The Huainanzi

by An Liu

  cheng sincerity

  “Sincerity” denotes complete, uninhibited integration between a person’s most basic, spontaneous impulses and his or her expressed words and actions. In the Huainanzi’s conception of human psychology, the baseline energy of human consciousness (that is, the shen, “spirit”) is merged with the Way and partakes of its extreme potency and dynamism. When stimulated by external phenomena, consciousness moves within the mind–body matrix as a wave of qi that culminates in feeling or thought or sound or motion or some combination of them. Most of these expressions emerge depleted of the potency and dynamism intrinsic to the field from which they have arisen, because they are refracted through the prisms of self-consciousness, preconception, and insecurity that obstruct the ordinary human mind. In the rare instances that (or among the rare individuals for whom) an internal response evolves from baseline to full expression totally unimpeded, it produces a moment imbued with extraordinary power. Such sincerity can evoke a response in the minds and bodies of others or paranormal phenomena such as telekinesis. For these aspects of cheng, see chapters 6, 9, and 10. For the related term “Quintessential Sincerity” (jing cheng ), see chapter 20.

  chunqiu spring and autumn, one year; Spring and Autumn Annals

  “Spring and autumn” is a conventional synecdoche for a single year and is used occasionally in the text of the Huainanzi. From this connection is derived the name of the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals), which is a yearly chronicle of the state of Lu from 770 to 476 B.C.E. By the Han period, the tradition attributing the authorship of the Chunqiu to Confucius himself had been long established. The Huainanzi affirms this tradition as well as the prevalent Confucian notion that when composing the Chunqiu, Confucius used subtle language to “praise and blame” the rulers of the era he chronicled, thus restoring moral rectitude to an age that in its own time was utterly corrupt and personally assuming the status of an “uncrowned king” (suwang ). The authors of the Huainanzi appropriated many themes and tropes from the Confucian exegetical tradition surrounding the Chunqiu to construct their own theories of political and especially military affairs.

  dao the Way

  dao the Way The “Way” is the Huainanzi’s most basic signifier of ultimacy, and as such it is difficult to describe definitively in words. To say that it is the origin, totality, and animating impulse of all that is, ever was, and ever shall be is inadequate, for this would exclude what is not, never was, and never shall be. To say that the Way pervades and controls all existence and transformation distorts it, as this would imply that it is separable from all existence and transformation (even if only analytically). The text itself insists that the Way is ultimately ineffable and thus cannot be “understood” cognitively. Even though it cannot be known intellectually, because the Way is fundamental to all being, it can be experienced and embodied. This concept of the Way is not original to the Huainanzi; it is derivative of earlier texts such as the Zhuangzi and the Daodejing.

  Occasionally, the Huainanzi uses “the Way” in the more limited sense in which it is used in early texts such as the Analects, in which the Way is not a cosmic entity but a cultural construct (for example, “the Way of the sage-kings,” “the Way of Yao and Shun”). The word dao is sometimes employed in an even more limited sense as a particular “teaching” (for example, “the Way of archery”). Such usages always operate within a particular context, however. The default reading of the “Way” in any passage in which it is not clearly marked as denoting a more limited meaning is as the cosmic ultimate. Moreover, in many places where the Way is not used specifically, the concept is signified by metaphoric sobriquets such as “the Grand One” and “Grand Beginning.” The Huainanzi’s most detailed discussion of the Way is in chapter 1, although the concept figures prominently throughout the text.

