The I Ching as a medium: An adjectival glossary

Abstract

After presenting the I Ching as a medium, this piece goes on to reveal the characteristics of the ancient Chinese sacred book from diverse perspectives. To maintain a fast tempo, and to stay within the bounds of what counts as a probe, the entries have been explained in a suggestive rather than exhaustive manner. Put otherwise, the piece seeks to say more with less, much like how the I Ching itself communicates. Although arranged alphabetically, the entries can be read in any order. As a matter of fact, the reader may experience the shock of recognition when leaping from entry to entry aleatorily. To pay homage to McLuhan, the piece ends with a tetrad on the I Ching. The reader is encouraged to read the piece in dialogue with ‘McLuhan and the I Ching: An interological inquiry’, ‘Flusser and the I Ching’ and ‘Focal knowledge, medium bias, and metamedium’.