260. The I-Ching art of war - Chongqing 3D

The Way through Baguazhang - 八卦掌道

Just a day ago I posted on social media a picture of my new 3D puzzle of a Chongqing streetscape featuring a spring festival dragon dance. Now, because I totally suck at gluing things together, which in turn makes modelling stressful for me, I prefer not to them. However, because this puzzle has a clip together system that avoids gluing, I was all for it. And I enjoyed putting it together with my wife very much. And before you ask, I am a LEGO fan. I just don’t have room in my home for displays, hence I gave all my LEGO to a die-hard friend of mine. So then, what’s with this 3D puzzle of Chongqing 重庆市? Well, the thing that really got me to get it was that it was designed to fit in a bookshelf in between books. And that is what you see in the picture: The puzzle slotted in between my collection of I-Ching 易經 books. I think it adds a nice little bit of fairy touch to an otherwise Ho-hum bookshelf. And then I posted it to the world. The likes came in and I got my social media fix of communal acceptance. Oh joy. Happy happy joy joy! Until, of course, I go and make the cardinal sin of reading one of the comments. Actually it wasn’t that bad. The comment was a question and the question was: Who do I think we’re the most important I-Ching masters of the past? Honestly, I’d never thought about it nor when I think about it now do I care. The question feels a lot like the question of who was the greatest martial arts master of the past or which style is the best? Whatever answer is given, it will always, and mean always, be highly subjective and highly personal. What matters when it comes to the I-Ching is how you use it and why you are using it. If I was a rapper or hip hop artist, I would hope to god that my version or copy of the book had been written by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. Shit! I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s using it quietly on the side right now. I mean, he does practice kungfu and he has studied on the mountain itself. Anyway, the point is the masters of the past were concerned with warfare and being good advisors to rulers, and so the I-Ching for them was both a war manual and a treatise on the Art of Leadership and Management. While ultimately guiding the user towards Taoist immortality. The past masters are only relevant if what you seek is similar…