Wilhelm can be unclear but this has also its advantages. If you ask my opinion, of all the I Ching's I've had, only two withstand the test of time: the version of Wilhelm and the Total I Ching by Stephen Karcher. He simply does not possess the wisdom that is required in order to offer a valuable interpretation of the oracle.
The same disharmony that you find in his long introduction is of course contaminating his view on how to read the I Ching. His interpretation of the hexagrams of the I Ching are unbalanced. It's not because it's tradition that it can't be nonsense. And most of it is in my eyes pure nonsense. This is showing off in a very annoying manner. "one can create spirits with the intestines. (and then he starts to share this secret knowledge after all! Talking of contradicting yourself!).
!" "It's probably better they don't know - they wouldn't be able to handle all this truth!" "But will it make a difference when I tell people that. " "And yet people will not understand it.
For example, he says something like (these are not literal quotes! just to give you an idea): "But I am not allowed to share all this knowledge about how things really are. Reading his own treatises that can be found throughout the book, it becomes evident that he is not the wise man he supposedly is. The author claims to know a lot of occult things about the universe and life, all of which has been passed down to him through family tradition. I do not recommend this version of the I Ching.