Written by Dr Joseph Wong Illustrated by Wee See … · Written by Dr Joseph Wong Illustrated by...

Written by Dr Joseph WongIllustrated by Wee See HengTranslated by Victor Petersen

Front 2 as at 27Feb09 OK.pmd 3/4/09, 1:08 PM1

Solid experience in business consultingCombining academic theory withexperience in business, teaching, consultingand education, Dr Joseph Wong hasexceptional analytical skills in businessdevelopment strategy, enterprise reformand best practice operations and service.He has worked as a consultant for manytypes of enterprise including Long LechEngineering (Custom-made Mould Base),Kong Guan Dumpling/Pau Manufacturing,Science Arts (Traditional Chinesemedicine), Teckwah Group (printing),Adonis (beauty) and TS (audio visualentertainment). Foreign companies that hehas serviced include Bitwise (Thailand andChina), PA (US), Oriental Kitchen S.A.R.L.(France), Vigilante (Australia) etc.

Dr Joseph Wong, a Singaporeanborn in 1941, has a doctorate inManagement Studies from theWestern Pacific University in theUSA, an APEX MBA , and abachelor’s degree in civilengineering. He is also anInternational Scout Leader Trainer.

Operating philosophy: To upholdChinese culture and implementwestern management practices.Principle in life: Respect beliefs,help others and abide by the law.Motto: Be prepared.

Principal speaker at universitiesDr Wong is an expert in applying Chinesecultural wisdom to modern business management. He has presented lecturesthat have been well received such as “Inspiration from the Water Margin:Operations Management in Staged Business Development”, “The Art ofBusiness”, “Management Wisdom of the Yijing”, “Business Evolution”, “Beingthe God of the Consumer” etc.

Active VolunteerHe joined the Boy Scouts movement while in secondary school, and has beenthe Chief Commissioner of the Singapore Scouts Association. He has participatedin international activities, receiving a Commendation Award from the Presidentof Singapore, a First Class Award from the Thai Royal Family, and the title ofBaden Powell Fellowship from World Scout Foundation.

About the Author

An employee for 10 years (1968-1978)A boss for 20 years (1978-1997)A business consultant and teacher for 15 years (1992- )Researched Yijing for 50 years (1956- )A boy scout for 50 years (1954- )


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About the Illustrator

Singaporean artist Wee See Heng has been a pro-fessional cartoonist for many years. He has pro-duced cartoons for the local martial arts novels TheSacred Crane Hero and The Endless Heavensand has published the works Martial Arts Playersand Animals and Martial Arts. Currently he isworking as a designer and cartoon teacher as wellas a freelance cartoonist and artist.

Works by Wee See Heng published by AsiapacBooks:


The Yijing is one of the masterpieces of the ancient Chinese world. Said to beconceived 5,000 years ago by Fuxi who invented the bagua to express theconcept of yin and yang, the Yijing was not finished until 2,500 when Confuciusadded the commentaries. Also known as The Book of Changes and the IChing, this book has been influential throughout Chinese history and is stillrelevant today both in China and around the world.

Dr Joseph Wong’s discussion of the Yijing simplifies this incredibly complicatedbook to its basic philosophy and then shows us how these concepts can beapplied to managing an enterprise. The same philosophical principles that wereapplied by generations of emperors and ministers to manage the Chinese empireare now made available to business leaders worldwide, helping them tounderstand where their company fits into the cycle of development and how itcan move ahead.

This book is an excellent introduction to the Yijing. Easy to read, the text iscomplemented by lively drawings by Wee See Heng. It brings ancient Chineseculture to life and will definitely help develop a new generation of peopleinterested in learning more about the philosophy and wisdom of traditionalChina.

We would like to thank the author, Dr Joseph Wong, for the opportunity torepresent him; the artist, Wee See Heng, as well as his team for their livelyportrayal of the Yijing principles; Victor Petersen for the translation, and KohKok Kiang for his editorial support. Our thanks, too, to the production teamfor putting in their best efforts to make this publication possible.

