A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (22 page)

The third is connected with the five Elements. "This art," says the "Treatise on Literature," "arises from the revolutions of the Five Powers [Five Elements], and if it is extended to its farthest limits, there is nothing to which it will not reach.

The fourth is divination by means of the stalks of the milfoil plant and that done with ihe lortuise shell or shoulder bones of the ox. These were the two main method* of divination in ancient China. In the latter method, the diviner bored a hole in a tortoise shell or a flat piece of bone, and then applied heat to it by a metal rod in such a way as to cause cracks to radiate from the hole. These cracks were interpreted by the diviner according to their configuration as an answer to the question asked. In the former method,

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the diviner manipulated the stalks of the milfoil in such a way as to produce certain numerical combinations which could be interpreted by means of the Book of Changes. Such interpretation was the primary purpose of the original corpus of this work.

The fifth group is that of miscellaneous divinations and the sixth is the system of forms. The latter included physiognomy together with what in later times has been known as feng-shui, literally, "wind and water." Feng-shui is based on the concept that man is the product of the universe. Hence his house or burial place must be so arranged as to be in harmony with the natural forces, i.e., with "wind and water.

In the days when feudalism was in its prime during the early centuries of the Chou dynasty, every aristocratic house had attached to it hereditary experts in these various occult arts, who had to be consuited when any act of importance was contemplated. But with the gradual disintegration of feudalism, many of these experts lost their hereditary positions and scattered throughout the country, where they continued to practice their arts among the people. They then came to be known as the fang shih or practitioners of occult arts.

Occultism or magic is itself, of course, based on superstition, but it has often been the origin of science. The occult arts share with science the desire to interpret nature in a positive manner, and to acquire the services of nature through its conquest by man. Occultism becomes science when it gives up its belief in supernatural forces, and tries to interpret the universe solely in terms of forces that are natural. The concepts of what these natural forces are may in themselves initially look rather simple and crude, yet in them we find the beginnings of science.

Such has been the contribution of the Yin -Yang school to Chinese thought. This school represents a scientific tendency in the sense that it tried to give a positive interpretation to natural events in terms solely of natural forces. By the word positive I mean that which has to do with matters of fact.

In ancient China there were two lines of thought that thus tried to interpret the structure and origin of the universe. One is found in the writings of the Yin-Yang school, while the other is found in some of the "Appendices" added by anonymous Confucianists to the original text of the Book of Changes. These two lines of thought seem to have developed independently. In the "Grand Norm" and "Monthly Commands, which we will examine below, there is stress on the Five Elements but no mention of the Yin and Yang; in the Appendices of the Book of Changes, on the contrary, much is said about the Yin and Yang, but nothing about the Five Elements. Later, however, these two lines of thought became intermingled. This was already the case by the time of Ssu—ma T an (died IIO B.C.), so that in the Historical Records he lumps them together as the Yin-Yang school.

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The Five Elements as Described in the Grand Norm

The term Wu Hsing is usually translated as the Five Elements. We should not think of them as static, however, but ratjier as five dynamic and interacting forces. The Chinese word hsing means to act or to do, so that the term Wu Hsing, literally translated, would mean the Five Activities, or Five Agents. They are also known as the Wu Te, which means Five Powers.

The term Wu Hsing appears in a text traditionally said lo antedate the twentieth century B.C. (See the Book of History; Part 111, Book II, eh. I, 3.) The authenticity of this text cannot be proved, however, and even if it were proved, we cannot be sure whether the term Wu Hsing means the same thing in it as it does in other texts whose date is better fixed. The first really authentic account of the Wu Hsing, therefore, is to be found in another section of the Book of History (Part V, Book 4), known as the Hung Fan or "Great Plan" or "Grand Norm." Traditionally, the "Grand Norm" is said to be the record of a speech delivered to King Wu of the Chou dynasty by the Viscount of Chi, a prince of the Shang dynasty which King Wu conquered at the end of the twelfth century B.C. In this speech, the Viscount of Chi in turn attributes his ideas to Yli, traditional founder of the Hsia Dynasty who is said to have lived in the twenty-second century B.C. These traditions are mentioned as examples of the way the writer of this treatise tried to give importance to the Wu Hsing theory. As to the actual date of the "Grand Norm,"

modern scholarship inclines to place it within the fourth or third centuries B.C.

In the "Grand INorm" we are given a list of "Nine Categories." "First [among the categories]," we read, "is that of the Wu Hsing. The first [of these] is named Water; the second, Fire; the third, Wood; the fourth, Metal; the fifth, Soil. LThe nature of] Water is to moisten and descend; of Fire, to flame and ascend; of Wood, to be crooked and straighten; of Metal, to yield and to be modified; of Soil, to provide for sowing and reaping. '

Next comes the category of the Five Functions. "Second," we read, "is that of the Five Functions. The first !_of these] is personal appearance; the second, speech; the third, vision; the fourth, hearing; the fifth, thought. Personal appearance should be decorous; speech should follow order; vision should be clear; hearing, distinct; thought, profound. Decorum produces solemnity; following order, regularity; clearness, intelligence; distinctness, deliberation; profundity, wisdom.

Skipping now lo the eighth of the Nine Categories, we come to what the "Grand Norm" calls the various indications: "The eighth is that of various indications. These are rain, sunshine, heat, cold, wind, and seasonableness. When these five come fully and in their regular order, I he various plants will be rich and luxuriant. If there is extreme excess in any of them, disaster fol-THE YIN-YANG SCHOOL AND EARLY CHINESE COSMOGONY

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lows. The following are the favorable indications: the solemnity of the sovereign will be followed by seasonable rain; his regularity, by seasonable sunshine; his intelligence, by seasonable heat; his deliberation, by seasonable cold; his wisdom, by seasonable wind. The following are the unfavorable indications: the madness of the sovereign will be followed by steady rain; his insolence, by steady sunshine; his idleness, by steady heat; his haste, by steady cold; his ignorance, by steady wind.

