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.