Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy (2 vols.) 9813273887, 9789813273887

Table of contents :
Volume 1
Foreword • Meng Peiyuan
Preface
About the Author
About the Translator
About the Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Contents
Introduction
Part One: On Evolution of the Cosmos
1 Fundamental Root of the Cosmos
2 Evolution of the Cosmos
3 The Position of Humankind
Part Two: On Heart-Nature
4 The Level of Zhixing
5 The Level of Intellectuality
Volume 2
Foreword • Cheng Chung-ying
Contents
6 The Level of Sensitivity
Part Three: On Knowing and Doing
7 Methodology
8 Knowing and Doing
9 Spiritual Realms of Human Life
Conclusion
Glossary A (Chinese to English)
Glossary B (English to Chinese)
Index

Citation preview

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Featuring a new mode of approach to analyze the logic and integrate the systems of Chinese philosophy, this book distinctively displays its author’s aim and intention. His objective is to conduct an in-depth ­investigation on, and thereby sort out, the ways in which pre-modern thinkers conceptualized and portrayed the cosmos and humankind. Through his criticism and exploration of pre-modern thinkers’ approach to issues regarding the cosmos and human life, the author endeavors to reveal human’s position in the cosmos, the mechanism by which human hearts attain enlightenment, and the path through which human beings accomplish moral autonomy. He does all this in order to highlight the charm and strengths of Chinese philosophy, making the philosophy ­constructive to people’s spiritual home and their “resacralization”. This book is marked by its broad field of view, compendiousness in exposition, logically ordered arguments, well-designed overall structure, comprehensiveness and remarkable depths in discussion, and smooth but succinct writing style. This is a book that unifies analytical cogency and methodological creativity. Guo Qiyong Professor of Philosophy and Dean of Academy of Traditional Chinese Culture, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China

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Basic Principles of

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY Volume 1

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Basic Principles of

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY Volume 1

HU Jiaxiang South-Central University for Nationalities, China

World Scientific NEW JERSEY

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LONDON

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SINGAPORE

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BEIJING

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SHANGHAI

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HONG KONG

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TAIPEI

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CHENNAI

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TOKYO

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Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hu, Jiaxiang, author. Title: Basic principles of Chinese philosophy / by Jiaxiang Hu (South-Central University for Nationalities, China) Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, [2018] | Includes bibliographic references. Contents: Fundamental root of the cosmos -- Evolution of the cosmos - The position of human kind -- The level of Zhixing -- The level of intellectuality - The level of sensitivity -- Methodology -- Knowing and doing -- Spiritual realms of human life. Identifiers: LCCN 2018043060| ISBN 9789813273887 (hc: set : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813273948 (hc: v.1 : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813273955 (hc: v.2 : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Chinese. Classification: LCC B126 .H7758 2018 | DDC 181/.11--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043060 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright © 2019 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.

For any available supplementary material, please visit https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11088#t=suppl Desk Editors: Herbert Moses/Lixi Dong Typeset by Stallion Press Email: [email protected] Printed in Singapore

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Foreword

Chinese philosophy, as a great nation’s gem of wisdom, commits itself to the exploration of the mystery in the cosmos and human life, which is its eternal theme. Over the past millenniums, Chinese philosophy has kept renewing itself with great vitality. It is a philosophy that has developed in history and taken in a great variety of contents in history to meet people’s spiritual demands. After entering the modern epoch, we are facing such pressing questions as whether it is possible to construct modern Chinese philosophy and how to construct it if it is possible. Professor Hu Jiaxiang’s 胡家祥 Preliminary Discussion on the Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy 中國哲學原理初編 is an important accomplishment in this regard in answer to these questions. With the word “basic principles” in its title, the book aims to find out, and thereby systemize the exposition of, such implications of considerable universality that have been intrinsic and fundamental to Chinese philosophy. In other words, it aims to reveal in modern language the latent as well as the well-established systems that are inherent to, but not yet explicitly formulated in, Chinese philosophy. Its idea is to nourish the spiritual civilization of our contemporary time with the essence and universal values in philosophy. Moreover, the book is entitled basic principles of “Chinese philosophy” because the project integrates the thoughts of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in China, and thereby reveals the seemingly conflicting principles they actually share in common. With this method, one is able to see both an entire forest and the individual trees therein. As for vii

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the phrase “preliminary discussion” in the title, it is used to indicate that although this exceedingly difficult task has been “completed”, it is subject to revision and further substantiation. Reflected in the phrase is, therefore, not only the author’s modesty but also a conscientious and sincere work attitude.1 Since the end of the period between 1930s and 1940s, Chinese philosophers have been using new perspectives and new methods in their interpretations of Chinese philosophy, thereby making remarkable contributions to the modernization of philosophy. But they mostly confined themselves within the mode of “interpreting the Chinese from Western perspectives”. Now we have entered an age of cultural diversity, an age that witnesses an even higher status of Chinese philosophy than before and the further awakening of the cultural self-consciousness in China. What role should Chinese philosophy play in such a modern society? To answer this question, one would need to proceed from where our predecessors have left off. We should, on the one hand, reach the depths of Chinese philosophy and, through our life experience, grasp the essence of its spirit. On the other hand, we need to come up with new interpretations through our original theoretical approach. Only by “submerging into it” can one “come out of it”. This is exactly what Professor Hu has done. He spent over ten years assimilating the scholarship of the past while drawing materials from the scholarships that are up-to-date. And he did so with a view to merging Chinese philosophy into the modern society, reaching its depths and extracting its key points so as to obtain the essence that is most valuable to people today. His approach is original and yet without losing sight of the main spirit of Chinese philosophy, his logic is rigorous without deviating from the basics of Chinese philosophy, and his standpoint is based in the modern world and yet related to both the ancient and the present, thereby retaining the vitality of Chinese philosophy. 1 The

book was originally entitled Preliminary Discussion on the Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy. During the nearly yearlong consultation for advice and revision, there were colleague scholars who suggested removing the phrase “preliminary discussion” on the grounds that, in liberal arts and social sciences, the use of the phrase “basic principles” did not imply that the principles dealt with in a scholarly undertaking were exclusively all the principles. Their advice is adopted, hence the present title of the book.

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The book is at once its author’s summary of, and his creative contribution to, the development of the modernization of Chinese philosophy. Professor Hu structured the book on the basis of an important view. He thinks that Chinese philosophy can be called the study of humankind, because the philosophy addresses issues of the cosmos and human life with its particular emphasis laid on human life, specially, on humankind’s status in the cosmos as well as the meaning and value of the status. Central to this study of humankind, as he argues, is the study of heart-nature 心性, which he refers to as the philosophy of the heart in its broad sense. In the study of heart-nature, he accords particular attention and importance to the status and function of “Zhi” 志 (“free will”; “ideal”; “purpose”; “aspiration”), arguing that “Zhi is where the value of human life resides”, “Zhi features a combination of ideal and free will”, and “Zhi is … the leader of all elements of heart-nature”. Given the important status of Zhi in Chinese philosophy as we know, none has elevated the status and emphasized the function of Zhi as much in history. His inference of such implications from Chinese philosophy should be considered as a new development in contemporary scholarship. By emphasizing Zhi and elevating its status, he means to highlight a vigorous and robust spirit in Chinese philosophy and promote the perfection of a personality that keeps striving for the better. In addition to connecting the ancient and the present, the author of the book also makes an effort to integrate the Chinese and the Western thoughts. Particularly, there are numerous splendid observations made in the book to underscore the characteristics of Chinese philosophy and its unique contributions to the modern society. He observes, for example, that “[m]uch as Chinese philosophy always centralizes human kind, it fundamentally differs from Western anthropocentrism”. No one can raise this point without having conducted enough in-depth research in this regard. As another example, in his explication of “emotion”, the author suggests that emotions are not only “the blood vessels of humanistic culture”, they can also be marked by “noble” feelings related to value issues, which, as a feature, explains the strengths of Chinese philosophy in ethics and aesthetics. This is also a very incisive remark. As one more example, the author, when explaining the term “身體” shenti (meaning “body” in modern Chinese), points out that the term speaks of a theory of praxis and

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cognitive experience that makes a point of “experiencing or embodying something in person”. It is, according to him, a theory that treats the body and mind as a unity instead of a duality. This is indeed an observation that proceeds from a profound understanding of Chinese philosophy. In this book, there are in fact a lot more observations of this kind than we must cite in a preface. Professor Hu gave this book’s manuscript to me for my advice and asked me to write a preface. I find it to be an exceptionally good book after reading it, hence my incomprehensive evaluation of it in the above, by which means I wish to share this book with many more scholars and students so that all can learn something new from it. Meng Peiyuan 蒙培元 2nd January, 2012

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Preface

This book, written under the inspiration of Mr. Zhang Dainian’s Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, is aimed at revealing the intrinsic relationship between some basic categories and propositions. And, relative to Mr. Zhang’s work, the book takes a further step to promote the systematization of Chinese philosophical discourses by drawing on materials from Kantian mode of thinking. Specifically, it attempts to identify and explicate both the fundamental principles along which major thoughts and frameworks in Chinese philosophical heritage were constructed, and their value and implications to contemporary China and the world. Key categories examined include, inter alia, Zhi (i.e. free will and ideal), benevolence, righteousness, rite, the Way of Heaven, and such key notions as Qian and Kun in the Book of Changes. Where the categories are concerned, particular attention is accorded to their sources, meanings, relations, and — especially — the principles underlying both their interrelations and the roles they have played in the construction of the thoughts and frameworks in the said cultural heritage. It is the author’s hope that the book may contribute its part in human search for — to borrow Maslow’s word — the “resacralizeation” of life and thereby promote the spiritual civilization in the ­contemporary world.

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About the Author

Hu Jiaxiang is a Professor at South Central University for Nationalities, Guest Professor at the Center for Literary Theory and Aesthetics, Shandong University, and a member of International Society for Chinese Philosophy. He has long devoted himself to examining the theoretical foundations of philosophy, aesthetics, and art. He has published a series of books on these subjects and many of these books have been well received by readers for years.

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About the Translator

Luo Shaodan has a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, USA and is a member of the editorial board elected for the Journal of Chinese Culture and Management (to be launched in 2019 at Nanjing University, China). He has translated several Chinese academic books including Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy (authored by Hu Jiaxiang) and Study on Chinese Traditional Theory of Artistic Style (authored by Hu Jiaxiang). Currently, he is undertaking a publication project called Classics China International for Jiangsu, China.

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Cheng Chung-ying has a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University and is a tenured Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is renowned for his long-term work in promotion and reconstruction of Chinese philosophy in modern times. Also, he is well known for founding the Journal of Chinese Philosophy and editing the same since 1973. Professor Cheng is also the author of the volumes Onto-Hermeneutic (in his ten volumes of Collected Works published by Renmin University in 2018) and his book Ontology of the Yijing (2008).

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Acknowledgments

To facilitate the translation of this book into English, Professor Cao Shunqing 曹順慶 at Sichuan University, Professor Cheng Xiangzhan 程相占 at Shandong University, and Professor Hu Jihua 胡繼華 at Beijing International Studies University generously opened their collections of relevant English academic books to this translation project. Professor Li Jinlin 李金林, Professor Lei Zhenyang 雷振揚, Professor Du Dongyun 杜冬雲, and Professor Liu Weiqin 劉為欽 at South Central University for Nationalities did what they could to arrange financial ­support for the p­ roject. Above all, Mr. Cheng Chung-ying 成中英, Senior Professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii, read the entire ­manuscript of the translation, provided some instructive advice during his one-week study in Wuhan, China, speaking highly of the quality of the English translation. They all have my heartfelt thanks. I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Mr. Tan Eng Chaw 陳榮照 at National University of Singapore for recommending this book for translation, Professor Phua Kok Khoo 潘國駒 at World Scientific Publishing Company (WSPC) for his enthusiastic support, and Mdm. Dong Lixi 董黎熙 and Mr. Herbert Moses at WSPC for the hard work they have done for the publication of this book. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥

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Contents

Forewordvii xi

Preface

About the Authorxiii About the Translatorxv About the Reviewerxvii Acknowledgments

xix

Introduction

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Part One  On Evolution of the Cosmos Chapter 1 Fundamental Root of the Cosmos 1.1. The Way (Dao, or Tao) 1.1.1. Definition of the Way 1.1.2. Characteristics of the Way 1.1.3. The Status of the Way 1.2. The Great Ultimate 1.2.1. The Origin of the Great Ultimate as a Category 1.2.2. Connotations of the Category of the Great Ultimate 1.2.3. The Great Ultimate and the Way Compared

1 3 4 4 14 18 23 24 29 34

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1.3. The Substance, Form, and Function of the Fundamental Root 40 1.3.1. The Substance, Form, and Function in Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith 40 1.3.2. The “Three Greats” of the Great Ultimate and the Way 43 1.3.3. Where the Fundamental Root Transcends the Verbalizable Domain 46 1.4. Summary 50 1.5. Discussion 52 References53 Chapter 2 Evolution of the Cosmos 55 2.1. Activity and Tranquility, Yin and Yang, Qian (Creativity) and Kun (Docility) 56 2.1.1. Activity and Tranquility 56 2.1.2. Yin and Yang 62 2.1.3. Qian and Kun 69 2.2. Transformation of All Things by Qi and the Dendritic Multiple Manifestations of Singular Principle  78 2.2.1. Theory on the Transformation of Qi 79 2.2.2. Theory of Texture as the Noumenon 84 2.2.3. Unity of Qi and Texture 90 2.3. Heaven, Earth, and Humankind as Three Powers 94 2.3.1. The Concepts of Heaven and Earth in Early China 95 2.3.2. Existence of Human Beings Between Heaven and Earth 99 2.3.3. The Coexistence and Coordination Among Heaven, Earth, and Humankind 104 2.4. Summary 108 2.5. Discussion 110 References111

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Chapter 3 The Position of Humankind 115 3.1. Humankind is the Most Intelligent Creature of All 115 3.1.1. Humankind’s Superior Position on Earth 116 3.1.2. Humankind’s Two Fundamental Legislations119 3.1.3. The Concentration on Humankind in Chinese Philosophy 125 3.2.  The Heart is the Master of the Body 128 3.2.1.  Broad and Narrow Senses of the “Heart”129 3.2.2. The Mind of the Way and Mind of Humankind 133 3.2.3. The Heart is the Master of the Physical Body139 3.3.  Large Cosmos and Small Cosmos 144 3.3.1.  The Heart is a Small Cosmos 144 3.3.2. Humankind’s Connection with the Large Cosmos 148 3.3.3.  The Significance of Introspective Inquiry 155 3.4. Summary 159 3.5. Discussion 160 References160 Part Two  On Heart-Nature

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Chapter 4 The Level of Zhixing 165 4.1. Destiny, Nature, and Texture 165 4.1.1. The Mandate of Heaven and Destiny of Man 166 4.1.2. Nature Endowed by Heaven 174 4.1.3. Relationship Between Nature-Texture 性理 and Nature-Destiny 性命186 4.2. Zhi (free will and ideal), Sincerity, and Benevolence194 4.2.1. Zhi 194 4.2.2. Benevolence 206

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4.2.3. Sincerity and its Relation to Zhi and Benevolence218 4.2.4. Discussion 229 4.3. One Heart Opening Two Doors 231 4.3.1. “Twi-satyas” of Buddhism and Dichotomy in Chinese Philosophy 232 4.3.2. “Tri-Svabhava” of Buddhism and the Three Levels of the Heart 236 4.3.3. “OHOTD” (One Heart Opening Two Doors) and Activity of the Heart with Two Series 240 4.4. Summary 250 4.5. Discussion 252 References252 Chapter 5 The Level of Intellectuality 257 5.1. Qi and Righteousness 258 5.1.1. The Meaning and Function of Qi 258 5.1.2. The Meaning and Function of Righteousness266 5.1.3. Relationship Between Zhi and Qi and That Between Benevolence and Righteousness273 5.2. Rite and Wisdom 281 5.2.1. The Meaning and Function of Rite 281 5.2.2. The Meaning and Function of Wisdom 288 5.2.3. How Rite and Wisdom are Related to Other Categories 296 5.3. Physiological Traits and Social Stipulations 302 5.3.1. Qi and Wisdom as Primary a Priori Qualities303 5.3.2. Righteousness and Rite as Largely Acquired Properties 308 5.3.3. Connections Among Qi, Righteousness, Rite, and Wisdom 314 5.4. Summary 319 5.5. Discussion 320 References321

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To construct a contemporary form of Chinese philosophical principles is an important and challenging project. There are conceivably many people who consider the project pointless and unimportant. There might be even more people who question the feasibility of the task. The project is slighted because the task itself is considered to be of little value. And its feasibility is questioned because it is believed that conditions for such a project are not ripe, at least not in our contemporary time. These two views, along with their underlying skepticism, may not be baseless. Yet, we are entitled to repudiate them.1

1. The Necessity of the Construction of Chinese Philosophical Principles In the academia today, some say that there is no such thing as philosophy in Chinese cultural heritage. All one can speak of, therefore, is “philosophy in China” but not “Chinese philosophy”. Although they have listed a number of reasons to support this view, I am afraid I have to disagree with them. Hegel, Feuerbach, and Marx all considered religion and philosophy to be consanguineously related. The inchoative form of philosophy existed 1 Since

this branch of academic inquiry is still under construction, this foreword will concentrate on the construction and things concerned with it. The main contents of this book will be presented in the abstracts of each chapter, the summary of each section, and the afterword of the entire book.

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in religions. Croce went further to regard religion as “a more or less imperfect philosophy that is in the forming” and philosophy as “a more or less purified and refined religion”.2 As cultural institutions in the domain of faiths, religion and philosophy, according to Max Muller, founder of modern study of religions, were both derived from “the faculty of faith” in the human mind. Muller believed that such “faculty of faith” epitomized the “Vernunft” — which is generally translated into Chinese as 理性 lixing (“reason”, “rationality”) — in Kant’s philosophy. China has long been a nation with faith. Ancient thinkers all shared a holistic and ultimate concern with the cosmos and human life. Starting from the ­contention among the myriad schools of thoughts in pre-Qin (i.e. before 221 BC) times, through the exploration of the convergence between Heaven and Humankind in the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD), down to the Metaphysical School in the Wei–Jin period (220–420 AD), Buddhism in the Sui–Tang period (581–907 AD), and Neo-Confucianism in the Song (960–1279 AD) and Ming (1368–1644 AD) times, pre-modern thinkers never ceased to be interested in metaphysics. Answers to the following fundamental questions are sought after in both religion and philosophy: What is the cosmos? And what is human being? Developing on the basis of these two inquiries are people’s world view and their outlook on life. In this regard, forerunners in Chinese philosophy presented many original and unique answers. Their answers, moreover, are often interrelated. If we adopt the classification of Cassirer and other scholars to take the answers that concentrate on cosmos to be the philosophy of the cosmos and those concerning human beings to be the philosophy of humankind, then it can be said that Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of humankind. The mode of Western philosophy of the cosmos is not of adequate standard to use to disprove the existence of Chinese philosophy, not to mention that cosmological discourse is not lacking in the Laozi 老子,3 “Commentary on the Book of Changes” 易傳, 2 Benedetto

Croce, Aesthetics﹒The Essence of Aesthetics. Translated [into Chinese] by Zhu Guangqian 朱光潛, et al. Beijing: Waiwen chubanshe, 1983, p. 271. 3 The Laozi 老子 is translated by Wing-Tsit Chan under the title of The Lao Tzu. See Wingsit Chan, A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 139–176.

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and the Zhengmeng 正蒙 (Correcting Youthful Ignorance). In most cases, the explorations of individual early thinkers in China are admittedly not systematic enough. Yet, as a nation with a long history of civilization, we should pay due attention to their collective achievements. Furthermore, in Chinese philosophy, the attention paid to humankind and its concern with human life is of great importance. It is said that Socrates highly spoke of the maxim “Know thyself” inscribed at the entrance of the Delphi Temple of ancient Greece. In his famous An Essay on Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture, Cassirer begins by declaring that “self-knowledge is the highest aim in philoso­ phical inquiry”.4 This aim, he maintains, has proven to be an Archimedes point and an unshakable center of all zeitgeists. The various types of skepticism are nothing more than some duplicates of such firm and ­steadfast humanism. Self-knowledge is closely related to the concern with human life. Wittgenstein was skeptical about many propositions in traditional Western philosophy, criticizing them for having transgressed the domain of language. But he nevertheless admitted: “We feel that even if all possible scientific questions be answered, the problems of life have still not been touched at all”.5 To find answers for human life is precisely a fundamental goal in philosophy. Chinese philosophy is rich in discussions on human life. Such is its important contribution in intellectual history. Mr. Zhang Dainian 張岱年 (1909–2004) once pointed out, “Chinese philosophy is exceedingly abundant in thoughts regarding human life. The thoughts concern numerous issues and they do so on very deep levels”.6 From the perspective of the philosophy of human life, Mr. Zhang sketched the loci of development in Chinese philosophy with Confucius (551–479 BC) as a thesis, Mozi (468–376 BC) as his antithesis, and Mencius (385–304 BC) as their synthesis (e.g. Confucius advocated benevolence, Mozi 4 Ernst

Cassirer, An Essay on Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1944, p. 15. 5 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. Translated by C. K. Ogden. London: Routledge and Kegan Pall.Ltd., 1955. 6 Zhang Dainian 張岱年, Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1982, p. 166.

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advocated righteousness, and Mencius emphasized both benevolence and righteousness); Confucianism and Mohism as a thesis, Daoism as their antithesis, and Xunzi 荀子 (313–238 BC) as the synthesis of the three of them; Mencius as a thesis, Xunzi as his antithesis, the Confucianism toward the end of the Warring Period (475–221 BC) as their synthesis; indigenous Chinese thoughts as a thesis, Buddhism from abroad as its antithesis, and the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties as their synthesis.7 We may well add that the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming times was a thesis with the practical learning of the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties as its antithesis and the Modern Confucianism as their synthesis (Feng Youlan and Mou Tsung-san went further to regard Chinese thoughts as a thesis, Western thoughts as the antithesis. Modern scholars of this theory are still in search of a synthesis for the two). The philosophy of human life, of which morality is constitutive, explores how humankind can lead a valuable and meaningful life. Ever since early modern times, humankind has made rapid progress in natural science. But the same cannot be said of their knowledge about themselves. We have as much reason to pride on our tremendous progress in natural science as we do to be regretful for the relative underdevelopment in our moral studies. Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of the Daode 道德(“morality”, “ethics”). The 道 Dao (“the Way”; aka the Tao) is the root of all things and creatures between heaven and earth. The share of the Way obtained by humankind is their 德 de ­(“virtue”). Therefore, Daode or morality constitutes a domain of freedom, in which humans’ innate virtuous nature is manifested and put into action.8 A philosophy of ethics is the metaphysics of ethics. With its emphasis on the revelation of the mechanism of and conditions for humankind’s norm-generating capacity, the philosophy treats the h­ eavenly-endowed xingli 性理 (“nature-texture”) as its subject matter with a view to finding 7 Ibid,

p. 383. The philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties is generally referred to as Neo-Confucianism (broad sense), which consists of Cheng–Zhu Rational Philosophy ­(narrow sense) and Lu–Wang philosophy of the soul. 8 Translator’s note: The Chinese word that the author used for “virtuous nature” is dexing 德性 which, literally meaning characteristic nature, refers to the natural inclination to virtue.

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out how to make moral autonomy possible.9 In this regard, forerunners of Chinese philosophy have put forward many valuable views that all call for contemporary scholars’ effort to sort out their views and grasp them systematically. Thus, from the perspective of the natural development in this discipline, to construct a contemporary form for Chinese philosophical principles should be an important task for today’s academia. First, fulfilling the task is a must in cultural inheritance. At a time of globalization, philosophies are losing their national boundaries. In ancient times the philosophy of each nation inevitably took its unique form. The influence that their special philosophical notions left on other cultural institutions was profound in logic, extensive in space, and long in time. It can be said that, without an understanding of Chinese philosophical thoughts, it would be hardly possible to accomplish an adequate understanding of the traditional Chinese culture. This culture has left an enormous cultural heritage — such as moral notions, aesthetic notions, and theories in traditional Chinese medicine, and so forth — that is worthy of our effort to take over, to further develop, and thereby to make it an intellectual property shared by all humankind. The effort entails an understanding of the underlying philosophical thoughts. Besides, from the standpoint of Chinese philosophy itself, clearly the construction of a synchronic system of principles may break new ground in the study of Chinese philosophy. In Hegel’s and Russell’s histories of philosophy, their observations and classifications are, of course, made from their theoretical perspectives. A new and synchronic system usually includes new dimensions and normal forms that are capable of reshaping the construction of the historical past, and thereby both expanding and deepening the study of history. Regarding the construction of the principles, those who show the least tolerance for it regrettably seem to come from the circle of philosophical studies in contemporary Chinese academia. Accustomed to historical research, these scholars make a point of being faithful to canonical texts and adhere to the tradition of transmitting without 9 Translator’s

note: For definition and explication of the notion of “texture”, see Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 of Chapter 2.

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creating and that of giving full play to one’s intelligence only in interpretations. They often argue that we are not even clear enough about the parts, let alone in any position to construct a comprehensive system so as to understand the whole. These colleague scholars’ rigorous style in research is commendable. Nevertheless, one needs to be reminded that, in historical study, there can be mutual enhancement rather than conflicts between the construction of principles and the task of collation and excavations. To maintain self-consistence in theorization, an attempt at principle construction requires a unified system. This, however, does not mean a repudiation of diversification. Without any individually unified and mutually independent systems, how can there be any diversification to speak of in scholarship? As regards works of principle construction, embedded in the requirement to cover all views is in fact a tendency of disallowing diversity, which is either dogmatic or overly idealistic. Of all the works of Chinese Buddhist sects, the Platform Scripture is the only one that has attained the status of a sutra. Would it be reasonable to require Huineng 慧能 (638–713 AD) to make clear all the views in the Tiantai Sect, Faxiang Sect (aka Consciousness-only Sect), Huayan Sect and so on, and thereby incorporate all these views in his lectures recorded in the Platform Scripture? Much as a constructor of principles needs to incorporate various views, the best he or she can do is still to convey one scholar’s view. Second, this is required by the communication between the East and West. Traditional Western philosophy emphasizes cognition. Its epistemology is rigorous and advanced. Traditional Chinese philosophy, in contrast, pays attention to setting up moral norms and it excels in providing guidance for social interactions. Using Kant’s terminology, we can say that Western philosophy is advanced in the exploration of “theoretical reason”, whereas traditional Chinese philosophy distinguishes itself in the exploration of “practical reason”. The incorporation of the two traditions would be, therefore, a conceivable development required by a global culture. The full momentum to be gained in the incorporation should be based upon the incessant mutual approach between the basic principles of the two philosophies. Usually the philosophical dialog between the East and West has been hardly more than a number of analogues drawn between some individual viewpoints in Chinese philosophy and some

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complete systems of thoughts in the West. The dialog is obviously asymmetrical. The asymmetry leaves some scholars of comparative philosophy with the impression that there is no philosophy in China. It is also worth noting that there was a certain period in the Chinese Mainland when textbooks of Chinese philosophy were compiled to fit the framework of Western philosophy, which led to not only a failure to show the characteristics of Chinese philosophy but also a misimpression that Chinese philosophy is backward. If the spirit of Chinese philosophy is lost even among contemporary Chinese scholars of philosophical studies, how can we expect this philosophy to be recognized by any outsiders? Ultimately, there can be only one kind of philosophical principle, to which distinctions between Eastern or Western philosophies are irrelevant. But, regional difference and the uneven levels of human cosmological and anthropological cognition in different times have both translated into the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies. Indisputably, what prevails today are still the philosophical principles in the West. They draw on very little — if any — of the Eastern wisdom. Philosophical heritage in the world consists mainly of European, Indian, and Chinese philosophies. In China, the well preserved Indian Buddhism has undergone significant further development. Traditional Chinese philosophy can hence be as good a representative of the wisdom in the East as traditional European philosophy is in the West. If it is agreed that to know oneself is the highest aim in philosophical inquiries, then it is obvious that Chinese philosophy is in a good position to rival European philosophy. Only through the construction of a contemporary form of principles for Chinese philosophy would it be possible to accomplish a comprehensive understanding, mutual supplement, and incorporation of Chinese and Western philosophies. Mr. He Lin 賀麟 (1902–1992) rightly points out that a regional philosophy, be it Western, Chinese, or Indian, “constitutes just a branch of the entire Philosophy and represents an aspect of it. We should, therefore, regard the philosophy as a public property of humankind and, with an open and modest mind, embrace it, approach it, analyze it, incorporate it, promote the scholarship of it, and further develop it”.10 A world 10 He

Lin 賀麟, Rujia Sixiang de Xin Kaizhan — He Lin Xinruxue Lun Jiyao 儒家思想的 新開展 — 賀麟新儒學論輯要 [New Expansion of Confucianist Thoughts — Selected

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philosophy in the future will certainly grow out of a good conglomeration between Chinese and Western philosophies. Third, it is entailed by the reconstruction of a moral system. The essence of Chinese philosophy, as I see it, lies more in its theorization of the 內聖 neisheng (“inner sageliness”, i.e. to attain saintdom in the heart) than in that of the 外王 waiwang (“outer kingliness”, i.e. to attain royalty in [political] career).11 By that I mean the philosophy adequately helps people to know themselves. It provides effective guidance for an individual who is building up his or her integrity, enhancing his or her spiritual life, and promoting his or her self-fulfillment in the society. Its weak point lies right in the inadequate guidance it provides for those who attempt to investigate the objective world and thereby adapt it to their needs. In Chinese philosophy, the theorization of the 心性 xinxing (literally “heart-nature”) forms the arterial part.12 In terms of profundity and sophistication, our forerunners’ study of the moral mind is no inferior to Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics or Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason. In the eyes of some Western scholars, what our forerunners explored may appear to be a domain that defies verbalization. But it is precisely the exploration in this domain that makes it possible to construct a value system for human life and a spiritual home in which people can settle down and get on with their pursuit. Mr. Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (1895–1990) once argued for replacing religion with philosophy. This view is notably applicable to the inherent spirit of traditional Chinese philosophy. In today’s world, there has been a serious and ongoing value crisis. There are people who come to a sudden and dim awareness that “God is dead” and begin to feel like homeless wanderers. To them it seems that whatever one does and however one does it would be fine and permissible. This would lead to the collapse of an entire moral system. In Chinese philosophy, it is

Works of He Lin on Neo-Confucianism]. Beijing: Zhongguo guangbo dianshi chubanshe, 1995, pp. 27–28. 11 Translator’s note: For explication of the two terms, see Wing-tsit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 208–209. 12 Translator’s note: Heart-nature, if judged by the way the term is used in this book, can be understood as the nature of humankind’s (moral) mind.

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believed that there is a holy spirit in the human heart. The belief would be capable of laying a foundation for the reconstruction of a moral system in the present time. There is a very wide-spread Chinese saying: “Everyman has the responsibility for the fate of the sub-celestial world”.13 This saying can be traced back to the entry of “Zhengshi” 正始 in the 13th Volume of Gu Yanwu’s 顧炎武 (1613–1682 AD) Daily Accumulation of Knowledge 日知錄. The “responsibility” in the saying originally referred to a person’s duty to stand up against the moral decadence of the entire society rather than the duty to defend one’s country and resist foreign aggression. Gu Yanwu drew distinction between the fall of an empire and the fall of the sub-celestial world. In his opinion, the fall of an empire means nothing more than the change of a name for the throne, which means simply dynastic change. But the fall of the sub-celestial world, as described by Mencius, would be a case where, with the paths to benevolence and righteousness blocked, the entire society had become so corrupted that “beasts will be led on to devour men, and men will devour one another” (Mencius, 3B:9, in Chan, 1963, p. 72). The issue of how to defend one’s country can be left to well-fed officials. But when it comes to saving the sub-celestial world from moral decadence, every ordinary person should shoulder his and her responsibility. In today’s world, social productivity is developing rapidly, and material wealth is undergoing unprecedented growth. From the standpoint of ethics, however, the society is in the process of a moral decadence, in which there is no value system that serves as people’s spiritual support, and people have hence lost their spiritual home. This is something more than human life can bear — something that has given rise to a materialistic world in which many pursuers of material success let their ends justify their means. The pursuers would sell their soul at any moment they like and do so without any sense of shame. They are neither interested in going to heaven nor afraid of going to hell. Facing a social decadence like this, no one should just look on with folded arms. People 13 Translator’s

note: The Chinese term 天下 (tianxia), translated here as “sub-celestial” world, literally means “under Heaven” and hence the entire terrain under heaven. In premodern times, the term was often used to refer to China.

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should go all out to rescue our morals and thereby realize what American humanistic psychologist Maslow calls the “resacralize” of human life. It is an urgent task for professionals in humanities and liberal arts today. The task calls for the deepening and systematization of the study of traditional Chinese philosophy. Mr. Zhang Dainian made the calling as early as several decades ago. “Since Chinese philosophy lacks formal system”, he said, “should our explication of the philosophy proceeds in any systematized form? Many people oppose to adding systematized forms to our exposition of Chinese philosophy. They argue that to do so would misrepresent Chinese philosophy. Some of them think that the best we can do is discuss such topics as 天 Tian (heaven), 道 Dao (the Way), 理 Li (texture; principle), 氣 Qi (vital energy), 性 Xing (nature; char­ acter; temperament), 命 Ming (destiny; fate), 仁 Ren (benevolence; humanity), and 義 Yi (righteousness) successively without organizing them into any system. In fact, today the most important task in our explication of Chinese philosophy is precisely to highlight the system in it. To make Chinese philosophy appear well systematized will by no means hurt its contents. … Rather, this task would be fulfilled ‘based on what it [i.e. Chinese philosophy] has always been’. Instead of tearing its contents apart, we should sort out the contents according to their hidden structures. There have always been innate structures in Chinese philosophy; only it would take a discerning observer to find them out”.14 Mr. Zhang’s remark is very pertinent. In the study of philosophy, those of our colleagues who share his view should take it upon themselves to promote the course of principle construction for Chinese philosophy. Regarding the dispute over the existence of Chinese philosophy, one has reason to consider it unnecessary once the innate structure of traditional Chinese philosophy is identified with its vitality presented in the form of well-constructed basic principles. To look at it in a more constructive manner, our academia is — at a time of rapid development of China’s economy — duty-bound to reverse the current trend of “import” in the areas of humanities and liberal arts, and thereby turn the traditional theory of inner sageliness into a spiritual wealth to be shared by humankind. This is no doubt an enterprise that will, on the one hand, do justice 14 Zhang

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to the achievements of our ancestors and, on the other, leave us with no feeling of shame when standing before our descendants. It is an enterprise that calls for collective effort. The construction of a global culture calls for mutual supplementation among the cultures of all nations. To promote a nation’s own traditional culture can be accomplished in a no less open-minded manner. It is not necessarily concomitant with cultural conservatism.

2. Feasibility of the Construction of Chinese Philosophical Principles Is it feasible to construct basic principles of Chinese philosophy? Our answer is affirmative, because we are in the condition to do so, though there are still difficulties. Searching in pre-modern texts, one may find that what our forerunners in philosophy left behind was a large quantity of scattered pearls and jades of philosophical and quasi-philosophical discourse, which demand much of our effort to select from them, sort them out, and put them in order. Not many pre-modern Chinese thinkers paid sufficient attention to systematic theorization. Presumably due to the influence of ancestral worship and national academic convention, they chose to act as “transmitter[s] and not … maker[s].” (Confucius, 2014, 7:1). Another factor in academia could be the mainstream prioritization of practical use over abstruse theorization. The two factors combined resulted in the immense number of books since the Han dynasty that are mostly exegetical in nature as contrasted by the scarcity of philosophical works with any original theoretical frameworks therein. For example, as a leading proponent of NeoConfucianism in the Song dynasty, Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200 AD) devoted most of his energy to writing and compiling annotations of earlier canonical texts. Another genre is ana or collection of quotations. There are both up and down sides of ana, as reflected, respectively, in its pithiness and wittiness on the one hand, and its isolation of the quoted words from their contexts on the other. Very often we find that when our pre-modern thinkers tend to present the notions or propositions in their discussion in extreme terms. They would say, for instance, “benevolence” was the sole target to reach for, or without “sincerity” there would be nothing to speak

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of, or there was nothing in the sub-celestial world except “righteousness and benefit”. Their assertions are hardly in consistence with one another in a synchronous logic system. By nature, the creation and use of annotations and anas will easily result in randomness in judgment and aporia in reasoning. But the same problem, to various extents, exists in those works that feature relative systematic theorization. The problem is primarily caused by the lack of rigorously formulated definition of concepts. As an example, in the Great Learning 大學 (compiled between 5th and 2nd centuries BC), the term 格物 gewu (literally “to investigate things”) is used without any further explication, which gave rise to a plethora of contending interpretations among scholars in later generations. Since the Han dynasty and, especially, since the Song and Ming dynasties, there have been over 70 annotations concerning the term. Its ill-defined intension and extension would, inevitably, occur at the expense of accuracy in judgment. Consequently there have been many views regarding exactly how the investigation of things would lead to the gaining of knowledge. Some say both the investigation of things and the gaining of knowledge were attempts to exhaust the Texture.15 Others say it should be taken to mean as a process in which conscience manifests itself after an investigation of things removes the illusionary material appearance of things. Yet, others say it means knowledge can be gained only through manual labor. Besides, because pre-modern thinkers’ attention was generally focused on issues in human life rather than on the cognition of the objective world, they were more interested in writing about their own enlightenment than in providing accounts of what they inferred through logical reasoning. As a result, they rarely considered the option of engaging themselves in inductions and inferences. Naturally their philosophical discourse would seem rather estranged in the eyes of modern readers, for they are readers who make a point of accurate understanding, and seek systematic and complete grasp of a philosophy. Moreover, because pre-modern texts are not punctuated, sometimes difference in sentence parsing can lead to difference in meaning. As an 15 Translator’s

note: Please see Section 2.2.2 of Chapter 2 for reasons why pre-modern Chinese philosophers conceptualized — and hence conventionally referred to — principles as “textures”.

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example, there is a sentence in the first chapter of the Laozi that reads “故常無欲以觀其妙常有欲以觀其徼”. In the annotations by Heshang Gong 河上公 (1st century BC) and Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249 AD), the sentence is parsed as follows: “故常無欲, 以觀其妙, 常有欲, 以觀其徼” (Therefore let there never be desire so [we] may see their subtlety, /And let there always be desire so [we] may see their outcome). But, other premodern scholars, from Su Zhe 蘇轍 (1039–1112 AD) in the Song dynasty to Jiao Hong 焦竑 (1540–1620 AD) in the Ming dynasty, would punctuate the sentence thus: “故常無, 欲以觀其妙; 常有, 欲以觀其徼” (Therefore, let there always be non-being so [we] may see their subtlety, /And let there always be being so [we] may see their outcome).16 In the former, the word yu 欲 is a noun that means yu 慾 (desire), whereas in the latter it is merely an adverb. These two ways of parsing reflect two different interpretations. What is more, difference in parsing may also give rise to conflicting and categorically incompatible thoughts that are ascribed to one and the same early philosopher. In Analects 8:9, there is a sentences “民可使 由之不可使知之”. Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033–1107 AD), Zhu Xi, and many other scholars read the sentence as “民可使由之, 不可使知之” (The common people may be made to follow it but may not be made to understand it).17 In spite of the great pains some scholars took to elaborate on it, none of their elaborations can dissipate such a suspicion that Confucius was slighting the common people. But, if the sentence is punctuated as “民可, 使由之; 不可, 使知之”. (If the common people approve it, then let them be engaged in it. If they do not, then let them understand it), then what we see vividly is an open-minded Confucius with democratic ideas. Therefore, when constructing basic principles for Chinese philosophy, we must now build on the achievements of earlier scholarship — especially the scholarship since the trend of textual criticism during the reigns of Emperor Qianlong (r. 1736–1795 AD) and Emperor Jiaqing (r. 1796–1820 AD) in the Qing dynasty — and make up for their weaknesses. Moreover, emphasis needs to be placed on an overall understanding and on the enhancement of the logical rigor in our analysis of the early philosophy. Only an overall understanding can reconcile the differences 16 Translator’s

note: Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 139. note: Translation of Analects 8:9 is adopted mutatis mutandis from Wingtsit Chan’s translation. Cf. Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 33. 17 Translator’s

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among various parts. Only a strengthened logical analysis can string together the random and scattered witty proverbs and sayings. The Zhuangzi 莊子, for example, has long been regarded as one of the “Three Abstruse Canons” in early China. The abstruseness does not refer to the profound and perplexing messages in the text alone but some of its hardly decipherable language as well. Known as the Nanhua Scripture 南華經 among some pre-modern scholars, the Zhuangzi is such a text that would usually take a scholar’s lifetime to arrive at some partial understanding of it. But, with regard to its author’s expositions of such notions as 心齋 xinzhai (“the Fasting of the Heart”) and 坐忘 zuowang (“Sitting down and Forgetting Everything”), if we can identify a consistent locus followed by the author in his spiritual pilgrimage in search of such a realm of infinity that transcends sensibility and intellectuality, many problems in other parts of the text can be sorted out or even easily solved, because we are in a position to attain more accuracy in our understanding of the basic views in the text. The construction of principle is, of course, meant to accomplish overall applicability rather than to rest content with the grasp of individual works. Notwithstanding the understanding one may accomplish on a certain number of canonical texts, it is still difficult to incorporate the messages conveyed in them. This is because, in addition to examining the age-long heritage of individual schools of thought, a project of principle construction needs to incorporate the different and sometimes even conflicting views that are rich in philosophical significance and expressed variously in Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist texts. Besides, a principle has to be a well synthesized system with neither imposed order thereon nor contradictory ideas therein. How difficult would it be to accomplish this! With that said, since philosophy, as the study of the metaphysical, is primarily concerned with such macro-level questions as what the cosmos is and what humankind is, it is not absolutely impossible to conduct a unified theorization centering on these two fundamental questions and thereby incorporate the views of various schools of thought. It is gratifying that the influx of Western philosophy since the 20th century ushered China into an era of reform in the study of traditional Chinese philosophy. As a result, the construction of theoretical framework has been put on our agenda. There have been many foregoers who have

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opened up new paths for us (In a broad sense, in such pre-modern works as Records of Modern Philosophers’ Thoughts 近思錄 compiled by Zhu Xi et al. and Meaning of Words in the Four Books 北溪字義 by Chen Chun 陳淳 [1159–1223 AD], we already see some early pursuit of an overall understanding of traditional philosophy). With rigorous scholarship and from a modern perspective, these learned scholars have sorted out a number of basic issues and hence paved the ground for later generations of scholars to further the exploration. Mr. Zhang Dainian realized very early that the most important task in the modern scholarship of Chinese philosophy was to show the innate system of the philosophy. His Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy 中國 哲學大綱 is an important achievement that marked his courageous trudge toward this goal. The project started in 1935. In 1937, the first draft was completed. The work sufficiently reflects a young philosopher’s courage and insight. Featuring an account of the development of Chinese philosophy that is “arranged on the basis of specific philosophical topics”, the work can be regarded as a history of philosophical topics that is meant to “show the entire order and system of Chinese philosophy”.18 With its contents logically organized, the book is divided into three sections — “Cosmology”, “Philosophy of Human Life”, and “Epistemology”. Of them, the most important is the second section. In length, the section takes up over half of the book, where the exposition unfolds along such themes as the relation between Heaven and humankind, human nature, human ideals, and issues in human life. The exposition objectively ­presents Chinese philosophy as it is. When explicating categories and propositions, the author makes a point of presenting in-depth, accurate, and comprehensive accounts. With its extensive perspective, good and appropriate exemplifications, and sound judgments, the book has stood the test of time. Even in his discussion of the occult experiences recorded by philosophers of the soul, what Mr. Zhang provides is nonetheless a fair and objective introduction rather than a hasty denial. I think we have ­sufficient reason to regard Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy as a ­cornerstone for the construction of Chinese philosophical principles. 18 See

Zhang Dainian’s “Zixu 自序 [Preface]” to the first edition (1937) of his Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy].

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During his exile in the early phase of the War against Japanese Aggression (1937–1945), Mr. Feng Youlan “could hardly control [his] heartfelt feeling when looking back on the noble styles of the ancients while facing the tremendous crisis in the present time”. Therefore, he spent two months writing down his “thoughts that had accumulated over several years”. Its outcome is his New Rational Philosophy 新理學, in which he sought to outperform those historians who were accustomed to “lecturing according to books”. What he determined to do instead was to “continue, with [his] lecture”, where the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties had left off. Subsequently he wrote New Discussion on Realities: 新事論 (subtitled China’s Road to Freedom), New Admoni­ tions for the World 新世訓 (subtitled New Discourse on the Way of Life), New Treatise on the Nature of Man 新原人, The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy 新原道, and New Treatise on the Methodology of Metaphysics Methodology in New Rational Philosophy 新知言, which, together with New Rational Philosophy, are collectively known as the “Wartime Six Books”. What he forthrightly provides in the books is his own philosophy. His New Rational Philosophy can be considered as the earliest attempt to construct principles of Chinese philosophy based on the mode of Western philosophy. It begins with an introduction of the Heavenly Way, which includes the introductions of Texture, 氣 Qi (vital energy), and 太極 Taiji (the Great Ultimate). Proceeding from a discussion on heart-nature, the exposition focuses on the human way; and from there, the author moves on to discuss a number of basic topics in historical philosophy, logic, aesthetics, and philosophy or religion. The exposition is concise as well as comprehensive. In plain language and a flowing writing style, the author presents quite a few original views, as exemplified in his argument that there is a physical realm in objective reality; and embedded in the physical realm is a metaphysical realm. His argumentation draws distinction between science and philosophy in a fairly easy and brief language. But, due to the prevailing Neorealist methodology in the book and the primary framework of Western philosophy (especially Hegelian philosophy) imposed on the presentation, this book falls short of highlighting the methodological and structural characteristics of Chinese philosophy. The latter half of the 20th century witnessed impressive academic achievements in China made by Neo-Confucian scholars in Hong Kong

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and Taiwan. As an example, composed in a manner not unlike the Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Mr. T’ang Chun-i’s 唐君毅 (1909– 1978) 6-volum Origin of Chinese Philosophy 中國哲學原論 also features a concept-oriented partition of its text and, with its objective being “discussing philosophy from the perspective of the history of philosophy”, the book goes to great lengths to discuss such basic categories as the Way, the Great Ultimate, heart, nature, texture, and destiny. Chapters of the book include “Introduction”, “A Treatise on the Nature of the Way”, “A Treatise on the Nature of Nature”, “A Treatise on the Nature of Education”, and so on, in which the author compares and incorporates the views of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, the Logicians School, Legalism, and Moism. Its discussions of the carefully selected topics impress with exceptional profundity and meticulousness. Presumably Mr. Tang’s intention was, instead of detecting the innate system of Chinese philosophy, to trace the developmental loci of some basic categories in Chinese philosophy. But this book is of remarkable value to our construction of basic principles. In his Aptitude and Abstruse Reason 才性與玄理, BuddhaNature and Prajna 佛性與般若, and Substance of Heart and Substance of Human Nature 心體與性體, Mr. Mou Tsung-san 牟宗三 (1909–1995) also discusses philosophy from a historical perspective and conducts indepth research on the thoughts of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Among the three books, Substance of Heart and Substance of Human Nature particularly features an analysis of the “metaphysics of moral” in the Three Systems and Six Masters during the Song dynasty. Its “Pandect” is simply a forthright expression of the author’s original thoughts and views, which formulated a unique theoretical system. Mr. Mou draws on materials mostly from Kant’s philosophy, which, as a critical philosophy with its primary focus on the study of humankind, tends to be closer to the spirit of Chinese philosophy than the Anglo-North American Neorealism. He pays attention to learning from the “attestation through inward experience” — as advocated by such Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties as Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017–1073 AD), Zhang Zai 張載 (1020–1077 AD), Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032–1085 AD), Hu Hong 胡宏 (1102–1161 AD), Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139–1193 AD), Wang Shouren 王守仁 (1472–1529 AD), Liu Zongzhou 劉宗周 (1578– 1645 AD) — and takes issue with Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi and their followers

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on their argument for “the path of taking advantage of the circumstances”. (Since moral choices are made on the basis of autonomy, inward experiencing would be more feasible in reality than taking advantage of the circumstances) Mr. Mou took it upon himself to inhere and further develop the theory of “inner sageliness” in the Zisi-Mencius 思孟 School and Confucianism in the Song and Ming times. At the same time, he also sought to make up for the inadequacy of pre-modern philosophers’ explication of the theory of “outer kingliness”. The series of his works provide us with a rich source of intellectual wealth.19 Since the reform and opening-up policy, Chinese scholars have, once more, actively sought to construct basic principles for Chinese philosophy. Divided into such four sections as “Texture and Vital Energy”, “Heart-Nature”, “Knowledge and Practice”, and “Heaven and Humankind”, the System of Categories in Neo-Confucianism 理學範疇 系統 by Mr. Meng Peiyuan 蒙培元 is primarily marked by a horizontal presentation — i.e. a presentation on a theoretical level — of the system of categories shared by philosophers of Song and Ming times. What a system of thought presents can be called a web of cognition in a given area of humanities. By the same token, categories can be considered as the knots of this web. In this sense, the importance of the study of categories is something that can be easily imagined. The Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming times resulted from a convergence among Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Thus, traditional Chinese philosophy during this era displayed its most complete form. Modern construction of its principles must start and proceed from here. The book impresses with not only its author’s expatiation on each category in philosophy, but also its further structural systematization relative to its model, namely Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy. With its exposition proceeding from Heaven (texture, vital energy), through humankind (heart-nature, knowledge and practice), to the combination of the two, the book presents a clearer blueprint of principle construction. Another scholar, Mr. Zhang Liwen 張立文, classifies the categories in Chinese philosophy into three 19 Mr.

Mou Tsung-san explores the “inner sageliness” and explicates the “outer kingliness”, respectively, in his Yuan shan lun 圓善論 [On the Summum Bonum] and Zhengdao yu zhidao 政道與治道 [The Way of Politics and the Way of Governance].

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kinds, namely “the imagery kind”, “the substantial kind”, and “the unsubstantial kind” in his On the Logical Structure of Chinese Philosophy 中國 哲學邏輯結構論. In doing so, he tries to show both the vertical development from one category to another and the horizontal relationship among the categories. Through this attempt, he traces the evolution from the concrete to the abstract in our pre-modern philosophers’ way of thinking. His unique viewpoint establishes his argument as an individual scholar’s noteworthy opinion. Admittedly one can choose to look at this matter from various different angles. Yet, all his efforts to reveal the structural system of traditional Chinese philosophy deserve our respect, because the efforts suggest a right direction for the modernization of Chinese philosophy. One can tell from these citations that the data collection, classification, and interpretation by our forerunners in academia have laid a solid foundation for our construction of Chinese philosophical principles. In recent years, there have been scholars in the Chinese Mainland who work on the history of Chinese philosophical categories. Their effort has yielded increasingly abundant research findings. In Japan, Taiwan and Mainland China, there are scholars who entitle their research works as “General Overview of Chinese Philosophy”. They work hard in the works to describe the spirit of traditional Chinese philosophy. Although what they do is mainly to reconstruct the history of development for each topic, the courage and insights they demonstrate are admirable. Thanks to the conditions summarized in the foregoing, our objective of identifying the innate structure of Chinese philosophy and explicating its basic principles is no longer beyond our reach. Generally speaking, the construction of principle in an academic area would require not just the erudition characteristic of a historian of intellectual history, but more of a thinker’s competence, which includes an ambition to “set up [a model of] virtue and leave a cultural legacy in written form”, an insight to identify issues of interest, the open-mindedness to “incorporate various views”, and an overall capability of innovations.20 Scholars of intellectual history tend to emphasize “lecturing according to 20 The

phrases of “setting up [model of] virtue and leaving a cultural legacy in written form” and “incorporating various views” are both taken from the “Preface” of Liu Xie’s

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books”, doing what they can to differentiate early terms and concepts along with their intensions and extensions, amplifying the differences and inconsistencies among ancients’ views, and thereby coming up with their delineation of evolution or development over time. Constructors of principles, in contrast, tend to emphasize “lecturing by themselves”, insist upon a meticulous selection from the reality and cultural heritage for their examination and evaluation, avail themselves of the essence of their predecessors’ views and incorporate them, so as to conduct a synchronous and systematic analysis. These two ways of “lecturing” are grounded on different objectives. Both are necessary for the development of scholarship. No one on the one side has any reason to reproach the other side for being either “pedantic” or “insubstantial”. An important condition for “lecturing by oneself” is the direct approach to a specific issue itself and its resultant temporary suspension of one’s concentration on various relevant notions put forth by the ancients. Husserl’s phenomenological method can be inspiring to us. Speaking of his own experience, Qing dynasty scholar Yuan Mei 袁枚 (1716–1798 AD) once said: “with ancients in one’s daily life, one’s literary aptitude can be enhanced; without ancients [in mind] when composing [a poem], one’s [own] spirit will show”.21 This is as true with literary creations as with academic innovations. In the construction of Chinese philosophical principles, to get in touch with an issue means to turn the inquiry inward and personally experience it. This is because Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of humankind with an emphasis on the study of human mental activities, especially the potentials and mechanism of the human hearts for establishing moral norms. Just as Mr. T’ang Chun-i points out in the “Preface” to A Treatise on the Nature of Nature 原性篇, the study of Chinese philosophy must “also be conducted on the basis of our own heart of benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom”. To do so will help us to transcend the various semantic and conceptual inconsistencies and grasp the innate deep meaning and principle. 劉勰 (fl. 5th century AD) well-known work on the principles of literature, Wenxin Diaolong 文心雕龍 [The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons]. 21 Yuan Mei 袁枚, Suiyuan Shihua 隨園詩話 [Notes on Poetry], Vol. 10.

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If we recognize the said inward turn of inquiry and personal experience as an effective approach to Chinese philosophy, we will have all the more reason to be optimistic about the construction of a contemporary form of Chinese philosophical principles. As human beings, we, of course, often think and feel alike. In different times and places, there are things that have changed, but there are also things that remain the same. So long as an individual can keep his or her intelligence and savvy from being obscured by the restless sensual desires and acquired notions, it would be possible for the person to detect the deep-level rhythm of the human heart and light up his or her own conscience. Mencius advocated “attaining sincerity by turning [the inspection] back to oneself”. Zhuangzi 莊子 (369–286 BC) lectured on “the fasting of heart” and “Sitting down and Forgetting Everything”. Chan Buddhism also required that one ensure one’s freedom from the disturbances of various yinyuan 因緣 (hetu-pratyaya in Sanskrit, meaning causes and conditions), think of neither goodness nor evil, and thereby introspect one’s “original and real self”. Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism share the same views when it comes to the philosophy of the soul 心學, though their objectives may not be the same. During the Song and Ming times, as two branches bifurcated from the camp of NeoConfucianism, the Cheng–Zhu Neo-Confucianism and Lu–Wang philosophy of the soul in fact agreed more than they differed.22 For instance, Zhu Xi recognized the validity in the method of being “still and without movement, but, when acted on, … [penetrating] forthwith to all phenomena and events” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 309). Lu Jiuyuan went further to require the activation of one’s conscience through “minimizing one’s desires” and “cleansing one’s reckless thoughts”. There is a gatha in the Platform Scripture 壇經 that contemporary scholars should remember. It reads, “When our mind is under delusion, the Saddharma Pundariks Sutra ‘turns around’. With an enlightened mind, we ‘turn around’ the stura instead” (Huineng, The Sutra of Hui-neng, 1996, p. 131, 133).23 22 Translator’s

note: “Cheng–Zhu” and “Lu–Wang” are short forms for, respectively, “Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi” and “Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yang Ming”. 23 Translator’s note: The Sutra of Hui-neng is also known as The Platform Sutra or the Altar Sutra in English.

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3. The Objective and Methodology in the Construction of Chinese Philosophical Principles Now it is important to transcend the perspective of historians and advocate the quality of thinkers. What history shows is a vertical development. What the study of principles seeks to show is — in addition to that — more of cross-sectional relationships. With regard to incorporating philosophical heritage in China based on a synchronous logic, it is meant to identify and reveal the innate system of the philosophy, and thereby build a comprehensive philosophical framework. We hence need to revert to the origin and open up new paths. We need to have a macro-level understanding of the connection between Heaven and humankind, give importance to the analysis of humans’ heart-nature, and thereby show the internal pilgrimage of transcending that proceeds in the human spirit. At the same time, we need to appreciate the active pursuit of self-realization in society and thereby contribute to the moral and civil education in our time. The subject matter of this research can be most appropriately called yuanli 原理 (underlying principle). The yuan 原 means the origin and basics; the li 理 means both universally applicable rules and a complete logic system. The combination of the two means principle, a system of basic laws in a given academic discipline that is fundamental and extensively applicable. Research works of this kind are alternatively called ­gailun 概論 (introduction), though the word originally means a sketchy account, something like a shuyao 述要 (account of the essentials). The advantage of such terms as gailun and shuyao consists in their disclaiming of quantitative comprehensiveness, indicating merely a selection of essentials made in accordance with a subjective logic. The disadvantage is their vagueness in qualitative definition, which fails to specify whether the undertaking is an account of the history of an academic area or a presentation of the synchronous structure of its logic. The term yuanli (principle), needless to say, is not perfect, either; for it leaves an impression of comprehensiveness. As a matter of fact, the best that any theory does is to show a certain aspect of a subject matter. What we have now are only dictionaries that seek comprehensiveness, not any works about principles. Since our objective is to identify and show the innate system of the notions in traditional Chinese philosophy, it would still be an inquiry of

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the principles regardless how we name the undertaking. Hence, it cannot possibly cover everything. All it does is inevitably to present an account of the essentials from a certain viewpoint. Another difficulty is how to make the selection. We should hark to the local as well as the global and pay attention to the past as well as the future. Based on the local and looking back on history, we should avail ourselves of the essence of traditional philosophy. It should be noted that the truly valuable and arguably the most endurable part of Chinese philosophy is its theorization of inner sageliness, which occupies a salient position in Chinese intellectual history. Admittedly, in the Spring–Autumn Period (770–476 BC), Confucius and Laozi (fl. 570–470 BC), as founders of Confucianism and Daoism, respectively, sought both inner sageliness and outer kingliness. In the latter half of the Warring States Period (475– 221 BC), however, Mencius and Zhuangzi both contributed to further develop the thought of inner sageliness.24 The thought of “outer kingliness” in Confucianism was transferred to Legalism through Xunzi’s elaboration thereof, which laid a theoretical foundation for the tyrannical rule of the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). Huang–Lao Daoism, as a branch of Daoism with an inclination to the thought of “outer kingliness”, joined the mainstream ideology through Legalism and Han dynasty Confucianism. There were inevitably opportunistic considerations and gloominess in this school. During the Wei–Jin Period (220–420 AD), Confucian thought incorporated a branch of Lao–Zhuang study with an inclination to the thought of “inner sageliness”. Such interweaving between Confucianism and Daoism brought another peak period in the history of Chinese philosophy. After that, the popularity of Zhuangzi’s Daoism not only continued but also, to a considerable extent, accelerated the Sinicizing of Buddhism in China. Without attracting much attention during the Wei–Jin Period, Mencius’s thought had, since the mid-Tang period (766–840 AD), greatly distinguished itself on the forum of philosophies in China. The reason can be partially found in the popularity of Chan Buddhism, 24 Mencius

says that a superior man [i.e. man of virtue] has three pleasures, “but to rule the sub-celestial world as a king is not one of them” (Mencius, 7A:20). Evidently, what he regards as important is inner sageliness. In the Great Learning, managing a feudal state and bring order to the sub-celestial world are forthrightly regarded as the least important.

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because Chan Buddhism, as it happened, was a sect of the heart theory. The convergence of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism had characterized a basic trend in Chinese intellectual history since the mid-Tang time. It can be said that their point of convergence was the fusion of Mencius, Zhuangzi, and Chan Buddhism. From the perspective of theoretical rationales, the only thing in which the philosophy of Song and Ming times excelled was none other than the theory of inner sageliness. It was a philosophy to be inhered and further developed by scholars of philosophy in contemporary China. To honor the tradition of inner sageliness will be good to help people to form an optimistic and positive outlook on the world and human life, so people will love nature, cherish life, and make something extraordinary out of their ordinary life. On this basis, we, of course, have no objection to things oriented toward the thought of outer kingliness. Facing the world and looking forward to the future, we need to further develop the part of Chinese philosophy that is already advanced in development and with unique characteristics. In an age when cultural resources can be conveniently shared globally, we should modestly learn from foreign cultures to make up for our shortcomings. We should, in good faith, foster the strengths and circumvent the weaknesses of our traditional culture. Modern Neo-Confucianists attempt to open up a way of outer kingliness on the basis of the traditional theory of inner sageliness. In doing so, they vest “outer kingliness” with the connotations of science and democracy, which is worthy of our appreciation. Indubitably the spirit of democracy can be developed from traditional Chinese philosophy itself because it is as easy for every individual today to realize that he or she constitutes a capitalized “I” as it was for Mencius, Zhuangzi, and Chan Buddhists. But, much to our regret, democracy could not be institutionalized in a patriarchal society. One has good reasons to doubt the feasibility to develop the spirit of science out of the thought of inner sageliness. Science and ethics are fundamentally different cultural institutions. From the viewpoint of the human heart, their ways of establishing norms are very different. They are, therefore, not mutually containable.25 Western 25 Moral

activities feature a manifestation of conscience from the within to the without. They require an adaptation of the objective (reality) to the subjective (ideal). That is why

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epistemology is best known in the world for its logical rigor. This can and should be modeled after by people from other areas. Our forerunners in philosophy stressed human relations, heart-nature, and spiritual realms that could be attained in human life. Such is a distinct characteristic that entitles Chinese philosophy to a place of honor in world culture. Then what is the point of amplifying and displaying what our forerunners neglected? If we, from a contemporary perspective, substantially revise and expand it so as to turn it into a system of principles, then what we incorporate will be Chinese and Western philosophies rather than merely Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Obviously this would be a project larger in scale, for which we can only pin our hope on the future. The key to understanding the thought of inner sageliness lies in the knowledge to be gained about the entire structure of the human heart. This is because the knowledge will help to sort out the philosophical discourses of our early philosophers about humankind, which will make it possible to clearly map and structure the relevant categories and propositions so as to interweave them into a complete system. Regrettably, the experimental psychology of the present time is still unable to uncover the structure of human psych. What we can do now is to explore it by drawing on both early philosophical discourses and the method of turning the inquiry inward. In the West, there was such trichotomy of cognition, emotion, and will in ancient Greece. Plato, Democritus, and some philosophers in the the theory of inner sageliness insists upon “prioritized establishment of the most important”. Scientific activities respect facts and require an adaptation of the subject (notions) to the object (reality). Based on direct observations with one’s senses, rationalized knowledge is gradually formulated. So it is a process of thinking that follows a path from the without to the within and thereby reaches a higher level of generalization. To explain it in plain and more vivid language, what a human being is to the world is twofold, namely a slave as well as a master. As far as the domain of culture is concerned, scientific research is more of the former whereas moral activities the latter. Mr. Mou Tsung-san once posited an “automatic caving of conscience”, which implies a tension from the opposition between the tendency of mastering and that of being submissive. But the term “caving” falls short of prioritizing ethics over everything. Of course, insofar as the construction of a complete integrity is concerned, to uphold the spirit of moral can be unified with scientific attitude and the use of scientific methodology. Although the two differ in emphasis, they both include the two-way movement of the human heart.

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Pythagoras School all argued for such triadic division of the human soul. But Aristotle opposed such a division, arguing that a soul performed such basic functions as cognition and intention. The two views had stayed in opposition throughout medieval time, Renaissance, and the Enlightenment Movement. As an example, Christion Wolff adopted Aristotelian view whereas his student Baumgarten subscribed to Plato’s. Our pre-modern philosophers had similar awareness. Confucius called “wisdom, benevolence, and courage” “three universal virtues”.26 This is a transverse classification. Mencius suggested minimizing one’s desire, pointed out that wisdom was marked by forced reasoning, and required that one should be introspective and sincere. What he said has much to do with the three levels of heart-nature. The Zhuangzi exhibits even more conscious awareness of these three levels, sometimes referring to them as “ear, hear, and Qi” and sometimes “body, consciousness, realness”. The Qian 乾 (Creativity), Kun 坤 (Docility), yin, and yang in the Book of Changes are closely related to the two basic functions of the human psych. In scholarship, however, the earliest work that is most explicit about such a relationship is arguably Ji Kang’s 嵇康 (fl. 224– 262 AD) “On Brightness and Resolution” 明膽論. Later, Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元 (773–819 AD) regarded zhi 志 (free will; ideal; purpose; aspiration; Vernunft) and ming 明 (brightness in intelligence, brilliance) as Tianjue 天爵 (that which is Heavenly conferred; heavenly honors). Thus he, from the perspective of the relationship between Heaven and humankind, presented an in-depth account of the origin of the two dimensions of the human heart and the activities of the heart that proceeded along the two dimensions. Kant is certainly an exceedingly important contributor to the scholarship on the structure of the human heart. His critical philosophy suggests a massive, three-level (i.e. sensibility, intellectuality, and Vernunft), and two-series (i.e. theoretical and practical) structure of the human heart. It is explicitly pointed out in the “Introduction” of Critique of Practical Reason that “we shall commence with the principles and proceed to the concepts, and only then, if possible, to the senses; whereas in the case of 26 Translator’s

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the speculative reason we began with the senses, and had to end with the principles”.27 After Kant’s time, the divergence of the views has remained regrettably unresolved. Hegel adopted Kantian trichotomy to a limited extent. Croce based his philosophy of the mind on cognition and practice, which is evidently a case of bi-sectional division. In psychology, many scholars use such triadic division as sensibility, emotion, and will, but little is done to clarify the relationship among the three. Yet there are also scholars, Pan Shu 潘菽 (1897–1988) for one, who not only insist a bisectional division but also criticize triadic division for not being scientific because emotion and will can both be subsumed under mentality. How to mediate between, or even unify, the two ways of division is an important theoretical issue. If we replace “will” — among “sensibility, emotion, and will” — with the category of “zhi” in Chinese philosophy, the confusion is likely to be cleared. This is because sensibility, intellectuality, and zhixing 志性28 are obviously different in depth. If sensibility consists of direct viewing of surface-level phenomena and experience of emotion, and if intellectuality is manifested in abstract cognition and value assessment, then zhixing or the third level of psych can also be divided into such two parts as free will and selfarchetype. With some working from without and some from within, the coordination among them gives form to such two major series as cognition (which requires harmony and order) and practicality (which requires self-realization). Thus, in China, the age-long opposition between the trichotomy and dichotomy of human psych as well as abroad is resolved. 27 Immanuel

Kant, Critique of Practical Reason. Translated by Thomas K. Abbott. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1909, p. 175. In the Chinese version, Kant’s word “Vernunft” — which is “speculative reason” in Abbott’s English translation — is inaptly translated as 理性 lixing (“reason”). 28 Translator’s note: In this book, Zhixing (“the nature of Zhi”) is known as the “third level of the human heart”. The 性 xing in this particular disyllabic word denotes “(human) nature”, “disposition”. Please read Section 4.2.1 of Chapter 4 for author’s detailed explication of Zhi, which the author conceptualizes as “a combination of ideal and free will”. Elsewhere (e.g. Note 30), the author comments on what he judges to be a significant similarity between Zhi in traditional Chinese philosophy and “Vernunft” in Kant’s framework.

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The structure of human psych and the spiritual culture it creates is briefly shown in the diagram below.29

This diagram illustrates a heart structure implied in Kant’s theory in his three major works of critical philosophy. It is, in addition, in agreement with modern brain science, basically compatible with Buddhist 29 Please

see the third chapter of my Xinling Jiegou yu Wenhua Jiexi 心靈結構與文化解 析 [Structure of the Heart and Cultural Analysis] (Beijing: Beijing Daxue chubanshe, 1998) or my article in the 6th issue of Philosophical Principle in 1995. In fact, psych unfolds like a sector. The contents on the level of sensibility are indefinitely diversified. Those on the level of intellectuality are relatively simple and unsophisticated. The level of zhixing, moreover, concentrates on one point. All this casts light on the distinction between yi 一 (one; singularity; monistic) and duo 多 (many; plurality; pluralistic), the opposition between conversion and diversion, the directional difference between cognition and assessment, and so forth. Generally speaking, a desire on sensibility level features individuality; a notion on intellectuality features collectivity; and pursuits on zhixing level can be universal to humankind. The relationship among the three is one among individual, particular, and general cases. Speaking of the heart, its inclination to require harmony and unification embodies regularity; and that to require self-realization embodies teleology. These two series are also closely related to the so-called spirit of Phoebus and the spirit of Bacchus.

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theory of “eight consciousnesses”, and largely in accordance with the relevant description in psycho analysis (aka depth psychology). It is hence convenient to use it to explain the cultural world. To save space, we only use the table below to show their relations.3031 Physiological Structure of the Brain

Levels of the Heart

Eight Consciousness in Buddhism

Neocortex

Intellectuality

The 6th consciousness

Consciousness

Science

Mammals’ brain

Sensibility

The first five consciousnesses

Individual unconsciousness

Art

Reptiles’ brain

Zhixing31

The 7th consciousness | The 8th consciousness

Collective unconsciousness

Religion

Psycho Analysis

Cultural World

30 This

table is made on the basis of the biological structure of the human brain that evolved over time. The diagram above it is sketched based on the process of human spiritual activities. The relationship between them is one between the exterior and the interior, which seemingly indicates their difference. But there is no conflict between them. We will discuss pre-modern Chinese philosophers’ awareness of the heart structure in Section 3.3 of Chapter 3. Besides, in Indian Buddhism, the Sarvastivada School classifies the function of the “heart” into such three parts as store consciousness, thoughtfulness, and discriminatory cognition, which can be interpreted as the three layers of the human heart that are stratified from the interior to the exterior. 31 “Zhixing” is roughly equivalent to “Vernunft” in Kant’s philosophy. Please see Notes 15 and 16 of Chapter 3. I understand it to be such an inborn inclination hidden in the depth of the human heart that seeks to explore the convergence between heaven and humans, reach for higher or even the highest form of unification (between cognition and realization), transcend all [spatially and temporally] limited things in reality, and attain an ideal realm in human life (in the aspect of aspiration-practice). Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619–1692 AD) once took human “zhi” to be the seventh consciousness (Records of Thinking and Inquiring, Outer Chapter). Ye Xie 葉燮 (1627–1703 AD) considered the “zhi” in the sentence “poetry expresses a poet’s zhi” to be what is known as the seed in Buddhism (On the Treatise of Poetry, Outer Chapter). The term “zhi” in Chinese means not only “convergent” and “concentrative” (as the phrase 志心諦聽 zhixin diting, “to concentrate one’s heart and listen attentively”) but also “to ­generate and develop” (as in the phrase 壯志淩雲 zhuangzhi lingyun, “to be with soaring aspiration”). It is basically equivalent to the eighth consciousness in Buddhism.

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The diagram and table reliably illustrate the hidden system of philosophical notions and notably locate the categories of heart-nature, which include emotion, nature, righteousness, benefit, rite, texture, mind of humankind, mind of the Way (i.e. what embodies the Way in the human heart), the knowledge which a person acquires through perception, the conscience which a person intuits. But this does not indicate any exclusion of a description of pre-modern cosmology. It is to be noted that what is known as cosmology is at best a given perspective that humankind acquires in a given historical period. In the process where heaven begets humankind and humankind emulates heaven, heart-nature plays a key role. In order to reach the shore of our hope and aspirations, we still need concrete guidelines and methods in addition to such a fundamental path. First, based on the principle of seeking common ground, incorporating differences, and discarding the dross, we must pay equal attention to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Their common ground is particularly reflected in their striving for a spiritual transcendence, by which I mean their common search for the enlightening of the zhixing level of the heart. Mr. Mou Tsung-san rightly observes that Chinese philosophical thoughts, “be they Daoism, Confucianism, and the later joiner Buddhism, all excel in the transcending of intellectuality, with which they are all preoccupied”.32 As for the notions of knowing heaven through knowing nature in Confucianism, listening to vital energy to experience the Way in Daoism, and opening the door of true thusness in Buddhism, notwithstanding the different terms by which they are known and the different objectives to which they are oriented, they are all meant to enable people to settle down and get on with their pursuits. From the perspective of social development and progress, however, the pessimistic tendencies in Buddhism and passive reclusion in Daoism may not be appropriate now. We can discard these parts. Confucianism, admittedly, makes a point of actively promoting the general well-being in this world, but the rite they 32 Mou

Tsung-san. “Zhongguo wenhua de tezhi 中華文化的特質, [Characteristics of Chinese Culture]”, in Daode Lixiang Zhuyi de Chongjian — Mou Tsung-san Xinruxue Lunzhu Jiyao 道德理想主義的重建 — 牟宗三新儒學論著輯要 [Reconstruction of Moral Idealism: Selected Quotations of Mou Tsung-san on Neo-Confucianism], ed. Mou Tsung-san, Beijing: China Radio and Television Press, 1992, p. 49.

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advocated — as exemplified by the three cardinal guides — has also lost its raison-d’être today. Second, we positively value both the practice of “interpreting canonical classics” and the spirit of “letting canonical classics interpret my thought” in the aspects of, respectively, learning and self-cultivation on the one hand, and courage and insights on the other. We incorporate the extremes from the standpoint of the mean.33 To develop pre-modern cultural heritage, we should, on the one hand, attentively study ancient texts and read them empathetically in search of its intended message and the spirit contained in the texts. On the other hand, we should directly approach the issue itself with a view to personally experience the enlightenment. Pre-modern thinkers had some success in this. In the early 5th century, when the 6-volume Nirvana Sutra was first translated, Zhu Daosheng 竺道 生 (355–434 AD) grasped the essential message in it and announced all sentient beings’ possession of Buddha’s nature. Because this was not something explicitly said in the sutra, there were Buddhist scholars who denounced his theory to be heresy. Over 10 years later, however, the newly translated 40-volume Maha-Parinirvana Sutra attested the orthodoxy of Zhu Daosheng’s theory. He was thus hailed as a “saint of nirvana”. As Shiqian 師虔 — the third-generation Cave Master in Buddhism — pointed out, “since there is always a place for the spiritual sprout to break out, there can be no mentorship to speak of when it comes to great enlightenment” (Collection of Five Books of the Channist Heritage, Vol. 13). In our ­construction of philosophical principles, we should proceed primarily by “letting canonical classics interpret my thought”. Our construction should nonetheless be built upon the practice of “interpreting canonical classics”. Third, we should conduct stratification analysis and structural ­locating, pay particular attention to the distinction as well as connection among notions and propositions, and thereby construct an organic system. It is said that on the gate of Plato’s Athenian garden there was a board with the inscription “Nobody who is unfamiliar with algebra should enter”. Presumably Kant followed a certain logic (i.e. thinking model) in his mind 33 Translator’s

note: The Doctrine of the Mean: “He [i.e. Shun, a legendary early sage ruler] took hold of their two extremes, took the mean between them”. (Chan, 1963, trans, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 99).

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when composing his three works of critical philosophy. Methodological systems in present times accord all the more attention to the overall relationships and the identification of various levels, which, of course, make it hard to find the right places for concepts that fall into overlapping categories. For instance, a comparison between benevolence and sincerity on the one hand, and loyalty and reciprocity on the other will incline people’s preference toward the former pair because although the latter pair is of use in our evaluation of personalities and social relations on a random basis, it does not necessarily play a key role in the basic theoretical system today (e.g. when it is used to embody certain economic principles). Construction of principles endows traditional Chinese philosophy with a modern form, which indicates an academic innovation. We hope that the constructors and their critics would both adhere to the spirit of striving for the truth and seeking truth from facts. Early Qing scholar Yan Yuan 顏元 (1635–1704 AD) was right when he said: “What matters in argumentation is just whether an argument is right, not whether it is in agreement or disagreement with others’ views. A right argument should never be changed even if it were held by only one or two persons. As for a wrong argument, one should never echo it even if it were shared by tens of millions of people”.34 Innovation can also be known as a thoroughgoing change, which requires both a thorough understanding of the past and adaptability to the present time. Change, after all, leads as much to durability as thoroughness does to eternity. Let us do our utmost, to blaze a trail through brambles and thorns, and push forward the cause opened up by Mr. Zhang Dainian and other forerunners!

References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Cassirer, E. An Essay on Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1944. 34 See

Chapter of “Xue wen pian 學問篇 [Knowledge]” in Yan Yuan’s 顏元 Yan Xing Lu 言行錄 [Records of Words and Deeds].

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Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Confucius. Analects. In James Legge (trans.). Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2014, pp. 1–220. Croce, B. Aesthetics﹒ The Essence of Aesthetics. Translated [into Chinese] by Zhu Guangqian 朱光潛, et al. Beijing: Waiwen chubanshe, 1983. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 97–114. He Lin 賀麟. Rujia Sixiang de Xin Kaizhan — He Lin Xinruxue Lun Jiyao 儒家 思想的新開展 — 賀麟新儒學論輯要 [New Expansion of Confucianist Thoughts — Selected Works of He Lin on Neo-Confucianism]. Beijing: Zhongguo Guangbo Dianshi Chubanshe, 1995. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. Xinling Jiegou yu Wenhua Jiexi 心靈結構與文化解析 [Structure of the Heart and Cultural Analysis]. Beijing: Beijing Daxue chubanshe, 1998. Kant, I. Critique of Practical Reason. Translated by Thomas K. Abbott. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1909. Mou Tsung-san 牟宗三. Zhongguo wenhua de tezhi 中華文化的特質, [Characteristics of Chinese Culture]. In Daode Lixiang Zhuyi de Chongjian — Mou Tsung-san Xinruxue Lunzhu Jiyao 道德理想主義的 重建 — 牟宗三新儒學論著輯要 [Reconstruction of Moral Idealism: Selected Quotations of Mou Tsung-san on Neo-Confucianism]. Edited by Mou Tsung-san. Beijing: Zhongguo Guangbo Dianshi Chubanshe, 1992. Wittgenstein, L. Tractatus Logico Philosophicus. Translated by C. K. Ogden. London: Routledge and Kegan Pall.Ltd. 1955. Yan Yuan 顏元. Yan Xing Lu 言行錄 [Records of Words and Deeds]. Yuan Mei 袁枚, Suiyuan Shihua 隨園詩話 [Notes on Poetry]. Beijing: Renmin Wenxue Chubanshe, 1982. Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1982.

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On Evolution of the Cosmos The present part provides an account of what we generally call the theory of cosmos evolution, by which we mean the Chinese philosophical conceptualization of the root of the cosmos and its evolution. The theory falls into the domain of faith, where there are many notions whose validity is neither verifiable nor falsifiable. The notions form an indispensable basis for moral legislation. There is generally known to be an account regarding the origin of the cosmos in the Genesis of the Bible. In early China, the ideological circle in the Zhou dynasty (11 century–256 BC) exhibited a tendency of enlightenment. Few thinkers would speak of god. The tendency evolved an atheistic cosmology, which, for more than 2,000 years, has adequately sustained Chinese moral persuasions with no recourse to a personified god. Judging from the perspective of today’s rapid development of science, this historical phenomenon looks extraordinary. We will set out from an account of the ancients’ conceptualization of the root of the cosmos, followed by a description of their notion of the evolution of the cosmos. Then the discussion will zero in on humankind. Chinese ­philosophy is characterized by its pursuit to establish the Way (道 Dao in Chinese, aka the Tao) of humankind on the basis of the Way of heaven. 1

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Proceeding from this perspective, Chapter 1 explicates the logical basis for the existence of the Way of heaven or Heavenly Way. Chapter 2 provides a description of the manner in which the Heavenly Way evolves. Chapter 3 attempts at a revelation of the self-consciousness of the spirit of the Heavenly Way. The chapters, formulating a complete circle in logic, are expected to lay a foundation for the argumentation in the Part Two of the book.

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Chapter 1

Fundamental Root of the Cosmos

An investigation on the root of something is one that looks into a fundamental entity in an archaic mode of existence. The entity can be referred to broadly as noumenon. In the nomenclature of Zhuangzi’s school of thought, this is known as the “fundamental root” 本根 (Zhuangzi, Chapter 22). In ancient Greece, there were four views with regard to the root of the universe, which are collectively referred to as the “four causes”. The first view posited a material root of the universe in the forms of, for example, water, air, and fire. The second view emphasized the efficient cause, as exemplified in a belief that fraternal love and quarrel were two mutually supplementary forces. The third took interest in the formal cause, namely idea or eidos. The fourth sought to identify the final cause (telos), which was absolute goodness.1 Similar awareness can also be found among Chinese ancients. Some of them considered the Way, others considered 太極 Taiji (“the Great Ultimate”), as both were an entity in an archaic mode of existence before heaven and earth took shape and an overall basis for heaven, earth, and all creatures in between after their emergence. Strictly speaking, origin and noumenon are different concepts. The former, highlighting a temporal aspect, is opposed to the current state, whereas the latter, with its emphasis on a spatial aspect, is opposed to phenomenon. Since this chapter discusses primarily the genesis of the cosmos with due attention paid to the universal law for

1 Aristotle.

Metaphysics. Translated [into Chinese] by Miao Litian 苗力田 (Beijing: Zhongguo Renmin Daxue chubanshe, 2003): 7.

3

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all things and beings, it is comparatively appropriate to choose ­“fundamental root” over all other terms.2

1.1. The Way (Dao, or Tao) Relatively speaking, pre-modern philosophers usually took the Way rather than anything else to be the fundamental root. Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all acknowledge the existence of the Way. The term Great Ultimate is different in that it is usually and primarily used in Confucianism and Daoism. Insofar as the sense of an origin is concerned, the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” 易傳 presents a more tenable theory than other classics about the relation between the Way and the Great Ultimate. But later generations of Confucian scholars did not come up with a fruitful study on the Way as pre-Qin Daoist thinkers had done. Therefore, we will begin with a discussion on the Way. 1.1.1.  Definition of the Way The term “Way” literally means a path that people have treaded out or opened up. An ancient dictionary known as the Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 (Xu Shen, 1963, original 2nd century AD) glosses “Way” as “the road that one walks along” 道, 所行道也. In the ancient poem “Cock Pheasant” 雄雉 in the Book of Poetry 詩經 (11th century BC–476 BC), there is a line that reads, “With the sun and moon gazed upon, my thought drags long. Vastly distant is the way, when is he back as he may?” In our daily life, the ways that people walk along share the following basic characteristics: First, a way is for all human beings to follow. Induced from the phenomenon is the universality of the Way. Second, it extends infinitely. Although there may be an end to a specific way, the sum of all ways can be infinitive, hence the infinity of the Way induced thereof. Third, ways are interconnected. They lead everywhere and connect various parts on earth together. From this phenomenon, the 2 The

more concrete a conjecture about cosmos evolution, the more historical limitations it is prone to. In Western intellectual history, Aristotelian cosmology has left such a negative impact that eventually culminated in the bitter lesson of heliocentric theory that prevailed in religion. Therefore, we will largely ignore the concrete conjectures of this kind.

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interrelatedness and interconnectivity of the Way can be induced. The phenomenon can particularly be observed among waterways. Taking shape in natural courses, accumulating rainwater everywhere, and joining various branches into mainstreams, waterways flow day and night into the sea, which is suggestive of the dynamics and necessity of the Way. Moreover, there are orbits of celestial bodies that lead to one’s reasonable extrapolation of the existence of some invisible ways to be followed in periodic cycles. In early China, it was a common practice among the ancients to observe phenomena in the sky, investigate patterns of the earth, “draw analogies from things afar” 遠取諸物, and “seek enlightenment in things as near as in their own person” 近取諸身.3 Therefore, the said common characteristics of ways may have inspired early pursuers of learning, hence their choice to use the term “Way” to refer to the universal interconnectivity and necessity that runs through all things and all phenomena. The “Way” as a concept with philosophical implications was commonly used before the Laozi. The terms often mentioned in the Shang Shu 尚書 (The Book of History) are heaven and virtue,4 but occurrences of wangdao 王道 (“kingly way”) are already present in the chapter of “Great Plan” 洪範 and found to be vested with political-philosophical implications. The speeches of historical figures recorded in the Zuozhuan 左傳 (Commentary of Zuo, 4th century BC) are abundant in the occurrences of the term “Heavenly Way”. An example can be found in the remark by Zichan 子產, a statesman in the state of Zheng, that “the Way of Heaven is remote but that of human beings is near”. In early Confucian classics, the “following of the Way” 適道 stressed in the Analects, the “actualization” of the Way 行道 in the Doctrine of the Mean 中庸, and the “being in accordance with” the Way 由道 in the Mencius all suggest a sense of the Way as a regularity and objective law to abide by. By that time, the  Laozi had probably not entered circulation. But what we know 3 Translator’s

note: The phrases in quote are adopted from the “Xici zhuan xia 繫辭傳下 [Great Commentaries of the Book of Changes, Part II]” (see Book of Changes, trans, Legge, 1993, p. 319). The commentaries are conventionally ascribed to Confucius. 4 Translators’ note: The Shang Shu 尚書 (The Book of History) is a collection of texts of early antiquity whose initial compilation is conventionally dated to the 4th century BC.

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for certain is that it was Laozi who first elevated the Way to such a status as a fundamental philosophical category, where the Way was regarded as not only the universal law for the changes and developments of all things and beings, but also the origin of the cosmos. There are 73 occurrences of the term “Way” in the Laozi. Their rich connotations can be classified into three levels. First, the Way is the very beginning of the cosmos and all things. It is said in Chapter 25 that “there was something undifferentiated and yet complete, which was born before heaven and earth. Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. I do not know its name; I call it the Way. If forced to give it a name, I shall call it Great” (Laozi, 1963, p. 152). The three equally important words to characterize the Way are “something”, “mother”, and “Great”. What happened “before heaven and earth” should have been its existence in an archaic and abysmal mode. To say “it was born” was due to the difficulty in finding a better expression to convey the idea at that time. What it really means is “to exist” rather than “to be born”, because there is no way to pursue what begot the Way. From the perspective of what humans can perceive with our perceptional faculty, it was in a state of tranquility which was soundless and formless. But it was at the same time a real existence. To say “it depends on nothing” is because there is nothing that pre-conditions its existence, which means that it is categorically ontic. And to say it “does not change” is because there is constancy and regularity in its change. Its incessant operation follows a recurrent cycle. There would be no external force that influences or stops such an operation. Therefore, it was able to generate heaven and earth, which collectively refer to the universe we live in. Then how do we call it? The term “Way” would aptly capture its characteristic of operating everywhere, and the term “Great” would ­adequately characterize its absolute independence. But there lacks a single term that can cover all its aspects. So Laozi honestly admits that he was only “forced to give it a name”. Second, the Way is the universal law of all things and beings between heaven and earth. After heaven and earth took shape, there were things and beings generated in between. The myriad things and

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beings in fact share the same root, namely the Way, which, in this sense, is called the Heavenly Way. After being generated by the Way, fostered by Virtue,5 given form by objective matter, and completed in natural course (Laozi, Chapter 52), the environment of human existence was formed with the Way naturally existing therein. Relying on it, a sage “may know the world without going out of doors” and “may see the Way of Heaven without looking through the windows” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162), for it is “the storehouse of all things” and “good man’s treasure” (Laozi, 1963, p. 168). The Way functions as the universal law underlying the changes and developments of all things. It can be considered their constant and regular mode of operation, which contains what is known in Western philosophy as the three basic laws of dialectics. For instance, “reversion is the action of Tao [i.e. the Way]. Weakness is the function of Tao” (Laozi, 1963, p. 160). This concerns the law of unity of opposites. “A tree as big as a man’s embrace grows from a tiny shoot. A tower of nine storeys begins with a heap of earth. The journey of a thousand li starts from where one stands” (Laozi, 1963, pp. 169–170).6 This concerns the law of mutual change of quality and quantity. And “there was a beginning of the universe which may be called the Mother of the Universe. He who has found the mother (Tao [i.e. the Way]) and thereby understands her sons (things) and ­having understood the sons, still keeps to its mother[.]” (Laozi, 1963, p. 164). This concerns the law of position and negation. Presumably due to Laozi’s personal disposition, the Heavenly Way in his eyes is normally marked by the low, soft, and weak position it assumes. But through the transformation of contradictions, it can eventually control and overcome the hard and strong. Third, the Way is the basic norm for human life. The share of the Way obtained by humankind is called de (德, virtue).7 To act in accordance 5 Translator’s

note: For the notion of “virtue” used in this book, please see the following paragraph and Section 1.1.3. 6 Translator’s note: Chan’s footnote: “A li is about one-third of a mile”. (Chan, A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy, p. 170, Note 118). 7 Translator’s note: Mr. Hu Jiaxiang, author of the Chinese version of this book, asked me to further note here that the word 德 in literary Chinese could also be semantically suggestive of “ascending” and that its radical “彳” denoted “going forward”.

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with the Way would thus be an embodiment of virtue, hence the basic norms formulated for people to follow in social life. In Laozi’s judgment based on his observation of social realities, humankind’s way often deviated from the Way of Heaven.8 For instance, according to the Heavenly Way, those who have a high status should be kept down whereas those who have a low status should be elevated, which, in Laozi’s words, means “to reduce the excessive and supplement the insufficient” (Laozi, 1963, p. 174). But humankind’s way in reality does precisely the opposite; it reduces the insufficient in order to offer more to the excessive. Does this lead to a conclusion that the domain of heaven and that of humankind have nothing to do with each other? His answer is no, because in his opinion, an ideal way of humans is one that carries out the Way of Heaven. But, according to the ancients, he who is able to carry it out would be a sage. A sage is one who has attained the Way, a status akin to philosopher king in Plato’s framework. As an ideal leader in Laozi’s political thought, a sage has such three ideal qualities as mercy, thrifty, and not taking lead in the world. He is able to manage an excess and supply the world with it. After success, he is able to retire and rest contently in oblivion rather than remaining in leadership and enjoying himself in glory and honor. The Way of Heaven, says Laozi, is “not humane”. It “regards all things as straw dogs. The sage is not humane. He regards all people as straw dogs” (Laozi, 1963, p. 141). This should not be interpreted as a remark on any cold-bloodedness of the Heavenly Way or the sage. It is meant to advocate the abandonment of discriminatory considerations as regards one’s intimate and distant social relations and to transcend one’s personal interests thereby. The Heavenly Way does not discriminate between intimacy and distance in personal relations. It favors only those good persons who act in accordance with it. As Laozi argues, so long as a feudal lord in charge of state management is a person of the Way, he should keep “the left-hand portion (obligation) of a contract” (Laozi, 1963, p. 175) and use

8 In

its denouncement of such deviation, the Laozi refers to human’s routine social practice as “humankind’s way”. In the book, “sages’ way” is a term that is used to refer to what people usually call “the way of human” or “human way” in the sense of how humans ought to act in social life.

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it as a standard for his actions. Thus, the being “not humane” here in fact means being fair and indiscriminate. In sum, although what Laozi means by the Heavenly Way and the way of humans is not quite the same as those ways conceptualized by people before and after his time, they are indisputably interrelated. In Chapter 25 of the Laozi, it is pointed out that “man models himself after Earth. Earth models itself after Heaven. Heaven models himself after Tao [i.e. the Way]. And Tao models itself after Nature” (Laozi, 1963, p. 153). Here the ­modeling after Earth refers to the establishment and enactment of the way of humankind. Both heaven and earth model after the Way and, together, they form what is known as the Way of Heaven and Earth.9 The Way itself takes no actions but it leaves nothing undone, which can be called a constant natural process with nothing functioning as a cause behind it. It is, in other words, a thing-in-itself. Laozi’s three senses of the Way form a trinity: It was an absolute existence prior to the heaven, earth, and all things in between.10 Since heaven, earth, and all things took shape, it has functioned as their universal law. In the human society, it should be taken as a universal standard in humankind’s social life. The Way is not only absolute and infinite in terms of its existence but also infinitely subtle and abstruse in its operation. The subtlety and abstruseness can be particularly ascribed to the basic contradiction between existence and Vacuity in it. According to Chapter 1 of the Laozi, Vacuity is a term to be used to name the origin of heaven and earth. ­Existence is a term to be used to name the mother of all things. ­Therefore, let there always be Vacuity so we may see their subtlety, and let there always be Existence so we may see their outcome. The two are of the same origin but named differently. They both may be called deep and profound. Deeper and more profound, such is the door of all subtleties! (Laozi, 1963, p. 139) 9 The

said “reducing the excessive” and “supplement the insufficient” can only be understood as the joint function of heaven and earth. The interpretation would be far-fetched if it were taken to mean that man was modeled after earth for its extensiveness and thickness, and earth was modeled after heaven for its highness and brightness. 10 Translator’s note: For the sake of convenience, the present translator chooses to activate an archaic meaning of “existence”, namely “something that exists”.

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From Laozi’s viewpoint, all things between heaven and earth were generated from Existence. Existence, in its turn, was generated from Vacuity. Taking form between Vacuity and Existence was a threshold that marked the evolutionary transformation from the Way to all things between Heaven and Earth. On the basis of our observation on all things in the world, a thing has to be brought into existence by something else. Mother gives birth to daughter. She herself was borne by the child’s maternal grandmother. And the grandmother was borne by the child’s great grandmother and so on. It seems that one can always trace a ­genealogy to identify an individual’s ancestry. It goes without saying that the ancestry must have existed. But, since the existence of heaven and earth pre-conditioned the emergence of humankind and all other c­ reatures, where did heaven and earth come from? Heaven and earth are real ­existences. That which brought them into being is certainly not the things between them, nor can it possibly have been human beings. It is not something that we can see and hear. So it has to be called Vacuity. From the perspective of cosmogenesis, perhaps it would be more appropriate to characterize the contradiction as non-Existence vis-à-vis non-Vacuity. This is because the assertion of it being Vacuity takes no heed of its creation of heaven, earth, and all things in between. There is, after all, a mother of all things. With that said, if we say it is Existence, we do not see its shape, nor hear its sound. There is nothing within human faculty of perception that enables us to grasp it. Combining these two aspects and putting it in plain language, we may say it is a shapeless shape and unsubstantial image. Therefore, we should neither insist on its being Existence nor adhere to the idea of its being Vacuity. “The thing that is called Tao [i.e. the Way]”, as Laozi characterizes it in Chapter 21, “is eluding and vague. Vague and eluding, there is in it the form [i.e. Image]. Eluding and vague, in it are things. Deep and obscure, in it there is essence. The essence is very real; in it are evidences” (Laozi, 1963, p. 150). Being eluding, vague, deep, and obscure, such is how it is like in a state between Existence and Vacuity. The contradiction between Existence and Vacuity in the Way manifests itself not only in the cosmogenesis but also in things’ development and changes. Any specific thing or creature would have to undergo a process of emerging into existence and the ensuing development. Take any

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animal we raise. In the beginning it was non-existent. In other words, it was in the form of Vacuity. The copulation between a male and female brings this animal into Existence. Running throughout every moment of its life would be a series of contradictions between Existence and Vacuity with the former being the affirmation of its life and the latter the negation of it, because Existence sustains a tendency of living whereas Vacuity a tendency of death. The struggle between the tendencies constitutes the metabolic process of the organism, which eventually ends in the negation of its life by its death. The whole process forms a cycle of negation that can be briefly demonstrated as Vacuity → Existence → Vacuity. In this sense, one can hardly blame Laozi for basing his theorization on the Vacuity. But, from the perspective of human existence and development, some philosophers prefer to take Existence (life) as the phase of affirmation, Vacuity (death) as the phase of negation, and the birth of a new thing or new life as the phase of negation of negation. Granted that what this reflects is just a difference in choosing a starting point, the difference, in a hardly appreciable manner, often gives rise to two vast different outlooks on life. One is pessimistic and relinquishing whereas the other optimistic and enterprising. In Chinese philosophy, Buddhism and Daoism are inclined to the former and Confucianism to the latter. The concept of Existence and Vacuity is a basic contradiction that features the ontology of all philosophies regardless of their time and regions. In Indian philosophy, there was opposition between the Sectarian Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism, as exemplified by the opposition between the Sarvāstivāda School and Madhyamika. Hegel’s Logic has absolute Existence as its start point. It is an abstract entity that is irregular, pure, and absolute. Because it is purely abstract, it is at the same time an absolute negation. One can therefore speak of it as Vacuity, an entity beyond description. With Existence being affirmative and Vacuity negative, the unity of the two is change or transformation. Proceeding from there, there begin to be laws of operation constituted by such pairs of contradictions as, inter alia, quality and quantity, affirmation and negation, essence and phenomenon, cause and result. In Hegelian framework, logic is placed in the status of noumenon, it is preoccupied with the formation and the operational law of absolute idea (i.e. absolute mind). Placed in the same rank with it are natural

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philosophy and mental philosophy, which, as extensions of the contents of logic to different times and different areas of inquiries, can simply be regarded as “applied logic”. Hegel considered absolute idea to be the most real entity. It has evolved the natural world and, in doing so, negated itself. Things and beings in nature have thus obscured the absolute idea and almost reduced it to Vacuity. However, growing out of the natural world, there have been advanced creatures — namely human beings — that ­feature a spiritual world. Their coming into existence occurred as a negation to the natural world’s material form of negation to the absolute idea. Thanks to this negation of negation, the absolute idea is able to unfold and become manifest. With spirit coming to know itself, a circular motion of the absolute mind is complete. Hegelian philosophy bears significant resemblance to the thought in the Laozi. But, because its absolute mind is conceptualized as the most real Existence, the world view and outlook on life derived from it features an active and positive attitude. Strictly in this regard, therefore, Hegelian philosophy tends to be akin to the philosophy in the Book of Changes. One important characteristic of Hegel’s philosophy is that its ontology is at the same time its methodology. The philosophy in the Laozi also shows this feature. Its author thinks that Existence is born from Vacuity, but he also believes in the mutual generation between Existence and Vacuity. This tells us that when examining the beginning and the development of anything, we must pay particular attention to the following two aspects: We should, on the one hand, look into the aspect of there always being Vacuity in order to observe the subtle and incipient form of any change. On the other hand, we should look into the aspect of there always being Existence to find out the ultimate end which the development of a change heads to. The word “subtle” used by Laozi means extremely tiny. All things start from a subtle and tiny beginning before they eventually grow full-blown. The word “outcome” suggests an end and destination. It denotes a destination of tranquility where all things will eventually end up. What all this means is that since Existence comes out of Vacuity, one should observe the tendency of existence in Vacuity. And because Existence will eventually end up in Vacuity, one should observe the tendency of Vacuity in existence. To do so is precisely to plumb the depths of the eluding and vague (i.e. the subtlety), and the

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deep and the obscure (i.e. the outcome). This is not unlike the manner in which people in the modern time conceive the Black Hole. They think of it as being both deep and dark. It is, in other words, thought to be “deep and profound”. “Deeper and more profound, such is the door of all subtleties!” (Laozi, 1963, p. 139). This says of both the insights into the external cosmos and the deep-felt inner experience of someone who experiences the Way. Existence and Vacuity exhibit the opposition between affirmation and negation. The dynamic and mutually reversing tendencies provide impetus to the motions of the Way, which largely explains Laozi’s observation that “reversion is the action of the Way”. As for such phenomena that the high is built upon the low, the noble relies on the base, and the weak precedes the strong,11 they all speak of the dialectic transformation of things resulting from the mutual generation between Existence and Vacuity. Laozi characterizes the Way as “Great”, but it is not a still entity that remains singular; instead, it permeates everywhere. This is called “functioning everywhere”. When such functioning reaches its extreme, it is called “far-reaching”. The moment it reaches its extreme, it will develop in the reverse direction. This is called “returning to the original point” (Laozi, 1963, p. 152). Hence, the prime time of its development marks the beginning of its waning. It is thus considered to be back to its origin. In short, as a concept that people formulated in their lives, the ­category of “the Way” was centralized in Laozi’s philosophy. It was an absolute existence before the genesis of heaven and earth and it underlies the raison d’être of all things and beings. Since there came to be heaven and earth, it has functioned as the universal law of the noumena of all things. In addition, it should be taken as the fundamental norm for human social life. Its basic internal contradiction is that of Existence vs. Vacuity. The genesis and changes of all things and beings invariably result from the mutual promotion and restraint between Existence and Vacuity, in which those who seek to experience the Way can and should observe the abstruse and subtle operation of the Way. 11 Translator’s

note: “The weak precedes the strong”, as can be exemplified in the fact that incipiency precedes maturity.

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1.1.2.  Characteristics of the Way The Way is unique. Its characteristics are very distinct. There are in fact many unique entities in the world, such as each and every person; but their existence is limited and contingent. Therefore, the key to an apt characterization of the Way lies in the understanding of its infinity and absoluteness. Admittedly, to capture the characteristics is mostly beyond human intellectual capability. But the characterization tantalizes the capacity of humankind’s 志性 zhixing. In Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi, the following forthright characterization of the Way is attempted: Tao [i.e. the Way] has reality and evidence but no action or physical form. It may be transmitted but cannot be received. It may be obtained but cannot be seen. It is based in itself, rooted in itself. Before heaven and earth came into being, Tao existed by itself from all time. It gave spirits and rulers their spiritual powers. It created heaven and earth. It is above the zenith but it is not high. It is beneath the nadir but it is not low. It is prior to heaven and earth but it is not old. It is more ancient than the highest antiquity but is not regarded as long ago. (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 194)

Both the “reality” and “evidence” above denote a real existence and thereby confirm the actual existence of the Way. Yet, being inactive and shapeless, the form that the Way normally assumes is beyond the range of human perception. It would take someone awakened to it to experience it and feel it. As the fundamental root of the universe where we find ourselves, it had existed before there were heaven and earth. It was the Way that generated heaven and earth, and endowed “spirits and rulers” in the human society with inscrutable spiritual powers. Spatially we do not see its limits; temporally it has left no clue as regards when it began and when it will end. This passage from the Zhuangzi captures characteristics of the Way well such as being based in itself, rooted in itself, shapeless, soundless, ubiquitous, and with neither a beginning nor an end. With early philosophers’ explication in mind, we should, in our attempt to characterize the Way, understand not only how it is so but also do what we can to inquire why it is so. In other words, we should understand the basis on which early philosophers formulated their arguments.

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First of all, the Way is based in itself and rooted in itself. In Laozi’s view, the Way is the ancestor of heaven, earth, and all things in between. There is no knowing where it was originated and what generated it. Should there be a God, it must have come after the Way. “It [i.e. the Way] seems to have existed before the Lord” (Laozi, 1963, p. 141). In Chapter 7 of Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2, which is devoted to the study of early philosophers’ methodologies, we will discuss why Laozi thought so. Here, we will just explain it by following a simple logic. As we know, humans are remarkably inclined to enquire regarding the bottom of everything in order to ultimately find out, for example, a real eternal existence. From the perspective of our commonsense, the existing material world is real. But an individual’s life is transient. Families with wealth and honor are subject to the mischief of fate. Even mountains and rivers are not free from fundamental massive changes. In view of all this, Buddhists criticize the commonsense view of reality, calling it attachment by pervasive discrimination (遍計所執 in Chinese; parikalpita in Sanskrit). They argue that once we come to the awareness that the emergence of anything would be arising with dependence on other things, we will realize that anything can be obliterated and hence all things in the world are void in the final analysis. However, he who can empty his mind can hardly be justified to jump to a conclusion that the vast universe is empty of substance. From the existence of all things in the world, early Chinese philosophers inferred the creation of them by heaven and earth. They then went further to trace the origin of heaven and earth and took the Way to be the fundamental root (Origin) in a cosmogenetic sense. Theoretically, they could have gone even further to inquire where the Way had come from. But that would go deeper into the abstruse and mystical. The search for the identity of the mother of heaven and earth is necessary. The search will start from substantiality and arrive at emptiness. But the inquiry into the origin would both start from and end in emptiness. It will thus fall into nihilism. Since the aspiration of humankind’s zhixing to reach for infinity is relatively satisfied, one might as well assume that the fundamental root is based in itself, rooted in itself, independent of anything, and seemingly inactive but in fact leaving nothing undone. Second, the Way is temporally with no beginning or end. Because it had already been in existence before there were heaven and earth, we

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would say heaven and earth had a beginning but the Way had not. Suppose there were one day when the heaven and earth that encapsulated our world broke up or even perished, the Way would still remain in existence. In this sense, we can also say that the Way is endless. Since it is free of any beginning and end, we can say its existence is eternal. Of course, once the notion of it being the fundamental root is established, we may be unable to further pursue the beginning of the Way. Nevertheless, we can reserve our suspicion about its endlessness. If one day our earth or even the entire Milky Galaxy (i.e. the heaven and earth in early philosophers’ nomenclature) perished, one could hardly exclude the possibility that there would be another Way that created another heaven and earth. But the conjecture would be further beyond the capability of our intellectuality. It is, therefore, not pursuable. Besides, human mind always seeks uniformity. This conjecture, which groundlessly undermines the unitary nature of the Way, would only add to the perplexity of the mind. Our early thinkers had reason to stop short of attempting it. Third, the Way is spatially ubiquitous. One has to posit the presence of the Way in heaven, earth, and all things in between after they were generated. This is analogous to a towering big tree that, after growing out of a seed, contains specific properties and the basic inner structure of the seed in each and every twig and leaf it contains. In Chapter 22 of the Zhuangzi, there is an allegory that addresses this topic. “Dongguozi asked Zhuangzi, ‘What is called the Way — where is it?’ ‘It is everywhere,’ replied Zhuangzi. Dongguozi said, ‘It will not do unless you are more specific.’ ‘It is in the ant,’ said Zhuangzi. ‘Why go so low down?’ ‘It is in the weeds.’ ‘Why even lower?’ ‘It is in a potsherd.’ ‘Why still lower?’ ‘It is in the excrement and urine,’ said Zhuangzi. Dongguo gave no response” (Chan, 1963, p. 203). At last Zhuangzi told him that “What you ask [i.e. Dongguozi’s request for locating the Way] does not touch the essential” (Chan, 1963). Although, in terms of logic, one has reason to recognize the presence of the Way in the basest things, there is difficulty in the explication of it. Suppose Dongguozi went further to ask what the Way was like in a potsherd or feces, Zhuangzi would probably have to evade the question by changing the topic. In fact, the question “what was meant by the Buddha’s eastern journey” in Buddhism has given rise to many koans in the form of seemingly irrelevant answers.

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Fourth, the Way exists in a shapeless and soundless state. It is observed in the Laozi time and again that the Way has neither sound nor shape. “Great sound”, says Laozi in Chapter 41, “is inaudible. Great form is invisible. The Way is concealed and nameless”. To listen to it without hearing anything, this is called xi 希 (rare; scarce). What he means by the scarcity of sound is the actual absence of sound. A great sound is as inaudible to our ears as a great form is invisible to our eyes. Human beings primarily rely on their visual and hearing senses to capture cultural messages because such messages are mostly audio-visually codified. The Way, however, stays outside the range of human capability of hearing and seeing, which leaves humankind unable to characterize it and describe it. By means of logic, we can securely infer this characteristic of the Way: If it took any concrete form or featured any sound in particular, then it would become comparable with other things in form and sound regardless of whether there were any resemblances to speak of. In that case, it would no more be something infinite. Therefore, because it generated heaven and earth, and it is ubiquitous after the creation of heaven, earth, and all things in between, it cannot possibly have any specific form or sound. According to Chapter 14 of the Laozi, “We look at it but do not see it; its name is yi [夷, the invisible]. We listen to it and do not hear it; its name is xi. We touch it and do not find it; its name is wei [微, the formless]. These three cannot be further inquired into, and hence merged into One”. The “One” here refers to the Way, which, based on the perception of someone who experiences the Way, is Vacuity. The yi (the invisible), xi (the inaudible), and wei (the formless) jointly negate its materiality and substantiality. It is hence appropriate to call it Vacuity. Regarding the words — such as yi, xi, wei — that Laozi uses to depict the Way as a formless and insubstantial noumenal existence, it is worth noting that they speak of human collective unconsciousness. Western scholars in the 19th century once linked their phonetic features (I-H-W) with Jehovah in Christianity and Iαω, the name with which the Gnostics referred to God. They even found names of god in Africa that featured similar phonological traits.12 12 See

G. W. F. Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History. Translated by He Lin 賀麟 and Wang Taiqing 王太慶 [into Chinese]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1959, Vol. 1, pp. 129–131.

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In brief, the basic traits of the Way can be represented in such words as self (i.e. a thing-in-it-self and in operation by itself), Vacuity (i.e. the soundless and shapeless origin of heaven and earth), mother (i.e. mother of all things and beings), and one (i.e. being infinite and absolute). These traits are all identified through humans’ use of their own mental capacity as a standard of measurement. The traits are manifested in the Way’s opposition to, and comparison with, finite worldly things. The most basic traits of the Way are, therefore, absoluteness and infinity — note that the jue 絕 as in 絕對 juedui (absolute) and wu 無 as in wuxian 無限 (infinite; boundless) are both negatives in Chinese. Thus, the Way must be based in itself and rooted in itself; it must be ubiquitous and with neither a beginning nor an end; and it must be soundless and shapeless. We keep saying “it must be” because the subject matter under discussion is beyond the grasp of human intellectual capability. We can infer that it is so but we are unable to prove it to be so. This is a realm of faith, a realm that is markedly different from the realm of knowledge. Whereas the former seeks to grasp the absolute and infinite existence, the latter is solidly based on what is obtained through an investigation of the relative and finite. Precisely because the Way is infinite and absolute, it exceeds the boundaries that language can circumscribe, which partially explains why people would often use the morpheme wu (to be lacking; to be without; to be not existent) when they speak of it. Generally speaking, people may well apply different names to what is infinite and absolute; it is nevertheless outside the domain governable by such human invention as language. This will be taken up in more detail later. 1.1.3.  The Status of the Way Although we have, in the foregoing, touched upon the topic regarding the status of the Way in both nature and human society, elaboration on the topic is nonetheless necessary. It is written in the Laozi that, Of old those that obtained the One: Heaven obtained the One and became clear. Earth obtained the One and became tranquil. The spiritual beings obtained the One and became divine. The valley obtained the One and became full. The myriad things obtained the One and lived and grew.

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Kings and barons obtained the One and became rulers of the empire. (Laozi, 1963, p. 159)

The Way is the noumenon of all things in the world. The nature of things (virtue) is derived from the Way. Virtue (de 德) means “to obtain” (de 得) and, by extension, “to obtain the Way”. What is “One”? According to Chapter 24 of the Laozi, One was the very first thing generated by the Way. What is in opposition to One is “Two”, which some say refers to yin and yang, and others say refers to heaven and earth. Based on this interpretation, we may say One refers to the chaos before heaven and earth — or yin and yang — parted. The shift from the topic of the Way to that of One indicates a transition from a dimensional plane of non-existence to that of non-Vacuity. As a notion, its connotation can be approximated by the term Yuanqi 元氣 (Primordial Qi; primary energy; primary living force) used in the Han dynasty and what Zhang Zai called Taixu 太虛 (Grand Void). Heshang Gong interpreted One to be Inaction and considered Inaction to be the son of the Way. But Inaction is in fact the essential nature and characteristic of the existence and motions of the Way. As such, it is linked with what Laozi called Nature, which means that there is no mother–son relationship between it and the Way. Therefore, we may say that the “One” that is said to be “obtained” in the passage is none other than the Way.13 One means unique, hence it is absolute. That is why in the Zhuangzi, to experience the Way is interpreted as to see the unique. Laozi presumably meant to emphasize that heaven, earth, and all things in between would not be in a (ideal) state they should be until they obtained the Way. Plato, in a sense, shared this view. Plato maintains that the noumenon of the world is an absolute and eternal Idea. This Idea, so he argues, is the most real existence. He ascribes the shapes and forms of all things and beings to the shares of the Ideal they have variously obtained. Thus, according to Plato, what we call Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are the embodiments of this Idea in various things. But Plato’s 13 The

Huainanzi 淮南子 (2nd century BC) also interprets it this way. It is written in Chapter 14 that “[i]naction is obtained from the One. The One is the root of all things; it is the peerless Way”.

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theory of the Idea regards the changes and developments of things as illusionary and unreal. Laozi, in contrast, holds that such changes and developments are none other than the manifestations of the Way. Having compared them, we may find that Plato’s theorization of the Idea tends to proceed from the concrete (individuality) to the abstract (universality). It is a process suggestive of his endeavor to reveal the archetype from which individual things and beings have been variously derived. The Ideas he discusses are numerous. They jointly form an ideal world of universality that stands in opposition to the world of phenomena. Laozi’s theorization of the Way, by contrast, works from the abstract to the concrete, following a whole process of deductive inferences. This is similar to a process in which one, based on what is known about a viable seed, infers the look of the trunk and even the twigs and leaves of the tree that the seed will grow into. In terms of the connectedness between the items in each of such pairs of opposites as the infinite vis-à-vis finite, noumenon vis-à-vis phenomenon, and一yi (“one”, “monistic”, “singularity”) vis-à-vis 多duo (“many”, “plurality”), one would say Laozi’s theorization of the Way is more logical. Yet there is also something puzzling in this matter: How do we explain the differences among the various things and beings? If they all manifest the Way, why does the Way favor some but discriminate the others? Laozi did not give an answer. Mencius pointed out that inequality was the reality about all things. But he made no attempt to explore its reason. Zhuangzi argued for the uniformity of all things. Such uniformity, however, turns out to be entirely in the sense of reversion to the origin and initial state. Moreover, much as Zhuangzi likened the distance between the liver and gallbladder to that from Chu to Yue,�14 he simply ascribed the distance to one’s choice of viewpoint.15 From Zhuangzi’s view we cited earlier, we infer his conviction that the Way existed even in ants and feces. Yet, such a Way seems to be vastly different from the Way obtained by spiritual beings, kings, and barons. Borrowing Plato’s theory of the Idea, one may say that the difference among all things consists in both the amount of the Way they variously possess and how the Way is contained in each of them. 14 Translator’s

note: Chu and Yue were two southern feudal states in the Spring–Autumn Period in early China. 15 Translator’s note: See Section 4.3.3 of Chapter 4.

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To rationalize the difference, Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) philosophers put forward the proposition of “dendritic multiple manifestations of the singular Principle” 理一分殊. We will discuss this theory in Section 2.2 of Chapter 2. We should add that if the Way of Heaven is interpreted as a unity between certainty and uncertainty, many puzzling phenomena can be more easily explained. The certainty in this regard constitutes the formal cause for the emergence, changes, and developments of all things. Hence, it would be more appropriate to call it “Heavenly Principle” or “Heavenly Texture”. As for the uncertainty, what it constitutes is the efficient cause for the said emergence, changes, and developments. Hence, it would be better called “Heavenly Destiny”. It seems that the interweaving of “Heavenly Texture” and “Heavenly Destiny” has a bearing on the developments and changes in both the nature and human society. We should also draw distinction between the following: In nature, the Way is marked by an aimless existence, where, for instance, ants know neither why they are what they are nor what they ought to be. In human society, by contrast, the Way can be converted to a conscious existence. This could be particularly true with who the ancients called sages, who are said to be able to experience the Way and follow it consciously. The former is the Way of Heaven whereas the latter the Way of humankind. From the perspective of what things ought to be, the two of them should be harmoniously interconnected. In the eyes of the author of the Laozi, Heavenly Way usually “benefits others and not to injure. The way of the sage is to act but not to compete” (Laozi, 1963, p. 176). This is known as humankind’s modeling after Heaven. In fact, the modeling does not have to be something that proceeds out of obligation and heteronomy. Rather, it should be autonomic and free. In Zhuangzi’s words, this is called “matching Heaven with human kind’s nature”, (Zhuangzi, Chapter 19) which means to match the dynamics of Heaven with humankind’s own nature.16 A similar thought can be found in the Doctrine of the Mean, where it is argued that “what Heaven imparts to man is called 16 Autonomy

should not be understood as self-restraint. It is more of self-determination independent of any external factors. Heteronomy works precisely the other way around. In the moral philosophy of Kant, autonomy and heteronomy are used as a standard to test the purity of moral notions and behaviors. This is parallel to the view held by the ZisiMencius School of Thought in early China.

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human nature. To follow our nature is called the Way” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98). Because human virtue is a heavenly-endowment, so long as one follows one’s own nature without twisting it or complicating it with any artificiality, one’s action naturally embodies the Way. This view is shared by Chan Buddhists. They think that an ordinary mind represents the Way and, for this reason, eating when hungry and sleeping when sleepy both embody the Way. But, because the Way can only be experienced internally in an individual human’s heart rather than imparted verbally, it is still hard to comprehensively and accurately understand it and grasp it. Confucius even went so far as to say “if a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret.” (Confucius, 2014, p. 34). Why? It is because from a Confucian viewpoint, the ability to experience the Way and follow it represents the realm of sages as well as a successful fulfillment of the value of one’s life. Recorded in the Analects there is the following account: One day Confucius said to his disciples, “I do not wish to say anything”. His disciple Zigong 子貢, feeling concerned, asked, “If you do not say anything, what can we little disciples ever learn to pass on to others?” Confucius, sighing with feelings, replied, “Does Heaven speak? The four seasons pursue their courses, and all things are continually produced, but does Heaven say anything?” (Confucius, 2014, p. 192). This account may show us that Confucius had long concentrated on experiencing the Way and modeling after Heaven. He realized that the Way in its real sense was hard to impart verbally. Wang Bi once pointed out that “the Sage [i.e. Confucius] experienced Vacuity. But Vacuity is inexplicable; therefore [he] did not say anything. Laozi was someone who recognized the validity of Existence. That is why he kept talking about Vacuity to make up for the deficiency” (“The Biography of Wang Bi” cited in Records of the Three Kingdoms). This view was seconded by some other scholars including He Yan 何晏 (195–249 AD). In short, Confucianism, Daoism, and Sinicized Buddhism all shared a faith in the connection between Heaven and humankind. All regarded the following of the Way as a norm for human life. Derived from there is the basic characteristic of Chinese philosophy, namely an emphasis on experiencing Heavenly Way as a means to uphold the human way. To some Western scholars, Chinese philosophy seems to belong to a kind of atheist religious-philosophical culture. We would say that it is a philosophy established on the notion of the Way.

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Of course, one should not overlook the differences among different schools of thoughts. The pre-Qin Confucian notion of the Way was used mostly in a socio-ethical sense, for the utmost concern of Confucianism was to establish norms in humankind’s social relations. Overall, the thought they advocated tends to be masculine and enterprising in character. The Way in pre-Qin Daoism was, on the other hand, used mostly to denote the fundamental root of heaven, earth, and all things in between. Thinkers in this school were pessimistic about social order. Their utmost concern was to have the social relation to return to its primitive and natural origin. Generally speaking, their theory tends to be feminine and introversive. Later, when Buddhists began talking about the Way, they basically used the term in its Daoist sense. But the two schools differ in that Laozi’s theory centers on Vacuity, whereas Buddhists’ uphold Void. Since the operation of the Way has in it such contradictions as yin and yang, Activity and Tranquility, firmness and softness, advances and retreats, Existence and Vacuity, only a mutual supplementation between Confucianism and Daoism can make the theory of the Way complete. Confucians exert themselves inside the human domain (i.e. social relations and social orders in human world) whereas Daoists and Buddhists roam outside it. The Way, with its universality, is able to connect the inside and the outside of the domain.

1.2. The Great Ultimate With the Way as the origin of heaven and earth and mother of all things, the genesis and development of the world can be properly explicated in terms of its final cause, its formal cause, and its efficient cause. But the problem is still the absence of a material cause, which easily gives rise to the misunderstanding that the “Vacuity”, as the origin of Existence, means absolute emptiness.17 Some pre-modern thinkers may have come to be aware of the problem. They came up with the term “Great Ultimate” as their attempt to explicate the causes — including the material cause — of the genesis of the cosmos. This should be considered as a step forward in the field of cosmogenesis in Chinese philosophy.

17 Translator’s

note: For the theory of “Four Causes”, see Chapter 3, Book B, of Aristotle’s

Physics.

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1.2.1.  The Origin of the Great Ultimate as a Category The term “Great Ultimate” may have first occurred during the Warring States Period, because no occurrence of the term has been found thus far in the texts ascribed to the Spring–Autumn Period. In the term Taiji 太極 (Great Ultimate), the Tai 太 is semantically related to da 大 (large; big), meaning “exhaustively inclusive”. In the Laozi, the “undifferentiated and yet complete” (Laozi, 1963, p. 152) entity that had been in existence prior to heaven and earth is referred to as da. As for the ji 極 (pole; extreme), it originally meant the wood used as the ridge of a house. The two morphemes 大 and 極 form a word that conveys precisely an idea that there is an extreme to the vast universe. This causes a problem in expression: Originally the word was meant to describe infinity, but such a description, as it turned out, had to assume an extreme for it. Later, scholars tried to solve the problem by topping “the Great Ultimate” with a concept of Wuji 無極 (No Extreme; Endlessness), as in Zhou Dunyi’s 周敦頤 (1017–1073 AD) An Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate 太極圖說. Instead of solving the problem, however, this only increased notional confusions, which, as we will discuss in the following section, speaks of a potential tension between humankind’s thinking and their verbalization thereof. The term “Great Ultimate” first occurred in “The Great Commentaries of the Book of Changes”,18 where it says, Therefore in (the system of) the Book of Changes there is the Great Ultimate, which produced the two elementary Forms. Those two Forms produced the Four emblematic Symbols, which again produced the eight Trigrams. The eight trigrams served to determine the good and

18 “Commentary

on Book of Changes” is conventionally ascribed to Confucius, which may not be reliable. But it was at least authored by Confucius’s disciples or the disciples of his disciples. According to Mr. Zhang Dainian’s textual study, “The Great Commentaries” should have been composed before Zhuangzi’s time. In my study of the original meaning of the term “易簡” in “The Great Commentaries”, I found that the graph “簡” in this term was used in a similar way to its use in the phrase “簡在帝心” in Analects 20.1. This usage is rarely seen in texts of later times. Chapter 20 of the Analects should have been composed by the disciples of Confucius’s disciples.

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evil (issues of events), and from this determination was produced the (successful prosecution of the) great business (of life).19

A number of different opinions have occurred in history with regard to what the term “Great Ultimate” means in the above passage. Scholars in the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) considered the first three sentences to be a depiction of a sequence followed by the genesis of the cosmos, in which the “Great Ultimate” — in the capacity of the Way in the very center and in the form of a vital energy that was pure and harmonious — was the original mode of the existence of yin and yang before they parted. Zhu Xi also considered the Great Ultimate as the fundamental root of the cosmos. But he considered the passage above as an account of the xiang (象, image symbols) and shu (數, numerology) of the eight trigrams. The Great Ultimate, in his judgment, was a combined totality in existence when neither the image symbols nor the numerology began to take form. This view was refuted by Li Shugu 李恕谷 (1659–1733 AD) in the Qing dynasty.20 Li, in his Commentary on the Commentary on the Book of Changes 周易傳注, regarded the passage as depicting a process of divining with alpine yarrows, in which “the number of Great Expansion, (multiplied together), makes 50, of which (only) 49 [alpine yarrows] are used (in divination)” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 305). The one that was not used, as Li suggested, stood for that which remained unchanging, namely the Great Ultimate. Considering the temporal proximity of the Han dynasty to “The Great Commentaries” and the fidelity that Han dynasty scholars pursued in their interpretation of the Book of Changes, we choose to adopt their interpretation, where the Great Ultimate is identified as the fundamental root of the cosmos; and the two “elementary Forms” it produced denote such dichotomies as yin vis-à-vis yang and heaven vis-à-vis earth. The alternate workings of the yin and yang between heaven and earth, in their turn, produced “four Emblematic Symbols” — spring, summer, autumn, and winter.21 19 Translator’s

note: This translation is adopted mutatis mutandis from The Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge (Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993): 311. 20 Translator’s note: Li Shugu is an alias of Li Gong 李塨. 21 This passage should be divided analytically into two parts. The first three sentences are about natural phenomena between heaven and earth whereas the latter three about human

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The author of “Great Commentaries”, too, states that “the interwoven operations of yin and yang constitute what is known as the Way”,22 and draws distinctions among “the Way of Heaven”, “the Way of Earth”, and “the Way of human kind”. What he observes is merely such a general law that the interaction of two opposing tendencies results in the change of things. It does not carry any sense that denotes an origin. Where the denoting of the cosmic origin is concerned, we are uncertain whether such use of “the Great Ultimate” in lieu of “the Way” has proceeded from any awareness of the inadequacy of Laozi’s theorization of the Way, for the book Laozi may or may not have entered circulation by that time. But the author of “The Great Commentaries” must have been aware that by that time the Way had become a catchphrase people used to refer to the general law followed by nature and the human society. In this context, their option to use the Way to denote the pattern of changes and developments rather than the cosmic origin must have stemmed from some contemplation. Inspiration in this regard can be drawn from the view of Zhang Zai, a Song dynasty philosopher. In Chapter 1 of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance 正蒙, Zhang Zai wrote, “The integration and disintegration of material force is to the Great Vacuity as the freezing and melting of ice to water. If we realize that the Great Vacuity is identical with material force, we know that there is no such thing as non-being. Therefore, when discussing the ultimate problems of the nature of things and the Way of Heaven, the sage limits himself to the marvelous changes and the transformations of the numerological patterns. The doctrine of those superficial and mistaken philosophers who draw the distinction between being and nonbeing is not the way to investigate principle to the utmost”.23 What he culture. Some annotators think the “eight trigrams” stand for the eight most prominent things, such as heaven, earth, water, fire, and so forth. There are, however, logical problems with this interpretation: First, the genesis of heaven and earth, in all likelihood, should have preceded the emergence of the four seasons. Their interpretation has reversed this order. Second, those that “served to determine good and evil” definitely refer to the eight trigrams invented by our cultural forerunners. But the said interpretation suggests two sets of eight trigrams that inconsistently stand for different things. 22 Translator’s note: Cf. The Book of Changes (Legge, trans, 1993, p. 297). 23 Translator’s note: This partial translation of Zhang Zai’s “The Great Harmony” is adopted mutatis mutandis from Wing-tsit Chan’s A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 503–504.

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refers to as the Great Harmony is similar to the Great Ultimate. This “Great Harmony” he explicitly wrote about refutes the view that the cosmos originated from emptiness and Vacuity. It denounces Laozi and Buddhism as being “superficial and mistaken”. We should point out that Zhang Zai’s understanding of “non-being” (aka Vacuity) tends to be a little too narrow, because the notion of Vacuity in Daoism primarily refers to a state of being soundless and shapeless. Unlike “The Great Commentaries”, the Zhuangzi considers the Way as the fundamental root but takes the Great Ultimate to be merely a concept to conceptualize the spatial dimension of the Way. It is worth noting that, in the Zhuangzi, the three occurrences of the term “Great Ultimate” seem to have been intended to mediate between the “Way” conceptualized in the Laozi and the “Great Ultimate” in “The Great Commentaries”. For instance, as a retrospection on the classic scholarship in the Spring– Autumn and Warring States periods, the last chapter (i.e. Chapter 33) of the Zhuangzi says of the theories of Laozi and Guanyinzi 關尹子 (5th century BC) to be endeavors to “establish the primordiality of Vacuity and uphold the Absolute One”.24 As we know, Laozi posited his theorization of the Way on the universal contradiction between Existence and Vacuity, where the Way is treated as a central category. But here it is presented as “the Absolute One” 太一. Toward the end of the Warring States Period, Lü Buwei 呂不韋 (292–235 BC) organized the compilation of Mr. Lü’s Annals 呂氏春秋. In the book, the “Great Ultimate” in “The Commentaries on the Book of Changes” is simply referred to as “the Absolute One”. In addition, the book presents the following depiction of the dynamic structure of the cosmos: “The Absolute One produced the two elementary Forms, which in turn produced yin and yang. Yin and yang, ascending and descending in turns, jointly displayed patterned changes. Indistinctly, they joined once they parted and parted once they joined. Such is the constancy of Nature. Heaven and earth wheel goes around by starting all over when coming to an end and returning when reaching an extreme, none of which is 24 Translator’s

note: Translation of the phrase from the Zhuangzi is partially based on Qiu Xigui’s interpretation. See Qiu Xigui 裘錫圭. “Shuo jian zhi yi chang wu you 說‘建之以 常無有 [The System is Based upon Vacuity in Zhuang Zi]”. Fudan Journal (Social Sciences) 1 (2009): 1–3, p. 11.

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inappropriately done. Celestial bodies differ in their motion speeds. Regularly the sun and moon each completes its own orbital movements. The four seasons succeed one another with some being hot, some cold, some short, some long, some mild, and some harsh. All things are originated from the Absolute One and subject to the transformation by yin and yang”. This book recognizes the viability of the theory of the Way in the Laozi and provides some elaborated explications. Moreover, it explicitly regards Taiyi (太乙, Primordial Unity of Yin and Yang, i.e. the Absolute One) as an alternative name of the “Way”. By the Han dynasty, the Great Ultimate had become a popular notion for the origin of the cosmos. Scholars such as Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (198–106 BC) and Ban Gu 班固 (32–92 AD) had all touched upon it. Xu Shen 許慎 (58–147 AD) opened his Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters 說文解字 with a definition of the graph “一” (yi, one). “In the early most era of the Great Ultimate, the [operation of] the Way, proceeding from One, began to separate heaven and earth and evolve all things and beings”. From the fact that an authoritative dictionary began this way, it can be inferred that this view could not possibly have been shared by only a small group of people. In the Tang dynasty, Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574–648 AD) and others took over Han dynasty Confucians’ idea. “The Great Ultimate”, explains Kong, “speaks of a time before the separation of heaven and earth, when the Primordial Energy remained in whole, which was the Grand Beginning or Absolute One. This is what Laozi meant by saying ‘the Way produced the One’. What this refers to is none other than the Great Ultimate. But it also speaks of a time when this whole unity had just disintegrated with the emergence of heaven and earth. That is why it is said ‘the Great Ultimate produced the two elementary Forms,’ which means the same thing as Laozi’s observation that ‘the One produced the two’. They were called Two Elementary Forms instead of Heaven and Earth because they were mentioned in opposition to the Four Emblematic Symbols below them. This is why they were called the Two Elementary Forms, meaning the forms of two entities [i.e. heaven and earth]” (Kong Yingda, Zhouyi Zhushu). Here, the Great Ultimate is understood as the only child of the Way, and heaven and earth as the boy-and-girl

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twins of the Great Ultimate. Intending as Kong Yingda did to seek the integration of the thought expressed in “The Commentary on the Book of Changes” and that in the Laozi, what he did was no more than construing some words and phrases in the texts. In the Song dynasty, almost all Neo-Confucian scholars studied the Book of Changes. They have produced a lot of scholarship on the Great Ultimate. Notwithstanding their different interpretations, they, in general, tend to take the Great Ultimate to be a cosmogenetic origin as well as the most advanced principle for the myriad things and beings that exist in reality. In their eyes, therefore, Great Ultimate is both the origin of the cosmos and the noumenon of all things. 1.2.2.  Connotations of the Category of the Great Ultimate In his Meanings of Words from the Four Books, Chen Chun (1159–1223 AD), one of Zhu Xi’s best disciples, presents quite a long string of attributes about the Great Ultimate saying, “The Great Ultimate is said to be the ultimate because as a principle, it is extremely impartial, extremely illuminating, extremely refined, extremely pure, extremely marvelous, and extremely wonderful. Absolutely excellent and exhaustive [of all the good qualities] as it is, there is nothing one can add to make it better. The best we can do [to characterize it] would still be nothing more than naming it the Great Ultimate”. Thus, he considered the Great Ultimate to be a pure and absolute principle. This view is rather narrow. The Great Ultimate, in the sense of a cosmogenetic origin, should be more appropriately understood as a unity between principle (aka texture) and Qi (vital energy), as well as one between yin and yang. Based on the numerous explications offered by pre-modern thinkers, now we can identify with certainty the connotations of the Great Ultimate as follows. First, it was a nebulous existence before the initial separation. We may even surmise that Laozi might have sensed some problem when he took note of the fact that people had already been accustomed to using the term “the Way” to refer to the fundamental root before the genesis of heaven and earth. Indeed, all things have to depend on something else and be

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interdependent. All will go out of existence upon the loss of the conditions essential to their existence. If we follow this logic through to the end, ultimately there has to be something there that depends on nothing, something that is self-complete, self-sufficient, and in command of everything. This “something” cannot possibly be a member of the aforementioned “all things”. Instead, it has to be something capable of realizing things, by which we mean something that functions as the entelechy for the emergence and existence of all things. It is therefore appropriate to call it the “Way”. This term, however, does not connote any material elements. Therefore, if we consider the Way as the origin of heaven and earth as well as the mother of all things, then where does the material quality of all those things come from? Such semantic inadequacy can be made up for by the notion of the “Great Ultimate” proposed by scholars later. Scholars from the Han dynasty to the early Tang dynasty (e.g. Kong Yingda) all interpreted the Great Ultimate as a mass of yuanqi 元氣 (primordial qi) with the morpheme 元 yuan meaning both “original” and “pure”. But, because the semantic weight of the term falls on the morpheme qi 氣 (gas; air; vital energy; vital force), this understanding fails to underscore the universal law (texture) connoted by the term. Hence, it would still be better to consider it as a nebulous existence since it has all elements in it and opens to all possibilities. Second, the Great Ultimate is a unique existence. Zhu Xi rightly points out that the Great Ultimate is something peerless. But he goes on to explain that “there has been only one Great Ultimate. As for the permeating vital energy, it was divided into two, with the dynamic part being yang and the tranquil part being yin. The two of them were further divided into five vital energies. And those five, in their turn, variously evolved into myriad things” (Zhu Xi, 1988, Vol. 5). Previously, when people spoke of the Great Ultimate, they meant to use the superlative morpheme therein to characterize a supreme “thing”. This “thing”, like the Way, is also One. But instead of being the numerical one, it is the “only one”, something “peerless”. In other words, it is something absolute. The problem is that Zhu Xi has refuted Han dynasty scholars’ view entirely. He only recognized the Great Ultimate as li 理 (texture; principle), and he did so to the exclusion of Qi. This would amount to juxtaposing Qi and the Great Ultimate to suggest that they were parallel in status. Obviously, there is

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confusion in his logic. In fact, Zhu Xi presented this view as his reversion to Laozi’s thought; the only difference is that he replaced Laozi’s “Way” with his “Texture”. In cosmogenetic inquiries, he was not even nearly as liberal and open-minded as Laozi, who, by making some ambiguous observations such as “there was something undifferentiated and complete”, did not exclude Qi or any other substantial elements from the Way. Tracing to its cause, we would say it was, in all likelihood, because Zhu Xi mechanically imposed his ontological view on archaeologicallyoriented inquiries.25 Aware as he was that the emergence of heaven, earth, and all things would have been impossible had there been no Texture or Qi, he regrettably failed to drive this point home. We should point out with certainty that the Great Ultimate, as the origin of the cosmos, is a unity of Texture and Vital Energy (i.e. Qi). Only this way it can be a unique and absolute existence. Third, the Great Ultimate is a supreme ontological existence. After generating heaven, earth, and all things and beings, the Great Ultimate, in the capacity of a noumenon, began to be embedded in the realm of myriad phenomena and, on the deepest level, underpinned their raison d’être as well as the changes each of them undergo. The “ji” in Taiji (i.e. the Great Ultimate) by itself already means literally “superlative, the most, the highest”, etc. Now, with the “Tai” (the greatest; maximal) preceding the “ji”, the word they form would mean something that is by far the largest and highest. As a noumenon permeates the realm of phenomena, the Great 25 “The

Great Ultimate”, says Zhu Xi in Volume 1 of Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi], “is nothing more than the Texture of heaven, earth, and all things and beings. As far as heaven and earth are concerned, they have the Great Ultimate in them. As for all things and all beings, they each have a Great Ultimate of their own. But before there were heaven and earth, there had been, fundamentally, this Texture”. I sincerely revere Mr. Zhu Xi. The present book draws on substantial materials from his thought, but at the same time, it also criticizes him in quite a number of cases. To draw on materials from his thought is because his versatility almost made him a comprehensive expression of all the philosophical thoughts by his time. And to criticize him is due to the facts that his views were numerous and jumbled, and that he paid more attention to existing culture and cultural relics (which belonged to what Popper called World 3) than to things and affairs in reality (i.e. what Popper called World 1). Besides, presumably because he was always busy teaching and writing, he did not do enough to turn introversive and examine himself (i.e. Popper’s World 2). Therefore, he was more of a scholar than a philosopher.

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Ultimate is Texture. But everything has its own texture. Everything, in other words, features a specific texture which distinguishes it from other things. These specific textures should be viewed as some bits and pieces of the Great Ultimate. As the superlative texture, the Great Ultimate constitutes the totality of textures or the ultimate aggregation of the textures of all things and phenomena in the universe. As such, it latently governs all textures. Precisely for this reason, it is a metaphysical existence. Much as people speak of it from time to time, none has really encountered it. All they can is experience it in the heart in a manner not unlike how Xiangwang 象罔 (the formless and unintelligent) found the Dark Pearl as described by (Zhuangzi, Chapter 12). The Great Ultimate, like the Way, surpasses the capacity of language. We will further discuss this point later. What we have to say now is that the view that everything has its own Great Ultimate is nothing more than a conviction. As such, it does not come from the domain of knowledge, where theses and propositions can be proven or disproved. As regards the specific textures that all things possess, they are cognizable. Unlike the Great Ultimate, these textures are attached to phenomena. They hence belong to the immetaphysical 形而下 realm. The jianwen zhizhi 見聞之知 (knowledge that one acquires through perception) and dexing suozhi 德性所知 (the conscience that one intuits) as differentiated by Zhang Zai fall squarely into the respective realms of specific texture and metaphysical texture. Fourth, the Great Ultimate is ubiquitous and universal. In view of it being a universal law, it is acceptable to say that everything and everybody has a Great Ultimate. Analogically, the Great Ultimate is to individual things and beings what the moon is to rivers. Specifically, the ubiquitous existence of the Great Ultimate is analogous to the reflected images of the moon in tens of thousands of rivers. Zhu Xi often used analogies of this kind to facilitate people’s understanding of the relationship between the specific and the general. One of his disciples once asked him the following question: If all things have a texture as their noumenon and hence they each have a Great Ultimate, does that mean the disintegration of the Great Ultimate? “There is”, replied Zhu Xi, “fundamentally only one Great Ultimate. Everything is endowed with a share of it. Therefore they each have a Great Ultimate of their own. This is just like the moon in the sky, which is the only moon. But when it is reflected in rivers and lakes, it can

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be seen everywhere. Yet this does not mean the moon is split up” (Zhu Xi, 1988, Vol. 94). It is in fact not wrong to consider the Great Ultimate as a fundamental formal cause of individual things. The problem is how to explain the developments and changes of things and their individual forms. Zhu Xi’s explanation is: “Yang is active and yin tranquil. Therefore that which is active or tranquil is not the Great Ultimate. It is the Texture that can be active and tranquil. The Texture is invisible. It is perceptible because of yin and yang. The texture is seated across yin and yang like a person riding a horse. The moment the Five Elements were generated, they were defined and hence circumscribed by each of their own qualities. They each have their own nature. But the Great Ultimate is everywhere” (Zhu Xi, 1988). Yet it is hard to understand why there is no activeness or tranquility to speak of with the Great Ultimate if the Great Ultimate is regarded as a superlative Texture and all textures feature both Activity and Tranquility. That there are yin and yang kinds of vital energies shows the nature of the Great Ultimate as a combination of yin and yang. As discussed earlier, it is not appropriate to draw a hard and fast distinction between the Great Ultimate and Qi. Fifth, the Great Ultimate contains the most impartial and upright principles. The principles considered here are limited to those in social domain. As for natural phenomena, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, droughts, floods, fertility or aridity of land, diseases and even plagues, they cannot be judged or evaluated by examining whether they are impartial or upright. Those phenomena were usually ascribed to the Decree of Heaven or heavenly might. But pre-modern thinkers mostly tended to lump heaven, earth, and humankind together in their philosophical discourse without making much distinction between the domain of nature and that of social relations. Dong Zhongshu held that the middle path was a universal law between heaven and earth as well as that to which sages committed themselves. To him, “the ways of yin and yang are different. When they reach the prime phase [of their developments], they both stop at the middle path. Middle path is also the point from which they begin. [Hence] middle path is the extreme perfection in the universe” (Dong Zhongshu, 2010, Chapter 77). According to Zhou Dunyi, the Great Ultimate is the best and most virtuous principle for heaven, earth, humankind, and all things in the world. There is no gainsaying that these views

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are somewhat primitive, because the judgment regarding what is “the best and most virtuous” is only a value judgment, namely a judgment that results from what human beings evaluate according to their own interest. Therefore, one needs to be critical of their views and limit oneself to the recognition of the Great Ultimate as the most impartial, most upright, and the best principle only in human domain. Humankind, overall, tends to be oriented to the realm of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, because they hold on to their ideal, which contains its share of the Great Ultimate. Just as Plato and Kant pointed out, ideals contain Idea or even have their roots in Idea. To sum up, the Great Ultimate is the origin of heaven, earth, and all things and beings. As such, it should be an entity that combines Texture, Qi, Activity, Tranquility, yin, and yang in one. Contained in it is the capability of separating heaven and earth and giving form to them. It does not disappear after the genesis of heaven and earth. Instead, it is concealed deep inside the material shell of matters and it functions as the fundamental formal cause. What it constitutes is the unique, supreme, and ubiquitous noumenon of the universe and human life. In human society alone, it can be considered as the most impartial and upright principle, which, in a latent manner, guides human beings to approach the ideal realm of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. 1.2.3.  The Great Ultimate and the Way Compared Although both “the Great Ultimate” and “the Way” were terms with which pre-modern philosophers referred to the highest category in the universe and human life, we must not consider them indicative of two things in coexistence. In fact, they are different names for one and the same thing. Due to the insufficient emphasis they placed on systematic theorization, pre-modern philosophers had, for thousands of years, often mixed the two terms in use. It is therefore necessary to compare them now. Admittedly, insofar as they are codes, the two of them refer basically to the same thing. They denote that which is both the origin of heaven and earth on the one hand and the noumenon permeating heaven, earth, and all things and beings on the other. In fact, explicit views that consider them identical were already present in the Song dynasty. Shao Yong 邵雍

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(1011–1077 AD), for one, states that “the Way is the Great Ultimate”. His statement has been positively received among scholars of subsequent generations.26 In Shao Yong’s opinion, Laozi’s version of the Way can be called Tai (太, the Supreme), hence the Great Ultimate can be understood as the Way in its extreme. By the same token, Taixuan 太玄 [where the 玄 means “abstruse”] can be understood as the abstruseness of the Way, Taisu 太素 [where the 素 in this context means “basic element”] the origin of form or shape, Taiyi 太一 [where the 一 means “one”] the origin of number, and Taichu 太初 [where the 初 means beginning, origin] the origin of all things. Despite their difference in names, they, according to Shao Yong, refer to the same thing. A vague awareness in this regard can be traced further back in time. For instance, in his essay “About Penetration into Laozi” 通老論, Ruan Ji 阮籍 (210–263 AD) in the Wei– Jin Period remarked of the fundamental root saying, “In the Book of Changes, it is called the Great Ultimate; in [Luxuriant Dew of] the Spring and Autumn Annals, it is known as Yuan 元 [Prime], and in the Laozi, it is known as the Way” (Imperially Inspected Classified Digest of the Taiping Era, Vol. 1). An expanded study on the topic reveals quite a few things that the two share in common. First, the entity they denote is something absolute. They both denote something peerless. Logically, this proves that the two are in fact identical, because that which is absolute and peerless has to be the only one of its kind. Second, likewise, the two codes both refer to something infinite. If each of them referred to an entity that was infinite and the entities each of them referred to could coexist, then what we got thereof would be two entities that could evenly divide up infinity between them. Then there would be no more infinity. Third, they both refer to a 26 As

some more examples from the Song dynasty, Hu Hong 胡宏 (1105–1161 AD) presents the following point in his Understanding of Words 知言: “[Since it is said in the Commentary of the Book of Changes that] ‘the alternate operations of yin and yang constitute the Way’, what does ‘the Way’ refer to? [The answer is,] it refers to the Great Ultimate”. Zhu Xi explains in the preface of his Zhouyi Benyi 周易本義 [Original Meanings of the Book of Changes] that “the Great Ultimate is the Way. The two Elementary Forms are yin and yang”. Chen Chun criticized Zhuangzi for separating the Way and the Great Ultimate without being aware that the two were identical (Meaning of Words from the Four Books).

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fundamental root, which is known as the origin of heaven and earth as well as the mother of all things and beings. Humankind’s habitual mode of thinking tends to seek a unified source — be it known as the origin or mother — which has to be one rather than two in number. Fourth, they both refer to something that features universality and ubiquity. Admittedly, this is hardly an adequate proof of their mutual exclusion because we can also say vital energy and Texture are ubiquitous without having to choose one term over the other in use. But, once medieval Confucian scholars interpreted the Great Ultimate to be the perfect Texture, the term came to be used interchangeably with, and hence hardly distinct from, the Way. This is because the Way is also Texture. Fifth, the entity they refer to is transcendent, which is an attribute well explicated in the Laozi and Zhuangzi. The term Great Ultimate originated from Confucian persuasions. After the time of “Great Commentary on the Book of Changes”, Confucian scholars, much to our regret, conducted hardly any serious exploration on its transcendence. For this reason, although Confucians in the Song and Ming dynasties generally took delight in discussing the Great Ultimate, their discussions tended to lapse into superficial talks without the kind of profundity that marks the theorization of the Way presented by in the Laozi and Zhuangzi. Although the “Great Ultimate” and the “Way” share so much in common in terms of what they denote, yet, due to their difference in names, there is inevitably some distinction between their connotations. Confucianism attempts to uphold the Great Ultimate as an entity that governs the Way. Daoism, on the other hand, considers the Way superior or prior to the Great Ultimate. Each, naturally, presents its argument with due rationale. Mr. Zhang Dainian, in his comparative study of the Laozi and the Book of Changes, has come up with a sound judgment. “Laozi’s theorization of the Way”, Mr. Zhang points out, “regards the fundamental objective law as the fundamental root of the cosmos. The theorization of the Great Ultimate, on the other hand, regards the entity where there had been no separation of yin and yang as the fundamental root of the cosmos. It should be noted that the Way with yin and yang is not a fundamental root. What Laozi refers to as the Way in his theory is that which underlies yin and yang. To the Way, yin and yang owe their genesis. In the theory about the Great Ultimate, however, the Way is presented as a regular

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pattern of the changes and transformations that yin and yang undergo. Thus, the Way owes its genesis to the functions of yin and yang”.27� The “fundamental root” discussed here means the same thing as the origin. In terms of word class, the tai 太 (great) in Taiji 太極 (Great Ultimate) is an adjective. The ji 極 (pole; extreme; ultimate) was originally a noun, but it has often been used adjectivally. As a word derived from the combination of these two adjectival morphemes, Taiji has ­carried over their adjectival sense. It can refer to a point, but it has to be a point that features infinity and perfection. The word “Way”, in contrast, has always been a noun. Yet, as a philosophical category, it takes on a verbal aspect, for it by definition refers to a line that constantly extends and is hence constantly in motion. Therefore, the word lends itself to describing motional processes. The former is analogous to the number and Idea in ancient Greek philosophy, for it is good to use in depicting motionless states. If we describe a transformation of what it denotes, we will have to add such predicates as “to grow”, “to circulate”, and so forth. The latter can be rudimentarily compared to the Hegelian absolute mind. It is suitable for the depiction of a motional state, because constant motion is a connotation which the meaning of the word potentially entails. As regards the origin of the cosmos, is it Existence or Vacuity, or a combination of the two? Laozi considers the Way as the origin, asserting that Existence was derived from Vacuity. In doing so, he seems to have ruled out any material elements therein. Scholars of the Han and Tang dynasties interpreted the Great Ultimate as such Primordial Qi that was in existence prior to the separation of yin and yang. Since “primordial” is suggestive of an origin and “Vital Energy” that (Qi) presupposes a concrete and material agent, their interpretation amounts to a view which considers that the cosmos originated from Existence. As for the Confucian scholars in the Song dynasty, they take the Great Ultimate to be a Texture of extreme perfection. Insofar as the Texture is formless, colorless, soundless, and without a smell, we may understand it as Vacuity. But those scholars in the Song dynasty generally maintain that the Texture is a substantial existence. Thus, one could hardly avoid falling into a fallacy when 27 Zhang

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Dainian, Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang, 29.

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corroborating either position regarding this issue of Existence vs. Vacuity. To mediate between the positions, we should say that the Way and the Great Ultimate both denote a unity between Existence and Vacuity. When we handle these two categories now, we face the following problem: Since they denote one and the same absolute and infinite existence, we should, theoretically, make a choice by discarding whichever one that we may find inferior to the other. But, because of their identifiable distinction in connotation, tossing either overboard would eventually cripple our theorization. It seems that, in order to solve the problem, we should keep both but use each in an area to which it is particularly applicable. “The Great Ultimate” would be good to use to denote the most primitive existence, namely the indistinct existence previous to the emergence of heaven, earth, and all things and beings. Of necessity, such an existence has in it all the potentials and it is the unity of the causes of form, objective, impetus, and material. Centering on the category of the Great Ultimate, a viable theory of cosmogenesis can be expected to be built. “The Way”, on the other hand, would be an appropriate term for the universal law of heaven, earth, and all things, beings, and phenomena. It is at once the causes of form, objective, and impetus of the existence and development of things. And it is stratified; hence there are the Way of Heaven, the Way of Humankind, and the Way of Earth. Due to its lack of any material cause, it is a noumenon of absolutely spiritual nature. For this reason, it might be called the spirit of the cosmos. Based on such a core category as the Way, an ontological theory could be built to offer tenable explanations of the world of phenomena. In fact, the emergence of the term “Great Ultimate” triggered a gradual decrease in its subsequent theorizations that still held the Way as the origin of the universe. With that said, although the conceptualization of the Great Ultimate as the noumenon of heaven, earth, and all things in between could be well established, Confucian scholars in the Song dynasty failed to present any adequate explanations regarding the “dendritic multiple manifestations [of the principle]” in things. This shows that each of the two terms has its own strengths and weaknesses. Taking the Great Ultimate and the Way as, respectively, the origin of the universe and the noumenon of all things does not end up in an attempt

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to separate origin and noumenon, for it can be inferred that a final cause constitutes an unbreakable nexus between the Way and the Great Ultimate. The Great Ultimate has resolved into heaven and earth (or constellation in the nomenclature of modern science), in which the Way exists and, more importantly, endows all things and beings of various forms in the capacity of Texture (i.e. the formal cause). However, where there is separation, there will be eventual unification. If this is true, then the operation of the Way will eventually lead heaven, earth, and all things back to the Great Ultimate. And, contrary to what most philosophers have thought, the matters separated out from the Great Ultimate could be anything but mere passive or even dumb elements, for they may be capable of reacting to the operation of the Way. Form and impetus can be regarded as two wheels of the motion of the Way.28 If form constitutes a basis for the combination of form and matter, then matter, when examined together with impetus, can be found to serve — in its turn — as a material basis for impetus. Precisely for this reason, one cannot characterize the operation of the Way from a determinist perspective. Instead, we should fully recognize the legitimacy of a non-determinist perspective and thereby subscribe to a view that regards things’ change and development as the outcome of both a unity between certainty and uncertainty, and that between necessity and contingency. Therefore, it would be appropriate to regard pre-modern thinkers’ notion of Heavenly Way as a unity between heavenly texture and heavenly destiny. Human beings may never know everything about the course(s) that nature follows to bring myriad things and beings into existence. The only thing to do in this regard is to provide the best explanation we can for various phenomena. The distinction we draw between the theoretical framework centering on the Great Ultimate and that centering on the Way is but a motion we propose here. It is a motion that has not been actually carried out in any theorization. This is because our discussion needs to “proceed from where our predecessors left off” rather than jump to any conclusive 28 In

his Lun Dao 論道 [The Way Explored] published in the 1980s, Mr. Jin Yuelin 金岳霖 (1895–1984) suggests such basic categories as “pattern” and “energy”, which approximately correspond to form and impetus, respectively. In his view, a patterned movement driven by the impetus generated by the energy embodies the Way.

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view in a “lecture of our own”, which would be rash and abrupt. We hope our successors would be courageous enough to construct a theory of cosmogenesis and one of ontology with the categories of the Great Ultimate and the Way as their respective cores. Specifically, in the cosmogenetic theory, the Great Ultimate should be considered as the incipiency of the Way; and in the ontological theory, the Great Ultimate is to be regarded as the extreme of the Way. The Way, in its turn, is fundamentally the Great Ultimate’s mode of motions. From Heavenly Way to human way, there are numerous layers in between. As a result, the connotations of the Way vary extensively. In a broad sense of the term, one may say that even robbers have a code of conduct among them as their Way. Nonetheless, they are robbers because the Great Ultimate in their heart is eclipsed. This view on the Way and Great Ultimate is not only a theoretical innovation but also a further development of the thought conveyed in the “Great Commentary on the Book of Changes”.

