BEGINNING AND REALITY
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p. 30
BEGINNING AND REALITY
| Unheard the dews around me fall, And heavenly influence shed: And silent on this earthly ball Celestial footsteps tread. |
| Night moves in silence round the pole, The stars sing on unheard, Their music pierces to the soul, Yet borrows not a word. |
| Noiseless the morning flings its gold, And still the evenings place: And silently the earth is rolled Amidst the vast of space. |
| In quietude Thy Spirit grows In man from hour to hour: In calm eternal onward flows Thy all-redeeming power. |
| Lord, grant my soul to hear at length Thy deep and silent voice: To work in stillness, wait in strength, With calmness to rejoice. |
| STOPFORD A. BROOKE. |
"In the Grand Beginning of all things there was nothing in all the vacancy of space: there was nothing that could be named. It was in this state that there arose the first existence: the first existence, but still without bodily shape. From this, things could be produced, (receiving) what we call their several characters. That which had no bodily shape was divided, and then without intermission there was what we call the process of conferring. The two processes continued to operate, and things were produced. As they were completed, there appeared the distinguishing lines of each, which we call the bodily shape. That shape was the body preserving the spirit, and each had its peculiar manifestation which we call its nature." Kuang Tzû, translated by Dr. LEGGE.
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II
DISSERTATION ON BEGINNING AND REALITY
{notes|elucidations and analyses}
Beginning: Reality: The reality of the Cosmic Spirit. There was an evolution in the non-existence towards the realization of the existene. This process is described in the terms "The Beginning: The Reality." The processes of evolution.
(1) There was "the beginning:"1 (2) there was a beginning of an anteriority to this beginning: (3) there
| Reality Beginnings. |
(1) the meaning of "There was the beginning" is that there was a complex energy which had not yet pullulated into germinal form, nor into any visible shape of root and seed and rudiment. Even then in this vast and impalpable void there was apparent the desire to spring into life; but, as yet, the genera of matter were not formed.
(2) At "the beginning of anteriority before the beginning" the fluid of heaven first descended and the fluid of earth first ascended. The male and female principles interosculated, prompting and striving among the elements of the cosmos. The forces wandered hither and thither, pursuing, competing, interpenetrating. Clothed with energy, they moved, sifted, separated, impregnated the various elements as they moved in the fluid ocean, each aura desiring to ally itself with another, even when, as yet, there was no appearance of any created form.
(3) At the stage "There must be a beginning of an anteriority even before the beginning of anteriority," Heaven p. 32 contained the spirit of harmony, but had not, as yet, descended: earth cherished the vivifying fluid, but had not ascended, as yet. It was space, still, desolate, vapoury,—a drizzling humid state with a similitude of vacancy and form. The vitalising fluid floated about, layer on layer.
(4) "There was the existence" speaks of the coming of creation and the immaterial fluids assuming definite forms," implying that the different elements had become stabilized. The immaterial nuclei and embryos, generic forms as roots, stems, tissues, twigs and leaves of variegated hues appeared. Beautiful were the variegated colours. Butterflies and insects flew hither and thither: insects crawled about. We now reach the stage of movement and the breath of life on every hand. At this stage it was possible to feel, to grasp, to see and follow outward phenomena. They could be counted and distinguished both quantitatively and qualitatively.
(5) "The non-existence" period. It was so called because when it was gazed on no form was seen: when the ear listened, there was no sound: when the hand grasped, there was nothing tangible: when gazed at, it was illimitable. It was limitless space, profound and a vast void,—a quiescent, subtile mass of immeasurable translucency.
(6) In "There was not yet a beginning of non-existence," implies that this period wrapped up heaven and earth, shaping and forging the myriad things of creation: there was an all-penetrating impalpable complexity, profoundly vast and all-extending; nothing was outside its operations. The minutest hair and sharpest point were differentiated: nothing within was left undone. There was no wall around, and the foundation of non-existence was being laid.
(7) In the period of "There was not yet a beginning of the not yet beginning of non-existence," Heaven and Earth were not divided: the four seasons were not yet separated: the myriad things were not yet come to birth. p. 33 Vast-like even and quiet, still-like, clear and limpid, forms were not visible.
