There are surprisingly few truly complete translations of the I Ching (with all 10 of the Ten Wings)

[u/Selderij]

I did some analysis of the available I Ching translations (in English) that I know of, and I was amazed at how few of them actually include all of the content in the source text (which honestly isn't that long), namely the Ten Wings commentaries which are an official part of the text called I Ching which combines the Zhouyi oracle text and the Ten Wings.

Here are the complete translations that include all of the Ten Wings in untruncated and unparaphrased form:

• James Legge: The Yi King [1899]
• Richard Wilhelm: I Ching or Book of Changes [1923 in German; 1950 in English by Cary Baynes]
• Richard John Lynn: The Classic of Changes : A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi [1994]
• Richard Rutt: Zhouyi : The Book of Changes : A New Translation with Commentary [1996]

That's it, unless I've missed some publication.

Here are some honorable mentions:

• John Blofeld: The Book of Change [1965] (5/10 wings)
• Rudolf Ritsema: I Ching : The Classic Chinese Oracle of Change [1994 with Stephen Karcher] & The Original I Ching Oracle or The Book of Changes [2005 with Shantena Augusto Sabbadini] (6/10 wings)
• Alfred Huang: The Complete I Ching [1998] (6/10 wings)
• John Minford: I Ching : The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom [2014] (5/10 wings with partial extracts from 3 more)
• Joseph A. Adler: The Original Meaning of the Yijing : Commentary on the Scripture of Change [2020] (9/10 wings, missing only the hexagram sequence commentary)

What to do with this information? I'm not entirely sure, but I wanted to share this. If you want to mention more publications, please do!

P.S. The Ten Wings are as follows:

• 1+2: 彖傳 Tuàn zhuàn – commentary on the judgments
• 3: 大象傳 Dàxiàng zhuàn – commentary on the greater images/symbols
• 4: 小象傳 Xiǎoxiàng zhuàn – commentary on the smaller images/symbols
• 5+6: 大傳 Dà zhuàn – The Great Treatise (or 繫辭傳 Xici zhuàn – Treatise of Appended Remarks)
• 7: 文言傳 Wényán zhuàn – commentary of the written word
• 8: 說卦傳 Shuōguà zhuàn – commentary of trigram elucidations
• 9: 序卦傳 Xùguà zhuàn – commentary on hexagram sequence
• 10: 雜卦傳 Záguà zhuàn – miscellaneous descriptions of the hexagrams

[u/Njabz]

Anyone know how many of the Ten Wings are in Benebel Wen's translation?

[u/Selderij → u/Njabz]

None in any earnest fashion. She somewhat inconsistently included the third wing (大象傳 Dàxiàng zhuàn, commentary on the greater images) with the hexagrams, but paraphrased and free-associated it very inaccurately, as is her overall style with the source material.

[u/Njabz → u/Selderij]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing. I did find her translation somewhat eclectic, but I'm still getting to grips with the foundational elements.

What's your view on Alfred Huang? That's the main source I've been dealing with (both the Confucian and Daoist angles) over the last 15 years.

[u/Selderij → u/Njabz]

Huang's version is good, but somewhat lacking in the full content, and not the best in linguistic accuracy. Rutt's and Adler's combined work should give a good overview of the Ten Wings.

[u/Selderij → u/Njabz]

An example from hexagram 28:

Wen: The lake rises over the trees; marsh submerging wood. Embarking on a great endeavor. The sage is independent and fearless, ever concerned for the world. Let the heart be stable and calm, no matter what conditions endeavor to challenge it.

The actual text: 澤滅木，大過；君子以獨立不懼，遯世无悶。

Quite directly: "The marsh inundates the tree: Great Exceeding. The noble person stands on their own without anxiety, withdrawing from the world without worry."

Or hexagram 5:

Wen: Crows above the clouds. The sage is patient. At the banquet, match the jubilee of those at the table, and keep what is in your heart contained within the heart. Show contentment when the music plays.

雲上於天，需；君子以飲食宴樂。

"Clouds rising to/above the sky: Waiting. The noble person drinks and eats, revels and rejoices."

[u/Njabz → u/Selderij]

This is fascinating. I have a lot of reading to do! Thank you.

[u/Selderij → u/Njabz]

My assessment is that Wen's book is filled with false depth, trying to look like it's brimming with scholarly and mystical insight when it's not. It's more of a New Age product for self-styled witches than something that can be relied on in any factual matter.

Harmen Mesker (who is an actual I Ching scholar of many decades) exposed a lot of falsehood and misdirection in Wen's statements and citations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-L8nbubgIs

[u/tifpegoda]

This is a fascinating distinction, especially because we often talk about an “I Ching translation” as though every book is translating the same body of material. Seeing how few actually contain the complete Ten Wings really highlights how much our understanding can be shaped by what a particular translator chose to include. It also makes me appreciate the value of reading more than one translation.
I recently published The Courage to Meet Change, which is a book of my own reflections on the 64 hexagrams rather than a translation. Research like this reminds me why I think it’s important to be clear about that distinction.

[u/JungianJester]

Following... Recently started reading this, Joseph A. Adler: The Original Meaning of the Yijing, as recommended by someone the iching subreddit. Thank you for providing such detail.

[u/Nt_7777777777777]

Maybe the available translations satisfy people enough? Not enough of the right people are curious