The Primordial Tradition of Ancient China
The Esoteric Foundation of the I Ching and Chinese Cosmology
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Product details:
- Publisher Inner Traditions
- Date of Publication 26 February 2026
- Number of Volumes Hardback
- ISBN 9798888501467
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages192 pages
- Size 228x152x17 mm
- Language English
- Illustrations 16 b&w illustrations 776
Categories
Short description:
The first English translation of Taoist occultist Matgioi’s seminal work
MoreLong description:
The first English translation of Taoist occultist Matgioi’s seminal work
• Shares a deep understanding of the I Ching’s cosmological foundation
• Offers the meanings of the straight and broken lines of the 64 hexagrams
• Explains how the symbol of the yin-yang represents the individual’s destiny, including his emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection
First published in French in 1905, and now translated into English for the first time, Matgioi’s book became the metaphysical core of the Traditionalist movement established by French occultist René Guénon, Julius Evola, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Translator Joscelyn Godwin tells how Matgioi was initiated into a Taoist secret society and was given rare access to the perennial wisdom of that tradition. His work reveals the great antiquity of Emperor Fohi, who set down the cosmogonic principles upon which the I Ching is based and lived more than 2,000 years before Moses. Matgioi regarded Fohi as representing a school of sages unbound to any century since their wisdom is as old as humanity itself. The I Ching crystallizes a first and truest insight into the nature of reality from which the ancients derived a practical philosophy. Chinese traditionalists regard the I Ching as the first monument of consciousnes, and Matgioi explores it and equally important treatises by Fohi’s successors. In this book, readers will discover the divine nature of Chinese script, the relationship of logos and symbol, and the multiple shapes of the universe. Matgioi also explains how the yin-yang symbolizes one’s destiny and emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection.
This key work echoes Emperor Fohi’s belief that the solutions to all questions can be found by bringing them back to their sources.
“This is an awe-inspiring book on the Chinese Primordial Tradition, written by one of the few Europeans who was able to penetrate its profound wisdom. Admirably translated from French and introduced by Joscelyn Godwin, Matgioi’s text speaks to the reader with diamond-like clarity and force.”
Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION
The Masterpiece of a Warrior Metaphysician
JOSCELYN GODWIN
THE METAPHYSICAL WAY
Explanatory Note
(From the 1905 Edition)
1 The Primordial Tradition
2 The First Monument of Knowledge
3 The Graphics of God
4 The Symbols of the Word
5 The Forms of the Universe
6 The Laws of Evolution
7 The Destinies of Humanity
8 The Conditions of the Individual
9 The Instruments of Divination
Texts and Documents
Index
