The Primordial Tradition of Ancient China

The first English translation of Taoist occultist Matgioi’s seminal work

• Shares a deep understanding of the I Ching’s cosmological foundation

• Offers the meanings of the straight and broken lines of the 64 hexagrams

• Explains how the symbol of the yin-yang represents the individual’s destiny, including his emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection

First published in French in 1905, and now translated into English for the first time, Matgioi’s book became the metaphysical core of the Traditionalist movement established by French occultist René Guénon, Julius Evola, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.

Translator Joscelyn Godwin tells how Matgioi was initiated into a Taoist secret society and was given rare access to the perennial wisdom of that tradition. His work reveals the great antiquity of Emperor Fohi, who set down the cosmogonic principles upon which the I Ching is based and lived more than 2,000 years before Moses. Matgioi regarded Fohi as representing a school of sages unbound to any century since their wisdom is as old as humanity itself. The I Ching crystallizes a first and truest insight into the nature of reality from which the ancients derived a practical philosophy. Chinese traditionalists regard the I Ching as the first monument of consciousnes, and Matgioi explores it and equally important treatises by Fohi’s successors. In this book, readers will discover the divine nature of Chinese script, the relationship of logos and symbol, and the multiple shapes of the universe. Matgioi also explains how the yin-yang symbolizes one’s destiny and emanation from, and reintegration into, Perfection.

This key work echoes Emperor Fohi’s belief that the solutions to all questions can be found by bringing them back to their sources.

Author Biography

Eugène Albert Puyou, comte de Pouvourville (August 7, 1861–December 30, 1939), known later by his Taoist name, Matgioi, was a French orientalist, warrior, novelist, and translator. He spent many years in Asia, studied with a Taoist master, and was initiated into a Taoist secret society.

Joscelyn Godwin is an emeritus professor of music at Colgate University and the author, editor, and translator of many books, including Cosmic Music, The Golden Thread, and Atlantis and the Cycles of Time. Known for his translations of Fabre d’Olivet and Julius Evola, he lives in Hamilton, New York.