1.3. The Substance, Form, and Function of the Fundamental Root The long-time prevalent distinction drawn in Chinese intellectual history between noumenon and function is extensively applicable. With an additional dimension of “shape” included, our discussion on the origin of the cosmos and human life may present a more complete picture. The exposition in Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith ascribed to Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa features none other than such triadic dimensions as substance, form, and function. Since Substance and Function will be discussed in more detail later, we will be brief about them here. 1.3.1.  The Substance, Form, and Function in Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith Buddhism is rich in ontological observations, where dharmata (true original nature) means the noumenon of the cosmos; Buddha dhatu (Buddhanature) means the noumenon of sentient beings; and Tathatā (thusness; true thusness), dharmata, or Tathāgata-garbha (the embryonic Buddha) refers to the noumenon contained in the human heart.

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An important source of influence for Chinese Buddhism, Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith unfolds its exposition along such a stratified array of key topics as One Heart, Three Greats, Four Faiths, and Five Phases. Demonstrated in the exposition is a strong power of reasoning. The “One Heart” refers to the heart of any average person. Leaving nothing outside its coverage, the soul takes charge of all the loka-dharma (mundane dharma) and pāramitā (transmundane dharma). In Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith, it is regarded as the substance of the mahāyāna dharma. The “Two Doors” refer to the door to the tathata and that to samsára. They constitute the very basic two-way channel in the human heart, whereof more discussion will be conducted later in the section about “sincerity”. By the “Three Greats”, it is meant that the substance, form, and function of the soul tathata are all great. The “Four Faiths” refer to the Tathatā and such three treasures as Buddha, dharma, and monks. And the “Five Phases” refer to alms-giving 布施, observing precepts 持戒, forbearance 忍辱, diligence 精進, and stopping and contemplating 止觀. All such treatment of the average individuals’ heart as noumenon seems to cast little light on the origin of the universe we seek to explore. But the depiction derived from it is nevertheless of reference value to our endeavor, because, first, the micro cosmos of the human heart is well connected to the macro cosmos of the universe (which is a topic to be dealt with later in a section specialized for it). Second, human heart, when treated as a noumenon, is more accessible to our exploration than the Great Ultimate or the Way. The Noumenon in Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith refers to the noumenon of soul tathata. It is infinite, absolute, vast, and boundless. Concretely speaking, dimensional increase or decrease would be totally irrelevant to it and it is temporally constant, hence the proposition that the Substance is great. Form refers to the manner in which the soul tathata discloses itself. Highly changeable in accordance with conditions and satisfying all the moral and behavioral requirements for blessings, it has great wisdom to illuminate the entire realm of all dharmas. Form is said to be great because of its embodiment of Substance and its highly diversified and changeable nature. Function is the capability and function of the soul tathata. It is complicated and varied. To say Function is great is because it is meritorious. By that we mean its capability of both bringing about

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good cause-and-effect in the mundane and transmundane realms, and relieving all sentient beings. Substance, Form, and Function form a trinity. As the basis of the trinity, Substance is forever constant, absolutely refined, and absolutely pure. Form is the display of the basis. And the display is adapted and shaped by the conditions in which it occurs. The function means the effectiveness, which soundlessly, inappreciably, and yet extensively distributes positive results. It should be noted that in its study of human mental activities, Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith, in fact, features a differentiation between the domains of origin and noumenon, from which one can catch a glimpse of its author’s fine discernment and thoroughness of thought. “The Form of the soul”, he says, “is the form of Tathatā, for it displays the Substance of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna). The soul creates and extinguishes the form of cause and conditions, for it is capable of showing the Great Vehicle’s own substance, form, and function”. This means that insofar as Tathatā is absolute, it is a mere substance that contains all dharmas, which can be compared to the Great Ultimate prior to the separation of heaven and earth. From the perspective of the opposition between its creation and extinction, there is the distinction among the Substance, Form, and Function. This is analogous to the Great Ultimate which, as a texture of absolute perfection after the separation of heaven and earth, is not just the noumenon of all things but it also manifests the form, and performs the function, of Great Ultimate throughout the whole process from the emergence to the extinction of all things. The distinction among Substance, Form, and Function would make it possible to grasp the concrete opposition between noumena realm and phenomena realm, and that between the absolute and the relative. Thus, we may transcend the abstractness of these oppositions. To follow the manner in which Master Sage Leader compared the principle of the Huayan Sect to a golden lion,29 we may rudimentarily compare the soul Tathatā in Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith to the ocean. The vast ocean is the great Substance. Its smooth surface or enormous billows constitute its great Form.

29 Translator’s

note: Master Sage Leader 賢首 (643–712 AD) was the third patriarch of the Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism.

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Its capability of carrying or capsizing ships and that of washing reefs and shores bespeak its great Function. From this we learn that, strictly speaking, absoluteness and infinity are relevant only to the philosophical exploration of fundamental root of the cosmos. In the field of human philosophy, they are relevant only to the third level of the human heart, which is known as the realm of zhixing. The moment we step outside this realm or field of discourse, we will find ourselves in the relative and finite realm of phenomena. Having said that, phenomena nonetheless contain noumenon and absoluteness nonetheless resides in relativity. 1.3.2.  The “Three Greats” of the Great Ultimate and the Way As the fundamental root, the Great Ultimate and the Way obviously also have their “Three Greats”, which is evident in their names. As we know, the Great Ultimate can be said to be extremely great. When Laozi tried to find a name for the Way, he actually weighed between the words “Way” and “Great”. Both the Great Ultimate and the Way carry the sense of being great in the intellectual pursuit of the origin. In ontology, they have three greats, namely Substance, Form, and Function. In fact, there is one sentence in the Laozi that adequately characterizes the Substance, Form, and Function of the fundamental root. According to the sentence, the Way features the lack of action but it does so with nothing left undone (Laozi, Chapter 48). We may, in our analysis, consider the Way here as the Substance, its “lack of action” as the Form, and its being “with nothing left undone” as the Function. Although the lack of action could be a rather problematic method or attitude to be applied to matters in social domain, one must admit that it finely captures the manner in which changes and developments occur in nature, where the fundamental root brought heaven, earth, and all things and beings into existence without any artificiality and affectedness. All came into being in their own accord. Such is the lack of action. Although the fundamental root did add nothing artificial or affected in the process, heaven, earth, and all things and beings all came into existence and, together, they have formed a colorful world that keeps moving in a

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continuous cycle of production and reproduction. Such is the function of leaving nothing undone. Generally speaking, the fundamental root’s “great Substance”, “great Form”, and “great Function”, respectively, connotes its expansive and ubiquitous existence, the extensive variety of the forms and structures it displays, and the remarkable effectiveness of its operation. In his depiction of the Way, Laozi observes, “the Great Tao [i.e. Dao, the Way] flows everywhere. It may go left or right. All things depend on it for life, and it does not turn away from them. It accomplishes its task, but does not claim credit for it. It clothes and feeds all things but does not claim to be master over them. Always without desires, it may be called The Small. All things come to it and it does not master them; it may be called The Great. Therefore (the sage) never strives himself for the great, and thereby the great is achieved” (Laozi, 1963, p. 157). That is to say, the Way, like a big water flow, floods indiscriminately everything everywhere no matter where it may be. All things owe their existence to the Way, but the Way, though having brought all things into being and nurtured them, keeps silent without reminding anyone of its existence or claiming to be anyone’s master. Never has it had any desire of its own, acting as if it had not endowed anyone with anything. In this sense, it can be said to be small. But all things and beings follow the Way instead of being their own individual masters. The Way should hence be said to be great. Moreover, precisely because it never proclaims itself to be great, its greatness is achieved. This passage can be considered as an elaboration on the ­portrayal of the Way as something that lacks action and yet leaves nothing undone. “The Great Tao [i.e. Dao, the Way] flows everywhere”, enveloping and permeating the cosmos. This refers to its great Substance. “It may go left or right”, adapting itself everywhere and hence changeable in form. This refers to its great Form. It “clothes and feeds all things”; “all things depend on it for life”; and “all things come to it and it does not master them”. All this refers to its great Function. Similar depiction can be found in other Daoist texts. In Chapter 1 of Liu An’s 劉安 (180–123 BC) Huainanzi,30 it is said, “the Way is that which covers heaven, carries the earth, and extends pervasively to all 30 Translator’s

note: The Huainanzi 淮南子 was compiled by Liu An 劉安 (180–123 BC), King of Huainan.

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directions. Immeasurably high and unfathomably deep, it envelopes heaven and earth, and gives [life] imperceptibly”. This part is a depiction of its Substance. “Like a fountain coming out from a source, it was first empty and then gradually came to be full. Starting as a muddy torrent, it gradually becomes clear and pure. Erected, it fills heaven and earth. Lying down, it permeates the entire world. Put to use, it is inexhaustible with no [such things as its] waxing or waning [to speak of]. Spread up, it wraps up the universe. Rolled up, it is less than a handful. It is restrained and yet capable of expansion. It is dim and yet capable of being bright. It is weak and yet capable of being strong. It is soft and yet capable of being solid. Spreading over all sides, it contains yin and yang. Connecting all things along all spatial and temporal dimensions, it makes the sun, the moon, and stars conspicuous”. This part is a depiction of both its Shape and Function. “… It enables quadrupeds to walk, birds to fly, the sun and the moon to shine, stars to orbit, dragons to swim,31 and phoenixes to soar. With the key of the Way in their hands, rulers of the earliest antiquity were able to establish themselves at the center of the world”. This part mainly speaks of its Function. Like the texts in the Laozi and Zhuangzi, this passage also spares no effort to praise the Way. The depictions in the passage, under close examination, are found to be evidently proceeding on the basis of the trinity of Substance, Form, and Function. Daoist cosmogonic depction of the Substance, Form, and Function of the Way squarely fits the Confucian Great Ultimate.32 The only difference lies in the fact that Confucian scholars rarely came up with as concrete depiction of the Great Ultimate. Indeed, this is something beyond the domain within which language is capable of describing and defining. As a result, one cannot but present some approximate description by using poetic language. Confucians were preoccupied with establishing moral norms for social reality. They, relatively speaking, did not often 31 Translator’s

note: The Chinese text here reads “麟以之游”. Since unicorn, as a legendary land animal, is not known in Chinese culture for its ability to swim, I choose to read the lin 麟 (unicorn) as lin 鱗 (scales) and treat it as a synecdoche for dragons. 32 Based on what we discussed earlier, we may say that the Great Ultimate is the Noumenon. Its lack of action is the Shape. And its leaving nothing undone is the Function. The Great Ultimate is the Way in absolute perfection. The Way is the Great Ultimate’s mode of operation. It seemingly lacks action but in fact leaves nothing undone. Hence, in a colorful manner, it displays the changes of the Great Ultimate.

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roam outside the domain of language to savor their experience there, which is their shortcoming that should be atoned for today. 1.3.3.  Where the Fundamental Root Transcends the Verbalizable Domain Because the Substance, Form, and Function of the fundamental root are all great, they often transcend a verbalizable domain. Pre-modern philosophers took note of this long ago. The Laozi begins with the statement that “the way that can be verbalized is not the constant Way. The name that is namable is not the constant name”. In the Zhuangzi, there is even an allegory that was made up to illustrate this point. According to the allegory, once Great Purity asked Infinity whether the latter knew the Way. “No, I don’t”, replied Infinity honestly. Great Purity later asked Non-Action the same question. “Yes, I do”. said Non-Action. “Did you know that the Way had patterns?” Great Purity asked again. “Yes”, was the reply. “Then how is it patterned?” “Well”, said Non-Action, “the Way, as I know it, can be noble, can be base. It can roll up, and it can spread out. That is the pattern of the Way that I know of”. Great Purity later told No-Beginning about the conversations he had had with Infinity and Non-Action, and asked No-Beginning to evaluate and compare the two. No-Beginning, sighing with feelings, replied, “the one that disclaimed any knowledge about the Way is profound. But the one who considered himself knowledgeable about it is shallow. The one who was aware of his ignorance has reached deep into its essence, whereas the one who claims knowledge about it still remains an outsider”. With a sigh, Great Purity sincerely asked, “The one that admits his ignorance is someone with wisdom; but the one who claims knowledge about it is someone without it. Is that right?” Thereupon No-Beginning told him more, saying, “The Way is inaudible. That which is audible is not the Way. The Way is invisible. That which is visible is not the Way. The Way cannot be verbalized. That which can be verbalized is not the Way. Do you know that what forms form is formless? The Way should not be named” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 22). Then, why is it that “that which can be verbalized is not the Way”? It is because the Way is formless. Then how do we know it is formless? It is because the Way is the entelechy that underlies the process in which all things and beings acquire

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their various forms. That which underlies all things’ and beings’ acquisition of their specific forms must be something that is itself formless. Thus, being formless, soundless, colorless, and without a smell, the Way transcends the domain that is detectable by human perceptive organs. Therefore it cannot be defined by any verbal means, which explains the statement that “the Way should not be named”. It is a consensus among some great philosophers that what features infinity and absoluteness would be “something” beyond verbalization. Apart from Laozi and Zhuangzi, Buddhists also express similar views. They even argue that “once it gets onto the tip of your tongue, it instantly falls into [the pitfall of] meanings, where there is nothing but dead ends with no way out eventually” (Collection of Five Books of Channist Heritage, 1984, Vol. 12).33 And similar to Zhuangzi’s declaration that “what is verbalizable is not the Way”, Chan Buddhism asserts that “the moment [one] directs [one’s mind] towards [it], [one instantly] embarks on a wrong track” (Collection of Five Books of Zen Heritage, 1984, Vol. 4). Pre-modern philosophers’ thoughts are profound. Today we are in a position to present a more concrete and explicit explanation. Cassirer, founder of modern semiotics, aptly observes that there are upper and lower limits to verbal expressions. The lower limit refers to the domain below “exact verbal determination”, which is a sensory and limited domain. The upper limit refers to the domain above any accurate languages. It is a spiritual and unlimited domain. “As the latter”, Cassirer writes, “is above the possibility of exact verbal determination, so the former is still below such fixation. Language moves in the middle kingdom between the ‘indefinite’ and ‘definite’; … So there are, in the realm of mythic and religious conception, ‘ineffable’ of different order, one of which represents the lower limit of verbal expression, the other the upper limit ...”.34 In further analysis, we may say that human invention of language mainly results from the full play they gave to the ability of their intellectuality. And it was for the purpose of drawing distinctions 33 Translator’s

Note: The Wudeng Huiyuan 五燈會元 [Collection of Five Books of Channist Heritage] was compiled in the 13th century AD. 34 Ernest Cassirer, Language and Myth, Harper and Brothers, 1946, p. 81.

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(including those of proper nouns) and generalizing things. Drawing distinctions entails the referential relativity of words and phrases. As an example, an object is referred to as a “tree” so as to distinguish it from both “grass” in organic sphere and, say, “rock” in inorganic sphere (Personal names and place names in proper nouns serve the same purpose). Generalizations, by contrast, inevitably entail the referential abstractness of words and phrases. Take the term “tree” again. It is a general term for all woody plants such as pine trees, cypress trees, orange trees, and so on. As such, it is nothing but an abstract concept (This is true with even the “pine trees” and other trees subsumed under it). Because of its abstractness, language does not lend itself to describe one’s concrete and specific feelings. Such is the lower limit of language. Due to its concreteness, language is, on the other hand, not good to use for depicting something absolute and infinite. This is true with even mathematics, which — according to Hawking — cannot adequately deal with infinity. Such is the upper limit of language. Notwithstanding the above limitations, a philosopher has to resort to language in order to communicate to others his or her experienced ­cognition of the infinite. How to solve the problem? Laozi used such figurative expression as “eluding and vague” (Laozi, 1963, p. 150). Zhuangzi and the school of thought he represents did so more consciously. In Chapter 12 of the Zhuangzi, there is the following allegory that is worth noting. The Yellow Emperor, in his tour to the north of the Red River, went atop Mount Kunlun and gazed southward. On his way back, he lost his pearl of abysmal profundity. Knowledge was commissioned to find it, but [he] found nothing. Discernment was commissioned to find it, but [he] found nothing. Eloquence was commissioned to find it, but [he] found nothing. In the end, Formless was commissioned to find it, and [the pearl] was found. “Strange isn’t it”, said the Yellow Emperor, “that it was Formless who has found it?”

The mysterious peal is the “great beauty” of heaven and earth and the “fundamental root” of all things. The keen Discernment was unable to find it; the rational Knowledge failed to obtain it; the eloquent Eloquence

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could not grasp it. The only one that was able to contain it was the one who, being neither distinct nor obscure, stays between existence and nonexistence (i.e. Formless).35 Little wonder why the Zhuangzi is filled with allegories — which is said to take up 90% of the book — formulated with preposterous tropes. The above allegorization of Formless was presented in it to invite people to appreciate, through Formless, the great beauty of heaven and earth embodied by the pearl of abysmal profundity. Similar to Zhuangzi’s allegories is the frequently told story in Chan Buddhism about Mahākāśyapa’s smiling enlightenment to the Dharma which the Buddha transmitted in the Mount of the Holy Vulture by holding up a flower. There may be people who dismiss this as mysticism. But in fact it is a basic trait of ontology in philosophy. As a unique cultural institution, philosophy is specialized in the study of metaphysical existence, which is generally known as metaphysics. Even William James, a thinker with empiricist inclination, realized that “the truth is that in the metaphysical and religious sphere, articulate reasons are cogent for us only when our inarticulate feelings of reality have already been impressed in favor of the same conclusion. … [O]ur articulately verbalized philosophy is but its showy translation into formulas”.36 The fundamental root of the cosmos and human life is an infinite and absolute realm. Its abstruseness is impervious to any attempts at its articulate verbalization in any human languages. Anyone who enters this realm will find himself or herself out of words and devoid of thoughts. Therefore, to be out of words when trying to characterize it constitutes a case of transcending language. The entire domain of semiotics can be divided into such three levels as sub-language, language, and super-language (soul). Sub-language resides in what Cassirer refers to as the sensory and limited domain. It is widely used in the culture of art. Normally its signifier (significant) is sensorially and iconically codified. The signified (signifié) in language lies in 35 Lü

Huiqing 吕惠卿 (1032–1111 AD) observes in his Zhuangzi Yi 莊子義 [The Zhuangzi Explicated] that “the ‘-less’ [in the allegorical name “Formless”] negates existence, and the ‘Form-’ [in this same name] negates non-existence. [In addition, it was] neither distinct nor obscure. That was how the pearl of abysmal profundity was found”. 36 William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, (NY: Modern Library, 1994): 85.

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a definite and limited domain. It hence prevails in the culture of science. Human beings usually rely on written language to preserve and transmit their thoughts. Super-language is a domain that Cassirer considers as spiritual and infinite. In this domain, there has been no specific signifier of its own. Sub-language, for instance, is prevalent in religion, where the culture of art is transmitted through audio-visual means. But language is largely used in philosophy as it is used in the culture of science. As for the observation and the cognitive experience of the fundamental root of the cosmos and human life, they delve deep into the super-lingual domain (soul). The verbalization of the super-lingual domain is something paradoxical. Human mind tends to wish for the unification of all things into one. Inevitably, however, this unified “one” will be infinitely rich. Any attempt to characterize it — regardless of how apt it may be — would inevitably be one-sided and hence subject to the limitations of relativity. There is hence a saying in the West that God will laugh as soon as humans open their mouth. Having said that, human beings nevertheless need to communicate among themselves so as to understand and cognitively experience the world where they live. The transmission of Christianity can hardly proceed without the Bible. Much as Chan Buddhists advocate buli wenzi 不立文字 (no recourse to words and letters), they left numerous “records of dharma transmission” 傳燈錄. It is therefore understandable that Laozi and Zhuangzi should have put their theorization in writing in spite of their sober awareness that, as the fundamental root, “the Way should not be named”.

1.4. Summary This part is largely devoted to discussing the cosmogonic view in traditional Chinese philosophy. Its exposition is significantly postulational. Premodern philosophers generally posited that there had existed an original, infinite, and absolute entity before the separation of heaven and earth. They named it the “Way” or “Great Ultimate”, which, in fact, can be regarded as different names for the same eternal entity. As an eternal existence, the entity constitutes the fons et origo of all things and beings in this world. Such is the Origin. But, the Way or Great Ultimate is, on the one hand, the origin of heaven and earth. And it is the mother of all things. On the other hand, it is contained in heaven, earth, and all things and beings as their

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noumenon. The Way or Great Ultimate in the first principal ontologically connotes differently from the Way or Great Ultimate. The former refers to the cosmos when it existed in an archaic and abysmal mode marked by a unity between form and material, or one between Texture and Qi. The latter refers merely to the underpinning principle or the fundamental pattern of development in the cosmos, and all things and beings after they came into existence, which, devoid of any material element, may be called the objective spirit. If we liken the cosmos to a tree, then the study of its seed is an inquiry in archeology whereas the investigation on its DNA falls in the category of ontology. DNA, as a matter, of course, originally existed in the seed, but the twigs and leaves of the tree, though with the same DNA permeating therein, are not identical with seeds. There were pre-modern thinkers (e.g. Zhu Xi) who confused the two. The confusion requires much of our attention today. Both the origin in the archeology and the noumenon in ontology can be called the fundamental root. The origin is the fundamental root of the cosmos, whereas noumenon is that of all things and beings. This fundamental root is ubiquitous, eternal, rich in content, and splendid in function. Therefore, “great” is the only word for it, for its Substance is great, its Form is great, and its Function is likewise great. In this regard, the following view in “Commentary on the Book of Changes” may provide a more logical basis for our explication: The Great Ultimate was the primordial existence and the origin of the universe. Its mobility and immobility marks the distinction between yin and yang. And “the interwoven operations of yin and yang constitute what is known as the Way”. The Way is the Great Ultimate’s mode of motions, in which the dual change of opening and closing has resulted in the emergence of heaven, earth, and all things and beings. To say the Way is the noumenon of all things does not contradict the view that considers the Great Ultimate — as the Texture in its absolute perfection — to be noumenon as well. This is because the Great Ultimate in this sense is the Way in its extreme. The operation of the Way has left all things and beings stratified, hence the omnifarious things and beings in the world. This speaks of the evolution of the cosmos, a topic to be further discussed in the following chapter. Interestingly, these views that pre-modern philosophers either conjectured or formulated on the basis of experience can find support in modern science.

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According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, space-time is curved. The universe where human beings find themselves is a dynamic structure. Up until now, all solutions derived from the theory of relativity have pointed to a certain moment 13.7 billion years ago, when the distances between all the neighboring galaxies in the cosmos must have been zero. This, according to common sense, can be considered as nothing or nonexistence. Although the cosmos at that time was compressively reduced to a zero-dimensional single point like a zero-radial ball, its density and space-time curvature was infinitely great. Therefore, there is no gainsaying about its existence then. Thus, between the modes of existence and non-existence, the cosmos exploded all of a sudden, resulting in the flotilla of fast-revolving galaxies. The cosmos now is like a balloon that is probably still swelling. Based on observed red-shift effects, it can be conjectured that some galaxies are moving farther and farther apart from one another. But we cannot overlook the existence of numerous black holes in the universe. Some may be large enough to contain 1,000 solar systems, which means that the universe is undergoing contraction in spite of its expansion. These black holes are mostly the space-time areas formed by the cooling down and their resultant caving in of some stars. Their gravitation is so strong that even light is unable to escape from it. From the perspective of Chinese philosophy, swelling or expansion means opening, which is a sign of yang; whereas contracting means closing, namely a sign of yin. “The interwoven operations of yin and yang constitute what is known as the Way” (“The Great Commentaries”).37

1.5. Discussion Humankind came into being as an outcome of natural evolution. An individual person’s gender can result as much from the joining of his or her 37 Of

course, this would bring about some notional revolution. Speaking of the universe in which humans find themselves, it actually has a temporal beginning. Spatially, it could be limited and yet boundless. We can even conjecture that there may be a time of its extinction due to its general contraction. But this does not provide any ground to negate the existence of an eternal entity (known as the Great Ultimate in traditional Chinese philosophy). This is because no one can definitely exclude the possibility of the revival of this universe after its return to “non-existence”.

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parents’ genes as do the person’s mental characteristics composed by his or her intellectuality, emotion, and zhi.38 Insofar as the entire humankind is concerned, the seven billion people on earth today may all share the same ancestry, namely a couple who — equivalent to Adam and Eve — lived in ancient Africa. If modern astrophysics exemplifies human effort to “draw analogies from things afar”, then modern biogenetics speaks of humankind’s attempt to “seek enlightenment in things as near as in their own person”.39 Combining the two modes of inquiry, should we acknowledge the existence of a fundamental root in the cosmos or human life? Would the inquiry be good to our life and career? Can Christianity possibly afford to omit “Genesis” in the Bible? Why are the Way and the Great Ultimate hard to articulate? Please explain it from the perspectives of abstractness and relativity that inevitably characterize our language and the words therein. In his poem “Friendship”, German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller sings, “Friendless ruled God His solitary sky; He felt the want, and therefore souls were made, the blessed mirrors of his bliss!–His eye no equal in His loftiest works surveyed; and from the source whence souls are quickened, He called His companion forth– ETERNITY!”40 What enlightenment can we gain from this poem?

References Aristotle. Metaphysics. Translated [into Chinese] by Miao Litian 苗力田. Beijing: Zhongguo Renmin Daxue Chubanshe, 2003. Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Cassirer, E. Language and Myth. NY: Harper and Brothers, 1946. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Chen Chun 陳淳. Beixi Ziyi 北溪字義 [Meanings of Words from the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Chen Shou. Sanguo Zhi [Records of the Three Kingdoms]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963. 38 Translator’s

note: Please see Section 4.2 (esp. 4.2.1) of Chapter 4 for the notion of zhi. note: See Book of Changes, trans, Legge, 1993, p. 319. 40 Accessed from G. W. F. Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History, (He and Wang, trans, 1959, p. 75) — Translator’s note: English version of Schiller’s poem “Friendship” obtained from http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/20405/, accessed December 15, 2016. 39 Translator’s

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Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. In Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong. Translated by James Legge. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2014. Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒. Chunqiu Fanlu 春秋繁露 [Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals]. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1929. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji, 2010. Hegel, G. Lectures on the Philosophy of History. Translated [into Chinese] by He Lin 賀麟 and Wang Taiqing 王太慶. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1959. Hu Hong 胡宏. Zhi Yan 知言 [Understanding of Words]. In Zhiyan Wufeng Ji. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1987. James, W. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. NY: Modern Library, 1994. Jin Yuelin 金岳霖. Lun Dao 論道 [The Way Explored]. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1987. Kong Yingda 孔穎達. Zhouyi Zhengyi 周易注疏 [Annotations to the Book of Changes]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shudian, 1987. Laozi 老子. The Lao Tzu 老子. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 139–176. Li Fang, et al. Taiping Yulan [Imperially Inspected Classified Digest of the Taiping Era]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1990. Li Gong 李塨. Zhouyi Zhuan Zhu 周易傳注 [Commentary on the Commentary on the Book of Changes]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shudian, 1998. Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Lü Huiqing 吕惠卿. Zhuangzi Yi 莊子義 [The Zhuangzi Explicated]. Beijing: Zhonghua, Shuju 2009. Mencius 孟子. Menzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Beijing: Zhonghua, Shuju 1957. Puji (comp.). Wudeng Huiyuan 五燈會元 [Collection of Five Books of Channist Heritage]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1984. Xu Shen 許慎. Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 [Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963. Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe, 1982. Zhang Zai 張載. Zhangzi Zhengmeng [Master Zhang’s Correction of Youthful Ignorance]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi]. Shanghai: Guangya Shuju, 1900. Zhu Xi. Zhouyi Benyi 周易本義 [Original Meanings of the Book of Changes]. Tianjin: Tianjin Guji Chubanshe, 1986. Zhu Xi. Zhuzi Yulei. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1988.

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Chapter 2

Evolution of the Cosmos

The evolution from the Great Ultimate or the Way to the vast cosmos is primarily the split of One into two marked by the interaction between two elements, two forces, or two tendencies. This is the basic law in the cosmos and human life, namely the unity of opposites. To put it plainly, it is called “one divided into two”. In the Laozi, the Way is treated as the fundamental root and used to explain cosmic evolution. It posits that “the Tao [i.e. the Way] produced the One. The One produced the two. The two produced the three. And the three produced 10,000 things. And 10,000 things carry the yin and embrace the yang, and through the material force (ch’i [i.e. qi, the vital energy]) they achieve harmony” (Laozi, 1963, p. 160). The structural development of the cosmos illustrated in the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” is a process where the Great Ultimate produced the heaven and earth; and the heaven and earth ­produced the four seasons. Combining the viewpoints of Confucianism and Daoism, this chapter, on the one hand, explores the interactions between such opposing tendencies or elements as yin and yang, Texture and Vital Energy, in the evolution of the cosmos. On the other hand, it attempts to explicate the emergence of three elements — Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. Strictly speaking, the Great Ultimate underwent a transformation during the evolutionary process — a process in which the Way played a major role.

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2.1.  Activity and Tranquility, Yin and Yang, Qian (Creativity) and Kun (Docility) Thinkers in early China generally sensed the continuous process of production and reproduction undergone by the universe. They were aware that change is the basic trait of the Heavenly Way. Confucius once sighed at the sight of a flowing river saying, “it passes by incessantly like this, regardless day or night” (Confucius, 2014, 9:17). In the Doctrine of the Mean, the lines “the hawk flies up to heaven; the fishes leap in the deep” are cited from the Book of Poetry (Chan, 1963, p. 100) to present a vivid depiction of a cosmos full of life and vigor. Confucian scholars of subsequent ages made similar observations. All this speaks of the emphasis accorded in traditional Chinese philosophy to the understanding of the state and tendency that things display in their changes and developments. This philosophical tradition presents a detailed characterization of the universal law of contradictions. Specifically, it classifies the states and tendencies of changes into a number of basic types, which include Activity and Tranquility, yin and yang, Qian 乾 and Kun 坤, and so on. 2.1.1.  Activity and Tranquility Activity 動 and Tranquility 靜 are the two basic states that mark the diversification of the cosmic arche into heaven, earth, and all things and beings. The two states are in opposition to each other and yet interconvertible. Activity connotes ­moving, transformation, activeness, and so forth. From a scientific viewpoint, moving means physical displacement; transformation involves chemical change of quality, and Activity is marked by a higher and biological level of consciousness. Thus, they form an array of movements from unconscious organismal metabolism to conscious actions. Tranquility connotes motionless, balance, and ­quietness. It is also manifested in physical, chemical and biological domains. It is hence clear that an oversimplified application of the physically oriented notions of motion and stillness in Western philosophy would be inadequate for our explanation of Activity and Tranquility in Chinese philosophy. Pre-modern scholars’ view of an animated cosmos further centralizes the notions of activity and quietness. According to Xu Shen’s Explaining

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Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters and Duan Yucai’s 段玉裁 (1735–1815 AD) annotation thereof, the original meaning of the word “dong” 動 is “zuo” 作 which connotes “rising up”. The word “jing” 靜 in the sense of being “quiet” and “tranquil” is a loangraph. “Derived from 立 [li, to stand, to stand up, to erect]” rather than “from 爭 zheng [“to compete, to contend”], its orthograph 靜 used in the word 安靜 anjing (“quiet”, “tranquil”, “peaceful”, “motionless”) connotes peaceful stability, which is indicated by its early antiquity antonym 躁 zao (“impetuous”, “restless”) used in the Laozi.1 The phrase “being still and motionless” in the “Commentary of the Book of Changes” indicates this quietness. The posture of Activity is diverging and energetically robust, which can be said to be subsumed under the category of Opening. The posture of Tranquility is, by contrast, converging and meek, which exemplifies Closing. The interaction between Activity and Tranquility as well as that between Opening and Closing underlies the changes and transformations of all things. Zhou Dunyi’s An Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate presents a good combination of the view expressed in the Laozi and that in the “Commentary on the Book of Changes”. Particularly, it explains the genesis of the cosmos in terms of mutual dependence as well as the interconvertibility between Activity and Tranquility. It says, The Ultimate Non-being and also the Great Ultimate (T’ai-chi)! The Great Ultimate through activity generates yang. When its activity reaches its limit, it becomes tranquil. Through tranquility the Great Ultimate generates yin. When tranquility reaches its limit, activity begins again. So movement [i.e. Activity] and tranquility alternate and become the root of each other, giving rise to the distinction of yin and yang, and the two modes are thus established. By the transformation of yang and its union with yin, the Five Agents of Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth arise. When the five material forces are distributed in harmonious order, the four seasons run their course. (Zhang Zai, 1963, p. 463) 1 Translator’s

note: For notions of loangraph and orthograph, see Qiu Xigui, Chinese Writing. Translated by Mattos Gilbert and Jerry Norman. New Haven: The Society for the Study of Early China, 2000, pp. 261–263.

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Although the account is rather conjectural, it demonstrates a great force of logic, though to top the Great Ultimate with an Ultimate Nonbeing tends to be rather redundant. According to the explanation of Zhu Xi and some other scholars, this phrase is added merely to characterize the fundamental root of the cosmos as free of sound and smell rather than to suggest the existence of another fundamental root than the Great Ultimate. But it was possible that Zhou Dunyi used the Ultimate ­Non-being as an alternate name for the Way and took it to be the “one” produced by the Way as characterized in the phrase “the Way produces One” in the Laozi. Leaving the Non-being aside, at lease it seemed to Zhou Dunyi that the Great Ultimate, indisputably a direct origin of the cosmos, features Activity and Tranquility, which, respectively, generate yang and yin. Activity and Tranquility are engaged in incessant mutual conversions. The extreme of Activity marks the beginning of Tranquility; and, likewise, the extreme of Tranquility marks the beginning of Activity. Thus, the two of them can be said to be mutually dependent and serving as each other’s root. The division between yin and yang marks the formation of the heaven and earth. Yang (which is in fact Qian 乾) underpins all changes and transformations, and yin (which is in fact Kun 坤) underpins the rounding-up and the resultant accomplishments. Their interaction gives rise to the five basic elements, namely Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The five of them, in their turn, are connected with the four seasons. Spring is associated with Wood, summer with Fire, autumn with Metal, and winter with Water. The mutual influence between yin and yang on the material basis of the five elements or agents generates all things and beings in the four seasons. All things and beings are in a continuous process of production and reproduction. Changes are underway without an end. This can be regarded as the most typical of the pre-modern Chinese view on the cosmos. It is, indeed, inappropriate to call the depicted process “explosion” or “fission”, but it would be appropriate to characterize it as “evolution”. We can be more concrete and call it “illustration of cosmic evolution”. Of course, from our modern point of view, their notions of the heaven, earth, and five agents all tend to be pre-scientific. Between Activity and Tranquility, which is dominant? In Chinese intellectual history, opinions have been divergent on this question.

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In the pre-Qin era, the Laozi said it was Tranquility, arguing that “the heavy is the root of the light. The tranquil is the ruler of the hasty” (Laozi, 1963, 26, p. 153). “By being greatly tranquil”, Laozi further observed, “one is qualified to be the ruler of the world” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162). The Book of Changes argued the opposite, saying, “They change and move without staying (in one place), flowing about into any one of the six places of the hexagram [i.e. the six directions of up, down, east, west, south, and north]. They ascend and descend, ever inconstant. The strong and weak lines change places, so that an invariable and compendious rule [i.e. standard] cannot be derived from them; — it must vary as their changes indicate” (“Commentary on the Book of Changes”, 1993, p. 133). The academic circle in the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) generally considered Activity and Tranquility mutually maintaining. For example, they generally agreed on the validity of Zhou Dunyi’s theory we cited above. But, in view of both the shortcomings of the rational philosophy of the Song– Ming era and the Manchu sacking of their homeland, scholars — such as Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619–1692 AD) and Yan Yuan 顏元 (1635– 1704 AD) — during the transition between the Ming (1368–1644 AD) and Qing (1644–1911 AD) dynasties generally held Activity to be the dominant one in the dyad. It is not hard to sort out historical data relevant to this. But the question is how to identify the cause behind the divergence of the opinions, which is the key to our task of finding out their rationalities and limitations with a view to synthesize them into a theoretical innovation. First, from the viewpoint of cosmogenesis, pre-modern thinkers generally prioritized Movement. Speaking of the Way of changes, the Book of Changes emphasizes its capability of generating and regenerating, underscores the robust and dynamic Qianyuan 乾元, and extols daily renewal as an exuberant virtue. In the Laozi, it is said that the Way generates One, and One generates Two. The “generating” certainly exemplifies Activity. Zhou Dunyi’s account of the development from the Great Ultimate to the emergence of heaven and earth also begins from Activity. Wang Fuzhi, furthermore, made no attempt to avoid radicalness in this regard. “When the Great Ultimate moves”, he wrote, “it engenders yang. [This process constitutes] a motional Activity. When it is inactive, it engenders yin. [This process constitutes] a motional Tranquility. If Activity remained

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steadfast, where does [the action of] engendering yin comes from? Activity and Tranquility refer respectively to opening and closing. [The changes] from opening to closing and from closing to opening are invariably activities. The kind of Tranquility that is dead still would be extinction. Even extreme sincerity would not [end up in] extinction, how can heaven and earth be? ‘The Mandate of heaven, so magnificent it is, and [operating] without intermission’.2 So, how can there ever be any Tranquility in it?” (Wang Fuzhi, 1959, Inner Chapter). From a macro viewpoint, the entire world is in the process of changing and moving, in which Tranquility is only a relative phenomenon. In this sense, the relationship between Activity and Tranquility is one between the primary and the secondary. Second, as far as humankind’s conducts in the world are concerned, those that tend to keep to the root or basis prioritize Tranquility, and those geared to practical use prioritize Activity. The Laozi emphasizes keeping to the root and, in so doing, advises that rulers keep to the way of non-action and be good at guiding people with Tranquility. “Being … tranquil”, says Laozi, “… the world will be at peace in its own accord” (Laozi, 1963, p. 158). In the same Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate, Zhou Dunyi also argues that, after the formation of heaven, earth, and all things and beings in between, the most outstanding one among humankind, namely the sage, “settles … affairs by the principles of the Mean, correctness, humanity, and ­righteousness, regarding tranquility as fundamental” (Zhou Dunyi, translated in Chan, 1963, p. 463). A stance antithetical to this position can be found in Wang Fuzhi. In his opinion, “the movement of the sub-celestial world takes place on daily basis, so does the emergence of supermen. The sub-celestial world gives life every day, and supermen are in action every day. Activity is the door-hinge of the Way as well as the window of Virtue” (Wang Fuzhi, 2009, Vol. 6). As for Yan Yuan, a review of history led him to conclude that rulers and sages of early antiquity had all taught people their emphasis on Activity. In his judgment, it was Activity that brought about sages in the human world and accounted for the success of the hegemonies in the Spring–Autumn period. And, he thought, just a little remaining 2 Translator’s

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note: Book of Poetry, Ode of Zhou, No. 2.

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momentum of such Activity in early times was sufficient to enable the Han and Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties to accomplish their prosperity. By contrast, “the Jin [265–420 AD] and Song dynasties were content with temporary peace. Buddhists advocated void, and Laozi vacuity. Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao [1032–1085 AD], Cheng Yi [1033–1107 AD], Zhu Xi, and Shao Yong all sat quietly [in meditation]. In a word, none of them would be in action. [Consequently, the sources of] talented men became drained, the Sage’s Way extinguished, and the state perished”. Obviously, what he did was to draw lessons from the state’s historical events and thereby prioritize Activity over Tranquility. Third, from the perspective of the human heart’s cognitive experience of the fundamental root, almost all pre-modern philosophers agreed on the priority of Tranquility. Laozi argues for attaining vacuity and maintaining Tranquility, so as to see things’ return and know the eternal (Laozi, 1963, p. 147). Zhuangzi and his followers think that the mental tranquility, and indifference to fame and benefit enables a sage’s heart to serve as a mirror for heaven, earth, and all things in between (Zhuangzi, Chapter 13). According to “The Commentary on the Book of Changes”, the key to knowing the Way of Changes is to remain thoughtless, inactive, still, and thereby accomplish a thorough enlightenment to it. In this regard, the views expressed in the “Three Abstruse Texts” (i.e. the Book of Changes, the Laozi, and the Zhuangzi) are interrelated, and they were generally considered as valid by subsequent generations of scholars. Zhu Xi, for instance, requires that the mind be pure, concentrated, and — with ­reverence — entering a state of complete cessation. He thinks that, by ­analogy, “Tranquility is a host whereas Activity a guest. Tranquility is like a home whereas Activity a road” (Zhu Xi, Vol. 12). Much as Wang Shouren advocated a combination of Activity and Tranquility, he nonetheless considered Tranquility and Activity as, respectively, the Substance and Function of the heart. Thus, we know that the state of Tranquility has been found to be more immanent and latent. When it comes to spiritual activities, even such an ardent advocator of action-taking as Xunzi would propose “emptying and concentrating [one’s mind] to attain tranquility” 虛一而靜 (Xunzi, Chapter 21). In this sense, the relationship between Activity and Tranquility is, indeed as Zhu Xi suggests, one between a host and a guest.

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Based on the foregoing, we may say that insofar as human activities are concerned, Activity and Tranquility are two sides of the same entity. The two of them dominate alternately under different circumstances. Tranquility is needed in observation, and Activity is required in praxis. Hence, with Tranquility, one cognitively experiences the Way, and with Activity, one follows the Way in practice. Those who cognitively experience the Way are expected to attain saintdom in the heart, and those who follow the Way in practice are expected to achieve royalty in their political career. Although pre-modern thinkers generally insisted that the method of following the Way in practice be based on one’s cognitive experience of the Way, and they took note that Tranquility and Activity potentially led, respectively, to saintdom and royalty, there is certainly a distinction between activeness and passiveness between them. Human social activities should be those that actively follow the Way in practice. Therefore, it would be appropriate to opt for an energetic and active tendency. This is an option that Confucian scholars generally agreed upon, and an option that is more in accordance with the zeitgeist of modern times. 2.1.2.  Yin and Yang Yin and yang are closely related to Tranquility and Activity. It is observed in the Zhuangzi that “Tranquility is of the same nature with yin whereas Activity of the same flow with yang” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 13). But yin and yang differ from Tranquility and Activity in that they not only denote the two states of existence that things are in but also two opposing natures and two mutually complementary forces. It is said in the Laozi that “the ten thousand of things carry the yin and embrace the yang” (Laozi, 1963, p. 160). And, according to the “Commentary of the Book of Changes”, “the interwoven operations of yin and yang constitute what is known as the Way”. Presumably, these views were both formulated on the basis of this sense. Thinkers in the Song and Ming dynasties mostly took yin and yang to be the yin energy and yang energy, which also carry the connotations of both the nature and force.

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The notions of yin and yang must have emerged early. Although their occurrences are absent in the Book of Changes, the 64 hexagrams therein are composed of the yin (divided “- -”) and yang (undivided “—”) lines. The “Commentary of the Book of Changes” provides us with the following account, “Anciently, when the sages make the I [i.e. the Book of Changes], in order to give mysterious assistance to the spiritual Intelligences, they produced (the rules for the use of) the divining plant. The number 3 was assigned to heaven, 2 to earth, and from these came the (other) numbers. They contemplated the changes in the yin and yang signs (by the process of manipulating the stalks), and formed the trigrams”.3 This means that the notions had been established by the Yin (16–11 century BC) and (Western) Zhou (11–771 BC) period at the latest. ­ Elsewhere in historical documents, there is a record of a major earthquake that took place in the second Reign Year of King You of the Western Zhou dynasty, which was equivalent to 780 BC. In it, an official Mr. Boyang is recorded to have predicted: “The kingdom of Zhou is going to perish. Generally, the energies of heaven and earth are in an undisturbed order. If they are out of order, then it is human kind who have deranged them, causing the yang to be hidden and unable to come out, and the yin to be pressed down and unable to arise, hence the occurrence of earthquakes. Now an earthquake has really occurred, which is a sure sign of displaced yang that overwhelms the yin” (Guoyu, Vol. 1).4 The graphs 阴 (yin) and 阳 (yang) in the Chinese language share the 阜 radical, which means that they both have something to do with waterside and hillside. In the pre-modern times, 阴 and 阳 were written, respectively, as 隂 and 陽. The former originally referred to the south side of a river and north side of a mountain, respectively. Because the side it referred to is a ubac, the word also connotes “dark”. The latter, in direct contrast with yin, referred to the south side of a mountain and north side of a river. It hence refers to an adret. In the aforementioned 3 Translator’s

note: This translation is adopted mutatis mutandis from Legge’s (1993, p. 341) translation of the Book of Changes. 4 Translator’s note: The Guoyu 國語 [Discourses of the States] is generally thought to have been compiled between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.

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Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the word is glossed as “high and bright”. In modern and simplified Chinese, the two graphs are changed from phonograms to syssemantographs,5 which makes perfect sense because it is said in “Commentary on the Book of Changes” that “the meanings of yin and yang are matched [respectively] with the moon [i.e. 月 in Chinese character] and the sun [i.e. 日 in Chinese]”. The divinatory symbols in the Book of Changes are composed of the yin and yang lines. Opinions vary with regard to its rationale. Major among the opinions there have been, first, those that suggest that yang signifies the sun high up in the sky whereas yin denotes a sunken sun; second, those that take yang to be a sign of the sun and yin that of the moon; and third, those that consider yang as a symbol of heaven in the form of an integrated whole whereas yin that of an earth marked by its division between land and ocean. Down to modern times, there have been scholars — for example, Qian Xuantong 錢玄同 (1887–1939) and Guo Moruo 郭沫若 (1892–1978) — who further suggest that yang and yin, respectively, symbolize men’s and women’s generative organs. These explanations, generally speaking, all ascribe the emergence of the dyad notion of yin and yang to early philosophers’ practice of drawing analogies from things afar, and seeking enlightenment in things as near as one’s own person. As regards how yin and yang — as two tendencies and functions — give impetus to the evolution of the cosmos, pre-modern philosophers attempted numerous explanations, and we have also discussed much of the topic above. Here, we will concentrate on the characteristic distinctions between the two. First, in the broadest sense, the dyad of yin and yang can be analogous to the opposition between the positive and negative in physics. Like the positive and negative electrical charges in an atom, yin and yang constitute the positive and negative sides of an entity. But no rash conclusion should be reached with regard to which of them is positive, because it will all be contingent on the specifics of time and circumstances. But this 5 Translator’s

note: For definitions of phonogram and syssemantograph, please see Qiu Xigui, Chinese Writing, pp. 7–10, p. 16, pp. 185–186.

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understanding tends to be a little too simple and straightforward. Premodern philosophers constructed the dyad notion with a wide variety of connotations and conceived them to be in an integrated harmony. So we should not stop short at this level of understanding. Second, yin vs. yang implies union vs. separation as well as convergence vs. divergence. Generally speaking, yin tends to manifest itself in inward convergence whereas yang in outward divergence. The former is a case of closing and the latter one of opening. An awareness of this difference would enable us to adequately rationalize the changes of things from the perspective of an alternation between such cases of opening and closing. To the dyad of convergence and divergence, value judgment would be irrelevant, for, between the two, which one is more appropriate than the other would depend on the time and circumstances. Convergence ensures things’ stability and divergence their expansion. The dyad hence underpins the inherent tension between the existence and development of all things. Third, the dyad of yin and yang can also reflect the undulation, flexion, and stretch that take place in things’ internal contradictions. As we know, yang tends to be dynamic whereas yin tranquil. In accordance with the difference, the prevalence of yang is shown in the rising and expansion of things, whereas that of yin is reflected in things’ dormancy and flexion. The two tendencies wax and wane in turns, dominate alternately, and thereby give rise to different phases of a process. This can be instantiated in the four seasons, where spring and summer feature yang whereas autumn and winter are marked by yin. People sow in spring, ensure growth in summer, reap in autumn, and store up grain in winter. Distinct from yet supplementary to one another, these phases jointly form a developmental circle. Fourth, the dyad is closely related to the distinction between firmness (forcefulness) and softness. According to the “Commentary of the Book of Changes”, those which establish the Way of Heaven are called yin and yang, and those which establish the Way of Earth are known as softness and firmness. Presumably because heaven was considered to be gaseous and earth to be solid, the former was distinguished in terms of yin and yang, and the latter in terms of firmness and softness. This is a specific and fine kind of distinction. In fact there are firm (i.e. forceful) and soft

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kinds of gases as well as yin and yang aspects of any solid form. For this reason, there came to be such terms as 陽剛 yang-gang (literally “yangforceful”, which means masculine) and 隂柔 yin-rou (literally “yin-soft”, which means feminine) in later times. Basically, things’ departure, divergence, rise, and stretch tend to be forceful, and their convergence, concentration, latency, and flexion tend to be soft. Fifth, the natures of yin and yang most markedly manifest in human genders. In human history, people have usually aesthetically appreciated masculine qualities in men and feminine qualities in women. Ban Zhao 班昭 (45–117 AD), an outstanding women scholar in the Han dynasty, once wrote: “Just as yin and yang differ in nature, so men and women are distinguished in behavior. Yang has firmness in its nature and yin has softness imbedded in its function … . There is such a common saying that ‘having a son like a wolf, one would still fear the boy’s being too feeble; but having a daughter like a mouse, one would nonetheless fear the girl’s being too robust and aggressive’”. Cicero in ancient Rome divided beauty into masculine and feminine kinds, considering the former stately and latter pretty. “Seeing that there are two kinds of beauty”, he said explicitly, “one of which consists in grace, the other in dignity; we must consider grace as feminine, and dignity as masculine beauty”.6 Even in our present time, people still think that men tend to be enterprising whereas women tend to be (socially) harmonizing. There have been Western scholars who think that men’s brain develops in the direction of problemsolving whereas women’s develops in the direction of socialization. There have been, moreover, scholars in history who consider yang noble and yin lowly (e.g. Wang Bi), and those who consider yang good and yin evil (e.g. Dong Zhongshu). Since their views could be applied only to a limited number of cases, we will not adopt them. According to the Book of Changes, that which is unfathomable in the operations of its yin and yang is supernatural.7 Indeed, Nature, through its regulation of yin and yang, created such a colorful world. We cannot help but marvel at its unfathomable mystery. It would be hardly imaginable 6 See

Bernard Basanquet, A History of Aesthetic, (NY: The MacMillan Co., 1904), p. 104. note: This translation is adopted mutatis mutandis from Legge’s (1993, p. 299) the Book of Changes. 7 Translator’s

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what heaven, earth, and all things and beings would be like if there were only yang or only yin. The integration between yin and yang has given rise to heaven, earth, and all things in between, which include each and every family in the human society. A typical example can be found in the marital relation between Jackie Chan (i.e. Cheng Long 成龍) and Joan Lin (i.e. Lin Fengjiao 林鳳嬌). Jackie Chan is a celebrated artist in contemporary China. He was born in 1954 in Hong Kong. In 1981, he encountered Joan Lin, a film actress from Taiwan. They fell in love. The next year, their son Jaycee was born. As a masculine and energetic character generally hailed as the epitome of tough man in film, TV, and music scene, Jackie Chan has a prosperous career, worldwide fame, and a large amount of wealth. He was, however, unready for a marriage when Joan was pregnant. So Joan, with love and affection, went to America alone for her delivery. When the delivery was expected soon, she inquired how to provide the information about the baby’s father in the paperwork. Thereupon Jackie went to join her in America, where the two of them obtained their marriage certificate. After their marriage, Joan faded out of the spotlight to concentrate on her dual familial role as a wife and a mother. Jackie, on the other hand, still proclaimed himself to be single, exhibiting a tendency to fall away from the family. It was in 1998, when a senior in the family passed away, that the statuses of his wife and son were publically recognized in an obituary notice. But, Joan Lin, without a word of complaint, always greeted Jackie with smile whenever he was back home. Later, news came out about Jackie’s affairs with some female film stars, including an affair that resulted in the birth of a baby girl. It is, incidentally, often said to be the kind of “mistake that all men are prone to”. Joan kept silent and exercised tolerance, which made Jackie feel guilty and regretted. In 2004, Jackie learned that he had two older brothers in the Chinese mainland, but he was too busy working to visit them. Towards the end of the year, he unexpectedly received a Federal-Express parcel from Joan. In it was a DV tape of the scenery of his hometown and the life of his relatives. Tears filled Jackie’s eyes. An event that moved his heart even more occurred in 2005, when he, during the shooting of a fighting scene for the film Rob-B-Hood, fell down from a 49-feet tree. The accident left him unconscious in hospital for seven days. When he came to and opened his eyes, the first one he saw was his wife. “Now you’ve come

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to yourself”, said she to him, “still feeling unwell? …” As she said so, tears sprang from her eyes, and she suddenly passed out in fatigue and emotional disturbance. After Jackie recovered and left hospital, people noticed a photograph of a youthful Joan in his wallet whenever they saw him paying his shopping or dining bills. …

Some say Joan Lin is “a great woman”, because she — with her pliable, refined yet strong character and, what is more, her enduring persistence — conquered such an intractable and valiant character as Jackie Chan, managed to hold a family together, and maintained the harmony of the family. Here we have no intention to comment on the marriage between Jackie and Joan, still less intent to set it as a model. What we aimed at is to identify in it some typical characteristics of men and women. The marriage between Jackie Chan and Joan Lin can be said to be a perfect union between masculinity and femininity. Generally speaking, the relation between men and women is marked by a series of seemingly oppositional characteristics and tendencies, such as Activity and Tranquility, Opening and Closing, Divergence and Convergence, and Firmness and Softness. But harmonious integration of the tendencies is possible, for it embodies the Way of Heaven and Earth. The firm can subdue the soft, but the soft is also capable of overcoming the firm. The conformity to the Way of Heaven and Earth in human affairs constitutes the way of superior men [i.e. men of virtue]. Liu Shao 劉劭 (fl. 172–240 AD) in the Three-Kingdom Period (220–280 AD) offered some good exposition. “In opposition of tendencies”, he said, “lies what men of virtue refer to as the Way. That is why men of virtue, knowing that flexion is that through which stretching is made possible, would put themselves out of the way to endure contempt; and, knowing that submission can be a means to conquer the enemy, they yield to him [i.e. the enemy] without hesitation. When such actions reach their extreme, misfortune can be turned into fortune, and foes can be ­disarmed and turned into friends. [That way,] enmity can be [resolved] without letting it extend to subsequent generations, and the good fame [of men of virtue] will last forever. Is the Way of superior men [men of virtue] not extensive?” (Liu Shao, 2009, Chapter 13). There is no need to distinguish whether this passage embodies the thought in the Laozi or in the Book of Changes, for this is a point that the two classic canons share in common.

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There is a final point to be briefly clarified here, which is that the properties of yin and yang are identified from different perspectives and manifest in comparison. Due to such relativity, they cannot be grasped in a rigid manner. For example, according to the “Commentary on the Book of Changes”, horses are yin relative to dragons, but they are yang if compared with oxen. People normally consider daytime as yang and night as yin. But, compared with summer daytime, winter daytime would invariably be yin. 2.1.3.  Qian and Kun If the Great Ultimate consists of such oppositional tendencies as Activity vs. Tranquility and yin vs. yang, then it was precisely such oppositions that caused the separation of heaven and earth, which pre-modern philosophers, respectively, referred to as 乾 Qian (“Creativity”) and 坤 Kun (“Docility”). The original meaning of Kun is earth, whereas that of Qian is “to rise up”, “to head out”, connoting the rising of the sun. The character 乾 is a phonogram-cum-syssemantograph. Its extended meaning is “heaven”. The Book of Changes first describes the functions of Qian and Kun: “Qian is (is the symbol of) strength; Kun, of Docility” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 345). And the description is followed by an explanation of their noumena: “Qian is (is the symbol of) Heaven, and it hence has the appellation of father. Kun is (is the symbol of) earth, and it hence has the appellation of mother” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 347). As for whether Qian (Creativity henceforth) and Kun (Docility ­henceforth) should be included in the categorical system in Chinese philosophy, this is a question to be considered carefully. If we simply take them to be alternate appellations for heaven and earth or the most representational trigrams in the Book of Changes, then we may be justified to keep them outside our field of view. Considering their statuses as the two wings of the Way of Changes, however, their connotations can be covered by neither Activity and Tranquility nor yin and yang. Hence, they deserve a place in the system of our philosophical categories. In fact, from pre-Qin era, Western and Eastern Han times, Wei–Jin period, and all the way down to the Song and Ming dynasties, pre-modern philosophers always treated them as a pair of basic categories in their philosophical discourse.

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Even in modern times, the philosophical theory of Xiong Shili 熊十力 (1885–1968), which is an important source of influence for NeoConfucianism in Hong Kong and Taiwan still bases its theorization on the dynamic relation between Creativity and Docility. This is because, first, the categories of Creativity and Docility have, to a certain extent, synthesized the opposition between Activity and Tranquility as well as that between yin and yang, second, the categories provide us with a better viewpoint to gain insight into the general law of the cosmos, and third, they lend themselves more directly to an exposition on the virtues required by the human society. Indeed, Creativity and Docility are related, respectively, to yang and yin. In the “Great Commentary”, Confucius is quoted to have said, “Qian represents what is of the yang nature (bright and active); Kun what is of the yin nature (shaded and inactive). These two unite according to their qualities, and there comes the embodiment of the result by the strong [i.e. yang] and weak [i.e. yin] (lines). In this way we have the phenomena of heaven and earth visibly exhibited, and can comprehend the operation of the spiritual intelligence” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 331). Creativity and Docility correspond, respectively, to Activity and Inactivity. Creativity underpins Activity and changes without stopping. Docility, with its wide comprehension (Ibid., p. 17) and its ability “to give every definite form” (Ibid., p. 21), underlies Tranquility. Since Creativity and Docility each constitute a system, they can basically synthesize Activity and Tranquility on the one hand, and yang and yin on the other though they can replace neither duality. This is because, first, in the capacities of heaven and earth, they are themselves the outcome of the interactions between Activity and Tranquility, and that between yin and yang. Second, the operations of the ways of Creativity and Docility incorporate the opposition between Activity and Tranquility as well as that between yang and yin. In the “Inner Chapters” of his Observing Things 觀物, Shao Yong commented on this relationship. “Heaven”, he wrote, “is that which is created in Activity, and earth that which is created in Tranquility. The interweaving between Action and Inaction exhausts the Way of heaven and earth. The start of Activity creates yang; its extreme creates yin. The interweaving between yin and yang exhausts the functions of heaven. The start of Tranquility creates Softness; its extreme creates Firmness.

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The interweaving between Softness and Firmness exhausts the function of the earth”. This view has its root in the exposition in the “Commentary of the Book of Changes” about the Great Ultimate giving rise to heaven and earth, the inclusion of yin and yang in the Way of Heaven, and the manifestation of Firmness and Softness in the Way of Earth. Marked by its endeavor to further explicate the logic process, Shao Yong’s opinion can be considered as original. Not only does the dual category of Creativity and Docility realize the integration of Activity, Tranquility, yin and yang, it also generates new connotations, chief among which is the general law that underlies the changes and developments of all things. The binary of Activity vs. Tranquility and that of yin vs. yang, needless to say, both show the tendencies in such changes and developments, but they are not even nearly as broad and concrete as Creativity and Docility. In the “Great Commentaries”, it is written, “In the heavens there are the (different) figures there completed, and on the earth there are the (different) bodies formed. (Corresponding to them) were the changes and transformations exhibited …” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 291). “[A] door shut may be pronounced (analogous to) Kun (or the inactive condition), and the opening of the door (analogous to) Qian (or the active condition). The opening succeeding the being shut may be pronounced (analogous to what we call) a change; and the passing from one of these states to the other may be called the constant course (of things). The (first) appearance of anything (as a bud) is what we call a semblance; when it has received its complete form, we call it a definite thing” (Ibid., p. 311). Why are the properties of Creativity and Docility, along with their incorporations, analogized to the opening and shutting of a door? This may speak of a case of seeking enlightenment in things as near as one’s own person. And it may even have something to do with sex. See what the author wrote later: “There is Qian. In its (individual) stillness it is self-absorbed; when exerting its motive power it goes straight forward; and thus it is that its productive action is on a grand scale. There is Kun. In its (individual) stillness, it is self-collected and capacious; when exerting its motive power, it develops its resources, and thus its productive action is on a wide scale. There is Qian. In its (individual) stillness it is self-absorbed; when exerting its motive power it goes straight forward; and thus it is that its

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productive action is on a grand scale. There is Kun. In its (individual) stillness, it is self-collected and capacious; when exerting its motive power, it develops its resources, and thus its productive action is on a wide scale” (Ibid., p. 299). All nations have had a period of reproduction worship in history. And from the phenomenon of reproduction, they tried to deduce the rationale behind the emergence of all things and beings. The attempt is quite normal. As we know, the Laozi also mentions that “[t]he gate of the subtle and profound female is the root of Heaven and Earth” (Laozi, 1963, p. 142). Regardless of the mysterious and unpredictable changes of things, there will always be an opening and a closing as their cause, and the completion of figures and definite things as their result. An emphasis on the understanding of the principle of changes is translatable to the stress on grasping what we call the underlying law of changes in modern times. As an underlying law, the dynamic relation that marks the binary of Creativity and Docility can be succinctly characterized as “yijian” (易簡, “to be variable and [yet] regular”). If, in the Book of Changes, the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” 文言傳 features separate explanations of Creativity and Docility, then the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” may have meant to be an explication of the combination of the two. In it, it is said, “In such Variability and Regularity lies the key to all principles in the sub-celestial world”. Evidently, the synthesis of Variability and Regularity is considered as the fundamental law for the operations of the Ways of Creativity and Docility. An understanding of this law, therefore, holds the key to the mastery of all principles in heaven and earth. Yet, for a long time, the academic circle has, regrettably, clung to an oversimplified interpretation. And due to their failure to think carefully and explore further, people often equate yijian 易簡 to 簡易 (jianyi, “to be simple and easy”). If the law were just simple and easy, how could it possibly incorporate all principles under the sky and underpin the Ways of Heaven and Earth? Han Kangbo’s 韓康伯 (4th century AD) misinterpretation in this regard has confused the academic circle for over 1,000 years. In the opening paragraph of the “Commentary of the Book of Changes”, the following lines of systemization can actually be identified. Heaven 天－ Qian 乾－ Activity 動－ firm 剛－ man 男－ knowing the beginning 知始－ known by its function of making change 以易知－ adherent 有親－endurable 可久－ Worthy men’s virtue 賢人之德.

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Earth 地－ Kun 坤－ Tranquility 靜－ soft 柔－ woman 女－ perfection of all things 成物－ shown by its function of endowing form 以簡能－ achieving success 有功－ expandable 可大－ Worthy men’s merit and achievement 賢人之業. “In such Variability and Regularity lies the key to all principles in the sub-celestial world”. This view precisely ties together the above two lines of systemization, which, proceeding from the cosmos to human life, can be said to encompass all the principles under the sky. Specifically, the original meaning of yi 易 is “lizard” or “sun and moon”; and that of jian 簡 is “bamboo slips (used by the ancients as their primary material for writing prior to the invention of paper)”. When used as a disyllabic verb, yijian 易簡 denotes a state of being as incessantly changing as the “yi” and as distinctively orderly as the “jian”. In all the words and phrases that feature a juxtaposition of “jian” and “yi”, the author of the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” invariably used the “yi” and “jian” to refer, respectively, to the tendency of expansion and initiation in the process of cosmos evolution on the one hand, and the completion of things’ materialization and acquisition of form in the said process on the other hand. Hence, the former is manifested primarily along a temporal dimension (i.e. “endurable”) and connected with virtue, which is latent in nature. The latter, by contrast, is observable along a spatial dimension (i.e. “expandable”) and related to substantial merits and achievements. Thus, the combination of virtue and achievements would be a union between inner sageliness 內聖 and outer kingliness 外王. In the West, there were ancient Greek philosophers who came up with accounts that strike as similar to the exposition on the binary of Creativity and Docility. Empedocles, for instance, once sang in a poem that “all things sometimes unite into one in ‘friendly affection’, and sometimes separate and scatter because of their ‘quarrels’”.8 He, moreover, compared friendly affection to Goddess Aphrodite. Even in modern times, Chinese and Western philosophers would still, directly or indirectly, acknowledge the incessant variability of Creativity and the distinctive regularity of Docility as the principle of all principles in the universe. 8 See

Miao Litian 苗力田, Gu Xila Zhexue 古希臘哲學 [Ancient Greek Philosophy], Beijing: Renmin Daxue chubanshe, 1989, pp. 111–112.

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Mr. Xiong Shili is undoubtedly one of the most original thinkers in modern Chinese history. Incorporating Confucianism and Buddhism, his thought is based on the Book of Changes. He often thought of the Way of Changes as “constant turning” and considered it necessarily composed of two “tendencies of function”: One is known as Opening, which, without materializing, is robust, energetic, and inclined to consistently initiate, develop, and open up. The other is called Closing, which tends to congeal into definite forms and be constantly cohesive and convergent. Opening is the virtue of Creativity and Closing is that of Docility. The evolution of the cosmos is based precisely on the dynamic relation between Creativity and Docility with the occurrence and completion of all the changes proceeding through Opening and Closing. Mr. Xiong spoke highly of the robust, energetic, enterprising, and active virtue of Creativity. At the same time, he explicitly interpreted “jian” (distinctively regular) in terms of the 貞固 (“correct and firm”) virtue of Docility, and, in so doing, praised the form-endowing capacity of the Docility.9 Unlike Mr. Xiong Shili, whose philosophical thought is entirely a product of Eastern culture, Mr. Jin Yuelin 金岳霖 (1895–1984) received more training in Western philosophy. But his search for noumenon led him to a conclusion close to Mr. Xiong’s. The first chapter of his The Way Explored 論道 treats the Way as a composite of “Pattern — Energy”.10 It begins by pronouncing that “the Way is Pattern — Energy” (1.1), and that energy is active and motional, though such property suggests no “material form” (1.3), and that the Way tends to be dynamic and diversified. His notion of “Pattern” can be defined as “a possibility that is disjunctively open to all probabilities” (1.5). It is the source of both logic and Texture. His basic model of the cosmos is one in which “Energy” is contained in “Pattern” and yet free to enter and exit Pattern, which means that “to stay with Pattern and to let Energy run its course both embody the Way” (1.26). Among modern philosophical thoughts in the West, none is closer to the model of cosmos in the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” than 9 Xiong

Shili 熊十力, Xiong Shili Quanji 熊十力全集 [Complete Works of Xiong Shili], (Wuhan: Hubei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2001), Vol. 7, p. 112. 10 Jin Yuelin 金岳霖, Lun Dao 論道 [The Way Explored], (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1987).

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Schopenhauer’s cosmological theory. He holds that the world comprises two levels: One is Representation, the other Will. In his judgment, all forces in Nature can be subsumed under Will, which, as a dynamic force itself, is fundamentally an aimless and insatiable desire. The Representation of the world is nothing but the Will in an objectified form. In addition to such division of the internal and external, Schopenhauer also suggests a paralleled dualistic division, where Idea, like Will, is also a part of noumenal contents. He conceptualizes the Idea as each and every “fixed and invariable level” of objectification that Will is subjected to. It is hence a basic structure. Idea is related to Nature in a manner “as if it imposed patterns on Nature”.11 In Western philosophy, Nietzsche is generally considered as an inheritor of Schopenhauer’s thought. His notion of Bacchus is close to Creativity, for it impresses with its incessant changing Variability. On the other hand, the Phoebus he conceptualizes is, similar to Docility, marked by its contractive and cohesive Regularity. As a god representing all the forces that give shape and form, Phoebus endows his objects with curving contours and always emphasizes moderation. By contrast, the Bacchus’s type of impetus in human beings serves them as their profound and powerful internal drive. It manifests itself in humankind’s extreme emotional excitement. And it seems to be always “titanic” and “barbarous”. Nietzsche thinks that, “just like the duality of genders that birthgiving would rely upon”,12 the concerted operations of the spirit of Bacchus and that of Phoebus would result in the birth of single pieces of artwork and even the entire world of art. There is no denying that the aforementioned philosophers differ profoundly in their thoughts. What we have focused on is only their acknowledgement of the two basic tendencies in heaven, earth, and all things and beings. In their pursuit of the Arche of the universe and human life, they have all sensed the existence of such fundamental duality: The notion of Opening — along with Energy, will of life, will of power, and so on — represents one universal tendency of function that is forceful, vigorous, 11 Arthur

Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation. Translated [into Chinese] by Shi Chongbai 石沖白. (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1982), p. 191. 12 F. Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy. Translated [into Chinese] by Zhou Guoping 周國平. Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 1986, p. 2.

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energetic, and initiative (this is roughly equivalent to Variability). And what is known as Closing — along with Pattern, Idea, the spirit of Phoebus, and so forth — represents the other universal tendency of function that is correctly and constantly regular and mathematically exact (this is roughly equivalent to Regularity). Thus, on the one hand, there is such a source of impetus that is incessantly changing. On the other hand, there is such a mathematical structure that is stabilizing, convergent, and cohesive. Once the two of them concordantly act upon various materials, projects will be launched, and missions will be accomplished, which results in the variegated and colorful reality and the world of art. Philosophers in the East and West each delved into the subject matter from a different angle, yet they have eventually converged in the depth of it. This is truly a case where “[t]hey all come to the same (successful) issue, though by different paths; there is one result, though there might be a hundred anxious schemes” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 323). Indeed, an understanding of the mutual complement of Variety and Regularity would be tantamount to the grasp of the fundamental principle in the universe.13 With the binary category of Creativity and Docility as its key, Chinese philosophy is able to very logically link together the constant Way of Heaven and Earth on the one hand and human virtues on the other hand. Just as the “Commentary on the Symbolism” says of the trigrams of Qian (Creativity) and Kun (Docility), “Heaven, in its motion, (gives the idea of) strength. The superior man [man of virtue], in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 5). And “[t]he (capacity and sustaining) power of the earth is denoted by Kun, the superior man [man of virtue], in accordance with this, with his large virtue supports (men and) things” (Ibid., p. 19). Without doubt, in all people’s heart, there are potentials to both nerve them to ceaseless activity and to support men and things with their virtue. 13 For

more about the meaning of “Variety” and “Regularity”, please see my article “Yizhuan de yijian xinshi — jiantan yijian er tianxia zhi li de” 易傳的 “易簡 新釋 — 兼談 “易簡而天下之理得 [New Interpretation of the ‘yijian’ in the ‘Great Commentaries’ — With a discussion on the phrase ‘In such Variability and Regularity lies the key to all principles in the sub-celestial world’]”. Zhouyi Yanjiu 5 (Hu Jiaxiang, 2007).

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But some people make the potentials fully develop whereas others may leave the potentials obscured. Ceaseless and vigorous activities are good for making accomplishments and establishing a legacy. Supporting others with one’s large virtue would, on the other hand, promote social harmony. A given individual may be disposed more to one potential than to the other, but no one can afford to have neither. As we can see, even those historical figures who are known for their iron will may have a soft side to them. Ariel Sharon, former Israeli prime minister, makes a perfect example in this regard. Sharon is generally known as an iron-handed man in the world. In his youth, he repeatedly distinguished himself in battlefield. When he served as Israeli prime minister in his old age, he was known for his courage and determination. His is a personality filled with vigor and mental strength. “I have taken part in all the cruel wars that Israel underwent”, he once said, “and I fought in the cruelest part in each of them”. He also said the following emphatically, “I believe I understand the importance of peace more than any politicians do. Peace must be accomplished in a way that brings safety to Jewish people”. In July 1998, Sharon visited China in the capacity of Israeli minister of agriculture. On his way southward from Beijing, he, from inside the car, saw a number of women farming in the field. Sharon signaled the motorcade to stop. Then he got off the car, and, standing on the side of the road, silently watched those stooping women transplanting rice seedlings. He was there for a long time without saying a word. Once back into the car, his eyes flashed with tender emotions, which was unusual for him. With emotions, he said to those who were accompanying him, “People rarely see women transplanting rice seedlings these days. The sight of those women over there reminds me of my mother. When I was a child, I often saw her working in the field. She would toil there for long hours, which really wore her out and caused a lot of physical pain. But she was always happy and jolly”. Then people in the car began to understand what had crossed his mind, and felt that this story brought Mr. Sharon closer to them.

In my opinion, that which embodies the duality of Creativity and Docility in the human heart is the binary of Zhi (free will, purpose, aspiration) and Benevolence, which is a topic to be expounded in Part Two.

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As for whether the properties of being originating, penetrating, advantageous, and firmly righteous in Creativity and those of being soft, meek, advantageous, and firmly righteous in Docility would induce Benevolence, Righteous, Rite, and Wisdom in the human society, this is something rather doubtable and questionable. Granted that the analogy was already drawn in the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams”, the points made there do not seem to be very convincing. Pre-modern thinkers had arrived at some understanding of the dialectics in the development and changes of things. The understanding includes the law of the unity of opposites, the interchangeability between quantitative change and qualitative change, affirmation vs. negation, and so on. Such understandings stem from a rather animistic cosmological view. Unlike those mathematically inclined laws we have just mentioned, the laws involving Activity and Tranquility, yin and yang, and even Creativity and Docility tend to be visually oriented. As such, they can more vividly reveal the rhythm, and present a general view, of the cosmos. This is one of the most salient characteristics of Chinese philosophy and even Chinese culture. The dual category of Activity and Tranquility portrays two states. The binary of yin and yang, at a higher level, depicts two qualities. And the duality of Creativity and Docility goes even further to reveal two fundamental laws (Variability and Regularity). The three categories are simultaneously interrelated and, at the same time, they form a progressive echelon. With each geared to a different academic purpose, they facilitate human attempt at an overall understanding of the developments and changes of heaven, earth, and all things and beings in between.

2.2. Transformation of All Things by Qi and the Dendritic Multiple Manifestations of Singular Principle In terms of its basic form, the process in which the Great Ultimate evolves the heaven, earth, and all things features the mutual complementation between Activity and Tranquility, between yin and yang, and between Creativity and Docility. And the investigation of their components would inevitably lead us to the discovery of the union and separation between Qi and Texture in the process.

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2.2.1.  Theory on the Transformation of Qi Facing the variegated and colorful world, with what word or expression should we characterize its material form of existence? The term that is generally used today is “matter”. But philosophers in early China, ­attentive more to the aspect of its variability in existence, chose the word 气 Qi (“gas”, “air”, “anything in gaseous form”). According to our commonsense, matter exists in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms. The three forms are all interconvertible under certain conditions. Among them, the gaseous form — as it seemed to early philosophers — exists between emptiness and substantiality and hence better lends itself to humankind’s cosmogenetic inquiries. It is regrettable that the exact origin of the term has remained a mystery. It is absent from the extant early canonical texts, such as the Shang Shu, the Book of Changes, and the Book of Poetry. In the extant shell and bone inscriptions, and bronze inscriptions from the Shang–Zhou period, the character “气” generally carries the meanings of 乞 qi (“to supplicate”), 迄 qi (“up to”, “till”, “all along”), and 訖 qi (“settled”, “completed”, “end”).14 Thus, resulting from the ancients’ practice of drawing analogies from things afar and seeking enlightenment from things in one’s own person, the concept of “Qi” can be reasonably considered as one of the most important landmarks indicating their ontological awakening. Originally, the ancients might have, as observed in Xu Shen’s Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, used the character to denote “clouds”. But before long, they seem to have endowed the character with a sense to mean matters in particulate and fluid forms, and used it to explain the formation of the cosmos and its development. As an example, toward the end of the Western Zhou era (11th century–771 BC), there was Mr. Boyang who attributed an earthquake to a situation where, in the Qi of heaven and earth, the yang was hidden and unable to come out, and the yin was pressed down and unable to arise. At that time, the so-called Qi of the heaven and earth was conceptualized as something that 14 Onozawa

Seiichi 小野沢精一, Fukunaga Mitsuji 福永光司, and Yamanoi Yū 山井湧, Ki no Shiso: Chugoku ni okeru Shizenkan to Ningenkan no Tenkai [The Thought of Qi: The development of Chinese view of Nature and notion of human being]. Tokyo: Daigaku Shuppankai, 1978, pp. 14–15.

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was the finest and most fluid, not unlike the atom conceptualized in ancient Greek philosophy. After the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BC), people further articulated that the qi of yin and yang had generated all things and beings. It is said in the Laozi that the “ten thousand of things carry the yin and embrace the yang, and through the blending of the material force (ch’i [i.e. qi]) they achieve harmony” (Laozi, 1963, p. 160). And according to the depiction in the “Great Commentaries”, “[t]here is an intermingling of the genial influences of heaven and earth, and transformation in its various forms abundantly proceeds. There is an intercommunication of seed between male and female, and transformation in its living types proceeds” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 329). Sometime later, people conceptualized a division of qi into pure qi and turbid qi. It is posited in the Huainanzi that “the pure and light qi floated up and became heaven, whereas the heavy and turbid qi congealed and became earth” (Liu An, 1982, Chapter 3). Author of the Lingshu Jing 靈樞經 (Chapter 1) surmised three kinds of qi in the energy channels in the human body. Among them, the qi in the innermost part is the pure qi, which ensures good health; the one in the middle is the turbid qi, which is not as healthy; and above it is the malicious qi, which accounts for all diseases. What the ancients referred to as Qi is a unity of quality (material) and energy (impetus). In terms of quality, it is the material that the universe and all things and beings — including human bodies — are made of. And in terms of energy, it is related to what is known in modern physics as energy and field. Much as modern science has attained profound and detailed knowledge about the elements of matter, when it comes to depicting the general impetus in, as well as the modes of operation of, the changes and developments of things, nothing in science has ever accorded better dual attention than the notion of Qi does to both the quality and energy aspects of things. And examined from the viewpoint of modern physics, the notion of “Qi” in traditional Chinese philosophy exhibits precisely a wave–particle duality.15 Thus, we have a reason to keep using this notion instead of dismissing it as benighted. 15 It

is suggested in modern physics that a particle with force can be a virtual particle without any mass of its own. This may provide additional “scientific” annotation to the account of Qi in the realm of heart-nature (to be discussed later) in Chinese philosophy.

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Because Qi exists between emptiness and substantiality, and combines quality and energy in one, it is particularly suitable for the explication of the genesis of heaven, earth, and all things and beings in between. Here we might as well attempt at an account in this nature. First, there was its role in the separation of the heaven and earth from the Great Ultimate. And what is known as the Great Ultimate, in the opinion of the Confucian scholars in the Han and Tang dynasties, was the original Qi before the yin and yang parted. The earliest source of the term “Original Qi” is hard to identify now. The concept of “Original Qi” can be found in the excerpts of the Huainanzi collected in the Imperially Inspected Classified Digest of the Taiping Era 太平御覽 (983 AD). In the chapter of “Kingly Way” in his Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋繁露, Dong Zhongshu explicitly observed that “the harmony in and the smooth operation of the Original Qi” is a sign of the Kingly Way. “That which is known to be the Origin”, wrote He Xiu 何休 (129–182 AD) in his Annotation to the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals 公羊傳 解詁, “is Qi. It arose shapelessly; and when taking shape, it split up, which gave rise to heaven and earth. Such was the beginning of heaven and earth”. This kind of view is, of course, conjectural, but it is not dissimilar from the nebular hypothesis formulated by Kant when he was young. Second, it also played a role in the creation of all things and beings by heaven and earth. The “intermingling of the genial influences of heaven and earth” mentioned in the “Great Commentaries” is obviously meant to be a depiction of the existence and the motion of Qi. And the “intercommunication of seed between male and female” must have been intended to indicate the merging of yin Qi and yang Qi. The “seed” is meant to refer to the essential Qi. Thus, according to the author of the “Great Commentaries”, the emergence of all things is invariably due externally to the nurturing of heaven and earth, and internally to the merging of yin and yang. Early philosophers’ rationalization of the cosmos in terms of continuous reproduction resulted primarily from their concentrated attention to the world of living beings, and from the attention they paid to plants, animals, and human being. It was easy for them to find that the convergence of Qi meant life whereas the divergence of it meant death (this was examined mainly from the aspect of material). And the presence of Qi, as found, meant life and the absence of it meant death (this was examined mainly from the aspect of impetus). Thus, they were certain that

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Qi was the basis of life. As it is pointed out in Chapter 22 of the Zhuangzi, “Man’s life is due to the aggregation of the Qi. The aggregated Qi means life and its dispersal means death. Since life and death are companions to each other, what is there for us to worry about? Therefore myriad things all share the same life cycle. People consider what is miraculous as beautiful and what is decadent as loathsome. Between them, that which is miraculous can turn into something decadent; and that which is decadent can turn into something miraculous. Therefore it is said: the Qi connects all things in the world into one”. Scholars in modern times generally consider Zhang Zai as a spokesman for all the philosophers who attached primary importance to Qi. Indeed, in Chapter 4 of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance, he stresses the importance of Qi, saying “Spirituality is the Virtue of Heaven. Transformation is the Way of Heaven. The Virtue is its substance and the Way is its function. They are united in Qi”. Occasionally, he even considers the concept of Qi interchangeable with the Great Ultimate. For instance, in Chapter 2, he says, “That which is a single entity in two noumena is none other than Qi. Being single and unique, it is spiritual. And because of its two noumena, it is capable of transformation. This is why Heaven is three in one”. But in Chapter 14, he asks, “Being a single entity and yet with two noumena, this refers to the Great Ultimate, dos it not?” In addition, he has also expressed the view that “the Grand Vacuum is Qi”, which leaves an impression that he not only argues for the transformation capacity of Qi, but also maintains that the Qi is noumenal. There can be in fact another interpretation of his view. With his heavy emphasis placed on the importance of Qi, Zhang Zai means to efface the influence of the Buddhist notion of Void and that of the Daoist notion of Vacuity or Nothingness. The attempt is exemplified in his statement that “[knowing that] the Grand Vacuum is Qi, [one would realize that] there is no [such thing as] Vacuity”. Writing at random for this purpose, he has, admittedly, presented many brilliant ideas, but there are inevitably confusions and faults in his logic. We can lay aside his view of the Great Ultimate and Qi as one and the same entity in two noumena, and take a glimpse of this problem from the following remark in Chapter 2. “The reason Heaven is threefold is because of its nature displayed in the triad of the Great Ultimate, Heaven, and Earth”. Here he has gone so far as to

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list the Great Ultimate together with the Heaven and Earth. This is very hard to understand. In fact it is absolutely not defendable. From the structure of Zhang Zai’s Correcting Youthful Ignorance, one can tell that the first chapter “The Great Harmony” is intended primarily to be an explication of the noumenon of the cosmos. The Great Harmony is equivalent to what Confucian scholars in the Han dynasty, Song dynasty, and other times called the Great Ultimate. The chapter starts with the following, “[t] he Great Harmony is called the Way. … It embraces the nature which underlies all counter processes of floating and sinking, rising and falling, and motion [i.e. Activity] and rest [i.e. Tranquility]. It is the origin of the process of fusion and intermingling, of overcoming and being overcome, and expansion and contraction. At the commencement, these processes are incipient, subtle, obscure, easy, and simple, but at the end, they are extensive, great, strong, and firm. It is ch’ien ([Qian] Heaven) that begins with the knowledge of Change, and kun ([Kun] Earth) that models after simplicity. That which is dispersed, differentiated, and capable of assuming form becomes material force (ch’I [Qi]), and that which is pure, penetrating, and not capable of assuming form becomes spirit” (Zhang Zai, 1963, pp. 500–501). In this passage, the Qi is obviously taken to be merely an element of the Great Harmony. What Zhang Zai considers as more important is the principle of variability of Creativity and regularity of Docility that underpins the Great Harmony, as reflected in Activity, Tranquility, yin, and yang. Along this line of thinking, by equating the Grand Vacuum to the Qi, he does not mean the Grand Vacuum is the noumenon (fundamental root) of the Qi, nor does he take the Grand Vacuum (the sky or vacuous space) to be the noumenon of the cosmos. What he does is to emphasize the inseparability of the vacuum from the Qi and to establish an immediate association between the Qi and spirituality. Here, we should take into consideration the famous Western Inscription 西銘, in which Zhao Zai does not accord nearly as high a status to the Qi as modern scholars think he does. For instance, he argues that what fills the universe is the Qi, which, once in a congealed form, can develop into the human body. And that which directs the universe, he continues, is miraculous and shapeless, such is human virtue. He thinks that the value of man is to be found in the removal of what shuts out the Qi and in its resultant illumination of man’s inborn virtue.

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To sum up, it is absolutely necessary to understand the Qi as the most basic constituent in the genesis of heaven, earth, and all things and beings, but one must not take it to be the only constituent therein. This is because the Qi, in final analysis, is merely a material constituent or even a constituent of impetus. In order for a concrete thing to take shape, there have to be constituents of form and purpose, which is known as Texture. 2.2.2.  Theory of Texture as the Noumenon Among pre-modern philosophers in China, few would explicitly and consistently hold on to a view that took the Qi to be the noumenon. This is because they were all aware that that which was capable of realizing things was not itself something subject to such realization. That which is capable of realizing things is the Way, which, when juxtaposed with the Qi, is usually known as the Texture. There have been many philosophers who considered the Texture as a Noumenon. Etymologically, the character 理 li (“texture”; “inner structure”, and by extension, “principle”) was originally used as a verb, but it later came to be widely used as a noun. In the Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, it is defined as “to work jade. [It] is comprised of 玉 ‘jade’ with 里 li as [its] phonetic”. In the early antiquity, people referred to uncut jade as 璞 pu. To cut or carve the jade by following its natural veins was called 理 li. Therefore, the word refers both to things’ natural form and to the endowment of order or forms. The form of things consists of, first, thing’s innate structure and, second, the pattern of the changes things undergo. The former form is static and manifested spatially. The latter is dynamic, and it manifests itself temporally. But strictly speaking, it would be more appropriate to refer to the former form as the Texture and the latter as the Way. Among pre-Qin texts, neither Analects nor the Laozi has 理 in it.16 The time when the word was elevated to the status of a philosophical category must have been the Warring States period. There are 12 occur16 The

character is present in the Book of Poetry. For instance, in “Mao 210”, there is the line: “Our region is marked, our farm drawn. Stretching southward and eastward is our land”. Here the “理” means to manage the farmland.

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rences of the character 理 in the Mozi,17 of which only three are found in the political section — specifically in Chapters 25 and 39 — and all the rest are found in the philosophical section. This indicates that the Mohist school of thought meant it to be a conceptual device to depict logical relations, which, in their language, is to stress on “examining the Texture [i.e. the patterned connection or connections] of names and actualities” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 45). Mencius went further to relate the human nature with the Texture. As a result, the notion of Nature-Texture was widely adopted in subsequent generations of thinkers. Mencius held that texture and righteousness were what all human beings had in their mind, not something drilled into them from outside (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 54). Thus, he thought, one should turn around to pursue virtue and moral cultivation in oneself, so as to attain a realm where “the Texture [i.e. moral principle] and righteousness is as pleasing to the heart as beef, mutton, and pork are to the mouth” (Mencius, 6A:7). The school of thought represented by Zhuangzi upheld Nature but disparaged human affairs. What is advocated in the book of Zhuangzi is to “act along the Texture of Nature” and “follow the way as things have always been”. Except for the occasional mention of the Texture in human relations and in some natural phenomena, there are over 30 occurrences of the term used in discussions of the Texture of Nature. In the Xunzi and Hanfeizi 韓非子, attentions are evenly paid to the texture in social relations and in natural phenomena.18 These books present deepened knowledge of the notion and more explicit explication of it. In the Three-Kingdom period, Liu Shao, in his Ranking of Figures 人物志, classified Texture into four kinds — “Texture of the Way”, “Texture of Things”, “Texture of Righteousness”, and “Texture of Emotion”. He claimed that “the four Textures differ from one another”. This shows that by his time, Texture had been widely used in metaphysical discourses. Among the Neo-Daoists in this period,19 Wang Bi realized that the Texture was “the why and wherefore” of the operations and changes 17 Translator’s

note: The Mozi is ascribed to Mo Di 墨翟 (468–376 BC). note: The Xunzi and the Hanfeizi are ascribed, respectively, to Xun Kuang 荀况 (313–238 BC) and Han Fei 韓非 (fl. 275–233 BC). 19 Translator’s note: For a brief introduction on Neo-Daoism (aka Neo-Taoism), see Wingtsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 314–318. 18 Translator’s

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of things (Commentary on the Book of Changes, 1959). Guo Xiang 郭象 (252–312 AD), likewise, called Texture the “inevitability” in things. Both offered significant insights into the innate character of Texture, which are of great importance in the Chinese intellectual history. If the Texture in pre-Qin philosophy was something limited that resided in the realm of noumenon, then what is emphatically underscored in Wang Bi’s thought is the “Perfect Texture”, a Texture that is capable of “illuminating everything from [the perspective of] a single aspect”. This tendency is right in line with the Neo-Daoist ideas of “enhancing the peripheral by upholding the fundamental” 崇本以舉其末 or “depressing the peripheral by upholding the fundamental” 崇本以息末. The noumenal status of the Texture was further strengthened in Buddhism. Founded in the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), the Huayan Sect 華嚴宗 of Chinese Buddhism articulated that a phenomenal entity was “what man’s mind adheres to and what obstructs man’s insight with its appearance”. By that they referred to the realm of phenomena. On the other hand, they regarded Texture as “indiscriminate true-thusness”, which means the realm of noumenon. Yet, phenomena are imbedded in noumenon, and noumenon manifests itself through phenomena. Intermingled and interfused, they constitute different levels of spiritual realms. During the Song and Ming dynasties, Texture became the central and highest category in philosophy. Attempts were made among Neo-Confucian scholars to attain a comprehensive grasp of both the individual Textures revealed in pre-Qin philosophy and the Perfect Texture emphasized in NeoDaoism and Buddhism. According to Zhu Xi’s interpretation of the Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate, Zhou Dunyi regarded the Great Ultimate as a Texture of the highest level. In addition, Zhou also explained “rite” in terms of Texture (Zhou Dunyi, 1987).20 And, in order to transcend sensibility and intellectuality, and thereby cognize the Perfect Texture, Shao Yong proposed the method of “observing the object from the viewpoint of the object” (Shao Yong, 2015). Moreover, Cheng Hao and his brother Cheng Yi elevated the Texture to an unprecedented supremacy in 20 Translator’s

note: English translation of the title of Zhou Dunyi’s Tongshu 通書 as Penetrating the Book of Changes is adopted from Weng Tsit Chan, A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy, p. 460.

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philosophical discourses. They took “Heaven” in its cosmographic sense and “human nature” in its anthropological sense to be both nothing other than the Texture (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 3). The practice of “gaining knowledge through investigations of things” advocated by Zhu Xi was suitable for explorations on the whys and wherefores of things; and that of “cultivating one’s conscience” advocated by Lu Jiuyuan particularly lent itself to setup the norms to be followed in social life. Represented by Zhu Xi, philosophers in the Song dynasty worked hard to attempt a comprehensive grasp of the Texture of physical objects, the Texture of the human heart, the individual Textures in the realm of phenomena, and the Perfect Texture in the realm of noumenon. But, because they did more to lump those Textures together than to distinguish among them, they did not succeed in the attempt. After some time of deliberation, there was eventually Wang Fuzhi in the Chinese history who came up with an apt view. “Speaking of Texture”, he said, “there are two kinds of it. One is the Assorted Textures that have always been there in heaven, earth, and all things and beings. The other is the Perfect Texture that functions to optimize human relations, the texture with which Heaven mandates man and which man receives as his nature”.21 Basically, his words provide an adequate summary of the logical extensions of Texture. The Texture (Li) is associated with the Way (Dao), hence the ­disyllabic word 道理 Daoli (“principle”, “reason”) that emerged later. But, closely related as they are, the two are distinct from each other. Originally, the word “Dao” meant the road that people walked on whereas “Li” meant the veins discernible in a piece of jade. Based on the original meanings, “Dao” and “Li”, in their extended senses, have come to be convenient terms for, respectively, the underpinning universal laws of things, and the inner structures and regularities of things. They both capture the forms of things’ existence and development. PreQin philosophers tended to conceptualize the Way as an entity that was unlimited and hence impossible to be captured with words. As for Texture, by contrast, it was considered as something limited and capable of being clearly identified. Theirs is a relation between the general and 21 Wang

Fuzhi, Du Sishu Daquan Shuo 讀四書大全說 [Discussion after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books], Vol. 2.

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the special, and their distinction is obvious. In Chapter 25 of the Zhuangzi, it is pointed out that “myriad things differ in their Textures. The Way is impartial to all. Therefore it lacks [specified] names”. And in Chapter 20 of the Hanfeizi, it is said: “Texture is that based on which things’ dimensions and qualities are distinguished. Therefore, after the Texture takes a definite form, the Way can be obtained”. And “the Way is what underlies the raison d’être of all things. Therefore, it is said that the Way is that which brings Texture to things. … For this reason, Texture constitutes the system of things. Myriad things vary in Texture. … But the Way exhausts the Texture of all things”. However, after being upheld as the Perfect Texture in the Wei–Jin period, taken to be Buddhist Nature and true-thusness in Buddhism during the Sui–Tang era (581–907 AD), and equated to the Great Ultimate by Neo-Confucians in the Song dynasty, the Texture came to be related to the Way in a complicated manner. In Zhu Xi’s opinion, the Way and the Texture are related in a manner in which the one contains, but not replaces, the other. In this framework, the Way is grand and extensive. The Texture is intricate. The Way embraces all. And the Texture constitutes the various veins of the Way. According to the explanation of Zhu Xi’s disciple, Chen Chun, “The Way and Texture are more or less the same. But since they are known by two different terms, there has to be some distinction. … In comparison, the Way is broader but Texture is more substantial. Texture connotes absoluteness and invariability. Therefore, that which is universal forever is the Way, and that which is invariable forever is Texture” (Meaning of Words from the Four Books, Texture). Between the two kinds of Texture, the Perfect Texture is in fact the Great Ultimate in all things, hence it points to the same ontological category as does the Way. The only difference is that it is relatively more static than the Way. The Assorted Textures are the ones that are, compared with the Way, more substantial and intricate. Due to such distinction, what pre-modern philosophers advocated was merely “exhausting the knowledge of Texture through investigations of things”, but not “exhausting the knowledge of the Way through investigations of things”. For this reason, it is not hard for us to understand why pre-modern thinkers generally regarded Texture as the basis of heaven, earth, and all

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things and beings. Texture is connected to the Way. And Qi congeals into Definite Thing.22 The former is metaphysical, the latter immetaphysical. Philosophy falls in the realm of metaphysics. Pre-modern Chinese philosophers may differ in the choice they made between upholding the Qi and emphasizing the Definite Thing, but almost none would deny the fundamental status of Texture in their ontological thoughts. Zhang Zai took the Grand Vacuum to be Qi. But his good friend Cheng Yi disagreed with him. Pointing at the word “Vacuum”, Cheng said, “All is Texture. How can there be any Vacuity to speak of? Nothing in the world is more substantial than Texture” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 3). As mentioned previously, Zhang Zai may not have really regarded Qi as noumenon. What he did instead was merely to stress Qi’s capability of transforming everything.23 Another great philosopher who stressed the same thing was Wang Fuzhi. He placed particular emphasis on the Qi and Definite Thing, though his thought occasionally drifted between taking Qi and taking Texture as the noumenon. For instance, he once said explicitly, “There is nothing between heaven and earth but Texture. Wherever there is Qi, there is Texture. Throughout my body, there is nothing but Nature. Wherever there is a form, it is filled with Nature” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 10). Thus, instead of being merely a ubiquitous existence, Texture is something that governs Qi, similar to how virtuous nature governs the human body. 22 Translator’s

note: “The (first) appearance of anything (as a bud) is what we call a semblance; when it has received its complete form, we call it a definite thing” 見乃謂之象, 形 乃謂之器 (Book of Changes, trans. Legge, 1993, p. 311). And “that which is antecedent to the material form exists, we say, as an ideal method, and that which is subsequent to the material form exists, we say, as a definite thing”. 形而上者謂之道, 形而下者謂之器 (Ibid., pp. 313–315). 23 See another passage in Chapter 1 of Zhengmeng 正蒙 [Correcting Youthful Ignorance]: “Although material force [i.e. Qi] in the universe integrates and disintegrates, and attacks and repulses in a hundred ways, nevertheless the principle (li [i.e. Texture]) according to which it operates has an order and is unerring. As an entity, material force simply reverses to its original substance when it disintegrates and becomes formless. When it integrates and assumes form, it does not lose the eternal principle (of Change)” (trans. Chan, 1963, p. 501). Here, principle (i.e. Texture) is evidently upheld as noumenon and eternity.

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2.2.3.  Unity of Qi and Texture Qi is related to Texture roughly the same way as material is related to spirit in Western philosophy. In this regard, Chinese philosophy is comparatively more metaphysical, because, on the one hand, the notion of Qi is not nearly as unwieldy as that of material, and, on the other hand, spirit is vaguer than the Way or Texture. People usually attribute spirit solely to human beings. Was there any spirit before the emergence of humankind? Should the structure of things and the regularity followed by their changes be also called the “spirit”? If yes, does the spirit in this sense entail the introduction of any anthropomorphized demiurge? All this would await clarifications and explications. In Western philosophy, materialism is relatively more in accordance with common sense, though most of the sophisticated philosophers are labeled as idealists. According to the traditional Chinese philosophy, the binary of Qi and Texture exits not only in an objective material world but also in the human heart. Rooted in the Great Ultimate, the binary does not require the introduction of an anthropomorphized Deity. Today, the academic circle in China tends to impose such labels as idealism and materialism in Western philosophy on the notions of, respectively, Texture and Qi in traditional Chinese thought. Such a practice can be compared with an attempt to force a square tenon into a round mortise. The binary of Texture and Qi runs through such a triad as Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. In the next part of the book, we will discuss the Qi and Texture in human heart. In the objective material world, the relation between Qi and Texture is one of mutual dependence. As regards which of the two is in a dominant position, the question is a rather complicated one. In reality, everything follows a regular course of its own. Since things all result from the congealment of Qi, they are invariably subject to the regulation of Texture. Take a potter’s pot for example. Its qi comprises such materials as clay and water. Its Texture is the form in which the materials are organized, including the quantitative ratio between water and clay, the way the mixture of them is processed with the ­potter’s wheel, and the specific shape formed in the process. In Aristotle’s framework, the water and clay would be the material cause of the pot,

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and the quantitative ratio and shape would be its formal cause. So long as the materials — water and clay in this case — are entities in the objective world, each of them inevitably follows a course of its own. For instance, water also exists as a combination of its Texture and its qi. Its qi comprises two elements, hydrogen and oxygen, each of which normally exists in the gaseous form. As for its Texture, it is the manner as well as the ratio in which the two elements are combined. It can thus be said with certainty that there is no Qi without Texture, nor is there any Texture without its Qi. An effort to trace the Arche of heaven, earth, and all things in between would lead us to conclude that there is no time difference between the Qi and Texture. If Qi were considered to have come before the Texture, then one would have to treat Texture as a later endowment. An obvious question to follow would be how to ascertain that later moment. And a more serious problem would be: Who was the endower? The existence of such an endower would deprive Qi and Texture of their noumenal status. The supposition of an earlier Texture would encounter the same problem. For example, how could Texture be capable of generating Qi? Without Qi, where else could Texture have existed? And a case where the Qi came later than the Texture would also require the abrupt insertion of an endower. Authors of the Laozi and the “Great Commentaries” must have thought of these problems. Much as the Laozi mostly presents the Way as an Absolute Idea type of noumenon, its author shows signs of hesitation when making suppositions about the genesis of the cosmos, hence the depictions attempted in his book, for example, “there was something undifferentiated and yet complete” (Laozi, 1963, p. 152) and “[t]he thing that is called Tao [i.e. Dao, ‘the Way’] is eluding and vague” (Laozi, 1963, 25, p. 150). Confucian scholars of later times variously took the Great Ultimate to be either the Qi or Texture. Neither of their theories proceeds in a right direction and neither could accomplish anything except arousing fruitless disputes. As mentioned earlier, as the Arche of the cosmos, the Great Ultimate is not only an entity that existed before the separation of the yin and yang, but also a unity of Texture and Qi. Insofar as things’ development and changes are concerned, there is no fixed answer to the question whether Texture or Qi is dominant. First, Qi is material and Texture is the form in which it is structured internally.

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In his “Response to Huang Daofu” 答黃道夫, Zhu Xi says aptly, “There is Texture and Qi between heaven and earth. Texture is the metaphysical Way and the basis on which things come into existence. Qi is immetaphysical. It is what things are variously made of. Therefore, when coming into being, all things and humankind must have their Texture to acquire their own characteristics, and must have their Qi to acquire their concrete form”. Texture and Qi are inseparable. But, in the final analysis, Texture is fundamental and Qi physical. This distinction demonstrates the relation between the Way and Definite Thing. Second, with Qi functioning as an impetus, the relation is converted to a relation between an impetus and its quantitative measures. It is therefore a relation in which Qi plays an active part. An escalation of change or development can be observed in anything in which the accumulation of its strength and energy approaches full capacity. In this regard, Wang Fuzhi’s view stands to reason. “Speaking of Qi”, he says, “it is what Texture relies upon. Vigorousness of Qi ensures the prevalence of Texture. Because Heaven is filled with the vigorous and powerful Qi accumulated in it, it features orderly and intricate Texture as well as its recurrent renewals” (Wang Fuzhi, 1959, “Inner Chapter”). Third, Texture is not only a formal cause but also a final cause. Compared with formal causes, final causes are more fundamental. There has been no consensus reached in the Western philosophy as regards whether final causes ever exist in the first place. But, in the opinions of our pre-modern thinkers, the Way or the Perfect Principle is none other than a final cause. Without a final cause, social relations and the inevitable courses that things follow would all be without any basis. The reason for the unfathomable complexness of the world has a lot to do with the mingled relation among the three causes. The interaction between Qi and Texture results in a variegated and colorful world. The reason for such variegation and colorfulness consists in the unevenness and difference among things. And the reason for such unevenness and difference, as a matter, of course, has a bearing on both the yin–yang opposition and the qualitative differences manifested in the Qi of things. But, fundamentally, it is due to the dendritic multiple manifestations of Texture. The “dendritic multiple manifestations of the Principle” (aka “multimanifestations of the Texture”) is a proposition made by Cheng Yi when

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he interpreted Zhang Zai’s Western Inscription for his disciple Yang Shi 楊 時 (1053–1135 AD). The proposition was meant to uphold Confucianism, refute Mohism, and defend the Confucian social norm of discriminatory love. The word “discriminatory” in this case suggests differentiation. For instance, benevolence is a single Principle in which there are such multimanifestations of it as proper codes of social conduct to be followed by a ruler and his subjects, due respect to be entertained for the senior, and the love to be cherished for youngsters.24 Later, Zhu Xi elaborated on this proposition from a cosmological perspective and developed it into a generic characterization of the evolution of the cosmos. This development proceeded presumably from Zhu Xi’s attempt to incorporate Zhou Dunyi’s thought in his Penetrating the Book of Changes 通書, where Zhou Dunyi made the following observation: “All things and beings evolved from the binary Qi of yin and yang as well as the Five Elements. The Elements are distinct from one another. The binary is substantial and rooted in One [i.e. the Great Ultimate]. Thus, multiplicities are reducible to one, and one can branch off into multiplicities. Once the multiple and the One are all in their proper positions, the distinction between the small and the great is established”. The “One” and “multiplicity” in this passage are suggestive of the thought regarding the multi-manifestations of Texture.25� Zhu Xi, moreover, put forth a nice analogy for the thought, saying, “The Great Ultimate is like a root. Generated above it are the trunk and its branches, which further generate leaves and blossoms. This process of generating and further generating continues until there are fruits, wherein there are Textures of their own that ensure infinitely more incessant processes of generating and regenerating. But there can be a short pause after the fruits are born”. It thus seems that, in his view, the multi-manifestations of the Principle may mean the same thing as what the Huayan Sect of Chinese Buddhism called the reflections of the moon in tens of thousands of rivers. 24 Translator’s

note: Please see Section 4.2.2 of Chapter 4 for more of the author’s discussion on “discriminatory love”. 25 In this regard, Zhou Dunyi may have been under the influence of the Huainanzi, where it is said that a sage would be capable of “knowing what is afar based on what is near and unifying myriad different things” (Liu An, 1982, Chapter 8).

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But Zhu Xi’s interpretation is very much lopsided. The objective world is not a tabular world, but a multi-layered structural system. The “single Principle”, indeed, can be understood as the Great Ultimate, but the “multi-manifestations” are something more than mere duplications and shares. One should go deeper and think of them also in terms of mutations and specializations (which may be understood in terms of Schopenhauer’s notion of the multi-layered objectification of Idea). It would be more appropriate to understand the “multi-manifestations” as the Assorted Textures, which originate, and yet differ, from the Great Ultimate. “With regard to the multi-manifestation of the Principle”, as Wang Fuzhi rightly points out, “the [term] ‘multi-manifestation’ refers to the branching-off the Texture. Once diversified, how can Texture still retain its oneness? With the loss of the oneness, there came to be its multiple variations” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 10). Developments that proceed along different spatial and temporal dimensions will bring about inevitable changes in things’ inner structures and qualities. From the perspective of modern genetics, there is the contradiction between heredity and variation throughout the existence of any living creature. The emergence of new species signifies genetic mutation. On the tree of biological evolution, new species emerge in an endless stream. Each of them not only retains some basic traits derived from its “descending axis” but also features its unique genetic structure. Multi-manifestation of the Principle is also found in the evolution of what we use. The process displays an ascendant trend proceeding, for instance, from the primitive potteries, through the ironware that appeared later, all the way to the computers and satellites people use today. The textures or principles in them have also become progressively complex. In the natural world, the development from the formation of a single cell to the emergence of humankind must have been a process more intricate and complex than all that human beings have done thus far.

2.3. Heaven, Earth, and Humankind as Three Powers Heaven, Earth, and all things and beings evolved from the Great Ultimate. The process in fact resulted from a union between the Qi and Texture

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formed through their interactions. The aforementioned all things and beings refer to the totality of the things and beings on earth. Therefore, the emergence of heaven and earth must have occurred before that of all things and beings on earth. Human beings are of the highest class of all things and beings. For this reason, it is of great importance to examine such polar entities as Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. 2.3.1.  The Concepts of Heaven and Earth in Early China Relying on their senses, humankind would certainly perceive heaven as their vast cover and earth as their vast carrier. The Chinese character for “heaven” (天 tian), presents a very vivid image. It shows a high and vast vault of the sky above the head of a human being.26 The character for “earth” (地 di) is a phonogram. It is derived from 土 tu [“soil”] and indicative of the sediments of muddy and heavy materials. According to early philosophers, both heaven and earth are congealment of the Qi. But the Qi of the heaven presents itself as variable images, whereas that of the earth as concrete forms capable of giving life to all things and beings. The sight of the sun, the moon, and the stars high above would fill one with lofty feelings. In addition, there were lightening, thunders, clouds, and rainfalls that would inevitably rouse awe in people. For this reason, all nations in early antiquity regarded heaven as the residence of the deities. Early Chinese people were no exception. According to an early document cited in the Analects 20:1, Yao 堯 — one of the earliest rulers in early antiquity — said the following to his successor Shun: “You, Shun. Upon your person, the Heavenly-mandated succession of 26 In

the Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, “天” is glossed as “顛” [dian, “top”], which refers to the top of a person’s head. The author of the book added that the character means “to be above everything else, and the character is derived from “一” [yi, “one”] and “大” [da, “big”, “large”, “great”]”. There have been many scholars who think that the character originally meant top of a person’s head. I disagree, because if that were the case, then it would mean early Chinese from early antiquity to the Shang dynasty (based on the extant shell and bone inscriptions) had never had any concept of heaven. All we can say is that, even though some occurrences of the character 天 in shell and bone inscriptions look like a human figure, they were inscribed that way to emphatically denote the vault of sky above the human head.

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rule now befalls. Firmly hold on to the [principle of] impartiality with [your] sincerity. Any distress or poverty on this land within the four seas would permanently deprive you of your Heavenly-endowed revenue”. This is a warning that Yao gave to Shun when he abdicated the sovereign power and handled it to the latter. In the warning, Yao pointed out to Shun that his succession to the sovereign power had been mandated by heaven, and that a ruler had to make certain his people were well fed and clad in order to avoid severe punishments from heaven. The Shang–Zhou period witnessed further awakening of people’s subject consciousness. The awe people had previously held toward Heavenly deities was gradually converted to the conscientious upholding of virtue. In the chapter of “Great Plan” in the Shang Shu, a court official Jizi 箕子 admonished King Wu of Zhou (11th century BC), saying, once in great doubt, “[your majesty] should consult your heart, consult officials, consult commoners, and divine”. The sequence presented here is highly noteworthy: He should first rely on his own sober mind for decision-making. As a next-best option, his majesty should seek advice from court officials and even common people. If there was still no decision reached, then and only then should the king consider the divine. As an effort to seek support from spirits and deities, divining was suggested merely as the last resort. Also in the Shang Shu, there is the chapter “Duke Shao’s Edict”, which records the duke’s summary of the lesson to be drawn from the fall of the Xia (21st–16th centuries BC) and Shang regimes. In it, the duke pointed out explicitly that those regimes, “precisely due to their not conscientiously upholding virtue, suffered an early fall of their Heavenly-ordained reigns”. By the Spring–Autumn period, with the notion of “Heavenly Way” taking a more definitive form, notions about spirits and deities further faded out. According to a record in the Commentary of Zuo, in the sixth Reign Year of Duke Huan in the State of Lu (i.e. 706 BC), Jiliang 季梁 — an official in the State of Sui — even came to the point of arguing that, “the common populace is what the soul of deities are based upon; therefore sage rulers have all prioritized the fulfillment of common people’s needs in life over their effort to communicate with deities”. Later, Zichan, a statesman in the State of Zheng, laid equal emphasis on the Way of Heaven and the Way of humankind in his speech, which is suggestive of an awareness among thinkers of this period

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that the important thing was not to please any deities with man’s virtue, but to ensure the attainment of the kind of virtue that was in keeping with the Way. Laozi’s Daodejing 道德經 (i.e. the Laozi) can be considered as an attempt to explore the system formed by the Way of Heaven and that of Humankind. Admittedly, notions of personal gods, as exemplified by the “Heavenly Will” in Mohism, still existed both in court and among the general populace during the Warring States period. But such notions gradually lost grounds among thinkers who awoke to reason. As we can see, god and spirits are rarely mentioned in Confucianism and Daoism. Beneath people’s feet, the earth is what people have to look down in order to see. Although this would leave one with a vivid impression of the sharp contrast between the loftiness of heaven and the lowliness of the earth, early Chinese philosophers mostly harbored a feeling of gratitude toward earth. What they saw was the great contribution earth made in nurturing all things and beings, and in providing human beings with rich natural resources and inexhaustible means of livelihood. Thus they extolled and revered the earth as if in appreciation of its great kindness. Heaven is in eternal operation and Earth has been in existence for eons. If Heaven is compared to a stern father, Earth can be likened to a kind mother. All things and beings, including humankind, are all descendants of Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth are Qian (Creativity) and Kun (Docility), respectively. The binary is analogous to a male and female in the biosphere. Precisely speaking, the distinction between genders was the outcome of the evolution of the Heaven and Earth. Creativity initiated the engendering of all things and creatures. This is known as the role Creativity played in “taking charge of the great initiation”. Docility, on the other hand, bred all things and creatures, and endowed them with their shapes. This is known as the role it played in “completing things”. With regard to the author’s attempt to explain the changes of all things and beings, the contents in the Book of Changes unfold along the dual themes of two principal trigrams — Creativity and Docility. “The Commentary on Book of Changes” goes further to present a positive and enterprising outlook on life, where Creativity is known for its great virtue renewable on a daily basis, and Docility features its capacity of accomplishing massive enrichments. This is the outlook of a sage who was marked by great kindness. Pre-modern philosophers, unknowingly, painted the world with their

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own color. It should be pointed out that what is more factual is such an observation made in the Laozi that “Heaven and Earth know no humanity; and they treat all things and beings like straw dogs”. The theories of the aforementioned modern Chinese and Western philosophers are either directly related to, or marked by certain similarity with, the thought of Heavenly Creativity and Earthly Docility in the Chinese tradition. These thinkers, as a matter of fact, markedly differ in their thoughts. As a former revolutionary who had taken part in the 1911 Revolution in his youth and who detested the loathsome political reality in his time,27 Mr. Xiong Shili particularly upheld Creativity, change, and movements. Mr. Jin Yuelin, as a scholar throughout his life, was well versed in the study of logic. What he upheld, not surprisingly, was Pattern 式, eternity, and tranquility. Although Schopenhauer and Nietzsche both regard Will as Noumenon, there is profound difference between their attitudes toward it. The former renounces it and, in so doing, lapses into depression. The latter extols Will, which eventually leads to his extolment of tyrannical power. If the virtues represented by Creativity were absolutely good, then Schopenhauer’s pursuit of the extinction of Will — which is similar to the pursuit in Buddhism — would be deviating from what is natural. If, on the other hand, the virtues represented by Docility were absolutely good, then the upholding of the mighty Creativity and strength would be of no use to the human society. Under the inspiration of the Jungian psychological theory, we may liken Creativity to the shadow archetype in the collective unconsciousness, because it is the source of both creativity and destruction. As for Docility, it can be compared to the archetype of the self in the collective unconsciousness, for it is, on the one hand, capable of uniting variegated things and, on the other hand, prone to the problem of causing people to fall into routines. Therefore, one may say that, as far as human existence is concerned, there are both advantages and disadvantages in Creativity and Docility, aka Heaven and Earth. There has to be mutual complement between them. But, where the task of building a philosophy of morality is concerned, it would be very constructive to make the positive side of Heaven and 27 Translator’s

note: The 1911 Revolution is a revolution that led to the fall of the last imperial dynasty (i.e. the Qing dynasty, 1644–1911 AD) in Chinese history.

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Earth widely known. This is because the purpose of any philosophy of morality would be to guide people to the upholding of the good and abandonment of the evil. There are, admittedly, no such thing as good and evil to speak of as far as Heaven and Earth, or Creativity and Docility, are concerned. Yet, when human beings make value judgments by their own standards, they can still maintain silence without complaining about what they consider as evil and, at the same time, try to emulate what they consider as good. Such a practice is conducive to laying a sacred and solid foundation for moral consciousness. In this sense, we should turn around what is said in the Laozi and put it this way: A sage would always remain benevolent and regard all human beings as his siblings and all creatures as part of himself.28 2.3.2.  Existence of Human Beings Between Heaven and Earth There are all kinds of creatures growing and living on the Earth. Humankind is in fact only one of them. But in philosophy, humankind is our primary concern. Pre-modern philosophers generally regarded Nature as the matrix of humankind and hence expected humankind to act in tune with the rhythm of Nature. The relationship between humankind and the vast cosmos was first systematically expounded in the Laozi, where its author says, “Man models himself after Earth. Earth models itself after Heaven. Heaven models itself after the Way. And the Way models itself after Nature” (Laozi, 1963, p. 153). To “model after” means to imitate or follow the example. According to Wang Bi’s annotation, humankind should model after earth because acting in agreement with earth would ensure their complete security in life. As for earth, according to Wang Bi, it should model after Heaven in order to ensure its full capacity of carrying all things and creatures. Heaven, in the same vein, should model after the Way so as to ensure its complete covering of earth, and all things and creatures thereon. As the Arche of the cosmos, the Way has nothing higher than it in status for it to model after. But, due to its noumenal status, it characteristically 28 Translator’s

note: It is said in Laozi 5 that a sage, instead of being benevolent, treats people like straw dogs.

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has to follow a natural course, in which it, just like flowing water, will model itself after a cylinder when in something round and after a cube when in something square. Thus, it is spontaneously suitable to the evolvements of heaven, earth, and all things and beings. Here, particular attention must be paid to the word 自然 ziran (“Nature”, “natural”, “spontaneity”), which is used in this specific context as an adjective rather than a noun. As such, it means “natural, as what has always been”. To adopt a term frequently used in Buddhism, it is “tattva” (i.e. “如如” in Chinese, meaning “just as it is”). What Laozi presents here is in fact his argument for a reversed evolutionary process in the cosmos, where, since the Way had followed its natural course to evolve heaven, earth, and all things and beings including humankind, human beings should return to their origin. What is valued in this reversed process is a constant spontaneity without any affectedness. This view of Laozi is characterized by too much passivity, for it requires that humankind be nothing but loyal disciples of Nature. Although, occasionally for some individuals, this seemingly unselfish course of retreat may eventually prove to be a tactful step to advance their personal interest, what the course ultimately leads to would be a primitive state of existence in which human beings are degraded to peers of wildlife. The worldview and outlook on life in the “Commentary on the Book of Changes” are comparatively much more positive. The “Treatise on the Orderly Sequence of Hexagrams” 序卦傳, for instance, elaborates on the explications about the 31st Hexagram in the Book of Changes and thereby presents the following illustration of the evolutionary development from the cosmogenic beginning to the human society, “Heaven and earth existing, all (material) things then got their existence. All (material) things having existence, afterwards there came male and female. From the existence of male and female there came afterwards husband and wife. From husband and wife there came father and son. From father and son there came ruler and minister. From ruler and minister there came high and low. When (the distinction of) high and low had existence, afterwards came the arrangements of propriety [i.e. rite] and righteousness” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 353). The treatise formulates the notion of a “Triad Power” of Heaven, Earth, and Man as a basis for the explanations of the hexagrams:

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“Anciently, when the sages made the I [i.e. 易, Yi, ‘(theory of) changes’] it was with the design that (its figures) should be in conformity with the principles underlying the natures (of men and things), and the ordinances (for them) appointed (by Heaven). With this view they exhibited (in them) the way of heaven, calling (the lines) yin and yang; the way of earth, calling (them) the weak (or soft) and the strong (or hard); and the way of men, under the names of benevolence and righteousness. Each (trigram) embraced (those) three Powers; and, being repeated, its full form consisted of six lines. A distinction was made of (the places assigned) to the yin and yang lines, which were variously occupied, now by the strong and now by the weak forms, and thus the figure (of each hexagram) was completed” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 341). As we know, the 64 hexagrams are each composed by piling up two of the following eight basic trigrams: 乾 (Qian, “Heaven”, “Creativity”), 坤 (Kun, “Earth”, “Docility”), 震 (Zhen, “Thunder”), 巽 (Xun, “Wind”), 坎 (Kan, “Water”) 離 (Li, “Fire”), 艮 (Gen, “Mountain”), 兌 (Dui, “Marsh”). The total number of 爻 (yao, “broken and unbroken horizontal lines representing, respectively, yin and yang”) have thus increased from three in a trigram to six in a hexagram. The six of them, grouped two by two, signify the Triad Power. It is therefore said in the passage cited above that “[e]ach (trigram) embraced (those) three Powers; and, being repeated, …” Among the Powers, the Way of Heaven is at the top and classifiable in terms of yin and yang; the Way of Earth is at the bottom and classifiable in terms of softness and firmness; and the Way of humankind is in the middle and classifiable in terms of benevolence and righteousness. Thus, each hexagram constitutes a mini cosmos where the Triad Power are fully covered and embraced. Now we will tentatively illustrate this point with the following table regarding the 63rd Hexagram, where the trigram of Water is above that of Fire. (The reason for choosing this hexagram is because all its yin and yang lines are appropriately positioned, just as it is observed in the Book of Changes that “the strong and weak (lines) are correctly arranged, each in its appropriate place” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 283). Such an arrangement makes the hexagram relatively easy to understand.)

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Upper

Top line: Proper yin position for yin

The Way of Heaven

Yin

— (Odd-number position, hence yang)

Middle Fifth line: yang

Proper position for yang (Most honored）

The Way of Heaven

Yang

— (Even-number position, hence yin)

Lower

Fourth line: yin

Proper position for yin

Human Way

Benevolence

— (Odd-number position, hence yang)

Upper

Third line: yang

Proper position for yang

Human Way

Righteousness

— (Even-number position, hence yin)

Middle Second line: yin

Proper position for yin

Earth Way

Softness

— (Odd-number position, hence yang)

Lower

Proper position for yang

Earth Way

Firmness

Initial line: yang

The unity between Qi and Texture manifests itself in such celestial images of yin and yang as the moon and the sun, and in such soft and hard forms on earth as water and metals. When it congeals into human forms with virtue, the virtue will be manifested in benevolence and righteousness. Examined from this perspective, Heaven, Earth, and Humankind each has its own characteristics. None of them can replace any other and yet the three of them are closely related with the Heavenly yin and yang corresponding, respectively, to the Earthly softness and human benevolence on the one hand, and Earthly hardness and human righteousness on the other. But, regrettably, the benevolence and righteousness in humanly Way, strictly speaking, are not virtues at the same level. A more appropriate juxtaposition would be one of benevolence and Zhi. Such juxtaposition will make it clear to us that an ideal personality, with its benevolence coming from the great kindness of Docility and its Zhi derived from the energy and strength of Creativity, should — and in fact absolutely can — hold up the Heaven and firmly establish itself on the Earth. Rather than passively modeling itself after the natural world, such a personality,

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through its exercise and promotion of its own virtues, can form and triad with Heaven and Earth.29 According to the logic in the “Commentary on the Book of Changes”, the narrow senses of the Ways of Heaven and Earth are, respectively, the Way of Creativity and the Way of Docility. The Way of humankind refers to a balanced way between the two. Conventionally, rulers in the human world, such as the legendary rulers in the early antiquity, were regarded as humankind with model personalities. It is said in the Laozi that there are Four Greats in the universe: The Way is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the King is also great. Although the human ruler is mentioned as the last there, he is at least listed as one of the Greats. Later generations of Confucian scholars often upheld Confucius as an “uncrowned king”. In the Chinese language, the character “王”, which means “king”, is pronounced as wáng, indicating its status as a center to which all under heaven would go.30 The three horizontal lines in the character are like the three lines in a trigram and hence suggestive of the Triad Power of Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. Its vertical line signifies a comprehensive connection of all the three powers. In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the following words of Confucius are cited in the definition of this character: “a king is one who connects all the three by means of a single [Way]”. It means that a true king or an ideal personality would be one who can form a triad with the heaven and earth. It must be noted that a broad sense of Heaven or Heavenly Way includes the Way of Earth and hence features the contradictions of both yin vs. yang and softness vs. hardness. The Way of Heaven in this broad sense, as opposed to the Way of humankind, refers to the basic mode of existence, the fundamental law of changes, and the creative force of incessant generation and regeneration that can be observed in heaven, earth, and all things and beings. It is in fact a kind of Absolute Idea that the Great Ultimate or the Way, as the fundamental root of the cosmos, has instilled into various materials. This sense of Heavenly Way has been extensively 29 The

relation between benevolence and Zhi, and that between Zhi and righteousness will be discussed in detail in Part Two. 30 Translator’s note: The character “王” (king) is homophonic with “往”, which means “to go to”.

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used by pre-modern philosophers from Laozi and Zhuangzi to all subsequent generations of scholars. 2.3.3.  The Coexistence and Coordination Among Heaven, Earth, and Humankind In modern philosophy, the word “opposition” is often used to mean the contradiction between two things or aspects. There is, of course, mutual dependence in such a relation; but, examined from the viewpoint of development, it is the mutual negation between the two things or aspects that is normally accorded particular importance. From the perspective of traditional Chinese philosophy, however, this word ­ sounds a bit too sharp, and the idea it conveys sounds more “exact and witty” than “harmonious and extraordinary”. There are hence occasions where caution should be taken when using this word. The word ­“coexistence”, by contrast, may convey an idea that is closer to the way in which pre-modern Chinese philosophers looked at the particular relation among Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. The coexistence of two things or two aspects of something indicates a relationship of mutual independence without mutual negation, and further suggests a possi­ bility of mutual benefit and an eventual win–win situation. To be more straightforward, the relationship between two foes would be marked by their oppositions and conflicts, whereas that between two family members is one of coexistence and mutual adaptation. The two kinds of relationships both exist in reality. So, it would be invariably erroneous to recognize either alone. Western cultural heritage pays particular attention to the opposition between humankind and Nature, which oftentimes gives rise to a commiserative outlook on life. The idea of redemption of sin in Christianity is widely known. The idea first circulated in Rome, where it must have found suitable matrix of its development. There is, for instance, an ancient Roman myth that goes like this: “Care”, Jupiter, and Earth (Tellus), having all contributed their part in the creation of a human being, each wished the creature to be named after him or her. Being unable to resolve the dispute among themselves, they

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… asked Saturn to be the Judge. And Saturn gave them the following decision, which seemed to be just: “Since you, Jupiter, have given its spirit, you should receive that spirit at death; and since you, Earth, have given its body, you shall receive its body. But since ‘Care’ first shaped this creature, she shall possess it as long as it lives. And because there is a dispute among you as to its name, let it be called ‘homo,’ for it is made out of humus (earth)”.31

The myth is filled with the theme of contradiction. Goddess of Care, having nothing to do in particular, shaped a piece of clay into a human figure and asked Jupiter to breathe spirit into it. This seems to be something that should have ended up in happiness. Yet, it aroused a dispute among the three gods. Although Saturn’s decision resolved the dispute, it was made at humankind’s expense. Having been subjected to such a partition decided by the gods, human beings find no peace in their life, for — according to the decision — their flesh is to be grounded on the muddy earth, which is represented by Earth, but their spirit aspires to soar to heaven, which is represented by Jupiter. The tension between the two tendencies subjects human beings to the control of their life by Worry.32 Profound as this whole picture may be, it no doubt makes one feel gloomy and grim. Subscription to this scenario lends itself to shaping a gladiatorial personality that pursues freedom from, and independence of, all the control imposed by heaven and earth. What is emphasized in traditional Chinese culture is a unity between humankind and Nature. Such an emphasis would, more often than not, lead to an optimistic outlook on life. Confucius once said of himself as being so hard-working as to forget about his meals and yet so happy as to forget about all worries (Confucius, 2014, 7:18). Likewise, the Perfect Man that Zhuangzi upholds seeks not only food from the earth but also happiness from heaven (Zhuangzi, Chapter 24). Why did most of our premodern philosophers share this kind of value orientation in their lives? 31 See

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time. Translated by Joan Stambaugh. (NY: State University of New York, 1996): 184. 32 Translator’s note: In the Chinese version of Heidegger’s Being and Time, the author, Mr. Hu, translates, “Care” as “憂愁” Youchou, which means “Worry” or “Concern” in Chinese.

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The answer can be found in their specific view regarding the ­universe. Zhang Zai’s Western Inscription can serve as a good example. Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I finds an intimate place in their midst. (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, p. 497)

Since human beings treat Heaven and Earth as their parents, their relation to Heaven and Earth can be marked by anything but opposition. Having found a place in their midst, human beings expectedly feel humble and grateful. Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. (Zhang Zai, Ibid.)

Not unlike the case with that myth in ancient Rome, this passage also takes Heaven and Earth to be the sources of, respectively, human spirit and their physical form. But in it, there is no place for any gods. What it does is to treat Heaven and Earth as entities to which human beings belong. All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions. (Zhang Zai, Ibid.)

As children of same parents, all human beings are brothers and sisters. Moreover, they should treat other creatures like companions. All under the heaven are one family. Although relations can be differentiated in terms of intimacy and remoteness, and there have been cases where distinction is drawn among human beings based on their various social statuses, what connects all human beings should be none other than their benevolent heart. One should thus respect the old, love the young, support the weak, and help the orphaned. … Wealth, honor, blessing, and benefits are meant for the enrichment of my life, while poverty, humble station, and sorrow are meant to help me to fulfillment. In life, I follow and serve [Heaven and Earth]. In death, I will be at peace. (Ibid., p. 498)

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One should strive to emulate sages and worthies, and thereby accomplish a comprehensive knowledge of abstruse mysteries and a thorough understanding of transformation. Wealth and honor, instead of inducing indulgence, would arouse one’s feeling of gratitude toward Heaven and Earth for such a blessing. Rather than letting one’s aspiration be redirected by poverty and humble station, one should regard the adversities as chances to temper one’s personality. In life, one should follow the Way of Heaven and Earth in one’s actions. And at death, one should leave in peace with a clear conscience. Because pre-modern Chinese thinkers mostly based their outlook on life upon such a view about the universe, they managed to set up their sacred ideals without resorting to any external deities and hence lead a fulfilled life with ease of mind. Humankind’s gratitude toward Heaven and Earth for having bred and nurtured them would harmonize their relation with their natural environment. A sense of humbleness when facing Heaven and Earth would keep human beings from being so arrogant as to wish to conquer Heaven and Earth. Much as Chinese philosophy always centralizes humankind, it fundamentally differs from Western anthropocentrism in that it emphasizes “acting in accordance with” Heaven and Earth rather than “conquering” them. Those who seek to conquer the Heaven and Earth will regard them as a material substance. And those who seek to act in accordance with them will see Heaven and Earth as inexorable law as well as the law regarding what things ought to be (lex ferenda), by which it means neither a requirement of humankind to be utterly self-abased nor a reduction of human beings to the slaves of Nature — like worshippers in front of the deities they worship. From the perspective of Chinese philosophy, everyone has the potential to become a sage or worthy person, namely someone who experiences the Way of Heaven cognitively, practices the Way of humankind, fosters the soul of Heaven, sets up an ultimate model for humankind, and, with their mind broadened, merges their virtue with the virtue of Heaven and Earth. Humankind marks the highest development of all creatures, and sageliness marks the highest development of all human personalities. A person who attains sageli­ness is a human being in the real sense. And that is what it means by setting up an ultimate model for a human being. Such a person, therefore, can establish himself or herself as the third Pole or power

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after Heaven and Earth. The relationship among the three Poles, Heaven, Earth, and Humankind, is thus one of coexistence and coordination rather than opposition or conflict. Sages, by looking up to observe the motions in heaven, looking down to examine the patterns on earth, and exerting themselves in between to do all they can in the human society, are able to regulate between the Heaven and Earth, and traverse natural transformation with ease. They can, on the one hand, make themselves one with their environment and, on the other hand, enjoy freedom and self-fulfillment in life. These ideas are admittedly imbued with idealistic elements, but there is nothing wrong about existing in a realm of faith. In fact, ideas of this kind would provide human beings with the navigation marks they need in life. Pre-modern thinkers are indeed very commendable in proposing this idea of establishing an ultimate model for human beings by following the Way of Heaven and Earth, but, due to their overemphasis on benevolence and acting in accordance, they sometimes inevitably deviate from what is appropriate. Acting in accordance is evidently a manifestation of the Way of Earth, or the Way of Docility. What we need to do is to uphold the spirit of powerful Creativity at the same time so as to make up for its weakness. To do so would also be good for the incorporation and even fusion between notions in Chinese and Western ­philosophies. The most important thing in this regard is to accord to Zhi the status it deserves.33

2.4. Summary This part covers a range of topics from the fundamental root of the cosmos to humankind and it does so for the purpose of paving the way for our later discussion on heart-nature. Western philosophy often ascribes the changes and development of things to the opposition of, and mutual transformation between, their internal contradictions. In this regard, Chinese philosophy 33 In

Kant’s philosophy, the establishment of the notion of morality is derived from the practical reason in the human heart. Practical reason and free will are interchangeable categories.

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maintains a unique view, which further classifies the internal contradictions into contradictions between such basic categories as action and inaction, yang and yin, and Creativity and Docility. From different aspects, these basically functional categories reveal the tendencies in the changes and developments of all things. Among them, the contradiction between Creativity and Docility deserves particular attention, for it synthesizes the other two basic categories. Another noumenal category is the contradiction between the Texture and Qi. The distinction between the theory on the transformational capability of the Qi and that on Texture as Noumenon can be, to certain extent, analogous to the difference between materialism and (objective) idealism in Western philosophy. But among Chinese philosophers, there has been, on the whole, no one who entirely embraces the theory on Texture as Noumenon. They generally argue for the mutual supplement and mutual complement between the two. The evolution of the cosmos can be summarized as the dual process of the transformation of all things by Qi and the multi-manifestations of Texture. The interactions between the Texture and Qi — included therein are such contradictory tendencies as yin and yang, action and inaction, and opening and closing — give rise to the Triad Power, i.e. Heaven, Earth, and Humankind. The relation among the powers is one of coexistence and coordination rather than intense opposition and conflict. Although the conceptualization of human beings’ middle position may seem primitive and a bit too visually oriented, it contains such reasonable themes as basing the practice of human Way on Heavenly Way and setting up the ultimate model for humankind by fostering the soul of Heaven. The objective that the themes set for human life is to be one with Heaven and Earth. A passage written by Wang Fu 王符 (fl. 85–163 AD) in the Han dynasty is inspiring. In it, he first describes the Arche of the cosmos, which is not unlike what we now think the cosmos was like before the big bang: “In the remote past, which was the time of the noumenal element, the Original Qi was permeative and indistinctive, and there were no distinct forms. Myriad essential energies merged into one, [which was a development that was] under no restriction or control”. Then Wang Fu moves on to describe the evolution of the cosmos, including the

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emergence of Heaven, Earth, and human beings. “After it went on like this for a long time, a sudden and complete transformation took place. From the separation of the clear and turbid Qi, yin and yang came into being. And with yin and yang taking shape, there came to be two Forms [i.e. Heaven and Earth]. There was ‘an intermingling of the genial influences of heaven and earth, and transformation in its various forms abundantly’ proceeded.34 The harmonious Qi engendered human beings, who function as an organizer and regulator”. And finally, he describes how the three powers of Heaven, Earth, and human beings supplement and complement one another, and thereby bring harmony to the universe: “Therefore Heaven is based on yang and Earth on yin. And human’s Way is based on equilibrium and harmony.35 The three powers perform different functions, [but] they complement one another in co-existence. With each [of the three] following its own way, the harmonious energy reaches its perfection, and the universe is in peace” (Wang Fu, 1978, Chapter 32).

2.5. Discussion All works of philosophy recognize the existence of laws. Where do laws come from? Should they be traced back to Noumenon? Are they spirits or matters? In this regard, there is the demarcation between idealism and materialism in cosmology. Mr. Xiong Shili advocated new study of Book of Changes, and in doing so, identified such two tendencies of function as opening and closing. He, moreover, emphasized the oppositions between yin and yang, action and inaction, and so on. Is what he did commendable. Can we, on the basis of the contents of the first and second parts of the present book, find the causes of material, impetus, and purpose in the evolution of cosmos? If we can establish human way and follow human routines on the basis of cognitive experiencing of the Heavenly Way, would it be of help to establish moral values and promote a harmoniously developed society? 34 Translator’s

note: This is a phrase that Wang Fu cited from the Book of Changes, which can be found in Legge, 1993, p. 329. 35 Translator’s note: For what Wang Fu might mean by “equilibrium and harmony”, see Doctrine of the Mean (trans. Chan, 1963, p. 98).

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References Basanquet, B. A History of Aesthetic. NY: The MacMillan Co., 1904. Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Chen Chun 陳淳. Beixi Ziyi 北溪字義 [Meanings of Words from the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Cheng Hao 程顥, and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. In James Legge (trans.). Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2014. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 97–114. Gilbert L. Mattos & Jerry Norman. New Haven, CT: The Society for the Study of Early China, 2000, pp. 185–186. Guoyu 國語 [Discourses of the States]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1978. Hanfeizi 韓非子. In Liang Qixiong. Hanfeizi Qianjie. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1960. He Xiu 何休. Gongyang Zhuan Jie Gu [Annotation to the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals]. Beijing: Beijing Tushuguan Chubanshe, 2003. Heidegger, M. Being and Time. Translated by Joan Stambaugh. NY State University of New York, 1996. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. Yizhuan de yijian xinshi — jiantan yijian er tianxia zhi li de 易傳的易簡新釋—兼談 “易簡而天下之理得 [New Interpretation of the ‘yijian’ in the ‘Great Commentaries’ — With a discussion on the phrase ‘In such Variability and Regularity lies the key to all principles in the sub-celestial world’]. Zhouyi Study 5 (2007). Jin Yuelin 金岳霖. Lun Dao 論道 [The Way Explored]. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1987. Laozi 老子. The Lao Tzu 老子. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 139–176. Lingshu Jing 靈樞經 [Miraculous Pivot]. In Huangdi Neijing 黃帝內經 [Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine]. Beijing: Renmin Weisheng Chubanshe, 1963.

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Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Liu Shao 劉劭. Renwu Zhi 人物志 [Ranking of Figures]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Miao Litian 苗力田. Gu Xila Zhexue 古希臘哲學 [Ancient Greek Philosophy]. Beijing: Renmin Daxue Chubanshe, 1989. Mozi 墨子. Mozi 墨子 [The Mozi]. In Mozi Xiangu 墨子閒詁 [The Mozi Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Sun Yirang 孫詒讓. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1958. Nietzsche, F. The Birth of Tragedy. Translated [into Chinese] by Zhou Guoping 周國平. Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 1986. Onozawa Seiichi 小野沢精一, Fukunaga Mitsuji 福永光司, and Yamanoi Yū 山井湧. Ki no Shiso: Chugoku ni okeru Shizenkan to Ningenkan no Tenkai 気の思想. 中国における自然観と人間観の展開 [The Thought of Qi: The Development of Chinese View of Nature and Notion of Human Being]. Tokyo: Daigaku Shuppankai, 1978. Shang Shu 尚書 [The Book of History]. In Shang Shu Jiao Zhu 尚書校注 [A Collated and Annotated Edition of the Book of History]. Edited by Chen Shuguo 陳戍國. Changsha: Yuelu Chubanshe, 2004. Shao Yong 邵雍. Guan Wu 觀物 [Observing Things]. Schopenhauer, A. The World as Will and Representation. Translated [into Chinese] by Shi Chongbai 石沖白. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1982. Wang Fu 王符. Qianfu Lun 潛夫論 [Comments of a Recluse]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1979. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Si Wen Lu 思問錄 [Records of Thoughts and Inquiries]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1959. Wang Fuzhi. Du Sishu Daquan Shuo 讀四書大全說 [Discussion after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1975. Wang Fuzhi. Zhouyi Waizhuan 周易外傳 [Outer Commentary on the Book of Changes]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Xiong Shili 熊十力. Xiong Shili Quanji 熊十力全集 [Complete Works of Xiong Shili]. Wuhan: Hubei Jiaoyu Chubanshe, 2001. Xu Shen 許慎. Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 [Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi]. Shanghai: Guangya Shuju, 1900.

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Zhu Xi. “Da Huang Daofu 答黃道夫 [Response to Huang Daofu]. In Zhu Xi. Huian Xiansheng Zhu Wen’gong Wenji 晦庵先生朱文公文集. Shanghai: Shanghai Shudian, 1989. Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤. Tong Shu 通書 [Penetrating the Book of Changes]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1987. Zuozhuan 左傳 [The Commentary of Zuo]. In Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu 春秋左傳 注 [Annotations to Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring–Autumn Annals]. Edited by Yang Bojun 楊伯峻. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1981.

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b2530   International Strategic Relations and China’s National Security: World at the Crossroads

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Chapter 3

The Position of Humankind

In Chapter 2, we discussed the Triad Power of heaven, earth, and human beings to elucidate what pre-modern philosophers intuitively ­conceptualized. The philosophers generally maintained that, since human beings stood between heaven as their cover and earth as their carrier, to be one with Heaven and Earth in virtue would be what they should be. In a broad sense, however, there are other species besides humankind that also “stand between Heaven and Earth”. A comparison between human beings and other creatures is thus necessary for ascertaining humankind’s ­position in the cosmos and thereby accomplishing a real understanding of this matter.

3.1. Humankind is the Most Intelligent Creature of All Like ancient Western philosophers, our early philosophers also believed humankind to be the most intelligent of all creatures on earth. Since they relied solely on their naked eyes for observation, they naturally overlooked the possibility of there being some planet with an environment similar to that of the earth and hence with a variegated biosphere. Although we cannot exclude such a possibility, we lack any conclusive evidence to prove it even today. Such being the case, what we can do is to confine our discussion to the planet where human beings live. 115

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3.1.1.  Humankind’s Superior Position on Earth Pre-modern philosophers generally considered humankind as the most distinguished of all creatures between Heaven and Earth. An inchoate form of this idea is present in the Laozi and “Commentary on the Book of Changes”, in which, however, this idea — as we indicated earlier — is presented merely in the ancients’ macroscopic grasp and depiction. A more detailed analysis can be found in Chapter 9 of the Liji 禮記 (Book of Rite), which holds that as a creature blessed with the virtue of Heaven and Earth and engendered at both the interaction between yin and yang and the union between spirits and deities, humankind is the best embodiment of the Five Elements. Xunzi puts forward a more convincing point in the following empirical observation: “Water and fire have qi but lack life. Plants have life but lack consciousness. Birds and beasts have consciousness but lack righteousness. Human beings have qi, life, ­consciousness, and righteousness. Therefore they are the most distinguished between Heaven and Earth” (Xunzi, Chapter 9). In Xunzi’s view, all things and beings in the world can be classified into four levels, such as inorganic matter, plants, animals, and human beings. Water and fire, as ordinary matter, formed by the congealment of qi, are lifeless and hence at the lowest of the four levels. Plants are, of course, also formed by the congealment of qi, but they have life; however, they fall short of reaching the level of living with consciousness. Birds and beasts exist at a higher level, for they have consciousness and they can move with ease, but all they do is follow their instincts with no sense of morality. Humankind, as a product of the congealment of qi and a life form with consciousness, has established moral values based on which they make choices between what they consider appropriate and what they find inappropriate. Therefore, they are the most distinguished of all creatures. This viewpoint is parallel to the view of Aristotle in Western philosophy. As no less discerning an empirical observer, Aristotle opines that all creatures have “souls”, which are stratified in a sequence — from low to high — “plant souls”, “animal souls”, and “human souls”. Among them, each successor latently contains its predecessor. The “capacity for nourishment”, as a primal capacity, is the most widely shared of all. All creatures are capable of absorbing food and reproducing. The next one is the “capacity for sensibility”.

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Any animal will have at least one kind of sensibility. Even more highly ­developed than this is the “capacity for reason”, a capacity with which the soul does thinking and makes judgments. This capacity is particular to humankind and any being that is equal or superior to humankind in terms of nobleness. One can, of course, see how tiny individual human beings are when examined in the context of the vast cosmos. Zhuangzi and the school of thought he represents recognize the greatness of the Way, Heaven, and Earth, but draw the line at admitting the greatness of human beings. They hold that a comparison with the three Greats would underscore the ­tininess of humankind. Perceived from the perspective of time, the life of an individual human in the universe is as transient as a split second. And, seen collectively from the perspective of space, China in the world is like a grain in a barn, the four oceans between Heaven and Earth are like 礨空 leikong (“tiny holes”) in a marsh, and people among all things and beings in China are just like the fur tips on the body of a horse. Their tininess is thus imaginable. But while Zhuangzi and the school represented by him formulate their argument on the primary base of human lifespan and body size, they never deny the boundless capability of human spirit and potentials. In spite of their human appearance, the perfect men, absolute men, and supernatural men upheld by Zhuangzi and his school of thought are all with Heavenly vacuity in their mind. They are, in other words, men who are spiritually capable of communicating with Heaven and Earth and traveling freely in the realm of infinity. Briefly speaking, the superiority of human being consists in their relatively complete spiritual system. Wang Chong 王充 (2nd century AD) once said, “Man tops all the featherless and scaleless creatures. Among all the natures between Heaven and Earth, human nature distinguished itself with its intellectuality” (Wang Chong, 1974, Chapter 38). If there is also any spirit (law, regularity, impetus) in the cosmos, then, of all the creatures on earth, humans are the ones that are awakened to, and conscious of, this spirit. Therefore, it can be said that humankind is the heart of Heaven and Earth (Book of Rite, Chapter 9). Since humankind is characterized by relatively high capability of intelligence, ability to transmit and save coded information, and endowed with the gift of dealing with and reacting to things rationally, they are superior to animals.

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If what the earth witnessed 60 million years ago was the age of d­inosaurs (Cretaceous, Jurassic Period), then in the past few million years, the earth has entered an age of humankind. As a species at the most advanced level of development between Heaven and Earth, humankind is rightly considered by pre-modern thinkers to be capable of managing and acting as a governor of all things and beings. Even today, human beings still have a great deal of potential waiting to be realized, which is parti­ cularly epitomized in the craving to be “Faster, Higher, and Stronger” in sports. In the 1930s, there was once a trans-spatial dispute between the famous American Marathon runner Karnas Andy and the outstanding Malta mountaineer Mwine. Mwine, after surmounting the Cordillera, was under the conviction that he would never reach higher in his life, for what was deeply felt in his mind was the extreme tininess of human beings in front of Nature. Karnas, by contrast, was convinced of the infinity of human potentials as well as the prospect of human beings creating one seemingly impossible miracle after another. A year later, Mwine surpassed himself by reaching the summit of Qomolangma of the Himalayas. After the two men passed away, Karnas’s gravestone was inscribed with the print of his left foot and Mwine’s with his height, 1.78 meter. The two graves, though tens of thousands of miles apart, are both located on the 30 degrees north latitude. Half a century later, a cryptographer of the former Soviet Union was successful in deciphering the “mysterious ­ ­messages” conveyed by the two graves. Relative to other interpretations, his indeed sounds more convincing. The messages, in his judgment, are: “There is no road longer than human feet, and there is no mountain taller than human beings”. It is open to further discussion and investigation as regards whether those were really the intended messages. But the reason why people are generally convinced by this interpretation lies in most people’s acceptance of the philosophical moral in it. In fact, Mwine’s ­correction of his own pessimistic view through his action a year later is itself a cogent attestation to the truth that “there is no mountain taller than human beings”. Based on our discussion above, we cannot but accept our pre-modern philosophers’ view that humankind is the most intelligent of all creatures and the noblest species engendered by Heaven and Earth.

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3.1.2.  Humankind’s Two Fundamental Legislations In history, there are admittedly very few scholars who question human beings’ status as the most intelligent creature, but there are ones who deny man’s status as the noblest species created by Heaven and Earth. This is because whereas the former status requires only ability only, the latter takes into consideration both ability and virtue. They are hence uniden­ tical. In medieval China, the famous thinker and writer Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824 AD) initiated the said denial, which was followed by a discussion among him and two other famous thinkers and writers Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫 (772–842 AD) as regards the relationship between Heaven and human beings. The discussion adds a unique color to the ­ideological circle in the mid-Tang era. From a citation in Liu Zongyuan’s “A Theory of Heaven” 天說, we learn that Han Yu once wrote “Treatise of Heaven” 天之說 to ­communicate with Liu Zongyuan. In the article, Han Yu wrote, “These days whenever someone suffers from the torment of disease or is worn down by humiliation or endures hunger and cold, he looks up and cries out to heaven: ‘Those who harm folk flourish; those who help folk perish!’”.1 In Han Yu’s opinion, these people who blame heaven actually know ­nothing about heaven. He thinks that because heaven, as a ruler behind Nature, wants to maintain the original state of Nature, the standard by which it awards and punishes human beings is opposite to what people have expected. As decaying organic things generate bugs, so do broken yin, yang, and Primordial Qi generate human beings. Bugs are no doubt natural enemies of the creatures they parasitically feed on. Those who can wipe out bugs are meritorious. By the same token, human beings reclaim land, fell forests in the mountain, dig wells for spring water, and build graves to bury corpses. Moreover, they construct walls, cities, and pavilions, drill wood to make fire, dig earth to manufacture utensils, and engage in mining and metallurgy. All this severely damages the yin, yang, and the five elements in Nature. Therefore, those who prey on human beings would be the ones who perform meritorious deeds in favor of 1 Translator’s

note: Translation of the passage is adopted mutatis mutandis from Stephen Owen, An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginning to 1911, NY: Norton, 1996, p. 601.

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Heaven and Earth, whereas those who endeavor to ensure the multiplicity of humankind are enemies of Heaven and Earth. So, why is it that those who harm people are prosperous whereas those who help people are ­suffering? This is precisely the reason. Liu Zongyuan, however, does not accept Han Yu’s ridiculous viewpoint. Holding on to a traditional view on the cosmos, he observes that that which is indistinctive and high above is heaven, that which is yellow and down below is earth, and that which is vague and in the middle is the Primal Qi. The succession of seasons, he thinks, signifies the alternate dominations of yin and yang. In his judgment, none of these is capable of rewarding the meritorious or punishing the troublesome. Thus, in human life, human beings alone are accountable for the accomplishments they make and the disasters they cause. It is therefore erroneous to expect fair reward or punishment from heaven, and it would be even more ridiculous to shout one’s discontent to appeal to the pity and benevolence of heaven. In a word, he does not think heaven has anything to do with human beings’ misfortune or happiness. Later, Liu Yuxi wrote “In Discussion of Heaven” 天論 to take up where Liu Zongyuan left off in “A Theory of Heaven”. The article first presents two opposing views. The first view argues for a close corres­ pondence between heaven and humankind, and it does so as if there were indeed an arbiter who was sure to punish the evil and award the good. In this view, heaven will certainly hear the cries of those who are d­ esperate and answer the prayers of those who are in pain. The second view argues against both such correspondence and the existence of such an arbiter. When an animal or plant is struck by thunder and lightning, for instance, it is not because the animal or plant has committed any crime. Likewise, when the spring season fosters the growth of grasses and trees, it makes no distinction as regards which plants are good and which are bad. The former view upholds the theory of retributions, the latter that of Nature. Liu Zongyuan basically subscribes to the latter view, so does Liu Yuxi. That is why Liu Zongyuan even regards “In Discussion of Heaven” as an annotative companion to “A Theory of Heaven”. It should be noted that although “A Theory of Heaven” presents a relatively well-founded view, its discussion is still simple and even rudimentary (which is e­ xemplified in its likening of the Primal Qi to carbuncle and piles). “In Discussion of

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Heaven”, in contrast, features not only thorough and well-developed argumentation but also an innovative view that argues for the mutual outperformance between heaven and human beings rather than merely for Heaven’s non-interference into human affairs. In Liu Yuxi’s opinion, the Way of Heaven lies in its life-giving capacity, and its function is manifested in the distinction between strength and weakness. Humankind’s Way, on the other hand, is to be found in human beings’ legal institution and its function is manifested in their distinction between the right and the wrong. Heaven and human beings are divided yet ­combined. For human beings, the most important thing to do is take advantage of all the Heavenly-endowed favorable conditions and establish regulations in the human society. Han Yu’s “Treatise of Heaven” is absent from Collected Works of Han Yu 昌黎文集. It was probably an essay that its author wrote at random during his banishment or other times of depression for the purpose of venting his fury and, by way of denouncing human beings, indirectly expressing his indignant feelings against heaven. But the essay has nonetheless raised an important point: If we look at human society from the perspective of Nature, then all the current value systems should be turned upside down. This is because there is hostility detected between heaven and human beings. The argumentation in the essay, needless to say, is ­seriously flawed because all beings, be they bugs or human beings, are in fact a part of the ecological nature and they — in that capacity — are engaged in mutual reinforcement and neutralization with other creatures. What we should value highly is the message implied in the essay, namely the message that human beings set up their value system to meet their own need. The matter becomes clear in Liu Zongyuan’s and Liu Yuxi’s participation in the discussion. They are aware of the divided spheres of heaven and human beings, aware that heaven and human society each operates by its own rules and hence the former interferes in neither the latter’s ­suffering of misfortune nor its enjoyment of good fortune.2

2 “Treatise

of Heaven” is possibly directed to the mismatch between virtue and fate, a phenomenon that is also explicated in “A Theory of Heaven” and “In Discussion of Heaven”. We will continue the discussion on this matter later.

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Following pre-modern scholars’ way of thinking, we may posit that Heaven legislates the Law of Nature whereas human beings legislate the Law of Humankind. The former, the Law of Nature, and the latter, the Law of Humankind, both embody the Way. Since they do so in ­different realms, they are fundamentally different. And manifested in such difference is the diversification of Texture. The Law of Nature underlies the natural order in which all creatures exist, develop, and transform. The Law of Humankind stipulates the order in which human society exists, develops, and transforms. In this sense, they are parallel to a certain extent. But, from humankind’s perspective, the Law of Nature is an objective pattern in which all things are what they variously are. The Law of Humankind, in contrast, stipulates what human society ought to be like. This law is hence something to be established. Therefore, the two laws are fundamentally different.3 In their existence and development, human beings always try to understand the Law of Nature and establish the Law in human relations, by which we mean they pursue the truth on the one hand and adhere to goodness on the other. This twofold effort gives rise to two kinds of culture that are in opposition and yet mutually complementary. The ­ ­pursuit of truth entails science, and the adherence to goodness gives rise to morality. Science emphasizes the distinction between the true and the false, whereas morality makes a point of judging what is good and what is evil. In science, one seeks to find out what the Object “is”, which means an attempt to rationalize the way the Object is. In morality, one stipulates what the Subject “ought to be” like, making clear how human relationships should be. The former falls into the realm of necessity, where the Subject is expected to obey the Object and where knowledge is valued. The latter belongs to the realm of freedom, where the Object is 3 This

does not mean the two laws have nothing to do with each other. Understanding the Texture of Nature features a process that works its way from the end back to the beginning. By that we mean an effort to grasp the general by studying the individual and thereby understanding the particular. Cognitively experiencing the Texture of human relations features a process that works its way from the beginning to the end, which means an effort to govern the individual by using the general to regulate the particular. Operating in opposite directions, the two ways of legislating converge on one point (i.e. the general), but they are not parallel.

