Music of I Ching

The I Ching, also known as the Book of Changes, is one of the oldest ancient Chinese classics. It was initially introduced with a few graphics drawn by Fu Xi, which were later named 'Bagua,' translated as 'earlier heaven.' Bagua consisted of eight elements that symbolized formations and changes in the world. Bagua was further devolped into 64 hexagrams during the Zhou dynasty when King Wen introduced 'later heaven' and wrote texts and quotes attached to each hexagram. This compilation became the main document known as the 'I Ching,' considered the most enduring among three books. The other two, 'Guicang' and 'Lianshan,' were eventually lost; there are barely historical records of these books from the Han dynasty or earlier periods.

Later, during the later Spring and Autumn period, Confucius and his students recorded a series of commentaries known as the 'Ten Wings.' These commentaries serve as supportive translations of the I Ching, which has been used to explain and observe changes in the natural world, Earth, and human teachings. Beyond divination, the I Ching has been applied in various fields, including philosophy, cosmology, medical studies, morality, and more.

In this album, I used coin tosses and numeral divination to determine various aspects, such as the structures, contents, playing techniques, elements, time length, density, intricateness, and more. The album is divided into two main parts: the first part explores the changes of the Bagua, involving eight elements performed by eight individuals, and coin tosses are used to divine the musical motions, accompanied by graphics. The last track features a solo prepared piano performance, with numeral divination determining the prepared materials, notes, playing techniques, time length, silence, and other elements. These methods draw inspiration from one small section of quotes from Cage's book 'Silence. 

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易經為最古老文獻之一，古代有易歷三聖之說，分別從最早伏羲先天八卦，將其重疊為六十四卦，隨後姬昌（周文王）後天八卦，以及在被商紂王囚禁時寫下卦辭與爻辭，再到春秋時代末期的孔子（與後代弟子）撰述的易傳（又稱十翼），我們所知的易經又稱周易，古代還有包括連山易和歸藏易旦皆已失傳。易一名含三意，講求天地人的變化，變易、不易和易簡。易經以義理和象數應用到各個領域觀察天地人的變化，以陰陽符號卜筮卦象，占卜只是易經的一小部分，對古代中國的哲學，天文，醫學，人文等等都遠有非常深的影響。

在這張專輯裡，我使用了金錢卦和數字卦的卜筮方式來占卜整個曲子結構、內容、技巧、元素、時間點、聲響上的密度、以及錯綜復雜的結果等等⋯ 整張專輯分為兩個部分，一大部分為八人（八卦）形成天地人之間的變化，藉由金錢卦的方式占卜出曲子的變化和錯綜復雜的未來變化，以圖形譜、元素、時間結構、演奏技巧等等的方式完成這整個作品。另一部分是加料（預置）鋼琴，以數字掛來決定，數字從John Cage的書”Silence”中的其中一篇擷取出來的句子轉變為運用的數字，預置於鋼琴內的材料、圖形（卦象）、演奏技巧、時間點、沈默等等都是由占卜出來的結果。

‘Music of I Ching’ was influenced by the concept of Indeterminacy as developed by John Cage, who was a pioneer in using chance operations in the subject of music. In this album, tracks 1-4 feature an ensemble of eight performers. The scores were originally composed and written in graphical structures, specific assigned time lengths, game-piece-like instructions and selections, and written playing techniques in selective boxes, which still allow for free interpretation by the performers. Each of the eight performers was assigned one of the characters from 'the earlier heaven, FuXi Bagua,' which include Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Water, Mountain, Wind, Flame, and Lake. These assignments were made using coin tosses (金錢掛), and the titles of the tracks were determined based on the results of these coin tosses. The track 'At random (interlude)' is a solo prepared piano piece that was composed using I Ching to determine the contents, including techniques, density, prepared materials, and overall structure of the piece. The theme and title were derived from an excerpt of quotes on page 64 of John Cage's book 'Silence.' These quotes were transposed into numbers and then subjected to numeral divination, resulting in elements of the Bagua.