  de Potency, Moral Potency

  In the Huainanzi, as in the Daodejing, “Potency” is consistently conceptualized in terms of a fixed relationship with the Way. Whereas the Way is the root of all existence, Potency is the manifestation of the generative, transformative, and destructive dynamism of the Way in the phenomenal realm. Wherever the unimpeded operation of the Way may be perceived in the universe, Potency is manifest, and whenever a particular phenomenon perfectly embodies the Way in space and time, its unique Potency is on display. Thus in the movement of the stars and the change of the seasons, we see the Potency of Heaven, and in the ripening of the grain and the loftiness of mountains, we see the Potency of Earth. For human beings, Potency derives from perfectly embodying the Way in the workings of their minds and bodies, a state that for most people is consistently achievable only through self-cultivation. In this way, individuals may develop vast funds of Potency that can influence the human and cosmic realms in mysterious ways that transcend the ordinary limitations of time and space. For example, an individual of abundant Potency can calm the minds of rebellious subjects without leaving the palace hall or can make the harvest plentiful without issuing any commands. The Huainanzi’s most detailed discussion of Potency is in chapter 2, although the concept figures prominently throughout the text.

  The Huainanzi occasionally uses the term de in contexts that accord with its usage in earlier Confucian texts such as the Analects. Here de represents a form of Potency that derives from exemplary moral action, and in these instances we translate de as “Moral Potency.” Moral Potency has a discrete efficacy that can be discursively identified with values such as “Humaneness” (ren) and “Rightness” (yi) and contrasted with coercive force (as in the conventional formula xingde, “punishment and Moral Potency”). This does not mean that Potency and Moral Potency are two distinct phenomena, however. Moral Potency remains an expression of the dynamism of the Way in the phenomenal realm, forming a continuum with other more primordial and undifferentiated forms of Potency.

  di Earth, earthly

  Earth was long venerated in the religious traditions of ancient China and remains so today. Every local potentate of ancient times maintained an altar to the soil, and a similar shrine may still be found in almost every rural Chinese village. In classical cosmological thought, Earth was a force that ranked alongside and just subordinate to Heaven (see tian). In the Huainanzi, Earth is given fourth place among the primal entities discussed on a chapter-by-chapter basis (see chapter 4). It was among the first phenomena to emerge from the undifferentiated Way. Although Heaven is usually cited as the force responsible for conditions beyond the control of humankind, Earth is also accorded great power within the phenomenal realm that houses human society. The Huainanzi generally views Heaven as more powerful because it encompasses forms of qi that are more rarefied and thus (within the conceptual framework of the text) more primordial and dynamic. Earth encompasses all those forms of qi that are more turbid and inert, but this still gives Earth a very significant role. For example, although the rarefied forms of qi that constitute the mind and spirit are said to come from Heaven, the grosser qi that forms our flesh, bones, and sinews is said to come from Earth (see chapter 7). Earth is thus instrumental in determining the material constitution of each individual’s mind–body system, and characteristic differences between distinct groups of people are attributed to the unique qi of their respective native Earth.

  dong movement, disturbance; to move, to disturb; action, active

  “Movement” or “action” is an important conceptual category in the Huainanzi, as it is the progeny and defining opposite of stillness (jing). Stillness is generally understood as the original and normative state of both the cosmos and human consciousness, but movement is acknowledged as an inevitable and indispensable product of cosmogenesis and sentience. Without both movement and stillness, time would not exist, as only by the contrast between the two can moments be differentiated from each other and the flow of time be made accessible to human perception. All phenomena begin in and are generated from stillness, but the process of differentiation that produces the phenomenal world is contingent on movement.

 
du measure, standard, degree

  “Standards” and “measures” are vital components of the Huainanzi’s political lexicon. These two meanings of du are inseparable and largely interchangeable in a Han cultural context. For example, the Han court issued a uniform cast-metal weight to serve as the standard for determining a single jin, and the same weight could be placed on a scale opposite some object or substance (say, one jin of tax grain) to measure it. The creation and dissemination of such standards was understood as a central and defining function of imperial power, for both its value in facilitating social intercourse and cohesion and its role in coordinating the relationship of local society and the imperial state. In the Huainanzi, the significance of standards has another dimension, as the text proposes that in any given age appropriate standards can be derived from a survey of the basic patterns of the cosmos. An example of this is the derivation of a perfect calendar year through careful astronomical observation. This operation ties in the third meaning of “degree,” as the standard course of celestial bodies was measured in such units. (In this usage, du has the precise meaning of 1/365.25 of a circle; in such instances, we indicate Chinese “degrees” by a superscript “d” [for example, 11d].) Standards thus give a sage-ruler a versatile mechanism to coordinate not only the state and society but also the entire human community and the cosmos at large.

