A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

by Wing-Tsit Chan

  3. THE RECOVERY OF THE NATURE, PT. 2, BY LI AO

  Someone asked: Man has been darkened for a long time. If he is to recover his original nature, he must do so gradually. May I ask what the method should be?

  Answer: Without deliberation and without [anxious] thought, the feelings will not arise. When the feelings do not arise, thought becomes correct. Correct thought means having neither deliberation nor [anxious] thought. The Book of Changes says, “What is there in the world to think about or to deliberate about?”25 It also says, “Guarding against depravity, he preserves his sincerity.”26 And the Book of Odes says, “Have no depraved thoughts.”27

  Question : Is that all?

  Answer: No. This is the fasting of the mind. It is not yet free of tranquillity. As there is tranquillity, it will necessarily be followed by activity, and when there is activity, it will necessarily be followed by tranquillity. The unceasing alternation of tranquillity and activity means the feelings. The Book of Changes says, “Fortune and misfortune, occasion for repentance or regret, all arise from activity.”28 Under such conditions, how can one recover his nature?

  Question: What can be done?

  Answer: At the time of tranquillity, to know that there is no thought in the mind is the fasting of the mind, to realize that originally there is no thought in the mind and that it is completely free from tranquillity and activity, and to be in the state of absolute quiet and inactivity—that is absolute sincerity. The Doctrine of the Mean says, “Given sincerity, there will be enlightenment.”29 And the Book of Changes says, “All activities in the world obtain their firm nature from one principle.”30

  Question: During the time when there is neither deliberation nor thought, things attack from outside and the feelings respond to them from the inside, how can one stop the feelings? Is it possible to stop feelings with feelings?

  Answer: Man’s feelings are the evil aspect of his nature. If one realizes that they are evil, then this evil will not exist in the first place. If the mind is in the state of absolute quiet and inactivity, depraved thoughts will cease of themselves. If human nature shines clearly, how can depravity arise? If one is to stop feelings with feelings, that is to magnify the feelings. When feelings are used to stop one another, will there be an end to it? The Book of Changes says, “The son of the Yen family,31 whenever he did anything wrong, never failed to realize it, and having realized it, he never did it again. As it is said in the Book of Changes, ‘Returning after not having gone (astray) very far, there is no occasion for repentance. There will be great fortune.’ ”32

  Comment. There were no new theories about human nature after the Western Han (206 b.c.–a.d. 8) when Confucianists developed the theory that human nature was good but the feelings were evil, thus forming two levels. For several hundred years, then, there was no new concept about human nature. In this period both Buddhism and Taoism soared to great heights in their discussions of this question. Under the stimulation and challenge of Buddhism and in order to compete with it, Li Ao sought a compromise doctrine, found it in the Western Han Confucianists, and combined it with Mencius’ doctrine of originally good human nature, the idea of tranquil nature in the Book of Changes, and the idea of the full development of human nature in both Mencius and the Doctrine of the Mean. It is this originally good nature that he advocates recovering.

  Question: You said that originally there is no thought in the mind and that it is completely free from activity and tranquillity. But is one, then, not to hear the sound that comes or to see the thing that appears?

  Answer: If we were not to see anything or to hear anything, one would not be a man. But to see and hear clearly and yet not to be aroused by what is seen or heard—that will be all right. To know everything, to do everything, to be absolutely quiet in the mind, and yet to have its light illumine heaven and earth—that is the enlightenment resulting from sincerity. The Great Learning says, “the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things.”33 And the Book of Changes says, “In the operation of Change, there is neither thought nor action, because it is the state of absolute quiet and inactivity, and when acted on, it immediately penetrates all things. If it were not the most spirit-like thing under heaven, how can it be like this?”34

  Question: May I ask what is meant by “the extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things (ko-wu)”?

