Output:
the Sanskrit Dhyana, which is usually translated in English as Meditation. The traditional account of the origin of the Ch' an or Zen school is that the Buddha, in addition to his Scriptures, possessed an esoteric teaching that was transmitted independently of written texts. This teaching he transmitted personally to one of his disciples, who in turn transmitted it to his own disciple. In this way, it was handed down until it reached Bodhidharma, who is supposed to have been the twenty—eighth Patriarch in India, and who came to China some time between S±O and 526, where he became the first Tsu (Patriarch, literally, Ancestor) of the Ch'an school in China.

 Traditional Account of the Origin of Ch anism


Output:
There Bodhidharma transmitted the esoteric teaching to Hui-k' o (486-593), who was China's second Patriarch. The teaching was thus perpetuated until a major split in the school occurred, caused by the two chief disciples of the fifth Patriarch, Hung-jen (605-675). One of them, Shen-hsiu (died 706), became the founder of the Northern school; the other, Hui -neng (638-713), founded the Southern school. The Southern school soon surpassed the Northern one in popularity, so that Hui-neng came to be recognized as the sixth Patriarch, the true successor of Hung—jen. All the later influential groups in Ch'

 anism took their rise from the disciples of Hui-neng.*

 How far we can depend on the earlier part of this traditional account is much questioned, for it is not supported by any documents dated earlier than the eleventh century. It is not our purpose in this chapter to make a scholarly examination of this problem. Suffice it to say that no scholar today takes


Output:
* For the traditional account, see Yang Yi (974-102.0), Ch'uan Teng Lu or Record of the Transmission of the Light, ch Han I.

 418 CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE

 the tradition very seriously. Indeed, as we have already seen in the last chapter, the theoretical background for Ch'anism had already been created in China by such men as Seng—chao and Tao—sheng. Given this background, the rise of Ch anism would seem to have been almost inevitable, without looking to the almost legendary Bodhidharma as its founder.

 The split in the Ch an school caused by Shen —hsiu and Hui —neng is, however, a historical fact.


Output:
The difference between these founders of the Northern and Southern schools represents the earlier difference between the Hsing tsung (Universal Mind school) and K ' ung tsung (Empty school) that was described in the last chapter. This can be seen in Hui—neng s own autobiography. From this work we learn that Hui -neng was a native of the present Kwangtung province and became a student of Buddhism under Hung—jen. The account continues that one day Hung—jen, realizing that his time was nearly over, summoned his disciples together and told them that a successor must now be appointed; this successor would be the disciple who could write the best poem summarizing the teaching of Ch anism.

 Shen—hsiu then wrote a poem which read:

 The body is like unto the Bodhi-tree, And the mind to a mirror bright; Carefully we cleanse them hour by hour Lest dust should fall upon them.

 To refute this idea, Hui—neng then wrote the following poem:


Output:
Originally there was no Bodhi-tree, Nor was there any mirror; Since originally there was nothing, Whereon can the dust fall?

 It is said that Hung—jen approved Hui—neng s poem and appointed him as his successor, the sixth Patriarch.*

 Shen-hsiu's poem emphasized the Universal Mind or Buddha Nature spoken of by Tao-sheng, while Hui-neng s emphasized the Wu (Non-being) of Seng-chao. There are two phrases that often occur in Ch anism. One is, "The very mind is Buddha"; the other, "not-mind,and not-Buddha. ' Shen-hsiu's poem is the expression of the first phrase, and Hui-neng 's of the second.

 * See the Liu-tsu T' anching or Sulra Spoken by the Sixth Patriarch, chtitml.

 4 2 0 CH' ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE

 The First Principle Is Inexpressible


Output: In later times the Ch'an school in its major development followed the line set by Hui —neng. In it the combination already begun between the Empty school and Taoism reached its climax. What the Empty school called higher sense truth on the third level, the Ch'anists called the First Principle. As we have seen in the last chapter, on this third level one simply cannot say anything. Hence the First Principle is by its very nature inexpressible. The Ch' an Master Wen-yi (died 958) was once asked: "What is the First Principle?" To which he answered: If I were to tell you, it would become the second principle. {Wen-yi Ch'an-shih Yii-lu or Sayings of the Ch an Master Wen-yi. ) It was the principle of the Ch an Masters to teach their disciples only through personal contact. For the benefit of those who did not have opportunity for such contact, however, written records were made of the sayings of the Masters, which were known as yii lu (recorded conversations). This was a practice that was later taken over by the


Output: was a practice that was later taken over by the Neo -Confucianists. In these records, we often find that when a student ventured to ask some question about the fundamental principles of Buddhism, he would often he given a beating by his Ch'an Master, or some quite irrelevant answer. He might, for example, be told that the price of a certain vegetable was then three cents. These answers seem very paradoxical to those who are not familiar with the purpose of Ch anism. But this purpose is simply to let the student know that what he asks about is not answerable. Once he understands that, he understands a great deal.


Output:
The First Principle is inexpressible, because what is called the Wu is not something about which anything can be said. By calling it "Mind ' or any other name, one is at once giving it a definition and thus imposing on it a limitation. As the Ch anists and Taoists both say, one thereby falls into the "net of words." Ma—tsu or the Patriarch Ma (died 7^8), a disciple of ihe disciple of Hui-neng, was once asked: "Why do you say that the very mind is Buddha?" Ma-tsu answered: "I simply want to stop the crying of children.""

 Suppose they do stop crying?" asked the questioner. Then not-mind, not-Buddha," was the answer.*


Output:
Another student asked Ma-tsu: "What kind of man is he who is not linked to all things?" The Master answered: "Wait until in one gulp you can drink up all the water in the West River, then I willtell you. (Ibid.) Such an acl is obviously impossible and by suggesting it Ma-tsu meant to indicate to the student that he would not answer his question. His question, in fact, was really not answerable,because he who is not linked to all things is one who transcends all things. This being so, how can you ask what kind of man he is?

 Yi-tsang (of the Sung dynasty), Ku-tsuii-hsii Yu-lu or Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiion 1.

 4 11 CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF

 SILENCE

 1


Output:
SILENCE

 1

 There were Ch'an Masters who used silence to express the idea of Wu or the First Principle. It is said, for example, that when Hui-chung (died 775) was to debate with another monk, he simply mounted his chair and remained silent. The other monk then said: "Please propose your thesis so I can argue.

 Hui—chung replied: I have already proposed my thesis. The monk asked: What is it? Hui—chung said: I know it is beyond your understanding," and with this left his chair. (Record of the Transmission of the Light, chiian 5.) The thesis Hui—chung proposed was that of silence. Since the First Principle or Wu is not something about which anything can be said, the best way to expound it is to remain silent.

 From this point of view no Scriptures or Sutras have any real connection with the First Principle.


Output:
Hence the Ch an Master Yi —hstian (died 866), founder of a group in Ch anism known as the Lin—chi school, said: If you want to have the right understanding, you must not be deceived by others. You should kill everything that you meet internally or externally. If you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. If you meet the Patriarchs, kill the Patriarchs.... Then you can gain your emancipation." (Recorded Savings of Ancient Worthies, chiian 4-)

 Method of Cultivation


Output:
Method of Cultivation

 The knowledge of the First Principle is knowledge that is nonknowledge; hence the method of cultivation is also cultivation that is non-cultivation. It is said that Ma-tsu, before he became a disciple of Huai-jang (died 744), lived on the Heng Mountain (in present Hunan province). There he occupied a solitary hut in which,all alone, he practiced meditation. One day Huai-jang began to grind some bricks in front of the hui. When Ma-tsu saw it, he asked Huai-jang what he was doing. He replied that he was planning to make a mirror. Ma-tsu said: "How can grinding bricks make a mirror? Huai-jang said: If grinding bricks cannot make a mirror, how can meditation make a Buddha?" By this saying Ma-tsu was enlightened and thereupon became Huai—jang s disciple. (Recorded Sayings of Ancient worthies, chiian 1.)


Output:
Thus according to Ch anism, the best method of cultivation for achieving Buddhahood is not to practice any cultivation. To cultivate oneself in this way is to exercise deliberate effort, which is yu—wei (having action). This yu-wei will, to be sure, produce some good effect, but it will not be everlasting. The Ch'an Master Hsi-yiin (died 847), known as the Master of Huang—po, said: Supposing that through innumerable lives a man has practiced the six paramitas [methods of gaining salvation], done good and attained the Buddha Wisdom, this will still not last forever. The reason lies in causation.

 When the force of the cause is exhausted, he reverts to ihe impermanent." (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiian 3-)

 Again he said: "All deeds are essentially impermanent. All forces have their final day. They are like a dart discharged through the air; when its

 424

 CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE


Output:
CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE

 strength is exhausted, it turns and falls to the ground. They are all connected with the

 Wheel of Birth and Death. To practice cultivation through them is to misunderstand the Buddha s idea and waste labor. (Ibid.)

 And yet again: "If you do not understand wu hsin \_ absence of a purposeful mind], then you are attached to objects, and suffer from obstructions.... Actually there is no such thing

 1

 as Bodhi [Wisdom]. That the Buddha talked about it was simply as a means to educate


Output: men, just as yellow leaves may be taken as gold coins in order to stop the crying of children....The only thing to be done is to rid yourself of your old Karma, as opportunity offers, and not to create new Karma from which will flow new calamities. (Ibid.) Thus the best method of spiritual cultivation is to do one's tasks without deliberate effort or purposeful mind. This is exactly what the Taoists called wu—wei (non—action) and wu-hsin (no—mind). It is what Hui— yuan s theory signifies, as well as, probably, the statement of Tao—sheng that a good deed does not entail retribution." This method of cultivation does not aim at doing things in order to obtain resulting good effects, no matter how good these effects may be in themselves. Rather it aims at doing things in such a way as to entail no effects at all. When all one's actions entail no effect, then after the effects of previously accumulated Karma have exhausted themselves, one will gain emancipation from the Wheel of Birth and Death and attain


Output: from the Wheel of Birth and Death and attain Nirvana.