In the "Grand Norm" we find that the idea of the Wu Using is still crude. In speaking of them, its author is still thinking in terms of the actual substances, water, fire, etc., instead of abstract forces bearing these names, as the Wu Hsing came to be regarded later on. The author also tells us that the human and natural worlds are interlinked; bad conduct on the part of the sovereign results in the appearance of abnormal phenomena in the world of nature. This theory, which was greatly developed by the Yin—Yang school in later times, is known as that of the mutual influence between nature and man."

Two theories have been advanced to explain the reasons for this interaction. One is teleological. It maintains that wrong conduct on the part of the sovereign causes Heaven to become angry. That anger results in abnormal natural phenomena, which represent warnings given by Heaven to the sovereign.

The other theory is mechanistic. It maintains that the sovereign s bad conduct automatically results in a disturbance of nature and thus mechanically produces abnormal phenomena. The whole universe is a mechanism. When one part of it becomes out of order, the other part must be mechanically affected.

This theory represents the scientific spirit of the Yin-Yang school, while the other reflects its occult origin.

The "Monthly Commands

The next important document of the Yin-Yang school is the Yiieh Ling or "Monthly Commands,"

which is first found in the Lii-xhih Ch'un-ch'in, a work of the late third century B.C., and later was also embodied in the Li Chi {Book of Rites). The Monthly Commands gains ils name from ihe fact that it is a small almanac which tells the ruler and men generally what they should do month by month in order to retain harmony wilh ihe forces of nature. In it, the structure of the universe is described in terms of the Yin-Yang school. This structure is spacio—temporal, that is, il relates both to space and to time. The ancient Chinese, being situated in the northern hemisphere, quite naturally regarded the south as the direction of heat and the north as that of cold. Hence the Yin-Yang school correlated the four seasons with the four compass points. Summer was correlated with the south; winter with the north; spring with the east, because it is the direction of sun-

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rise; and autumn with the west, because this is the direction of sunset. The school also regarded the changes of day and night as representing, on a minialure scale, ihe changes of the four seasons of the year. Thus morning is a miniature representation of spring; noon, of summer; evening, of autumn; and night, of winter.

South and summer are hot, because south is the direction and summer the time in which the Power or Element of Fire is dominant. North and winter are cold, because north is the direction and winter the time in which the Power of Water is dominant, and water is associated v vi lh ice and snow, which are cold. Likewise, the Power of Wood is dominant in the east and in spring, because spring is the time when plants (symbolized by wood ) begin to grow and the east is correlated with spring. The Power of Metal is dominant in the west and in autumn, because metal was regarded as something hard and harsh, and autumn is the bleak time when growing plants reach their end, while the west is correlated with autumn. Thus four of the five Powers are accounted for, leaving only the Power of Soil without a fixed place and season. According to the "Monthly Commands," however, Soil is the central of the Five Powers, and so occupies a place at the center of the four compass points. Its lime of domination is said to be a brief interim period coming between summer and autumn.

With such a cosmological theory, the Yin—Yang school tried to explain natural phenomena both in terms of time and space, and furthermore maintained that these phenomena are closely interrelated with human conduct. Hence, as stated above, the "Monthly Commands" sets forth regulations as to what the sovereign should do month by month, which is the reason for its name.

Thus we are told: "In the first month of spring the east wind resolves the cold. Creatures that have been torpid during the winter begin to move....It is in this month that the vapors of heaven descend and those of earth ascend. Heaven and earth are in harmonious cooperation. All plants bud and grow. '

(Bonk of Rites, ch. 4.)

Because man's conduct should be in harmony with the way of nature, we are told that in this month, "lie [the sovereign] charges his assistants to disseminate [lessons of] virtue and harmonize governmental orders, so as to give effect to the expressions of his satisfaction and to bestow his favors to the millions of the people....Prohibitions arc issued against cutting down trees. Nests should not be thrown down...In this month no warlike operations should be undertaken; the undertaking of such is sure to be followed by calamities from Heaven. This avoidance of warlike operations means that they are not to be commenced on our side.

If, in each month, the sovereign fails to act in the manner befitting that month, but instead follows the conduct appropriate to another month, abnormal natural phenomena will result. If in the first month of spring, the gov— 2.16 THE YIN-YANG SCHOOL AND EARLY CHINESE COSMOGONY

ernmental proceedings proper to summer are carried out, rain will fall unseasonably, plants and trees will decay prematurely, and the state will be kept in continual fear. If the proceedings proper to aulumn are carried out, there will be great pestilence among the people, boisterous winds will work their violence, and rain will descend in torrents....If the proceedings proper to winter are carried out, pools of water will produce destructive effects, and snow and frost will prove very injurious....

Tsou Yen

A major figure of the Yin-Yang school in the third century B.C. was Tsou Yen. According to Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Shin Chi oi-Historical Records, Tsou Yen was a native of the State of Ch i in the central part of present Shantung province, and lived shortly after Mencius. He wrote essays totaling more than a hundred thousand words, but all have since been lost. In the Historical Records itself, however, Ssu—ma Ch ien gives a fairly detailed account of Tsou Yen s theories.

According to this work (eh. 74), Tsou Yen's method was "first to examine small objects, and to extend this to large ones until he reached what was without limit." His interests seem to have been centered on geography and history.