One says, "I can appreciate non-existence, but the non-existence of non-existence is too profound for me to apprehend! How may one come to this apprehension?" These fluxes are most mysterious, beyond the ken of the mind. None can trace the workings of these mysterious operations and penetrate into ultimate depths.2
Now Heaven has endowed me with a body and given me work in life. It has made it pleasant for me during
| Joy of life and death. |
| Nothing lost. |
If the world is hidden in the world, then there is no
| Tao does not decay. |
The emergence of the human form in creation is pleasureable. If man undergoes a myriad transformations
| Resurrection. |
Take an illustration of a person in a dream. He dreams he is a bird flying in the air; he dreams he is a fish lost (immersed) in the pool. In the dream he is insensible of its being a dream: only when he returns to consciousness, does he become aware that it was but a dream. Now is looked on as the time of life; afterwards this now-life will be looked on as a great dream.
In the prenatal state, how can one know the joys of life? Likewise how can we venture to deny, before we p. 34 die, that death has no joy?
In ancient times, Kung Niu-ai6 had a fit of madness and, during seven days, was changed into a tiger. His brother peeped in at the door to look at him and was seized by the tiger and killed. Hence the human limbs had changed into the claws and teeth of the wild beast.
| A Certain continuity persists when form changes. |
Water, on the approach of winter, congeals and becomes ice. Ice meets with spring and melts to become water again. Water and ice are periodic changes of form. In the wheel's revolution of flux, who may imagine which is pain and which is joy? Therefore the bodily form suffers from the rigours of cold, heat, dryness and dampness. The body wastes, but the spirit is hale. On the other hand, the spirit may suffer from the outrages of joy, anger and anxieties. Whilst the vitality of spirit is being exhausted, the form may remain in abundance of strength. Again, when the carcasses of worn-out horses are skinned, the hide is found to be dry and brittle: but the carcass of a young hound, on the other hand, is found to be full of sap, when
| Spirit does not die with body. |
The ancients lodged within the realm of the Tao; desire was controlled and passion mastered; and, in
| Utopia. |
During this period, the people were in a state of Arcadian simplicity: they ate and rambled about: they smacked their stomachs and rejoiced. All together enjoyed the blessings of heaven and ate of the fruits of the earth. They did not wrangle in mutual recriminations, nor dispute over rights and wrongs. Peace and plenty existed. This may be called the Ideal Rule.11
During such times, rulers employed, in all offices, men who did not confuse the nature of the people.12 There were officers for guiding and cherishing the people without disturbing the spontaneity of virtue in their minds. Therefore the artificial doctrines of humanity and justice12 were absent, and all creation luxuriated and fattened. Without the device of rewards and punishments, the whole empire flocked to pay its tribute. The doctrine is as splendid as it was successful. Nevertheless it is not easy to specify its movements with any detail, just as progress may not be manifest in any one day, though a whole year may show great achievement.
As the fish forgets its relative existence in the river and lake, so men forget themselves in their relation to the way and art of the Tao. The perfect man (Chen-jen) of ancient time stood in the very root and centre of being, the foundations of Heaven and Earth themselves, and wandered at will, unhasting and free, in this central seat of being. He cherished and diffused virtue, he enkindled p. 36 the spirit of harmony of existence and thus enabled creation to come to full maturity. Which of them, then, would involve himself in the commotions of men, and embroil his soul in the pothers of life?
Nevertheless the Tao has its rules and principles; its connective relations result in a (Tao) Unity, so that the thousand twigs and myriad leaves are connected and related. Get at the unit, and the interrelations will fall into line.
Hence, when in office, (the superior man) has the means to diffuse his commands; when out of office, he has the power to forget that he is of little count; when poor, he rejoices in his work; when difficulties assail, he can control
| Difficulties show the man. |
On the other hand, the person who follows narrow and crooked conventionalism, who tinkers with things, and who in his plans and designs for the reform of human institutions, simply cobbles here and there in altering and improving the ingtitutions of men, acts in a most superficial p. 37
| Reforms must not be patchwork. |
| Tao-men follow Tao not senses. |
| True to principle. |
They who are clear on the distinction of life and death, (i.e. different phases of one thing) and who apprehend the alternations of fortune, will never entertain the idea19 of giving a hair of their leg in exchange for the greatest thing in the world: for empire they will not abandon the Tao.