  Answer: By things is meant the myriad things, and by ko is meant arriving or reaching. When things come before one, his mind clearly sifts them and yet he does not respond to (or is not affected by) them. This is the extension of knowledge. This is the perfecting of knowledge. As knowledge is perfected, the will becomes sincere. As the will is sincere, the mind becomes rectified. As the mind is rectified, the personal life becomes cultivated. As the personal life is cultivated, the family becomes regulated. As the family is regulated, the state will be in order. As the state is in order, the world will be at peace.35 This is how a person can form a trinity with Heaven and Earth. . . . (Fu-hsing shu or The Recovery of the Nature, in Li Wen Kung chi, or Collected Works of Li Ao, sptk, 1:8a-9b)

  Comment. Both the idea of recovering one’s nature and that of the fasting of one’s mind come from Chuang Tzu.36 In trying to eliminate both activity and tranquillity, Li Ao goes even further than Chuang Tzu, who still wants activity and tranquillity harmonized.37 Li Ao’s dictum, “having no thought,” sounds very much like those of Zen Buddhism. For this reason he has been described as Buddhistic. While a certain amount of Buddhist influence cannot be denied, he remains essentially Confucian in culminating his doctrine in personal cultivation, social harmony, and world peace through the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge. What he means by having no thought is at bottom no different from what Mencius meant by the undisturbed mind.38 However, Mencius’ undisturbed mind is meant to be a condition for action, whereas Li Ao was more concerned with a state of mind. It is to be noted that while he was profoundly influenced by the idea of sincerity in the Doctrine of the Mean, he does not seem to have been particularly impressed by the doctrine of earnest practice in the same book.39

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  THE NEO-CONFUCIAN METAPHYSICS AND ETHICS IN CHOU TUN-I

  Neo-Confucianism may be traced to earlier Confucianists, but the one who really opened its vista and determined its direction was Chou Tun-i (Chou Lien-hsi,1 1017-1073), who is generally called the pioneer of Neo-Confucianism. In two short treatises, the T’ai-chi-t’u shuo (An Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate) and the T’ung-shu (Penetrating the Book of Changes), he laid the pattern of metaphysics and ethics for later Neo-Confucianism. Whether he got the diagram from a Taoist priest is a debatable point, but the strong Taoist influence on him is unmistakable. The very concept of the Ultimate of Non-being (Wu-chi) comes from Lao Tzu.2 But his diagram is not exactly like any diagram of the Taoists, and in his evolutionary process of creation from the Great Ultimate through the passive cosmic force, yin, and the active cosmic force, yang, to the myriad things, he faithfully followed the Book of Changes3 rather than Taoism. Actually what he did was to assimilate the Taoist element of non-being to Confucian thought, but in so doing, he discarded the fantasy and mysticism of Taoism. The diagram had been used by Taoists in their attempt to obtain elixir for immortal life, but Chou Tun-i used it for rational philosophy. In this way he restored Chinese philosophy to a healthier climate.

  The fact that he relies on the Book of Changes is important, for although many Neo-Confucianists before him had written commentaries on the Classic and thus brought the book to the fore, he based his entire philosophy on it. From then on the book assumed unusual importance in Neo-Confucianism.

  Furthermore, he developed the idea that “the many are [ultimately] one, and the one is actually differentiated into the many,” and that “the one and many each has its own correct state of being,” thus starting another fundamental concept of Neo-Confucianism and anticipating Ch’eng I (Ch’eng I-ch’uan, 1033-11
07).4 He also spoke of principle (li), the nature, and destiny together, which eventually became the three cardinal concepts in Neo-Confucian thought. But he never explained the nature of the Great Ultimate, the relation between it and principle, or the relation between them and sincerity (ch’eng). The clarification of their relationships had to wait for Chu Hsi (1130-1200).