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supposed to obey the Subject and where faith is valued. Without the development of science, human beings would be unable to properly make use of nature and thereby keep improving their material life. Without the establishment of morality, human beings would be unable to properly regulate the relationships among them, which would not only mean a return to the world of animals but also the possibility of human beings destroying themselves with the weapons they have developed by means of science and advanced technology. Therefore, neither culture is dispensable. And they should be mutually complementary, which means — to borrow Liu Yuxi’s words — the effort to take advantage of all the Heavenly-endowed ­ favorable conditions and establish regulations in human society. Culture is a human invention. Both science and morality are ­phenomena of spiritual culture. As such, they have to depend upon the capability of human beings’ heart–soul and human code system for their establishment. As spiritual products, they can be said to result from human “legislation”: Science is the law human beings legislated based on Nature, and morality the law human beings legislate for themselves. The latter is obviously characterized by human judgment that is made by the standards of human beings’ own needs and wishes. The former is in fact the way in which human beings depict the pattern of things by way of their own logical thinking and system of codification. For instance, Newton’s ­ mechanics and Einstein’s relativity differ profoundly in the structures or models of the cosmos they depict, which resulted from two consecutive revolutions in science. The two kinds of cultures are both generated by the human heart. Therefore, their different realms can be seen particularly clearly in the activities that go on within the human heart. Humankind’s legislation based on nature constitutes an endeavor to reveal the “Law” nature has always had. The endeavor starts with the examination of a large quantity of individual phenomena and, by way of making inferences and generalizations thereof, concludes with the identification of a range of traits from the particular to the general and the constant, which are subject to further verifications in the cognitive process to make certain human beings’ ­subjective notions are in accordance with, and close to, what the Object necessarily is (It is hence appropriate to call the process “a pursuit of the

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truth”). This is a cognitive process in which the activity of the human heart works its way from the external to the internal to keep making ­generalizations so as to gradually reach higher levels of unity. It is, in short, a process that proceeds from Many to One. Humankind’s legislation for themselves is a process in which human beings engage themselves in the setup of laws — which is informed of certain social conditions — to stipulate what human relations “ought to be”. It features humankind’s critical attitude toward the status quo in human relations. In this regard, the fury of Moses at Mount Sinai and the angry words uttered by Confucius during his trips to various states are classic examples. The sense of morality comes primarily from a deep-level human will. Its idea is to impose on reality the regulations that dictate what human relations ought to be. For this reason, people call morality the realm of freedom (It is hence appropriate to call it “adherence to goodness”). The “freedom” in this sense in fact means “to be up to oneself”. Specifically, it denotes a process where the Subject insists on following the order deep in the heart despite any danger in the external world of reality. It is a process of external divergence, a process that proceeds from One to Many.4 Chinese philosophy has considered two forms of legislation. P ­ re-Qin philosophers made a point of looking up to watch the phenomena in the sky, looking down to observe the pattern of the earth, drawing analogies from things afar, and seeking enlightenment in things as near as in one’s own person. But, regrettably, all these activities concentrated in the ancients’ inquiries about the good or bad fortunes in human affairs. From the Wei–Jin period to the Song and Ming dynasties, there were many thinkers who took note of the underlying aspect [i.e. why-so] and stipulating aspects of the Texture. But they either focused their attention on the stipulating Texture (e.g. the school of thought represented by Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Shouren) or mixed the two in their discussions 4 The

two legislations tend to be sharply opposed to each other in individual humankind’s heart. It seems that the realm of culture also features the opposition of them. Aesthetic appreciation and arts make it possible to mediate between, and unify, the two. Profound explications of this topic can be found in Kant’s Critique of Judgment and Hegel’s Aesthetics. Please also see my Shenmei Xue 審美學 [Aesthetics] and Wenyi de Xinli Chanshi 文藝的心理闡釋 [Psychological Interpretations in Art and Literature] for my in-depth discussions of it.

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(e.g. the school of thought represented by Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi). Therefore, further clarification in this regard is necessary. 3.1.3.  The Concentration on Humankind in Chinese Philosophy Given the division between heaven and human beings as well as the two legislations, two branches should have emerged in philosophy: The undertaking that aimed to understand the natural world would call for logic, whereas the endeavor to harmonize human relations would call for ethics. In fact, the pre-Qin era witnessed a parallel development of the two branches. Mozi and the school represented by him paid close attention to the study of technology and, in so doing, founded Mohist logic. Xunzi argued for the separation between heaven and man. In addition, he was also an accomplished scholar of logic. Moreover, Mohism and Xunzi were both very much concerned with moral issues. Then what may have accounted for the decline and even the vanishing of the Mohist logic and the School of Logic after the Qin–Han era? The reasons were very complicated. We can basically attribute it to the lack of scientific spirit in the circle of philosophers, the insufficient attention paid to the exploration of the why-so of things, and so on, which can be further explained by the following few factors: (1) Agricultural economy: In pre-modern China, the improvement of tools was such a slow process that its effect within certain periods is sometimes negligible. The enhancement of productivity was realized mainly through the adjustments of the relations of production, as exemplified in the measures against annexation of lands and those taken to average lands. Besides, production was not meant for exchange but for the satisfaction of the needs of producers and owners of properties, which explains the pre-modern Chinese tradition of emphasizing agriculture while belittling commerce, the insufficiency of the spirit of competition, and the despisement against workmanship and craftsmanship. (2) Patriarchal system: Agricultural activities confined people to a fixed area and hence minimized their chances of moving away or migration. Families of the same clan reproduced for generations within the same

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area, where, as a result, a hierarchical human relationship came to develop. Father was the head of a family, and seniors were leaders of a clan. Developing gradually from the paternal patriarchal system was a feudal social hierarchy. All social units from a single family to the entire nation jointly formed a pyramidal and extraordinarily stable structure of human relationship, which provided very favorable conditions for the growth of the feudal ethical codes and the system of rite. (3) Political autocracy: The growth of political autocracy out of agricultural economy and patriarchal system is a matter of necessity. The word “guojia” 國家 (“country”) in the Chinese language signifies that a country is a big family. In it, royal power is above everything else. The policies implemented by tyrannical rulers were those that aimed to “herd people” 牧民. And the so-called benevolent rulers were, at best, those who regarded people as their “subjects”. For the purpose of passing down their families’ domination in the country from one generation to the next, rulers naturally prioritized the stableness of the social hierarchy, especially when there were no invasions by foreign forces. (4) Orientation of the academic circle: In a society marked by political autocracy, scholars generally sought to win the favor of the imperial court. He who excelled in study was supposed to follow an official career. And those who “fed on imperially allocated grains” should do all they could to strengthen the imperial power. All these seemed to be things ordained in nature. Preoccupied with their official duties, how could scholars find enough time for investigations in science and technology? Scholars in pre-modern times mostly took upon themselves to advocate the practices of regulating one’s family, managing state affairs, and bringing peace to the entire sub-celestial world. They mostly ­pursued the achievement of “Kingliness” 王道. Yet there were, after all, very few of them who had a chance to distinguish themselves in political career. As a rule, they would assume office if appointed and seclude themselves if not. Without a chance to accomplish “Outer Kingliness”, one could nonetheless pursue “Inner Sageliness”. Hence, the majority of them were engaged in the exploration of moral cultivations. Among the above factors, Factors (1) and (2) basically explain why Chinese culture ignored the inquiry of why-so while emphasizing what

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things ought to be. These factors, in addition, constituted the basic conditions for the Factors (3) and (4). Factor (3) played a key role in this matter. The unitary political autocracy was particularly guilty for the intellectual idleness and the restricted development of science and technology. Mr. Liang Shuming 梁漱溟 (1893–1988) once observed that had there not been any encounter with Western culture, there would be no spirit of science and democracy in China, not even for another millennium. Admittedly reasonable as it is, this view is biased: Had the Chinese nation maintained the momentum of their political, economic, cultural, and other competitions that characterized the Spring–Autumn period and Warring States periods, it would have been possible to get ahead of the West in terms of the spirit of science and democracy. This is because the West went through a long medieval era. It was precisely the highly unitary feudal unification that deprived the cultural elite of their independent integrity. Their horizontal attachment to the imperial power and vertical ancestral cult jointly restricted their attention to their own social behaviors, keeping them engaged in their political career without being able to think of anything else. The best that the unworldly ones among them did was, in most cases, nothing more than aspiring to be known for their self-cultivation. This situation determined the weakness of Chinese culture. At the same time, it also determined its strengths. The weakness lay in its relatively insufficient attention to the understanding and remodeling of nature, and its insufficient interest in the development of science and technology. There was not a counterpart of the “Aristotlean tradition” in this culture. Its strength is reflected in the profound and sophisticated philosophy constructed in it with the study of humankind centralized. The philosophy features cogent argumentation as regards why human beings are human beings, rich and detailed account on the various major constituents in the nature of the human heart, and the overall positive and optimistic attitude toward human life. To borrow Kant’s terminology, Chinese philosophy is weak in theoretical reason but strong in practical reason. The setup of practical reason in individual human beings’ heart would be of help to the use of theoretical reason. Modern Chinese academia often juxtaposes science and democracy in an academic discourse to highlight the weakness in traditional Chinese culture. But the two, examined from the perspective of academic

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p­ rinciples, are related to two kinds of legislation, and hence different in nature. Democracy also exemplifies the legislation that human beings practiced to meet their own needs. But it falls into the domain of political philosophy, which is supposedly outside the scope of our discussion. Yet, one thing we might as well point out here is that Western democracy is established on the basis of the idea that all men are equal in front of God. This confirms to us that the theory of Inner Sageliness in Chinese philosophical heritage is well equipped with the conditions to lay a solid foundation for the thought of democracy. This is because, since it is ­possible for everybody to attain Sageliness, there is no need to worship ancestors or succumb to authorities. One therefore has reason to maintain the independence and freedom of one’s integrity, which is exemplified in the conduct of such historical figures as Mencius and Lu Jiuyuan. Just as Wang Shouren says in the first piece of his ‘Odes to Conscience’. “In each person’s heart there resides a Confucius. Clouded by worldly views, he’s invisible, leaving us anxious. His whereabouts I point out, his identity I pronounce. Our conscience it is, whereof one ought to be conscious”. Comparatively speaking, Christian culture is externally transcendental, whereas Chinese philosophy is transcendental on the one hand and immanently oriented on the other. Hence, the latter may provide a more solid basis for the independence of personality as well as democracy in politics.

3.2.  The Heart is the Master of the Body Of all creatures, humankind is the most intelligent. The key to such human intelligence lies in their awakening to consciousness, which means that human beings have a “heart”. Pre-modern philosophers all agreed that the heart was the master of the body. The value of Chinese philosophy, strictly speaking, is to be found more in the study of the heart or heart-nature than in its study of human beings. Although people usually accept a relative sense of the term and take the study of the heart to be a philosophical school in the Song and Ming dynasties, in fact, only Mencius, Zhuangzi, and Chan Buddhism epitomize the developments of the study of heart-nature in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, respectively.

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3.2.1.  Broad and Narrow Senses of the “Heart” In the Chinese language, “心” (xin, “heart”) is a pictorial graph,5 whose original meaning is “(the organ of) heart”. Presumably because of the relatively central position of the heart in the body, pre-modern thinkers took it to be where human spiritual activities took place. In the Mencius, Confucius is quoted as saying, “As for that which exists when attended, gets lost when left alone, and about which there is no telling when it emerges or submerges, no knowing where it heads to, it is what we call heart, is it not?” (Mencius, 6A:8). Such agility of the heart matches that of the “mysteriousness” that characterizes spirit. Pre-modern thinkers normally spoke of “heart” in its very broad sense. Its meanings varied from occasion to occasion. Its definitions were also in disorder. We can sort them out into three kinds, as explained in the following. Heart in its broad sense refers to a comprehensive combination of such spiritual elements as emotions, 性 xing (“human nature”, “disposition”), the knowledge that one acquires through perception, and the goodness which a person intuits. Zhang Zai maintains that the heart holds both disposition and emotions. By that he means a process in which human spiritual activities work their way from the internal to the external, a process that first proceeds from human nature to its corresponding emotions, and then from emotions to their corresponding countenance and actions. To put it more concretely, human nature, residing between heaven and human beings, is related to the fundamental root of the cosmos, and consciousness functions as a connection between the Object and Subject, by which we refer to humankind’s impression of and reaction to reality. Heart is that which unites human nature and consciousness. And briefly put, “we mean by heart that which combines human nature and consciousness” (Zhang Zai, Zhengmeng, Chapter 1). In this sense, heart contains not only ­elements of Texture but also those of non-Texture. There are therefore both pure heart of the Way (referred to as the Mind of the Way 道心 henceforth) and the disorderly and turbulent humanly heart (referred to as 5 Translator’s

note: For definition and in-depth explication of pictorial graph, see Qiu Xigui. Chinese Writing, 175–183.

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the “Mind of Humankind” 人心 henceforth). Pre-modern thinkers mostly used the term “heart” in its broad sense, regarding it sometimes as a ­spiritual capability — which is more or less analogous to the Buddhist notion of 心識 xinshi (“consciousness”) — and sometimes as the totality of the contents of human spirit, which is roughly analogous to what is known as 心所 xinsuo (“mental functions”) in Buddhism. As an example, Mencius, on the one hand, holds that the heart is in charge of thinking (6A:15), and, on the other hand, talks about the heart oriented to Texture and righteousness, the heart of compassion, the original heart, and so forth. Likewise, Shao Yong not only said of the heart as something containing a human nature — implying that it was an empty container — but also called heart the Great Ultimate, considering it infinitely rich in contents. There is also a very vague view which is conveyed in the following words in Zhu Xi’s article ‘Yuan Heng Li Zhen Shuo’, “human nature is the texture of heart, emotion is the function of heart, and heart is the leader of human nature and emotion”. His words were extolled to be transparent and lucid in Chen Chun’s Meaning of Words from the Four Books. In my judgment, those words, lucid as they may sound, are anything but transparent. To say the heart holds both human nature and emotions is to mean that the heart has or includes both of them. But Zhu Xi and Chen Chun take the word “hold” to mean “command”. Normally, we speak of our entire nervous and cognitive systems as a heart that controls the body. It would be, ­however, fallacious to say the heart controls emotions or human nature. If we liken the heart to an army, then human nature is its commander. How can we say an army can command both the troops therein and its commander? Heart in its narrow sense refers solely to the Mind of the Way. It is a sense often adopted by Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Shouren. People generally think that the heart is in both agreement and discrepancy with the Texture. What is unique about Lu Jiuyuan is his exclusion of emotions, desires, and disposition from the heart as well as his argumentation based solely on the third level of human heart.6 Strongly opposing the distinction between the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way drawn by his contemporary 6 Please

see my “Luxue zhi xin shijie 陸學之 “心” 試解 [An Attempted Interpretation of Lu Jiuyuan’s Notion of ‘Heart’]”. Zhongguo Zhexue Shi 1 (1995).

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scholars, he argued that Texture was the universal Texture and heart was the heart shared by the entire humankind. He maintained that the reason why human beings were human beings lies in nothing but this heart. Wang Shouren held a similar view, arguing that since the human body was dominated by the heart, this heart was none other than the Way, and the Way was none other than heaven. Thus, in his opinion, to know this heart is to know both the Way and heaven. This view is actually very problematic. For instance, according to Wang Shouren, “what heart issues is meaning, whose noumenon is cognition and whose residence is object” (Wang Shouren, 1927, I). If the heart were nothing by the Way, then meaning and cognition would both fall outside the domain of the heart. Obviously, “knowing heart” cannot be equated to “reaching the depths of soul” 盡心. Between the broad and narrow senses of the heart is an intellectual heart, namely the capability of human intellectuality. This sense is adopted in Zhuangzi’s advice of “letting the heart concentrate solely on perception” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 4). The correctness and incorrectness of people’s thought is normally judged in terms of whether or not the thought is objectively in accordance with facts. Zhuangzi and the school of thought he represents often, in addition, criticize the heart of scheming, which can also be subsumed under the capacity of human intellectuality, though it is not entirely cognitive in nature. Whereas the cognitive aspect functions to find out what things — along with their changes and developments — are like, the scheming aspect aims to accomplish something. Here we would subscribe to the broad sense, understating the heart as a general term that refers to the entire system of human nerves and mind, included in which are the capacity of the heart and such contents therein as emotions, desires, cognition, and disposition. Hence, it is a unity of neng (能, efficacy, capability, potential) and suo (所, the specific form in which the said capability or potential is fulfilled). By ascribing spiritual activities to the “heart” rather than to the “brain”, pre-modern Chinese thinkers differ profoundly from ancient Greek thinkers. What the ascription reflects could be an overall introversive tendency that characterizes the Eastern nation. In the conceptualization of the brain as the sovereign of the physical body, stress is laid on the

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cognition of objective world, whereas in that of the heart as the sovereign, particular attention is paid to cognitively experiencing the subjective world.7 From our viewpoint today, ascribing mental activities to the heart is no doubt a case of primitive conception. Yet, heart’s connection to spiritual activities is indisputably close. This fact has been attested ­ ­particularly in some cases of heart transplantation in modern times. Started in 1967, the technique of human heart-transplantation has undergone rapid development since the 1980s. Based on his research for over 20 years, Professor Gary Schwatz, an acclaimed psychologist in the University of Arizona, USA, reached the following astounding conclusion: Tremendous change of character is evident among at least one tenths of organ-transplant receivers. They seem to have “inhered” some personalities of the organ donors. In his investigations, for instance, the professor discovered that a woman had unexpectedly become fluent in a foreign language after receiving organ transplantation; and a girl had suddenly taken delight in playing the guitar and began to compose poetry and music after receiving the transplantation of a young composer’s heart and lungs. Moreover, according to the Daily Mail in UK, American ballet dancer Clare Sylvia received transplantation of heart and lungs at the age of 47. Since then, the originally eventempered dancer had become impetuous and aggressive, taken to beer, and enjoyed eating Kentucky Fried chicken, which was something she had had no interest in before. The reason behind her change was uncovered in a follow-up survey. It turned out that the donor of the organs was an 18-year-old boy with precisely those weaknesses. Similar change also happened to a 7-year-old American girl, Emily, whose heart was transplanted from a 10-year-old girl who had been murdered a few days earlier. Two months after her surgery, Emily, who had absolutely no knowledge of the organ donor, experienced drastic change in her personality and habits. She began to have nightmare from time to time, dreaming of the murder of herself. And the 7-year-old girl described the murderer with such astonishing precision that, based on the “clue” she provided, the police eventually captured the cold-blooded murderer of that 10-year-old girl! 7 English

philosopher Hobbs once described his psychological experience, ascribing ­feelings of happiness and rational thinking to the heart and brain, respectively.

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From these facts, we can tell for certain that the heart, in a considerable measure, conditions one’s traits of personality. Moreover, it may also take part or even play a key role in some spiritual activities. From the perspective of physiological anatomy, what “heart” refers to can be confined to neither the anatomical heart nor the anatomical brain alone. It should be an overall system that involves the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. 3.2.2.  The Mind of the Way and Mind of Humankind Since the heart is an overall system, it is possible to analyze it from ­multiple angles and in multiple aspects, which may include human nature vs. emotions, Heavenly Texture vs. human desire, Nature of Heaven and Earth vs. nature of temperament. But we will suspend the discussion on these oppositional notions so as to concentrate on the distinction between the Mind of the Way and Mind of Humankind, because this pair is suitable for a direct analysis of the “heart”. According to the chapter of “Counsels of Great Yu” in the Old-Text Shang Shu, Shun 舜 — one of the earliest rulers in antiquity — once instructed his successor Yu 禹 that “Mind of Human Kind is insecure whereas Mind of the Way is delicate. Be consummate and concentrate attentively. Firmly hold on to the [principle of] impartiality with [your] sincerity”. In the Song and Ming dynasties, scholars generally attached great importance to this passage and extolled it to be “the key to the operation of the heart imparted by [such earliest rulers as] Yao, Shun, and Yu as well as the source of the sages’ learning to be transmitted for thousands of generations” (Zhen Dexiu’s 真德秀 comment). But, according to the textual criticism of Mei Zhuo 梅鷟 (1483–1553 AD) in the Ming dynasty and Yan Ruoqu 閻若璩 (1638–1704 AD) in the Qing dynasty, the chapter of “Counsels of Great Yu” was forged in the Six Dynasties (222–589 AD) and hence unreliable. They believed that the sentence “Mind of Human Kind is insecure whereas Mind of the Way is delicate” was a citation from the Book of the Way 道經 that the forgers had taken from Chapter 21 of the Xunzi. The sentence “Be consummate and concentrate attentively”, according to them, is most likely a condensed mixture of “Be consummate in the Way” and “Concentrate solely on the Way” in the same chapter in

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the Xunzi. As for the sentence “Firmly hold on to the [principle of] impartiality with [your] sincerity”, they argued that it was taken from the Analects 20:1. Therefore, except for the last sentence, the rest of the passage was all forged by “abridging, plagiarizing, and pasting” the words in the Xunzi.8 The query and doubts raised by Mei Zhuo and Yan Ruoqu are indeed well founded. But forged as the chapter “Counsels of Great Yu” may be, the view conveyed in it is, without question, typical of the pre-Qin era because, first, the sentence “Firmly hold on to the [principle of] impartiality with [your] sincerity” — as an admonishment that Yao gave to his successor Shun and Shun passed down to Yu — is present in the Analects. Second, it was quite possible for the rest of the passage to predate Xunzi. Even though the Book of the Way may not have been identical to the Shang Shu, it should have been an early text with considerable authority. The original passage may not necessarily have presented a textual parallel to the citation found in the Xunzi. Its earliest text, therefore, may not have been “As regards the insecurity of Mind of Human Kind and the delicacy of the Mind of the Way, it would take a sagacious superior man [man of virtue] to be aware of the subtlety therein” (Xunzi, Chapter 21). Xunzi may well have been paraphrasing an idea handed down from early antiquity. If this was the case, then such phrases preceding the passage as “be consummate in the Way”, “concentrated solely on the Way”, and “in the past when Shun ruled the sub-celestial word” could have been meant to elaborate the view in the Book of the Way. Third, based on what we see in the bambooslip texts of Chu unearthed at today’s Guodian 郭店, Hubei Province, it is not surprising that some pre-Qin texts are simply not cited or quoted in the texts of Western (206 BC–8 AD) and Eastern (25–220 AD) Han dynasties. In fact, in the extant texts of the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, one can identify an overall extroversive ­tendency in the academic interests at that time, where very little attention was paid to distinguishing between the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way. Such being the case, Yan Ruoqu fails to convince us by citing the Analects and the Xunzi to prove his point. 8 Mei

Zhuo 梅鷟, Shang Shu Kaoyi 尚書考異 [Textual Criticism on the Book of History]. Please see also Yan Ruoqu’s Guwen Shang Shu Shuzheng 古文尚書疏證 [Annotation and Commentary of the Old-Text Book of History].

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As regards this passage that was hailed to be “the key to the operation of the heart”, the explanation provided in the Kong Commentary — which is ascribed to Kong Anguo 孔安國 (fl. 156–74 AD) — is simple and clear: “Being insecure, it is hard to stabilize; and being delicate, it is hard to understand. Therefore, one is advised to be consummate, attentively concentrated, and, with sincerity, holding fast to the [principle of] impartiality”. That is to say, the turbulence of the Mind of Humankind results in the insecurity in one’s subsistence, and the delicacy of the Mind of the Way makes it hard for human beings to sense. Human heart, like an ocean, is turbulent on the surface but subtle and indistinctive in its depth. Thus, to be able to concentrate attentively and hold fast to the (principle of) impartiality, one needs to be pensive and firm. On the basis of the views of earlier generations of scholars, Zhu Xi, in his “Memorial to the Emperor” 上皇帝書, came up with what has been acclaimed by scholars of all generations as the most authoritative interpretation. “Speaking of the wonderful and unpredictable consciousness of the heart”, he wrote, “it is a singular whole, and that is all. Then why has there been such differentiation made between Mind of Human Kind and Mind of the Way? It is probably because sometimes [consciousness] arises from the particularities of the physique and sometimes [it] originates from the uprightness of Heavenly-endowed nature. Since what induces consciousness differs from case to case, sometimes [the heart] is conscious of the insecurity and feels uneasy and sometimes [it] senses the abstruse delicacy”. In other words, the Mind of Humankind arises from the physique whereas the Mind of the Way originates from Heavenly-endowed nature, hence the distinction between the insecurity and delicacy. “But because there is nobody who is formless, even the noblest and wisest persons are not without Mind of Human Kind. And since there is nobody who does not have [his share of this] nature, even the basest and most foolish men are not without Mind of the Way”. Thus, anyone who has a physical body is equipped with the Mind of Humankind, and anyone who has morality has the Mind of the Way. This applies to all people, be they sages or fools. “The mixture of the two is located in the position where heart is. But ­[people] have no idea how to manage it. As a result, what is insecure and what is delicate become respectively more insecure and more delicate. Eventually, there will be nothing with which the universality of Heavenly

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Principle [aka Heavenly Texture] can overcome the self-interest in human desires”. This passage is very problematic. First, the word “mixture” blurs the hierarchical difference between the two. Second, it equates the universality of Heavenly Principle to the Mind of the Way and the self-interest in human desires to the Mind of Humankind. Then, according to the idea of keeping Heavenly Principle and eliminating human desires, Zhou Xi would have to advocate keeping the Mind of the Way and eliminating the Mind of Humankind, which would create a contradiction in his argument. “To be consummate will enable one to discern the distinction between them without mixing them up. Attentive concentration will ensure the uprightness of the original heart without any deviations. And working on this incessantly will ensure the Mind of the Way’s status as the master of the body, namely a master whose order Mind of Humankind acts upon. Then the insecure will become secure, and the delicate will become ­obvious. And there will be no such errors as going beyond or falling short in one’s actions or lack of actions” (cited according to the Outstanding Essays on Statecraft compiled by Teng Gong 滕珙). It is appropriate to advocate self-cultivation so as to make the Mind of the Way the leader and the Mind of Humankind its follower. This is precisely how a sage is a sage. As mentioned earlier, Lu Jiuyuan, when conceptualizing the heart to be the Mind of the Way only, had no use for this distinction. He once said to his disciples: “As for the sentence ‘Mind of Human Kind is insecure whereas Mind of the Way is delicate’, many people take the Mind of Human Kind to be human desire and the Mind of the Way to be Heavenly Texture. That is not correct. There is only one heart. How can anyone have two? The comment of its being insecure was made from the perspective of human beings, whereas that of its being delicate proceeded from the perspective of the Way. Not being mindful [of the Way, even a sage can] become overbearing. Being able to be mindful [of the Way, even an overbearing fellow can] become a sage. [So,] is it not something insecure? Having no sound, smell, form, or shape, is [the Way] not delicate?” (Lu Jiuyuan, 1980, Vol. 1).9 Thinkers in the Song dynasty generally took “Mind of Human Kind” and “Mind of the Way” to be, 9  Translator’s

note: The book title in Chinese is Xiangshan Yulu 象山語錄 [Ana of Xiangshan], where the “Xiangshan” is Lu Jiuyuan’s professional name. For definition of

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respectively, human desire and Heavenly Texture. Prior to Zhu Xi, Cheng Hao also held this view. Lu Jiuyuan’s rebuttal is admittedly reasonable. But his explication following the rebuttal is largely erroneous. First, the distinction drawn between the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way, of course, does not mean each individual person has two hearts. It should be interpreted as the multi-layered elements of the heart. Second, it would make hardly any sense if the “not being mindful” and the “being able to be mindful” were not attributed to the heart. But if we do attribute them to the heart and then take the heart to be none other than Texture itself, then why does one have to “be able [translator’s emphasis] to be mindful” [of the Texture or Way] in order to become a sage? Third, as part of the spiritual world, the Mind of Humankind is also soundless, formless, shapeless, and without any smell, then how can the Mind of the Way alone be said of as being “delicate”? As regards Lu Jiuyuan’s unique view, even his intellectual successor Wang Shouren found it hard to accept. Wang spoke highly of the passage in “Counsels of Great Yu”, calling it “the source of the philosophy of the heart” 心學之源. He, furthermore, took a very bold step to abolish a conventional faith by elaborating on the passage, contending that, in the cases of even such great sages as Yao and Shun, their awareness of the insecure side of the human heart evidenced the lack of difference between their heart and the heart of common people. What distinguishes sages from commoners, in Wang’s judgment, was sages’ timely awareness of their own mistakes and their ability to correct the mistakes from time to time. Such awareness and ability, said Wang Shouren in a letter to his brothers, explained sages’ freedom from flaws. Hence, it was not because sages were born with a heart that was fundamentally different from a commoner’s heart. But Wang Shouren too was unaware of the hierar­chical difference between the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way. He thought that the Mind of Humankind would become the Mind of the Way once it attained what was right and, conversely, the Mind of the Way would lapse into the Mind of Humankind when losing what was right. Moreover, he went so far as to construct his logic upon

professional name in traditional Chinese culture, see Alvin Cohen, Introduction to Research in Chinese Source Materials (New Haven: Far Eastern Publications, 2000), p. 471.

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a denial of the coexistence of Heavenly Texture and human desire! (Wang Shouren, 1927, I). Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties often fall short of presenting rigorous scholarship in their arguments. It is exemplified in their explication on the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way. There are differences as well as overlaps among the views of Zhu Xi, Lu Jiuyuan, and Wang Shouren, which call for our effort to make ­selections among those views. Therefore, we might as well propose a new interpretation. Briefly put, the level of zhi (“free will”, “aspiration”, “ideal”) in the human heart is the Mind of the Way,10 and the levels of sensibility and intellectuality constitute the Mind of Humankind. Human heart, in its depth, has the zhi that connects the entire sub-celestial terrain. This zhi is pure and free of anything affected. It hence embodies the justness of Heavenly Texture. The level of intellectuality largely features the limitations that are particular to a given collectivity. The level of sensitivity bears even more distinctive particularities of individual human beings. Usually, sensibility and intellectuality are both subject to the force of desire. Both are heterogeneous, and neither can easily attain freedom from affectedness. With that said, levels of sensibility and intellectuality are not necessarily always evil; hence, they are not identical to what Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties referred to as human desires. Rather they can embody a zhi that is connected to the sub-celestial terrain. In other words, the Mind of Humankind can be a concrete embodiment of the Mind of the Way. Those who have been known as sages are quintessence in this regard. The key to what early philosophers called the state of being consummate and adherent to impartiality lies in the fast holding of one’s zhi.11 This explication synthesizes a selection of the views expressed by Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties, and it is in agreement with the Buddhist theory of lustration and defilement.12

10 Translator’s

note: Please see Chapter 4, especially Section 4.2 of Chapter 4, for the author’s explication of zhi. 11 To be further discussed in Section 4.2 of Chapter 4. 12 See Section 4.3.3 of Chapter 4 for detailed discussion.

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3.2.3.  The Heart is the Master of the Physical Body The depth of the human heart is linked to the fundamental root of the cosmos. Its surface is usually subject to the force of the physical body. Whereas Christian culture portrays the phenomenon as an opposition between angel and devil, Chinese philosophy conceptualizes it as a difference of realm between Heavenly Texture and human desires. Therefore, it is not hard to see the necessity of heart’s domination over body when we examine the relationship between the two. This is because Heavenly Texture resides deep in the abyss of the heart, whereas human desire is linked to one’s physical body. Besides, in pre-modern philosophers’ view, the emergence of humankind was a process in which “Heaven produced the quintessence and the Earth the form” (Guanzi, Vol. 16, Chapter 49).13 Thus, the stately Earth should certainly be put under the guidance and control of the dynamic Heaven. According to Mencius (10B:14), both the heart and physical body can be referred to as “body”. And he classified bodies into noble, base, large, and small bodies. “He who cultivates the small one is a petty man; and he who cultivates the large one is a great man”. The small and large bodies refer, respectively, to the physiological needs on the one hand, and the heart of Texture and righteousness on the other. In the capacity of a human being, one should not harm the large and the noble for the sake of the small and the base. Perceptional faculties of the physical body are ­incapable of judging whether something complies with Texture and righteousness. For that reason, they are often eclipsed by the external stimuli they encounter. The faculty of the heart, in contrast, is specialized in thinking, through which one acquires such a Heavenly endowment as the sense of morality. In other words, by exerting the heart to the upmost, one will be acquainted with its nature and hence awaken to Heaven Texture. The physiological needs of one’s body are prone to the confinement of things external to Subject, which subjects human beings to the enslavement of the Object. Therefore, one should uphold the large body and repress the small body. 13 Translator’s

note: The Guanzi 管子 is ascribed to Guan Zhong 管仲 (725–645 BC), a statesman in early China.

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Although Xunzi regards human sense of morality as more artificial than Heavenly endowed, he, from an empiricist’s standpoint, recognizes the status of the heart as “sovereign of the physical body”, and “lord of [human] spirit”. He posits that, because the heart is capable of issuing orders to the physical body, man is equipped with a free will with which he can control himself, motivate himself, abandon himself, decide by himself, act by himself, and stop by himself. Humankind’s actions and speeches are all determined by such a heart that is capable of making choices all by itself, “accepting what it considers right, and rejecting what it considers wrong” (Xunzi, Chapter 21). In addition, Xunzi observes that with man’s ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and body each performing a specific function, the heart in the middle can be considered as their natural lord (Xunzi, Chapter 17). And, characterized by its three basic elements or features, namely physical form, free will, and cognition, the heart equips man with a sense of morality that enables man to control his actions and speeches to ensure their conformity with the moral norms in the society. In the Book of Rite, human life is categorized into eight virtual categories, namely investigating things, gaining knowledge, letting sincerity dominate intention, rectifying the heart, cultivating one’s person, regulating one’s family, managing the state, and bringing peace to the sub-celestial world, among which, the rectification of the heart is of decisive importance. Mencius points out that the key to bringing order and peace to the sub-celestial world lies in the resistance against what is wrong in the ruler’s heart because the uprightness of a ruler ensures the uprightness of his government. Presumably inspired by Mencius’s view, Fu Xuan 傅 玄 (217–278 AD) in the Wei–Jin period wrote his “On the Rectification of the Heart” 正心篇, where he emphatically spoke of the rectification of the heart as the basis of all bases in a ruler’s effort to set up moral values. This, as he explained, is because an upright heart determines the uprightness of a ruler’s person, the uprightness of a ruler’s person determines the uprightness of his attendants, the uprightness of a ruler’s attendants determines the uprightness of the royal court, the uprightness of the royal court determines the uprightness in the state, and the uprightness in the states determines the uprightness in the sub-celestial world. Why can the rectification of the heart play such an important role? It is because the heart is “the lord of [human] spirit and governor of all textures”. When the heart is

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juxtaposed with the body, the two of them, by logic, refer, respectively, to the human spiritual system and human sensitive physique. But, since the sensibility level of the spiritual system usually represents the physique, the heart qua administer of perceptions, speeches, and actions potentially refers to the rational part of the spiritual system. And that is the place where the spirit or all textures mentioned by Fu Xuan reside. The relation between the heart and the physical body is originally one between the internal and the external. An individual’s outward manners are determined by his or her spiritual state in the internal. But this relation is transformable. The physical body characterizes the specific shape of a person. The heart, on the other hand, manifests itself in one’s spirit, which often drifts through the physical body. Mencius (7A:38) once observed that the profundity in virtue can manifest itself in one’s appearance and show the characteristics of sages and worthies, which all belong to the spirit. If the heart is said to be the master of the physique, then spirit can be called the lord of appearance. In Liu An’s Huainanzi (Vol. 16), this point is illustrated through the critique of some figure paintings, where “the portrayal of the face of [such a famous beautiful woman as] Xishi is, though looking fine, not pleasant; and the sketch of the eyes of [such a famous warrior as] Meng Bi, though big, does not look daunting, for the lord of appearance is present in neither case”. Why? It is because spiritual activities within people’s hearts are often shown in their behavioral expressions, which makes it possible for us to catch an internal glimpse of the heart through such external expressions. In his observation of human beings, Liu Shao in the Three-Kingdom period paid sufficient attention to this. “The qi of the heart”, he wrote, “is signified in the sound and the changes thereof. And sounds, synthesized with qi, are harmonized by [musical] scales. There are harmonious and peaceful sound, clear and smooth sound, and wandering and long-drawn sound. When [one’s] sound is filled with a smooth flow of qi, [one’s heart] will be substantially manifested in [one’s] look. Hence those who are truly benevolent are sure to look gracious; those who are truly courageous are sure to look valiant, and those who are truly wise are sure to look sagacious. Facial expression of the heart is thus called one’s characteristic look” (Liu Shao, 2009, Chapter 2). As windows of the heart, eyes are particularly expressive of one’s spirit. According to A New Account of the Tales of the

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World 世說新語 compiled by Liu Yiqing 劉義慶 ­(403–444 AD), when Gu Kaizhi 顧愷之 (fl. 344–406 AD), a highly accomplished painter in the Eastern Jin era, painted figure paintings, “there were times when he suspended dotting the eyeball for several years. Upon others’ inquiry for the reason, Gu said, ‘Whether the limbs look good or not would be of no critical importance. But the key to portraying the spirit of a person lies precisely in this part’” (Chapter of “Wonderful Skills”). Hence, the internal heart and the external countenance are ­connected through the physical body. Human heart constitutes a key link between the superorganic realm of true thusness 真際 and the physical realm of concrete form 實際. The fundamental root of the cosmos is the Way, which — as far as human beings are concerned — is embodied by such as an innermost element of human heart as human nature. The other side of the human heart is linked to the human physique with which human beings engage themselves in material exchanges with the objective world from time to time. In other words, one side of the heart is, through humankind’s virtuous nature, linked to the metaphysical Way, whereas the other side links the physique and the objective world through human desire 情欲. Shao Yong in the Song dynasty is well aware of this. In his “Preface to Strike-Soil Collection” 擊壤集自序, he states metaphorically that “human nature is the body of the Way. Once this nature is harmed, the Way will also be harmed. Heart is the city wall of human nature. Once this heart is harmed, this nature will also be harmed. The physical body is the hall of the heart. Once this body is harmed, this heart will also be harmed. The objective world is the vehicle of this body, once this objective world is harmed, this body will also be harmed”. The metaphysical resides in the immetaphy­ sical. Once the latter gets harmed, the former will also suffer. The cosmos in humankind’s vision comprises a metaphysical level and an immetaphysical level. Human heart is located precisely in the pivotal position between the levels, which reflects the wonder of nature. Since humans can subject their physical body to the domination of their heart, their existence is fundamentally distinguished from animals. Human beings in their existence need to satisfy not only their needs in a materialistic aspect but also their constant growing needs in a spiritual aspect. By bringing value and meaning to this world, human beings will

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lead an even more meaningful and colorful life. Because animals leave their physical body at the disposal of their physiological needs, they are subject to the enslavement of the Object. This is called heteronomy, in which there is no real freedom. Human beings are able to put their perception, speech, and action under the guidance of their heart. This is called autonomy, whereby the autonomous existence can be achieved. Animals always live in the present, but humankind connects the past and the future. In his description of his cognitive experience of the heart’s capability of knowing the future and retaining the past, Wang Fuzhi says, “Foster [this heart] every instant and be aware of it every second. Its function consists in its continuity, its substance in its constancy, and its subtle inception in the convergence among past, future, and the present” (Wang Fuzhi, 1997, Chapter of “Duofang” I). Once human beings have satisfied their basic needs for food and clothing, the question regarding the value and meaning of their existence becomes salient. Therefore, the quality of human existence is reflected more in what they experience in the heart than elsewhere. They will live with confidence if they can ensure the autonomy of their will. Otherwise, they will feel unstable and aimless. Such is an intolerable lightness in human life. But, there is, of course, another side of the matter: The pursuit of the meaning and value in human existence may expose people to what seems to be an intolerable weight in human life. The reason why modern existentialists in the West often feel spiritually depressed lies in their ­difficulty in finding a meaningful destiny for their soul. When they see people in the world suffering from an anchorless state in their soul with few being even aware of it, these thinkers feel all the more like “lone ­sufferers of depression”. The corrupted public morality today looks loathsome to them. They lament over the long-gone sacredness and always feel tormented by their own apprehension and desperation. There have been scholars who observed that the problem with the 19th century was “the death of God” whereas that of the 20th century was “the death of man”. In traditional Chinese philosophy, the full recognition of human heart’s capability of connecting with Heaven and Earth facilitates human effort to open the door to sacredness, and thereby provides human beings with reason to be sanguine and optimistic. It is just like what Wang Shouren sings in the third piece of his ‘Odes to Conscience’, “Everyone owns a

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compass of a marvelous kind. Blossoms in profusion are rooted in the mind. Laughable is the view in the past, a view up-side-down. Among twigs and leafs, it was roots it tried to find”.

3.3.  Large Cosmos and Small Cosmos Ancient Greek philosophers began to take note of the parallelisms and connections between the cosmos and human heart during the 6th to 5th centuries BC. Pre-modern Chinese philosophers regarded the human heart as a cosmos and recognized its capability of being one with the external vast cosmos. 3.3.1.  The Heart is a Small Cosmos As an acclaimed philosopher in the Song dynasty, Lu Jiuyuan founded what came to be the School of Philosophy of the Soul during the scholarly contention between him and Zhu Xi. This school of thought exerted an influence that was so far-reaching that, for a certain period in the Ming dynasty, it overwhelmed the philosophical school represented by the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi, winning over more followers than the latter did. In modern times, what the Neo-Confucianism in Hong Kong and Taiwan has inhered is primarily the Philosophy of the Soul represented by Liu Jiuyuan and Wang Shouren. It is said that, ever since his childhood, Lu Jiuyuan had always been very inquisitive, making a point of inquiring into the root of matters. When he was three to four years old, he once asked his father Lu He 陸賀 whether there were any limits to Heaven and Earth. Lu He smiled without answering the question. Lu Jiuyuan hence often contemplated alone. Sometimes he was so deep in thought that he forgot to eat his meals. When he was about 13 years old, he once encountered the term “宇宙” yuzhou (“cosmos”, “universe”) in an ancient text he was reading. He found that, according to the annotation of the text, “yu 宇 referred aggregately to the four [horizontal] directions [i.e. east, west, south, and north] plus [such two vertical directions as] up and down; whereas zhou 宙 aggregately to the past that was gone and the future that was to come”. Feeling suddenly enlightened, he wrote, “matters within the cosmos are matters within my duty; matters within my duty are matters within the

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cosmos” (Feng Qi, 1977, Vol. 21). Later, after ­perusing the Mencius several times, he felt further confirmed of the validity of this conviction, and realized that “the cosmos is my heart, and my heart the cosmos. Millions of generations ago there were sages that emerged with this same heart and same Principle [aka Texture]. Millions of generations later, there will be sages that emerge with this same heart and same Principle. Within the four seas, there have been sages emerging with this same heart and same Principle” (Lu and Lu, 1983, Vol. 22). This conviction gave him more confidence in himself. He thus thought that, with the recognition of the heart as the Principle and cosmos, one would be the master of oneself and, in that case, even ancient classic canons would become annotations of one’s thoughts. At first sight, it may seem ridiculous to equate something as small as a heart to the infinite time and space. But, as a matter of fact, this makes sense because the human heart is capable of connecting thousands of years, seeing through tens of thousands of miles, examining the ancient and present times within a moment, and inspecting the four seas within an instant. One can understand its status as a small cosmos from a dual perspective of time and space. In his Correcting Youthful Ignorance, Zhang Zai particularly included a chapter of “Enlarging the Heart” 大心篇 (i.e. Chapter 7), in which he discussed from the primary viewpoint of space, emphasizing that the heart, once expanded, can connect with all things in the world. The eyes and ears can perceive things as far as the sun and thunders. But compared with what the faculty of the heart can reach, those things are not even nearly as far away. Moreover, the heart can transcend the limitations of the eyes and ears to explore the Grand Void in pursuit of the metaphysical existence. From the perspective of time, it is like what Wang Fuzhi says, “The past is what my [heart] is acquainted with, the future is what my [heart] is concerned with, and the present is what my [heart] thinks about. It is that with which heaven, earth, the ancient, and the present are completed and the developments continuously occur. Its boundary cannot be deranged. And its completeness allows nothing to be left out” (Wang Fuzhi, 1959, Inner Chapter). In this sense, we indeed have reason to say that the human heart can embrace the Heaven and Earth, and runs through the heaven, earth, and all things and beings in between. Not only can it summon the past and reflect the present, it can also foresee the future. It is no less vast than the

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large cosmos. As Lu Jiuyuan once said, the heart is of very great dimensions and, once given full play, one’s heart will be the same as heaven.14 But it must be pointed out that the little and large cosmoses are not identical in terms of their contents. The world we see is merely a kind of visual view of our own. Along with the growth of our knowledge and experience, the world displayed in front of us will also change. For instance, the moon we watched in our childhood was mythically associated with the legendary fairies and immortals therein. As we grew up and became acquainted with astrophysics, we realized that the moon, as merely a satellite of the earth incapable of emitting light by itself, was too desertic to support vegetation, still less human habitation. Thus, our notion of the moon has completely changed. The life of an individual can be seen as a brief and rapid recapitulation of the historical development of humankind. The image of the world in one’s childhood is roughly equivalent to that of the world in the eyes by humankind in primitive times. Since early modern times, humankind’s world view has been incessantly updated by the rapid development in science and technology. The cosmos according to Newtonian mechanics is like a clock in very regular operation. But this conception has been subverted by Einstein’s theory of relativity, which, combined with modern quantum theory, 14 

It is conjectured in frontier modern science that there might be more than one cosmos and at least 10 temporal and spatial dimensions. Conditions for the growth and development of creatures advanced in intelligence may exist only in particular region(s), where the cosmos observable by the said creatures conforms squarely to the conditions they need for their subsistence. As far as humankind is concerned, their inborn capability preconditions their sole perception of a three-dimensional spatial expansion and a one-dimensional temporal expansion. Had the spatial-temporal system of dimensions been different (for instance, had it been a two-dimensional space or a crooked small system of at least four spatial-temporal dimensions), the emergence of humankind would be hardily conceivable. This speaks of both human selection of principles and a relation marked by connectedness and harmony between humans and the universe in which they exist. There have been scientists who figuratively compared the universe perceived by humans to our dwelling environments, where wealthy people would see no scene of poverty in the rich neighborhood they live, nor would people in poverty know what a rich neighborhood looks like. The size of the human body, in fact, is right between the macro world (e.g. the sun, whose diameter measures 1.392 × 109 cubic meters) and micro world (e.g. a module, whose diameter measures about 10-9 cubic meters).

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reveals the nebulousness of the cosmos, the relativity of time and space, and the disorder of the movements of matter in many cases. Human observation of the cosmos relies primarily on perceptional capability. We consider what is perceptible to us as real existence and that which is imperceptible as non-existent. For instance, there was no place for such microorganisms as germs and viruses in the ancients’ view of the cosmos. As extensions of human perceptional faculty, scientific apparatuses are — rather than free of limitations — restricted by what they need for their proper operation. The images of the universe that enter individual persons’ consciousness usually differ from person to person. Shortly after the reform and open-up in the Chinese mainland, a family of three generations came back from their trip to Rome. With their vista greatly opened by the trip, they competed to share with others their impressions about Rome. The grandpa said that the walking sticks there were so light and finely made that any one of them you picked at random would be enough to make you feel reluctant to put it down. The boy shouted in excitement that the toys there were so marvelous, and there were all kinds of them, some were operated by hand, some by electricity, some could run, and some could fly. The middle-aged father, in his turn, confessed that his memory was filled with the sight of those scantily dressed graceful women in Rome. Rome certainly has left in them some impression that they shared in common. But there is no gainsay that they each had their unique impression of Rome. Strictly speaking, therefore, the cosmos each of us speak of is only the cosmos each of us see, which is called our individual view of the cosmos. We cannot arbitrarily declare it to be what the cosmos really is, for such a declaration inevitably proceeds from a parochial arrogance. But we should nonetheless concern ourselves with the cosmos, because, first, an individual’s given terms of existence allows the individual to see nothing more than the limitations of what he or she can see (within his or her capability and conditioned by his or her own needs), but the entire humankind is able to construct codified models of the cosmos and subject them to continuous verifications from generation to generation. Second, the human heart is capable of infinite expansion, and even a subjectively complete embracement of the external universe. If the former is the culture of science, then the latter constitutes the basic conditions of the formation of religious culture.

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In most regions of the world, morality is based upon religious faiths. This is because the establishment of moral values entails sacredness as its foundation, on which a sense of loftiness can be installed to check and balance the powerful but oftentimes despicable reality. One basic trait of religious culture is its grand, holistic, and almost completely panoramic viewpoint from which it examines the cosmos and human life, and thereby establishes faiths and beliefs. According to the Lalitavistara Sutra, when Buddha was born in the house of a ksatria king, “light of great wisdom emitted and illuminating the worlds of sentient beings in all directions. A golden lotus blossom emerged from the ground to naturally support his feet”. No sooner than he got to the ground, he began to measure the ground in four directions. After taking seven paces to the east, west, south, and north, he, with one hand ­pointing at heaven and the other at the earth, declared in a lion’s roar, “Above, below, and in the four directions, none is in a position to honor me”. This, of course, could be more a case of deification by later ­generations than a historical fact. But it reflects human heart’s capability of expansion. Every individual wishes to be the master of the ­cosmos. Around the end of the Tang era and the beginning of the Five Dynasties, Chan Buddhist Master Zhitong 智通 left a Gatha verse before he passed away. It reads, “I lift my hand to grab the ­constellation in Sagittarius, and turn over to lean against the Big Dipper. As I stick my head out of heaven, looking into the vastness. ‘Anyone in my resemblance?’ I wonder”. It is said that Lu Jiuyuan once cited this verse. Most likely, he felt the same. 3.3.2.  Humankind’s Connection with the Large Cosmos It is generally believed that, in Western culture, it was the Pythagoras School that first introduced the notion of “cosmos”. In the 5th century BC, Alcmaeon, a philosopher of this school, discovered the connection between perceptional faculty and the brain through his dissection of animals. He considered a human being as a “small cosmos”, holding that the making of the human body constituted a large cosmos in miniature. Later, Leucippus and Democritus both wrote treatises to discuss the order in the two cosmoses. But their works were regrettably lost. The notion of

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“cosmos” also emerged in early China in pre-Qin times and the term repeatedly occurred in the Zhuangzi. The Huainanzi (Chapter 8) in the early Han period posited that “the Heaven, Earth, and cosmos constitute one man’s body. The world within six directions is patterned à la the makings of one man”. Here, it obviously considers an individual human being as a small cosmos and recognizes its correspondence to the Heaven and Earth. Since the ancient times, the scholarly exploration on the connection between human beings and cosmos has invariably proceeded from two aspects, one is the similarity between the human body and the cosmos, the other is the connection between the human heart and the cosmos. In his Luxuriant Dew from the Spring and Autumn Annals, Dong Zhongshu in the Han dynasty devoted a chapter particularly to the discussion on the way “human beings correspond to heavenly pattern”. What he does in the chapter is mainly a comparison between the form of a human body on the one hand and Heaven and Earth on the other. He maintains that, “[o]f the creatures born from the refined essence of Heaven and Earth, none is more noble than man”. Because man directly “receives the mandate from Heaven”, no creatures except man can match Heaven and Earth. “Man”, for example, “has 360 joins, which match the number of Heaven (the round number of days in a year). His body with its bones and flesh matches the thickness of the Earth. He has ears and eyes above, with their keen sense of hearing and seeing, which resembles the sun and moon. His body has its orifices and veins, which resemble rivers and valleys. His heart has feelings of sorrow, joy, pleasure, and anger, which are analogous to the spiritual feelings (of Heaven)”. Then he moves on to draw even more concrete analogies: Man’s “head is round and resembles the shape of heaven. His hair resembles the stars and constellations. His ears and eyes, quick in their senses, resemble the sun and the moon. The breathing of his nostrils and mouth resembles the wind. … Internally the body has the five viscera, which correspond to the number of the Five Elements. Externally there are the four limbs, which correspond to the four seasons” (Chan, 1963, pp. 280–282), and so on. The analogies he draws are admittedly far-fetched, but reflected in them is a speculative spirit that makes them not totally unlike scientific research. Similar research continued in the West till as late as the early modern era.

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There were scholars who thought that, as far as humankind’s body parts were concerned, the head was heaven, the feet were the earth, the stomach was the sea, the chest was the air, the veins were branches of trees, and the hair was grass. They even found similarities between human physiology and geophysics. They, for instance, contended that just as water on earth first relocated from vast oceans to mountaintops (in the form of snow) and then, after melting, flowed back to the oceans by way of rivers, so did human blood circulate from the heart as its ocean, via major and minor arteries, all the way to the top of the brain and then, by way of major and minor veins, returned to the heart. If such an analogy drawn between the form of a human body and the physical features of nature basically constitutes a discussion at an immetaphysical level, then the exploration on the connection between the human heart and the structure of the cosmos is profound and, for that reason, richer in philosophical implications. During the pre-Qin era, Mencius was already vaguely aware of the triple-level structure of the human heart. The minimization of desires he advocated belonged to the level of sensitivity. The forced reasoning he pointed out is precisely the limitation of the level of intellectuality. His requirement of attaining sincerity by turning around to oneself and his idea of being in “the same current above and below with that of Heaven and Earth” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 80) are both germane to the third level. With regard to the third level of the heart, Zhuangzi and the school of thought he represents have undergone a clear cognitive experience. Moreover, they have also presented an unequivocal account on the connection between the little and the large cosmoses. The “Fasting of the Heart” 心齋 (Zhuangzi, Chapter 4) and the “remaining seated and forgetting everything” 坐忘 (Zhuangzi, Chapter 6) suggested by Zhuangzi obviously delve into the third level, which will be explicated in Chapter 4. Here, let us focus our analysis on the following passage in Chapter 17 of the Zhuangzi. The substantial and the superficial are what can be expected in things that have a physical form. As regards things that are physically formless, they are indivisible in numerical terms. That which is impossible to encompass would be something numerically inexhaustible. What can be verbalized is the superficiality of things. What is appreciable by the

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heart is the substantiality of things. For things that are neither possible to capture with words nor appreciable by the heart, there is no superficiality or substantiality to speak of.

In Zhuangzi’s judgment, the external large cosmos can be divided into the realm of form and the realm of the formless, which are roughly equivalent to, respectively, phenomena and thing-in-itself in Kant’s terminology. And the realm of form can be further divided into the aspects of superficiality and substantiality. The large cosmos, therefore, is triple stratified, which corresponds precisely to the structure of human heart. Usually, people speak of something by referring to its external phenomena, namely its superficiality. Such an act can basically be classified as naming, which is on the level of sensibility. The substantiality of things roughly refers to the particular principle or texture hidden in things. It is something that can only be felt by the heart, which is a grasp on the level of intellectuality. In Zhuangzi’s time, there were few people who pursued natural science; hence, it was rarely mentioned then. In the external cosmos, there is yet another level where neither substantiality nor superficiality can be expected. That is the Way or Grand One, which constitutes the fundamental root of the cosmos. It is absolute (hence its indivisibility in numerical terms) and infinite (hence its inexhaustibility by numerical means). Yet people seek to grasp it. What is shown in the seeking is the capability of people’s Zhixing. The following table is provided to make the point clear. Large cosmos (world)

Small cosmos (heart)

Superficial things (all things in the objective world, phenomena)

What can be captured with words (sensibility)

Substantial thing (myriad manifestations of texture, substance)

What can be felt with heart (intellectuality)

Thing beyond superficial or substantial (Way, the fundamental Texture, the fundamental root)

What can be neither captured with words nor felt with heart (Zhixing)

Pre-modern thinkers’ brilliant thought regarding the triple stratification of the human heart is parallel to Kant’s division of the human heart into the

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levels of sensibility, intellectuality, and Vernunft.15 But Kant, confined by the cultural convention in the West, stops short of explicitly pointing out the linguistic inaccessibility that characterizes what the third level involves. The third level of the human heart is the most primitive part of the heart. As such, it may reside in the region of humankind’s collective unconsciousness. But, examined from the angle of the evolution of the cosmos, it should be the most universal and the most profound part of the heart.16 The connection between human beings and cosmos is also shown in the two poles each of them has. Ji Kang in the Wei–Jin period wrote

15 In

the current Chinese translations of Kant’s work, the word is generally translated as 理性 lixing (“reason”, “rationality”) which is probably informed by the English v­ ersion, where the word is “reason”. But according to Max Müller, the famous English German scholar and founder of modern study of religions in the West, there is no equivalent to Kant’s “Vernunft” in English vocabulary. Müller therefore refers to it as “the faculty of faith” and uses the term in his discussions of a number of basic issues in the study of religion. See Introduction to the Science of Religion. Translated by Chen Guansheng 陳觀勝 and Li Peizhu 李培茱. (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 1989): 12. As a matter of fact, the category of “zhi” in Chinese philosophy is a very close equivalent to the German word. Considering it being the most universal capability of human heart, it is appropriate to call it “Zhixing” (志性). In his discussion of Kant’s philosophy, Hegel points out that “Vernunft” is conceptualized as a s­ piritual activity with what is infinite and unconditional as its object. See his Lectures on the History of Philosophy. Translated into Chinese by He Lin 賀麟 and Wang Taiqing 王太慶, (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1978), Vol. 4, 275. 16 The triple stratification of the human heart has been proven by modern science. A widely acknowledged finding in this regard has been made by Paul D. Maclean, dean of the Research Office of Cerebral Action and Evolution of American Psychological Health. He finds that human brain, as the outcome of a long process of evolution, is a triple-layered organ. The outmost layer is the neocortex, which, as a source of human intelligence, imagination, discretion, and capability of computation, resulted from a phase of evolution from Neanderthal man to Homo sapiens man. Beneath it is peripheral brain, which, inhered from mammals, is in charge of human emotions. Inside peripheral brain is Reptilian brain, the most primitive part of human brain, which is inhered from reptiles. This part ensures human capability of taking instinctive and subconscious actions of self-protection or aggression (see Mary Long, “Reptiles’ Brain”. Science of the World (10) 1981). Thus, in terms of physiological structure, the levels of the human heart are structured, from the outmost to the innermost, in the order of intellectuality — sensibility — Zhixing. But from the perspective of a psychological process, the levels from the surface to the inside follow the order of sensibility — intellectuality — Zhixing.

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“On Brightness and Resolution”,17 in which he said that the Primordial Qi cultivated all creatures, among whom human beings had both yin qi — hence their “brightness” (i.e. cognition) — and yang qi, hence their “resolution” (or will). With such brightness and resolution, Ji Kang thought, human beings are capable of cognition and judgment, respectively. Brightness and resolution, with their difference in qi, cannot mutually engender but they supplement each other. Liu Zongyuan in the Tang dynasty expounded the source of human beings’ psychic abilities from the perspective of the Heaven–human relationship, and ascribed human beings’ status as the wisest of all creatures to the tough and robust spirit that Heaven endowed solely on them. In his article ‘Tianjue Lun [On Heavenly Honors]’, he wrote, The Qi of toughness and robustness that concentrates in the human beings is Zhi. Those who obtain it will have a broad space for [their] development, and their development will last long without stopping. To be sincere about attaining goodness, to be diligent in scholarly pursuit, such is the side of Zhi [in the heart]. The pure Qi, once concentrating in human kind, is human beings’ brightness. Those who obtain it will be bright in intelligence, capable of foreseeing, omniscient, sincere about their unique view, and profound in the insight they gain in solitude. Such is the side of brightness [in the heart]. Illumination is the function of Heaven, and constancy is the way of Heaven. He who has both will exhaust all that is important in human relations.

The passage elaborates on the thought absorbed from the “Commentaries on the Book of Changes”. The terms “firmness and toughness” and “pure” are all taken from the section of “Creativity” in the “Special Explanation of the Hexagram of Qian” 乾文言. Liu Zongyuan considers them fundamentally different, suggesting that the qi of firmness and that of pureness in the cosmos, once concentrating in humankind, would turn into two very basic capabilities of the heart such as Zhi and consciousness or brightness. He sated in the aforementioned article that 17  Translator’s

note: A literal translation of this title would be “On Brightness and Gallbladder”. In literary Chinese, “brightness” is a term that is often used ad hoc to denote the brightness in intelligence. And in traditional Chinese culture, gallbladder was usually said to be a source of courage and resolution.

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“brightness is that with which one makes inspection, and Zhi is that with which one obtains [what one strives for]”. The two in coordination enable people to accomplish what they have aspired in career. Informed by modern science, we can further elaborate on this point and say that Zhi is like clouds that serve as an impetus for people’s unrelenting and incessant efforts to reach higher and higher, further and further. Brightness, on the other hand, is like a clock, and it provides people with the insights into the intrinsic order of the things in our surroundings. The aforementioned Newtonian mechanics and quantum mechanics have each led to a different view regarding the cosmos. Popper, an English philosopher of science, considers both views one-sided. For him, “[t]here are lots of things, natural processes and natural phenomena, which we may place between these two extremes — the clouds on the left, and the clocks on the right”.18 That is to say, the cosmos can be depicted as a unity of clouds and clock just as the heart is a unity between Zhi and brightness. The following table is provided to illustrate this point. Heart (small cosmos)

Resolution (Ji Kang), Zhi, (Liu Zongyuan)

Brightness (Ji Kang, Liu Zongyuan)

World (large cosmos)

Clouds (depiction in quantum mechanics)

Clock (depiction in Newtonian mechanics)

In the West, Aristotle held that human soul could be divided into two basic functions — cognition and desire. The so-called brightness in traditional Chinese philosophy refers precisely to the function of cognition, and the Zhi in the philosophy is roughly equivalent to that of desire. Unlike Aristotle, however, Ji Kang and Liu Zongyuan both explicitly related the capability of the human heart to the yin and yang or the firm qi and pure qi in the cosmos. Zhi and brightness at the deepest level of the human heart constitutes what Kant refers to as the practical reason and theoretical reason, which

18 Karl

Popper, Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979, 208.

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are called free will and self-archetype, respectively, in the present book.19 Due to the binary nature of each of its three levels, human heart displays, on the one hand, a series of outward diverging tendencies of desires for self-realization, and a series of inward converging tendencies of cognition in search of concordance and regularity on the other hand. The two tables above make it clear that the human heart is a triplelayered and two-series structure, which has been depicted in the preface of the present book. Incorporating the triple-division in the West and the two-division in China, this model would be of help to our understanding of various areas of human culture, and of great significance to our understanding of the philosophical approach in China to both heartnature and the establishment of moral norms. The model can also be seen as a potential mode of Kantian critical philosophy. Kant, regrettably, bases his argument on humankind alone instead of taking the large cosmos into consideration, but pre-modern Chinese philosophers generally believed in the connection between Heaven and humankind at this very point. The cosmos presented in human discourse, as we observed earlier, is only a field of view. Now we can further point out that because of the common psychological structure that all human beings share, they can share the same field of view. As for animals, due to their lack of such a spiritual system, they are, in all likelihood, unable to see a model of cosmos as rich as this. This further convinces us of human beings’ status as the most intelligent of all creatures. 3.3.3.  The Significance of Introspective Inquiry By introspective inquiry, we mean human beings’ cognition of ­themselves. Human beings’ investigation of themselves has proven to be necessary in the study of all areas in human civilization, especially in humanities. 19  Kant

thinks that the use of theoretical reason ultimately stops at “principle”. According to G. Jung’s explanation, his concept of self-archetype is akin to Plato’s notion of “Idea”. Kant, needless to say, used the term Vernunft in quite a few different senses, of which Schopenhauer, in his Critique of the Kantian Philosophy, has listed eight examples in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and detected the differences and contradictions in the meaning therein.

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Kant’s critical philosophy has distinguished itself among all the accomplishments made in human intellectual history since the early modern era. In fact, it can even be called a “Copernican revolution” in humanities. Central to its theme are the following basic questions: What can I know? What should I be? And what can I expect? The three questions can come down to only one question: What is human being? Hence, it focuses on knowing human beings themselves. In this regard, Kant’s philosophical framework has once been, regrettably, ridiculed by Hegel, who considers the theory tantamount to an attempt to learn to swim before getting into the water. As a matter of fact, the capability of the human heart and human beings’ physiological needs provide us with a perfect window to the nature and characteristics of human culture. The said criticism by Hegel, therefore, speaks of his own limitations. His enormous philosophical system stems from a phenomenology of mind, which turns the exploration of self-consciousness into a depiction of objective spirit and, by taking “Idea” to be the sole legislator, significantly weakens human subjectivity. This explains his inability to construct a profound philosophical system of ethics and his failure to reach the depth of issues regarding the values of human existence. From different viewpoints, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in Chinese philosophy all converge on their concern with the value in human existence, their hope to legislate for human beings themselves, their emphasis on introspective inquiry, and their endeavor to get to know human beings themselves. Pre-modern thinkers generally believed that “the Way is not far away from human beings”. The Way is abstruse and distant, and yet plain and near. From a genetic viewpoint, if the Way — as essence of Qi and creator of myriad creatures along with their natures — manifests itself in the human heart as its nature, then experiencing the Way is a reversed process in which one knows virtue through one’s cognition of nature and then becomes enlightened to the Way through one’s cognition of the virtue. This process is outlined in Chapter 12 of the Zhuangzi. “Cultivation of one’s nature”, it says, “leads one back to Virtue. Virtue in its perfection is the same as the Beginning, which is vacant and hence great”. The beginning of the objective world and the

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vacancy of Qi is where the Way resides. In Confucianism, Mencius (7A:1) had a similar experience. He pointed out that by reaching the depth of one’s soul, one would know one’s nature and, by knowing one’s nature, one would know Heaven, because human nature was the embodiment of Heavenly Way and Heavenly Texture in the human heart. The idea of this process is to connect to the little and large cosmoses, return to the “Oneness” of the fundamental root, find the sacred basis of the heart (such as the Great Ultimate in Confucianism, the Way in Daoism, and the true thusness and the True Original Nature in Buddhism, and so on), decide on the point at which one can settle down and get on with one’s pursuit, and thereby legislate for humankind in reality. Therefore, Chinese philosophy is rich in humanistic spirit, and it can even perform the function of religions. Laozi, by claiming the ability to know the world without going out of the door and see the Heavenly Way without looking out of the window, speaks of none other than introspective inquiry. He attaches importance to neither the accumulation of knowledge nor practice, arguing that, in an external search, “the further one goes the less one knows” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162). The reason why most people in modern times regard Laozian philosophy as bizarre lies in their estrangement from the source and growth of humanistic culture caused by their exceeding exposure to scientific spirit. The British philosopher B. Russell classifies truth into extensional (translated by Mr. Mou Tsung-san as 外延的 waiyan de) truth and intentional (translated by Mr. Mou Tsung-san as 內容的 neirong de) truth. This may well be a dimension along which a demarcation can be drawn between scientific culture and humanistic culture.20 Generally speaking, the truth revealed by scientific culture is objective truth, which tends to be meaningful in spatial terms, extensive in nature, and usually appealing to the visual sense. The truth revealed by humanistic culture (since the adherence to goodness is valued in this realm, it is more appropriate to refer to it as “principle” than as “truth”), on the other hand, is subjective truth,

20 Mou

Tsung-san, Zhongguo Zhexue Shijiu Jiang 中國哲學十九講 [Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy] (Jilin: Jilin chuban jituan, 2010), 20.

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which is meaningful in temporal terms, strong in nature, and appealing mostly to the auditory sense.21 As for the reason for such a difference, it is because scientific culture seeks to distinguish among different principles. Since the principles behind the workings of myriad things, creatures, and phenomena differ from one another, what the subjective heart should do is to mirror them. Scientific cognition normally has to start from direct observation of the superficial appearance of things, which explains why scientific culture tends to be meaningful in spatial terms and extensive in nature. Whether the cognition of a principle is correct or not will come down to how much the cognition is in accordance with the actual characteristics of the examined object. It is hence objective. Humanistic culture, by contrast, makes a point of holding on to a single principle and regards the multitude of all other principles as its derivations. A primary principle established in precedence is something that no secondary principle can supersede. The subjective heart, therefore, should be illuminant like a lamp. Consciousness in humanities often manifests itself in the form of experience and earnest hope in the heart, which explains why it is meaningful in temporal terms and strong in nature. The establishment of a principle in this culture depends on the depth and strength of the gnosis of the Subject, hence it is subjective. But the culture is no less universal than scientific culture. It is therefore not hard to understand why even humanistic philosophers in the West would place as much importance on time and cognitive experience. As we know, Bergson’s Time and Free Will and Heidegger’s magnum opus Being and Time both go to great lengths to depict the cognitive experience in the heart. Of course, the dimension of time is also often used in scientific explorations, but that is the time measured out with watches and clocks. The time in the eyes of Bergson is a time that is ­converted into spatial terms. Traditional Chinese culture, according to Hsu Fu-kuan 徐復觀 (1904–1982), is primarily a “culture of the heart”, which prioritizes introspective inquiry. In Chinese art, space is often converted into temporal 21 The

Chinese nation’s ideal personality is that of a sage. The character “聖” (sheng “sage”) suggests a state in which one feels with one’s heart and what one hears with one’s ears.

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terms and presented in musical and danceable rhythms. In Chinese philosophy, likewise, categories like the “Way” and “Changes” impress with more temporal characteristics than do “Number” and “Idea” in ancient Greek philosophy. Although such a tendency does not directly contribute to the development of the spirit of modern science, its rich humanistic spirit would no doubt be of help to the reconstruction of the moral values today. This is because the legislator of morality resides in the heart of each and every person. The most important thing to do is hence ensure its ­freedom to manifest itself!

3.4. Summary Humankind, at least on earth, is a creature of the highest level. According to the theory of evolution, creatures of advanced level retain the good evolutionary results attained by creatures of lower levels. Thus, each of them form a link in a development that proceeds from low to high levels. Broadly speaking, only lifeless things are totally unconscious existences. Plants have the capability (“nerve”) of absorbing nutrition, animals are further equipped with sensory capabilities, and human beings, in their turn, feature an awakened consciousness that enables them to cognitively experience the rhythmic movements of the external cosmos. Moreover, human beings have invented systems of codification with which they can transmit and further develop the accomplishments they have made in the said experience. For this reason, it should be possible for them to know nature and heaven through an endeavor to reach the depth of their soul. Due to their two legislative capabilities, human beings can be the subject of wisdom and morality. And they can enact the legislations through the domination of their heart over their body. For us, “heart” is a general term for the human spiritual system, which includes the capability of the heart and its contents. Human heart is in fact a small cosmos capable of being connected to and in harmony with the external large cosmos. The triple-layered and two-series structure of the human heart is in accordance with the model of the cosmos that human beings have thus far revealed. But we should also be aware that the domination of the human heart over the human body does not guarantee the establishment of the subject of morality, because domination is a required condition but not a sufficient condition. The decisive factor

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in this regard can be brought forth by letting the Way of Heaven and Earth dominate the heart. In other words, we have to make the Mind of the Way the host of our heart. What we call “Mind of the Way” is the third level of human heart. Its counterpart is “Mind of Human Kind”, which constitutes the levels of sensitivity and intellectuality of the human heart.

3.5. Discussion Hegel’s philosophical system is built on the following macroscopic model: Absolute Mind (thesis, logical existence) — Natural World (antithesis, unconscious existence) — Humankind (synthesis, conscious existence). It is generally agreed in science that an individual’s lifetime is a brief and epitomized replay of the passage that humankind has covered in history. What inspiration does all this bring to us with regard to the relationship between the individual and the world? The American scholar Hamilton once observed that nothing in the world was as great as human beings, and nothing within the human body was as great as the heart. Do you agree? The American scientist R. H. Dick and the English scientist B. Carter suggested the notion of “anthropic principle” (or the “principle of human cosmos”), arguing that there might be a multiplicity of cosmoses, among which the one visible to human beings was only the cosmos that permitted human existence. Oftentimes what we call cosmos (or world) is our human field of view. In this sense, did Zhuangzi, by dividing the cosmos into the superficial, the substantial, and that in which there was neither superficiality nor substantiality, provide any support to the conceptualization of the three levels in the heart? What do you think of the triple-layered and two-series structure of the human heart depicted in the present book? Have you identified the “four causes” contained in this structure for the activities of the heart?

References Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Feng Qi. The Thematic Chronicle of Song-Dynasty History. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1977.

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Fu Xuan 傅玄. Zheng xin pian 正心篇 [On the Rectification of the Heart]. In Gao Ming. Zhonghua Wenhui: Liang Jin Nanbeichao Wenhui. Taipei: Taiwan Shudian, 1960, pp. 104–105. Hegel, G. Lectures on the History of Philosophy. Translated [into Chinese] by He Lin 賀麟 and Wang Taiqing 王太慶. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1978. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. “Luxue zhi xin shijie” 陸學之 “心” 試解 [An Attempted Interpretation of Lu Jiuyuan’s Notion of ‘Heart’]. In Zhongguo Zhexue 1, 1999. Hu Jiaxiang. Wenyi de Xinli Chanshi   文藝的心理闡釋 [Psychological Interpretations in Art and Literature]. Wuhan: Wuhan Daxue Chubanshe, 2005. Liji 禮記 [Book of Rite]. In Sun Xidan (Ed.). Liji Jijie. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1989. Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉 文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Liu Shao. Ranking of Figures. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Liu Yiqing 劉義慶. Shishuo Xinyu 世說新語 [A New Account of the Tales of the World]. Taiyuan: Shanxi Guji Chubanshe, 2004. Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元. Tian shuo 天說 [A Theory of Heaven]. In An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. Edited and translated by Stephen Owen. New York: Norton, 1996, pp. 601–603. Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵. Xiangshan Yulu 象山語錄 [Ana of Xiangshan]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980. Lu Jiuyuan, and Lu Chizhi 陸持之. Xiangshan Ji 象山集 [Collected Works of Xiangshan]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1983. Mencius 孟子. Menzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. Mou Tsung-san 牟宗三. Zhongguo Zhexue Shijiu Jiang 中國哲學十九講 [Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy]. Jilin: Jilin Chuban Jituan, 2009. Max Müller, F. Introduction to the Science of Religion. Translated by Chen Guansheng 陳觀勝 and Li Peizhu 李培茱. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1989. Popper, K. Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. Shang Shu 尚書 [The Book of History]. In Shang Shu Jiao Zhu 尚書校注 [A Collated and Annotated Edition of the Book of History]. Edited by Chen Shuguo 陳戍國. Changsha: Yuelu Chubanshe, 2004. Shao Yong 邵雍. Jirang Ji 擊壤集 [Strike-Soil Collection]. In Chen Ming (Ed.). Yichuan Jirang Ji. Shanghai: Xuelin Chubanshe, 2003.

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Wang Chong 王充. Lun Heng 論衡 [Balanced Inquiries]. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1974. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Shang Shu Yin Yi 尚書引義 [Elaborated Discussion on the Book of History]. Jinan: Qilu Shushe, 1997. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Si Wen Lu 思問錄 [Records of Thoughts and Inquiries]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1959. Wang Shouren. Chuan Xi Lu 傳習錄 [Instructions for Practical Living]. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1927. Zhang Zai 張載. Zhengmeng 正蒙 [Correcting Youthful Ignorance]. Partly translated in Wing-sit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 500–514. Zhu Xi. Shang Huangdi Shu 上皇帝書 [Memorial to the Emperor]. In Jingji Wenheng 經濟文衡 [Outstanding Essays on Statecraft]. Edited by Teng Gong 滕珙. Taipei: Taiwan Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1972.

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Part Two

On Heart-Nature Thinkers in pre-modern China paid close attention to human life. Central to human life is the cultivation of one’s heart-nature as a basis for one’s effort to settle down and get down with one’s pursuit. Therefore, the theorization on heart-nature constitutes a key point in Chinese philosophy, which Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have all delved into. The insights they offered, with each having its own merits, can be integrated into a theoretical synthesis that distinguishes Chinese philosophy from the Western philosophy. To sort out and further develop this heritage would be of great theoretical importance and urgent practical significance because of the urgent need people have today to manage their spiritual home and pursue resacralization therein. The three chapters in this part will discuss the three levels of the human heart.1 We will start from the level of Zhixing, because, as the root of the 1 Please

consult the illustrations about, respectively, the structure of the heart in the “preface” and the logical structure in the conclusion for the relative positions and relations of the various categories of the heart. The two illustrations are related, and hence convenient for those who wish to understand the complex relationships among the various elements

163

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human heart, it is closely related to the fundamental root of the cosmos. The secret of moral activities consists of an introversive process in which the activities are first considered and evaluated at this root before they are put into action. This is the essence of the traditional Chinese philosophy and the treasure in human cultural heritage. The level of intellectuality brings the latent sense of morality to a conscious and notional level, makes it distinctive and, at the same time, subjects it to restrictions. With regard to the information and requests transmitted from the level of sensibility, the level of intellectuality both acts upon them and functions as their guidance. In the spiritual system, the level of sensibility is the part that is in direct contact with the world of reality. Its contents are very rich and colorful. Yet, it is capable of causing turbulence in the heart. The ­so-called struggle between a devil and an angel in an individual is in fact the contention between the levels of sensitivity and Zhixing.

in the heart system. Zhou Dunyi’s 周敦頤 (1017–1073 AD) theory is presented in a combination of illustrations and texts to facilitate readers’ understanding of his Taiji Tushuo 太極圖說 [An Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate]. His method has set up an example for us.

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Chapter 4

The Level of Zhixing

The Chapter 3 discussed the transition from the large to the small ­cosmoses. In this chapter, we will embark on a full-scale exploration of the human heart-nature. The Zhixing level of the heart constitutes a vital nexus that connects human beings to the external nature. What it ­embodies in every individual is the spirit of the cosmos as reflected in its continuous cycle of generation and regeneration, hence the priority we accord to it in our discussion. Lying in it is the essence of the Chinese philosophy. And the reason why Chinese philosophy is functionally capable of substituting religion can be found in the spiritual foundation it has laid through its vigorous exploration of this aspect of the heart-nature.

4.1. Destiny, Nature, and Texture We mentioned in Chapter 1 that the Way of Heaven should be understood as a unity of heavenly mandate and heavenly principle, a unity — to put differently — which contains both an efficient cause and a formal cause, and which manifests itself in the duality of uncertainty and certainty. From the unity, the heart evolves. The Way of Heaven takes the form of virtue, destiny, and life. Principle and nature-texture are mutually imbedded. According to the “Commentary of What Explicates the Eight Diagrams” 說卦傳 of Book of Changes, the sage composed the Book of Changes so as to “exhaust the principles, thoroughly apprehend nature, and thereby accomplish an understanding of destiny”. Destiny, nature, and 165

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texture are three key elements of the heart-nature that are closest to heaven and most directly reflective of the Way and the Great Ultimate. This view has been confirmed by Zhu Xi. “It is known as heaven”, says Zhu Xi, “from the perspective of its being natural. It is known as destiny from the perspective of its permeating, and displaying itself, in everything. It is known as nature from the perspective of its being something to which all beings ascribe their life. And it is known as texture from the perspective of its endowing everything with a patterned course to follow. Once viewed from a holist perspective, heaven is none other than texture; destiny is none other than disposition, and disposition is none other than texture” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Chapter 5). While traditional views tend to emphasize holism, our analysis today would pay attention to distinctions as well. 4.1.1.  The Mandate of Heaven and Destiny of Man According to the ancient dictionary Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the Chinese word 命 ming (destiny, fate) originally means “to cause, and it is derived from 口 kou ‘mouth’ and 令 ling ‘order’”. It refers to the operation of an incomprehensible force that is out of man’s control. Mencius, in an attempt to define it, observes that “heaven is that which is in operation with nothing having caused it to operate the way it does. And destiny is that which befalls with nothing ­ ­ having incurred it” (Mencius, 5A:6). Throughout his life, Confucius (551–479 BC) rarely spoke of destiny to his disciples. Presumably, the largely inexplicable nature of destiny left him rather reticent about the topic. Yet, he said he came to know the Mandate of Heaven at the age of 50. This is probably because his personal experience with the operation of some inscrutable and yet irresistible force had taught him to do what he could under the circumstances. In other words, he, with an awareness of the operation of fate, did all he should. His statement can thus be taken to mean anything but that Confucius, in his 50s, was able to predict the wheel of fortune and bring fate under control. On the contrary, precisely during this period in his life, Confucius was traveling in vain from one state to another with his unsuccessful mission to save the people and society of his time, hence he uttered the following words presumably

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after heaving a sigh, “Will the Way prevail? That is up to destiny. Will the Way perish? That is up to destiny, too!” (Confucius, 2014, 14:36). “Destiny” is generally considered as an arrangement made by heaven.2 An individual’s “fate” would include such things as the amount of wealth, the length of life, and the social status that a given individual is destined for his or her life. The two terms are interrelated and they are usually interchangeable in use. But, between them, destiny is grander in scope; and it can be used to explain the development of history. Fate, by contrast, is often ascribed to the difference in human dispositions.3 This is a very difficult topic in philosophy. If there could be a logical explanation for destiny, it would be destiny no more.4 Although destiny can hardly be rationalized, yet, given its profound influence on human life, we can hardly afford to remain silent about it. Here we have chosen not to evade the topic. The reason for the choice lies not in any belief in destiny, but in our emphasis on an attempt to search for a right attitude that man should have about it. Fate in human life is, as a matter, of course, a combination of necessity and fortuity. From the perspective of its necessity, it can be understood as some kind of a predestinate or “numerological arrangement”. This would be verging on determinism. From the perspective of 2 This

view can be traced back to the following sentence in the chapter of “Announcement of Duke Shao” in the Shang Shu, “Heaven will mandate our sage rule, good fortune, and enduring sovereignty”. 3 “Jingzi inquired about the numerology in nature. Zhuzi said, ‘those who are endowed with high-density vital energy enjoy abundant blessings. Those who are allotted lowdensity vital energy suffer from meagerness in blessings. Those who are endowed with quintessential vital energy are wealthy and noble. Those who are allotted decaying vital energy are impoverished and base. Those whose vital energy is long enjoy longevity. Those whose vital energy is short will die young. Such is a matter of course’” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Vol. 4). 4 Can the work of destiny be predicted with any accuracy? This is something very doubtable. In the chapter of “Divination” of his Lunheng 論衡 [Balanced Inquiries], Wang Chong 王充 (2nd century AD) cited the following classic example. King Wu of Zhou once used yarrow and tortoise shell to divine about the outcome of his punitive expedition against the Kingdom of Yin. The result he got in the divination was “the worst fortune”. His advisor, Grand Duke Jiang, deranged the yarrow and crushed the shell beneath his feet, saying “How can such dry shells and dead grass know anything about bad fortune?”

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its fortuity, it can be understood as a totality of coincidental occurrences in a person’s life, which, as “chance happenings”, do not occur by predetermination. Neither the “numerological arrangement” nor the “chance happenings” can be kept under human control. The former is impervious to scientific approach. The latter would add uncertainty even to fate itself. Therefore, fate in human life can hardly be rationalized or thereby predicted with accuracy.5 Of course, one could explain the relationship between the numerological arrangements and chance happenings in fate by citing a principle that the working of necessity proceeds through fortuity. But this is valid only when necessity and fortuity match well. We cannot overlook the fact that the two are often in conflict. Once a chance happening is strong enough to overpower necessity, there is likelihood that it will disintegrate the arrangement of necessity. As an example, the length of a person’s lifespan is genetically determined. Physiologically speaking, the life expectancy of a given person could be 90 years, which is his or her proper fate. But a horrifying war may cause the person’s early death. It is probably such interference as the person’s death in the battlefield — which is the working of multi-level factors — that renders fate unpredictable. Whether on earth there is such thing as fate remains an unsettled question even today, when science has achieved rapid development. Those who believe in fate would consider many coincidences in life as “predestined”. Those who do not would, contrarily, consider the “predestination” as mere coincidences. One has a reason to deny the existence of destiny, for there is always a cause behind something that happens. For instance, the sinking of the Titanic can be imputed to its collision against an iceberg, the Second World War to the swelling of Hitler’s ambition, and the earthquake in Tangshan, China to block movements of the earth. The loss of life that indiscriminately befalls millions of people during a natural disaster or war can hardly be explained by their birth time, astrological signs, or particular dispositions. Yet, there are nonetheless many 5 Examined

on an empirical level, the “numerological arrangement” is related to the specific personality of an individual whereas the “chance happenings” to the individual’s free choice. To some extent, therefore, there are predictable and controllable elements in a person’s fate.

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chance occurrences and coincidences that can be ascribed to scarcely anything other than fate. In relatively inconsequential matters such as the Olympic Games, there has been such a case where a Chinese diver who had led all the way in the competition incidentally slid over the springboard when preparing for the last jump and, in so doing, gave the chance for a gold medal to the lucky Greece diver behind him. Likewise, some time later, an American shooter who had led all the way unexpectedly missed the target at his last shot, and thus lost the gold medal to the lucky Chinese athlete second to him. Things like these would remind us of the bet among the ancient Greek gods in the Olympus. Similar examples may include a sorceress’s successful foretelling of an Italian team’s championship in the German World Cup game in spite of the team’s wavering ­performance during group games, and Paul the Octopus’s accurate predictions of the final results of the numerous South African World Cup games. To cite a more serious example in human life, the tragic events that haunted Kennedy’s family would incline people to the conviction that there must have been a certain uncanny cause behind those tragedies. We may find more similar examples around us. In view of facts like these, we can understand why people would often surmise the existence of some unidentifiable force that intermittently takes control of the course that a person follows in life. Those who are incredulous of the force should not ridicule its believers for being intellectually benighted, nor should those who believe its existence accuse its unbelievers of being ignorant. There are indeed mysteries in human life that tend to add uncertainties and hence make the future unforeseeable. If we look at its positive side, we will find that it makes our life colorful. But the awareness of its negative side may tend to make a person feel pessimistic and apprehensive. The reason why there are so many people practicing religion is closely related to people’s general perplexity with regard to what fate holds for them. In Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all believe in the existence of destiny, though an exception can be found in Mohism.6 The notion of fate in ancient China is threefold, namely 6 Mohists

held an “anti-fatalist” view and denied the existence of fate. They did so primarily out of such a utilitarian consideration that once people believed in fate, they would see no

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endowed fate, inflicted fate, and matched fate, which mean, respectively, to reward good with good, to repay evil for good, and to repay evil for evil. Buddhist theory of retribution would encompass endowed fate and matched fate only. This view of fate can also be found in Doctrine of the Mean in Confucianism, where it is said rather optimistically that “a person with great virtue is assured of the kind of position, the amount of wealth, the type of fame, and the length of life that are right for him”. From a realistic point of view, however, one cannot choose but admit the existence of inflicted fate, which complicates things so much that people sometimes cannot help even blaming heaven and denouncing gods. This kind of indignation is epitomized in Guan Hanqing’s 關漢卿 (1220–1300 AD) famous play, Snow in the Summer 竇娥冤. So how should we deal with destiny or fate? A general overview leads us to categorize people’s attitudes into five levels according to the ­different extents of the subjective initiative each of them features. The first is to hold Heaven in awe and accept destiny. Confucius once said a man of virtue would hold three things in awe, namely heavenly destiny, great men [men of virtue], and words of a sage (Confucius, 16:8). The reason heavenly destiny is held in awe is because it is independent of human will and it is, at a time of misfortune, not something from which human beings can free themselves. Such is the theme of the Greek tragedy Oedipus, but the story therein keeps recurring in reality. In a speech she delivered at Tsinghua University, contemporary writer Bi Shumin told a story about Bill, an official in the U.S. Department of State. Bill’s wife was from Hong Kong. She was much younger than Bill. Some years ago in Hong Kong, the couple once drew divination sticks at a Buddhist temple and asked a monk to interpret the sticks. The monk, looking at Bill’s wife’s stick, told her that she would die early. When he saw Bill’s stick, he said Bill would die at an old age. Bill’s wife accepted the result point of being hard-working, virtuous, or enterprising. Indeed, had everything resulted from predestination, it would certainly be pointless for human beings to take any action. However, the reason for this Mohist view also stems from the particular rationale of their persuasion. They believed in the existence of the Will of Heaven and heaven phantoms, who both took charge of the rectification of unrighteous deeds in the human world. A predestined life would preclude all the roles that the Will of Heaven and heaven phantoms could play in this regard.

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and felt distressed. To comforted her, Bill said, “Don’t believe it. It doesn’t make sense. If one of us dies earlier than the other, that must be me, for you are younger than I”. But before long, Bill’s wife was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer and passed away, really leaving Bill to live up to an old age. Bill told this story with great indignation and sorrow. As one can imagine, the prophecies such as “dying early” and “dying at old age” haunted them like a vulture circling above them, threatened their life, and took away the h­ appiness they would otherwise enjoy. The second attitude is to revere Heaven and be compliant with destiny. Through a fictitious figure Zilai 子來, Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi conveyed the following view on life and death, “the universe gave me the body so I may be carried, my life so I may toil, my old age so I may repose, and my death so I may rest” (Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 197). Its idea is to be compliant with the universe and acquiescent to the circumstances. Examples of such an attitude can also be found in our life. Not long ago, a fault was detected in an aircraft to Texas. The passengers were panicking except an old lady, who calmly and quietly remained in her seat. After much of the pilot’s effort to repair the breakdown, the plane made a forced landing on a temporary parking apron. The passengers felt relieved, rejoicing at their survival. The old lady joined other passengers to step down the gangway ladder, looking composed instead of jubilant. A priest among the passengers, feeling impressed, greeted the old lady and asked why she had been so calm. “I had two daughters”. said the old lady with a smile, “The older one died two years ago. The younger one lives in Texas, and today I’m going to Texas to see her. When we were in trouble in the air, I thought I could see my younger daughter if I had a safe trip. Otherwise, I might as well change my route to join my elder daughter in heaven. As I look at it this way, there’s nothing I’m afraid of”. The third attitude is to feel content with one’s lot and be philosophical about destiny. It is said in the “Great Commentary” of Book of Changes that a sage would “be content with [one’s] lot, philosophical about destiny, and hence free of worries”. Confucius has set us a good example in this respect. According to Records of the Grand Historian 史記 by Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145–89 BC), Confucius was once practicing rites with his disciples beside a big tree in the State of Song during his journey when Huan Tui, a grand councilor of Song, ordered his death. Hearing of the

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imminent danger, the disciples urged Confucius to flee. Confucius’s reply was, “Heaven endowed me with virtue. What can Huan Tui do to me?” It is said that there are the following words in the Talmud, “whatever the Heaven does, it does it for a best intended outcome”. Christians believe that when God closes a door, he certainly opens a window somewhere for you. In addition, anecdotes have it that Zeno of Citium, a man well versed in Greek philosophy, would often talk about philosophy in the market despite his main occupation as a merchant. One day, he got the bad news that his merchant ship had been wrecked in a storm and sunk in the ocean along with a full load of freight. Zeno was taken aback for a moment. Then he heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Oh, Goddesses of Fate, thanks to you, I will make a living solely by talking about philosophy as of now”. So he rented a studio for his lectures and founded the Stoic School, a school of thought that left a far-reaching influence in Western philosophy. The fourth attitude is to reverse the heavenly operation and create one’s own fate. One cannot control one’s own fate, but can create conditions and thereby change fate. Song dynasty Confucian scholars, Cheng Hao and his brother Cheng Yi, observe that a worthy man’s knowledge of fate is confined to his belief in its existence. They insist that one should, rather than readily leaving everything to fate, seek what one desires through the Way and obtain it in a proper and righteous manner. Following the Way and practicing what is proper is the basic condition for reversing the heavenly operation and creating one’s own fate. And that was how Rockefeller, the famous American entrepreneur, managed to live longer than expected. When he was 57 years old, this oil magnate fell victim to a strange disease, which caused all his hair to drop and his digestive system to function so poorly that he could not but live on human milk, for cow milk was hardly digestible to him. When he was on the verge of giving up hope, a medical doctor recommended a remedy to him, a remedy that combined high spirit in mood and much of charitableness in deed. Its idea is to derive pleasure from charitable deeds. Following the doctor’s advice, Rockefeller established a philanthropic foundation named after him and took an active role in charity. Thanks to him, an almost bankrupted institution on Lake Michigan was back to

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life. That institution is today’s world renowned University of Chicago. The institute for medical research he founded had won 12 Nobel prizes in history. And the Rockefeller Foundation has played an important role in keeping epidemic in Africa under control and in developing, as well as promoting the availability of, penicillin. Every day, Rockefeller derived great pleasure from his philanthropic contributions. His health gradually improved and he was, in the end, completely cured of the strange illness. He lived up to 98 years! The fifth attitude is to regulate heaven and take advantage of fate. It is stated in Chapter 17 of the Xunzi, “Nature operates with constant regularity. It does not exist for the sake of (sage-emperor) Yao nor does it cease to exist because of (wicket king) Jie” (Xunzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 116). The thought conveyed in these words is quite commendable. He argues that “respond to it [i.e. Nature] with peace and order, and good fortune will result. Respond to it with disorder, and disaster will follow. If the foundations of living (i.e. agriculture and sericulture) are strengthened and are economically used, then Nature cannot bring impoverishment. If people’s nourishment is sufficient and their labor in keeping with the seasons, then Nature cannot inflict sickness. If the Way is cultivated without deviation, then Nature cannot cause misfortune” (Ibid., pp. 116–117). The point is certainly well taken, but he has overemphasized it. Based on this point, he reached the following conclusion, “Instead of regarding Heaven as great and admiring it, why not foster it as a thing and regulate it? Instead of obeying Heaven and singing praise to it, why not control the Mandate of Heaven and use it?” (Ibid., p. 122). Although this view has elevated man’s status, its strong leaning toward voluntarism is no doubt harmful. At a time when nothing is regarded as sacred, a person who considers himself capable of controlling fate is very likely to go amuck. Needless to say, the heaven in Xunzi’s (fl. 298–238 BC) theorization is the cosmological “heaven”, which differs from the notions of heaven held by Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi. What surprises us is that though he argued for regulating Heaven, he regarded it pointless to know much about Heaven, saying that “no sages would seek to know Heaven”, which indicates that his voluntarism has gone beyond the domain of rationality. Later, ruler of the Qin dynasty put

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his theory to practice, but he did so only to seek his own downfall. As the old saying goes, failures of people in the past would serve as a warning for people today. Among the five attitudes summarized above, the third and fourth are worthy of positive evaluation. The first and second, relatively speaking, are a bit too submissive. The fifth one verges on blaspheme. More than needed is as bad as less than enough, because both deviate from the doctrine of the mean. 4.1.2.  Nature Endowed by Heaven The disyllabic word 天命 Tianming (“Heavenly destiny”) in Section 4.1.1 features a modifier noun structure, in which the 天 Tian (“Heaven”) functions as a modifier of the 命 ming (“destiny”). But the word “Tianming” in this section is different. It is a subject-predicate structure that means “Heaven endows”. The two are not easy to differentiate. Therefore, close attention must be paid to their difference. Generally speaking, the heavenly-endowed complex of a person’s psychological inclinations is the person’s 性 xing (“disposition”). That which substantiates Heaven is the Way. The share of the Way that is endowed to human beings is human 德 de (“virtue”, “character”), which is also known as xing, hence the Chinese word 德性 dexing (literally “characteristic nature”). In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, xing is glossed as “the yang [masculine] type of human Qi that is good by nature”. This definition is based on Dong Zhongshu’s opinion and it is not very accurate, for 性 xing (“nature”, “disposition”) has in it both yang and yin attributes, not just one attribute. To put it differently, disposition is the kind of “heart” that one is born with. Therefore, the part of one’s psychological inclinations that are acquired and learned from one’s experience should not be included in it. From four Chinese words — 天性 tianxing (“inborn nature”), dexing, 性命 xingming (literally “natural destiny”. “Nature-destiny” henceforth), and 性理 xingli (literally, “nature-texture”)7 — we can tell that xing is 7 Translator’s

note: Please see Section 4.1.3, especially the second paragraph therein, for the author’s explication of what he refers to as “nature-texture”.

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o­ riginated from Heaven (Tian), manifested through its character (de), and associated with destiny (ming) and texture (li). With regard to the human nature, Mencius and Gaozi in the pre-Qin era had different notions of it. In Gaozi’s opinion, human nature lay in man’s need for food and sex. Mencius disagreed with Gaozi on this because this notion of human nature neither distinguished human beings from animals nor took into consideration the moral implications of human nature. Since man’s inborn nature includes both individuals’ sensual need and human potential capability for morality, Mencius chose to look at man’s biological needs from the perspective of destiny and to view man’s mental inclination to moral principles (理義之心, “heart for morality and justice”) from the perspective of nature. Logically, this strict distinction he drew was in line with the view that refers to the Way as following nature, the opinion that identifies the knowledge of nature with that of heaven, and the argument that equates nature with texture. The distinction paved the way for the basic views regarding the human nature that were formulated by Confucian thinkers after the Han dynasty. Mencius’s view is profound, for it emphatically uncovers the universal part of the human heart. But in reality, each person has his or her own character, hence different temperaments can be observed in different individuals. How do we explain such a difference? In an attempt to supplement Mencius’s theory of human nature, Zhang Zai presented a concept of temperamental nature (氣質之性 or 氣稟之性) as opposed to a cosmic nature (i.e. heavenly-endowed nature). The term cosmic nature is roughly an equivalent to what Mencius referred to as the heart for rite and righteousness. This heart is pure and complete without being one-sided or obscured. It is believed that human beings are born with compassion, aversion to evil, sense of courtesy, and discrimination between right and wrong. If we let it fully develop without damage, the four of them will develop into four virtues, namely benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom. These four virtues are also known as heavenly virtues, which is none other than nature. This view is formulated entirely from the perspective of ethics. There is — needless to say — ­something questionable about it. For one thing, righteousness and rite are what one acquires through one’s effort to follow teachings and instructions. Since they are acquired through learning, it is inappropriate to refer

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to them as nature. Moreover, human nature is not limited to morality. Among the four virtues, “wisdom”, as a matter of fact, does not fall squarely into the category of virtue. This is because wisdom is fundamentally a kind of ability. It can be used — in addition to distinguishing between right and wrong — to differentiate between what is true and what is false. And it can also be used to commit evil and perform trickeries. From the perspective of human character as a whole, Liu Zongyuan’s concept of tianjue (“Heavenly honors”), which combines zhi (“free will”, “ideal”, “aspiration”) and ming (“consciousness”, “brightness in intelligence”), is more reasonable than that of Mencius, which combines morality, loyalty, and honesty. Temperamental nature is not the same thing as the worldly desires in Gaozi’s framework. It includes mainly the strength, softness, slowness, and quickness of man’s mental activities on the one hand, and the sagacity and injudiciousness of man’s mental power on the other. In Chapter 6 of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance, Zhang Zai observed, “With the existence of physical form, there exists temperamental nature. If one skillfully returns to the original nature endowed by Heaven and Earth, then it will be preserved. Therefore in temperamental nature there is that which the superior man [man of virtue] denies to be his original nature. Man’s strength, weakness, slowness, quickness, and talent or lack of talent is due to the one-sidedness of the material force. Heaven (Nature) is originally harmonious and not one-sided. If one cultivates this material force and returns to his original nature without being one-sided, one can then fully develop his nature and become part of Nature” (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, pp. 511–512). In Zhang Zai’s opinion, since the human body is the congealment of material force or vital energy (Qi), man’s disposition is determined by the strength, weakness, obscurity, and brightness of his temperamental nature. Therefore, a person of virtue would not regard it as an essential property of human nature (性). Only in a broad sense is it named the temperamental nature.8 The distinctions that Zhang Zai drew between the strength and weakness, and between mental obscurity and brightness in 8 An

incipient form of this view can be found in the chapter of “Yueji 樂記 [Study on Music]” of the Liji 禮記 [Book of Rite], where there is such a notion of “the nature of

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temperamental nature are parallel and supplementary to Liu Zongyuan’s notion of Heavenly honors, which drew distinction between Zhi and brightness. People all have Zhi, but what distinguishes one person from another is the force, weakness, quickness, and slowness manifested in their temperamental natures. Everybody has his or her consciousness, but some have brilliant consciousness and some have obscure consciousness. Thus, Liu Zongyuan and Zhang Zai both, very commendably, further developed Mencius’s theory of human nature. To summarize pre-modern philosophers’ theories above, we can say that the cosmic nature is the embodiment of the Way in an individual. Its existence features a pure form without concrete substance. And people’s temperamental natures differ from one person to another in their individual natural endowments. The cosmic nature in the human heart is where Heavenly virtues reside and it connects all human beings. But speaking of the temperamental nature of different individuals, some may slant toward one side while the others may be obscured by something. For people who live in reality, cosmic nature is the brilliant core wrapped up in their temperamental natures. The crux of an individual’s self-cultivation consists in both the removal of obscurity so as to return to nature and the redressing of the one-sidedness so as to maintain one’s compliance with the doctrine of the mean. In addition, Gaozi also has a reason to interpret nature as human needs for food and sex, because these needs can be included in the human nature in its broad sense.9 Some scholars (e.g. Zhu Xi) after Zhang Zai would keep the notion of the cosmic nature solely to the Texture. They thought that temperamental nature was that which features a mixture of Texture and Qi. The distinction they drew is seemingly clear. But it tends to slant to the perspective of formal cause, and it may overlap with the distinction between the Mind temperament and intelligence”. This is the same as what Zhang Zai called temperamental nature. 9 Human nature in its broad sense is threefold and corresponds to three levels of the heart, namely the cosmic nature (aka heavenly-endowed nature), which corresponds to the level of zhixing; temperamental nature, which corresponds to the conscious level; and carnal nature, which corresponds to the sensual level.

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of the Way (the part of the human heart that embodies the Way) and Mind of Humankind. Therefore, we have to discuss the relationship between nature and heart. In Chapter 3, we discussed several meanings of “heart”. We would propose opting for its broad sense and taking it to be a general term that refers to man’s mental system. As such, it includes one’s mental capability and its content. Therefore, it is 能 neng (“capability”, “efficacy”, “potential”) and 所 suo (“the specific form in which the said capability of potential is fulfilled”) fused in one. In this chapter, we would, based on the original meaning of “human nature”, suggest that “human nature” is a human’s inborn heart. By that we refer to the congenital part of the human heart. Examining them together, we would regard the relationship between the human nature and heart as one between a part and whole. Therefore, it is not correct to consider the heart and human nature as being “distinct from, and yet identical with, each other” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Vol. 5). Mind of the Way is juxtaposed with Mind of Humankind. Together, they permeate the sphere of the human heart. The integration of the cosmic nature and temperamental nature constitutes only certain parts of the human heart. This is because although the Mind of the Way corresponds to the cosmic nature in the human heart, human heart is much larger than the temperamental nature. Temperamental nature, like human nature, must be understood as something congenital, something that one is born with. But Mind of Humankind, in contrast, contains many acquired elements. If we look at it from the sole perspective of cosmic nature, we may say human nature is the Great Ultimate of the heart. Like the Way of Heaven, which has in it both Heavenly mandate and 天理 Tianli (“Heavenly Principle”, aka “Heavenly Texture”), human nature encompasses xingming (natural destiny) and xingli (natural texture). Likewise, as 易道 yidao (“the Way of changes”) contains the 乾元 Qianyuan (“Heavenly Prime”) and 坤元 Kunyuan (“Earth Prime”), similarly the human nature includes zhi and benevolence. Sincerity is that which distinguishes the manifestation of the human nature from the deviation from it. If the scope of our examination is extended to other inborn elements of the human heart, we certainly can and should take the temperamental nature seriously. People who live in reality all have their individual dispositional characteristics, such as toughness or softness in character, and quickness

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or slowness in wit. These are things that are not transmittable even through blood ties from parents to children, or from older to younger siblings. Moreover, as far as human beings are concerned, carnal desires — such as those for food and sex — are also natural. There is hence hardly anything wrong in referring to them as the human nature. In fact, Mencius chose to call them destiny only due to his need to construct a theory of ethics. Later on, Xunzi, convinced that human nature was evil, began to pay close attention precisely to such carnal levels of the human nature. As a basic element of the human heart, this level should be more accurately presented as 情 qing (“emotion”, “feeling”) and 象 xiang (“image”), because they are man’s basic capabilities and they constitute a common area between human beings and animals. Now, we are able to reexamine and explicate the theory of the threefold human nature. In Chinese history, Wang Chong in the Eastern Han dynasty was the first who unequivocally proposed a threefold view on the human nature. He did so as his attempt to mediate the hitherto conflicting views as regards whether the human nature was good or evil. In his opinion, Mencius thought the human nature was good because he was talking about those who were above average, Xunzi argued that the human nature was evil because he fixed his attention on the people below average, and Yang Xiong 揚雄 (53 BC–18 AD) judged human nature to be a mixture of good and evil because he was focusing precisely on the average people. This distinction is indeed insightful, but it falls short of discovering the basis of the human nature. In the mid-Tang era, Han Yu, proceeding more from the perspective of the human heart, argued that both the human nature and human feeling could be hierarchized into three classes. Among them, the upper class was the good human nature, namely a human nature that centrally featured benevolence and manifested through righteousness, rite, wisdom, and honesty. The middle class was guidable to both the upper and lower classes. Though featuring five virtues, this class was often unstable and evasive. The lower class was the evil nature, which was contrary to benevolence and perverse to righteousness, rite, wisdom, and honesty. Han Yu contributed to elaborating the threefold view on the human nature, but what he said was off the point. Based on our discussion on the different layers of the human nature in its broad sense, it can be said briefly that, in social life, the human nature indulged in feeling and image

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is of lower class, that which follows benevolence and directs actions in accordance with zhi is of upper class, and that which stays in between is the middle class. But, by ranking classes of the human nature along the dimension of good and evil, pre-modern philosophers have generally fallen into a fallacy. Since human nature was heavenly-endowed, an individual would always be innocent irrespective of how his or her human nature could be classified. And if an individual were born to be of good or evil nature, all such ethical theorization would be pointless, because the theorization would be of help to neither the individual nor the development of the society. This is obviously not an outcome that pre-modern philosophers had intended. But in their discussions, they have not only overlooked the pre-condition for the heavenly-endowment of human nature, but also failed to realize that the matter of being good or evil is not an intrinsic attribute of the human nature. Examining those pre-modern philosophers’ theoretical rationales 學理, we find that the reason Mencius initiated the argument for “good human nature” is rooted in his conviction that human beings are born with “four sprouts”, namely compassion, aversion to evil, sense of courtesy, and discrimination between right and wrong, as their inchoate forms of, respectively, benevolence, righteousness, propriety [i.e. rite], and wisdom. Preceded from this conviction is his view that these four virtues “are not drilled into us from outside. We originally have them with us” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 54). Although Mencius also takes note of man’s sensual needs for taste, color, sound, smell, and comfort, he opines that “men of virtue do not speak of them in terms of human nature” (Mencius, 7B:24). Thus, the rationale of his theory of “good human nature” is built on both his conviction of the heart as the origin of the four virtues and his exclusion of sensual needs from the human nature. Unlike Mencius, Xunzi thinks that “human nature is evil”. In his opinion, human beings are born with love for benefits, hence their inclination to contentions without a sense of courtesy; they are born with the capability of hatred, hence their inclination to mutual harming without a sense of loyalty and honesty; and they are born with a weakness for sensual pleasures, hence their ­inclination to indulge themselves in the pleasures without a sense of rite, ­righteousness, or norm. “The good ones”, he says, “are affected”

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(Xunzi, Chapter 23), by which he means the good human natures are artificial. He thinks that since rites, music, and other cultural institutions are things created for the purpose of inducing man to do good deeds, they are artificial creatures of sages. Besides Mencius and Xunzi, who represent opposing views from one another, in Chinese intellectual history, there have been other views as well. Some thinkers (e.g. Yang Xiong) regard the human nature as a mixture of good and evil; some (e.g. Li Ao 李翱, 772–842 AD) think that the human nature is good but emotions are evil; and some (e.g. Su Shi, 1036–1101 AD; Hu Hong, fl. 1102–1155 AD; Wang Shouren) argue that the human nature is neither good nor evil. Why have there been all such different and sometimes conflicting views regarding the human nature? We find that their judgment as regards whether the human nature is good or evil can be explained by different levels of the human heart on which each of them have focused. Mencius focused on the third level of the human heart; hence what he discussed was man’s heavenly-endowed nature. Xunzi focused on man’s sensual desires. That is why he regarded the human nature, human feeling, and desire as a threefold single unit.10 Mencius’s thought represents the mainstream of the Chinese traditional culture. This school of thought holds that, first, the Mandate of Heaven is constantly benign and good and, second, human natures are basically the same. As a theory, it is the most profound among the thoughts we have discussed here. The human nature in Xunzi’s thought is limited to feelings and desires, which is rather superficial. His viewpoint tends to shatter the foundation of ethics. And it paved the way for the Legalist political thought.11 From the perspective of what people commonly see, the judgments regarding what is good or evil is 10 Xunzi

says, “human nature is something that is accomplished by heaven. Feeling is the substance of human nature. Desire is that with which feeling reacts [to the external world]. To consider what one desires as obtainable and go about seeking it, such is what feeling absolutely cannot help doing” (Xunzi, Chapter 22). He refers to the feelings of like, dislike, sorrow, and joy as “natural feelings” (Xunzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 118.). 11 In the sphere of social theory in the modern West, the controversy between humanistic psychology (e.g. A. H. Maslow) and psychoanalysis (e.g. Sigmund Freud) regarding good or evil human nature resembles that between Mencius and Xunzi in the pre-Qing era in China. Admittedly, there is a reason to the positions held by Xunzi and Freud, but their

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related to two sets of qualities in the human heart. Those who feature a masculine and forceful spirit (e.g. the array from zhi to Qi) are likely to be regarded as evil, and those marked by a feminine and submissive spirit (e.g. the array from benevolence to wisdom) are likely to be considered good. In this sense, French writer Mandeville is justified to state that what people in this world refer to as evil is in fact “the vitality, arch pillar, and solid basis of all professions and enterprises. From there we can locate the real fountainhead of all arts and sciences”.12 But scholars seem to have overlooked the fact that a valuable judgment about good or evil is not made out of the sole consideration of one’s motif, but on the basis of the interest relationship among the real-life stakeholders as well. In a class society, there are inevitable conflicts of interest among different social groups. No elected leaders can claim 100% votes in an election. Even when the leaders follow their integrity, what they do may nevertheless infringe upon others’ interest and hence be considered as evil deeds. The famous Indian leader, Gandhi, was born into a family of pious Hindus who believed in philanthropy and benevolence, practiced vegetarianism and asceticism. And it was a family which never killed living creatures. Gandhi was shy, timid, and docile in his childhood. As a political figure, he advocated, and experimented with, non-violent resistance in his struggle for national independence and harmony among the ethnic groups in his country. Only after many setbacks did he succeed. India won her independence, and Gandhi the respect from the people. But after independence India suffered from the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, which was a problem very hard to deal with. Using his high prestige and through fasting (he announced that he would not stop fasting until the conflict ceased), he succeeded in persuading some of the people in his region to stop the vendetta among them. But his influence turned out to be limited. And before long, he himself became a victim of the

theories can hardly be used to explain the possible identity between Noumenon and Function in practice. 12 Karl Marx appreciates this view. See Complete Works of Marx and Engles. Translated [into Chinese] by Renmin Chubanshe. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1972, pp. 416–417. The psychological basis of what Mandeville called “evil” was presented by Jung as “shadow archetype”.

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conflicts between the religious sects. A radical Hindu assassinated him on the conviction that Gandhi had protected Muslims. Certainly, in the eyes of this radical Hindu, what Gandhi had done was unpardonably evil. Good and evil constitutes a dimension along which people make valuable judgments. It is a form in which people set up norms and regulations among themselves. There would be no good or evil to speak of when it comes to the relationship between animals. Usually, people would not make any moral judgments when they see a tiger eating a river deer, a big fish swallowing a small one, or a female wolf feeding her pup. Only by using the interest relationship among them as a standard do people make due judgments to determine what is good or evil. Generally speaking, the word “good” is a positive evaluation of a behavior or event that is favorable to the interest of mankind, or a given social group, or even a given individual. The word “evil” is a negative evaluation given to a behavior or event contrary to that. Good and evil, in fact, are a pair of antitheses in human beings’ value judgment that human beings formulate their social existence in certain historical periods. In the absence of that specific historical context or when there is harmony established in the human society or between human beings and their natural environment, there will be hardly any distinction between good and evil to speak of. This is also true even during the very historical period when human beings were divided into different classes. Take Robinson Crusoe as an example. Landed on an island where there is no interest conflict typical of a human society, Crusoe just tilled the land or went hunting whenever he needed to. So there is no good or evil to speak of in his case. Because the human society is divided into ethnics, classes, and strata, socio-economic and political actions or events will inevitably involve different or even conflicting value judgments. Moreover, since there are also all kinds of oppositions in human relations and ethnic relations, there can hardly be any unified and universal judgments among human beings with regard to what is good or evil except in those cases where conquering of the natural environment is accomplished to benefit the entire mankind (e.g. the legendary Divine Farmer’s 神農 sowing the five grains, King Yu’s conquering the flood, Prometheus’ theft of fire, etc.) There are Western scholars who argue that, in reality, good or evil judgments are meaningful

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only in statistics. This view may be biased — for it may have overemphasized quantitative matters — but it is not entirely without reason. In social life, good and evil are, indeed, two sides of the same coin. Oftentimes, they are both appropriate to be used to evaluate one and the same action or event. On Mactan Island, Philippines, there stands a unique monument. The inscription on one side of the monument reads, “On this spot, Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27, 1521, in an encounter with the soldiers of Lapu-Lapu, chief of Mactan Island. One of Magellan’s ships, the Victoria, … anchored at San Lucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, thus completed the first circumnavigation of the earth”. Inscribed on the reverse side, however, there are the following words: “Here on April 27, 1521, Lapulapu and his men repulsed the Spanish invaders, killing their leader Ferdinand Magellan. Thus Lapulapu became the first Pilipino to have repelled European aggression”. Thus, the same monument was erected in honor of two men who had been enemies. Each of them fought for what they deemed to be a lofty course, one for the sake of geographical exploration and civilization, the other for the protection of territory and resistance against aggression. Both were heroes and both deserve the reverence from people of later generations. By revering them, people recognize the two men to be good. But each of the men was the other’s enemy, and each considered the other to be representing evil. Based on our analysis above, we may reasonably conclude that there is nothing good or evil about the human nature. Even when we speak of the human nature in its broadest sense, where all human beings share the same imaginary ability and forms of emotion, there are still no moral judgments that can be made to compare who is better than whom among those who are impetuous, those who are cautiously decided, and those who are in between. And there is nothing good or evil to speak of when it comes to the quickness and slowness in IQ. Human nature in its strict sense refers to the Mind of the Way, which is marked by the duality of zhi and benevolence. Both zhi and benevolence feature universality. They seem to be extremely good with nothing evil about them. Yet, without evil as an antithesis of good, it would be meaningless to say they are good. Besides, we cannot say with certainty that the Mind of the Way is absolutely good. This is because in reality, an upright and enterprising person would inevitably infringe upon the interest of certain people in the society. Likewise, a benevolent person is likely to be nice even to his or her

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enemies. Yet, the benevolence applied to one’s enemy can prove to be none other than cruelty toward one’s comrades. So there are no simple labels that can be used in these matters. This gives rise to two basic questions. First, is an individual capable of fostering kind or evil thoughts? Regarding this question, we think that a moral judgment that focuses solely on the effect of an action would be inadequate, for efforts must also be made to identify the motif of the action. Kind and evil thoughts do exist, but they both belong to the human heart, not the human nature, which means that there are good and evil thoughts but there is nothing good or evil about the human nature.13 Second, is the Way of Heaven purely good? Many pre-modern thinkers would give an affirmative answer, for the answer tends to boost our confidence in life. But in fact it is more appropriate to consider it as a wellintended lie, because, as a theory, it is not well founded. What is closer to the truth is Laozi’s observation that heaven and earth treat all things and beings like straw dogs. Humankind may well extol the benevolence of Heaven or grumble against the evil of Heaven. But none is entitled to categorize the Heaven as good or evil, and it would be of no use even if anyone did so. What one can do in this regard is to accept destiny, be submissive to it, or do whatever one can to take advantage of it based on the circumstances given. If human nature is heavenly-endowed and if to know the human nature is to know the heaven, then our discussion above applies to both the heaven and the human nature.14 13 Heart,

needless to say, cannot be entirely separated from the human nature. But it is obvious that actions that are meant to harm an individual or group proceed not as much from the human nature as they do from the human heart, which generates the intention of the actions. The genesis of intentions, on the one hand, has the human nature as its potential basis. On the other hand, it is circumscribed by external circumstances. Human nature features multi-level connotations. The intentions generated on the basis of the cosmic human nature tend to be mostly good, and those on the basis of the sensual nature are relatively more likely to be evil. This is because although all humans have a sensual need, its satisfaction pertains to each individual to the possible exclusion of others. According to Hu Hong, “there are humans who are not benevolent; but there are no human hearts that are not benevolent”. Zhu Xi spoke highly of this statement, not being aware that it is in conflict with the teaching in Shang Shu that “Mind of Human Kind is dangerous”. 14 The good–evil dimension is a basic dimension used in ethics. I have no intention to deconstruct it. What I would take issue with is any vague discussion or arbitrary judgment in this matter. This book is meant to highlight the part of the human heart that is universally

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Human nature, as man’s inborn heart, can be compared to a container in physics and an organ in biology. In the domain of phenomenology of the mind, it is a vigorous system, which contains many acquired and fostered psychological elements. To cope with various real-life circumstances, it plays an active part in the secretion of milk or venom in one’s mind, which, to others, means benefit or harm, respectively. It is in itself an instinctive reaction — a reaction that stems from human beings’ temperamental and sensual needs — to the environment of one’s existence. Heavenly nature is the Mind of the Way, where the distinction between good and evil is irrelevant. Generated on the dual basis of temperamental and sensual needs, the “Mind of Humankind” features both a sober consciousness on the one hand and, on the other hand, the intake as well as the output of, respectively, the raw materials for thought and the wellformulated thoughts that directly account for the secretion of milk or venom in one’s mind. We acknowledge that an individual’s moral choice in this sense could be merely incidental. But we should also be aware that during the entire process of history, human beings’ construction of cultural institutions, overall, tends to develop in the direction toward truth, moral perfection, and beauty, which reflects the subtle guiding effect of the Heavenly nature. 4.1.3.  Relationship Between Nature-Texture 性理 and Nature-Destiny 性命 Pre-modern thinkers generally think that 性 xing (“human nature”; “the share of Heavenly Way that is endowed to human beings”) is identical to 理 li (“texture”, “principle”). Successful as they are in grasping a basic aspect of the Mind of the Way, the thinkers seem to fail to arrive at a comprehensive understanding. Zhu Xi, for example, argues that as 元 Yuan (Grand Origin), 亨 Heng (Prosperity), 利 Li (Advantage), and 貞 Zhen (Firmness) embody “the constancy of Heavenly Way”, similar to how shared by the human nature of the entire mankind so as to promote harmony and improve human existence. Its focus hence tends to be fixed on perfection in morality. Please see my “Renxing san ti yi 人性三題議 [‘Three Observations on ‘Human Nature’]”, Jiangxi Social Sciences 4 (1997).

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benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom constitute “the key link of human nature” (“Preface to Small Learning”). Human nature and principle are thus said to be well connected and in good harmony. Therefore, the Grand Origin, the Prosperity, the Advantage, and the Firmness, once extended from the Heavenly Mandate to the human world, are known, respectively, as benevolence, rite, righteousness, and wisdom. In the Book of Changes, however, those four terms are used to characterize the ways of 乾 Qian (“Creativity”) and 坤 Kun (“Docility”). Specifically, Yuan — translated as the Grand Origin — means “great and originating”. Heng — translated here as Prosperity — means “prosperous”, “smoothly penetrating”. Li — translated as Advantage — means “favorable and appropriate”. And Zhen — translated here as Firmness — means “correct and firm”. The four of them are all fundamentally adjectives in terms of the word class, and used to describe how the Heavenly Way is like. Therefore, one should not refer to them as the Principle or Heavenly Principle. By contrast, benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom are said to be the texture of the human nature. The four of them are obviously all nouns. Such a difference is sufficient to reveal the asymmetry between the Constancy of the Heavenly Way and the key link of the human nature. That holistic view to consider them identical has its origin in the commentaries in the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” 文言 in the Book of Changes. But the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” itself does not treat the Constancy of the Heavenly Way and the key link of the human nature as identical. According to the Book of Changes, the key of the Heavenly Way lies in the duality of Creativity and Docility. Evolving on the basis of the duality is the key link of the human nature, which can be more appropriately considered as a composite of zhi and benevolence. Speaking of what things ought to be, the Principle or Texture includes laws of natural sciences and texture of the human nature (i.e. nature-texture). The former is the totality of arrangements by which all things and beings have come to be the way they are. The latter is that with which Heaven regulates human beings and thereby turns the regulations into a part of the human nature. The two differ in both character and form. Whereas the former is the totality of myriad natural laws as a fundamental reason for what and how things come to be what they physically are, the

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latter is the body of moral norms and principles that prescribe how human beings ought to act in the capacity as human beings. But, because premodern philosophers fixed their gaze on ethics and moral principles, they often equate texture of the human nature with the Principle. In his “In Reply to a Certain Person” 答或人, Zhu Xi says, “Those who try to exhaust Heavenly Principle are doing so just to find out both why things are what they are and what things ought to be. Once the former is identified, there will be no confusion in their zhi. Once the latter is known, there will be no errors in their behavior. It does not mean those people are subordinating the principle of one under that of the other”. Here, he presents a rather comprehensive view that takes both into consideration. But the fact is: since there are reasons to be found out with regard to why things are the way they are, our attempt to exhaust the reasons can be said to be meaningful. What things ought to be, in contrast, is how we need things to be like. It is therefore categorically not an appropriate object for any investigations in search of its raison-d’être. Whereas the former is germane to questions as regards what is true and what is false, the latter deals with those regarding what is good and what is evil. The former falls into the domain of epistemology, the latter into that of ethics. The attempts at exhausting all reasons why things have become the way they are constitute the culture of science. And the concerns regarding what things ought to be like give rise to the culture of ethics. Although Zhu Xi was aware of the distinction between the two, he, on various occasions (e.g. in his discussion of investigating things and gaining knowledge), mixed the two together. This is something typical of pre-modern scholars. Cheng Hao once wrote, “Although my knowledge largely came from what I was taught, the notion of ‘Heavenly Texture’ [i.e. Heavenly Principle] is something to which I was awakened all by myself” (Cheng and Cheng, 1992, Vol. 12). As a matter of fact, the word “Heavenly Texture” had already been present in earlier classics such as the Zhuangzi. But the difference is that whereas Zhuangzi used the term to refer to the rationale of things, Cheng Hao used it to mean the texture of the human nature. But the expression of “being awakened to” is very aptly put because it indicates that the cognition of “Heavenly Texture” was accomplished through his mental approach to it rather than his exploration of the external world. But what is Heavenly Texture (particularly texture of

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human nature)? Cheng Hao was rather inexplicit about it. In Chapter 6 of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance, Zhang Zai explained that “Heavenly Texture is the principle that is capable of delighting the heart and connecting the zhi of the sub-celestial terrain”. In Zhang Zai’s Western Inscription, one can barely detect such a thought that the principle is one with its implementations divided into multiplicity. He opined, for instance, that benevolence was embodied in the brotherhood among all human beings and the partnership among all beings, though the embodiment is hierarchized. The Analects reasonably treats benevolence as the highest virtue. We may say that benevolence is the root of the texture of the human nature. It is on the basis of benevolence that maxims and codes of conductions, such as rite and righteousness, are formulated. It can be referred to as the texture of the human nature only in its broad sense. For example, the so-called three cardinal guides — namely ruler guiding subjects, father guiding son, and husband guiding wife — as codes of conduct made sense only at a specific time and place. Begotten by Heaven, destiny embodies yang and Qian due to its being dynamic, and texture embodies yin and Kun due to its being still. In the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” in the Book of Changes (1963, p. 264), the following portrayal of the way of Qian is found, “great is ch’ien [i.e. Qian] the originator! All things obtain their beginning from it. It unifies and commands all things under heaven. The clouds move and the rain is distributed, and the various things are evolved in their respective forms. The beginning and the end are profoundly understood, and the six positions of the hexagram are achieved at the proper time”. The way of Creativity (Qian) is constantly dynamic, in command of all things, and causes each to have its own destiny. In the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams”, Kun is said to be extremely still and upright in character. “The superior man [man of virtue]…, by his self-reference, maintains the inward (correctness), and in righteousness adjusts his external acts. … The superior man [man of virtue]… by the ‘yellow’ and correct (color), is possessed of comprehension and discrimination. He occupies the correct position. … His excellence is in the center (of his being), but it diffuses a complacency over his four limbs” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 21, 23). Compared with destiny, Texture features stillness, correctness, and righteousness, and, in so doing, displays orderliness and its resultant beauty.

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Thus we can see, destiny in human life is an efficient cause. A person is unconsciously subject to its manipulation. Texture is a formal cause, to which a person can be awakened and enlightened. Therefore, the two of them form a contrast between uncertainty and certainty in human life. This resembles the large cosmos. In human nature, destiny can be compared to clouds, and texture to a clock. Mr. Jin Yuelin once adapted the proverb “certainty in principle and inevitability in all likelihood” to “certainty in principle but no inevitability in likelihood”.15 This is closer to reality. Relatively speaking, human nature is neutral. It is a fusion of yin and yang that connects destiny and texture, and unfolds into zhi and benevolence. In short, the Way of Heaven is composed of Creativity and Docility. The way of human is based on zhi and benevolence. Such correspondence between Heaven and man is made possible by the pivotal role that natural-destiny and nature-texture play in between. But we must also be aware that neither destiny nor texture fits squarely into nature, because each of them have certain parts outside the heart-nature, which results from the interaction between human beings and their external environment. On the one hand, much as the human nature contains the principles in human relations, it is basically human beings’ psychological leaning toward social harmony and social order. The specific connotations of the principles, however, may differ from time to time and place to place. The environment of human existence has undergone fundamental change from pre-modern to modern times. There has been, no doubt, profound change in the notion as regards what counts as a proper human relation. Even contemporary Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist cultures may see the human nature differently. Of course, such difference is discussed here on the level of consciousness. Strictly speaking, it does not squarely fall into the domain of nature-texture. However, if we screen out the part of naturetexture that we are aware of on a conscious level, what is left will be an instinctive inclination on a subconscious level. Besides, human beings, after all, are one of the creatures in the universe. Man’s physical body is also governed by the principles of natural sciences. And the human heart is capable of knowing these principles in science. It has remained a 15 Jin Yuelin,

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Lun Dao, p. 201.

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difficult topic in philosophy at all times and in all countries as regards how the human heart gets in touch with the principles in science. Plato posits that there are forms of truth and goodness in the human heart, but he is not explicit about how the two forms are linked. On the basis of Plato’s theory, Jung suggests that in humankind’s collective unconsciousness there exists a self-archetype that is capable of turning multiplicity into oneness and disorderliness into orderliness. This view could be of help in our effort to reveal the psychological basis upon which a unity is forged in the human heart between nature-texture (the conglomeration of benevolence and philanthropy) and the cognition of scientific principles (the synthetic approach in logic). One must not, on the other hand, overlook the fact that destiny or fate is largely a result from the interaction between the personal character (temperamental nature) and social environment. The saying that “fate is determined by one’s character” is hence not without reason. In the case of Su Shi 蘇軾, his frustrated political career was largely due to his bold, uninhibited, and forthright character as well as his unscrupulous speech. The same can also be said for Nie Gannu 聶紺弩 (1903–1986), a modern writer. As an obstinate and unruly character, Nie Gannu was content to be dictated to only by his own temperament. He once served as chief editorial writer of the Ta Kung Pao 大公報, a newspaper in Hong Kong. Later he became vice editor-in-chief of the People’s Literature Publishing House. During the political movement of “elimination of counterrevolutionaries” in 1955, he was interrogated in isolation because of his brotherly friendship with Hu Feng 胡風 (1902–1985). In 1957, due to his forthright character, he was hit by the wave of “Anti-rightists” movement. At a “criticism meeting” against him, he smote the table and stood up, saying, “You begged people to air their views. Now that they speak up, you call it an act of anti-the-party and anti-socialism. … Is this not a trick of deception? When others were silent, you forced them in a m ­ anner as if to force a dumb person to speak. As soon as they speak what they think, you declare them guilty, stick labels on them, and denounce them. What on earth are you trying to do?” Because he was so unyielding, Nie Gannu was exiled to Beidahuang 北大荒 and later imprisoned. In 1966, the “Cultural Revolution” began. The next year, when he was 65 years

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old, he was put in jail again. It was after the down of “Gang of Four” that he returned to Beijing in the capacity of an amnestied “special police agent of the Nationalist Party”. During the 10 years or so from the time of his rehabilitation to his death at the age of 83, Nie Gannu, amazingly, published over 10 books. Regarding all the ordeals he had gone through, he cited the following lines of poem by Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲 (1610–1695 AD), “Heedless of the spearhead and iron bars that pass by, [I] sing nonetheless, for [they] are things [I] defy”. Today, he is generally hailed as the best essayist after Lu Xun.

Had Nie Gannu lived in an environment where freedom of speech was honored, he might have led a smooth life. The frustrations he suffered in his life were jointly brought about by his unrestrained temperament and that particular historical period when human rights were not respected. Insofar as human disposition (known as temperament in psychology) is concerned, there is nothing good or bad to speak of. But moral character can be differentiated in terms of good or bad. Normally, following the Heavenly Principle would be considered to be virtuous. Doing well in life would be said to be lucky. People always wish for a good match between virtue and luck. But there is often a mismatch between them. Proceeding from the notion of heart’s capability of cognition, Cheng Hao advocated exhausting the principle, following the human nature to the utmost, and thereby making the most out of one’s fate. “The three tasks”, he says, “are fulfilled at once. There is no particular order to follow. One must not take the exhausting of principle to be something on the level of cognition. Once the exhaustion is really accomplished, the task regarding human nature and that regarding fate are accomplished at the same time” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 2A). Such is his description of the spiritual realm of the human life, a description that pays no heed to lots that people encounters in real life. Zhang Zai also holds an optimistic view about the unity of principle, human nature, and destiny, arguing that so long as human beings concentrate on the cultivation of their virtue, their life will be free of calamity. He once observes, “Nature endowed by Heaven completely permeates the Way. It cannot be obscured by the material force (one’s physical nature) whether it is clear or dark. What has been decreed by Heaven (ming, destiny, fate) completely permeates one’s nature. It cannot be destroyed by one’s fortune, whether it is good or evil.

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If they are obscured or destroyed, it is because one is neglected to learn” (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, p. 508). This is to say that destiny resides in one’s physical nature and leads all the way up to the human nature. For this reason, the understanding of the human nature would put one’s destiny right and resultantly make certain one is free from harm even when encountering calamity. Likewise, human nature leads all the way up to the Way. One’s physical nature can be clear or dark. Yet, neither can obscure human nature. It is therefore possible to follow one’s human nature to the utmost and thereby make the most out of one’s destiny. The key lies in learning (i.e. exhausting the principle). His analysis is sophisticated, but it is still unconvincing, because it shies away from the rather complicated reality of human existence. Examples of the mismatch between virtue and luck are numerous in life. In religious cultures, there is usually a god that acts as a mediator and lets people pin their hopes on a paradise or their next life. The same kind of conviction is also present in Chinese philosophy, though it is manifested without resorting to a personified supernatural being. It is stated in “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” that, if acting upon Heaven and when such action is taken at a proper time, “the family that accumulates goodness is sure to have superabundant happiness”, otherwise “the family that accumulates evil is sure to have misery” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 21). This thesis, if viewed from a macro perspective, should be valid. Mencius suggests that human beings practice self-cultivation so as to get ready for what fate holds for them. Instead of shying away from reality, this proposition actively seeks to transcend reality and hence base morality virtually on the self-cultivation of people’s will.16 He considers virtue as “Heavenly honors” and luck as 人爵 renjue (“worldly honors”), arguing that man should work hard on the former because it is something within man’s power and it “will be obtained the very moment you reach for it and lost as soon as you abandon it”. As for the latter, he argues, man should “follow the Way in his search for it” and, at the same time, keep in mind that whether he has it or not is up to destiny rather than positively 16 Strictly

speaking, the motive behind such self-cultivation that is practiced for blessings would be an impure motive. It is a case of heteronomy where there lacks sincerity in the heart.

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assured, hence the necessity of self-cultivation as a way to prepare himself for what fate may hold for him (cf. Mencius, 7A:1; 7A:3). We may say that, in Mencius’s philosophy, the domain of morality is one of absolute freedom.

4.2. Zhi (free will and ideal), Sincerity, and Benevolence The third level of the human heart is at the convergence between a human and heaven. But further distinctions can be made there. Relatively speaking, destiny, human nature, and natural-texture constitute the part that is in direct contact with heaven, whereas zhi, sincerity, and benevolence form the part in the human mind. Among them, human nature may serve as a general term to refer to the various elements on the third level of the human heart; sincerity plays a key role in deciding whether one accomplishes a revelation to the human nature or suffers the loss of it. As regards the other four, they are paired up two by two in the relationship, where zhi corresponds to destiny because they both embody the mutual impacts that heaven and man leave on each other; and benevolence corresponds to Texture — which is a correspondence that manifests naturaltexture in an epitomic manner. The relationship between nature-destiny and nature-texture has been discussed in Section 4.1.3. In the following, we will discuss the correspondence between zhi and benevolence. 4.2.1.  Zhi17 Zhi is an important category in the pre-modern Chinese philosophy. Since the late Qing times, regrettably, it has long been overlooked by scholars. In the Chinese Encyclopedia compiled in the 1980s, there is no entry of zhi in the philosophy volume. Contemporary scholars of history of philosophy rarely discuss how the notion of “zhi” was presented in the premodern times. If pre-modern Chinese culture was centered by human 17 Due

to space limitations, the discussion here will focus on a number of key points. For more details, please see my article “Zhi: Zhongguo zhexue de zhongyao fanchou 志: 中國 哲學的重要範疇 [Zhi: An Important Category in Chinese Philosophy]”, which is available in both Zhongguo zhexue yu zhexueshi 12 (1996) and Xinhua wenzhai 1 (1997).

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study, then an ignorance of the category of zhi would impede our understanding of the spirit of the traditional Chinese culture. Generally speaking, human study that pays no heed to humankind’s zhi is one that fails to consider the very basis on which human beings settle down and get on with their pursuit. Therefore, it is very important to explore the category of zhi in traditional Chinese philosophy. It can be said that, in the entire pre-modern Chinese intellectual history, “zhi” was already presented as a philosophical concept in the Analects. In the Mencius, it was elevated to the status of a philosophical category. Similarly, the philosophical school represented by Zhuangzi also accorded it a very high theoretical status from a different perspective. Then, after being ignored for a period of time, it grandiosely reemerged in Liu Zongyuan’s philosophical works, which was followed by the repeated emphasis and exploration of it by Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, and Cheng Yi. In the time of Wang Fuzhi, he conducted a comprehensive explication of it from an integrated perspective of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. It was in his philosophical framework that zhi has developed into a relatively full-blown ontological category that adequately reflects the zeitgeist of its time (in his Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books 讀四書大全說, zhi is explicitly considered as “the noumenon of the heart”). The character “志” (zhi) in the Chinese language combines “心” xin (“heart”) and “ㄓ” (i.e. “之” zhi, “go”). Duan Yucai rightly considers it as a “simultaneously syssemantic and phonetic compound graph” 會意兼形 聲字.18 According to the annotation in the General Survey of the Commentary to Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters 說文解字繫傳通論, “‘heart’ straightforwardly means a heart19; but a heart that has somewhere to go is zhi”. This is a concise and explicit explanation of its original meaning. In his compilation of Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, Xu Shen did not include this character. It is one of the 19 characters added by Xu Xuan 徐鉉 (916–991 AD). But Xu Xuan glossed it simply as “an 18 Translator’s

note: Terminology in English adopted from Qiu Xigui’s Chinese Writing. note: This part of the sentence is ambiguous in Chinese, for it can also be taken to mean “‘heart’ means an upright heart and nothing more”. 19 Translator’s

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idea”. This is too vague and general. After examining its pre-modern use, we identify over 10 early meanings of the character. Chief among them are the following connotations. First, it connotes a spiritual element. Zhi in this sense refers to thoughts, ideas, and moods, as seen in the sentence “poetry expresses a poet’s zhi; and chanting intones the utterances of that expression” (‘Decrees of Yao’, Shang Shu, 1998). Second, it may refer specifically to something or aspects of something to which one’s intention is directed. Or simply put, it may refer specifically to an objective, a target (as exemplified in the sentence in “Pan’geng”, Shang Shu, “I hereby inform you that there are challenges therein, just as there is a zhi [to challenge your skill] in archery”.), an aspiration, or an ideal (as in the sentence in the Analects 5:26, “why don’t you each talk about your zhi?”). Third, it was used to refer to a longing or admiration, (as in the sentence in Analects 2:4, “When I was 15, my zhi was oriented to learning”.20), or simply will power (as in the sentence “those whose zhi is not strong lack a comprehensive wisdom” in the chapter of “Cultivation” of the Mozi) or elements that may serve as a driving force. Fourth, zhi as a word involves value judgment. Its 心 (“heart”) radical should be taken to mean 直心 (“upright heart”).21 Perhaps its evolution into a compound of 士 shi ­(“gentry”, “scholars”, Gentleman) and 心 is not incidental, because the evolution has induced the definition of zhi as “heart of Gentlemen” (Cai Renhou, 1982). Moreover, zhi can indicate not only extrovert mental activities but also introvert mental states, meaning “self-reserving”, ­“concentration”, and “being with single mind and purpose”, as exemplified by the phrases 專心致志 zhuan xin zhi zhi (“wholly absorbed with single-hearted devotion”) in the Mencius, 其心志其容寂 qi xin zhi qi rong ji (“his heart is highly concentrated and his countenance tranquil”) in the Zhuangzi, and 志心諦聽 zhi xin di ting (“to concentrate the heart and listen attentively”) in the Platform Scripture. To briefly summarize the 20 Translator’s

note: What is provided here is a rather literal translation of the sentence from the Analects, 2:4. This same sentence is translated by Wing-tsit Chan (1963, p. 22) as “At fifteen my mind was set on learning”. Throughout this book, Chan’s translation of this sentence is invariably adopted in all the citations of the Analects, 2:4 except this one. 21 Translator’s note: In fact the orthograph 本字 for “德” (de, virtue) is “惪”, composed of none other than “直” (zhi, upright) and “心” (heart). For definition of orthograph, see Qiu Xigui. Chinese Writing, pp. 261–263; especially p. 263.

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meanings of zhi above, we may say that zhi is often used in the pre-modern Chinese philosophy, literature, and political persuasions to indicate an objective that tends to be stable and positively valued in humankind’s spiritual life. Where does humankind’s zhi come from? There are three chapters of “Heavenly Will” 天志 in the Mozi, where the zhi of the Heaven is considered to be advocating the prevalence of righteousness and universal love in the human world. “The zhi of Heaven”, it is argued there, “is the longitude of righteousness” (“Heavenly Will, No. 3”). This is in fact an attempt to make and enact laws for human beings in the name of Heaven. In The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine 黃帝內經, an attempt is made to explain zhi from a biological perspective. For example, its chapter of “Essential Spirit” 本神篇 in Miraculous Pivot 靈樞經 states that “the vital essence is stored in kidney and zhi is housed in the vital essence”. The notion of kidney in Chinese medicine refers roughly to a system with potential to sustain human vigor, a system that includes certain related parts in the reproductive system and internal system. Although its proposition that zhi is housed in vital essence (i.e. Qi) is just a speculation, there is still hardly anything in modern science that can disprove the proposition. Rather, in the West, some modern thinkers, such as Nietzsche and Freud, would associate an individual’s vigor and will power with his or her reproductive ability. In the Tang dynasty, Liu Zongyuan explicitly discusses the source of zhi from the perspective of the development and evolution of the cosmos, arguing that zhi is the fusion of the vigor and strength of the cosmos in man. His is indeed an inspiring argument. Wang Fuzhi, in his time, both recognizes the aforementioned point in the Miraculous Pivot as “reasonable” (Records of Thinking and Inquiring, Outer Chapter) and inherits Liu Zongyuan’s view, taking zhi “to be of the nature of the strong and vigorous Creativity [i.e. Qian 乾]” and thinking that zhi is in accordance with Heaven and has something to do with Heaven. At the same time, Wang Fuzhi, drawing on Zhang Zai’s thought, thinks that a man regulating his Qi with his zhi constitutes his reaction to Heaven. In his opinion, man’s zhi is Heavenly-endowed; and man’s Qi embodies the evolution of Heaven. Thus, the contradiction between Texture and Qi in cosmology turns into the relationship between zhi and vital energy in human study.

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To sum up, from the perspective of the entire humankind, zhi is a capability of the human heart resulting from constant Natural evolution and “inherited” from Nature. The capability equips human beings with subjective initiative. In Chinese philosophy, such notions as “following the example of Heaven”, “modeling after Heaven”, “imitating Heaven”, and “outdoing Heaven” all potentially rely on humankind’s zhi as a fulcrum. As a congealed spirit of the strong and vigorous Creativity (in his Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven, Kant confirms that human beings have in their nature a spirit that is everlasting and tends to keep ascending), zhi can often be embodied vividly in some reformers. In January, 1992, Deng Xiaoping, during his inspection in southern China, visited Zhujiang Refrigerator Factory. When he heard that within 7 years, the output of this formerly small township enterprise had increased 16 fold and the factory had come out number one in the Chinese mainland with its products exported to Southeast Asia, he was glad. So he pointed out, “Development is the absolute principle”. This simple and unadorned remark speaks of an irrefutable truth and reflects his strong personality. His clarion call fired the enthusiasm of the whole nation to accelerate the pace of the reform. With earnest and sincerity, this 88-year old retired old man said, “We must pluck up more courage in our reform and open-up policy. We must dare to carry out experiments. Don’t be overcautious about the steps you take as if your feet were bound. Once your goal is fixed, be bold to try, be bold to break a new path. The experience of Shenzhen to share is their courage to break new paths. Without any spirit of path-breaking, without any spirit of ‘standing out’, without any guts and ambition, we would not be able to open a new path, not be able to accomplish anything new”.22 In his speech, the “path-breaking” and “standing-out” constitutes a manifestation of zhi. And the “guts” and “ambition” both embody zhi.

The reason why zhi is precious to human beings is because it is, as Wang Fuzhi points out, intrinsic to Nature and it has the Way as its backbone. Thus, we may say that zhi is our basic ability that is in agreement 22 Deng

Xiaoping, Deng Xiaoing Wenxuan 鄧小平文選 [Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1993, Vol. 3, p. 372.

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with heaven and has something to do with heaven. Zhi is that with which human beings establish themselves in the world and offer assistance to Heaven. Because zhi is a Heavenly-endowment and the congealment of the continuous inevitability that is generated and regenerated in Nature, it is not hard for us to understand the guiding effect that the “Way” has on it. The thought of “directing one’s zhi to the Way” was initially put forth by Confucius and then developed by later generations of Chinese thinkers. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, in Volume 1 of their Work of the Chengs, take the “establishment of one’s zhi” 立志 li zhi (“to form one’s determination”) to mean categorically the same thing as “to be of single heart and soul with absolute sincerity and thereby take upon oneself to ensure the prevalence of the Way”. Wang Fuzhi, elaborating on this view, took a further step by arguing that “zhi is as primarily addressed to the Way as Qi is to righteousness”. Relative to righteousness, zhi lies at a deeper level. It is true that righteousness embodies the Way, but the Way is an integral whole whereas righteousness is variegated. “Whereas righteousness is diversely manifested with its connotations updated on daily basis, the Way rests in tranquility with a singular noumenon”. Remaining stable all the time and responding to the external world in a motionless manner, zhi is precisely what accompanies the Way. But what the Way is to zhi is not an external determinant force or regulator but an internal guidance. “The adherence to one’s zhi has nothing but the Way as its backbone” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 8). Perhaps it can be said that zhi is that through which Way manifests itself. Mencius observes that there is the Way in an unwavering heart and that an unwavering heart is zhi.23 According to 23 Wang

Fuzhi formulates that “the Way is, as a matter of course, manifested through sincerity. But there are tasks that one is duty-bound to fulfill at this moment. That is why Chengzi has added that ‘where firmness is not accomplished, one must hold fast to one’s zhi’. Firmness speaks of an upright heart. To hold fast to one’s zhi is to set one’s heart upright” (Du Sixhu Daquan Shuo, Vol. 1). He extols Chengzi for taking an upright heart to be Mencius’s notion of holding fast to one’s zhi with no wavering of the heart in a straightforward manner. He declares that Chengzi’s interpretation “illuminated a theoretical tradition that had previously remained extinct for thousands of years”. And he thinks that unlike Zhu Xi’s empty talk on “heart” with no concrete reference to

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Doctrine of the Mean, to follow one’s nature is called the Way (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98). To follow one’s nature is a manifestation of the free will. Pre-modern thinkers generally agree that a heart with mainstay is zhi, and where a heart goes is also zhi.24 Zhi features a combination of ideal and free will, which explains its deposit of Final Cause, Efficient Cause, and Formal Cause in human life. There are philosophical and psychological works today that fall short of drawing a distinction between zhi and intention, which clouds up the lofty aspect of the human heart and impedes the reconstruction of the humanistic spirit. Pre-modern Chinese philosophers were generally aware of the fundamental distinction between the two, noticing that zhi was constant, stable, and unchanging whereas intention could occur occasionally without much constancy as regards when and where it was generated or extinguished.25 To borrow the distinction drawn by Kant, we may say that the former resides in the domain of noumenon, and the latter lodges at that of phenomenon. Although in the modern terminology, they can both be referred to as 意志 (yizhi, “will” or “willpower”), the former is autonomy but the latter is mostly heteronomy. Zhang Zai explicitly points out that zhi is public and intention is private. Thus, those who adhere to their zhi do so in agreement with Heaven, and those who give free reign to their intention do so within the confinement of their private ends. So, zhi should be treated as a basis in education. “‘Zhi,’ observes Zhang Zai in Volume 8 of his Zhengmeng [Correcting Youthful Ignorance], is a matter of ­principles in education”. Wang Fuzhi took over this thought and developed it. Based on the different zhi-to-intention ratios among different people, he classified people into four categories — sages, persons of virtue, average ­people, and mediocre people. And he quite explicitly used the autonomy and ­heteronomy of one’s will as a standard in his evaluation of people’s accomplishments in moral cultivation (Wang Fuzhi, 1978, vol. 6). reality, Chengzi’s theorization is free from any reservation and absolutely right in its straightforward use of the word zhi. 24 Therefore, zhi constitutes a basis upon which the human heart-nature is self-determinate and upon which moral principles are established. Those thinkers’ view is thus coincidental with Kant’s. 25 There were only a limited number of thinkers — such as Xunzi — who would, from their empiricist standpoint, put zhi and intention in the same category.

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Indeed, those who truly have their zhi to adhere to will fight till the end of their life and thereby best realize the value of human life. One can thus say with absolute certainty that zhi is the abode of value in human life. In his admonition to his nephew, Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181–234 AD) wrote, “When setting up your zhi, you must direct it to a goal that is high up and faraway”; otherwise you would “be buried in the herd of mediocre persons forever and may even sink into the world of indecencies”. Ji Kang went further and stated that “a person without zhi is not human” (“To My Son”). If what they did was to share with the younger generation the insights they had gained in life, Wang Fuzhi cast light on the philosophical depth of it. Drawing on Buddhist insights into the human heart, Wang observes that among the seven senses in the doctrines of Consciousness-Only Sect (i.e. Dharmalaksana School), the first five pertain only to what Mencius refers to as 小體 xiaoti (literally “small body”, meaning sensory organs), which are shared by human beings and animals, the sixth is consciousness and it is partly shared by some birds, but zhi, known as mental faculty (mana-indriya) in Buddhism, is the seventh sense, a sense awakened in no animals. Therefore, “what distinguishes human beings from animals is nothing but zhi” (Records of Thinking and Inquiring, Outer Chapter). Today, we may add that what Maslow refers to as man of self-realization is none other than a human in search of the realization of the zhi in his or her heart. The connotation of “self” is threefold. To borrow Freudian terminology, those who indulge in sensual pleasures are possessed by their “id”, and those who conscientiously play their roles in the society are dominated by their “ego”. Only those who can affect the zhi of all in the sub-celestial world and strive for it are people who have attained the realm of “super-ego” and people who have truly accomplished self-realization.26 Hegel regards freedom as the highest essence of man. According to late Professor Xiong Wei 熊偉 of Peking University, the most laconic definition of freedom would be “to be up to the self ”, which, in its turn, can be precisely defined as “to follow one’s zhi”. So a human being should be the one who lets his action be dictated by his zhi.27

26 The

connotation of this “super-ego” differs from that of Freudian “super-ego”. my article “Ren zhi cai shi ziyou 任志才是自由 [Freedom Means ‘Giving Free Rein to Zhi’]”, Shehui Kexue 3 (1996). 27 See

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From the perspective of what things ought to be, zhi is — as Confucius and Mencius rightly observe — the leader of all elements of heart-nature. This is because what zhi is in heart-nature is analogous to Qianyuan (Heavenly Prime) in the Way of Heaven and Earth, where, although there is Kunyuan (Earth Prime) corresponding to Heavenly Prime, without the leadership of Heavenly Prime, there would be no center or uprightness. If what sustains the everlasting cycle of generation and regeneration in the Cosmos is the Way, then the only element that functions as its counterpart in heart-nature and keeps man forging ahead would be none other than zhi. In this regard, In Volume 9 of the Zhengmeng, Zhang Zai correctly points out in his analysis that “great zhi begets great talent and great success in career. It is hence said to be ‘rich’ and ‘expandable’. A zhi that is durable ensures the durability of both vital energy and virtue. That is why it is said to be ‘capable of lasting long’ and ‘renewable day by day’”. As we know, in the Great Commentary on Book of Changes, the impetus and function of Creativity is said to be “capable of lasting long” and “renewable day by day” whereas those of Docility is described as being “rich” and “expandable”. Once human life is governed by zhi, both of them will be enacted. Specifically speaking, once the adherence to one’s zhi orients one’s perception, speech, and action, and thereby ensures their perfect appropriateness, and once the uprightness in the heart irrespective of the moral level of the world ensures the moral perfection of all one’s behaviors, one’s freedom in social activities is accomplished. Such freedom is known as “following one’s heart’s desire without transgressing moral principles” (Confucius, in Chan, 1963, p. 22).28 In practice, zhi as a carrier of Heavenly Way, functions as a spiritual nexus between individuality and collectivity on the one hand. On the other hand, it is a spiritual arch pillar that keeps an individual independent of any influence from evil and decadence in the world. This is 28 In

his Chuan Xi Lu Shang 傳習錄上 [Instructions for Practical Learning, I], Wang Shouren says, “‘following what one’s heart desires without transgressing what is right’, such is a zhi that reaches its maturity”. And such is the oneness between Noumenon and Function (see Section 9.3 of Chapter 9 in Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2). A similar thought is conveyed in the section of “Xing zi ming chu 性自命出 [Nature Rooted in Destiny], Guodian Chujian 郭店楚簡 [Guodian Chu Slips], where it is said, “once there is zhi in the heart, any direction that one’s thought takes will be a right direction”.

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precisely what Mencius means by “following righteousness in one’s behavior with benevolence residing in one’s heart”. Generally speaking, those who have zhi in their heart are marked by confidence and self-respect. For them, their first-person pronoun “I” is capitalized and of gigantic stature. A Turkish proverb has it that “a standing commoner is taller than a kneeling famous person”. And the reinforcement of zhi is exactly the theme of a poem that Rudyard Kipling, Nobel laureate in literature, wrote for his son, which is marked by an excellent depiction of the virility, strength of Creativity, and the spirit of yang energy. The poem partly reads, If you can keep your head when all about you/ Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;/ If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,/ But make allowance for their doubting too:/… If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;/ If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim,/ If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same:/… If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,/… If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,/ Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,/ If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,/ If all men count with you, but none too much:/ If you can fill the unforgiving minute/ With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,/ And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!29

There have been numerous stories about how people without zhi abandoned themselves. Perhaps none is more didactic than the following. It is said that there was once an artist who was conceiving a painting entitled Angel and Devil. It did not take him long to find a perfect model for the angel, a naïve and innocent child. But it took him as many as the next 40 long years to painstakingly look for a model for the devil until he finally saw in the street a squalid beggar with abject and an insatiable look, in whom he found a very suitable model for the devil he planned to paint. After the two of them agreed on the payment, he took the beggar 29 The

poem can make one realize that the upholding of zhi can pave the way for a democratic society where freedom, equality, and philanthropy prevail.