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Such matters as honours and poverty coming on are looked upon as but a passing breath, i.e. a passing phase
| Unconquerable. |
It is only the man with the Tao who is able not to succumb: neither rushing waters, nor whirlpools, nor the depth of the Lu-liang can delay him. The dangers of T‛ai-Hang, Shih-chien, Fei-hu, Ko-wang are no difficulty to him.
Therefore, he who, voyaging on the rivers and the seas of life, has his mind directed on spiritual pilgrimages into the precincts of the Highest, is the same who is in unity with the One Source (tao). (Or, another rendering. He who mixing with the world, yet keeps his heart in the secret place, is he who is united with the Tao.) Who else would not be defeated?
Therefore, they who dwell with the perfect man, are led to forget family poverty; and the honourable of the
| Influence of the perfect man. |
The Tao issues from the One fountain21 and communicates with the nine gates22 of Heaven: it is distributed
| The great unity. |
What the dome of Heaven covers, what earth sustains, what the six corners of the earth embraces, what the positive and negative respire, what the rain and clouds moisten and fertilise, and what truth and virtue maintain, all come from the one father and mother24 and are interpenetrated by one harmony. Hence, the oak (in the north) and the orange tree (in the south) are brothers: and the Miao25 and the San Wei25 are one family. The eye watches the flight of geese, the ear listens to the organ, yet, at the
| Unity runs through all. |
Each school has its own theory, issuing from principles p. 40 peculiar to each, such as the theories of Mei, Yang,
| Schools only contain bits of truth. |
Now the distributions and bifurcations of creation, the divisions of matter into leaves and twigs, roots and branches, all spring from one stock. Though having only one trunk, yet the offshoots branch out into myriad forms. These divisions befall the recipients and not the creative power, "which is unity. Thus, then, these are all recipients and not the giver which is the Tao. The recipients are not givers. The giver embraces everything: he covers the emanations of his creation. These are the reflections of its own giving, and these reflections of the giver are owned, like the cloud which falls and moistens all things: but the cloud is cloud and the moisture is moisture. There is a separation and yet a unity. In giving itself, this unity is not lost and the tao does not change or lose anything. So it is not itself.
An example of the statement "there is nothing not received" may be had in a thick cloud full of rain, particles p. 41 massed together and distributing themselves in heavy rain. It steeps the myriad things in moisture, but does not get wet itself, i.e. it gives itself to others.
Now a skilful archer has expediences and contrivances, even as the bow-maker has the skill of rule and compass.
| An expert is only expert in his own craft. |
When an article of purple colour is dyed with black alum, the result will be that the article becomes darker than the dye itself. Likewise when a green article is dyed with indigo blue, it will come out a deeper colour than the dye itself. Though purple is not black, and green not blue, they owe their origin to black and blue respectively, and they can never recover their original shade. The colour gets faint and deteriorates by the dyeing. How much more that which has not yet undergone the creative agency. The transformations have been innumerable which no pen can fully describe.29
From all this we may learn that there is no matter which has not sprung from that which is past. The varieties are profuse in the extreme.
Again, the minute autumn hair30 can disappear into the non-spatial, yet, though so minute, it is great compared
| Tao is most fine so most pervasive and great. |
Now a swift wind that will uproot trees is unable to pull out a hair. A lofty tower, in falling, will break the backbone or crush the head of a resident; but small insects will hum as they fly about in the falling ruins. Creeping and moving insects have equally been endowed with nature's springs of action. Nevertheless, it is the class of such minute creatures that can most easily fly, and those creatures of a small and delicate structure that can save themselves most easily. How much more so, then, can that which has not received a corporeal form at all, fly about most easily.