  The idea of sincerity of course comes from the Doctrine of the Mean.5 In describing it as tranquil he betrays more Taoist influence. But to him sincerity is not just tranquillity. It is the foundation of moral nature and the source of all activities. It is true substance and unerring. It is pure and perfectly good. The concept is so important that it has often been considered the foundation of his teaching.6 Equally significant is his idea that sincerity is the state in which one can detect the subtle, incipient, activating force (chi) of good and evil and make the choice either for good or for evil. In Chou Tun-i’s mind, sincerity in its reality is tranquil but in its function is dynamic, and this is a far cry from Taoism. In this way he rejected the Taoist over-emphasis on the internal to the neglect of the external. For him, the ideal being is the sage, and the highest ideal, the Mean. The sage “settles human affairs by the principles of the Mean, correctness, humanity (jen) and righteousness,” which means that the sage equally stresses the internal and the external life. This equal emphasis paved the way for Ch’eng Hao’s (Ch’eng Ming-tao, 1032-1085) and his brother Ch’eng I’s doctrine of “seriousness to straighten the internal life and righteousness to square the external life.”7

  From the foregoing, it is clear that to call him a pioneer of Neo-Confucianism is an understatement, although to call him the founder of the philosophy, as some have done, is certainly going too far. Perhaps the most accurate evaluation is that of Huang Po-chia (fl. 1695), who said, “Since the time of Confucius and Mencius, Han (206 b.c.–a.d. 220) Confucianists merely had textual studies of the Classics. The subtle doctrines of the Way and the nature of man and things have disappeared for a long time. Master Chou rose like a giant. . . . Although other Neo-Confucianists had opened the way, it was Master Chou who brought light to the exposition of the subtlety and refinement of the mind, the nature, and moral principles.”8

  Chou was a native of Tao-chou in present Hunan. His personal name was Tun-i and courtesy name Mao-shu. He named his study after the stream Lien-hsi (Stream of Waterfalls) which he loved, and posterity has honored him by calling him Master of Lien-hsi.

  He loved lotus flowers ardently, evidently because of their purity and tranquillity. His love for life was so strong that he would not cut the grass outside his window.9 The two Ch’eng brothers had once studied under him (in 1046-1047) and were much influenced by him. Because of his influence the brothers did not take the civil service examination or hunt.10 He was a great admirer of Buddhism, and Ch’eng I called him “poor Zen fellow.”11 But strangely, Buddhist influence on him is negligible. In fact, he may be said to have set the course for Neo-Confucianism in such a way that neither Buddhist nor Taoist influence changed its fundamentally Confucian character.12

  Below, following the list of major concepts and chapter references of the T’ung-shu, are the T’ai-chi-t’u shuo13 and the T’ung-shu14 translated in full from the Chou Tzu ch’üan-shu (Complete Works of Chou Tun-i).

  Activity and Tranquillity: 2, 4, 5, 9, 12, 16, 20, 35, 40

  Cosmology and Metaphysics: 1, 11, 16, 36

  Good and Evil: 3, 7, 15

  Government: 12, 32

  Humanity and Righteousness: 3, 5, 6, 11, 12

  Impartiality: 20, 21, 37

  Incipient activating force: 3, 4, 9

  Mean: 6, 7, 17

  Nature and Destiny: 1, 3, 22

  Principle: 22

  Propriety and Music: 13, 17, 18, 19

  Sincerity: 1, 2, 3, 4, 35

  1. AN EXPLANATION OF THE DIAGRAM OF THE GREAT ULTIMATE

  The Ultimate of Non-being and also the Great Ultimate (T’ai-chi)! The Great Ultimate through movement generates yang. When its activity reaches its limit, it becomes tranquil. Through tranquillity the Great Ultimate generates yin. When tranquillity reaches its limit, activity begins again. So movement and tranquillity 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 these five material forces (ch’i) are distributed in harmonious order, the four seasons run their course.

  The Five Agents constitute one system of yin and yang, and yin and yang constitute one Great Ultimate. The Great Ultimate is fundamentally the Non-ultimate. The Five Agents arise, each with its specific nature.

  When the reality of the Ultimate of Non-being and the essence of yin, yang, and the Five Agents come into mysterious union, integration ensues. Ch’ien (Heaven) constitutes the male element, and k’un (Earth) constitutes the female element. The interaction of these two material forces engenders and transforms the myriad things. The myriad things produce and reproduce, resulting in an unending transformation.