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to his studio. Much to his surprise, the beggar started to wail as soon as he sat down. It turned out that the angel in the painting on the wall was modeled after this man 40 years ago. How could a person start as an “angel” but end up being a “devil”? The answer lies in his abandoning himself instead of dedicating himself to an ideal, which explains why he was eventually not even able to support his own living. Zhi is the source of impetus in human life, and an element that plays a key role in the interaction between individual human beings and their fate. Those who are acquiescent about their fates tend to live a mediocre and undistinguished life. Those who take action would either accomplish their goals by making the most of their destiny,30 or fighting against it. As a teenager, Pu Songling 蒲松齡 (1640–1715 AD) was exceedingly talented. But he was never successful in any civil service examinations after he was 20. In dire straits, he wrote a couplet to encourage himself, which read, “Where there is zhi there will be a way. Once the cooking pots were broken and boats sunk, all the strategic defenses of the Qin Empire eventually fell to the troops of Chu. An ambitious heart guarantees Heavenly blessing. With firewood beneath the body and bitterness of gall in the mouth, 3,000 armored men from Yue took the Kingdom of Wu at one gulp”. This couplet, full of power and grandeur, alludes to two very wellknown historical events. One is the Hegemonic King of Western Chu’s (232–202 BC) annihilation of the Qin Empire, in which the hegemonic king employed a no-retreat policy and had the cooking pots and boats of 30 In

1929, a foolish boy was born into a Hungarian lumberman’s family. The boy was so foolish in his childhood that others called him “log”. When he was 12, he once dreamed of a king conferring an award on him because Nobel had taken interest in the words he wrote. He told his mother about the dream. His mother encouraged him, telling him that if God installed a good dream into a person’s heart, he would sincerely help the person make the dream come true. The boy, convinced, began to take interest in writing and held on to the belief that God would help him so long as he could stand severe tests in his life. But what came before God’s help was Hitler’s troops. He was put into the concentration camp because he was Jewish. Fortunately, he survived. After the war, he made a living by writing some short literary works and published his first novel Fateless in 1975, which was followed by a number of more works of literature. When he was no longer concentrating on any help from God, Swedish Royal College of Liberal Arts announced that the 2002 Nobel Prize in literature was conferred to Hungarian writer, Imre Kertész. The announcement took him by surprise because the prize winner’s name was his!

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his own troops all destroyed before he launched the final general offensive against the army of Qin. The other is the revenge of King Goujian (r. 496–465 BC) of Yue on the Kingdom of Wu, during which King Goujian slept on firewood and tasted bile every night as a self-imposed hardship to hone his determination to avenge an earlier fatal defeat by Wu. To encourage himself, Pu Songling first inscribed the couplet on a copper ruler and later put up the couplet in his study room. Eventually, he left his name in posterity as author of the short story collection Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio 聊齋志異.31 Beethoven suffered many a setback during his life. His immense accomplishment can be ascribed to the positive attitude he held in life. He once said he would take Fate by the throat rather than succumb to it. American people’s beloved leader Abraham Lincoln was a person whose zhi defied fate. His family had been reduced to poverty by the time he was born. His mother was an illegitimate child. His father could not write. When he was 9, his mother broke down from constant overwork and passed away at the age of only 35. Lincoln did not have much formal education. His knowledge was mostly self-taught. In order to make a living, he did all kinds of jobs, such as farming, logging, chef assistant, sailor, apprentice to ironsmith, grocery shop assistant, postman, and surveyor. He also read all kinds of books. As a young man, he once met, and fell in love with, a girl named Ann. Just within a few months of their wedding, however, Ann died of illness. The sudden strike left Lincoln almost broken. One of his friends observed that for 20 more years, there had not been a single day when Lincoln was happy. But Lincoln’s finest quality lies particularly in his persistent resistance against fate. In 1832, he lost, along with his job, his race for House of Representatives. The next year, his attempt to go into business on a loan failed, which left him deep in debt. In 1834, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. In 1840, his qualification for running the next election was denied. In 1848, he failed in his reelection to Congress, which was followed by two more unsuccessful attempts to run for the Senate in 1854 and 1858. In 1861, at the age of 51, he was elected president of the USA. 31 Translator’s

note: See Pu Songling 蒲松齡. Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio. Translated by Victor Mair. Beijing: Waiwen chubanshe, 1996.

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Looking back on his struggles over the years, he said to the effect that although there had been moments of heartbreak, his heart remained hot; although there had been moments of agony, he remained calm; although there had been moments of breaking down, he remained confident for he firmly believed that the best answer to repeated failures was to repeatedly fight back without giving up. To take frustrations and failures as trials to endure, to accept physical challenges and hardship with no hesitation, such is an attitude held by Lincoln and enthusiastically upheld by premodern Chinese thinkers. As the spiritual blossom of humankind, its beauty goes beyond the geological boundaries of any specific country. Numerous facts show that where there is zhi there is eventual success, that Heavenly Way favors those who work hard, and that more ploughing and weeding will increase the possibility of better crops. Young people should not be afraid of being more ambitious than talented, for the impetus for your progress lies precisely in this mismatch between your zhi and your talent. Those who uphold zhi will stride proudly ahead. Contemporary Chinese writer Liu Yong 劉墉 firmly remembers such a teaching he received from a senior that once you march forward with your chest out, you begin to be one step closer to your success, because such an action indicates health, confidence, and integrity. The collectivity formed by those who uphold zhi (e.g. those pioneers in the Shenzhen Special District in China) is aggressive, energetic, and imbued with vitality. A collectivity like this is likely to open up a prospect of great prosperity. What they embody in the human world is the dynamics and power of the Heavenly Way. In Section 4.2.2 we will discuss how zhi, through its diversion, realizes both its leadership over vital energy and its regulation of righteousness. 4.2.2.  Benevolence In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the character 仁 ren (“benevolence”) is glossed as “to be intimate, and it is derived from 人 ren ‘person’ and 二 er ‘two’”. Regarding this definition, Duan Yucai said in his commentary, “A single entity does not make a pair.

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Once there is a pair, there begins to be intimacy between the two. Therefore it is derived from ‘person’ and ‘two’”. Thus we know, the virtue of benevolence would be rather irrelevant to individuals individually in isolation. It is the psychological cohesion based on which an individual gets along with others. As a character, “仁” is absent from the chapters of Yu, Xia, and Shang in the Shang Shu, the explanations of both diagrams and hexagram in the Book of Changes, and the Ya and Song sections of Book of Poetry. Such absence indicates that the character emerged round about the time when the Western Zhou society was stabilized. But this does not mean benevolence as a virtue did not exist prior to that period. It is only that the notion of benevolence did not take a distinct shape as early as then. In fact, all beings — as fundamentally cognate creatures generated between heaven and earth — share the “quasiinstinctive” tendency of being benevolent. To put it vividly, the kind of tender regards that roots pay to leaves, once installed in the heart of an individual human being, is precisely benevolence. Buried deep in the soil, roots selflessly provide for branches and fruits without expecting any reward. To expect reward is heteronomy whereas benevolent love connotes freedom. The nurture of benevolence should be traced down to the roots of the matter, because, relative to branches, roots display more of a tendency of converging to oneness. In his famous poem “Seven-Step Verse” 七步詩, Cao Zhi 曹植 (192–232 AD) wrote “A kettle has beans inside,/ And stalks o the beans made a fire./ When the beans to the brotherstalks cried./ ‘We sprang from one root, why such fire?’”32 To boil beans by burning stalks, such is a commonplace in daily life and there is nothing sentimental about it. But when it is metaphorically used to compare to human relationships, we come to see there is something about it that is not benevolent. That “something not benevolent” stems from the fact that the two “sprang from one root”. Once the common root and source are tracked down and identified, all fights and mutual harming should stop. Mother’s kindness is benevolence, so is son’s filial piety. But the former 32 Translator’s

note: Translation of the poem by Liu Wuji 柳無忌 is cited from Shici Yingyi Xuan 詩詞英譯選 [Selected Translations of Chinese Poetry]. Edited by Wen Shu 文殊. Beijing: Waiyu jiaoxue chubanshe, 1989, p. 31.

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is sunshine whereas the latter is merely the gratitude of a small grass. This is because the former is marked by fundamentally unselfish giving.33 Tigers, ferocious as they are, would stop short of eating their own cubs. Wolves would raise feral children. They all have an inchoate form of mutual fondness and mutual love. But only with humankind does it emerge on a conscious level. Mencius observes that the inborn sense of mercy in the human heart is the beginning of benevolence and righteousness. To illustrate his point, Mencius cites the following example. “Now, when men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they all have a feeling of alarm and distress, not to gain friendship with the child’s parents, nor to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor because they dislike the reputation [of lack of humanity if they did not rescue the child]” (Mencius 2A:6, in Chan, 1963, p. 65). Any attempt to rescue the child for the purpose of gaining friendship with the parents, seeking praise of others, or avoiding bad reputation would result from heteronomy. A sense of mercy, by contrast, proceeds from one’s free will or conscience. Mencius refers to it as a mind that cannot bear (to see the suffering of ­others). But where does it come from? According to Zhu Xi’s explanation, “the heart of the Cosmos is one that is concerned with life giving and providing. All creatures to which [the Cosmos] gives life will individually have their share of this Cosmos heart. That is why human beings all have the mind which cannot bear [to see the suffering of others]”. In fact, the key issue lies in the question whether one treats others as one’s fellow human beings. In John Drinkwater’s play, Abraham Lincoln, there was a scene set in the American Civil War, in which a fervent supporter of the Northern cause felt very excited about a victory in the front, calling it a “splendid” victory because the South suffered a casualty of 2,700 men while the North lost “only eight hundred”. Disturbed by such an attitude, President Lincoln reminded the supporter that it was a loss of altogether “thirty-five hundred human lives”. But the supporter, still ecstatic about the victory, interrupted by telling the president not to think that way. Lincoln dropped his head and, with tears in his eyes, said to her, “Madam, the 33 As

the proverb goes “Mother’s love for her children is as long and exuberant as river flow; but children’s filial feeling toward their mother is as short and slender as a carrying pole”.

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world is larger than your heart”. To be aware that enemies are fellow human beings and unable to bear to see their suffering, all this speaks of a spiritual tendency of reaching back to the very basis. In daily life, benevolence often takes the forms of sympathy, empathy, and doing unto others what one would do unto oneself. They all show a tendency of the human heart that desires to be integrated and unified. Such is the generosity and all-embracing spirit of Kun (i.e. Docility). It effectively maintains the harmony in human relations. Viewed solely from an ethical (as opposed to scientific) perspective, benevolence is the basis of the Principle. The reason why different individuals can get along in harmony lies primarily in the virtue of benevolence that connects them together and maintains their mutual fondness and mutual love. In the Analects, there are 105 occurrences of the word 仁 ren (“benevolence”). Confucius upheld it as the highest human virtue that incorporated loyalty, consideration (for others), rite, reverence, and braveness. What he taught his disciples was, “Set your will [i.e. zhi] on the Way. Have a firm grasp on virtue. Rely on benevolence. Find recreation in the arts” (Confucius, in Chan, 1963, p. 31). Benevolence is thus elevated to the same status with virtue and the Way. The Way, virtue, benevolence, and arts together form a well-connected series. The highest goal in human life is the pursuit of the Heavenly Way and human way. “In the morning, hear the Way; in the evening, die content!” (Ibid., p. 26). “The Way is not far from man” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 100). When it manifests itself among human beings, it is de (virtue). To pursue the Way is to seek its realization in oneself. Virtue is manifold with the virtue of benevolence as its core and essence. Benevolence manifests itself in our daily life. In cultural activities, it is embodied in rite and music. Through all this, the virtue of benevolence realizes itself in an individual. Zhu Xi explains it in his Variorum of the Analects 論語集注 that “benevolence is the virtue of the heart and texture of love”. Wang Fuzhi also wrote that “benevolence occupies the part of the philosophy of the soul where the Principle congeals” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 3). The word “congeal” very vividly conveys the true spirit of benevolence. Strictly speaking, benevolence connotes a natural inclination of philanthropy or universal love, by which it refers to a comprehensive and

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indiscriminate love for everybody and everything around you. Confucius longs for an epoch when all in the sub-celestial world are led to converge on benevolence. Such is a longing for the realization of a harmonious society where philanthropy prevails. Through Confucius’s mouth, Chapter 9 in the Book of Rites says the following, “When the Great Way bears sway, the world’s affairs would be conducted for the public benefit only. The virtuous and capable would be duly elected to office, and troth and concord are the aims of everybody. Then filial piety would redound to the aged in general, the young are not just beloved by their own fathers. Thus, the old could have their days well ended, the able-bodies could be fitly employed, the juvenile meetly bred up and the widowed, the orphaned, the solitary, the disabled and the sickly could all have their sustentation. Men have their proper occupations and women are suitably married. People are loath that things are left on the ground (or in the earth) as naught, but they do not mean that these should be hoarded as private chattel; and they are loath that they have not made their own efforts for the community, but these, if they do make them, should not be only for themselves. Therefore, all plottings are given up and dissolved; robberies, thefts, disorders and heinous crimes do not arise; outer portals are left open day and night. This is called Universal Union”.34 Universal Union can also be called the Great Harmony or Great Peace. It sufficiently speaks of a utopian universal love. From a psychological standpoint, we can say that a benevolent person is in one with Heaven, Earth, and all creatures in between. Such a person would regard the sub-celestial world as one family, and the entire China as one man. Cheng Hao and Wang Shouren held this same view. In 1901, the first Nobel Peace Prize indisputably went to Swiss banker, Jean Henri Dunant in recognition of his charitable deed out of his universal love. In June, 1859, during a business trip, he passed Solferino, a small town in northern Italy. What he encountered there was the immediate aftermath of a fierce battle between Franco-Sardinian and Austrian armies. Lying here and there on the battlefield were about 40,000 dead

34 Translator’s

note: Translation adopted from Sun Dayu’s 孫大雨 translation of the Book of Propriety (i.e. Book of Rite), which is partially available at http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/ blog_6f58baf00100qkdt.html (accessed on October 23, 2018).

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bodies and wounded soldiers — soldiers who were then struggling helplessly for life under the scorching sun — of the belligerent countries. Dunant determinedly canceled his business plan. Under his leadership, his clerk organized the local residents to bury the dead and rescue the wounded. After the event, Dunant called for the legislation of an international law to ensure both humanistic treatment to the POWs of all belligerent parties and the political neutrality of the medical care provided to wounded soldiers. European countries positively responded to this call. In October 1863, the representatives of 16 countries unanimously passed the Red Cross Resolution. To pay homage to Dunant, the Red Cross Committee was emblematized on the basis of the Swiss national banner. Due to his devotion to the cause of the Red Cross, Dunant’s bank bankrupted. His reduced conditions forced him to live first in a poor quarter in Paris and then in a remote village in the Alps. But the good thing was that the world did not forget him. From 1890 onward, there had been quite a few international prizes conferred to Dunant, a bankrupted man who was humane and loving.

But in reality, human love, as a universal rule, has always been gradationally extended from the most intimate to the remotest in a relationship. One’s affectionate love toward one’s family, once extended to one’s fellow countrymen, is benevolence, which, if extended to other creatures than human beings, is — in its turn — a general good will. “In regard to [inferior] creatures, the superior man [man of virtue] loves them but is not humane to them […]. In regard to people generally, he is humane to them but not affectionate” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, pp. 80–81). By being “not humane to them”, he means stopping short of treating them as our fellow beings; and by not being affectionate, he means not to regard them as those who are related to us by blood. Indeed, as far as plants and live stocks are concerned, our love is often limited to taking them at the right season and consuming them economically. Among fellow human beings, we can treat with respect the elders in our family and extend that respect to include the elders in other families (Ibid., p. 61). But we cannot do the same when it comes to other creatures. Even with fellow human beings, there are in fact different degrees of closeness in social relations, which give rise to people’s different attitudes toward one another correspondingly. Love and affection can both be subsumed under benevolence.

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In principle, they are the same, but such benevolence is unevenly distributed among other creatures, fellow human beings in general, and our own families. It is discriminatory. The following story in the Analects 10:17 captures such an idea of discriminatory love well. One day, when Confucius was dismissed from his official duty in the court of Lu and went home, he heard that his stable had caught fire. Confucius, rather than inquire after the loss of any horses, hastened to ask whether there were any people who got injured. This was not because he was disinterested in the loss of his property, but because the importance of personal property was, after all, secondary to that of human life. It can be logically inferred that universal love, as a type of benevolence, is the embodiment of the Way of Docility in the human heart. Strictly speaking, this and only this is nature. The aforementioned degradative love is, to a certain extent, an alienated form of benevolence that is formulated in real life. Individual human beings all share an innate inclination to a holistic view on all creatures between heaven and earth. Such is the principle of love. Moreover, people generally desire to live in a society of universal love where all human beings are equal and united as one. Compared with reality, ideals are better embodiments of what man by nature envisions. The sinking of Titanic was a big tragedy in the 20th century. What we see in cinematic and literary presentations today is the portrayal of the beauty of human nature manifested in the event: Hoaryhaired captain solemnly announced the prioritized evacuation of women and children while he himself calmly chose to sink with the ship; a father affectionately kissed his little daughter, sent her to a lifeboat, but remained on Titanic bidding her farewell; and, at the sight of two children in a lifeboat crying for their mother, a young lady in the boat stood up to yield her seat, along with her only hope of survival, to the mother. But these did not present the entire picture in reality. There has been research that reveals that the survival rates of the first, second, and third class cabins in Titanic were, respectively, 63%, 43%, and 25%, because the spot for lifeboats was located close to the first and second class cabins but not to the third class cabin. Thus, even the chances of survival were hierarchized according to the classes of the cabins. We really wish this had not been the case. The definition of benevolence from the perspective of love is right to the point, but it is not thorough. 愛 ai (“love”) is normally a verb whereas

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仁 ren (“benevolence”) a noun. Love is hence often taken to be a feeling while benevolence a virtue. The latter is the former’s texture, the former is the latter’s function. To put it differently, benevolence is the root of love, and love the blossom of benevolence. As a noun to denote a virtue, benevolence is also rich in connotations that love does not cover. The active aspects of benevolence include helping others to establish themselves when wishing to establish oneself and helping others to be prosperous when wishing oneself to be so. Such a case of doing one’s utmost to help others is known as loyalty. The passive aspects of benevolence include doing unto others what one would do unto oneself. Such a case of doing as what would be done by others is known as altruism. Zengzi (505–432 BC) once summarized that the way of Confucius consists of nothing but conscientiousness and altruism. (See Confucius, 4:15). Benevolence also includes reverence. It normally regards others as an end rather than as means, honor others’ right to exist (including the right of disadvantaged minority), and treat people of low status with respect. Because benevolence is the basis of all those morals, a benevolent person is usually one with strong attraction and appeal. One can never overestimate the important role that benevolence plays in the establishment of a harmonious social relationship. The culture of the entire society should be based in part on benevolence. But human society needs development in addition to stability. Therefore, we must be aware of the limitations of benevolence. At a time when the strong preyed upon the weak in wars of annexation, Confucius did what his time required of him by calling on all in the world to be led to converge on benevolence so that the aged could enjoy peace, friends could have faithfulness, and youth could find something to cherish in it. Yet, pre-modern Chinese philosophy, especially during the Song dynasty, regrettably overemphasized benevolence. Some even went so far as to regard it as a “complete virtue”. All this seriously furthered a tendency of conservatism. According to Zhu Xi’s On Benevolence 仁說, the teachings in Confucianism must make certain that learners conscientiously seek benevolence, because benevolence embodies the heart of the Cosmos that is concerned with life giving and providing. “The Cosmos”, he says, “is that whose heart is concerned with life giving and providing. Therefore, with reference to the character of the mind, although it embraces and

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penetrates all and leaves nothing to be desired, nevertheless, one would cover all of it, namely, ren (benevolence)” (trans. Chan, 1963, pp. 593–594). The problem is, however, that although the Cosmos’s life giving and providing can be called benevolence, it is not the same thing as the affectionate and unconditional parental love. In fact, what often goes on among myriad creatures is cruel contention for survival. The Cosmos just leaves the contention alone without interference. In this sense, it may not be incorrect to consider the Cosmos not benevolent. Besides, although the characteristic of Docility consists in its largeness that supports all and contains all,35 as an antithesis of the characteristic of Creativity, how can it alone possibly be embracing all and leaving nothing to be desired? By regarding benevolence as the basis of both the Heavenly Way and human way, Zhu Xi has obviously approached the issue from an introversive viewpoint. This kind of theory, when facing the inchoate capitalist mode of production and mode of life in the Ming dynasty, would inevitably display a tendency of conservatism and rigidness, hence the severe criticism it received from late Ming to early Qing times. In modern and contemporary times, there are Neo-Confucian scholars in Hong Kong and Taiwan who would insistently base their theoretical frameworks on the “Essence of Benevolence” in spite of their awareness of Zhu Xi’s theory as side branch of philosophy of ethics. This is perhaps a phenomenon that is worthy of close examination and serious discussion. Looking back on the history of thoughts, we may even say that Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have accelerated Eastern nations’ gradual tendency of convergence. Confucianism, with its emphasis in benevolence, tends to introversively contract ethics into a single principle. Daoism expands its emphasis on vacuity to a cover all introversive views. Buddhism, with its emphasis on void, straightforwardly denies this world of temporality and hence displays an even more evident tendency of conversion. An introversive character is reflected in the humbleness of one’s speech and behavior, as shown in the way many traditional Asian women bear themselves in front of men. Such seemingly “beauty 35 Translator’s

note: “The (capacity and sustaining) power of the earth is what is denoted by Kun. Superior man [man of virtue], in accordance with this, with his large virtue supports (men and) things” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 19).

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of virtue” among Eastern nations is at the same time a negation of one’s personality as well as a loss of sense of social equality.36 Humbleness is a characteristic of the submissive nature of Docility. It is primarily concerned with serving others, which, in the eyes of Westerners, may look like a variation of human nature. A Chinese student in America once visited his advisor in the evening. They had a pleasant talk and the professor enjoyed it very much. At this time the student, just by chance, took a glance at his watch, and then immediately stood up. “It’s late now”, he said, “the professor and madam need to take a rest. I should leave now”. Contrary to what he expected, the professor’s wife was not very happy about what he said, saying, “You can leave anytime you feel like to. Why put the responsibility on us?” The student was disconcerted and totally at loss. History has proven it that a benevolent leader is not necessarily a wise one. King Xuan of Qi can be said to have been a benevolent ruler, because he could not bear to see the death of a cattle. Likewise, Emperor Wu of Liang (464–549 AD) believed in Buddhism. He had practiced abstinence from meat for a long time and remained rather frugal in eating and drinking. Instead of using real live stocks, he used their dough replicas when offering sacrifice to his ancestral shrine. He would weep every time when he sentenced someone to death. His benevolence and mercifulness was thus known to almost everyone in the country. The result was, however, the state of Qi under King Xuan’s rule was in disorder, and toward the end of Emperor Wu’s reign, regions south of the Yangtse River were in total chaos. Complicated as the reasons might have been, one of the reasons lied in the benevolence these rulers displayed in excess of their will power. The weakness in their personality led to the weakness of their regimes. Among Emperor Shihuang of Qin (259–210 BC), Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BC), Emperor Taizong of Tang (599–649 AD), and Emperor Taizu of Yuan (1162–1227 AD), none of them was content to be confined by the virtue of benevolence. But they all accomplished heroic achievements. In early modern times, 36 Ancient

Greece had “justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance” as their four cardinal virtues. What is missing in this combination is the affinity that distinguishes the “four virtues” of the Chinese nation.

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when productive forces underwent rapid development, there had been unprecedentedly intensified competitions among nations and individual persons. Ethics during this period should have very explicitly advocated an aggressive and enterprising spirit. And zhi is precisely a source of impetus for this spirit. Because benevolence features a cohesive tendency which is, relative to zhi, more of the nature of submissive Docility, it would be more appropriate to consider it as an important aspect of human-nature. The role of benevolence is similar to that of self-archetype played in Jung’s psychological framework. It is capable of uniting opposing contradictions into a harmonic unity. But Jung also noticed that shadow archetype was as important as self-archetype. It is the source of impetus for creativity and destruction. Where there is too much submissive Docility, there has to be a certain dose of the strength of Creativity to balance it. Its idea is to uphold zhi, give encouragement, adhere to righteousness, and thereby actively promote the improvement and development of human life. In an open society, the utopia depicted in Tao Qian’s 陶潛 ­(376–427 AD) “Peach-Blossom Land” 桃花源記 — where “the old populace as well as little children were happy and gratified with ­themselves” — is obviously out of date, for the utopian land, though seemingly filled with benevolent love, has to depend on natural economy with no appeal to fair competition, reform, or innovations. If things continued this way, social life on such a land would become stagnant and lifeless. Once a closed society is opened up, people inside it will lose their sense of happiness after comparing their society with the outside world, a world marked by exuberant development. They would, therefore, rather go out to seek employment than lead a secure life inside. Chinese philosophy needs reform. A sole emphasis on benevolence is, admittedly, good for maintaining interpersonal harmony. But we also need to emphasize the adherence to one’s zhi in order to promote fair competitions. Relative to Zhu Xi’s philosophy, Wang Fuzhi, in a series of his works, particularly emphasized more of the dimension of zhi in human nature. We should say his thoughts are more suitable to the spirit of the contemporary time. A person of benevolence accords priority to treating one’s kinship in a familial manner, which inclines the society to prioritize “personal considerations”. To let consideration of social connections carry

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more weight than that of public justice, to favor personal relationship to the ignorance of law, such are the dregs in traditional Chinese culture that we must abandon in modern times. The upholding of zhi constitutes a basis in heart-nature that may lead from inner sageliness to outer kingliness. And authentic social fairness and justice can be established on the sole condition of our adherence to the conviction that all human beings are equal rather than on such acquiescent submission to social reality that takes the form of gradational love. In this regard, the experience of the West is worthy of our attention. Ancient Greek philosophy upholds love, arguing that love can unite those that are separate from, or even in opposition to, each other. At the same time, the philosophy also recognizes the value of what is opposed to love, namely hatred and struggle, thinking that they are also the impetus of development. Theirs is hence a well-balanced argumentation. The lopsided emphasis on love in early religious tradition may partially explain the slow development in medieval times in the West. During the Renaissance, there began to be Protestantism, which held different views from Catholic doctrines. Protestants believed that human beings were obliged to God to work hard and that efficient use of properties would increase the glory of God. Max Weber holds that this change in Western religion left very profound and positive influence in the development of capitalist labor productivity.37 Many thinkers in early modern times, Kant for one, accorded much importance to the role that free will in the human heart played in legislation. Searching pre-modern Chinese classics, one may find that the terms 志士仁人 zhishi renren (“scholar of zhi and person of benevolence”, i.e. persons who are actuated by high ideals) were first used by Confucius (15:9), which probably indicates an equal importance placed on both benevolence and zhi when it came to an individual’s way of conducting himself in society (Confucius often asked his disciples to announce their individual zhi). Today, an equal importance accorded to benevolence as well as zhi would pave the way for a new Confucian ethics that is more in tune with the spirit of modern times. 37 Max

Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons. London & New York: Routledge, 2001, p. 121.

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4.2.3.  Sincerity and its Relation to Zhi and Benevolence The original meaning of 誠 cheng (“sincere” or “sincerity”) must have been “to be true to one’s words”. It was used as an adjective. The dictionary Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters glossed it as “trustworthy”. In the “Qing” section of the rhyme book Zengxiu Huzhu Libu Yunlue 增修互注禮部韻略 (1223 AD), the word is glossed as “to be free of artificiality; to be real and true”. Later on, the word sometimes came to be used as a verb for mental activity, as in such a phrase as “to sincere one’s wills”. It was in the Zisi-Mencius School of thought that the word was elevated to the status of a philosophical concept of considerable importance. In pre-modern China, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all placed much importance on sincerity. The school of Daoism represented by Zhuangzi mentioned the term with considerable frequency, as exemplified in the phrase “without earnest and sincerity, people would not be moved” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 31), and their admonition to advise rulers to “cultivate the sincerity in the heart” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 24). Among the 120 volumes of the Pearl Forest in the Dharma Garden 法苑珠林 (688 AD) compiled by Daoshi 道世, there is a chapter entitled “Extreme Sincerity” 至誠 that is particularly devoted to it. Among Confucian schools of thought, there was none that upheld “sincerity” as much as the Zisi-Mencius School did. The Doctrine of the Mean is marked by its concentrated discussion on “the Sage’s Way”, which centers on the notion of “sincerity”. Its opening sentences read: “What Heaven imparts to man is called human nature. To follow our nature is called the Way. Cultivating the Way is called education” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98). These sentences foreshadow its ensuing discussion on sincerity and they are echoed by the part that says “It is due to our nature that enlightenment results from sincerity. It is due to education that sincerity results from enlightenment. Given sincerity, there will be enlightenment, and given enlightenment, there will be sincerity” (Ibid., p. 107). There are 22 occurrences of the term “sincerity” in the Mencius. Although they are mostly adverbs meaning roughly “indeed”, there are several parts of the book that particularly feature in-depth discussion on the notion. In Mencius, a similar idea to that in the Doctrine of the Mean is conveyed: “[S]incerity is the

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Way of Heaven, and to think how to be sincere is the way of man” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 74). Mencius (7A:4) went further to state that “[a]ll things are already complete in oneself. There is no greater joy than to examine oneself and be sincere” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 79). The phrase “to examine oneself and be sincere” explicitly confirms that sincerity is an introspective activity that goes deep into the mind. The confirmation is worth further reflecting upon. “Speaking of ‘sincerity’”, observed Wang Fuzhi, “it is a word that indicates an absolute apex. There are simply no other words that can be used to convey its idea, nor are there any phrases that can be used to capture its meaning by way of a negation of its antonym. It exhausts the best virtues there can be between heaven and earth, and indicates a realm where there is nothing less than good in one’s body, heart, wills, and knowledge” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 9). Indeed, sincerity is a nexus that links the Way of Heaven and that of human beings. As such, it plays a decisive role in our mental activities. First, sincerity is the key to one’s approach to the Way, be it the Heavenly Way or human way. In a realm where sincerity is attained, there can be neither a distinction between the internal and external nor that between yin and yang. It is a kind of experience in which human life is in one with the Cosmos. There have been scholars who think that in the Doctrine of the Mean, the discussion on sincerity is presented to elaborate on the notion of “sincering one’s wills” [i.e. “to make one’s wills sincere”], one of the “eight virtue categories” in Great Learning. This, in fact, may or may not be the case. Compared with the latter, the former is more profound and richer in connotations. Second, in order to attain sincerity, one needs to examine oneself and return to the original nature. To “examine oneself” means something larger than a general introspection of self. It also means spiritual self-rectification. Ancient philosophers noticed that because human beings, in their life, were subject to the influences or confinements of various desires and acquired notions, and because there were artificial aspects in their rituals and other institutions, they needed to return to the original nature. And sincerity is precisely both candid and true to nature. Third, sincerity speaks of a tranquil experience of enlightenment brought by non-action and through

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tranquility, an experience of knowing heaven through the exertion of one’s mind to the utmost. Also applicable to sincerity is such a state described in the “Commentaries on the Book of Changes” as being thoughtless, motionless, without action, and yet, once acted upon, capable of penetrating all phenomena (Book of Changes, 1993, pp. 307–309). What Mencius emphasized by advocating the “exertion of one’s heart” is none other than sincerity. A person of sincerity is one who, by exerting his heart, gets to know nature and thereby gets to know Heaven. And a person who is mindful about how to be sincere is one who preserves his mind and nourishes his nature to act upon Heaven.38 With extreme sincerity, one is able to exert one’s nature. And by exerting one’s nature, one can “form a trinity with Heaven and Earth” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 108). The argumentation here may seem too abstruse. But such abstruseness is inevitable, because philosophy takes upon itself to offer profundity to the system of human thoughts and thereby influence the direction of the developments in social life. In social life, people all call for sincerity. They do so for a most obvious reason that people’s well-being in daily life could be seriously threatened by the loss of sincerity and honesty. Any slip of attention may instantly expose one to the risk of being duped. A swindler would forget moral principles at the sight of profits. A person of sincerity would, in contrast, prioritize moral principles over profits. With absolute sincerity in the heart, how can one possibly engage oneself in any frauds? People today often use the disyllabic word 誠信 chengxin (literally “sincerity-credibility”, which can be roughly construed as “trustworthy integrity” or “creditable integrity”). As a matter of fact, sincerity and credibility are distinct from each other. Sincerity, generally speaking, comes from within whereas credibility has to be accomplished through others. Hence, one is inside whereas the other outside. In his Pedagogical Poems (Vol. 1), former Soviet educator Makarenko tells us a story that is thought-provoking in this regard. After Semio, a frequent robber, was put into a reformatory, he wished to win the trust of Dean Makarenko. One day, Makarenko asked him to ride a horse tens of miles to fetch 500 rubles from the division of 38 Translator’s

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note: See Wing-tsit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 78, 107.

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accounting. Semio was so surprised that he could hardly close his mouth. Two weeks after he properly did the job, Markarenko asked him to go there again to fetch 2,000 rubles. “2,000?” asked Semio in surprise, “What if I took the money and never came back?” Makarenko sincerely replied, “Stop talking nonsense! If I ask you to go there, you can just go there”. Semio returned with the money. When he handed the money to Makarenko, he asked the dean to count it. Makarenko said, “That’s fine so long as you have counted it”. With that, he put the money into the drawer. “I’m not worried at all”. he said, “I know you are as honest as me”. Semio, touched by such trust, said to the dean, “On my way back, I said to myself, ‘If anyone attacks me now, I will fight for the money till my death’”. When treating others with sincerity, sincerity will often be what you get in return. Therefore, even a juvenile delinquent would learn selfesteem and strive to live up to your trust. “Sincerity-Credibility” cannot be established solely on man’s fear of laws or submission to discipline. It should be established more on the Way. Laws and disciplines are external pressures and imposed notions. The attainment of the Way is, by contrast, an internal awakening of one’s conscience. By that we mean sincerity should be attained more through one’s enlightenment to it than on the basis of one’s acquired knowledge about it, for mixed into such knowledge acquisition would inevitably be various senses of advantage and disadvantage along with the affectedness and the employment of various tricks they give rise to, all of which would hinder one’s approach to the realm of absolute sincerity.39 39 According

to Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929), Zeng Guofan 曾國藩 (1811–1872 AD) was “mentally slow”. He would read a short essay many times but still found himself unable to learn it by heart. Legend has it that once a thief stole into his house and waited in hiding for the moment when Zeng fell asleep. But no matter how long he waited, Zeng, instead of going to bed, would never give up his attempt to recite a text he had been reading. The thief, out of patience, eventually jumped out to scold Zeng saying, “With a stupid head like yours, what do you read any books for?!” This could be nothing but a joke. But that it took Zeng 9 years to pass a county-level examination is definitively a fact. How did a person like this manage to become a historical figure? His strength lied in his correct self-assessment and the sincerity he fostered in his heart. He often spoke of himself as “always short in talent”, “dull-witted”, and “irresolute”. But he held on to the conviction that hard work could fill up the deficiencies left by one’s dullness. Persistent learning and

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Sincerity, together with zhi and benevolence discussed earlier, resides at the converging area between Heaven and human beings. In nature, it belongs to neither yin nor yang. Resembling Heavenly Way and human way in a sense, it is neither firm nor soft. Therefore, ancient philosophers often classified it as a valid principle. But the problem is that sincerity has never been a real noun in the Chinese language. The sentence “sincerity is the Way of Heaven” does not mean sincerity is the same thing as the Way of Heaven. It is merely a description of the state and characteristic of the Heavenly Way. Philosophers of the Song dynasty took sincerity to be a valid principle, but they did so without telling us what it prescribed. So, compared with taking it to be a valid principle, it would be better to consider it as a valid state. Mr. Zhang Dainian is quite right in pointing out that one does not have to take sincerity to be a category with definitive content. In fact, nature can cover zhi and benevolence but sincerity cannot, which means that the connotation of sincerity is necessarily smaller than that of nature. Sincerity can be regarded as a borderline in a spiritual realm. Reaching this borderline would mean the enlightenment to the real state of Heavenly Principle [aka. Heavenly Texture, the Texture, or the Principle]. If, in moral practice, zhi and benevolence, respectively, exhibit such opposing tendencies in the human heart as diversion and conversion, sincerity exhibits precisely both. In fact, the important role played by sincerity is not limited to moral practices. The deep-level connection between the human heart and the Cosmos needs to be realized through the nexus of sincerity (see Section 4.3). As a matter of fact, as a basic capability of the human heart, zhi also combines the tendencies of both conversion and diversion. The former tends to focus the consciousness on one thing or a single point; the latter would diverge a person’s ideal in a dispersive manner to various aspects of his or her demeanors and life. It is therefore appropriate to treat it as a generic term for the third level of the human heart. What we have thinking jointly forged his great wisdom. And through a combination of sincerity, zhi, and benevolence, he accomplished great achievements. Throughout his life, he treated others with sincerity and in artless ways. Talking of his principles in social life, he said: “I would rather be taken advantage of than take advantage of anyone”. and “I would return hypocrisy with sincerity. In the course of time, this will incline hypocrites to sincerity”.

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introduced at this point is sincerity, because it, on the one hand, denotes a state one should be in when experiencing the Way and beholding nature. On the other hand, it accurately delineates the converging area between the Zhixing level and intellectuality level, and hence marks more distinct lines of demarcation between the one and the many (aka singularity and plurality, monistic and pluralistic), between lustration and defilement, between Mind of the Way and Mind of Humankind, and between the conscience that one intuits and the knowledge one acquires through perception in the human heart. As far as moral activities are concerned, zhi and benevolence make a mutually supplementary pair where the former belongs to the strength of Qian whereas the latter to the submissiveness of Kun. Between them, that which relentlessly strives to make progress is zhi, and that which, with the immensity of its virtue, carries and supports all is benevolence. They together constitute two arch pillars of human life. And we can also compare them to the two oars of the ship of human life or society. Thanks to the oars, the ship can go fast and smoothly to the bright other shore. There is an Afghanistan proverb that is very well said: Man is harder than stone and tenderer than flowers. Being harder than stone is primarily because man upholds zhi and being tenderer than flowers is due particularly to his staying with benevolence. Zhi is dynamic; benevolence is still. Zhi tends to open up, benevolence close in. Upholding zhi inclines one to desire ceaseless development; staying with benevolence fills one with wish for enduring peace. It should be noted that peace and development are two eternal themes in the human society. And it has been particularly clear since the early modern era that the promotion of zhi is both a basis for fair competition and a source of impetus that makes it possible for human beings and their society to transcend their status quo. On the other hand, to be imbued in benevolence marks the beginning of solidarity and friendship. And it is the basis upon which current social order can be maintained and communal harmony can be accomplished. The combination of zhi and benevolence, therefore, maintains a dynamic equilibrium in human life and society between the tendency of opening up and that of remaining stable. Neither zhi nor benevolence is dispensable. Neither should prevail alone. People who are abundant in zhi but scarce in benevolence tend to be lacking in amicability. Even when their actions proceed from their free

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will, they will often cause conflicts and consequently make many enemies. Science giant Newton was probably of this type. Stephen Hawking considered him an unpopular character. He, in notoriously bad terms with other Fellows of the Royal Society, spent his late years on numerous heated quarrels and disputes. Shortly after he assumed the office as president of the Society, he began to be in conflict with John Flamsteed, a royal astronomer who provided a lot of data for Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Later on, Newton was engaged in even more severe quarrels with German mathematician Leibniz. After Leibniz’s death, Newton was reportedly conceited for the reason of having badly hurt Leibniz’s feelings.40 People with exuberant benevolence but meager zhi, on the other hand, have no vigor in them. They stick to old ways and keep hesitating without arriving at any decision. These people are sometimes so softheaded that they ruin their own cause. In this regard, Duke Xiang of Song has always served as stock of laughter in history. In the year of 638 BC, King Cheng of Chu led an army to attack the State of Song. The troops of the two states met on the Hongshui River. The time was late winter, but the water had not quite frozen yet. The Chu army waded across the river to march northward. The Song army, under the command of Duke Xiang, strung out in a long line on the north shore in order to meet the enemy head-on. At the sight of the shivering Chu soldiers struggling their way, Duke Xiang’s military advisor suggested shooting arrows at the enemy. Duke Xiang said, “Not, no. The Chu army hasn’t come on shore yet”. By the time the Chu soldiers, from the freezing water, went onshore and assembled, the advisor became even more anxious. “Shoot them!” he shouted, “Shoot them now, or it’ll be too late!” But the duke, instead of following the advice, issued another order saying, “Don’t. The Chu soldiers haven’t lined up yet”. Eventually, the range of the Chu army was well formed. What was more, with their backs to the river, the Chu soldiers were pitted in a situation where they had to charge bravely forward to fight for their own lives. The Song army resultantly suffered immense loss. Wounded by an arrow, Duke Xiang fled back to their capital. People all over his state blamed him for being a rather incapable commander. But he defended himself by saying, “A superior man [man of virtue] would never 40 Stephen

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double the wound of a wounded man, nor should he capture an aged person with mottled hair”. Before long, the duke died in distress. Among the 10 persons that “moved China” in 2011, some are strong in benevolence, some in zhi, and some in both. Mr. Hong Zhong 胡忠, for instance, quit his job in the city of Chengdu and volunteered to help relieve the shortage of teachers in a desolate mountainous area. As a headmaster of a school with over 100 students, he could hardly have a chance to see his own family and children. Another example is Mr. Liu Wei 劉偉, a youth in Beijing who lost his arms due to electrocution when he was 10. As a person who holds a positive attitude toward life, Mr. Liu is broken in body but firm in zhi. He, after undergoing hard and vigorous training, won the championship of swimming at a sports game for the disabled. Later, his kidney problem deprived him of the ability to do such a strenuous sport as swimming. But he surmounted unimaginable difficulties and learned to play the piano with his toes. His piano solo was accorded a standing applause in the Vienna Golden Concert Hall. The achievements of other outstanding figures, such as those of Mr. Wu Mengchao 吳孟超 and Ms. Zhang Pingyi 張平宜, all highlight those people’s dual strength in zhi and benevolence. Cai Yuanpei 蔡元培 (1868–1940) opined that, ever since the French Revolution, moral education in the West had been based on three keystones, namely “liberty, equality, and fraternity”. “The three of them, indeed, constitute the source of all virtues and exhaust all there needs to be in citizenry moral education”.41 From the perspective of our analysis of the elements in human nature, we may elaborate on his view and point out that to uphold zhi would lead to liberty, to stay with benevolence would generate fraternity, and to have both would, of itself, promote equality in one’s thought, attitude, and manners. In Chinese philosophy, a continued emphasis on benevolence as its cover-all virtue may possibly induce people to pin their hope on any benevolent and capable officials in the leadership and resultantly weaken people’s desire to strive for political democracy. To emphasize zhi at the same time would contribute to shaping thousands of liberal 41 Cai

Yuanpei. Cai Yuanpei Wenxuan 蔡元培文選 [Selected Works of Cai Yuanpei]. Tianjin: Baihua wenyi chubanshe, 2006, p. 29.

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and independent personalities, and thereby laying a good social foundation for political democracy. Mr. Mou Tsung-san and some other NeoConfucian scholars in Hong Kong and Taiwan seek to accomplish outer kingliness through inner sageliness. Their intention is good. But this way of thinking may need to be fine-tuned. When our discussion zeros in on individual families, we may find many strict fathers and affectionate mothers in them. The former embodies zhi and the tendency of opening-up, the latter benevolence and the tendency of closing-in. Fatherly strictness is good for reinforcing disciplines and spurring children, whereas motherly affection good for promoting harmony and familial cohesion. Without fatherly strictness, there would be no rules and disciplines in the family. Without motherly affection, the family might fall apart. The upholding of zhi will generate heroic passion. The adherence to benevolence will generate passion of love. Everybody has his or her share of the two passions. Once combined, the two passions would generate amazing power. In May 2006 in Fanchang County, Fujian Province, an old lady taking care of a quarry suddenly heard the cry and scream of her 3-year old grandson. It turned out that a wolf that was half the height of a man was attacking the boy. The old lady’s mind went completely blank at the sight. Before she knew it, she had thrown herself upon the wolf and, with her bare hands, taken the wolf by the throat in spite of the wolf’s vehement effort to scratch and bite her. Finally, the wolf collapsed. It was later found out that the wolf weighed nearly 60 pounds. The old lady can hardly get over her lingering fear whenever she recalled that moment. But at that critical moment when her grandson’s life was at stake, what was generated from her was such a tremendous power that she would not have even dared to imagine. Another example shows the persistence of this power. By the time when she was 60, Gao Xiulan 高秀蘭 in the city of Luoyang had successively suffered the losses of her husband, her son, who died of a car accident, and her daughter-in-law, who died of illness. Hardly sooner had she gotten over her grief than she made up her mind to support her 8-month old granddaughter by making and selling insoles. Even when her granddaughter entered college, she still provided for the child’s tuition and living expense. At a live telecast in April 2009, the reporter of a television station calculated the amount

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of work she had done. In a period of 20 years, she had made 250 thousand pairs of insoles! Between zhi and benevolence, sincerity slants toward neither toughness nor softness. And it belongs to neither yin nor yang. For this ­reason, sincerity is closely related to the doctrine of the mean. As a renowned scholar during the Ming–Qing period, Sun Xiafeng 孫夏峰 (1584–1675 AD) was a person of this type. People said he was sincere, virtuous, and well balanced in character. He was born in a region north of the Yellow River. His name was Sun Qifeng 孫奇逢; Xiafeng was his professional name.42 Toward the end of the Ming dynasty, he was known for his integrity and chivalry, for he was a person who upheld justice and made a point of throwing himself into the breach. When Manchu troop looted the northern area of the empire and sacked several cities including the capital, he led his kinsmen to take actions, served as a liaison between the government and local gentry, and organized defense at Rongcheng 容城. Later, when he went to take refuge in the Wugong Mountain 五公山, many people followed him. He wrote a number of simple regulations for the people and gave lectures at ease while organizing armed defense against the enemy. All this contributed to forming a simple and unsophisticated communal custom. Later on he took further refuge in the Baiquan Mountain 百泉山, aka the Xiafeng Mountain, where, until his death, he made a living by personally doing farm work. Both the Ming and the Qing imperial courts repeatedly summoned him for imperial appointments, but he responded to neither positively. In 1664, he was framed in a literary persecution, to which his calm reply was: “Of all things between heaven and earth, what matters is whether one has a clear or guilty conscience, not whether something is disastrous or not”. With that, he demanded to confront authorities before a law court. Academically he was under most profound influence of Wang Shouren, but he, instead of holding any sectarian views, spoke positively of the theoretical achievements of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi. According to Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929), Sun Xiafeng lived a long life. 42 Translator’s

note: Professional name, “or nom de plume”, is a kind of alternate name “used by writers, artists, and calligraphers”. See Alvin Cohen. Introduction to Research in Chinese Source Materials, p. 471.

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And, because of his seniority in academia, his lofty personality, his sincerity, and the remarkable applicability of his theory, people of his time all respected him and he had disciples all over the country.43 This example, as a matter, of course, does not sufficiently prove that sincerity is more advanced than zhi and benevolence. All we can say is that extreme sincerity is capable of guiding people back to the deep center of the human heart, which will be good for ensuring impartiality. To sum up, relative to destiny, nature, and texture, zhi, sincerity, and benevolence play a more direct role in the forming of the moral foundation in human relations. Obviously, the former three can all be modified by the word “Heavenly”, but the latter three cannot. Another thing we should point out is that zhi, benevolence, and sincerity are all virtues. But, as far as the entire human heart is concerned, wisdom should not be listed as the fourth virtue. Instead, it should be treated as a distinct category from virtue (in its narrow sense). The traditional notion of being “benevolent and wise” should be hence adjusted to being “virtuous and wise”. Facing real life, a mere combination of zhi and benevolence is inadequate to guarantee success in career. There needs to be limpid and agile wisdom in the package. Otherwise, the adherence to benevolence may fall into pedantry and impracticality; the upholding of zhi may lead to headstrongness and obtrusiveness; and the holding of sincerity may lapse into excessive naivety and the resultant gullibility. In a society filled with social complexities, a person who seeks to prove himself or herself in career should possess a complete set of zhi, benevolence, sincerity, and wisdom, which is exemplified in the success of Ka-shing Li 李嘉誠, an entrepreneur in China. Ka-shing Li was born into a scholarly family in Chaozhou. During the Anti-Japanese War, his family moved to Hong Kong. His father quit teaching to enter into business. Later, his father became critically ill. His last words left to Ka-shing Li were “Do not let poverty shake your zhi”. and “Wealth and high official ranks obtained through immoral means would be as empty as floating clouds to me”. With these words

43 Liang

Qichao, Zhongguo Jin Sanbai Nian Xueshu Shi 中國近三百年學術史 [History of Chinese Academia in the Past 300 Years]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2008, pp. 46–47.

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inscribed in his memory, Ka-shing Li, for decades, has held fairness, justice, sincerity, and benevolent love as his core values in life. He dropped school at the age of 14 and began to support his family. At such a time of difficulty, young Ka-shing aspired high and determined to distinguish himself in career. From waiter in a teahouse and assistant in a watch shop to salesman in a hardware factory and then a plastics plant, he demonstrated his diligence in work and learning, his resourcefulness, and his enterprising spirit in no matter what job he did. As a salesman, for instance, he — instead of promoting sales at various shops as other salesmen do — sold the product directly to users. His familiarity with the products, his enthusiasm for helping customers, and his sincerity and perfect credibility, all proved to be the most effective advertisements for the products he sought to sell. But he was never content with his already very outstanding work performance. After several times of job-hopping, he eventually established his own firm and made it grow steadily. His success is a living attestation to the proverb “where there is zhi there is a way”; and behind such success is a history of individual struggle in which a penniless teenager struggled all his way up to the top of the list of world’s most successful Chinese entrepreneurs. The experience he shares with other is: “You must treat others with sincerity. That way, people will treat you back with sincerity”. and “with a loving heart, you can engage yourself in your enterprise; and with a grateful heart, you can conduct yourself in the society”. The advice he gives to young people is: Understand the past, observe the present, and cherish a dream for the future. Modern commercial culture and traditional Chinese culture, utterly incompatible as they might seem, combines perfectly in Ka-shing Li. This outstanding entrepreneur presents an epitomic and vivid embodiment of traditional Chinese virtues and the spirit of exalting virtue while expanding business.

4.2.4.  Discussion Confucianism has its conservative side. In fact, its overemphasis on “benevolence” can partially explain the focused criticism people often direct to its teachings of social customs and institutions. Would a notional elevation of “zhi” to the same level of importance as “benevolence” bring about a dynamic equilibrium in an individual’s human heart and even national spirit — especially such a heart and spirit in post-Song era — and

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thereby redress the conservative and convergent tendency? Can we find relevant theoretical underpinning in the distinction between the strength of Creativity and submissive nature of Docility in the Book of Changes? Zhu Xi exceedingly emphasized benevolence. Wang Fuzhi paid particular attention to zhi.44 Does the difference speak of any historical change over time? If we accept the idea of “the promoting the spirits of both Creativity and Docility” (Wang Fuzhi, 2009), then does this mean we should also advocate “the upholding of both zhi and benevolence”? Mr. Zhang Dainian once pointed out that “Chinese thought regarding human life overemphasizes ‘Texture’ to the point of overlooking ‘vitality’. It overlooks the special characteristic of life and fails to pay sufficient attention to the free play of vitality. … If vitality is weak, all virtues are good for nothing. There are Westerners who uphold strength. The same is rarely seen in Chinese philosophy. Actually, equal importance should be placed on both Texture and vitality, and [hence] on both virtue and strength”.45 Mr. Zhang’s remark is pertinent particularly to such NeoConfucian view in the Song and Ming dynasties that treated benevolence as a cover-all virtue, a virtue that carried the same weight as did Texture. What position should we take in this regard? 44 As

we discussed earlier, Wang Fuzhi’s grasp of “zhi” is complete. As a logical result, he exalted the strength of Creativity but held a rather negative attitude toward tranquility and softness, because “in sickness, one likes quietude. In grief, one likes to be commiserated. Liking is the expansion of the yang energy. Quietude and commiseration both signify the thickening of the yin energy. When yin energy prevails, it will dominate yang energy. What is positively valued will then come to be ying. [Those who like quietude or commiseration] without being in sickness or grief are nothing but inferior men. … To let [the feeling of liking] lapse into the softness of yin energy, to equate petty favors with benevolence, and to take dead stillness to be quietude, all this speaks of the ways [in which] women and inferior men [would think and do]” (Records of Thinking and Inquiring, Inner Chapter). His view may be a bit too radical. But it proceeded directly from his experience of facing the challenge of his time. There are undoubtedly some reasonable aspects in it. 45 Zhang Dainian, Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang, pp. 589–590. The elevation of the category of “zhi” to the same level with “benevolence” would be of help in the communication and integration between Chinese and Western philosophies. This is because medieval European religious philosophy placed will higher than rationality; Kant considered free will as the basis for moral legislation; and Schopenhauer and Nietzsche both regarded will as the basis of human life.

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Since the early modern times, the development in Europe has long taken the lead in the world, which can be partially ascribed to Protestant ethics. If Zhu Xi’s philosophy is regarded as medieval Chinese philosophy, then Confucian thought must also seek its point of relevance to the social development that has been underway since the early modern era. From the perspective of theoretical rationales, what aspect of Confucianism should we promote? The slogan of “faster, higher, and stronger” in the Olympics has become the main theme of the modern society. For the past few decades, the opening-up and reform in China has precisely kept up with this trend of the time. So, for individual human beings, what mental element should the realization of this spirit be based on? Kant pointed out that free will of the human heart was the basis of moral legislation. English poet and thinker Shelley thought that the biggest secret of moral was love. Can these two views be integrated? Would it be more comprehensive and reasonable to say “the real secret of moral is to return to the root of human nature and thereby legislate for human society?”

4.3. One Heart Opening Two Doors The discussion of this section concentrates on the third level of the human heart, where destiny tends to be dynamic whereas Texture to be still; and zhi tends to be diverging whereas benevolence to be converging. Such dynamics, stillness, diversion, and conversion are all manifested on the third level. But they actually influence the entire human heart. Now, in what mode are they manifested? We might as well conduct a comparative study between Confucian notion of “enlightenment resulted from sincerity” 誠明 and Buddhist notion of “one heart opening two doors” 一心開二門 (OHOTD henceforward) with a view to gaining insight into the structure of the human heart and its operation on the third level so as to bring to light some basic patterns of mental activities that occur on deep-level subconsciousness. The theory of OHOTD is first seen in the Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith 大乘起信論. The book is conventionally and yet rather questionably ascribed to Aśvaghoṣa (80–150 AD) in India. At the time of Xuanzang’s 玄奘 (fl. 602–664 AD) pilgrimage to India, Indian academic

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society had no knowledge of this work of Buddhist theory in their nation. Later, Xuanzang translated the book from Chinese into Sanskrit. Its earliest “translation” in China was done by Paramartha (499–569 AD) during the Southern dynasties in Chinese history. People hence have reason to suspect that the book was composed by Paramartha and his associates. If this is true, then the thought conveyed in the book must have been the product of a combination between Chinese and Indian philosophies. What distinguishes it from mainstream Indian Buddhism is the thought that there is substance (i.e. natural pure heart) instead of voidness in the depth of the human heart, and that ālaya-vijñāna (“阿賴耶識” in Chinese, translated as “store consciousness” or “container consciousness” in English) is not a mere illusion but a combination of reality and illusion. The outlook on life conveyed in it, therefore, appears to be more optimistic than pessimistic. All this looks like a trace of influence from Chinese philosophy. In the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith, there are theories of “Twi-satyas” 二諦 and “Tri-svabhava” 三性. Some notions therein might have either merged into, or happened in parallel with, relevant thoughts in the traditional Chinese philosophy. 4.3.1.  “Twi-satyas” of Buddhism and Dichotomy in Chinese Philosophy “Twi-satyas” was a Brahmanist term that was later taken over by Buddhism. The “satya” means absolute truth with nothing illusionary or distorted therein. “Twi-satyas”, or twofold absolute truth, refers to what has been considered as two kinds of such absolute truth, namely conventional absolute truth, aka worldly absolute truth, and ultimate absolute truth, aka supreme absolute truth or primary absolute truth. The former takes all things and creatures to be substantial, which, from a worldly standpoint, is regarded as a real and reliable truth. The latter, in contrast, takes all things and creatures to be unsubstantial in nature, which Buddhist masters regard as the real truth. In the chapter entitled “Analytical Meditation on the Four Noble Truths” in his Zhonglun 中論 (Middle Doctrine), Nāgārjuna (fl. 2nd–3rd century AD) explained thus: “Speaking of worldly absolute truth, [although] all dharmas are by nature void, what [the dharmas] — because of the upside–down perspective and illusionary views of the common world — seem to the

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worldly to be substantial. Because sages and enlightened ones know that it is due to the upside–down [perspective of the common world], they understand that all dharmas are void with nothing generated or extinct therein. Such is the primary absolute truth of the Sage”. But Nāgārjuna, as an advocator of the view of Madhyamika (i.e. Middle-Observation), neither held the view of substantiality to definitely affirm substantiality of the world nor adhered to the view of void to absolutely deny the said substantiality. His is an approach to substantiality from the perspective of voidness and hence a dual view of both, which is why it is called “the Middle Path”. Here we can cite a story from Instructions for Practical Learning to distinguish the two absolute truths. Wang Shouren was going on an ­expedition. His disciples Dehong and Ruzhong went to Yantan to see him off. During their conversation, Ruzhong inquired about what were known in Buddhism as the true form of all things as they are [the True Form henceforth] and the illusionary form of all things as they appear [the Illusionary Form henceforth]. Wang Shouren said, “All that one has one’s mind on is the True Form; otherwise it is the Illusionary Form”. Later he added, “All that one does not have one’s mind on is the True Form; otherwise it is the Illusionary Form”. From a Buddhist viewpoint, the former observation denotes the True Form and Ultimate Absolute Truth, but it is too abstruse for the common world. The latter observation, on the other hand, denotes Illusionary Form from a Buddhist perspective, but it is the Conventional Absolute Truth because the common world would normally consider it true. Of course, we can also interpret the former as an observation on the attained realm of enlightenment from the perspective of noumenon, and the latter as an observation on noumenon from the perspective of the attained realm of enlightenment. There is a similar dichotomy in Chinese philosophy. But its purpose is not to distinguish between the true and the illusionary. Rather it is preoccupied more with the distinction between the good and evil in the ethics of this world. Its examples can be found in the distinction between the Mind of Humankind and Mind of the Way as well as that between temperamental nature and cosmic nature we discussed earlier. In the following, we will concentrate on the distinction between the knowledge one acquires through perception in the human heart and the conscience that one intuits.

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In Chapter 6 of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance, Zhang Zai (in Chan, 1963, p. 507) begins by saying, “Knowledge gained through enlightenment which is the result of sincerity is the innate knowledge of one’s natural character.46 It is not the small knowledge of what is heard or what is seen. When the Way of Heaven and the nature of man function separately, there cannot be sincerity. When there is a difference between the knowledge obtained by following (the Way of) Heaven and that by following (the nature of) man, there cannot be perfect enlightenment. What is meant by enlightenment resulting from sincerity is that in which there is no distinction between the Way of Heaven as being great and the nature of man as being small”. By that he means once a person accomplished his or her sincerity-based enlightenment, the person’s innate Heavenly-endowed virtue and conscience would be lighted up, which would enable the person to know heaven through knowing his or her own nature. The nature of an individual human being seems to be very small, whereas the Way of Heaven seems very great. But there is in fact no distinction between the two, because the individual at this moment has spiritually become one with heaven. But, compared with the conscience that one intuits, the knowledge gained through perceptions is still merely small knowledge, because it is the kind of cognition that is confined by one’s perception of a rather random array of phenomena. In Chapter 5, Zhang Zai further explains: “Knowledge coming from seeing and hearing is knowledge obtained through contact with things. It is not knowledge obtained through one’s moral nature. Knowledge obtained through ones moral nature does not originate from seeing or hearing” (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, p. 507). If the idea of the earlier passage originated from Doctrine of the Mean, then that of this passage has its root in Mencius (e.g. 7A:1, 7A:15). He means that the knowledge gained through perceptions is the knowledge acquired from one’s contacts with the objective world and one’s resultant contemplation of such contacts. There are, of course, correct parts in such knowledge, but there are obvious limitations as well. This is because the objective world fills the entire universe. With one person’s perception to contact it, how much can one get, and how can one possibly learn it in its entirety? For this reason, 46 By

that Zhang Zai refers to the conscience which one intuits.

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if a person wishes to cognize the complete objective world, he or she has to do it by grasping the most basic law shared by all things in the universe. That knowledge does not come from any single person’s perceptions. It has to come from one’s recognition of it from a deep level of the human heart, by which we refer to the manifestation of virtue. That is why Mencius advocates the exhaustion of one’s heart and states that “all things are already complete in myself” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 79). This theory of Song dynasty Neo-Confucianism comes directly from Zisi-Mencius school of thought, but it is largely parallel to relevant thoughts in Buddhism. Just as an old Chinese saying goes, all developments will reach the same goal from different directions, and all sages and great thinkers will eventually theorize in same accord. Another thing that requires our attention is that Zhang Zai, too, draws distinction between worldly people and sages. “The mind of ordinary people”, he says, “is limited to the narrowness of what is seen and what is heard. The sage, however, fully develops his nature and does not allow what is seen or heard to fetter his mind. He regards everything in the world to be his own self” (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, p. 515). This more or less sounds like an alternative explication of the distinction between conventional and ultimate absolute truths. But an obvious difference is that Confucianism believes in substantiality of the world and holds an affirmative attitude toward the existence of things in this world while Buddhism believes in voidness and regards all in this world as false existence.47 Now we can explain it as follows: The third level of the human heart is a convergent area between Heaven and man. In the entire spiritual system, it constitutes the very basis. Once it is opened up and lighted up, it will become a Heavenly virtue and conscience. In that case, it is a common and basic law. It tends to relate a person’s zhi to the entire world between Heaven and Earth — which is a realm of faith. The sensibility level and intellectuality level constitute the part in contact with the objective world. The knowledge obtained through this part is inevitably limited, so it is at best a limited truth that, with the change of time and space, may easily deteriorate into fallacy. Therefore, the cognition gained through 47 Of

course, from a strict Buddhist viewpoint, the conscience that one intuits is not the ultimate absolute truth, either.

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perception is always relatively valid — such is the realm of knowledge. Judging them from the standpoint of religion and that of philosophy, one would say the former is what sages and worthy people are after, whereas the latter is what ordinary people work on. When further judging them in terms of good and evil, one would find that the former — being pure, singular, and artless — can be said to be extremely good, which is known as lustration in Buddhism. The latter, however, features an amalgam of various notions and views, and a mixture of good and evil, which is referred to as defilement in Buddhism. The distinction between the two realms in fact speaks of the epistemological distinction between the limited and unlimited, and that between the relative and the absolute. 4.3.2.  “Tri-Svabhava” of Buddhism and the Three Levels of the Heart In Buddhism, there is the theory of tri-svabhava (i.e. Three Natures), which is relevant to “the twofold absolute truth”. The Three Natures refers to the deluded attachment to senses of measured differences (i.e. parikalpita), the nature of existence as arising from dependence on other things (i.e. paratantra), and parinispanna-svabhava. They are also known as “three self-natures”, “three forms”, “three forms of the self”, and so on. It is a central notion in the theories of Yogacara Buddhism and Consciousness-only Sect (i.e. Dharmalaksana). The deluded attachment to senses of measured differences (parikalpita, aka parikalpitah-svabhava) refers to a phenomenon where people, through their general observation and measurement of the things and phenomena in the world, erroneously begin to have senses of distinctions and consider them as really in existence. The nature of existence as arising from dependence on other things (aka self-nature rooted in Other) means that all phenomena occur by various chances, for various reasons, and under various conditions. Once the chances, reasons, and conditions are no more there, the phenomena will lose their basis and hence be impossible to exist independently. Therefore, all things and all phenomena are illusionary and unreal. The parinispanna-svabhava (i.e. accomplished form) means the perfect accomplishment of the nature of various dharmas. To put it differently, it means that, on the basis of the nature of existence as arising from

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dependence on other things, one keeps away from the fallacies in the deluded attachment to senses of measured differences, and realizes that in all phenomena, there are no such things as substantial self and substantial dharma, and — through this realization — accomplishes the enlightenment to true thusness. Because the three svabhavas all belong to the domain of the human heart, they are closely related to the three levels of the human heart. What corresponds to the tri-svabhavas is trividha-nih.svabha-vata (“the Three Non-natures”), which is composed of Formlessness (laks.an.a-nih. svabha-vata), Lack of Conditioned Genesis (upatti-nih.svabha-vata-), and the Non-nature of Ultimate Reality (pa-ramartha-nih.svabha-vata-). During the Southern dynasties — which was an era previous to Xuanzang’s time — Paramartha had already explicated the theories of Yogacara Buddhism and Consciousness-only Sect. We might as well examine each concept through an examination of its alternate terms.48 The deluded attachment to senses of measured differences, which is known in Xuanzang’s terminology as the nature of existence dependent upon arbitrary conceptualization, was once translated by Paramartha as “the nature of existence according to the discriminating mind”. What corresponds to it is Formlessness. Human beings depend on their perceptional organs to cognize the objective world. In doing so, they often take various colors, shapes, and forms to be real existences and make 48 In

Vol. 8 of his Cheng Weishi Lun 成唯識論 [Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only], Xuanzang observes, “Things and phenomena produced by the mind and its content are present in cause-effect relations. Their existence is as unreal as illusions, only laymen are deluded about it. This kind of universal contingency of genesis upon other things is called the nature of existence as dependence on other things. In this regard, laymen would persistently think that the Subject and Dharma [objective things and phenomena] are real existence. They, therefore, would draw distinctions between existence and non-existence, between sameness and difference, and between the match and mismatch of Subject and Object. All this is what we call attachment by pervasive discrimination. They are in fact all like flowers in a mirror. If one, proceeding from the nature of existence as dependence on other things, realizes that neither the Subject nor the Dharma has a self-nature, such true nature shown in this notion of voidness is called the perfectly accomplished nature of reality”. Paramartha and Xuanzang were about 100 years apart. There is, therefore, inevitably some difference between their understandings of tri-svabhavas.

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distinctions among them. They take, for instance, this to be a tree and that to be grass. This indicates primarily their grasp of the world through their senses. Buddhism, however, thinks that the colors, shapes, and forms are all like image of the moon in the water or that of a flower in a mirror, because they, being empty and unsubstantial, are created by people’s deluded thoughts. Trees, grass, and what not, are all things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Whether to hold the colors and forms as substantial or consider them as empty and illusory is a question of what the human heart decides to accept or reject on its sensibility level. Referred to by Xuanzang as that which is born of causes and conditions, and will cease when causes are absent, paratantra was once translated by Paramartha as “the nature of being contingent on Other”. It can also be translated as “self-nature rooted in Other”. What corresponds to it is Lack of Conditioned Genesis. The investigation on the causes of things’ existence goes deep through colors and forms in search of factors and, in so doing, detects its “root in Other”. Such is the function that the human heart performs on its intellectuality level. To consider it as “contingent on Other” is to set forth an argument from an affirmative direction. To consider it as “Lack of Conditioned Genesis” is to set forth an argument from a negative direction. Both are cognitions on the intellectuality level. There is a similar thought to this in Daoism. It is written in Chapter 21 of the Zhuangzi that “it is true with everything that its going out of existence is contingent, so is its entering existence”. The so-called “contingence” means to be dependent on Other. That which is contingent on nothing is none other than the Way, which has its root and basis in itself. Parinispanna-svabhava, a term Xuanzang glosses as perfectly accomplished nature of reality, was once translated by Paramartha as “truthfulness”. What corresponds to it is the Non-nature of Ultimate Reality. To which level of the human heart is it related? We may crack the puzzle through a discussion on “truthfulness”. In Chinese as well as world history, there have been altogether three views regarding truth. The first regards all that appears before human beings as real. Such is the view of the common world. The second would argue that phenomena are not necessarily all true. Their truth lies only in their essence. Such is the view of some scholars. This view is particularly upheld in science. In religion and philosophy, people usually hold what is absolute and infinite as true, because only that

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which is absolute and infinite is eternal. These three views on truthfulness precisely correspond to the three levels of the human heart. What Paramartha called “truthfulness” evidently belongs to this third view. Theories of Three Natures and Three Non-natures contribute to elaborating of the doctrine of twi-satyas (twofold truth). Not only do the two theories depict the opposition of mind consciousness and mind functions, but also bring to light the logical order of the affirmation and negation in the three levels of the human heart. From the viewpoint of common people, the colors and forms of things are real existences. The various interwoven differences among things present a colorful and diversified world. Buddhists consider all this to be merely false existence, because everything constitutes a link or segment in a certain chain of causal relation. By that they mean everything, rather than occur or emerge all by itself, invariably depends on something else for its own occurrence or emergence. So they are in fact empty in nature. Yogacara Buddhism and Consciousness-Only Sect differ from Madhyamika in that they evolved from the Sarva-stiva-da School and hence can be subsumed under the Existential School. Therefore, instead of staying with the doctrine of empty nature, they bring to light the existence of true thusness and true form of all things as they are. Such is the perfectly accomplished nature of reality. Briefly put, the logic that connects the Three Natures are thus: The deluded attachment to senses of measured differences, the nature of existence as arising from dependence on other things, and perfectly accomplished nature of reality form the successive phases of, respectively, affirmation (substantial, worldly absolute truth), negation (voidness, Lack of Self-Nature), and negation of negation (substantial, true thusness, the ultimate reality). It should be pointed out that there are many points of convergence between the Three Nature theory and traditional Chinese philosophy, because pre-modern Chinese philosophers also regard the third level of the human heart as the most real existence. They think that one can possibly reach this level through the examination of oneself. As a connection between the human way and Heavenly Way, sincerity is categorically an action of returning to the third level of the human heart. Mencius, for instance, advocates minimization of one’s desire (Mencius, 7B:35), points out that wisdom is marked by “forced reasoning” (Mencius, 4B:26), and requires examining oneself and being sincere (Mencius, 7A:4). What he does

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directly points to the depth of the human heart. Zhuangzi suggests detaching from both the body and mind and thereby becoming one with the Way.49 Detaching from the body will lead to the non-discriminating wisdom. As a result, a person will be free from his or her mental attachment to colors and forms. The accomplishment of non-discrimination wisdom, in its turn, will lead to the transcending of contingency (the nature of existence as arising from dependence on other things). The accomplishment of becoming one with the Way will take one to a realm whose measures know no bound. With his or her heavenly nature, an individual becomes one with Heaven. Such is the manifestation of Heavenly Way and the perfect completion of one’s integrity. 4.3.3.  “OHOTD” (One Heart Opening Two Doors) and Activity of the Heart with Two Series We should, on the basis of this, pay attention to such bidirectional motion as conversion and diversion in the human heart. As we have depicted before, human heart is structured with three levels and two series. Now we can point out further that, it is stereoscopically like a cone and two dimensionally like a sector, which probably resembles the expanding universe after its explosion. Its outmost layer is the level of sensibility, where the contents are infinitely diversified. In the middle is the level of intellectuality, which, relatively speaking, tends to be generalizing and abstract. The third level is converged to one point. Therefore, the two series of activities in the human heart exhibit an oppositional dual tendency, in which there is, on the one hand, an incessant activity of conversion proceeding from the level of sensibility, through that of intellectuality, to the target level of Zhixing. Such is a change from the many (i.e. the pluralistic) and to the one (i.e. the monistic). On the other hand, there is another activity that tends to diverge from Zhixing, through the level of intellectuality, to the target level of sensitivity, which is a change from the one to the many.50 49 Translator’s

note: Translation of phrases in the Zhuangzi, Chapter 6, is adopted mutatis mutandis from Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 201. 50 As a prestigious scholar of the mind, Kant also took note of this bidirectional motion. The logic presented in his Critique of Pure Reason follows the direction of

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In the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith, the human heart of an individual is treated as a single and complete spiritual system, in which the tendency toward tathata (true thusness) and that toward samsára (the realm of being generated and extinct) constitute the two sides of the same coin. It is said in the text: People who show correct understanding are those who follow the oneheart method with two doors opening therein. What do the two refer to? One is the heart-door to the tathata, the other that to samsára. These two doors exhaust all dharmas. What is the reason for that? It is that the two doors are not separate from each other.

By tathata, it means to be as true as ever, which refers to an absolute entity that remains unchanged and whose existence is not false. And by the samsára, it refers to a relative Universality where the occurrence and cessation of material existence are both contingent upon various chances and conditions. The metaphor of door used here is very vivid and apposite. But the door to the tathata and that to samsára are in fact not two doors but one revolving door which provides access to tathata when rotating inwardly (i.e. conversion) and opens up the entrance to samsára when rotating outwardly (i.e. diversion). The two doors, therefore, are not separate from each other. Precisely for this reason, it means both conductivity and discrimination, which are, respectively, pertinent to the inward-outward motions and the distinction between the inside and outside. To exit the realm of true tathata and thereby enter that of samsára speaks of a change from absoluteness to relativity. This change is known as continuity. Conversely, to leave samsára and thereby enter that of tathata constitutes a change from relativity to absoluteness, which is known as reverting to nothingness. From a Buddhist point of view, the former is the generation of myriad dharmas in the mind whereas the latter the congealment of myriad dharmas into oneness. In Zhuangzi’s view, samsára is entered from the perspective of its discrimination. That is how liver is seen as Senses — Concepts — Principle. His Critique of Practical Reason, however, emphasizes a logic that follows a reversed direction, i.e. Principle — Concepts — Senses.

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a different organ from gallbladder, and Chu as a different state from Yue. The realm of the tathata, as Zhuangzi would think, is entered from the perspective of its aspect of sameness. What is seen from this perspective is hence the identicalness of all things.51 Regardless whether we use the perspective of its absolute aspect or that of its relative aspect, it exhausts Universality, aka sarva-dharma. In Buddhism, the entering of tathata is known as lustration and that of samsára is called defilement. The former leads to identicalness whereas the latter generates discrimination. To turn from tathata to samsára is a change from motion to stillness. A reversed change from stillness to motion is one in which samsára reverts to nothingness and thereby attains tathata. The process in the human heart is also present in the establishment of moral law. Zhu Xi rightly points out that the Doctrine of the Mean is a text through which “Confucian spiritual discipline is imparted”, and that “sincerity is the key in this text”. Now the question is: How does sincerity play its key role in the human heart and combine both the internal and external? An analysis of the relationship between “the enlightenment resulting from sincerity” and “the sincerity resulting from enlightenment” is critical to our understanding of the said key role. In the section of “Changes and the Mean” 易庸 in A New Treatise on the Nature of the Way, Mr. Feng Youlan argues that the two sentences “what Heaven imparts to man is called human nature. To follow our nature is called the Way” speak of an enlightenment resulting from sincerity. And the sentence “cultivating the Way is called education” indicates sincerity resulting from enlightenment. This explanation seems to cloud up the medium role of sincerity summarized in the sentence “To follow our nature is called the Way”.52 51 The

Zhuangzi, Chapter 6: “Seen from the perspective of things’ difference, liver [is distinct from] gallbladder, [the State of] Chu [is different from the State of Yue]. When looked at from the perspective of their sameness, all things are identical”. 52 The book Shishuo Xinyu 世說新語 [A New Account of the Tales of the World ] (primarily compiled by Liu Yiqing 劉義慶, 403–444 AD) recorded the behaviors of some scholars — such as Ruan Ji and Liu Ling — that proceeded from their sincerity. The behaviors, being natural, did not run counter to the Way. But in a socialized existence, they were regarded as absurd and hence should be “redressed through cultivation”.

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Since human nature matches the Heavenly virtue, the way that can be cultivated can be nothing but the human way. Mr. Feng Youlan regards the “accomplishment of sincerity through enlightenment” as the highest realm. This is all the more questionable, because the enlightenment resulting from sincerity would go deeper, and seeing one’s nature would — after all — be of more primary importance than that of establishing a doctrine. Take the story in Chan Buddhism, for example. As a learned master, Shenxiu 神秀 can be said to exemplify those whose sincerity results from enlightenment. Specifically his enlightenments are derived from learning, and he chose to hold on to the best of them by likening the heart to a mirror stand, which he persistently and diligently wiped. Evidently he was sincere about it. But the Sixth Patriarch Huineng can be said to have accomplished enlightenment through sincerity. Although he was illiterate, he was able to experience understanding brought by nonaction and through tranquility, grasp the meaning without contemplation, and see the nature and thereby accomplish enlightenment. Such is the greatest realm of brightness, a realm that far surpassed Shenxiu’s realm.53 53 According to Fozu Lidai Tongzai 佛祖歷代通載 [Buddhist Patriarchs of All Generations]

compiled by Monk Nianchang 念常 in the Yuan dynasty, one day the Fifth Patriarch Hongren 弘忍 said to his disciples: “Correct understanding is hard to achieve. You should not make it your task to just memorize my words. Now each of you must improvise a verse. If the idea expressed in a verse shows correct understanding, I will give the robe and the Law to the author of that verse. At that time there were over 700 disciples. Among them Monk Shenxiu was seated in the first position because he, well versed in both inner and outer theories, was highly revered by all other disciples. So, Shenxiu, in answer to the Fifth Patriarch’s request, wrote a verse on the wall of a corridor, which read: “The body is the tree of perfect wisdom,/ The mind is the stand of a bright mirror./ At all times diligently wipe it,/ Do not allow it to become dusty”. The Fifth Patriarch saw the verse and said, “This can also be a way for the future generation to follow to get a good result”. Hearing this, other disciples all began to recite this verse. One night, Huineng heard the verse when working in the mill. “Who wrote that?” he asked. When he learned that the author was Head Monk Shenxiu, he said, “Well, it’s a nice piece, but not a thorough job”. Others all scolded Huineng for being reckless. But Huineng, holding a candle, dictated a verse to a boy and have the boy scribe it beside Shenxiu’s verse. His verse said: “Fundamentally perfect wisdom has no tree./ Nor has the bright mirror any stand./ Buddha-nature is forever clear and pure./ Where is there any dust?” [Translator’s note: Translation taken mutatis mutandis from Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 431–432] This story vividly captures the idea of “pointing directly to the

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The limitation to the enlightenment accomplished through learning lies in the general inability of such enlightenment to go beyond the level of intellectuality. The thoughts of those who receive education are usually confined by what they learn in education. Just as Zhuangzi pointed out, with a person stuck in a corner, one can hardly discuss the Great Way (Zhuangzi, Chapter 17). The Doctrine of the Mean, compared with Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith, is a much earlier text.54 But its spiritual discipline centering on sincerity is almost as advanced. The enlightenment resulting from sincerity, which takes the form of meditation and eidetic understanding, is a convergent process in which the human heart congeals into oneness, a process that resembles the opening of the door to tathata in the heart. The sincerity resulting from enlightenment requires striving in one’s study and earnest practicing what one believes in, which is a process where the human heart diverges outwardly, a process resembling the opening of the door to samsára. Among Chinese philosophical traditions, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all make a point of spiritual cultivation. But there are significant differences among them. Confucianism advocates a dual cultivation of both the internal and external. Daoism, especially the Zhuangzi School, tends to accord more importance to the cultivation of the internal than to that of the external. Buddhism shows even more of such tendency than does Daoism. They tend to abandon external cultivation in favor of the internal and seek to accomplish nirvana through a negation of worldly life. The differences among these traditions concentrate in the pivotal role of sincerity in the human heart. Thinkers of Zisi-Mencius School are masters of the philosophy of the mind. The sentence “sincerity is the Way of Heaven” in their doctrine means to converge the human heart to one point. It means to match Heaven with one’s heaven and, in doing so, open, and light up, the original state of the Principle (aka Heavenly Texture), which is pure and artless. human mind” and “seeing one’s nature and becoming a Buddha” [Translator’s note: Translation adapted from Ibid., p. 428] in Chan Buddhism. 54 Even if Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith was indeed authored by Aśvaghoṣa, it would still be several hundred years later than the Doctrine of the Mean. If its author was Paramatha, then it would be nearly 1,000 years later than the Doctrine of the Mean.

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We must say such is a case of hitting a target without effort, intuiting to the right answer without thinking, and attaining the Way with ease. As a Confucian scholar under heavy Buddhist influence, Li Ao once presented a good depiction of the enlightenment resulting from sincerity. “Constant sincerity”, he said, “leads to emptiness. Constant emptiness leads to enlightenment. Constant enlightenment, in its turn, will light up the entire heaven and earth with nothing left out. Such is the way to exert one’s nature and one’s destined lot to the extreme” (Li Ao, 1936, vol. 2). In fact the mental states that are known in Zhuangzi’s terminology as “the Fasting of the Heart” and “Sitting down and Forgetting Everything” are similar to this, so is “satori” in Buddhism, which we will discuss in more detail in Part Three. But, regarding the human heart, Buddhism and Daoism only value the changes from the Many to the One, from substantiality to emptiness, and from motion to stillness. They despise, or have no use for, the change from the one to the many. Buddhism considers the one as lustration and the many as defilement. They think that to open the door to tathata is to “revert to nothingness” and thereupon see voidness (i.e. the true form of all things as they are) and attain the one (i.e. tathata). To open the door to samsára, from their perspective, would be a case of continuity, in which one begins to have deluded thoughts and discriminations. Their wish is to see people — in their existence — opening nothing but the door to tathata and thereby keeping the door to samsára shut. That is what they call nirvana. Daoism (i.e. Zhuangzi) thinks that the sounds and colors are things that derange the human heart. Their senses of right and wrong are in disorder. What they indulge in is to give a free rein to their mind, hoping that they can spiritually “enter into the realm of vacuous nature which is One”.55 Confucianism as represented by Zisi-Mencius School, in contrast, “seeks to reach the greatest height and brilliancy and follows the path of the Mean” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 110). They pay equal attention to both enlightenment resulting from sincerity and sincerity resulting from enlightenment. Capable of roaming outside the confinement of the human society as they are, they make a particular point of doing one’s utmost inside the said confinement. 55 Translator’s

note: Translation of phrase in the Zhuangzi, Chapter 6 is adopted mutatis mutandis from Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 200.

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There can be two interpretations of “enlightenment resulting from s­ incerity”. One is to accomplish enlightenment by way of education, which is somewhat equivalent to the gradual practice in Buddhism, and which includes learning, inquiring, contemplating, discriminating, and so forth. The other is to choose the best path and follow it faithfully in practice. By that we mean such practical activities in which one — through learning and contemplation — accomplishes enlightenment and then, with persistent effort through to the end, does one’s utmost to practice what one has been enlightened to. The two interpretations are accorded equal importance in Confucianism, which advocates both following the Heavenly Way and giving full play of the human way. Through practicing the Way and establishing doctrines, Confucianism has constructed a system of moral teachings and philosophy of ethics in favor of playing an active role to promote the general well-being in this world. But this does not apply to the Xunzi School. Although Xunzi School also emphasizes the importance of the educational function of rite and music, they consider such cultural institutions as mere results of artificial transformation of the human nature rather than as a natural extension of both the Heavenly Way and human nature.

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It is said in the Doctrine of the Mean: “Given sincerity, there will be enlightenment, and given enlightenment, there will be sincerity” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 107). This is an excellent point. It indicates that the relation between the two ways can, and in fact should, be one of reciprocal causation. To attain the realm of great brightness through sincerity and then, through sincerity, put it in action, such is a case of cultivating the Way, establishing the doctrine, and choosing the best to adhere to. But it must be noted that the “enlightenment” in the phrase “sincerity resulting from enlightenment” is different from that in “enlightenment resulting from sincerity”. The former enlightenment is on a conscious level and attained through education. And, as an enlightenment that comes from education, it is something that can be put in words. The enlightenment in this case precedes sincerity. The latter enlightenment speaks of the lighting up of the deep subconsciousness. Coming from a sudden awakening, it is hard to verbalize. It is an enlightenment that occurs as soon as Nature dawns upon someone, a case where enlightenment comes after sincerity. It is necessary for academia today to make the distinction so as to avoid conceptual confusions.56 Their difference is shown in the illustration above. Once this is clear, we may be able to solve an unsolved problem in scholarship. For thousands of years, scholars have generally believed that to be a person of sincerity is what a Sage does while to be a person who is mindful about how to be sincere is what a worthy man does. These scholars fall short of thinking about the matter based on facts. First, if “sage” were a title for someone who was born to know the Way and who was able to practice it without learning, then even Confucius, who set his mind on learning at the age of 15 and had since studied so hard as to forget about his meals sometimes, would not even dare to claim the title. In fact, those who were upheld as sages were people who functioned as both providers and receivers of education. Second, a sage could not possibly live 56 We

can say that Mencius emphasizes on enlightenment resulting from sincerity, whereas Xunzi stresses sincerity resulting from enlightenment. The former makes a point of proceeding upward from the fundament to the outer level. The latter emphasizes on learning, which speaks of a process in the reverse direction. The former enlightenment comes from sincerity, the latter from education.

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only in his mediations. It is hard to imagine that what a sage did was limited to being enlightened to the Way of Heaven without any need to tread the way of human beings or to prove himself in social life. Among the so-called Five Through Ways 五達道, Three Virtues 三達德, and Nine Longitudes 九經 summarized from the Doctrine of the Mean, none is about anything less than the human way. Third, because there are conflicts of interest in social life, even a sage, as soon as he enters this web of conflicting interests, can do no better than stand firmly within the domain of ethics. The so-called realm of being one with the Heaven and Earth can, in fact, be attained only in an individual’s spiritual life. Confucius could not possibly be an absolute “Heavenly person” 天民, not even during the period when he was Minister of Justice in the State of Lu. Lastly, we must pay attention to the fact that in the Doctrine of the Mean, there are no such superstitious ideas and notions about sages as those typical of later generations. The text admits that sages’ knowledge and capabilities are limited. Therefore, as far as an individual is concerned, a person of sincerity and one who is mindful of how to be sincere can, and in fact should, be one and same person. That way, there would be harmony between the decrease of the Way and the increase of learning (Laozi, see Chan, 1963, p. 162); and there would be mutual supplement between sudden awakening and gradual cultivation. One can thus both reach downward for the fundament through learning and reach upward from the fundament. And one can both acquire knowledge and put it in practice. Such is the actual attainment of a way that combines the way of the internal and that of the external. Based on the above discussion, one may see that although Buddhism and Daoism have their strength in the theorization of reclusiveness, Confucianism demonstrates better capability of comprehensively covering all in Heaven and on Earth. On the one hand, it advocates examining oneself and being sincere (i.e. enlightenment resulting from sincerity and knowing nature, and thereby knowing heaven). On the other hand, it calls for choosing the best and holding fast to it (i.e. sincerity resulting from enlightenment, and following righteousness in one’s behavior with benevolence residing in one’s heart) It pays attention to both and enjoys freedom in both — “I wish to be virtuous [i.e. benevolent[ and lo! virtue [i.e. benevolence] is at hand.” (Confucius, 2014, 7:29). Hence just a

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momentary thought would be sufficient to traverse the domains both within and outside the human society, and thereby find both the freedom in, and a basis for, one’s existence. Relatively speaking, Confucian philosophy is, on the one hand, by no means unsophisticated and, on the other, capable of addressing ordinary issues in daily life. Seeking after harmony between individuality and collectivity, and that between human beings and their natural environment, it is a positive and comparatively perfect philosophy, a philosophy that provides more comprehensive and better guidance for human beings’ social existence. In our contemporary life, there have been several cases where a robber and a hero who saved other people’s lives turn out to be one and the same person. Such cases, from a different aspect, show that sincerity is normally a land monument that demarcates between autonomy and heteronomy. In November 2005, in the District of Haidian, Beijing police detained a man surnamed Li. Before that happened, Li was a criminal who had been on the loose for a few years. In the beginning of 2001, he, together with a criminal surnamed Zhu and another accomplice, sneaked to Xuanhua Railway Station under Beijing Railway Bureau. They committed robbery there and then fled away. After traveling at large around several places, Li eventually landed in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. Towards the end of 2002, he found a job in a local park, where he was in charge of the yachts. One day in December, while he was at work, the ice on the pond suddenly broke. Two children who had been playing on the ice consequently fell through. Joined by two colleagues, he, sparing no effort, bravely saved the children’s life. He was thus cited by his company for his righteous and brave deed. “At that moment”, said he, “I had no time to think of anything. My mind was concentrating on the rescue. I was so happy the kids were rescued, and I thought: ‘Now I finally have a chance to atone for my crime. I can finally have a sound sleep with a clear conscience’”. Li’s father died of an accident at a coal mine when he was 4, which left his mother with no choice but go out to seek employment. He started to live with his maternal grandmother at the age of 12. Later, his mother remarried. His step-father, disliking him, often scolded him and beat him. After graduating from junior high school, he wanted no more of schooling. Here is what he wrote about himself: “I was young and

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ignorant when I entered the society. Very soon I made friends with Zhu and his gang. They took me out to play, shared me their cigarettes, and taught me how to drink, how to interact with them like buddies. At that time I thought they were my family, my friends. I was willing to do anything for them …’”

The two accounts provided by a criminal reveal the fundamental difference between the enlightenment of the nature and the knowledge acquired through learning. The former, radiating from within, is autonomy. The latter, acquired from environmental influences and ideational promulgations, is heteronomy. In Buddhism, this is known as a case where “a butcher becomes a Buddha the very moment when he drops his cleaver”. What one can see in it is the pivotal role that sincerity plays. We can slightly expand the topic and say that a person of sincerity is one that matches Heaven and does what a human being should: upholding zhi, staying with benevolence, and following what is righteous. He who is insincere is at once a person who alienates himself from the Heavenly Way, and one who is despondent and reckless. Oftentimes, to be sincere or not can be decided by a fleeting thought.

4.4. Summary What we have discussed in this chapter is the most important part of the spirit of Chinese philosophy, hence such great length of the chapter. The level of Zhixing bridges Heaven and human beings. Chinese philosophy makes a point of experiencing the Heavenly Way and upholding the human way, which is to be promoted precisely on the basis of this level. Contents on different levels are interrelated. Destiny, nature, and texture tend to lean toward the side of Heavenly Way, whereas zhi, sincerity, and benevolence toward that of the human way. Together, they constitute the noumenon of the human heart and they are modified by the word “one”, as in such sentences as “extreme sincerity results in one-heartedness”, “zhi regardless of its beginning or end will remain as one”, and “a man of benevolence is in one with all creatures”, and so on. Moreover, they form the “self” in the depth of the human heart that underlies spiritual freedom. To set one’s zhi free is something that is up to oneself. A person of

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benevolence would be getting into contact with Heaven. Benevolence should be practiced by oneself (Confucius, 2014, 12:1). This is what premodern thinkers meant by saying that there was a Great Ultimate in everyone’s heart. The Great Ultimate presents itself as Texture, destiny, benevolence, and zhi when it is, respectively, still, dynamic, closed, and open. So its function proceeds on both the side of the Heavenly Way and that of the human way. Sincerity assumes the role of a door on the third level of the human heart. To examine oneself and be sincere is a change from the many to the one. Such oneness in its extreme would match Heaven. In Buddhism, this is known as lustration. To let the sincerity manifest itself in actions and practice would be a change from the one to a highly diversified many, which is referred to as defilement in Buddhism. The process of such activities in the human heart is called one heart opening two doors, based on which a person can come up with appropriate explanations to the differences between the Mind of the Way and Mind of Humankind, between heavenly-endowed nature and temperamental nature, and between the knowledge gained through perceptions and the conscience which the person intuits. The real secret of philosophy of ethics can be found in, first, one’s returning to the depth of the human heart, second, one’s experiencing nature-destiny and nature-texture, and, third, one’s activating one’s zhi and benevolence. Zhi speaks of the strength of Creativity whereas benevolence instantiates the submissiveness of Docility. Based on the upholding of both, a new and up-to-date Confucian ethics will be constructed. The reason why we advocate seeing nature and thereupon establishing virtue lies in our hope to see each and every individual becoming a person who is actuated by high ideals. But no one can take control of one’s own fate, not even a person who is actuated by high ideals. The important things to do in this regard are hence to cultivate ourselves and thereby make us ready for what fate may hold for us, to be content with our lot and philosophical about fate, and, at the same time, to actively reverse heavenly operation and, in so doing, create our own fate. The substance of the heart is neither good nor evil. But the function of the heart operates on the basis of the good–evil distinction. The substance of the heart is Heavenly-endowed nature. It is the Mind of the Way.

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Good and evil constitute a dimension along which people, in their social existence, make value judgments. They are two sides of the same coin. Therefore, there is no hard and fast line that can be drawn between them. There is no such thing as good or evil in the human nature, but there is in the human heart. Only when we pay sufficient attention to the good side of the human heart, are we able to construct a healthy democracy and legal system. From this point onward, we will soon move on to the levels of intellectuality and sensitivity of the human heart.

4.5. Discussion Jung thinks that, in the human mind, there is a collective unconsciousness with archetypes as its content. Among the archetypes, shadow archetype is possibly the largest and most dangerous. It is, moreover, the source of human creativity and destruction. Self-archetype, in contrast, would place importance on unity, organization, and order. It seeks to hold the mind of an individual together as a harmonious whole. What insights can we draw from this theory when we study the various elements on the Zhixing level? As regards the antitheses we discussed before, such as motion and stillness, yin and yang, open and close, do they manifest themselves on the Zhixing level? How is the antithesis of benevolence and zhi related to the eternal themes of peace and development in human history? It is believed in Japanese Shintoism that god features a dual character. At normal times, god’s “peaceful soul” dominates, which is marked by the prevailing of such virtues as peacefulness, benignity, quietness, and temperamental balance. But, at critical times, what dominates is god’s “desolate soul”, which features the rule of violence, valor, striving, and fierceness. These two souls, or rather two aspects of the same soul, seem to reflect the character of Japan as a nation. Do they also mean anything universal to all humankind?

References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Cai Renhou. ‘On Mencius’s Notion of Cultivation’, in Cai Renhou. Mengzi Sixiang Lunji. Taipei: Hsueh-sheng Shu-chu, 1982, pp. 75–80.

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Cai Yuanpei 蔡元培. Cai Yuanpei Wenxuan 蔡元培文選 [Selected Works of Cai Yuanpei]. Tianjin: Baihua Wenyi Chubanshe, 2006. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Waishu 二程外書 [Ana Gleaned from the Cheng Brothers]. In Cheng and Cheng. Er Cheng Yishu Er Cheng Waishu. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1992. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. In James Legge (trans.). Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong. Shanghai: Sanlian, 2014. Dacheng Qixin Lun 大乘起信論 [Awakening in Mahāyāna Faith]. Nanjing: Jinling Kejingchu, 1890. Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoing Wenxuan 鄧小平文選 [Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping]. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 1993. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 97–114. Feng Youlan 馮友蘭. Xin Yuan Dao 新原道 [A New Treatise on the Nature of the Way]. Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 2007. Hawking, S. A Brief History of Time. NY: Bantam Books, 1988. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. Zhi: Zhongguo zhexue de zhongyao fanchou 志: 中國哲學 的重要範疇 [Zhi: An Important Category in Chinese Philosophy]. Zhongguo Zhexue yu Zhexueshi 12 (1996). Hu Jiaxiang. Ren zhi cai shi ziyou 任志才是自由 [Freedom Means ‘Giving Free Rein to Zhi’]. Shehui Kexue 3 (1996). Hu Jiaxiang. Renxin san ti yi 人性三題議 [Three Observations on ‘Human Nature’]. Jiangxi Shehui Kexue 4 (1997). Jin Yuelin 金岳霖. Lun Dao 論道 [The Way Explored]. Beijing: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1987. Liang Qichao 梁啟超. Zhongguo Jin Sanbai Nian Xueshu Shi 中國近三百年學 術史 [History of Chinese Academia in the Past 300 Years]. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2008. Li Ao 李翱. Fu Xing Shu 复性書 [On Regression of Natural Character]. In Li Ao. Li Wengong Ji. Shanghai: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1936, vol. 2. Lingshu Jing 靈樞經 [Miraculous Pivot]. In Huangdi Neijing 黃帝內經 [Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine]. Beijing: Renmin Weisheng Chubanshe, 1963.

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Liji 禮記 [The Book of Rite]. Translated (partly) by Sun Dayu 孫大雨. Accessed May 29, 2013. http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6f58baf00100qkdt.html. Marx, K. Complete Works of Marx and Engles. Translated [into Chinese] by Renmin Chubanshe 人民出版社. Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 1972. Mencius 孟子. Mengzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Partially translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. Nāgārjuna. Zhonglun 中論 [Middle Doctrine]. In Zhonglun Bailun Shiermen Lun. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2011. Nianchang 念常. Fozu Lidai Tongzai 佛祖歷代通載 [Buddhist Patriarchs of All Generations]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji Chubanshe, 2015. Shangshu. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1998. Sima Qian 司馬遷. Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962. Wang Chong 王充. Lun Heng 論衡 [Balanced Inquiries]. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1974. Wang Fuzhi. Du Sishu Daquan Shuo 讀四書大全說 [Discussion after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1975. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Si Wen Lu 思問錄 [Records of Thoughts and Inquiries]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1979. Wang Fuzhi. Zhangzi Zhengmeng Zhu [Commentary on Zhangzi’s Correcting Youthful Ignorance]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1978. Wang Fuzhi. Zhouyi Waizhuan. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Wang Shouren 王守仁. Chuan Xi Lu 傳習錄 [Instructions for Practical Living]. Shanghai: Shangwu, 1927. Weber, M. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons. London & New York: Routledge, 2001. Xing zi ming chu 性自命出 [Nature rooted in destiny]. In Guodian Chumu Zhujiani 郭店楚簡 [Guodian Chu Slips]. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 1998. Xu Shen 許慎. Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 [Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963. Xuanzang 玄奘. Cheng Weishi Lun 成唯識論 [Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only]. Taiwan: Foguangshan Zongwu Weiyuanhui, 1997. Xunzi. Xunzi 荀子. Partially translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 115–135. Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue ­chubanshe, 1982.

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Zhang Zai 張載. Xi Ming 西銘 [Western Inscription]. In Wing-tsit Chan (trans.). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 497–500. Zhang Zai. Zhengmeng 正蒙 [Correcting Youthful Ignorance]. Partly translated in Wing-tsit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 500–514. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi]. Shanghai: Guangya Shuju, 1900. Zhu Xi. Lunyu Jizhu 論語集注 [Variorum of the Analects]. Beijing: Guojia Tushuguan Chubanshe, 2016. Zhu Xi. Mengzi Jizhu 孟子集注 [Variorum of the Mencius]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Chubanshe, 2013.

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b2530   International Strategic Relations and China’s National Security: World at the Crossroads

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Chapter 5

The Level of Intellectuality

In this chapter, we discuss the level of intellectuality, of which people are easily aware. We must point out that this level has been examined with great precision in the Western philosophy. But traditional Chinese philosophy in this regard has its own merits, which makes possible the mutual complementation between the two philosophies. Western ­philosophy pays particular attention to the distinction between the true and the false. Chinese philosophy emphasizes the differentiation between the good and the evil. In the area of ethics they differ in that whereas Western categories come either from God’s instruction or from the stipulations in contracts, Chinese ones are ascribed to the heart. There are many categories in the level of intellectuality. In the area of ethics, we select the following four: Qi, righteousness, rite, and wisdom. In traditional Chinese philosophy, benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom are known as the four virtues, about which there have been numerous explications. We have discussed benevolence as a category on the level of Zhixing. Other frequently used categories include faithfulness, conscientiousness, altruism, and reverence. But, as we discussed in Chapter 4, they have an adjective quality. Here we have added a category of Qi. Although this category does not belong to the level of intellectuality alone, it is on this level that the category is particularly salient. Besides, its quality and traits correspond to the category of wisdom.

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5.1. Qi and Righteousness We actually could pair up Qi and wisdom in our discussion, because with both being physiologically based, they belong to what Zhang Zai called the nature of temperament 氣質之性 and they, to certain extent, link all the three levels of the heart in the respective capacities of an element of impetus and an element of form. But, our discussion on the level of intellectuality will address the topic from a different viewpoint. It will start from its aspect of virility, followed by its aspect of compliance, and conclude with an examination on the integration of the two aspects. 5.1.1.  The Meaning and Function of Qi Earlier, we have discussed Qi as both an impetus and material for heaven, earth, and all things and creatures in between. This Qi, which we might as well refer to as the Qi of heaven and earth, is a material element that is extremely tiny and most fluid. In the following, we are going to discuss the Qi of the human body and heart, which includes our physiological Qi and psychological Qi. Whereas the latter must be a spiritual element, the former serves as an intermediary link in the transformation of Qi from a material element to a spiritual element. This link has remained a mystery that would call for an interdisciplinary approach among biology, physiology, and psychology. This is because the physiological Qi is itself twofold. On the one hand, it endows human beings with their physical form, a form based on which human beings are constantly engaged in the exchanges of material and energy with the heaven and earth. Since human beings are living creatures, there needs to be a study of them from a biological angle. On the other hand, this Qi functions as an impetus for human beings’ psychological activities. Human beings rely on the operation of Qi for their sensory perceptions, logical thinking, and deep-level activities of their free will. Physiological Qi and psychological Qi, as a matter of fact, are often hardly distinguishable. A remark by Cao Gui 曹劌 (fl. 684–681 BC) regarding a battle in the 10th year of Duke Zhuang of Lu (i.e. 684 BC) recorded in the Commentary of Zuo is very reasonable. The validity of his remark has been attested in numerous facts. “Speaking of warfare”, he said, “it is all a matter of [soldiers’] militant Qi. This Qi will be aroused

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by the first roll of drums; but it will dwindle at the second roll and exhaust at the third”. In order to gain insight into the source and the attenuation of this militant Qi or courage, dual attention must be paid to the factors of both physiological energy and spirituality. For this reason, much as our discussion is focused on the psychological Qi, we cannot afford to ignore the level of physiology. The physiological Qi, which is linked to the Qi of heaven and earth, can be classified into masculine 陽剛 and feminine 陰柔 kinds. Generally speaking, males tend to be masculine whereas females feminine. The hearts with extroversive and radiational tendencies are masculine whereas those that tend to be introversive and convergent are feminine. With regard to masculinity and femininity, value judgment is no more relevant to them than it is to Creativity and Docility. But, because moral practices are activities that are primarily extroversive and radiational in nature, what the practices require the most is the masculine Qi. Physiological Qi can be classified into pure and turbid kinds. It is believed in early cosmology that heaven was formed by the light and pure Qi that had floated up whereas earth by the heavy and turbid Qi that had sunk down. The light and pure Qi was transparent whereas the heavy and turbid Qi was obscure. As far as the human heart is concerned, the pure Qi is bright and hence capable of a comprehensive reflection of all things, but the turbid kind — due to its darkness — is incapable of penetrating things’ appearance to give insight into their fundamental nature. It is, therefore, not hard to understand why the pure and turbid kinds of Qi are normally judged in value terms. This is particularly true where human wisdom is concerned, for people generally praise the pure kind but denounce the turbid kind.1 From the analysis above, we can logically infer two positively valued combinations, one is tough and pure, the other soft and pure. There is, of course, yet another ideal combination, which is pure and, at the same time, marked by a harmonious integration of toughness and softness. But for the sake of clarity in argument, let us leave this kind aside for the moment. In the domain of ethics, those who are tough and pure are persons of ideals

1 Qi

and wisdom, if presented in a planar illustration, are located on the two sides. But the human spiritual system is, after all, a tridimensional structure, in which all elements influence one another.

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and integrity, and those who are soft and pure are mostly persons of benevolence. It is hence clear that neither kind of persons lacks wisdom. When extending our scope of investigation to the entire human heart, we may find that those who prioritize virtue require the tough and pure kind of Qi in their pursuit of self-realization through their moral practices, and those who make a point of Constant Inquiry and Study 道問學 may need to foster their soft and pure Qi from time to time so as to follow the way the objective world is, and to gain knowledge by getting in touch with the Object. Those who indulge in meditation and experiencing of the Way also belong to this latter kind. We can now compare between Mencius’s theory of fostering Qi and Zhuangzi’s, both of which were formulated as early as the pre-Qin period. Different as they are in objective, methodology, and rationale, both are grounded upon lived experience of human life and profound cognitive experience in the heart. They are not empty words. They both exerted important influence over later generations. Mencius (2A:2) explicitly advocated the theory of cultivating Qi. His disciple Gongsun Chou once asked him, “May I presume to inquire in what you, sir, is strong?” “I know words”, said Mencius, “and I am good at cultivating my magnificent Qi”. “What is magnificent Qi?” Gongsun Chou asked again. Mencius’s reply was, “It is hard to characterize. It is an extremely great and extremely strong kind of Qi. Cultivated with uprightness without suffering and injury, this Qi will fill up Heaven and Earth. As Qi, it should be accompanied by righteousness and the Way. Without them, it will be ill-fed. It is something generated as a result of the accumulation of righteousness, but not obtained through any particular righteous deed conducted on impulse”. There are a few things in Mencius’s words that are worthy of our attention. First, from the pride that Mencius took on his strength in cultivating the magnificent Qi, we can tell that it must have been an unusual kind of cultivation. Second, that this Qi was hard to characterize with words must have been a plain truth. This is not just because the cultivation is something that one experiences in the heart and hence hard to describe. It is, moreover, also due to the fact that during the cultivation, the spirit of the Subject transcends language and enters into the realm between Heaven and human beings. Third, Mencius nevertheless did what he could to explain this Qi to his

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disciple, pointing out some of its basic characteristics. For instance, it is an existence extremely tough and extremely great — so great that it is capable of embracing Heaven and Earth. It is to be cultivated with uprightness without any injury and without any attempt to force it through the imposition of any artificial control on the heart. And the cultivation requires the presence of righteousness and the Way to ensure the toughness and magnificence of this Qi. As no less a master of the philosophy of the heart, Zhuangzi also pays close attention to the cultivation of Qi and aspires to reach the realm between Heaven and human beings. In his opinion, however, there is no need to accompany Qi with righteousness and the Way (which is the Way of human beings). For him, the key lies in the practice of fasting as a means to tranquilize the heart. As he wrote in Chapter 19 of the Zhuangzi, human spirit should “stay within [an appropriate] limit without exceeding it, remain concealed in the cycle of changes, roam at the place of the beginning and end of all things, unify its nature, cultivate its Qi, integrate its virtues, and penetrate to that which had generated all things and beings”. Qing, a carpenter that Zhuangzi describes in this same chapter of his book, was exceedingly good at carving wood bells. The marquis of the state of Lu asked in admiration how he could accomplish this. Its secret, as Qing explained, was that he, rather than dare to waste his Qi, fasted to tranquilize his heart so that he could gradually forget the prospect of congratulations and rewards, the possible criticism or praise of his work, and even his own body and limbs. Then and only then, he went to the forest in the mountains to examine the Heavenly-endowed nature of trees. Now, with his own Heavenly-endowed nature — which had undergone refinement in the fasting — matching the Heavenly-endowed nature of the wood, the wood succumbed itself to an ideal shape of a bell wherever his hands and tools reached. The cultivation of Qi in this sense, therefore, requires the introversion of one’s spirit to unify — rather than restrict — the heart, which is a process similar to the “fasting of heart” in Chapter 4 and the “remaining seated while forgetting everything” in Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi. They all refer to a state of cognitively experiencing the Way and thereby being one with Heaven. A comparison between the two thinkers leads us to conclude that, by roaming outside the human world, Zhuangzi places great importance on

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the heart’s observation of the fundamental root of the world, hence the introversive and convergent tendency of his cultivation of Qi and the “pureness” of his Qi. But Mencius, in addition to sharing Zhuangzi’s emphasis, also accords great importance to human beings’ self-realization in social life, hence the extroversive and radiational tendency of his cultivation of Qi and the “toughness” of his Qi. Both thinkers’ Qi involves strength. But the strength of Qi is highlighted more in the theory that emphasizes practice. Masculinity, therefore, does not belong to the one who is engaged in nothing but quiet observation. Because of its primary tendency of extroversion, Mencius’s thought is like a mountain with its Qi of masculinity permeating everywhere. And, due to its primary tendency of introversion, Zhuangzi’s thought, by contrast, is like water with its Qi of femininity flowing beneath a surface.2 Mencius’s theory on the ­cultivation of Qi is related to his “upholding of zhi” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 182), whereas Zhuangzi’s theory in this regard is in line with his notion of “using the light”. Zhi and light (i.e. sagacity) constitute precisely what Liu Zongyuan, in his cognitive experience, found to be “heavenly honors”. Each of the two theories has its own merit. But here, we are not suggesting that the magnificent Qi Mencius cultivated need not be pure and illuminant. In fact, its capability of illuminating and embracing all things is implied in Mencius’s observation on its capability of filling up Heaven and Earth. Because moral activities are necessarily praxes, the influence of Mencius’s theory has been farther reaching in history than Zhuangzi’s. The advocation of the theory was resumed in pre-modern China during the mid-Tang era by Han Yu. He resorted to the theory in order to restore the lost orthodox Confucian heritage, honor the glory of the indigenous culture, and boost the national morale that suffered a slump in the wake of a political chaos. In his In Reply to Li Yi 答李翊書, Han Yu wrote, “Qi is 2 As

we discussed before (i.e. Section 2.1.2 of Chapter 2), the properties of yin and yang are defined in comparison with each other. Although Zhuangzi did not compromise with the serious alienation in reality, he made no attempt to resist it, either. His was an attitude of acquiescence, and what he was after was a carefree spiritual journey in which he could shun away from reality. His personality, when compared with Mencius’s, is therefore on the feminine side.

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to words what water is to things floating on its surface. A large body of water can hold up all things, be they big or small. Likewise, so long as one’s Qi is strong, all the words that one uses in one’s discourse will be appropriate, be they long or short, harsh or soft”. Despite his status as the most acclaimed literary figure in his generation, Han Yu prioritized virtue over literature. For him, literature should be a medium through which human beings transmit the Way. Moreover, because the Way is lofty, the Qi that is cultivated through the practice of the Way would be marked by a deep and immense source as well as a strong power. When such Qi manifests itself in one’s words, the words will naturally form an eloquent discourse. How, then, can we make our Qi strong? The experience that Han Yu shared is: Read nothing but texts of early antiquity as well as the Former and Latter Han dynasties; foster nothing but the Zhi particular to a Sage; tread on the path of benevolence and righteousness, roam at the source of ancient civilization; and follow the example of Mencius by either applying the Way to the human society if put into office or imparting the Way to one’s disciples if not. In sum, from an anthropological perspective, the Qi can be cultivated and accumulated. The Qi of the Subject is a carrier of a force constantly in operation to work its way from the physiological level to a spiritual realm. It is an indispensable element in one’s moral practice and even in one’s effort to experience the Way with one’s tranquilized heart. What Mencius refers to as the magnificent Qi is roughly equivalent to what is understood today as a resolute, all-embracing, and clear state of mind that results from a unity between one’s vitality and willpower on the one hand, and one’s imagination and thoughts on the other. This Qi, physiologically originated as it is, is imbued with human beings’ thoughts and notions. Moreover, it is in pursuit of such a self-realization in social life as to be a person of indomitable spirit. Closely related to the category of Qi are Zhi and righteousness. “Mencius”, as the Cheng brothers point out, “has made innumerable contributions to Confucianism. What Confucius talked about was just the notion of ‘benevolence’, but Mencius uttered ‘benevolence and righteousness’ as soon as he opened his mouth. Where Confucius spoke of ‘Zhi’ alone, Mencius came up with an elaborated theory on the ‘cultivation of

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Qi’, which alone would be meritorious enough to deserve a lot of credits”.3 Because Mencius upholds Zhi and actively pursues self-realization, he emphasizes both righteousness and Qi. According to Mencius’s thought, Zhi is a basis for moral legislation. Its reification in social life requires a notion that is more concrete in content (i.e. righteousness) and a frame of mind that is all-embracing and extremely resolute (i.e. Qi). As we can clearly see now, self-realization is a process that requires the presence of Zhi, Qi, and righteousness. The three of them synthesize into an extroversive power to which nothing can be an obstacle. And the three of them, with Zhi functioning as the leader, can form a powerful will of morality,4 which embodies the freedom of the heart and the independence of personality. Accompanying such a will of morality would be the integrity, and the lofty and unyielding character that people often speak highly of. Given its importance, however, Qi should be put in the retinue of Zhi. To put it in an imperfect analogy, Zhi is to Qi what a commander is to his army. “Zhi”, says Mencius (2A:2), “is a commander of Qi. And Qi is that which permeates the body. Zhi is of primary importance whereas Qi comes the second. Therefore it has been said that one should hold fast to one’s Zhi without abusing one’s Qi”. In this regard, the relationship between Qi and righteousness is different in that these two are of equal status. The reason the magnificent Qi transcends the physiological level is because it is filled with the idea regarding what things ought to be, by that we refer to righteousness. Without such an idea, Qi would become less firm and hence appear to be ill-fed. Mencius’s innovative theory, formulated in accordance with nature-texture 性理, truly distinguishes itself in Confucian philosophy. Such words and terms widely used in later times 3 Quoted

from “Mengzi xu shuo 孟子序說 [Preface to Mencius]” in Zhu Xi’s Sishu Zhangju Jizhu 四書章句集注 [Collected Annotations to the Four Books]. See also Vol. 18 of Er Cheng Yi Shu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. In this text, there could be textual errors and words missing. 4 Kant’s critical philosophy has revealed the corresponding relationships between cultural domain and the capability of the human heart, where science is based on reason, morality on will, and art on emotion. Relative to Western philosophy, Chinese philosophy features a much more precise and detailed grasp of moral will or free will, which is conceptualized as a composite of three elements — Zhi+righteousness+Qi.

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as the “Zhiqi” 志氣 (“ambition”, “aspiration”; literally “the Qi of Zhi”) and “Yiqi” 義氣 (“loyalty [to one’s friends]”; literally “the Qi of righteousness”) can probably all be traced back to Mencius’s philosophy. Because of Qi’s submissive position to Zhi, and the need of righteousness and the Way in the cultivation of it, we have reason to ascribe it to the level of Zhixing. And because its connection with Zhi and righteousness, it represents human dignity, hence the phrase 正氣凜然 zhengqi linran (“with dignity and honor”) in the Chinese language. It is said that once a guest asked Buddhist Master Hongyi 弘一 (1880–1942), “What do human beings live for?” “For breathing”. answered the Master briefly. The guest, considering himself enlightened, said in agreement, “Indeed, the heart would stop beating if we did not breathe, which would mean the end of our life”. But, to his surprise, what the Master explained to him was another sense of breathing. “As regards breathing out and breathing in, although they are related, each constitutes only half of our breath. To exhale is to give vent to our Qi and to inhale is to struggle for a share of Qi. Between the exhaling and inhaling, and between the venting and struggling lies human dignity as well as a certain realm of human life!” There is a common saying in China that “a human being lives for a mouthful Qi”. Master Hongyi offered his profound philosophical insights into this saying. As a power of human will, the Qi on the level of intellectuality can be ascribed to human beings’ nature of temperament 氣質之性, which is different from what Zhuangzi, in his explication of the “Fasting of the Heart”, refers to as the vital Qi that connects to Heaven and Earth. This Qi exhibits a distinctive trait of its own. Generally speaking, those who are endowed with masculine Qi in their temperament (i.e. radicalists 狂者) tend to emphasize righteousness. They prefer straightforward ways and show hardly any patience with elaborated formalities. Those who are endowed with feminine Qi in their temperament (i.e. people obsessive about moral correctness 狷者), in contrast, exhibit much capacity of ­tolerance but tend to be rather hesitant at moments that call for their ­resolution and judgments. Although, insofar as they are merely different temperaments, there can be no value judgment made about them, each of them will inevitably show its advantage and disadvantage when it comes to specific situations and occasions.

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The state of Qi is directly related to the emotional fluctuations on the level of sensitivity. Happiness features smooth Qi, anger strong Qi, grief convergent Qi, and joy straight Qi. 5.1.2.  The Meaning and Function of Righteousness In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters compiled by Xu Shen, the character 義 yi (“righteous”, “righteousness”) is glossed as “one’s own dignified bearing. [It is] derived from 我 wo [“I”, “me”, “oneself”] and 羊 yang [“sheep”, “goat”]”. According to Xu Xuan’s commentary, the character is synonymous to “good”, hence is derived from 羊. In ancient times, the character 義 was semantically related to 儀 yi (“ceremony”, “decorum”) and 誼 yi (“duties”, obligations, and “feelings arising out of certain social relations”). The former indicates an august manner and the latter a principle that ought to be followed. Mencius (2A:6) considers the feeling of commiseration and that of shame and dislike as the beginnings of benevolence and righteousness, respectively. Zhou Dunyi calls love benevolence and appropriateness as righteousness. They are both correct, but they differ in perspectives. Whereas the former proceeds mainly from the perspective of self-cultivation, the latter mainly from that of the manner in which one conducts oneself in social relations. In the Analects, the “righteousness” that Confucius speaks of, in most cases, means the principle that ought to be followed as a matter, of course. For instance, it is said in Analects 2:24 that “it would be flattery to offer sacrifice to a wrong spirit. It would be a case of lacking courage not to do what one sees as righteous”. This is because former would be a case of doing what is unnecessary or even inappropriate; the latter a case in which one does not do or dares not do what one should, and wan to, do.5 In Analects 4:10, Confucius (2014) says, “A superior man

5 In

Confucius’s judgment, all people should do what they see as righteous. For those who do not, what they lack — in most cases — is not as much the required intention as the required courage. This view speaks of Confucius’s awareness of the aspect of apriority in morality, which is further developed in Mencius’s thoughts.

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[i.e. man of virtue], in the world, does not set his mind either for ­anything, or against anything; what is right he will follow.” What this requires is flexibility and adaptability on the one hand and the adherence to moral principles on the other. It was Mozi who first emphasized righteousness. The righteousness in his philosophy leads to the metaphysical “Heavenly Will” on the one hand and, on the other hand, restricts and conditions the immetaphysical benefit. Relatively speaking, Mencius’s argument is based more on an individual human being’s cultivation of character. Given his argument that “benevolence is human heart and righteousness is human kind’s path” (Mencius, 6A:11), and despite his awareness that righteousness — as an outward extension of the Subject’s inherent virtue of benevolence — constitutes a principle to follow in social relations, he does not share the opinion of Gaozi — his opponent in debate — that benevolence is internal whereas righteousness external. This is because he regards both benevolence and righteousness as virtues inside the human heart. In other words, he thinks that, although righteousness manifests itself in social interactions, it is rooted in the human heart rather than drilled into us from the outside. There are 108 occurrences of the character 義 in the Mencius. They are mostly used to refer to humankind’s intrinsic virtue, hence the frequent occurrences of the juxtaposition of benevolence and righteousness. When asked whether the expedition of King Wu of Zhou against King Zhou of Shang in the early antiquity had been an act of murdering one’s sovereign, Mencius replied, “He who injures humanity [i.e. benevolence] is a bandit. He who injures righteousness is a destructive person. Such a person is a mere fellow. I have heard of killing a mere fellow Chou [i.e. Zhou], but I have not heard of murdering (him as) the ruler” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 62). A ruler who abandons benevolence and righteousness should be called a bandit, who is nothing but a lone person. Mencius, moreover, regards righteousness as a virtue in which the value of human life lies, and considers it more important than life. “Fish”, as he argues in an analogy, “is what I want. Bear’s paw is also what I want. If I can only have either of them, I will abandon the fish for the bear’s paw. Life is what I want and righteousness is also what I want. If I can only have either,

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I will abandon life for righteousness” (Mencius, 6A:10). By elevating righteousness to the same status as benevolence, Mencius highlights the firm and vigorous aspect of the philosophy of ethics, which is aligned with the advocation of Zhi and the cultivation of Qi in his thought. Its idea is to actively pursue self-realization in social life. Dong Zhongshu, in Chapter 29 of his Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, offers a unique view in this regard, which opens a new path in the explication of benevolence and righteousness. In his judgment, what the Spring and Autumn Annals had been intended was nothing more than regulating others and oneself. The idea of regulating others is to use benevolence as a means to settle others in peace; and that of regulating the self is to use righteousness as a means to ensure the uprightness of oneself. “Therefore, benevolence is as relevant to others as righteousness is to oneself”. It would be against reason to use benevolence to benefit oneself and to use righteousness to regulate others. Obviously, 仁 ren, the character for “benevolence”, is derived from 人 ren (“human beings”) and 二 er (“two”) and that for “righteousness”, 義, from 我 (“self”) and 羊 (“sheep”, “goat”). It can thus be said that “the way of benevolence consists in one’s love for others, not in one’s love for oneself; and the way of righteousness consists in one’s [effort to] ensure the uprightness of oneself, not in one’s [action of] ensuring the uprightness of others”. Examples in history can be found in both the punitive expedition of King Ling of Chu (r. 540–529 BC) against the treacherous states of Chen and Cai, and the execution of Yuan Taotu 袁濤塗 caused by Duke Huan of Qi (716–643 BC). It was not the case that the expedition or the execution did not rectify the wrongs of anybody. But, because neither the king nor the duke was rightful himself, their actions are not characterized as “righteous” in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Such a way to look at righteousness seems to be subversive to both Gaozi’s theory regarding the internality of benevolences vs. the externality of righteousness, and Mencius’s view of benevolence and righteousness as, respectively, the peaceful home of the heart and the right path human beings should follow in social life. We will discuss the relationship between benevolence and righteousness later. Insofar as the meaning of righteousness is concerned, Dong Zhongshu’s view stands to reason. His is an interpretation of righteousness that

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combines its senses of both dignity and appropriateness. Righteousness, as he points out, is that which is appropriate to oneself. So long as one establishes oneself upon all things justifiable by reason, one can, without doubt, always remain righteous.6 A search for the occurrences of the character 義 in ancient texts yields a discovery of its numerous senses. We might as well, from a philosophical viewpoint, sort out some of them with a view to identifying their internal relations. The first sense of it is appropriateness. In the chapter of “Admonishment to Prince Kang” of the Shang Shu, Duke of Zhou admonishes his nephew Feng, telling Feng that a ruler should “apply appropriate [i.e. 義] codes of law in punishments and death penalty rather than adapt the codes to his own will”. In “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” in the Book of Changes, it is stated that Qian (i.e. Creativity) “is advantageous enough to harmonize all that is appropriate [i.e. 義]”. Extended from this sense, the word can refer to appropriate reasons. In his “Memorial regarding the Northern Campaign” 出師表, Zhuge Liang advised his ruler not to “use analogies so much as to lose sight of the proper reason [i.e. 義]”. Extended further from there, it can refer to justice, meaning the just reason or principle to the advantage of the general populace. For instance, it is declared in Chapter 50 of the Mozi that “it has always been my principle [i.e. 義] not to kill people”. Its sense of justice is linked to the sense of dignified bearing because, due to the tremendous power of morality it contains, righteousness normally takes on a majestic and heroic form.7 As Zhu Xi observes in his commentary on Mencius 1B:15, “It is a righteous [i.e. 義] deed to hold fast to uprightness [and, in doing so,] wait for one’s death”. In this sense, as we can see, Dong Zhongshu is right in interpreting “righteousness” as “one’s [effort to] 6 Because

of the high prestige that Dong Zhongshu enjoyed in the academic circle in the Han dynasty, Xu Shen, in his Shuowen Jiezi, heavily drew upon Dong’s thoughts, which is exemplified in the glosses of the character 性 xing (“nature”, “disposition”, “temperament”) and 情 qing (“emotion”, “feeling”). Therefore, we have a reason to suspect that Xu Shen’s interpretation of “righteousness” in terms of “one’s own dignified bearing” was under the influence of this passage from Dong Zhongshu. 7 Kant relates loftiness to the force of morality. See the chapter of “Analytic of the Sublime” in his Critique of Judgment.

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ensure the uprightness of the self”. But to hold fast to justice means not only holding it in the heart but also an intention to put it into action. Therefore, Mencius is also correct in considering righteousness as a right path to follow in social life. Based on the discussion above, it can be summarized briefly that a righteous deed is one in which a person holds fast to the moral principle in his or her heart and, in accordance with what stands to reason, follows a straight path without bringing shame to himself or herself. And a righteous consciousness is at once a manifestation of one’s inherent virtue on the level of intellectuality and the convergence of the collectively shared social values in a given society. Differently put, righteousness is primarily humankind’s inherent virtue and secondarily one’s value orientation under a specific circumstance. One will have shame and self-despise if one does not adhere to the upright path and thereby follow this path in one’s conduct. We can also put it reversely: One’s experienced feeling of shame and self-despise evidences one’s natural and heartfelt need for righteousness (i.e. moral principle). Thus, as we can see, righteousness primarily functions to ensure the uprightness of oneself. Proceeding from there, one can make sober and resolute judgment on the specific circumstances in which one fines oneself, and then choose a path of action that one deems right and appropriate. If the choice of practicing benevolence is up to oneself, so is the choice of practicing righteousness. In this regard, Zhu Xi has come up with a vivid description of the role played by righteousness. “The word ‘righteousness’”, says Zhu Xi, “is like a sword, which cuts into halves everything that one encounters” (Zhu Xi, 1782, Vol. 48). The so-called sword stands for the moral principle in people’s heart. And by the metaphor of cutting, Zhu Xi means the distinction one draws between the good and the evil, along with one’s decision to abandon the evil while promoting the good. All this speaks of the role of dominance and guidance that Zhi plays in relation to righteousness, which provides a person with the resolution (as a manifestation of righteousness) to shoulder his or her responsibilities for the sake of his or her ideal (i.e. Zhi). Such effort one makes to ensure one’s own uprightness also dignifies one’s life and fills one with the sky-high feeling of righteousness. Such a

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person in the human society is a superior person and great person because of the right position he or she occupies as well as the straight and through path he or she follows. Such a person would look at things in reality the way an elephant gazes down upon other animals. People of courage and righteousness, with the magnificent Qi in their heart, would dare go through all dangers and severe tests. Once in a situation that requires their abandonment of their life for righteousness, they would step toward their ultimate destiny with dignity. It is hence said in the Mencius (3B:1) that “a man of Zhi would never forget [the possibility that his dead body may one day be left in] a ditch or a gully, nor would a man of courage ever forget [the possibility of his] losing his head”. As regards those who, based on certain moral principles, leave their own life and death out of consideration, they would naturally be loyal and faithful to the people whom they regard as their friends. That is why righteousness is also closely related to sincerity. What those chivalrous swordsmen of all times and all over the world shared in common is their heroism as well as the priority they accorded to friendly sentiments and faithfulness over their own life, which is exemplified in Jing Ke’s 荊軻 attempted assassination of the King of Qin. Jing Ke was originally a man in the State of Wei, who always took great delight in reading and fencing. By the time he went to the state of Yan, Prince Dan of that state — out of his fear of the state of Qin — had been planning to have the king of Qin assassinated. Dan originally wanted to entrust the task to a warrior named Tian Guang 田光. However, since Tian Guang was too old for the task, he recommended Jing Ke to the prince. Considering the high degree of confidentiality of this plan, Tian Guang, upon hearing Jing Ke’s promise to complete the task, committed suicide so as to, firstly, confirm to Jing Ke that he would never reveal the plan and, secondly, kindle Jing Ke’s heroic feelings. So Jing Ke went to see Prince Dan and confirmed to the prince his promise to Tiang Guang. Dan, thereupon, conferred high ranking official position on Jing Ke along with abundant awards of luxurious subsistence and beautiful women in order to please him. When the inter-state situation became too severe for the State of Yan to delay the plan any further, Jing Ke, for the purpose of winning the trust of the king of Qin, not only took with him

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the map of a very fertile land in the state of Yan but also successfully persuaded General Fan Wuji 樊於期 — whose death the king of Qin wished for — to give him his head. The day when he set out, a famous musician played music for him, to which Jing Ke sang, “the wind is soughing and sighing, the river is cold. On his way out is a hero, whose return no one will behold”. Everyone present was moved by this solemn and sad scene. Although Jing Ke eventually failed, he can nonetheless be called a lone-fighter type of hero. In addition, Tian Guang and Fan Wuji in this event can also be called men of righteousness.

But one cannot consider these heroes and men of righteousness enlightened to the Way of Heaven. What they did was merely treading the Way of human beings with resolution and courage. The sincerity they showed was primarily a product of their training and education. In other words, the illumination they had in their heart resulted from training and education, not from the enlightenment to their inborn nature. There is always the risk of their being taken advantage of and being manipulated by others, which notwithstanding is a favor they — on their part — are willing to do for others rather than something forced upon them. Those who follow the code of brotherhood in society are often blinded by certain ideas (e.g. some codes of conduct in a given trade that are temporally and spatially specific). Thus, as we can see, righteousness cannot be entirely ascribed to the human nature. It is, to a certain extent, something acquired, something drilled into human beings. The sense of shame and guilt, as the beginning of righteousness, is categorically different from compassion. Whereas compassion is directly generated from the heart in a given situation, the sense of shame and guilt comes from one’s awareness of one’s failure to act the way a human being should (i.e. Zhi) in a given situation. It is hence a kind of reaction. It should also be noted that although righteousness and courage are closely connected, their connection is not of necessity. This is because courage normally comes along with Qi whereas righteousness often manifests itself as a notion or idea. “The superior man [i.e. man of virtue],” as Confucius (2014, 17:23) once told his disciple, “holds righteousness to be of highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valour ­without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordination; one of the lower people, having valour without righteousness, will commit robbery.” ­

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Righteousness should serve as a moral principle or a standard for virtue. For those who lose sight of its status as such a principle or standard, their courage, in the form of an extroversive force, would be like a ship that loses its direction and hence dashes aimlessly here and there. The courage based on righteousness can be called valor, which is opposed to cowardice on the one hand and imprudence on the other. And, to put it conversely, the righteousness without courage would result in cowardice; and the courage without righteousness would lapse into imprudence. To sum up, as a category in the level of intellectuality, righteousness is the extrinsic norm for human thoughts or conducts that is generally recognized as ethical in a given society. It is a notion that can be articulated, a tendency of the human heart that tends to be extroversive and seeks self-realization, and a principled judgment made by the Subject in response to various situations. Intrinsically, it is a self-regulative will formed on the basis of Zhi and benevolence, integrated with Qi, and manifested in a moralistic Subject’s endeavor to dominate, rather than succumb to, reality. Because it resides in the level of intellectuality, there are inevitable limitations to some of its notions. Contradictions often occur among the notions of righteousness in different times, regions, social statuses, and communities. Righteousness plays a guiding role to the psychological elements in the level of sensitivity. It is a principle which one can go by in handling a given situation. Righteousness contradicts both benefit and desire. In fact theirs is a relation characterized by both opposition and unity, hence the distinction drawn between righteousness and benefit in Chinese philosophical discourses, which will be discussed later. 5.1.3.  Relationship Between Zhi and Qi and That Between Benevolence and Righteousness The relationship between Zhi and Qi is, simply put, one between the inside and the outside; so is the relationship between benevolence and righteousness. Zhi and benevolence are both in the depth of the human heart. Qi and righteousness are, relatively speaking, both in the surface layer. Those in the depth are capable of manifesting themselves in the surface layer and playing a leading role there.

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Mencius’s theory on the cultivation of Qi was in fact formulated as his response to Gaozi’s view in this regard. Gaozi talked about the undisturbed heart earlier than did Mencius. But what he talked about was not a natural state of the heart but something marked by much artificiality. For Gaozi, “[w]hat is not attained in words is not to be sought in the mind, and what is not attained in the mind is not to be sought in the vital force [i.e. Qi]” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 62). The first part of this passage, in Mencius’s judgment, is absolutely wrong, for it both misses the point about the external and does disservice to the internal. The second part is tantamount to arguing that when the heart is disturbed, one should do all one can to put it under control without expecting it to be of help to Qi. Barely acceptable as the argument may be, it falls short of attaining a thorough understanding of the nature-texture, because, as a matter of fact, the cultivation of Qi would be of help to the cultivation of the undisturbed heart. Zhi is to Qi what a commander is to soldiers. Therefore, an undisturbed heart is one that holds fast to its Zhi without abusing its Qi, hence Mencius’s theorization on the cultivation of the magnificent Qi. Then how is the effort to hold fast to Zhi related to the step of accompanying the cultivation of Qi with righteousness and the Way? Based on our discussion before, we know that, first, Qi and righteousness are at the same level and, second, Zhi and the Way are together. The Way is singular, so is Zhi. But righteousness is multifarious, which is reflected in one’s performance in handling specific situations. To accompany the cultivation with righteousness and the Way can be understood as a process where one holds on to Zhi and sets up the principle of righteousness so as to make the magnificent Qi tough and energetic. Wang Fuzhi has made a marvelous observation in this regard. “Zhi”, he wrote, “is in charge of the general principle and trend”. “Before one faces a specific situation, the righteousness that the Zhi concentrates on is — rather than known as righteousness — only called the Way. Righteousness is diversely manifested in the daily renewal of the Way. And the Way stays tranquil with its noumenon remains as one. That is why Confucius advocates ‘focusing one’s Zhi on the Way’ and Mencius takes ‘the accumulation of righteousness’ to be an achievement in the cultivation of Qi. It is hence clear that Zhi takes care of the Way and Qi is in charge of righteousness. By ‘accompanying it with righteousness and the Way’, it refers to the integration of

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Zhi and Qi. [When Mencius says we should] accompany Qi with righteousness so that the Qi is not ill-fed, [he means that we should] accompany our Zhi with the Way so that the Zhi is not ill-fed” (Reading Notes on Great Collection of Commentaries of the Four Books, Vol. 8). Individual human beings usually need to combine their Zhi with both righteousness and Qi for their self-realization. In June 2010, Stephen Hawking, the famous British scientist, wrote the following words to a Chinese youth Wang Jia 王甲, who was suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) like him: “My advice, is to concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope. My disability has not prevented me from having a full and satisfying life”. To hold on to one’s hope means to adhere to one’s Zhi. To concentrate on things one can do and succeed at means self-realization. They both require a synthesized cooperation of Zhi, Qi, and righteousness. Viewed from the perspective of one’s pursuit of self-realization, the domination of Zhi over Qi has been generally recognized. But in history, people have been in disagreement as regards whether Qi could move Zhi. Mencius’s answer is affirmative. The reason he advises against abusing one’s Qi is because he is aware that “a concentrated Zhi can move Qi, and a concentrated Qi can move Zhi. For those who fall down or run, it is their Qi that initiates the movement, a movement that, in its turn, moves their Zhi” (Mencius, 2A:2). This tells us that although, generally speaking, Zhi assumes leadership and dominates Qi, Qi may turn around and shake Zhi when it fluctuates too much. But, this is the case for ordinary people. For those whose cultivation has gone into great depths, their Zhi will always remain steadfast because no event he or she encounters in the external world can cause significantly big fluctuation of their Qi. That is why Cheng Hao says that the probability of “Zhi’s moving Qi is 90% and [that of] Qi’s moving Zhi is 10%”. “For those whose virtue is well accomplished, their Zhi has grown steady; there will be no Qi that can shake their Zhi” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 11). Indeed, logically speaking, for those whose cultivation has attained a realm which enables them to do whatever they desire in the heart without transgressing any

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norms, even if their Qi somewhat fluctuates, it will in no way influence their Zhi. The relationship between benevolence and righteousness is relatively more complicated because they can be distinguished not only in terms of externality and internality but also in terms of toughness and softness. As early as the Spring–Autumn and Warring States periods, there were thinkers who noticed the hierarchical difference between benevolence and righteousness. In Chapter 40 of the Mozi, it is stated that “between benevolence and righteousness, there is a distinction of internality vs. externality”. In Chapter 26 of the Guanzi 管子, it is further pointed out that “benevolence comes from within whereas righteousness is given rise to from without”, which means that benevolence is generated from the heart whereas righteousness manifests itself in one’s reaction to specific incidents and events. Gaozi — who was a little older than Mencius — believed that, in human nature, there were no such things as benevolence and righteousness, both of which resulted from human beings’ affectedness. This, he thought, can be proven in social relations, where benevolence is manifested in one’s fondness of one’s family whereas righteousness in one’s reverence toward one’s senior. Fondness of one’s family is something internal. For instance, one would love one’s own younger brother but not the younger brother of someone in another state. The reverence toward seniors, on the other hand, is external, for one can as much revere the seniors of one’s own state as one does the seniors of other states. A similar view is present in the chapter of “Six Virtues” of the Guodian bamboo-slip texts of Chu,8 which is expressed from the perspective of cultivating the Way, arguing that the relationships inside a clan should be regulated with benevolence and those outside the clan be regulated with righteousness. “Benevolence is inside whereas righteousness outside. Rite and music are shared by both of them. … Benevolence is prioritized over righteousness in the regulation of relationships within a clan. Righteousness supersedes benevolence in the regulations of relationships outside a clan”. But the Chu texts from Guodian do not deny the point that regards the human nature as the basis for benevolence and righteousness. It argues, 8 Translator’s

note: This is a body of bamboo-slip texts of the Warring States period excavated at Guodian, near Jingmen 荊門, Hubei province, a place which belonged to the state of Chu 楚 during the Warring States period.

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for instance, that “to know it and feel accustomed to it is benevolence; and to know it and practice it is righteousness” (“Five Elements”, 3rd ­century BC). This view is similar to Mencius’s view. Mencius (6A:11) considers benevolence and righteousness as, ­respectively, the human heart and human path. To put it more precisely, benevolence is “human beings’ peaceful home” and righteousness is “human beings’ right path” (Mencius, 4A:10). A peaceful home is the abode to which a human spirit can return. A right path is a channel through which the spirit is manifested. We may further add that the virtue of benevolence is normally intrinsic whereas that of righteousness is often acquired through education. Take what Mencius has discussed as an example: He says that to be fond of one’s family is benevolence, and to revere one’s senior is righteousness. There is no child who knows no love for members of his or her family. But a child has to be grown-up enough to learn to revere his or her seniors. From the sole perspective of heartnature, we can also confirm that benevolence is internal and righteousness external. Mencius criticizes Gaozi because Gaozi fails to see that both benevolence and righteousness are things inside the human heart rather than something drilled into human beings from the outside. Such criticism does not mean Mencius’s denial of the internality of benevolence and externality of righteousness in the framework of the human heart. He proposes that an ideal personality (great man) should be the one who “takes abode in benevolence while following righteousness in one’s behavior”. The wording in the proposal is very precise. The “taking abode” speaks of internal peace whereas the “following” indicates an extroversive tendency. Our ascription of benevolence and righteousness to the respective domains of Zhixing and intellectuality is, generally speaking, in accordance with Mencius’s thought. The attributes of yin and yang, as a matter of fact, should not be an issue with regard to benevolence and righteousness. However, since, in history, there has been confusion in this regard among scholars, it is necessary for us to clarify it. In the chapter of “Discourse of Zhou” 周語 in the Discourses of States 國語,9 a duke teaches his son that “benevolence is civilized love; 9 Translator’s

note: It is an ancient text whose compilation is conventionally dated back to 5th–4th centuries BC.

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and righteousness is a civilized norm”. It goes without saying that love is tender and norms are firm. It is pointed out in the “Commentary of What Explicates the Eight Diagrams” of the Book of Changes that “the Way of Heaven is manifested through yin and yang; the Way of Earth is manifested through softness and firmness; and the Way of human beings is manifested through benevolence and righteousness”. This can be said to be a most classical depiction of such three Powers as heaven, earth, and human beings. According to this logic, righteousness, yang, and firmness make one set where benevolence, yin, and softness make another. In the text “Five Elements” 五行 of the Guodian bamboo texts, it is observed that “firmness is the manner of righteousness, and softness is the manner of benevolence”. Another text from the same source, which is entitled “Upholding Virtue and Righteousness” 尊德義, also states that “benevolence is lovable, and righteousness is worthy of respecting”. In the Han dynasty, Dong Zhongshu argued that the way of benevolence consists in one’s love for others whereas that of righteousness in one’s effort to ensure one’s own uprightness. Yang Xiong said that the aspect of benevolence was soft whereas that of righteousness was tough. All this chimes with the consensus that was reached in the early antiquity in this regard. The problem may have started from Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi was aware that “benevolence is something gentle and tender”. In fact, he even considered Laozi correct in stating that “the tender and the weak companions of life. The stiff and the hard are the companions of death” (cf. Laozi, 1963, Chapter 76, p. 174), for there could be no life growing out of hard rocks (Complete Works of Zhuzi by Imperial Compilation, Vol. 47). But he was confused by a series of far-fetched analogies, where Yuan (元, “great and originating”), Heng (亨, “prosperous”), Li (利, “favorable”), Zhen (貞, “correct and firm”) in the Book of Changes were compared to the four seasons, which were in turn compared to benevolence, rite, righteousness, and wisdom. Based on this logic, because the Yuan, Heng, spring, and summer should all be classified as yang, benevolence and rite must be in the category of yang. Likewise, since Li, Zhen, autumn, and winter should be classified as yin, righteousness and wisdom must be in the category of yin. It should be noted that, although there is an aspect of generating and breeding in benevolence, it resides in a deeper layer in the human heart than righteousness and rite do.

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If we were to resort to the ancient cosmological analogy to compare Heaven to father and Earth to mother, we could say that, in the domain of the human heart, Zhi is a father and benevolence a mother. Just because Earth and benevolence are capable of generating and breeding does not mean their attribute is yang and masculine. Due to his high prestige in history, however, Zhu Xi’s erroneous view has exerted a farreaching influence. Wang Fuzhi, in his Reading Notes on Great Collection of Commentaries of the Four Books, rightly contends that “since there is yin between Heaven and Earth, there naturally came to be yang. [By the same token,] since there is benevolence in the Way of human beings, righteousness naturally manifests itself”. This argument is precisely in agreement with the view in the “Commentary of What Explicates the Eight Diagrams” of the Book of Changes and hence usable for correcting Zhu Xi’s mistake. Yet, in a modern edition of Wang Fuzhi’s book published by the Zhonghua Book Company in 1975, Wang Fuzhi was regrettably and erroneously said to be confused about yin and yang in this regard.10 Although righteousness resides in the level of intellectuality, it is capable of playing countercontrol against benevolence. Like the case where Qi is capable of shaking Zhi under certain circumstances, once a Zhi that connects Heaven and Earth turns into a cardinal principle of righteousness, it may take control of individualized benevolence (e.g. fondness of one’s family). Such is the practice of placing righteousness above familial loyalty that people have generally spoken highly of. During the Spring–Autumn period, Duke Zhuang of Wei and his concubine had a son named Zhouxu 州吁, who is spoiled and up to no good. Court official Shi Que’s 石碏 son Shi Hou 石厚 shared the same rotten taste with Zhouxu. After the death of Duke Zhuang, his son Wan 完 succeeded his dukedom as Duke Huan of Wei. At this time, Shi Que retired on account of old age and returned to his native place. One day, when Duke Huan went to have an audience with the King of Zhou, Zhouxu and Shi Hou took the opportunity of seeing him off and assassinated the duke. Thus, Zhouxi usurped the dukedom. But because he

10 Wang

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Fuzhi, Du Sishu Daquan Shuo. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975, Vol., p. 125.

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lacked popular support, Shi Hou, on his account, sought support from his father, the former old court official Shi Que, and asked how to pacify the public. “All the two of you have to do”, said Shi Que, “is ask Duke Heng of Chen to speak for you in front of the King of Zhou so as to obtain the king’s formal recognition”. Thereupon Zhouxi and Shi Hou went to the state of Chen with gifts. Meanwhile, Shi Que wrote a secrete message to Duke Heng of Chen, asking him to help arrest the two assassinators of Duke Huan of Wei. Zhouxu and Shi Hou were thus arrested as soon as they arrived in the state of Chen. The Duke of Chen sent a messenger to inquire how to dispose of the two criminals. Shi Que’s reply was, “Those two fellows have no sense of loyalty and filial piety. What do we keep them for?” He eventually had the two men executed.11

This story regards the loyalty to a lord as a cardinal principle of righteousness, which is inevitably marked by certain historic limitations. What Shi Que did is not necessarily a good example to follow. Generally speaking, if a member of one’s family victimized people in a given area and people there could do nothing about him, then it would always be good to place righteousness above familial loyalty and, for the safety and wellbeing of the majority, to seek legal means to bring him to justice. In the West, where freedom of the individual is valued, there are oftentimes such cases that can be characterized by the saying “I love my parent (or child), but I love truth more”. Not long ago, in the capital of Serbia, a Radical Party’s candidate for city chancellor found a major political opponent in his 26-year old son, who, taking issues with the candidate’s radical nationalism, made many placards to plead with voters not to vote for the candidate. People would think that the father and son might be treating each other like strangers. But in fact they were not. The son said that he and his father were fond of each other, and that what he opposed was merely his father’s political view. And the father said, “He is my son. I will do nothing to keep him from trying to stop me”. A harmonious relationship between a father and his son embodies benevolence. But people as citizens are all entitled to their various political 11 See

records of Year 3 and Year 4 of Duke Yin of Lu in the Zuozhuan 左傳 [Commentary of Zuo].

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views. The righteousness in this entitlement is larger than the benevolence between a father and his son. Thus, it stands to reason for each of them to sticks to his or her own view.

5.2. Rite and Wisdom If Qi and righteousness primarily display an extroversive tendency of the heart which attempts to prescribe a reality that measures up to the Subject’s expectations, then what rite and wisdom mainly display is an introversive tendency that tends to require the obedience of the Subject to the given orders in reality. Hence, relatively speaking, rite and wisdom represent such a tendency of function as compliance in the human heart. And they both seek to have and maintain social order. 5.2.1.  The Meaning and Function of Rite In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the character 禮 li (“rite”, “propriety”) is glossed as “performing, carrying out. It is the performance that is carried out to serve deities and spirits for blessings. The character is derived from both 示 shi (“inspect”, “denote”) and 豊 li (“sacrificial vessel”) with the latter as also a phonetic”. People in the ancient times held ceremonies for weddings, funerals, initiations, and military activities. And, during the ceremonies, they would use sacrificial vessels to offer sacrifices to spirits and deities for blessings. Such a practice is called rite and it is extensively recorded in texts of early antiquity. Gradually, from sacrificial ceremonies to cultural-political institutions and social orders, rite evolved into moral norms and socio-cultural formalities. Where the society was concerned, it grew into a system of feudal ethical codes, which constituted what Marx referred to as superstructure. And for individuals, it became “virtue” of rite and manners. Spring–Autumn period was a time when rite prevailed (including the time when it was given only nominal importance at the wake of the prevalence). In a record for the 11th year of Duke Yin in the Commentary of Zuo, there is the following remark, “rite is what serves to manage the state and families, bring peace to the territory, bring order to the society, and

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bring benefit to later generations”.12 In the record for the 25th year of Duke Zhao in the same book, a famous statesman in the state of Zheng is quoted as saying, “Rite is the pattern of heaven, the norm of the earth, and the road of people”. Some Confucian doctrines have their origins in the institution of rites. According to Confucius (2014, 2:3), “if people be led by laws, and uniformity be sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by rules of propriety [i.e. rite], they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good.” Law and punishment are external measures taken in administration. Rite, in contrast, aims at internal transformation and embodies morality. Hence, Confucian thinkers invariably regarded rite as an element in human morality. Among Confucian thinkers, there was almost no one who upheld “rite” more than Xunzi did. For Xunzi (Chapter 2), rite is the perfection of humankind’s Way and the foundation for self-cultivation: “When one uses one’s strength, has thoughts, or makes plans, all these [activities] would be in disorder and error if they were not regulated with rite”. Moreover, rite is regarded as a cardinal principle for regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the sub-celestial world. “Without rite, human beings would not be living, things would not be done, and the state and the family would not find peace” (Xunzi). Since rite is “the overall principle for laws and the basic rules for classified ­regulations”, it is “the perfection of virtue”. “Rite”, to wit, “is the ultimate zenith in which [human beings’] learning can culminate” (Xunzi, Chapter 1). In the Xunzi, the notion of “rite” takes on numerous senses. In a broad sense, its author basically defines it as “nourishing”, like the way good tastes nourish the mouth, good smells the nose, pleasant music the ears, and comfortable furniture the body. Hence, basically everything that promotes good arrangements in human life and objectively enhances humankind’s well-being can be called rite. In a strict sense, however, what is central to rite is “distinction”. Its idea is to make certain all the members 12 Translator’s

note: Translation of this passage of the Zuozhuan is adopted mutatis mutandis from Luo Shaodan. “Retribution and Li in ‘Censor Chen Ingeniously Solves the Case of the Gold Hairpins and Brooks’”. Dong Hwa Journal of Chinese Studies 東華漢學 5 (2007): 67.