Publisher’s Note

The front cover features combinations of zero and one, which are used in thebinary code. Read the book to understand the intimate relationship betweenthe binary number system and the Bagua!


Growing up in the 1950’s, young people either chose to build a brighter future andbecame revolutionaries or else led a life of pleasure dancing rock and roll. I, on the otherhand, chose to join the boy scouts movement and began to study the Yijing (I Ching).These two choices influenced the direction that my life has taken and have become mylifetime pursuits.

Fifty years of studying the Yijing have flown by. I will borrow the concept of the threestages of learning that the great sinologist, Wang Guowei, wrote about in The World ofPoetry to describe this process:

Last night the western wind withered the green tree. Alone on the tower, gazing to-wards the road leading beyond the horizon:The stage of muddle headedness when I first started studying the Yijing.

Gradually the belt loosens, not regretting in the end, wasting away to nothing for her:After studying for a period of time I partly understood it and resolved to put more effortinto clarifying the meaning of the Yijing.

Searching for him a hundred thousand times in the crowd, then suddenly turningaround that person is there where the night lights die out:After studying Western management I once again went back to looking at the philoso-phy in the Yijing, and when I brought the two together, I suddenly realised that from allmy research I understood it thoroughly.

I hope that through this book the reader’s learning curve might be shortened and therewill be no need to spend half a century learning the Yijing as I have. The most importantthing is that I hope from this book readers can learn how to apply the Yijing to businessmanagement and obtain good results from it.

I would like to thank the following people for their help in making this book possible:* Mr Xiao Ting, teacher of Chinese at Dunman High School when I was there; Mr MaZongxiang and Dr Lu Huajun of Catholic High School. I would like to thank these threeteachers for stimulating my interest in Chinese studies; you could say that they were myfirst teachers of the Yijing.* Mr Yap Tee Peng and Miss Lin Siyu (research student at the National University ofSingapore), I thank them for helping me sort out information for this book.* Ms Lim Li Kok, Managing Director of Asiapac Books, I am indebted to her for hersupport and patronage.* My wife Nancy and daughter Veronica, I thank them for their support and company.

Lastly I would especially like to thank all those special people who in the past, presentand future directly or indirectly have given me support and direction.

Author’s Note


Part 1: Facts about Yijing 1

What is Yijing? 3

The Creator of the Yijing 10

Yin and Yang 13

The River Diagram 17

The Luoshu 21

Bagua 24

The 64 Gua 30

Part 2: Yijing in Business 37

The Four Phenomena in Business 39

Bagua for Business 43

Qian: the force gua 47

Kun: the field gua 69

The already fording gua 89

The not yet fording gua 104

AppendicesAppendix 1: The 64 gua in entrepreneurial management 125

Appendix 2: Q & A related to The Yijing 143

Contents


Hello, everyone! I’m Zhou Shi. Ihave great interest in Chineseculture, especially the principlesfound in the Yijing. I hope tointroduce the Yijing’s philosophy tomy students in a simple andapplicable manner.

I am Professor Zhou’s student Ming.The professor is at his bestbreathing life into Chinesetraditional culture, and for foreignstudents it is great way to get to learnChinese culture. So today I havebrought a friend from India to listenwith me to the professor’s lesson.

Hello, I’m Rama from India. Chineseand Indian cultures both come fromancient civilisations that were oncebrilliant, rich and varied. I plan to starta business in China, therefore I want tolearn in as short a time as possibleabout Chinese culture and theessentials of how the Chinese thinkand then apply these ideas to modernbusiness management.

Characters

Professor Zhou is the CEO of a consultingcompany. His work is to train companies toimprove their profitability. At the same time,he is teaching a course on businessmanagement using the principles found inancient Chinese classics.


1

Part 1

Facts About Yijing

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2

Professor Zhou, Chinese culture is sovaried and profound. Is there one ancienttext that can sufficiently express theprinciple of business management andyet be easy enough for foreigners tounderstand?

That bookis the...

There is. People today talk aboutthis book as though it weresomething very complicatedwhereas in fact it is very simple.

Really? What book isthat? Don’t keep us insuspense, professor!

Yijing!