Output: To do things without deliberate effort and purposeful mind is to do things naturally and to live naturally. Yi-hsilan said: "To achieve Buddhahood there is no place for deliberate effort. The only method is to carry on one s ordinary and uneventful tasks: relieve one s bowels, pass water, wear one's clothes, eat one's meals, and when tired, lie down. The simple fellow will laugh at you, but the wise will understand." (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiian 4.) The reason why those who try to achieve Buddhahood so often fail to follow this course is because they lack self-confidence. Yi-hsiian said: "Nowadays people who engage in spiritual cultivation fail to achieve their ends. Their fault is not having faith in themselves....Do you wish to know who are the Patriarchs and Buddha? All of you who are before me are the Patriarchs and Buddha. ' (Ibid.) Thus the way to practice spiritual cultivation is to have adequate confidence in one s self and discard everything else. All one should do is to pursue the


Output: else. All one should do is to pursue the ordinary tasks of one's everyday life, and nothing more. This is what the Chan Masters call cultivation through non-cultivation.


Output:
Here a question arises: Granted that this be so, then what is the difference between the man who engages in cultivation of this kind and the man who engages in no cultivation at all? If the latter does precisely what the former does, he too should achieve Nirvana, and so there should come a time when there will be no Wheel of Birth and Death at all.

 To this question it may be answered that although to wear clothes and eat meals are in themselves common and simple matters, it is still not easy to do

 42-6 CH' ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF

 SILENCE

 them with a completely non—purposeful mind and thus without any attachment. A person likes fine clothes, for example, but dislikes bad ones, and he feels pleased when others admire his clothes.


Output: These are all the attachments that result from wearing clothes. What the Ch an Masters emphasized is that spiritual cultivation does not require special acts, such as the ceremonies and prayers of institutionalized religion. One should simply try to be without a purposeful mind or any attachments in one s daily life; then cultivation results from the mere carrying on of the common and simple affairs of daily life. In the beginning one will need to exert effort in order to be without effort, and to exercise a purposeful mind in order not to have such a mind, just as, in order to forget, one at first needs to remember that one should forget. Later, however, the time comes when one must discard the effort to be without effort, and the mind that purposefully tries to have no purpose, just as one finally forgets to remember that one has to forget.


Output:
Thus cultivation through non-cultivation is itself a kind of cultivation, just as knowledge that is not knowledge is nevertheless still a form of knowledge. Such knowledge differs from original ignorance, and cultivation through non-cullivation likewise differs from original naturalness. For original ignorance and naturalness are gifts of nature, whereas knowledge that is not knowledge and cultivation through non-cultivation are both products of the spirit.

 Sudden Enlightenment

 The practice of cultivation, no matter for how long, is in itself only a sort of preparatory work.

 For Buddhahood to be achieved, this cultivation must be climaxed by a Sudden Enlightenment, such as was described in the last chapter as comparable to the leaping over of a precipice. Only after this leaping has taken place can Buddhahood be achieved.

 Such Enlightenment is often referred to by the Ch'an Masters as the "vision of the Too. P


Output:
u-yiian, known as the Master of Nan-ch tian (died 830), told his disciple: "The Too is not classifiable as either knowledge or nonknowledge. Knowledge is illusory consciousness and non—knowledge is blind unconsciousness. If you really comprehend the indubitable Too, it is like a wide expanse of emptiness, so how can distinctions be forced in it between right and wrong?'"

 (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiian 13.) Comprehension of the Too is the same as being one with it. Its wide expanse of emptiness is not a void; it is simply a state in which all distinctions are gone.


Output:
This state is described by the Ch'an Masters as one in which "knowledge and truth become undifferentiable, objects and spirit form a single unity, and there ceases to be a distinction between the experiencer and the experienced." (Ibid., chiian 32..) "A man who drinks water knows by himself whether it is cold or warm. " This last expression first appeared in the Sutra Spoken by the Sixth Patriarch (Hui-neng), but it was later widely quoted by

 4-2.8 CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE

 the other Ch an Masters, meaning that only he who experiences the non-distinction of the

 experiencer and the experienced really knows what it is.

 In this state the experiencer has discarded knowledge in the ordinary sense, because this

 1

 kind of knowledge postulates a distinction between the knower and the known.


Output:
Nevertheless, he is not without knowledge, because his state differs from that of blind unconsciousness, as Nan—ch iian calls it. This is what is called the knowledge that is not knowledge.

 When the student has reached the verge of Sudden Enlightenment, that is the time when the Master can help him the most. When one is about to make the leap, a certain assistance, no matter how small, is a great help. The Ch'-an Masters at this stage used to practice what they called the method of stick or yell to help the leap to Enlightenment. Ch an literature reports many incidents in which a Master, having asked his student to consider some problem, suddenly gave him several blows with a stick or yelled at him. If these acts were done at the right moment, the result would be a Sudden Enlightenment for the student. The explanation would seem to be that the physical act, thus performed, shocks the student into that psychological awareness of enlightenment for which he has long been preparing.


Output:
To describe Sudden Enlightenment, the Ch an Masters use the metaphor of "the bottom of a tub falling out." When this happens, all its contents are suddenly gone. In the same way, when one is suddenly enlightened, he finds all his problems suddenly solved. They are solved not in the sense that he gains some positive solution for them, but in the sense that all the problems have ceased any longer to be problems. That is why the Too is called "the indubitable Too."

 The Attainment of Non-attainment

 The attainment of Sudden Enlightenment does not entail the attainment of anything further. The Ch an Master Ch'ing-yuan, known as the Master of Shu-chou (died II2.O), said: "If you now comprehend it, where is that which you did not comprehend before?


Output:
What you were deluded about before is what you are now enlightened about, and what you are now enlightened about is what you were deluded about before." (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies,chiton 32.) As we have seen in the last chapter, the real is the phenomenal, according to Seng—chao and Tao—sheng. In Ch anism there is the common expression that "the mountain is the mountain, the river is the river." In one's state of delusion, one sees the mountain as the mountain and the river as the river. But after Enlightenment one still sees the mountain as the mountain and the river as the river.

 The Ch an Masters also use another common expression: Riding an ass to search for the ass. By this they mean a search for reality outside of the phenomenal, in other words, to search for Nirvana outside of the Wheel of Birth and Death. Shu-chou said: "There are only two diseases: one is riding

 43O CH' ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY -OF

 SILENCE


Output:
SILENCE

 an ass to search for the ass; the other is riding an ass and being unwilling to dismount. You say that riding an ass to search for the ass is silly and that he who does it should be punished. This is a very serious disease. But I tell you, do not search for the ass at all. The intelligent man, understanding my meaning, stops to search for the ass, and thus the deluded state of his mind ceases to exist.


Output: "But if, having found the ass, one is unwilling to dismount, this disease is most difficult to cure. I say to you, do not ride the ass at all.You yourself are the ass. Everything is the ass. Why do you ride on it? If you ride, you cannot cure your disease. But if you do not ride, the universe is as a great expanse open to your view. With these two diseases expelled, nothing remains to affect your mind. This is spiritual cultivation. You need do nothing more. (Ibid.) If one insists that after attaining Enlightenment one will still attain something else, this is to ride an ass and be unwilling to dismount.


Output: Huang—po said: "L If there be Enlightenment J, speech or silence, activity or inactivity, and every sight and sound, all pertain to Buddha. Where should you go to find the Buddha? Do not place a head on top of a head or a mouth beside a mouth." (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chtian 3.) If there be Enlightenment, everything pertains to Buddha and everywhere there is Buddha. It is said that one Ch'an monk went into a temple and spat on the statue of the Buddha. When he was criticized, he said: "Please show me a place where there is no Buddha." (Record of the Transmission of the Light, chiian 1J-) Thus the Ch an sage lives just as everyone else lives, and does what everyone else does. In passing from delusion to Enlightenment, he has left his mortal humanity behind and has entered sagehood. But after that he still has to leave sagehood behind and to enter once more into mortal humanity. This is described by the Ch'an Masters as "rising yet another step over the top of the hundred-foot bamboo."


Output:
The top of the bamboo symbolizes the climax of the achievement of Enlightenment. "Rising yet another step means that after Enlightenment has come, the sage still has other things to do. What he has to do, however, is no more than the ordinary things of daily life. As Nan—ch uan said: After coming to understand the other side, you come back and live on this side.' (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chtian 12.)

 Although the sage continues living on this side, his understanding of the other side is not in vain.


Output:
Although what he does is just what everyone else does, yet it has a different significance to him. As Hui-hai, known as the Master of Pai-ch'ang (died 814), said: "That which before Enlightenment is called lustful anger, is after Enlightenment called the Buddha Wisdom. The man is no different from what he was before; it is only that what he does is different." (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiian I.) It would seem that there must be some textual error in this last sentence. What Pai-ch'ang apparently intended to say was: "What the man does is no different from

 432. CH' ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SILENCE

 what he did before; it is only that the man himself is not the same as he was.


Output:
The man is not the same, because although what he does is what everyone else does, he has no attachment to anything. This is the meaning of the common Ch'an saying: "To eat all day and yet not swallow a single grain; to wear clothes all day and yet not touch a single thread. (Recorded Sayings of Ancient Worthies, chiton 3 and 16.)

 There is yet another common saying: "In carrying water and chopping firewood: therein lies the wonderful Too." (Record of the Transmission of the Light, chilan 8.) One may ask: If this is so, does not the wonderful Too also lie in serving one's family and the state? If we were to draw the logical conclusion from the Ch'an doctrines that have been analyzed above, we should be forced to answer yes.

 The Ch an Masters themselves, however, did not give this logical answer. It was reserved for the Neo-Confucianists, who are the subject of our next several chapters, to do so.

 434

 CH'ANISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OK SILENCE

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Output:
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 CHAPTER 23

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM: THE COSMOLOGISTS

 IN 5^9, after centuries of division, China was again unified by the Sui dynasty (589-617). The Sui, however, soon gave way to the powerful and highly centralized dynasty of T'ang (618-906). Both culturally and politically the T' ang was a golden age in China, which equalled and in some ways surpassed that of Han.


Output: The examination system for the selection of officials, in which the Confucian Classics held a pre-eminent position, was reestablished in 61a. In 618 Emperor T'ai-tsung (62.7-649) ordered that a Confucian temple be established in the Imperial University, and in 630 he again ordered scholars to prepare an official edition of the Confucian Classics. As part of this work, standard commentaries on the Classics were selected from among the numerous commentaries that had been written before that time, and official sub-commentaries were written to elucidate these standard commentaries. The resulting Classical texts, with their official commentaries and subcommen-taries, were then commanded by the Emperor to be taught in the Imperial University. In this way Confucianism was reaffirmed as the official teaching of the state.