From such considerations it is clear that the formless produces forms. Hence, the sage man commits his soul to
| Form comes from the formless and senses used after Tao illumination. |
Now when the firmament was not fashioned, the sun and moon could not run their courses; when the Earth
| Honest truth only from the honest man. |
To set up great merit, to gain fame, to make real the loyalties of king and ministers, to arrange the regulation of classes, to know laws of kindred and strangers, to divide the classes, to support falling states, to preserve a decaying house, to quell rebellions, to control turmoils, to restore decadent clans, to continue a dying house and to suppress anarchy, compose I, righteousness.37
(What are the real values?) To close up the avenues of the senses; to repress the ambitions of the mind; to abandon the mere art of cleverness and knowledge and revert to the state of Wu Shih, non-cognition: to roam in the void, as outside the world of sensibility and move in the regions of "nothings" (no affairs); to imbibe the Yin, and exhale the Yang and move in step with the harmony of creation, is Tê. Therefore, where the Tao distributes itself, there is Tê (and constitutes the variety of virtues in man). When these attributes abound and overflow, we have (the real) benevolence, jen, and righteousness, i.38 But when the Confucian school sets up benevolence and righteousness as the ultimate, then the Tao and its attributes Tê are abandoned and lost.
A large tree39 is cut down and carved into sacrificial cups. It is carved with chisel and foot-measure, with art and skill. It is embellished with the figures of beautiful bells, of dragon, snake, tiger and leopard. It is most decorative.40 But a piece of this timber has fallen as waste. The difference between the carved goblet and the piece which has gone uncarved is the difference between beauty and roughness. All the pieces of timber have lost
| Broken away from Tao conduct is artificial. |
Now when language is garish and action meretricious, it implies that the spirit has been trading with the senses
| Fine manners do not make a gentleman. |
The sage-man,41 however, cultivates the tao-method within and makes no outward adornment of benevolence
| The sage cultivates Tao first and last. |
But the Chen Jen,43 True Man,43 moves in a still more exalted sphere. He moves in the regions of the completely
| The true man moves in spiritual realm. |
(Now take an example of the theme). He who is freezing in winter thinks of the genial warmth of spring. The fevered subject of the heat of summer looks for the cool breezes of autumn. He who has a disease in his system shows it in heightened colour of the face.
Again the ch‛en tree gives a blue tincture which, when used as a collyrium, will cure inflammation of the eyes; and some snails, also, cure ophthalmia. Infusions for the eye are made from these. Now, were anyone to apply these to an eye without inflammation, they would produce the very disease they would cure and produce obscurity of vision.48
The means used by the Confucian sage for terrifying
| Laws and Punishments not the best. |
Further, a shallow pool such as an ox can wade will have no foot-long carp in it. The hill, K‛uei-fu, will bear no timber of ten-foot girth, for the reason that the capacity of these hills is limited and they cannot bear anything big. All material things are circumscribed, which, by implication, leads us to understand the immensity of the immaterial and formless. It is the immaterial which creates the great mountains and deep waters. Great is the Tao!
Moreover, when men are tied by the world, they are p. 46 circumscribed, and the spiritual energies are cramped.
| Sensual illusions cramp men. |
The Sage, therefore, inhales the fluid of the Yin and Yang, and all creatures, being full of ease, were expectant on his virtue, in order to induce general like-mindedness. At this period, with no governing authority, the people lived their life in quietness. The world was a unity without division into classes nor separation into orders (lit: a disorgnised mass): the unaffectedness and homeliness of the natural heart had not, as yet, been corrupted: the spirit of the age was a unity, and all creation was in great affluence. Hence, if a man with the knowledge of 'I'50 appeared, the world had no use for him.
Following the course of history until we come to the decay of the world, we arrive at the times of Mr. Fu Hsi.51
| Simplicity lost in the complexity of life from new learning. |
However, it was with the advent of Shen Nung52 and Huang Ti53 that there arose a division and separation of p. 47
| A veiled attack on the policies of the time. |
When we come to a still later time, to the periods of K‛un Wu and Hsia Hou, we find that the desires of men were centred on the material and sensual: their intelligence was allured by the objective impression of the senses, so that they lost hold of the central principles of life.