3

What is Yijing?☯

Confucius (551-479 BC), a greatChinese philosopher, said thiswhen he was 40.

Give me a few more years so that at50, I can study the Yijing and mightthereby manage to avoid mistakes.

For more than 30 years I haveinterested myself in this oracletechnique, or method of explor-ing the unconscious, for it hasseemed to me to be of uncom-mon significance.

C. G. Jung (1875-1961),famous psychologist.


4

The Yijing has been praised as “the leader of all scriptures, and the source ofthought for philosophers and authors”. It uses the structure of divination to inferthe changes in nature and society with its content almost encompassing the wholeof human society. The work had an enormous influence on Chinese philosophy,thinking, culture and politics. It is counted among Confucian classics such asThe Book of History (Shangshu ), The Book of Songs (Shijing ),The Book of Rites (Liji ) and Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu

).

A fascinating work, the Yijing has drawncountless famous people throughout theages to study it. China’s great thinker,Confucius, held the Yijing in greatesteem, and believed that studying theYijing could reduce one’s mistakes. Forif one can completely understand thelogic and wisdom of the Yijing, it will bringus luck and drive away evil in daily lifewhile at work you can make betterdecisions and become more successful.


5

(bianyi change

(buyi) constant

(jianyi) easy

☯

The word “yi” ( ) does not mean only“change”, in fact it contains three meanings.

The three meanings of “yi” are:

Buddhism, which originated in India, alsotalks about “impermanence”, that is tosay, it is a philosophy of change.“Impermanence” refers to the conceptthat everything in the world changesaccording to all sorts of changingconditions, therefore there is nothing thatis fixed and unchanging.

For example, the impermanence of life:birth, old age, sickness, and death.

The impermanence of the world: creation(taking shape), stopping (maintaining fora period of time), decline (gradualdestruction), and emptiness(disappearance).

I have heard that somepeople translate the Yijing as the

Book of Changes since it is a bookthat talks about changes. Actually,Indian philosophy also talks about

changes.

☯☯


6

Change: All things in the world are changing; there is nothing that isstable and unchanging. For instance, the life cycle of people, the rise andfall of dynasties, sunrise and sunset, and the changing of the seasons.

The life cycle from birth to death

The passing of the four seasons

Sunrise and sunset

By looking at our own bodies, thingsaround us and in nature, we can seethe law of “changes”. Even thingsas permanent as continents,mountains and rivers are actually ina state of gradual change.

☯


7

Constant: Although things exist amid change, this change followscertain rules and paths. For instance:

There is the daily change of sunrise and sunset. However, every day the sun willdefinitely rise in the east and set in the west.

Although there is the annual change of the passing of the seasons, it will alwaysbe the case that winter turns into spring and summer turns into autumn. They allfollow fixed and constant laws and principles.

East West

☯


8

Easy: From the principle of finding “constant” in “change”, constantlaws can explain a myriad of changes. In this way a complex situationbecomes simple and something that looks difficult is rendered easy. Ifwe have a steady attitude we can determine the future.

Once we havediscovered the

principle of constancyin change then we

can explain allchanges and break

down complexity intosimplicity.

Oh, didn’t the farmers of ancientChina base their agricultural system on this

principle of the four seasons changing?: “plant inspring, grow in summer, harvest in autumn,

store in winter”.

Wow, Rama, you know quite a bit!Right! Once you master the principle ofchange, doing things becomes straight-forward.

Change

Complex

Difficult

Constant

Simple

Easy

☯


9

By applying the Yijing’s timeless wisdom of ‘constant principles’ and ‘changingfactors’, we can work things out with purpose and peace of mind.

If you put itlike that, the

Yijing is the bookthat makes

changes easy tounderstand.

Easy? A lotof people thinkthat the Yijingis difficult to

understand, so Ihave always kept arespectful distance

from it.

Actually the Yijing has taughtme to break downcomplexity into simplicity, tofind the principles that canmake everything more easy.However, now everyonesays that the Yijing is verycomplex. We havemisunderstood ourancestors for too long. If ourancestors undergroundknew what was going on,they would be very upset!


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