  fan return, to revert, reversion, on the contrary, oppose, contradict

  “Return” or “reversion” is a key concept in the Huainanzi. In the basic root–branches framework through which the text conceives all cosmic and human realms (see ben and benmo), any move from a “branch” state back toward a “root” state is marked as a “return” or “reversion.” On a cosmic level, reversion is characteristic of the Way itself, as contingent phenomena tend over time (through death, decay, or destruction) to revert to the undifferentiated root from which they emerged. On a human level, reversion or return can be a process that unlocks great potential power, as in the “return to one’s nature” (fanxing), “return to the self” (fanji ), or “return to one’s spirit” (fanshen) achieved by the adept of apophatic personal cultivation. In general, any reversion or return to the root is normatively privileged by the Huainanzi, although the text asserts that certain forms of reversion are not possible. For example, the text insists that the progressive elaboration of human social and political institutions over time is not ultimately reversible, but it does concede that the effective operation of institutions in a latter age depends on a return to the root by political leaders through personal cultivation.

  In some contexts, the Huainanzi uses the term fan in a more strictly logical or grammatical sense, meaning “on the contrary” or “conversely.” This often reflects a conventional usage dating back to the Warring States period, marking an idea, a fact, or an argument that directly contradicts a particular persuasion (shui) or discourse (lun). In this sense, fan may also be used verbally and in such cases is translated as “to oppose” or “to contradict.”

  ganying resonance, stimulus and response

  “Resonance” is a central operative principle of the cosmos as conceived by the Huainanzi. The phrase itself means “stimulus” (gan ) and “response” (ying ), which is how we have translated it when the Huainanzi refers specifically to the discrete component processes that the term denotes. Fundamentally, “resonance” is a process of dynamic interaction that transcends the limits of time, space, and ordinary linear causality. Through the mechanism of resonance, an event in one location (the “stimulus”) produces simultaneous effects in another location (the “response”), even though the two phenomena have no direct spatial or mechanical contact. They may indeed be separated by vast gulfs of space. For example, connections between celestial events (eclipses, planetary motions) and events in the human community were understood as examples of “resonance.”

  For the authors of the Huainanzi, such connections were not coincidence or mere correspondence but dynamic influences exchanged through the energetic medium of qi. All phenomena are both composed of and impelled by qi, and since all currently differentiated qi emerged from an originally undifferentiated Grand One, all qi remains mutually resonantly linked. The pathways of resonance are not random, however. Objects are most sensitive to resonant influences emanating from other objects that share the same constituent form of qi.

  The best example of this is an empirically observable phenomenon often cited by ancient authors to illustrate the concept of resonance itself: the harmonic resonance observable among musical instruments. If a string tuned to the pentatonic note gong on one qin is plucked, for example, the corresponding string on a separate qin will be perceived to vibrate. This was thought to occur because of the presence of Earth qi, which is responsible for the note gong in both instruments. When the Earth qi in the first instrument is activated (the stimulus), the corresponding Earth qi note in the other resonates (the response).