Output:
But Confucianism had by this time already lost the vitality which it had once manifested in the form of such men as Mencius, Hsiin Tzu, and Tung Chung—shu. The original texts were there, and their commentaries and sub-commentaries were even more numerous than before, yet they failed to meet the spiritual interest and needs of the age. After the revival of Taoism and the introduction of Buddhism, people had become more interested in metaphysical problems and in what I call super-moral values, or, as they were then phrased, the problems of the nature and Destiny (of man). As we have seen in chapters four, seven, and fifteen, discussions on such problems are not lacking in such Confucian works as the Confucian Analects, the Men— cius, the Doctrine of the Mean, and especially the Book of Changes. These, however, needed a genuinely new interpretation and elucidation in order to meet the problems of the new age, and this type of interpretation was as yet

 436 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS


Output:
436 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 lacking despite the efforts of the Emperor s scholars. Han Yil and Li Ao


Output: It was not until the latter part of the T ang dynasty that there arose two men, Han Yii (768-824) and Li Ao (died c. 844), who really tried to reinterpret such works as the Ta Hsiieh or Great Learning and Chung Yung or Doctrine of the Mean, in such a way as would answer the problems of their time. In his essay titled Yiian Too or 'On the Origin and Nature of the Truth," Han YU wrote: "What I call the Too is not what has hitherto been called the Too by the Taoists and the Buddhists. Yao [a traditional sage-king of antiquity J transmitted the Too to Shun [ another traditional sage-king supposed to be the successor of Yao]. Shun transmitted it to Yii [successor of Shun and founder of the Hsia dynasty]. Yti transmitted it to [Kings] Wen and Wu and the Duke of Chou [the three founders of the Chou dynasty]. Wen and Wu and the Duke of Chou transmitted it to Confucius, and Confucius transmitted it to Mencius. After Mencius, it was no longer transmitted. Hsiin [Tzu] and Yang [Hsiung] selected from it, but without


Output: and Yang [Hsiung] selected from it, but without reaching the essential portion; they discussed it, but without sufficient clarity." (Ch'ang-li Hsien—sheng Chi, or Collected Works of Han Yil, chiian II.)


Output: And Li Ao, in an essay titled "On the Restoration of the Nature," writes very similarly: "The ancient Sages transmitted this teaching to Yen Tzu Li.e., Yen Hui, the favored disciple of Confucius]. Tzu-ssu, the grandson of Confucius, received the teaching of his grandfather and composed the Doctrine of the Mean in forty-seven sections which he transmitted to Mencius....Alas, though writings dealing with the nature and Destiny are still preserved, none of the scholars understand them, and therefore they all plunge into Taoism and Buddhism. Ignorant people say that the followers of the Master [i.e., of Confucius] are incapable of investigating the theories on the nature and Destiny, and everybody believes them. When some one asked me about this, I transmitted to him what I knew....My hope is that this long obstructed and abandoned Truth may be transmitted in the world." (Li Wen-hung Chi or Collected Works of Li Ao, chiian 1.)


Output:
The theory of the transmission of the Truth from Yao and Shun downward, though already roughly suggested by Mencius (Mencius Vllb, 38), was evidently reinspired in Han Yii and Li Ao by the Ch an theory that the esoteric teaching of the Buddha had been transmitted through a line of Patriarchs to Hung—jen and Hui— neng. At a later time one of the Ch eng brothers (see chapter 2.4) even stated unequivocally that the Chung Yung or Doctrine of the Mean was the esoteric teaching of Confucius.

 (Quoted by Chu Hsi in his introduction to his Commentary on the Chung Yung.) It was widely believed that the transmission of the Truth had become interrupted after Mencius. Li Ao, however, apparently felt that he himself possessed a certain understanding of it, and that through his teaching he could thus act as a continuator of

 438

 NE0-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 ^


Output:
^

 Mencius. To do this became the ambition of all Neo-Confucianists after Li Ao s time. All of them accepted Han Yii s theory of the orthodox line of transmission of the Tao or Truth, and maintained that they were themselves links in that transmission. Their claim is not without justification, because, as we shall see in this and the following chapters, Neo-Confucianism is indeed the continuation of the idealistic wing of ancient Confucianism, and especially of the mystic: tendency of Mencius. That is the reason why these men have been known as the Tao hsiieh chia and their philosophy as the Tao hsiieh, i.e., the Study of the Tao or Truth. The term Neo-Confucianism is a newly coined western equivalent for Tao hsiieh.


Output: There are three lines of thought that can be traced as the main sources of Neo-Confucianism. The first, of course, is Confucianism itself. The second is Buddhism, together with Taoism via the medium of Ch anism, for of all the schools of Buddhism, Ch anism was the most influential at the time of the formation of Neo-Confucianism. To the Neo-Confucianists, Ch'anism and Buddhism are synonymous terms, and, as stated in the last chapter, in one sense Neo-Confucianism may be said to be the logical development of Ch' anism. Finally, the third is the Taoist religion, of which the cosmological views of the Yin-Yang School formed an important element. The cosmology of the Neo-Confucianists is chiefly connected with this line of thought.


Output:
These three lines of thought were heterogeneous and even in many respects contradictory. Hence it took time for philosophers to make a unity out of them, especially since this unity was not simply an eclecticism, but a genuine system forming a homogeneous whole. Therefore although the beginning of Neo—Confucianism may be traced back to Han Yii and Li Ao, its system of thought did not become clearly formed until the eleventh century. This was the time when the Sung dynasty (960-1279), which reunited China after a period of confusion following the collapse of the T ang, was at the height of its splendor and prosperity. The earliest of the Neo -Confucianists were chiefly interested in cosmology.

 Cosmology of Chou Tun-yi


Output:
Cosmology of Chou Tun-yi

 The first cosmological philosopher is Chou Tun—yi, better known as the Master of Lien—hsi (1017-73). He was a native of Tao—chou in the present Hunan province, and in his late years lived on the famous mountain, Lu-shan, the same place where Hui-ytian and Tao-sheng had taught Buddhism, as described in chapter twenty—one. Long before his time, some of the religious Taoists had prepared a number of mystic diagrams as graphic portrayals of the esoteric principles by which they believed a properly initiated individual could attain to immortality. Chou Tun-yi is said to have come into possession of one of these diagrams, which he thereupon reinterpreted and modified into a diagram of his own designed to illustrate the process of cosmic evolution. Or rather, he studied and developed the ideas found in certain

 440 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 passages in the 'Appendices' of the Book of Changes, and used the Taoist diagram by way of illustration.


Output:
His resulting diagram is called the T'ai-chi T u or Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, and his interpretation of it is called the T' ai-chi T'u Shuo or Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate. The Shuo or Explanation can be read quite intelligibly without referring to the diagram itself.

 The text of the Explanation reads as follows: "The Ultimateless [Wu Chi]\ And yet the Supreme Ultimate [T'ai Chi]\ The Supreme Ultimate through Movement produces the Yang. This Movement, having reached its limit, is followed by Quiescence, and by this Quiescence, it produces the Yin. When Quiescence has reached its limit, there is a return to Movement. Thus Movement and Quiescence, in alternation, become each the source of the other. The distinction between the Yin and Yang is determined and the Two Forms [i.e., the Yin and Yang] stand revealed.


Output:
By the transformations of the Yang and the union therewith of the Yin, Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Soil are produced. These Five Ethers [ch'i, i. e., Elements] become diffused in harmonious order, and the four seasons proceed in their course.

 "The Five Elements are the one Yin and Yang; the Yin and Yang are the one Supreme Ultimate; and the Supreme Ultimate is fundamentally the Ultimateless. The Five Elements come into being each having its own particular nature.

 "The true substance of the Ultimateless and the essence of the Two [Forms] and Five [Elements]

 unite in mysterious union, so that consolidation ensues. The principle of Chien [the trigram symbolizing the Yang] becomes the male element, and the principle of K'un [the trigram symbolizing the Yin]

 becomes the female element. The Two Ethers [the Yin and Yang] by their interaction operate to produce all things, and these in their turn produce and reproduce, so that transformation and change continue without end.


Output:
"It is man alone, however, who receives these in their highest excellence and hence is the most intelligent [of all beingsJ. His bodily form thereupon is produced and his spirit develops intelligence and consciousness. The five principles of his nature [ the five constant virtues corresponding to the Five Elements] react [to external phenomena], so that the distinction between good and evil emerges and the myriad phenomena of conduct appear. The sage regulates himself by means of the mean, correctness, humanhearted-ness, and righteousness, and takes Quiescence as the essential. [Chou Tun-yi himself commentes on this: Having no desire, he is therefore in the state of Quiescence' ] Thus he establishes himself as the highest standard for

 mankind__ (Chou Lien—hsi Chi or Collected Works of Chou Tun—yi, chiian I. )


Output:
In the Booh of Changes, "Appendix III," it is said: "In the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate, which produces the Two Forms." Chou Tun-yi's Explanation is a development of the idea of this passage. Brief though it is, it provides the basic outline for the cosmology of Chu Hsi (113012.00), one of the 442. NEO-CONFUCIANISM:TH£ COSMOLOGISTS

 greatest, if not the greatest, of the Neo-Confucianists, about whom I shall have more to say in chapter twenty-five.

 Method of Spiritual Cultivation


Output: The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to teach men how to achieve Bud— dhahood—a problem that was one of the most vital to the people of that time. Likewise, the ultimate purpose of Neo—Confucianism is to teach men how to achieve Confucian Sagehood. The difference between the Buddha of Buddhism and the Sage of Neo-Confucianism is that while the Buddha must promote his spiritual cultivation outside of society and the human world, the Sage must do so within these human bonds. The most important development in Chinese Buddhism was its attempt to depreciate the other-worldliness of original Buddhism. This attempt came close to success when the Ch' an Masters stated that in carrying water and chopping firewood, therein lies the wonderful Too." But, as I said in the last chapter, they did not push this idea to its logical conclusion by saying that in serving one's family and the state therein also lies the wonderful Too. The reason, of course, is that, once they had said this, their teaching would have ceased to be


Output: said this, their teaching would have ceased to be Buddhism.


Output: For the Neo-Confucianists, too, how to achieve Sagehood is one of the main problems, and Chou Tun—yi s answer is that one should be quiescent, which he further defines as a state of wu—yil or having no desires. In his second major treatise, the T'ung Shu or General Principles of the Book of Changes, we find that by wu-yil he means much the same as the wu-wei (having no effort) and wu-hsin (having no mind) of Taoism and Ch' anism. The fact that he uses wu—yil, however, instead of these other two terms, shows how he attempts to move away from the other-worldliness of Buddhism. So far as the terms are concerned, the wu in wu—yil is not so all inclusive as that in wu hsin.


