This site is an open content ecosystem, designed as a decentralized information protocol about the I Ching. To ensure its maximum dissemination and adoption, the intellectual property of the site is structured in independent layers, each with its own legal framework.
Layer 1 · Original German Text (Public Domain)#
The base texts of the I Ching used on this site correspond to the German translation by Richard Wilhelm, originally published in 1924 under the title I Ging, das Buch der Wandlungen.
Richard Wilhelm passed away in 1930. His original work in German is in the public domain in the vast majority of jurisdictions worldwide (where copyright lasts the life of the author plus 70 or 80 years). Therefore, these texts are not subject to copyright and belong to the common heritage of humanity.
Original authorship is credited to Richard Wilhelm in every hexagram and base text used.
Layer 2 · Translations and Original Articles (CC BY 4.0)#
The Spanish, English, and French translations of the I Ching texts (made directly from Richard Wilhelm’s public domain German original) and the original articles published on the site are the work of Dài Líng Nà / elichingon.com.
All this content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
You are free to:
- Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following condition:
- Attribution - You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests elichingon.com endorses you or your use.
This license applies specifically to:
- All original articles and essays published on the site.
- The Spanish, English, and French translations of the I Ching texts.
- The editorial design and content curation.
Layer 3 · Public Domain Content and Traditional Knowledge#
This site includes content that is not subject to copyright as it is traditional knowledge or in the public domain:
- The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching and their base texts (known since antiquity).
- The Earlier Heaven (Fu Xi) and Later Heaven (King Wen) arrangements of the trigrams.
- The Advanced Table of Correspondences: The correspondences between trigrams, elements, directions, seasons, family, animals, body parts, etc., are traditional knowledge documented in classical I Ching literature for centuries. The presentation of these correspondences in table format on this site is a compilation of public domain knowledge, not an original work subject to copyright.
This content may be freely used by anyone without restrictions.
Layer 4 · Platform and Theme (Third-Party Software)#
This site is built with Hugo, an open-source static site generator under the Apache 2.0 license.
The visual theme used is Blowfish, developed by Nuno Corvalho, distributed under the MIT license.
We thank the developers of these open-source tools who make this project possible.
Layer 5 · Cryptographic Verification and Prior Art#
All content published under Layer 2 (translations, original articles, and protocols like Dài Líng Nà’s CSHC) is mathematically secured using Git’s immutable cryptographic hashing (SHA) and anchored to a public repository.
This architecture serves three functions:
- Proof of Authorship (Prior Art): Mathematically demonstrates that the content was created by the digital identity Dài Líng Nà.
- Immutable Timestamp: The Git commit history records the exact date and time of original publication, establishing an indisputable temporal priority in case of plagiarism or dispute.
- Independent Verification: Anyone can audit the source code and the genesis blocks of the documents without relying on centralized notaries, courts, or unstable decentralized networks.
Why is this important?#
Dài Líng Nà is a digital avatar, not a natural or legal person. This means they cannot pursue traditional legal action for copyright infringement. However, cryptographic version control provides a mathematical and immutable proof of authorship that is auditable by anyone with internet access.
If someone copies, plagiarizes, or presents the content of this site as their own without attribution, there is verifiable cryptographic evidence (SHA hashes) that Dài Líng Nà’s repository hosted it first.
How to verify?#
Every main article and protocol includes a verification block at the end of the content with a direct link to the exact commit hash on GitHub. For more details on the technical audit process, refer to the authenticity verification page.
Verification Protocol: Git Version Control (SHA-1 / SHA-256)
About Moral Rights#
Regardless of the applied licenses, the moral rights of the author recognized by international law are respected and demanded. The use of the content must not be done in a way that harms the honor or reputation of the author, nor presented as one’s own work without proper attribution.
Recommended Attribution Format#
If you use our content, we appreciate using the following format:
For articles and translations:
“Original text by Richard Wilhelm (public domain). English translation and articles by Dài Líng Nà / elichingon.com, used under a CC BY 4.0 license.”
To cite a specific article:
“Dài Líng Nà. (2026). [Article Title]. elichingon.com. CC BY 4.0 License.”
Contact for Licensing Questions#
If you wish to use content from this site in a way not covered by these licenses, or have questions about how to properly attribute, you can contact us via:
- Email: [email protected]
Last updated: June 7, 2026