  It is man alone who receives (the Five Agents) in their highest excellence, and therefore he is most intelligent. His physical form appears, and his spirit develops consciousness. The five moral principles of his nature (humanity or jen, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness) are aroused by, and react to, the external world and engage in activity; good and evil are distinguished; and human affairs take place.

  The sage settles these affairs by the principles of the Mean, correctness, humanity, and righteousness (for the way of the sage is none other than these four),15 regarding tranquillity as fundamental. (Having no desire, there will therefore be tranquillity.) Thus he establishes himself as the ultimate standard for man. Hence the character of the sage is “identical with that of Heaven and Earth; his brilliancy is identical with that of the sun and moon; his order is identical with that of the four annotations. seasons; and his good and evil fortunes are identical with those of spiritual beings.”16 The superior man cultivates these moral qualities and enjoys good fortune, whereas the inferior man violates them and suffers evil fortune.

  Therefore it is said that “yin and yang are established as the way of Heaven, the weak and the strong as the way of Earth, and humanity and righteousness as the way of man.”17 It is also said that “if we investigate the cycle of things, we shall understand the concepts of life and death.”18 Great is the Book of Changes! Herein lies its excellence! (Chou Tzu ch’üan-shu, chs. 1-2, pp. 4-32)

  Comment. This Explanation has provided the essential outline of Neo-Confucian metaphysics and cosmology in the last eight hundred years. Few short Chinese treatises like this have exerted so much influence. Although the whole concept owes much to the Book of Changes, it is to be noted that it rejected the idea of the Eight Trigrams of the Book of Changes and used the Five Agents instead, thus showing that the system was the product of Chou Tun-i’s own speculation.

  A great amount of literature has grown up on the history of the diagram and on the concept of the Great Ultimate. So far as philosophy is concerned, most Neo-Confucianists have followed Chou although they have differed in many details. However, two of Chou’s ideas have aroused considerable criticism. One is the idea of the Non-ultimate. One of the famous debates between Chu Hsi and Lu Hsiang-shan (Lu Chiu-yüan, 1139-1193) was over this idea. The word erh in the opening sentence means “and also” or “in turn.” But it can be interpreted in the sense of “and then,” in which case, the Non-ultimate and the Great Ultimate would be two separate entities. This was precisely what Lu Hsiang-shan was objecting to, as he saw in Chou Tun-i a bifurcation of reality as two.19 On the other hand, Chu Hsi claimed that Chou never meant that there is a Non-ultimate outside of the Great Ultimate,20 that the Non-ultimate is the state of reality before the appearance of forms whereas the Great Ultimate is the state after the appearance of forms, and that the two form a unity.21 This interpretation has
been accepted by most Neo-Confucianists, including most prominent ones like Ts’ao Tuan (Ts’ao Yüeh-ch’uan, 1376-1434) and Hsüeh Hsüan (Hsüeh Ching-hsien, 1392-1464).22

  The other idea that has attracted much criticism is the Taoistic idea of tranquillity. Chu Hsi took pains to explain that Chou meant tranquillity to be the basis for activity, and that of the four moral qualities of the sage (the Mean, humanity, correctness, and righteousness), the first two connote activity while the latter two connote tranquillity. This explanation is both arbitrary and unconvincing.23 Similarly, Li Kuang-ti (1642-1718) tried to justify Chou by saying that his statement in the Explanation, “Having no desire, there will therefore be tranquillity,” means the same thing as his statement in the T’ung-shu, “Having no desire, one is vacuous while tranquil and straightforward while in action,”24 and that in Chou’s mind tranquillity is never divorced from activity.25 It is true that in the T’ung-shu itself, activity and tranquillity are spoken of together.26 In fact, activity is mentioned alone several times27 and tranquillity not even once alone. But so far as the Explanation is concerned, the emphasis on tranquillity is undeniable. It is far better to admit his Taoist influence and to point out that in spite of it, he steered Neo-Confucianism away from it.