Pearson first female scholar to translate I Ching

Margaret Pearson, professor emerita of history and an expert in Chinese history, is the first female scholar to interpret The Original I Ching (September 2011, Tuttle Publishing), one of the world's most influential books. Since its origin 3,000 years ago, it has become a compendium of wisdom by people of many cultures and eras. 

Pearson has based her groundbreaking new translation on the text created during the first centuries of the Zhou Dynasty, a study of documents showing how it was used in the dynasty, and on current archaeological research findings. Her translation removes centuries of encrusted inaccuracies to better reveal the I Ching's core truths for today's readers.

She will share her scholarship in three free public presentations early in 2012:

-at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, Saratoga Springs Public Library, "Can the Book of Changes Help You in the New Year?" This presentation is timed to coincide with the Chinese New Year. Pearson will repeat this talk at 1 p.m. Monday, March 12, also in the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

-March 6, China Institute in Manhattan, "Can the Book of Changes Help a New Yorker?"

In May, Pearson will give three invited lectures at Cambridge University. In a sense this represents a completion of her research circle, as she some of the research for her book was completed during two sabbaticals she spent as a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge. She has been voted a life member there. Overall the book developed out of 30 years of teaching early Chinese thought to Skidmore students. 

Terri Apter of Newnham College at Cambridge University and author of The Sister Knot, calls Pearson's work "A delightful and scholarly translation of what may be the oldest self help book ... Pithy, wise, and ever sensitive to context, the Book of Changes, in Pearson's translation, provides a new lens through which we can see the freshness of old things."

One customer review (by "Bookster" on the Amazon.com site) noted, "Scholarly, yet pithy, graceful, and clear, this translation with its explanatory chapters makes my old Legge translation from 1882 look clunky and pedantic, not to mention confusing?. Thank you, Dr. Pearson, for this labor of love."

Pearson, a 1965 graduate of Smith College, described her research in a video interview posted on the Alumnae Association of Smith College web site, which has given Skidmore College permission to use here.

Read more about Pearson's book at the publisher's web site.