He points out that, repelled by the rationalism and industrial oppression of mainstream society, these groups regarded The I Ching as a "non-Western wisdom tool"—they used it for divination to seek spiritual guidance, and also employed its "holistic view" and "idea of change" to counter the linear thinking of mainstream culture, turning The I Ching from an academic text into one of the spiritual symbols of the counterculture.
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Discussion on Geoffrey Redmond's "The Yijing in Early Postwar Counterculture"
Redmond's article discusses the popularity of the I Ching in the 1960s-70s Western counterculture and how it challenged mainstream norms. These questions focus on this cultural challenge.
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Redmond describes the I Ching's rise as a "bestseller" within the postwar "counterculture." Based on the article, what specific aspects of the counterculture made the I Ching so attractive to Western youth? How did its status as "rejected knowledge" challenge the established Western scientific and religious communities?
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Hint: Focus on the elements listed (e.g., non-Western spirituality, opposition to the Vietnam War) and the concept of "rejected knowledge" that was suppressed by orthodox institutions.
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Redmond argues that Jung's interpretation (e.g., his concept of synchronicity) provided the framework for the West's reception of the I Ching, but also led to its "psychologization." According to the text, how did Jung's approach make the I Ching both challenging to Western thought and, simultaneously, potentially reduce its sense of mystery?
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Hint: Consider Jung's emphasis on "individual experience" over scholarly authority and the consequence of explaining divination through psychology.
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Redmond points out a discrepancy: the Western use of the I Ching for themes like "free sex, drug use, or social transformation" had little to do with its traditional Chinese understanding. Based on the article, how does this discrepancy illustrate the challenging nature of cross-cultural adaptation? Does this Western adaptation fundamentally distort the essence of the I Ching, or is it a valid form of cultural exchange?
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Hint: Refer to Redmond's comparison of the I Ching's traditional purpose (e.g., ethical cultivation for the junzi) with its countercultural uses, and his note that many were seriously engaged in self-exploration.
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Based on Redmond's article, the I Ching became a bestseller in the 1960s-70s West because it matched the counterculture's values. Young people liked it because of its non-Western spiritualitythat rejected traditional Christianity. It empowered individual experience over authority, fitting the anti-establishment mood, especially opposition to the Vietnam War.
Jung's idea of synchronicity helped make the I Ching acceptable by providing a psychological explanation for how it works, which challenged Western thinking.
The Western focus on free love and social change was very different from the I Ching's traditional purpose of ethical cultivation for rulers (君子). This shows how cross-cultural adaptation often involves reinterpretation based on the receiver's needs.
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Based on Redmond, the I Ching appealed to the 1960s-70s Western counterculture due to its non-Western spirituality and alignment with anti-war, anti-establishment values. Its status as "rejected knowledge" directly challenged the authority of mainstream Western science and religion.
Jung’s concept of synchronicity made the I Ching accessible by framing it through psychology and personal experience, thus challenging rigid Western rationalism. However, this "psychologization" also reduced its mystical and philosophical depth by explaining divination in psychological terms.
The Western adaptation for themes like free love and drugs diverged sharply from the I Ching's traditional role in ethical cultivation. While this represents a significant reinterpretation, Redmond suggests it was a meaningful, though distinct, form of cultural exchange, as many users engaged sincerely in self-exploration.
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Redmond’s research points out that after WWII, Western counterculture picked up and tweaked the I Ching—using this non-Western wisdom to push back against the mainstream. Even if it strayed from tradition, this twist makes sense.In the 60s-70s, young Westerners hated tech obsession and the Vietnam War. The I Ching’s mystery and spirituality helped them escape rigid logic, becoming "unaccepted knowledge" against mainstream science and religion.True, they used it for "free love" or "drugs"—not the traditional "junzi’s self-cultivation." But most explored themselves sincerely. This wasn’t ruining the I Ching, just the counterculture reworking it for their needs—a typical cross-cultural tweak.
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1 、The I Ching attracted Western youth due to its non-Western spirituality, which offered an alternative to rigid Western rationalism and institutional religion. It aligned with countercultural values like opposition to the Vietnam War and skepticism toward established authority. Its status as "rejected knowledge" — suppressed by orthodox scientific and religious institutions — enhanced its appeal by symbolizing resistance to mainstream paradigms, challenging Western claims to universal truth and exclusivity in spiritual and empirical knowledge.
2、 Jung’s synchronicity theory framed the I Ching as meaningful through subjective experience rather than deterministic causality, challenging Western scientific materialism. However, by explaining divination through psychology (e.g., as a tool for self-reflection rather than cosmic guidance), Jung demystified it. This emphasized individual experience over scholarly or traditional authority, making it accessible but potentially stripping its mystical and cultural depth, reducing it to a psychological instrument.