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in a society are content with their individual statuses. In his words, it is a state in which “the noble and base are hierarchically differentiated, so are the senior and the junior. The poor, the rich, the minor, the major ones all have what is appropriate [to their individual statuses]” (Xunzi, Chapter 19). Obviously, Xunzi, more often than not, bases his arguments on the latter sense of rite. It has been generally agreed that the point of rite lies in distinctions. In Chapter 1 of the Book of Rite, it is said “rite is that which provides the means to distinguish between the closeness and remoteness in kinship relations, to settle doubts, to identify differences, and to draw distinction between the right and the wrong”. Generally speaking, the idea of wedding should be to complete the union of a man and a woman, unite their families, and continue the family line that has come down from ancestry. But Chapter 44 of the Book of Rite still emphasizes distinction in this regard: “In the ancient times, the queen of the Son of Heaven established six seraglios and the positions of 3 ladies, 9 concubines, 27 ladies of rank, and 81 royal wives for domestic managements, in which rules for women’s obedience were made clear to ensure internal harmony of both the sub-celestial world and families. [Likewise,] the Son of Heaven established six departments, 3 ducal ministers, 9 ministers, 27 senior officials, and 81 prime knights for external managements, in which rules for men were made clear to ensure harmony in external affairs and the proper ­governance of the state”. Thus, gender difference had become a basis for the division between seraglio and the court, and the hierarchy and the set of numbers in each division were supposed to match those in the other. In this way, the entire society was woven into a fine net with a view to maintaining social order and political stability forever. Examined from the viewpoint of heart-nature, rite, which resides in the level of intellectuality, is subject to restrictions from both sensibility and Zhixing. Xunzi mainly took note of human desires on the level of sensibility, and resultantly considered human nature evil. The reason why his philosophy elevates rite to the status of the perfection of virtue lies in his awareness of its function to transform human nature through artificial means 化性起偽. Chapter 19 of the Xunzi opens with the following ­passage, “What did rite start from? The answer is: Human beings are born with desires. When a person is unable to obtain what he desires, he cannot

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but demand it. When there are no limits or confinements to people’s demands, there are inevitably conflicts. Conflicts would lead to chaos, and chaos to destitution. Early sage rulers — out of their detestation of destitution — set up rite and righteousness, and thereby divided things into rations as a means to meet people’s desires and provide people with what they demand”. In this sense, rite indeed began with differentiation. Mencius regarded human nature as good because he focused primarily on the level of Zhixing in the human heart and hence ascribed the beginning of rite to the sense of modesty and yielding that human beings are born with. In this regard, the following explanation in the Doctrine of the Mean may be more concrete: “The cultivation of the person is to be done through the Way, and the cultivation of the Way is to be done through humanity. Humanity is the [distinguishing character of] man, and the greatest application of it is being affectionate toward relatives. Righteousness is the principle of setting things right and proper, and the greatest application of it is in honoring the worthy. The relative degree of affection we ought to feel for our relatives and the relative grades in the honoring of the worthy give rise to the rule of propriety [i.e. rite]” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 104). Rite is therefore based on the affection toward one’s relatives and the honoring of the worthy. To wit, it is based upon benevolence and righteousness. The affection toward one’s relatives exhibits a tendency of integrating others and oneself into one. But it means anything but nepotism, because there is a relative degree of grades in this honoring, which depends upon how virtuous and capable each person is. In this way, a system of gradation was established that is in accordance with the Heavenly Texture. It has been proven by facts that rite ought to be based on benevolent love and linked to one’s respect for others. Those who wish to treat others with rite should learn to appreciate others from the bottom of their heart, bearing in mind that “Among [any] three people walking together, there will surely be someone who [can act as] my teacher.” (Confucius, 7:22). So long as a p­ erson has respect and even reverence in the heart, a sense of rite will come naturally to him or her. By treating righteousness as an essence and practicing it on the basis of rite, people will be able to play the roles appropriate to them in the

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society and thereby construct a harmonious social relationship. This is known as “establishing oneself upon rite”. After the giant of the newspaper industry Pulitzer died, people found in his diary that the year 1878 marked a tremendous change in the contents of the diary. Before that year, Pulitzer wrote what other people said to him, but after 1878, he wrote what he said to others. The year 1878 was the time when Pulitzer, at the age of 31, purchased his first newspaper, St. Louis Post Dispatch. Thus, a researcher concluded that when he was an ordinary employee, Pulitzer always remembered what other people told him, because at that time, he understood the importance of modesty and made a point of reminding himself to do what other people told him. After he became the boss of a newspaper, he always wrote down what he said in order to remind himself to keep his promise and be true to his words. The diary revealed the secret behind Pulitzer’s success: When starting a business, be modest; after achieving success, be reliable and trustworthy. As a matter of fact, an individual human being can never enjoy absolute freedom in social life. One has to observe certain social norms and regulations. One’s freedom in social life is usually the freedom of dancing in fetters. As Goethe once said, a master can distinguish himself with his ability to succeed in his career in spite of restrictions. One must admit that, from a modern perspective, there are many dregs in traditional codes and institutional system of rite in pre-modern China that need to be eliminated. This is particularly true in the case of the “Three Cardinal Guides”, which, established for the purpose of strengthening a feudal political rule, are indeed cannibal in nature: Since a subject was supposed to be guided by his ruler, the subject would have to die if the ruler required his death. Since a son was supposed to be guided by his father, the son would have to die if his death was what his father wanted. And since a wife was supposed to be guided by her husband, the husband was free to have several spouses whereas the wife was supposed to be faithful to one man until her death. Codes and institutional system of rite like these were all built upon external power of authority rather than on the internal human nature. And they, as products of totalitarian rules, actually ran counter to the spirit of benevolence and righteousness. Although they

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could be of help in maintaining the social stability in certain historical periods, there is no need of their long-term existence. Certain extent of etiquette and protocols are necessary in social life. But if they are too elaborated, they will become mere formalities or even lapse into mannerism. Korea and Japan are both under the influence of the Chinese rite. Their cultures, having not been tempered by any “May 4th” type of cultural movements as seen in China, oftentimes feature some customs that seem to be still in the process of completely adjusting themselves to life in modern times. Today, when globalization is well on the way, the integration and complementation between Eastern and Western social etiquettes is an inexorable trend. It should be noted that each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Based on their need for making distinctions, traditional Chinese rituals in a social interaction, from obeisance (with folded hands) and bowing to even kneeling are all performed to highlight the difference between others and oneself. There is nothing bad about them so long as people feel accustomed to them. By sharp contrast, Western interactional rituals, from handshaking and embracing to even kissing are performed to underscore the intimacy and lack of social distance between others and oneself. As long as Westerners are used to them, they are all quite good, too. But now the question we face is how to make a choice in this regard. Should we be entirely westernized, or should we stick to the so-called quintessence of the Chinese culture? Can the two traditions be integrated in harmony? Here, we might as well borrow Hegel’s words and say that what is real is rationale. Western rite, due to its religious background, is imbued with the conviction that all men are created equally, which underlies the independence of each individual personality. Therefore, there needs to be a certain rite to strengthen the integration of the differences among them. Chinese rite, on the other hand, due to its consanguineous background, is imbued with notions of kinship and blood ties, which causes individuals to be entangled in kinship relations. For this reason, there needs to be a certain rite to strengthen their differentiation and separation. Kinship relations tend to make people intimate to one another, but the goal to attain success in an enterprise requires distinctive order. On the other hand, independence of individual personalities tends to cause people to be

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distanced from one another, but the goal to succeed in an enterprise calls for a strong unity among all the members. Thus we can see, Zhi is also essential to rite. This is especially the case in the army, where distinctive hierarchical ranks contribute to enhancing combat effectiveness. Among individual human beings, social distance and integration are both necessary. In this regard, Eastern and Western proprieties both function to adjust and regulate interpersonal relationships. Just imagine, when a group of friends reunite from all over the world after a long separation since their graduation, how awkward would it be if they made obeisance to one another, bow to one another, or even knelt down to one another? On the other hand, when the head of an administrative department calls a meeting to reinforce discipline, the meeting would inevitably deviate from its purpose if all the members of the department were embracing or ­kissing one another at this meeting. As we can see now, the daily etiquettes tend to be both cohesive and estranging. The idea of it is to regulate and adjust an interpersonal relationship so that the relationship is neither too close nor too distanced. Cohesion tends to enhance unity whereas estrangement reserves difference. There needs to be certain tension kept between the two. Broadly speaking, the essence of rite lies in its function to regulate and adjust interpersonal distances and thereby maintaining a healthy social order. The same is true with Eastern and Western notions of morality. Contemporary Chinese writer Mr. Jin Yong 金庸 once said that although he had been to Western countries many times, he was still not used to the interpersonal relationships there. For instance, once a father and son finished their meal at a restaurant, they would each pay their bills separately. Therefore, he said, Easterners’ good custom should not be abandoned. Children should be filial to parents. Traditional morals should be kept between husband and wife, among siblings, and among friends. That way, there would be warmth within families and harmony in the society. What Mr. Jing Yong said does stand to reason. At the same time, however, we should also see the strengths of Western culture in this regard. At Beijing Olympics, the item on display from the city of London was a replica of a bus, because buses could serve as a window for, and provide a glimpse into the custom of, a city. In the Chinese mainland, people would often compete for the seats close to them once they get on a bus. But in London,

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those who first get into a bus would go to the end of the bus to take the back seats so as to, first, make it easy for people behind them to come onboard and find seats and, second, maintain a good order in the bus so that it will not be overcrowded. Although the rite in Eastern culture makes a point of discriminatory love, it is good for the promotion of harmony in a clan. Although in Western families, there may not be as much tender feelings as there is in Eastern families, people in Western societies give no less importance to benevolent love. Their courtesies, more often than not, proceed from people’s sincerity rather than artificiality. Some of the courtesies have even been stabilized into social customs to which people are habituated. If the ethic norms for families in the East deserve to be positively valued, then the norms in Western societies are also worthy of appreciation. Each has its own strong points, hence the need for complementation between the two sides. With the progress of time, people’s mode of production and way of living have changed. Along with the change, there should — and will inevitably — be changes in rite. The overall trend of the changes is simplification, which means getting rid of the overelaborated parts to make it more practical, and which will occur based on the principle of reverence and social affinity. Broadly speaking, the education of rite is necessary at all times. Many people who investigate the success of the Bush family in the USA have reached similar conclusions. They find members of this family full of kind feelings and marked by the friendliness and sincerity with which they relate themselves to others in social life. The true fondness of one’s family and relatives, sincere reverence toward worthy people, and sincere love for all people would occur only after people learn to treat others with rite. Such is the responsibility of education. 5.2.2.  The Meaning and Function of Wisdom The character 智 zhi (“wisdom”, “intelligence”, “wit”) in the Chinese language is simultaneously a syssemantic and a phonetic compound graph with 知 zhi (“to know”, “knowing”) as a phonetic and both 知 and 日 ri (“the sun”) as significs. The combination of the phonetic and significs signifies the shining of the sun that leaves nothing unilluminated. Usually it is used as a noun to refer to a person’s wisdom and intelligence. In his

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Words to Live By 法言, Yang Xiong suggests that the meaning of the ­character “is derived from torch”. The “knowing” indicates both the use of wisdom and the result of such use. In Erya 爾雅,13 it is said that “‘illuminant’ and ‘discerning’ modify [the state of being] observant [察 cha]. ‘Logical’ and ‘sagacious’ modify [the state of being] intelligent [智 zhi]”. Hence, the illumination of wisdom consists in the ability to gain insights into the regularity, order, and intrinsic logic of things. If Zhuangzi is right in positing that the universe is filled with Qi and that human beings’ life and death are caused, respectively, by the ­gathering and the scattering of Qi, then wisdom obviously has something to do with the particular state Qi is in. The firmness and softness of Qi may have no direct impact on the quality of wisdom, but its degree of opacity basically conditions the quality. The brightness of wisdom is determined by the pureness of Qi. The permeation of turbid Qi, on the other hand, will cause obscurity — obscuring one’s cognitive approach to both the pattern of things in the world and one’s own psychic nature. We may say that the pureness of Qi promotes penetration, penetration enlivens intuition, and intuition enhances unobstructed insights. Such is wisdom. Cheng Yi once pointed out that “human nature is Heavenly endowed. [But] human kind’s natural endowments [i.e. talents] come from Qi. Clear Qi will result in fine talents, whereas turbid Qi in poor natural endowment of a person” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 19). What is central to “talent” is “wisdom”. The said poorness of a person’s natural endowments has n­ othing to do with the person’s moral traits. Rather, it refers primarily to the person’s low intelligence. In Liu An’s Huainanzi (1982, Chapter 2), it is observed that “spirit is the fountainhead of wisdom. So long as the fountainhead is clear, wisdom is bright. Wisdom is the mansion of the heart. So long as wisdom is impartial, the heart is in peace. No one would look at his own reflection in a foamy flow of water but in still water, because it is serene”. Wisdom is like water, which is bright when it is serene. A lake with a limpid and serene surface is capable of reflecting mountains and clouds. But if we discuss it from a different angle, we would say that everything changes and develops, be it the world in the external or the heart in the 13 Translator’s

note: The Erya is a dictionary whose authorship is unknown and whose major part is ascribed to the 3rd century BC.

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internal. Wisdom has to be agile and in motion to ensure its illumination. This, too, is like the case with water, which is limpid when it flows rather than stays stagnant. Like Qi, wisdom connects all the three levels of the human heart. It impacts both one’s differentiation among the forms of various things and one’s exploration of the connection between Heaven and human beings. And it plays a role in the whole process from the reception of external messages by sense organs, through the analysis and processing of the messages, to the endeavor to reduce the pluralistic to the monistic in search of the highest unity. But it manifests itself mainly at the level of intellectuality. Its function, which depends upon cultural codes, gives rise to cultural notions. Whether an individual is sharp-witted or thick-witted bespeaks the person’s temperamental nature. Because of the major role wisdom plays in the level of intellectuality, there has always been the opposition between empiricism and apriorism in the theorizations of ­wisdom of all time and in all places in the world. As we discussed earlier, through the use of wisdom, human beings obtain knowledge. The study on the process in which knowledge — as a result of the use of wisdom — is obtained constitutes human beings’ reflection upon wisdom. As a forefather of the Chinese culture who lived up to his reputation, Confucius was good at considering both sides and then taking the middle. On the one hand, Confucius (16:9) admits that there are people “who are born with knowledge”. On the other hand, he recognizes the importance of “becoming knowledgeable through learning”. Thus he takes both sides’ argument but denies the validity of neither. To be born with knowledge is a priori. To become knowledgeable through learning is empirical. Students with epistemic interest should take heed of both. As far as the structure of the human heart is concerned, a priori knowledge is the knowledge that comes from the manifestation of the level of Zhixing, and empirical knowledge results from the sorting and synthesis of all that is perceived in the level of sensibility. Although one is external and the other internal, the two kinds of knowledge meet in the level of intellectuality. Except Confucius, most philosophers tend to place too much importance on either kind alone. During the pre-Qin era, Mohists tended to pay more attention to the empiricist perspective when examining the application of wisdom.

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They classify the application into, first, “meeting an object with one’s wisdom and being able to characterize it in such a way as if it appeared” and, second, “through the use of one’s wisdom, expositing an object and being able to give insights into it in such a way as if it were illuminated” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 42). Such a distinction they draw is roughly equivalent to the distinction between perceptual knowledge and conceptual knowledge today. Xunzi (Chapter 21) also places great importance on the cognition of things in the objective world. According to his analysis, “being intelligently capable is human nature, and being intelligible is the texture of things”. Thus, the human nature that is intelligently capable is wisdom (capable of knowing), whereas the object of the knowing is the texture of things (being knowable). Things are different, so are their textures in most cases. Therefore, textures of this kind are individual textures, not the overall Texture of all things. As objects of empirical study, textures of things give rise to the culture of science. Besides, the logic of wisdom developed in the Philosophy of Name in early China is an important contribution second only to Mohism. Regrettably, few scientists in pre-modern China were philosophers. The concern of Mozi and Xunzi, as a matter of fact, concentrates primarily on human affairs. For instance, such standards as Source 本, Ground 原, and Use 用 in Mozi’s “Three Standards” 三表法 are all about the human society, not about the physical world.14 Commendable as Xunzi is in arguing for the separation of Heaven and human beings, he, at the same time, contends that no sages would seek to know Heaven (i.e. nature). There is hence nothing surprising that the study of Name and Texture (i.e. logic) declined in this nation of patriarchy after the Qin dynasty. The cognition of external world, especially the world of nature, entails a search for things’ essence through their appearance. Such a 14 The

Mozi, Chapter 35, “What are the three standards? Mo Tzu [i.e. Mozi] said: There must be a basis or foundation [i.e. Source]. There must be an examination [of the Ground]. And there must be practical application [i.e. Use]. Where to find the basis? Find it in the (will of Heaven and the spirits and) the experiences of the ancient sage-kings above. How is it to be examined? It is to be examined by inquiring into the actual experience of the eyes and ears of the people below. How to apply it? Put it into law and governmental measures and see if they bring about benefits to the state and the people. These are called the three standards” (Mozi, in Chan, 1963, p. 222).

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search, as indeed a — to borrow Lu Jiuyuan’s words — “learning that proceeds from without” 外入之學, is hardly compatible with the culture of morality. That is why the academia overlooked it and even eventually let it fade out into oblivion. Confucians and Daoists, on the other hand, competed to establish the bedrock for human faith and construct human beings’ spiritual home. And because they, in so doing, were preoccupied with using wisdom to present the sacred noumenon in the human heart, they are generally after a priori knowledge. The Laozi, for instance, advocates the attainment of vacuity and maintenance of quietude (Laozi, 1963, pp. 147–148) with a view to attaining the realm where one is able to see the Way of Heaven without looking out of the window (Ibid., p. 62). What the Zisi-Mencius School of Thought advocates is attaining ­sincerity by ­turning around to oneself so as to reach the depth of the soul and thereby understand both the human nature and Heaven. Zhuangzi, in his turn, proposed “fasting the heart” and “remaining seated while ­forgetting everything”, which presents an even more concrete process of cognitively experiencing the Way. According to Mr. Mou Tsung-san’s interpretation, these are all “intelligent intuition”. Since pre-Qin Confucianists and Daoists laid this foundation, philosophers who followed their footsteps had emerged endlessly. For example, Dong Zhongshu argued for the attainment of “the sage and miraculous capability of looking introspectively and harking inwardly” (Dong Zhongshu, 2010, Chapter 57). In the Wei–Jin period, Wang Bi agreed with Laozi by stating that “the wisdom is capable of knowing without the need of traveling” (Wang Bi, 1958, Chapter 47). In the Song dynasty, Shao Yong developed the method of “observing things from the perspective of things”. All these arguments were derived from the said early foundation. Zhang Zai, in particular, distinguished between the knowledge that one acquires through perception and the conscience or virtuous nature that one intuits and, in doing so, lumped empirical and a priori kinds of cognition together in his discussion, where he articulated his affirmation of the former and despise of the latter. The knowledge that one acquires through perception is what one learns by applying one’s wisdom to the realm of phenomena. And the virtuous nature that one intuits is that which appears when one applies one’s wisdom to the realm of noumenon. Whereas the former is what human beings obtain

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through their outward inquisition, the latter results from inward cognitive experience of human beings. A prominent trait of Chinese philosophy lies in its commitment to promoting and expanding the virtuous nature which one intuits. Under the influence of the spirit of science since the early-modern times, modern academic circle has mostly held a negative attitude toward a priori cognition and hence failed to pay sufficient attention to the traits of liberal arts. An outward search for the value and meaning of human life is like an attempt to look for the South Pole by heading toward the North Pole. It must be pointed out that the inward application of wisdom is as justifiable as is the outward application. Strictly speaking, wisdom, as a capability of knowing both the world and human beings themselves, falls into the category of talent rather than into virtue (in the narrow sense of the term). People usually place dual stress on virtue and talent with the former referring primarily to taking abode in benevolence, following righteousness in one’s conduct, establishing trust, and so forth, and the latter primarily to wisdom, insights, tactics, and so on. Xu Gan 徐幹 (171–217 AD) wrote in Chapter 9 of his Treatise on the Mean 中論 that “since a man of virtue needs benevolence to expand love, righteousness to wipe out the evil, trustworthiness to forge emotional ties, rite to control himself, good ­hearing to inspect himself, good eye sight to observe appearances, tactics to deal with various situations, and wisdom to draw distinctions, how can he afford to be without any one of them?” In this passage, benevolence, righteousness, trustworthiness, rite are virtues whereas good hearing, good eye sights, tactics, and wisdom are talents. If benevolence is central and essential to human ­virtues, so is wisdom to human talents. In human beings’ social activities, virtue and talent display psychological tendencies that are distinct from one another. One of the categories central to virtue is benevolence. The adherence to benevolence requires the adherence to goodness, which in turn requires that one hold fast to the moral principle, love the good and detest the evil, definitively refuse to associate with the corruptions in reality, and seek to change reality and adapt it to one’s ideal. What it requires of the objective reality is the submission to the Subject’s expectation (Zhi). This can be called assimilation, through which a person sees all human beings in the world as his siblings

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and all creatures as a part of himself. One of the categories central to talent is wisdom. The point of using wisdom is to find truth, which seeks to distinguish between facts and pseudo appearances. What it explores is things’ essence and regularity. It is a process in which human thinking follows the change of things under study. Since the cognition of the Subject must match the state which the Object is in, it keeps “submissively adapting itself”.15 As Xunzi (Chapter 22) points out, “the cognition that matches something [in its object] is wisdom”. The two psychological tendencies complement each other, and they jointly synthesize human beings’ social life. Confucius used the terms man of wisdom and man of benevolence to represent the personalities of the wise and the virtuous. In his summary of human experience in life, Confucius (2014, 6:21) said, “The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills, The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.” What the passage emphasizes is the distinction between the two personalities. A comparison between the two will lead to the conclusion that, as a virtue, benevolence is peaceful and tranquil whereas wisdom is in an endless motion that keeps following the motion of the objective world. On the basis of Confucius’s observation, most scholars in the subsequent generations believed that a perfect personality could possibly be a combination of both benevolence and wisdom. Informed of the realities in their time, scholars from the end of Han to Wei–Jin periods further developed the theory on the perfection of personalities. Chapter 9 of Xu Gan’s Treatise on the Mean raises a new point that has exceeded the domain of morality. In the chapter, what Xu Gan means by intelligence is wisdom, which is human beings’ insight into the patterns and regularities of things. And by conduct, Xu Gan refers to human beings’ Zhi and integrity, which is moral practice. Markedly different as they are and admitted that different people may feature different 15 The

tendencies of “assimilation” and “submissive adaptation” that exist in cognition embody the bidirectional motions of the heart. But “submissive adaptation” should prevail in the acquisition of new knowledge. Induction tends to be submissively adaptive whereas derivation tends to be assimilative. Kant points out that, compared with analysis, synthesization is more essential to the acquisition of new knowledge.

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proportions of the two, neither wisdom nor conduct is dispensable. Yet Xu Gan comparatively prefers great talents and meritorious deeds. He argues that what Confucius particularly valued is the application of wisdom to such causes that meritoriously benefited the world. Examples in this regard can be found in the Analects 14:16 and 14:17, where Confucius extols Guang Zhong’s 管仲 meritorious deeds of enabling Duke Huan of Qi to assemble all the princes and rectify the entire kingdom despite Guan Zhong’s betrayal of his earlier ruler, his extravagance, and his breach of rite. By contrast, although Shao Hu 召忽, a contemporary of Guan Zhong, chose to die for a righteous cause and, in so doing, seems to have demonstrated the virtuousness of an official, Confucius considered the choice as merely the deed of a commoner. Although Xu Gan’s view is not without reason and it can even be supported to some extent by those examples cited by Confucius, wisdom is normally regarded as one of the elements of virtue, for Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of morality. By considering the “feeling of right and wrong” as the beginning of wisdom, Mencius (2A:6) formulates his argument entirely from the perspective of morality. It should be pointed out that wisdom is a capability rather than the content of the heart. As such, it is capable of distinguishing not only between the right and the wrong, but also between the true and the false. Moreover, it can be used even to do evil. The reason Laozi and Zhuangzi argue for “abandoning sageliness and discarding wisdom” (Laozi, 1963, p. 149) lies in their awareness of such side effects of civilization, where human alienation generally manifests itself in people’s use of wisdom to serve selfish goals. Therefore, it is clear that wisdom lacks the property of moral value that characterizes benevolence, righteousness, and other virtues. It is, rather, merely a capability of the heart which is morally neutral. Wisdom is good so long as it is applied on the basis of one’s taking abode in benevolence and following righteousness in one’s conduct. Once the application deviates from this basis and proceeds from a selfish intention or hedonism, it will commit evil. The various frauds and other evildoings in the contemporary society are all made possible by this latter kind of use of wisdom. Wisdom is supple in nature. The function that wisdom plays in the levels of sensitivity, intellectuality, and Zhixing is constringent or

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synthesizing. It is a process in which elements of perceptions are synthesized into cognition, and cognized materials are conceptualized abstractly into what is known as rational knowledge. Then the process of constringency goes on to pursue higher and even the highest unity (this can be understood as a process which is under the potential guidance of the self-archetype of Zhixing). At the same time, the process is also marked by the ordering of the objective world that appears in the human heart. People generally liken wisdom to water, because it is not only capable of reflecting images but also tranquil and soft. 5.2.3.  How Rite and Wisdom are Related to Other Categories In Chinese philosophy, the close tie between rite and wisdom can be found in their shared prioritization of clear distinctions and order. Both require sober consciousness, both need to be cultivated by education, and both fall squarely into the domain of intellectuality. Jung posits such a triple stratification of the human mind as consciousness, individual unconsciousness, and collective unconsciousness. Central to the level of consciousness is self, which is a kind of persona. An individual is therefore an actor or actress who plays different roles on social stages of different times and places. And this metaphor happens to lend itself to rationalizing rite. We learn from experience that the social reality in the eyes of a person with sober consciousness is a world that is distinctively hierarchical, but in the eyes of someone with an idealistic vision (or in a dreamy or drunken state), the reality appears to be a world in which freedom and equality prevail. Rite speaks of the soberness of individual human beings’ consciousness and their realistic attitude. Likewise, the application of wisdom to the external objective world requires a distinctive division between the Subject and the Object. There needs to be a certain distance kept between the two. And the Subject’s grasp of the Object is attempted primarily through analysis and synthesis with a view to gaining insight into things’ inner patterns and regularities. Precisely for this reason, neither the application of (Eastern nations’) rite nor that of wisdom (in the level of intellectuality) requires the participation of any strong emotions. This is because emotions tend to blind consciousness and hence obscure the distinction between the other and the

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self or that between the Object and the Subject. It can even be said that what such obscurity leads to is the loss of the true self. This is because rite and wisdom aim to serve the object to which they are applied by restricting the self in order to either restore the rite (Confucius, 12:1) or cognize the object under examination. From this we can infer that intelligent robots must be particularly good to use to take over part of our tasks in this regard, because they can be programmed to outperform human beings in computation and etiquettes. Hence, there comes a serious question: Is it reasonable to categorize them as human virtue in a strict sense of the term? For one thing, since wisdom lacks the property of moral value, it can hardly be regarded as a virtue. In fact, it would be more appropriate to call it the nature of individual human beings’ temperament. As regards rite, Laozi sees it as a sure sign of the decline of loyalty and faithfulness, and Xunzi considers it as a product of the transformation of human nature through artificial means. We should not overlook the rational elements of their views. With that said, there is no gainsaying that wisdom and rite play positive roles in the promotion of humankind’s moral practices. Although rite and wisdom both rely on education, rite alone is always applied to social relations. And its application is pre-conditioned by the deification of natural objects. With regard to wisdom, its field of application is comparatively more extensive, for the use of wisdom is required as much in natural science as it is in social activities. Relative to rite, which is basically acquired through education, wisdom is more intrinsic. Human heart is disposed toward orderliness and harmony (which Jung refers to as self-archetype). Human beings, on the one hand, need wisdom to gain insights into the order and pattern of the external world. On the other hand, they need rite to ensure orderliness in their families and society. Moreover, the two of them are complementary to each other. Applied to the society and interpersonal relationships, wisdom facilitates the construction of rite. And the process of individual human beings restricting themselves to restore rite also requires the use of wisdom. The reason why pre-modern philosophers counted rite as one of the four virtues is due to their awareness of human beings’ feeling of deference and compliance. The feeling of deference and compliance, as a ­matter of fact, can be regarded as one of the forms in which benevolence

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was manifested. To be more precise, the acts of deference and compliance usually comprise the elements of love and respect. “If a man is not ­benevolent, what does he have to do with rite?”16 Likewise, if a heart has no reverence in it, what does it have to do with rite? Once its under­ pinning basis is lost, rite would become affected and insubstantial ­formalities. There are indeed insincere and sly persons who — despite the polite m ­ anners they put on display — lack any sense of morality, ­justice, and commitment to their promises. They are nothing but hypocrites. And hypocrites, as Confucius points out are “thieves of virtue” (Confucius, 2014, 17:13). Rite, moreover, should be established on the basis of Texture, so that interactions in both kinship and society in general are all properly regulated. In Chapter 13 of his Penetrating the Book of Changes, Zhou Dunyi wrote, “rite is regulative, and music is harmonizing. Yin and yang are first regulated and then [they can become] harmonious”. This passage seems to be rather abstruse. According to the annotation by Cao Duan 曹端 (1376–1434 AD) in the Ming dynasty, rite is of yin property and music is of yang property, hence they are ascribed, respectively, to Texture and harmony. Examined together, they, by attaining orderliness in each, will bring about harmony between yin and yang. Yet, it does not seem very appropriate to derive such a cosmological conclusion from a philosophical proposition about the human world. Zhou Dunyi’s opinion was formulated on the basis of Chapter 19 of the Book of Rite where it is argued that music and rite, respectively, reflect the harmony between, and the order in, Heaven and Earth — with the word “order” therein referring to none other than the Texture. This argument sheds light on what Zhou Dunyi meant in the first sentence in the passage. Then Chapter 19 of the Book of Rite proceeds to point out that “the Sage made music in correspondence to Heaven and established rite to match Earth”. Since that which is in correspondence with Heaven is of yang property whereas what matches Earth is of yin property, it stands to reason to ascribe rite to yin and music to yang. But perhaps it would be more apt to interpret the sentence “yin and yang are first regulated and then [they can become] harmonious” as 16 Translators

note: Translation of Analects 3 is adopted mutatis mutandis from Wing-tsit Chan, 1963, p. 24.

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meaning that harmony would be attained through such an integration of music and rite that ensures the appropriateness of each. Relatively speaking, wisdom is more closely related to Texture, because it is naturally disposed to target its inquisitive pursuit on Texture, and it is its specialty to investigate things and thereby delve endlessly into the profundity of Texture. Besides, the display of the Ultimate Texture also awaits the intuition of wisdom. We will discuss more of this topic later. In the domain of morality, wisdom should be subservient to benevolence and Zhi. And, based on a just standard for human beings, it should distinguish between the good and the evil so as to make right choices. Moreover, the promotion of wisdom is subject to the conditioning of Zhi. “The Zhi that is not strong will lead to a wisdom that is not far-reaching” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 2). “He who lacks a lofty Zhi lacks sagacity” (Xunzi, Chapter 1). Although there can be people who are not strong in Zhi and yet clever in mind, those with outstanding wisdom — ­especially in the domain of knowledge that one acquires through perception — are invariably strong in will. For instance, there is hardly any great scientist without a strong Zhi. The argument for the weakening of Zhi in the Laozi was formulated from the perspective of social practices. What is latently at play in the author’s pursuit of the Way is still Zhi. Conversely, the realization of benevolence and Zhi both need the aid of wisdom. It is said that he who is benevolent but not wise is a Mr. Dongguo 東郭先生, and he who is strong in Zhi but unwise is a Hegemonic King of Western Chu 西楚霸王. Despite his knowledge of the ferocity of wild beasts, Mr. Dongguo, a believer of Mozi’s theory of universal love, took pity on a wounded wolf and risked his own life to save it. But the wolf repaid his kindness with the threat to eat him up. After the wolf was subdued by an old man, Mr. Dongguo still could not bring himself to have it killed. His action made him a laugh stock for other people, who asked him: “You are benevolent indeed, but what can you do about your stupidity?” (Sea of Past and Present Stories, “Story of the Zhongshan Wolf”). Although this is merely an allegory, its duplicated versions in real life have been numerous. Xiang Yu 項羽 (232–202 BC), on the other hand, was one of the leaders of the insurrectionary armies toward the end of the Qin dynasty. He proclaimed himself “Hegemonic King of Western

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Chu”; but, because he had more valiance than wisdom, he eventually lost to Liu Bang 劉邦 (256–195 BC). When he was young, Xiang Yu was so ambitious that even the sight of the great grandeur of the Emperor of the Qin dynasty would not make him feel intimidated. All he uttered instead was: “That man can be replaced”. But he lacked the kind of wisdom required of a ruler and, for that reason, lost his best opportunity at a feast at Hongmen Gate, leaving his advisor Fan Zeng 范增 remarking of him with a sigh: “That fellow is not worth discussing strategy with!” There have been actually many people who, because of their lack of enough wisdom to support their ambition, yield to the reality after repeated failures and eventually lose hold of their lofty Zhi. In the above, we mainly discussed rite and wisdom from the perspective of their rationales. Now it is necessary to briefly discuss them from the perspective of their manifestations. Rite is most closely related to socio-cultural affairs. Order will be maintained if all such affairs are conducted on the basis of rite. To a certain extent, rite is also related to appearances, for individual human beings’ performances of rite are often to be visually perceived: Some look courteous and sincere, some gentle, some confident, and some amiable (cf. Confucius, 10:1, 10:2, 10:4). The same is also true with the rite for national ceremonies. The upholding of rite often signifies the prosperity of a civilization. It is said, for example, that in the Zhou era, there were 300 items in the major rite and 3,000 in the minor rite. Together, they displayed the scene of an elaborated system with its grandeur emulating that of Heaven. Wisdom should have been closely related to appearances, because the cognition of things’ essences needs to proceed from their appearances. But, study in this regard is in fact rather weak in China, because Chinese philosophy emphasizes the awakening of the heart and regards it as a capability of following moral principles and distinguishing between the right and the wrong. What is particularly valued in traditional Chinese culture is the wisdom in handling socio-political affairs. A person would be considered as an outstanding wise man if he is able to obtain benefit and satisfy his desire — which is an alienated form of Zhi — with no breach

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of benevolence or rite. This is well exemplified by the way Zhuge Liang taught Liu Qi 劉琦 to escape as described in Chapter 39 of Three Kingdoms 三國演義.17 While this discussion was going on, Liu Qi, the eldest of Liu Biao, entered and tearfully importuned Xuande [i.e. Liu Bei] and Kongming [i.e. Zhuge Liang]. “My stepmother will suffer my existence no longer”, he said. “I may be killed at any moment. Rescue me, uncle, for pity’s sake”. “This is a family matter, nephew”, Xuande replied. “You cannot come to me with it”. Xuande turned to Kongming, who was smiling faintly. … The next day Xuande put off all obligations, claiming a stomach ailment, and persuaded Kongming to repay Liu Qi’s call alone. Liu Qi received Kongming in his private apartment. When they had finished tea, Liu Qi said, “my stepmother has no use for me. Master, favor me with a word to relieve my plight”. “I am here as a guest”, Kongming replied. “If people found out I had meddled for no good reason in a conflict among kinfolk, it could do us great harm”. So saying, Kongming rose to leave. Liu Qi appealed to him: “You have honored me with your presence here. I must see you off with more ceremony than this”. He led Kongming into another chamber and served him wine. “My stepmother”, he reiterated, “has no use for me. I implore you to speak the word that can save me”. “I may not give counsel in such matter”, was the reply. Again Kongming asked to leave. … “I have an ancient text”, Liu Qi said, “that I would like you to examine”. He guided his guest up to a small attic. ... Bowing tearfully, Liu Qi said, “My stepmother has no use for me. My death is imminent. Do you mean to be so cruel as to deny me a single word of help?” Kongming rose angrily and tried to leave, only to find that the ladder they had ascended was gone. … “‘Strangers never meddle among kin,’ as the saying goes”, Kongming replied. “I cannot give counsel”. “If you are so resolved”, Liu Qi said, “my life cannot be preserved. Let me end it before your eyes”. With those words he drew his sword. Kongming moved to restrain him, saying, “There is a way. You must remember the ancient story of brothers Shensheng and Chong Er? The former stayed home and lost his life; the latter went into exile and 17 Translator’s

note: This is a novel ascribed to Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中 (1330–

1440 AD).

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saved himself. Now, with Zu’s defeat, Jiangxia stands unguarded. Why not petition your father for a company of men to hold Jiangxia? That might save you”. (Three Kingdoms, 2003, pp. 936–939)

In this story, the three characters all used their wisdom. Liu Bei’s wisdom is shown in his refusal to meddle with others’ family affairs, which is based on common sense. So he leaves the matter to Zhuge Liang on the false excuse of an ailment. In order to obtain Zhuge Liang’s advice, Liu Qi uses the stratagem of “removing the ladder after going upstairs”, which, as one of the 36 Stratagems in traditional Chinese military thought, also reflects his wisdom. But the wisest of all is Zhuge Liang. What he does in the whole process is to take advantage of the situation. He declines Liu Qi’s demand twice in order to observe the social norm against strangers’ “meddling among kin”. But, upon Liu Qi’s insistence and reiteration of the demand for the third time, and for fear that Liu Qi kills himself, he makes use of the opportunity and, with his advice, gets the result that he has always wanted. The application of wisdom to situations like this involves a principled course as well as the flexibility in the ways one ought to bear oneself, which we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 6 of Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2.

5.3.  Physiological Traits and Social Stipulations Individual human beings’ course of maturity always proceeds under the dual action of human beings’ physiological traits and specific social environment, hence the biological property and social property of individual personality. Using Popper’s theory of “Three Worlds”, we may ascribe the biological aspect to the heredity from physical world and the social aspect to the influence of cultural world. And the interaction between the two influences the structure of the spiritual world of individual human beings. The said structure manifests itself mostly in the level of intellectuality, because the issue in the level of Zhixing is just a matter of awakening and illumination and, in the level of sensibility, it is just a matter of undergoing enrichment and restriction. For Mencius, the level of Zhixing is nature, whereas the basic instincts in the level of sensitivity are known

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collectively as destiny. Maslow refers to the former as “instinctoid” and the latter as instinct. From the level of intellectuality, we have selected four categories, namely Qi, righteousness, rite, and wisdom, in our discussion. Qi and wisdom can be cultivated. As regards rite and righteousness, their notions can even be directly infused. 5.3.1.  Qi and Wisdom as Primary a Priori Qualities Human beings’ psychosomatic Qi can be firm, soft, clear, or turbid, which are all predisposed. We can consider this Qi as the nature of temperament 氣質之性. According to modern psychology, human temperament is a special and relatively stable impetus of an individual’s psychological activities. Although such impetus is subject to the modification by an individual’s postnatal experiences, it will always maintain the individual’s inborn magnitude of it, which includes its velocity, intensity, equilibrium, agility, and so on. The intensity and equilibrium are related to the Qi of moral activities (such as what Mencius calls the magnificent Qi), and the velocity and agility are related to human wisdom, for intelligence is meaningful along, inter alia, the dimension of quickness and slowness. Western academia has long followed Dr. Hippocrates’s classification of temperaments in ancient Greece. In his On the Nature of Man, Hippocrates posits that there are four kinds of bodily fluids in a human being — blood, phlegm water, yellow bile, and black bile. He holds that the excess of blood, phlegm water, yellow bile, or black bile in a person will cause the person to be of, respectively, blood humor, phlegm humor, choleric temperament, or melancholic temperament. This theory seems rather invalid if examined from a modern perspective. Based on the traits shown in the movements of cerebral cortex, Pavlov, the famous Russian psychologist, attempted to perfect the theoretical foundation of Hippocrates’s classification, but he fell short of coming up with any original views about the classification itself. Logically speaking, Confucius’s classification of human temperaments in fact features enduring vitality. He is recorded as saying that “when unable to befriend people moderate in conduct, the best [one can] communicate with may be radicalists and people obsessive about moral correctness, [for] the former are enterprising and the latter know what not

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to do.” (Confucius, 13:21). In Jung’s nomenclature, the former is of extroversive type and the latter is of introversive type. Confucius’s classification is typical of his usual method of considering both sides and then taking the middle, which is a simple, useful, and very logical method. Moreover, his classification can find support in modern neuropsychology. Pavlov’s student Nikiforovsky, in his doctorate dissertation, distinguished four basic properties of the central nervous system. Among the four are “strength of excitation” — which is marked by the dominance of excitation over inhibition, “strength of inhibition” — which is marked by the dominance of inhibition over excitation, and “­ balance” — which is marked by the equilibrium between the two.18 We may add that “strength of excitation” refers to the radical, “strength of ­inhibition” to people obsessive with moral ­correctness, and “balance” to those moderate in conduct. Pre-modern Chinese culture pays close attention to human beings themselves, and hence places great importance on the study of temper­ ament, which is often reflected in theories of art and literature in particular. Cao Pi 曹丕 (187–226 AD) argued in his article “A Discourse on Literature” 典論論文 that qualities of individual human beings’ Qi can be differentiated in terms of clearness and turbidity. And the acquisition of desired qualities can hardly be forced because they are things not transmittable even along blood ties from parents to children, or from older to younger siblings. This is a very noteworthy view because it recognizes the innateness of Qi and the impossibility to force its transformation, which is similar to Mencius’s denial of the possibility to obtain Qi through any particular righteous deed conducted on impulse. In the article, Cao Pi also expresses a commendable view that individual human beings’ temperaments can be differentiated but there is nothing good or bad about any of them. Cao Pi’s argument, needless to say, basically focuses on physiological Qi whereas Mencius’ focuses his on psychological Qi. Physiological Qi is a basis for psychological Qi. But as far as the latter is concerned, it, as one’s willpower, can be trained, and, as one’s spiritual 18 See

J. Strelau, Temperament: A Psychological Perspective, New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003, pp. 12–13.

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capacity, it can be expanded through cultivation, hence Mencius’s theory on the cultivation of Qi. Infusion of notions will yield no instant effects, but long-time edification would exert subtle influence and thereby transform a person’s character. After Han Yu (whose view has been discussed earlier), the greatest contributor to the theory on the cultivation of Qi is Su Zhe. In his youth, Su Zhe admired Mencius’s theory on the cultivation of Qi. In his “Communication to Privy Councilor Han” 上樞密韓太尉書, he wrote, “… As regards writings, they are formed by Qi. But, whereas the capability of writing cannot be acquired through learning, Qi can be developed through cultivation”. He regarded Mencius and Sima Qian as his models because their writings were, in some cases, graceful and grand and, in others, untrammeled and exceptional. “How could they have possibly learned to write in those styles? It was just that their hearts were filled with Qi, which, without their knowing it, overflew to shape their language and manifested itself in their writing”. As regards how to cultivate one’s Qi, Su Zhe, based on his experience, raised his unique view. According to Han Yu, in order to cultivate the Qi, one must direct one’s aspiration to the Way of the early antiquity and study ancient classics. In Su Zhe’s opinion, since he had already read the works of all the ancient masters and hence put this requirement into practice, a mere fulfillment of the requirement would not be enough to inspire his aspiration. He thus realized that what he needed the most was travel, because, evidently, Sima Qian had academically benefited a lot from his experience gained through his extensive trips to the famous mountains and rivers on the one hand, and the acquaintances he had made among the heroic figures north to the Yellow River on the other hand. Thus, to Su Zhe, the point of traveling lays in witnessing both the majestic view of famous landscapes, and the greatness of outstanding literary and heroic figures. Qi and wisdom, in their broad sense, can be lumped together in our discussion. Liu Zongyuan’s “Heavenly Honors” classifies the Qi in Heaven and Earth into two kinds. People dominated by the robust and energetic kind of Qi feature a strong Zhi that is capable of enduring largescaled operations. And those dominated by the pure kind of Qi feature such sagacity that is marked by quickness, foresight, and thorough

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perspicacity. The strength of one’s willpower is therefore decided by the magnitude of one’s robust and energetic kind of Qi, and the quality of one’s intelligence is determined by the magnitude of one’s pure kind of Qi. Such being the case, Mencius’s and Zhuangzi’s different approaches to the cultivation of Qi, at this point, can be further explained. To examine them separately, one is a non-intelligence factor and the other an intelligence factor. Together, they constitute the psychological characteristics of an individual. In specific matters in the world, they complete each other in function and enhance each other. It is said that Teutonic people would first uninhibitedly air their opinions — as regards, for instance, whether to wage a war — while drinking (so as to enhance the vigor of their Qi), and then, in order not to lose their senses, soberly contemplate to weigh the advantages and disadvantages without drinking (so as to ensure the lucidness of their Qi). Moreover, insofar as qualities of an individual human being’s intelligence is concerned, some are high, some are low, some quick, and some slow, which are innately determined. In modern times, the quality is quantified and known as IQ. What Kant called the 12 Categories, as the different modes in which wisdom is applied, are intrinsic to human beings, though individual human beings differ in the extent of the awakening of their consciousness and the velocity of their reaction to stimuli. In ancient China, this was known as the difference between dimness and brightness. Humankind’s intelligence can be further developed to a certain extent through education (which includes studying on one’s own and thinking). And an individual can be called a “hero” if he or she is high in both wisdom and Qi and, at the same time, actively in pursuit of self-realization in social life. In this regard, Liu Shao in the Three-Kingdom period has presented the following interesting depiction: A man extraordinary in both literature and military affairs is to the general populace what a particularly fine plant is to ordinary grass or a particularly strong beast is to its herd. Therefore, outstanding strategic thinking and foresight on the one hand and exceptional courage and strength on the other are elements that make a hero complete. Analytically ­speaking, elements on each side are in need of those on the other. Specifically, the two elements on each side are in need of one element on

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the other side for the completion [of a heroic spirit]. Why do we say so? ­Strategic thinking and foresights would make an intelligent person. [But,] ­without a champion’s courage, [the intelligent person] would not be able to ensure the prevalence of his persuasion. Courage and strength would make a great champion. [But,] without an outstanding i­ntelligence, [the champion’s] plan would fall through. Therefore, an intelligent person should start with his strategic thinking to make initial plans, exercise his foresight to anticipate the key issues and trends, and then rely on his great courage to carry out the plans. [Likewise,] a great champion should exhibit his force to win support from the masses, exercise his courage to overcome difficulties, and then rely on his great intelligence to fulfill the task. Hence the two sides complement each other with its strengths (Liu Shao, 2009, Chapter 9).

The particular fineness of plants can be compared to great intelligence, whereas the particular strength of animals is analogous to unusual combating capability. The former bespeaks outstanding wisdom, and the latter is suggestive of outstanding courage and strength. As the two sides of human personality, Qi and wisdom should be mutually containing. “With strategic thinking, one can make initial plan; with foresights, one can anticipate key issues and trends; and with courage, one can make a final decision. Such is a person as intelligent as Zhang Liang 張良. If a person with extraordinary strength has both the courage to carry out his plans and enough intelligence to make sound judgment, then he is a great champion like Han Xin 韓信” (Liu Shao, 2009). However, neither Zhang Liang nor Han Xin distinguished himself in terms of morality. If Zhang Liang was merely an intelligent person and Han Xin merely a great champion, then Cao Cao 曹操 (155–220 AD), who excelled in both intelligence and strength, can be said to have lived up to the title of “hero”. But, in the eyes of most historians, he was anything but a virtuous person. Thus, as we can see, neither Qi nor wisdom is a virtue in real sense. They are merely the required competences that may be of help to the manifestation of virtue in one’s action.19 19 Translator’s

note: Zhang Liang was the best advisor of military strategy to the first emperor of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was the emperor’s best general. Cao Cao was a warlord in the Three-Kingdom period.

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5.3.2.  Righteousness and Rite as Largely Acquired Properties Although righteousness and rite are not virtues in the strict sense of the term (for the term “virtue” in the Chinese language originally referred to humankind’s inborn nature), they — unlike Qi and wisdom — generally embody virtue in reality. For this reason, they can be subsumed under virtue in a broad sense of the term. However, we cannot infer any innateness of rite and righteousness. Compared with benevolence and Zhi, they bear obvious marks of acquired disposition. Any parents would love their children, and any person would be persistent with his or her lifelong pursuit. Reflected in such love and persistence is the innateness of both benevolence and Zhi. They, as conscience and innate ability, are things of which human beings are aware and capable with no need for education and learning. Rite and righteousness, on the other hand, have to rely on education. Every person, due to his or her Zhi, would wish to be a hero of indomitable spirit or even capable of changing the world. Who would want to succumb to the order in social reality and remain submissive to it? Also, every person, due to his or her benevolence, would wish to be in absolute harmony with his or her fellow beings, and even with all things and creatures between heaven and earth. If such harmony could be accomplished at all, how would one still need to judge the appropriateness of everything and even have to stand up against the formidable force of social reality? If Zhi and benevolence are human embodiments of the Ways of Creativity and Docility, then righteousness and rite are the personalities formed on the basis of benevolence and Zhi as a response or even submission to social reality. As such, they more or less deviate from human nature. Or we can say that they are the kind of personalities that, in various extents, get warped in human beings’ response to social reality. This is particularly true with rite, reflected in which is, oftentimes, serious alienation of the human nature. It is sharply observed in the Laozi that … Therefore, only when Tao [i.e. the Way] is lost does the doctrine of virtue arise. When virtue is lost, only then does the doctrine of humanity [i.e. benevolence] arise. When humanity is lost, only then does the doctrine of righteousness arise. When righteousness is lost, only then does the doctrine of propriety [i.e. rite] arise. Now, propriety is a superficial

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expression of loyalty and faithfulness, and beginning of disorder. Those who are the first to know have the flowers (appearance) of Tao but are the beginning of ignorance. For this reason the great man dwells in the thick (substantial) and does not rest with the thin (superficial). He dwells in the fruit (reality), and does not rest with the flower (appearance). (Laozi, 1963, p. 158)

This view is profound. In Laozi’s opinion, the Way does nothing and yet leaves nothing undone, nurtures all things and creatures without dominating them. By virtue, he means the obtaining of the Way. The superior virtue relies on nothing. It obtains without losing anything and benefits without harming anything. The inferior virtue, being incapable of doing nothing while accomplishing everything, obviously deviates from the Way. As a result, there came to be such categories as benevolence, righteousness, rite, and so on. Characterized by universal love with no partiality, the superior benevolence can be said to be “taking action, but having no ulterior motive to do so” (Ibid.). Since love can hardly be universal, there came to be differentiations, where one would detest the crooked and protect the upright, supporting one while attacking another. For this reason, the superior righteousness is even inferior, for it “takes action, and has an ulterior motive to do so” (Ibid.). Being upright without sincerity, elaborating on formalities to decorate the display of reverence, and seeking perfection in appearance, such is rite, which is the farthest away from the Way and virtue, and hence considered “a superficial expression of loyalty and faithfulness, and beginning of disorder”. To human beings, it is in fact coercive in nature, “… when people do not respond to it, he [i.e. the man of superior rite] will stretch his arms to force it on them” (Ibid.). This evolutionary process can be compared to the growth of a tree, in which the Way is the root and rite the flower. There have been numerous steps of alienation between the stage of root and that of flower. Compared to the Way as the fundamental root, the rite in social life often looks rather superficial, ostentatious, and even affected. As we know, Zichan, a statesman in the Spring–Autumn period, ­elevated rite to the level of an unalterable principle. But, by the time of Confucius, the artificiality of rite had become evident. Thus, Confucius, though drawing the line at sharing Laozi’s denial of rite, criticized the rite

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of his time out of his aversion to the artificiality therein. “Those who formerly practiced rites and music were as rustic as those who practice rites and music of late look genteel. If [I] were to make a selection, I would select the former.” (Confucius, 11:1). Although the forefathers of civilization were mere rustics, they created rituals and music with sincerity. But it was affectedness that prevailed in the fashions of the ritualistic and musical performances by the gentlemen of later times. For Confucius, what those gentlemen forgot was the essence of rituals and music, hence his choice to go with rustics but not with the gentlemen. This view is precisely in line with the thought he expressed in Analects 9:14, where he wished to dwell among the “nine aboriginal tribes”.20 As a learned scholar, Xunzi must have seen his predecessors’ points. He, therefore, straightforwardly denies the connection between, on the one hand, the Culture of Rite and Righteousness and, on the other, the Way of Heaven and the heart of benevolence, arguing that people are in fact left with no choice but to subscribe to this culture, a culture that is “contrary to original nature and violate natural feeling” (Xunzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 129). For him, “by nature man desires repletion when hungry, desires warmth when cold, and desires rest when tired” (Xunzi, 1963). If someone, in any case, prioritizes others over himself, it must be the result of education and the external infusion of the notion of yielding. Who, then, invented the notions of rite and righteousness? Xunzi thinks that the inventors must have been ancient sages. “[T]he sages”, he says, “transformed man’s nature and aroused him to activity. As activity was aroused, rite and righteousness were produced, and as propriety [i.e. rite] and righteousness were produced, laws and systems were instituted. This being the case, propriety, righteousness, laws, and systems are all products of the sages. In his nature, the sage is common with and not different from ordinary people. It is in his effort that he is different from and superior to them” (Ibid., p. 130). The problem with Xunzi’s theory is that it obscures the commendable nature of virtue that resides in the depth of the human heart. And it is a problem that has deprived his theoretical ­framework of 20 Confucius’s

wish to “dwell among the nine aboriginal tribes” may have come from both his indignation about the lack of progress in the realization of the Way (Analects 5:7) and his longing for a simple and unadorned life style.

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any sound moral basis. But, as regards his view of rite and righteousness as human responses to social reality, it is not without ­reason. Particularly well taken is his argument that it is alien to human nature to prioritize others over oneself.21 Rite aims at differentiating people. That is why official circles are usually elaborated in codes of conduct. This is so even in the West. As an uncompromising character, for example, former US President George W. Bush was rather unaccustomed to the etiquettes in the Buckingham Palace during his visit there. The official circles in China were always overelaborated until modern times. But, even today, this is still a problem that often makes those in the circle feel apprehensive. For instance, if someone acted like a considerate and understanding subordinate, some would think he was ingratiating himself with his boss; but if he were somewhat reserved and independent in manner, others would say he thought too highly of himself to have any regard for his superiors. It is therefore hard to keep a balance. As the social convention of a society, rite functions to confirm the raison d’être of the social structure therein and hence contributes to establishing or maintaining the social order. But one must admit that it indeed results from the transformation of the human nature — though our understanding of nature fundamentally differs from Xunzi’s — through artificial means. It is marked by the affectedness that deviates from the human nature. Some Western scholars even call it a “wretched art” that is based on a corrupted nature of human beings. Despite the polite and refined manners that characterize the social interactions in the upper-class society, 21 Many

Chinese parents today make a point of educating their children with the story about the 4-year old Kong Rong’s 孔融 (153–208 AD) yielding bigger pears to his older siblings. But Kong Rong’s action, if true at all, cannot be ascribed to any such thing as inborn sense of yielding. Contained in his action was a spirit of benevolence and love. In addition, the child was left with little choice to do otherwise. It was hence an instance of self-control and self-restriction under the circumstances. The most telling example could be the allegory about two goats trying to go across a single-log bridge. Each goat wants to go across as much as the other. But both would drop and get drowned if neither yielded to the other. Generally speaking, the performance of rite requires self-restriction. But humans by birth desire freedom and equality, which explains their sincere longing for a world of universal harmony.

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what really goes on among people there is often insincere courtesy and even mutual cheating that proceeds behind adorned personas. Today, instead of laughing at a candid person from the mountains for knowing little manners, we should lament over our own nature, for it has been distorted and curbed by civilization! Xunzi often mentions rite and righteousness together. But they are in fact categorically different. First, righteousness is slanted toward intrinsic morality whereas rite leans toward extrinsic ethic. Despite the general interchangeability between the two terms, morality and ethic are clearly distinguished in traditional Chinese philosophy. Morality, based upon natural destiny 性命 and nature-texture 性理, is the embodiment of the Heavenly Way in the human heart. Ethic, as the texture of human relations, is the totality of norms in social relations. Relatively speaking, righteousness arises from within whereas rite operates from without. Second, the share of the Way that one obtains is virtue. The application of this share in social relations is righteousness. There is hence the Chinese word “Daoyi” 道義 (“moral principle”, literally “WayRighteousness”). For those who take upon themselves to promote the prevalence of moral principle, they can be pardoned even if their ways of act are somewhat crude and rash, like the way in which those lone heroes in Hollywood films fight vicious powers. The totality of norms underpinning the relationships in social reality is texture, whose manifestation in humankind’s codes of conduct is rite. Hence, we can say that the essence of rite is the “formalities” of reverence and yielding. Whereas righteousness emphasizes content (essence), rite emphasizes form (patterns). Third, because virtue — which is internal — is manifested on the level of consciousness, righteousness often functions as a self-disciplinary element to ensure the uprightness of oneself in social practices regardless of how favorable or adverse the external circumstances are. This explains the proverb “to be righteousness-bound not to shy away” 義不容辭 in the Chinese language. As for rite, under the requirements from various social relations, rite functions as a heteronomous element in one’s social practices. As such, it needs to adapt or adjust itself to different times and places. As an inevitable result, individual human beings often lose themselves in such attempts they make to stage their personas. This, in

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Zhuangzi’s (Chapter 15) words, is called “the loss of one’s nature to the commonplace” 失性於俗. To put it more figuratively, righteousness requires the submission of the guest (Object) to the host (Subject) whereas rite requires precisely the opposite. Fourth, because, on the one hand, righteousness functions to ensure the uprightness of oneself and promote self-discipline, those who practice righteousness demand an “autonomous self”. They usually embrace the notion of equality, not willing to bend to anyone. This is because moral principles can be as lofty as God. On the other hand, human beings in reality live in a hierarchical society. For this reason, those who observe rite accord particular importance to the distinction between the noble and the base. The base is supposed to keep guessing the noble’s intended requirement and act accordingly. In brief, those who practice righteousness respect themselves and have confidence in themselves, and those who observe rite mostly make a point of being humble and modest.22 Generally speaking, social reality never measures up to people’s expectations. In view of this discrepancy, one may also say that those who practice righteousness are mostly idealists whereas those who observe rite are mostly realists. Examples in this regard are numerous in life. Among pre-Qin Confucian thinkers, Mencius is the most concerned with the inner structure of morality, which is reflected in his particular prioritization of righteousness over rite.23 Xunzi, by contrast, is more concerned with the outer structure of social order, hence the particular emphasis he places on rite to which righteousness is conceptualized to be auxiliary. Because 22 Modesty

and humbleness are particularly well received in Eastern nations to avoid ­conflicts. Wen Tong 文同 (1018–1079 AD) once wrote a poem saying to the effect that there would have been no need for those legendary good officials in the ancient times to plead illness or resign as they had done if they had “maintained a low profile” and “aligned themselves with the ignorant”, for no one would have found someone in low profile or ignorance intolerable. Thus, “keeping in low profile” and “aligning oneself with the ­ignorant” was thought to be a key to survive in social life. 23 Chen Chun observes in his Beixi Ziyi (Meanings of Words from the Four Books) that “Mencius did not learn the rite among the feudal lords, nor was he well informed of the aristocratic system in the Zhou era. There is, after all, things that were not yet reachable or exhaustible by this omnipotent heart”. Perhaps it was not that Mencius did not learn it. He was just not very interested in it.

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righteousness directly embodies virtue and ideal, Mencius’s theory is characterized by the advocation of the abandonment of life for the sake of righteousness. On the other hand, because rite — like laws — requires human beings’ self-adjustment to social reality, Xunzi extends the reverence of rite to the upholding of law and thereby builds a theoretical framework of his own. Comparatively, Confucius’s thought is the most balanced. He considers righteousness as an essence to be realized through rite. Any individual human being who meets this requirement will be a nice and virtuous person. 5.3.3.  Connections Among Qi, Righteousness, Rite, and Wisdom In pre-modern China, human beings’ virtue is divided into benevolence, righteousness, rite, wisdom, and sageliness. In another version, it is divided into benevolence, righteousness, rite, wisdom, and faithfulness, which are collectively known as the Five Constants. In the text entitled “Five Elements” in the Guodian bamboo-slip texts of Chu, benevolence, righteousness, rite, wisdom, and sageliness are collectively referred to as the Five Virtues. Reflected in this classification is probably the thought of the Zisi-Mencius School. There is a passage in the Doctrine of the Mean (1963, p. 112) that discusses precisely these five virtues. It reads, “Only the perfect sage in the world has quickness of apprehension, intelligence, insight, and wisdom, which enable him to rule all men; magnanimity, generosity, benignity, and tenderness, which enable him to embrace all men; vigor, strength, firmness, and resolution, which enable him to maintain a firm hold; orderliness, seriousness, adherence to the Mean, and correctness, which enable him to be reverent; pattern, order, refinement, and penetration, which enable him to exercise discrimination”. The first sentence is about the sage, who is described as in possession of “insight and wisdom”, which enables the sage to command a bird’s-eye view of all. The ensuing four sentences are also brief and right to the point: The “magnanimity, generosity, benignity, and tenderness” refer to benevolence, the ­ “vigor, strength, firmness, and resolution” to righteousness, the “orderliness, seriousness, adherence to the Mean, and correctness” to rite, and “the pattern, order, refinement, and penetration” to wisdom. Mencius

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(7B:24) has also discussed benevolence, righteousness, rite, wisdom, and sageliness together. But his attention is directed primarily to the first four items, leaving sageliness out of his focus. Confucian scholars in the Han dynasty often spoke about the Five Constants, which are, again, benevolence, righteousness, rite, wisdom, and faithfulness. Yang Xiong, in his Words to Live by (Vol. 3), presents the following depiction of them: “Benevolence is a house, righteousness a path, rite clothing, wisdom a torch, and faithfulness a token. [One should] live in this house, follow this path, tidy up the clothing, light this torch, and hold fast this token. A superior man [man of virtue] takes no action but those that fulfill these requirements”. This passage draws on Mencius’s view and elaborates on it through very apt analogies. It argues that the Five Constants should be not only human beings’ virtues but also the common practice in human life. The notion of Five Constants is also adopted in Liu Shao’s Ranking of Figures (Chapter 1), but the explication therein is somewhat in disarray.24 In fact, before the emergence of Confucianism, there had already been a very fine classification of virtues in the upper-class society. According to the chapter of “Discourse of Zhou” in the Discourses of States, Duke Dao of Jin (586–558 BC) acted in accordance with rite in all his behaviors when he served Duke Xiang of Shan in the Zhou court in his youth. He “always mentioned Heaven whenever speaking of reverence, always meant what he said whenever speaking of loyalty, always mentioned himself whenever speaking of faithfulness, always mentioned others whenever speaking of benevolence, always mentioned interest and well-being whenever speaking of righteousness, always related his topic to specific matters whenever speaking of wisdom, always mentioned restriction whenever speaking of bravery, always touched upon the topic of 24 Renwu

Zhi 人物誌 [Ranking of Figures], Chapter 1: “… Therefore, those with an erect and tender spine are resolute and liberal-minded, which is the essence of benevolence. Those with pure and clear Qi are fine and ruly, which is the root of rite. Those who feature an upright and substantial personage are unswerving and firm, which is the basis of faithfulness. Those with strong and perfect muscle are courageous, which is a decisive characteristic of righteousness. Those with peaceful and unperturbed look are characterized by penetrating subtlety, which is the origin of wisdom. The five qualities are constant in nature. That is why they are called the Five Constants”.

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differentiation whenever speaking of education, always mentioned spirits and divinities whenever speaking of filial piety, always mentioned harmony whenever speaking of favor, and always mentioned his peers whenever speaking of prioritizing others”. This passage has mentioned benevolence, righteousness, and wisdom. There is admittedly no mention of rite, but reverence, filial piety, and yielding are all associated with rite. And bravery is associated with Qi. Also mentioned in the passage are loyalty, faithfulness, education, favor, and so on. Had all these notions been treated as theoretical categories and included in a single system of thought, the system would have been too jumbled and clumsy. Since Mencius has simplified the Five Constants to the Four Virtues and we have dealt with benevolence and sincerity (as a basis of faithfulness) in our discussion on the third level of the human heart, it stands to reason to take a further step to single out benevolence, subsume it under Qi — which Mencius emphasizes particularly — and discuss it along with righteousness, rite, and wisdom.25 It goes with saying that loyalty, filial piety, and reverence are also worth emphasizing in their capacity as commonly used notions in the moral discourse in pre-modern China. But, as there are more adjectives than nouns in the Chinese language, they are particularly appropriate to a patriarchal society and hence — due to their lack of universality — not good to be used as moral categories. Besides, rational thinking needs to follow an economic principle, use the so-called Occam’s razor, select with caution, and reduce the additional concepts to the minimum. For instance, since loyalty and sincerity are close to each other, we have to choose one of them. Here, we will conduct a double grouping for the four categories of our selection. On the basis of the responses of the heart to the favorable and adverse conditions in reality, Qi and righteousness can be classified into one group, and rite and wisdom into another. And, on the basis of the structures of the heart itself, we can classify Qi and wisdom into one group, and righteousness and rite into another. Then we will proceed to provide additional explication on their relationships.

25 In the present book, Zhi, benevolence, and sincerity are classified as virtues in a strict sense, righteous and rite as virtues of a broad sense (also known as moral characters), and wisdom and Qi as temperamental natures.

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Qi and righteousness underlie the tendency of extroversion in the human heart, which seeks self-realization. As an embodiment of masculine spirit, it is yang in nature. In other words, the two categories represent the upholding of virtue and underpin an individual human being’s uncompromising resistance against reality. People who are characterized by this tendency are prone to be ridiculed for being too naïve. Mencius developed Confucius’s dual emphasis on benevolence and Zhi into his stress on both benevolence and righteousness on the one hand and his dual attention paid to Zhi and Qi on the other. His particular emphasis on righteousness and Qi reflects his own personality. According to Volume 74 of Sima Qian’s Record of Grand Historian, Mencius’s contemporaries considered him “high-sounding and impractical”. Even such admirers of Mencius as Cheng Hao and his brother Cheng Yi in the Song dynasty would speak of Mencius as an outstanding person with peculiar and acrimonious character, which is in fact a moderate criticism of his personality. Rite and wisdom underlie the tendency of introversion in the human heart, which seeks harmony and order. As an embodiment of feminine spirit, it is yin in nature. In other words, rite and wisdom both require the Subject of obedience to reality in social life and both fall into the category of Constant Inquiry and Study. As regards rite, people have long confirmed its nature of yin in their comparisons between it and music. The Guodian bamboo-slip text of Chu conveys a similar view to that in Chapter 19 of the Book of Rite where it said, “Music comes from yang whereas rite arises from yin. The harmony between yin and yang makes certain all things are positioned properly”. The combination of rite and wisdom underlies the Subject’s choice to stoop and compromise in social life. Had the choice been not under the potential control and guidance of any moral principle, a person inclined to such a choice would easily become a powerful and treacherous official like Li Linfu 李林甫. As a descendent of the imperial clan of the Tang dynasty, Li Linfu was good at nothing except left-handed flattery and ingratiation. A man ­seemingly easy going, cordial, and polite, he — through the social connections forged among eunuchs and families of concubines — ­ climbed up to the post of prime minister during the Kaiyuan Reign Years (713–741 AD). In front of the emperor, he took great pains to cater to

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the emperor’s wishes and display his loyalty whenever consulted by his majesty. For the able and virtuous officials, however, what he always concealed behind his smile was his evil intentions against them, including even the schemes to frame them up. But, due to the emperor’s deep trust of him, his political power prevailed in his time. People spoke of the guileful Li Linfu as “sweet in words but murderous in heart”.

It is hence evident that the two sides on the level of intellectuality differ in their functions and limitations. There needs to be mutual complement between them and their functions. In terms of logic, the four categories on this level form such an orderly series as Qi — righteousness — rite — wisdom. As regards the contents of these categories, the distinctiveness of their structural patterns escalates from left to right in the series. And, conversely, what ramps up from right to left is the degree of their dynamicity and indistinctiveness. The two ends of this level most clearly embody the opposition between uncertainty and certainty in the human heart. Whereas Qi exists in a “cloud-like” form, wisdom exists in a “clock-like” form. Between the two ends, righteousness and rite also exhibit similar forms, though not as distinctive. This level of the human heart can be substantiated and upgraded through individual human beings’ incessant pursuit of learning. It is what Laozi (1963, p. 162) refers to as a realm in which “[t]he pursuit of ­learning is to increase day after day”. Among the Confucian and Daoist thinkers of the pre-Qin times, Xunzi pays the closest attention to managing this realm. He points out in Chapter 1 of the Xunzi that learning will widen people’s horizon the way surmounting a mountain will teach a person how high the sky is, standing over a canyon will teach a person how thick the earth is, and hearing the words of early sage kings will make a person realize how extensive knowledge is. In Xunzi’s opinion, the key of cultivation lies in the devotion of oneself to learning, because to think alone all day long is not as good as to study for a moment. Learning, to him, is a means of socialization, a means in which a person, as Confucius states, is established by the rule of propriety (i.e. rite). (Confucius, 2014, 8:8). This is because as “wood will become straight when straightened in line with a [tightened] string, metal will become

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sharp when honed with a whetstone, so will a superior man [man of virtue] become bright in wisdom and faultless in conduct when acquainted with extensively knowledge while repeatedly examining himself on daily basis”. The process of learning, he argues, should start from the recitation of classics and culminate in the study of the Book of Rite, because such a culmination constitutes the final stage of development from an ordinary person to a scholar or even a sage. Xunzi’ philosophy tends to overemphasize the side of rite and wisdom, which is a limitation inevitably reflected in his theorization of learning. As a matter of fact, representatives of early Confucianism and Daoism both attached great importance to learning. Of them, Confucius and Laozi were, of course, no exceptions. Besides, Zhuangzi was as versatile as Mencius was erudite. But Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Mencius all paid particular attention to thinking. Confucius’s attitude is best in accordance with the doctrine of the mean. In his opinion, “learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” (Confucius, 2014, 2:15) Through learning and thinking, the notions on the level of intellectuality can be substantiated, and the Heavenly-endowed nature on the level of Zhixing can be lighted up. Constructed therefore is an inner system of morality, which effectively exerts guidance and control over human beings’ sensitivity.

5.4. Summary In the philosophy of ethics, Qi is an extroversive element of impetus, which is roughly equivalent to willpower. Righteousness is at once the embodiment of inherent virtue and a possible convention of a given community. Rite can be the embodiment of virtue, but it can also be the affectedness adopted to adapt oneself to reality. Wisdom, strictly speaking, is a gift, not a virtue. But it is an indispensable supplementary element in moral activities. Comparatively speaking, Qi and righteousness primarily embody the integrity and value in an individual’s existence. Rite and wisdom, on the other hand, lend themselves to the construction of order and regulation in social life. Whereas the latter is after the harmony between individual human beings and social reality, the former underpins individual human beings’ uncompromising spirit in defiance of the reality.

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Together they form the yin and yang sides of the level of intellectuality in the human heart. Examined from a different angle, Qi and wisdom are physiological traits of an individual. Righteousness and rite, on the other hand, represent the convention of a given society. Because of their physiological qualities, Qi and wisdom can be called temperamental natures. Different individuals can be differentiated on the basis of the extents of firmness and quickness of their temperamental natures. Whereas the former extent is unrelated to intelligence, the latter is intelligence-related. As products of the “education of cultivating the Way” (cf. Chan, 1963, p. 98), righteousness and rite are the principles or stipulations by which the Subject handles the matters in social reality. These categories, too, tend to be oppositional to each other. Righteousness, coming from within, is largely autonomous. Rite, arising from without, is largely heteronomous. The reason these categories are classified into the level of intellectuality is because they can be nurtured. This is especially true with rite and righteousness. They, as things that can be explicitly verbalized, usually bear the marks of a given human community, and they will change in different historical times and social conditions. Compared with righteousness, rite is all the more a result of notional infusion. And, relative to Zhi, sincerity, and benevolence, these elements of heart-nature are closer to the concrete and colorful world of sensitivity. Such closeness is suggestive of a transition from moral legislation to moral practice. If we are to understand philosophy as a comprehensive knowledge about the cosmos and human life, then we will see a significant defect of traditional Chinese philosophy. It generally concentrates on the wisdom for handling interpersonal relationships but overlooks the importance of the philosophical studies on both nature and human improvement of nature.

5.5. Discussion During the “May 4th Movement” in 1919, Chinese academic circle, under Western influence, came up with the slogan of “down with the Confucian store” and exposed the cannibal nature of Confucian teachings regarding social order. What was its rationality? Was there also any one-sidedness of

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the slogan? Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀 (1879–1942) advocated the replacement of old culture with “Mr. De” (i.e. democracy) and “Mr. Sci” (i.e. science). His criticism of the old culture indeed struck home. But did he, in so doing, fall short of — as Dai Zhen’s 戴震 (1724–1777 AD) criticism of Xunzi goes — “taking all from the without but nothing from the within”? The theory of Inner Sageliness requires the retaining of the Subjectivity and flies the banner of ideal. The theory of Outer Kingliness, by contrast, requires that a person face or even obey the reality. So how can the contradiction between them be resolved? There has been the opposition between apriorism and empiricism in the study of ethics of all times and all places. How would the analysis of righteousness and rite on the level of intellectuality inspire us in this regard? Given the raisons d’être of apriorism and empiricism, are we able to weigh up one against the other, distinguish between the basis and the end, and gain a unified grasp of them? Humankind’s relation to the environment of their existence is twofold. On the one hand, they seek to be its dominator. On the other hand, they have to be obedient to it. Can we find any evidence of such a twofold relation after analyzing the elements of heart-nature at the level of intellectuality? As regards moral and scientific practices, is the distinction we draw between them in terms of freedom and obedience an absolute distinction or a relative one?

References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Chan, Wing-Tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Chen Chun 陳淳. Beixi Ziyi 北溪字義 [Meanings of Words from the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. Translated by James Legge, Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong 論語 大學 中庸. Shanghai: Shanghai Sanlian, 2014. Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒. Chunqiu Fanlu 春秋繁露 [Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Guji, 2010. Guan Zhong 管仲. Guanzi 管子 [The Guanzi].

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The Guoyu 國語 [Discourses of the States]. Han Yu 韓愈. Da Li Yi Shu 答李翊書 [In Reply to Li Yi]. Liji 禮記 [The Book of Rite]. Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Liu de 六德 [Six virtues]. In Guodian Chujian 郭店楚簡 [Guodian Chu Slips]. Liu Shao 劉劭. Renwu Zhi 人物志 [Ranking of Figures]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Mencius 孟子. Menzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Mozi 墨子. Mozi 墨子 [The Mozi]. In Mozi Xiangu 墨子閒詁 [The Mozi Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Sun Yirang 孫詒讓. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1958. San’guo Yanyi 三國演義 [The Three Kingdoms]. Translated by Robert Moss. Washington, DC: Patric McDougal, 2003. Shang Shu 尚書 [The Book of History]. In Shang Shu Jiao Zhu 尚書校注 [A Collated and Annotated Edition of the Book of History]. Edited by Chen Shuguo 陳戍國. Changsha: Yuelu Chubanshe, 2004. Sima Qian 司馬遷. Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962. Strelau, J. Temperament: A Psychological Perspective. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. Su Zhe 蘇轍. Shang Shumi Han Taiwei shu 上樞密韓太尉書 [Communication to Privy Councilor Han]. Wang Bi 王弼. Laozi Zhu 老子注 [Commentary on the Laozi]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1958. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Du Sishu Daquan Shuo 讀四書大全說 [Discussion after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1975. Wang Fuzhi. Zhouyi Waizhuan 周易外傳 [Outer Commentary on the Book of Changes]. Wuxing 五行 [Five elements]. In Guodian Chujian 郭店楚簡 [Guodian Chu Slips]. Xu Gan 徐幹. Zhong Lun 中論 [Treatise on the Mean]. Xunzi 荀子. Xunzi 荀子 [The Xunzi]. Partially translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 116–135. Zhuangzi 莊子. Zhuangzi 莊子 [The Zhuangzi]. Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤. Tong Shu 通書 [Penetrating the Book of Changes].

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Zhu Xi 朱熹. Sishu Zhangju Jizhu 四書章句集注 [Collected Annotations to the Four Books]. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Yuzuan Zhuzi Quanshu 御纂朱子全書 (compiled by Li Guangdi 李光地 [1642–1718 AD], et al.). In Ji Yun 紀昀, et al. (comp.). Siku Quanshu 四庫全書. Beijing: Wenyuange, 1782. Zuozhuan 左傳 [The Commentary of Zuo]. In Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu 春秋左傳 注 [Annotations to Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring–Autumn Annals]. Edited by Yang Bojun 楊伯峻. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1981.

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Basic Principles of

CHINESE PHILOSOPHY Volume 2

HU Jiaxiang South-Central University for Nationalities, China

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Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hu, Jiaxiang, author. Title: Basic principles of Chinese philosophy / by Jiaxiang Hu (South-Central University for Nationalities, China) Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, [2018] | Includes bibliographic references. Contents: Fundamental root of the cosmos -- Evolution of the cosmos - The position of human kind -- The level of Zhixing -- The level of intellectuality - The level of sensitivity -- Methodology -- Knowing and doing -- Spiritual realms of human life. Identifiers: LCCN 2018043060| ISBN 9789813273887 (hc: set : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813273948 (hc: v.1 : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789813273955 (hc: v.2 : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Chinese. Classification: LCC B126 .H7758 2018 | DDC 181/.11--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043060 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright © 2019 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.

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For any available supplementary material, please visit https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11088#t=suppl Desk Editors: Herbert Moses/Lixi Dong Typeset by Stallion Press Email: [email protected] Printed in Singapore

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Foreword

A philosophical tradition has its own history of development as well as the principles based on which that philosophy has been constructed. They are the principles that scholars of history may not understand. But, one’s understanding of the principles nonetheless entails one’s familiarity with this history; because principles necessarily exist in history, and they have to be identified in the study of history. From this empirical perspective, we find the study of principles much more difficult than the study of history. That is why Professor Hu Jiaxiang’s 胡家祥 Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy 中国哲学原理 is found to be a more commendable accom­plishment than a mere history of Chinese philosophy, with Mr. Zhang Dainian’s 张岱年 (1909–2004) Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy 中哲学大纲 and other studies on philosophical categories as his models and guidelines, he wrote with ease. Impressing with originality in its discussion on the categories of Chinese thoughts and its methodological analysis, this book marks both the depth of understanding that the author reaches and the height of philosophical realm he attains. Cheng Chung-ying Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA Founder and Former President, International Society for Chinese Philosophy

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Contents

Forewordv Chapter 6 The Level of Sensitivity 325 6.1.  Emotion (Desire) and Benefit 326 6.1.1.  Meaning of Emotion and Its Function 326 6.1.2. Heavenly Principle (Texture) and Human Desires 335 6.1.3. Distinction between Righteousness and Benefit 343 6.2.  Matter and Image 353 6.2.1.  Matter and Texture 354 6.2.2.  Image and Knowledge 359 6.2.3. How Matter and Image are Related to Emotion and Benefit 366 6.3. Manifest-ness and Subtlety, Principled Course and Flexibility 371 6.3.1.  Cognition: Manifest-ness and Subtlety 371 6.3.2.  Praxis: Principled Course and Flexibility 376 6.3.3. Ideal: Following One’s Heart’s Desire without Transgressing Moral Principles 383 References391

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Part Three  On Knowing and Doing

395

Chapter 7 Methodology397 7.1.  Attaining Vacuity and Maintaining Quietude 397 7.1.1.  Laozi’s Cognitive Experience of the Way 398 7.1.2. Zhuangzi’s Method of Experiencing the Way 402 7.1.3. Confucians in Sympathy with Laozi and Zhuangzi in Thought 409 7.2.  Attaining Sincerity by Turning around to the Self 413 7.2.1.  The Minimization of Desire 414 7.2.2.  Seeking the Lost Mind 418 7.2.3. Reaching the Depths of the Heart and Attaining the Enlightenment Resulting from Sincerity 423 7.3.  Tranquil Experience of Enlightened Penetration 430 7.3.1. The Meaning of Tranquil Experience of Enlightenment 430 7.3.2. The Possibility of Tranquil Experience of Enlightened Penetration 436 7.3.3. The Embodiment of the Tranquil Experience of Penetrative Enlightenment 442 References451 Chapter 8 Knowing and Doing 453 8.1.  Investigating Things and Gaining Knowledge 453 8.1.1. The Order of the “Eight Categories of Virtues” in the Great Learning 454 8.1.2. Contending Views Regarding the Investigation of Things and Gaining Knowledge460 8.1.3. An Overall Grasp of the Proposition of Investigation of Things and Gaining Knowledge469 8.2.  Personal Experience and Practice with Vigor 477 8.2.1.  Personal Experience 477 8.2.2.  Earnest Practice 483 8.2.3. The Wind of Morality and The Grass of Morality 489

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8.3. The Mutual Need between Knowing and Doing 494 8.3.1.  The Antithesis of Knowing and Doing 494 8.3.2.  Moral Notions and Practice 499 8.3.3.  Unity between Knowing and Doing 502 References510 Chapter 9 Spiritual Realms of Human Life 513 9.1.  The Realm of Entering the Mundane 514 9.1.1. Simultaneous Promotion of Self-Cultivation and the Well Being of All in the World 515 9.1.2. The Concentration on One’s Own Moral Uplifts 519 9.1.3.  Self-Strengthening and Virtue Deepening 526 9.2.  Realm of Transmundane 530 9.2.1. Inaction 531 9.2.2. Freedom 536 9.2.3. Nirvana 543 9.3.  Substance and Function in One 548 9.3.1. The Distinction between the Fundamental and the Peripheral and That between Substance and Function 549 9.3.2. The Non-Duality between Substance and Function and the Interchangeability between Them 554 9.3.3. Humankind as an Integral Part of Heaven and Their Transcendence from the Mundane to Sageliness 559 References569 Conclusion References

571 584

Glossary A (Chinese to English)

585

Glossary B (English to Chinese)

591

Index597

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Chapter 6

The Level of Sensitivity

The sensitivity level of the human heart includes the senses that are ­realized by the human eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. They are hence the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch along with both their objects (i.e. events and phenomena) on the one hand, and their resultant joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, likes, dislikes, and the evaluation thereof (i.e. the advantages and disadvantages with regard to the perceived event or phenomenon) on the other hand. This level consists in the convergence between human beings and animals. Insofar as this level is concerned, there is little difference between humans and ­animals.1 Desire in sensi­tivity is marked by exclusiveness. Once it dominates the human heart, the heart will fully exhibit the insecurity of the Human Mind. From the ­perspective of Outer Kingliness, this is a domain in need of the ­co-governance of both virtue and law. An overemphasis on the internal control by virtue to the oblivion, or even despise, of the external ­restriction of law would be too dogmatic and impractical.

1 In

November 2010, British press showed the image of a 14-year old Mexican boy with his face covered and a submachine gun in his hands. He was known by his pseudonym, “the Cloak.” A boy with a thirst for blood in his eyes, “the Cloak” was on the police’s list of the most-wanted. Despite his young age, he traveled extensively with drug dealers and became a cold-blood murderer, having killed many people whom he considered to be on the way of his organization, the South Pacific Cartel. It is said that he was good at swift throat-cutting. Moreover, he took delight in torturing his victims, battering them up, and showing off videos of murder in the internet.

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6.1.  Emotion (Desire) and Benefit Emotion and benefit are at once an important source of motivation in human existence and a domain where the human heart is often agitated. Buddhism and Daoism, in pursuit of the freedom from them, usually depreciate them entirely. Confucianism appreciates as well as depreciates them within limited extents, neither depreciating them to the point of abandoning desires nor appreciating them to the point of discarding Texture and Righteousness. Emotion takes the forms of joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, likes, and dislikes. Desire refers to humankind’s feeling of wanting to satisfy their need for food, drink, sex, sensuous pleasure, wealth, and so on. Benefit is normally the recognition of these satis­ factions. Desire basically resides between emotion and benefit, hence the terms 情慾 qingyu (ardor; sensual desire) and 利慾 liyu (desire for ­benefit; cupidity) in the Chinese language. 6.1.1.  Meaning of Emotion and Its Function The character 情 qing basically has two meanings: one is situation and the other feeling or emotion. In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the character is glossed as “the yin Qi that is characterized by desire.” Adopted in this inaccurate definition is the view of Dong Zhongshu, a Confucian scholar in the Han dynasty. It should be noted that the character originally meant “the actual situation.” Later it came to mean the human emotion, which is not necessarily yin in nature. In the extant early texts, there is no occurrence of the character 情 in the Book of Changes, Spring–Autumn Annals, and the Laozi. There is one occurrence in the chapter of “Admonishment to the Prince of Kang” in the Shang Shu, where the Duke of Zhou told his younger brother to closely inspect the situation 情 of the people in the region called Yin, saying that “the situation [i.e. 情] of the people is largely discernible, but the petty folks are hard to pacify.” In the Analects (Confucius, 2014, 13:4), Confucius told his disciple Fan Chi 樊遲 that “if a ruler likes rite, no one among the people will dare not to be reverent. … If a ruler likes faithfulness, no one among the people will dare not to be true [i.e. 情] [to their words]”. Obviously, rite is associated with reverence, and faithfulness is

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semantically close to qing 情. The ways in which the character is used in the Commentary of Zuo, the Shang Shu, and the Analects are all similar. The use is exemplified by the following sentence in the record for the 10th Year of Duke Zhuang of Lu (687 BC), “as for minor and major legal cases, although I [i.e. the Duke] cannot inspect them [in person], [they] will be settled according to the actual situations [i.e. 情].” At that time, the antonym of qing 情 was wei 偽 (false; fake; apocryphal). This pair of antonyms are used several times in the Commentary on the Book of Changes to mean true and false. It remains an unsettled question as regards when the sense of “emotion” began to evolve from the sense of “situation”. It remains ­ ­unsettled because there is only one occurrence of the character 情 in the Book of Poetry, which is found in this line, “Roaming and roaming, to the top of Wanqiu hill. Earnest [i.e. 情] I do have, yet no hope I can fulfill” (Poem 126). According to a pre-modern literary theory, poetry comes from human emotions. Should we chose to subscribe to this theory and take this occurrence of 情 to mean emotion, then its sense of “emotion” would date as early back as to the time before Confucius. There have indeed been many critics — Zhu Xi for one — who interpret this 情 as emotion. But, just because the poem is a love poem, it does not necessarily mean the word 情 in this line means emotion. The custom of the State of Chen, where the poem came from, “respected and upheld women” and “had a fancy for sorcerer dance”. Therefore, the protagonist in the poem should have been a vagrant man who performed sorcerer dance on the top of the Wanqiu hill, hoping to win women’s hearts. But, due to his languid look, he was looked down (no hope to fulfill) despite his sincerity (definitely having earnest). It is hence also apt to interpret this 情 as honesty or sincerity.2 By the time of the Zhuangzi, the word 情 had no doubt begun to mean emotion. In Chapter 5, it is said, “I mean by people without emotion [i.e. 情] those to whom neither their feeling of like nor that of dislike can bring any harm. [They are people] who follow nature without artificially 2 Confucius

had edited the 300 poems in the Book of Poetry. Had there been any occurrence of the word in the sense of emotion in it, he would have often used the word in this sense in his life.

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adding anything.” It should be noted that feelings of like and dislike are emotions. From there, Xunzi takes a more critical step further, explicitly defining 情 as feeling: “When the office of Heaven is established and the work of Heaven is done, the body will be provided and the spirit born, and the feelings of like, dislike, pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy embodied. These are called the natural feelings” (Xunzi, 1963, p. 118). “The like, dislike, pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy [that heart issues] by nature are known as feelings [i.e. 情]” (Xunzi, Chapter 22). This contribution by Xunzi directly results from his view that regards nature, feeling, and desire as a trinity. “Feeling,” in his judgment, “is the essence of nature” (Ibid.), which can be taken to mean that emotion is the substance of human nature. Emotion, as psychological experience or the Subject’s perceived ­psychological fluctuation, should be logically divided into mood and ­feeling. Mood is an innate mode of reflex analogous to a six-string zither. It responds to internal and external stimuli with different sounds. And the response is physiological and pro forma. As a matter of fact, primates and even mammals are also capable of such moods as pleasure, anger, sorrow, and fondness. But human feeling is something more than a mere response in form, for it contains specific cultural contents, such as the benevolence manifested in love, kinship, and friendship among comrades, zhi manifested in heroic spirit, and righteousness manifested in the sense of responsibility. That is why they are normally known as emotion. As early as the pre-Qin era, there began to be the notion of the Six Feelings in China. Some contemporary psychologists consider it to be hitherto the simplest classification of feelings.3 With like, pleasure, and joy at one side and dislike, anger, and sorrow on the other, emerged the polarity of human emotions. As feelings, joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are the most basic. They correspond to four basic aesthetic forms: Feelings stimulated by grandiose and graceful types of beauty are, respectively, joy and pleasure. And feelings caused by ugliness and weak type of beauty

3 Forms

of feelings, needless to say, are not limited to these six. But there has not been any significantly better classification in modern academia. See Chapter 2 of K. T. Strongman’s The Psychology of Emotion.

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contain, respectively, anger and sorrow.4 Before the time of Xunzi, ­however, the notion of “Six Zhi” 六志 (Commentary of Zuo, Year 25 of Duke Zhao) or that of “Six Acts” 六辟 (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 47) was used instead of the notion of Six Feelings. Among the six, early thinkers ­particularly upheld pleasure because it reflects the equilibrium in life and bespeaks a peaceful feeling of satisfaction and fullness. Confucian ­teachings about music are in fact the teachings about pleasure. Early Chinese music was elegant and harmonious, making people feel peaceful and comfortable. In daily life, Confucius suggests enjoying pleasure and forgetting worries. Mencius maintains that a superior man [i.e. man of virtue] has three p­ leasures and that the highest realm in human life is the realm accompanied by a feeling of pleasure. Much as Zhuangzi (Chapter 24) argues for being free of sensitivities, his positive attitude toward human life is epitomized in his “pursuit of pleasure in Heaven”. Emotions are the blood vessels of the humanistic culture. Without them, the culture will inevitably turn bland. In social life, they are interpersonal ties, as exemplified in the endearment, respect, fondness, and friendship in relations. In moral evaluation, they function as a barometer, because the love of goodness and aversion to evil are the attitudes that human beings should hold in life. But, above all, it is an important part of aesthetic appreciation. To be one with the objective world or heaven, one way to take is through an empathetic fusion with a natural setting. It is also a way through which one enters a religious state in religious activities and in which one reveres sacred deities and commiserates with all sentient beings. Emotional elements make the human life tasteful and colorful. People who love life need to keep the richness of their emotions and always find ways to enjoy themselves. That will be good for the body and mind. Speaking of emotion and mood alone, they should be axiologically neutral. Joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure may differ in their positive or negative impacts on human beings’ physical health. But, where the value of human existence is concerned, there is nothing good or evil about them. Among the thinkers in the Wei–Jin period (220–420 AD), there was a 4 Please

see Chapter 11 of my Shenmei Xue 審美學 [Aesthetics], (Beijing: Beijing Daxue chubanshe, 2010).

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debate over this issue. He Yan, as a leading scholar then, believed that sages were free of emotions, which was a point regarded by Zhong Hui 鐘會 (225–264 AD) as well taken and repeatedly cited in his own philosophical discourses. But, as a young scholar then, Wang Bi was independent of He Yan’s influence. He argued that what distinguished a sage like Confucius was his intelligence; but when it came to the Five Emotions (i.e. joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, and resentment), they were actually what a sage shared with ordinary people. Since his intelligence was above ordinary people’s, a sage was able to experience the Way. On the other hand, since there was no difference between his five emotions and those of ordinary people, a sage was also capable of reacting to external stimuli with due emotions. For instance, Confucius felt happy whenever he saw his disciple Yan Hui 顏回 but felt sorrow when Yan Yuan died. Hence, in Wang Bi’s opinion, a sage was commendable in this regard because, much as he reacted to external stimuli with emotions, he was not emotionally burdened by the stimuli (See He Shao’s Biography of Wang Bi).5 This view is well founded. Zhuangzi, as a Daoist thinker, argued for one’s freedom from emotion. The argument proceeded from his ideal lifestyle of “inhaling wind and drinking dew” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 1). Likewise, the process of Buddhist meditation would eventually culminate in the extinction of emotions, which is a total withdrawal from temporality. Qing dynasty scholar Yan Yuan, based on his experience in life, made the following good point about human emotion in his Yan Xing Lu: “The lack of [such] feelings [as] worry or anger agitated when one should feel worried or angry, such is the Void in Buddhism. How could a [Confucian] scholar distinguish himself from heretics if he lacked feelings of worry and indignation? Being overwhelmed by worries or anger whenever feeling worried or angry, such speaks of common people’s lack of self-cultivation. How could a [Confucian] scholar distinguish himself from common folks if he let ­himself be dictated by worries and anger? So long as one goes through hardship with ease and peace [of mind], and disarms fierce threats with modesty and gentleness, one would be free from the burden of anger and worries.” A Confucian scholar, therefore, would be no different from a 5 Translator’s

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note: He Shao 何劭.

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Buddhist if he lacked emotions. But if he succumbed himself to the dictation of his emotions, he would be no better than an ordinary person. A scholar who has truly reached a profound level of cultivation would be someone with emotions and yet not burdened by his emotions, someone who responds to all challenges in life with pleasure and a peace of mind. The relation between emotion and (human) nature was a frequently discussed topic among pre-modern thinkers. Xunzi was the first scholar who juxtaposed them. But, as we pointed out before, he actually confused nature, emotion, and desire. In Chapter 35 of the Chunqiu Fanlu, Dong Zhongshu attempted to mediate between Mencius and Xunzi with regard to whether human nature was good or evil, proposing his view of “benevolent nature and greedy ­emotion.” He analogized emotion and human temperament, respectively, to the yin and yang in nature, arguing that yin was greedy and yang benevolent. Therefore, he denounced emotion for being unpardonably wicked. This is a rather dogmatic view, but it was largely shared by the Tang dynasty scholar Li Ao. In the Song and Ming dynasties, scholars gave emotion comparatively well-balanced evaluations and came up with some noteworthy views, of which the ­following passage from Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–1086 AD) can be an example. “Before joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, and feelings of like and dislike come forth from the heart, [they] constitute nature. Once they are on the verge of coming forth and manifesting themselves in one’s actions, [they] are emotions. Nature is hence the root of emotion and emotion is nature’s function. That is why I would say nature and emotion are ­identical” (Wang Anshi, 2005, Vol. 67). But, of course, human emotions in the heart are not identical to the human nature in a strict sense, for they are merely human beings’ instincts. Cheng Yi, in Volume 18 of the Er Cheng Yulu 二程語錄, likened nature to water and emotion to waves. For Zhu Xi, “nature is ­stable and motionless whereas emotion is capable of moving in response to external stimuli. Nature is Texture, emotion is function. Nature is tranquil whereas emotion is dynamic” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Vol. 98). Wang Fuzhi, in Volume 2 of his Du Sishu Daquan Shuo, went further to argue that emotion — comprising joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure — was the human mind, not the human desire; but benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom had to be manifested through emotion. Therefore, “nature generates emotion and emotion manifests nature. Human Mind is hence at

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service to the Mind of the Way.” From this perspective, there is no conflict between nature and emotion, as theirs is a relation between the internal and the external. The change in academicians’ views on emotion in the Song and Ming times can arguably ascribed to their upholding of the Doctrine of the Mean, in which it is said, “Before the feelings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are aroused it is called equilibrium (…). When these feelings are aroused and each and all attain due measure and degree, it is called harmony. Equilibrium is the foundation of the world, and harmony its universal path. When equilibrium and harmony are realized to the highest degree, heaven and earth will attain their proper order and all things will flourish” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98). Before the emotions are aroused, the heart is in an equilibrium. This is called harmony, which is in accordance with the noumenon of the Heavenly Way. When all the aroused emotions “attain due measure and degree” with no breach of Texture and righteousness, it is called harmony, which is in agreement with the function of the Heavenly Way. In neither case does emotion give much cause for criticism. On the basis of the above distinction between mood and emotion, we can add that equilibrium bespeaks a state before human moods are manifested, a state in which there is no good or evil to speak of. But manifested moods, due to the concrete notions they carry, come to be emotions, which can be either good or evil. Then, how do we tell which are good and which are evil? A basic standard should be found in one’s love of the good and aversion to the evil. Hence, the polarity of good and evil emotions should correspond to the polarity of good and evil in moral values. Specifically, the “due measure and degree” are to be attained in one’s love and emulation of the worthy (i.e. good) on the one hand, and one’s abhorrence of evils on the other hand. As regards our predecessor’s analogies of nature to water and emotion to wave, they were formulated to differentiate the human nature and ­emotion from the viewpoints of substance vs. function and stillness vs. motion. Speaking of the form of emotion alone, however, it would be ­better to analogize Qi to water and emotion to wave. The fluctuation of emotion normally occurs based on the operation of Qi. Or conversely, emotional fluctuations inevitably affect the operation of Qi. The pre-modern Chinese medical discourse teems with records in this

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regard. It is observed in the section of Basic Questions 素問 of Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine that “in anger, [one’s] Qi rises; in pleasure; [one’s] Qi is slow; in sorrow, [one’s] Qi dissipates; and in horror, [one’s] Qi sinks.” And there is such a pre-modern theory of “illnesses from seven emotions” 七情之病 that lists a number of negative impacts of emotion on humans’ physiological Qi. The ancients’ observation on the close connection between emotion and Qi is indubitably objective, but it was difficult for them to come up with any accurate depiction of the connection. Drawing on Mencius’s theory on the cultivation of Qi, Dong Zhongshu proposed a model of the human mental state which is seemingly similar to but in fact different from the observations in medical texts. “In anger,” he wrote in Volume 77 of the Chunqiu Fanlu, “[one’s] Qi is high; in pleasure, [one’s] Qi dissipates; in worry, [one’s] Qi goes violent; and in fear, [one’s] Qi collects.” But in art, the impact of emotion — through the flow of Qi that runs through an artist’s rhythmic use of strength — takes effect in the artist’s codified operations of creativity and thereby congeals in the perceptible style of the artist’s artwork, hence the much enhanced ­objectivity and accuracy in the depictions in this domain. From Pan Zhicong 潘之淙 (fl. 1627 AD), we learn that the Ming dynasty calli­grapher Zhu Yunming 祝允明 (1460–1526 AD) once offered an apt ­summary in this regard. “In pleasure,” he said, “[one’s] Qi is in harmony, resulting in the gracefulness of [one’s] calligraphy. In anger, [one’s] Qi is strong, resulting in the peculiar harshness of [one’s] calligraphy. In sorrow, [one’s] Qi is pent-up, resulting in the restricted-ness of [one’s] ­calligraphy. And in joy, [one’s] Qi is smooth, resulting in the elegance of [one’s] calligraphy” (Pan Zhicong, 2000, Vol. 2). Calligraphy is a vivid illustration of humans’ psychic strength. Displayed in it for aesthetic ­perception is, therefore, a natural combination of emotion, Qi, and image. In daily life, emotion is most closely related to benefit and desire. It is human to feel happy when obtaining benefit or having one’s desire satisfied, and to feel upset over the loss of benefit or failure to obtain what one desires. Because benefit and desire are germane to the satisfaction of human needs, and because such satisfaction is often exclusive to one person or group, they are often belittled when evaluated from the perspective of a collectivity or even the entire humankind. In this respect, emotion can be reduced to an implicated victim of this belittlement, for greediness and

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jealousy are products of a mixture of feeling, private interests, and selfish desires. These kinds of base feelings should invariably be abandoned no matter one evaluates it in humans’ axiological system or from the pers­ pective of individual human beings’ psychosomatic health, though such feelings can serve as a source of motivation in people’s activities for ­pragmatic purposes. But emotion can also be noble. Noble emotions necessarily contain Qi (impetus), righteousness (notion), and even deep-level moral basis. Generally speaking, the emotion generated from Zhi is a heroic passion, and that from benevolence is a passion of love.6 Pathos, as Hegel points out, is “alive in the human breast and move the human heart in its inmost being”, and it is “an essential content of rationality and freedom of will”.7 Hegel also notes that there are not many kinds of passions. What we see from time to time in operas, for instance, is the sorrow and joy aroused by the tragic or happy endings of lovers’ love, mother’s love, filial love, friendship, or heroism. According to Hegel, positive passions should be classified into love and heroic feelings. Passion is the direct manifestation of nature (i.e. Heavenly endowed nature). It is an ­inexhaustible source of impetus for human beings’ striving in the development of history. At this point, we further realize that, in the Doctrine of the Mean, what underpins its association of emotional equilibrium and harmony with the Way of Heaven and Earth is early thinkers’ first-hand experience and profound understanding. This is because Zhi and benevolence embody precisely the ways of Creativity and Docility (Cohesion) in human beings’ heart-nature!

6 We

mean by “passion” an intense, noble, and profound emotion that is of universal s­ ignificance and generated from the depth of the human heart. In Hegel’s Aesthetics, the term is “pathos” (cognate with Greek p’αθοδ), which is translated in Mr. Zhu Guangqian’s 朱光潛 (1897–1986) and Mr. Wang Yuanhua’s 王元化 (1920–2008) Chinese versions of Aesthetics as “情致” and “情志”, respectively. 7 G. Hegel, Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art. Translated by T. M. Knox. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), p. 232.

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6.1.2.  Heavenly Principle (Texture) and Human Desires The graph yu 欲 (desire; want) in the Chinese language is a ­phonogram-cum-syssemantograph. It is derived from qian 欠 with gu, yu 谷 (valley; canyon) as both its phonetic and semantic symbols. Its derivation from 欠 is based on the sense of muye 慕液 (literally “liquid of admiration,” which is, by extension, “spittle”) in the graph 欠. And its derivation from 谷 is based on the sense of the graph 谷 that denotes the capacity of emptiness for holding things therein. In Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the character 欲 is glossed as “greedy desire,” which is a bit too narrow. In the Mencius, it is said that “the kind [of person that] is desirable is good” (7B:25), and it also draws distinction between the desire for life and the desire for righteousness. Obviously, the character 欲 used in these contexts cannot be understood as “greedy desires.” The character is normally used as a verb to mean “to want to do something” or “to want something,” which indicates a person’s need that arises as a response to external circumstances (object). In the Laozi (1963, p. 141), for example, there is the sentence, “Do not ­display objects of desire, so that people’s heart shall not be disturbed.” When the character is used as a noun, it means desire in general or one’s weakness for something. As desire in general, it refers to such a series of intentionality in the human heart as, first, one’s need on the level of sensitivity, which includes one’s need for food, drink, and sex; second, a given collectivity’s need for morality, such as the need for rite and righteousness; and third, the need shared by the entire humankind, which is both an individual’s desire on the highest level and humankind’s universal desire, namely, the desire for Zhi and benevolence. As one’s weakness for something, it generally refers to individual human beings’ physiological needs, the pursuit of satisfaction in sensual aspects, as represented in the Chinese term “seven emotions and six desires” 七情六欲. Due to this narrow sense of the word, desire is often associated with greediness. In their discussions on human desires, pre-modern thinkers often base their argumentation on this latter sense — which is the narrow sense — of the word. Since 欲 (desire) in its broad sense belongs to the series of intentionality in the human heart and its narrow sense refers to human beings’ physiological and sensual needs, Daoism, as a proponent of humankind’s

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unity with heaven through the convergence of their heart, argues for being free of desires. Buddhism, which considers the world in reality as void, goes further to require the extinction of desires. These drastic views almost run counter to both the human effort to make history and the progress of the human society. Only in the domain of individual human beings’ spiritual life do they carry certain positive implications. Confucianism, being just and well balanced, holds a view that generally oscillates between the polarized arguments for indulging in desire on the one hand, and for the extinction of it on the other. Moreover, Confucian views in this regard are variegated. Generally speaking, pre-Qin Confucianism was relatively just and well balanced. Neo-Confucianism in the Song dynasty slanted toward the Buddhist side, which was to be counterbalanced by the view generally held in the Ming and Qing times that explicitly recognized the legitimacy of human desires. Confucius in fact held a positive attitude toward both wealth and sensual needs. All he emphasized was the necessity to pursue them with righteousness, restrict them with rite, and keep them by moral means. Both Mencius and Xunzi considered human beings’ physiological desires as inborn and hence not renounceable. But there is a difference between them. Mencius recognized the desires as humans’ innate nature but considered it appropriate to call them destiny so as to distinguish them from such heavenly endowed nature as benevolence and righteousness. Xunzi, in contrast, considered the human nature as none other than desire and thereby excluded benevolence and righteousness from human beings’ inborn nature. Mencius advocated policies of benevolence, arguing that there was nothing wrong with a ruler’s “fondness of music,” “fondness of force,” and “fondness of women” so long as the ruler “shares [the freedom of access to the pleasures] with the people” (Mencius, 1B:3, 1B:4, 1B:5). Xunzi upheld hegemonic governance, contending that a Son of Heaven (i.e. king) might as well have his desires fulfilled to the fullest extent since he had all the resources, whereas a gate keeper, due to his lack of the resources, should be content to restrict his physiological and sensual desires (Xunzi, Chapter 22). Mencius’s attention was focused on the inner sageliness. He called for both the minimization of desires as a means to cultivate the heart and the choice of righteousness over life when one had to choose either only. Xunzi was, however, interested solely in the outer

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kingliness. He was aware that human desires could serve as a lever through which rewards and punishment took effect. The distinction between Heavenly Texture and Human Desire was first drawn in Chapter 19 of the Book of Rite, where it is written, “Human beings are born to be quiet, which is their heavenly endowed nature. They [are capable of] acting upon [external] stimuli. Such is the desire [in their] nature. … [External] stimuli on people are unlimited. [If] there were no restriction to human feelings of likes and dislikes, people would transform instantly in response to the occurrence of any stimulus. Being transformed by [external] stimuli, such is the result of people’s exhaustive [indulgence] [that leads] to the extinguishment of [their] Heavenly Texture.” Except Lu Jiuyuan and a very limited number of other scholars, most Confucian scholars regarded the point in this passage well taken. The so-called humankind’s transformation by external stimuli is the same thing as what Zhuangzi referred to as humankind’s subjection to the dictations of external things. But what is advocated in the passage is the restriction to, rather than the absence or extinguishment of, human desires. And the restriction is advocated as an antidote to overindulgence. Giving free rein to human desires would lead to the extinguishment of Heavenly Texture. The entire world in that case world be in such a chaos where the strong bullied the weak, the majority violated the minority, the wise cheated the unwise, the sick were not taken care of, and the old, the under-aged, the orphaned, and the widowed were all unsettled. In the Song dynasty, the criticism against the “exhaustive indulgence to the extinguishment of Heavenly Texture” evolved into the clamor of “retaining Heavenly Texture while removing human desires”.8 Scholars’ view regarding this issue had since turned radical and dogmatic. Some NeoConfucian thinkers used the term “human desire” in its narrowest sense, which roughly meant the selfish desire or, more precisely, the selfish (qualitative modifier) and excessive (quantitative modifier) lust and greed. With these modifiers applied to it, human desire became demonized and turned into something categorically wrong and unpardonable. Once such a value 8 There

is only one occurrence of the phrase “extinguishment of human desires” in the Ana of Zhuzi, which may probably be a careless interpolation committed by Zhu Xi’s disciples.

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judgment was used in social life, its consequence could be epitomized in Cheng Yi’s statement in Volume 22 of the Er Cheng Yulu 二程語錄 “death of starvation is a matter as extremely trivial as the loss of chastity is extremely serious”, which is indeed a radical and erroneous view. Rightly did Dai Zhen, in a letter, denounce it as “murdering through Texture.” Then how did those scholars arrive at such a radical view? It could be explained in terms of Daoist and Buddhist influences. Li Ao, under the Buddhist influence, proposed restoring the human nature while extinguishing emotions. And Zhou Dunyi’s argument for the absence of desires can be ascribed to the influence he received from Daoist philosophy. It was against this ideological background that Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi called for the “exhaustive elimination of human desires” 盡去人欲. Granted that they had subscribed to a specific narrow sense of “human desire,” their arguments still make hardly any sense in logic. For example, Zhu Xi once made the following distinction as his attempt to illustrate his point: “To eat and drink is in line with Heaven Texture. To be after deliciousness speaks of human desire” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Vol. 13). These are simply the words of an ascetic monk! Much as Wang Shouren also argued for the elimination of human desires and restoration of Heavenly Texture, the Taizhou School of Thought 泰州 學派, which evolved from his philosophy, was leaning toward the belief in the indulgence in what one desired. He Xinyin 何心隱 (1517–1579 AD) argued in favor of acting naturally, and Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602 AD) extolled the love of wealth and sex. In doing so, they both overcorrected the Rationalism in the Song dynasty. The academic circle in the Qing dynasty, however, mostly took a realistic s­ tandpoint in this issue and, proceeding from their well balanced view, called for a unity of Texture and desire. In Volume 1 of his Shi Guang Zhuan 詩廣傳, Wang Fuzhi contends that an individual’s desire on the highest level was linked to Zhi. In reality, as Wang observes in the section entitled ‘Chengming Pian’ 誠明篇 in his Zhangzi Zhengmeng Zhu 張子正蒙注, human beings have form, color, smell, and taste to “enrich their life” on the one hand, and benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom “to ensure the uprightness of their virtue” on the other hand, thanks to both of which, people can maintain a healthy development of their p­ sychosomatic well-being. Dai Zhen held that Texture resided in human desire. To him, what is known as Heavenly Texture is merely a requirement for “restricting human desire and not exhausting it” (Dai Zhen, 1982).

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The distinction between Heavenly Texture and Human Desire is in fact an extension from Confucius’s (2014, 12:1) idea of “subduing one’s self and returning to propriety [i.e. rite]”. The mastering of the self and returning to propriety are represented in, respectively, the opposition to the exhaustive pursuit to the satisfaction of one’s desire and — to a great extent — the requirement of retaining Heavenly Texture. “Rite,” observes Cheng Yi in Volume 15 of the Er Cheng Yulu, “is a state in which what one looks at, listens to, talks about, and acts upon, is all limited exclusively to the Texture. Rite is none other than the Texture. If something is not Heavenly Texture, then it must be selfish desire. The absence of human desires means the prevalence of Heavenly Texture.” Zhu Xi, in his Wei Renzhe Benxin zhi Quanti 謂仁者本心之全體, also opines that “self is [the abode of] one person’s selfish desire, and rite is the formal pattern of Heavenly Texture. Hence the morality of human heart can be ascribed exclusively to Heavenly Texture. But due to one’s self, one is not free of selfish desire, which is something that can harm the Texture. Therefore, those who practice benevolence must have the means to overcome their selfish desire and thereby return to rite. Then, everything would be in accordance with the Heavenly Texture, and the completeness of the morality of human heart would be restored. … So long as one overcomes it everyday without being daunted by the difficulties therein, one’s selfish desire will be thoroughly eliminated, which will mean the prevalence of Heaven Texture and inexhaustible availability of benevolence.” Both of them regard rite as the Heavenly Texture, which reveals their fallacy of taking a part for the whole. One has sufficient reason to doubt the existence of an eternally immutable Heavenly Texture. For example, men’s bigamy was in conformity with the rite in pre-modern China but is against the rite in modern China. And it has rarely — if ever at all — been in conformity with Western European rite, but it is still recognized by the rite in certain other regions. Because rite and righteousness belong to the level of intellectuality, they are inevitably subject to spatial and temporal limitations. In fact, they constitute the “righteousness of a given time”, by which I mean the code of ethics particular only to specific times and places. The opposition between individuals’ desire and the rite of the society will exist for a long time. Whereas the former seeks freedom, the latter

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tends to impose restrictions. Formed between them is the lifelong tension that individual human beings experience in their life. Song dynasty scholar Hu Yuan 胡瑗 (993–1059 AD) was certainly right when he said in a quote in Li Gou’s Yu Hu Xiansheng Shu 與胡先生書, “people are to rite what animals are to animal farm, birds to ropes, and fish to fishpond. How can it be something in which they enjoy themselves? It is something that has to be managed with effort. But people are to unrestrained freedom of actions what animals are to mountains and marshes, birds to the sky, and fish to rivers and lakes. How can it be the case that there is someone who makes them head toward those things? Those are the things to which they are naturally inclined.”9 Rite is the totality of ethical norms particular to a given time in a given place. “Unrestrained freedom of actions,” on the other hand, is suggestive of the impulsion of individual human beings’ desire. According to Freud, the impulsion speaks of the id, which follows the principle of pleasure. But ethical norms are germane to ego, which follows the principle of reality. There are hence inevitable conflicts between them. One basic aspect of human desire is lust. Plato’s metaphor of carriage would be of value to our understanding of the dual characteristic of lust. He likens an individual’s personality to a carriage, where the cart driver is intellect, a handsome white horse is passion,10 and a sluggish black horse is lust. The white horse is the carter’s natural ally, whereas the black horse is, on the one hand, full of strength and, on the other hand, characterized by its vigorous erotic impulse that is likely to topple the carriage. In order to ensure a safe and smooth drive, the carter has to work with the white horse to keep the black horse under control and, at the same time, make certain it provides its part of impetus to make the carriage move. This metaphor is an important revelation as to how lust needs to be under both control and guidance. Our pre-modern thinkers have left us numerous discussions that emphasize the restriction of human desire. Their views converge on a basic requirement of moderated satisfaction of human desire without 9 Translator’s

note: Li Gou 李覯 (1009–1059 AD). white horse in this metaphor can be understood as both passion and willpower. Its translations vary in Chinese versions. 10 The

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indulging in it. Human beings, by their nature, desire food and sex. Such normal needs deserve to be satisfied. But if such satisfaction is pursued in excess, the pursuit will harm oneself and even others. It is said that the early death of Alexander the Great might have been due to his excessive consumption of alcohol, which aborted his great and ambitious cause. And it is well documented that, in the Tang dynasty, the immensely meritorious Emperor Xuan’s (r. 712–756 AD) indulgence in the company of a concubine partly accounted for his negligence of state affairs and the resultant political chaos in the empire. In modern times, it is reasonable to keep upgrading productive forces of the society in order to meet human beings’ growing need in their material and cultural consumption. But, at the same time, there needs to be education to teach people how to protect the ecological environment of the earth and thereby bring benefit to our posterity. In view of the bright prospects opened up by the Industrial Revolution, thinkers in the 19th century — Saint Simon for instance — tended to believe that the world commonwealth could be realized through substantial increase of material wealth to meet all people’s needs and, in so doing, root out the causes for the conflicts of interest among them. However, the historical development of the past century has made increasingly clear the impracticality of these thinkers’ ideal. The impracticality stemmed from their failure to take into consideration the insatiability of human beings’ desire and their overlooking of the limited amount of ­natural resources on earth. Such being the case, a more advisable path to the world commonwealth may be found in the promotion of the inner sageliness as a means to moderate human desires and upgrade people’s spiritual world. There are two ways to channel desires: the sublimation of lust with arts and the gratification of people’s desire for benefit in their social practices. Pre-modern Chinese thinkers were generally attentive to the former, emphasizing art as a mode of edification and sublimation. Confucius points out that works of poetry “serve to stimulate the mind. They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation. They teach the art of sociality. They show how to regulate feelings of resentment” (Confucius, 2014, 17:9). What he advocates is to “let the will be set on the path of duty. Let every attainment in what is good be grasped. Let perfect virtue [i.e. benevolence] be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in polite

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arts.” (Confucius, 2014, 7:6) Xunzi, too, takes a firm position in defense of the culture of rite and music. “A superior man [i.e. man of virtue],” he says, “would let his Zhi be guided by [the sound of] drums and bells, and let his heart be delighted by zithers. He would move in a dance of ax and shield, where he wears plumes and ox-tails as his ornaments with his movements waving to the music of percussion instruments and wind instruments. [The music] symbolizes heaven with its clear and distinctive [notes], the earth with its sonorous [sound], and the four seasons with the twists and turns of its [melody]. Therefore, one’s intentions are purified by the sound of music, and one’s conduct is perfected by [one’s] practice of rite” (Xunzi, Chapter 20). Art is an aesthetic utopia in which sublimed lusts get in touch with the human nature at the depth of human psyche or even the Way in heaven and earth. In doing so, it turns into artistic passion. In addition, pre-modern thinkers also realized that humans’ desire for benefits could serve as a powerful motivation for their effort to make a difference. Legalist thinkers in early China have discussed this in great detail. Their views in this regard revived in the Ming and Qing dynasties due to the academicians’ general interest in achievements and success in career. Dai Zhen, for instance, wrote the following passage, “[human beings’] actions in anything can all be ascribed to [their] desires. If there were no desire, there would be no actions at all. A person’s action follows his desire. Once an action is taken, it can be channeled to the Texture of absolute perfection” (Dai Zhen, 1982, Vol. 3). To this view, we can add that so long as an individual or a collectivity can concentrate its interest on the search of truth, adherence to the good, and pursuit of beauty, its physiologically-based desire will gradually and n­ aturally be regulated, channeled, or sublimated. Now let us conclude this section with an analysis of the Heavenly Texture. The Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi regard rite as a natural manifestation of this Texture. This is obviously a rather too narrow view. A broad view held among the Song dynasty Confucian scholars regards the Texture as the Way of heaven and earth, whose embodiment in individual human beings includes nature-destiny 性命 and nature-texture 性理. Its more concrete embodiments are Zhi and benevolence. As far as nature-texture is concerned, it is primarily based on benevolence. As for rite, it must manifest itself in accordance with benevolence. But one should not

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overlook its deviation from, or even contravention of, benevolence from time to time. Even though in cases where rite is indeed in line with benevolence, its temporal and regional limitations still deprive it of any chance to stand in an equal status with the Heavenly Texture. As discussed earlier, Zhang Zai defines the “Heavenly Texture” as “the principle that is capable of delighting the heart and connecting the zhi of the sub-celestial terrain.” This looks like a moderate and wise view. 6.1.3.  Distinction between Righteousness and Benefit The distinction between righteousness and benefit is closely related to that between the Heavenly Texture and human desire. “Righteousness,” Zhu Xi once wrote, “is that which is appropriate to the Heavenly Texture. Benefit is what human beings are disposed to desire” (Zhu Xi, 2016, Liren). In his judgment, righteousness arises from the “impartiality of the Heavenly Texture,” but benefit comes from “the contrast between the external objects and one’s self”. The choice between righteousness and benefit is one between following the Heavenly Texture and yielding to the human desire. But the two distinctions differ in their connotations: Whereas the contradiction between the Texture and the Desire has been exaggerated to be irreconcilable, that between righteousness and benefit is only a matter as regards which of the two may be more important than the other. Rarely have there been any Confucian thinkers who totally denied the legitimacy of benefit. This is basically because although human desires were often defined as selfish desires, benefit has never been understood exclusively as the benefit that serves any individual’s private interest. Occurrences of the character li 利 (sharp; benefit) can be found in such early scripts as oracle bone inscriptions. As a semantograph derived from dao 刀 (knife) and he 禾 (grain), it signifies the mowing of grain with a bladed tool. Its original meaning should have been the “sharpness” of certain farming tools (such as sickles or plows). Because those tools were used solely in harvests, this original meaning very logically came to be extended to refer to the benefits that people harvested in trade, which were benefits in an economic sense. Later, by further semantic extensions, there began to be its senses of “(profit) interest,” “auspicious,” “advantages,” and so on. From its frequently observed sense of “auspicious” in

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the Book of Changes, we can infer that its semantic evolution from its concrete to abstract meaning may have been completed by late Shang dynasty (16th–11th century BC). The relationship between righteousness and benefit had been treated as a topic in moral discourse before the philosophical schools of pre-Qin era even took shape. According to a record for the 16th Year of Duke Cheng of Lu (i.e. 575 BC) in the Commentary of Zuo, a statesman named Shenshu Shi 申叔時 once said in that year that “righteousness is that with which benefit is established. Rite is that with which [human beings] correctly follow the [change of] seasons [in their activities]. Trustworthiness is that with which stability is ensured. Abundance in people’s livelihood is accompanied by the uprightness of [their] virtue. The benefit [that comes] from the use [of resources] is accompanied by the moderation of such use. The accordance with the change of seasons is accompanied by the accomplishments of [people’s various] projects.” Hence the ancients’ notion of the relationship between righteousness and benefit stresses the unity of them. Particular importance is given to the reciprocal causation between the two, where the abundance of livelihood means benefit and the uprightness of virtue means righteousness. Ample wealth conditions the pureness and honesty in people’s virtue; and appropriate management of the use of resources assures the sufficiency of benefit. When Confucius spoke of righteousness and benefit with his disciples, the topic was confined to the choice individual human beings might face under concrete circumstances. But since then, righteousness and benefit have come to be viewed as antithetical. The discrimination between righteousness and benefit in Chinese intellectual history, therefore, began with Confucius, though detailed and elaborated discrimination did not occur until the Song dynasty. Looking back on the debates of the past thousands of years, one finds it hard to identify any distinctive loci of the developments of these notions. This is because almost each era is unique when it comes to the opposition between these notions. Such uniqueness was, more often than not, due to the lack of consensus among scholars as to how benefit was to be conceptualized. Each scholar held his own well defended position, and they did so from different angles and at different levels. Since the discrimination is one between righteousness and benefit, the views can be logically

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classified into three kinds: The first is the prioritization of righteousness over benefit; the second is, conversely, the prioritization of benefit over righteousness; and third is an argument for the unity of righteousness and benefit. The three kinds seemingly follow the logic of Thesis–Antithesis– Synthesis. But there has never been a unified historical development across all times. For instance, there was already the argument for the unity between righteousness and benefit as early as the pre-Qin era; yet in modern times, there are still biased views, some prioritizing righteousness over benefit, and some prioritizing the opposite. Confucius and Mencius were seemingly early representatives of the view that prioritized righteousness over benefit. Confucius rarely spoke of “benefit.” Rather, he maintained that one should “think of righteousness whenever one sees benefit” (Confucius, 14:12), meaning that ­whenever a person sees what he needs, he should, by the moral standard deep in his heart, ponder whether he should take it or not. Based on the distinction between benefit (which speaks of the satisfaction of the needs of the senses) and righteousness (which is the moral standard), Confucius classified personalities into two types, saying “the man of virtue is righteousness oriented [whereas] the man inferior in virtue is benefit oriented” (Confucius, 4:16). In his opinion, those who know ­nothing but the pursuit of benefits are men inferior in virtue. A man of virtue, to Confucius, would be the one who understands moral principles and aligns the value of his life with the principles. Facing the decadence of morality in his time, Confucius wished to shake a bell with a wooden tongue to wake his contemporaries.11 He once encouraged his disciples by saying that the object of a man of virtue “is truth. Food is not his object” and “is anxious lest he should not get truth, … [but] not anxious lest poverty should come upon him” (Confucius, 2014, 15:31). Mencius’s time was even worse than Confucius’s. If there was no righteous warfare in the Spring–Autumn period, then the Warring States period was almost a time when people led beasts in cannibalism (see Mencius, 1A:4). That was why Mencius, 11 Translator’s

note: This is an allusion to the Analects 3:24 (1963, p. 25), where Confucius is recorded as saying to his disciples, “… The Way has not prevailed in the world for a long time. Heaven is going to use your master [i.e. Confucius himself] as a bell with a wooden tongue (to awaken the people).”

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when asked by a king as regards what benefit he could bring to the king’s state, replied, “Why must Your Majesty use the term profit [i.e. 利 li, “benefit”]? What I have to offer are nothing but humanity [i.e. benevolence] and righteousness. If Your Majesty ask what is profitable [understood as “beneficial” henceforth in this passage] to your country, if the great officers ask what is profitable to their families, and if the inferior officers and the common people ask what is profitable to themselves, then both the superiors and the subordinates will try to snatch the profit from one another and the country will crumble …” (Mencius, 1963, p. 60, 61).12 “If one prioritized benefit over righteousness, one would never feel satisfied until one took by force [all that belonged to others]” (Mencius, 1A:1). Evidently Mencius thought that one should talk about righteousness before talking about benefit, otherwise the world would be in chaos. This is because there are often conflicts of interest among people. The prioritization of benefit would lead to all kinds of open and secret contentions and struggles among states, between a state and the households therein, and between families and individual family members. In that case, there would be no limit to such contentions and struggles, and they could eventually develop into endless usurpations and murders. For this reason, benevolence and righteousness must be prioritized to ensure social harmony and stability. Regarding righteousness and benefit, it should be noted that, impeccable as the early Confucians’ arguments may be, their thoughts were regrettably pushed to the extreme by later generations of scholars. For instance, although Dong Zhongshu was aware that righteousness and benefit were needed by human beings’ heart and body, respectively, he, as we learn from Volume 56 of the Hanshu 漢書, that a benevolent person would “keep adhering to righteousness without seeking benefits, and honor moral principles without considering [chances of] achievements and successes.” This is obviously a biased view, because notwithstanding the importance given in humans’ moral discourse to examining one’s motivation, the importance is not stressed to the point of ignoring the impact of one’s actions. Chen Chun, in his Meaning of Words in the Four Books, 12 Translator’s

note: This is as far as Chan’s abridged translation goes. The next sentence from this same passage of the Mencius (1A:4) is my translation.

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equates the relationship between righteousness and benefit with that between Heavenly Texture and Human Desire. In doing so, he distinguished between righteousness and benefit in such aspects as the purposes of actions, selfish considerations, advantage taking, the pursuit of fame, the submission to selfishness and to the worldly way of social reality, the wish for effects, the interest in external desirables, and so on. Such a rigid view is far inferior to the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius. On the other hand, almost in every era, there have been thinkers who prioritized benefit over righteousness. Since they were also concerned about the governance and development of the human society, these thinkers should not be categorized as men inferior in virtue. A typical example is pre-Qin Legalism. Examined from the angle of morality, there have been more men inferior in virtue than superior men [i.e. men of virtue] in the world. Legalist thinkers therefore focused their attention on the former when constructing their model of governance upon such a basic mechanism that combined the enticement with benefits and the intimidation with brutal punishment (which was intended to be a cruel means to subdue violence). As a Legalist thinker, Hanfeizi 韓非子 (280–233 BC) considered it ­pedantic of Confucians to both argue for the “elimination of the heart that seeks benefit and propose the way of love [among human beings]” (Hanfeizi, Chapter 46). To him, interpersonal relationships are sheer interest relations. For example, a person who builds luxurious carriages would wish people to be all rich, whereas a person who builds coffins would wish people to die soon. In this example, the former is no loftier than the latter is wicked, for their wishes both stem from their personal interests (Hanfeizi, Chapter 17). Although few people in subsequent generations explicitly subscribed to Hanfeizi’s view, there have been thinkers who advocated the pursuit of achievement and success while excoriating Confucians of the Han and Song eras for prioritizing righteousness over benefit. Ye Shi 葉適 (1150–1223 AD), for instance, once observed, “It is all very well [for Confucians like Dong Zhongshu] to say one should ‘keep adhering to righteousness without seeking benefits, and honor moral principles without considering [chances of] achievements and successes’. A close examination of this idea, however, will make one realize how unfeasible it is. Moral principles were honored through the ancients’ deed to provide benefit to others without crediting the accomplishments thereof to themselves.

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But later-day Confucians, such as Dong Zhongshu, proposed such an idea in which there was simply no place for accomplishments or successes. In so doing, they virtually reduced moral principles to useless empty words” (Ye Shi, 1997). The argument for the combination of righteousness and benefit was popular as early as the Spring–Autumn period. In the Warring States period, Mohist School of Thought even attempted to theorize the issue. In  Mozi’s opinion, “there is nothing more precious than righteousness” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 47), because righteousness, as “a wonderful treasure in the world,” “is beneficial to people” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 46). In Chapter 40 of the Mozi, he even asserts straightforwardly that what is “righteous is beneficial.” This school of thought considered “mutual love and mutual benefiting” as the highest moral standard, maintaining that to practice righteousness was fundamentally to be philanthropic and to ­benefit others. What they enthusiastically advocated was, therefore, to promote the benefit for all human beings in the world. During the Ming– Qing era, the academic circle tended to make a point of dealing with concrete matters. Achievements and benefit were resultantly elevated to a prominent status. Yan Yuan, for example, maintains in his Sishu Zhengwu 四書正誤 that Dong Zhongshu’s words be changed into the following: “Keep adhering to righteousness while seeking benefit, and glorify the Way while considering [the chances of] achievements.” This, we must point out, is well balanced. Righteousness is by nature the principle with regard to what things should be; and benefit speaks of the success that one accomplishes in reality. The former should be manifested in the latter, whereas the latter should have the former as its standard. Our classification is conducted mainly on the basis of the literal ­meanings of the words. It should be noted that, except Legalists like Hanfeizi and some Rationalist thinkers like Cheng Yi, thinkers have laid a dual emphasis on righteousness and benefit. Their approaches are ­different because, first, they face different situations at different times, in which they — Confucius and Mencius for example — wish to save the society from decadence. Righteousness and benefit form a contradiction that has always existed along the development of the human society. The imbalance between them that occurs from time to time instantiates the dialectics in social development. Once they find the society deviating from a right

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course and, in so doing, bending toward one side, thinkers will call for moving toward the other side according to the situations. For instance, we must admit that, during the early phase of China’s reform and open-up policy in the 1980s, the notion of competition for benefits was necessary to wake up the people who were used to living in a system of equalitarianism. But, after decades of rapid development, we may now place more emphasis on righteousness so as to keep in check some people’s greed for wealth and their base conduct of letting the ends justify the means. Second, the difference between thinkers’ approaches is accountable by their different interpretations. Take “benefit” for example. In terms of scope, there are three senses of the word, namely, one’s private benefit, a collectivity’s public benefit, and the universal benefit of all under heaven. They are, in short, private benefit, public benefit, and universal benefit. When Confucius spoke of the orientation to benefit in the case of men inferior in virtue, he was referring to the first. By identifying righteousness with benefit, Mozi was talking about the third kind of benefit. With the question he raised to Mencius (1A:1) about the benefit for his states, King Hui of Liang was asking for the second kind. A person who sought to satisfy nothing but the first kind would be sure to be denounced by Mozi. On the other hand, a person who treated benefit as the third kind would certainly be praised by Confucius and Mencius. Generally speaking, human existence needs both benefit and righteousness. Human beings need benefit to nurture their body and righteousness to nurture their heart. A person can hence afford to lack neither in social life. With regard to a social collectivity, it needs both righteousness to maintain the uprightness of its virtue and benefit to enrich life. Its healthy development would be made possible by a combination of both. In the world of animals, it is only natural to pursue benefit and evade harm, for those are things that animals must do to maintain life. Human beings are no exceptions in this respect. They must ensure the security of their basic livelihood before they can engage themselves in other activities, including cultural creativity. We can thus state with certainty that the pursuit of benefit is a great motivation in individual human beings’ life and a huge lever for the development of society. From the perspective of political economy, human beings are expectedly hustling and bustling everywhere for benefit. In order to promote the development and progress of the society,

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much importance should be placed on the need for achievements and benefits. Judicious guidance in this regard should be given based on specific circumstances. Those social theories that despise the need for achievements and benefits are nothing but impractical and meaningless talks. With that said, there is always division of labor among various domains of human civilization. Although the philosophy of ethics should not despise the need for achievements and benefits, more of its emphasis should be directed to moral principles — principles that are needed to check and manage the conflicts of interest that rampage in the human society. Righteousness represents public well-being, justice, responsibility, and obligation. It is not a negation to the obtainment of benefit but rather a standard for deciding whether benefits are obtained through proper means. To put it briefly, righteousness promotes the proper distribution of all benefits under heaven. If human beings were attentive to nothing but benefit, the impoverished would be left alone to perish even in metropolitans, whereas the wealthy — even though living deep in the mountains — would be overwhelmed by the number of visitors who proclaimed to be their relatives. Only by emphasizing righteousness at the same time, can there be a society in which disadvantaged groups get the support and care they need. That will be a harmonious society where ­people extend the ways in which they treat the aged and the youngsters in their own families to those in others’ families. It is indeed nothing wrong for one to be interested in how to benefit oneself. But there needs to be a limit to it. There is an old saying, “human beings die as much in pursuit of wealth as birds do in pursuit of food.” The greed for benefit often motivates some people to disregard the value of life and eventually to ruin themselves like a flying moth that darts into fire in search of light.13 The benefiting of oneself must never be pursued at the 13 Empress

Wu Zetian 武則天 (r. 960–705 AD) knew this weakness of the human heart very well. In order to reinforce her rule, she often had her court officials executed through the hands of a number of cruel officials. Once an official, thinking the Empress was too merciless, expressed to her his concern, saying, “Who would dare to take official posts and offer service in Your Majesty’s court if Your Majesty continued killing court officials like this?” Wu Zetian, instead of feeling upset, ordered the official to see her again in the evening. That evening, she had a fire made in the yard. Soon, in the darkness, moths flew over from all directions to throw themselves into the fire. The first

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expense, or even to the detriment, of others. This norm requires that one think of righteousness when seeing benefit rather than forget righteousness at the sight of benefit. In today’s society, there have been regrettably numerous cases of forgetting righteousness at the sight of benefit. In the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, glaring examples in this regard can be found in those exposed cases involving the use of harmful chemicals in food production. How can the society get out of such a vicious cycle in which “the search of wealth is followed by the loss of benevolence?” (Mencius, 3A:3) The answer could be found in the noteworthy s­ uccess of Shibusawa Eiichi — “father of Japanese industry” — in his persistent combination of righteousness and benefit. Shibusawa Eiichi’s 渋沢栄一 (1840–1931) life is marked by o­ utstanding achievements. He had taken part in founding over 500 enterprises, which included businesses in such important industries in Japan as banking, ­insurance, mining, railway, printing, mechanical industry, textile ­industry, brewing industry, and chemical industry. He laid the foundation of the thought of business management by combining Confucian spirit from China and the economic ethics in Europe and America. On his 70th birthday, an artist dedicated to him a painting with a knife, a hat, an ­abacus, and a copy of the Analects in it. The knife stood for samurai, the hat for merchants, the abacus for economy, and the Analects for morality. He thus entitled his book on business management Analects and Abacus.

Moreover, “Analects plus abacus” stands for a combination of righteousness and benefit. It symbolizes Shibusawa Eiichi’s philosophy of modern business management, which is based on Confucian ethics in combination with the Western style of business management. The philosophy catalyzed the successful transition from traditional to modernized economic thoughts. He is hence regarded as a representative of “Confucian capitalists”. wave of moths was all killed in this suicidal action, but there were still more coming wave upon wave. Wu Zetian smiled, saying to the official, “Moths darting into fire and getting killed, such is their unchangeable nature. So long as there are high official positions and wealth available, there will always be a steady flow of people coming to reach for these things. How can killing possibly put an end to such an everlasting pursuit?”

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The relationship between righteousness and benefit is intricate due to the variety of their levels. Relative to benefiting oneself, to benefit one’s collectivity is righteous. The ethics of a society often requires the submission of its individual members’ interest to a collective interest. But relative to benefiting a collectivity, to benefit all under the sun is righteous. To develop nuclear weapons is good for maintaining a country’s status in international affairs and sometimes even good for intimidating war maniacs. But the righteousness of the entire humankind resides in the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons. In fact, the unrestricted research on, and testing of, such a weapon of mass destruction has seriously disturbed the righteous conscience of some scientists and caused them to stand up against it.14 It is both righteous and beneficial to promote the development of social productive forces so as to meet the continuous growth of people’s need in their material life and cultural life. But its righteousness would be lost if they were promoted at the heavy expense of the natural environment and human beings’ sustainable development. Not long ago, Hawking, the famous British scientist, estimated pessimistically that, due to human beings’ insatiable prey on natural resources, the earth could continue to sustain human existence for only 200 years before humans had to move to other planets. His apocalyptic estimate may or may not be accurate, but the corrupted environment does call for people’s close attention. People today should protect the environment for the sake of their posterity. In short, the distinction between righteousness and benefit is linked to that between good and evil discussed before. We should not judge what is good or bad in an abstract manner. Cases in this regard are to be examined according to the specifics of both the levels they are at and the situations they are in. In a certain sense, benefit is categorically good. To benefit 14 As

“father of the US nuclear weapon”, Oppenheimer felt gratified with the success of the first test of the weapon. At the same time, he was terrified by the weapon’s lethality. Feeling concerned about the future of humankind, he called on vigilance against nuclear war and firmly opposed the testing of the H-bomb, which was more lethal than the atomic bomb. In the end, he, deprived of the access to the country’s nuclear secrets, died in depression. As a similar example, Sakharov, “father of H-bomb” in former Soviet Union, was elected as the member of the USSR Academy of Sciences at the age of 30 and awarded a number of honors for his outstanding achievements. But later, he gradually felt concerned about the grave consequences of nuclear-weapon tests, thinking it was unwise to continue them. His actions and speech against the government eventually resulted in his internal exile for 7 years.

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oneself is good, to benefit one’s country is better, and to benefit the entire humankind as well as tens of thousands of generations of their posterity is indisputably the best. Since humankind is composed of myriad selves, we should not unconditionally denounce self-benefit. In international affairs, a leader who is ignorant about, or incapable of, the means to benefit his or her country would be an incompetent leader. But the important thing is to coordinate between the benefiting of oneself and that of others, which means “helping others to establish themselves when wishing to establish oneself, helping others to be prosperous when wishing oneself to be prosperous,” (Confucius, 6:30) and “what you do not what done to yourself, do not do to others” (Confucius, 2014, 15:23). The society has been filled with conflicts of interest thus far. We must emphasize the regulation of them with righteousness. In their attempts to draw distinction between righteousness and benefit, people normally speak of righteousness from the limited perspectives of their own collectivities, hence the need to upgrade it to the righteousness of the entire humankind. That way, what righteousness promotes will be the proper distribution of all benefits in the world, which is not only the world today but also the world of tens of thousands of generations to come. It is obviously absurd to consider the human nature as evil just because human beings seek benefit and evade harm. But it would be even more absurd to conclude, on the basis of such a search and evasion, that the human nature is good. Generally speaking, what is evil is the contention for benefit in which one treats others as one’s enemies and, for that reason, harms other individuals or even harms an entire collectivity. The distinction between righteousness and benefit bears strong relevance to the social life today. In a society dominated by material desires, people, as seekers of self-benefit, would let the ends justify the means, ignoring the sacredness of moral principles. Much as a society like this undergoes some development, the development will inevitably be lopsided. It would be a paradise for criminals and villainous adventurers. Therefore, particular emphasis should be laid on righteousness.

6.2.  Matter and Image If emotion and benefit form the aspect of desire in the human heart, ­matter and image mainly belong to the intellectual aspect of the heart.

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Chinese philosophy emphasizes humans’ cognition of themselves. It is weak in the study of the matters and images that are relatively external to subjectivity. The infinitely intricate and variegated affairs and images form the environment of human existence, which human beings inevitably perceive and to which they respond. Since image is the reflection of external things in the Subject’s heart and matter is the human activity therein, they can, and should be, studied in the domain of heart-nature. 6.2.1.  Matter and Texture The character shi 事 (matter; affair; thing; undertaking) is glossed in Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters as “[an official] post derived from shi 史 [scriber; “historian].” It originally means an official post in charge of taking detailed notes. In such early scripts as Oracle Bone and Bronze inscriptions, 事 and today’s forms li of 吏 (official) and shi 使 (make; cause to) are all identical. In the ancient time, 事 could be a loan graph for shi 士 shi (young man, especially unmarried young man). For instance, in Poem No. 87 of the Book of Poetry, there is a line, “If you do not think of me, how can there be without someone [事] else who does?” According to the Mao commentary we see in Duan Yucai’s (1969, p. 118) Shuowen Jiezi Zhu (Explaining Simple Graphs and Analysing Compound Characters), “the ‘事’means ‘士’”. In addition, ­shihuan 仕宦 (to be an official) can also be written as 事宦. Its sense of matter (“Matter” henceforth) must have been a later semantic extension. It is said in the Kangxi Zidian 康熙字典 (The Kangxi Dictionary, 1963) that “large Matters are called politics, whereas small ones are called affairs.” In brief, since there will be no Matters without human beings involved therein, the character 事 also indicates the person or persons who are engaged in certain matters. In addition, anything that people do or encounter can also be known as 事. Since the ancient times, those who stressed practice have all emphasized the importance of Matters. The chapters in the Mozi are mostly synthesized into a systematic discourse on Matters and accomplishments. In Chapter 49, for instance, it is prescribed that “upon entering a state, one should choose the important Matter to deal with. In a state marked by licentiousness, one should talk about the importance of worthies and

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equality. In a state marked by poverty, one should talk about frugality and economical funerals. In a state marked by indulgence in sensual pleasures, one should oppose [both the pursuit of] pleasure and the [relegation of the state’s fate to] destiny. In a state marked by wickedness and lack of rite, one should talk about the upholding of heaven and the service to spirits. And in a state marked by aggressiveness, one should talk about universal love and oppose to aggression. This is what I mean by choosing the important Matter to deal with.” This passage suggests that one should, based on the situations of various states, find apt and specific ways to solve problems. To offer persuasion and remedy from different aspects, such is the aim of the Mozi, in which most chapters are, indeed, targeted at a specific issue. During the early Qing times, Yan Yuan argued for the pursuit of accomplishments, emphasized practicality, and considered the uprightness of virtue, enrichment of life, and the overall orientation to practical use as the three things of primary importance in the society and human life. With all this as his approach to the Mencius, Yan Yuan extolled the phrase “there must be Matters therein …” (Mencius, 2A:2) as the ­“principle of sages and worthies.” “The heart, with Matter therein,” he said in the Yan Xing Lu, “will be well retained, and the self, with Matter therein, will be well cultivated. As for the regulation of a family, management of a state, and the peaceful unification of the world, they are all Matter-oriented. Without Matters, the Confucian heritage and the heritage of a dynastical rule would be both lost.” Hence in his view, due to the realistic nature of Matter, one who has Matters to deal with would seek to take action in the real world. Any matter, be it the internal cultivation of the self or the said external regulation and peaceful unification, must be dealt in accordance with the real-world situations. In other words, the pursuit of accomplishment is needed in both inner sageliness and outer kingliness. This view, biased as it may be, is good for the rectification of the fashionable empty talks about the Way. Matter is intimately related to Texture. Matters are variegated; but, there are keys to handle them, and there are textures in them. However variegated they are, matters can be put to order once they are handled by the key. Raisons d’être of Matters are underpinned by Texture, and Texture manifests itself in Matters. When handling Matters, one needs to

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make an overall plan, understand the internal relations among them, and design a procedure of operations including the differentiations between primary and secondary Matters, between important and unimportant Matters, and between things high and low in degrees of urgency. All this requires the participation of wisdom. As we discussed earlier, wisdom is specialized in the attempts at exhaustive exploration of Texture. In order to attain an achievement, one obviously has to pay attention to the textures of two aspects. One is the texture of the specific Matter that one deals with, the other is the texture of the Subject’s way of thinking. Mohist School of Thought is characterized precisely by such a dual attention on Texture. On the one hand, they paid close attention to the textures of various things, as exemplified in the account regarding the competitive demonstration of military devices in Chapter 50 of the Mozi. On the other hand, they emphasized the understanding of patterns of reason, which can be seen in the research on logic reasoning in the Mozi. In interpersonal relationship, the relation between Matter and Texture is reflected more in the relation between Matter and Rite. In the Analects 6:27, Confucius is recorded as saying, “a superior man [i.e. man of virtue] learns extensively in culture and regulates the learning with rite. That way, there will be no rebel against orthodoxy.” Ming dynasty scholar Liu Zongzhou, in Volume 3 of the Lunyu Xue’an 論語 學案, this as “the basis of Confucian education.” Superior men [i.e. men of virtue], in his opinion, engage themselves in learning as their way to ­pursue the Way. In the beginning they, as learners, have to rely on the extensive perception of their eyes and ears. This is called learning “extensively in culture,” which, through the ensuing enlightenment in things as near as in their own person, eventually culminates in the ­proficiency in rite. Rite is the regulation in culture or the substance of culture. “The extensive learning and the r­ egulation thereof do not follow any particular order. It is a regulation of [a subject in which] one has extensive knowledge. Thus, the extensive learning and the regulation thereof is combined in one. Matter is Texture, and Texture is the heart. This is where the Way lies.” There are many forms in which culture is manifested, hence the need of extensive learning. Rite, as the sum of norms in culture, should be followed as its regulation. Extensive learning is related to Matter, whereas the regulation is related to Texture.

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Judging by the texture of a Matter, one may possibly foresee its d­ evelopment. If one can adroitly base one’s action on the foreseen development, one can expect to achieve maximum results with minimum effort. In the Doctrine of the Mean, it is said, “There are nine standards by which to administer the empire, its states, and the families, but the way by which they are followed is one. In all matters if there is preparation they will succeed; if there is no preparation, they will fail. If what is to be said is determined beforehand, there will be no stumbling. If the business [i.e. matter] to be done is determined beforehand, there will be no difficulty. If action to be taken is determined beforehand, there will be no trouble. And if the way to be pursued is determined beforehand, there will be no difficulties” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 106). The “nine standards” refer to “cultivating the personal life, honoring the worthy, being affectionate to relatives, being respectful to the great ministers, identifying oneself with the welfare of the whole body of officers, treating the common people as one’s own children, attracting the various artisans, showing tenderness to strangers from far countries, and extending kindly and awesome influence on the feudal lords” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 105). These were the nine major Matters to be dealt with by ancient rulers. In the opinion of the author of the Doctrine of the Mean, these Matters should be handled with sincerity. The “preparation” speaks of the anticipation of things’ development. “In all matters [i.e. Matters] if there is preparation they will succeed.” This is a good point made about how to handle various Matters. While the Doctrine of the Mean made this point from the viewpoints of individual human beings’ virtue and attitude, it also touches upon the aspect of methodology, which involves the planning and arrangement beforehand. The “determination beforehand” requires the determination in terms of both morality and planning, by which we mean that the handling of various Matters requires not only virtue but also wisdom, not only a sincere attitude but also insights into the textures of the Matters. Thus, the toil beforehand ensures the ease at the advent of a Matter. One can then handle the Matter with ease and without any ­confusions or worries. The attainment of achievements does not rely solely on the understanding of Texture. In social life, people usually judge a person’s ability by the things he has done and judge the moral bottom line of a person by

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the things he chooses not to do. What one does and how one does it has much to do with not only morality but also wisdom. What were known as the “Three Universal Virtues” in pre-modern China can also be regarded as the three elements of critical importance to the Subject’s effort to make history. Confucius is recorded as saying, “The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear” (Confucius, 2014, p. 91). In the Doctrine of the Mean, wisdom, benevolence, and courage are known as “Three Universal Virtues,” which are analogous to the triad division of intelligence, emotion, and will in traditional Western philosophy. The wise distinguish themselves with their intelligence, the bold with their willpower (zhi), and the virtuous with their universal love. In no case should one succumb oneself to perplexities, anxiety, or fear, such is the key to success. The applied psychology in the modern era has quantified intelligence, emotion, and willpower in terms of “IQ”, “EQ”, and “DQ”. To handle a given Matter, one relies on IQ to stay away from the delusion of contingencies and things’ appearances, and to handle the Matter in ways based on its particularities. To handle a Matter, there should also be intense interest and enthusiasm, which calls for EQ, so one can deal with the Matter in an artful and appropriate manner. In addition, there should be strong willpower and exceptional courage and resource, which constitute the DQ. It has been proved in social reality that a person with a high IQ can be a senior consultant, one with a high EQ is normally a master of social communication, and one with a high DQ has the potential to become a military commander. A person who is high in all the three would stand a particularly good chance to succeed. People today are generally aware of the need to lay dual emphasis on IQ and EQ. But, as a matter of fact, DQ is also of such a great importance that one can hardly afford to overlook. Success in career is admittedly not entirely determined by the quality of an individual. As an old saying rightly puts it, “Man proposes, God disposes.” To make a plan, one should start by following the texture (laws, regularities) and making utmost effort to take into consideration the various certainties in the existence and development of things. But, due to the multifarious uncertainties that occur in the development of things, it is one thing to make the required conditions ready for success but quite another to ensure the sufficient condition for it. To ensure success, required and

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sufficient conditions are both needed. Among them, however, some conditions are beyond the control of human subjectivity. People usually ascribe the presence or absence of these conditions to fate or heavenly destiny. The ascription, needless to say, is suggestive of a certain degree of helplessness. But it can also evolve into an active and healthy attitude toward the project that one plans. With the attitude, one can work hard and ardently strive for success on the one hand, and, on the other hand, prepare for the worst to minimize the impact of bad results. In the Huainanzi, nonaction and the attainment of success are both emphasized. Its author declares in Volume 19 that “by nonaction I mean that private zhi should not be mixed into the impartial Way, just causes should not be compromised by the indulgence in desirables. When doing anything, one should follow the texture therein. When striving for success, one should base one’s action on one’s resources. Once the natural tendencies of things are evaluated, there would be no room for the operation of frauds. When success is accomplished, one should not feel conceited [because of it]. When a contribution is made, one should not claim the credit [of it].” It should be pointed out that this is a very lofty realm of spirit. Buddhists also discuss Matters. The Huayan Sect, in particular, treats Matter and Texture as basic categories in their theory. But their theory focuses solely on spiritual aspects without any realistic or practical leaning. We will discuss more of this topic in the section of the “Chapter 9 of this volume.” Matter, examined from outside itself, is human beings’ practical activity and, when looked at from the inside, is the Subject’s planning of actions. Thus, one end of Matter is expected to conform to intentionality and the other to conform to things’ regularity. The contradiction between “what the Matter is” and “how to deal with it” runs through the entire process in which one handles a given Matter. Whereas the latter is about both the choice between righteousness and benefit on the one hand and the accordance with things’ textures on the other, the former is about the cognition of phenomena as well as the grasp of things’ textures. 6.2.2.  Image and Knowledge A Russian proverb has it that “a guest should be received according to the quality of his clothes and treated according to his talent.” In a

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down-to-earth manner, the proverb straightforwardly suggests basing our attitude toward a person or thing on the impression we get from our observation. Such observation is germane to the cognition of phenomena. In traditional Chinese philosophy, the word xiang 象 (image; semblance; phenomenon) refers to phenomena. The word, as a pictograph, originally signified a kind of giant animal in Southeast Asia with a long nose, long teeth, four legs, and a tail, namely, an elephant. Later, the word came to mean such appearances of things or persons as astronomical phenomena, image of hexagrams, demeanor, and so on. In the first chapter of the Shang Shu, for instance, there is a phrase “象恭滔天” (meaning “humble and respectful in appearance but arrogant in nature”), which Yao used to characterize Gonggong 共工. This semantic change may have had something to do with the human imagination. According to Chapter 20 of the Hanfeizi, “ancient people rarely saw living elephants [i.e. xiang]. When they saw the skeletons of dead elephants, they would imagine the look of living elephants based on the structure of the skeletons [they saw]. Therefore, all that people imagined [gradually] came to be called xiang.” If this is true, then what we see here is one more example of the emphasis on the spiritual world, which is an emphasis that distinguishes the Chinese culture. The word xiang 像 is possibly derived from 象. It means ­“resemble.” These two words are related and mutually defining. In the Great Commentary on the Book of Changes, it is articulated that “象 is 像.” In the Chinese culture, the narrow sense of image (i.e. xiang 象) refers to the visually perceived appearance of the object of one’s observation, which includes the object’s shape, color, and so forth. In its broad sense on this basis, Image is a compound impression formed through perceptions from senses of hearing, touching, smelling, and even tasting. “Seeing is believing.” This old saying underscores the basic and central importance of a visual image, which is the Image in its narrow sense. Precisely for this reason, the word “Image” can adequately function to denote the compound of all the appreciable forms of an object of perception.15 In fact, in the Laozi, image as a perceptible visual form is tacitly recognized, which explains its use of the word “Immense Image” to refer to 15 Translator’s

note: The narrow and broad senses of the term are represented, respectively, by “image” and “Image” henceforward.

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the Image that transcends visibility. That Image is the Way. The Immense Image is formless (Laozi, Chapter 41) because it is “immense,” which means infinite. The author of the Laozi further observes that the Way is without sound, smell, and so forth. The observation is meant to emphasize that the Way transcends the domain appreciable by human senses. Confucius advocated extensive learning in culture. Culture, like image, normally appeals to the sense of vision. It is hence similar to Texture.16 But what Confucius emphasized was the learning of social — rather than scientific — knowledge. Mozi and his school of thought were advanced in epistemology. They realized that human cognition was based on their ability, “the ability to image the things [which one] encounters [through one’s sense organs]” (Mozi, 1958, Chapter 42). The word “image” in the phrase is mainly germane to visual image, which is the narrow sense of the notion; but there are also elements of other senses in it. “Wisdom relies on eyes to see. Eyes rely on [the light of] fire to see. But fire does not show unless through the Five Paths.” He means by the “Five Paths” the five sense organs, among which vision is the most important path. Knowledge mostly comes from the sense of vision, which relies on the light to ­function. But if there were light alone without human beings’ abilities of perception, no knowledge could be gained. Thus, we know that the five sense organs constitute a gate through which knowledge can be obtained. Gongsun Long 公孫龍 (fl. 320–250 BC) was also insightful in this regard. “Just like [color] white,” he says in Chapter 5 of the Gongsun Longzi, “(it is seen) with eyes, (but eyes do not see independently). It is seen with fire, but fire is not capable of vision. Therefore neither fire nor eyes can see. What sees [it] is [human] consciousness. But consciousness is not capable of vision. Therefore, s­ eeing is deconstructed.” The message conveyed in this passage is that although people all consider eyes capable of seeing, eyes actually rely on fire (i.e. light) to see. Thus, eyes cannot independently perform the function of seeing. But fire is not capable of seeing the color white. One can hence conclude that neither eyes nor fire can see. What, then, enables human beings to see? It is consciousness. 16 Translator’s

note: Culture in the Chinese language is wenhua 文化, where the wen 文 originally means pattern.

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But consciousness has to rely on both fire and eyes to see. Thus, the action of seeing is deconstructed. The phrase “investigate things and gaining knowledge” 格物致知 in the Book of Rite is indisputably a good proposition in epistemology. But the loss of its annotation has given rise to numerous different interpretations of the phrase. From the perspective of ethics, the phrase is more a characterization of the cognitive experience (itself) than one of the (object of) cognition. We will discuss this topic in the section of Knowing and Doing. Particular attention to the understanding of Image has been paid in “Commentaries on the Book of Changes,” where it says, for instance, that “of all things that furnish models and visible figures [i.e. image] there are none greater than heaven and earth; of things that change and extend an influence (on others) there are none greater than the four seasons; of things suspended (in the sky) with their figures [i.e. image] displayed clear and bright, there are none greater than the sun and moon” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 311). But, since it focuses mainly on the image of hexagrams, it relates directly to numerology, which resulted in the theory of image-numerology. Presumably due to the influence of this kind of classics, there were few Confucians after the Qin–Han period who explored the topics regarding how to cognize the essence (Texture) through phenomena (Image). What they sought instead was a direct enlightenment to Texture. It was in the Song dynasty that “Image” acquired its epistemological significance and came to refer to phenomena, though such a usage was not very popular then. According to Chapter 17 of Zhang Zai’s Zhengmeng, “everything describable exists; everything that exists is Image, and all Images are Qi.” “As for that which is called Qi, one does not have to see it steaming or distilled to know [its existence]. Such descriptions of it as strong, mild, moving, still, vast, pure are all [its] nameable Images. But if Images are not Qi, what do those Images describe?” (asks Zhang Zai in Chapter 4). These views were targeted at Buddhists’ heavy emphasis on void. It is commendable that Zhang Zai, in Chapter 7, explicitly treats the Image of things as the object of cognition. “Through Images,” he posits, “heart is known. Leaning [solely] on Images, heart is lost. That which knows Images is heart. The heart which observes Images is also an Image itself. Can it be called heart?” Images are what one perceives with one’s

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sense organs; and they, after being processed by the heart, become the Images of a given object of exploration. Once the texture (i.e. the organizing principle) of these Images is identified, what one gets is the knowledge acquired through perception 見聞之知. “Because of what they perceive with their ears and eyes, people proclaim possession of knowledge. People are capable of perception due to the combination of the internal [i.e. subjectivity] and the external [i.e. objectivity]. He who possesses the knowledge that combines the internal and the external beyond [the perceptual domain of] ears and eyes would be far superior to other people.” What the ears and eyes perceive is merely the Image, which is external. It has to be processed and guided by the human heart to become knowledge. If what one perceives is classified as perceptual knowledge, then what one obtains through the processing in one’s heart-mind should be classified as rational knowledge. In Volume 4 of his Zhangzi Zhengmeng Zhu, Wang Fuzhi further elaborated this point, pointing out that “listening extensively and making selections thereof, looking extensively and making distinctions thereof, such is the way of learning in which one, on the one hand, enlightens the mind and concentrates it on One, and, on the other hand, avoids relying on meditation so much as to ignore the investigation of things and the infinite pursuit of Texture.” This argument relates cognition to the investigation of things and the infinite pursuit of Texture, confirming that the cognition of the objective world is such an important aspect of knowledge that one cannot afford to ignore. “The accord of audio perception with sound and that of visual perception with color constitute the opening and shutting of the widow in heart. Such accord constitutes cognition. As regards that which underlies the accord, how can it be something accomplished by ears, eyes, sound, and color? [Take for example a case where] there is a wagon-load of firewood passing in the front and there are sounds of people’s talking coming from various directions. So long as the mind does not attend to them, they are not seen or heard even though [the color and shape] meet the eye and [the sounds] meet the ear. So it is clear that the [said] accord is distinct from audio and visual perceptions.” What this passage emphasizes is the key role that the heart plays in the cognition of the objective world, which is a key role manifested in the foundation it lays for selection and for synthetic analysis. It

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should be pointed out that this view had reached a remarkably high level in epistemology. But we should also be aware that the knowledge of Texture gained through Image is merely the knowledge acquired through perception, which is the kind of knowledge characterized by relativity and subject to limitations. Although Zhang Zai and Wang Fuzhi paid attention to it, they gave more importance to the moral virtue which a person intuited or the conscience from heavenly virtue. In terms of the vectors of spiritual activities, the former can develop into scientific thinking and the latter into religious thinking. Just as Wang Fuzhi points out in Volume 4 of his Zhangzi Zhengmeng Zhu, “where there is Image of things, there is ­texture.” But this texture is merely the partial texture in some things. What pre-modern thinkers consider more important is the Absolute Texture that leaves nothing unknown and nothing out of the cognitive experience. Its manifestation results from the enlightenment in the depth of the human heart, not from human beings’ outward exploration. For this reason, premodern thinkers were generally unwilling to put their mind on the infinite pursuit of Texture through Image. What they sought more was to transcend the Image and reach the essence with a view of returning to the fundamental root.17 Although Chinese philosophy is regrettably weak in epistemology, the weakness did not prevent pre-modern thinkers from excelling in the theorization of ethics. Because of the close attention they paid to the cognition of human beings themselves, Image was often treated as an object of appraisal and appreciation, which added both an ethical and an aesthetic touch to the category. Confucius points out that “where the solid quality are in excess of accomplishments, we have rusticity; where the accomplishments are in excess of the solid qualities, we have manners of a clerk. When the accomplishments and solid qualities are equally blended, we than have the man of virtue” (Confucius, 2014, 6:16). Rusticity is too crude whereas manners of a clerk may be too artificial. How a person of virtue should be lies in nothing but a proper blend of his internal good virtue and external 17 Translator’s

note: “Only when the axis occupies the center of a circle can things in their infinite complexities be responded to” (Zhuangzi, 1963, Chapter 2, p. 183).