Output: In the T'ung Shu Chou Tun-yi writes: "Wu-yil results in vacuity when in quiescence, and straightforwardness when in movement. Vacuity in quiescence leads to enlightenment, and enlightenment leads to comprehension. [Likewise] straightforwardness in movement leads to impartiality, and impartiality leads to universality. One is almost [a sage when one has] such enlightenment, comprehension, impartiality, and universality. (Collected Works, chilan 5.) The word yil used by the Neo—Confucianists always means selfish desire or simply selfishness.


Output:
Sometimes they prefix it by the word ssu (selfish), in order to make their meaning clearer. Chou Tun—yi s idea in this passage may be illustrated by a passage from the Mencius, often quoted by the Neo-Confucianists: "if today men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress. This will not be as a way whereby to gain the favor of the child's parents, nor whereby they may seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor are 444 - , NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THECOSMOLOGISTS

 they so because they dislike the reputation [of being unvirtuous]." (Mencius, Ha, 6.)


Output: According to the Neo-Confucianists, what Mencius here describes is the natural and spontaneous response of any man when placed in such a situation. Man is by nature fundamentally good. Therefore his innate state is one in which he has no selfish desires in his mind, or as Chou expresses it, one of vacuity in quiescence. As applied to conduct, it will lead to an immediate impulse to try to save the child, and this sort of intuitive conduct is what Chou calls "straightforwardness in movement." If, however, the man does not act on his first impulse, but pauses instead to think the matter over, he may then consider that the child in distress is a son of his enemy, and therefore he should not save it, or that it is the son of his friend and therefore he should save it. In either case, he is motivated by secondary selfish thoughts and thereby loses both his original state of vacuity in quiescence and the corollary state of straightforwardness in movement.


Output:
When the mind lacks all selfish desires it becomes, according to the Neo-Confucianists, like a brilliant mirror, which is always ready to reflect objectively any object that comes before it. The brilliancy of the mirror is compared with the mind s "enlightenment," and its readiness to reflect with the mind's "comprehension." When the mind lacks any selfish desires, its natural response to external stimuli results in actions that are straightforward. Being straightforward, they are impartial, and being impartial, they are carried out without discrimination. Such is their nature of universality.

 This is Chou Tun-yi's method of achieving Sagehood, and consists, like that of the Ch an monks, of living naturally and acting naturally.

 Cosmology of Shao Yung


Output:
Cosmology of Shao Yung

 Another cosmological philosopher to be mentioned in this chapter is Shao Yung, known as the Master of Pai-ch' flan (IOII-77). He was a native of the present Ilonan province. Though in a way somewhat different from that of Chou Tun—yi, he too developed his cosmological theory from the Book of Changes, and, like Chou, made use of diagrams to illustrate his theory.


Output:
In chapter eighteen we have seen that the Han dynasty saw the appearance of a number of wei shu or apocrypha, which were supposed to complement the original Six Classics. In the Yi Wei, or Apocryphal Treatise on the Book of Changes, the theory is developed of the influence of each of the sixty-four hexagrams upon a certain period of the year. According to this theory, each of the twelve months is under the jurisdiction of several of the hexagrams, one of which plays a leading role in the affairs of that month and is hence known as its "sovereign hexagram. These sovereign hexagrams are Fu II , Lin jjj, T'ai M, Ta Chuang M, Chileh H, Ch'ien S,Kou m,Tun S, P\ K,Kuan H» Po it, and K'un H. The reason for their importance is that they graphically represent the waxing and waning of the Yang and Yin prin-446 ' NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 ciples throughout the year.


Output:
ciples throughout the year.

 In these hexagrams, as we have seen in chapter twelve, the unbroken lines represent the Yang, which is associated with heat, while the broken lines represent the Yin, which is associated with cold. The hexagram Fu i|» with five broken lines above and one unbroken line below, is the "sovereign hexagram"

 of that month in which the Yin (cold) has reached its apogee and the Yang (heat) then begins to reappear.


Output: That is the eleventh month of the traditional Chinese calendar, the month in which the winter solstice occurs. The hexagram Ch'ienW, with its six unbroken lines, is the "sovereign hexagram" of the fourth month, in which the Yang is at its apogee. The hexagram Kou H , with five unbroken lines above and one broken line below, is the "sovereign hexagram" of the fifth month, in which the summer solstice is followed by the rebirth of the Yin. And the hexagram K'unii, with its six broken lines, is the sovereign hexagram of the tenth month, in which the Yin is at its apogee, just before the rebirth of the Yang which follows the winter solstice. The other hexagrams indicate the intermediate stages in the waxing and waning of the Yin and Yang.


Output:
The twelve hexagrams in toto constitute a cycle. After the influence of the Yin has reached its apogee, that of the Yang appears at the very bottom of the following hexagram. Rising upward, it becomes steadily greater month by month and hexagram by hexagram, until it reaches its apogee. Then the Yin again appears at the bottom of the following hexagram, and grows in its turn until it too reigns supreme.

 It is followed in turn by the reborn Yang, and thus the cycle of the year and of the hexagrams begins again. Such is the inevitable course of nature.


Output:
It is to be noticed that Shao Yung s theory of the universe gives further illumination to the theory of the twelve sovereign hexagrams. As in the case of Chou Tun-yi, he deduces his system from a statement in "Appendix III" of the Book of Changes which reads: "In the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate. The Supreme Ultimate produces the Two Forms. The Two Forms produce the Four Emblems, and the Four Emblems produce the eight trigrams." To illustrate this process, Shao Yung made a diagram as follows: Greater Greater Lesser Lesser Lesser Lesser Greater Creater, Softness Hardness Softness Hardness Yin Yang Yin Yang

 Softness Hardness Yin Yang Quiescence Movement The first or lower tier of this diagram shows the Two Forms, which, in Shao Yung s system, are not the Yin and Yang but Movement and Quiescence. The second tier, looked at in conjunction with the first, shows the Four Emblems. For instance, by combining the unbroken line beneath Yang 4 4 8 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS


Output: in the middle tier, with the unbroken line beneath Movement below, we obtain two unbroken lines which are the emblem of the Yang. That is to say, the Yang is not, for Shao Yung, represented by a single unbroken line —, but by two unbroken lines =. Likewise, by combining the broken line beneath Yin in the central tier with the unbroken line beneath Movement below, we obtain one broken line above and one unbroken line below, which are the emblem of Yin. That is to say, the emblem of the Yin is not --. but ~.


Output: In the same way, the third or highest tier looked at in conjunction with both the central and lower tier, represents the eight trigrams. For instance, by combining the unbroken line beneath Greater Yang above with the unbroken line beneath Yang in the middle and the unbroken line beneath Movement below, we obtain a combination of three unbroken lines, which is the trigram for Ch'ien, E=. Likewise, by combining the broken line beneath Greater Yin above with the unbroken line beneath Yang in the middle and the unbroken line beneath Movement below, we obtain the combination of one broken line above and two unbroken lines below, which is the trigram for Tui, E£. And still again, by combining the unbroken line beneath Lesser Yang above with the broken line beneath Yin in the middle and the unbroken line beneath Movement below, we obtain the trigram for Li, EZ. By following the same process through the other combinations, we obtain the entire eight trigrams in the following sequence: Ch'ieh !=, Tuiz£, /iEr,


Output: the following sequence: Ch'ieh !=, Tuiz£, /iEr, Chenzl, SUTITZ, K'anz-z, Kenzz, and K'unzz. Each of these trigrams represents a certain principle or influence.


Output: The materialization of these principles results in Heaven, Earth, and all things of the universe. As Shao Yung says: "Heaven is produced from Movement and Earth from Quiescence. The alternating interplay of Movement and Quiescence gives utmost development to the course of Heaven and Earth. At the first appearance of Movement, the Yang is produced, and this Movement having reached its apogee, the Yin is then produced. The alternating interplay of the Yang and Yin gives utmost development to the functioning aspect of Heaven. With the first appearance of Quiescence, Softness is produced, and this Quiescence having reached its apogee, Hardness is then produced. The alternating interplay of Hardness and Softness gives utmost development to the functioning aspect of Earth." *The terms Hardness and Softness are, like the others, borrowed by Shao Yung from "Appendix III" of the Book of Changes, which says: "The Way of Heaven is established with the Yin and Yang. The Way of Earth is established with Softness and


Output: The Way of Earth is established with Softness and Hardness. The Way of Man is established with humanheartedness and righteousness.


Output:
Shao Yung writes further: "The Greater Yang constitutes the sun, the Greater Yin the moon, the Lesser Yang the stars, the Lesser Yin the zodiacal spaces. The interplay of the sun, moon, stars, and zodiacal spaces gives ut-

 * Kuuri-wu P ien. or "Observation of Tilings. Inner Chapter, in the Huang-chi Ching-shih or Cvsinological Chronology, ch. Ha.

 45O NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS


Output:
45O NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 most development to the substance of Heaven. The Greater Softness constitutes water, the Greater Hardness fire, the Lesser Softness soil, and the Lesser Hardness stone. The interplay of water, fire, soil, and stone gives utmost development to the substance of Earth. (Ibid.) This is Shao Yung s theory of the origin of the universe, deduced strictly from his diagram. In this diagram, the Supreme Ultimate itself is not actually shown, but it is understood as being symbolized by the empty space beneath the first tier of the diagram. Shao Yung writes: "The Supreme Ultimate is a Unity which does not move. It produces a Duality, and this Duality is spirituality....Spirituality produces numbers, the numbers produce emblems, and the emblems produce implements [i.e., individual things]."

 (Ibid., ch. lib.) These numbers and emblems are illustrated in the diagram.

 Law of the Evolution of Things


Output:
Law of the Evolution of Things

 By adding a fourth, fifth, and sixth tier to the above diagram, and following the same procedure of combination that was used there, we arrive at a diagram in which all the sixty-four hexagrams (derived from combination of the eight primary trigrams) are shown. If this diagram is then cut into two equal halves, each of which is bent into a half circle, and if the two half circles are then joined together, we have another of Shao' s diagrams, known as "the circular diagram of the sixty-four hexagrams."

