin and yang were not a part of the I Ching, being developed during the Ch'in and Han dynasties between 221 BCE and 220 CE, however, but opposites ("the firm" and "the yielding") are mentioned out of which being or events arise.http://www.iging.com/intro/introduc.htm <ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112603/Chinese-literature/61276/Chin-and-Han-dynasties-221-bc-ad-220

The I Ching has had an influence on a variety of Chinese schools of thought, including Chan Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. It was first translated into English in the 1876 by Thomas McClatchie and has since gain popularity in western culture and art. http://www.healing-tao.com.br/en/iching/structure/history.htm Artists and thinkers such as Carl Jung, George Harrison, Philip K. Dick, Hermann Hesse, and Michael Mann has all been influenced by or made reference to the I Ching in their work.

The discovery in 1973 of ancient silk texts of the I Ching in Manwangdui revealed that many different sequences of hexagrams and perhaps several versions of the book. Other questions, regarding the use of the book, make the decision of where to start difficult, such as whether it is mainly primitive cosmology, a philosophical treatise or a historical document. Can it be used in a practical manner to learn how we can maneuver the laws of change? http://www.healing-tao.com.br/en/iching/structure/history.htm

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