From the point-of-view of the Chinese text, this becomes the most important Western edition of the Zhouyi that we now have. Besides containing a well-printed text of the Mawangdui 'I Ching on Silk,' which was unearthed in Mawangdui, China in 1973, it also contains, for purposes of comparison, the received text in full-form characters. The translation of the Mawangdui, a text which differs at many points from the received text, is extremely interesting and holds many surprises, and as coming from a seasoned scholar may (although occasionally a bit quirky) be taken as authoritative. In addition, this well-annotated, well-documented and beautifully printed book (which is available in both hardbound and paperback editions) also contains the texts and translations of five commentaries which had been lost for over two thousand years. In sum, a book which ought to be of interest to anyone who wishes to explore the original text of the Zhouyi. Diviners would perhaps be better served by Kerson Huang.
If you're interested in a translation of the MWD-text, and a comparison with the traditional received text, then you will like this book. From a sinological point of view it is interesting material, however, the book isn't written for diviners. It has no explanations of the symbols of the I Ching, not of the trigrams nor of the text. Shaughnessy told me he has never used the I Ching himself, but is purely interested in the old text and history of the book. And this translation shows this interest well.