 Upon examining this diagram (here, for the sake of simplicity, reduced from sixty-four to the twelve "sovereign hexagrams ), we see that these twelve appear in it in their proper sequence as follows (looking from the center, and progressing clockwise from above):

 452.

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS


Output:
NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 This sequence is automatically arrived at by what is called the method of doubling," because, as we have seen, the number of emblems in each tier in the diagram is always double that of the tier immediately below, so that combination of all six tiers results in the sixty—four hexagrams at the top.

 This simple progression makes the diagram appear as both something natural and at the same time mysterious. As a result, it was hailed by most of the Neo—Confucianists as one of the greatest discoveries of Shao Yung, in which could be found the universal law governing ihe evolution of all things, and the key to the mystery of the universe.


Output: This law not only applies to the alternation of the seasons throughout the year, but also to the alternation of day and night every twenty—four hours. According to Shao Yung and the other Neo-Confucianists, the Yin can be interpreted as merely the negation of the Yang. Hence, if the Yang is the constructive force of the universe, the Yin is its destructive principle. Interpreting the Yin and Yang in this sense, the law represented by the diagram indicates the way in which all things of the universe go through phases of construction and destruction. Thus, the first or lowest line of the hexagram Fu U


Output: shows the beginning of the phase of construction, and in hexagram Ch' ien ii we find the completion of this phase. The first line of the hexagram KouS shows the beginning of the phase of destruction, and in hexagram K' un 11 this phase is completed. In this way the diagram graphically illustrates the universal law that everything involves its own negation, a principle that was stressed both by Lao Tzu and the "Appendices" of the Book of Changes.


Output: The world as a whole is no exception to this universal law. Thus Shao Yung maintains that with the first line of the hexagram Fu, the world comes into existence. With the hexagram T ai, the individual things that belong to it begin to be produced. Mankind then appears, and with the hexagram Ch' ien the golden age of civilization is reached. There follows a process of continuous decay, until with the hexagram Po all individual things disintegrate, and with the hexagram K un the whole world ceases to be. Thereupon another world begins with the first line of the recurring hexagram Fu, and the whole process is repeated. Each world which is thus created and destroyed has a duration of 12.9,600 years.


Output:
Shao Yung s major work is the Huang-chi Ching-shih, which is an elaborate chronological diagram of our existing world. According to its chronology, the golden age of our world has already passed away. It was the age of Yao, the traditional philosopher king of China who reputedly ruled in the twenty-fourth century B.C. We today are now in an age corresponding to the hexagram Po, the time of the beginning of decline of all things. As we have seen in chapter fourteen, most Chinese philosophers have considered the process of history to be one of continuous degeneration, in which everything of the present falls short of the ideal past. Shao Yung's theory gives this view a metaphysical justification.

 The theory that everything involves its own negation sounds Hegelian. But

 454

 NEO-C0NFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS


Output:
NEO-C0NFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 according to Hegel, when a thing is negated, a new thing commences on a higher level, whereas according to Lao Tzu and the "Appendices" of the Book of Changes, when a thing is negated, the new thing simply repeats the old. This is a philosophy characteristic of an agrarian people, as I pointed out in chapter two.

 Cosmology of Chang Tsai


Output: The third cosmological philosopher to be mentioned in this chapter is Chang Tsai, known as the Master of Heng-ch'u (1020-77). He was a native of the present Shensi province. He too, though from yet another point of view, d evel oped a cos molo gical theor y bas ed on th e "Appendices of th e Book of Changes. In this he especially emphasized the idea of Ch i, a concept which became more and more important in the cosmological and metaphysical theories of the later Neo -Confucianists. The word ch i literally means gas or ether. In Neo-Confucianism its meaning is sometimes more abstract and sometimes more concrete, according to the different systems of the particular philosophers. When its meaning is more abstract, it approaches the concept of matter, as found in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, in contrast to the Platonic Idea or the Aristotelian Form. In this sense, it means the primary undifferentiated material out of which all individual things are formed. When, however, its meaning is concrete, it


Output: When, however, its meaning is concrete, it means the physical matter that makes up all existing individual things. It is in this concrete sense that Chang Tsai speaks of Ch i.


Output:
Chang Tsai, like his predecessors, bases his cosmological theory on the p as s ag e i n " Ap p en d i x I I I o f t h e Bo o k o f Ch a n g es t h at s t at e s : " I n t h e Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate which produces the Two Forms [i.e., the Yin and Yang] ." For him, however, the Supreme Ultimate is nothing other than the Ch'i.

 In his main work, the Cheng Meng or Correct Discipline for Beginners, he writes: "The Great Htarmony is known as the Too [by which he here means the Supreme Ultimate]. Because in it there are interacting qualities of floating and sinking, rising and falling, movement and quiescence, therefore there appear in it the beginnings of the emanating forces which agitate one another, overcome or are overcome by one another, and contract or expand, one with regard to the other. {Chang—tzu Ch iian—shu or Collected Works of the Master Chang, chilan 1.)


Output:
The Great Harmony is a name for the Ch i in its entirety, which Chang Tsai also describes as "wandering air." (Ibid.) The qualities of floating, rising, and movement are those of the Yang, while those of sinking, falling, and quiescence are those of the Yin. The Ch'i, when influenced by the Yang qualities, floats and rises, while when influenced by the Yin qualities, it sinks and falls. As a result the Ch i is constantly either condensing or dispersing. Its condensation results in the formation of concrete things; its dispersion results in the dissolution of these same things.

 456 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 In the Cheng Meng, Chang Tsai writes: "When the Ch'i condenses, its visibility


Output:
becomes apparent so that there are then the shapes [of individual things]. When it disperses, its visibility is no longer apparent and there are no shapes. At the time of its condensation, can one say otherwise than that this is but temporary? But at the time of its dispersing, can one hastily say that it is then non-existent? (Ibid.) Thus Chang Tsai

 1

 tries to get away from the Taoist and Buddhist idea of Wu (Non-being). He says: "If one

 knows the Void is the Ch''i, one knows that there is no Wu." The Void is not really an absolute vacuum; it is simply the Ch'i in its state of dispersion in which it is no longer visible.


Output: One particularly famous passage of the Cheng Meng has become known as the Hsi Ming or "Western Inscription," because it was separately inscribed on the western wall of Chang Tsai s study. In this passage Chang maintains that since all things in the universe are consliluted of one and the same Ch' i, therefore men and all other things are but part of one great body. We should serve Ch'ien and K'un (by which Chang means Heaven and Earth) as we do our own parents, and regard all men as we do our brothers. We should extend the virtue of filial piety and practice it through service to the universal parents. Yet, no extraordinary acts are needed for this service. Every moral activity, if one can understand it, is an activity that serves the universal parents. If, for instance, one loves other men simply because they are members of the same society as one's own, then one is doing his social duty and is serving society. But if one loves them not merely because they are members of the same society, but also because


Output: are members of the same society, but also because they are children of the universal parents, then by loving them one not only serves society, but at the same time serves the parents of the universe as a whole. The passage concludes with the saying: "In life I follow and serve [the universal parents], and when death comes, I rest.' (Ibid)


Output: This essay has been greatly admired by later Neo-Confucianists, because it clearly distinguished the Confucian attitude towards life from that of Buddhism and of Taoist philosophy and religion. Chang Tsai writes elsewhere: "The Great Void Li.e., the Great Harmony, the Tool cannot but consist of Ch'i; this Ch'i cannot but condense to form all things; and these things cannot but become dispersed so as to form [once more] the Great Void. The perpetuation of these movements in a cycle is inevitable and thus spontaneous." (Ibid, chtian 2..) The sage is one who fully understands this course.


Output:
Therefore, he neither tries to be outside it, as do the Buddhists, who seek to break the chain of causation and thus bring life to an end; nor does he try to prolong his life, as do the religious Taoists, who seek to nurture their hody and thus remain as long as possible within the human sphere. The sage, because he understands the nature of the universe, therefore knows that life entails no gain nor death any loss. (Ibid.) Hence he simply tries to live a normal life. In life he does what his duty as a member of society and as a member of the universe requires him to do, and when death comes, he

 458.

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THECOSMOLOGISTS

 rests.


Output:
rests.

 He does what every man should do, but because of his understanding, what he does acquires new significance. The Neo-Confucianists developed a point of view from which all the moral activities valued by the Confucianists acquire a further value that is super-moral. They all have in them that quality that the Ch anists called the wonderful Tao. It is in this sense that Neo—Confucianism is actually a further development of Ch anism.

 460

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE COSMOLOGISTS

 CHAFFER 24

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:

 THE BEGINNING OF THE

 TWO SCHOOLS


Output:
THE BEGINNING OF THE

 TWO SCHOOLS

 JNEO -CONFUCIANISM came to be divided into two main schools, which, by happy coincidence, were initiated by two brothers, known as the two Ch eng Masters. Ch eng Yi (IO33-IIO8), the younger brother, initiated a school which was completed by Chu Hsi (1130-1200) and was known as the Ch'eng-Chu school or Li hsiieh (School of Laws or Principles). Ch'eng Hao (1032.-1085), the elder brother, initiated another school which was continued by Lu Chiu— yiian(H39-n93) and completed by Wang Shou-jen (1472-152.8), and was known as the Lu-Wang school or Hsin hstteh(School of Mind).

 The full significance of the difference between the two schools was not recognized at the time of the two Ch eng Masters themselves, but Chu Hsi and Lu Chiu—yuan began a great controversy which has been carried on until the present day.


Output:
As we shall see in the following chapters, the main issue between the two groups was really one of fundamental philosophical importance. In terms of Western philosophy, it was one as to whether the laws of nature are or are not legislated by the mind or Mind. That has been the issue between Platonic realism and Kantian idealism,and may be said to be the issue in metaphysics. If it were solved,there would not be much other controversy left. In this chapter I am not going to discuss this issue in detail, but only to suggest its beginnings in the history of Chinese philosophy.

 Ch' eng Hao' s Idea of Jen

 The Ch' eng brothers were natives of the present Honan province. The elder of them, Ch eng Hao, was known as Master Ming—tao, and the younger, Ch'eng Yi, as the Master of Yi-ch'uan. Their father was a friend of Chou Tun-yi and the cousin of Chang Tsai. Hence in their youth the Ch'eng brothers received some teaching from Chou Tun-yi, and later they constantly held discussions with Chang Tsai.


