The "I Ching," or Book of Changes, a common source for both Confucianist and Taoist philosophy, is one of the first efforts of the human mind to place itself within the universe. It has exerted a living influence in China for 3,000 years, and interest in it has been rapidly spreading in the West.

C. G. Jung (1875–1961) was the founder of analytical psychology and one of the great intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Richard Wilhelm (1873–1930) was a sinologist, theologian, and missionary who translated many ancient Chinese works and wrote several books on Chinese philosophy and civilization. His acclaimed German translation of the I Ching from Chinese served as the basis for this Bollingen edition. Hellmut Wilhelm (1905–1990) was a scholar of Chinese literature and history and a world-renowned expert on the I Ching. He was the son of Richard Wilhelm. Cary F. Baynes (1883–1977) was a translator and Jungian psychologist.