  Such interactions were thought to be operative in the universe at all times. Someone who understood the patterns of these interactions could manipulate them to produce marvelous and beneficial effects across space-time. For example, during the summer, when Fire qi is ascendant (according to the Five-Phase understanding of seasonal influences), the ruler can wear red clothes (red being the color produced by Fire qi) so as to send out harmonizing resonances through the general matrix of cosmic qi and bring cosmic forces into line with the needs of the human community. The Huainanzi’s most thorough discussion of resonance is found in chapter 6.

  he harmony

  “Harmony” is a key concept in the political lexicon of the Huainanzi. As was true for many other early Chinese texts, “harmony” is the single word that most perfectly expresses the Huainanzi’s normatively ideal state of human government and society. Among different traditions in ancient Chinese thought, there was no great variation in how harmony was conceived. For most, if not all, writers, harmony was generally marked by an absence of strife between ruler and ruled and among all the constituent elements of state and society. Where ancient authors differed was in articulating the means by which harmony was to be achieved. The Huainanzi’s vision of harmony is like that of most ancient texts, although it stresses the importance of harmony simultaneously suffusing and interconnecting both the human and cosmic realms. It is never enough in the Huainanzi for human beings to be in harmony with one another. Such a state can never be achieved or endure if human society is not dynamically coordinated with Heaven, Earth, and the larger forces of the cosmos.

  Because the cosmic vision of the Huainanzi centers on the notion of the Way derived from texts like the Daodejing (Laozi), it frequently acknowledges that ultimate harmony may occasionally incorporate elements of destruction that are jarring to human sensibilities. Just as the spontaneous operations of the cosmos naturally include periods of dormancy and contraction (such as the cold of the winter months), the harmonious operations of the human polity may necessarily include destructive activities like punishment and warfare. In an ultimate sense, harmony does not depend on a total absence of violence but on the timeliness of all activities undertaken in the human realm and the persistence of all elements of the dynamic system that make up the human–cosmic matrix in their normatively correct relationship to one another.

  Music is an important metaphor on which the concept of harmony is constructed, in both the Huainanzi and other early texts. The timely sounding of each note in a musical performance and their melodious relationship to one another exemplified the dynamic harmony that ideally should prevail in the human and cosmic realms. It is important, however, to refrain from anachronistically overreading modern notions of “musical harmony” into ancient Chinese texts. Many authorities insist that harmony in the strict technical sense of “an ordered progression of simultaneous sounds blended into musical chords” was a much later invention, but of course no one really knows what early Chinese music sounded like. With this cautionary note in mind, when applied to music we use the word �
��harmony” in a looser sense of “a pleasing consonant arrangement of musical notes.”

  hua transformation, to transform, metamorphosis, to turn into

  Transformation is key to the total conceptual framework of the Huainanzi, as the text pictures all cosmic and human reality as pervaded on all levels by constant transformation. In this view, it is the inherent disposition of all cosmic qi to transform continually. Such ceaseless transformation instantiates the intrinsic dynamism of the Way that brought the phenomenal world into being and that continues to impel it to evolve. This constant flow of transformation cannot be resisted; human beings can hope only to align themselves harmoniously with its ongoing course.

  Collectively, such an alignment is achieved by organizing the human community within political and cultural structures, like those outlined in the Huainanzi, that are versatile enough to respond to the flow of cosmic change. Collective structures will never work effectively, however, unless individual leaders personally tap into and immerse themselves in the larger flow of transformation. The human mind–body system is a microcosm of the universe, so a person who harnesses and regulates the flow of energetic transformation within himself or herself (through the kinds of personal cultivation the Huainanzi advocates) becomes an agent who can direct cosmic transformation to channels that are harmonious and conducive to human flourishing.

  Transformation also occurs naturally in the nonhuman world—for example, in chapter 5, where mice are said to turn into quail in the third month of spring. In such cases, we translate hua as “metamorphosis” or “to turn into.”

  ji crux; fulcral moment, activation, mechanism

  Ji originally referred to the trigger mechanism of a crossbow. Then in the Huainanzi and other early texts, it came to signify the unique moment or condition that activated a dramatic shift from one state to another. The ability to recognize and actualize the potential of such fulcral moments is cited throughout the Huainanzi as a hallmark of the Genuine Person and the sage. Another related meaning that uses the image of the crossbow is “mechanism” or “dynamism”; that is, ji may signify any complex system imbued with intrinsic motive power (for example, tian ji, the “Mechanism of Heaven”).