Output:
Furthermore, they lived not far from Shao Yung, with whom they often met. The close contact between these five philosophers was certainly a very happy incident in the history of Chinese 462. NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 philosophy.

 Ch eng Hao greatly admired Chang Tsai s Hsi Ming or Western Inscription, " because its central theme of the oneness of all things is also the main idea in his philosophy. According to him, oneness with all things is the main characteristic of the virtue of jen (humanheartedness). He says: The learner needs first to comprehend yen/The man of jen is undifferentiably one with all things. Righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and good faith, all these are jen. Get to comprehend this truth and cultivate it with sincerity and attentive — ness, that is all that is required.... The Too has nothing that stands in contrast to it; even the word great is inadequate to express it. The function of Heaven and Earth is our function.


Output: Mencius said that all things arc complete within us. We must reflect and realize that this is really so.


Output: Then it is a source of immense joy. If we reflect and do not realize that it is really so, then there are still two things [the self and not-self] that stand in contrast with each other. Even if we try to unite the self and not—self, we still do not form a unity, and so how can there then be joy? In the Correcting of the Ignorant' [another name for Chang Tsai's Hsi Ming] there is a perfect statement of this unity. If we cultivate ourselves with this idea, there is nothing further required to be done. We must do something, and never stop and never forget, yet never help to grow, doing it without the slightest effort. This is the way of spiritual cultivation. " (Erh Ch'eng Yi-shu or Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, chiian 2.4.) In chapter seven I have fully discussed the statement of Mencius referred to by Ch'eng Hao in the above quotation. One must do something, but never help to grow ; this is Mencius method for cultivating the Great Morale, a method which was greatly admired by the INeo-Confucianists.


Output: was greatly admired by the INeo-Confucianists. According to Ch'eng Hao, one must first understand the principle that one is originally one with all things.Then all one needs to do is to keep this in mind and act in accordance with it sincerely and attentively. Through the accumulation of such practices, one will really come to feel that one is one with all things. The statement that one must act in accordance with this principle sincerely and attentively means that there is something one must do. There must, however, be no artificial striving to achieve the unity. In this sense, one must be "without the slightest effort."


Output:
The difference between Ch eng Hao and Mencius is that the former gives to jen a much more metaphysical interpretation than does the latter. "Appendix III" of the Book of Changes contains the statement: "The supreme virtue of Heaven and Earth is sheng." The word sheng here may mean simply production or to produce; it may also mean life or to give birth to life. In chapter fifteen I translated sheng as to produce, because that seems to be the meaning that besl harmonizes with the ideas of the Appendices. But according to Ch eng Hao and other Neo —Confucianists, sheng really means life or to give birth to life. According to them there is a tendency toward life in all things, and this tendency constitutes the yen of Heaven

 4 6 4 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNINC OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 .

 and Earth.


Output: It so happens that the expression "nol-jen" is a technical term for paralysis in Chinese medicine. Ch eng Hao says: The doctor describes the paralysis of a man s arms or legs as not—yen; this is a very good description [of the disease]. The man of jen takes Heaven and Earth as being one with himself. To him there is nothing that is not himself. Having recognized them as himself, what cannot he do for them? If there is no such relationship with the self, it follows that there is no connection between the self and others. If the hand or foot are nol-jen, it means that the ch'i [ vital force] is not circulating freely and the parts L of the body J are not connected with each oth— er."(Ibid., chilan 2a.) Thus, according to Ch'eng Hao, metaphysically there is an inner connection between all things. What Mencius called the feeling of commiseration or the "unbearing mind" is simply an expression nf this connection between ourselves and other things. It often happens, however, that our "unbearing mind" is obscured


Output: however, that our "unbearing mind" is obscured by selfishness, or, to use the Neo-Confucian term, by selfish desires or simply desires. Hence the original unity is lost. What is necessary is simply to remember that originally there is a oneness between oneself and all things, and to act accordingly with sincerity and attentiveness. In this way the original unity will be restored in due course. Such is the general idea of the philosophy of Ch'eng Hao, which Lu Chiu-yiian and Wang Shou-jen later developed in detail.


Output:
Origin of the Ch' eng-Chu Idea of Li

 In chapter eight we have seen that already in early times Kung—sun Lung made clear the distinction between universals and things. He insisted that whiteness is whiteness even though nothing is in itself white in the world. It would seem that he had some idea of the Platonic distinction of the two worlds, the eternal and the temporal, the intelligible and the visible. This idea was not developed by later philosophers, however, and the philosophy of the School of Names did not become a main current in Chinese thought. On the contrary, this thought moved in another direction, and it took more than one thousand years for Chinese philosophers to turn their attention once more to the problem of eternal ideas.

 The two main thinkers to do so are Ch'eng Yi and Chu Hsi.

 The philosophy of Ch eng Yi and Chu Hsi, however, is not a continuation of the School of Names.


Output:
They paid no attention to Kung-sun Lung or to the ming-li (principles based on the analysis of names) discussed by the NeoTaoists whom we have treated in chapter nineteen. They developed their idea of Li (abstract Principles or Laws) directly from the "Appendices" of the Book of Changes. I have pointed out in chapter fifteen that a distinction exists betweenthe Too of Taoism and the too of the Appendices. The Too of Taoism is the unitary first "that" from which all things in the universe come 466 NEO~CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 to be. The too of the "Appendices," on the contrary, are multiple, and are the principles which govern each separate category of things in the universe. It is from this concept that Ch' eng Yi and Chu Hsi derived the idea of Li.


Output: The immediate stimulus for Ch'eng Yi and Chu Hsi, however, seems to be the thought of Chang Tsai and Shao Yung. In the last chapter we have seen that Chang Tsai explained the appearance and disappearance of concrete particulars in terms of the condensation and dispersion of the Ch'i. The condensation of the Ch i results in the formation and appearance of things. But this theory fails to explain the reason for the different categories of things. Granted that a flower and a leaf are both condensations of the Ch' i, we are still at a loss as to why a flower is a flower and a leaf a leaf. It is here that Ch eng Yi s and Chu Hsi s idea of Li comes in. According to them, the universe as we see it is a result not only of the Ch i but also of the Li. Different categories of things exist, because the condensation of the Ch' i takes place in different ways in accordance with different Li. A flower is a flower, because it is the condensation of the Ch' i taking place in accordance with the Li of the flower; and a leaf


Output: accordance with the Li of the flower; and a leaf is a leaf, because it is the condensation of the Ch i taking place in accordance with the Li of the leaf.


Output:
Shao Yung s diagrams also helped to suggest the idea of Li. According to Shao, what the diagrams represent is the law that governs the transfonnations of individual things. This law is antecedent not only to the diagrams, but also to the existence of individual things. Shao maintained that before the tri— grams were first drawn by their discoverer, the Book of Changes already ideally existed. One of the Ch eng Masters says: Lin one of his poemsJ, Yao-fu [i.e., Shao Yung] writes: 'Before the drawing [of the trigrams by Fu Hsi, a traditional sage supposed to have lived in the twenty-ninth century B.C.], there was already the Book of Changes.'.... This idea has never been said before. (Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, chiian 2.a.)This theory is the same as that of the new realists, who maintain that there is a Mathematics before there is mathematics.

 Ch eng Yi s Concept of Li


Output:
Ch eng Yi s Concept of Li

 The combination of the philosophy of Chang Tsai and Shao Yung suggests the distinction between what the Greek philosophers called the form and the matter of things. This distinction Ch eng Yi and Chu Hsi made very clear. For them, just as for Plato and Aristotle, all things in the world, if they are to exist at all, must be the embodiment of some principle in some material. If a certain thing exists, there must be for it a certain principle. If there be a certain principle, however, there may or may not exist a corresponding thing. The principle is what they call Li, and the material is what they call Ch i. The latter, for Chu Hsi, is much more abstract than is the Ch i in Chang Tsai' s system.

 Ch'eng Yi also distinguishes between what is "within shapes and what is 468 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BECINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOT.S

 ' above shapes. The origin of these two terms is traceable to "Appendix III" of the Book of


Output:
Changes: "What is above shapes is called the Too; what is within shapes is called the implements." In the system of Ch'eng Yi and Chu Hsi, this distinction corresponds to that between the abstract and concrete in Western philosophy. The Li are the Too which is "above shapes," or, as we would say, abstract; while the implements, by which Ch eng Yi and Chu Hsi mean particular things, are within shapes, or, as we would say, concrete.

 According to Ch eng Yi, the Li are eternal, and can neither be added to nor reduced. As he says: Existence or non-existence, addition or reduction, cannot be postulated about Li.

 All Li are complete in themselves; in them there can never be deficiency. (Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, chiian 2a.) Again he says: All the Li are pervasively present.

 We cannot say that the too of kingship was more when Yao [a traditional sage-king]


Output: exemplified it as a king, nor can we say that the too of sonship was more when Shun L the successor of Yao, known for his filial piety J exemplified it as a son. These [the Li] remain what they are." (Ibid.) Ch'eng Yi also describes the world "above shapes" as "void, with nothing in it, yet filled with all. (Ibid.) It is void because in it there are no concrete things; yet it is filled with all the Li. All the Li are there eternally, no matter whether or not instances of them occur in the actual world, nor docs it matter whether we human beings know of them or not.


Output: Ch eng Yi s method of spiritual cultivation is expressed in his famous statement: "In cultivation one needs attentiveness; in the advancement of learning, one needs the extension of knowledge." (Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, chiian 18.) The word attentiveness is a translation of the Chinese word ching, which may also be translated as seriousness or earnestness. We have seen that Ch'eng Hao also said that the "learner" must first understand that all things are originally one, and then cultivate this understanding with sincerity and attentiveness. Attentiveness is the key word used by Neo-Confucianists after this time lo describe iheir method of spiritual cultivation. It replaces the word used by Chou Tun-Yi for this process, which was a different word also pronounced ching but meaning quiescence. The replacement of "quiescence by "attentiveness" in the methodology of spiritual cultivation marks further the departure of Neo—Confucianism from Ch anism.


Output:
As pointed out in chapter twenty-two, effort is needed for the proc ess of cultivation.

 Even if one's ultimate aim is to be effortless, it requires an initial effort to attain the effortless state. This, however,the Ch anists do not state, nor is it expressed by Chou Tun-yi s quies cence. Use of the word attentiveness, however, brings this idea of effort into the foreground.

