A couple of weeks ago I was honored to have my Yi Toons site linked by the ladies that brought us the book “Yijing Wondering and Wandering”, Jane Schorre and Carrin Dunne. I believe their book gives a very good insight into the history and workings of the Yi and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
The one thing that had me thinking is the comments attached to my link:
A light hearted site by Luis Andrade, featuring his Yi-cartoons and an accompanying Yi-blog. Seems to be geared toward a small “in” group of Yi-aficionados. Most of his cartoons are over my head, but it is great to se someone having fun with Yijing and I say, “More power to him”
Makes me wonder about my assumptions regarding my target “audience”… I realize that to really “get” the cartoons a reader must know something about the Yijing; however, they should not fly “over the head” of fellow Yi-aficionados, specially not of the caliber of published Yi-aficionados. The cartoons are designed, albeit humorously, based upon the text of the Yijing and its implied concepts. They are conceived as “dialogues” between hexagrams because I believe one way to conceptualize the transition from an “obtained hexagram” and a “resulting hexagram,” the one that is created once the moving lines of the first are mutated to their opposite, is a conversation between the two. This concept is a perfect fit to find humor in the Yi. Mind you, this is a very personal concept and point of view and perhaps is not shared by all fellow aficionados. This, I accept and respect; however, once the concept is clear, even if it is not accepted, the cartoons should be easy to understand with a little knowledge of the Yijing.
The cartoons are also conceived as an invitation to find their “punch line” by whetting the curiosity of the readers, specially novices, and having them study the Yijing seriously enough to pass over the “fun hill” of divination and find the deeper layers of this timeless classic.
As for inspiration, I find it everywhere. One source is the Yi forums I attend and goof around, specially Clarity, which is where I spend most of my time. There is never a shortage of questions and combinations of hexagrams to find hilarious and cartoonish “situations”. Those people yes, I consider them to be my “in” crowd, but, the goal, wish and hope, is that the “out” crowd finds a way “in” by studying the classic deeper.
