Resources for Memorizing Classic Texts

[JMA59]

Greetings:

 

What a pleasure to find this forum! I sometimes feel as though I'm the only person with an interest in Classical. Nice to see that's not the case.

 

Here's my question. I've got a fairly aggressive ambition. I'd like to memorize one or more of the Classics - starting with the Yijing, and then moving on to the Lunyu. I wanted to ask if anyone might know of audio resources - listening to a text makes memorization much easier - or if there any classes where I could work one on one with a teacher to ensure correct memorization.

 

I know it's a somewhat unusual request - but if anyone has ideas, please do let me know.

 

Thanks!

 

John

[CJGait]

John, 

 

What a laudable goal! If there were two books I would choose, those are the ones. In fact I am not memorizing them, but they form my two readings of the day. I use a method called Yi Dao meditation. I use an Yi Dao circlet (a 64 bead mala used to visualize the gua of the Yi). In morning reading, after going through a round of meditation, I ask a question of the Yi. For evening reading I read a verse of the Lun Yu. Since I am translating the Jiao Shi Yi Lin, I also translate the verse corresponding to my morning reading if it has not already been completed. 

 

I also read aloud the Chinese text of the Yi during morning reading. I can send you the ISBN of the book I use if you like. It was designed for kids to memorize the classics, so it has large print, Pinyin under the characters, and variant texts where there are foggy characters here and there. Perfect for chanting aloud to memorize the text in the traditional manner.

 

Sometimes the questions I pose are personal, some general. I thought today's was particularly apt. I asked about the 'Palestinians' (they are actually Jordanians, but that's the more common name used nowadays). The answer was this from the Garden of Changes (Yilin):

 

6 - 27

 

Two minds that disagree,

One wants to go west, the other east.

All day long the argument rolls on,

And they go nowhere.

 

Now the question for interpreters is, does that mean the Israelis and Palestinians, or two parts of the Palestinians?

 

Regards,

Chris

[imron]

I can send you the ISBN of the book I use if you like

Why not post it here instead so future readers looking for similar information can also benefit.

[CJGait]

The ISBN is: 7-80606-852-X

[imron]

Thanks

[JMA59]

Thanks! First, for not thinking I'm simply nuts to try to do this.

 

Second - for the book suggestion. It lookes excellent. But the only copy I'm seeing is quite expensive. I'm not averse to investing in knowledge - but if there is a cheaper source, it would obviously be my preference. So if you do remember where you got the book, do let me know.

 

Third - I like the idea of the 64 bead mala. I've decided to try do the Yi in layers, rather than consecuitively. So, I'll memorize the Hexagrams with names, then the images, then the judgements, and only then will I get to the lines. I think that'll make it more doable - while giving me more to work with immediately.

 

Thanks again!

[耳耳语语]

On LibriVox I found the Lun Yu. 

https://librivox.org/lun-yu-or-analects-of-confucius-read-in-chinese/

[CJGait]

It's $34 on Frelax. Admittedly, that is highway robbery compared to what you can probably get on the Chinese online bookstores, but if you are like me your Chinese correspondence skills are weak. So regular bookstores are a bit daunting.  In fact everything but reading along with my dictionary is weak for me. I'd be hard pressed to order tea, but using Pleco I can translate what I need to translate.

 

Here's the link at Frelax. The benefit of Frelax is that they are very dependable and easy to use. All transactions will be going into Japanese Yen since they have buyers in China but they  are based in Japan:

 

http://www.frelax.com/cgilocal/enitem.cgi?db=book&ty=id&id=YJ00240813 

[imron]

You might want to try getting in touch with the studychineseculture people.  They are regular posters here, reliable and should be able to order any book for you.  With the Chinese book going for 30-40 RMB, postage will be the main cost factor, but if you go by the slowest cheapest option (surface mail) you should be able to get it for < 100 RMB.

[JMA59]

Thanks! I'll give them a try. Reliability is obviously critical - I'm not going to just give a credit card to someone I've never heard of. But I'm really looking forward to the book; it looks like exactly what I've been needing. So thanks very much for the advice!

[ecohansen]

Howdy.

A bit late for JMA59,but for others that find this thread:

An yijing audiobook is available at itunes for $1: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yi-jing-quan-ji-you-sheng-du-wu/id610386042?mt=8

An audiobook of the 10 wings can be found at tudou, for free: http://www.tudou.com/listplay/0JxM6RIASPQ.html

Best of luck withyour exploration of the classical language.