 In cultivation one must be attentive, but attentive to what? This is a controversial question between the two schools of Neo—Confucianism, which I will return to in the next two chapters.

 470

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 Method of Dealing with the Emotions

 In chapter twenty I said that Wang Pi maintained the theory that the sage has emotions but is without ensnarement. It is also said in the Chuang— tzu: "The mind of the perfect man is like a mirror. Tt does not move with things, nor does it anticipate them. It responds to things, but does not retain them.


Output: Therefore the perfect man is able to deal successfully with things but is not affected by them. (Ch. 7.) Wang Pi s theory of the emotions seems Lo be an extension of this statement of Chuang Tzu.


Output: The Nco-Confucian method of dealing with the emotions follows the same line as Wang Pi s. Its essential is the disconnecting of the emotions from the self. Cheng Hao says: "The normality of Heaven and Earth is that their mind is in all things, yet of themselves they have no mind. The normality of the sage is that his emotion follows the nature of things, yet of himself he has no emotion. Therefore, for the superior man nothing is better than being impersonal and impartial, and responding to things spontaneously as they come. The general trouble with man is that he is selfish and rationalistic. Being selfish, he cannot take action as a spontaneous response. Being rationalistic, he cannot take intuition as his natural guide. When the sage is pleased, it is because the thing is there which is rightly the object of pleasure. When the sage is angry, it is because the thing is there which is rightly the object of anger.


Output:
Therefore the pleasure and anger of the sage are not connected with his mind, but with things."

 (Ming-tan Wen-chi or Collected Writings ofCh'eng Hao.chilan 2..) This is a part of Ch'eng Hao s 'Letter on the Calmness of the Nature," which was written to Chang Tsai. The impersonalness, impartiality, and action with spontaneity and without self—rationalization, of which Ch eng Hao speaks, arc the same as the vacuity and straightforwardness spoken of by Chou Tun-yi. The same illustration from Mencius that was used in connection with Chou Tun-yi can be applied here.


Output: According to Ch eng Hao s view, it is natural that even the sage should sometimes experience pleasure or anger. But since his mind has an impersonal, objective, and impartial attitude, when these feelings come, they are simply objective phenomena in the universe, and are not especially connected with his self. When he is pleased or angry, it is simply the external things, deserving of either pleasure or anger, that produce corresponding feelings in his mind. His mind is like a mirror on which anything may be reflected. As a result of this attitude, when the object has gone, the emotion it produced goes with it. In this way the sage, though he has emotions, is without ensnarement. Let us return to the illustration mentioned earlier. Suppose a man sees a child about to fall into a well. If he follows his natural impulse, he will immediately rush forward to save the child. His success will certainly give him pleasure and his failure will equally certainly cause him sorrow.


Output:
472-NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BECINNINC OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 But since his action is impersonal and impartial, once the affair is finished, his emotion is also gone. Thus he has emotions, but is without ensnarement.


Output: Another illustration commonly used by the Neo -Confucianists is that of Yen Hui, the favorite disciple of Confucius, of whom the latter said: "Hui did not transfer his anger. (Analects, VI, 2..)When a man is angry, he often abuses other people and destroys things that apparently have nothing to do with his emotion at all. This is called "transferring anger." He transfers his anger from something that is the object of his anger to something that is not. The Neo—Confucianists took this statement of Confucius very seriously, and considered this quality of Yen Hui as the most significant in the great Confucian disciple, whom they considered next to Confucius himself in spiritual perfection. Thus Ch eng Yi comments: We must understand why it is that Yen Hui did not transfer his anger.In a bright mirror, a beautiful object produces a beautiful reflection, while an ugly object produces an ugly one. But the mirror itself has no likes or dislikes. There are some people who, being offended in their home, discharge


Output: who, being offended in their home, discharge their anger in the street.


Output:
But the anger of the sage operates only in accordance with the nature of things; it is never he himself who possesses the anger. The superior man is the master of things; the small man is their slave. (Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, chiian 18.)

 Thus according to the Neo-Confucianists, the reason why Yen Hui did not transfer his anger is because his emotion was not connected with the self. A thing might act to produce some emotion in his mind, just as an object may appear in a mirror, but his self was not connected with the emotion. Therefore there was nothing to be transferred to other objects. He responded to the thing that produced the emotion in his mind, but he himself was not ensnared by it. He was considered to be a happy man, and for that, was greatly admired by the Neo—Confucianists.

 The Search for Happiness


Output:
The Search for Happiness

 In chapter twenty I have said that Neo-Confucianism attempted to find happiness in ming—chiao (morals, institutions). The search for happiness, indeed, is one of the professed aims of the Neo-Confucianists. Ch eng Hao says, for example: "When we studied under Chou [Tun-yi], he always asked us to find out wherein lay the happiness of K ung LConfucius] and Yen LHuiJ, and what they found enjoyable." (Literary Remains of the Two Ch' engs, chiian 2a.) There are, in fact, many passages in the Analects recording the happiness of Confucius and his disciple. Those commonly quoted by the Neo—Confucianists include the following:

 "Confucius said:' With coarse rice to eat, with only water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow, T

 am happy in the midst of these things. Riches and honor acquired by means that 1 know to be wrong are to me as a floating cloud.'" (Analects, VII, 15.)


Output:
About Yen Hui, Confucius said: "incomparable indeed was Hui. A handful 4 7 4 NEO-CONFUCJANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 L

 of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink, and living in a mean street: these, others would have found unbearably depressing, but for Hui s happiness they made no difference at all. Incomparable indeed was Hui." (Ibid., VI, 9-)


Output:
Another passage says that once when Confucius was sitting with several of his disciples, he asked each of them to express his desires. One replied that he would like to be minister of war in a certain state, another to be minister of finance, and still another to be master of ceremonies. But the fourth, Tseng Tien, paid no attention to what others were saying, but continued to strum his lute. When the others had finished, Confucius asked him to speak. He replied: "[My desire would be], in the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men, and six or seven boys, to go to wash in the river Yi, enjoy the breezes among the rain altars, and return home singing.'

 Whereupon Confucius said: "I am with Tien." (XI, 2.5.)


Output:
Commenting on the first two passages, Ch eng Yi says that there is nothing to be enjoyed in eating coarse rice and drinking water per se. What the passages mean is simply that Confucius and Yen Hui remained happy, despite the fact that ihey had only this meager fare. (See Ch eng—shih Ching— shuo or Notes on the Classics by the Ch engs, chtitm 6.) This comment is correct in itself, but the question remains what it was that did constitute their happiness.

 A certain man once asked Ch eng Yi: Why is it that the happiness of Yen Hui remained unaffected [by external hardships]? "Ch'eng Yi answered: "[Do you know] what it was that Yen Hui enjoyed?" The man replied: He enjoyed the Too. To which Ch eng Yi said: If Yen Hui enjoyed the Too, he was not Yen Hui.'


Output:
(Erh-Ch eng Wai-shu or External Collection of Sayings of the Two Ch'engs, chikm 7.) This statement is very much like that of the Ch'an Masters, which is why Chu Hsi, editor of the Literary Remains of the Two Ch engs, did not include it there but placed it instead into the subsidiary work known as the External Collection.Neverlhe- less, the saying contains some truth. The happiness of the sage is a natural outcome of his state of mind, described by Chou Tun—yi as vacuous in quiescence and straightforward in movement, "and by Ch'eng Hao as "impersonal, impartial, and responding to things spontaneously. "

 He does not enjoy the Too; he simply enjoys what he himself is.


Output:
This view of the Neo-Confueianists can be seen by their interpretation of the third passage from the Analects quoted above. Chu Hsi s comment on this passage reads: "The learning of Tseng Tien would seem to have attained to the complete elimination of selfish desires, and to the Heavenly Laws in their pervasiveness, which are Lo be found everywhere without the slightest deficiency. This is why, both in activity and at rest, he was so simple and at ease. Speaking about his intention, he simply based himself on his existing station [in society and the universe] and enjoyed the ordinary state of affairs. He did not have the slightest idea of living according to [the views of] oth—

 476 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS


Output:
ers, but lived according to himself. His mind was so vast thai it lay in a single stream with Heaven and Earth, in which all things enjoy themselves. This mysterious sense is behind his words and can be dimly seen [by us]. The other three disciples only paid attention to the lesser branches of affairs, so that they could beat no comparison with the mood of Tseng Tien. That is why the Master [ Confucius J

 deeply approved of him. (Lun—ytt Chi—chu or Collected Comments on the Analects, chtian 6.) In chapter twenty I have said that the essential quality of feng liu is to have a mind that transcends the distinctions of things and lives in accord with itself, rather than with others. According to Chu Hsi s interpretation, Tseng Tien was precisely a person of this kind. He was happy, because he wan feng liu.


Output:
In this statement of Chu Hsi we also see the romantic element in Neo—Confucianism.The Neo—Confucianists, as I have said, tried to seek happiness in ming chiao, but at the same time, according to them, ming chiuo is not the opposite of tzu jan (nature, natural), but rather its development. This, the Neo—Confucianists maintained, was the main thesis of Confucius and Mencius.

 Did the Neo-Confucianists themselves succeed in carrying out this idea? They did, and their success can be seen in the following translation of two poems, one by Shao Yung and the other by Ch eng Hao.

 Shao Yung was a very happy man and was referred to by Ch eng Hao as a feng liu hero. He named his house the An Lo Wo or Happy Nest, and called himself the Master of Happiness. His poem, titled Song on Happiness, reads:

 The name of the Master of Happiness is not known. For thirty years he has lived on the bank of the Lo river. His feelings are those of ihe wind and moon; His spirit is on the river and lake.


Output:
(To him there is no distinction)

 Between low position and high rank,

 Between poverty and riches.

 He does not move with things nor anticipate them.

 He has no restraints and no taboos.

 He is poor but has no sorrow,

 He drinks, but never to intoxication.

 He gathers the springtime of the world into his mind.

 He has a small pond on which to read poems,

 He has a small window under which to sleep;

 He has a small carriage with which to divert his mind,

 He has a greal pen with which lo enjoy his will.

 He sometimes wears a sun hat;

 He sometimes wears a sleeveless shirt;

 He sometimes sits in the forests;

 478 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 He sometimes walks on the river bank. He enjoys seeing good men; He enjoys hearing about good conduct; He enjoys speaking good words; He enjoys carrying out a good will.