Proceeding still further, we come to the decay of the House of Chou. Purity was vitiated, simplicity
| Rise of ceremonies etc.: |
| Loss of the Reality. |
But the wherefore of losing the soul{56,} 57 by men was a matter of long process: the causes of decay and
| This loss gradual. |
| Worldly renown useless. |
| Value of life important. |
Were fire or flood to overwhelm the world, the spirits of these men would not quail, nor would it give them any surprise. Thus they look upon this span of life as but a feather wafted on the winds, or a floating straw on the waters, (Empire and its glories are but a bubble). Who, then, would wish to centre his thoughts on this material and passing world!
The nature of water is to be clear and pure; but it is made turbid by the soil. The disposition of man is serene and tranquil; but lust and desire have disturbed it. What men have received from Heaven are such things as the sense of the ear's power of hearing, the eye's appreciation of colour, the sense of taste and smell, by mouth and nose; the sense of cold and heat, through skin and nerve. The passions (Ch‛ing) are one. How is it, then, it may be asked, that some are clever and some almost stupid? The difference lies in the way of control (one governs himself by the outward or senses; the other governs himself by the inward or the tao).
It is clear, then, that the soul is the well of intelligence. When the well is clear, the intelligence will be pellucid. The intelligence is the store-house of the mind. When the intelligence is correct, the mind will be just. Men don't make mirrors of rushing waters, but make mirrors of still waters, because it is quiet. Men don't peer into mirrors of rough metal for seeing the form, but into burnished metal, in order to see their images; and this, because of its evenness. Now, evenness and stillness are qualities that can reveal the nature of other things. From which consideration it may be concluded that the positive rests on the negative, i.e. movement rises from quiescence: or water and metal are unconscious of having qualities that can be of p. 50 service. Hence, the empty room, i.e. the unsullied heart, begets the white, that is to say the tao; and blessings come to rest there.62
A bright mirror cannot be defiled by dust: the appetites cannot disorganise a soul that is pure.63 The spirit that
| Light and truth come from within not from ear and eye. |
When the mind has an objective, the spirit follows and is held there. When a return is attempted to the realm of the spirit, passion, (tao) and then concupiscence are held in check only by effort. It is thus the sage nourishes the spirit.
Hence the rulers of ancient time felt the necessity of an understanding of the real facts of nature and of the
| Unity in diversity. |
Furs are not worn in summer, not because people are not fond of furs, but because of the oppressive heat. Fans are not wanted in winter, not because people dislike them, but because the air is already cool enough.
The Sage eats just enough to satisfy his wants, and wears just sufficient clothes to cover his person.64 He
| Simplicity. |
Kung and Mei's disciples taught the methods of benevolence and justice to the world: nevertheless, they could not
| Artificial moralities inferior. |
| Purity gives power. |
When the soul is not clogged with desires, nor the mind loaded with sophism, the inward light is clear and penetrating and the mind easy and at leisure from the weight of the senses; unclogged and unobstructed, it meets every impression of the senses without bias and in serenity,—a state which no force can beguile, which no sophist with cunning words can shake, which no voluptuousness or licentiousness can seduce, nor art and beauty submerge, which no clever man can move or shake, nor a powerful man frighten. This is the Tao of the True Man. Such a person as this shapes creation and cooperates with the Creator in governing man. Nothing in Heaven or Earth can rob him of immortality!
The power which brings about organic life does not p. 52 die itself,68 nor does the transformer of inorganic things
| Polished scholarship not enough. |
Quiescence and ease, contemplation and meditation, ease and tranquillity (free from passions) are the means for nourishing the nature. Harmony and happiness, unaffectedness and freedom from passions (Hsü wu) are the means
| He who has Tao has all. |
Nevertheless who can reach this standard without a proper environment? Such a man might, indeed, appear; but if the times were unpropitious, even his life would p. 53 not be safe. The man without the tao would be much less likely to keep free of entanglements.
Further, the senses, (ear and eye) of men are in contact with and respond to impressions. The mind and
| Longing for quiet and freedom. |
The onset of troubles and anxiety harass the mind of men to a far greater degree than do the poisonous sting of wasp and scorpion or the annoying pain of the bite of a mosquito. And the longing for quiet, solitude, detachment and freedom from passion, cannot but be strong. How can it be attained?
