Confucius left an unmistakable footprint on the I Ching, not by inventing its hexagrams but by weaving a moral and philosophical tapestry around them. Centuries after the core text of sixty-four hexagrams emerged—an oracle system born from divining yarrow stalks—Confucius and his circle stepped in to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s.” That work became known as the Ten Wings, a set of commentaries that transformed a practical fortune-telling manual into a profound guide for self-cultivation, governance, and ethical conduct.

One branch of tradition holds that Confucius personally edited or even authored portions of these Wings—especially the Xici (Great Commentary) and the Tuan (Judgment Commentary). His students, eager to preserve every insight, fleshed out layers of interpretation. Hexagrams ceased to be mere patterns; they spoke of benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety and the subtle dance between heaven and earth. In essence, Qin’s philosophy got woven into the very fabric of the I Ching.

Fast-forward to today, and the ripple effects are everywhere. In modern China’s cultural revival, classical scholars pore over digital editions of the Ten Wings—some even harnessing AI to cross-reference ancient glosses with newly discovered bamboo slips. On podcast circuits from New York to Shanghai, hosts rave about how Confucian readings of the I Ching resonate with contemporary leadership models. Moral clarity, long a Confucian buzzword, seems tailor-made for a world starved of honest guidance.

Confucius essentially turned the I Ching from a back-of-the-cup oracle into a foundational text for both spiritual seekers and statesmen. By embedding Confucian virtues within its chapters, the commentaries elevated the book from predictive magic to an enduring classic—one that still captivates minds nearly three millennia later.