Output:
He does not flatter the Ch' an Masters; He does not praise the man of occult arts. He does not leave his home, Yet he is one with Heaven and Earth. He cannot be conquered by a great army; He cannot be induced by a great salary. Thus he has been a happy man, For sixty-five years.*

 Cheng Hao's poem, titled "Autumn Days," reads:

 In these late years there is nothing that comes

 That is not easy and simple; Each morning through my window shines the sun, As I awake. All creatures run their course in true content,

 As I calmly observe. The pleasure of each season through the year,

 I enjoy with others. Beyond Heaven and Earth and all that has shape,

 The Too is there. The winds and clouds about me shift and change, My thought is there.

 By riches and high estate, I am not to be polluted; Neither poverty nor low rank can affect my happiness. A man like this is a hero indeed! **


Output:
Men such as these are heroes in the sense that they cannot be conquered. Yet they are not such in the ordinary sense. They are what is known as the feng liu hero.

 Among the Neo-Confucianists there were some who criticized Shao Yung to the effect that he made too much display of his happiness. But no such criticism is ever made about Ch eng Hao.In any case we find here a combination of Chinese romanticism^ng liu) and classicism (ming chiao) at its best.

 * Yi-ch'uan Chi-jang Chi, chUtin 14. **Colkcted Writings of Ch'eng Hao, chiian I.

 4 8 0 NEO-CONFUCIAN1SM:THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO SCHOOLS

 CHAPTER 25

 NEO-CONFUCIANISM: THE SCHOOL OF PLATONIC

 IDEAS


Output:
IDEAS

 ONLY twenty-two years after the death of Ch'eng Yi (1033-1108), Chu Hsi (113O-12OO) was born in the present Fukien province. The political change that took place during these twenty years is tremendous. The Sung dynasty, although culturally outstanding, was militarily never as strong as the Han and T ang dynasties, and was under constant threat from outside tribes in the north and northwest. Its greatest catastrophe came when it lost its capital, the present city of Kaifeng, to the Jurchen, a Tungusic tribe Irom the northeast, and was compelled to reestablish itself south of the Yangtze River in 1117. This event marked the division of the Sung dynasty into two lesser parts: the Northern Sung (960-1127) and the Southern Sung (1127-1279).

 Position of Chu Hsi in Chinese History


Output:
Position of Chu Hsi in Chinese History

 Chu Hsi, better known simply as Chu Tzu or the Master Chu, was a philosopher of subtle argument, clear thinking, wide knowledge and voluminous literary output. His Recorded Sayings alone amount to 140 chiian or books. With him, the philosophic system of the Ch'eng-Chu school, also known as the Li hsiieh or School of Li, reached its culmination. Though the supremacy of this school was several times to be disputed, notably by the Lu—Wang school and by certain scholars of the Ch ing dynasty, it remained the most influential single system of philosophy until the introduction of Western philosophy in China in recent decades.


Output:
In chapter seventeen I have said that the dynastic governments of China ensured the supremacy of their official ideology through the examination system. Persons who took the state examinations were required to write essays based on the official versions and commentaries of the Confucian Classics. In chapter twenty-three I also said that one of the major acts of Emperor T'ai-tsung of the T'ang dynasty was to determine the official version and "correct meaning" of the Classics. During the Sung dynasty, the great statesman and reformer, Wang An-shih (IO2I-IO86), prepared "new interpre—

 482 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE SCHOOL OF PLATONIC IDEAS

 tations to some of these Classics, and in 1075 Emperor Shen-tsung ordered that Wang s interpretations should be made official. This order, however, was soon cancelled when the political rivals of Wang An—shih gained control of the government.


Output: It is to be remembered that the Neo-Confucianists considered the Confucian Analects, the Mencius, the Chung Yung or Doctrine of the Mean, and the Ta Hsiieh or Great Learning, as the most important texts, which they grouped together, giving to them the collective title of the Four Books. For these Chu Hsi wrote a Commentary; which he considered to be the most important of his writings. It is said that even on the day before his death, he was still working on a revision of this Commentary. He also wrote Commentaries on the Book of Changes and the Shih Ching or Book of Odes. In 1313 Emperor Jen -tsung of the Yuan, the Mongol dynasty that succeeded the Sung, ordered that the Four Books should be the main texts used in the state examinations, and that their official interpretation should follow Chu Hsi's commentaries. The same governmental indorsement was given to Chu Hsi s commentaries on the other Classics; persons hoping for success in the examinations had to interpret these works in accordance with Chu s


Output: to interpret these works in accordance with Chu s commentaries. This practice was continued throughout the Ming and Ch ing dynasties, until the abolition of the state examination system in 1905, when the government tried to introduce a modern educational system.


Output:
As pointed out in chapter eighteen, one of the main reasons why Confucianism gained supremacy in the Han dynasty was its success in combining speculative thought with scholarship. In Chu Hsi himself these two aspects of Confucianism are outstandingly exemplified. His wide knowledge and learning made him a notable scholar, and his deep insight and clear thinking made him a philosopher of the first rank. It is no accident that he has been the dominant figure in Chinese thought during the last several centuries.

 Li or Principle


Output:
Li or Principle

 In the last chapter we have examined Ch' eng Yi' s theory of Li, i.e., Principles or Laws. By Chu Hsi this theory was made still clearer. He says: "What are hsing shang or above shapes, so that they lack shapes or even shadows, are Li. What are hsing lisia or within shapes, so that they have shapes and body, are things." ( Chu-tzu Yil-lei or Classified Recorded Sayings of the Master Chu, chilan %.) A thing is a concrete instance of its Li. Unless there be such-and-such a Li, there cannot be such-and-such a thing. Chu Hsi says: When a certain affair is done, that shows there is a certain Li."

 (Ibid., chilan IOI.)

 For everything, whether it be natural or artificial, there is its Li. In the Recorded Sayings, one passage reads: "(Question: ) 'How can dried and withered things also possess the nature? (Answer:) They all possess Li from the first moment of their existence. Therefore it is said: In the universe 484 , NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE SCHOOL OF PLATONIC IDEAS


Output:
there is not a single thing that is without its nature.' Walking on the steps, the Master [Chu Hsi]

 continued:' For the bricks of these steps there is ihe Li of bricks. And sitting down, he said: For the bamboo chair, there is the Li of the bamboo chair. You may say that dried and withered things have no life or vitality, yet among them, too, there are none that do not have Li. ( chtian 4.)"

 Another passage reads: "(Question:) 'Do things without feeling also possess Li? (Answer:) Most certainly they possess Li. For example, a ship can go only on water, while a cart can go only on land.


Output: (Ibid.) And still another passage reads: "(Question:) 'Is there Li iii dried and withered things? (Answer:) As soon as a thing exists, the Li is inherent in it. Even in the case of a writing brush-though it is not produced by nature but by man, who takes the long and soft hairs of the hare to make it-as soon as that brush exists, Li is inherent in it. (Ibid.) The Li that is inherent in the writing brush is the nature of that brush. The same is true of all other kinds of things in the universe: each kind has its own Li, so that whenever the members of a certain kind of thing exist, the Li of that kind is inherent in them and constitutes their nature. It is this Li that makes them what they are. Thus according to the Ch'eng-Chu school, not all categories of objects possess mind, i.e., are sentient; nevertheless, all of them do possess their own particular nature, i.e., Li.


Output:
For this reason, there are the Li for things already before the concrete things themselves exist. In a letter answering Liu Shu-wen, Chu Hsi writes: "There are Li, even if there are no things. In that case there are only such-and-such Li, but not such-and-such things." (Chu Wen-hung Wen-chi or Collected Literary Writings of Chu Hsi, chiian 46.) For instance, even prior to the human invention of ships and carts, the Li of ships and carts are already present. What is called the invention of ships and carts, therefore, is nothing more than the discovery by mankind of the Li of ships and carts, and the construction of these objects accordingly. All Li are present even before the formation of the physical universe. In the Recorded Sayings one passage reads: (Question:) Before heaven and earth had yet come into existence, were all the things of later times already there? (Answer:) ' Only the Li were there.

 (Chiian I.) The Li are always there; that is to say, they are eternal.


Output:
T'ai Chi or the Supreme Ultimate

 For every kind of thing there is the Li, which makes it what it ought to be. The Li is the chi of that thing, i.e., it is its ultimate standard. (The word chi originally was a name for the ridge pole at the peak of the roof of a building. As used in Neo -Confucianism, it means the highest ideal prototype of things.) For the universe as a whole, there must also be an ultimate standard, which is supreme and all embracing. It embraces the multitude of Li for all

 486 NEO-C0NFUCIANISM:THE SCHOOL OF PLATONIC IDEAS


Output: things and is the highest summation of all of them. Therefore it is called the Supreme Ultimate or T ai Chi. As Chu Hsi says: Everything has an ultimate, which is the ultimate Li. That which unites and embraces the Li of heaven, earth, and all things is the Supreme Ultimate." (Recorded Sayings, chtian 94.) He also says: "The Supreme Ultimate is simply what is highest of all, beyond which nothing can be. It is the most high, most mystical, and most abstruse, surpassing everything. Lest anyone should imagine that the Supreme Ultimate has bodily form, Lien-hsi [i.e., Chou Tun-yi] has said of it: 'The Ultimateless, and yet also the Supreme Ultimate. That is, it is in the realm of no things that there is to be found the highest Li.' (Chu-tzu Ch' uan-shu, or Complete Works of the Master Chu, chiian 49-) From these statements we see that the position of the Supreme Ultimate in Chu Hsi s system corresponds to the Idea of the Good or to God in the systems of Plato and Aristotle respectively.


Output:
There is one point in Chu Hsi s system, however, that makes his Supreme Ultimate more mystical than Plato's Idea of the Good or Aristotle's God. This is the fact that, according to Chu Hsi, the Supreme Ultimate is not only the summation of the Li of the universe as a whole, but is at the same time immanent in the individual examples of each category of things. Every particular thing has inherent in it the Li of its particular category of things, but at the same time the Supreme Ultimate in its entirety is inherent in it too. Chu Hsi says: "With regard to heaven and earth in general, the Supreme Ultimate is in heaven and earth. And with regard to the myriad things in particular, the Supreme Ultimate is in every one of them too. (Recorded Sayings, chiian 94.)

 But if this is so, does not the Supreme Ultimate lose its unily? Chu Hsi's answer is no. In the Recorded Sayings he says: There is but one Supreme Ultimate, which is received by the individuals of all things.