Again, when the eye examines the speck of autumn hair, the ear does not hear the clap of thunder: when the ear is intent on distinguishing and harmonizing the sounds of the jade and stone, the eye does not see the height of the T‛ai Shan. What then? It is just this. When the little commands attention, the great is often lost. Now the onset of the world upheaves our nature and stirs the passions
| Most easy to sully the spirit. |
Trees planted and cultivated by the work of ten men, by means of irrigation and fertilisation, could be pulled up by one man and a clean sweep made of every vestige in one night. How much more so were the whole country to engage in the work of destruction of what has been planted! Though a desire existed for a lengthy life, how could it be attained? Take again the example of a bowl of turbid water standing in some hall. It would take more than a day for it to settle and become so transparent that the eye-lashes could be seen p. 54 reflected: on the other hand, it can he made turbid in a moment, so that you could not distinguish square from round in it. Man's spirit is easily befouled and most difficult to clarify: it is very similar to the example given by the bowl of water. How much befouled the soul would be if the pollution had been continued through a long time. Moreover, how can the spirit find a moment's peace, subject to the worries and cares and temptations of the world?74
In the golden age75 of ancient time, the shopman found pleasure in his shop, and the farmer had joy in his farming; the minister found peace in his affairs and the retired scholars cultivated the way (of the ancient kings). At that time, winds and rains did not destroy nor injure the
| Advance the Tao. |
How did this come about? Because the masters of men (kings) truly desired to advance the interests of the empire; hence these four men found the opportunity and leisure to advance the practice of the Truth (Tao). It was not that these four men had such perfect talents that they were superior to all others, but no one else could compete with them in the lustre of their teaching, because they fell on the favourable times of Tang and Yü.80 But when we come to the epochs of Chieh of Hsia and Chou of Yin,
| and the world will have peace. |
During these monstrosities, the Jao mountain tumbled p. 55 down, and the three rivers ran dry. Flying birds were wounded in the wings and walking wounded beasts limped along.
It would be wrong to say that it was only during these periods there were no sages. The fact was they could not do anything to put their teaching into practice, since they fell on uncongenial times. Birds even at the height of a thousand jen,82 and beasts stalking in the depth of
| Environment important. |
The city of Li Yang83 (Yang Chow) was turned into a lake, in one evening. Valour, talent, as well as timidity, the godly and the ungodly were all caught and engulfed.
A favourable wind on the height of the Wu mountain carried a fire forward, consuming the finest tallow-trees and medicinal grasses, as well as the common plants and grasses. The fishes in the Yellow River fail to see, on account of the turgid waters: the tender and late grains fail to mature, because of untimely frosts. These are the results of naturally unfavourable circumstances.
Likewise, when there is proper government, the foolish and stupid individuals cannot alone produce anarchy. Similarly, the wise, alone, cannot, without cooperation, induce a proper government. Treading in the way of an anarchical world and failing to put into operation the Tao, as he would, is a situation similar to that of shackling Ch‛i and I84 together, and expecting them to do the full journey of a thousand li. Place a monkey in a cage, and he will be like a pig showing none of his nimbleness and pranks, since he has no room for exercising these. Shun's
| A favourable destiny. |
The Sages-of-old, were men of harmony, joy, ease, and quietude that pertained to their nature. But it was the favourable destiny (of place and position) that made it possible for them to propagate the doctrine.
Hence, when nature is seconded by destiny, things will go: when destiny is seconded by nature, everything will be clear. The Wu Hao bow, the Hsi Tzŭ crossbow, could not be shot without the string. The small boats of Yueh, and the few plank boats of Szechuen cannot be floated without water.
When the air above is full of the darts of the crossbow, and the earth beneath is spread full of nets and snares, though one were to desire to soar high and stir the world by his teachings, it could not be done. At the Odes say:—
| 'I was gathering and gathering the mouse-ear,' 'But could not fill my shallow basket,' 'With a sigh for the man of my heart,' 'I placed it there on the high way.' |
Odes Pt. I. Bk. I. Ode 3.
A longing is expressed in these words for the days—the golden age—of the long past.
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