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good ornament, which is what Confucius meant by the proper blend of “one’s substance and refinement.” In this regard, Mencius’s experience is thus, “There is no better way to observe a person than through his pupils, [because] pupils cannot hide the wickedness of a person. If all in the heart is upright, the pupils are bright. Otherwise, the pupils are dim. [If we] listen to a man’s words and watch his pupils, how can he conceal [what is in his heart]?” (Mencius, 4A:15) When observing a person, therefore, it is most important to watch his eyes, because people’s eyes are the widows of their hearts. A person’s mental activities will be naturally revealed through his eyes. If we just listen to his words, he may cover up the truth with words. If we, at the same time, keep a close watch on his pupils, it will be easier to detect the truth. A person with clear conscience is marked by bright pupils with a concentrated eyesight. And a person with wickedness in his heart is characterized by dim pupils with a wavering eyesight. These observations by Confucius and Mencius laid a theoretical foundation for the tradition of Chinese painting, which is a tradition that stresses the capture of the object’s spirit through the depiction of its appearance. Mencius considers shape and color as the human nature. To theorize moral cultivation, he proposes the thought of “putting … [one’s] physical form into full use” 踐形 (Mencius, 1963, p. 80). We will explicate this topic in the section “our discussion on Knowing and Doing.” As far as the philosophy of ethics is concerned, however, one is required to neither lean on the external nor be misled by the Image. Buddhism and Daoism, in particular, are strictly critical of the indulgence in the appearance of things in the realm of sensitivity. As for Confucius, much as he laments over people’s love for sensual pleasure in excess of their love for virtue (see Confucius, 9:18 and 15:13), he does not directly denounce the former kind of love. Laozi, by contrast, argues that the five colors will blind people’s eyes. As for Buddhists, they consider color as void. Confucius restricts his use of the word “color” to feminine charm, Laozi uses it as a general term for the appearance of all things, and Buddhism takes a further step to equate color to all things. Indeed, had people all sought pleasure in the Images of worldly desirables including sensual pleasures, they would eventually lose themselves. Regarding the loss of self, it is known in the Zhuangzi as a life upside down. In Chapter 19 of the Book of Rite, it is called the reduction of human

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beings to objects. Both authors lament over such a loss of heart in the submission to the external influence. As an attempt to reverse this trend, both told people to recognize the spiritual value of the human life instead of being carried away by the tide of fashions. In this sense, the phrase “investigate things and gaining knowledge” should not be taken to mean gaining knowledge through an Image but rather basing the knowledge gain upon one’s independence of Image.18 This is because those who indulge in, and feel content to be misled by, Images will have no time to gain knowledge about themselves. Then how can they be expected to have any self-knowledge? 6.2.3.  How Matter and Image are Related to Emotion and Benefit Matter, as what human beings undertake, falls into the realm of praxis. Image, as that with which things get in touch with human perceptions, is generally confined to the realm of cognition. The two are distinct from each other and yet intimately related. In reality, nothing is free of Image. Even in human relations, everything still manifests itself through form, color, sound, smell, and so on to appeal to human beings’ perception organs. For this reason, when dealing with a matter, one should, on the one hand, find out its essence and regularity through its Images and, on the other hand, show its value orientation by commenting on the Images about it. For example, one matter that people often encounter is how to associate with those who are worthy and capable while keeping a distance from those who are known as “men inferior in virtue” in traditional Chinese culture. Whereas to distinguish between the two kinds of persons is a cognitive attempt, the question whether to entrust tasks to the worthy and capable or to men inferior in virtue is germane to value orientation. Of course, if it is merely an activity of cognition or the transformation of nature, its axiological attribute is relatively weak. But what it involves is still the differentiation between the good and the bad as well as the selection based on the differentiation. 18 It

can hence be inferred that, in Chinese philosophy, the inadequacy in the academic pursuit of principle through Image is at once its limitation and its rationality. Limitation and rationality are in fact the two sides of the same coin in any academic theory. Therefore, early thinkers should not be criticized too severely in this regard. The topic of investigating things and gaining knowledge will be discussed in detail in Chapter 7.

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Those who concentrate on the inner sageliness are, admittedly, not very interested in practical affairs or the cognition of an external object. From the perspective of the division of social labor, there may be hardly anything wrong with the indifference. But from the viewpoint of historical development, there has to be the pursuit of outer kingliness to supplement the inner sageliness. In history, there have indeed been historical figures who “engaged themselves in the discussion of self-cultivation at leisure but dedicated their life to the imperial court in time of crisis.” From the Shugu Nianpu 恕谷年 譜 (Chronicle of Shugu), we learn that, in his criticism of the Rationalist philosophers in the Song and Ming dynasties, Qing dynasty scholar Li Shugu 李恕谷 (1659–1733 AD) points out that the philosophers were “rich in experience with what was put in print but poor in that with things in the real world. Their spirit was shown more in ink than in statecraft. All this explains the fall of Song and Ming dynasties.” We must uphold virtue and, at the same time, seek to expand business, paying dual attention to the internal and the external with a view of promoting social development in all aspects. This is possible even in the modern time, for such dual attention has been manifested in the idea Howard Shultz uses to manage Starbucks. In 1987, Howard Shultz, a young American, established Starbucks in ­Seattle. Thanks to their fine materials and advanced technology, the ­coffee house soon became popular and, within 5 years of its establishment, it was listed in stock market. In 1994, however, the company s­ uffered a loss of 800 million dollars. As a result, it had to rely on a bank loan to maintain routine operations. At that time, there were people who s­uggested using cheap coffee beans and lowering his employees’ s­ alary. Instead of ­following the suggestion, Shultz conducted an in-depth investigation, in which he identified the main problem in his employees’ lack of security, loyalty to the firm, and sense of responsibility. He then decided to purchase insurance for all employees and make them share-holders of the company. This “virtuous deed” significantly boosted the morale of the employees. They did their utmost to optimize their service and expedite the expansion of the company’s business. Today, there are over 16,500 branches of Starbucks in 50 countries in the world. Their daily volume of customers has reached 58 million. In the book Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, which he co-authored, Shultz points out that what an entrepreneur should do is to give his employees his care, love, and the utmost benefit he can rather than exploit and punish them.

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This example is related to the relationship between emotion and benefit. In social reality, people are usually happy and enthusiastic when they get benefits, and worried and distressed when they lose it. An important condition for the development of a social productive force is to turn negative factors into positive ones. What we also see in this example is the close connection between Matter and Benefit. A basic objective in all economic activities is to meet people’s need in their material life, which explains both the major motivation of profit gain behind the activities and the old saying that “no one gets up early if there is no benefit to gain.” On the other hand, benefit has to be gained through concrete matters, for benefit favors no one who does not strive for it and no benefit will come out of the blue. The important thing is hence not whether one should strive for benefit but how to balance between private and public benefits, how to — in other words — balance between benefiting oneself and benefiting a vast majority. Had Shultz given up the pursuit of benefit in times of difficulty, the enterprise would have gone out of business. Had he chosen to gain surplus value by selling shoddy commodity or lowering the salary of employees, that would have been unrighteous. What he did was to boost employees’ morale with better welfare and thereby expedited the expansion of the business. It was a wise and generous act that at once satisfied the need of both the entrepreneur and his employees’ need for benefit. The relation between Image and Emotion is as close as that between Matter and Benefit. If Image is the reflection of the objective world produced by the human heart, Emotion is the experience that accompanies the reflection. Based on human beings’ physiological instincts, the two of them are often interrelated. Usually, a natural occurrence of human imagination is a process in which “light gathers about moods [i.e. 情] and they grow in brightness, things become luminous and draw each other ­forward” (Lu Ji, 1996, p. 337).19 People in primitive age held an animist view on all things and beings, considering them all capable of sensitivity. It should be noted that Image and Emotion are inseparable from each other. Human emotion in civilized societies is divided into lust and passion. 19  Translator’s

note: Lu Ji 陸機 (261–303 AD). The Poetic Exposition on Literature. English translation by Stephen Owen in his An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911, NY: Norton, 1996, 336–343.

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Their combinations with Image are rather complicated. Generally speaking, the combination between Image and lust results in the longing for the forthright possession of the object of lust (or direct evasion from the subject of lust) to satisfy one’s need. Such satisfaction is sometimes pursued to the detriment of social order and humans’ just causes. For instance, there are men who lose all their senses at the sight of a beautiful women. Even such supreme rulers as some emperors were no exceptions. In Chinese history, there is a story about a smile that was more expensive than gold. King You of Zhou (r. 781–771 BC) had a very beautiful concubine who rarely laughed. One evening, in order to amuse the concubine, the king took her to the tower of the castle gate, where he had warning beacons lit. At the sight of the warning, the feudal lords nearby hastened take their troops to the castle to his majesty’s rescue. But they arrived only to find the castle tower brilliantly illuminated with loud music filling the air. After inquiring what had happened, the lords found out that it was just a ridiculous game their king played to please a concubine. So they returned angrily. But the chaos and confusion did amuse the concubine, who laughed a hearty laugh. Before long, the enemy really came. But there were no troops coming to save the king in spite of the warning beacons. It was because the lords took it to be another ridiculous game of the king. Eventually, the castle was sacked, and the king killed, which marked the end of the Western Zhou dynasty.

In a combination between Image and passion, the subject has its mind on the object without adhering to it. Formed in such an aesthetic distance between the viewer and the viewed is an Image with aesthetic value, which gives the viewer an empathetic satisfaction and, on a psychological level, makes up for the viewer’s deficiency in life. Moreover, the ideal that blazes in the Image is capable of elevating human beings’ spiritual realm. This elevation can be experienced in both art creation and art appreciation, as exemplified by how Rodin felt in front of the statute of Venus, which was an experience that has transcended carnal lust. “One almost expects, when feeling this torso, to find it warm.”20 “See these strong lights on the breasts, 20 August

Rodin, Art: Conversations with Paul Gsell. Translated by Jacques de Caso and Patricia Sanders. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984, p. 23.

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these energetic shadows on the folds of the flesh. Then look at these light shades, these half-lights, vaporous and trembling, on the most delicate parts of this divine body, the transitions that seem so finely shaded that they seem to dissolve in the air. … Isn’t this a prodigious symphony in black and white?”21 In aesthetic appreciation, it is possible for human beings to free their spirit from lust and elevate it to the realm of purity and sublimity. In our discussion above, we divided the four key elements into two groups. What Matter and Image usually form is the object of Subject’s cognition (Matter is also practical in nature). As for emotion and benefit, they constitute the Subject’s evaluation of things based on its own need. What the former two require of the Subject is its absolute respect of the objective situation. They are hence germane to the accord with regularity. As for the latter two, they require that the objective world satisfy the need of the Subject. They are therefore germane to the accord with intentionality. What the two groups embody are precisely the opposing tendencies of the two series of the heart. The four categories, in addition, follow a logical order. In the continuum: Emotion–Benefit–Matter–Image, objectivity escalates from right to left whereas subjectivity ramps up from left to right. Thus, the four of them correspond to the four key elements on the level of intellectuality. Emotion is more the movement of Qi than that of the human nature. Benefit and righteousness make a pair of categories that are in unity as well as opposition. When dealing with Matters in social relations, one needs to follow rite. To grasp Image, one needs to use wisdom. Among the four, Emotion and Image, with each constituting a pole of the continuum, are based on physiology. There is in fact nothing good or evil about them. Benefit and Matter, by contrast, have a direct bearing on humans’ social existence, hence their distinctive property of value. We can even say that Benefit and Matter form a gate for the interaction between heart-mind and the objective world. Those who piously enter the gate may head toward inner sageliness, whereas those who proudly march out of the gate may embark on their journey to outer kingliness. What is required 21  Translator’s

note: August Rodin, Art: Conversations with Paul Gsell. Translated by Jacques de Caso and Patricia Sanders. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984, p. 25.

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inside is autonomy to direct the human heart to goodness. And what is required outside is the heteronomy maintained by the legal system as a means to deter and punish evil deeds. The bottom line of virtue is the top limit of law. Social harmony should be based on the autonomy of virtue and, at the same time, stabilized by legal heteronomy. Conversely, if ­people generally lacked virtue and if the social order among them had to be maintained by law, then theirs would obviously be an uncivilized ­society. As we can see now, spiritual civilization is the basis of social civilization.

6.3. Manifest-ness and Subtlety, Principled Course and Flexibility This chapter has discussed Emotion, Benefit, Matter, and Image. They are all related to the Subject’s cognition and evaluation of the objective world. The object of cognition tends to be obvious to the senses. One should see through the obviousness to gain insight into the subterranean essence. What we get then are two aspects of things that are in opposition to each other, namely, Manifest-ness and Subtlety. In our evaluation and handling of things, there are contradictions between Emotion and Texture and between Benefit and Righteousness. The contradictions require both the adherence to principle and flexibility of human beings. There is hence the conflicting choice between following a principled course and being flexible. People, in cognition, seek to have both a direct access to the subtle through the manifest. In practice, they seek the mutual supplement between principled course and flexibility. It is very difficult to accomplish these. 6.3.1.  Cognition: Manifest-ness and Subtlety Manifest-ness and Subtlety are two levels of things. The former is obvious whereas the latter obscure. The former is Image and the latter Texture. By investigating Texture through Image, one may expect to grasp the nature of things and the regularity of their changes. Thus, as an attempt to ­explicate the changes developed from the interaction between Creati­vity 乾 and Docility 坤, the Great Commentary on the Book of Changes

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characterizes Manifest-ness and Subtlety, declaring that “the I [i.e. Yi, ‘the way of changes explicated in the Book of Changes’] exhibits the past and (teaches us to) discriminate (the issues of) the future; it makes manifest what is minute and brings to light what is obscure” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 331). According to this passage, the Book of Changes, temporally, closely examines the issues in the past and in the future and, spatially, brings to light what is subtle and what is obscure. What it means by “bring[ing] to light” is to make it clearly known. The words cited above are present in Part 2 of the Great Commentary. They are logically related to a number of passages in Part 1. For instance, “the sage is able to survey all the complex phenomena under the sky. He then considered in his mind how they could be figured, and (by means of diagrams) represented their material forms and their character. Hence these (diagrams) are denominated Semblances (or emblematic figures, …)” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 299) “It is still and without movement; but, when acted on, it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena and events under the sky” (1993, p. 309). “The … changes are gone through with in this way, till they form the figures pertaining to heaven or to earth. Their numbers are exactly determined, and the emblems of (all things) under the sky are fixed” (1993, p. 307). “The (operations forming the) I are the method by which the sages searched out exhaustively what was deep, and investigated the minutest springs (of things). ‘Those operations searched out what was deep:’ — therefore they could penetrate to the views of all under the sky. ‘They made apparent the minutest springs (of things):’ — therefore they could bring to a completion all undertakings under the sky” (1993, p. 309). The logic that connects these passages can be illustrated as the following. Manifest-ness——Image——feeling——pattern——sign——task… Subtlety—abstruseness—penetration—numerology—depth—Zhi…

The “abstruseness” here means obscure and minute.22 The “task” refers to Matter. The author of the Great Commentary on the Book of 22 The

word ze 賾 usually means “refined and subtle” or “profound and abstruse,” as it is used in the phrase “to explore what is complex [賾], search out what is hidden, to hook up what lies deep, and to reach what is distant” in the Commentary on the Book of Changes

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Changes believed that there were profound and abstruse texture beneath the external matter and Image. In his opinion, the texture can be approached through penetrative enlightenment 感通. And the way to reveal the texture is to “make manifest what is minute”. “Manifest” and “subtle” are a pair of antonymous adjectives. In philosophy, they are often used in their noun form. In the Chinese language, “manifest” can also be used as a causative verb, meaning to make something manifest. Cheng Yi did well in elaborating the point in the Great Commentary in this regard. In his Preface to the Great Commentary on the Book of Changes, he wrote, “That which is exceedingly subtle is the Texture, and that which is exceedingly obvious is Image. Substance and Function are [therefore] of the same origin, and there is no distance between the manifest and the subtle.” In Volume 25 of the Er Cheng Yulu, he wrote, “There is nothing more manifest than Matter, nor is there anything more subtle than the Texture. But Matter and Texture are in one accord and the subtle and the manifest come from the same source”. Obviously, what he regarded as “manifest” are Image and Matter, and what he considered “subtle” is Texture. By the lack of distance between the manifest and the subtle, he referred to the accord of Matter with Texture. The same accord, in his judgment, also connects Nonmenon and Function. The Texture is the substance of Matter, and Matter is the function of the Texture. The mutual containment between them explains their shared source. One of his disciples spoke highly of the proposition that “Substance and Function are of the same origin, and there is no distance between the manifest and the subtle,” declaring that the proposition overtly revealed a heavenly secret. This is a complimentary exaggeration. Although Cheng Yi’s proposition is very succinct, similar views were expressed long ago in the Metaphysical thought in the Wei–Jin period and the Buddhism in the Sui–Tang period. The analysis by the Huayan Sect of Buddhism is even more sophisticated in this regard. Based on the thought in the Great Commentary and drawing on materials from the metaphysical thought and Buddhism, this influential proposition by Cheng Yi was frequently mentioned by scholars of subsequent (1993, p. 311). Zhu Xi takes the word to mean disorderly and chaotic. Here, we do not adopt his interpretation.

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generations. “As regards the common source of Substance and Function,” explained Zhu Xi in reply to He Shujing 何叔京, “if examined from the perspective of Texture, Texture is Substance and Image is Function. Since Texture [manifests itself] through Image, [Substance and Function] are of the same origin. Speaking of the lack of distance between Manifest-ness and Subtlety, if examined from the perspective of Image, Image is manifest and Texture is subtle. Since there is Texture in Image, [Manifest-ness and Subtlety] are seamlessly combined. … Moreover, since it is said that Texture came into existence before Image, the two cannot be one and the same thing. Therefore what Cheng Yi says is merely that they are of the same origin and seamlessly combined. As a matter of fact, the distinction between Substance and Function as well as that between Manifest-ness and Subtlety cannot be denied. Nowadays there have been such claim that the identity between Texture and Image nullifies the necessity to draw distinction between [them]. I am afraid that such talks may fall into the recent theoretical confusion. Therefore, distinction has to be made [in this regard].” For him, “the common source of Substance and Function” means the same thing as “the lack of distance between Manifest-ness and Subtlety.” It is the perspectives whence people look at them that make a difference. The “common source” is examined from the perspective of the internal Texture, and the proposition proceeds from Substance to Function. The “lack of distance,” in contrast, is looked at from the perspective of the external Image, and the judgment thereof proceeds from Manifest-ness and Subtlety. Emphasized in both propositions is the indivisibility between Substance and Function. The two cannot be absolutely demarcated and separated. But there should be, after all, notional distinctions between Substance and Function and between Manifest-ness and Subtlety. Otherwise, there would be theoretical vagueness and confusions. Generally speaking, Zhu Xi’s explanation is apt. But it seems that Cheng Yi did not consider the difference in perspective when he discussed “Substance and Function” as well as “Manifest-ness and Subtlety.” Thus, the distinction made in terms of perspective should have been Zhu Xi’s creative elaboration of Cheng Yi’s thought. Let us take a close look at the second passage from Cheng Yi, where he replaced “Substance and Function” with “Matter and Texture” and spoke of “Manifest-ness and Subtlety” as “the subtle and the manifest.” Then we may further notice

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that he replaced “same origin” and “no distance” in the first passage with, respectively, “accord” and “same source” in the second. It can be said that, in Cheng Yi’s judgment, the two propositions mean the same despite their difference in wording. His attention was paid to unifying Substance and Function. Zhu Xi, by emphasizing the notional differentiation between the two, did contribute to making up for the deficiency in Cheng Yi’s ­argument. From this point, we may further argue that while the unity of oppositions between Manifest-ness and Subtlety should be understood on the level of the cognition of the heart, the discourse regarding Substance and Function should particularly consider human beings’ practice and concrete actions. This is because functions should not be limited to mental functions. They are to be performed in human actions. To put it in plainer terms, we can explicate the two propositions from three aspects. Insofar as the structure of the heart is concerned, the Image on the level of sensibility is obvious and functional whereas the Texture on the level of Zhixing is subtle and substantial. The former is specific and the latter is general. The specific contains and implicates the general, and the general is always manifested through the specific. Inasmuch as the heart’s cognition of the objective world is concerned, Image — as something specific, finite, and directly appealing to human senses — is manifest. The Texture it contains and implicates — as something general and infinite — is subtle, and it takes the human heart to cognitively experience it. That which combines the finite and infinite is human beings’ intuitive and penetrating enlightenment. By extension, what is required of human practice and concrete activities is their embodiment of the Zhi of all under the sky. Hence, the penetration to the Zhi of all under the sky is substantial whereas our daily affairs are functional. People should pursue an absolute unity between Substance and Function (To be discussed in Chapter 9). As regards the penetrating enlightenment emphasized in the Great Commentary as well as Cheng Yi’s identity of Matter with Texture, they actually refer to the same kind of intuition on the part of the Subject. There are three modes of intuition. The first is the “direct perception” and cognitive experience on the level of sensitivity. Subsumed under it is what Croce called aesthetic or artistic intuition. The second is the “sensing” on the level of intellectuality, which features a direct and instant grasp of things’ essence and their internal relations, a grasp that is accomplished

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the very moment when one comes into contact with things’ phenomena. This mode of intuition is highly valued in scientific activities. But what it reaches is only a partial and limited domain. The third is the “awakening” on the level of Zhixing. It is a mode particularly emphasized in philosophy and doxastic worlds. And it is the kind of intuition discussed by Bergson, who argued for the penetration of the finite matter and Image as a means to come into direct accord with the “unique thing” contained and implicated in them. The penetrating enlightenment advocated by pre-modern Chinese philosophers also belongs to this third kind. It aims at the grasp of the Noumenon and the revelation of the absolute principle of all things under heaven. A more detailed discussion on the intuition and enlightenment advocated by pre-modern thinkers will be provided in Chapter 7. With regard to the seamless combination of Matter and Texture, one has reason to doubt its likelihood, because it is in fact hardly possible to accomplish the cognitive leap from the specific to the general, or that from the finite to the infinite. As an idealistic orientation, however, such seamless combination is nonetheless of great value and importance. This is because it motivates people to seek to transcend the daily matters and Images that engage their attention. In doing so, they can bring their objectives in real life and their infinite spiritual pursuit into a unity, witnessing the Way therein, and exhibiting the sacredness thereof. 6.3.2.  Praxis: Principled Course and Flexibility Life in the real world is complex and varied. Oftentimes it is hard to choose a correct course of action on the mere basis of a number of credos and maxims. For example, the saying “when rivals meet head on, fortune favors the brave one” sounds as reasonable as “give way and get a way”. Likewise, the moral courage and heroism epitomized in the old saying “better be totally smashed as jade than survive as an intact tile” seems to be as remarkable as the wisdom captured in the proverb “where there is life, there is hope.” Lying in the choice one faces in a given situation is the contradiction between Principled Course 經 and Flexibility 權. The word jing 經 originally meant the warp of textiles. What we use here is its extended meaning, namely, the norms in social interactions, which forms the principled aspect in social life. The word quan 權

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originally referred to a sliding weight of a steelyard. Its extended meaning used here is the weighing between one’s choices in a situation and the expediency one follows, which speaks of the flexible aspect in social life. For example, in traditional Chinese culture, men and women were supposed to keep a distance without touching each other’s hands even when they were passing objects between them. This rule particularly applied to the relationship between a man and his sister-in-law, and it was regarded as an embodiment of rite in daily life, a principled course. But, under the circumstance where a man’s sister-in-law was drowning, should he extend his hand to rescue her? Certainly he would be guilty of being neither benevolent nor wise if he stuck to the rule and watched as a bystander. Therefore, flexibility is required in this case so one can leave the p­ rincipled course for the moment. This scenario has been analyzed in Mencius 4A:17. Though seemingly simple, it is a scenario with considerable typicality. It is, however, not easy to draw a distinctive line of demarcation between Principled Course and Flexibility. Because there are different levels of principles for people’s conduct, judgments about Principled Course and Flexibility often vary. Confucius once said the following as his admonishment. A good person should “not enter a tottering state, nor dwell in a disorganized one. When right principles of government prevail in the kingdom, he will show himself; when they are prostrated, he will keep concealed” (Confucius, 2014, 8:13). Song dynasty Confucian scholars considered this admonishment suggestive of a ­principled course. But Confucius (17:7) responded positively to Bi Xi’s 佛肸 invitation and wished to go as invited, which contradicted his admonishment. This example, as Zhang Shi 張栻 (1133–1180 AD), Zhu Xi, and Chen Chun saw it, speaks of Confucius’s flexibility. But, it should be noted that another interpretation may also stand to reason. In this interpretation, what is considered to be a principled course is the choice of staying in a tottering and chaotic state, and saving the people from the misery therein, which is just like the course that Mahatma Gandhi chose to follow in India.23 The choice is considered to be p­ rincipled because it represents the 23 Jesus

was a more typical example. But Gandhi’s deeds are close to our time and hence more verifiable. For details of Gandhi’s story, please see Section 4.1.2 of Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 1.

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constant Way in morality and what a moral choice should be. Compared with it, to stay away from a tottering state is merely a choice to be worldly wise and to play safe, which instantiates Flexibility. But, of course, staying away from danger may safeguard a person’s lifelong dedication to making great contributions to the society. In this sense, the choice, though deviating from a principled course to ­follow expediency, is also in accordance with the Way. As regards Confucius’s positive response to Bi Xi’s invitation, it was a case of flexibility in a larger scope. Cheng Yi argued that “Flexibility is nothing but Principled Course” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 18). This view is rather conservative. What it advocates is easier said than done. For instance, as a principled course then, widows were not supposed to remarry. But it just happened that Cheng Yi’s own niece was widowed young. Her father, out of his concern about her living security, very actively made arrangements for her remarriage. Instead of taking issue with this practice, Cheng Yi spoke well of the father’s choice in a ­biographical sketch he wrote for the father. This action of Cheng Yi constituted a direct denial to what he himself had advocated. As a matter of fact, the mutual complement between Principled Course and Flexibility speaks of a high realm to be attained in social practice. It is particularly hard to coordinate collective actions in this regard. Confucius points out that “[there are those] with whom [we] can study but not approach the Way together, [and those] with whom [we] can approach the Way but not establish [ourselves in career and in life] together, [and yet those] with whom [we] can establish [ourselves in career and in life] but not exercise expedient flexibility together” (Confucius, 9.30). This passage classifies the people we work with into four levels. There are people who join us in study and then we each learn what we learn without interfering with each other. But these people may not necessarily share our aspiration and pursue the same lofty goal — namely, to approach the Way — with us. Among those who do share our pursuit of a lofty goal, some may not necessarily be determined enough to pursue it all the way, for it would take a firm faith and strong resolution to persistently pursue this cause with great endeavors made to set up moral models and strive for accomplishments therein. Furthermore, among those who are indeed persistently pursuing the cause with us and striving for moral perfection as well as concrete accomplishments, there are some who are unable to act

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according to circumstances, keep pace with times, and exercise expedient flexibility with us. Thus, people can be classified into different levels in this regard. In modern Chinese history, we can see numerous examples of people on each of the four levels. The examples have attested to the ­validity of the classification. A dogmatic adherence to a principled course may frustrate our bid for positive results, but the fetishism of expedient flexibility may lapse into pragmatism or even treachery. In social practices, one should be sure to align one’s action with the fine line of balance in between, following a principled course on the one hand without being dogmatic and rigid and, on the other hand, being flexible without losing sight of the principle. Due to the moral principles in their heart, orthodox Confucians after Confucius are — generally speaking — found to have been deficient in exercising expediency when they faced the complexities of social reality. For this reason, they have often been considered impractical and unrealistic. In Mencius’s time, for instance, feudal lords made a point of employing military strategists in wars of annexation. All the feudal states at that time were engaged in various political contentions and military conflicts. But Mencius advocated the virtues of early antiquity wherever he traveled. From the standpoint of inner sageliness, what he did was necessary, because it might function to check and balance the said political trend in his time. But he went so far as to persuade all political rulers to apply those early virtues to their pursuit of outer kingliness, which would inevitably fall short of being “impractical and far detached from the actual situation of things [in reality]” (Sima Qian, 1962, Vol. 74). During the reign of Emperor Xiao (r. 1163–1189 AD) in the Song dynasty, northern expedition and the recapture of the two capital cities should have been placed at the top of the political agenda. Yet, all Zhu Xi was interested in, according to Volume 48 of the Song Yuan Xue’an 宋元學案, was to talk to the emperor about how to “ensure the uprightness of one’s heart and the sincerity of one’s intentions.” The emperor, feeling bored, told Zhu Xi to stop the verbose lecture. But Zhu Xi said, “These two things encompass all that I have learned in my life. How do I dare to hide it from your majesty?” We find in Volume 62 of the Mingru Xuean 明儒學案 that Liu Zongzhou held a similar view to Cheng Yi’s, arguing that Principled Course was the substance of Flexibility and Flexibility was the function of the Principled

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Course. Their combination, in his opinion, was the Way. When the emperor consulted him about military affairs, however, his reply was, “In my humble opinion, national defense should also be based on the management of internal affairs. That was why by dancing with shields and plumes, the ancients could keep the tribe of Miao from invading them. So all your majesty have to do is follow the example of such ancient sage rulers as Yao and Shun.” The emperor thereupon turned to other court officials and said, “How pedantic Liu’s words are!” Discourse in the philosophy of ethics tends to emphasize Principled Course and positively value the adherence to moral principles. But, in political activities, the emphasis is placed more on the side of Flexibility with attention focused on the means to accomplish success. If ideal is upheld in morality, reality requires more of people’s attention in politics. Therefore, one must take both ideal and reality into consideration when dealing with the contradiction between Principled Course and Flexibility. Looking back on the history of the Spring–Autumn and the subsequent Warring States periods, Xu Gan found political leaders’ dogmatic adherence to principles to be fatal to their states and even their own lives. For example, we learn from Chapter 9 of Xu’s Zhonglun 中論 (Balanced Discourses) that “King Yan of Xu 徐偃王, knowing how to cultivate benevolence and righteousness but not how to use military force, eventually saw the annihilation of his state. Duke Yin of Lu 魯隱公 (fl. 722–710 BC), harboring the sense of yielding to others in his heart without seeing through treacherous intrigues, was eventually killed. Duke Xiang of Song 宋襄公, holding fast to moral principle with no flexibility exercised, was eventually taken prisoner. And Bozong of the State of Jin 晉伯宗, ­outspoken but not tactful, ended up in a tragic death.” In view of these examples, Xu Gan opined, “Zhongni [i.e. Confucius] says there are those ‘with whom [we] can establish [ourselves in career and in life] but not exercise expedient flexibility together’. Meng Ke [i.e. Mencius] says that ‘Tsu-mo [i.e. 子莫 Zimo] holds the mean. … Holding the mean without allowing for special circumstances is like holding on to one particular thing’” (Mencius, 1963, p. 80). So, Zhongni and Meng Ke can be said to have had a thorough under­standing of the essence of flexibility and wisdom.” It is reasonable for him to trace the differentiation between Principled Course and Flexibility back to Confucius and

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Mencius, so is it to associate flexibility with wisdom. As a man living in the Three-Kingdom period, Xu Gan knew only too well the importance of flexibility and wisdom. Among Han dynasty Confucian thoughts, it was the Gongyang School of the Spring–Autumn Annals Studies that first explicitly juxtaposed Principled Course and Flexibility in their theoretic discourse. Their definition of Flexibility as that which deviated from Principled Course and yet complied with the Way was widely accepted by subsequent generations of scholars. As an attempt to protect the purity of the Way, Cheng Yi accused Han dynasty Confucians of failing to grasp the correct meaning of “Flexibility” and erring by positively valuing deception and political trickeries. Dogmatic as Cheng Yi might be in his theorization of Principled Course and Flexibility, his concern was not groundless, for there were scholars who considered people in the Three-Kingdom period as masters and best interpreters of Flexibility. As is generally known, however, the most outstanding historical figures in the Three-Kingdom period were mostly militarists. An axiom in pre-modern military discourse has it that nothing is too deceitful in war. Along this line of argument, there can be almost no moral limit that can hold in check the expedient flexibility exercised for the purpose of conquering one’s rivals, which hence bespeaks an extreme case of Flexibility. Generally speaking, the relationship between Principled Course and Flexibility is closely related to that between righteousness and benefit. Granted that being flexible does not necessarily mean the same thing as the pursuit of benefit, excessive emphasis on expedient flexibility and raisons d’état may end in a total abandonment of righteousness for the sake of benefit (or evasion from harm) and in the resultant transgression of the bottom lines in morality. In our daily life, a general rule to deal with the contradiction between Principled Course and Flexibility is to weigh the possible gains against the possible losses and thereby opt for a course of action that may either maximize the gains or minimize the losses. Mohist School of Thought came to be aware of this long ago. From Chapter 44 of the Mozi, we learn that “flexibility involves the weighing between [one’s] choices. … Among all gains, take the big. Among harms, opt for the small.” And the author demonstrated this point with a scenario where, for a victim of robbery, the loss of life would be a big harm. Compared with it, the mere loss of a

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finger in lieu of his life would be a small harm or even, relatively ­speaking, a gain. We can further demonstrate the point with an example in modern life: A normally rule-abiding driver is running the red lights all the way to a hospital. He does so because he is aware that although — according to the principled course — a driver should not run the red light, what is at stake in his car is the life of a pregnant woman who is about to deliver or a patient in urgent need of emergency treatment. In order to save his costumer’s life, he has to drive as fast as he can in spite of the transportation penalties. This is his flexibility, which, in this case, is an extension of his principled course, because just as traffic rules are stipulated for the safety of people’s life, so is the driver’s choice made to save the life of his costumer. The police are expected to exempt the driver from penalties in this case. Between two gains, one should opt for the big one, though this does not necessarily mean there are no other choices available. And this is the concern more in political philosophy than in the philosophy of ethics. Between two harms, on the other hand, one needs to opt for the small one, for there are no other choices available. In this regard, the philosophy of ethics and that of politics are in agreement. It is, however, not easy even to weigh gains against harms, hence the various troubles people face when they try to make a choice. Let us look at the following event, which took place not long ago. On the afternoon of August 20th, 2010, at the southern bridgehead of the Yangtze River Bridge in the city of Wuhan, a man in his 20s accidentally slipped into the River and was soon carried away by the torrent. Seeing this, Chen Xuqing 陳旭清, a 13-year old teenager who was playing nearby, jumped into the river to rescue the man. When he was going to get hold of the man, however, the man grabbed him by the leg. Together, the two of them sank. By the time there were more adults coming to s rescue them, the two youths were nowhere to be found. …

The young hero was a junior-high student. His action eloquently confirms the existence of conscience in an individual human being’s heart, which is highly respectable. His ability to swim, if we do not take into account the interference from the victim’s last-minute struggle, was indeed good enough to save the man who had fallen into the river. It seems

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that he would have regarded it a breach of the moral principle — or the Principled Course — in his heart if he had taken no action at that moment. But, he was unprepared for the moment when the victim’s last-minute struggle left him with no room for any expedient flexibility. Consequently, he was drowned together with the victim. Looking back on the tragedy, people generally considered it regretful that the child neither estimated his own ability nor turned to any adults for help. It must be noted here that this tragedy shows how difficult it actually is to make a choice at a critical moment. 6.3.3.  Ideal: Following One’s Heart’s Desire without Transgressing Moral Principles In this chapter, we have said metaphorically that Benefit and Matter form a gate for the interaction between the human heart and the objective world, and that those who piously enter the gate may head toward inner sageliness, whereas those who proudly march out of the gate may embark on their journey to outer kingliness. But what we spoke of were mere possibilities. By speaking of one possibility, we in general allow for other possibilities as well. The best of all possibilities is on the side of our ideal. On the side of reality, however, there can be many undesirable possibilities. Inner sageliness and outer kingliness have much to do with the contradiction between ideal and reality. They are of course both idealistic, because what inner sageliness and outer kingliness seek to accomplish are, respectively, an ideal personality and an ideal society. But, since the former falls into human beings’ spiritual domain, it can be accomplished by an individual alone. As regards the latter, being in the domain of real social practice, it has to be realized in a given collectivity. Thus, all that is required of those who aim at inner sageliness is a firm grip on “what things ought to be,” which means raising high the banner of their ideal. But, for those who strive for outer kingliness, what it takes — in addition to the ideal attainment of inner sageliness in their personality — is their full attention to “what things actually are” in a collectivity. For this reason, they cannot even exclude the possibility of them occasionally having to “dance with wolves” and socialize with devils. Therefore, a realist attitude in this regard is a must.

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If the seamless combination between Manifest-ness and Subtlety is mainly related to inner sageliness and can be accomplished in the spiritual domain, the contradiction between Principled Course and Flexibility is more related to outer kingliness and must be dealt with in the domain of praxis in social reality. Evidently, the contradiction goes beyond the domain of ethics. Morality functions to regulate the internal relationship of a society through its propagation and spiritual enlightenment. Of course, by doing so, it lays a foundation based on which the contradiction between Principled Course and Flexibility can be handled. But we must also take into consideration the existence of evil forces in reality. Therefore, there has to be military strategies and military means. The extent within which we exercise expedient flexibility should slide between morality and the military. The former represents the principles to abide by, and the latter embodies the flexibility one can exercise in concrete situations. To be both principled and flexible, to be able to both hold on to moral principles and accomplish a substantial goal, such is the combination of inner sateliness and outer kingliness, which is a very high level of perfection. Take what Moses angrily did in Mount Sinai to lead the Israelis to leave Egypt. If this action was taken out of a moral consideration, then Confucius’s execution of his political opponent Shaozheng Mao 少正卯 would be almost a military measure he took after his appointment as the minister of justice in the state of Lu. That which is outside the domain of morality should not be treated as a moral issue; otherwise, we would be too pedantic. Because human beings are sensitive beings, we must not underestimate the magnitude of their sensual needs. Hume once said aptly that the Sultan never entrusted his concubines to the morality of his guards but to their inability. The use of eunuchs in imperial palaces in pre-modern China was, too, a measure taken based on reality. Legal restrictions and penalties are needed where morality cannot take full control. There are countries where “chemical castration” is applied to criminals who sexually assault underage girls. This is also an example of deviating from the Principled Course to exercise expedient flexibility. In addition to humankind’s sensual needs, the greed for wealth may be more likely to cause a person to lose his mind and turn him into a beast. In that case, how could there be any benevolence between a father and son, or any righteousness among siblings?

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It is hence clear that education, prevention, and penalty are all the necessary means to be employed for regulating social relationships. Dedicated as he was to moral education, Confucius never excluded the use of legal penalties. His standpoint in this regard, compared with that of such later Confucian thinkers as Mencius and Xunzi, can be said to be enlightening to all the benighted. As regards virtue and law, the following passage in Liu An’s Huainanzi epitomizes a view held in early China. “Therefore, that which is followed by the sage is known as the Way, and that which the sage does is known as Matter. The Way, metaphorically speaking, is a bell or musical stone whose tone always remains unchanged. Matter, [by contrast,] can be likened to a string instrument whose tones vary from string to string. Thus, legal institutions, rite, and righteousness are what [a society should] be equipped with to regulate human relationships, but not a principled course [to follow] in the establishment of social order. To base [social order] on benevolence and regulate [it] with righteousness, such is the way to ensure a constant social stability for thousands of generations” (Liu An, 1982, Vol. 13). This passage, regarding the rule of virtue as the basis and legal institution as the means, bears obvious Confucian influence. In its author’s judgment, virtue, as a derivation of the Way, is a principled course that remains unchanging for thousands of generations. As for laws, they are flexible and changeable in that they are made and enacted according to concrete matters. (Following the passage cited above, the author, as a matter of fact, went on to talk about the lack of constant law in the world under heaven.) Indeed, the social order in an ideal society should be based primarily on the rule of virtue with the rule of law used as merely a supplementary means. The personality valued in Confucianism is one that combines benevolence and wisdom. Such a model personality involves the internal cultivation of virtue and external establishment of social order. Benevolence is human virtue, and wisdom is human talent. Only a person outstanding in both virtue and wisdom can manage to match the end result with his or her intended goal. As far as the pursuit of inner sageliness and outer kingliness is concerned, the highest realm in the combination of virtue and talent is the kind depicted in the Book of Changes, which is an ability to both connect

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to the Zhi of all under the sky and progress with times. We may say that the Zhi of all under the sky is Substance as well as that which is subtle, whereas the progress that proceeds with times is Function as well as that which is manifest. What may embody the connection to the Zhi of all under the sky is an ability to make discerning observations at all times and places, which speaks of the undivided source between Substance and Function as well as the seamless combination of Manifest-ness and Subtlety. The connection to the Zhi of all under the sky requires one’s compliance with the Way and the establishment of morality, which can be called a Principled Course. And to progress with times means timely ­self-adjustments and self-adaptations that are synchronized with all temporal and spatial changes, which can be called Flexibility. In social reality, only virtuous and wise sages can attain a perfect combination of the two whenever they live and wherever they go.24 It should be noted that there has never been a perfect sage in history. Sages with impeccable personality are supernatural. They exist only in people’s ideal. Throughout his life, Confucius never had the arrogance to call himself a sage. His ideal of sageliness was embodied by Yao 堯, Shun 舜, and Duke of Zhou.25 When speaking of himself, Confucius (2:4) said that he could follow his heart’s desire without transgressing moral principles when he was 70 years old. This, of course, may not have been his empty rhetoric. But it could be explained by the retired life he led in his study, where his time was divided between teaching students and editing canonical texts. Had he been still in his official post in the state of Lu or still in travel around various states, it would have been hard for him to follow his heart’s desire. His elevation to sageliness was due to the deification of him sought by the Zhi in the heart of people of later times. Because of the complexity of social life, however, it is hardly possible to attain a seamless combination between Manifest-ness and Subtlety, nor is it possible to accomplish the unity between Principled Course and 24 According

to the Great Commentary on the Book of Changes, “the sages … would give their proper course to the aims of all under the sky, would give stability to their undertakings, and determine their doubts.” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 309). 25 Translator’s note: All were rulers of early antiquity and persons idealized in pre-modern China as model rulers.

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Flexibility. Such combination and unity exist only in ideal, which people should do their utmost to approach when they deal with concrete matters. But approaching perfection is still not the same thing as attaining it, for human beings are not gods after all, not to mention that even some humanized gods — such as Zeus and Apollo — in the Alps are unable to control themselves under some circumstances. In order to connect to the Zhi of all under the sky, one should pursue the benefit of all under heaven. Theoretically speaking, if the interest of a nation, a country, or a religious sect turns out to be in conflict with this universal benefit, such an interest should be rectified to make certain harmful forces like Nazis can find no market. Likewise, if a person’s activities are in conflict with this universal benefit, the activities should be given up. In that way, the harm in our society can be minimized. But the problem is that life in reality is filled with conflicts of interest both between an individual and a collectivity as and among different collectivities. People often feel self-righteous or make a point of being nice only to themselves or to their own communities. Such practice has marred the standard of the universal benefit. Things are therefore indeed in a state depicted in Chapter 2 of the Zhuangzi, in which notions of right and wrong are too confused for people to make distinctions in between. Due to the complications, one can imagine how hard it is to align the interest of an individual or a given collectivity with that of the entire humankind. Elements such as Emotion, Benefit, Matter, and Image, once combined, give rise to various human thoughts and ideas, which, on the one hand, account for humans’ colorful spiritual life and, on the other hand, subjects the human will and human heart, respectively, to heteronomy and the hindrance of external things. Taking note of this and based on the difference observed among various idea-to-Zhi ratios, Wang Fuzhi, in Volume 6 of his Zhangzi Zhengmeng Zhu, classifies personality into the following four types. “Men inferior in virtue have ideas but lack Zhi. Mediocre men are those who set up their Zhi only to be disturbed by their ideas. Men of virtue are those who hold fast to their Zhi and stay cautious about their ideas. And sages are those whose virtue is formed by pure Zhi with no room left for ideas.” It is clear that a sage in this sense would be a god. Although such a sage may not exist in real life, it can serve as a model for human beings to try to emulate in their social existence.

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It is worth noting that although cognition is an activity which is s­ upposed to match subjectivity with external things, what our pre-­modern thinkers required was its connection with the internal experience of the Way with an emphasis laid on the seamless combination between the manifest and the subtle. On the other hand, in social practice, where one tries to realize what one wishes or aspires for, ­pre-modern thinkers were aware that, instead of sticking to conventions and norms, one could exercise expedient flexibility when dealing with concrete matters. What they emphasized was a mutual supplement between Principled Course and Flexibility. Their pursuit of perfect unity among contradictions can be said to “reach the greatest height and brilliancy and follow the path of the Mean” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 110). The Way is not far away from people. Any individual who can manage to accomplish a relatively good combination in this regard can be said to have already attained sageliness in a broad sense — if we look at the matter from the perspective of Buddhism, where it is said that a butcher “can instantly become a Buddha” the very moment when he lays down his knife. Summary: In this chapter, we have discussed the philosophical implications of Emotion, Benefit, Matter, and Image as well as their relation to heart-nature. These four categories form a certain continuum with Emotion and Image as its two poles. Emotion is based on physiology and its occurrence is a psychosomatic phenomenon. Image is generated through human senses. In Western etymology, the word “sensitivity” involves the senses of both emotion and perception. Benefit and Matter are directly related to humankind’s social existence. Whereas Benefit is for the satisfaction of human beings’ needs in life, Matter consists of the various things that people are preoccupied with and engaged in. The two of them form a gate that connects inner sageliness and outer kingliness. At the same time, it may also be a pitfall of corruption. The four categories correspond to the four elements on the level of intellectuality. It goes without saying that human needs at the level of sensitivity are the most basic needs in individual human beings’ daily life. What is said in Chapter 1 of the Guanzi is not without reason: “Well supplied, well behaved; well fed, well bred.” Whenever the basic supply of people’s livelihood is insecure, it will inevitably become people’s ­ utmost concern. On the other hand, unrestrained endeavor to satisfy

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human beings’ need of the senses will lead to turbulence and disorder in both the human heart and human society. For this reason, moral cultivation makes a point of subjecting the elements of sensitivity to the control from the levels of Zhixing and intellectuality. The combination of sensitivity with Qi and Zhi will result in a heroic passion, whereas its combination with Qi and benevolence will yield a passion of love, which is generated in a process where an individual’s emotion sublimes and thereby turns into a philanthropic compassion. To maintain social order, it is necessary to restrain desire with rite. This is because whereas freedom of sensitive desire subordinates all to the pursuit of joy, its restriction with rite subordinates such a pursuit to realistic concerns. The two tendencies constitute a tension that individual human beings often feel in social life. There is admittedly nothing wrong with the pursuit of benefit and the evasion from harm. But the pursuit and the evasion should be practiced on the basis of righteousness. Righteousness, insofar as it is a standard for making judgments and regulations, is required by a collectivity or even the entire humankind. Matters in social relations should be handled in accordance with rite. All Matters should be handled by following the two kinds of Texture. The grasp of Image (which exists in the form of representation in the heart) relies on wisdom. Moreover, where the grasp is concerned, it is important to see through the Image to identify the Texture beneath it. Conversely, in social life, elements in the depths of the human heart are usually manifested through the level of sensitivity. By now, we have briefly outlined the system of heart-nature implied in traditional Chinese philosophy. The popular classification of ­personality in pre-modern China matches squarely the three-division logical stratification of the human heart: A man inferior in virtue is a person who let his daily life be dominated by desires to satisfy his needs of the senses. A person of virtue is a person whose daily life is dominated by intellectual notions. A sage would be someone who makes the pursuit in his Zhixing permeate his daily life.26 Sensitivity is marked by specificity and 26 The

issue regarding the quality of personality (Mr. Zhang Dainian considers “quality” as a more appropriate word to use than “value”) is also accorded great importance in the West. Legend has it that philosopher Diogenes was once captured by pirates on the sea and

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individuality. Intellectuality can capture particularity, which, however, is particular to a given collectivity. Zhixing can reach generality, which is known as the universality across the entire humankind. Individuals who enter socialized existence will face all kinds of conflicts of interest induced by both the pressure of survival and the insatiability of human desires. If human beings were spurred by nothing but lust and greed, they would be hardly different from birds and beasts. As a result, human society would become a world of animals. One should therefore relate the Matters and Images handled and encountered in daily life to the Noumenon of existence and, in so doing, seek a grasp thereof characterized by the seamless unity of Manifest-ness and Subtlety. In social practice, one should hold fast to one’s principle on the one hand and remain flexible on the other, by which we mean a mutual supplement between one’s Principled Course and Flexibility. An ideal state of human life is one in which we can connect ourselves to the Zhi of all under the sky and, at the same time, progress with the changes of time. When we do so, we follow our hearts’ desire without transgressing any moral p­ rinciples. At the level of feasibility, what this requires is the use of the well-being of all under the sky as a fundamental standard, by which perfection in the coordination among actions to benefit oneself, a collectivity, and all in the world can be approximated.27 Based on the foregoing, it is absolutely necessary to seek the Noumenon of human existence and construct our spiritual home. But the task, rather than resulting from what Xunzi called the transformation of the human nature by means of artificiality, comes from an awakened ­consciousness of the human heart. As regards how to awaken to this ­consciousness, it is a topic to be discussed later. subsequently auctioned into slavery at Crete according to the custom then. A merchant there, surprised by Diogenes improper request to be sold to “someone who needs a master,” decided to leave his two sons under Diogenes’ tutelage no matter how Diogenes might teach the children. Then the merchant went to Asia for business and stayed there for quite a few years without inquiring into this matter. By the time the previously ill-mannered children joined him, they had both become wise, polite and virtuous gentlemen! 27 As we discussed before, the secret of moral activities lies in the spiritual return to the root of life or human heart. The reversion will be followed by the permeation of the spirit to twigs and leaves.

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Discussion: The sensitive desires of people today are exceptionally strong, which is good for the acceleration of the development of the social productive forces on the one hand, and liable to subject human spiritual system to the risk of collapse on the other hand. What are the positive and negative aspects of such contempt for benefit and desire that distinguishes traditional Chinese philosophy? What kind of duality of human emotion do we learn from Plato’s analogy of it to a white horse and a black horse? The Book of Changes advocates the connection to the Zhi of all under the sky as well as the progress that proceeds along with the change of time. Can we, based on this thought, ensure a seamless unity between Manifest-ness and Subtlety as well as the mutual supplement between Principled Course and Flexibility? People often say that Chinese culture is replete with “the consciousness of anxiety.” Is this a characteristic of the Chinese nation alone or something shared by all cultures of morality? In Christian culture, as we know, Jesus Christ always looks anxious and concerned. Why? In the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament, it is said that during the conflict between conscience and lust, man’s heart will follow the law of god whereas his body follows the law of sin. Western thinkers often mention the experience of the battle between angel and devil. Can we explain the experience in terms of the stratified structure of the human heart? It is indeed true that human mouth enjoys good taste, human eyes enjoy good appearance, human ears enjoy good sound, and human body enjoys ease and leisure. But does human beings’ physiological needs have to be devilish and sinful? From traditional Chinese philosophy, we learn that, categories like fate, Zhi, qi, righteousness, emotion, and benefit form a series that represents human heart’s pursuit of self-realization, whereas categories such as Texture, benevolence, wisdom, rite, Image, and Matter constitute a series that presents the aspect of the human heart that seeks harmony and order. Existing between the two series are the oppositions between Activity and Tranquility, yin and yang, Creativity and Docility, and the accordance with regularity and that with intentionality. Can you distinguish them?

References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993.

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Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Chen Chun 陳淳. Beixi Ziyi 北溪字義 [Meanings of Words from the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. Translated by James Legge. In Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong 論語 大學 中庸. Shanghai: Sanlian Chubanshe, 2014. Dai Zhen 戴震. Mengzi Ziyi Shuzheng 孟子字義疏證 [Mencius Hermeneutics]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 97–114. Duan Yucai 段玉裁. Shuowen Jiezi Zhu 說文解字注 (Explaining Simple Graphs and Analysing Compound Characters), postscript in 1814; reprinted in Wang Qiongshan 王瓊珊. Zhenshu Biaomei Bihua Suoyin Duan Zhu Shuowen Jiezi 真書標眉筆劃索引段注說文解字. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, 1969. Duan Yucai 段玉裁. Shuowen Jiezi Zhu 說文解字注. In Wang Qiongshan 王瓊珊. Zhenshu Biaomei Bihua Suoyin Duan Zhu Shuowen Jiezi 真書標眉筆劃索引 段注說文解字. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, 1969. Hanfeizi 韓非子. In Liang Qixiong. Hanfeizi Qianjie. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1960. Hegel, G. Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art. Translated by T. M. Knox. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. Shenme Xue 審美學 [Aesthetics]. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe, 2010. Liji 禮記 [The Book of Rite]. In Sun Xidan (Ed.). Liji Jijie. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1989. Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉 文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Lu Ji 陸機. Wen fu 文賦 [The poetic exposition on literature]. In An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. Translated and edited by Stephen Owen. New York: Norton, 1996, 336–343. Mencius 孟子. Mengzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Partially translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. Mozi 墨子. Mozi 墨子 [The Mozi]. In Mozi Xiangu 墨子閒詁 [The Mozi Collated and Annotated]. Edited by Sun Yirang 孫詒讓. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1958.

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Pan Zhicong 潘之淙. Shufa Ligou 書法離鉤 [Analysis of Calligraphy]. Beijing: Zhongguo Xiju Chubanshe, 2000. Rodin, A. Art: Conversations with Paul Gsell. Translated by Jacques de Caso and Patricia Sanders. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Sima Qian 司馬遷. Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962. Wang Anshi 王安石. Linchuan Wenji 臨川文集 [Collected Works of Wang Anshi]. Jilin: Jilin Chuban Jituan, 2005. Xu Shen 許慎. Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 [Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963. Xunzi. Xunzi 荀子 [The Xunzi]. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 116–135. Ye Shi 葉適. Xi Xue Ji Yan 習學記言 [Study Notes]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1997. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi]. Shanghai: Guangya Shuju, 1900. Zhu Xi. Lunyu Jizhu 論語集注 [Variorum of the Analects]. Beijing: Guojia Tushuguan Chubanshe, 2016. Zhu Xi. Da He Shujing 答何叔京 [Letter in reply to He Shujing]. Zhuangzi 莊子. Zhuangzi 莊子 [The Zhuangzi]. Zuozhuan 左傳 [The Commentary of Zuo]. In Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu 春秋左 傳注 [Annotations to Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring–Autumn Annals]. Edited by Yang Bojun 楊伯峻. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1981.

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Part Three

On Knowing and Doing The transition from cosmos evolution to heart-nature can be briefly ­characterized as a process in which a human being grows out of nature. Now, we come to the transition from heart-nature to the contradiction between Knowing and Doing, which is a transition characterized by human effort to model after nature. Derived from this transition is a feedback system. It should be noted that, since traditional Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of ethics, the Knowing discussed in the philosophy is mostly the human heart’s deep-level manifestation of the heavenly endowed conscience or the goodness that one intuits. It is vastly different from the kind of cognition that focuses on the external world and proceeds from sensitivity to intellectuality. Therefore, before we explicate the specific notions of Knowing and Doing in Chinese philosophy, we need to discuss the methodology in the philosophy. Knowing and Doing should be fulfilled in the cultivation of personality and social practice on the one hand, and related to the discourse regarding the realms of human life on the other. Methodological study constitutes a transition from the discourse of heart-nature to that of Knowing and Doing. The study emphasizes the way in which pre-modern thinkers lighted up the third level of the human 395

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heart. It is, in short, the gaining of knowledge. Attempts to gain k­ nowledge should be put to practice, which in itself is a process to attain a high realm in the human life. This part is aimed at a discussion on the issue of Knowing and Doing. In the philosophy of ethics, the discourse of Knowing and Doing both substantiates the discourse of heart-nature and constitutes a return to cosmos evolution. If an individual can join heaven and earth in virtue, become one with the sun and the moon in illumination, and change along with the sequence of the seasons, then the individual can approach the perfection of life and become a highly esteemed sage.

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Chapter 7

Methodology

Methodological study concerns itself with various activities of knowing the world and improving the world. It examines the modes and ways of thinking (i.e. Knowing) as well as the forms and ways in which objectives are reached (Doing). It is hence appropriate to discuss it in a section regarding Knowing and Doing. In the Hegelian philosophical system, logic, as the methodology therein, is also known as dialectics. It includes such three laws as Unity of Oppositions, Interchangeability between Quantity and Quality, and Affirmative–Negative as well as such antitheses as Phenomenon and Essence, Form and Content, Cause and Result, Contingency and Necessity, and Possibility and Reality. The Laozi is rich in dialectical notions. Due to the central place that the philosophy of ethics occupies in the Chinese philosophy, the methodology discussed in this chapter mainly refers to the method to cognitively experience the fundamental root of both the cosmos and — especially — the human heart, laying a foundation thereby for human faith and spiritual home. It, in short, refers to the path and method through which human beings return to the ­fundamental root.

7.1.  Attaining Vacuity and Maintaining Quietude The method of attaining vacuity and maintaining quietude, though ­primarily advocated in Daoism, is not limited to Daoism. The vacuity and 397

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quietude both characterize the inner world of the human heart. It is thus clear that the method is not one of outward search. But, as mere depictions of a certain state of the human heart, neither the vacuity nor the quietude ­suggests anything substantial. What is expected of attaining and main­ taining of them is a manifestation of the Way or the Great Ultimate. 7.1.1.  Laozi’s Cognitive Experience of the Way In the Laozi, the cognitive experience of the Way is characterized as the “returning to the root”, which is suggestive of an analogy of the entire cosmos — with the human society included therein — to a gigantic tree with the cosmic evolution likened to the growth of the trunk, branches, and leaves out of a fundamental root. The cognitive experience of the Way, however, takes a reversed path to return to the fundamental root while ignoring the branches and leaves. In his annotation to the Laozi, Wang Bi very aptly epitomized the point of taking this path, calling it an effort to “depress the peripheral by upholding the fundamental”. Ordinary people are mostly concerned with the peripheral, such as colors, tones, flavors, racing, hunting, and goods that are hard to get. In Laozi’s opinion, however, the indulgence in these things will subject human beings to alienation. “The five colors cause one’s eyes to be blind. The five tones cause one’s ears to be deaf. The five flavors cause one’s palate to be spoiled. Racing and hunting cause one’s mind to be mad. Goods that are hard to get injure one’s activities” (Laozi, 1963, p. 145). Due to their abandonment of the fundamental in pursuit of the peripheral, people’s knowledge has grown, their wisdom has developed, and clever devices are invented. To go with all this, human beings have established their value system, causing the emergence of such a whole series of notions as benevolence, righteousness, rite, and so forth. As a result, people are gradually moving away from their natural simplicity, away from the fundamental root of the cosmos and human life. “When the great Tao [i.e. Way] declined, the doctrine of humanity [i.e. benevolence] and righteousness arose. When knowledge and wisdom appeared, there emerged great hypocrisy” (Ibid., p. 148). Rite is particularly the “superficial ­expression of loyalty and faithfulness, and the beginning of disorder” (Ibid., p. 158). People often diligently accumulate their notions

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and skills of this kind. Such an accumulation is known as a case where “the pursuit of learning is to increase day after day” (Ibid., p. 162). Contrary to the concern summarized above, the concern of a pursuer of the Way would concentrate on the fundamental root. The pursuer seeks to decrease — instead of increasing — the pursuit of learning day after day. “It is to decrease and further decrease until one reaches the point of taking no action” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162). By taking no action, one returns to simplicity. And those who return to simplicity are people of great ­wisdom but appear to be slow-witted. “Common folks are indeed brilliant; I alone seem to be in the dark. Common folks see differences and are clear-cult; I alone make no distinctions. I seem drifting as the sea; like the wind blowing about, seemingly without destination. The multitude all have a purpose, I alone seem to be stubborn and rustic. I alone differ from others, and value drawing sustenance from Mother (Tao [i.e. the Way])” (Ibid., p. 150). The relation between the fundamental and the peripheral is likened in the Laozi to the relationship between a mother and her son. “There was a beginning of the universe which may be called the Mother of the Universe. He who has found the mother (Tao [i.e. the Way]) and thereby understands her sons (things) and having understood the sons, still keeps to its mother, will be free from danger throughout his lifetime” (Ibid., p. 164). Where the peripheral is concerned, common people are mostly very discerning. They compete to distinguish themselves and to be meritorious. But those who seek to cognitively experience the Way would remain unmoved, which may make them look “stubborn and rustic.” But what they pursue is the “beginning of the universe” and mother of all things. By staying with the Way, they “will be free from danger throughout” their life. The Way is the One. A sage embraces the One and serves as a model for the sub-celestial world. As a result of his embracing the One, the sage’s heart is extremely true, extremely pure, and extremely clean: Can you keep the spirit and embrace the One without departing from them? Can you concentrate you vital force (ch’i [i.e. Qi]) and achieve the highest degree of weakness like an infant? Can you clean and purify your profound insight so it will be spotless? (Laozi, 1963, p. 144)

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The “spirit” here connotes the soul. When human beings remain mindful of it and thereby embrace the One, their heart can be as artless and pure as that of an infant. Then what does it mean by “cleaning and purifying your profound insight?” “Profound insight” means the inspection of the profound (the phrase used in the Mawangdui silk-text version of the Laozi is “profound inspection,” which also makes sense). More specifically, it means the inspection of the Way. The phrase “cleaning and purifying” can be regarded as an alternative expression for the “decrease day after day,” where that which is to be decreased is precisely what needs to be cleaned and purified. In view of all the related discourses in the Laozi, we may classify the “cleaning and purifying” into two levels: One is sensitive desire, which refers to the indulgence in the five tones, five colors, five flavors, and wealth and goods; the other is intellectual notion, which includes both the preaching about benevolence and righteousness on the one hand and the human wit to be employed in artificiality on the other. Through the abandonment of such sensitive and intellectual contents, the heart will attain perfect vacuity and perfect tranquility. Then, like a clean and bright mirror, the human heart will comprehensively reflect everything with nothing left out, making it possible for the Way to manifest itself through its operation in the recurrent generation and extinction of all things. This can also be said to be “subtly mysterious and ­profoundly penetrating” (Laozi, 1963, p. 147). The Way resides in both the universe and the human heart. When one seeks it in the universe, there is no particular formula to follow to find it. But, as regards its manifestation of itself in the heart, the pattern of such an occurrence can be identified. Mr. Mou Tsung-san regards Laozi’s ­philosophy as “metaphysics of realm.”1 Although his argument is suspected of mixing Zhuangzi’s thought into Laozi’s philosophy, it functions to rectify such a fallacious, popular view in academia that takes Laozi’s philosophy to be objective idealism. Laozi, as a pensive lone pursuer of the Way, once gave an account of his personal experience, saying, “One may know the world without going out of doors. One may see the Way of Heaven without looking through windows. The further one goes, the less one knows” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162). Those who remain within doors do so 1 Mou

Tsung-san. Zhongguo Zhexue Shijiu Jiang, p. 95.

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in search of the Way, whereas those who go further and further out do so in search of knowledge. The latter, by exploring outwardly, become learned without knowing (the Way). The former, by exploring inwardly, become enlightened without having to be erudite. The human heart is a small cosmos. Its return to the fundamental root is accomplished by turning one’s inquiry back to the self. There is another passage in the Laozi that explicitly describes a process in which its author is enlightened to the Way of the large cosmos through his inquiry into his small cosmos: Attain complete vacuity. Maintain steadfast quietude. All things come into being. And I see thereby their return. All things flourish, but each one returns to its root. This return to its root means tranquility. It is called returning to its destiny. To return to destiny is called the eternal (Tao [i.e. the Way]). To know the eternal is called enlightenment (Laozi, 1963, p. 147).

The way to “attain complete vacuity” is to clean and empty all things hidden in the heart, which include sensitive desires and intellectual notions, so that the heart is left completely vacuous. Only by maintaining “steadfast quietude” can the One be embraced. Quietude, as the lord of agitation, can be attained in the return to the root. And it means the return to destiny. Such a return to the destiny leads to the obtainment of the eternal in life. All this, of course, suggests such a psychological process in which substance emerges from vacuity, and Activity from Tranquility. Once the heart attains complete vacuity and complete tranquility, all things present themselves in their natural forms. The loci of their recurrent changes, variegated as they may be, will eventually revert to their beginning. By observing such changes as well as the trends therein, we may identify something constant and invariable, which is the eternal. The eternal is the Way, which is also known as the One. When seeing the return, we “know the eternal.” And knowing the eternal is a state of great clarity and brightness. It must be pointed out that by “all things’ coming into being” and “all things’ flourishing,” Laozi refers to the images that occurred in the heart. They are hence not descriptions of what Laozi saw in any observation of the reality in the external world.

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Thus, Laozi’s experience of the Way is a process of converging the spirit and depressing the peripheral to uphold the fundamental. The daily decrease, cleansing, and the attainment of vacuity he advocated all depict the process of the depressing of the peripheral. And the attainments of inaction, profound insight, and knowing the eternal all describe the accomplishment he made in the upholding of the fundamental. Once we experience the Way, we should hold on to the experience without letting it go, we should be mindful of it, which is called drawing sustenance from the Mother and embracing the One. The basic logic in the process can therefore be shown as follows. Depressing Peripheral — Daily Decrease — Cleansing — Attaining Vacuity … Spiritual Convergence FU — Inaction — PI — KE … DSMED

Notes: FU = Fundamental Upholding; PI = Profound Insight; KE = Knowing the Eternal; DSMED = Drawing Substance from Mother and Embracing the One.

The text of the Laozi centers on such two basic themes as “observing the Way” and “practicing the Way”. The latter, as an extension of the former, is characterized by the endeavor to realize in human affairs the Way one is awakened to. In fact all the related discussions in the text take a distinctly deductive form. For example, “Tao [i.e. the Way] invariably takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone. If kings and barons can keep it, all things will transform spontaneously” (Laozi, 1963, p. 158). Water is similar to the Way in that it stays in tranquility and its flow is downward oriented with its “world’s utmost softness capable of pervasively penetrating world’s utmost hardness” (Laozi, Chapter 43). Hence, what is peculiar about the Laozi is that the outer kingliness it advocates does not seek selfrealization in social life. Instead, it makes a point of being convergent, staying in tranquility, and remaining weak and submissive, which all embody the Virtue of Docility 坤德 depicted in the Book of Changes. This has arguably exerted important and enduring influence in the Eastern nations’ character that makes a point of conquering the unyielding by being supple. 7.1.2.  Zhuangzi’s Method of Experiencing the Way Compared with the Laozi, the Zhuangzi presents a more specific and concrete methodological discourse. Zhuangzi was not as concerned with

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outer kingliness as was Laozi; but he was more longing for the spiritual freedom of the individual. His philosophy — in its entirety — is indeed “metaphysics of realm.” It is easy for us to see that whereas Laozi’s ­philosophy bends toward cosmology, Zhuangzi’s features an anthropological leaning. Laozi’s thought is as much a political philosophy as Zhuang’s is a philosophy of survival. Laozi formulated his thought from the viewpoint of the upper stratum of the society, whereas Zhuangzi voiced his from that of the lower stratum. With regard to the ways in which one should conduct oneself in the society, Laozi emphasized the use of tactics but Zhuangzi argues for spontaneity. Despite the differences, however, their ways of experiencing the Way are strikingly similar. Both follow the path of attaining vacuity and maintaining quietude. Among the methods that are repeatedly discussed in the Zhuangzi, the most thoughtprovoking are xinzhai 心齋 (the fasting of heart) and zuowang 坐忘 (“Sitting down and Forgetting Everything”). In Chapter 4 of the Zhuangzi, Confucius — presented therein more as an allegorical character than as a historical figure — gave his disciple the following instruction: “Concentrate your heart. Instead of ­listening with your ears, listen with your heart. [Or, better still,] instead of listening with your heart, listen with your Qi. [The function of] ears is limited to listening,2 and [that of the] heart is limited to sensing [various phenomena]. [As for] Qi, it meets things with vacuity. That which is replete with vacuity is none other than the Way. [And that which characterizes] the fasting of heart is vacuity.” Then, what is “the fasting of heart”? It is, in brief, the manifestation of the Way resulting from the vacuity and tranquility that the heart attains. Wang Fuzhi rightly observed that “the key to the Fasting of the Heart is nothing but vacuity. By Qi, [Zhuangzi] referred to the harmonious Qi in the bright sky. … The heart contains Qi to foster life, [and,] without interacting with the world, it always retains its natural brightness, extreme vacuity, and absolute unity. As regards that which fills the heart with senses of value distinctions to be applied in people’s contention for fame, it is knowledge. And the pathway through which knowledge emerges is audiovisual senses” (Wang Fuzhi, 1964, Vol. 4). We may further elucidate the 2 Based

on Yu Yue’s 俞樾 (1821–1907 AD) editorial correction.

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point by pointing out that “ears” here represent all senses, which ­connect to people’s insatiable desires and provide pathways for the influx of external stimuli that often disturb the peace of the human heart. The “heart” that knows how to make distinctions — as a matter of course — enables people to gain knowledge about things. Yet, confined within a limited domain, it is often at service to the desires to satisfy the need of the senses, and committed to both the pursuit of material gains and the schemes that are oriented to self-interests. Therefore, only by transcending the domain of sensitivity represented by the “ear” as well as that of intellectuality represented by the “heart” can the humankind attain an infinite and carefree realm in which individual human beings are in harmony with the universe. Such is a case of “roam[ing] in the universe of one and original creative force (ch’i [i.e. Qi]” (Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 198), listening to Qi, and experiencing the Way. It is a spiritual activity. Its development is illustrated as follows. 1. Ears —— Listening —— Affectivity … Must be transcended (Guo Xiang: Leaving the Senses) 2. Heart —— Sensing —— Intellectuality … Must be transcended (Guo Xiang: Abandonmet of the mind) 3. Qi —— Vacuity —— Abode of the Way; Roaming in the universe of one and original Qi

Eyes and ears are both organs with which human beings socialize. Then why did Zhuangzi emphasize audio over the visual sense? Presumably it was because the audio sense, as a temporal, fluid, and introversive experience, was closer to the reality of life. As for the visual sense, which is spatially oriented, it plays a more important role in the cognition of external things. Generally speaking, thinkers who pay close attention to the spiritual experience place more emphasis on time than on space. Examples are, inter alios, Bergson and Heidegger. A similar point can also be found in other chapters of the Zhuangzi. Chapter 19 mentions a carpenter named Qing who was extremely skillful in carving wooden bells. The marquis of the state of Lu asked Qing how he could accomplish this. “Before I start,” replied Qing, “I, rather than dare to waste my Qi, fast to tranquilize my heart. [And I do so] for three

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days without daring to think of the prospect of any congratulations and rewards, for five days without daring to think of [any possible] criticism or praise [of my work], and for seven days when I begin to forget that I have four limbs. … Then I go to the forest in the mountains to examine the Heavenly-endowed nature of trees. Whenever a tree [whose shape] bears close similarity to that of a bell [meets my eye], I [feel as if I] saw a perfect bell. Then I lay my hand on it. As I do so, I never fail to meet the heavenly-endowed nature [of the wood] with [my own Heavenly-endowed nature].” Hence, as a great master of carpentry in the state of Lu, Qing approached the Way with his marvelous skills in manufacturing bells. And the secrete lay mainly in his “forgetting.” The forgetting of possible positive or negative comments on his work is no doubt more introverted than that of the prospect of congratulations and rewards. But the forgetting of his body and limbs went even deeper. So long as one can forget one’s own body and limbs, there will be nothing artificial that can stand in the way in one meeting the heavenly-endowed nature of any external object with one’s own heavenly-endowed nature. “Forgetting everything while sitting down” 坐忘, as a psychological process, is in fact identical with the “Fasting of the Heart.” A story is made up in Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi, in which Yan Hui 顔回 repeatedly reported to his mentor Confucius what he had learned in his self-cultivation. In the first phase, he “forgot benevolence and righteousness,” in the second, he “forget propriety [i.e. rite] and music,” and in the third, he was finally able to “forget everything while sitting down.” As regards what “forgetting everything while sitting down” was, Yan Hui, at Confucius’s request, explained, “I cast aside my limbs, … discard my intelligence, detach from my body and mind, and become one with Great Universal (Tao [i.e. the Way]). This is called forgetting everything while sitting down” (Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 201). Hearing the explanation, Confucius sighed with emotion and said, “When you become one with the Great Universal you will have no partiality, and when you are part of the process of transformation, you will have no constancy (rigidity). You are really a worthy man.” (Ibid.) This passage, which is seemingly without reason, actually follows a rigorous logic. Under close analysis, the logic is found to be capable of casting light on the mode of thinking particular to Zhuangzi and the school of thinking he represents. In order to make it

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clear, we present the following illustration (where the order of “forgetting” of rite and music and that of “benevolence and righteousness” has been rearranged). 1. Forgetting rite & music

Casing aside the limbs

Detaching from body (transcending emotion)

no partiality

2. Forgetting benevolence & righteousness

discarding intelligence

Detaching from mind (transcending intellectuality)

no constancy

3. Becoming one with the Great Universal (the Way, the transformation)

Due to his persistent pursuit of the realm of spiritual freedom, Zhuangzi had to make a point of “detaching from the body,” abandoning desires, and keeping emotional feelings away from the heart (no partiality). Moreover, he had to “detach from the mind” to block such pathways for intellectuality as audio-visual senses, and to remove such impediments as Confucian benevolence and righteousness (no constancy). Such double detachment enables the human heart to both make life and death extrinsic and transcend value distinction. As a result, human beings become a part of the process of transformation, in which the Great Universal Way is manifested. Then why does the forgetting of benevolence and righte­ ousness precede that of benevolence and music? It is because in Zhuangzi’s judgment, benevolence and righteousness are externally instilled notions whereas rite and music constitute internalized habits in human life. Therefore, the former is more easily forgettable than the ­latter. What is more, we can hardly exclude the possibility that the story that Zhuangzi told was based upon his own experience, because this ­process of introversion matched the structure of the human brain.3 In Chapter 6 of the Zhuangzi, there is another allegory. It makes the same point. In the story, there was a character named Nüyu 女偊 who, though very advanced in age, looked “like a child.” This amazed Nabo Zikui 南伯子葵 so much that he asked Nüyu for the secrete behind her young look. Nüyu ascribed it to her “hearing of the Way.” Nabo Zikui, 3 The

notions of benevolence and righteousness are formed at the neocortex, the habit of rite and music is related to limbic brain, and the merging into the Great Universal Way reaches the most original part of the human brain.

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thereupon, asked how one could hear the Way. He who had “the ability of the sage,” said Nüyu, might not necessarily have the Way of the sage. As for a person who had the ability, she continued, it was relatively easy to teach him the Way of the sage. By acting in accordance with the Way for three days, such a person would be “able to transcend this world.” After the world was transcended, the person, by continuing to act this way, would be “able to transcend all material things.” After all material things were transcended, the person, by continuing to act this way, would be “able to transcend all life.” “Having transcended all life, he became as clear and bright as the morning. Having become as clear and bright as the morning, he was able to see the One” (cf. Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 195). People normally regard the world as their abode and all material things as what they need in life. As regards the process that starts from transcending one’s abode, by way of transcending what one needs, and ends in transcending all life; it is an introversive process that, step by step, works its way from the external to the internal until one is suddenly enlightened as if the night — to such a person — had become dawn (i.e. “becoming as clear and bright as the morning”). At this moment, what one is enlightened to is none other than the peerless and unique Way (i.e. “seeing the One”). And it is a moment when an individual, by transcending time and space, becomes one with the cosmos. To such an individual, even an instant would be eternal. One has reason to regard the passage as a key to understanding the entire Zhuangzi. Since similar logic can be found in many other chapters of the book, we might as well call it a mode of inquiry characteristic of Zhuangzi and the school of thought represented by him. This mode is of key importance in the philosophy of the heart in pre-modern China. But only in the Zhuangzi is it most centralized, explicit, and distinctive. To save space, the following table is provided to further illustrate this point.4

4 What

the table presents is a brief list that can hardly be exhaustive. The “transcending” denotes belittling or abandonment. The “reaching” at the bottom of the last column indicates the ultimate destiny a process leads to. The “being sharp of hearing” 聰 and the “being clear-sighted” 明 in Chapter 8 are related, respectively, to sound and color. The “being perceptive” 聰明 (literally “being both sharp of hearing and clear sighted”) is related to knowing. Therefore, the listed items in this table follow a different order from those in the previous table.

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Chapter 8 駢拇

Chapter 9 馬蹄

Chapter 17 秋水

Chapter 22 知北遊

Comments on the process

To be like No engagement To be To share the Massive things To be like dry Transcending dry wood in forced action excessively freedom from 物之粗 wood in form the individual in form 無為事任 perceptive desire 形若槁骸 形如槁木 駢於聰明 同乎無欲

Intellectuality To be like Domain dead 知性領域 ashes in the heart 心如死灰 Zhixing Domain 志性領域

Chapter 7 應帝王

To lose oneself 吾丧我

No reliance on the mind 無為知主

To be To share the excessively freedom from eloquent intellectuality 駢於言辯 同乎無知

Cognitively experiencing the Infinite (i.e. the Way) 體盡無窮

True nature of life 性命之情

Truthful and artless virtue 其德素樸

Fine things 物之精

To be like dead ashes in the heart 心若死灰

Transcending the special

[Dimensional] Attested irrelevance to enlightenment massiveness to truth and fineness (i.e. the Way) 不期精粗 真其實知

Reaching the general

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Sensitivity Domain 感性領域

Chapter 2 齊物論

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Levels in the heart 心靈層面

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The three rows in table above reveal the line of argumentation developed in the Zhuangzi, which provides a glimpse of the consistent method and path that Zhuangzi followed in his cognitive experiencing of the Way. Moreover, it also provides an adequate explanation of what Zhuangzi called the soaring of the heart at the origin of all things and the attainment of absolute beauty and pleasure. 7.1.3.  Confucians in Sympathy with Laozi and Zhuangzi in Thought Among Confucian thinkers after the time of Laozi and Zhuangzi, there were many who inherited and further developed the Lao–Zhuang method of cognitively experiencing the Way. Of course we can hardly exclude the possibility that their pursuit, in some cases, coincided with that of Lao– Zhuang. In the following, we will briefly discuss a selection of such important cases. Xunzi’s method was to “empty and tranquilize the integral [heart]” 虛一而靜. In Chapter 21 of the Xunzi, he wrote, “With what do human beings know the Way? The answer is: with heart. [But] how does the heart know the Way? The answer is: through its emptiness and tranquilization when it is an integral whole. There is no heart that does not store up [anything]. But there are cases where it can be called empty. There is no heart that is never filled [with various things]. But there are cases where it can be called an integral whole. There is no heart that does not move. But there are cases where it can be called tranquil. Human beings are born with the [capability of] knowledge. Where there is knowledge, there is memory. Memory is that which stores up [things]. But there are cases where it can be called empty, by which [I] mean its not letting what has been stored up [in it] obstruct the inlet of what more [it] is going to take in. The heart is born with knowledge. Where there is knowledge, there is a [sense of] distinction, by which [I] mean the simultaneous knowing of multiple [things]. Simultaneous knowing of multiple [things] bespeaks a diversification [of knowledge]. But there are cases where it can be called an integral one, by which [I] mean its not letting one single [piece of knowledge] obstruct another. Since hearts have dreams when [people] lie down, wander when unfocused, and think when used, there are no hearts that do not move. Yet there are cases where they can be

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called tranquil, by which [I] mean its not letting dreams and whims ­disturb what it knows. The pursuit of the Way [in which one engages oneself] before [the Way] is attained is [a process of] emptying and tranquilizing the integral [heart]. … The emptiness and tranquility of an integral heart is known as Great Clarity and Brightness, [a state in which] there are no forms of anything that one is unable to discern, no forms of anything that one discerns without being able to classify, and no forms of anything that one classifies without finding the right category for each. [It is also a state in which one is able to] see the four seas while sitting in [one’s own] room and discuss [things in] remote times when living in the contemporary [world]. [It is, again, a state in which one] understands the reality of all things through one’s overall inspection of them and knows the trends in, as well as the limitations to, all the social events that one examines. [And it is, moreover, a state in which one can] manage all things between heaven and earth, maintain order in the world, and bring harmony to the universe.” What is conveyed in this passage corresponds to the ideas of “attaining complete vacuity, maintaining steadfast quietude” (Laozi, 1963, p. 147), and “knowing the world without going out of doors” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162) in the Laozi. And what Xunzi suggests is to temporarily put aside the knowledge stored in the heart so as to prevent it from obstructing and disturbing what more the heart is going to learn. Such is the emptiness and tranquility of the integral heart, which is supposed to result in the Great Clarity and Brightness, namely, a state in which one’s spirit transcends the specific time and region where one finds oneself and, in so doing, ensures the conformity of one’s cognition and practice with the reality of all things.5 Shao Yong’s method is known as “observing things from the perspective of things” 以物觀物. In his Inner Chapter of Observing Things 觀物 內篇, he wrote, “By the observation of things, [I] refer more to the observation with heart than to the observation with eyes, and more to the observation with the Principle than to the observation with heart.” This statement in fact strikes like a duplicated version of Zhuangzi’s theory of 5 Xunzi’s

heavy empiricist leaning prevented him from coming up with any conceptualization of vacuity and tranquility that is nearly as profound and thorough as that of Laozi.

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the “fasting of heart.” The only difference is that Zhuangzi refers to the process as listening with ears, meaning the cognitive experience of the Way practiced by listening to the Qi, whereas Shao Yong calls it observation with eyes, with which he emphasizes the direct observation “with the Principle”. As he further observes, “[t]he reason why sages are able to [accomplish a view of] uniformity on the reality of all things lies in their capability of reversed observation. And the reason why their observation is considered reversed is because the observer does not observe things from his own perspective. Rather, he observes things from the perspective of things [observed]. Since he can observe things from the perspective of things, how can there possibly be his ‘self’ in the process?” What Shao Yong advocates is thus the exclusion of the “self” in the observation, which is known as “the loss of oneself” in Zhuangzi’s framework. Both thinkers aim to get down to the reality of all things. We learn from Volume 1 of the Xiangshan Yulu that Liu Jiuyuan’s is a method of “peeling-off” 剝落法. “Existing in the cosmos,” he once said to his disciples, “how can the Way possibly have any problems? It is human beings who have problems. What the sages and worthies of all ages have concentrated on is the removal of such problems among human beings. What difference can such an effort make to the pursuit of the Way? … In learning, so long as we know the fundamental root, what ancient classics add up to will all be annotations of our own thought.” Because this passage comes from a selected number of speeches taken completely out of context, we are unable to determine whether the passage has anything to do with the “daily decrease of the Way” discussed in Chapter 48 of the Laozi. But its influence from Daoism is obvious. Also in Volume 1 of the Xiangshan Yulu, Lu Jiuyuan announces that “What scholars seek today is to increase learners’ knowledge. What I seek is to decrease it. That is how we differ.” From this passage, we can see clearly that, in his opinion, he differed from Zhu Xi and Zhu Xi’s followers in that whereas they sought to increase disciples’ knowledge day by day, he sought to decrease it day by day. This method is called “the alleviation of burden” or “peeling off.” “As regards the problems human beings have in their heart, they must be peeled off. Each layer of peeled-off problems will increase clarity and brightness to some extent. The peeling continuously restores clarity and

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brightness as it clears up more and more problems that come up. And the process should go on until all problems are peeled off” (Lu Jiuyuan, 1980, Vol. 4). By peeling, he means the same thing as decrease, which is opposed to increase. Such is one of the simple methods Lu Jiuyuan took pride on. Wang Shouren, as another maser of the philosophy of the heart, proposes a method of daily decrease 日減法. “What our cultivation seeks,” he says in Volume 1 of the Chuan Xi Lu, “is daily decrease instead of daily increase. A decreased bit of human desire means an increased bit of restored Heavenly Principle. What an easy and straightforward method this is!” To him, burdens and troubles in human life come from human beings’ ungratified desires. A daily decrease of such desires would lead to the liberation of the human heart. This is also considered to be a basic method to activate the conscience. Some take the word “activate” to mean the ultimate approach. The word can actually be interpreted as showing. Once the cover in the form of worldly desires is removed, conscience will show all by itself. He hence observe in Volume 2 of the Chuan Xi Lu that “conscience is the uncultivated essence [in the heart] and the immensely broad, impartial, and tranquil noumenon shared by all human beings. But it is inevitably eclipsed by worldly desires. Learning, therefore, must be pursued to remove this cover. But the removal will neither increase nor decrease anything as far as the noumenon of conscience is concerned.” As we discussed before, that which clouds up the depth of the human heart is not worldly desire alone. Like Lu Jiuyuan, Wang Shouren is on a right track in his methodology but not specific enough in his analysis. The method of daily decrease can be logically valid. Just as Wang Fuzhi (2009, p. 2) once pointed out, by consulting a person about his father and grandfather, one is able to avoid confusions about the person’s lineage. If the Way is an ancestral mother, then all things and beings in the universe are her descendants, who have been multiplying day by day. The attempt to identify their lineage is a process that works its way backward from the most recent generation successively to the remotest until we finally attain the cognitive experience of the Way. It is also a process in which we keep sublating all individualities and particularities until we reach the universality in all things and beings. In theory, it is hence a progressive process in which we trace the source by following the flow

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and return to the simple and brief through the complex and multifarious. But in practice, there are often cases of instant return to the fundamental through the depressing of the peripheral. The method, mysterious as it may sound, has been attested by many pre-modern thinkers. It is a method that features a fast return to the root of life, a process in which the truth in cosmic evolution may manifest itself in the fundamental essence of life.

7.2.  Attaining Sincerity by Turning around to the Self To attain sincerity by turning the attention back to oneself is a method advocated by the Zisi–Mencius School of Thought. The method also takes care of all the three levels of the heart, requiring the minimization of desires 寡欲 and taking into consideration wise men’s forced reasoning.6 By turning around to examine oneself, one is able to accomplish the activation of one’s conscience and potentials. Such successful activation enables the Subject to take well justified actions to promote social reforms. Granted that this line of thinking, to a certain extent, corresponds to the method of attaining complete vacuity and maintaining steadfast quietude in Lao–Zhuang Daoism, but its strong tendency of seeking self-realization distinguishes itself as a philosophical theory in its own right, not to mention that there has been no evidence of any mutual influence between the two philosophical heritages in this regard. From a genetic perspective, we can certainly consider the two as philosophies from separate sources. But, in Mencius’s thought, there lacks as distinct a notion of three psychic levels as there is in Zhuangzi’s. Mencius does not talk much about wise men’s forced reasoning. But the theory of seeking the lost mind 求放心, which we will discuss later, is distinctly a thought of his own. Throughout the Mencius, the minimization of desire and the seeking for the lost mind are argued from a passive perspective, whereas reaching the depths of soul 盡心 and the enlightenment that results from sincerity 誠明 are advocated from a positive viewpoint.

6 “What

I dislike in your wise men is their forced reasoning” (Mencius, 1963, p. 76).

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7.2.1.  The Minimization of Desire The desire under discussion is the desire to satisfy one’s needs of the senses. It connects both human cognition and human practice. Insofar as human cognition is concerned, its positive aspect can be observed in the impetus it provides for humans’ investigation of various things. The impetus is — without doubt — closely related to the justification and developments of science and technology. But, due to both their primary preoccupation with the fundamental principle of the entire universe and such a primary concern with human beings’ legislation for themselves that is very similar to the concerns in religious culture, pre-modern thinkers often overlooked the positive aspects of human desires. What they generally took heed of was the negative role desires played in disturbing the heart. All this explains the prevalence of their discourses about the freedom from, and the elimination of, human desires. Logical consistence can be observed in the Laozi between the argument for attaining vacuity and maintaining quietude on the one hand and the advocation of freedom from desires on the other. “Do not display objects of desire, so that the people’s hearts shall not be disturbed. … He [i.e. the sage] always causes his people to be without knowledge (cunning) or desire, and the crafty to be afraid to act” (Laozi, 1963, p. 141). What Zhuangzi pursued was the free roaming of the heart. He argued for the importance of keeping desires in check because the indulgence in desires, he thought, would not only obscure the light from the depths of the human heart but also restrict the free roaming of the heart. “The pure man draws breaths from the great depths of his heels, the multitude only from their throats. … [T]hose who indulge in many desires have very little of the secret of Nature” (Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 191). In his opinion, “the artless and unadorned [nature] lies in [human beings’] shared freedom from desires” (Laozi, 1963, p. 143). In Song (960–1279 AD) and Ming (1368–1644 AD) dynasties, some philosophers argued for retaining the Heavenly Texture along with the elimination of human desires. From a cognitive point of view, one may find the argument rooted in their conviction that the more desires human beings eliminated, the better Heavenly Texture would manifest itself. From the perspective of the relationship between human feelings and human nature,

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Shao Yong, in the Outer Chapter of his Observing Things 觀物外篇 at a similar view: “That which [aspires to] the accordance [of everything] with the Subject is human feeling. It obstructs [the mind], causing the confusion [ humans suffer from]. That which [seeks to] suit [the Subject] to the Object is human nature, which is miraculous, hence the brightness [of human heart]. … Human nature, being impartial, is brilliant, [whereas] human feeling, being partial, is obscure.” The feeling in this passage in fact means human lust. Mencius’s view regarding the “minimization of desires” is relatively more practical and applicable. Advocating what ordinary people should and can do in their daily life, this view is an inevitable extension of the entire system of Mencius’s thought. In Mencius, 7B:35, he wrote: In the cultivation of the heart, nothing is better than the minimization of desires. For a person whose desires are few, even if he lost [some of his good nature, he] could not [possibly lose] much [of it]. [But,] for a person whose desires are plenty, even if he retained [his good nature, he] would not [be able to retain] much [of it].

Mencius held that human beings were born with the heart of “commiseration,” the heart of “shame and dislike,” the heart of “respect and reverence,” and the heart with the senses of “right and wrong” as the beginnings of, respectively, benevolence, righteousness, propriety [i.e. rite], and wisdom (cf. Mencius, 1963, p. 54). Therefore, he conceptualized benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom as human beings’ heavenlyendowed virtues rather than (such mental and behavioral) patterns that were molded by any external force. What these constituted, in his opinion, was human beings’ original heart, aka original soul or inherent heart. His notion of the cultivation of the heart can hence be understood as an effort to retain this inherent heart, and then develop and substantiate it so much that it ultimately shines. If a substantiated heart is beautiful, a substantiated and shining heart is great, then a great and transformed heart is the heart of a sage. This successive progress displays a broad and straight avenue to sageliness. What opposed it was a reversed process, where a person, due to the multitude of his desires, gets caught by external temptations to the detriment or even the loss of his inherent heart. From a

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reversed viewpoint, therefore, we can also say that in the cultivation of the heart, nothing is better than the minimization of desires. The cultivation of the heart is related primarily to inner sageliness, but it is also associated with outer kingliness. The minimization of desire that Mencius advocated was seemingly directed to each individual, but it was in fact targeted at scholars and political leaders. In his view, although men of education might not have a regular livelihood, they were nonetheless invariable in their heart (see Mencius, 1A:7). Therefore, the issues of cultivating the heart and reaching deep into it were relevant to them anytime. As for political rulers, their kitchens were filled with delicious food and their stables with well-fed horses. The cattle they kept fed on the kind of food that human beings needed in life, which was literally a case of leading beasts to devour men (see Mencius, 1A:4). But under their rule, there were people who died of famine in the wild. In other words, while meat and wine lay wasted behind the gates of luxurious mansions, on the road there were bodies of people who had died of famine. There was hence an urgent need to minimize the desires of the rich. To the masses that lived in poverty, the said minimization was almost irrelevant. Since they had hardly enough to eat and wear, hardly enough means to satisfy their proper needs in life, how could they have a whole lot of extra needs to be subjected to the minimization? The discourse regarding the minimization of desire recognizes the legitimacy of human beings’ basic needs in life. It requires that human beings keep in check their pursuit of the satisfaction of such needs. On the one hand, those who let such pursuit go beyond proper limits will lose their inherent heart. On the other hand, those whose pursuit stops short of approaching the limits will have problems in meeting their own basic needs in life. They, too, may lose their inherent heart unless they are the kind of people who normally make a point of self-cultivation. Mencius noted that the masses living in poverty were stable neither in livelihood nor in the heart. “He who is unstable in heart will live immorally and there will be nothing they would refrain from doing” (Mencius, 1A:7). A stable heart is also a constant heart. In the sense of what things should be, a constant heart is the inherent heart embodied in reality. But, for a person who lacks basic livelihood and hence has trouble making ends meet, how can we expect of him any lofty and virtuous deeds? This view, chiming

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with the idea “well supplied, well behaved; well fed, well bred” in Chapter 1 of the Guanzi, indicates that Mencius, instead of engaging ­himself in empty talks about virtue cultivation, paid due attention to ­material ­conditions of life. It is worth mentioning that Zhou Dunyi once criticized Mencius’s idea of “minimizing desire” for being not thorough. During his official service in Hezhou 合州, one of his disciples built a pavilion at the foot of a mountain. Zhou Dunyi, taking delight in the sight of the pavilion, wrote the words “Heart-Cultivation” on it and went on to write his article “Inscription on the Pavilion of Heart-Cultivation” 養心亭說, where there is the following passage: “Mencius said that in heart cultivation, nothing was better than the minimization of desire. … I would say that the cultivation should not stop at [a stage where desire] is minimized with some remainder [of it] retained If [we keep] minimizing [our desire] till there is none, then sincerity will be established and brightness will penetrate. Those whose sincerity is established are worthies, and those whose brightness penetrates are sages. Therefore, they were not born to be worthies and sages but grew into [worthiness and sageliness] through the cultivation of the heart.” This view both draws on Mencius’s thought and modifies it with Daoist ideas. And it is consistent with what he observed in his Penetrating the Book of Changes, where he wrote, “Can sageliness be learned? The answer is yes. Is there a key to it? The answer is yes. Then what is it? I would say it is oneness. Oneness has no room for desires. The absence of desire leads to tranquility, vacuity, and uprightness in action. Tranquility and vacuity leads to brightness, which in turn leads to penetration. The uprightness in action leads to impartiality, which in turn leads to universality. With brightness penetrating and impartiality being universal, how close would that be to perfection!” Thus, in his ­judgment, the key to sageliness lies in an integral heart without any disturbance therein, by which he referred to the absence of desires. Such oneness of the heart will enable people to be perceptive of all things when they are tranquil and to benefit all between the heaven and earth whenever they take action. From the sole perspective of human beings’ spiritual reversion to the fundamental root, the idea regarding the absence of desire is indeed more thorough than that regarding its minimization. A philosopher who is

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absorbed in meditation should — and can — do without desires. However, for people who live in reality, the minimization of desire would sound more reasonable, because there is hardly anyone in real life that can be free of desires. Even Laozi and Zhou Dunyi themselves were no exceptions. And, particularly, when it comes to enhancing ordinary people’s realm of morality, it would be comparatively feasible to advocate the minimization of such desires that are oriented to self-interest. 7.2.2.  Seeking the Lost Mind Mencius argued for seeking the lost mind. The argument was consistent with the idea of minimizing desires. As we discussed earlier, having too many desires would result in the loss of human beings’ inherent heart. For this reason, an important issue in moral cultivation is how to restore the inherent heart. A rather focused discussion is present in Chapter 6A of the Mencius about the search for the lost mind. In the following, we will address this topic on the primary basis of this chapter in the Mencius. Strictly speaking, the word “lost” is not very accurate. “Drifted” could be a more appropriate word to use because, to Mencius, the inherent heart is conscience, which is a heart of benevolence and righteousness, a heart that human beings are born with. Even though it has suffered postnatal harm and drifted away, it exists nevertheless. Thus, the important thing is to get it back and have it manifest itself. That is what Mencius meant by the word “seek.” But, much to his regret, “when people’s dogs and fowls are lost,” they know they must “go to look for them.” But when their conscience is lost, they feel no urgent need to look for it. They are unaware that “[t]he way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind [i.e. heart]” (cf. Mencius, 1963, p. 58). In Mencius’s opinion, therefore, the learning in the domain of ethics should be pursued through human beings’ effort to develop and expand their innate incipient senses of morality rather than through any outward exploration. There is no gainsaying that one may encounter numerous cases in real life where people do things against their conscience, which poses a severe challenge to the thesis regarding good human nature. Then how do we explain this universal phenomenon? In response to this question, Mencius argued through an example of the trees in the Ox Mountain. The trees

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“were once beautiful.” But, “being in the borders of a big state,” they can hardly avoid being “hewed down with axes and hatches.” Then how can they retain their original beauty? “Still with … the nourishment provided them by the rains and the dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing forth. But then the cattle and the sheep pastured upon them once and again,” hence their bald look. “Is there not … a heart of humanity [i.e. benevolence] and righteousness originally existing in man? The way in which he loses his originally good mind is like the way in which the trees are hewed down with axes and hatches” (Mencius, 1963, p. 56). Since the trees are subject to such cutting day by day, how can they maintain their beauty? How do we know human nature is beautiful? All we have to do is turn our attention to what human beings have considered to be more valuable even than their lives. There are, for instance, human beings who would even give up their lives for righteousness when they are unable to have both. Among those who can make this choice, there are not only worthies, but common people as well. In this regard, worthies distinguish themselves only in their ability to keep such integrity from getting lost. In an scenario where there is some food which can save a person from starvation, if someone gave the food in a rude manner, say, in a manner in which he would give it to a pig, then even an ordinary passer-by would not accept it. If he further humiliated the person by stamping the food with his feet, then even a beggar might refuse to accept it (Mencius, 1963, pp. 57–58). This scenario shows that everybody is in fact equipped with the heart of rite and righteousness as well as a sense of shame and honor. Now the question is, how did the inherent heart get lost? As regards this question, although Mencius did not conduct much analysis, he offered some nonetheless inspiring points. Particularly, he used some examples to explain how worldly temptations have caused people to lose their senses of rite and righteousness. Originally, there are bottom lines of morality and justice kept in people’s heart. But, at the temptation of a huge amount of wealth, there are people who will begin to lose touch with their inherent heart and, with no regard to their moral bottom lines, take the wealth for the sake of “beautiful mansions, the service of a wife and concubines, and chance gratitude of my [i.e. their] needy acquaintances who receive my [i.e. their] help” (Mencius, 1963, p. 58). To look at the matter at a higher

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level, we may say that because sense organs are incapable of rational judgments, their perceptions are often confused by external stimuli. Eyes, for example, are after good looks and mouth is after good tastes. They would be attracted to their corresponding worldly temptations. Such is a case where man is subjected to the servitude to external things. Much as this can explain why “he who seeks to be rich will not be humane” (Mencius, 1963, p. 67), the example is regrettably inadequate to explain why there was no righteous warfare in the Spring–Autumn period (770–476 BC). Following Mencius’s line of thinking, we should add that notional confusion and temptation are also factors behind the loss of the inherent heart. Just take a look at all the wars in the Spring–Autumn period. Was there a single one that was not launched under some well thought-out and highsounding pretexts? It was precisely these high-sounding pretexts that misled thousands of people and, as a result, caused people to go to the stake for them. A more comprehensive revelation on this issue would be made possible by extending to this point Mencius’s view about the forced reasoning of wisdom. Then how do we find the lost inherent heart? There are two points that Mencius spoke that are worthy of our particular attention. The first is the preservation of night influence 存夜氣, which should be related to the nourishment of the strong and moving Qi 養浩然之氣, though Mencius is not explicit about the connection. All we can say for certain is that the preservation of night influence would be of help to the restoration of the original state our heart was in, and it is not without similarity to the idea of attaining the Way through listening to Qi advocated in Chapter 4 of the Zhuangzi.7 Usually, people who are busy dealing with various things during the day would be largely out of touch with the external world at night, when it is convenient for them to restore their inherent heart — which is their real self — in peace of mind. “When the influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve it, man becomes not much different from the beast” (Mencius, 1963, p. 56). The second is the maximization of the function of the heart. Unlike eyes and ears, “the function of the mind [i.e. heart] is to think. If we think, we will get them (the principles of things). If we do not think, we will not get them” 7 Translator’s

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note: See also Section 7.1.2.

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(Mencius, 1963, p. 59). Whereas the functions of ears and eyes embody worldly desires, the function of the heart is oriented to the principle and righteousness. “Therefore moral principles please our minds [i.e. heart] as beef and mutton and pork please out mouths” (Mencius, 1963, p. 56). In Mencius’s view, only when the dominance of the heart is established can human beings overcome the confusion and self-abandonment caused by their desires to satisfy the needs of the senses. Yang Shi 楊時 (1044–1130 AD) has rightly pointed out that what features centrally in the Mencius is the theme of “setting people’s heart right” 正人心 (Mencius, 3A:9). The theme can be metaphorically characterized as an attempt to call the angel back to people’s heart. Its primary concern is directed to the moral consciousness in an individual human beings’ heart, where their innate incipient senses of morality can be activated and further developed. If Mozi’s school of thought sought to establish the authority of an external “Will of Heaven” 天志 to legislate for human beings, then what Mencius did was to confirm to everyone that the legislator resided right in their own hearts and existed in the form of the free will in the depths of their hearts. Therefore, Mencius was the utmost “upholder of Zhi.” It takes a broad mind and tenacious perseverance to uphold Zhi, evaluate social reality, and reform the society, all of which requires “strong and moving Qi.” The upholding of Zhi and the nourishing of the strong and moving Qi are the most important contributions that Mencius made to the Confucian theory of inner sageliness. The upholding of Zhi implicates taking abode in benevolence and following righteousness in one’s conduct 居仁由义, where benevolence is the abode of human beings and righteousness is humankind’s straight path. Constituted in the combination of the upholding of Zhi and the nourishing of Qi is the character of a great man or real man who “cannot be dissipated by the power of wealth and honors”, nor “influenced by ­poverty or ­humble ­stations,” nor “subdued by force and might” (Mencius, 1963, p. 72). The upholding of Zhi and the nourishing of Qi are, in final analysis, the cultivation of the heart, which is the most important step in the cultivation of the body: “Now, some parts of the body are noble and some are ignoble; some great and some small. We must not allow the ignoble to injure the noble, or the smaller to injure the greater. Those who nourish

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the smaller parts will become small men. Those who nourish the greater parts will become great men” (Mencius, 1963, pp. 58–59). He meant by small parts the need of the senses; and by the great parts he referred to the heart of benevolence and righteousness. Mencius considered both the small and the great parts of the human body as heavenly-endowed. Whereas the former can be called “destiny,” the latter is “(human) nature.” The key issue here lies in the question as regards which of the two parts an individual considers more important. Those who succumb to the control of their “small bodies” are small men. And those who nourish their “great bodies” in spirit and further develop such bodies in practice are great men in the real sense of the term. If, in moral cultivation, the task of an ordinary person is to seek his or her lost conscience, then we can further observe that the key to the search for one’s lost conscience is epitomized in Mencius’s statement that “ if we first build up the nobler part of our nature, then the inferior part cannot overcome it” (Mencius, 1963, p. 59). Illustrated below is the logic that Mencius followed in the presentation of the series of notions in his discourse on the search for the lost mind. Desire of the senses

Not thinking and confused by external things

Loss of the original heart

The heart of principle Thinking and attaining principle and justice and righteousness

small body Return to the original heart

small men

great body great men

the inferior part cannot over come it First building up the noble part

We might as well explain it by resorting to a story in Chapters 59–61 of Journey to the West 西遊記.8 Worldly temptations can be ­likened to the palm-leaf fan in the hands of the Princess of Iron Fan. Among those who follow the dictation of their small bodies in life, no one can withstand the fanning of this magic fan, which can easily fan them far away. As for those who nourish their great bodies, they can be compared to someone who has swallowed the Pearl of Wind Resistance. No matter how hard they are fanned, they will not move an inch. For this reason, people should treasure the “unperturbed heart” 不動心 (Mencius, 1963, p. 62). 8 Translator’s

note: Xiyou Ji 西遊記 [Journey to the West] is a Chinese mythological novel ascribed to Wu Cheng’en 吳承恩 (1500–1582 AD).

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Pre-Qin thinkers generally shared the concern about the loss of humankind’s inherent heart or original nature. “The man of virtue,” Confucius once said, “is oriented upward; the man inferior in virtue ­downward” (Confucius, 14:23).9 Those who are oriented upward understand the Heavenly Texture and righteousness, whereas those ­oriented downward yield to worldly desires and seek nothing but benefit. Pre-Qin thinker Guanzi (i.e. Guang Zhong) and the school of thought he represents offered the following admonition, “Do not let external objects disturb your organs of perception. Do not let your organs of perception disturb your heart. Such is the inner virtue” (Guanzi, Chapter 37). To let one’s sense organs be disturbed by external things and, furthermore, to let one’s heart be disturbed by one’s sense organs, such is precisely how the inherent heart gets lost. Compared with his forerunners, Mencius has offered a more concrete account. His prescription of “first building up the nobler part” is of exceptional importance. It is a prescription to which Lu Jiuyuan particularly owed the enlightenment he had experienced when reading the Mencius. When ridiculed by Zhu Xi’s disciple for “knowing no other tricks than ‘first building up the nobler part,’” Lu Jiuyuan, with confidence and magnanimity, replied, “Of course!” (Lu Jiuyuan, 1980, Vol. 34). 7.2.3.  Reaching the Depths of the Heart and Attaining the Enlightenment Resulting from Sincerity Despite the tendency of returning to the origin displayed in the minimization of desires and the search for the lost mind, we must admit that neither is as absolute and far-reaching as their corresponding ideas in the thoughts of Laozi and Zhuangzi. What the minimization and the search require of those who have too many desires and those who lose their inherent heart is merely the return to the proper path in morality. But the thoughts of Laozi and Zhuangzi, by contrast, were aimed at transcending the limits of heaven and earth. Relatively speaking, Mencius’s approach more directly addresses the issues in human life. And it features a more positive search 9 Translator’s note: This remark can be read in relation to the Analects, 4:16, “The men of virtue

is righteousness oriented [whereas] the man inferior in virtue is benefit oriented.”

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for feasible solutions to various social problems. His approach is hence no less valuable and praiseworthy. In terms of preserving one’s own purity and integrity, the realm pursued by Mencius is in fact as lofty and transcendental as that pursued by Laozi and Zhuangzi. Moreover, their approaches, in spite of their differences, converge in purpose and methodology. As a matter of course, each of them have their unique traits. If Laozi’s approach is characterized by its pursuit of the Way through meditation, and Zhuangzi’s by its aspiration to match heaven with a free roaming heart, then Mencius’s endeavor is known for its emphasis on reaching the depths of the heart to know and serve heaven. Chapter 7A of the Mencius begins with the following words: He who exerts his mind [i.e. heart] to the utmost knows his nature. He who knows his nature knows Heaven. To preserve one’s mind and to nourish one’s nature is the way to serve Heaven (Mencius, 1963, p. 78).

The heart, as the abode of human spirit, refers to humankind’s entire spiritual system with “nature” 性as its Great Ultimate as well as the essential substance in its utmost depths. The word “Heaven” is a general term for the entire cosmos, especially the lofty and stately principle of the operation thereof. By the word “exert,” Mencius meant the utmost effort made to return to the innermost depth of the heart. The third-person pronoun in the passage can refer to any individual. The word “preserve” means to retain without letting it go. The word “nourish” means compliance with nature without harming it. The first sentence in the passage is meant to discuss how to “know Heaven” (though its syntactical structure may incline us to think that it is meant to explain the “exertion” of the heart). The second sentence is meant to discuss how to “serve Heaven.” The two sentences combined make an incisive observation. In Mencius’s view, the connection between heaven and human beings exists in human beings’ hearts; and the heavenly-endowed principle that sufficiently embodies the dynamics of heaven is “(human) nature.” In this sense, the effort to “reach the depths of the heart” enables man to “know his nature,” which in turn leads to his “knowing Heaven”. Once he knows heaven, he is supposed to do what he can to serve Heaven. The key to humankind’s

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service to heaven lies in their preservation of the heart and the nurture of their nature, which means nurturing the great part of their body without losing their inherent heart. As regards Mencius’s argument for “reaching the depths of the heart,” Zhang Zai tends to take it to be an advocation for “the enlargement of the heart” 大心. “By enlarging one’s mind [i.e. heart],” he writes in the Zhengmeng (translated in Chan, 1963, p. 515), “one can enter into all thing in the world [to examine and understand their principle].10 As long as anything is not yet entered into, there is still something outside the mind. The mind of ordinary people is limited to the narrowness of what is seen and what is heard. The sage, however, fully develops his nature and does not allow what is seen or heard to fetter his mind. He regards everything in the world to be his own self. This is why Mencius said if one exerts his mind to the utmost, he can know nature and Heaven. Heaven is so vast that there is nothing outside of it. Therefore the mind that leaves something outside is not capable of uniting itself with the mind [i.e. heart] of Heaven.” It stands to reason to follow Zhang Zai’s interpreta­tion of Mencius’s thought. But what is “the heart of heaven” 天心? From the viewpoint of Confucianism, it should be the unity between the strong and ceaselessly dynamic Creativity 乾健不息 and the inexhaustibly ­supportive Docility 坤厚載物. Then the duality in human nature that corresponds to such duality of the heart of heaven should refer to Zhi and benevolence. At this point, therefore, it should be clear that in terms of knowing the human nature to know heaven and nurturing human nature to serve heaven, the key lies in none other than one’s insight into, as well as one’s further development of, the virtues of Zhi and benevolence. Mencius, needless to note, considers benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom as four virtues. But he distinguishes himself with the particular importance he has accorded to both Zhi and benevolence. Just as the Cheng brothers once observed, whereas Confucius speaks of nothing but “benevolence,” Mencius talks about “benevolence and righteousness” in the same breath. And where Confucius discusses “Zhi” alone, Mencius takes a further step to discuss 10 Translator’s

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note: The square brackets are Wing-tsit Chan’s.

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the “cultivation of Qi.”11 Hence Mencius, through his elaboration and expansion on the theory regarding righteousness and Qi, greatly strengthened the foundational status of both benevolence and Zhi in Confucian moral persuasion, which is his tremendous contribution. Such a level of understanding that Mencius implicitly attained was beyond the reach of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the Buddhist thinkers after them. Reaching the depths of the heart in fact means turning around to examine oneself. And knowing heaven means to unite this heart with the cosmos. Mencius, therefore, went on and said, All things are complete in oneself. There is no greater joy than to ­examine oneself and be sincere (Mencius, 1963, p. 79). Whenever the superior man [i.e. man of virtue] passes through, transforming influence follows. Whenever he abides, spiritual influence remains. This forms the same current above and below with that of ­Heaven and Earth. Is this a small help? (Ibid., p. 80)

These two passages, with one addressing the topic of knowing heaven and the other that of serving heaven, correspond precisely with the Mencius 7A:1 cited above. To put it more specifically, the two passages, respectively, address the topics of inner sageliness and outer kingliness. Pre-modern scholars (from Zhao Qi 趙歧 to Zhu Xi) usually interpret the sentence “all things are complete in oneself” as declaring that all principles are preserved in one heart. This rather literal interpretation largely loses sight of the strong vigor that permeates Mencius’s words. Speaking of all the things and beings caught in the cycles of generating and regenerating in the universe, what they show in the human heart certainly includes principle, but it is not something that can be adequately covered by the word “principle,” for principle is merely its formal cause. What Mencius depicts is a spiritual experience that coincides with the experience captured in Chapter 16 of the Laozi (1963, p. 147): “All things come into being, and I see thereby their return.” Lu Jiuyuan, in Volume 3 of the Xiangshan Yulu, also speaks of a similar experience to Mencius’s, in 11 Translator’s

note: See also Section 5.1.1 of Chapter 5 in Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 1.

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which “the heart is dense with all things, which, springing out when the heart is full, fill the universe.” “To examine oneself and be sincere” can be seen as an alternative way to refer to the process of “reaching the depths of one’s heart,” which is a process that results in one’s knowing nature and thereby knowing heaven, a process that, briefly put, gives rise to the enlightenment induced by sincerity. But there is still a transitional link therein, namely, a judgment in recognition of nature 性 as the source of all things. As mentioned before, Mencius conceptualized Chengming 誠明 (the Enlightenment Resulting from Sincerity), basically the same way as the concept is presented in the Doctrine of the Mean (in Chan, 1963, pp. 107–108), where it is said, “Only those who are absolutely sincere can fully develop their nature. If they can fully develop their nature, they can then fully develop the nature of others. If they can fully develop the nature of others, they can then fully develop the nature of things.12 If they can fully develop the nature of things, they can then assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth. If they can assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth, they can thus form a trinity with Heaven and Earth.” The enlightenment resulting from sincerity is akin to the enlightenment in Laozi’s statement that “to know the eternal is called enlightenment” (Laozi, 1963, p. 147), which is a kind of great clarity and brightness. The realm of freedom in which human beings form a trinity with Heaven and Earth can also be depicted as “forming the same current above and below with that of Heaven and Earth.” A “superior man [i.e. man of virtue]” with a heart filled with a virtuous nature can influence and transform people with all that he experiences in the external world. (By such a “superior man [i.e. man of virtue],” in fact, pre-modern thinkers primarily referred to “sage.”) And, internally, what he preserves in his heart enables him to act upon his own volition and yet, in a miraculous and unpredictable manner, intuit the right course of action he should follow. He who can attain both is a person whose actions are all by themselves in tune with the dynamics of heaven and earth. Such is an ideal state 12 Corresponding

to the duality of Creativity and Docility, there generally exists in the biosphere such basic dual need or tendency as development and affinity.

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of existence, a state in liberation as well as in perfection. The virtue and merit involved in this attainment are things by far surpassing the small help that pursuers of hegemonic rule can bring. They are hence particularly praiseworthy. Although Zhuangzi was also in pursuit of a state where one can, all by oneself, “communicate with the spirit of Heaven and Earth,” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 33) what he was after was not as beneficial to the human society as Mencius’s pursuit. It is therefore easy for us to understand why Mencius says “there is no greater joy than to examine oneself and be sincere.” As a form of mood, joy corresponds to the three levels of the heart-mind with its three kinds of pleasure. On the surface layer is the pleasure of the senses. The sound, color, and smell that one encounters at terraces and ponds of swan, geese, and deer never fail to please the senses. Mencius’s attitude to such pleasure is not entirely negative (see Mencius, 1A:2). What he required is rulers’ sharing the pleasure together with common people. The second kind is the pleasure of morality, which can be exemplified in the following three pleasures of a superior man [i.e. man of virtue]. First, his parents are alive and his s­iblings are free of causes of worries. Second, between heaven and earth there is nothing he feels ashamed of. Third, he can be an educator of the talents in the world. Among these three, the first is contingent upon heaven (i.e. destiny), the third upon human beings (i.e. others). Only the freedom from shame is entirely dependent on an individual’s own cultivation. It is hence something manageable by the individual and, for that reason, something one should strive for. The highest and the most profound kind of pleasure is the pleasure that one rejoices in the correspondence between heaven and human beings, which, as a connection between the little and large cosmoses, is forged on the basis of the sincerity obtained in self-examination. Through the connection, all things emerge in the world of the human heart, where our spirit “forms the same current above and below with that of Heaven and Earth,” the objective world and humankind’s subjectivity fuse in a unity, and the heaven and human beings merge together. How can there be any joy greater than this? To reach the depths of the heart means “turning around to examine oneself” (Mencius, 2A:7), so does the enlightenment resulting from sincerity. Both feature introversive examination rather than extrovert exploration. To borrow Kant’s terminology, theirs is a distinction between the

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realms of freedom and necessity. “The heart,” according to Cheng Hao, “is heaven. By reaching the depths of it, one knows nature. By knowing nature, one knows heaven. One must attend to such instant enligh­tenment without seeking outwardly” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 2A). Liu Zongzhou, moreover, devoted an article entitled Xiangwai Chiqiu Shuo 向外馳求說 (On Outward Exploration) to this topic, arguing that the distinction between the internal and external is irrelevant to the ­noumenon of the Way. He considered the distinction to be something ­conceptualized by scholars based on their own orientations. With their introversive search, those who were inwardly oriented approached the origin of the heart more and more, and hence became increasingly advanced in their cultivation. As for those who were outwardly oriented, their extrovert exploration took them progressively close to their spiritual split and their extinction. In his argument for the “vivid cognitive experience,” Liu Zongzhou pointed out, “A learner [who uses the method of introversive search] should activate the heart that is his real self and [then] work diligently on it everyday. [The learner should] focus on nothing but identifying what constitutes this self. The body [by which one can refer reflectively to oneself] is not one’s physical body.13 The heart [that is] mine has ­nothing to do with my mouth or ears. The life [that is] mine has nothing to do with fame, material gains, and horoscopic signs and patterns.” Hence, with these views, Cheng Hao and Liu Zongzhou have directly inhered Mencius’ thought. From their multifarious and disorderly contents, one can tell that Chapters 7A and 7B of the Mencius may have been Mencius’s scattered speeches that were recorded by his disciples. Regrettably, Mencius did not have a chance to systematically theorize the thesis of reaching the depths of the heart. Regarding the spiritual passage back to the original heart, the account he presents is admittedly not as explicit and specific as the account by Zhuangzi. The reason we devote an entire chapter to him is due to, first, the far-reaching influence of the psychological revelation left by his ­philosophy about humankind’s moral legislation and, second, his immensely important role in the “religious confluence” among Confucianism, Daoism, 13 Translator’s

note: In literary Chinese, the word shen身(body) can mean “oneself” or

“personally”.

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and Buddhism. Without him, the convergence between Confucian spirit on the one hand, and Daoist and Buddhist spirits on the other would hardly have been possible, let alone the merging among the spirits. Central to the confluence among Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism is thus the ­confluence among the philosophies of Mencius, Zhuangzi, and Chan Buddhism.

7.3.  Tranquil Experience of Enlightened Penetration Another noteworthy method is known as the tranquil experience of enlightenment advocated in the Book of Changes. In terms of orientation as well as rationale, it is closely related to Lao–Zhuang Daoism and Zisi– Mencius school of thought. Due to the succinctness of the term, “tranquil experience of enlightenment” can even serve as an adequate epitome for the search of an original psychic state in Chinese philosophical heritage, a heritage that includes Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. In other words, in traditional Chinese philosophy, the term tranquil experience of enlightenment sufficiently characterizes the basic method used in the pursuit of a lofty spiritual realm and the establishment of the arch pillar in life. This section is therefore a logical synthesis of the previous two with the tranquil experience suggestive of attaining vacuity and maintaining quietude on the one hand, and the enlightenment suggestive of reaching the depths of the heart as well as the enlightenment resulting from sincerity on the other. In addition, we can include some witty Buddhist discourses in our discussion.14 7.3.1.  The Meaning of Tranquil Experience of Enlightenment The Book of Changes was originally intended for divination. But, containing the general principle of the cosmos and human life, it enables

14 We

do not have a section particularly devoted to the gradual cultivation 漸修 and instant enlightenment 頓悟 in Buddhism, for Buddhism, due to its origin alien to China, is marked by its unique and complex system of methodology that is distinct from the methodology of cultivation in the Chinese culture. In this section, we will discuss only the method of understanding the heart to be enlightened to nature 明心見性 in Sinicized Buddhism.

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the benevolent to see benevolence and the wise to see wisdom therein. The author of the Commentaries on Book of Changes 易傳 elevated it from the book of divination to a book about the connection between heaven and human beings, suggesting that a sage had composed the Book of Changes to explicate the abstruse and wonderful metaphysical principle, which was a principle that had been appropriately underlying the transformation of heaven and earth, and exhaustively underpinning the raisons d’être of all things and beings. The principle is considered, in brief, the Way of regulating heaven and earth. How did the sage come to be equipped with such insights? In the Commentary on the Book of Changes — Part I this Way is extolled as follows: In (all these operations forming) the Yi [i.e. the Changes], there is no thought and no action. It is still and without movement; but, when acted on, it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena and events under the sky. If it were not the most spirit-like thing under the sky, how could it be found doing this? The (operations forming) the Yi are the methods by which the sages searched out exhaustively what was deep, and investigated the minutest springs (of things). “Those operations searched out what was deep.”—therefore they could penetrate to the views [i.e. the Zhi] of all under the sky.15 “They made apparent the minutest springs of (things).”—therefore they could bring to a completion all undertakings under the sky. “Their actions are spirit-like.” — therefore they could make speed without hurry, and reached their destination without ­traveling (Book of Changes, 1993, pp. 307–309).

The Book of Changes comes from the sage’s search for what was exceedingly deep and minute. Because it was exceedingly deep, the object of the search could penetrate to that which all under the sky aspires. And because it was exceedingly minute, it could bring to completion all things. Such a delicate, profound, natural, and seamless combination between the deepest and the minutest speaks of its spirit-like nature. Therefore, the Book of Changes, as one may infer from the passage above, was conceived by a sage whose heart met the Way of changes without any particular effort 15 Translator’s

note: The word “views” is here judged to be an inapt rendition of the Chinese word 志 Zhi.

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made to think about it, nor any artificiality in the process. It was a tranquil experience of penetrating to the Way of heaven and earth. What, then, does the “tranquil experience” mean? Examined from the perspective of cosmological philosophy, it may mean the solidarity of the fundamental root. In Chapter 1A of the Implications of the Correspondence between Seasonal Points and the Hexagram Lines in the Book of Change 易緯, the most original existence is known as the “Grand Change” 太易, which is, according to a pre-modern annotator of the book, “tranquil with nothing therein” 寂然無物. But, as far as our topic about the heart of a sage is concerned, it is considered tranquil in this section because it is without thought, without action, and without movement. The “penetrating to all phenomena” “when acted on” 感而遂通, can be known in brief as “penetrative enlightenment” 感通. From the context where the term is used, we can tell that the phrase “once acted on” is related to “the minutest springs (of things)” 研幾, which includes the minutest Images and the examination of the subtlest thoughts. The word “penetrating” 通 is related to “what was deep.” That which is profound is usually universal. The deepest spring is connected to the snow at the top of Mount Kunlun 昆侖. Likewise, the most profound enlightenment is connected to the Zhi of all under heaven. The process of penetrative enlightenment is the manifestation of the infinite in the finite. That which is minute is connected to Zhi, and Zhi is manifested in what is minute. It must be noted that the process of being acted upon is made possible by one’s turning one’s visual and audio perceptions back and being thereby introversively attentive. Only in a broad sense of the notion does it include the kind of enlightenment that acts upon an ­external stimulus.16 The process from solidarity to the penetration is mysterious and unforeseeable. For a long time, the academic circle has generally held that the relation between tranquil experience and penetrative enlightenment is one 16 Cheng

Hao once pointed out: “All things, in solidarity and [a state of] inaction, were already variously in place. As regards penetrating [to all phenomena] when acted on, the process of acting upon is only a process of acting upon internal stimuli. It does not mean there is something extrinsic to act upon” (Er Cheng Yi Shu, Vol. 15). This is a good point. But Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi might not agree with him on this point.

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between Substance and Function. This view is, strictly speaking, not quite right. As a matter of course, it may not be problematic to depict the relation as: “the Substance is tranquil and the Function is penetrating when enlightened.” But problem occurs when the relation is depicted as: “tranquil is the substance, penetrative enlightenment is the function”. Since what tranquility depicts is a state, how can a state be Substance? Substance should the characterization of the sage’s heart. Tranquility is more the Image than the Substance of the heart. It can be understood as the state of emptying and concentrating [the heart] to attain tranquility 虛一而靜. And the state of penetrating as soon as one is enlightened is a function performed by the heart. It is a state in which the heart acts upon the things occurring in it and thereby directly attains enlightenment of the principle in the cosmos and human life. During the time between the Chen (557–589 AD) and Sui (581–618 AD) dynasties, Zhiyi 智顗 (538–597 AD) proposed the “Dual Cultivation of Concentration and Insight” 止觀雙修,17 which later came to be a generally accepted method of cultivation in Chinese Buddhism. It should have come under the influence of the thesis of tranquil experience of penetration once acted upon. In his Great Concentration and Insight 摩訶止觀, this master of the Tiantai Sect 天臺宗 wrote, “the principle of the dharma features solidarity and it is called concentration. That which occurs in [one’s] solidarity and remains constantly illuminating is called insight. Although it involves early and late Buddhist wisdom, there is no difference or distinction between the two. Therefore it is called the concentration and insight in perfect and instant enlightenment 圓頓止觀.” According to the classification of “Substance, Image, and Function” in the Awakening in Maha-ya-na Faith, the constant illumination is, of course, a function, but the substance has to be the dharma principle. Judged from this perspective, the Sect of Chan Buddhism does not seem to be accurate enough when it considers “meditation [i.e. dhyana] as the substance of wisdom and wisdom as the function of meditation.” In solidarity, penetration occurs when acted upon, the spiritual activities make speed without hurry, and reach the destination without traveling. 17 Translator’s

note: See Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy,

pp. 396–405.

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They can hence be said to be “spirit-like”. The Commentary of the Book of Changes proposes “reaching the depths of what is spirit-like and knowing transformation”, observing that “Yi [i.e. Change] is no more attached to any particular place than that which is spirit-like is confined to any particular form.” Zhang Zai elaborates on this point in Chapter 4 of the Zhengmeng and points out, “spirit-like is the Virtue of Heaven, and transformation is the Way of Heaven. Virtue is its substance, and the Way is its function.” “Vacuous, tranquil, and discerning, such is the brilliance of the spirit-like [nature]. To it, [dimensions such as] distance and depths are irrelevant. Lending itself to [all practical] use and free to enter and leave [anywhere], such is the exhaustive permeation of the spirit-like [nature].” This understanding can be regarded as one scholar’s view. That which is spirit-like follows no pattern for us to grasp. The occurrence of Change takes no form whereon human intelligence can gain a purchase. In both the natural world and human spiritual realm, it fully shows the wonder of transformation. In the Great Commentary, four senses of the word shen 神 (spirit-like; amazing; supernatural; power) can be observed. The first is deity, which is an immetaphysical sense, and it determines the good and ill fortunes in everything. For instance, it is said that “(he perceives how the union of) essence and breath form things, and the (disappearance or) wandering away of the soul produces the change (of their constitution); thus he knows the characteristics of the anima and animus” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 295). The second sense is spiritual power, which is a metaphysical sense, and it is connected to the Way of Heaven. For instance, it is said that “[with Creativity and Cohesion as a gate of Change], one can cognitively experience the principle of Heaven and Earth and connect to the goodness of the spiritual power” (Ibid., p. 331). The third sense is intuitive insight. In the words of Zhuangzi, a concentrated heart without restriction speaks of its intuitive insight. For instance, it is said that “intuitive insight is that which knows what is yet to come, whereas knowledge is that which stores up what happened in the past” (Ibid., p. 309). The fourth sense is spirituality, which implies a state in which divinity or human spirit operates. For instance, it is said that “that which is unfathomable in (the movement of) the inactive and active operations is (the presence of a) spiritual (power)” (Ibid., p. 299). If the first three, as all nouns, are substantial, then

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the last one, adjectival in nature, is functional. But the last one can turn around to characterize the first three, because only that which is unfathomable, formless, exhaustively permeating, and lending itself to all practical use can be considered as shen 神. If we concentrate solely on the third and fourth senses and thereby examine the word from the perspective of heart-nature, we may find that this word bears a certain similarity to cheng 誠 (sincerity) in the Book of the Mean. In his On the Restoration of Nature 復性書, Li Ao already associated the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment with the ­sincerity resulting from enlightenment. Cheng Hao went further to argue that “heaven covers everything in a manner that is without any sound or smell. Its Substance is called Change, its Texture is called the Way, and its Function is spirit-like. The part of it that is endowed to human beings is called nature” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 1). “According to the Book of the Mean,” he said, “‘sincerity’ is ‘spirit-like’” (Ibid., Vol. 11). Mr. Mou Tsung-san observed that, the word shen 神 in the Commentaries on Book of Changes, “refers sometimes to the unfathomable process of generating and that of transformation which characterize the Way of Heaven, and sometimes to the subtleties expressed in words of divination. And sometimes, the word can be found in passages like ‘to practice mental tranquilization with it, the sage retreat to reclusion,’ and ‘with it, the sage practices fasting to make his virtue divine [i.e. 神].’ These occurrences of the word, in brief, can be connected and unified in meaning. They all mean a case of reaching the minutest in the depths of things and thereby revealing the origin of the processes of generating and transformation. They were all intended to remind people of the real life in the virtue of human nature that attests to the real life in the cosmos.”�18 As we have discussed before, sincerity is that with which we can get down to the convergence between the human nature and the Heavenly Way. The reason it is now said to be spirit-like is because it occurs in a process without any forced striving, a process in which people can meet the Heavenly Nature with their own nature.

18 Mou

Tsung-san. Xinti yu Xingti 心體與性體 [The Noumenon of Heart and the Noumenon of Human Nature], Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1999, p. 257.

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Based on the above, we can say that the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment means, moreover, one’s enlightenment to the abstruseness of cosmos and human life that occurs in one’s solidarity and results from the wonderful operation of one’s heart. It is hence a process in which the small self of an individual corresponds to the large self of the cosmos. As for what we know as reaching the depths of the heart, sincerity as a result of enlightenment, and the subtle mystery along with profound penetration, they can all be its implications. 7.3.2.  The Possibility of Tranquil Experience of Enlightened Penetration How does an individual, as a being-there (Dasein), reach the origin of life? Amid the bustling populace in social life, how does the individual attain a clear and bright existence? Attempts have been made in traditional Western philosophy — from Plato’s theory of “recalling” to Kant’s “postulation” — to address these questions. Their arguments are inspiring, but none has come up with a feasible solution. Modern existentialists such as Heidegger employed the phenomenological method to combine “the sharpest” individuality and the “the vaguest and emptiest” notion of existence together. They do so with a view to attain enlightenment of the realm of existence from the standpoint of Dasein.19 Theirs is a rather peculiar philosophical approach; but there is indeed something in it that is worth learning. What we may call intuition is a cognitive experience in which one is enlightened to the general on the basis of one’s knowledge of the specific. As we pointed out before, intuition can be classified into sensitive intuition, noetic awareness, and the awakening of Zhixing according to their hierarchical differences. In Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism think and speak highly of neither the knowledge that one acquires through straightforward perception nor the objective knowledge one obtains due to one’s awareness of it. What they are all preoccupied with is the prospects for human beings’ awakening to the fundamental and 19 Martin

Heidegger, Being and Time. Translated [into Chinese] by Chen Jiaying 陳嘉映 et al. Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 1987, p. 48.

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original state of human life. Due to their many similarities, their ways of thinking can be discussed together. Mr. Mou Tsung-san has categorized all the relevant discourses by pre-modern Chinese thinkers as “intellectual intuition” (namely, the intuition in the domain of Noumena as opposed to that in the empirical domain) and thought that the discourses, thanks to their clarity and explicitness, demonstrated a great advantage in Chinese philosophical heritage. If we attribute intuition solely to straightforward perceptions, then it may be more appropriate to refer to the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment as a cognitive experience or a case of awakening from the depths of consciousness. This is because such intuition, more often than not, can occur with no particular object of it in reality, and may hence be subsumed under what Mr. Qian Xuesen 錢學森 (1911–2009) calls inspirational thinking (i.e. the mode of thinking marked by epiphanic enlightenment). Mr. Qian, in the field of the “science of thinking” he established and advocated, suggests classifying human thinking into such three categories as abstract (i.e. logic) thinking, imaginal (i.e. perceptional) thinking, and inspirational (i.e. insightful) thinking. He observes that, thus far, “in the science of thinking, only abstract thinking has been studied in great depths; and there has been [such a] relatively mature [analytical framework as] logic [for it]. As regards imaginal thinking and inspirational thinking, because there have been no serious efforts made to study them, there has been no scientific theoretical frameworks constructed [for them].”20 Indeed, there is the question as to why pre-modern thinkers sought and advocated those methods that modern people find to be hard to understand, consider to be unworthy of investigating, and hence dismiss as mysticism. It was all because there had to be foundations for human beings’ moral legislation and pillars for human spirit. For this reason, premodern thinkers dived deep into the ocean of human spirit. Such spiritual diving involved specific methods. Modern people, however, are too accustomed to sliding on the land or even drifting in the air to understand the experience of those divers. In order to understand their method involved

20 Guanyu

Siwei Kexue 關於思維科學 [On the Science of Thinking], ed. Qian Xuesen 錢學森. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe. 1986, p. 16.

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in the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment, one needs to examine the depths of one’s heart.21 First and foremost, one needs to start with both faith in the nearness of the Way to human beings and confidence that the human heart is complete with all principles. Speaking of the phrase “It is still and without movement; but, when acted on, it penetrates forthwith to all,” Cheng Hao interprets it as saying “the Heavenly Texture is complete with nothing missing therein. It does not exist for the sake of sage rulers like Yao, nor does it go out of existence because of evil rulers such as Jie” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 2A). All human beings, be they ancient or modern, are therefore capable of cognitively experiencing the Heavenly Texture. Cheng Hao goes on and observes that “Laozi argues for ‘non-action;’ but he also says that [the Way] ‘takes no action, and yet there is nothing left undone.’22 The sage did not speak of non-action when he composed the Book of Changes. All he said as his advice against taking action was, ‘there is no thought and no action,’ which was immediately followed by the sentence ‘It is still and without movement; but, when acted on, it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena and events under the sky.’ This shows that between the principles of Activity and Tranquility, one can neglect neither” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 5). Thus, in his view, whereas Laozi concentrated on attaining complete vacuity and maintaining steadfast quietude, the Book of Changes pays dual attention to both Activity and Tranquility, which is more in accordance with the Heavenly Texture. As for whether there is the ubiquitous Heavenly Way or Heavenly Texture 21 Here,

the criticism that Chen Chun directed to Han Yu in his Meaning of Words from the Four Books is worth noting. “Mr. Han’s learningis rather rootless. Take his ‘Treatise on the Way,’ where he displayed his elaborated points on quite a few issues and thereby presented a nice account as regards why the great function of the Way prevailed in the world. But, being unaware that our self was already equipped with the Noumenon of the Way, he was unable to reach any details in his self-examination. What he did to while away his time was just drinking with people like Zhang Ji 張籍 and composing poems with them without any particular principle of himself to hold on to. All this explains why he, once overcome by feelings of loneliness and desolation during his demotion in Chaoyang 潮陽, succumbed to Dadian’s 大颠 [Buddhist] preach and hence befriended with the monk. In doing so, he totally forgot the standpoint he had usually held in opposition to Buddhist and Laozi’s philosophies.” 22 Translator’s note: Laozi, 1963, p. 158.

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in the human heart, it is not something that can be attested in science. Yet, it is a premise upon which arguments can be f­ ormulated in philosophy and religion. Positive evidence is as highly valued in science as personal witness is emphasized in religion and humanist philosophy. Mr. Liang Shuming 梁漱溟 (1893–1988) once recalled that his esteemed mentor Wu Yongbo 伍庸伯 differed from Zhu Xi and Wang Shouren in the approach to the Great Learning,23 for his approach was marked by an effort to personally experience the phases of making thoughts sincere and setting the heart upright, hence the convincing power of his arguments.24 We have also learned that a conversation between Xiong Shili and Feng Youlan once left profound influence over Mr. Mou Tsung-san’s academic career. To Feng Youlan, who argued from a perspective in Western philosophy, that human beings had a conscience was nothing but a hypothesis in Chinese philosophy. To this, Xiong Shili responded instantly and sternly, “How can you say it is a hypothesis? Conscience is a real existence. And it manifests itself!”25 Since the existence of conscience cannot be proved with any scientific methods, one may have to consider it hypothetical. But Chinese philosophers can easily attest to it through their personal experience of it. Besides, in terms of procedure, tranquil experience preconditions the penetrative enlightenment. If we took the solidarity as Substance, then it should be something to which the penetrative enlightenment was directed; and the causal relation between them could then be identified in such a verb-object structure as “[in an] enlightened [way,] penetrating to solidarity,” which would obviously be untenable. What we should do is to regard solidarity as an Image of the substance of the heart. It, in addition to being quietude, implies purity and freedom from restrictions. To put it more 23 Translator’s

note: i.e. Chapter 42 of the Book of Rite. Shuming 梁漱溟. “Liji Daxue pian: Wushi xueshuo zongshu 禮記大學篇：伍氏 學說綜述 [Mr. Wu’s Teaching as Seen in the Interpretation of Chapter 42 of the Book of Rite]”, in Liang Shuming Xiansheng Lun Ru Shi Dao 梁漱溟先生論儒釋道 [Mr. Liang Shuming on Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism], Guilin: Guangxi Shifan Daxue ­chubanshe, 2004. 25 Mou Tsung-san. “Wo yu Xiong Shili xiansheng 我與熊十力先生 [Mr. Xiong Shili and I]”, in Wushi Zishu 五十自述 [My Life Recalled at the Age of 50], Taiwan: Ehu ­chubanshe, 1989. 24 Liang

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specifically, it speaks of a state of emptying [one’s mind] to attain tranquility. Indeed, the heart could hardly attain penetrative enlightenment if it were either in disturbance when subjected to the servitude to external things or reluctant to come to senses when obscured by prejudices. Confucius, according to the Analects, 9:4, argued for the abstention from the following four errors: subjective conjectures (“no arbitrariness of opinion”), arbitrary presupposition (“no dogmatism”), adherence to prejudices (“no obstinacy”), and judging and evaluating all things by one’s own standard (“no egotism”). The heart will approach quietude when one abstains from these four errors. Thinkers of later time advocated s­ itting like the person on behalf of the deceased in sacrificial ceremony and standing like someone who was performing the ritual of fasting. They did so because they wished to maintain spiritual as well as physical tranquility. We may well make differentiation by pointing out that Confucianism emphasizes reverence, Daoism upholds quietude, and Buddhism values concentration (i.e. dhyana). But, when examining them together, one may find that the pursuit of tranquility is what they share in self-cultivation. Tranquility can concentrate but not restrict the human heart. In tranquility, one’s spirit can wander freely and may even enter into the realm of vacuous nature which is One 寥天一.26 Liu Xie 劉勰 (fl. 465–522 AD), availing himself of the thoughts in the Book of Changes, proposed the notion of “Spirit Thought” 神思 to refer to the imagination in creative writing. The following description he presented would be of certain value and help our understanding of the penetrative enlightenment in Chinese philosophy: “When we silently concentrate, thought may reach a thousand years into the past; and when the face stirs quietly, the eyes can see ­thousands of miles” (Liu Xie, in Owen, 1996, p. 346). This speaks of a state that occurs after the attainment of tranquility when all things emerge, a state — in other words — that occurs when the heart is complete with all things in the world. Previous to Liu Xie, Lu Ji 陸機 (261–303 AD) (translated in Owen, 1996, pp. 336–343), in his Poetic Exposition on Literature, described the process as one in which “he [who is composing a work of literature] sees past and present in a single instant, touches all this world in 26 Translator’s

note: Zhuangzi: “We put ourselves at the manipulation [of Nature] and ignore all the transformations. With this we enter into the realm of vacuous nature which is one” (Zhuangzi, 1963, p. 200).

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the blink of an eye.” This is a description that almost captures the moment of penetrative enlightenment. In their description of the mental activity of imagination, Lu Ji speaks of the Daoist notion of “profound insight” 玄覽 (Laozi, 1963, Chapter 10, p. 144), and Liu Xie resorts to the Buddhist notion of “thorough reflection” 窮照. Both descriptions are hence suggestive of their authors’ cognitive experience at a metaphysical level. Since it was a process personally experienced by both authors, it cannot have been unreal. Yet in both cases, the authors based their observations on the experience of literary creation without much enlightenment attained at a philosophical level. Relatively speaking, Luo Hongxian’s 羅洪先 (alias Luo Nian’an 羅念庵, 1504–1564 AD) description of the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment is richer and more complete. Once in the utmost tranquility, I feel as if my heart went completely ­vacuous and infinitely expansive. It is like the vast sky, where free flows of clouds and vapor knows no bounds; and it is like the immense ocean, in which fish could turn instantly into dragons and dragons into fish. To it, all distinctions, be they between the internal and the external or ­between Activity and Tranquility, become absolutely irrelevant. In it, all spatial and temporal dimensions are merged, hence its presence is ­nowhere, at no time, and yet ubiquitous of all ages. As a medium [of this heart], my body is of course not confined by its physical form. When I look afar and listen attentively, the sphere of my perception can therefore outrange even the entire universe. And when my heart is tranquilized, nothing in the universe escapes my thoughts. The ancients are gone, but my spirit starts where theirs ends. [In this sense, the ancients] are never gone. … “The man of jen [i.e. 仁, “benevolence”] forms one body with all things without any differentiation.” [see Chan, 1963, p. 523] The reason why this body can be formed is because what is in me is also in all things and it hence unites me and all things into one. And [that which is both in me and in all things] is p­ recisely that to which — as I have pointed out before — we can be enlightened in our tranquil experience thereof, and precisely that which merges spatial dimensions, temporal dimensions, the internal, the e­ xternal, ­Activity, and Tranquility all in one (Huang Zongxi, 1990, Vol. 18).27 27 Translator’s

note: Ming Ru Xuean 明儒學案 [Scholarly Annals of Ming Confucians] was compiled by Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲 (1610–1695 AD).

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Lastly, we have to admit that penetrative enlightenment is not something that human beings are born with. Rather, as a result of long-time accumulation, it occurs only once in a while. The penetrative enlightenment at a given moment always occurs on the accumulated basis of previous learning and thinking, without which, there would be no such spiritual leap-forward. Liu Xie’s study on “Spirit Thought” 神思 is quite inspiring in this regard. He, on the one hand, emphasizes that “in the shaping of literary thought, the most important thing is emptiness and stillness within. Cleanse your inner organs and wash the spirit pure” (Liu Xie, in Owen, 1996, p. 346). On the other hand, he says emphatically, “Accumulate learning in order to build a treasury; consider the principles of things in order to enrich your talent; explore and experience things to know all that appears; …” (Ibid.) Such dual emphasis is apt and right. In Buddhism, the steps and methods to be followed in the exploration of and attestation to Buddhahood (i.e. Buddhatva) are theorized in terms of gradual enlightenment and satori. Between the two, satori can be basically subsumed under penetrative enlightenment. It should be noted that no satori — not even for someone as intelligent as Huineng — could occur without any gradual enlightenment as its preparation. For instance, had he not studied — and thereby attained an understanding of — the Diamond Sutra, how would it be possible for Huineng to express his thoughts so ably and freely in the Altar Sutra? With that said, however, long-time accumulation of cultivation constitutes no absolute guarantee of satori. This is because what the enlightenment also takes would include a gifted intellect, a tranquilized heart, and some right moments in which the enlightenment is occasioned. 7.3.3.  The Embodiment of the Tranquil Experience of Penetrative Enlightenment Inspirational thinking (i.e. the mode of thinking marked by satori) has remained a black box to researchers in spite of the general acknowledgment of its existence among Eastern and Western thinkers for thousands of years. Based on relevant philosophical theories in China, we might as well venture to peer into the mechanism of its occurrence. In the cosmos, there are the functional tendencies of opening and shutting characteristic

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of Creativity and Docility, respectively. In the human heart, the opening and shutting take the respective forms of extrovert and convergent ways of thinking. These tendencies in our thinking, on the one hand, render our spirit capable of free selection and, on the other hand, subject our spirit to the molding by certain archetypes. The tendencies, whenever colliding at various right places and times, will start to spark with originality and creativity that are typical of a moment when (humans’) heavenly-endowed nature matches the Way of Heaven. Since the collision takes place in the depths of human beings’ unconsciousness, its possible occurrence would naturally wait for the elimination of things with which the sphere of consciousness obscures it. Such things include both desires from the level of sensitivity and notions from the level of intellectuality. All this explains the requirement of solidarity or a state of vacuity and quietude in the heart. In Chinese intellectual history, Cheng Hao, as one of the thinkers whose argumentation impresses with perfect harmony, attained enlightenment at a young age. From his Reply to Master Hengqu’s Letter on Calming Human Nature 答橫渠先生定性書 (translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 525–526), one can catch a glimpse of his early experience of penetrative enlightenment in solidarity. … By calmness of nature we mean that one’s nature is calm whether it is in a state of activity or a state of tranquility. One does not lean forward or backward to accommodate things, nor does he make any distinction between the internal and external. To regard things outside the self as external, and force oneself to conform to them, is to regard one’s nature as divided into the internal and the external. … Since one holds that things internal and things external form two different bases, how can one hastily speak of the calmness of human nature? The constant principle of Heaven and Earth is that their mind is in all things, and yet they have no mind of their own. The constant principle of the sage is that his emotions are in accord with all creation, and yet he has no emotions of his own. Therefore, for the training of the superior man there is nothing better than to become broad and extremely impartial and to respond spontaneously to all things as they come. … Everyone’s nature is obscured in some way and as a consequence he cannot follow the Way. In general the trouble lies in resorting to selfishness and the exercise of cunning. Being selfish, one cannot take purposive action to respond to things, and being

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cunning, one cannot be at home with enlightenment. … Mencius also said, “What I dislike in your wise men is their forced reasoning.” Instead of looking upon the internal as right and the external as wrong, it is better to forget the distinction. When such a distinction is forgotten, the state of quietness and peace is attained. Peace leads to calmness and calmness leads to enlightenment. When one is enlightened, how can the response to things become an impediment?

The “calmness” speaks of a state of solidarity and tranquility, where there is no leaning forward or backward, no internality or externality, no prejudices, and no feelings pertaining to the self. The heart is hence broad and extremely impartial. The trouble ordinary people have is rooted in their selfishness and cunningness. Because they are selfish, their hearts are obscured by their desire for benefits at the level of sensitivity. And, due to their cunningness, their hearts are obscured by their forced reasoning at the level of intellectuality. Such being the case, they give in, internally, to their desires and, externally, to things outside the self. What they should do is to forget both. Once both are forgotten, the heart would be clear and peaceful, which is known as calmness. In the development from calmness to enlightenment, a person experiences a process in which he or she is becoming one with the universe. That is what we mean by penetrative enlightenment. “Calmness” is basically a Buddhist term. (Although the term also occurs in The Great Learning, it did not exert much significant influence on Zhang Zai and Cheng Hao.) The notion of “forgetting both” bears striking similarity to Zhuangzi’ “Fasting of the Heart.” This passage, therefore, embodies the compatibility among Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thoughts. A more expansive investigation would find the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment particularly common in cultural activities of art, religion, and philosophy. Hegel regards art, religion, and philosophy as the three modes of culture that successively embody the Absolute Spirit. From the perspective of the history of cultural development, however, such succession is hard to prove. Yet, the shared pursuit of infinity among the three modes is nonetheless obvious. Proceeding from the finite, an individual’s pursuit of the infinite relies on penetrative enlightenment, the occurrence of which would — in turn — await the experience of

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solidarity. (Potentially it would also require a gifted intellect, enduring persistence, and some right moments to occasion it.) Let us look at the following examples. In quietness, when the curtain was down, the lamp was dim, and the ­incense smoke was straight up, in the wind outside the window were withering lotus leafs rustling in reply to the stridulating melodies of ­autumn insects. I sat leaning on a low table, deep in thought. My heart was serene with nothing given to sophisticated considerations. Whenever a chance thought occurred, I had it dissolved in my meditation. In the end, all causes of mental activities were extinct. It was then, all of a sudden, [it appeared as if] my heart had turned lustrous like a full moon. Meanwhile, a chilling yet refreshing feeling permeated my flesh and my bones. I no longer had an idea in which age of history I was. At that ­moment, I felt as if all kinds of melancholic feelings had been stirred up [in the heart] but there had been nothing that I could do to help it. But when I came to be attentive to it, all such visions and feelings were gone. What I saw distinctively one next to another was no more than my small window, my half-opaque curtain, my writing-brush holder, and my ink-stone box. Such was [my experience of first coming in touch with] a poetic realm [and then losing touch with it]. Thirty years ago, this experience could occur to me as often as once a month. But now, it is attainable no more.28

“The above passage from the Huifeng Cihua 慧風詞話 by Kuang Zhouyi 況周頤 (1859–1926 AD), a poet and literary critic in the Qing dynasty, captures a moment when Kuang experienced the attainment of “poetic realm” 詞境. Note that the attainment was preconditioned by the “extinction” of “all causes of mental activities”. Then the poet could enter a spiritual realm in which the heart felt like a lustrous full moon with the self merged into infinity. By saying “it is attainable no more,” 28 For

explanation of the way I punctuate, and provide supplementary notes to, this passage, please see my article “Kuang Zhouyi suowei de cijing bianshi 況周頤所謂的詞境 辨識 [Analysis of What Kuang Zhouyi Referred to as ‘Poetic Realm’],” Wenxue Yichan 2 (2005).

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he probably meant that his heart was no longer as prone to be enlightened as it had been. After saying good-bye, I [i.e. Huineng 慧能] left him [i.e. the Patriarch] and walked towards south. In about two months’ time, I reached the Dayu Mountain. (…) Soon I noticed that several hundred men were in pursuit of me with the intention of robbing me of my robe and begging bowl. Among them was a monk named Hui Ming whose lay surname was Chen. He was a general of the fourth rank in lay life. His manner was rough and his temper hot. Of all the pursuers, he was the most vigilant in search of me. When he was about to overtake me, … he shouted out, “Lay Brother, Lay Brother, come for the Dharma, not for the robe.” Whereupon I came out from my hiding place and squatted on the rock. He made obeisance and said, “Lay Brother, preach to me, please.” “Since the object of your coming is the Dharma,” said I, “refrain from thinking of anything and keep your mind blank. I will then teach you.” When he had done this for a considerable time, I said, “When you are thinking of neither good nor evil, what is at that particular moment, Venerable Sir, your real nature (…)? As soon as he heard this he at once became enlightened. But he further asked, “Apart from those esoteric sayings and esoteric ideas handed down by the Patriarch from generation to generation, are there any other esoteric teachings?” “What I can tell you is not esoteric,” I replied. “If you turn your light inwardly, you will find what is esoteric within you” (Huineng, 1996, p. 25, 27).

Recorded in the above is the first preach by Huineng after his succession to the patriarchship in Chan Buddhism. His preach requires that one should extinct all causes of mental activities, thinking of neither good nor evil. Such is a requirement that bears significant similarity to the “Fasting of the Heart” advocated by Zhuangzi. The key to Huineng’s cultivation lies in the enlightenment of one’s real nature to be attained by turning one’s light inwardly and preconditioned by one’s vigilant search for it. As one more example, which we find in Huang Wan’s 黃綰 (1477–1551 AD) Yangming Xiansheng Xingzhuang 陽明先生行狀, ([Master] Wang Shouren) went to Longchang. When he first arrived there, there was no house for him to live in. He built a thatched hut amid thorny undergrowths. … Towards all the worldly gains, losses, honors,

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and disgraces, the master held a detached attitude. But the thought of life and death was the only preoccupation from which his mind was ­unable to free itself. He thus prepared a stone coffin and swore to himself, “Since all I have to do as of now is wait for my death, what else should I think of then?” He, thereafter, would often sit quietly day and night and, in so doing, tranquilize his heart, and concentrate his mind, hoping to find a solution in such a state of quietness and concentration. One night a thorough enlightenment suddenly struck him. He jumped up like a mad person. When he verified [what he was enlightened to] with the texts of Five Classics he had learned by heart, [he found] a perfect match in between.

