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>Over time I find myself delving more deeply into the metaphysical dimensions of Daoism, which has led me to an interest in the milieu out of which it sprung, to traditional Chinese metaphysical notions and of course to the Yijing, which as time goes on has increasingly consumed my study of Chinese philosophy.

This is nearly a mirror of my own trajectory, though perhaps with the difference that I was interested in the metaphysical (and esoteric, etc.) dimensions of Daoism from the get-go. I also am interested in learning more about the Yijing, especially beyond its purely divinatory use, but its a shame that books on the topic are so expensive. For example, this one and this one have been on my wishlist for a while now but they've just been too pricey for me to purchase. If you have any recommendations in this area I'd be happy to hear of whatever you may know of.

>Buddhism has never appealed to me in general, mostly because I can't quite grant the first noble truth; without getting in over my head in a theological debate, suffice it to say that at my most charitable, I find the first noble truth to place an emphasis on suffering that is undue.

I agree with the overemphasis on suffering seen in some formulations of Buddhism, but when dukkha is translated as "unsatisfactoriness" inherent in conditioned existence, or the unsatisfactoriness of life without or especially in comparison to gnosis or jnana, then I can largely agree.

>The Nietzschean in me appreciates Daoism's relative optimism and world-affirmation.

I don't know as much about Nietzsche as I should, but I can agree with many of the basics I do know. Julius Evola once remarked that the ideal of tantra was like Nietzsche's ubermensch except taken more seriously, and I think that could equally be applied to the ideal of the Daoist sage and alchemical master or zhenren, and it is an ideal which, while I don't live up to it, I share.

>I bought myself a copy of Wang Liping's Ling Bao Tong Zhi Neng Nei Gong Shu, but have since discovered that this is laughably far above my weight class, so I've humbly begun looking into more introductory works on neidan and qigong.

I also purchased the book and came to similar conclusions. Even worse, I don't even have a qigong teacher, so my recourse for the time being has been to do what basics I can do on my own, which now consists of basic meditation, some basic qigong I learned from video/book sources (not ideal but better than nothing), zhan zhuang, and some other more generalized practices and disciplines.

> This is nearly a mirror of my own trajectory, though perhaps with the difference that I was interested in the metaphysical (and esoteric, etc.) dimensions of Daoism from the get-go.

That's interesting, I actually approached Daoism initially from the perspective of Western esotericism (Manly P. Hall, et al) and got wrapped up in the more basic elements of Daoist philosophy, only to now come around to the more esoteric elements. I know what you mean re: decent Yijing literature being expensive; I'm guessing you have a copy of the Wilhelm/Baynes? That's the only one that's utterly indispensable.

You mentioned that you'd like to learn more about the text especially beyond the divination, but if you don't have the W/B, getting that and actually doing some divination would be the best way to get familiar with the text and the metaphysical layers that underlie it. The Yijing is at bottom highly practical; reading it without engaging in the practice will not be as fruitful. It's also open to many interpretations. Jung's introduction to the W/B edition actually goes through an example of divination and does a good job of explaining it in ways that Westerners will find more acceptable, in depth psychology terms. The metaphysics latent in the Yijing are the traditional basis for metaphysics in China, so an overview of Chinese Metaphysics in general would nicely supplement study of the Yijing. The bibliography of the SEP entry on this topic has some good resources.

Other than the W/B though, the field of Yijing supplementary material widens out considerably. I like the following resources:

Understanding the I Ching -- A series of lectures on the Yijing by Wilhelm and his son.

The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi -- Just what the title says, a translation of the Wang Bi commentary on the Yijing, including both hexagram texts and the Great Treatise.

Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary of the Book of Changes -- A compendium of scholarly work on the Yijing, focusing on (and with a new translation of) the Bronze Age core of the Yijing, the Zhouyi. Expensive, but worth it.

Daoism: An Introduction