Chinese Philosophical Terminologies

**Compiled and edited by Tao Steven Zheng (鄭濤)**

**English translations:** The Way, the Cosmic Way, the Cosmological Principle, Natural order of the universe

**Dao (道)** is the most fundamental principle that drives the operation of the universe (天 *tian*). It is a noumenon (本體 *ben ti*) that acts as the generative ontological process through which all things arise and pass away. Dao is by nature non-being. Transcending material existence (物 *wu*) and the mind (心 *xin*), the Dao possesses ineffable and unmeasurable qualities. Thus, the word "Dao" (glyph 道) is just a convenient term ascribed to the true Dao, which in actuality is nameless, formless, and thoughtless. However, it can be perceived, experienced, and even known through correct and direct observation of its principles and nature.

**Note:** Dao is not a supreme being, so one should not confuse the Dao with a deity (i.e. God). The Dao is not an omnipotent and omniscient deity (i.e. a personal God) that is invested with a conscious and a plan. Instead, the Dao is a supreme "state of being" that is not conscious of its activity, has no plan or purpose, and seeks no reward or praise

**道體 Dao Noumenon:** Dao as a noumenon, or "thing-in-itself", or more accurately a "self-so principle", is an important concept in Chinese philosophy. It is used to explain the origin, ontology, law or principle of reality. There are different interpretations of Dao as a noumenon under different Chinese philosophical systems. **(See: 百家爭鳴 Hundred Schools of Thought)**

**道性 Dao Nature:** Eternal, natural, and spontaneous, and which cannot be named or described, the Dao is self-so (自然 *zi ran*), that is, there is no artificiality or synthetic aspects to it. The Dao cannot be precisely defined or expressed in words; thus, our knowledge of the Dao can only be experienced rather than intellectually demonstrated. As the Great Void (太虛 *tai xu*), the Dao is free from all characteristics but is present in all things. As the Great Ultimate (太極 *tai ji*) the Dao is the original cause of the universe as well as the source of the natural order that governs all. As the Great Changer (太易 *tai yi*), the Dao is constantly dynamic, perpetuating change between states of chaos and order (mainly chaos). From here, it can be understood that under the laws of the Dao , there is no state of permanence in the universe. All phenomena are subject to the inexorable cycle of being (有 *you*) and non-being (無 *wu*). The complementary dual nature of being and non-being can be encapsulated by the notion on *yin-yang* (陰陽 *yin yang*).

**道學 Dao Learning:** The study of the Dao.

**道器 Dao-Qi:** "Dao" and "Qi" are a pair of philosophical categories in ancient China. The word "Dao" (glyph 道), often translated as "the Way" or "cosmological principle“, is taken to mean the metaphysical. The word "Qi" (glyph 器), often translated as "vessel", "utensil", or "instrument", is taken to mean the physical. Hence, "Dao" is abstract, intangible, and indefinite, whereas "Qi" is concrete, tangible, and definite. The "Dao" in itself is the first principle in which is innately present in all things; "Qi" is an image (象 *xiang*), referring to specific things or the system of names (名 *ming*) and objects (物 *wu*). Therefore, the relationship between "Dao" and "Qi" is actually the relationship between abstract truth and specific things. In more archaic and religious terminology, this is taken to be the relationship between spirit-essence (精神 *jing shen*) and matter-substance (物質 *wu zhi*).

《易·繫辭上》：「形而上者謂之道，形而下者謂之器。」

*Yijing* (Xici 1): That which is antecedent to the material form is called the Dao; that which is subsequent to the material form is called the Vessel.

**道法自然 The Dao follows its own way:** The Dao follows its own way, which is natural and spontaneous. **(See: 道性 Dao Nature)**

《道德經·第二十五章》：「人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。」

*Daodejing* (Chapter 25): Man follows the ways of the Earth; the Earth follows the ways of the Heavens; the Heavens follows the ways of the Dao; the Dao follows its own way.

### **德 De**

**Middle Chinese:** dek

**English translations:** Power, Virtue, Integrity

**De (德)** can be defined as "abiding by the Dao", or more specifically, the "proper adherence to the Dao". In practice, De is synonymous with the cultivation of Dao. With right concentration and proper practice, one discovers that De is a manifestation of the Dao in the physical realm (i.e. the universe). In the Daoist ontology, all things (萬物 *wan wu*), which manifest from the Dao, possess their own inner nature (性 *xing*). When they move or act in accordance with the Dao, they will obtain De. For sentient beings, living in accordance with the Dao, one will realize the true nature of people, nature, and the cosmos. In consequence, the Daoist adept will flourish. This reflects the Daoist metaphysical view on the relationship between humankind and the universe.

**De in Confucianism:** Confucian philosophers interpreted the concept of De that is significantly different to the Daoist understanding. Being primarily a philosophy of ethics and scholastic learning, the Confucians conceived De in terms of obedience to rigorously defined and codified social rules. This includes certain cardinal Confucian virtues such as humaneness (仁 *ren*), righteousness (義 *yi*), and filial piety (孝 *xiao*). Thus, De is obtained through proper interaction and conduct with people within society, and is exemplified by the understanding and performance of ritual and etiquette (禮 *li*).