What we see in the passage is the famous “Longchang Epiphany” experienced by Wang Shouren. During his exile in a wild mountainous area in Guizhou, Wang’s life was at stake. But he first transcended the concerns about gains, losses, honors, and disgraces. Then he freed himself from the preoccupation with life and death. Finally, in mental tranquility and concentration, he accomplished a thorough enlightenment. The hardship he suffered in exile hence paved the way for his eventual prestige in Chinese intellectual history. These examples, beyond doubt, present similar formats and methods in enlightenment. The similarity is suggestive of their universal implications. But, of course, one should not overlook the different situations in which the cases of enlightenment individually occurred. It is obvious that the outcome of epiphanic enlightenment is closely related to the accumulation made in the gradual enlightenment. Despite their same kind of approach to infinity, the cases may differ in the action, tranquility, existence, non-existence by which they are each characterized. This underscores the importance of the foundation laid by both an individual’s interest in life and what the individual usually learns and thinks. As regards the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment in Confucianism, its meaning is like what is expressed in the following lines by Danranzi 澹然子 found in Wang Shouren’s preface to the Danranzi 澹然子序: “The Five Elements remain in operation, when the Two Poles [i.e. Earth and Heaven] shuts and opens. Congealed in this tiny body between the Poles, there was real essence. It is lost and scattered, because the rein on mundane interest loosens. Collected bit by bit and day by day, it comes back, back as our conscience.” According to the logical order that

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the activities of the heart naturally follow, we can summarize the process as: collecting the loosened heart, converging back to sincerity, merging into the cosmos, and wonderfully matching heaven and earth. Summary: Proceeding from a discussion on a proposition raised in the Laozi, the Mencius, and the Book of Change, we have explored the methods with which pre-modern thinkers sought to return to the origin. Admittedly there are differences among the methods. For instance, Laozi’s philosophy emphasizes tranquility, the philosophy in the Book of Change emphasizes dynamic operations, and Mencius’s philosophy highlights action-taking. But particular attention should nonetheless be paid to what they share in common because of the universality displayed in it. Those methods invariably involve a twofold transcendence, namely, the transcendence of desires at the level of sensitivity and that of notions at the level of intellectuality. They are what Zhuangzi refers to, respectively, as the detachment from form and the abandonment of knowledge. In Buddhism, the twofold transcendence is known as the removal of both “the afflictions from perception” (i.e. afflictions caused by delusions that are induced by external objects) and “afflictions from deliberation” (i.e. afflictions derived from a state of being possessed and ensnared by the delusions that are created by the heart). In this regard, even Confucian scholars are also aware that there are forced reasoning in wisdom. They hence criticize the application of wisdom to selfish pursuits. Their method of twofold transcendence reaches the third level of the heard, the level where heaven and human beings meet. As for the realm of faith, as an establishment by Zhixing, it is where the key substance of philosophical and religious cultures resides. In terms of clarity and coherence in exposition, the Zhuangzi is the best, because it shows a clear awareness of the threefold stratification of the heart and holds that one should — through “the Fasting of the Heart” and “Sitting down and Forgetting Everything” — open up the depths of one’s heart as well as purify human existence. But, in terms of methodological feasibility and the loftiness of practice, the Mencius stands out, because its “minimization of desire” and the “search of the lost mind” are what ordinary people can and should do. Whereas the method in the Zhuangzi tends to lead people to wander “outside the sphere (i.e. social conventions)” 方外, the method in the Mencius provides guidance for

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people’s striving “inside the sphere” 方內. Each method has its own ­merits. Although the method of “attaining complete vacuity and maintaining steadfast quietude” in the Laozi seems to differ from that of “attaining sincerity by turn around to the self” in the Mencius, they are not mutually exclusive. This is because they both require the examination of the self and hence both can be incorporated in the “tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment” proposed in the Book of Change. They are of the same kind as the methods of “stopping and meditating” 止觀 and “cultivation of mediation and wisdom” 定慧 in the Tiantai and Chan Sects of Buddhism, respectively. The tranquil experience, as a matter of course, does not necessarily guarantee the penetrative enlightenment. We can state with certainty that the pursuit of the Way must be under the guidance of learning. The daily decrease must be preceded by daily increase as its prelude. Only through one’s persistent “ studies [that] lie low” 下學 without stopping can one possibly attain “ penetration [that] rises high ” 上達 (see Confucius, 2014, 14:37). Without a rich accumulation, there would be no spiritual transcendence to speak of. In the language of phenomenology, what the tranquil experience requires in philosophical meditation is to temporarily “leave aside” or put in parentheses all the relevant notions so as to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of one’s attempt to “face the object itself.” The enlightened penetration would, moreover, require a gifted intellect and some right moments to occasion it. Mr. Feng Youlan observes that whereas Western philosophy relies primarily on a “positive” method, namely, the method of logical analysis, Chinese philosophy employs mainly a “negative” method, a method of “transcending rationality.” A student of philosophy, as he further points out, should start from the positive but end with the negative methods.29 He is quite right in this regard. The pre-modern thinkers’ methods discussed above are largely the fruit of their examination of inspirational thinking (i.e. the mode of thinking that is characteristic of epiphanic enlightenment). If imaginal (perceptional) thinking prevails in the culture of art, abstract (logic) thinking in the culture of science, then inspirational culture relies particularly upon 29 Feng

Youlan 馮友蘭, Zhongguo Zhexue Jianshi 中國哲學簡史 [A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy], Beijing: Beijing Daxue chubanshe, 1985, pp. 393–395.

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inspirational thinking.30 To date, people’s research on inspirational ­thinking remains underdeveloped. What pre-modern thinkers have summarized in this regard are their personally attested experiences, which undoubtedly constitute a highly valuable spiritual heritage. To reject and dismiss it as mysticism would inevitably hamper our cultural construction in the areas of humanities. Discussion: Religion as well as philosophy usually resorts to metaphysical thinking with a view to entering deep into a realm of the abstruse. Legend has it that Sakyamuni sat beneath a bodhi tree for several days and nights before he finally attained enlightenment. Likewise, many of Kant’s profound thoughts occurred to him along the “Kant’s path,” where he often went for a stroll. Great thinkers are usually people who walk in solitude in life. Which level of the heart has their metaphysical thinking reached? Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Mencius all appreciate infants’ hearts. Can this be explained from a methodological perspective? As we often see in real life, there are people whose conscience can hardly withstand the temptations of wealth and sensual pleasures. Regarding this tendency, can the establishment of inherent sacredness — to which we referred metaphorically as a Pearl of Wind Resistance in Section 7.2 — function as a counterbalance indeed? It is said that, to those engaged in the task of finding out the ­original nature of the world, the existing culture is at once a treasure and a burden. Do you agree? People often use the following three lines of poetry to depict the three phases in Buddhist meditation: the first, “with fallen leaves all over the empty mountain, where to search for its track?” (Wei Yingwu);31 the second, “In the empty mountain without anyone, water flows and flowers blossom” (Su Shi);32 and the third, “eternal is the vast sky, [coupled with] one moment of wind and moon” (Chonghui).33 What kind of procedure and method are revealed in such a succession of words and phrases as “searching,” “being without,” “ eternalness,” and “one moment?”

30 The

three modes of thinking are required in all cultural creativities. What we discuss here are the areas in which each of them dominate. 31 Translator’s note: Wei Yingwu 韋應物 (737–792 AD), a poet. 32 Translator’s note: Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101 AD), a poet and scholar. 33 Translator’s note: Chonghui 崇慧, a Channist master.

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References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Cheng Hao. Da Hengqu Xiansheng ding xing shu 答橫渠先生定性書 [Reply to Master Hengqu’s letter on calming human nature]. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 525–526. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. Translated by James Legge. In Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong 論語大學中庸. Shanghai: Sanlian Chubanshe, 2014. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 97–114. Feng Youlan 馮友蘭. Zhongguo Zhexue Jianshi 中國哲學簡史 [A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe, 1985. Heidegger, M. Being and Time. Translated [into Chinese] by Chen Jiaying 陳嘉 映 et al. Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 1987. Hu Jiaxiang 胡家祥. Kuang Zhouyi suowei de cijing bianshi 況周頤所謂的詞境 辨識 [Analysis of what Kuang Zhouyi referred to as ‘poetic realm’]. Wenxue Yichan, 2005, Issue 2. Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲. Ming Ru Xuean 明儒學案 [Scholarly Annals of Ming Confucians]. Beijing: Zhongguo Shudian, 1990. Huineng 慧能. The Sutra of Hui Neng. Translated by Huang Maolin 黃茂林. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1996. Laozi 老子. The Lao Tzu 老子. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 139–176. Liu Xie 劉勰. Shensi 神思 [Spirit Thought]. In An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. Translated and edited by Stephen Owen. New York: Norton, 1996, 346–349. Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵. Xiangshan Yulu 象山語錄 [Ana of Xiangshan].” Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980. Lu Jiuyuan. Lu Jiuyuan Ji 陸九淵集 [Collected Works of Lu Jiuyuan]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980.

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Mencius 孟子. Menzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. Mou Tsung-san. Xinti yu Xingti 心體與性體 [The Substance of Heart and the Substance of Human Nature]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1999. Owen, Stephen (comp. & trans.). An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginning to 1911. NY: Norton, 1996. Qian Xuesen 錢學森. Guanyu Siwei Kexue 關於思維科學 [On the Science of Thinking]. Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1986. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Zhuangzi Jie 莊子解 [Analytical Study of the Zhuangzi]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1964. Wang Fuzhi. Zhouyi Waizhuan 周易外傳 [Outer Commentary on the Book of Changes]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Zhuangzi 莊子. Zhuangzi. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 179–210.

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Chapter 8

Knowing and Doing

Traditional Chinese philosophy also distinguishes itself with its unique view on zhi 知 (Knowing) and xing 行 (Doing). It takes note of the contradiction between the aspects of humankind’s cognition and that of their practice, but its elucidation thereof is special. Since the Doing it examines is mainly moral practice, what it refers to as Knowing is primarily human beings’ conscience, secondarily the knowledge ­ ­regarding social relations, and finally the knowledge about all things and beings in nature. Such Knowing and Doing, though confined in the ethical discourse, display nevertheless bidirectional tendencies. The ­ Knowing requires the accumulation of knowledge of its subject matter, which is to be followed first by one’s awakening to the Substance of nature accomplished through one’s reaching the depths of the heart and then by one’s personal attestation to the Substance of the Way. The Doing, on the other hand, requires a reverse process. What it requires is to proceed by building the noble part. Once the cognitive experience of the Substance of both nature and the Way is attained, there will begin to be a leader in the heart to command the Qi, so one can take abode in benevolence and follow righteousness in one’s conduct with a view to ensure their prevalence in daily life.

8.1.  Investigating Things and Gaining Knowledge From a modern perspective, investigating things and gaining knowledge is a good proposition. This proposition and the theme of Personally 453

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Experiencing and Vigorously Practicing 身體力行 embody two series of activities of the heart with one taking care of the knowing of the external objects and the other putting the gained knowledge to practice. But, because what traditional Chinese philosophy — as mainly a philosophy of ethics — is concerned with is the issue of values, this proposition is a rather odd one. Contending views have hence arisen as regards how to understand it. According to incomplete statistics, there had been over 70 different interpretations of the term from the Han dynasty to the late Qing era.1 Therefore, it is hard to list and discuss them all. What we aim to do is to find out the rationale in the proposition itself, try to incorporate the different views about it, attempt at a relatively reasonable interpretation that is well informed of the contending views, and thereby explore the value of the proposition that is relevant to us today. 8.1.1.  The Order of the “Eight Categories of Virtues” in the Great Learning The Great Learning is a part of the Book of Rite. It is hard to ascertain the date of this text. Zhu Xi attributed it to Zeng Shen 曾参 (505–435 BC). But that was merely his speculation. The Great Learning should have been written later than Doctrine of the Mean. Its exposition has incorporated some views from Doctrine of the Mean, the Mencius, and the Xunzi. As a scholar in the mid-Tang era, Li Ao placed great importance on the contents of the Great Learning. In Part Two of his On the Regression of Natural Character, he wrote the following passage in explanation of the term “investigating things and gaining knowledge” 格物致知, “By wu 物 [things], it refers to all things and beings. And the [verb] ge 格 means ‘to come,’ ‘to arrive.’ When things come, the heart, being bright and clear, [is able to] make clear distinctions among them without reacting to them. Such is the acquisition of knowledge, which in turn means the arrival of knowledge. The arrival of knowledge leads to the sincerity of one’s wills, and sincere wills result in an upright heart …” During the Northern Song 1 Jingyi Congchao 經義叢鈔

[Compilation of Commentaries on the Classics], in Zhongguo Zhexue Wenxian Xuanbian 中國哲學文獻選編 [Selection of Chinese Philosophical Texts], ed. Wing-tsit Chan, Nanjing: Jiangsu Educational Press, 2006, p. 477.

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dynasty, Zhou Dunyi and Zhang Zai both emphasized the Doctrine of the Mean but said almost nothing about the Great Learning. This was due to the different rationales presented in the two texts with the former ­centering on the knowing of nature and heaven, and the latter proceeding from the ­starting point of investigating things and gaining knowledge and, in doing so, arguing for the implementation of the notion in the practices of selfcultivation 修身, regulation of one’s family 齊家, management of one’s state 治國, and harmonization of the entire world 平天下. The first and foremost upholder of the Great Learning was arguably Cheng Yi. He, joined by his brother Cheng Hao, took out Doctrine of the Mean as well as the Great Learning from the Book of Rite and established them as two independent texts. Later, Zhu Xi compiled the Analects, the Mencius, and these two texts by annotating all the four monographs together, hence his Four Books Variorum, a required book for all Confucian scholars with its ­authority recognized by both the imperial court and the academicians among the general populace. Such is the origin of the term “Four Books” 四書. The term “great learning” 大學 was used in opposition to “small learning” 小學. The latter means the teaching and study of such technical knowledge as grammatology, philology, and phonology. The former refers to the knowledge regarding the major principles human beings should follow in their life. Examples of such major principles for both self-cultivation and the practice of making history in one’s political career can be found in the “Three Creeds” 三綱領 and “Eight Categories of Virtues” 八條目 in the Great Learning, which begins with the following passage. The Way of learning to be great (or adult education) consists in ­manifesting the clear character, loving the people, and abiding in the highest good. Only after knowing what to abide in can one be calm. Only after having been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquility can one have peaceful repose. Only after having peaceful ­repose can one begin to deliberate. Only after deliberation can the end be attained. Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends. To know what is first and what is last will lead one near the Way. The ancients who wished to manifest their clear character to the world would first bring order to their states. Those who wished to bring order to their states would first regulate their families. Those who wished to regulate their families would first cultivate their personal lives.

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Those who wished to cultivate their personal lives would first rectify their minds. Those who wished to rectify their minds would first make their wills sincere. Those who wished to make their wills sincere would first extend their knowledge. The extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things. When things are investigated, knowledge is ­extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, the family will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world. From the Son of Heaven down to the common people, all must regard the cultivation of the personal life as the root or foundation. There is never a case when the root is in disorder and yet the branches are in order (Great Learning, 1963, pp. 86–87).

Zhu Xi ascribed this passage to Confucius and hence insisted on t­ aking it to be words from “the classics” 經. As regards the rest of the text, which is largely explanatory in nature, he ascribed it to Zeng Shen and called it “commentaries” 傳. Although his judgment may not necessarily be valid, this passage does capture the basic theme in the Great Learning. Generally speaking, the manifestation of the clear character is to establish oneself. The love for the people, as its extension, is to establish others. And the highest good is that which combines the establishment of both oneself and others, which is the attainment of excellence. The Eight Categories of Virtues are related to, but more detailed than, the Three Creeds. From the investigation of things to the cultivation of personal life is a process of establishing oneself. And from the regulation of one’s ­family to the cause of bringing peace to the whole world is a process of establishing others. Thus, from inner sageliness to outer kingliness, one eventually attains the highest good. But, with regard to this process, there are two seemingly simple questions where misunderstanding may easily occur: First, where should the process start? Second, what should be emphasized? To answer the questions, one has to be able to identify the beginning and end of this matter as well as the first and the last in things. From the preceding part of the text, it is clear to almost everyone that the cultivation of personal life is the root or foundation when it is compared with the regulation of the family, the management of the state, and the

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harmonization of the whole world. But, can we say that the investigation of things is the foundation of the cultivation of one’s personal life? Not necessarily. There is simply no end to things. They, with one’s self, one’s family, one’s state, and the world all included, can never be investigated exhaustively. Then how can such an investigation serve as a foundation? It should be noted that the investigation of things is one of the conditions to be met in the cultivation of personal life. All we can say is that the investigation is the beginning but not the foundation. It is of great importance to make the distinction. One may ask why Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi equated the investigation of things to the exhaustive exploration of the Texture or even elevated the investigation to a stage which — as a stage of sageliness — would be unattainable unless one had “thoroughly comprehended the inscrutable and spirit-like and know[n] the processes of transformation” (Book of Change, 1993, p. 325). The answer is that the investigation, in their opinion, was not only the beginning but also the foundation of the Eight Categories of Virtues.2 That is why they mistook the initial step for what the whole process would culminate in. In so doing, they made the category of gaining knowledge redundant, regarding “investigation of things and gaining knowledge as identical” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 15). Regrettably, few scholars in academia have ­realized this major mistake made by Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. From the step of investigating things and gaining knowledge to that of making one’s wills sincere and rectifying one’s mind, the heart undergoes a process of continuous enrichment until it gradually calms down and ­settles on Oneness. To “rectify” the heart means to stop only when the heart has concentrated into One. According to the Shuowen Jiezi, the original meaning of the graph zheng 正 (to rectify; to correct) is derived from yi 一 (one) and zhi 止 (to stop), meaning to settle on that which one regards as right. If the cultivation of one’s personal life is the foundation of the regulation of one’s family, the ­management of one’s state, and the harmonization of the world, then the rectification of 2 “The

extension of knowledge,” says Cheng Yi (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Volume 25), “consists in the investigation of things. Such is what we call the foundation and beginning. As regards the management of the world and state, they are what we see as the end and the last.”

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the heart is the objective of the investigation of things, the gaining of knowledge, and the effort to make one’s wills sincere. Confucius has once asked this question, “Without being able to rectify oneself, how can one rectify others?” (Confucius, 13:13) Mencius, likewise, pronounces that “the foundation of the world is the state; the foundation of the state is the family; and the foundation of the family is the self” (Mencius, 4A:5). And “as for learning,” says Xunzi (Chapter 1), “[one should] of course learn to concentrate.” He goes on to expound the method of fostering the heart in the next chapter, saying that a sage is one whose heart “upright in all respects and inexhaustible” 齊明而不 竭, where the qi 齊 means being both upright and compreh­ensive. In the Great Learning, the “rectification of the heart” 正心 and the “cultivation of the self” are explained together with particular emphasis laid on the status of the former as a foundation: “When one is affected by wrath to any extent, his mind will not be correct. When one is affected by fear to any extent, his mind will not be correct. When he is affected by fondness to any extent, his mind will not be correct. When he is affected by worries and anxieties, his mind will not be correct. When the mind is not present, we look but do not see, listen but do not hear, and eat but do not know the taste of the food. This is what is meant by saying that the cultivation of the personal life depends on the rectification of the mind” (The Great Learning, 1963, p. 90). The passage therefore makes it clear that since the heart commands the self, the rectification of the heart and the cultivation of one’s personal life are inseparable. Such being the case, we can regroup the eight categories into two series with one being internal and the other external. The process from the investigation of things (IT henceforth), through the gaining of knowledge (GK henceforth), and the effort to make the wills sincere (MWS henceforth), all the way to the rectification of the heart (RH henceforth) is a process of regulating the internal, in which the Many converge into the One through gradual agglomeration. The process from the cultivation of the self (CS henceforth), through the regulation of the family (RF henceforth), and management of the sate (MS henceforth), all the way to the harmonization of the world (HW henceforth), on the other hand, is a ­process of regulating the external, in which the One develops into the Many through gradual diversification. The One is the root, and the Many

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the branches. The combination of RH and CS is the foundation. The gradual development form IT and GK to MS and HW rounds up a whole process. The cultivation and practice that follow this procedure from the root to the branches, and from the first to the last, would take people close to the Way. Their relations are illustrated as follows.3 ManyĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂOneĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂMany BranchesĂĂĂĂĂĂRootĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂBrances ITüGKüMWSüRHˆCSüRFüMSüHW BeginningĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂEnd InternalĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂĂExternal

Note that the “sincerity” in the Great Learning is not even nearly as profound as the “sincerity” in Doctrine of the Mean. The process from GK to MWS is only the sincerity resulting from enlightenment, not enlightenment resulting from sincerity. Although it interprets MWS in terms of “being watchful over oneself when alone” 慎獨 (cf. The Great Learning, 1963, p. 90), which was an interpretation highly extolled by later generations of scholars (e.g. Liu Zongzhou), what it means is basically the same things as the “being watchful over oneself when alone” mentioned in Chapter 3 of the Xunzi. If the emphasis in Doctrine of the Mean is identified in the part that says “what Heaven imparts to man is called human nature; to follow our nature is called the Way” (cf. Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98), then the emphasis in the Great Learning can be summarized by the sentence “[c]ultivating the Way is called education” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963). In other words, whereas the former aims at the enlightenment in one’s nature, the latter pays attention to the enlightenment through education. Since the Great Learning displays a roughly same empiricist leaning as does the Xunzi, to interpret the proposition of “investigating things and 3 The

two diagonal lines in the diagram represent the process of convergence and that of emanation. In that capacity, the lines, respectively, show the internal and external series in the heart and hence correspond with the realities of human cognition (including cognitive experience) on the one hand and human practice on the other.

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gaining knowledge” at an empirical level would be more in accordance with what the author intended. The proposition identifies the very basis of the cultivation of one’s own character. The development from IT to GW is an initial step to be taken at a basic level before one eventually succeeds at a high level. Starting from this initial step, one is supposed to complete the MWS, RH, and CS in succession and thereby lay a foundation for the RF, MS, and HW. 8.1.2.  Contending Views Regarding the Investigation of Things and Gaining Knowledge Since there are no words in the Great Learning to elucidate the phrase of “investigating things and gaining knowledge,” it is difficult to find out what its author meant by it. Zhu Xi attempted some elaborated interpretation of it in his Commentary on the Great Learning 大學章句. The interpretation conveys his personal view which, instead of being convincing, can even be regarded as one of the few faulty parts in his Four Books Variorum. “When we say the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things” he says, we mean that our intended acquisition of knowledge should be sought in a thorough investigation of the Texture in [all] things we encounter. There is no heart with intelligence that is incapable of knowing. And there is nothing in the world that is without Texture in it. P ­ recisely ­because Texture is inexhaustible, there is no limit to [the acquisition of] knowledge. For this reason, the teaching in the Great Learning ­begins by requesting [persistent] effort on the part of knowledge ­pursuers to explore deeper and deeper into the Texture in all things they encounter in the world based upon the [part of the] Texture they already know. They do so with a view to reaching the utmost p­ rofundity. Once a sudden and thorough understanding is attained as a result of a long-time effort, it will be an understanding of all aspects — be they the interior or exterior, the fineness or roughness — of all things as well as an understanding in which the entire Substance and the great Function of the heart are thoroughly illuminated. Such is [a state where] things are thoroughly investigated, and [a case where] knowledge reaches the utmost.

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Zhu Xi’s opinion above was formulated under the influence of Cheng Yi. To him, the investigation of things means a thorough investigation of the Texture in all things that one encounters. As for gaining knowledge, he interprets it as the work of our hearts’ cognitive capability. His interpretation is hardly intelligible and largely invalid. First, to take the ge 格 to mean — rather than merely “investigation” or “to investigate” — both “to encounter” and “to thoroughly investigate” is seemingly comprehensive but in fact rather ambiguous. Moreover, if the investigation of things were already the same thing as a thorough investigation of things’ Texture, and if such thorough investigation of Texture, in its turn, meant the same thing as gaining knowledge, then the investigation of things would be identical to gaining knowledge. Wang Tingxiang 王廷相 (1474–1544 AD), in Chapter 1 of the Yashu 雅述 (Refined Discourse), rightly criticizes Zhu Xi’s words to be “redundant without making sense” and “troublesome with piled-up phrases”. Second, when he utters the sentence that the heart is capable of knowing, he speaks of a capability. But the knowledge in the phrase “gaining knowledge” refers to the textures or principles that can be accessed by the heart. Whereas the former is neng 能 (efficacy; capability; potential), the latter is suo 所 (the specific form in which the said capability or potential is fulfilled). Thus, although the Chinese word zhi 知 (to know; knowledge; wisdom) occurs in both the sentence and the phrase, the two occurrences do not refer to one and the same concept. The zhi to be gained should be certain textures or principles with specific contents rather than the mere fulfillment of one’s capability of knowing them. Third, Zhu Xi takes the first occurrence of the word ge  格 to mean to explore exhaustively and the next occurrence to mean to reach an extreme. Due to such similarity in meaning between the two, the proposition of “investigating things and gaining knowledge” could be translated as “to explore exhaustively all the principles in the world so as to fulfill to the fullest extent the heart’s capability of knowing.” Although he is right in considering the investigation of things to be a proposition with which the teaching in the Great Learning begins, such absolute and extreme terms in which he interprets it make it become a stage that is so far beyond the reach of any ordinary person that one might have to consider it as a final phase, a phase that the teaching of the Great Learning ends with. Fourth, the so-called all things refer to things in nature as well as those in social

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life. Even if a sudden and thorough understanding of them could be attained, it would still be hardly an understanding of exhaustively all aspects of all things and — on top of that — hardly an understanding in which the entire Substance and great Function of the heart are thoroughly illuminated. A person’s life is l­imited, but the knowledge to be gained is unlimited. Inevitably, there are always things not yet accessible or understood by a given person at the level of intelligence. Fifth, a major problem is that the texture of human nature is not something that can be investigated outwardly, nor can the textures in social relations be found through any deductive reasoning typical of the natural laws in science. Principles of human nature, social relations, and the natural world are categorically different, which means that one has to approach them through significantly different paths. It is therefore not possible to grasp all of them through any given occurrence of “sudden and thorough understanding.” Even Zhu Xi — as a person with such an ­outstanding intelligence that enabled him to learn very extensively by analogy — was himself unable to know exhaustively all aspect of all things. Then how can we expect the general populace to accomplish this? Previous to Zhu Xi, there were two accomplished Confucian ­scholars who also came up with views that hardly make any sense. One of them was Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127–200 AD), who interpreted the “ge” as “to come” or “to make something come.” What he did aptly though was to interpret the wu 物 as “matters,” “affairs.” But he then interpreted the term gewu as meaning a deep knowledge of the good that would invite good matters (i.e. make good matters come), whereas a deep knowledge of the bad would invite bad matters. In his opinion, therefore, whether good or bad matter comes depends on which of the two a person was particularly interested in. This seems to be anything but what the term means in the Great Learning, because the interpretation sets the knowing as a precondition for the inviting. The other scholar was Cheng Yi. He, according to Volume 18 of the Er Cheng Yishu, sometimes took the ge to mean “to arrive” and/or “arrival” and sometimes took it to mean “to exhaust.” And, because the “wu” in his understanding means Texture or Principle, the term “gewu,” in his judgment, means an effort to exhaust the Principle (Posthumous Book of the Cheng Brothers, Vol. 25). His interpretation was taken over by Zhu Xi except the following, which was

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a part that even Zhu Xi may have found hard to accept: He argued that although the extension of knowledge consisted in the investigation of things, it was a capability human beings originally had with them rather than something drilled into them from outside. In his opinion, “once [the heart] is subjected to [the influence of] external things, carried away by them, and baffled by them without knowing it, the Heavenly Principle is extinct. That is why sages would keep them at bay” (Posthumous Book of the Cheng Brothers). The term gewu understood in this way may mean the removal of obscurity, which is a sense that lends itself to our interpretation of moral activities; but it is also a sense that is at discrepancy with his earlier interpretation. “Heavenly Texture,” he added, “can be approached when [we] react to everything with our observation of it.” This statement can be seen as his literal interpretation of the investigation of things and gaining knowledge. But this is immediately followed by this remark, “The learning of a man of virtue is to be practiced through nothing but his examination of himself. The key to the examination of oneself lies in the gaining of knowledge. [And] the key to the gaining of knowledge lies in the investigation of things” (Posthumous Book of the Cheng Brothers). If the principles in the world are already acces­sible through people’s observations, then what is the point of self-­examination? Besides, one’s self-examination differs from one’s reaction to everything one comes across. The former is characterized by inward attentiveness, whereas the latter by outward attentiveness. In this regard, they are simply poles apart. Since these are his random speeches, they may have been uttered in a casual manner s­ometimes. But it is indeed hard to mediate between the mutually c­ontradictory views expressed in these speeches. There have also been quite a few scholars who interpreted the proposition of investigation of things and gaining knowledge from the sole perspective of morality. According to Li Ao, for instance, the proposition refers to a state in which a person could make clear judgments about things when they occurred or came, and the person could do so without responding to them. Implied in this interpretation is human beings’ ­freedom from being subjected to the servitude to external things. This interpretation, simple as it may be, is not far from the point. Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086 AD) took the “ge” to mean “to guard.” Thus, the

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term gewu, in his view, means to guard against external temptation or pressure. In his On Investigating Things and Gaining Knowledge 格物致 知論, he wrote, Humankind, by nature, invariably like the good and resent the evil, consider the right admirable and regard the wrong as shameful. ­ Yet those who are good and right are few but those who are evil and wrong are many. Why is this so? It is due to the temptation and pressure from ­external things. Evil rulers like Jie and Zhou all knew that Yu and Tang were sage rulers. Yet their conduct was nonetheless opposite to the c­ onduct [of those sage rulers]. This is because they were unable to ­overbear their lustful heart. Bandits — such as Zhi — all knew that Yan Hui and Min Sun were worthies. Yet their conduct was nonetheless ­opposite to the conduct [of those worthies]. This is because they were unable to overbear their hearts’ [yearning for] benefit. Outlaws, though not without the awareness as regards how shameful theft was, would commit the crime nevertheless. This is because they are under the ­pressure of hunger and coldness. Likewise, officials who abandoned their integrity, though not without the awareness as regards how ashamed [they ought to be of their] disloyalty to their imperial court and of the service they render to the enemy of their state, would let themselves commit the betrayal just the same. This is because of their fear of the torture and punishment [given by the enemy]. [Such being the case], how could scholars possibly not know even better [than do those evil rulers, bandits, outlaws, and traitors] the beauty [associated with] benevolence and righteousness as well as the honor related to integrity? Yet, when facing even the slightest temptation that comes in the form of official rank or wealth, they would instantly yield to it. Then how could they possibly have any peace of mind as did [such a worthy as] Zhan Ziqin [aka Liuxia Hui] in reclusion? How could they possibly feel content with a life in poverty as did Yan Hui? … The reason why things are like this is because [people’s heart] is eclipsed by external things. Water is by nature clear indeed. But when mud and sand makes it obscure, one is unable to see the reflection of oneself in it even if one bends over such water. Candlelight is by nature bright indeed. But when it is covered by a single hand, one is unable to see clearly the face of a person who is only a few inches away. [If this is so, then] how can everything possibly not become even worse when one’s mind is disturbed by wealth and high status, and

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when one’s heart is eclipsed by [one’s preoccupation with the] poverty and humbleness [one suffers]? Only a man of virtue who loves learning would be free of all this. … [Such a man of virtue] would take abode in benevolence, follow the path of righteousness, make his will sincere in [everything he] does, ensure the uprightness of his heart in [all kinds of life he] leads, and set an example [for others] through his self-cultivation. Then how can the world, the state, and the family not be in order? It is said in the Great Learning that “the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things.” The “investigation” here carries the sense of guarding and defending. Those who can defend themselves against [the influence of] external things will be able to know the great Way.

The interpretation in this passage is based on Mencius’s thought. Although it may not necessarily be a correct reading of the Great Leaning, its argumentation is very coherent. It interprets “wu” as the temptation and pressure from external things, and “ge” as a dual effort to inwardly eliminate the lust in the heart and outwardly guard against the said temptation. Thus, gewu would mean an effort to remove the eclipse, and gaining knowledge would mean an effort to make it possible for the conscience to manifest itself. The point made in the passage is convincing in both argumentation and exemplification.4 Regrettably, it did not arouse general attention from later generations of scholars. Sima Guang was presumably focusing his attention solely on the issue itself rather than taking it upon himself to interpret classic texts. The philosophers of the heart who made a point of first building the nobler part of human nature generally tended to interpret gewu in negative terms. According to Volume 3 of the Xiangshan Yulu, Lu Jiuyuan thought the term meant “reducing the burden”, namely, a gradual decrease of

4 Zhu

Xi once took issue with Sima Guang regarding this point, saying, “Now it is said that one has to defend oneself against external things before one is able to know the great Way, which would mean that the relationship between father and son must be broken up before one knows filial piety and fatherly kindness, and that a ruler and his subjects must be separated before one knows benevolence and reverence. How can there be such a case?” This opinion, which Zhu expresses in Volume 2 of the Sishu Huowen, is obviously based on a distortion of Sima Guang’s words (because it ignores the “temptation and pressure,” to which the “external things” in the phrase serve as a mere modifier).

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worldly desires. Yang Jian 楊簡 (1141–1225 AD), according to Volume 10 of the Cihu Yishu 慈湖遺書, explicitly pointed out that “gewu cannot be discussed in terms of the exhaustive pursuit of the Texture,” and that “ge connotes warding off, specifically, to ward off external things.” Wang Shouren, in his youth, admired Zhu Xi very much. Due to his belief in Zhu Xi’s theory on the investigation of things (i.e. gewu) then, he tried hard to put it in practice. But the effort ended in failure. People merely say that in the investigation of things we must follow Chu Hsi [i.e. Zhu Xi], but when have they carried it out in practice? I have carried it out earnestly and definitely. In my earlier years my friend Ch’ien [i.e. Qian] discussed the idea that to become a sage or a worthy one must investigate all things in the world. But how can a ­person have such tremendous energy? I therefore pointed to the bamboos in front of the pavilion and told him to investigate them and see. Day and night Mr. Ch’ien went ahead to try to investigate to the utmost principles in the bamboos. He exhausted his mind and thoughts and on the third day he was tired out and took sick. At first I said that it was because his energy and strength were insufficient. Therefore I myself went to try to investigate to the utmost. From morning till night, I was unable to find the principles of the bamboos. On the seventh day I also became sick because I thought too hard. In consequence we sighed to each other and said that it was impossible to be a sage or a worthy, for we do not have the tremendous energy to investigate things as they have. After I had lived among the barbarians for (almost) three years, I understood what all this meant and realized that there is nothing in the things in the world to investigate, that the effort to investigate things is only to be carried out in and with reference to one’s body and mind, and that if one firmly ­believes that everyone can become a sage, one will ­naturally be able to take up the task of investigating things (Wang Shouren, ­translated in Chan, 1963, p. 689).

After this lesson, Wang Shouren’s thought underwent a significant change. Later, in his famous “Four Maxims,” he wrote, “In the original substance of the mind [i.e. heart] there is no distinction good and evil. When the will becomes active, however, such extinction exists. The faculty of innate knowledge is to know good and evil. The investigation of things is to do good and remove evil” (Wang Shouren, translated in Chan, 1963,

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pp. 686–687). Along this line of thinking, gewu would mean a ­process in one’s own heart marked by the removal of the evil and r­estoration of the good. That was why Wang (translated in Chan, 1963, p. 664) interpreted “ge” as “correct,” positing that “while the original substance of the mind [i.e. heart] is o­ riginally correct, incorrectness enters when one’s thoughts and will are in operation.” “The word ‘extension’”, in his judgment, “is the same as that used in the saying, ‘Mourning is to be carried to the utmost degree of grief.’ … The extension of knowledge is not what later scholars understand as enriching and widening knowledge. It is simply extending one’s innate knowledge of the good to the utmost.” (Inquiry on the Great Learning, 1963, pp. 664–665), and that “to investigate is to rectify. It is to rectify that which is incorrect so it can return its original correctness. To rectify that which is not correct is to get rid of evil, and to return to correctness is to do good” (Inquiry on the Great Learning, 1963, pp. 665–666). This interpretation is admittedly not groundless. But insofar as it is his approach to the Eight Categories of Virtues in the Great Learning, his understanding of IT tends to overlap with his interpretation of RH. From the perspective of the characteristics of moral culture, the interpretations of Sima Guang, Yang Jian, and Wang Shouren are closer to the way things really are. But, since the issues addressed in the Great Learning are not limited to moral issues, the proposition has remained open to interpretations from other legitimate perspectives. During the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties, and due to both a general concern regarding the political crisis of the nation and the ­influence of science and technology brought by Western missionaries, a significant shift of emphasis can be observed among Chinese academicians then. The shift was directed to both the knowledge oriented towards socio-political practices and that about the world outside China. It was a shift that brought new life to the proposition of IT and GK. Wang Fuzhi wrote, “It is true that the teaching in the Great Learning begins with [the notion of] investigation of things. But its text advocates ‘regarding the cultivation of the personal life as the root or foundation’ instead of regarding the investigation of things as the root or foundation. … [What is supposed to be under the investigation] in the Great Lear­ ning does not fundamentally differ from the things investigated in sociopolitical tactics or things in divination. Nor does the knowledge in [either]

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socio-political tactics or divination run counter to the knowledge [that ought to be] gained according to the Great Learning when it comes to values in moral terms or in terms of advantage and disadvantage” (Wang Fuzhi, 1975, Vol. 4). Thus, he negated the view held by his ­forerunners — such as Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi — who regarded IT as a fundamental point made in the Great Learning. And he deprived both IT and GK of the status as something meaningful in the value discourse. In so doing, he completed a disenchantment of this proposition and opened the door for an epistemological approach to it. In his view, “the investigation of things is, generally speaking, to be performed with the use of both the heart on the one hand and one’s eyes and ears on the other. [It] is mainly [a process of] exploration, which is complemented by thinking and analysis. What is thought about and what is analyzed are invariably the objects of the exploration. As regards the gaining of knowledge, it is the task to be performed solely by the heart and mainly [a process of] thinking and analysis, which is complemented by exploration. What is explored is intended to help to determine whether [the conclusions of] the thinking and analysis are valid” (Wang Fuzhi, 1975, Vol. 1). Thus, the process of exploration differs from that of thinking and analysis in that the former proceeds outwardly while the latter inwardly. The former provides materials for the latter; and the latter awaits the attestation by the former. Whereas human eyes and ears are as sensitively capable as the human heart is intellectually capable. In IT, one needs one’s eyes and ears to conduct exploration. It can thus be subsumed basically under perceptual knowledge. In GK, one relies on one’s heart in one’s thinking and analysis. It can hence be subsumed under rational knowledge. But, of course, what we make here is a basic logical classification. In reality the phases of IT and GK are permeated by both exploration on the one hand, and thinking and analysis on the other. Besides, the heart is also in operation throughout these processes. Although Qing dynasty scholar Yan Yuan did not reach as high a level of understanding as Wang Fuzhi had, he, according to Volume 6 of his Xizhai Yuji, 習齋餘言 also came up with a very workable interpretation of IT. “Speaking of the ‘ge’ in ‘gewu’,” he said, “Yangming [i.e. Wang Shouren] and his followers take it to mean ‘to rectify,’ Zhu Xi and his ­followers interpret it as ‘to arrive,’ and Han-dynasty Confucians understand it as ‘to come.’ None [of them] seems to be appropriate. … I would say it

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means ‘to grapple’ as [used in such phrases as] ‘grappling wild beasts with bare hands’ and ‘killing by grappling with bare hands’ in historical texts. So what it means is to use one’s hands to get physical with things.” In his conversation with others, he — as we learn from the Yanxing Lu — once said, “the ‘ge’ means ‘to grapple’ [in the sense of] to grapple a wild beast. [So] ‘gewu’ means to lay your hands on it and do it, just like [how] the Six Arts in Confucianism [are practiced]. Take rituals and music, [you] can talk about them eloquently. But if [you] don’t personally perform the r­ituals and play the music, [you] are still not knowledgeable about them. That is why it is said that the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things.” Thus, Yan Yuan means by IT something like what is known as practice in the modern time. And its corresponding notion of GK would mean the gaining of genuine knowledge through practice. Along this line of thinking, people came to refer to the science from the West as the Scholarship of Investigation and Gaining 格致之學. Up to this point, the proposition of IT and GK had gradually deviated from its original meaning in the Great Learning and merged into the type of ­epistemology that is typical of Western philosophy. 8.1.3.  An Overall Grasp of the Proposition of Investigation of Things and Gaining Knowledge The difficulty with such an overall grasp lies particularly in the question how to understand the word 格 ge, which was a frequently used word in early antiquity. According to Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, the word originally denotes “the appearance of a tree growing.”5 Xu Xuan elaborated on this interpretation by adding that a tall tree with long branches was called ge. Based on the identifiable logic shown in the entries and examples listed in the Kangxi Zidian, we can classify its meanings into the following four groups. For the first group, let us start from Duan Yucai’s (1969, p. 254) Commentary on E ­ xplaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, where Duan observed that the length of a growing tree would 5 Translator’s

note: English translation of this phrase is adopted from Qiu Xigui. Chinese Writing, p. 288.

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eventually reach a certain point. He added that to extend from here to there was called to reach, and to extend from there to here was called to come. The word ge, in his judgment, primarily means “to reach” 至. In the Chapter of “­ Decrees of Yao” in the Shang Shu, there is the phrase “reaching [the heaven] high above and [the earth] down below.” The world also means “to come” 來, as in the sentence “Come, you Shun” in the same ­chapter. When the movement of the reaching or coming reaches an extreme with something obtained as an ultimate result, it is known as an exhaustive exploration 窮究. Compilers of the Kangxi Dictionary held that the word ge in the sentence “the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation [i.e. ge] of things” in the Great Learning had been used in this sense. As for the second group, since, (the top of) a tree rises up when it grows, this group consists of such closely related senses as “to rise” 昇 and “to ascend” 登. According to Part 1 of the Erya, “ge means ‘to rise’.” An example of its sense of “ascending” can be found in this sentence in the chapter of “Marquis Lü on Penalty” in the Shang Shu, “By listening to my words, you may all have an ascended [i.e. ge] life”. By that the ­marquis meant his audience’s ascendance to seniority. The ­ascendance as a result of growing implies a change 變革. In the ­chapter “Gaoyao’s Counsels” of the same book, there is the sentence, “If [they] are r­ eformed [i.e. ge], then initiate them into [our] employment.” D ­ erived from this sense of change is the third group, which ­consists of the senses of “to fight” 鬥 and “to match [one’s opponent or rival] in strength” 敵. In Chapter 15 of the Xunzi, for instance, there is the ­sentence, “Do not seize those [among the enemy] who submit themselves; do not exempt from ­punishment those [among the enemy] who resist [i.e. ge].” The phrase “those who ge” in this sentence means those who continue fighting without ­admitting defeat. That is why, in his ­annotations to the Xunzi, Tang dynasty scholar Yang Jing 楊倞 (9th century AD) interpreted the phrase as “those who fight back.” In ­Volume 70 of the Records of the Grand Historian, we see the sentence “when driving a herd of sheep to attack a ferocious tiger, … it would clearly be a case of no match in strength.” The “not ge” in this sentence means “to be no match for.” A naturally extended meaning of ge based on its senses of “to fight” and “to match each other in conflict” is “to contradict each other” 抵牾 or “to be at discrepancy with each other (with no ­compatibility in between)” 扞格. And based on the meaning of “change,” there comes to be

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the fourth group, central to which is the meaning of “to rectify” 正 or “to remove what is wrong” 去非. When things deviate from their right path, we should ­ rectify them. Ramified from this sense are the senses of “measure(ment)” 度量, “code, pattern” 法式, and “standard” 標準. Its verbal sense of “to rectify” is evident in the following sentence in Mencius, 4A:20, “It is only the great man who can rectify [i.e. ge] what is wrong in the ruler’s mind” (Mencius, 1963, p. 75). (Here the word “ge” can also be understood as to “remove”.) In the rhyme dictionary known as the Guangyun 廣韻 (Extended Rhymes),6 ge is glossed as ­ “degree, measurement.”7 Its sense of “code” can be found in the sentence “the words are substantial and the conduct is ­ [appropriately] codified” in Chapter 33 of the Book of Rite. As to the sense of “standard,” it is used in the “ge” in the sentence “the imperial court valued [him] highly because of [his] uprightness and [high moral] standard [i.e. ge]” in Volume 58 of the History of Latter Han 後漢書.8 If the third group displays a centri­fugal tendency, then the tendency that the fourth displays is centripetal. It is the unity of such opposite tendencies that underpins the development and changes of things. Below is a table of how these senses are related.

The appearance of 1. to reach — to come — to a tree growing obtain after exhausting it 2. to rise — to ascend — to change

3. to fight — to match — to contradict — to be at discrepancy 4. to rectify (to remove the wrong) — measure(ment) — code — standard

6 Translator’s

note: This dictionary of rhymes was compiled by Chen Pengnian 陳彭年 during 1007–1008 AD. 7 When annotating the phrase “measuring [i.e. ge] taller than the Five Mountains and more expansive than the Three Prefectures” in Bao Zhao’s 鮑照 (414–466 AD) “Wucheng fu 蕪 城賦 [Poetic Exposition for a Deserted Town]” in the Wenxuan 文選 [Selections of Refined Literature], Li Shan 李善 cited the following early definition of the word ge in the Cangjie Pian 倉頡篇 [Book of Cangjie], “Ge means dimensional measure”. 8 Translator’s note: The History of Latter Han 後漢書 was compiled and partly composed by Fan Ye 范曄 (398–446 AD).

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The meaning of zhi 致 is relatively easy to grasp. Its original meaning, according to the Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, is to succeed in delivering something to the intended destiny. Its other senses extended from this original meaning include to summon, to cause to come, to gain, to attain, to reach, and to be extreme. Thus, the 致 in the term 致知 (gaining knowledge) can be understood as to gain or to attain. What we have to make clear now is, among the contending views regarding how to interpret the phrase, what was the kind of “things” to be investigated and what was the kind of “knowledge” to be gained in each pre-modern philosopher’s argument. Since “things” and “knowledge” are the objects of, respectively, the “investigation” and the “gaining”; once their kinds are ascertained, one may be able to determine what should be the right types of “investigation” and “gaining” for them. At this point, we must look beyond the text of the Great Learning to examine the terms in the context of the real world. Our purpose to do so is to activate the ­potential vitality that the proposition should have for today. It seems that Zhu Xi, Wang Fuzhi, and Yan Yuan have taken into ­consideration things in the natural world. Zhu Xi suggests exhausting the textures (principles) in things with the knowledge in the heart. This understanding of GK may stands to reason in epistemological terms, but it is anything but applicable to the first two categories of virtue in the Great Learning; because, first, the threshold of the initial teaching is raised too high, and the IT and GK are mistaken for the basis of the Eight Categories of Virtues. Second, by replacing “things” with texture and taking the exhaustion to be the investigation, he causes IT and GK to overlap. The overlap, in its turn, inevitably results in the former’s usurpation of the latter’s status of importance. Wang Fuzhi interprets IT as a process in which human beings receive external information with their eyes and ears and through their exploration. Then he identifies the GK with the thinking and analysis in the heart. In so doing, he conceptualizes IT and GK as two phases in cognition. This is an exceptionally insightful interpretation and theoretical contribution. Lastly, Yan Yuan’s conceptualization of IT as doing things with hands seems to get close to scientific experiments. But we must acknowledge that what pre-modern philosophers mean by “things” are usually matters in social relations, which include oneself,

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one’s family, and even the affairs in the world. In fact, Wang Fuzhi and Yan Yuan have both formulated their aforementioned views on the primary basis of such an understanding of “things.” In our contemporary time, Mr. Zhang Dainian bases his interpretation upon a definition of “ge” in the Book of Cangjie 倉頡篇,9 and considers measure(ment) as “the correct definition of the ‘ge’ in [the term] gewu” in the Great Learning.10 This can be regarded as his unique view, according to which the measured affairs in social life will be all finite principles and social norms. But there have been other scholars who, though taking the “things” to be matters in social life as well, regard the gained knowledge as nature-texture 性理 or conscience. Wang Shouren defines the word ge as “to rectify.” And Wang Gen 王艮 (1483–1541 AD) holds that “the word ge is used in the sense of format [or formatting], which refers to the measuring square.”11 (Scholarly Annals of Ming Confucians, 1990, Vol. 32) Both interpretations feature an extension of Mencius’s idea of rectifying what is wrong in a ruler’s heart. Both hence connote rectification through measurement. There has been yet another view that is marked by a total denial of the “things” to be investigated. It equates the “things” with the temptation or pressure from external things. Sima Guang, for instance, interprets the word “ge” as meaning to guard or to defend. Yang Jian thinks the word means the removal of external things. Their interpretations may look peculiar, but they in fact stand to reason, because both are right in line with the methodology discussed in the previous chapter, and both ­advocate the removal of eclipse as a means to ensure the purity and illumination of nature-texture or conscience. But, because these interpretations — like those of Wang Shouren and Wang Gen — leave no room for the moral categories of making one’s will sincere and rectifying one’s heart, they are in accordance with anything but what the author of the Great Learning may have meant. 9 Translator’s

note: The Book of Cangjie is an early text ascribed to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). 10 Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang, 1982, p. 604. 11 Translator’s note: For definition of “the measuring square” 挈矩, see the Great Learning, 1963, p. 92.

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There are three senses in the “things” of IT and four senses in the “knowledge” — which is to be understood as what is known rather than merely what can be known — of GK. Corresponding to things in natural world is natural science, which is a narrow sense of knowledge. And the knowledge that corresponds to human relations is a whole body of the whys and wherefores and the morals, such as socio-political tactics and all that is held to be comme il faut in the socio-political domain. The innate knowledge that stems from the nature-texture of the heart and transcends all the three (i.e. natural science, principles, and social norms) is known to us as conscience. Whereas the former three are subsumed under the knowledge that one acquires through perception, the last one is entirely the conscience that one intuits. The “gaining” in this context basically means to obtain or to attain. Under close examination, it can be classified into, first, cognition, which is particular to the knowledge of natural ­science; second, cognitive experience or enlightenment, which is ­particular to nature-texture; and third, which is a type in between and particular to morals and the whys and wherefores in social life. As regards principles, it is close to natural science. Social norms, on the other hand, are close to nature-texture. But we might as well refer to them collectively as imparted knowledge, because both kinds are characterized by the understanding resulting from education rather than the enlightenment through intuition. In order to gain the first three kinds of knowledge, one has to rely on the method of Constant Inquiry and Study 道 問學, and what it requires of the heart is to think and analyze. But to gain the last kind, one usually has to undergo the processes of making oneself sincere through self-examination as well as the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment. That would be an experience which Mr. Xiong Shili often referred to as direct attestation or manifestation. The investigation on things in the natural world to gain knowledge on the laws therein constitutes the so-called Scholarship of Investigation and Gaining. That is a term we use to refer to natural science. The investigation of the social relationship for the knowledge of the whys and wherefores therein constitutes social science, which can be applicable in statecraft. The two modes of knowledge are characterized by an “outward search” and hence categorized as — to borrow Lu Jiuyuan’s words — the “knowledge that enters from the without” 外入之學. The investigation of human relations for the knowledge of ethics constitutes social ethics.

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And the investigation of human relations — or the removal of eclipse imposed by external things — for the knowledge of nature-texture gives rise to the philosophy of virtue. Social ethics and the philosophy of virtue both fall in the category of humanities. The latter of the two particularly requires introspection and inward search. It can therefore be called “knowledge that comes out from the within” 內出之學. I would venture to argue for the necessity to draw a distinction between a strict sense of ethics and that of the philosophy of virtue. Whereas ethicists study ethics, philosophers of virtue study nature-texture. The former emphasizes the norms of social relations; the latter emphasizes the mechanism of moral legislation. Their difference can be observed through a comparison between Aristotle’s Ethics and Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason. Much as ascetics, by leading a recluse life in a temple or monastery, have freed themselves from the norms of social conventions, they are subject to profound moral edification. The ethic norms in social life are to be maintained in both autonomy and heteronomy. Virtue, by contrast, is made possible by autonomic factors alone. As an example, sincerity can count as a virtue, but credibility is only an ethic, for there are business men who may often emphasize credibility for the sole purpose of making more profit. Likewise, benevolence is a virtue, but rite belongs to ethic. A participant in an election and hence in need of voters’ support would often appear to be amicable and modest. Thus, an insincere act of kindness can be as ethical as a sincere act of kindness is virtuous. Moreover, social life often displays mixed embodiments of the whys and wherefores of social affairs on the one hand and ethics on the other. Wang Fuzhi even ascribes socio-political tactics to the domain of GK. He has a good reason to do so. To sum up, the proposition of IT and GK is widely applicable. Although, in the Great Learning, the proposition primarily means an endeavor to gain the knowledge of the whys and wherefores in social affairs and that of ethics through one’s social interactions, the great vitality of the proposition itself enables it to emanate its implications to all fields of Chinese culture. Pre-modern scholars’ contending views as regards how to interpret the proposition are largely due to their different perspectives. But their contention does not necessarily mean any incompatibility among their views. Their interpretations are briefly sorted out in the table below.

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Things in Natural World

Perceived through eyes and ears and through exploration (Wang Fuzhi), Done with hands (Yan Yuan)

Natural laws — what one learns through perception, knowledge

Cognition — from outside in, heart’s thinking and analysis, acquisition

Natural science

Things in Social Relations

Perceived through eyes and ears and through exploration (Wang Fuzhi), Done with hands (Yan Yuan), Measure(ment) (Zhang Dainian)

The whys and wherefores in social affairs or ethics — what one learns through perception, socio-political tactics, social norms, etc.

Knowledge through education — heart’s thinking and analysis, acquisition (with elements of both cognition and cognitive experience)

Social sciences, ethics

Rectification (Wang Shouren), Measuring square (Wang Gen)

Nature-texture — the goodness that one intuits — conscience

Cognitive experience, enlightenment — from inside out, examine oneself and be sincere, tranquil experience of penetrative enlighten­ ment, personal attestation, manifestation

Philosophy of virtue

Temptation and pressure from external things

Guarding and defending (Sima Guang), Warding off (Yang Jian)

Knowledge

Zhi (Translated as “to gain” in this book)

Cultural Domains

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Insofar as the knowledge that pre-modern thinkers wished to gain was generally the consciousness of virtue, it has transcended its sense used in the Great Learning. It would hence be most appropriate to interpret the proposition of IT and GK as the removal of the eclipse in the heart to make it clear and illuminant. This interpretation is in agreement with the methodology discussed in the previous chapter.

8.2.  Personal Experience and Practice with Vigor The notion of personal experience and practice with vigor 身體力行 is roughly equivalent to that of practice in modern nomenclature. But because it places more importance on the presence and perseverance on the part of its practitioner,12 it is particularly close to the notion of practice used in the moral discourse in classic German philosophy. Like the notion of IT and GK, personal experience and vigorous practice can also be divided into two levels in logic, namely, the level of personal experience and that of vigorous practice. The two propositions oppose each other on the one hand. On the other hand, they are connected head-to-tail, forming thereby the following circle of mutual influence: The purpose of investigating things is to gain knowledge. To gain knowledge calls for personal experience of the process. To personally experience it requires one’s ­vigorous practice of it. And such a vigorous practice deepens one’s investigation of things. 8.2.1.  Personal Experience In modern Chinese language, the term shenti 身體 is usually used only as a noun that refers to the human body, which includes the head, the trunk, and the limbs. In pre-modern times, however, the term shenti — in addition to being used in this sense — also functioned as an attributive ­structure that looks like a subject–predicate structure. The noun shen 身 in this structure is used as an object in a preposition–object structure and the ti 體 is used as a verb. The disyllabic word they form, therefore, means 12  Translator’s

note: The term “presence” in this context should be understood as Dasein in Heideggerian terminology.

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literally an individual experiencing or embodying something with his or her body, which, by extension, means to experience or embody something in person. Zhu Xi often uses the word in the latter sense. In his Variorum of the Analects, he wrote a comment on the following remark by Zengzi 曾子, “[his] burden is heavy and his course is long” (Confucius, 2014, 8:7), saying, “Since benevolence is the perfect virtue in the heart, one has to personally embody it and vigorously practice it. [Such a burden] can [indeed] be said to be heavy. As long as one breathes, one must carry out the decision with no moment of relaxation. [Such a course] can [indeed] be said to be long.” Regarding the passage in the Mencius (7A:4) that starts with the sentence “[a]ll things are already complete in oneself ” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 79), Zhu Xi wrote in his Variorum of the Mencius 孟子 集注, “According to this passage, the Texture of all things is complete in oneself. When one experiences it personally, the Way will be complete in oneself and [the experience] is exceedingly delightful. When one practices it in [the spirit of] shu 恕,13 there will be no room for selfishness and, [as a result,] benevolence can be attained.” Thus, the word ti 體 (to experience) used in this sense means to submerge oneself and one’s mind into what one practices so as to get the feel, to attest it, and even to embody it. Personal experience is closely related to gaining knowledge. Moral activities differ from scientific activities in that their cognitive process is a cognitive experience. The practice that externalizes such cognition encompasses the moral things that one does in person. Elements of such personal experience are implicated in all the Eight Virtue Categories in the Great Learning. If, in scientific research, one can leave some tasks to computers and other devices, then there is almost nothing to which one can leave the tasks of moral evaluation and moral choice. In this domain, the subject has to be on-site, and has to be personally present. Whereas what is emphasized in the domain of science is the distinction between the true and the false, in the domain of morality, particular attention is paid to the choice that one makes between good and evil. In value issues, the presence of a subject is indispensable. Analysis of concrete cases will lead to the conclusion that the personal examination, 13 Translator’s

note: Shu (恕) means “consideration for others” and, by extension, ­“altruism.” See the author’s discussion on the Analects, 4:15 on p. 160 and pp. 332–333.

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personal attestation, and personal enlightenment that pre-modern thinkers explicated all fall in this category. In the Shang Shu, the chapter of “No Relaxation” 無逸 ends with the following words by the Duke of Zhou (11th century BC), “Oh, may the king, as the [new] successor to the throne, take note of this!” It is a very emotional ending for the chapter. Previously, the duke had talked about the experience and lessons to be drawn from history, hoping that the new successor to the throne would take warnings from them. But, much to our concern, those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths never know how peasants toil in the field. Likewise, common people have no idea what gentry and officials think and feel at home. This is because there is personal experience in neither case. In the Song dynasty, the word tiren 體認 (to attest through direct and personal experience, literally “to cognize or attest with one’s body”) became a catchphrase among scholars. Zhang Zai, in Part II of the Xue Dayuan, writes, “I have been engaged in academic discussions with others for twenty to thirty years. It is regrettable that I have been unable to make people relate themselves to what has been discussed. … If people attest to [the whys and wherefores under discussion] with their direct experience, they will derive discoveries from them. Without such direct attestation, the discussions will come to nothing but a number of empty and verbose talks.” Such direct attestation implies enlightenment resulting from direct experience. To be enlightened to something means to awaken to it. Wang Fuzhi suggests distinguishing between knowledge and the awakening in this sense. “The systematic expository account of whatever one sees,” he says, “is called knowledge. The enlightenment to something when it touches the heart is called awakening. With the systematic expository account, one is able to specify and verbalize the expectable courses of things. Once awakening to something when it touches the heart, one subtly senses what underlies it and hence understands it alone even though one may [still] find oneself unable to be explicit about it. Knowledge comes from an inspection of things’ details from the beginning to the end. Awakening is something of which one is aware alone [without being able to share with others]. [So] knowledge can be extrinsic but awakening has to be a personal experience. That which one awakens to is something subtle, but that which one knows is something explicable” (Wang Fuzhi, 1975, Vol. 2). In Kantian

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nomenclature, knowing can be characterized as a case of the application of theoretical reason whereas awakening can be regarded as a case of the manifestation of practical reason. Where knowledge is concerned, the subject and object of Knowing are distinct from each other in that the ­former is able to verbalize the latter. It is hence something extrinsic and explicable. Awakening, on the other hand, is one’s enlightenment to something that touches one’s heart, which is an experience one feels alone, an experience that one can hardly pin down with words. That is why it is personal and subtle. The other side of personal experience is connected to vigorous practice. In fact the key to the so-called direct experience of cognition lies in the manifestation of the cognition through one’s effort to practice personally what is cognized. During his visit to Peking University over 10 years ago, President of Harvard University recalled what he once experienced after he had freed himself of all that was external to his person. That was when he took a three-month leave from his university and, without telling anybody, went to a rural area in southern USA. When he worked in the farmland there, to smoke a cigarette behind the boss’s back or to have a word with his coworkers in private would be enough to make him feel happy. In the end, he landed a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant. But he worked there for only four hours before the boss settled accounts with him and told the old man that he was fired because he worked too slowly. Thanks to this experience, said the president, he knew himself better. Mencius, informed by many facts in history, once observed that “when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will exercise his mind with suffering, subject his sinews and bones to hard work, [and] expose his body to hunger” (Mencius, 1963, p. 78). It should be noted that this is because the process of overcoming difficulties can make a person not only stronger but also more thoughtful for others, more understanding to others’ situations and feelings. The term titie 體貼 (to get the feel of something through direct experience) can be applied to the gaining of knowledge, for it implies careful savoring. Cheng Hao, for instance, used the term to depict his experience of awakening to the “Heavenly Texture”. But the word is mostly used to describe one’s careful consideration of others’ situation for the purpose of showing one’s concern in an appropriate manner or offering the right kind

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of care. Emperor Yongzheng (r. 1723–1735 AD) in the Qing dynasty once — in his Imperial Edict regarding the Eight Banners 上諭八旗 — reproached some officials for their failure to understand the intention with which he had granted favor to his subjects, resulting in an arbitrary delay in the payments of the money he had bestowed on the subjects for their weddings and the funerals in their families, which was a delay that, in its turn, eventually left the subjects with no choice but to resort to highinterest loans. The emperor particularly imputed the problem to the officials’ failure to “put themselves in others situation and be minutely considerate [i.e. 體貼]”. And the words tixu 體恤 (to sympathize with) and tiliang 體諒 (to show understanding and sympathy) both connote the sense of putting oneself in others’ situation and thereby taking due action. Whereas the former word lays stress on the love and actual care to give to others, the latter gives importance to the magnanimity manifested in the form of understanding and forgiveness. The former is a forthright embodiment of benevolence; the latter represents altruism, which is a form in which benevolence manifests itself. Zengzi, as Confucius’s disciple, thinks that a theme pervasive in Confucius’s teachings is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others (Confucius, 2014, p. 27), which is embodied in one’s utmost effort to do as one would be done by others. As Mencius points out, “[w]hen in one’s conduct one vigorously exercises altruism, humanity [i.e. benevolent] is not far to see” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 79). In pre-modern Chinese culture, an ideal personality was supposed to be an embodiment of benevolence through its conduct in social life, where there were supposed to be, for instance, affection between father and son, righteousness between ruler and minister, attention to the separated function between husband and wife, proper order between the old and young, and faithfulness between friends (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, pp. 69–70). As we have discussed before, neither benevolence nor Zhi should be promoted alone. Then, should such ideal personality embody its Zhi as well? The answer should be affirmative. Those who wish to make a difference in history and leave a legacy would particularly need to let their strong and masculine Zhi manifest itself in their life. Knowledge for Rulers 帝學 by  Fan Zuyu 范祖禹 (1041–1098 AD) in the Song dynasty features a ­ collection of historical records and documents intended for rulers.

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Specifically they are records and documents compiled around the theme of earlier rulers’ experience in their pursuit of outward kingliness. Among them, there is one entry that reads, “I presume to hope that your majesty will follow the path of the Three August Ones, pay attention to the virtues of the Five Lords, act in accordance with the conventions institutionalized in the Three Eras,14 model after the ancestors, represent all the worthies with [your majesty’s] conduct, and embody the everlasting strong and masculine Zhi. To do so will ensure and perpetuate harmony in the world.” By following the path, paying attention to the virtues, acting in accordance with conventions, and modeling after ancestors, the author invariably means the practice of carrying forward the cause of past worthies and establishing an example (i.e. the aspiration in the heart, namely, Zhi). But the emphasis falls upon the phrase “embody the everlasting strong and masculine Zhi,” which indicates an effort to act as a trail blazer for future generations and which requires the dominance of Zhi (Zhi, to recall, is strong and masculine in nature). Only by doing so can one carry forward the cause of the past generation, open up a new path for future generations, make great political achievements, and bring about an ideal world of perpetuated harmony. Commentary on the Book of Changes is imbued with its author’s personal experience, which is expected to be put into concrete practice. In it, the Way of Change is said to be independent of thought and action; and Creativity and Cohesion are presented, respectively, to be in charge of the great beginning of all things and underlying the completion of all things. And it elaborates on the idea that “heaven, in its motion, (gives the idea of) strength” (Book of Change, 1993, p. 5), and “the (capacity and sustaining) power of the earth is what is denoted by Kun” (Book of Change, 1993, p. 19). All these come down to a proposition that heaven and human beings are in one. What this unity requires of human beings is their effort to embody the Way of Heaven while practicing the Way of Human Beings, and to establish human virtues on the basis of the Heavenly Virtue. This requirement contributes to the formation of a fine tradition in Chinese 14 Translator’s

note: The Three August Ones and the Five Lords are all legendary rulers in early antiquity. The Three Eras refer to the Xia (21st–16th century BC), Shang (16th–11th century BC), and Western Zhou (11th century BC–771 BC) dynasties.

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philosophy, where the manifestation of sacredness and the establishment of value of life await no anthropomorphic gods. In terms of logic, the following hierarchic sequence can be observed: The embodiment of the Ways of heaven and earth is to be accomplished through a dual upholding of Zhi and benevolence; and the embodiment of Zhi and benevolence should, in its turn, be manifested through one’s righteous deeds and conformity to rite. 8.2.2.  Earnest Practice Pre-modern thinkers’ teachings have always emphasized practice. Since they generally treat cultivation of self as a basis, and since the cultivation requires not only the gaining of knowledge but also practice with vigor, the thinkers’ emphasis on practice would be a matter of course. With the knowledge gaining at the inside and the vigorous practice outside, one will attain a personality that is marked by perfect conformity between its cultivated interior and exterior. Pre-modern thinkers may have, admittedly, gone too far in generally considering the management of state and harmonization of the world as things peripheral. But, in terms of ethics, one needs to take into consideration the social decadence imputed correctly and precisely to such contempt that anxious bidders for political success have harbored against moral practices. Our discussion on knowledge gaining has proceeded from our reading of the Great Learning. In our following discussion on the notion of vigorous practice, we will examine particularly the views conveyed in Doctrine of the Mean. The author of Doctrine of the Mean comes up with such two notions as “practice with vigor” and “earnest practice.” The notions suggest not only the aspect of presence but also that of perseverance in moral practice. There is a passage in the text that says, “Wisdom, humanity [i.e. benevolence], and courage are the universal virtues. The way by which they are practiced is one. Some are born with the knowledge [of these virtues].15 Some learn it through study. Some learn it through hard work. But when the knowledge is acquired, it comes to the same thing. Some practice them naturally and easily. Some practice them for their advantage. 15 Translator’s

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note: The square brackets in this sentence are Chan’s (1963, p. 105).

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Some practice them with effort and difficulty. But when the achievement is made, it comes to the same thing” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 105). In human conducts, the three universal virtues manifest themselves as sincerity and earnestness. Since people differ in their talents and in the opportunities they variously encounter, individual human beings may not be at the same level in terms of knowledge and practice. Some may learn of the Way early, some late. Some practice the Way with ease, some with difficulty. But the reason they can all reach the goal is because they all have the courage to explore and practice it, the courage to “nerve” themselves “to ceaseless activity” (Book of Change, 1993, p. 5). Sincerity, earnestness, courage, and nerving oneself to ceaseless activity, these are what it takes in moral practice. The moral practice that features these ­virtues is known as earnest practice. Ernest practice is based on sincerity and manifested by courage. Courage makes people strong. Extreme sincerity makes people resolute. People who are strong and resolute are characterized by the strength and resolution in their personality. In Doctrine of the Mean, Confucius is quoted as saying “Love of learning is akin to wisdom. To practice with vigor is akin to humanity [i.e. benevolence]. To know to be shameful is akin to courage” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 105). The love of learning leads to vigorous practice. The knowledge of being shameful nerves oneself to rise up in action. There is courage involved in both cases. Both would require Zhi as their basis for energy and strength. The love of ­learning may contribute to the growth of wisdom. The knowledge of shamefulness may activate courage. These are relatively easy to understand. But it is not easy to find out whether there is any causal relationship between rigorous practice and benevolence. Zhu Xi, in the section of “Zhongyong Zhangju” 中庸章句 of the Sishu Jizhu, agrees with Lü Benzhong 吕本中 (1084–1145 AD), who argues that “the love for learning, though not the same thing as wisdom, is enough to destroy foolishness. Rigorous practice, though not the same thing as benevolence, is enough to put the self out of one’s mind. The knowledge of shamefulness, though not the same thing as courage, is enough to arouse a coward to action.” This interpretation is indeed tactful, for it makes up for the weakness in the ancients’ argument and keeps a distance to it. But it is still unknown to us whether vigorous practice would necessarily put the self

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out of one’s mind. When Wang Fuzhi read up to this part, he was silent, simply making no comment at all. But we might as well explain it this way: By “to practice with vigor is akin to benevolence,” it means that to practice with vigor is akin to the completeness in benevolence, where the term “benevolence” can be regarded as a synecdoche for virtue. We can also say that to practice with vigor is akin to completeness in virtue. People who both know it and practice it would thus be akin to someone with perfect virtue. Among them, the best are those who practice naturally and easily. The second best would be those who practice for their advantage. As for those who practice with effort and difficulty, they are also praiseworthy.16 As regards earnest practice, distinction should be drawn between the following two cases. One is to practice through cultivation, the other is to practice by following one’s nature. The former is what a person who thinks how to be sincere does, and it is related to “cultivating the Way [which] is called education” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 98). The ­latter, on the other hand, is what a sincere person does, and it is related to the case of “following our nature, [ which] is called the Way” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963). There is a hierarchical difference between the two. In Doctrine of the Mean, its author wrote, “study it (the way to be sincere) extensively, inquire into it accurately, think over it carefully, sift it clearly, and practice it earnestly” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 107). As we indicated earlier, the study, inquiry, thinking, sifting all come down to IT and GK. Once knowledge is gained, we hold fast to what we consider to be good and proceed to put it into practice without hindrance. This is called earnest practice. The development from the study, inquiry, 16 Since

the aforementioned three kinds of Knowing are hierarchically differentiated in the Analects 16:9, for instance, the same hierarchical differentiation should be applied to the three kinds of practice. To practice naturally and easily is based on benevolence and hence closest to perfect virtue. To practice for one’s advantage is based on righteousness and hence next best. By saying “it comes to the same thing”, Doctrine of the Mean only refers to the end results of the learning and practice (which are the acquisition of the knowledge and the success of the practice, respectively). But, by turning around to interpret the Analects from this perspective and hence considering them all as the same thing, Zhu Xi overlooks the hierarchical differences among them, which does not seem to be a correct view.

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thinking, and the sifting all the way to the practice is a process of cultivation. In view of the problem with the Neo-Confucians’ empty talks on heart-nature in the Song and Ming dynasties, Qing dynasty scholar Yan Yuan advocated “learning through actual and concrete practice” 踐履之學 and emphasized cultivation as a remedy.17 He, moreover, compared classical texts to a music score, suggesting that one’s efforts to familiarize oneself with the melody, train one’s fingers for the plucking of the instrument, and ensure accuracy in pitch and rhythm together constituted a process of learning to play. Along this line of argumentation, the phase in which one’s hands naturally follow one’s heart while the sound of music follows one’s hand with well-controlled speed and use of tone colors would be considered as a phase of practicing playing. When one is able to hand-make the instrument, distinguish the subtle changes in the sounds with one’s ears or, better yet, when one’s heart forgets one’s hands and one’s hands forget the existence of the strings, that will be a phase of being good at playing music. He, in addition, considered the six arts — namely, ritual, music, archery, driving, writing, and divination — taught by Confucius all subsumed under “substantial learning” 實學. Cultivation is a preparatory phase for the stage of following our nature. Without such a long-time accumulation to prepare ourselves, our heart would be too unsubstantial and too insincere to enable us to follow our nature. What we can do in that case is, more often than not, just doing things “at will”. Take Confucius for example. Because he had his “mind bent on learning” when he was fifteen (Confucius, 2014, 2:4) he was aware that “among [any] three people walking together, there will surely be someone who [can act as] my teacher.” (Confucius, 7:22), he “stood firm” when he was thirty, and he “had no doubts” when he was forty (Confucius, 2014, 2:4). And there was Zengzi, who said, “I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may not have mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher” (Confucius, 2014, 1:4). That means he kept 17 Translator’s

note: In this regard, an English term “doctrine of praxis-ism” could be coined for, and designated to, Yan Yuan’s theory of “learning through actual and concrete practice” 踐履之學.

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checking himself on these points every day and would either correct himself if he made any mistakes or guard against mistakes if he had made none. The reason why Confucius and Zengzi could become a sage and a worthy largely, therefore, lay in the rigorous process of cultivation they had undergone. To them, “without studying the Book of Poetry, one would lack the ways to make [proper] speeches; without learning rite, one would lack the ways to establish oneself [in the social life]” (Confucius, 16:13).18 After a certain period of cultivation, it will become possible for ­people to follow their nature. Such a “nature” 性they follow is their heavenly-endowed nature, which is the human embodiment of Heavenly Character 天德, hence the phrase by Zhang Zai about the kind of “nature” that is “in accord with the character of Heaven” (Zhang Zai, in Chan, 1963, p. 512). If cultivation is something conventionalized and acquired through education, then to follow one’s human nature is something where human beings take initiative, which means that it is something up to oneself. And being up to oneself, in its turn, means freedom. Morality is precisely such a domain of freedom, in which moral activities — such as the upholding of Zhi and the adherence to benevolence — are all of human beings’ initiative. For those sages and worthies to whom cultivation is a means to impart the teachings in the philosophical schools they establish, they may need to undergo lifelong cultivation because of the task they take upon themselves to propagate their doctrines and thereby arouse the world. But a sage or worthy at this level may have already been able to do so simply by following their nature. To use the phrase we discussed earlier, theirs is the case of practicing “naturally and easily.” As for an ordinary practitioner, his or her cultivation, though no more dispensable than the sages’, may not require as solid and profound a foundation. It is at this point that Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan differed. Zhu Xi positively valued the method of Constant Inquiry and Study, and emphasized the accumulation of cultivation as a deep-seated foundation. He did so to teach his disciples to be imparters of the Way. Lu Jiuyuan, by contrast, emphasized the upholding of humankind’s virtuous nature, and advocated the use of 18 Translator’s

note: In this paragraph, all the translations of the Analects are taken from Legge’s (2014) translation of the Analects except those of Analects 7:22 and 16:13, which are mine.

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“simple and easy” tips and hints in teaching. What he wished to do was to train his disciples to practice the Way through praxis. With the following words found in the first volume of the Xiangshan Yulu, Zhu Xi once revealed his awareness of this difference between them, “Lu Jiuyuan always teaches others to uphold virtuous nature. His disciples are mostly people who practice the Way through concrete actions. But they may be weak in scholarship. As for me, I have taught a bit too much of Constant Inquiry and Study, have I not? That is why my disciples are not as good as his when it comes to praxis.” It should be noted that the emphasis on virtuous nature is the foundation in the realm of morality. And virtuous nature would be the practical reason in Kantian terminology. Lu Jiuyuan has a reason to consider his philosophy orthodoxy. The upholding of virtuous nature is manifested from the internal to the external without the need of a large number of notions to be infused from the outside. In this sense, any ordinary person can become a sage. People usually think that only gods are capable of universal love. As a matter of fact, this divine nature is innate to everybody. The important thing is to be conscious of it and keep it so that it is not lost. Inner sageliness is to be realized through the cultivation of the self, whereas outer kingliness should culminate in the harmonization of the world. Mencius once said, “A man of nobility and learning should not lose righteousness when desperate; nor should he deviate from the Way when enjoying success. … The ancients would bring benefit to people if [they] fulfilled their ambition, or manifest [their virtue] in the world through [their] self-cultivation if [they] did not. When in difficulty, they would concentrate on their own moral uplift; and when in success, they would promote the well-being of all in the world” (Mencius, 7A:9). One should hence earnestly follow moral principles in all one’s activities, be they such moral activity as self-cultivation or such socio-political activities as ­managing a state or harmonizing the world. The management of a state or the world should be done on the basis of the cultivation of self. It is ­particularly so in some democratic countries. During holidays, former prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, would often go shopping by taking public transportation or walking to supermarkets or groceries. One day, when she was going pass an old lady who was walking very slowly in the busy street, she noticed that

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the old lady’s shoelace was loosened. Since the old lady did not notice the loosened shoelace, she might stumble on it. Clark went close to the old lady immediately, greeted her, bent over, and tied up the lace. After this was done she made a graceful gesture of “please go ahead.” By this moment, the lady had recognized the person who had tied up the lace for her. In a soft voice, she said, “Prime Minister Clark, I should be happy I didn’t vote a wrong person.” Then the two of them parted with smile, as if nothing had happened between them.

Clark might have done what she did by following her nature, or what she acquired through cultivation, or any a priori moral decree. Or perhaps she did it to win popularity. It is also possible that what she did proceeded from a mixture of all the above. In people’s social behavior, on the one hand, the element of autonomy is indispensable. On the other hand, it is analytically difficult to exclude elements of heteronomy. Insofar as the formation of personality is concerned, one’s following of one’s human nature is necessarily based on cultivation. But, for a given individual’s action of spontaneity, it should be based on moral autonomy. 8.2.3.  The Wind of Morality and The Grass of Morality Someone has told a story that took place in their neighborhood. Although we did not witness it, we recognize its likelihood. Here is the story: One day, a family moved into a neighborhood, which did not arouse much of attention there. The next morning, however, a woman found the new ­neighbor taking down the garbage bags for all the neighbors when going downstairs. Feeling moved, she followed suit by taking down all the garbage bags she saw whenever she went downstairs. Later, this became a custom in this building. There gradually came to be no need for the cleaner in the Property Management Department to come over to collect garbage for them. From the viewpoint of modern management, the first person who does this is someone with a leader’s quality, because the person is the initiator of a common practice. According to the theory of “servant-leader” proposed by US scholar of business management, Robert K. Greenleaf, leaders, before their followers begin to follow their orders, should ask themselves this question, “What can I do for my followers?” Indeed, in any place with advanced democratic systems, officials are just like public servants.

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The power of examples is enormous. Jikangzi 季康子 once consulted Confucius about government,19 asking “What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?” Confucius replied, “Sir, in carrying on your government, why should you use killing at all? Let your evinced desires be for what is good, and the people will be good. The relation between superiors and inferiors, is like that between the wind and the grass. The grass must bend, when the wind blows across it” (Confucius, 2014, 12:19). A common saying has it that “if there is one improperly positioned upper beam [in a building], there will be a number of aslant lower ones.” This saying proves the validity of Confucius’s words from an opposite direction. What Jikangzi said is in fact not without reason. By refuting his words, Confucius did not mean to advocate the abolishment of punishment in social management. What he intended instead was to put more emphasis on the transformational power of morality. To transform others with virtue, one has to rectify oneself before extensively promulgating any moral teachings. That was why Mencius maintained that a man should either concentrate on his own moral uplift if he could not fulfill his ambition or benefit people in the world when his ambition was fulfilled. In view of the influential power of morality, we should point out that the concentration on one’s own moral uplift may eventually promote the wellbeing of all people and thereby promote the construction of spiritual ­civilization in the society. For a given individual, to be filled with morality is a kind of beauty. A person who shines with such substantiality would be a great person. Such a great person who is capable of transforming ­others would be a sage. In terms of morality, a sage can serve as a teacher for hundreds of generations. Even a worthy can exert some far-reaching influence in this regard. Mencius has shown us some examples of this kind of ancient sages. “When hearing the moral conduct of Boyi, a greedy man would become honest and a coward would be armed with a Zhi [in his heart]. When hearing the moral conduct of Liuxia Hui, a mean person would become nice, and a narrow-minded person would become 19 Translator’s

note: Jikangzi 季康子, according to Wing-tsit Chan, was a “great official of the state of Lu. He assumed power of government in usurpation by 492 BC.” (Chan, 1963, p. 40, Note 140).

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broad-minded. Those sages set up [moral examples] a hundred generations ago. [Now,] for a hundred generations since their time, there has been no one who heard of [their moral conduct] without rising to nerve himself [to follow them]” (Mencius, 7B:15). In his Preface to Selections of Refined Literature 文選序, Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501–531 AD) praised Tao Qian by observing that the latter’s personality and poetry had also left this kind of influence in history. It goes without saying that the concentration on one’s own moral uplift constitutes a basis and precondition for the promotion of the wellbeing of all in the world. That is why Confucian thinkers in pre-modern China generally recognized self-cultivation as a basis and wished to accomplish a manifestation of sagliness and worthiness through it. Mencius regarded “form and color ([of] our body)” as “nature endowed by Heaven” (Mencius, 1963, p. 80). A person with sound foundation laid in moral cultivation is one who takes abode in benevolence, follows the straight path of righteousness, and upholds free will while filled with “strong, moving power” (Mencius, 1963, p. 63). The lively vigor inside the person’s heart is externalized and reflected in the person’s physical form and color, becoming his or her particular bearing and demeanor. This is what Mencius referred to as the “manifestation in [one’s] physical form” 踐形 (Mencius, 7A:38) “A man of virtue, by nature, has benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom [deeply] rooted in his heart. [As a result,] mildness and gracefulness is shown in his face, reflected in his back, and extended to his four limbs. [Thus, good and positive] message can be conveyed through his four limbs without the aid of any word” (Mencius, 7A:21). Such manifestation in physical form speaks of the way in which a sound foundation laid in moral cultivation becomes appealing to the (audio and visual) senses. It is a case of successful attainment of the beauty in personality. A person who has attained this has a great power to move and inspire others even when he or she is in utter silence. The conformity between one’s spirit and physical form is also observable to some extent among ordinary people. Usually, people can hardly help revealing and, in that sense, externalizing their thoughts and feelings. But such usual conformity cannot be called the “manifestation in [one’s] physical form.” This is because, first, in terms of quality, the essence of what is revealed does not necessarily “abide in the highest good.”

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Second, in quantity, the morality in their case is still not intense enough to make their bearing and demeanor “shine” with it. In other words, it is still inadequate to cause the manifestation of sagliness and worthiness to occur. When reading the Analects and Mencius, one may get a sense of how Confucius, Mencius, and Confucius’s best disciple Yan Hui shone with their personality. The following is what Chang and Cheng found in their reading: “Confucius is like Heaven and Earth. Yanzi [i.e. Yan Hui] is like gentle breeze and cloud of five colors. Mencius is like the majestic Mount Tai. By reading their words, one can visualize how they looked” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 5). Confucius, comprehensive in thought and sublime in spirit, combines the loftiness of heaven and expansiveness of the earth. Yan Hui, with the example of deference and modesty he had set up for later generations, was a person capable of transforming others without words, a person who was more learned and accomplished than he looked. As for Mencius, he distinguishes himself and stands out in history by further developing the essence of Confucian thought (Lu Jiuyuan says of this contribution to be “as clear as the broad daylight with nothing therein left in doubt”). And, with resolution and in unequivocal attitude, Mencius “stopped perverse doctrines, opposed reckless conducts, and disputed evil words” (Mencius, 3B:9). The three of them can be regarded as superior sages who emulated heaven. The characteristics of their personalities came as a result of the mixed effects from their self-cultivation, their psychosomatic dispositions, and their socio-cultural matrices. The examples set by Confucius and Mencius inspired later generations of scholars. Unlike a number of pedants sitting stiffly all day as some people think them to have been, Neo-Confucians in the Song dynasty were scholars who sought to be in one with the heaven and earth in virtue and join the sun and moon in brightness. They were vigorous and broadminded, which is reflected in their literary works and can be exemplified specifically by Zhou Dunyi’s essay On the Love of Lotus 愛蓮說 and Cheng Hao’s poem Random Lines Jotted down in Autumn 秋日偶成. This is, in addition, also evidenced in the records of their contemporaries. In his preface to Lianxi’s Poems 濂溪詩,20 Huang Tingjjian 黃庭堅 (1045–1105 AD) wrote, “Zhou Dunyi’s is a person of high moral quality,

20 Translator’s

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note: Lianxi 濂溪 is Zhou Dunyi’s 周敦頤 professional name.

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a person with such a liberal heart that is as benign as a light breeze and as illuminant as the moon.” As Cheng Hao once recalled, Zhou Dunyi never weeded the grass in front his window. When someone asked him why, Zhou Dunyi’s reply was, “It’s just like members of my family” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 3). Because his own heart was filled with vigor, whenever he saw the grass that was vigorously growing, he enjoyed the scene empathetically and fostered the feeling of being in one with nature. Such being the case, what would be the point of imposing any artificiality on the grass and cutting it? Because of the close attention Cheng Hao paid to self-cultivation, the manifestation of sageliness and worthiness also happened to him. According to the description of him made by his students and friends and found in Volume 12 of the Er Cheng Waishu, “Mr. [Cheng] Mingdao would sit like a clay statue.21 But when coming into contact with others, he was nothing but goodwill and kindness.” After studying under Cheng Hao for some time, Zhu Guangting 朱光庭 (1037–1094 AD) returned home, where he shared with others his following impression about Cheng Hao, “I had been sitting in the spring breeze for one month.” In the Biographical Sketch of Master [Cheng] Mingdao 明道先生行狀 written by Cheng Yi, there is a passage that reads, “The master was exceptionally gifted. He had, moreover, substantiated himself through his cultivation of the Way. A character as pure as solid gold and as mild and gentle as gem, he was magnanimous but not without principles, mild but not to the point of losing his standpoints. His loyalty can penetrate metal and stone. His filial piety and brotherly respect touches deities. Looking at his countenance and bearings, [one would feel] the warmth of the sunshine in spring. Listening to his words, [one would feel] the refreshing moisture from a timely rain. His heart is open and upright with absolutely nothing detestable in it. And its content is found to be as expansive and infinite as the ocean.” For an individual at this level of cultivation, what he or she has in mind is spirit-like. Wherever he or she passes, people are transformed. Such is a perfect example of the great magnitude of moral power to move and inspire people.22 21 Translator’s

note: Mingdao 明道 is Cheng Hao’s professional name. one must admit that morality, as only a part of the cultural system built up by humans, is incapable of unlimited power of transformation and inspiration. There should be mutual complement between morality and rule of law. 22 But

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In self-cultivation, Confucianism always accorded great importance to an actual and concrete practice, so they did lay heavy emphasis on personal experience and vigorous practice. Their ideal was to bring about a situation in which the masses tried to emulate men of nobility and learning, men of nobility and learning tried to emulate worthies, worthies tried to emulate sages, and sages tried to emulate heaven. If each and every individual could so enthusiastically seek to emulate those at a higher level, a solid foundation would certainly be laid for the regulation of the family, management of the state, and harmonization of the world.

8.3.  The Mutual Need between Knowing and Doing Knowing and Doing constitutes two antithetical aspects in human life. Both are emphasized in the tradition of Confucianism. Confucius, based on his principle of accommodating education to each student’s aptitude, would emphasize to each of his disciples the particular aspect in which that disciple was weak. Zilu, for instance, valued courage and distinguished himself in his vigorous practice, but his actions were often too impetuous. Confucius, therefore, taught him the way to pursue knowledge. By contrast, Zigong was rather weak in the aspect of practicing with vigor. When he inquired how to be a superior man [i.e. man of virtue], Confucius told him that “he [i.e. a man of virtue] acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions” (Confucius, 2014, 2:13). In Doctrine of the Mean, Constant Inquiry and Study and the upholding of virtuous nature were advocated to call for a dual attention to both Knowing and Doing. Relatively speaking, the Constant Inquiry and Study takes care of Knowing, whereas the upholding of virtuous nature takes care of Doing. In this section, we will widen our field of view once more instead of focusing the discussion solely on moral practices. 8.3.1.  The Antithesis of Knowing and Doing The relationship between Knowing and Doing can be translated broadly to a relationship between GK and IT. In modern terminology, it would be the relationship between cognition and praxis. Usually people examine the relationship from the perspective of its two levels. One is how to

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cognize the natural world so as to make use of it and reform it. The other is how to cognitively experience human relations and act in accordance to moral principles. In Kantian framework, these two are closely related in the realm of necessity as well as that of freedom, giving rise to differences in opinion as regards, between Knowing and Doing, which is hard and which is easy, which should be prioritized over the other, and which is more important. Among the extant early texts, the earliest one that explicitly discusses “Knowing” and “Doing” together is the chapter of “On Fate, II” 說命中 of the Forged Early Text of the Shang Shu 偽古文尚書, where it is said, “Knowing is not hard, [but] Doing is.” Although in pre-modern China, this chapter was widely upheld as a canonical text from early antiquity, Cheng Yi had reservation about this conventional judgment, observing that “… to practice with vigor, one must first know how. Doing is not the only thing that is hard; Knowing is hard as well. It is said in the Shang Shu that ‘Knowing is not hard, [but] Doing is.’ This is of course correct, but Knowing is also hard in its own capacity. It is like when someone wishes to go to the capital city. He has to know which gate he should go through and which road he should take before he can go. Otherwise, even though he has the intention to go, where will he eventually arrive? Ever since ancient times, there has been no lack of highly qualified people who were capable of vigorous practice, but few of them accomplished a clear understanding of the Way. Thus we know that Knowing is no less hard” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 18). Cheng Yi originally meant to ground his argument in what things ought to be in human relations (the Five Constance), but the example he cites is something that happens in daily life (namely, going to the capital city), something that falls in the domain of necessity. The confusion his argumentation suffers is a typical one. But, if we leave aside his inappropriate analogy, we may find what he says nonetheless reasonable. In human relations, if a person just has a goal in his mind without knowing how he should go about reaching it, he may make things worse eventually. As for which one between Knowing and Doing should take precedence, according to the Er Cheng Yishu, Cheng Hao argues that “Knowing should, of all necessity, precede Doing. It is like walking, to which illumination is a precondition.” He pursued this point by observing elsewhere

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that “learners should of course work hard [to practice]. But without gaining any knowledge, how can one practice? How long can one practice if one does it with difficulty?” (Posthumous of the Chang Brothers, Vol. 18) We can infer from these speeches that, in his opinion, Knowing should precede Doing, and Doing should follow Knowing. But Wang Fuzhi’s opposite opinion in Volume 2 of the Sishu Xunyi 四書訓義 also stands to reason. Take the example of eating and drinking, “one has to eat [the food] and drink [the drink] before one knows how they taste like.” Much as we agree that Cheng Yi’s view is not without reason, we have to admit that Wang Fuzhi’s analogy is more convincing. Wang Fuzhi’s emphasis on Doing comes in contrast with Cheng Yi’s on Knowing. His analysis is conducted from a dual perspective of purpose and result, arguing that Knowing has to take effect through Doing whereas Doing can perform the function of Knowing. But the opposite, in his ­judgment, is not true. “In the investigation of things and exhaustive pursuit of Texture,” argues Wang in the chapter of “Shuoming Zhong” of his Shangshu Yinyi, “one has to, one has to work hard on it before one is able to select its quintessential parts and be very explicit about it. That means Knowing has to take effect through Doing. When conducting [the said investigation and pursuit] in one’s interactions with others in political career or with one’s families and friends amid all the happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy involved therein, [one eventually comes to be aware of] something [i.e. the Way] the obtaining of which brings trust and the loss of which gives rise to distrust. [Such would be a moment when] the Way manifests itself more than before. Thus it is clear that Doing can perform the function of Knowing. In one’s practice with vigor, one neither joys over [one’s] success nor laments over [one’s] failure. All one does is concentrate on [one’s] Zhi and mobilize [one’s] qi, making certain that there is nothing [in the process] that can be a cause of one’s worry or hesitation. Then the virtue [whereupon one bases one’s practice] can prove to be a valid principle to follow. It is hence clear that Doing does not take effect through Knowing. When one’s heart is submerged in thought or when one makes distinctions among the things one observes, the moment [of concrete solution] does not arrive [by itself], the principles [that one should follow] do not harmonize [by themselves], the feel of the situation does not come [by itself], and one’s capability [for the task] does not become

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adequate [by itself]. [Concrete] effects cannot be expected until the very day when one starts out with the [actual] Doing. It is hence clear that Knowing does not perform the function of Doing. Doing can partake in what Knowing does; but Knowing cannot partake in what Doing does.” If Cheng Yi has rectified the view in the chapter of “On Fate,” then what Wang Fuzhi does is to defend and further develop the view. The views above are seemingly in conflict. But in fact they are applicable to different situations. The important thing is not to determine which of the two views we should choose to corroborate, but rather to find out how to mediate between the seemingly conflicting views so as to identify the appropriate situations to which each of them apply. In the domain of necessity, freedom means the cognition and utilization of that which is of necessity, where the cognition is Knowing and utilization Doing. Without any cognition gained about things, how can utilization be possible? In this sense, Knowing precedes Doing. The pursuit of knowledge is anything but easy. And it is an infinite process. When this becomes a salient issue, its importance will be a matter of course. On the other hand, if there is no consideration of utilization or if the topic of utilization is never touched upon, then where does the cognition come from? At this point, Doing will precede Knowing. Furthermore, even if people had knowledge to a certain extent about something and about the pattern of change and development of something, its utilization would still be impossible if they were materially or intellectually incapable of using it. What we see in this case is how hard Doing is. Human beings’ cognition of the world is usually meant or expected to be put in use to serve human beings’ needs in their life. Relatively speaking, Knowing is a condition of Doing, and Doing is a purpose of Knowing. Let us take hydroelectric power as an example. Historically, what a long period had elapsed before human beings came to be aware of the convertibility of water power to electric power! Such a long period speaks of the great difficulty of Knowing. Once the convertibility is known, people will have to invest a great amount of human power and material resources to construct a dam and build plants. All this shows how difficult Doing is. Now suppose people have enough human power and materials and, in addition, suppose they are indeed aware that the power of water flow can be converted to that of electricity, they would still be unable to achieve their goal if they lacked the kind of scientific

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knowledge and technical know-how required by the project. Such would be a case where Knowing precedes Doing and plays a key role. Conversely, if the technical staff in the project knew only one thing or two about how to proceed and they had nobody to rely on but themselves, then, in their case, Doing would have to take lead and play a key role. In the moral domain, there are also times when different judgments should be made for different situations. Mencius once criticized people in his time who “act without understanding and do so habitually without examination, following certain courses all their lives without knowing the principles behind them — this is the way of the multitude” (Mencius, 1963, p. 79). His criticism was directed mainly to ordinary people’s ­incapability of understanding what they are capable of doing. By the phrase “without understanding” he meant a state in which ordinary ­people only had a dim knowledge about things. And by “without examination,” he meant that those people were acquainted with something without paying sufficient attention to it. The words “habitually” and “following” all refer to Doing. With those expressions, he criticized the multitude for doing what they did without knowing the principles therein, indicating that they needed to develop from their level of spontaneity to the level of consciousness. But, as we learn from Yan Yuan’s Cun Xue Pian, Diao Mengji 刁蒙吉 (1603–1669 AD), a scholar in the Qing dynasty, pointed out just an opposite case presented by the problem with the scholars around his generation. It was a case where many of the scholars understood without acting, examined the Way closely without making it their habit, and knowing the Way all their lives without following it. Why was there such an opposite case? Mr. Diao is not explicit about it. Given the two opposite cases witnessed in history, we may explain them this way: In early times, people followed the Way in practice without being aware of it. Usually they did so just by following their nature. For the majority of people in more recent times, however, they knew of the Way without following it in what they did. This is because their notions of the Way were infused from the external. Such is a universal phenomenon in which cognition gets ahead of — and consequently becomes detached from — praxis. Mencius’s emphasis on Knowing and the emphasis of more recent times on Doing can therefore both redress certain mistakes in this regard.

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8.3.2.  Moral Notions and Practice As we pointed out earlier, whereas notions in science result from human beings’ legislation for nature, those in morality are products of human effort to legislate for themselves. Although the Knowing in morality and that in science both reside at the level of intellectuality, they are fundamentally distinct from each other in nature and in origin. The Knowing in morality is derived fundamentally from the sincerity that comes along with one’s introspection. The “enlightenment that results from sincerity” enables people to know nature and heaven (see Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 107). Along this line of thinking, the spontaneity in the actions that follow human nature is the basis of the notions in morality, which is referred to by Mencius as innate knowledge and innate ability (Mencius, 1963, p. 80) and by Zhang Zai as the conscience that one intuits. This is the part of the knowledge attainment of which does not require the investigation of anything as long as we do not interpret IT as the removal of external things. Wang Fuzhi, based on his understanding of IT as perceptual experience, dismissed a short note in A Few Questions with regard to the Four Books as “pedantic, absurd, and superficial.” He further considered the note as an interpolation by Zhu Xi’s disciples because it, by citing such a remark in Volume 9 of the Yuzuan Zhuzi Quanshu that “father and son were originally of the same qi and theirs is one person’s body split into two”, suggested that the IT summarized in the remark explained why sons were filial and fathers were nice. To Wang Fuzhi, this understanding of IT seemed exceedingly ridiculous. “How could anybody with the intention of being a filial son be so stupid as to start from an investigation on, and thereby [try to] gain the knowledge of the rationale behind, the love between father and son, and go so far as to hold back [his] filial piety until such knowledge is gained about that ‘one body’ originally shared by [ him and his father]? Examination of this example alone is sufficient to show that some knowledge in our heart does not come from the investigation of things. It is hence clearly not true that knowledge is always gained through the investigation of things” (Wang Fuzhi, 1975, Vol. 1). As is known to all, mother’s love for children is something based on instinct rather than acquired through education and training. But, of course, such incipient goodness in one’s instinct can be elevated to the

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level of consciousness through education and reflection. Therefore Mencius, by pointing out with regret that people in his time followed “certain courses all their lives without knowing the principles behind them,” actually hoped that the multitude could expand and deepen their good nature. Thus, the infusion of notions is admittedly necessary. Such notions include the knowledge of various etiquettes, the norms of ethics in different societies, and so on. As the kinds of enlightenment resulting from education, these are indispensable in an individual’s process of socialization. But it should be noted that cognition of this kind are subject to the limitations of the ethnical, socio-cultural, and even social-hierarchical matrices in which they occur. Much as they also belong to the legislation that human beings establish for themselves, what their legislators represent is a certain community, not the entire humankind. Besides, there is inevitably artificiality involved in external infusions of this kind, because few of them are deep rooted. During the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties, many Confucian scholars lived up to their titles as upright men of principle, and virtue. But there were also scholars who fell into duplicity and pretense in their pursuit of wealth and official positions. Sun Chengze 孫承澤 was originally a high-ranking official in the Ming dynasty. When rebellions overthrew the Ming dynasty and captured the capital city, Beijing, he submitted himself to the rebellions. Before long, the Manchu took over northern China; he then surrendered to the new dynasty established by the Manchus. Despite the numerous works he wrote sanctimoniously to embrace Neo-Confucianism, he — according to an account of him in Quan Zuwang’s 全祖望 (1705– 1755 AD) Epitaph for Chen Ruxian 陳汝咸墓誌銘 — played a leading role in the general denouncement of the Lu–Wang Neo-Confucianism during the early Qing era. This contradiction between his words and deeds strikes almost as a sure sign of hypocrisy. As an attempt to explain the contradiction, we would suggest that it was because his knowledge came from education, not from any intuition to consciousness. In other words, the understanding he had experienced in the heart had come externally from education, not directly from his share of human nature.23 23 As

a famous scholar in France, Montaigne held that morality resulted from education. One year, when pestis suddenly plagued the city of Bordeaux, he, the mayor, left people

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In his debate with Zhu Xi, Lu Jiuyuan, in Volume 3 of the Xiangshan Yulu, draws the following distinction between two tendencies in scholarship. “Among Confucius’ disciples, only Yan Hui and Zeng Shen transmitted the Way. Others [than these two] are never heard of. Presumably, [it was because the learning of] Yan Hui and Zeng Shen came out from within, and [that of] other disciples was drilled in from without. Nowadays, there are people who have been transmitting the externally-drilled learning of [such other disciples of Confucius as] Zixia and Zizhang.24 The transmission of [what] Zeng Shen had passed down discontinued after Mencius.” It should be pointed out that the raisons d’être of both kinds of learning can be justified. But the former has to be treated as central and the latter peripheral. This order should not be reversed. Morality, which is based on human beings’ enlightenment through personal experiences, is something that comes out from within. The externally drilled knowledge, as elementary knowledge, has to be used as a supplementary means. Learning at a humble level has to be elevated to a high level. Zhu Xi’s philosophy had been generally upheld among Chinese ideologists for nearly 1,000 years. But, from the perspective of the learning of inner sageliness, it was indeed — as Mr. Mou Tsung-san put it — a case of “treating a branch as the trunk.”25 In the domain of morality, the relationship between Knowing and Doing is special. The two are mutually dependent. Cognition in logic does not require any accompanying actions. That is why Gongsun Long could argue soberly for the combination of sameness and difference, and the separation of hardness and whiteness at the sole level of speculation.26 The Knowing in morality is, by contrast, prescriptive in nature. Even where there is no physical action required, this Knowing is accompanied of necessity by a certain mental process of value judgments. Displayed in such process are, moreover, the inclination to the good and the rejection of Bordeaux behind him and escaped, ignoring the influx of letters from his colleagues to urge his return and resumption of his charge of the municipal government. Return he did eventually; but that was only after the plague was over. 24 By those “people” “nowadays,” Lu Xiangshan was referring to Zhu Xi and his followers. 25 Mou Tsung-san. Xinti yu Xingti, 1999, Vol. 1, p. 16. 26 Translator’s note: For Gongsun Long’s 公孫龍 (fl. 320–250 BC) theory, please see Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, pp. 235–243.

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of the bad. If we subscribe to Wang Shouren’s framework to count this mental process as Doing, we may find that, in moral activities, Doing occurs as almost an immediate concomitance of Knowing with no need for conscious deliberation. Examples can be found in parental protections for children. In 2008, during the Wenchuan 汶川 Earthquake that took place in ­southwest China, there was a teacher who laid down his life in his ­attempt to protect his students by helping them to vacate their classroom. When people dug the ruins, they found his body crooked in an a­ rch-shape with several students beneath it. This posture looked quite familiar to people, because archaeologists, when digging up the ruins of ancient castles that had been destroyed by mudslides, found the bodies of many parents formed in this posture as their attempt to protect their children at the last moment of their lives. It is a posture in which all the bones join in an effort to resist the tremendous power of nature with human bones and flesh. The posture can be said to have remained unchanged among human beings for thousands of generations. And it is something where no learning or training is required. In 1999, the day after the earthquake in Turkey, rescue workers found amid the ruins a mother, with her bent body, bearing the heavy weight of a rock, and shouting for immediate help to rescue her 7-year old daughter beneath her. She said she could hold on no more. But it was her sole hope to save her daughter’s life that had enabled to hold on for over 10 hours.

Moral activity is both easy and difficult. It is easy because all it requires is follow the call of one’s conscience. But it is difficult because the Subject often finds it hard to choose a course of action that can negotiate all the dilemmas or contradictory considerations with respect to the action’s motive, impact, benefit of oneself, benefit of others, benefit of a collectivity, and all such benefits in the short and long runs. This difficulty is related to the issue of Principled Course and Flexibility we have ­discussed before. 8.3.3.  Unity between Knowing and Doing Pre-modern thinkers admittedly disagree as to whether Knowing is easier or harder than Doing, which of the two should be prioritized over the

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other, and which is more important than the other. But their different opinions were mostly directed toward various specific occasions in life. Generally speaking, their attention was focused more on moral activities, hence their shared emphasis on the unity between Knowing and Doing. With that said, they still differ in their conceptualizations of unity, among which the following three views are the most typical. The first view regards the relationship between Knowing and Doing as one of mutual need, mutual dependence, and mutual usefulness. In Volume 4 of the Yichuan Yizhuan 伊川易傳, Cheng Yi opines that, “without light, there would be no illumination. Without [any] movement [taking place], there would be no walking. [Knowing and Doing are] as mutually accompanying as a form and its shadow, and [they are] as mutually complementary as the inside and ­outside [of one and the same thing].” Zhu Xi further elaborated this view, arguing, “Between Investigation of Things and Gaining Knowledge, one should work on neither alone. If one ­concentrates solely on either side, there will be problem on the other side.” “Knowing and Doing are always in mutual need. Without feet, eyes c­ annot move. Without eyes, feet cannot see [the road]” (Zhu Xi, 1900, Vol. 9). “The clearer Knowing is, the more earnest is Doing. The more earnest Doing is, the even clearer Knowing is” (Ibid., Vol. 14). These views are all well balanced, unbiased, and hence almost impeccable. The second view regards Knowing and Doing as one, which is Wang Shouren’s unique view. When his disciples inquired about its meaning, his reply was, “At this point, you have to know my intended objective for this view. In people’s learning today, because Knowing and Doing are considered to be separate and distinct, they wouldn’t put an end to an immoral idea that pops up in their mind so long as this idea is not put into action. Now, by pointing out that Knowing and Doing are one and the same thing, I want people to know that the mere popping-up of this idea would already count as a case of Doing. If the motive that gives rise to the idea is an immoral motive in the first place, one should put an end to it. And one should do it in a very thorough manner without letting the immoral thought lurk in the heart. That is my intended objective for this view” (Instructions for Practical Learning, Vol. 3). Such a view that regards Knowing and Doing as one is applicable only in the philosophy of ethics.

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By counting the extinction of a certain thought as a case of Doing, it emphasizes the rectification at the level of motive. This is indeed a very thorough method. But all people may not accept a sense of Doing as broad as this. The third view argues for a joint development of Knowing and Doing with each performing its due function while complementing the other. Wang Fuzhi does not agree with Wang Shouren on the point that regards Knowing and Doing as identical. He says, “Knowing and Doing complement each other and they are of use to each other. This is just because each performs a function of its own, which in turn produces an effect of its own. That is why each complements the other and each is of use to the other. In such a relation of mutuality, one can see all the more clearly that they must be two things that are distinct from each other. … [But people] do not know that they have such different and yet mutually complementary functions and effects. This has left Mr. Wang’s argument for the unity of Knowing and Doing with an excuse to confuse the world” (Wang Fuzhi, 2011, “On Doctrine of the Mean” in Annotations to the Book of Rite). In addition to complementing each other and being of use to each other, Knowing and Doing join each other in a productive development, which is a dynamic process. “By Knowing and Doing,” Wang Fuzhi writes, “we refer to the gaining of knowledge and earnest practice. Precisely because they are the gaining of knowledge and earnest practice, the function they perform produces distinctive effects. Because the function they perform produces distinctive effects, order can be established between them [to decide] which one precedes the other. With such sequence established [between the two] and with what comes first and what comes second completing each other, we, through the Knowing, know what we do; and through the Doing of what we do, we come to know it” (Discussions after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books, Vol. 4.). Although the above three views are sometimes in conflict, they are not entirely incompatible. Certain degree of internal unity can be identified among them. Wang Shouren, by taking issues with Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi for ­regarding Knowing and Doing separately and hence making their unity look dismantled, emphasized that Knowing and Doing were identical. But Wang Fuzhi criticized Wang Shouren for the conceptual fusion of

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Knowing and Doing, thinking that such an ultimate subordination of Doing under the notion of Knowing would lead the discussion to nowhere but confusion. With regard to the unity between Knowing and Doing, what Wang Fuzhi did was to inhere and further develop the thoughts of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. The different opinions among these thinkers were due to, first, their apparent differences as regards the intentions and extensions of Knowing and Doing. Because the Doing conceptualized by Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi, and Wang Fuzhi covers human practices in both the natural world and human society, their notion of Knowing consists of human knowledge of both why things are what they are and how things ought to be. Since Wang Shouren, on the other hand, restricted his discussion to social life with his attention focused on how things ought to be, the Knowing in his framework is limited to conscience, which excludes even immoral thoughts. Second, certain difference can also be observed among those thinkers’ ways of thinking. Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi, and Wang Fuzhi placed their emphasis relatively more on objective analysis and paid close attention to the distinction as well as the connection between the two opposing notions. Wang Shouren’s attention, on the other hand, was focused more on the cognitive experience one underwent in the heart and concerned himself more with the purity of moral activities. As a believer of the simple and easy method proposed by Lu Jiuyuan, he wished to carry the task of cultivation through to the end. Besides, Wang Shouren’s conceptual fusion of Knowing and Doing as well as Wang Fuzhi’s theory of mutuality and productive joint development can both be considered as their substantiation and elaboration of the proposition regarding the “mutual need” advanced by Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. Whereas Wang Shouren focused his attention on the end result, Wang Fuzhi concerned himself with both the result and the dynamic ­process. As a matter of fact, Wang Shouren sometimes also argued for the joint development of Knowing and Doing. For example, he once said that his was an advocation of “the combination and joint development” of Knowing and Doing. As for Wang Fuzhi, dissatisfied as he was with Wang Shouren’s theory, he in fact had no objection to counting the extinguishment of immoral thoughts as a case of Doing, which can be exemplified in the following passage he wrote: “In the past, Confucian scholars subordinated [the notions of] Investigation of Things and Gaining of Knowledge

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both under Knowing. As regards the sincerity of one’s will [and all the other Categories of Virtual], the [scholars] classified them as Doing. [What they did] amounted to an artificial separation of the Great Learning into two. While [their] classification may pass for an overall generalization, an itemized analysis of [all the Categories of Virtual] will lead [us] to the conclusion that there is, [on the one hand,] Doing in both Investigation of Things and Gaining of Knowledge and, [on the other hand,] Knowing is invariably involved in the sincerity of one’s will [and all the other Categories of Virtual].”27 It is hence clear that he did not deny the sincerity of will and the rectification of the heart status as Doing. Both these categories of virtue entail the extinguishment of immoral thoughts. It should be clear to us at this point that the combination of Knowing and Doing is a salient trait of Chinese philosophy in general, only it is particularly salient in Wang Shouren’s philosophy of the heart. Its reason lies in pre-modern philosophers’ primary concern with moral issues. In terms of the cognition and utilization of the natural world, which are, respectively, known as science and technology, an individual’s Knowing and Doing may not necessarily be in mutual need. We cannot, for instance, require a scientist of theoretical physics like Einstein to place a dual emphasis on Knowing and Doing. Otherwise, there would have been no theory of relativity. The unity of Knowing and Doing has molded thousands of model personalities in history. As we turn the pages when reading the biographies of some upright Confucian masters in pre-modern China, what we see is a number of tragic figures. Their tragedies came from their endeavor to adhere to moral principles and hold fast to what they considered to be good without yielding to the seriously alienated reality, all of which explained the setbacks they had suffered in life. Some of them may have been rather impractical, but their personalities entrenched themselves as models for people of the world nevertheless. Liu Zongzhou in the late Ming period was a person like this. Liu Zongzhou was the last Confucian master in the Ming dynasty and mentor of Huang Zongxi, a great Confucian scholar during the early 27 Wang

Fuzhi, Du Sishu Daquan Shuo, Vol. 1.

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Qing era. His approach to the Lu–Wang philosophy of the heart “began with doubts,” “followed by faith,” and “ended with critical thinking.” Mr. Mou Tsung-san considered him as a scholar of the scholarly tradition of Hu Hong, which Mr. Mou believed to be a tradition connected to the philosophical heritage left by Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Shouren and hence represented the orthodox of traditional Chinese philosophy. His philosophical thought centered on the idea of “being on caution with one’s solitude,” which is roughly equivalent to the conscience in Wang Shouren’s framework. Liu Zongzhou’s father passed away when he was a teenager. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather. After he passed the highest level of imperial examination for civil service, his mother died, which delayed his chance of taking an official post. Later, upon the call of the imperial court, he assumed a position as a court official. An upright character, he was never compromising to corrupted officials. To the sovereign, he proposed many political measures, such as the upholding of Confucian moral tradition, adherence to proper codes of conduct, prioritization of the institutions of the state, clearance of hidden evils, punishment of dishonest officials, and regulation and rectification of administrations at various levels. The imperial court praised him to be “a representative of the upright spirit of thousands of generations in the past, a perfect man in the present, a person who is generally hailed as a most outstanding figure in the world, and the most prestigious scholar in academia.” In July, 1645 AD, the City of Hangzhou was captured by the enemy. The remainders of the Ming-dynasty military force then surrendered to the Qing dynasty. Hearing the news, Liu Zongzhou was determined to follow the example of ancient worthies and began to go on a hunger strike. He did so for over 20 days before his death. Marked by uprightness and honesty throughout his life, he was indeed a firm, adamant, and unyielding character.

Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi, as three great Confucian scholars during the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties, have each set up a model as a man as well as a scholar. Inevitably, however, tragic figures were all what they could be in their time. They were all what Mencius would call real men who “cannot be dissipated by the power of wealth and honors,” nor “influenced by poverty or humble stations,” nor “subdued by force and might” (Mencius, 1963, p. 72). Their self-cultivation ran through their actions rather than merely through their

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word of mouth. At a time of nationwide crisis, they actively sought their self-realization. Their manifestation of sageliness and worthiness was markedly different from that of the Confucian scholars in the Song dynasty. The way they led their lives was itself a high realm to be attained in human life. It deserves the respect of later generations of scholars. Summary: What we have here is such a pair of contradictory propositions as, on the one hand, IT and GK and, on the other hand, personal experience and practice with vigor. The propositions are roughly equivalent to what we know in modern times as cognition and practice, respectively. But in the domain of morality, the former proposition is marked by more relevance to reality than the latter. This is because moral consciousness is connected to moral will. It is not an epistemological entity in a strict sense. The items are, moreover, connected head-to-tail, forming thereby the following circle of mutual influence: The purpose of investigating things is to gain knowledge. To gain knowledge calls for personal experience of the process. To personally experience it requires one’s vigorous practice of it. And such vigorous practice deepens one’s investigation of things. Comparatively speaking, investigation of things and vigorous practice tends to be extroversive, whereas gaining knowledge and personal experience tend to be introversive. The investigation is a process of receiving information from the object. The knowledge gaining is to abstract the principle from the process. And we mean by personal experience the subject’s cognitive experience of the process. As for the practice with vigor, it is the objectification of the subject’s moral will. As regards how to understand the Investigation and the Gaining, there have been quite a number of contending views. The Cheng–Zhu School considered the Investigation as a basis in the Eight Categories of Virtues and took it to be a key to the exhaustive exploration of both natural laws on the one hand and the whys and wherefores in social affairs on the other. But they did so only to run into self-contradiction. In the domain of moral activities alone, it is most appropriate to interpret the Investigation and the Gaining as a process of cleansing and brightening the heart through the removal of the eclipse therein. With regard to personal experience and vigorous practice, the path they take is to follow the moral decree in the heart, engage oneself in the actual and concrete

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practice, and — with unswerving determination — act along the direction of what things ought to be. Rarely have there been any contradictions between Knowing and Doing in the domain of morality. Emphases may well have varied among thinkers in the past regarding which of the two is harder, which one should be prioritized, and which one is more important. It should be noted that the thinkers’ different views were in fact applied to different situations. What is generally recognized among them is the unity between the two. Some called the relationship mutual need; others called it mutual complement. And there were yet others who considered them related in joint development and a process of combination. We must point out that Knowing and Doing are not related as closely in natural science. The Investigation and the Gaining on the one hand, and personal experience and vigorous practice on the other are the two basic aspects in the Subject’s acquired ability to interact with the external world. Embodied by the two are precisely the two series in the human heart with one developing along humankind’s search for harmony and order, and the other along their pursuit of self-realization. Specifically, one of the two series is “Image–Wisdom–Texture” and the other “Zhi–Qi–Emotion.” Insofar as all human activities are concerned, Chinese philosophy is weak in the study of the former but point lies in the exploration of the latter. The harmony and unity between the two modes of academic inquiries would await the integration and even the blending of Chinese and Western philosophies. Discussion: The contradiction between Knowing and Doing is very common. But per-modern thinkers greatly simplified the contradiction. This is because they fixed their attention exclusively on a particular area of human activities. One may find a passage in Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason inspiring. With regard to practical reason, he states that “we shall commence with the principles and proceed to the concepts, and only then … to the senses; whereas in the case of the speculative reason we began with the senses, and had to end with the principles.”28 Working its way from the internal to the external, the application of practical reason 28 Translator’s

note: See Footnote 30 of the Foreword in Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 1 for the source of this passage.

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corresponds to what pre-modern Chinese philosophers called the upholding of virtuous nature. The application of speculative reason, on the other hand, proceeds from the external to the internal. It may hence correspond to the Constant Inquiry and Study in Chinese philosophy. In the domain of morality, is the heart characterized primarily by the tendency of upholding virtuous nature or by that of Constant Inquiry and Study? Kant posited that human beings’ moral conducts were based on the absolute imperative. Previously, Rousseau had referred to it as the call of conscience. In Chinese philosophy, it has always been known as liangzhi 良知 (conscience, literally “good knowledge”). How does this kind of “(good) knowledge” differ from scientific knowledge in terms of source and nature? Pre-modern Chinese philosophers emphasized the unity between Knowing and Doing. Besides the philosophers’ habitual holistic thinking that can serve as an explanation, did the emphasis also come on the basis of what moral ­activity entails? In our present task of personality construction, what inspiration can we draw from this traditional philosophy about Knowing and Doing?

References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Chen Chun 陳淳. Beixi Ziyi 北溪字義 [Meanings of Words from the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2009. Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. Er Cheng Waishu 二程外書 [Ana Gleaned from the Cheng Brothers]. Confucius 孔子. Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. In Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong 論語 大學 中庸. Translated by James Legge. Shanghai: Sanlian Chubanshe, 2014. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 97–114.

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Duan Yucai. Shuowen Jiezi Zhu 說文解字注 (Explaining Simple Graphs and Analysing Compound Characters). In Wang Qiongshan 王瓊珊. Zhenshu Biaomei Bihua Suoyin Duan Zhu Shuowen Jiezi 真書標眉筆劃索引段注說 文解字. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, 1969. Mencius. Mencius 孟子. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. The Great Learning. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 86–94. Wang Fuzhi. Du Sishu Daquan Shuo 讀四書大全說 [Discussion after Reading the Great Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1975. Wang Fuzhi. Liji Zhangju 禮記章句 [Annotations to the Book of Rite]. Changsha: Yuelu Shushe, 2011. Zhang Dainian 張岱年. Zhongguo Zhexue Dagang 中國哲學大綱 [Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1982. Zhu Xi. Zhuzi Yulei 朱子語類 [Ana of Zhuzi]. Shanghai: Guangya Shuju, 1900.

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Chapter 9

Spiritual Realms of Human Life

Western thinkers from ancient Greece to modern times have generally believed human thoughts and practices to be, on the whole, oriented to the perfect good. The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle opens with the remark, “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good, and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.”1 Tolstoy, in his On Art, also holds that the perfect good marks humankind’s highest pursuit. Likewise, the perfect good is also what Chinese philosophers have always pursued. It is the highest realm in human life. The spiritual realm of human life is not identical with the realm of the human heart. A spiritual realm of human life features the c­ ombination of Knowing and Doing. In its broad sense, it means the different levels that individual human beings variously reach in their lives. Men inferior in virtue, men of virtue, and sages, according to the traditional classification in China, can be considered as people in the respective realms of material benefit, morality, and heaven and earth in Mr. Feng Youlan’s analytical framework.2 Whether a person’s spiritual realm in life is high or low is decided primarily by the person’s realm of the heart. It is thus 1 Translator’s

note: Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by W. D. Ross. Kitchener: Batoche Books, 1999, p. 3. 2 Mr. Feng Youlan considered “natural realm” even lower than the realm of material benefit. But, in most cases, this realm can be overlooked because, first, this realm literally sounds close to the “realm of Heaven and Earth.” Second, the realm is restricted to those among human beings who have not been socialized — such as infants and primitive men.

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conditioned by the specific level the heart resides at. As we have pointed out before, men inferior in virtue indulge in the satisfaction of what their senses desire; persons of virtue are subject to the confinement of ­intellectual notions, and sages are those who have attained the expansion and illumination of their Zhixing. As a forerunner of modern existentialism, Kierkegaard, classified the realms into ­aesthetic realm, ethical realm, and religious realm, which precisely ­correspond to the three ­levels of the heart. The spiritual realm of human life in its narrow sense refers solely to the highest spiritual realm in life. Because Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all aim at the realm of heaven and earth, we would now opt for a different classification, in which spiritual realms of life are divided into the realm of entering the mundane, the realm of transmundane, and the realm of oneness between Substance and Function. The attainment of a realm is determined not as much by any particular philosophical thought to which a person subscribes as it is by the concrete examples that inevitably embody the realm if such a realm revealed by the ­philosophical thought is indeed real. It is these examples that show us what human life ought to be like.

9.1.  The Realm of Entering the Mundane Among Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, Confucianism is generally marked by the active role it aims to play in the mundane world, which includes one’s active participation in matters in secular life, persistent endeavor to improve the world and save the people, and actions taken to make a difference in human civilization. In Christian culture, Jesus is the one who assumes the role of the savior of the world. In Chinese culture, the task is charged to each and every enlightened individual, which reminds them of both the responsibility that their time has placed upon their shoulders and their duty to fulfill the task. Confucius once said to his disciple Yan Hui, “When called to office, to undertake its duties; when not so called, to lie retired; it is only I and you who have attained to this” (Confucius, 2014, p. 63). To promote simultaneously one’s own cultivation and the well being of all in the world when “called to office,” and to concentrate on one’s own uplift when “not so called,” such was a typical attitude generally held by the elite class in traditional Chinese culture.

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9.1.1.  Simultaneous Promotion of Self-Cultivation and the Well Being of All in the World In the realm of entering the mundane, one requires the pursuit for both inner sageliness and outer kingliness. Of course, similar requirement can also be observed in early Daoism. For instance, the Laozi not only shows a deep concern about how to attain sageliness and nobility but also raises quite a few valuable points. But overall, the Laozi demonstrates a basic tendency of opposing the progress of civilization and advocating the return to the primitive society. As for Confucius and Mencius, they also longed for early antiquity. But what they really longed for was the peace and social order which they believe to have characterized the early epoch. Besides, they both argued for the preservation of what the civilization of each epoch had achieved. A passage by Zhang Zai adequately epitomizes the Confucian ideal in this regard. It reads, “Establish the heart of Heaven and Earth, fulfill what is heavenly mandated for the contemporary generation, take over what past sages left off, and open up a world of harmony and peace for thousands of generations yet to come” (Zhang Zai, 1983, Vol. 14). According to Jung’s theory of collective unconsciousness, this can be regarded as a manifestation of the “savior” archetype in the heart of individual human beings, which bears certain similarity to Faust and Zarathustra in the Western culture. In order to embody the heart of heavy and earth internally, and fulfill externally what is heavenly mandated for people of the contemporary time, one has to begin by loving one’s families, and translate the love to the benevolence to people, and then further extend it to all beings in the world. That way, one can proceed from inner sageliness to outer kingliness. With this love for the family and benevolence to people, Lincoln beat the famous candidate of Democratic Party, Douglas, in the presidential election in 1860. There is a passage in his campaign speech which is very touching, where he said, “If you ask me how much property I have, I tell you I have a wife and three daughters, who are priceless. In addition, I also have a rented office, in which there’s a desk and three chairs, and in whose corner there’s a large bookcase on which each book is worth reading. ... I really have nothing to rely on but on you.” Displayed in the love for the family, benevolence to people, and care of all in the world is a tendency of cohesion.

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Confucius wished to see all under heaven converging on benevolence. “It is my ambition,” he said, “in regard to the aged, to give them rest; in regard to friends, to show them sincerity; in regard to the young, to treat them tenderly” (Confucius, 2014, p. 49). Mencius, likewise, wished a ruler to be able to sympathize with others based on what he himself wanted and needed. “Treat with respect the elders in my family, and then extend that respect to include the elders in other families. Treat with tenderness the young in my family, and then extend that tenderness to include the young in other families” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 61). He believed this to be the only way to ensure enduring stability in the world. As his ideal, this model society can hardly be realized in the foreseeable future. But as a way to build a model personality, this can be put in practice. In fact, it is exactly what many Chinese and foreign philanthropists have been practicing through their concrete actions. Confucian ideal model of personality is one who realizes oneself in social life rather than at the mere level of heart-cultivation. In spite of the exceedingly close attention he paid to the cultivation of the heart, Wang Shouren emphatically argues against any detachment of oneself from social affairs. He considers that the detachment categorically distinguishes Buddhism from Confucianism. “Buddhists,” he observes in Section III of the Chuan Xi Lu, “aim at the extinction of things. By regarding the heart as an illusion, they lapse into vacuity and tranquility, almost completely losing contact with the secular world. For this reason, one cannot count on them to manage the world.” Confucianism upholds benevolent love, regards the masses as one’s own siblings, and makes a point of basing one’s choice of action on the considerations of the mass’s gains and losses. To the question that was once asked him as regards what “heresy” was, Wang Shouren’s answer was very pithy and straightforward, “To wish what the candid masses wish is to be of one mind with them. Not to wish what the candid masses wish is heresy” (Instructions for Practical Living). As regards Buddhist ideal of extensive relief of all sentient beings, what it aims to relieve is the sentient beings’ souls. Confucians’s ideal, in contrast, is meant to be realized at a level where they can share the joys and sorrows with the general public. In other words, although Buddhism may be of help to someone who seeks to attain inner sageliness, it would be — strictly speaking — of little help to those who aspire to attain outer kingliness. But Confucianism can be of help in both.

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There is of course a huge gap between social ideal and social reality. In reality, the ways to sageliness and worthiness are often blocked. At the same time, pragmatism and treachery is on a rampage. All this requires of people with high ideals is the courage and energy to open up a new path by overcoming all obstacles. Facing such a reality, Daoism can do nothing about it. Laozi argues for the weakening of one’s Zhi so as to keep tranquility to oneself. Zhuangzi advocates the compromise with circumstances and acquiesce with the trends therein so as to preserve one’s own life. By doing so, both of them have shown a passivist bend. Confucianism is different in that it upholds the following of one’s nature to pursue a straight path and to be upright without yielding to any pressure. Confucius once said, “Man is born with uprightness. If a man lose his uprightness, and yet live his escape from death is the effect of mere good fortune” (Confucius, 2014, p. 56). To live like a real human being in the world, one should follow a straight path in one’s conduct. There can be treacherous crooks who are seemingly doing well in life. But their survival is only a fluke, because their life is contrary to what human life ought to be.3 Mencius argued even more manifestly for the dominance of Zhi over qi, for taking abode in benevolence, for following righteousness in one’s conduct, for striving for success, and for leaving a legend in human history irrespective of the risk of capital punishment and tragic death. Indeed, to promote both self-cultivation and the well-being of all in the world, one has to be energetic and robust in spirit. In March 1998, Zhu Rongji assumed the position as premier of State Council of the People’s Republic of China. At the news conference, he responded to a journalist’s question with the following words, “… no matter what is waiting for me in front of me, being landmines or abyss, I will blaze my trail and I have no hesitation and no misgivings and I will do all my best and contribute, devote all myself to the people and

3 This

reading has incorporated the interpretations by Ma Rong 馬融 (79–166 AD) and some other scholars. The distinction between Confucian and Daoist outlooks on life can be observed in a comparison between these words of Confucius and Chapter 76 of the Laozi (translated in Chan, 1963, p. 174), which says, “When man is born, he is tender and weak. At death, he is stiff and hard.”

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the country until the last day of my life.”4 To any mediocre p­ olitician, all these words add up to might have been nothing more than some high-sounding political rhetorics. But, in the case of Zhu Rongji, who is known for his “earnest attitude” towards everything, these words spoke his heart and his resolution. Precisely because he forged ahead with determination, did what he should in economics in spite of all risks, and boldly promoted a series of reforms, Chinese economy entered an obit of constant and rapid growth. There are admittedly quite a few people who speak ill of him and hate him, but there are more who miss him and revere him.

In Confucian thought, moral principle is valued more highly than an individual’s life. “ The determined scholar and a man of virtue,” says Confucius, “will not seek to live at the expense of injuring their virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete” (Confucius, 2014, p. 163). Mencius also maintains that a person who finds himself unable to have both life and benevolence should choose benevolence over life. There have been innumerable martyrs who, armed with these thoughts, chose to risk their lives when their states and people needed them to do so. In matters of life and death, they would choose death over submission. Just as Wen Tianxiang 文天祥 (1236–1283 AD) declares in his poem entitled “Guo Lingdingyang” 過零丁洋, “Who since the ancient time has ever been immortal? ‘Tis the heart that remains shining in history forever!’” The gap between the moral ideal we uphold and the decadence of morality in social reality has inevitably become the subject of concern, hence the consciousness of anxiety that imbued traditional Chinese culture. There were determined scholars and men of virtue who felt concerned about the multitude when in imperial court and worried about the imperial court when they were not in office. In other words, they felt anxious no matter they were in an official post or not. And they were ­usually the first ones in their time to show concern before the rest of the world sensed any crisis. In fact, as a defining characteristic of all moral 4 Translator’s note: English translation of this passage was done by the premier’s i­nterpreter

at the news conference.

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cultures, such anxiety results from the gap between human ideal and social reality. In Christianity, for example, the image of Jesus Christ has always looked anxious and concerned. 9.1.2.  The Concentration on One’s Own Moral Uplifts The Simultaneous Promotion of Self-Cultivation and the Well-Being of All is subordinated under the notion of one’s endeavor to strive for political success and thereby benefit all people. By contrast, the idea of concentrating on one’s own moral uplifts is to make oneself fully human. As no less a form of immortality, it features an effort that includes both the ­setting-up of a model of morality and the bequeathal to the world a legacy of one’s thoughts. In the sole aspect of the concentration on one’s own moral uplifts, Confucianism is akin to Daoism and Buddhism because they all seek to attain inner sageliness. But Confucianism is unique in that Confucian scholars mostly regarded such a concentration as the next best thing to do under the circumstances that one’s path to success was barred by reality. They, in addition, also regarded the concentration as a preparatory stage for the promotion of both self-cultivation and the well being for all, or even considered it as an alternative form of self-realization in social life. Mencius once said, “A man of nobility and learning should not lose righteousness when in difficulty, nor should he deviate from the Way when enjoying prosperity. By not losing righteousness when in difficulty, he finds himself. By not deviating from the Way when [he] enjoys prosperity, people will not lose hope. The ancients would bring benefit to people when [they] enjoyed prosperity. And when [they] were in difficulty, they presented themselves to the world as well cultivated men” (Mencius, 7A:9). It means that when enjoying prosperity, one should live up to people’s expectations by doing what one can to promote both self-­ cultivation and the well being of all in the world. When in difficulty, one ought to — instead of losing one’s self — concentrate on one’s moral uplifts and, in so doing, keep one’s integrity as one should, so as to establish oneself in the society through self-cultivation and contribute to the improvement of social custom.

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When he argued for the practice of presenting oneself to the world as a well-cultivated man, Mencius might have in mind Boyi 伯夷 (11th century BC) and Liuxia Hui 柳下惠. Boyi, son of Lord Guzhu, was unwilling to succeed the lordship after his father’s death. He thus fled to the state of Xibo. But he arrived at a time when the ruler of Xibo died and the ruler’s son (who later came to be known as King Wu of Zhou), instead of focusing on his father’s funeral, launched an eastern expedition. Boyi took it to be a case of replacing one tyranny with another and a shameful act bereft of both filial piety and benevolence. Thereupon, he refused to eat the grain grown in the new dynasty established by King Wu of Zhou and, together with his brother Shuqi 叔齊, starved to death in the Shouyang Mountain in the end. Liuxia Hui was an alias for Zhan Qin 展禽 (720–621 BC), a native of the state of Lu. He was praised in the Elder Dai’s Records of the Rites 大戴禮記 to be a person “filial to the seniors [in his family] and tender to the young, acting in accordance with moral [principles] and upholding righteousness, simple in material life and free of grievances.” Legend has it that he once — when there was nobody around — warmed a freezing young woman by holding her in his arms until she was back to consciousness, and he did so all along without doing anything improper. This is a well known story about morality in solitude. What Boyi and Liuxia Hui had in common was their adherence to moral principle, strict self-discipline, and preservation of their moral integrity. A deeper level of concentration on one’s moral uplifts is the pursuit of the Way when one is not in office. The pursuit involves, in addition to the cultivation of the self, the cultivation of the Way through the establishment of one’s school of thought. Confucius, for example, travelled around various states for 14 years before he returned to the state of Lu. In his late years, he concentrated on education and the compilation of classic texts. Mencius tried to persuade various feudal lords with his thoughts but failed. In his retired life, he, assisted by several disciples, prefaced the Book of Poetry and Shang Shu, elaborated on Confucius’s teachings, and wrote seven chapters of the Mencius. The three great scholars in the early Qing dynasty, Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzh, whom we mentioned in the previous chapter, were no exceptions in this regard.

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Huang Zongxi, native of Yuyao, Zhejiang, was Wang Shouren’s fellow townsman. His father, a famous scholar-official in the Ming dynasty, was framed by a powerful and treacherous court official. As a teenager then, Huang Zongxi made up his mind to revenge for his father and always had a long awl in his sleeve. After Emperor Chongzhen (r. 1627–1644 AD) ordered the execution of the treacherous official who had killed his father, he began to concentrate on scholarship. Before long, however, the Manchu troops began their southern offensive against the Ming Empire. Huang Zongxi led a local military force to resist the offensive. There had been numerous times when he faced mortal danger without any fear. But since there eventually proved to be no hope to restore the Ming dynasty, Huang Zongxi took his mother back to his hometown, where he began to write his works. The books he wrote, including Scholarly Annals of Ming Confucians 明儒學案 and Scholarly Annals of Song and Yuan Dynasties 宋元學案, amounted to more than 70 in number. The government of the new dynasty established by the Manchu repeatedly invited him to the imperial court. But he firmly declined. Gu Yanwu was a native of Kunshan, Jiangsu. An honest and upright character, he was neither in harmony with the social fashions in his time nor content with leading a peaceful life despite the considerable amount of wealth in his family and his skills of wealth management. During the Manchu troops’ southern offensive, he first led his comrades to organize armed resistance and then, after the resistance failed, wandered all over the country to inspect the geographic layouts and social customs of various places with a view to recovering the lost land of the Ming Empire someday. During the inspection, he paid homage to the imperial tombs of the Ming dynasty for 11 times. He eventually settled down at Huayin, Shaanxi in his old age. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi (r. 1662–1722 AD), the imperial court sent for him for an additional ­imperial examination. His reply was, “My knife and rope are both ready. Don’t quicken my death!” His magnum opus is Daily Accumulation of Knowledge 日知錄. A native of Hengshan, Hunan, Wang Fuzhi organized resistance against Manchu forces in his youth. When there was no more hope to restore the Ming dynasty, he began to live in seclusion. At that time, the newly-established Qing dynasty strictly required that all men show their submission to the new dynasty by having the front half of their head shaved. Wang Fuzhi would rather die than show his submission.

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He went to the mountains and lived in the caves of the Miao and Yao minorities. One can imagine what an exceptional hard life he led then. But in the tough condition then, he nevertheless wrote down his thoughts on any fragments of paper or old account books he sometimes picked up and, in doing so, completed 77 books. For nearly 200 years after his death, ­however, none of these works were published. It was during the reign years of Emperors Daoguang (r. 1820–1850 AD) and Xianfeng (r. 1850–1861 AD) that those works were collected and put to print.

In social reality, virtuous people are not necessarily blessed with good fortune. It is said in the Laozi that “the Way of Heaven has no favorites. It is always with the good man” (Laozi, 1963, p. 175). But Sima Qian cast his doubt about it. He once wrote indignantly, “Were p­ eople like Boyi and Shuqi not good men? Their accumulation of benevolent virtue and upright deeds were curtailed by their death in starvation! Among the 70 disciples of Confucius, only Yan Hui was singled out by Confucius as a man who loved learning. But [Yan] Hui was in destitution from time to time and unable [to find even] enough husks and chaff to eat. Eventually, [he] died young. That was how heaven rewarded good men. How about that? As for Bandit Zhi, he killed innocent people every day, ate people’s liver; and, acting in a ruthless and tyrannical manner, he led several ­thousands of men to run wild in the world. Yet [this man] died a natural death at an old age. By virtue of what did he deserve this?” (Sima Qian, 1962, Vol. 61) Cases like these have in fact been numerous in social life. What should one do in cases like these? Confucianism requires the adherence to moral principle in one’s action, and an optimistic and philosophical attitude toward fate rather than blaming everybody or complaining about everything. For Confucius, “with coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and with a bent arm for a pillow, there is still joy” (Confucius, in Chan, 1963, p. 32). Speaking of himself, he said, “I am a person who ­forgets his food when engaged in vigorous pursuit of something, is so happy as to forget his worries, and is not aware that old age is coming on” (Ibid., p. 32). As his best disciple, Yan Hui inhered this attitude toward life and rested content in poverty while devoting himself to things spiritual: “Worthy indeed was Hwei [i.e. Hui]! One dish of food, one dipper of drink, living in a narrow alley — others could not have borne their sorrow,

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but Hwei did not waver in his happiness” (Confucius, 1998, 6:11, p. 33). Such is the “delight that Confucius and Yan Hui took in living in whatever conditions they had in life,” a delight that later generations of scholars have often mentioned and admired. Shao Yong, a famous Neo-Confucian scholar and one of the “five masters of the Northern Song dynasty,” was a commoner all his life. Instead of pursuing his political career by taking civil service examinations, he repeatedly declined all recommendations of him. Because he lacked regular income, his life inevitably fell short in livelihood. But he gave himself the professional name of “Mr. Peace and Happiness” in ­defiance and named his residence “Nest of Peace and Happiness.” The year before his death, he, moreover, wrote “An le yin 安樂吟 [The Song to Peace and Happiness],” which is a vivid description of the spiritual and material aspects of his life. Mr. Peace and Happiness, with his name known in no business, has for 30 years lived near the river, River Luo being his witness. The wind and moon bespeak his heart, the river and lake his temper. Pheasants rise when seeing the expression of his face, their soaring followed by their return in race.5 Of all people — base or noble, poor or rich — he greets none. No worries though in poverty, anything but a drunkard, he takes sips for fun. Spring season of the world fills his lungs and liver. A tiny pond inspires his poetry; a shabby window does his good dreams deliver. His mind is delighted in cart trip, his aspiration stretches at each stroke of his writingbrush tip. Sometimes leaving arms half-bare, sometimes wearing a hat, sometimes sitting in woods, sometimes water bank he strolls at. Good people he loves to behold, good things he loves to be told, good words he enjoys saying, good conduct is his mould. What stings him is the evil of others he may hear, what delights him is others’ virtue, which he holds dear. On Buddhism and sorcery, neither does he rely; without going out, he touches rims of earth and sky. High salary does not attract him, nor mighty armies he fears; such is a man of pleasure for 65 years.

Why did pre-modern philosophers value pleasure so much? Its reason is profound. Pleasure in its strict sense is a mode of aesthetic emotion 5 Translator’s

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note: This alludes to the Analects, 10:27.

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(aroused by graceful types of beauty), which is independent and selfcomplete, not as outwardly expansive as joy, nor as inwardly contractive as sorrow, still less as disharmonious as anger. It is a kind of tranquil and peaceful feeling of someone who has found his or her spiritual homeland. Confucius regarded pleasure as the highest realm in the pursuit of knowledge or success in career. “To know something,” he observed, “is not as good as to love it. And to love it is not as good as to take pleasure in it” (Confucius, 6:20). Pleasure is hence of a higher level than love, because it is an aesthetic form of activity in which one engages oneself. It is, in other words, associated with the kind of labor where one enjoys absolute freedom. According to Cheng Hao’s elaboration on this idea, “to have sincere faith and a fondness of learning is not as good as enjoying oneself in it. To be fond of it can be compared to taking strolls in others’ garden, whereas to take pleasure in it is like enjoying something of one’s own” (Cheng and Cheng, 2000, Vol. 11). As one of the basic types of human feeling, pleasure is not necessarily subject to the influence of one’s living conditions. Individual human beings are capable of self-adjustment in this regard. Mr. Qigong 啟功 (1912–2005) was a widely applauded contemporary Chinese scholar and calligrapher. A modest and gentle character, he looked nice and sanguine every day. One of his former colleagues, a young woman, recalled the time when she had once met Mr. Qigong on the campus of Beijing Normal University and, out of curiosity, asked him why he always looked so happy. To her surprise, Mr. Qigong’s reply was, “How unfair would it be to oneself if one were not happy!” Indeed, one has no control as to whether one is successful in career, but one does have control over one’s feelings. Sorrow and grievance are harmful to one’s health. What is good to one’s psychosomatic health is always pleasure. Generally speaking, there is mutual reinforcement between pleasure and one’s pursuit of the ease and freedom in life. In the Analects, there is a conversation between Confucius and his four disciples in attendance. They were Zilu 子路, Ran You 冉有, Gongxi Hua 公西華, and Zeng Dian 曾點. Confucius asked each of them to share with everybody present his ambitions in life. When the former three were declaring their ambition in political career, Zeng Dian was playing the zither. The following conversation thus began between Confucius and Zeng Dian.

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“Tien [i.e. Zeng Dian], what are your wishes?” Tien, pausing as he was playing on his lute, while it was twanging, laid the instrument aside, and rose, “My wishes,” he said, “are different from the cherished purposes of these three gentlemen.” “What harm is there in that?” said the Master; “do you also, as well as they, speak out your wishes.” Tien then said, “In this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete , along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, six or seven boys, I would wash in the I [i.e. the Yi River] , enjoy the breeze among the rain altars, and return home singing.” The Master heaved a sigh and said, “I give my approval to Tien” (Confucius, 2014, 11:25, p. 114).

By confiding what he longed for in his heart, Confucius gave us more glimpses of a real Master. Zhu Xi’s interpretation of this passage is very apt. “Through Zeng Dian’s learning,” he says in Chapter 11 of the Lunyu Jizhu, “one may see the prevalence and thorough permeation of the Heavenly Principle beyond the reach of human desire. That is why he could be at such ease when it came to the choice between action and inaction. All his announced ambition came down to was his content feeling about what he had in his status. It did not mean to aim at the sacrifice of one’s own interest for the sake of others. But what looms large behind his words is a broad heart, a heart that merged into all things in Heaven and Earth with each in its proper place. As for those other three disciples [of Confucius], they all hastened to pursue the least important. Their breadth of mind is therefore no match [to Zeng Dian’s]. That is why Confucius heaved a sigh and agreed with him wholeheartedly.” Note that, in Zhu Xi’s view, what the other disciples aspired for was “the least important”. It is a view derived from the Great Learning, a view that is not necessarily correct. But, by heaving a sigh and saying “I give my approval to Tien,” Confucius did show his longing for the freedom in subsistence, which indeed speaks of a spiritual realm that is in one with heaven and earth. Now we can also say that, with respect to an individual human being’s subsistence, Confucians, with Confucius as their representative, enjoy as much pleasure in hardship as they do in prosperity. There is simply nothing in which they do not enjoy themselves.

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9.1.3.  Self-Strengthening and Virtue Deepening In the Chinese mainland, people often call each other “comrade” or ­“colleague.” In the beginning, they might have done so by chance. But there is necessity in the popularity of “this” practice. As a noun, tongzhi 同志 (comrades) usually means people who share the same ambition and aspiration. The word has been in use since pre-modern times.6 In modern times, this word is particularly popular in the discourse of proletarian revolution. As for the word tongren 同仁 (colleagues), it can also be written as 同人. This word usually means one’s colleagues who particularly distinguish themselves with their virtue of benevolence. Since the early modern period, the word has been widely used in cultural circles. From the viewpoint adopted in the Book of Changes, a tongzhi (comrade) in a strict sense refers to someone who can open up about the future with you. Its connotations of energetic-ness and dynamicity are suggestive of the uniformity of the virtue of Creativity. And tongren (colleague) in its strict sense means someone who is in harmony with reality. Its connotations of conformity and peacefulness are suggestive of the largeness of the virtue of Docility (Cohesion). A model human being would thus be the one who at once nerves oneself to ceaseless activity and supports (humankind and) things with one’s large virtue. A person like that in real life can be considered as one who has realized him- or herself. As we know, what features centrally in the Book of Changes is the idea of actively entering into the mundane. There are three main types of beauty in personality praised in the book. The first is sages or great men, who preserve the (conditions of) great harmony in union.7 Their existence embodies the harmonious unities between yin and yang, between firmness and softness, and between virtue and success in career. The second is the type that sufficiently embodies the virtue of Creativity, which is characterized by courageous efforts to keep forging ahead and ceaseless striving. 6 For

instance, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi used the term “comrades” to refer to people who shared their goal. 7 Translator’s note: “The method of Qian [i.e. Creativity] is to change and transform, so that every-thing obtains its correct nature as appointed (by the mind of Haven); and (thereafter the conditions of) great harmony are preserved in union” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 5).

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The “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” for Creativity ends with the following passage, “The force of the phrase — ‘exceeding the proper limits’ — indicates the knowing to advance but not to retire; to maintain but not to let perish; to get but not to lose. He only is the sage who knows to advance and to retire, to maintain and to let perish; and that without ever acting incorrectly. Yes, he only is the sage!” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 15) Therefore, the first paradigm of ideal personality is one who, without ever acting incorrectly, knows to advance and to retire. The second is one who knows to advance but not to retire. This type, in the opinion of the author of the Great Commentary on the Book of Changes, can also be considered as a “sage.”8 The third paradigm of ideal personality is a man of virtue, a personality that sufficiently embodies the virtue of Docility: “The superior man [i.e. man of virtue] (emblemed here) by the ‘yellow’ and correct (color), is possessed of comprehension and discrimination. He occupies the correct position (of supremacy), but (that emblem) is on (the lower part of) his person. His excellence is in the center (of his being), but it diffuses a complacency over his four limbs, and is manifested in his (conduct of) affairs: — this is the perfection of excellence” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 23). Whereas the second type of personality embodies more of the characteristic of “change,” the third embodies more of the characteristic of “simplicity.”9 Strictly speaking, only the first type is equipped with “perfect virtue”, for it combines the advantages of both change and simplicity. But nobody in real life is perfect. The personality of a given individual will inevitably tilt toward one side or the other. Besides, in a person’s interaction with the world around him, he, more often than not, has to use expediency to make up for any disadvantages he or she may find under given circumstances. Therefore, “perfect virtue” usually exists only in an ideal form that invites people’s unrelenting effort to approach. 8 There

are commentators who take the word shengren 聖人 (sage) here to be a typographic error for yuren 愚人 (fool). Such an understanding seemingly makes sense but it gives rise to contextual incongruence in logic. 9 Translator’s note: It is said in the “Xici shang zhuan 繫辭上傳 [Great Commentaries, Part I]” of the Book of Changes that “Creativity is known by its change. The capability of Cohesion is realized through its simplicity.”

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It goes without saying that social practice is inevitably subject to the confinement of the temporal, ethic, and social-hierarchical matrices that generate it. But we should not, because of this, belittle the spiritual attainment of those who enthusiastically entered the realm of the mundane. Otherwise we would erroneously consider reclusion or religion as the only possible way to be in one with heaven and earth. In fact, as exemplified by Confucius’s unrelenting effort to save the world and people as well as his approval for Zeng Dian’s type of freedom in life, the promotion of the well being of all in the world and the concentration on one’s own moral uplifts can converge in one and the same person. The promotion requires persistence, whereas the concentration calls for freedom from worldly concerns. Such persistence and such freedom constitute two indispensable aspects of human life. They complement one another. As one of the ­founding fathers of the United States of America, Franklin was known for both his persistence in the ceaseless effort to nerve himself to promote the well-being of the multitudes and the freedom he demonstrated through his retirement and his return to where he had begun after his success. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston. His family was too poor to provide him with enough proper education. By studying on his own, he eventually became an outstanding statesman, diplomat, writer, musician, scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur. When he was 12, he worked in a print house as an apprentice. At 24, he took over Pennsylvania Gazette and became its publisher. His work Poor Richard’s Almanack turned out to be a bestseller next only to the Bible. After he emerged into fame, he made many contributions in cultural communication and social welfare in the colony of North America and organized Junto Club, American Philosophical Society, and many other associations. The public institutions he established included library, school, hospital, and so on. In his moral life, Franklin developed 13 virtues for himself. They are temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanness, tranquility, chastity, humility. He, by practicing these virtues, aspired to make certain everything he did was for the well being and benefit of people and society. As one of the leaders of the Independence Revolution, although he was generally regarded as a forerunner in the race for the first US president, he showed his noble and upright character through his endorsement of George Washington as a better

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candidate. This much beloved great American passed away in 1790. In his will, he wished to return to his most basic status as a common citizen and be identified in his epitaph simply as B. Franklin Printer.

His is a life of incessant effort to keep forging ahead. With a heart that is broader than the ocean, he epitomizes the spirit of freedom, equality, and fraternity in modern time. His sense of humility contributed to making him a great man. A personality like this can even be regarded as a sage. As early as the pre-Qin era, Confucian model personality was already characterized by the contradiction between the change of Creativity and the simplicity of Cohesion as well as that between persistence and casualness. After the medieval period, much as the model took on a mixture of Confucian, Daosit, and Buddhist elements, its basic pattern remained the same without any fundamental change, though an increase is observed on the side of casualness and in its leaning toward the acquiescence of Docility. At a time when delicate and resplendent peony was popular among the general public, Zhou Dunyi alone loved lotus for its noble and unsullied character. His essay On the Love for Lotus 愛蓮說 vividly projects his ideal personality. As a plant, lotus, in Buddhism, symbolizes the tranquility and purity in human nature. In Volume 3 of Fathoming the Abstruseness of the Avatamsaka Sutra 華嚴經探玄記,10 lotus is extolled for such four characteristics as fragrance, purity, tenderness, and loveliness — which are said to correspond roughly to such four virtues of the true thusness as permanence, bliss, self, and purity — and praised for being unsullied by the silt it is rooted in, being capable of self-cultivation, and being of use to people. Zhou Dunyi lauds lotus as a “gentleman” in floral shape, and describes it as “unsullied by the silt it grows out of, bathed in clean water without looking coquettish,” “smelling particularly good in distance, standing straight and upright, and good to appreciate at a distance rather than to be intimate with and to play with.” If these words are evident of the influence from Buddhism, the author’s praise of lotus for “neither spreading out nor branching off” is suggestive of Daoist ­overtone and his appreciation of its “being hollow inside and straight ­outside” reflects Confucian thought, especially the thought conveyed in 10 Translator’s

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note: Authored by Monk Fazang 法藏 (643–712 AD).

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the Commentaries of the Book of Changes. Zhou Dunyi’s love of lotus convinces us that humankind’s aesthetical appreciation is an activity through which they behold themselves in the object of their appreciation. As an appreciator of lotus, Zhou Dunyi was a person with lofty mind. He despised civil service examinations, valued integrity; and, as an impartial enforcer of the law, he was exceptionally accurate when it came to settling lawsuits. People generally considered him as a worthy marked by both persistence in governmental affairs on the one hand, and ease and casualness in spiritual life on the other. Therefore, it may not have been totally coincidental that, in his old age, he settled down at the foot of the Lotus Peak in Mount Lu and spent his remaining years there.

9.2.  Realm of Transmundane The realm of transmundane consists in an effort to free oneself from the yoke of social conventions, the satisfaction with the simplicity in one’s material life, and the pursuit of one’s spiritual freedom and completeness. It should be noted that this realm is mainly a realm of the heart, in which the heart, through its introversion, concentrates on One (namely the Way), the heaven, and even parinivana. Confucianism also seeks spiritual freedom. It does so without rejecting the introversion of the heart. But it treats the pursuit as merely one aspect of human life. In Daoism, the pursuit is considered as a major aspect in life. In Buddhism, it constitutes all there is to be sought after. In a certain sense, we may say that Confucius also thought of transcending the mundane world and revealed his wish “to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the east,” (Confucius, 2014, p. 87) and to “get upon a raft, and float about on the sea” (Confucius, 2014, p. 40). But what Confucians always kept in mind was to realize oneself in social life. From the perspective of Zhuangzi, Confucians were people “within the confinements” 方内 (Zhuangzi, Chapter 6). By “confinements,” he meant the norms, customs, and conventions of the mundane world. These confinements distinguish the mundane from the transmundane. Zhuangzi, complacently considered himself as one who “roams outside the ­confinements.” As a latent man of virtue, Laozi regarded benevolence, righteousness, rite, and wisdom all as signs of human alienation.

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He should, therefore, also be classified as a person outside confinements. As for Buddhists, they are all detached from the mundane world. Although they can all be classified as philosophies outside confinements, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Buddhism differ in the realms of life they each seek to attain. We now refer to these realms as inaction, freedom, and nirvana. 9.2.1.  Inaction Inaction, as a spiritual realm, entails the following of the natural Way and return to a natural state of existence. It is not as much a realm of transmundane per se as it is a transition between the realm of entering the mundane and that of transmundane. And it is stratified into several levels. Laozi’s advocation of inaction is closely related to his cosmology. In his opinion, the Way is constantly inactive but it leaves nothing undone. For this reason, he thought that sages and nobilities should model themselves after the Way and — without leaving anything undone — stick to the principle of inaction, managing “affairs without action (…)” and spreading “doctrines without words” (Laozi, 1963, p. 140). In doing so, he turned from cosmology to a theory of survival. In the Laozi, sage and nobility are two distinct and yet overlapping notions. In an ideal state, nobilities should themselves be sages, as were those legendary rulers in early antiquity. But Laozi’s theory took into consideration the reality in his time, when the role of nobility and that of sage had already become separated with sages functioning primarily as thinkers whereas nobilities as practitioners. Thus, although sages definitely represent a model personality, nobilities may not all do so. For those who do, no admonition is needed. But those who do not would be expected to emulate sages.11 According to Laozi’s understanding, a sage, as a thinker, is one who quietly observes the Way and experiences the enlightenment thereof. In his daily life, he does not have much concern about himself, nor does he have much desire. He attains complete vacuity, maintains steadfast 11 In

the Laozi, there are numerous admonitions offered to nobilities. The author assumed the role of their teacher.

