What are Yi-Toons and the I Ching?
The intention of Yi-Toons is to humorously present, perhaps not always successfully, some graphical figments of my imagination based on a combination of I Ching imagery and my present state of mind. As for the I Ching, let’s just say that a few millennia and countless books and essays later, the subject remains inexhaustible. Being that so, please excuse me –or be grateful– for sparing you many particulars. For a quick primer, please take a look at the Wikipedia entry on it. If you are new to the I Ching, spend some time at that entry and come back here.
Oh, hi, welcome back. Now that you know a bit more, let me tell you that I’ll be using a few of different approaches to draw these comic strips: one is whatever comes to my mind as an hexagram, be it static or with moving lines; another could be using divination methods to draw them based on a given situation and/or question (by far the most popular use of the I Ching, by the way); and yet another could be using a given political and/or world news situation and try to find a combination of hexagrams that would present a satirical view of it.
There is a staggering number of hexagram combinations in the magician’s hat that is the I Ching: 4096. Each of those combinations can apply to any given situation as a divinatory answer. A diviner, if such is the use a person is giving to the I Ching, has the job of interpreting it. Easier said than done, of course… Comic relief is for me a way to battle some mental blocks that develop in everyone’s interpretive quests.
Well, who and what is this guy?
Hmm, that’s a little complicated to explain… Let’s start with what I am not:
- I’m not an expert on the I Ching (Yijing, Zhouyi, etc.); even after more than 35 years of studying, using it and accumulating literature on it in three different languages, I cannot see myself as more than a mere “student”. Mind you, there are real experts I admire and respect, but the one in the mirror isn’t one of them.
- I’m not a career graphic artist, cartoonist or a stand-up comedian.
- I’m not a native English speaking person –please forgive a few misspelling, grammar and syntax errors, sprinkled here and there. On the other hand, my English is good enough to catch many worse examples than mine in many of the “native speaking” ones. Go figure…
- I’m not a Right-Wing, neo-Con (or old-Con, or even ex-Con) type of guy. Other than that, I’m all over the rest of the map. Of course, although this may be evident by glancing over a few of my cartoons, I’m nice enough to tell you right up front and spare you the trouble of browsing through the archives. If you feel insulted I may as well make you feel that way at “Hello”.
I am, for the most part, a cynic that wants to find a lighter side on a number of issues that at first sight appear to be dry, sad, bad or otherwise, on the surface, lacking any humor. For those issues that are humorous to start with, well, who knows, I hope I can help them go with the flow.
For a few other aspects of yours truly, take a look at my other sites, the links are in the front page.
Enjoy, (I hope)
Luis Andrade, aka “YiJingMan”, aka “Sparhawk”.