3 、 The Western focus on free sex, drug use, and social transformation contrasted sharply with the I Ching’s traditional purpose of ethical cultivation for the junzi (moral exemplar). This discrepancy highlights the complexity of cross-cultural adaptation: Western users often reinterpreted texts to fit their own contexts. While this adaptation distorted original meanings, Redmond notes that many engaged sincerely in self-exploration, suggesting it was a valid form of cultural exchange — not merely distortion but a dynamic recontextualization reflecting the borrower’s needs.
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1.On the one hand, the young people in the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s all had great ambitions. On the other hand, the two forms of redemption that the teenagers of that era admired - political reform and ideological transformation - have existed since ancient times and have been advocated and promoted by many famous figures. The knowledge systems such as divination and astrology, as well as tarot cards, which were once discarded, were linked together. This connection was attractive to practitioners, enabling Western practitioners to explore more freely the mysterious works that reappeared in the 1960s and 1970s.
2.The challenge to Western thought comes from the I Ching, which indicates that spiritual pursuits can include not only abstract concepts but also specific actions. Unlike the church services in the 1960s and 1970s, many people participated in these rituals. Overall, they were more abstract and lacked personal emotional color. The reason why they could reduce their mystery is because of the concept of synchronicity proposed by Jung, that is, those external events that seem to be related to psychological activities, although there is no causal relationship between them, yet there are meaningful coincidences.3.The adaptation of culture will yield different results in different contexts. It may be influenced or distorted by the popular cultures of other countries, and there may be misunderstandings of the original culture. This Western approach to adaptation fundamentally distorts the essence of the I Ching. -
1. What specific aspects of the counterculture made the I Ching so attractive to Western youth? How did its status as "rejected knowledge" challenge the established Western scientific and religious communities?
Specific aspects of the 1960s-70s counterculture that made the I Ching attractive to Western youth included its status as a core component of a new, syncretic worldview that consciously opposed mainstream values. This worldview was a "novel culture" composed of diverse elements such as non-Western spirituality, opposition to the Vietnam war; socialism; hippies with long hair, bare feet, casual dress, listening to rock music, and drug use.
The I Ching fit perfectly into this ethos for several reasons:
A tool for personal exploration: In an era where "imagination was unfettered," many sought new ways of thinking. The I Ching's interactive nature made it a popular tool for personal guidance and consciousness transformation.
A symbol of non-conformity: Simply owning the "compact gray volume" instantly proclaimed one's individualism. It was a tangible symbol of rejecting 1950s conformity.
Part of "rejected knowledge": Embracing the I Ching as "rejected knowledge," the counterculture actively defied the established authorities of Western science and religion by championing its suppressed, occult wisdom.
2. How did Jung's approach make the I Ching both challenging to Western thought and, simultaneously, potentially reduce its sense of mystery?
Carl Jung's interpretation of the I Ching was pivotal because it made the text both challenging to Western thought and palatable to a new audience, though at a potential cost. Jung made the I Ching accessible to the West by framing it through his psychological concept of synchronicity and championing individual experience over scholarly authority, yet this very act of psychologization diminished the text's inherent mystery.
Jung challenged Western norms by prioritizing personal experience over scholarly authority and introducing synchronicity as an alternative to scientific causality, making the I Ching appealing to the counterculture. However, this psychologization process, which used it as a tool for accessing the unconscious, this very integration into a modern Western mindset threw away much of its inherent mystery.
3. How does this discrepancy illustrate the challenging nature of cross-cultural adaptation? Does this Western adaptation fundamentally distort the essence of the I Ching, or is it a valid form of cultural exchange?
The discrepancy between the traditional Chinese understanding of the I Ching and its countercultural use illustrates the inherent challenges and transformations of cross-cultural adaptation. In traditional China, the text was intended to teach ethical wisdom, making the man to respond properly as situations arose and to cultivate their own morality. This stands in contrast to its Western adoption for themes like "free sex, drug use, or social transformation," which have no basis in the Chinese classic.
Redmond suggests that this adaptation is not simply a fundamental distortion, but a complex form of cultural exchange. He acknowledges that for the more extreme hippies, the I Ching could be a shallow symbol of rebellion. However, he crucially notes that "those seduced by the excesses... were a minority." For many others, the engagement was serious. The text was "mind-expanding in safe ways," and many, including himself, "benefited greatly" from it. He argues that beyond the slogan of "sex, drugs, and rock and roll," many in the Beat Generation and counterculture were "seriously interested in learning about other cultures and self-exploration."
Thus, the Western reinterpretation of the I Ching, while fundamentally distorted from its traditional meaning, constituted a purposeful adaptation that transformed it into a relevant tool for countercultural self-exploration.
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