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quietude, detaches himself from the mundane, and does all this with his spirit submerged in the origin of the cosmos: “Common folks see differences and are clear-cut, I alone make no distinctions”, “The multitude all have a purpose, I alone seem to be stubborn and rustic. I along differ from others and value drawing sustenance from Mother (Tao [i.e. the Way])” (Laozi, 1963, p. 150). The Way is the Mother of all things. Only those who are deep into the search for the abstruse can attend to the Way, stay with it, and look through the unpredictable phenomena to detect what is constant therein. As we discussed before, Laozi thinks that it is possible to know the world without going out of doors and see the Way of Heaven without looking through windows. The key to experiencing the Way hence lies in the attainment of complete vacuity and maintenance of the steadfast quietude. A sage in this sense would be one among those in the ancient times “who were the best rulers” and “were subtly mysterious and profoundly penetrating; too deep to comprehend” (Laozi, 1963, p. 147). We, of course, can regard the remark simply as Laozi’s characterization of himself. With regard to Laozi, he has remained a mystery even today. Zhuangzi called him “a great and true man in the ancient time” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 33). In Chapter 63 of Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, we read that Confucius once consulted Laozi about rite, but he did so only to be advised to act in a way “as if he had nothing” and “knew nothing.” Afterward, said Sima Qian, Confucius told his disciples with a sigh that Laozi was really like a dragon riding the wind and clouds all the way up to heaven. Nobilities’ realm of life usually centers on the practical purpose of managing a state and bringing order to the world. That being said, he should follow the example of the sage and seek to accomplish his goal by “obtaining One,” “holding One,” and following the Way. “He does not show himself; therefore he is luminous. He does not justify himself; therefore he is prominent. He does not boast of himself; therefore he is given credit. He does not brag; therefore he can endure for long” (Laozi, 1963, p. 151). “An empire is often brought to order by having no activity (laissez-faire). If one (likes to) undertake activity, he is not qualified to govern the empire” (Laozi, 1963, p. 162). “I take no action and the people of themselves are transformed. I love tranquility and the people of themselves become correct. I engage in no activity and the people of

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themselves become prosperous. I have no desires and the people of themselves become simple” (Laozi, 1963, p. 167). He who attains this would embody the Way. In spite of his inaction in appearance, the function he performs leaves nothing undone. “Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish” (Laozi, 1963, p. 168). When managing a society, inaction marks a very high realm. But it is applicable only to specific historical periods. Confucius once said in admiration, “May not Shun be instanced as having governed efficiently without exertion? What did he do? He did nothing but gravely and reverently occupy is his royal seat” (Confucius, 2014, p. 161). During the Spring–Autumn and Warring States periods, which was about the time when Laozi lived, to govern a state by taking no action had become nothing but a memory from history or an ideal to be longed for. But after the Qin dynasty, when the society had frequently been brutalized by rulers’ coercive impositions of their tyrannical wills, the Huang–Lao Daoism in the early Han era met the need of the general public. Rulers of that period implemented the basic policy of “loosening the control over common people,” lightening corvee and taxation, and suspending the execution of legal penalties. By the reign periods of Emperor Wen (r. 179–157 BC) and Emperor Jing (156–141 BC), peace was finally restored in the Han Empire, which is known in history of “Order and Peace in the Wen–Jing Era”. As an example, the reign of Emperor Wen — whose name was Liu Heng 劉恒 — approached what Laozi described as the governance of a nobility. Shortly after a major political crisis in the empire, court officials welcomed Liu Heng to the imperial court and appealed for his ascendance to the throne. He declined the request several times and modestly said that he was not as good as his brothers in terms of virtue and talent. After he eventually succeeded the throne, there was a court official who suggested an early designation of crown prince. He declined this suggestion, too, saying that it would be improper to consider the designation before he could bring to people any happiness in life. Then he moved on to enumerate the good virtues of the male members among the younger generations in the imperial clan. The designation was hence suspended until a consensus was reached in the imperial court. The 23 years of his

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reign saw neither the expansion of the royal garden nor any increase in the clothing and vehicles in the imperial court. Liu Heng, moreover, would immediately abolish anything that proved to be inconvenient to the people. He was accustomed to transforming others with virtue. King Wu, being reluctant to be given audience by his majesty, often used the ostensible excuse of illness to avoid coming to the imperial court. Liu Heng thus bestowed clogs and a walking stick on the king, and e­ xempted him from the ceremonial obligation to see the emperor. Among the court officials, there were some who were found to have accepted briberies. Liu Heng then ordered the bestowal on these officials an amount of ­money taken from the imperial treasury, hoping they would feel ashamed and repent. Before his death, Liu Heng left a testamentary edict, in which he wrote, “Death is [something that follows] the course of Heaven and Earth [and it is] natural. [So] what would be the point of excessive sorrow? In the present time, … I would regard it as anything but a good practice to produce too much waste by planning an elaborated funeral [for the dead] at the expense of the living.” With that he requested that there should be a simple and frugal funeral for him so as to avoid adding any burden to the empire and to the people.

Laozi’s version of inner sageliness and outer kingliness centers on the idea of remaining in inaction with nothing left undone, which obviously differs from the Confucian thought. In Volume 1 of the Huainanzi, his thought in this regard is further elaborated: “… Hence a sage would cultivate his intrapersonal basis instead of decorating extrinsic peripherals. He would retain his intrinsic spirit and extinguish his intelligence. Therefore he indifferently remains inactive while leaving nothing undone, nonchalantly takes no governmental measures while leaving nothing ungoverned.” This view is obviously too idealistic to be of any significant relevance to social reality. It is hence considered to be affiliated with the realm of transmundane. It has been attested by lessons of history that in politics, it can be as erroneous to go to one extreme by coercively imposing tyrannical wills as it is to go to the other by sticking to a policy of passive inaction. The former may err in its overemphasis on the power of “human beings” whereas the latter in its overreliance on “heaven.” Laozi’s advocation of inaction goes hand in hand with his view on history. He admired primitive society, which he considered to be candid

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and truthful. What the civilization of the society brings, in his judgment, is vanity and hypocrisy, which take human beings further and further away from the state of the Way, and from the origin of everything. “The man of superior virtue is not (conscious of) his virtue, and in this way he really possesses virtue. The man of inferior virtue never loses (sight of) his ­virtue, and in this way he loses his virtue. The man of superior humanity [i.e. benevolence] takes action, but has no ulterior motive to do so. The man of superior righteousness takes action, and has an ulterior motive to do so. The man of superior propriety [i.e. rite] takes action, and when people do not respond to it, he will stretch his arms to force it on them” (Laozi, 1963, p. 158). In Laozi’s opinion, a great man should “dwelt in the thick (substantial); and … not rest with the thin (­superficial)”, “dwelt in the fruit (reality), and … not rest with the flower (appearance).” (Ibid.,) Thus, from the perspective of a commoner, an ideal state of existence would be one in which people revert to primitiveness: “Let there be a small country with few people. Let there be ten times and a hundred times as many utensils but let them not be used. Let the people value their live highly and not migrate far. Even if there are ships and carriages, none will ride in them. Even if there are armor and weapons, none will display them. Let the people again knot cords and use them (in place of writing). Let them relish their food, beautify their clothing, be content with their homes, and delight in their customs. Though neighboring communities overlook one another and the crowing of cocks and barking of dogs can be heard, yet the people there may grow old and die without ever visiting one another” (Laozi, 1963, p. 175). This social ideal positively values ultimate permanency and in fact displays a tendency of “secularization of sageliness.” In doing so, it constitutes a deeper deconstruction of social civilization. Relative to this realm, the aforementioned realms of sages and nobilities are all rafts. At this point, one is expected to abandon the rafts and get ashore.12 It goes without saying that Laozi’s vision of the other shore is a totally different

12 In

the Laozi, the advocation of “abandoning sageliness and discarding wisdom” and all his similar arguments are logically consistent because they speak of the natural developments of spiritual introversion.

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world from our present world. In this sense, it is not inappropriate at all to subordinate his thought to “the realm of transmundane.” 9.2.2.  Freedom The realm of freedom is a carefree realm with no hindrance therein. It is a realm people generally long for. Confucius’s longing to “get upon a raft, and float about on the sea” and his approval for Zeng Dian both speak his heart. As for Zhuangzi, his worldview has been no doubt inhered from Laozi. And his outlook on life may have benefited substantially from Confucius’s thought. Zhuangzi’s philosophy, in a certain sense, develops along the theme of wishing to live with wild tribes and to get upon a raft, and float about on the sea. Zhuangzi’s consistent upholding of freedom, on the one hand, is closely related to the constantly intensified deterioration of social reality, where those who stole a hook would be sentenced to death but those who stole a state would become a ruler of that state. But rulers, ironically, all claimed themselves to be benevolent and righteous. And people even got used to this kind of confusion between right and wrong. Zhuangzi may have appreciated and even elaborated on the following song sung by Jie Yu 接輿, a wild man in the state of Chu, when he passed Confucius: “Phoenix, oh phoenix, why is your virtue declined so much? That which is yet to come cannot be expected. That which is gone cannot be caught up. Sages make achievements in a world with the Way, and they survive in a world without it. The best achievement one can make in our time is avoid being executed!” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 4) In the fables he created, he depicted quite a number of positive characters known by such names as Footless 兀者, Toeless 無趾, the Broken and Lipless 支離無唇, and so on, all of whom seemed to have been tortured by punishments of mutilation. On the other hand, his upholding of freedom may also have connected with his pessimistic outlook on life. His cosmology inclined him to regard human beings as very small creatures who are negligibly tiny in space and whose life is transient in time. But he claimed that, in spite of such tininess and transience, human beings still tried to strive ceaselessly within their limited life. This is really pitiful: “Once it receives the bodily form complete, it does not fail to function until the end. Whether in conflict or

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in harmony with things, it always pursues its course like a galloping horse which no one can stop. Is this not pitiful indeed? To toil all one’s life without seeing its success and to be wearied and worn out without knowing where to end — is this not lamentable?” (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 182) Hence in Zhuangzi’s opinion, human beings who come to this world should detach themselves from worldly concerns. Only by doing so, can they attain freedom. What kind of person, then, is able to detach himself from all such confinements and thereby achieve freedom? The kind of people Zhuangzi upheld were pure men, perfect men, and spirit-like men, because “perfect men are without self, spirit-like men claim no credits, and pure men leave no names” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 1). They are all people who follow the nature of things without imposing any artificiality thereon, and all live in harmony with their time and environment without leaving any traceable marks of their own. To Zhuangzi, they represent his ideal personality, which can be succinctly characterized as “human in appearance but Heaven in heart” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 21). Thus, in spite of their tangible physical form, what is retained in their spiritual world is the completeness of heavenly virtue. It is a world like the vacuous and vast sky, which is clear and yet capable of containing things. Due to their physical human form, these people inevitably have to rely on the earthly world for subsistence. Yet, because of their heavenly heart, they seek pleasure in heaven. In their reliance on the earthly world for subsistence, they are subject to various restrictions. But, by seeking pleasure in heaven, they attain infinite freedom. To break away from the restrictions in reality and look for spiritual freedom, such is a central theme that runs through the Zhuangzi. Precisely for this reason, Zhuangzi cherished the independent personality he maintained in life and he yearned for the freedom in his existence. He had served as a minor official for some time, and once made a living by making straw sandals. Sometimes, hardly had he finished one meal when he began to worry about the next. Yet, he was nevertheless lofty and unyielding in character. In Chapter 32 of the Zhuangzi, he wrote about a man named Cao Shang 曹商, who was sent to the state of Qin on a ­mission and, after he returned, bragged about the 100 carriages that the King of Qin had bestowed on him. Zhuangzi ridiculed Cao Shang, referring to the carriages as reward earned by “licking [the king’s] piles.”

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According to Volume 63 of Records of the Grand Historian, “King Wei of Chu, having heard of the ability of Chuang Chou [i.e. Zhuang Zhou, which is Zhuangzi’s name], sent messengers with large gifts to bring him to his court, and promising also that he would make him his chief minister. Chuang-Tze [i.e. Zhuangzi], however, only laughed and said to them, ‘A thousand ounces of silver are a great gain to me; and to be a high noble and minister is a most honorable position. But have you not seen the victim-ox for the border sacrifice? It is carefully fed for several years, and robed with rich embroidery that it may be fit to enter the Grand Temple. When the time comes for it to do so, it would prefer to be a little pig, but it cannot get to be so. Go away quickly, and do not soil me with your presence. I had rather amuse and enjoy myself in the midst of a filthy ditch than be subject to the rules and restriction.’”13 This reminds us of a story in the Xiaolin Guangji 笑林廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Forests of Laughter).14 There was a ghost that was going to be reincarnated. The god of the underworld took pity on him and decided to let him be reincarnated as a wealthy man. Much to his surprise, the ghost was unhappy about the verdict, saying that all he wanted was have no worries about his livelihood and no troubles with anyone, so that he could enjoy a carefree life and spend every day burning ordinary kind of incense and drinking plain tea. The god, however, considered this wish hard to satisfy, telling the ghost that it was within his power to give him several tens of thousands of more taels of silver than his lot after reincarnation would allow, but it was out of his control to give him that kind of freedom and relaxation in life.

The ghost in this story seems to have seen through the emptiness of the material world, slighted wealth, and valued quietude and peace in life. The pleasure and happiness in life, indeed, is independent of wealth and social status. They are rather based more upon the simplicity and peace in 13 Translator’s

note: See Charles F. Horne, ed. The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Vol. XII, Medieval China. NY: Parke, 1917, pp. 397–398. 14 Translator’s note: This is an anonymous collection of jokes compiled during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911 AD).

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the heart. Human beings’ material life can be simple. To them, what is rare and precious is the freedom in spiritual life. This free gallop in spirit can be called the “the roaming of the heart” 游心. It is safe to say that the entire Zhuangzi resulted from such roaming. There are two chapters — specifically Chapters 1 and 22 — in the book with the word “roaming” in their titles. This word is also frequently used in the text as well. For instance, “when following the nature of Heaven and Earth, carried by the changes in the Qi, and thereby roaming in infinity, on what would one need to depend?” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 1); “he [i.e. the perfect man] mounts upon the clouds and forces of heaven, rides on the sun and the moon, and roams beyond the four seas.” (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 188); “and it would be perfect to let the roaming heart take a ride on the external [forces that condition one’s life] and to nurture the heart by entrusting the self to all that which is of necessity.” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 4); “letting the heart roam in the harmony of virtue.” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 5); “… roam[ing] in the universe of one and original creative force” (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 198); “roaming in the Land of Nowhere and resting in the vast wilderness there” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 7). In fact, except in Chapter 3, “roaming” is mentioned in each and every Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi,15 which indicates the great importance that Zhuangzi accorded to it. It was simply a realm on which he laid his hope for existence. “Roaming” in the Zhuangzi basically connotes the freedom from any confinements on one’s spirit and the freedom that one enjoys in directing one’s Zhi anywhere. It is, first, a spiritual emancipation, a state of being free of restrictions, which is known as “the concentration of the heart without being obstructed” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 19), and “releasing the heart and spirit” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 11). The subject, by “ detaching [itself] from both body and mind,” (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 201), shakes itself free from all spiritual yokes and attains freedom. Second, it is latently vectorial because, despite the subject’s seemingly “ignorance as regards what to seek” and “ignorance as regards where to go” (Ibid.), it always points to “indifference” and “vacuity.” Examples can be found in 15 Translator’s

note: The first 7 chapters of the Zhuangzi are collectively known as the Inner

Chapters.

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such terms as “Land of Nowhere,” “beyond the four seas,” “harmony of virtue,” “origin of things,” “the universe of one and original creative force,” “the beginning and end of all things,” and so forth. Third, roaming of the heart is in fact the opening of the third level of the heart. It is a free operation of the capability of Zhixing. The roaming of the heart is preconditioned by the Fasting of the Heart on the one hand and the Sitting down and Forgetting Everything on the other hand. It means the transcendence of both sensitivity (e.g. “do not be burdened by things” 無為事任) and intellectuality (e.g. “do not be occupied by intellectuality” 無為知主). As we discussed earlier, Chapter 1 of the Zhuangzi speaks of its author’s frame of mind when he looked down upon all things and gave a free rein to his heart to let it roam in infinity. It can hence be regarded as a chapter in which Zhuangzi declares his aspiration. In Chapter 22, he wrote, “Is it calm and quiet? Is it indifferent and pure? Is it in comfort and harmony? Vast is my Zhi. Once [it] is gone I do not know where it will arrive. Gone and back [as it] is, I do not know where it will stop.” Evidently what the roaming of the heart means is to give a free rein to one’s Zhi. And to give a free rein to one’s Zhi means nothing but freedom. Since his roaming heart is directed to the origin of things or the ­harmony of virtue, Zhuangzi shows an intense longing for primitive life. A proximation of such life, in his opinion, would be the life in a kingdom where morality is conventionalized and naturalized. The kingdom, according to legend, was in Nanyue 南越, where “people were ignorant, simple, and with minimum desire and [sense of self]. They knew how to plow but not how to store up. They gave without expecting to be repaid. They had no idea what righteousness and rite would require. They simply acted at will and to their heart’s content, [but all] their actions invariably coincided in [what the conformity with] the Way would entail” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 20). All this is close to the “small country with few people” depicted in Chapter 80 of the Laozi, except that the people in this kingdom “acted at will and to their heart’s content,” which highlights the magnitude of freedom that distinguished the kingdom. Zhuangzi, furthermore, regarded the inchoate form of existence relatively more approximate to the Way and extolled it as such. In Chapter 7, he wrote, “Southern-Sea Emperor’s name was Transience; Northern-Sea Emperor’s name was Fleeting; Central Emperor’s name was Inchoation. … One day Transience

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came to discuss with Fleeting about how to repay Inchoation’s kindness to them, saying, ‘People all have their seven apertures so they can see, listen, eat, and breathe.16 But Inchoation has none. Let’s drill the apertures for him.’ So, they drilled one aperture [in Inchoation’s head] a day. On the seventh day, Inchoation died.” Inchoation is similar to Adam in the Eden. As if due to some remainder of one’s prenatal memory, people all foster a nostalgic feeling about Eden, thinking of it as a peaceful, comfortable, and safe place free of worries and contentions. Let’s see how the ugly but selfreliant Zhili Shu 支離疏 is portrayed in Chapter 4 of the Zhuangizi: “with his chin upon his navel, shoulders over his head, hairdo pointing to heaven, viscera close to the back, and shanks near his ribs,” he simply looks like an infant in mother’s womb. From a Freudian viewpoint, perhaps Zhuangzi’s fables would look like daydreams. But we would rather interpret them from a Jungian perspective. In doing so, we find them rich in human beings’ collective unconsciousness. To Zhuangzi, an ideal state of human existence is one in which human beings can match heavenly nature with their own nature. He regarded what we would call social culture as nothing but artificiality, as something like hooking an ox by the nose or yoking a horse. All this culture comes down to, as he would think, is a shackle imposed upon human existence. In his opinion, human beings should return to their primitive state and thereby become “in one with Heaven” (Zhuangzi, Chapter 19). Such longing for primitive society was only his spiritual freedom. It is evidently impossible to fulfill in real life. But, because it inspires ­people’s thought of returning to nature, the longing nevertheless carries certain positive significance. As to Zhuangzi’s pursuit of the independence and freedom of personality, it shows vividly a transcendental form of existence, which has generally been admired and even modeled after among later generations of scholars, especially those living at a time when there was no social justice. During the Wei–Jin period, Zhuangzi’s influence was evident in all aspects of the capricious and reckless life style of the “Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove.” Tao Qian, a great poet in the Eastern Jin dynasty, also held an attitude toward life that was similar to Zhuangzi’s attitude and, in doing so, left behind him a legend in history. 16 Translator’s

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note: Seven apertures refer to eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

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Living at time of social chaos, Tao Qian lamented over the general decadence of social culture and wished to find a land of Cockaigne. A quiet man of few words, he slighted fame and wealth. His broken and unfurnished hut could not provide him with enough shelter against even the sun and wind. His clothing was shabby and he frequently ran out of food. But he was still indifferent to any losses and gains in material life, still felt content in life. He was once a minor official. Because he was reluctant to make curtsies for the mere sake of the salary he earned as an official, he resigned and returned to his hometown. In his poem “Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields I”, he wrote, “My youth felt no comfort in common things, by my nature I clung to the mountains and hills. I erred and fell in the snares of dust and was away thirteen years in all. The caged bird yearns for its former woods, fish in a pool yearns for long-ago deeps. … For long time I was kept inside a coop, now again I return to the natural way” (Tao Qian, in Owen, 1996, p. 316). Like Zhuangzi, he was detached from the mundane world and, at the same time, engaged in spiritual communication with Heaven and Earth. It was a communication from which he derived extreme beauty and pleasure. “Riding on the tides of the transformation in nature, there is no complacency, nor is there any fear” (Tao Qian, “On Miraculous Power of Nature”). “In an instant I have covered the universe — if this not joy, what is?” (Tao Qian, 1996, p. 319, “Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas I”)

The realm of freedom is, relatively speaking, a realm that is richest in aesthetic implications. It features centrally a call for the return to natural state.17 The Subject, once freed from the yoke of social reality and having restored its status as a free person, displays the form and state in which a human being should be. With its spirit roaming between heaven and earth, it merged its limited life into the infinity of the cosmos. One can indeed derive immense pleasure from the process. 17 Zhuangzi

valued the independence and freedom of personality in social reality and argued for retaining the real self. His actions — including his singing at the beat of a basin at his wife’s death, his regarding heaven and earth as his coffin toward the end of his life, his longing for the kingdom where morality was conventionalized and naturalized, and his admiration of the state of inchoation — can all count as his reversion to nature. He distinguished himself from Laozi with his total abandonment of shrewdness as well as the even less importance he had placed on successes in political career.

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9.2.3.  Nirvana Zhuangzi says of “the pure man of old” as one who “knew neither to love life nor to hate death” (Zhuangzi, in Chan, 1963, p. 192). This, along with his depiction of the state of Inchoation, verges on what is known as nirvana in Buddhism. Buddhists, from their point of view, would draw distinction between the worldly dharma and the transcendental dharma. In the latter, that which goes the furthest into the transcendence of the mundane would be nirvana. In fact, nirvana is a realm in which secular life is fundamentally denied. In spite of such denial, people nonetheless regard it as a realm in human life. This seems to be a paradox. But, according to Buddhist doctrines, all things and beings would go through such stages as arising 生, abiding 住, changing 異, and extinction 滅. From this perspective, a human life that reaches the realm of nirvana may be known as a life in the stage of extinction. It is a life that has either transformed into a non-human form or transcended human life. Nirvana, as it happens, translates extinction in meaning. In Buddhism, there is a fundamental view on both the cosmos and human life. The view has been consistently and invariably held among original Buddhism, Hinayana Buddhism, and Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism. That is what they call “the Three Seals of the Dharma” 三法印,18 namely, the impermanence of all things 諸法無常, the lack of inherent existence of all things 諸法無我, and the perfect quiescence of nirvana 涅槃寂靜. The doctrine of these seals constitutes a guiding principle of Buddhist theory, in which the three seals are the three pillars of the Buddhist thought. Whereas the former two seals are meant to be denials, the last one is meant to be constructive. By the impermanence of all things, it means that all phenomena in the world are undergoing changes and in the process of arising and extinction, where nothing can remain permanently stable or permanently in ­existence. This is because all things are caught in an evident relation of interdependence. They all come into being upon the union of causes and conditions; and none would exist independently once its related causes and conditions 18 The

word “seal” in “the Three Seals of the Dharma” means mark. The metaphor comes from the seal or stamp used to certify the authority and authenticity of a document.

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are lost. In Zhuangzi’s words, this means that all things are dependent. People, by endeavoring to establish worldly dharma, attempt to confirm and grasp these phenomena, which are, however, nothing but illusions. Impermanence (anitya) can be divided into momentary impermanence and continuing impermanence. Together, they convey the message that all things are undergoing such four aspects of transformation as arising, abiding, changing, and extinction, and they are doing so as much in any fraction of moment as they are in a long period of time. By things’ lack of inherent existence Buddhist thinkers mean that nothing in the world is an independent, substantial, and self-governed Noumenon. The phrase “all things” or “all dharma” 諸法 refer to all qualitatively definable things and phenomena. The “inherent existence” or “self” refers to a unitary and self-governed noumenon, aka soul. It is subject to no assembling, disintegration, or any process of changing, arising, or extinction. The “lack of inherent existence” can be divided into two kinds. The first is human’s lack of inherent existence 人無我, which underscores the necessity to break “the attachment to the belief in the existence of an inherently existent self” 人我執. The second is dharma’s lack of inherent existence 法無我, which underlines the necessity to break “the attachment to external objects” 法我執. A given human being is a unity of the Five Aggregates 五蘊 (namely, form, feeling, perception, impulse, and consciousness). The unity can be likened to a house assembled with bricks, tiles, wood, and stones. Since a person can come into existence due to the assembling of the Five Aggregates, he or she will go out of life once the Five Aggregates disintegrate. Comparatively speaking, the impermanence of all things and the lack of inherent existence of all things lead the discussion to proceed along temporal and spatial dimensions, respectively. Because of the impermanence, human beings are unable to grasp various conditioned things. Due to the lack of inherent existence, human beings are unable to grasp various forms of dharma. In other words, living in time and space, human beings are unable to truly grasp anything around them. Hence “all is suffering,” which was the original Third Dharma Seal but whose place was later taken by “nirvana as the perfect quiescence.” This substitution was, to a certain extent, of necessity because people would stay in this world without the sight of any hope if they stopped at the awareness that all were suffering.

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Once it was replaced by nirvana as the perfect quiescence, people would be able to see the light of the other world. As a result, they would practice their cultivation with more hope and confidence. The word niepan 涅槃 is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word “nirvana.” There have been other Chinese transliterations of it as well, such as nihuan 泥洹 and niepanna 涅槃那. Semantic translations of the word in Chinese include miedu 滅度 (extinguishment and transcending), jimie 寂滅 (quiescence and extinguishment), anle 安樂 (peace and pleasure), jietuo 解脫 (liberation and disengagement), and yuanji 圓寂 (perfect quiescence). Before the time of Buddhism, the word was used in ancient India to refer to the extinguishment of fire or the state of being scattered in wind. After Buddhism was founded, the word came to mean the highest realm to be attained in cultivation. In Hinayana Buddhism, the word can be synonymic to deadly stillness, which means the end of an individual’s life. In Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism, it is different. By translating the word as perfect quiescence, Xuanzang suggested a realm in which there were neither unresolved confusions nor imperfect virtue. Since nirvana means the attestations to the Buddha nature (Buddha-dhatu) and to the definitive nature (svabhava) of all dharma in the Maha-Parinirvana Sutra 大涅槃經 and the Avatamsaka Sutra 華嚴經, respectively, it stands to reason to point out that, by the time of Maha¯ya¯na Buddhism, the ­impermanence and the lack of inherent existence in the Three Dharma Seals must have been further defined. This is because the attainment of nirvana would mean the acquisition of such properties as Permanence 常, Pleasure 樂, Subject 我, and Pureness 淨. Such being the case, one has to acknowledge that in the Seal of the impermanence of all things, there has to be a real permanence. By the same token, in the Seal of the lack of inherent existence of all things, there must be a real inherent existence.19 The key to nirvana is enlightenment. Based precisely on the doctrines in the Nirvana Sutra 涅槃經, Zhu Daosheng advanced ­ his ­theory of attaining Buddhahood through satori. He maintained that 19 Zhu

Daosheng 竺道生 (355–424 AD) wrote in Volume 3 of his Zhu Weimojie Jing 注維 摩詰經 [Commentary on the Vimilakirti Sutra] that “the lack of inherent existence refers to the lack of the inherent existence in life and death; it does not mean any lack of the inherent existence of Buddha nature.”

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every person was equipped with Buddha nature. Through satori, one would “reach [one’s] allotted original nature,” which was nirvana. Of course, Huiguan 慧觀 (fl. 401–424 AD), who had studied under Kumarajiva 鳩摩羅什 (fl. 350–409 AD) with Zhu Daosheng, also had reason to ­suggest gradual enlightenment. One may briefly characterize the indicator of the a­ ttainment of nirvana as “breaking attachments and thereby entering the realm of Tathagata.” By “breaking attachments,” we mean ­primarily the breaking of all attachments in the Three Realms (i.e. the Realms of Desire, Form, and the Formless) and hence the complete severing of the tie with afflictions. As for “entering the realm of Tathagata,” we mean by it the attestation to the true thusness of Buddha nature or the pure heart (suddha citta) of Tathagata after clearing up all delusions (avidya). If one only broke attachments, it would be like trying to extract pure gold by melting dirt and dusts, a process in which there would still be leftover karmas as well as retributions thereof even if one had tried tens of thousands of times. In other words, there would still be leftover causes and conditions, which explains the term “nirvana with remainder” 有餘涅槃. But, once one entered the realm of Tathagata, one would accomplish the extinction of physical as well as mental defilements, become detached from both physical form and mental activities, and be merged into Grand Void. Since this is a stage in which there is no more body, mind, or fruits of karma (vipaka), it is known as the “nirvana without remainder” 無餘涅槃, which is a nirvana of a higher level.20 We may say that when Sakyamuni was trying to attest to the universal truth, the enlightenment (samyak-­sambodhi) he attained under a bodhi tree was precisely nirvana. By removing the contrast between Object and Subject, and transcending all temporal and spatial limitations, it elevates life to a realm of eternity, a realm in which one’s body and mind both merge into the universe. 20  Regarding

nirvana and such distinction made on the basis of the presence or absence of any “remainder” in it, opinions vary among Buddhists. My discussion here has drawn on materials from the Awakening in Maha¯ya¯na Faith and Sengzhao’s 僧肇 (384–414 AD) Niepan Wu Ming Lun涅槃無名論 [Nirvana is beyond Knowing]. Relative to nirvana with reminder, nirvana without remainder is of a higher level because it is free of any remaining causes and conditions.

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In the Buddhist doctrine of Four Noble Truths 四諦 (i.e. the truth of suffering, the truth of the arising of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering), ­nirvana is subordinated to the truth of the cessation of suffering. The word itself seems to connote the cessation of the existence of both body and mind. And the word mie 滅 (cessation; extinction) in this context can be understood as the extinction of afflictions, delusions, and the resultant attainment of tranquility and purity with no stains (samklesa) therein. There is another view in Buddhism that regards nirvana as a state in which one gets out of the reincarnation cycle of life and death, and thereby attains the immortalization of one’s body and mind. In our contemporary time, hearsay has it that Mahakasyapa 摩訶迦葉, the Buddhist sage who received the dharma transmission from the Buddha 2,000 years ago, is still alive, which — as it is said — was witnessed not long ago by a certain Dr. Bergson, who is said to have met the sage in Mount Kukkutapada (where Mahakasyapa had attained nirvana) and been converted to Buddhism under the sage’s guidance. In spite of the certainty with which stories of this event have been told, their validity is hard to prove. But what we know for certain is that the beauty of nirvana as a realm in life has attracted thousands of people to Buddhism. They are converted to Buddhism and engaged in lifelong and rigorous practice of it. In this regard, Master Hongyi 弘一 (1880–1942) is a good example. Master Hongyi’s secular name was Li Shutong 李叔同. He had ­attained a high degree of professional proficiency in poetry, music, painting, seal-cutting, and calligraphy. But, although he had been born into a very wealthy family, this great artist took to religion and was formally ­converted to Buddhism at Dinghui Monastery in Hangzhou in August, 1918, just a short time before the “May 4th Movement” in the following year. Originally, what Li Shutong had often read were mostly Confucian books about human nature. Later, his interest turned to Daoist religion. In the end, he decided to leave his family to become a monk. His wife was unable to persuade him no to go. His other wife, a Japanese woman, was not able to see him in spite of her trip to China. The master strictly followed the precepts and practiced Buddhism as piously as an ascetic.

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He, as a rule, never had lunch when noonday was passed. He passed away in the Wenling Nursing Home, Buer Hall, Quanzhou, Fujian Province in October, 1942. Before his death, he wrote the following Buddhist verse for his old friend Xia Mianzun 夏丏尊, “Friendship between gentlemen is simple and indifferent. Those who judge it by how it looks would miss it by thousands of miles. To the inquiry about my destination, I [with my heart wandering] at large, forget what to say to respond. At the blossoming twigs spring is full; and at the zenith of heaven, the moon is round.” He went on to title it with the words “In a Mixture of Sorry and Gladness,” which adequately characterized his frame of mind at that moment.

Presumably, Master Hongyi’s sorrow over sentient beings’ sufferings and people’s obsession of delusions, along with his gladness about the emancipation of the soul and the perfect completion of life, are shared by most of the people who have attained nirvana. If such cosmic pity is put aside, what is left is a vivid scene where “at the blossoming twigs spring is full; and at the zenith of heaven, the moon is round.” It is without doubt something with the properties of Permanence, Pleasure, Subject, and Pureness.

9.3.  Substance and Function in One It would do disservice to an individual to base upon this world his or her pursuit of the realm of entering the mundane. But, to pursue the realm of transmundane and thereby to withdraw to the other world would often end in the abandonment of one’s community or society. Neither choice alone is perfect. Although each constitutes an important contour that may contribute to making human life full, neither alone rounds up the perfection of human life. An ideal form of existence would be one that lends itself to both meeting human beings’ practical needs in daily life and retaining their spiritual home, so that people can freely and happily promote social progress and thereby combine their individual activities and their Zhi that connects the entire sub-celestial terrain. This is also known as the interchangeability between Substance and Function or the fusion of ­ Substance and Function.

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9.3.1.  The Distinction between the Fundamental and the Peripheral and That between Substance and Function The fundamental and the peripheral on the one hand, and Substance and Function on the other are two pairs of overlapping categories. Without doubt, they originally differed in meaning. The former pair denoted the major and minor, and the latter pair represented the thing-in-itself and its practical effect. In reality, there is overlap between the two pairs. For example, inner sageliness is usually taken to be fundamental and outer kingliness is thought to be peripheral. The key to the attainment of inner sageliness is to understand the Way, which is Substance. But outer kingliness is precisely the function of the Way. Moreover, the relationship between noumenon and phenomenon can also be characterized as one between the fundamental and the peripheral, which are often known as Substance and Function. If “the fundamental” is abstractly defined as Noumenon and if “the Way” is taken to be what humankind ought to do, then Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism would all agree on the validity of a broad sense of what Youzi 有子 is recorded as saying in the Analects 1:2, “A superior man [i.e. man of virtue] is devoted to the fundamentals (the root). When the root is firmly ­established, the moral law (Tao [i.e. the Way]) will grow” (Confucius, in Chan, 1963, p. 20). Chinese philosophy is particularly marked by its devotion to the fundamental. Fundamentals in Confucianism are heaven, the Great Ultimate, and nature, those in Daoism are heaven, the Way, and Vacuity, and those in Buddhism are Dharmata (i.e. the true form of all things as they are), Buddha Nature, and True Thusness. In spite of their different names and partially different denotations, these terms all refer to some absolute and — generally speaking — divine existence. Premodern ­philosophers generally sought to return to the simple and the original. They had a certain reason to do so, because a foundation of human value system could be laid in such a pursuit. The real and profound difference lies in their ways to view and treat the “peripheral,” a category in opposition to “fundamental.” In the Great Learning, the rectification of the heart and self-cultivation are taken to be fundamental, whereas the management and regulation of the world are presented as peripheral. This is typical of Confucian viewpoint. Confucius, to recall, kept silent about Zilu’s, Ran You’s, and Gongxi Hua’s declaration of

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their political ambitions but gave his approval to Zeng Dian’s. Presumably, he considered the former three’s ambitions peripheral. With that said, Confucianism basically tends to make a point of “being devoted to the fundamental and thereby strengthening the peripheral.” According to Chapter 33 of the Zhuangzi, the learning of Guanyinzi 關尹子 and Laozi “regarded the fundamental as essential and considered things [that exist in concrete forms] as drossy.” What they referred to as “fundamental” and “things [that exist in concrete forms]” are the Way and the peripheral, respectively. In the Huainanzi, the internal and the external are distinguished forthrightly in terms of the contrast between the fundamental and the peripheral. Later, Wang Bi, as commentator of the Laozi, very aptly characterized the philo­ sophy of Laozi as a learning that “upholds the fundamental while extinguishing the peripheral.” Compared with Laozi, Buddhism tends to go further to an extreme. Not only does it consider the entire secular world and secular matters peripheral, but it firmly argues for the abandonment of them with a view to attain the wonderful realm of nirvana. One may therefore also call it a philosophy of “returning to the fundamental while abandoning the peripheral.” From the perspective of the development of social history, it is easy to see that the Confucian idea of being devoted to the fundamental while strengthening the peripheral is the most appropriate. Unlike the case with the distinction between the fundamental and the peripheral, what are at play between Substance and Function include the relation between the virtual and the actual and that between the invariable and the variable. Theirs is hence a more complicated relationship. The distinction between ti 體 (substance; substance; body; form) and yong 用 (use; function; resources) is present in pre-Qin texts. In the Commentary on the Book of Changes, it is stated that “Yi [i.e. Change] is no more attached to any particular place than that which is spirit-like is confined to any particular form [i.e. ti]” and that “it [i.e. the course of things] is manifested in the benevolence (of its operations), and (then, again) it conceals and stores up its resources [yong]” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 297).21 Moreover, in Chapter 10 of the Xunzi, the two words are juxtaposed with their original meanings explicitly employed: “Things occupy the same 21 Translator’s

note: Between the two quotes (from the Commentaries of the Book of Changes) in this sentence, the first quote is my translation and the second is by Legges.

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space but differ in form [ti]. Being without [particular] adaptability [to human beings’ needs], they are of use [yong] to people.” To elevate the terms to the status of philosophical categories, it is of vital importance to substantiate the word ti with the meaning of “(the) fundament(al).” A transition to this elevation is observed in On the Main Teachings of Six Schools of Philosophy 論六家之要指, an essay written by Sima Tan 司馬談 (190–110 BC) in the early Han period. According to the essay, “Daoism advocates inaction but also argues for leaving nothing undone. The substance [of their learning] is easy to practice, but their words are hard to comprehend. Their method is based on vacuity and non-being as its fundament [ti] and characterized by adaptive readiness for spontaneous advantage-taking as its function [yong].” Such juxtaposition of “fundament” and “function” later developed into the duality of Substance and Function in the Philosophy of Metaphysics in the Wei–Jin period as well as the Chinese Buddhism in the Sui–Tang (581–907 AD) era with an ever-lasting influence. Being accustomed to differentiating between the fundamental and the peripheral, Wang Bi was in an advantageous position to consider the ­raison-d’être of things as Noumenon. In doing so, he elevated the concept of “ti” from a level of physical level to a metaphysical level. With a large passage he wrote to annotate Chapter 38 of the Laozi, he elaborated the following thought of Laozi, “it [i.e. a clay utensil] is on its non-being that the utility [yong] of the utensil depends,” (Laozi, 1963, p. 145), suggesting that “although it is valuable to have non-being as its function [yong], nevertheless there cannot be substance [ti] without non-being” (Wang Bi, in Chan, 1963, p. 323). In his view, therefore, non-being not only fulfills the function of things but also constitutes the Substance or essence of things. In the (Eastern) Jin dynasty (317–420 AD), however, when Han Kangbo 韓康伯 continued where Wang Bi left off in the Annotations of the Book of Changes 周易注, he — presumably having taken into c­ onsideration the difference between Confucius and Laozi — expressed his different opinion, saying, “Although sages took the experiencing of the Way as function, they could not take non-being as Substance in its entirety.”22 22 In

the Commentaries on the Book of Changes, the word quan 全 (in something’s entirety) may have been a typographical error for she 舍 (abandon). If so, then Han Kangbo was in fact reiterating Wang Bi’s view.

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Although Substance and Function, as philosophical categories, began to take form in the Philosophy of Metaphysics, they owe much more of their formation to Buddhism. The various sects of Chinese Buddhism mostly pay close attention to the distinction between Substance and Function and, in so doing, put forth a series of profound views. They generally think that while Function may arise and cease, there is no such thing as arising or extinction as far as Substance is concerned. Function is distinct from Substance; but apart from Substance, there would be no Function to speak of. They are hence neither connected to, nor detached from, each other. In his Dharma Gates to the Calm Abiding and Clear Observation in Maha¯ya¯na 大乘止觀法門, Huisi 慧思 (514–577 AD), the second patriarch of the Tiantai Sect 天臺宗, argued for the non-duality (advaita) of Substance and Function, holding that “by the non-duality of Substance and Function, we do not mean the collecting of the various individual functions followed by an attempt to lump them into a Substance. It means that the absolute truth resides in the concrete forms of each and every relative truth.” What he means is that Substance is not the lump of various functions but rather the absolute truth contained in functions. As the founder of the Three-Treatise School 三論宗, Jizang 吉藏 (549–623 AD) pronounces in the Erdi Yi 二諦義 (Meanings of the Two fold Truth) that “the absolute [truth] is the substance of the relative [truth]; and the relative [truth] is the function of the absolute [truth].” As for Fazang 法藏 (643–712 AD), the actual founder of the Huayan Sect, he suggested “the mutual merging between Substance and Function,” Considering in the Huayan Jing Yihai Baimen 華嚴經義海百門 the principle as Substance and taking matters (artha) to be Function. “Although matters are distinctively there, there has never been any substance there. Therefore, Substance is identical to Function. This is like [the case where] hundreds of rivers [eventually] converge in the sea. Although the principle is singular, [the manifestation of it] has always occurred through causation and under [certain] conditions. Therefore, Function is identical to Substance. This is like [the case where] the sea is mentioned to denote hundreds of rivers.” The Altar Sutra of Chan Buddhism translated in full by Huang (1996) under the title of The Sutra of Hui Neng turned further to the philosophy of the heart. It takes “‘Idea-lessness’ as … [its] object, ‘Nonobjectivity’ as … basis [i.e. Noumenon], and ‘Non-attachment’ as … [its]

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fundamental principle” (See Huang, 1996, p. 83). Its emphasis on ­Idea-lessness is an effort to rectify the previous wrongs so as to attain — as it is said in Chapter 9 — a realm in which “true thusness is the ­substance of idea while idea is the function of true thusness.” Although the study of Substance and Function as philosophical categories was initiated in Metaphysical Philosophy and Buddhism, Confucian scholars in pre-modern China did not, in this regard, reject an opinion on account of its speaker. From the Tang–Song period onward, this pair of categories had gradually come to be widely used in Confucian discourses regarding various issues in human life. Because Confucian scholars conceptualized the “Function” in the pair to be matters or actions that were constructive to human life, they not only took over this intellectual heritage from the Metaphysical Philosophy and Buddhism but also creatively transformed it by consciously adapting it to the Confucian advocation of action-taking. Liu Zongyuan, in his essay entitled “Song Chen Shangren Nanyou Xu” 送琛上人南遊序, points out that among Buddhists, “there have been those who can discuss Substance but do so without mentioning Function,” “such is a major problem in the world.” Liu Yuxi, in Section 2 of his article “Tian Lun” (In Discussion of Heaven), argues for the mutual domination between heaven and human beings. From the perspective of the relationship between Substance and Function, he thought that one should exclude the possibility of any Substance that was non-being. “That which is called non-existence is nothing but something subtle and scarcely appreciable in form. But this does not deprive its substance of the status as an existence. The function [it performs] is always constructive to [what is in] existence. [And a function] has to manifest itself through things in existence.” Later, there was Wang Fuzhi, who further observes in the Inner Chapter of the Siwen Lu that “Early Buddhist and Laozian Daoist thoughts all upheld Substance but abandoned Function. [But] once Function is nullified, there would be no substance in the Substance.” These philosophers almost invariably think that Noumenon is a substantial existence, not a non-being, and that since its function proceeds on the basis of such substantial existence, such function is indispensable in the human world. To them, what Buddhism comes down to is the abandonment of Function, which will inevitably lead to the disintegration of Substance itself. Indeed, in Buddhism, Function is directed to the secular, but Buddhism at the

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same time advocates the abandonment of the secular world. Even the Huanyan Sect and Chan Buddhism are no exceptions. Only in the meditative practices of zhiguan 止觀 and calm abiding do they actually resort to the concept of Function,23 to which they subordinate thoughts or the concrete forms envisioned in the mind. A function in this sense is profoundly different from the kind of social practice that constitutes an impetus behind social development in history. Briefly put, we would take Heavenly Way as Substance, human beings’ way as Function, human nature as Substance, emotions as Function, Texture as Substance, and matters as Function. In logic, all this is basically in line with the Buddhist position of taking absolute truth as Substance and relative truth as Function, but our value orientation is distinct from theirs. Since we need to consider the aspect of social practice, we would value a relation between the two in which Substance lends itself to functioning and Function is performed to manifest Substance. One’s fundamental concern with the universe and human life should be manifested in one’s speech and actions in daily life. If the common source of Substance and Function was pointed out mainly to guide people to cognitively experience the world, then the merging of Substance and Function has been advocated with a view to attain an understanding of the fusion between Heavenly Way and human beings’ way on the one hand, and the dynamic manifestation of the fusion on the other. To say they are in one is because they join in space and stay consistent in time. And what we mean by their fusion is a perfect and harmonious union between the two with no artificiality imposed. 9.3.2.  The Non-Duality between Substance and Function and the Interchangeability between Them When differentiation is drawn between Heavenly Way and human beings’ way, between human nature and emotion, between Texture and matter, and between absolute truth and relative truth, such differentiation may all lead to a misconception that Substance and Function can be as distinct from each other as Kant’s phenomenon and thing-in-itself. Although we may 23 Translator’s

note: Zhiguan 止觀 (samatha-vipassana in Sanskrit) means “stopping and contemplating”.

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concede that this conception is not entirely wrong in abstract logical reasoning, what pre-modern Chinese philosophers sought was a more thorough and extraordinary understanding, hence their thesis of the non-duality of Substance and Function as well as that of the interchangeability between the two. Formulated particularly from the perspective of the fusion and mutual containing between the two, the theses show the concreteness and uniformity of the relationship between Substance and Function. This perspective is common in Buddhism. In the Huayan Sect, it is believed that there are four realms in which the heart merges into the world of all things. They are known as the Four Dharma-Realms. The first is the dharma-realm of individual phenomena, where all things we see retain their individual characteristics. Their looks vary like shapes of waves. The second is the dharma-realm of one principle: All things, despite their differences, comply with one principle (true thusness). It is, again, like the case with waves. Despite their various looks, waves all share water as their substance. The third is the dharma-realm of nonobstruction between principle and phenomena. In this realm, true thusness is all dharma; and all dharma is true thusness. It means that although phenomena are not identical with true thusness, they are not different from it, either. There is no obstruction in this relationship. It is like the oneness that characterizes water and wave. The fourth is the dharma-realm of nonobstruction between phenomena, in which various phenomena, though differing from one another, are mutually merging and containing. They are like the pearls on Sakra’s web: One is all and all is one. Mr. Xiong Shili’s learning started with Buddhism and ended in Confucianism. He declared that he had formulated his philosophy on the primary basis of the Book of Changes and focused the philosophy on the main thesis of the non-duality of substance and function. After he adapted his old book New Treatise on Consciousness-Only 新唯識論 to his new book Treatise on Substance and Function 體用論, he even declared that “upon the completion of this book, the two versions of New Treatise on ConsciousnessOnly (one in literary Chinese and the other in vernacular Chinese) were destroyed and thrown away, for there is no need to keep them any more.”24 24 Xiong

Shili, Ti Yong Lun 體用論 [Treatise on Substance and Function], Beijing: Remin Daxue chuanshe, 2006, p. 7.

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His view on the non-duality of substance and function is evident of Buddhist influence, and it also features his adaptation of Buddhist theory. What he calls substance and function are, respectively, the substance of the cosmos and the various phenomena in the cosmos. By non-duality, he means that when the substance becomes dynamic and thereby performs a function, one should comprehend the substance based on the function. In other words, apart from substance, there would be no source of functions. Conversely, apart from functions, there would be no substance. This is indeed a profound view. It is, however, primarily a cosmological view. We should move on to apply it to our discussion on human life. And we would argue that we should not only use it to purify the heart but also to put it in action. The Four Dharma-Realms summarized by Master Chengguan 澄觀 (738–839 AD) of the Huayan Sect, and the non-duality of substance and function reemphasized by Mr. Xiong Shili both conceptualized an intermingling and interfusion between matter and principle on the one hand and function and substance on the other. They both compared the relationship to the way sea water is related to its wave, which is a simple and seemingly adequate analogy. But in fact, the cosmic substance — which, as a term used by Mr. Xiong Shili, can be more appropriately referred to as Noumenon — and the various phenomena in the cosmos are separated by numerous layers. Between the Way and the Implement 器,25 the ­stratifications are also innumerable. Pre-modern philosophers characterized this as the dendritic multiple manifestations of the singular Texture. Such multifarious manifestation is a fact that human beings have to face in their cognition and praxis. The progress of science and technology all marks the steps left by human beings who have been trudging in this field. But the main task in philosophy is to lay a foundation and establish a pole of orientation so as to substantiate human beings’ doxastic world, and to endow value to their cognition and praxis. In this sense, one has sufficient and well justified reason to pay attention to the non-attachment (or non-oneness) and non-detachment (or non-parting) between phenomena

25 Translator’s

note: It is stated in the Great Commentaries of the Book of Changes that “that which is metaphysical is the Way, [whereas] that which is physical is Implement” (cf. Book of Changes, 1993, pp. 314–315).

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and Noumenon, and thereby emphasize the connection between individuality and universality as well as that between the finite and the infinite. The exploration that transcends the layer of speciality and thereby connects individuality and universality is a function that can be performed only by the heart. It provides human conduct with good guidance. An ideal form of human activity is one that is at once substantial and functional. It is, in other words, a form of activity in which regional and limited activities are merged into an integral and infinite existence. Attainment of this realm is very rare in real life, but it is not absolutely impossible. In fact, it is not only imperative but also possible to link the cognition of individual natural laws to the faith regarding the Noumenon of the cosmos. It is also possible to connect one’s social affairs with one’s fundamental concern about the fate of humankind. If the direct connection between the finite and the infinite is accomplished in life, one will feel lively and free without any obstructions. Masters of Chan Buddhism depicted what they had attained in life as a realm where all green bamboos were truth body (dharmakaya), no beautiful yellow flower was anything other than Buddhist wisdom (prajna), and there was wonderful Way even in such labor work as carrying water and chopping firewood. There have even been Western thinkers who believe in this realm and highly value it. Hegel thinks that, since human activities in real life are restricted everywhere by various finite things, they will certainly seek a higher and more substantial realm where oppositions and contradictions among all finite things can be resolved. “The only actuality of this supreme unity is the region of truth, freedom, and satisfaction. In this sphere, in this enjoyment of truth, life as feeling is bliss, as thinking is knowledge, …. and this one genuine actuality alone evinces itself to him as the supreme power over the particular and the finite, whereby everything otherwise separated and opposed is brought back to a higher and absolute unity.”26 The thought expressed in this passage transcends the distinction between theism and atheism, and it is conveyed entirely from the perspective of the manifestation of divinity in the heart. This is truly a

26 G.

Hegel, Aesthetics: Lectures on fine art. Translated by T. M. Knox. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975, pp. 100–101.

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case where the hearts of Eastern and Western sages have converged on the same principle. This realm is upheld in Chinese philosophy to promote an intrapersonal transcendence. As the most moderate among Confucian thinkers in the Song dynasty, Cheng Hao wrote his “Random Lines Jotted down in Autumn” to describe a realm he had attained in life: “To business and rush, nothing does my leisure relegate. For my waking eyes, red sunbeams outside the window wait. All things manifested in tranquil observation, all souls savor seasonal joys in same rate. Transcending is the Way that goes beyond the physical in cosmos. To wavering wind and clouds there’re my thoughts that penetrate. Not overwhelmed by wealth, nor ceasing to be merry in poverty, such bespeaks the utmost courage to date.” It is important to follow the Way in a graceful manner whether one is wealthy or in poverty. And no matter one is at the moment of quietly observing all things or when one is having one’s thoughts penetrating to the changing wind and clouds, the process is invariably filled with a sense of divinity, and it hence embodies freedom. Life like this may look ordinary, but it can be called “dwelling in the poetic.” Mr. Fang Dongmei 方東美 (1899–1977) points out that an “organist” attitude toward life and cosmos is generally held in Chinese philosophy. “Speaking from the perspective of its positive aspect, one may find that this organist attitude aims at governing all things, summarizing all phenomena, and having one principle for them all. When observing various phenomena, [this attitude] invariably focuses its attention on the richness and substantiality of things’ overall look, hence, [to borrow Wang Bi’s (in Chan, 1963, p. 318) words ‘there is the chief to unite them, and there is the leader to group them together’. [This is a feature that] prevents it from being abstract or unsubstantial. Phenomena in the cosmos are variegated. But, based on what we can perceive, we find that, in every aspect, traces of their organic unity can be identified. They include their unities in Noumenon, in existence, in life, even in value, … and so on. Furthermore, this system formed by multifarious [things and phenomena] is also marked by [a multiplicity of] interlocks of correspondence. Piling up infinitely, they form a web of images and they mutually infiltrate like water. Theirs is a harmonious relationship [maintained in a process in which] they transform together. What they form is [hence] a huge and harmonious

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system of mutual causation, mutual conditioning, mutual fusion, and interconnections.”27 Whether one accepts the term “organist” or not, its special meaning assigned by Mr. Fang has indeed captured the prominent feature of, and the basic spirit in, Chinese philosophy. 9.3.3.  Humankind as an Integral Part of Heaven and Their Transcendence from the Mundane to Sageliness28 In social practice, when people implement pre-modern philosophers’ thesis of non-duality between Substance and Function, it would be more appropriate to call the thesis the oneness of Substance and Function. Since the Heavenly Way is Substance and humankind’s way is Function, their oneness means a union between heaven and human beings in human spirit. Of course no individual is born to be a sage or worthy. The oneness between Substance and Function has to be attained through cultivation, which is an incessant process of surpassing oneself and transcending from the mundane to sageliness. In the words of a Chan master, the most inconceivable thing in the secular world would be a commoner’s ascendance to the throne whereas that in the supramundane world would be an individual human being’s instant attainment of Buddhahood. He held that although both had been considered to be miracles, they were both in fact possible. Those who accomplished such achievements, be they sage kings in the throne or thinkers who are enlightened to the truth in the cosmos and human life, are all widely admired and held with awe. In pre-modern times, they were referred to as daren 大人 (great men), a term that denotes 27 Fang

Dongmei 方東美, Shengming Lixiang yu Wenhua Leixing 生命理想與文化類型 [Ideal in Life and Types of Culture]. Beijing: Guangbo Dianshi chubanshe, 1992, pp. 190–191. 28 In terms of the realms of the heart, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism are all ­subordinated to the learning of inner sageliness. Here we focus our discussion of the transcendence to sageliness upon the paradigm of ideal personality in real life, hence our particular emphasis on both the combination of Knowing and Doing, and the unity of Noumenon and Function. Laozi’s advocation of “softening the light [and] becoming one with the dusty world” (see Laozi, 1963, p. 166) and Huineng’s equation of affliction with enlightenment (bodhi) both proceeded from their preoccupation with spiritual life and hence differ from what Confucius said about his following his heart’s desire.

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an ideal personality generally recognized among pre-modern philosophers. Dual attention has been paid to Knowing and Doing in the following passage from the “Special Explanation of Parent Hexagrams” of the Book of Changes, “The great man is he who is in harmony, in his attributes, with heaven and earth; in his brightness, with the sun and moon; in his orderly procedure, with the four seasons; and in his relation to what is fortunate and what is calamitous, in harmony with the spirit-like operations (of Providence). He may precede Heaven, and Heaven will not act in opposition to him; he may follow Heaven, but will act (only) as Heaven at the time would do. If Heaven would not act in opposition to him, how much less will men! How much less will the spirit-like operation (of Providence)!” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 15) In other words, an ideal personality is considered to be one that practices humankind’s way on the basis of the Heavenly Way; and establishes humankind’s principles in accordance with the Heavenly Principle. Such an attainment embodies the oneness between heaven and human beings, and the unity between the Object and the Subject. One who attains this personality would at once instantiate divinity and enjoy freedom. Under a more detailed analysis, construction of this ideal personality entails primarily one’s keeping a “(originally good) child’s heart.” There is no disagreement among Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in this regard. This is because they all took note of the alienation human beings were subject to. In Mencius’s judgment, “the great man is one who does not lose his (originally good child’s heart” (Mencius, in Chan, 1963, p. 76). Laozi, in his turn, observes that “he [who knows the male (active force) and keeps to the female (the passive force or receptive element)] will never depart from eternal virtue, but returns to the state of infancy” (Laozi, 1963, p. 154), and that “he who possesses virtue in abundance may be compared to an infant” (Laozi, 1963, p. 165). The same view is also present in Buddhism. It is said that Master Xuansu 玄素 (668–752 AD), in his later years, went to the Youqi Monastery in the Green Mountain to practice Buddhism under the guidance of Master Wei. “Wei imparted to him the excellent teachings and, from Wei, Xuansu learned the unfaltering truth. Since then, he had been leading a low-profile and ascetic life to foster his peaceful and harmonious nature. He always wore a shabby gown irrespective of the weather. And his feeling never fluctuated over the kinds

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of people he came in contact with, be they aristocrats, untouchables, those who liked him, or those who disliked him. According to Volume 9 of the Song Gaoseng Zhuan (Eminent Monks in the Song Era), his contemporaries regarded him as an infantile kind of person.”) It should also be noted that an individual ought to repeatedly examine him- or herself every day and, from the viewpoint of the entire humankind, reflect upon his or her own conducts and speeches in social life. Once there is found to be any breach from the moral standard, its timely rectification must follow. If one’s reversion to the state of infancy entails a process of matching the heavenly nature with one’s human nature, then the repeated self-­ examination requires that one’s human heart act upon the Mind of the Way. Buddhism emphasizes the practice of dusting defilements off the heart. Daoism advocates abandoning benevolence and discarding righteousness. In doing so, both tend to be confined to negative methods. Confucianism, in contrast, argues for cognitively experiencing the Way of Heaven as well as modeling one’s actions after Heaven. Its idea is to construct one’s own personality upon what is required by reality and the development of history. For this reason, it not only makes a point of reaching the depths of one’s heart in order to be enlightened to human nature and heaven, but also stressing the cultivation of the heart as a way to act upon heaven and promote the progress of society and history. Confucius has set an example of knowing heaven and modeling after heaven at once. In his praise of Yao, a legendary sage ruler in early antiquity, Confucius said, “Great indeed was Yao as a sovereign! How majestic was he! It is only Heaven that is grand, and only Yao corresponded to it” (Confucius, 2014, p. 80). Throughout his life, Confucius had never considered himself as a sage or worthy. Instead, he always aimed high and endeavored to emulate sages and worthies. His life was marked by incessant learning, improving, and the approach to perfection. Confucius’ own account in his later years may provide us with an outline of the process in which his personality approached perfection.29 Since he was 15 years old, he had taken upon himself to explore the primary 29 “At

fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for

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principle in the cosmos and human life, though the time also included a period when he was engaged in some jobs that were then considered to be lowly, such as hosting weddings and funerals, book-keeping, herding, and so on. At 30, he established himself as an accomplished thinker with original views. Because of his strong will and his erudition, at the age of 40, he had gained insights into things around him. Since then, he had rarely had doubts. After he was 50, he assumed an official post in the state of Lu and traveled to various states. That was a period when he came to be aware of the mighty and irresistible power of the decrees of Heaven, which included the prevalence and decline of the Way and to which individual human beings could hardly choose but adapt their actions. After the age of 60, he got closer to the world, feeling at ease about the things he heard. He did so with there being nothing to obstruct his insight into the whys and wherefores of them. At that time, his mind and feelings were above being bothered by the vicissitudes of worldly affairs. Instead of complaining about fate or people, he began to deal with anybody and anything in peace of mind. After he was 70, he spent his time mostly in his study, compiling books and imparting his teachings to his disciples. He lived his life in a harmony between his body and mind. All his actions and speeches were naturally in accord with norms and standards. It was a life where necessities were truly transformed into freedom. Such was a realm in which he found no obstructions in anything.

A widely acclaimed sage among later generations of Chinese, Confucius is commendable particularly because his self-cultivation was not detached from social reality. The path he took to transcend the mundane and enter sageliness is relatively more positive and more universal. In his opinion, we should “It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused. It is by the Rules of Propriety that the character is established. It is from Music that the finish is received” (Confucius, 2014, p. 77). This can be called a trilogy of personality cultivation: To be stimulated by poetry is good for the enrichment of an individual’s knowledge and interest. To be established by the rules of rite is a process of one’s socialization, namely, a process in which constructors as well as followers of social order are the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right” (Confucius, 2014, pp. 12–13).

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produced. And to be perfected by music is a process of an individual’s class generation or even interfusion with heaven and earth in virtue. This is because great music chimes with heaven and earth. Confucius, in addition, offered the following advice, “ Let the will [i.e. Zhi] be set on the path of duty [i.e. Way]. Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. Let perfect virtue be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts.” (Confucius, 2014, p. 62), where the Way, virtue, benevolence, and arts form a well arrayed series from Substance to Function. If we take art to be a function only, then it has to have the former three items as its substance. And his finding of recreation in polite arts indicates the oneness of Substance and Function. At a deeper level of analysis, we may find room for further perfection in the reason which Zigong — Confucius’s disciple — cited to justify his upholding Confucius as a sage. He once spoke admiringly of his mentor, saying, “Never being tired of learning, such is his wisdom; never feeling tired when teaching, such is his benevolence. Being both benevolent and wise, the master is already a sage!” (Mencius, 2A:2) As a matter of fact, the master’s not being fed up and not feeling tired spoke of the greatness and strength of his Zhi. One should hence point out that it was the advanced development of, as well as the perfect fusion among, Zhi, benevolence, and wisdom that made Confucius a great sage.30 We can expand the discussion by pointing out that all people can transcend the mundane and attain the same sagilness as did those early sages 30 Due

to space limitations, I will, instead of conducting any detailed discussion, mention only the following few points. First, these three roughly correspond to such “Three Universal Virtues” as wisdom, benevolence, and courage. Second, Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元 suggested that the words of Confucius showed the two sides of Heavenly Honors, with the phrase “practicing without being fed up” indicating Zhi and the phrase “being quick in seeking it” indicating Brightness 明. Third, Zhi is masculine and vigorous in nature whereas benevolence and wisdom, relatively speaking, are — as we have discussed before — feminine and supple. In the entire system of personality (especially in Heavenly Honors), Zhi is antithetical with Brightness (wisdom). But in a narrow sense in the system of virtue, Zhi is antithetical with benevolence. This understanding is in perfect consistence with the theme that the sage is, in his virtue (Zhi and benevolence), in harmony with heaven and earth; and, in his brightness (wisdom), in harmony with the sun and the moon.

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so long as they keep developing the Zhi, benevolence, and wisdom that are already in their hearts. As discussed before, Zhi and benevolence form a duality of heavenly endowed human nature. Specifically, they are human embodiments of the Ways of the Creativity and Cohesion, and they explain the sacredness that one has in one’s heart. The development and perfection of Zhi and benevolence constitute what Mencius (6A:15) said about first building up the nobler part of our nature. If this duality joins force with sophisticated intelligence, and if one can “reach the greatest height and brilliancy and follow the path of Mean” (Doctrine of the Mean, 1963, p. 110), attaining thereby the realm of freedom in one’s ways of handling various matters, then one will certainly deserve the title of sage. By transcending to sageliness, briefly put, it means the manifestation or embodiment of sacredness in one’s Knowing and Doing as well as its resultant attainment of the realm of freedom. Whenever sages are mentioned, people, needless to say, often hold them in awe, as if they were omniscient and omnipotent. But if we take away the legendary parts about sages’ lives, if we honor the fair and candid comment in the Book of the Mean that there are things even sages are unconscious and incapable of, and if we take into consideration that — in a broad sense — any manifestation of sacredness in the heart may signify the attainment ­ of Buddhahood,31 then we have reason to say that the chances of ­transcendence from the mundane to sageliness do not favor only a small number of lucky men. By working hard on self-cultivation, ordinary ­people can also attain transcendence. But why is it that there are many people unable to emulate sages and worthies or even simply be sages or worthies? The Cheng brothers, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, have imputed it to the self-abandonment due to the 31 What

Buddhism emphasizes the most is the awaking of wisdom. The virtue of benevolence is in fact incorporated in their doctrines. As for early Daoism, they tend to belittle benevolence and play down Zhi, but they accord much importance to the wisdom with which one is supposed to cognitively experience the Way. This comparison may show the strengths and weaknesses of these two philosophies. Zhi is in charge of the Subject’s practices. Therefore, as regards whether one emphasizes Zhi or not, it constitutes a line of demarcation between one’s choices of entering the mundane and withdrawing from the mundane. Confucianism emphasizes all the three virtues. Their ideal personality is hence the most complete.

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lack of Zhi.32 Wang Shouren, in Section 3 of the Chuan Xi Lu, further enunciates the theme, saying, “There is a sage in everyone’s heart. It is only that no one is as strong [as a sage] in confidence, hence their failure to rise above the average.” Several hundred years later and across the Pacific, A. H. Maslow expressed a similar view to Wang Shouren’s. He thinks that everyone fosters something sacred and beautiful in the heart. But, due to both people’s lack of confidence in their potentials and their Jonah complex,33 their potentials are suffocated. Then, according to this opinion, by aiming at high goals, restoring confidence, and manifesting loftiness, any ordinary person one meets in the street has a chance of becoming a sage. A glowing example can be found in A. Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1952. In contemporary time, he is hailed as “a sage in Africa.” Schweitzer was born in 1875 into a pastor’s family in Alsace, Germany. As a boy, he was willful, mischievous, and poor in schoolwork, which all gave his family and his teachers a headache. Later, under the influence of an erudite teacher, he gradually developed a passion for reading and thinking. At the age of 26, he received his Ph.D. in philosophy and theology and began to be known for his musical performance as well as philosophical study. In fact he distinguished himself as a scholar, artist, and clergy member. But, when he was 29, he read an article about the miserable conditions in French Equatorial Africa (today’s Gabon) and the urgent need of medical service there. Thereupon he decided to go to medical school while working as a professor of theology. He obtained his MD degree at 38 after passing all the required tests. In 1913, shortly after his marriage, he and his wife made their first trip to Africa. He built a clinic in the jungles to provide medical treatment to all that came for the service. During the ensuing 50 years, he traveled back and forth between 32 Posthumous

Books of the Cheng Brothers, Volume 18: “No matter your Zhi is big or small, don’t say, ‘Let others be Number One. I’m fine being Number Two.’ The very moment you utter those words, you have abandoned yourself. … In study, set your Zhi on the Way. If you talk about how to conduct yourself to be a man, direct your Zhi to sageliness. To say ‘I can’t’ is simply to harm yourself.” 33 Jonah is a figure in the Bible. Due to his lack of courage to carry out God’s order to preach, he was punished by God and resultantly swallowed by a whale, in whose belly he spent three days and three nights before he finally repented.

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Europe — where he raised funds by making tour speeches and holding concerts — and Africa for 13 times. The two world wars took place in the meantime and the warfare extended to the jungles. As a ­result he ­ended up in a captive camp. After he was released, he ­resumed his p­ roject of ­building a hospital in Africa, serving as both a doctor and a nurse. In ­addition, he also did the work of plasterers and c­ arpenters. His ­hospital underwent constant expansion. By 1947, there had been 45 wards, three medical doctors besides himself, and seven nurses. His work during World War II had won him esteem from both sides of the war. In early 1945, when ­England and Germany were still in battle against each other, BBC ­devoted a special program to the 70th birthday of Schweitzer, a ­German. In 1965, when he was over 90 years old, he said emotionally that, having been where he should have been and done what he should have done, he had had a meaningful life. On September 4th, this philanthropic old man with pioneering spirit passed away. He was interred beside the tomb of his wife, whom he had survived. Even today, there are Africans who pay homage to his tomb by presenting flowers.

Note that in his early years, Schweitzer was just an ordinary person. What is commendable about him is that, after he realized what was good in life, he committed himself to it. With boundless love, he regarded all under heaven as his family and kept striving to make contributions for them until the last moment of his life. He, with a sense of sacredness, lived his life with all his actions devoted to the sacred mission he took upon himself. His life instantiated a realm which — at once substantial and functional in nature — combined Substance and Function in one. As a human being, he has truly fulfilled himself. His “self” is not the self of one individual. And it has also outgrown the kind of self that represents a given community. It is rather a great self connected to the Zhi of all under heaven. That is why he won people’s esteem and love. As a matter of course, humankind, as a concrete sensitive existence, may have difficulty significantly extending the length of their lives. As a conscious being with spirit, however, a human being can increase the thickness of their life, by which we mean the improvement of the quality of their life and their approach to the perfection of life. The highest value and the richest meaning of human life lie in one’s effort to integrate one’s limited life into what is infinite, which is analogous to dropping a drop of

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water in the ocean. Through this effort, people seek the extraordinary in the ordinary and raise the finite toward the infinite. Anyone who can do this has a chance to attain the realm of perfection and thereby start a ­triumphal allegro of his or her life. Summary: In this chapter, we have discussed Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist views on the realms in human life. It combines the themes of the previous two chapters, namely, the theme on methodology and that on Knowing and Doing. The discussion follows a certain logic order. In general, Confucianism is characterized by the positive entering of the mundane, Buddhism by the negative withdrawal from the mundane, and Daoism by its position in the middle between Confucianism and Buddhism. Within Daoism, Laozi is more persistent than Zhuangzi and Zhuangzi is freer from concerns and obstructions than Laozi. All together, they form a latent series in traditional Chinese philosophy with regard to the realms to be attained in life. The realms we discuss here are those of human existence that human beings attain, or seek to attain, in their effort to approximate to perfection. Generally speaking, Confucianism emphasizes action, Daoism tranquility, and Buddhism extinction. The three of them are therefore distinct from one another. This distinction may mislead people to consider the realm of nirvana in Buddhism as the most profound. However, one should not overlook the fact that the attainment of this realm is merely the utmost introversion of one’s spirit. From the perspective of human existence, Confucian philosophy is judged to be farther reaching and more appropriate, because humankind, after all, cannot return or even be reduced to void. If the realm of transmundane and that of entering the mundane mostly highlights Substance and Function, respectively, then it is important to accomplish a combination of the two realms. It will be a combination where the highlighting of Substance should take Function into consideration and the performing of practical functions should be oriented to the manifestation of the Substance. Such is the oneness of Substance and Function. Its key lies in the manifestation of sacredness and the attainment of freedom. Confucius argues for living a life in which one fulfills one’s ambition when in office and lives in reclusion when not. Mencius goes further to characterize the realm as, on the one hand, simultaneous promotion of self-cultivation and the well being of all in the world and, on

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the other, the concentration on one’s own moral uplifts. This can be considered as a basic principle to follow in one’s effort to fulfill one’s value. From the viewpoint of the development of social history, we positively value a life that is persistently striving. And, from the viewpoint of the fullness of an individual’s existence, we value no less positively a life that is carefree. No matter as individuals or as a collectivity, people should invariably keep cultivating both the internal and the external. Rather than slant toward a particular side as do Daoism and Buddhism, Confucianism pursuits a realm in which one both nerves oneself to ceaseless activity and supports human beings and things with one’s large virtue. Specifically, it adequately embodies the Way of Heaven, positively values individual human being’s freedom, and concerns itself with social constructions. In so doing, it does well in practicing the way of human beings. It makes a point of playing an active role in real matters in life and, at the same time, features a high ideal. Through the “studies [that] lie low” and “the penetration [that] rises high,” (Confucius, 14:37) it attains a unity between Substance and Function. Thus, reflected in the role of Confucianism as a mainstream in traditional Chinese culture is, without doubt, both historical necessity and logical coherence. Discussion: In natural science, people recognize the validity of the metaphor of “Evolutionary Tree.” Does the “tree” metaphor also capture the development in the proliferation of humankind? If it does, then every individual can be likened to a leaf. In that case, are those who return to the origin and root in spirit likely to get more share of sunshine, rain, and dew for their nourishment? Conversely, would those who are spiritually detached from the origin and root suffer from the unbearable lightness of their lives, turn withered, and fall off the twigs and branches? From the perspectives of what is innate and what is acquired, is it possible for an individual to be “in harmony, in his attributes, with heaven and earth; in his brightness, with the sun and moon; [and] in his orderly procedure, with the four seasons” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 15)? We think that Zhi, benevolence, and wisdom are the three key factors that determine whether an individual can transcend from the mundane and enter ­sageliness. Have the ­personalities of Confucius and Schweitzer proved the validity of this view?

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References Book of Changes. Translated by James Legge. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1993. Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Cheng Hao 程顥 and Cheng Yi 程頤. Er Cheng Yishu 二程遺書 [Posthumous Books of the Cheng Brothers]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2000. Confucius, Lunyu 論語 [The Analects]. In Lunyu Daxue Zhongyong 論語 大學 中庸. Translated by James Legge. Shanghai: Sanlian Chubanshe, 2014. Doctrine of the Mean. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 97–114. Fang Dongmei 方東美. Shengming Lixiang yu Wenhua Leixing 生命理想與文化 類型 [Ideal in Life and Types of Culture]. Beijing: Guangbo Dianshi chubanshe, 1992. Hegel, G. Aesthetics: Lectures on fine art. Translated by T. M. Knox. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Huang Maolin 黄茂林 (trans.) The Sutra of Huineng. Changsha: Hunan Chubanshe, 1996. Laozi 老子. The Lao Tzu 老子. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963, 139–176. Liu An 劉安. Huainanzi 淮南子. In Huainan Honglie Jijie 淮南鴻烈集解 [Variorum of Textual Criticisms of the Huainanzi]. Edited by Liu Wendian 劉文典. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982. Mencius 孟子. Mengzi 孟子 [The Mencius]. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 51–83. Owen, Stephen (ed. & trans.). An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. NY: Norton, 1996. Sima Qian 司馬遷. Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian]. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962. Sima Tan 司馬談. Lun liujia zhi yaozhi 論六家之要旨 [On the main teachings of six schools of philosophy]. In Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian], Sima Qian. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962, 3288–3292. Xiong Shili 熊十力. Ti Yong Lun 體用論 [Treatise on Substance and Function]. Beijing: Remin Daxue Chuanshe, 2006. Zhang Zai 張載. Zhangzi Quanshu 張子全書 [Complete Works of Zhangzi]. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1983. Zhuangzi 莊子. Zhuangzi 莊子 [The Zhuangzi]. Partly translated in Chan, 1963, pp. 179–210.

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Conclusion

Based on the foregoing, we shall now conclude by making the following observations. First, there is indeed a latent and yet rigorous system of logic in ­traditional Chinese philosophy. The philosophy features the Great Ultimate or the Way as the fundamental root of the cosmos and human life. It, on the one hand, conceptualizes Qi as that which transforms all things and beings. On the other hand, it argues for the multifarious manifestation of the Texture, which gives rise to the triad power of heaven, earth, and man. The Heavenly Way consists of the Mandate of Heaven and Heavenly Texture (Principle). The share of the Heavenly Way that individual human beings are endowed with takes the form of nature-destiny and nature-texture. In humankind’s heart-nature, benevolence and Zhi constitute the respective poles of yin and yang. The former tends to be closing and convergent, the latter to be opening and divergent. They embody, respectively, the Way of Heaven — which enables humankind’s ceaseless activities — and the Way of Earth, which enables one to support things and fellow human beings with one’s large virtue. The peace and development that human beings need in their existence, from the viewpoint of heart-nature, are to be ensured on the respective bases of benevolence and Zhi. Sincerity is a bridge that ­connects the Way of Heaven and that of human beings. It is also a psychological line of demarcation between One and Many (Much). There is a pure and artless part in heart nature, which we refer to as the level of 571

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Zhixing. There are two other parts, which, variegated in nature, are known as the levels of intellectuality and sensitivity. At the level of intellectuality, mental power and temperament are close to nature, and that which is acquired from social edification is rite and righteousness. Benevolence counterposes righteousness. At the same time, it stands in domination over righteousness, rite, and other virtues. As commander of Qi, Zhi takes abode in benevolence and has righteousness as its right path. In social life, ­ individual human beings’ pursuit of self-realization relies on an extroversion-oriented structure in which Zhi is in command of Qi and righteousness. At the level of sensitivity, the capability of perceiving things’ Image and responding to internal and external stimuli with due emotions constitute the physiologically-based part. Instantiated in individual human beings’ handling of, and their evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages in, various matters is their response to the world in his

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or her social existence. Relations between image and wisdom, between matter and rite, between benefit and righteousness, and between emotion and qi are obviously all instances of the relationship between the external and the internal. In daily life, the two components in each pair cooperate in a person’s practice of handling various matters in life. What we derive from this cooperative process are the aspect of investigating things and gaining knowledge, and the aspect of personal experience and practice with vigor. They reflect a two-way movement in the heart, which are roughly equivalent to what we call cognition and practice in the modern time. But traditional Chinese philosophy is primarily a philosophy of morality. By gaining knowledge it therefore means the activation of one’s conscience, which requires both one’s effort to expel one’s desires to satisfy the need of senses and the direct manifestation of the Heavenly Way or Heavenly Texture to transcend one’s intellectual notions. Meanwhile, because it makes a point of having the Heavenly Way and Heavenly Texture manifest themselves through one’s actions, the Knowing and Doing conceptualized in this philosophy often complement each other in spite of their distinction in logic. Furthermore, human beings usually attain different realms of life due to their differences in terms of Knowing and Doing. The mind of a “man inferior in virtue”, for instance, is oriented to benefit. Preoccupied with the satisfaction of the need of his senses, he remains at the realm of benefit and other practical gains. The mind of a “person of virtue”, in contrast, is oriented to righteousness. His actions are in accordance with moral norms. As a result, he has attained the realm of morality. Sages reach the depth of the abstruseness of the Way with a profound understanding of things’ transformation. Being in one with heaven and earth, they have attained the realm of heaven and earth. But a narrow sense of realm is restricted to the ideal realm which people aspire to attain in their lives. For this reason, the realm of benefit and other practical gains should be excluded from it. In view of the fact that, in Chinese philosophy, the realm of heaven and earth is a common goal for Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, we divide this realm into the realm of entering the mundane, the realm of transmundane, and the realm of oneness between Substance and Function. Whereas Confucianism tends to opt for the realm of entering the mundane, Daoism is inclined to the realm of transmundane. It is a realm into which Buddhism goes even

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further. From the standpoint of promoting the progress of social history, it should be pointed out that only Confucianism can reach the greatest height and brilliancy and follow the path of the Mean, for it approaches a realm which, being substantial and functional at once, features a unity between Substance and Function and attains the unity between Substance and Function. This is also known as a realm in which one is, in one’s attributes, in harmony with heaven and earth; in one’s brightness, with the sun and moon; and in one’s orderly procedure, with the four seasons. Heaven creates human beings, and human beings are in harmony with heaven. Such is a latent system in traditional Chinese philosophy,1 which is illustrated the figure.2 It has been revealed in modern science that the cosmos, resembling both a clock and cloud at once, is a unity between certainty and uncertainty. Corresponding relation in this regard exists between the structure of the human heart and the basic pattern of the cosmos. The opposition between cloud (destiny–Qi–emotion) and clock (Image–Wisdom–Texture) is also present in the above figure. From the perspective of people’s wishes and ideals, one’s virtue should match one’s luck, so should the realm of life one has attained match the destiny one is allotted to. That way, those who are dominated by Zhixing (sages), by intellectuality ­(average men of virtue), and by the addiction to the satisfaction of the need of senses (men inferior in virtue) would eventually end up in the 1 This

system basically represents the wisdom in Eastern philosophy. Its central part consists of the three levels of the human heart with the level of sensitivity corresponding to the material Earth, and the level of Zhixing originated from the spiritual Heaven. A modern Indian philosopher, Aurobindo Ghose, developed the theory of “spiritual evolution,” which conceptualizes an evolutionary process proceeding from material (which corresponds to Earth in our system), through life (corresponding to our sensitivity), mind (corresponding to our intellectuality), and super mind (corresponding to our Zhixing), to Brahma ­(corresponding to Heaven). The process looks admittedly mysterious. But its corresponding conceptualization in natural science, namely, the conceptualized process of cosmic materialization, may count as only a speculation at best. Compared with the case with such speculation, validity of what is conceptualized in Chinese philosophy is easier to prove. It must be noted that all we can say is that the system we discuss does exist in Chinese philosophy. But we cannot say it is the only system there is. 2 The broken oblique line in the figure marks the demarcation between what was made light of (i.e. the cognition of nature and object-world) and what was stressed (i.e. the direct experience of one’s own heart-nature) in traditional Chinese philosophy.

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paradise, purgatory, and hell, respectively. It is, however, regrettable that like the cosmos, human life is also a unity between order and disorder. For this reason, even though there are cases of mismatch between one’s virtue and one’s luck, such mismatches are understandable. To cultivate one’s virtue for the reward of luck is heteronomy, whereas to cultivate it to match Heaven is autonomy. Chinese philosophy makes a point of guiding people toward autonomy. Generally speaking, it would take awakened consciousness to illuminate and open the Zhixing in the heart, education to instill notions, and legal means to regulate the desires at the level of sensitivity.3 At all times and in all places, the awakening of people’s conscience, the promotion of education about human life, and the study of the rule of law all together figure centrally in humanities and social sciences. Chinese philosophy is not omnipotent, for it cannot take the place of the rule of law. In fact, it does not even provide a theoretical basis for the rule of law.4 But the philosophy is indispensable, because it effectively awakens ­people’s moral consciousness. It should be pointed out that the awakening of moral consciousness is, in final analysis, the basis of spiritual civilization of both a society and any individual therein. Second, Chinese philosophy has its distinct characteristics and unique strengths. Chinese philosophy, admittedly, has its weaknesses. Because it is primarily a philosophy of morality, it often concentrates on the legislation for human beings to the negligence of the legislation for nature. It is weak in the endeavor to open up human knowledge of things and promote accomplishments in human beings’ undertakings,5 hence the inadequacy of the guidance it provides for human beings’ cognition and their adaptation of nature. Committed to upholding ideals but clumsy in dealing with 3 Legal

regulation includes such two means as reward and punishment. In pre-modern times in particular, these means constitute a political lever to balance the encouragement and restriction of people’s pursuit to satisfy their needs of the senses. 4 Xunzi’s argument for the evil nature of humans may count as a theoretical basis for the rule of law. But it is hardly compatible with the primary focuses on inner sageliness that characterizes the mainstream philosophy. 5 Translator’s note: According to the Commentaries of the Book of Changes, Part I, “the Yi [i.e. Changes] opens up (the knowledge of the issues of) things, accomplishes the undertakings (of men)” (Book of Changes, 1993, p. 309).

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reality, it, moreover, tends to despise human beings’ needs of the senses and their pursuit of material gains. Although the philosophy generally aims at both inner sageliness and outer kingliness, its overall introversive tendency accounts for its overwhelming accomplishments in the aspect of inner sageliness. In this regard, Buddhism is the most prominent, Daoism is the next. As for Confucianism, with its arguments centering on benevolence, it also lays due emphasis on convergence and introversion. Moreover, because of its focus on inner sageliness, it is not surprising that this philosophy is weaker than Western philosophy in terms of objectivity, analysis, and extensionality. In the “Conclusion” of his Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, Mr. Zhang Dainian has very aptly pointed out the tendencies of emphasizing the internal to the negligence of the external, emphasizing virtue to the negligence of knowledge, and emphasizing “Texture” to the negligence of “Vitality.” From a positive viewpoint, Chinese philosophy particularly features the following characteristics. The first is the unity between heaven and human beings. Chinese ­philosophy regards the human heart as the lord of the body, emphasizes its compliance with heaven and its interaction with heaven, bases moral legislation upon one’s cognitive experience of the Heavenly Way, and argues for the practice of human beings’ way through both the cognitive experience of the Heavenly Way and the establishment of human virtue in accordance with the Heavenly Virtue. All this lays a good foundation for inner sageliness, enabling individual human beings to stand on solid ground like Antaios without ever falling in spirit. Of course, the belief in God will secure as much sense of sacredness as will a belief in the Way of Heaven. But, in the latter belief, because sacredness exists right in the human heart, its transcendental nature is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Hence, it works efficiently to inspire individual human beings’ consciousness and enables them to settle down and get on with their pursuit. The second is its insight into patterns of general development. Since heaven and human beings are in one unity and in a process in which changes regenerate changes, one should look at all things in the human world from the viewpoint of life. Western philosophy has arrived at a revelation of the law of the unity of opposites. In spite of its extensive applicability, it is rather abstract. Chinese philosophy, in contrast, has converted

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the notions of heaven and earth to Creativity and Cohesion, extending this dyad first to yin and yang, then to action and tranquility, and then, from there, to firmness and softness, opening and closing, stretch and flexion, and so on, presenting thereby a lively picture of all things and beings in the universe. If notions in Western philosophy are based on physics, then those of Chinese philosophy are based on biology. The third is an emphasis on heart-nature. The reliance of an agricultural economy upon heaven made it hard for people to accept the idea of bringing heaven under control and making use of it.6 A patriarchal system, in addition, inclined people to focus their attention primarily on social relations and norms. In Chinese culture, these two factors might have jointly underpinned people’s general preoccupation with human beings themselves rather than with the external natural world. As for Chinese philosophy, it is all the more preoccupied with human’s heart nature. Granted that its analysis of heart-nature may not be as intricate as that of Indian philosophy, it is no less profound. In fact, its strength lies in its simplicity and optimism. Through the exploration on the point of convergence between heaven and human beings, it secures human beings a place where they can settle down, get down with their pursuits, and endeavor to substantiate their heart and promote the harmony therein. The fourth is the combination of Knowing and Doing. Due to its preoccupation with morality, traditional Chinese view on Knowing and Doing would simply be considered to be heterogeneous if judged by Western standards of epistemology. This is because the view is insufficient when it comes to analysis. What it always pays sufficient attention to instead is the mutual complement or unity between Knowing and Doing. But a master of the philosophy of the mind, such as Kant, would recognize the validity of the philosophical view on Knowing and Doing in China, because morality, on the one hand, falls in the category of praxis, which means that the course of people’s attitude and conduct is ­determined by the manifestation of the conscience in the heart.7 Morality, on the other 6 Translator’s

note: Traditional Chinese culture regards climate and weather as attributes of heaven. 7 Conscience should not be understood merely as compassion. It should include the ambition or the aspiration to take action as well. Without a sense of compassion, one would be

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hand, represents a realm of freedom. In nature, it is totally different from the cognition and utilization in the realm of necessity. The fifth is its belief in cognition attained through direct experience. Notions in morality proceed from people’s faiths and beliefs rather than from what people — based on their experience — infer through their analysis of the things in the objective world. One would run counter to the law of morality if one, in view of the cruel contention for survival in the natural world, chose to endorse the law of jungle. The domain of faiths resides at the third level of the human heart. The illumination and ­opening-up of this domain would hence require the transcendence of sensitivity and intellectuality. The self-examination and sincerity in ­ Confucianism, the fasting of the mind in Daoism, and the satori in Buddhism all follow the path of attestation through personal experience. And they do so for their attainment of the manifestation of divinity. The sixth is its pursuit of an ideal realm. Chinese philosophy is preoccupied with human life with a view to enhance people’s spiritual realm and ensure the peaceful settlement of everyone’s soul. Its mainstream advocates the active entering into the mundane, seeking to make contributions to the development of the society. In the cases where conditions render such contributions impossible, one can still choose to concentrate on one’s own moral uplift so that one can derive pleasure in one’s life in, and yet stay aloof from, any society that is given to moral decadence. Pre-modern philosophers argued for pursuing political achievements in accordance with the Way and aligning one’s daily practice to the Texture in order to attain oneness between Substance and Function. In a world where all social members could emulate sages and worthies and thereby pursue a realm like this, our world would be much better than we find it now.8 It is thus clear that Chinese philosophy has its indubitable unique strengths, which can be found in its revelation of the unity between the

apathetic. Without ambition, one would be content to be perfunctory at work. The apathy and perfunctoriness result, respectively, from the “abandonment” or eclipse of one’s benevolence and Zhi. In our contemporary society, the combat against commonplace in work and negligence of one’s duties is no less necessary than that against wickedness. 8 That is how Kant once spoke in defence of Plato’s “Utopia.” See the chapter of “Of Ideas in General” in his Critic of Practical Reason.

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cosmos and human life as well as its in-depth pursuit of substantiality and completeness of the human heart. This philosophy is capable of providing effective guidance for human beings’ effort to construct their ideal personality. It is where the heaven above us and the moral principle in our heart meet (i.e. the unity between heaven and human beings). Unlike what is generally argued in the West, the convictions held by pre-modern Chinese philosophers are the nearness of the Way to human beings, the existence of divinity in human beings’ own hearts, and the prospect of being a great person, which is to be accomplished by acting in accordance with the moral principle. The Great Ultimate or the Way, as is posited in this philosophy, evolves first into human beings’ heart-nature and then into human beings’ consciousness or the enlightenment resulting from sincerity. In doing so, it completes a process of development where the Great Ultimate or the Way comes to be conscious of itself and where a development from necessity to freedom takes place. Those who attain enlightenment through retrospection and thereby practice the Way are sages, hence the theory on inner sageliness, which is always of help to the “resacralization” of human life. Rarely has anyone in the world gained as detailed and subtle an insight into this mechanism as those philosophers did in premodern China. Such insight is indeed a great treasure. In the West, the most representational research works in this field are Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Kant’s Critic of Practical Reason. The former is rich in the accounts of life experience. The latter concentrates on discussions regarding how to make human beings’ moral legislation possible. Neither, however, has developed into a system as well-established and sophisticated as the philosophy of morality in China. What runs through both Nicomachean Ethics and Critic of Practical Reason is a notion regarding how things ought to be, which is both a banner of moral culture and — as it happens — the main characteristics of traditional Chinese philosophy. The culture of science seeks to distinguish between what is true and what is false. Humanistic culture is different, because it seeks to promote what is good and eliminate what is evil. Whereas questions about truth and falseness are germane to knowledge, those regarding the good and the evil concern value issues. Knowledge proceeds from what things already are. Value is about what things ought to be. Generally speaking, what is prominent in Western philosophy is the spirit of science. And what

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is the most prevailing in Chinese philosophy is a spirit of religion.9 To borrow the words in the Book of Changes, we may say that Western philosophy is “exact and witty,” whereas Chinese philosophy is “harmonious and extraordinary”. Third, we have reason to have confidence in the bright future of Chinese philosophy. Russian writer A. Chekhov had a profound understanding in this regard. To him, a person would be a soulless man if he neither has faith nor in the process of probing for faith. Such is the case with an individual, so is it with a society. A faith may epitomize the ethos of an epoch, providing people thereby with value standard, objective, and the source of their force. That faith, as we should see, transcends both sensitivity and intellectuality. Rather than satisfying people’s practical need for material success, it always points to the unknown or even the unknowable. What faith embodies in particular is the pursuit of human beings’ Zhixing, which is referred to as “Vernunft” by Kant and as “the innate gift of faith” by Max Müller. Chinese philosophy excels precisely at this level, which is a level that transcends intellectuality. Faith and belief are things indispensable in human existence. Humankind’s entire spiritual system and their cultural world both need to be founded upon sacredness or a realm of sacredness. Bertrand Russell concludes his Principles of Social Reconstruction by pointing out that the “world has need of a philosophy, or a religion, which will promote life”, and that “contact with this eternal world … brings strength and a fundamental peace …” (Russell, 1920, p. 245). But, since the early modern times onward, the development of science has posed a formidable challenge to religion. Many new models and discoveries in science — with Copernicus’s “heliocentric theory,” Darwinian evolution theory, and Freudian psychoanalysis included — have been encroaching upon the territory of religious culture. Social reality has taught us that the disenchantment in science and the resacralization of human life should complement and complete each other to prevent the 9 It

is amazing that without a mature form of religion, the Chinese nation, by means of its rich and profound moral culture, has made it possible for people to settle down and get along with their pursuits. This is, to a great extent, because its unique philosophy and art culture have opened up a spiritual home for the nation.

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collapse of humankind’s spiritual system and the banishment of their souls. We must not underestimate the damage inflicted by the decadence of humanistic spirit in modern society and the confusion in the humankind’s value system. To a certain extent, Dostoyevsky has revealed the key problem in this regard with his well-known remark in The Brothers Karamazov, “If God does not exist, everything that one does would be permissible.” It is not hard to understand the reason for this. For the heart of an individual as well as the life of a collectivity, devils start to run wild where angels withdraw. Judged from a historical vantage point, religious culture owes its ­raison d’être and the necessity of its emergence to its capability of meeting human beings’ need of faiths. This culture is characterized by its more straightforward transmission than the transmission of any philosophy. The sacred message or teachings it explicitly delivers are easy to understand and follow. Its depiction of an immensely good world on the other shore fascinates believers and attracts them to that direction. By transcending the afflictions in this world, believers have indeed reached their spiritual home. Although it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of an omniscient and omnipotent divinity, the mere belief in it would give rise to a sense of reverence, leading people to piously exercise self-discipline and promote the cultivation of good sentiments. But, there have been cases where religious beliefs lapse into superstitions, and where a religion is divided into numerous contending sects. The most problematic in this regard are heresies — such as Branch Davidian in the USA and Aum Shinrikyo in Japan10 — that mislead people. Founders of heresies often use all possible means to trick people out of their reverence, so that 10 The

last hierarch of Branch Davidian is named David Koresh. In their Mount Carmel Center, he required that his followers lead an ascetic life without any desires. Over the years, however, he himself had married 19 votaresses and had many children with them. In 1993, Branch Davidian burned up the Center in their resistance against the police. Eighty six people died in the fire. Aum Shinrikyo was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1985. Asahara falsely proclaimed his direct receipt of the Buddha’s authentic teaching in Himalaya, the ability to float in air, and the capability of telepathy. Starting from 1994, Asahara had planned over 10 assassinations of “pagans.” The attack on the Tokyo Subway under his command used Sarin gas developed by German Nazis, which caused 12 deaths and over 5,000 serious injuries.

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p­ eople are unwittingly reduced to physical as well as spiritual slaves. Moreover, those founders are — in the name of the elimination of pagans — hostile to the general public. Another thing of concern is that there are disputes among different sects due to either the different gods they variously worship or the different interpretations they give to their religious doctrines. The former is exemplified in Christianity and Islam,11 and the latter in the different sects in Islam. For this reason, there have been more and more accomplished scholars who harbor doubts about the existence of God. Kant maintains that God is in fact human beings’ practical reason (which is equivalent to Zhixing in the present book). Nietzsche, through the mouth of a character in a play, goes further to declare the death of God. There are also people who choose to believe in a “cosmic religion,” where the god they believe in is not an anthropomorphized deity but a Spinozist god. They, in other words, have faith in the existence of a divine force and divine order in the cosmos. In his autobiography, Einstein regards this as the third phase in the historical development of religion — a religion ­verging on philosophy in mode. In Hegel’s philosophical framework, art, religion, and philosophy are three modes of culture that successively embody the Absolute Spirit. Feuerbach states that, generally speaking, religion and philosophy are identical. Likewise, Marx argues in The Capital that the inchoate form of philosophy existed in the religion of consciousness. Mr. Feng Youlan may concur with his opinion. In a ­lecture on philosophy he delivered in America, Mr. Feng pointed out, “Those who abandoned religion would lose a higher value if they have nothing to substitute for religion. They would have to confine themselves to worldly matters and lose touch with spiritual matters. In addition to religion, there is fortunately philosophy to provide human beings with a means to attain higher value. … In the future, human beings will replace religion with philosophy. Such a development is in line with the tradition in China.”12 Chinese philosophy, with moral teachings central 11 In

2010, a problem in this regard occurred at the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 Tragedy, when Muslims wanted to build a masjid near the New York World Trade Center but a Christian priest declared his intention to burn up the Quran on that spot. 12 Feng Youlan. Zhongguo Zhexue Jianshi, p. 9.

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to it, seeks internal transcendence. By laying a foundation and establishing a pole of orientation in people’s heart, and by constructing a spiritual home for human life, the philosophy is indeed capable of endowing moral practice with sacredness and thereby substituting for religion in function. It has been proved by facts that this philosophical tradition can develop hand-in-hand with science and technology. Due to the rise of East Asia today, the world is placing more importance on Confucian cultural circle than it has ever done before. Philosophy is of course metaphysical, inevitably abstruse, and hence sometimes difficult for the general populace to understand. But, in China, the improvement of public cultural quality has been of help to the popularization of philosophy. The most important thing now is perhaps to transcend historians’ field of view in order to systematize Chinese philosophical notions and popularize our scholarship on this philosophical heritage. Chan Buddhism in the Tang–Song period had attracted more believers than did the Tiantai Sect, the Dharma-Character Sect 法相宗, and the Huayan Sect. This was because it had transcended traditional ways of transmitting and elucidating Buddhist canons by creatively transforming the canonical teachings into a system of thought that was intelligible to the masses. A good example in this regard is the Platform Sutra. Lu Jiuyuan’s philosophy of the heart did better than Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism when it comes to simplifying what was complicated. But, because his philosophy was inadequately systematized, it failed to win great popularity. These facts deserve due attention from today’s academia. It is certainly very difficult to explicate abstruse and variegated philosophical notions and make them systematic and easy to understand, but we should do our best.13 A modern form of ­ traditional inner sageliness would fill in the deficiency of faith in ­contemporary time, satisfy people’s yearning for a spiritual home, 13 Systematization

and plainness — along with their corresponding technicality and readability — are exactly what I wish to accomplish in this book. To readers of all levels of interest and expertise in philosophy, I wish to act as a tour guide to offer my assistance in their tour of appreciation around the grandiose hall of Chinese philosophy. There are quite of few case discussions in the book. They are meant to show the nearness of the Way to humans.

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overcome their unbearable lightness in life, and, in doing so, enable them to lead a life that is not only materially colorful but also rich in spiritual sources. We have reason to be confident that the basic notions in Chinese ­philosophy should, and in fact can, be introduced to the world. And they should and can go to the future and enter people’s daily life!

References Feng Youlan 馮友蘭. Zhongguo Zhexue Jianshi 中國哲學簡史 [A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy]. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe, 1985. Papernyi, Z. How Chekhov Wrote Literature. Translated [into Chinese] by Zhu Yisen 朱逸森, Shanghai: Shanghai Yiwen Chubanshe, 1991. Russell, B. Principles of Social Reconstruction. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1920.

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Glossary A (Chinese to English)

A 愛有等差 discriminatory love [see Section 4.2.2, Vol. 1]

B 本、原、用 (Mohism) Source, Ground, Use [see Section 5.2.2, Vol. 1] 本心 inherent heart, conscience, soul [see Section 7.2.1, Vol. 2] 遍計 (所) 執 (Buddhism) parikalpita [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1]

C 常樂我淨 (Buddhism) nitya-sukha-atma-subha [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] 誠 sincerity [see Section 4.2.3, Vol. 1] 出世間法 (Buddhism) transmundane dharma [see Section 1.3.1, Vol. 1]

D 大人 Great man (sage) [see Section 7.2.2, Vol. 2] 大宇宙 large cosmos; macro cosmos [see Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1] 道 Way (Dao/Tao) [see Section 1.1, Vol. 1] 道心 Mind of the Way (what embodies Way) [see Section 3.2.1, Vol. 1] 德性 virtuous nature [see Section 1.1.3, Vol. 1]

585

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德性之 (所) 知 the conscience that one intuits [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1] 動與靜: activity and tranquility; motion and rest [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1] 頓悟与漸修 (Buddhism): epiphanic enlightenment (satori) and gradual practice [see Section 7.3.2, Vol. 2]

E 二諦 (Buddhism) Twi-satyas [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1]

F 法界 (Buddhism) dharma-realm [see Section 9.3.2, Vol. 2] 反身而誠 attain sincerity by turning around to oneself [see Section 7.2, Vol. 2]

G 感性 sensibility [see Section 2 in Introduction, Vol. 1] 格物致知 to investigate things and gain knowledge [see Section 8.1, Vol. 2]

J 機巧 (之心) trick [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] 激情 passion [see Section 6.1.1, Vol. 2] 寂然感通 the tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment [see Section 7.3.1, Vol. 2] 見聞之知 the knowledge that one acquires through perception [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1] 踐形 put [one’s] physical form into full use [see Section 8.2.3, Vol. 2] 教一明 education-understanding [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 盡心 (Mencius and Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties) to reach the depths of the soul [see Section 7.2.3, Vol. 2] 經與權 principled course and flexibility [see Section 6.3.2, Vol. 2] 淨與染 (Buddhism) lustration and defilement, purity and defilement [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 居仁由義 taking abode in benevolence and following righteousness in one’s conduct [see Section 5.1.3, Vol. 1] 君子 person(s) of virtue [see Section 6.3.3., Vol. 2]

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K 坤 kun (Cohesion; Docility; shutting) [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1]

L 樂天知命 to feel content with one’s lot and be philosophical about destiny [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] 禮 rite, ritual, propriety [see Section 5.2.1, Vol. 1] 禮義 (Xunzi) ethic principle [see Section 5.3.2, Vol. 1] 理 texture, principle, truth, reason [see Sections 2.2.2 & 4.1.3, Vol. 1] 理一分殊 dendritic multiple manifestations of singular principle [see Section 2.2.3, Vol. 1] 理義 (Mencius) moral principle [see Section 7.2.2, Vol. 2] 利 benefit, advantage, profit [see Section 6.1.3, Vol. 2] 良知 intuitive knowledge, conscience [see Section 7.1.3, Vol. 2]

M 民胞物與 to regard all humans as one’s siblings and all creatures as part of oneself [see Section 3.3.3, Vol. 1] 明 (as opposed to “志”) brightness [see Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1] 命運 destiny, fate [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1]

N 內聖 inner sageliness [see Section 8.1.1, Vol. 2]

Q 氣 qi (vital energy) [see Sections 2.2.1 & 5.1.1, Vol. 1] 氣化萬物 transformation of all things by qi [see Section 2.2.1, Vol. 1] 氣質之性 nature of temperament [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] 乾 qian (creativity; open up) [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1] 情 emotion, feeling [see Section 6.1.1, Vol. 2] 求放心 seeking for the Lost Mind (孟子) [see Section 7.2.2, Vol. 2]

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R 人心 (as opposed to “道心”) Mind of Human Kind [see Section 3.2.2, Vol. 1] 人心惟危 Mind of human kind is dangerous [see Section 3.2.2, Vol. 1] 人學 study of human kind [see Foreword & Section 3.2.2, Vol. 1] 人慾 human desires/selfish desire [see Section 6.1.2, Vol. 2] 仁 benevolence [see Section 4.2.2, Vol. 1]

S 三才 three aspects, three powers (namely Heaven, Earth, and Human kind) [see Section 2.3, Vol. 1] 三性 (Buddhism) Tri-svabhava [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] 善 kindness, good [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] 身體力行 to personal experience and practice with vigor [see Section 8.2, Vol. 2] 生滅門 (Buddhism) samsára (birth and death)- door (aspect) [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 士 Gentleman = gentleman + scholar [see Section 4.2.1, Vol. 1] 世間法 (Buddhism): mundane dharma [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] 事 matter, affair [see Section 6.2.1, Vol .2] 勢用 tendency of function (Xiong Shili) [see Conclusion, Vol. 2] 真如門 (Buddhism) tathata (suchness)-door(aspect) [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1]

T 太極 the Great Ultimate (Taiji) [see Section 1.2, Vol. 1] 太虛 Grand Void [see Section 2.2.1, Vol. 1] 體認 realization [see Section 8.2.1, Vol. 2] 體悟、覺悟 insight, awakening (of conscience) [see Section 8.2.1, Vol. 2] 體相用 (Buddhism) substance, form, and function [see Section 1.3.1, Vol. 1] 體用一如 oneness between substance and function, to be substantial and ­functional at once [see Section 9.3, Vol. 2] 天 Heaven (of celestial sacredness. as mostly used by Confucius, Mencius, and Laozi); nature/natural (as mostly used by Xunzi and occasionally used by Zhuangzi) [see Sections 2.3 & 3.1, Vol. 1]

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天理 heavenly principle, heavenly texture [see Section 6.1.2, Vol. 2] 天命 Heavenly mandate, destiny [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1]

W 外王 outer kingliness [see Section 8.1.1, Vol. 2] 無 (Taoism) Vacuity [see Section 1.1, Vol. 1] 無为 nonaction [see Section 9.2.1, Vol. 2] 物理 physics, texture of matter [see Section 8.1.3, Vol. 2]

X 象 image [see Section 6.2, Vol. 2] 小人 man/men inferior in virtue; man/men of immorality, [see Section 6.3.3, Vol. 2] 小宇宙 small cosmos; micro cosmos [see Section 3.3, Vol. 1] 心

heart (Broad sense: human nature and consciousness); psyche, mind,­ soul (Narrow sense) [see Section 3.2, Vol. 1]

心性 heart-nature [see Section 4.1, Vol. 1] 心學 the philosophy of the heart [see Foreword & Section 3.2, Vol. 1] 心齋 the fasting of heart [see Section 7.1.2, Vol. 2] 顯與微 manifest-ness and subtlety [see Section 6.3.1, Vol. 2] 性 nature [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] 性理 nature-texture [see Section 4.1.3, Vol. 1] 性－明 nature-insight [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 性命 natural destiny [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] 修道之謂教 the cultivation of the Way is called education [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 虛一而靜 emptiness, unity, and stillness [see Section 7.1.3, Vol. 2]

Y 陽 yang (masculine) [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1] 要求和諧整一 require accordance [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] 要求自我實現 require self-realization [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1]

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590  Glossary A

一與多 one and many [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] 依他起 (Buddhism) paratantra [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] 義 righteousness; that which is proper [see Section 5.1.2, Vol. 1] 易簡 (周易) two function of make change and endow form, the tendency of make change and the tendency of endow form [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1] 陰 yin (feminine) [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1] 元亨利貞 originating, prosperous, favorable, firm [see Section 4.1.3, Vol. 1] 圓成實性 (Buddhism) perfectly accomplished nature of reality [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1]

Z 知與行 knowing and doing [see Section 8.3, Vol. 2] 知性 intellectuality/understanding1� [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] 直觀 direct viewing, direct (visual) perception (as opposed to 內觀、覺悟－ insight), being visually oriented [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] 止觀 (Buddhism) Stopping and Contemplation/samatha-vipassana [see Section 7.3.1, Vol. 2] 志 zhi (ideal, free will, goal, purpose, aspiration) [see Section 4.2.1, Vol. 1] 志性 Zhixing (the third level of the heart) [see footnote in Section 3 of Foreword & Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1] 智 wisdom [see Section 5.2.2, Vol. 1] 諸法 (Buddhism) all dharmas [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] 自律與他律 autonomy and heteronomy [see Section 1.1.3, Vol. 1] 自性原型 self-archetype [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] 自由意志 free will [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1]

1 This

word is primarily about comprehension. Although it is appropriate to use it in e­ pistemology, the word seems to be rather far-fetched when used in ethics. To denote the special faculty particular to humankind’s cerebral neocortex, it is still apt to use the word “intellectuality.”

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Glossary B (English to Chinese)

A Activity and tranquility; motion and rest 動與靜 [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1] All dharmas (Buddhism) 諸法 [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] Attain sincerity by turning around to oneself 反身而誠 [see Section 2.2, Vol. 1] Autonomy and heteronomy 自律與他律 [see Section 1.1.3, Vol. 1]

B Benefit, advantage, profit 利 [see Section 6.1.3, Vol. 2] Benevolence 仁 [see Section 4.2.2, Vol. 1] Brightness 明 (as opposed to “志”) [see Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1]

D Dendritic multiple manifestations of singular principle 理一分殊 [see Section 2.2.3, Vol. 1] Destiny, fate 命運 [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] Dharma-realm (Buddhism) 法界 [see Section 9.3.2, Vol. 2] Direct viewing, direct (visual) perception (as opposed to 內觀、覺悟－ insight), being visually oriented 直觀 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Discriminatory love 愛有等差 [see Section 4.2.2, Vol. 1]

591

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592  Glossary B

E Education-understanding 教一明 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] Emotion, feeling 情 [see Section 6.1.1, Vol. 2] Emptiness, unity, and stillness 虛一而靜 [see Section 7.1.3, Vol. 2] Epiphanic enlightenment (satori) and gradual practice (Buddhism) 頓悟与漸修 [see Section 7.3.2, Vol. 2] Ethic principle (Xunzi) 禮義 [see Section 5.3.2, Vol. 1]

F Free will 自由意志 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1]

G Gentleman = gentleman + scholar 士 [see Section 4.2.1, Vol. 1] Grand Void 太虛 [see Section 2.2.1, Vol. 1] Great man (sage), 大人 [see Section 2.2.2, Vol. 1]

H Heart (Broad sense: human nature and consciousness); mind, soul (Narrow sense) 心 [see Section 3.2, Vol. 1] Heart-nature 心性 [see Section 4.1, Vol. 1] Heaven (of celestial sacredness. as mostly used by Confucius, Mencius, and Laozi); nature/natural (as mostly used by Xunzi and occasionally used by Zhuangzi) 天 [see Sections 2.3 & 3.1, Vol. 1] Heavenly mandate, destiny 天命 [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] Heavenly principle, heavenly texture 天理 [see Section 6.1.2, Vol. 2] Human desires/selfish desire 人慾 [see Section 6.1.2, Vol. 2]

I Image 象 [see Section 6.2, Vol. 2] Inherent heart, conscience, soul 本心 [see Section 7.2.1, Vol. 2] Inner sageliness 內聖 [see Section 8.1.1, Vol. 2] Insight, awakening (of conscience) 體悟、覺悟 [see Section 8.2.1, Vol. 2]

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Glossary B 593

Intellectuality/understanding1 知性 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Intuitive knowledge, conscience 良知 [see Section 7.1.3, Vol. 2]

K Kindness, good 善 [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] Knowing and doing 知與行 [see Section 8.3, Vol. 2] Kun (Cohesion; Docility; shutting) 坤 [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1]

L Large cosmos 大宇宙 [see Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1] Lustration and defilement, purity and defilement (Buddhism) 淨與染 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1]

M Man/men inferior in virtue; man/men of immorality 小人 [see Section 6.3.3, Vol. 2] Manifest-ness and subtlety 顯與微 [see Section 6.3.1, Vol. 2] Matter, affair 事 [see Section 6.2.1, Vol. 2] Mind of human kind is dangerous 人心惟危 [see Section 3.2.2, Vol. 1] Mind of Human Kind人心（as opposed to “道心”) [see Section 3.2.2, Vol. 1] Mind of the Way (what embodies Way) 道心 [see Section 3.2.1, Vol. 1] Moral principle (Mencius) 理義 [see Section 7.2.2, Vol. 2] Mundane dharma (Buddhism) 世間法 [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2]

N Natural destiny 性命 [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] Nature of temperament 氣質之性 [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] Nature-insight 性－明 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] Nature-texture 性理 [see Section 4.1.3, Vol. 1] 1 This

word is primarily about comprehension. Although it is appropriate to use it in e­ pistemology, the word seems to be rather far-fetched when used in ethics. To denote the special faculty particular to humankind’s cerebral neocortex, it is still apt to use the word “intellectuality.”

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594  Glossary B

Nature 性 [see Section 4.1.2, Vol. 1] Nitya-sukha-atma-subha (Buddhism) 常樂我淨 [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] Nonaction 無为 [see Section 9.2.1, Vol. 2]

O One and many 一與多 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] Oneness between substance and function, to be substantial and functional at once 體用一如 [see Section 9.3, Vol. 2] Originating, prosperous, favorable, firm 元亨利貞 [see Section 4.1.3, Vol. 1] Outer kingliness 外王 [see Section 3.1.1, Vol. 1]

P Paratantra (Buddhism) 依他起 [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] Parikalpita (Buddhism) 遍計 (所) 執 [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] Passion 激情 [see Section 6.1.1, Vol. 2] Perfectly accomplished nature of reality (Buddhism) 圓成實性 [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] Person(s) of virtue 君子 [see Section 6.3.3, Vol. 2] Physics, texture of matter 物理 [see Section 8.1.3, Vol. 2] Principled course and flexibility 經與權 [see Section 6.3.2, Vol. 2] Put [one’s] physical form into full use 踐形 [see Section 8.2.3, Vol. 2]

Q Qi (vital energy) 氣 [see Sections 2.2.1 & 5.1.1, Vol. 1] Qian (creativity; open up) 乾 [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1]

R Realization 體認 [see Section 8.2.1, Vol. 2] Require accordance 要求和諧整一 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Require self-realization 要求自我實現 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Righteousness; that which is proper 義 [see Section 5.1.2, Vol. 1] Rite, ritual, propriety 禮 [see Section 5.2.1, Vol. 1]

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Glossary B 595

S Samsára (birth and death)-door (aspect) (Buddhism) 生滅門 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] Seeking for the Lost Mind 求放心 (孟子) [see Section 7.2.2, Vol. 2] Self-archetype 自性原型 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Sensibility 感性 [see Section 3 in Introduction, Vol. 1] Sincerity 誠 [see Section 4.2.3, Vol. 1] Small cosmos 小宇宙 [see Section 3.3, Vol. 1] Source, Ground, Use (Mohism) 本、原、用 [see Section 5.2.2, Vol. 1] Stopping and Contemplation/samatha-vipassana (Buddhism) 止觀 [see Section 7.3.1, Vol. 2] Study of human kind 人學 [see Foreword & Section 3.2, Vol. 1] Substance, form, and function (Buddhism) 體相用 [see Section 1.3.1, Vol. 1]

T Taking abode in benevolence and following righteousness in one’s conduct 居仁由義 [see Section 5.1.3, Vol. 1] Tathata (suchness)-door(aspect) (Buddhism) 真如門 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] Tendency of function (Xiong Shili) 勢用 [see Conclusion, Vol. 2] Texture, principle, truth, reason 理 [see Sections 2.2.2 & 4.1.3, Vol. 1] The conscience that one intuits 德性之 (所) 知 [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1] The cultivation of the Way is called education 修道之謂教 [see Section 4.3.3, Vol. 1] The fasting of heart 心齋 [see Section 7.1.2, Vol. 2] The Great Ultimate (Taiji) 太極 [see Section 1.2, Vol. 1] The inferior man, villain 小人 [see Section 6.3.3, Vol. 2] The knowledge that one acquires through perception 見聞之知 [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1] The philosophy of the heart 心學 [see Foreword & Section 3.2, Vol. 1] The tendency of make change and the tendency of endow form 易簡 (周易) [see Section 2.1.3, Vol. 1] The tranquil experience of penetrative enlightenment 寂然感通 [see Section 7.3.1, Vol. 2] Three aspects, three powers (namely Heaven, Earth, and Human kind) 三才 [see Section 2.3, Vol. 1]

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596  Glossary B

To feel content with one’s lot and be philosophical about destiny 樂天知命 [see Section 4.1.1, Vol. 1] To investigate things and gain knowledge 格物致知 [see Section 8.1, Vol. 2] To personal experience and practice with vigor 身體力行 [see Section 8.2, Vol. 2] To reach the depths of the soul (Mencius and Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties) 盡心 [see Section 7.2.3, Vol. 2] To regard all humans as one’s siblings and all creatures as part of oneself 民胞物與 [see Section 3.3.3, Vol. 1] Transformation of all things by qi 氣化萬物 [see Section 2.2.1, Vol. 1] Transmundane dharma (Buddhism) 出世間法 [see Section 9.2.3, Vol. 2] Trick 機巧 (之心) [see Section 3.2.1, Vol. 1] Tri-svabhava (Buddhism) 三性 [see Section 4.3.2, Vol. 1] Twi-satyas (Buddhism) 二諦 [see Section 4.3.1, Vol. 1]

V Vacuity (Taoism) 無 [see Section 1.1, Vol. 1] Virtuous nature 德性 [see Section 1.1.3, Vol. 1]

W Way (Dao/Tao 道) [see Section 1.1, Vol. 1] Wisdom 智 [see Section 5.2.2, Vol. 1]

Y Yang (masculine) 陽 [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1] Yin (feminine) 陰 [see Section 2.1.1, Vol. 1]

Z Zhi (ideal, free will, goal, purpose, aspiration) 志 [see Section 4.2.1, Vol. 1] Zhixing (the third level of the heart) 志性 [see footnote in Section 3 of Foreword & Section 3.3.2, Vol. 1]

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Index

A A Discourse on Literature, 304 a priori knowledge, 290, 293 Absolute Idea, 91 Absolute One, 27–28 absoluteness, 43 action and tranquility, 577 action, 14, 23, 33, 56–61, 68–72, 78, 83, 109–110, 220, 247, 251, 309, 315 Activity and Tranquility, 391, 401, 438, 441 Activity of the Heart with Two Series, 240 Advantage, 187 a-laya-vijña-na, 232 Analects, 5, 24, 95, 134, 189, 195–196, 209, 212, 266, 295, 310, 351, 487 appropriateness, 269 apriorism, 321 Aptitude and Abstruse Reason, xli Aristotle, xxxii, 4, 90, 116, 127, 154, 475, 513 art, liii, 342 art, culture of, 449

As´vaghos·a, 231 attaining vacuity, 397 autonomy, 21, 124, 143, 249, 313, 320, 371 Avatamsaka Sutra, 545 Awakening in Maha-ya-na Faith, 40–42, 231–232, 241, 244 B Ban Gu, 28 Ban Zhao, 66 basic principles, vii Beauty, 19, 34 benefit and matter, 370 benefit and righteousness, 370 benefit, xxxvi, liv, 326, 343–345, 349, 351–353, 387–388, 391, 444, 573 benevolence, xi, xxvii, xxxiv–xxxv, l, 77–78, 101–102, 184–185, 187, 194, 206–207, 209, 213, 225, 228–229, 231, 251, 257, 260, 266, 268, 276–278, 281, 284, 294, 314, 334, 338, 385, 391, 406, 419, 425, 478, 483, 530, 568 Bergson, H., 158, 404 597

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598  Index

Book of Changes, xi, l, 4–5, 24–25, 29, 35–36, 51, 65–66, 68, 70–74, 76, 79–80, 86, 89, 97, 100–101, 103, 110, 153, 165, 187, 189, 193, 220, 230, 269, 362, 372, 385, 391, 402, 430–431, 438, 448, 482, 484, 526, 555, 560, 580 Book of Poetry, 4, 56, 79, 327, 487, 520 Book of Rite, 176, 210, 283, 298, 317, 319, 337, 362, 365, 454–455, 471 Book of the Mean, 435 Book of the Way, 133–134 brain, 152 bravery, l brightness, l, 154, 401, 403, 410–411, 415, 417, 427, 560, 563, 568, 574 Brothers Karamazov, 581 Buddha nature, 40, 545–546, 549 Buddha’s eastern journey, 16 Buddha-Nature and Prajna, xli Buddhism, vii, xxvi, xxviii, xli–xlii, xlviii–xlix, liii–liv, 4, 22, 40–41, 47, 74, 86, 88, 93, 98, 100, 128, 130, 157, 163, 169–170, 195, 214–215, 218, 330, 336, 365, 430, 436, 440, 442, 514, 519, 531, 543, 547, 549, 550, 553, 555, 560–561, 568, 573, 576 Buddhism, Chinese, 552 Buddhism, Maha¯ya¯na, 545 C Calligraphy, 333 Cao Duan, 298 Cao Pi, 304 Cassirer, Ernest, xxvi, 47, 50 Cause and Result, 397

b3345_V2_Index.indd 598

causes and conditions, xlv certainty and uncertainty, 39 Chan Buddhism, xliii, xlvi, 22, 47, 50, 430, 433, 554, 557, 583 Chekhov, A., 580 Chen Chun, xxxix, 29, 35, 88, 130, 346, 377, 438 Chen Duxiu, 321 Cheng brothers, 227, 263 Cheng Hao, xli, 87, 125, 137, 172, 188–189, 192, 195, 199, 210, 275, 429, 432, 435, 438, 443–444, 455, 480, 492–493, 524, 558, 564 Cheng Yi, xxxvii, xli, 87, 89, 92, 125, 172, 195, 199, 338, 348, 373–375, 378–379, 381, 432, 455, 457, 461–462, 468, 493, 495–497, 504–505, 526, 564 Chengguan, 556 chengxin, 220 Christianity, 104, 128, 139, 172, 582 closing, 74, 76, 252 cognition, 153, 366, 371, 388, 453, 474, 500, 556 collective unconsciousness, liii, 152 collectivity, 202 Commentary of Zuo, 5, 96, 258, 280–281, 327 Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties, 138 Confucianism, vii, xxviii, xli–xlii, xlv, xlvii–xlviii, xlix, liv, 4, 22, 36–38, 45, 74, 97, 103, 128, 157, 163, 169–170, 195, 214, 218, 336, 385, 429–430, 436, 440, 494, 514, 516–517, 519, 522, 530, 549, 560–561, 567–568, 573–574, 576 Confucius, xxvii, xxxvii, xlvii, 22, 56, 70, 105, 124, 128–129, 166, 170,

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Index 599

172–173, 199, 202, 210, 212–213, 217, 263, 266, 272, 282, 290, 294–295, 303–304, 309, 314, 317, 327, 330, 341, 344–345, 347–349, 361, 364–365, 377–380, 384–386, 403, 425, 456, 458, 481, 484, 486–487, 490, 492, 494, 501, 514–518, 520, 522, 524–525, 530, 532–533, 536, 561, 563, 567–568 conscience that one intuits, 32 conscience, xxxvi, 364–365, 422, 577 consciousness, liii, 130, 176, 296, 312 Consciousness-only Sect, 201, 236, 239 Constant Inquiry and Study, 260, 474, 488, 494, 510 Contingency and Necessity, 397 convergence, 231 conversion, lii cosmic evolution, 398 cosmogenesis, 10, 23, 38 courage, 484 Creativity and Docility, 391 Creativity, 371, 425, 526–527, 577 credibility, 220–221 Critique of Practical Reason, xxxii, l Croce, B., xxvi, li, 375 cultivation, 156, 244, 247, 261–262, 268, 274, 284, 305, 486 cultivation, gradual, 430 culture, 123

Daoism, vii, xxviii, xli–xlii, xlvii– xlix, liv, 4, 22–23, 27, 36, 44, 97, 128, 157, 163, 365, 397, 429–430, 436, 440, 514–515, 517, 519, 549, 551, 560, 567–568, 573, 576, 578 Dasein, 436 Decree of Heaven, 33 Dendritic Multiple Manifestations of Singular Principle, 21, 38, 78, 92 Desire, 326, 335, 342–343, 390, 444 desire, minimization of, 413–414, 416, 418, 448 destiny, xxxiv, 165–167, 169, 174–175, 190, 193–194, 574 Dharma-Character Sect, 583 Dharmata, 549 Diamond Sutra, 442 Discourses of States, 277, 315 discriminatory love, 93 divergence, 231 diversion, lii Docility, 371, 425, 526–527, 577 Doctrine of the Mean, 5, 21–22, 170, 200, 209, 218, 227, 234, 242, 244, 247–248, 284, 314, 332, 334, 357, 358, 388, 454–455, 459, 483–485, 494, 499 Doing, 453, 496–498, 502, 506 Dong Zhongshu, 28, 33, 66, 81, 149, 174, 268–269, 278, 292, 326, 333, 346–348 Duan Yucai, 195, 206

D Dai Zhen, 321, 342 Daily Accumulation of Knowledge, xxxiii daily decrease, 412

E Earnest Practice, 483, 504 Earth Prime, 178, 202 earth, 95 Efficient Cause, 200

b3345_V2_Index.indd 599

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

600  Index

eight consciousnesses, liii Einstein, Albert, 52, 582 embryonic Buddha, 40 emotion and benefit, 370 emotion and image, 370 emotion and texture, 371 emotion, ix, li, liv, 326, 329, 331, 333, 387, 391, 509, 573–574 emotions, five, 330 empirical knowledge, 290 empiricism, 321 enlightenment, 559 Enlightenment Movement, l enlightenment resulted from sincerity, 231, 245–246, 427 enlightenment through personal experiences, 501 enlightenment, penetrative, 432 enlightenment, tranquil experience of, 430 Ernest practice, 484 Erya, 289 evolution theory, 580 existence, 9–11, 13, 22–23, 37–38 Existential School, 239 existentialism, 514 Explaining Simple Graphs and Analyzing Compound Characters, 4, 28, 79, 103, 166, 174, 206, 218, 266, 269, 281 F faithfulness, 314 family, regulation of, 458 Fan Zuyu, 481 Fang Dongmei, 558 Fasting of the Heart, xxxviii, 245, 265 fate, 121 Fazang, 552

b3345_V2_Index.indd 600

feeling, 328, 415 feminine charm, 365 femininity, 73, 259, 317 Feng Youlan, xxviii, xxxii, xl, 439, 449, 513, 582 Feuerbach, L. A., xxv filial piety, 316 Final Cause, 200 finiteness, 20 Firmness and Softness, 577 firmness, 23, 71–72, 102, 187, 227, 289 Five Aggregates, 544 Five Constance, 495 Five Constants, 314–316 five elements, 93, 116, 119 Five Phases, 41 Five Through Ways, 248 Five Virtues, 314 Flamsteed, John, 224 flexibility, 376, 378–379, 381, 384, 386–387 forgetting everything while sitting down, 405 Form and Content, 397 Form, 42–46, 51 formal cause, 39, 200 Formlessness, 237 fortuity, 167–168 Four Books Variorum, 460 Four Books, 455 four causes, 160 Four Emblematic Symbols, 28 Four Faiths, 41 Four Maxims, 466 Four Noble Truths, 547 four virtues, 175–176, 316 Fozu Lidai Tongzai, 243 free will, ix

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Index 601

freedom and necessity, 429 Freud, Sigmund, 197, 201, 340 Fu Xuan, 140–141 function, 40–41, 43–46, 51, 374 fundamental root, 397 fundamental, the, 549–551 G gaining of knowledge, xxxvi, 458, 463, 472, 474–475, 477, 485, 494, 503–504, 506, 508 genders, 66 God, 576, 581–582 Gong, xxxvii Gongsun Long, 361, 501 good and evil, 183, 185–186, 251–252 Goodness, 19, 34 Grand Change, 432 Grand One, 151 Grand Origin, 187 Grand Vacuum, 89 Grand Void, 19, 145 Great Commentaries, 25–27 Great Harmony, 27, 83, 210 Great Learning, xxxvi, 439, 454–456, 459–462, 465, 467–468, 472–473, 475, 477–478, 483, 506, 549 great man, 421–422, 471 Great Purity, 46 Great Ultimate, xl, 3–4, 23–29, 31, 33, 34–36, 38, 40, 42–43, 50–51, 53, 55, 71, 78, 82, 86, 88, 90, 93–94, 103, 130, 157, 166, 178, 398, 424, 571, 579 Greek philosophy, xlix, 131, 159, 172 Gu Yanwu, xxxiii, 507, 520–521 Guanyinzi, 27

b3345_V2_Index.indd 601

Guanzi, 139, 276, 295, 423 Guo Xiang, 86 Guodian bamboo-slip texts, 134, 202, 276, 278, 314, 317 H Han Kangbo, 551 Han Yu, 119, 121, 179, 262–263, 305, 438 Hanfeizi, 85, 88, 347–348, 360 hardness, 103 harmonization of the world, 458 Hawking, Stephen, 224, 275, 352 He Lin, xxxi He Xinyin, 338 He Xiu, 81 He Yan, 22, 330 heart, xlix, liii, 22, 40, 43, 61, 76–77, 87, 90, 96, 108, 117, 123–124, 127–133, 137, 139–144, 146, 149–152, 155, 157, 159, 164, 175, 178, 198, 200, 203, 217, 219, 222–223, 229, 250–251, 258, 274, 284, 289–290, 335, 383, 397 heart, fasting of, 403, 405, 444, 448, 540 heart, roaming of, 540 heart, third level of, 578 heart-nature, ix, xxxii, l, liv, 80, 108, 128, 165, 389, 395, 579 Heaven and Earth, 23, 28, 55, 58–60, 63, 68–72, 79–83, 89, 95, 97–98, 100, 103, 106–107, 117, 120, 143, 149–150, 176, 248, 261, 265, 279, 305, 427–428, 443, 492, 525, 539 Heaven Texture, 136 heaven, 95, 328, 424 Heaven, Mandate of, 571

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

602  Index

Heavenly Character, 487 heavenly destiny, 1, 39, 170, 174 heavenly honors, 193, 305 Heavenly Mandate, 187 heavenly person, 248 Heavenly Prime, 178, 202 Heavenly Principle, 21, 178, 187–188, 337–339, 342–343, 347, 412, 414, 423, 438, 463, 480, 525, 573 heavenly texture, 21, 39, 133, 137–139, 157, 178, 188–189, 222, 284, 338, 438 Heavenly virtue, 235, 243 Heavenly Way, 332, 438, 554, 571, 573, 576 Heavenly Will, 267 heavenly-endowed nature, 175, 177, 180, 199, 261 Hegel, G. W. F., xxv, xxix, li, 11–12, 156, 334, 444, 557, 582 Heidegger, Martin, 105, 158, 404, 436 heliocentric theory, 580 Heng, 186–187, 278 Heshang, Gong, xix heteronomy, 143, 249, 320 Hobbs, Leonard T., 132 Hongyi, 265, 547 Hsu Fu-kuan, 158 Hu Hong, xli, 35, 181 Hu Yuan, 340 Huainanzi, 44, 141, 359, 385, 534, 550 Huang Tingjjian, 492 Huang Zongxi, 507, 520–521 Huang–Lao Daoism, xlvii Huayan Sect, 42, 86, 93, 359, 554–555 Huiguan, 546

b3345_V2_Index.indd 602

Huineng, xxx, 446, 559 Huisi, 552 human desire, xxxvii, 133, 137, 139, 142, 150, 179, 337, 339, 347 human heart, 41, 191 human nature, 129–130, 133, 135, 176–181, 184–187, 192, 194, 283, 289, 292, 462 human way, 40 humanistic culture, ix, 158 humanity, 208 humankind, 7, 34, 38, 52, 96, 99, 101, 103–104, 107, 115–121, 128, 146–147 Hume, David, 384 Husserl, E., xliv I Idea, the, 19–20, 34, 37, 155–156, 159 Illusionary Form, 233 Image and Emotion, 368 image symbols, 25 image, 360–361, 363–366, 369, 374, 387, 390–391, 509, 574 Impermanence, 544 Implement, 556 inaction, 19, 23, 33, 43, 45–46, 56–61, 68–71, 73, 78, 83, 109–110, 199, 219–220, 230, 243, 551 inborn nature, 174 individual unconsciousness, liii individuality, 202 inferior person, 272 infinity, 20, 43, 46, 50, 117 inner sageliness and outer kingliness, 383 inner sageliness, xxxii, xlvii–xlviii, 126, 128, 336, 367, 383–384, 416, 426, 456, 488, 515, 559

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2

Index 603

intellectuality, l, liii–liv, 53, 151–152, 160, 252, 257, 273, 295, 302, 318, 390, 572 intention, 200 introspective inquiry, 155 investigate things and gaining knowledge, 362, 366, 453–454 investigation of things, xxxvi, 458, 463, 472, 474–475, 477, 485, 494, 503, 506, 508 Islam, 582 J Ji Kang, l, 152–154, 201 Jiao Hong, xxxvii Jin Yuelin, 39, 74, 98, 190 Jizang, 552 Journey to the West, 422 Jung, C. G., 191, 216, 252, 304 justice, 269 K Kant, Immanuel, xi, xxvi, xxx, xxxii, l–liii, lv, 21, 34, 108, 127, 151–152, 155–156, 428, 436, 475, 495, 509, 577, 579–580, 582 Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, xi, xxxix, xli–xlii Kierkegaard, S., 514 Kingly Way, 81 Kipling, Rudyard, 203 Knowing and Doing, 395–397, 453, 494–495, 501, 503–506, 509–510, 513, 559–560, 567, 573, 577 Knowing, 291, 453, 480, 496–499, 502, 506 knowledge, 479, 483, 579 knowledge acquired through learning, 250

b3345_V2_Index.indd 603

knowledge acquired through perception, 363–364 knowledge that comes out from the within, 475 knowledge that enters from the without, 474 knowledge that one acquires through perception, 32 Kong Anguo, 135 Kong Yingda, 28–29 Kumarajiva, 546 Kun, xi, l, 56, 69–71, 73–78, 83, 97–99, 101, 103, 109, 187, 189–190, 202, 209, 212, 214–216, 223, 230, 251 L Lack of Conditioned Genesis, 237–238 Lalitavistara Sutra, 148 language, 49 language, limit of, 48 language, sub-, 49 language, super-, 49–50 Laozi, xxvii, xxxvii, xlvii, 5–11, 13, 15, 17–21, 27–29, 31, 35–37, 43–47, 68, 72, 80, 91, 97–100, 103, 116, 157, 173, 185, 292, 295, 297, 299, 309, 360, 365, 397–399, 401– 403, 409–410, 414, 418, 423–424, 426–427, 448, 450, 530–532, 534, 550, 559–560, 567 Laozi, Mawangdui text of, 400 large cosmos, 144, 148, 151, 159 Law of Humankind, 122, 124, 128, 159, 230, 320 Law of Nature, 122 Legalism, 342, 347 Leibniz, G. W., 224 Li Ao, 181, 245, 331, 435, 454, 463

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

604  Index

Li Shugu, 25 Li Zhi, 338 Li, 186–187, 278 Liang Qichao, 227 Liang Shuming, 127, 439 Liji, 116 Lingshu Jing, 80 Liu An, 44, 141 Liu Shao, 68, 85, 141, 306, 315 Liu Xie, xliii, 440–442 Liu Yiqing, 142, 242 Liu Yuxi, 119–121 Liu Zongyuan, l, 119–120, 176–177, 153, 195, 197, 305, 563 Liu Zongzhou, xli, 429, 459, 506 lotus, 529 Lü Benzhong, 484 Lü Buwei, 27 Lü Huiqing, 49 Lu Chizhi, 145 Lu Ji, 368, 441 Lu Jiuyuan, xli, xlv, 128, 130, 136–138, 144–145, 292, 337, 412, 423, 474, 487–488, 492, 501, 505, 583 Lu Xiangshan, 124 Luo Hongxian, 441 M Madhyamika, 239 Maha-ka-s´yapa, 49, 547 Maha-ya-na Buddhism, 11 Maha-ya-na, 42 maintaining quietude, 397 making wills sincere, 458 Mandate of Heaven, 166, 173, 181 Manifest-ness and Subtlety, 371–372, 374, 384, 386, 390–391 Marx, Karl, xxv, 582

b3345_V2_Index.indd 604

masculinity, 72, 174, 259, 262, 317 Maslow, A. H., xi, xxxiv, 565 material life, 123 material, 89–90 Matter and Benefit, 368, 383 Matter and Image, 370 Matter and Rite, 356 matter and texture, 355–356, 359, 373, 376 matter and image, 353–354 matter, 354–355, 357, 366, 372, 380, 385, 387–388, 390–391, 554, 573 May 4th Movement, 320 meditation, 433 Mei Zhuo, 133–134 Mencius, xxvii–xxviii, xxxiii, xlv, xlvii–xlviii, l, 5, 20, 85, 128–130, 139–141, 145, 157, 166, 173, 175, 179–181, 193–195, 199, 201–203, 208, 218–220, 234–235, 260, 262–264, 266–271, 274–277, 305–306, 314, 329, 331, 336, 345–349, 355, 365, 377, 379–380, 385, 413, 415–426, 428–430, 444, 448, 450, 458, 465, 471, 480, 488, 490–492, 498–501, 507, 515–520, 560, 567 Meng Peiyuan, xlii mental functions, 130 metaphysics, 92 middle-observation, 233 Mind of Humankind, liv, 130, 133–138, 160, 178, 186, 223, 233, 251 mind of the way, liv, 129–130, 133–138, 160, 178, 184, 186, 223, 233, 251, 332

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2

Index 605

Mohism, xxviii, 97, 125, 169–170, 290 Mood, 328 moral education, 225 moral principle, 267, 270–271, 273, 293, 300, 312, 317 morality, xxviii, 148, 159, 175, 487, 501 Mou Tsung-san, xxviii, xli–xlii, xlix, liv, 292, 400, 435, 437, 439, 501 Mozi, xxvii, 85, 125, 197, 267, 269, 276, 291, 348–349, 354–356, 361, 381, 421 Müller, Max, xxvi, 152, 580 mundane dharma, 41 music, 246, 310, 317, 329, 342, 406 N Na-ga-rjuna, 232–233 natural destiny, 312 nature of temperament, 258, 265 nature, xxxiv, liv, 9, 75, 99–100, 104, 119, 121, 123, 173, 176, 192, 328, 331, 334, 424, 487 nature-destiny, 174, 186 nature-texture, xxviii, 174, 186, 191, 194, 264, 274, 473–475 necessity and contingency, 39 necessity, 167–168 neng, 131, 178, 461 Neo-Confucianism, xxviii, xxxv, xlii, xlv, xlviii, 29, 86, 88, 336–337, 492, 583 Neo-Confucians, 486 Neo-Daoism, 86 New Admonitions for the World, xl New Discussion on Realities, xl New Rational Philosophy, xl New Treatise on Consciousness-Only, 555

b3345_V2_Index.indd 605

New Treatise on the Methodology of Metaphysics Methodology in New Rational Philosophy, xl New Treatise on the Nature of Man, xl Newton, Isaac, 146, 154, 224 Nietzsche, F. W., 75, 197, 230, 582 Nine Longitudes, 248 Nirvana Sutra, lv, 545 nirvana with remainder, 546 nirvana without remainder, 546 nirvana, 543, 545, 547 non-duality, 556, 559 non-existence, 553 Non-nature of Ultimate Reality, 237–238 Noumenon and Function, 559 noumenon, 3–4, 9, 11, 14–16, 18–20, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 34–38, 40–46, 48–51, 53, 55, 58, 61, 74, 83–84, 86–87, 89, 91, 98, 103, 108–110, 129, 131, 139, 142, 151, 157, 164, 181, 195, 199–200, 202, 233, 250, 262, 274, 292, 309, 376, 437, 549, 551, 553, 556, 558 nourishment of the strong and moving Qi, 420 numerology, 25, 168 O Object, 122, 129, 139, 143, 237, 294, 296–297, 313 On the Rectification of the Heart, 140 one heart opening two doors, 231, 240 One Heart, 41 One, the, 18–19, 28, 30, 93, 124, 400, 402, 458

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

606  Index

opening and closing, 577 opening, 74–75, 252 Origin of Chinese Philosophy, xli original nature, 176 Original Qi, 81, 109 outer kingliness, xxxii, xlvii–xlviii, 126, 321, 325, 383–384, 416, 426, 456, 515 Outstanding Essays on Statecraft, 136 P Pan Shu, li Paramartha, 232, 237, 239 paratantra, 236, 238 parikalpita, 15, 236 parinispanna-svabhava, 236 parinivana, 530 Pathos, 334 Pattern — Energy, 74 Pearl Forest in the Dharma Garden, 218 penetrative enlightenment, 373 perceptions, 366 Perfect Principle, 92 Perfect Texture, 88 peripheral, the, 549, 551 person of virtue, 342, 347, 387, 427–428 personal experience, 477–478 Phenomenon and Essence, 397 phenomenon, 554 Philosophy of Metaphysics, 552 philosophy of the soul, xlv physical body, x, 141–143, 149–150, 159, 190, 258 physiological Qi, 304 physiological traits, 302 Platform Scripture, xxx, xlv

b3345_V2_Index.indd 606

Plato, lv, 19–20, 34, 191, 340, 391, 436 plurality, lii, 124 Popper, Karl, 154, 302 Possibility and Reality, 397 practice with vigor, 477, 485 praxis, 453, 488, 556, 577 preservation of night influence, 420 Primal Qi, 120 Primordial Qi, 19, 37 principle(s), xxxiv, xxxvi, xlvi, liv, 29–32, 36–37, 39, 51, 55, 74, 78, 84–87, 89, 91–94, 102, 109, 122, 130, 139, 145, 151, 157–158, 166, 175, 187–190, 194, 209, 222, 228, 230–231, 291, 326, 331–332, 338–339, 342–343, 355–359, 361, 363–364, 371, 373–375, 389, 391, 424, 435, 457, 460–462, 466, 472, 478, 509, 554, 556, 571, 574 Principled Course and Flexibility, 377–378, 380–381, 384, 388, 390–391, 502 Principled Course, 376–377, 379, 382, 384, 386 Prosperity, 187 Providence, 560 psychoanalysis, 580 psychological Qi, 304 Pu Songling, 204–205 Q Qi, cultivation of, 426 Qi, xxxiv, xl, 29–31, 33, 51, 55, 78–79, 81–84, 89, 91–92, 94, 102, 109–110, 116, 141, 153, 156–157, 182, 197, 199, 257–259, 261–266, 271, 273–276, 279, 281, 289–290,

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2

Index 607

303–308, 316–318, 332–334, 370, 389, 391, 399, 403–404, 411, 421, 453, 509, 517, 571–574 Qian Xuesen, 437 Qian, xi, l, 56, 69–78, 83, 97–99, 101–102, 109, 187, 189–190, 197–198, 202–203, 223, 230, 251 quietude, 398, 401 R rationality, xxvi real man, 421 realm of entering the mundane, 515 realm of freedom, 536 realm of phenomena, 31, 43 realm of Tathagata, 546 realm of the heart, 513 realm of transmundane, 530, 573 realm, aesthetic, 514 realm, ethical, 514 realm, religious, 514 realm, spiritual, 513–514, 525, 531 Record of Grand Historian, 171, 317 religion, liii, 450, 580 religious culture, 147–148 Renaissance, l resacralization, xi, xxxiv, 579 resolution, 153 Righteous, 78 righteousness, xi, xxxiv, xxxvi, liv, 101–102, 116, 187, 199, 257, 263–264, 266–270, 272–274, 276–278, 280–281, 293, 295, 303, 308, 310, 312, 314, 319–320, 326, 332, 338, 343–346, 348–353, 389, 391, 406, 419, 423, 530, 572–573 rite, xi, liv, 78, 187, 246, 257, 278, 281–286, 293, 296–298, 300, 308,

b3345_V2_Index.indd 607

310–312, 314–319, 338–339, 342, 389, 391, 398, 406, 530, 572–573 Roaming, 539 Rousseau, H., 510 Ruan Ji, 35 Russell, B., xxix, 580 S sagacity, 134, 289, 299 sage, 200, 247, 263, 284, 330, 399, 407, 415, 431, 532 sageliness, 314–315, 321, 388, 417, 517, 559 Saint Simon, 341 Sakyamuni, 450 samatha-vipassana, 554 samsára, 241–242, 244–245 Sarvastivada School, liii, 239 satori, 245, 430, 442, 578 Schiller, Friedrich, 53 Schopenhauer, Arthur, 75, 94, 98, 155, 230 Science, liii scientific culture, 157–158 Sectarian Buddhism, 11 seeking the lost mind, 418 self, large, 436 self, small, 436 self, xlv self-cultivation, 330, 405, 416, 440, 455, 458, 465, 488, 491–492, 494, 507, 519, 567 self-examination, 428, 438, 463, 474 self-knowledge, xxvii, 366 self-realization, 391 semiotics, 49 Sengzhao, 546 sensibility, l–li, liii, 116–117, 141

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

608  Index

sensitivity, 160, 252, 295, 320, 325, 388–389, 572 Shang Shu, 5, 79, 96, 133, 167, 185, 196, 207, 269, 327, 360, 470, 495, 520 Shao Yong, 34, 86, 130, 142, 292, 410–411, 523 Shenxiu, 243 Shiqian, lv Shishuo Xinyu, 242 Sima Guang, 463, 465, 467, 473 Sima Qian, 171, 305, 317, 532 Sima Tan, 551 sincerity resulting from enlightenment, 242, 247, 436 sincerity, 41, 194, 218–222, 227–228, 245, 247, 251, 309–310, 316, 435, 484, 506 singularity, lii Sitting down and Forgetting Everything, xxxviii, 403, 448, 540 Six Feelings, 329 small cosmos, 144, 148, 151, 159 Social Stipulations, 302 softness, 23, 71, 73, 102–103, 227, 289 solidarity, 439, 444 soul, 116 spirit of science, 293 spirit, 90, 129, 140 spiritual realm, 192, 222 spiritual system, 117, 141, 155, 159 spiritual, the, 50 Spring and Autumn Annals, 268 stopping and meditating, 449 structure of human psych, lii structure of the human heart, 160 Su Shi, 181, 191 Su Zhe, xxxvii

b3345_V2_Index.indd 608

Subject, 122–123, 129, 139, 237, 263, 273, 294, 296–297, 313, 317, 328, 356, 370, 542 Subjectivity, 321 Substance and Function, 375, 386, 433, 514, 550–554, 559, 573, 578 Substance and Function, fusion of, 548, 554, 567, 574 Substance and Function, treatise on, 555 Substance of Heart and Substance of Human Nature, xli substance, 42–46, 51, 151, 374, 435, 439, 462 substantial learning, 486 Sun Qifeng, 227 suo, 131, 178, 461 superior person, 68, 76, 134, 170, 176, 180, 189, 200, 211, 224, 266, 271–272, 293, 315, 319 System of Categories in NeoConfucianism, xlii T T’ang Chun-i, xliv, xli talent, 293 Tao Qian, 491, 542 Tao Yuanming, 216 Tao, 9 tathata, 241–242, 244–245 temperament, xxxiv, 269, 290, 303, 572 temperamental nature, 175–176, 191 Teng Gong, 136 Texture, xl, 298, 356, 373 The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy, xl The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, 197

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2

Index 609

theoretical physics, 506 theory of evolution, 159 third level of human heart, 160, 165, 194, 257, 290 Three Abstruse Canons, xxxviii Three Cardinal Guides, 285 Three Creeds, 455–456 Three Greats, 41, 117 three levels of the human heart, 163 Three Natures, 239 Three Non-natures, 237 Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, Humankind), 101 Three Seals of the Dharma, 543 Three Universal Virtues, 358 Three Virtues, l, 248 Three-Treatise School, 552 Tiantai Sect, 552, 583 Tolstoy, L., 513 tranquil experience, 432 tranquility, 401, 403, 417, 444, 532 transmundane dharma, 41 Treatise on the Mean, 293–294 Triad Power (Heaven, Earth, Humankind), 90, 94, 101–104, 108–109, 115, 278 tri-svabhava, 232, 236–237, 239 True Form, 233 true original nature, 40, 157 true-thusness, 40–41, 86, 88, 142, 157 truth, 19, 34, 157 truthfulness, 238–239 twi-satyas, 232, 239 U Ultimate Absolute Truth, 233 Ultimate Texture, 299 universal love, 309 Universal Union, 210

b3345_V2_Index.indd 609

V vacuity, 9–11, 13, 17–18, 22–23, 26–27, 37–38, 117, 245, 398, 401, 403, 417 Vernunft, xxvi, l, liii, 580 Virtue, xxviii, 7–8, 19, 76–77, 121, 156, 176, 193, 213, 223, 230, 273, 282, 293, 307–309, 314, 316, 475 virtue, eight categories of, 455–457, 467 vitality, 230 Void, 23 voidness, 245 W Wang Anshi, 331 Wang Bi, xxxvii, 22, 66, 85–86, 99, 330, 398, 551 Wang Chong, 117, 167, 179 Wang Fu, 109 Wang Fuzhi, liii, 87, 89, 92, 94, 143, 145, 195, 197–201, 216, 219, 230, 364, 387, 403, 467–468, 472–473, 475, 479, 485, 496–497, 499, 504–505, 507, 520–521, 553 Wang Gen, 473 Wang Shouren, 338, 412, 439, 446–447, 466–467, 473, 502–506, 516, 565 Wang Tingxiang, 461 Wang Yangming, xxxli, 124, 128, 130–131, 137–138, 143, 181, 202, 210, 227 Wartime Six Books, xl Way, xxviii, xxxiv, 1, 3–10, 13–20, 22–23, 26–28, 30–31, 34, 36–38, 40, 43–44, 46–47, 50, 55, 58, 60, 62, 74, 84, 87–89, 91–92, 99, 103, 122, 131, 133, 142, 151, 156–157,

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2 9”x6”

610  Index

159, 166, 172, 193, 199, 261, 274–275, 355–356, 361, 378, 380–381, 385, 388, 399–400 Way, cognitive experience of, 398 Way, Heavenly, 559 Way, Substance of, 453 Way of Change, 482 Way of Earth, 26, 38, 65, 71, 101–103, 108 Way of Heaven and Way of Earth, 70, 76, 107–108, 160 Way of Heaven, xi, 2, 7–8, 21–22, 26, 38–40, 56, 65, 71, 82, 96, 101–103, 107, 109–110, 121, 157, 165, 178, 185, 187, 190, 202, 206, 214, 219, 222, 234, 244, 248, 250, 272, 278, 434–435, 443 Way of Heaven, the constancy of, 186–187 Weber, Max, 217 Wenxin Diaolong, xliv Will of Heaven, 170 wisdom, l, 78, 176, 187, 257, 259, 278, 288–291, 293–297, 299, 302–303, 305, 307–308, 314–319, 338, 381, 385, 389, 391, 398, 483, 509, 530, 557, 563, 568, 573–574 Wittgenstein, L., xxvii worthiness, 517 Wu Yongbo, 439 X Xiong Shili, 70, 74, 98, 110, 439, 474, 555 Xu Gan, 293–295, 380–381 Xu Shen, 28, 195, 266, 269 Xu Xuan, 195, 469 Xuansu, 560

b3345_V2_Index.indd 610

Xuanzang, 232, 237–238 Xunzi, xxviii, 85, 116, 125, 133–134, 140, 173, 179–181, 200, 246–247, 282–283, 291, 294, 297, 310, 311–314, 318–319, 328, 331, 336, 342, 385, 390, 409, 458, 575 Y Yan Hui, 330, 405, 492 Yan Ruoqu, 133–134 Yan Yuan, lvi, 330, 348, 355, 468–469, 472–473, 486 Yang Jian, 466–467, 473 yang qi, 153 Yang Shi, 421 Yang Xiong, 179, 181, 278, 289, 315 Ye Shi, 347 Ye Xie, liii yijian, 72–73 yin and yang, l, 19, 23, 25, 28–29, 33, 36–37, 51, 55–56, 65, 69–70, 78, 92–93, 101–102, 109–110, 119–120, 154, 219, 227, 252, 277, 298, 317, 391, 526, 577 yin qi, 153 Yuan Mei, xliv Yuan, 186–187, 278 Z Zen Buddhism, xlv, xlviii Zeng Dian, 524–525, 528, 536, 550 Zeng Shen, 456 Zengzi, 213, 478, 481, 487 Zhang Dainian, xi, xxvii, xxxix, lvi, 389, 473, 576 Zhang Liwen, xlii Zhang Shi, 377 Zhang Zai, xli, 26, 32, 82–83, 89, 93, 106, 129, 145, 175–177, 189, 192,

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b3345  Basic Principles of Chinese Philosophy — Volume 2

Index 611

195, 197, 200, 202, 234–235, 258, 343, 364, 425, 434, 444, 455, 479, 487, 499, 515 Zhen Dexiu, 133 Zhen, 186–187, 278 Zheng Xuan, 462 zhi, ix, xi, l–li, liii, 53, 77, 98, 102, 108, 138, 152–154, 176–177, 180, 182, 184, 188, 190, 194–204, 206, 216–217, 222–223, 225–230, 262–265, 268, 270–276, 279, 287, 293–294, 299–300, 304–305, 308, 316–317, 334–335, 342, 386–387, 391, 421, 425–426, 432, 481–484, 487, 490, 496, 509, 517, 540, 548, 563–566, 568, 571 zhixing, li–liii, 14–15, 151–152, 163–164, 223, 240, 250, 252, 257, 265, 277, 283–284, 295–296, 302, 375–376, 389–390, 436, 448, 514, 540, 572, 574–575, 580, 582 Zhiyi, 433 Zhonglun, 232 Zhou Dunyi, xli, 24, 33, 86, 93, 164, 266, 338, 417–418, 455, 492–493, 529–530

b3345_V2_Index.indd 611

Zhou Xi, 136 Zhu Daosheng, lv, 545 Zhu Xi, xxxv, xxxvii, xxxix, xli, xlv, 29, 30–33, 35, 51, 87–88, 92–94, 125, 130, 135, 137–138, 144, 166, 177, 185–186, 188, 208, 213–214, 216, 227, 231, 264, 279, 327, 331, 337–338, 342–343, 374–375, 377, 379, 411, 423, 432, 439, 454–457, 460–463, 465–466, 468, 472, 478, 485, 487, 499, 501, 503–505, 525–526 Zhu Yunming, 333 Zhuangzi, xxxviii, xlv, xlvii–xlviii, 3, 14, 16, 19–21, 27, 32, 36, 45, 47–49, 85, 88, 105, 117, 128, 131, 149, 151, 156, 160, 171, 173, 188, 195, 218, 238, 240–242, 244–245, 261–262, 306, 313, 327, 329–330, 337, 365, 400, 402–407, 409, 411, 413–414, 423–424, 426, 428–430, 446, 448, 450, 517, 530–531, 536–537, 539–541, 543–544, 567 Zhuge Liang, 201, 269, 301 Zisi-Mencius School, xlii, 21, 218, 235, 244–245, 292, 413, 430

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