How long does it take to go from beginner to proficient in the I Ching?

Start with basic knowledge, including One Body, Two Appearances, Three Talents and Four Symbols, Five Elements and Six Yao, Seven Stars and Eight Trigrams, and Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. To study the philosophical part of the "Book of Changes", you must first start from the origin of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory. To study the philosophical part, you only need to simply know the principles of the generation and restraint of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. After that, you can study the sixty-four hexagrams and lines.

After laying a solid foundation, I recommend three advanced books: "Original Meaning of the Book of Changes" by Zhu Xi, "Zhengyi Zhengyi" by Kong Yingda, and "Yichuan Book of Changes" by Cheng Yi. These three books are from the Book of Changes school of thought. Representative work. If you want to learn xiangshu, it is recommended to read "The Book of Changes" by Li Dingzuo of the Tang Dynasty. This book collects many classics of the Han Dynasty. In addition, the Confucian "Golden Mean" and the Taoist "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi" are also good choices.

The content of "Zhouyi" includes two parts: "Jing" and "Zhuan"

But it is generally believed to be a work that was integrated from the Qin and Han Dynasties. The "Jing" mainly consists of sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines. Each hexagram and line has its own explanation (hexagram words and line words), which are used for divination. The "Zhuan" contains seven kinds of texts explaining hexagrams and line speeches and ten articles, collectively called "Ten Wings", which are said to have been written by Confucius. It is generally believed that it was formed in the Qin and Han Dynasties and was not written by one person at a time. Scholars since the Song Dynasty have had doubts about the statement that "Yi Zhuan" was written by Confucius. Divination is only one of the functions of "Zhouyi". In fact, "Zhouyi" includes rich knowledge content such as astronomy, geography, military, science, literature, agriculture and so on.

Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Book of Changes