### **陰陽 Yin-Yang**

**Middle Chinese:** im-yang/yim-yang

**English translations:** two dichotomies/negative-positive dichotomy/the dual

### **有 You**

**Middle Chinese:** iu/yiu/yuu

**English translations:** Being/With form/Presence

The state of substance having form (有形 *you xing*) in the empirical universe, which has its origin in the Void (無 *wu*).

### **無 Wu**

**Middle Chinese:** mu/myo

**English translations:** Non-being/Without form/Void/Absence

In Daoist and Neo-Confucians philosophy, being (有 *you*) and non-being (無 *wu*) are the ontological substrates infused with a generative energy. Although made of the same substance as being, it is called non-being because it has no particular form. However, because of its generative nature, it shapes itself into the individual forms we know, then reshapes itself into other forms in the constant process of change. Thus, change (變 *bian*) is the process of the substance oscillating between having form (有形 *you xing*) and having no form (無形 *wu xing*).

### **自然 Zi-ran**

**Middle Chinese:** dzi-nyen

**English translations:** Self-so/Spontaneity/Naturalness

**Zi-ran (自然)** can be defined as occurrences appearing of itself, or more succinctly put, "self-so". This includes things and events unfolding spontaneously from the generative source, each according to its own nature. Hence, zi-ran is best described as the fundamental nature, as well as the mechanism or process of the Dao in the observable universe.

### **無為 Wu-wei**

**Middle Chinese:** mu-wi/myo-wi

**English translations:** Non-doing/Effortless action

**Wu-wei (無為)** is a difficult concept to translate. Etymologically, wu-wei literally means "without doing" or "non-action". Such translations can be misunderstood as "doing nothing", which is far from the true meaning of wu-wei. The word "wei" (為), as understood in the Daoist context, means acting as a spontaneous part of nature as opposed to acting with self-conscious intention. In this sense, actions should not interfere or counter with the natural unfolding of the Dao, rather actions should be aligned with the Dao.

### **氣 Qi**

**Middle Chinese:** ki

**English translations:** Vital energy/Life-force/Breath/Psychophysical element

**Daoist interpretation:** The universal breath, vital energy, or cosmic life-force. It is the fundamental energy that pulses through the Cosmos as both matter and energy, giving form and life to all things and driving their transformations. In its original form, called Primal Qi (原氣 *yuan qi*), which is present in the Void (無 *wu*) and is perhaps the aspect that makes the primordial emptiness open to possibilities. Primal Qi is simultaneously made up of yin and yang in a state that is completely mixed. Once the Primal Qi separates out into yin and yang, yang rises up to become the sky and yin sinks down to form the Earth. Qi is in constant motion, animating all things, and so is a kind of energy that connects all things. In other words, everything is interconnected in a matrix by Qi.

Confucian interpretation:

### **天 Tian**

**Middle Chinese:** ten/tien

**English translation:** Heavens/Cosmos/Sky

**Archaic origins**

During the Zhou dynasty (1046 BC - 256 BC), the rulers and priestly class used the impersonal concept of Heaven 天 to replace the monotheistic god of the Shang dynasty (1600 BC - 1046 BC). Heaven was eventually secularized by the early Taoists, Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, for whom it meant natural process: the constant unfolding of things in the cosmological process. For a somewhat different perspective, consider the recurring entity “heaven and earth,” which might be conceived as “creative force and created objects.”

### **玄 Xuan**

**Middle Chinese:** huen

**English translations:** Darkness/Mystery/Dark-enigma

Dark-enigma came to have a particular philosophic resonance, for it became the name of a neo-Taoist school of philosophy in the third and fourth centuries C.E.: Dark-Enigma Learning, a school which gave Chinese thought a decidedly ontological turn and became central to the synthesis of Taoism and Buddhism into Ch’an Buddhism. Like Lao Tzu, the thinkers of the Dark-Enigma Learning school equated dark enigma with Absence, the generative ontological tissue from which the ten thousand things spring. Or more properly, it is Way before it is named, before Absence and Presence give birth to one another—that region where consciousness and ontology share their source.

### **母 Mu**

Middle Chinese: Mu

English translations: Mother

The philosophy of Tao embodies a cosmology rooted in that most primal and wondrous presence: earth’s mysterious generative force. This represents a resurgence of the cosmology of late Paleolithic and early Neolithic cultures, where this force was venerated as the Great Mother. She continuously gives birth to all creation, and like natural process which she represents, she also takes life and regenerates it in an unending cycle of life, death, and rebirth. In the Tao Te Ching, this awesome generative force appears most explicitly in Lao Tzu’s recurring references to the female principle in a variety of manifestations: mother, female, feminine, yielding, source, origin, etc. But in the end, it is everywhere in the Tao Te Ching, for it is nothing other than Tao itself.