Being authentic is the foundation of the Sage. "Great indeed is the originating [power] of Ch'ien! The myriad things rely on it for their beginnings."[4] It is the source of being authentic. "The way of Ch'ien is transformation, with each [thing] receiving its correct nature and endowment."[5] In this way authenticity is established. Being pure and flawless, it is perfectly good. Thus: "The alternation of yin and yang is called the Way. That which issues from it is good. That which fulfills it is human nature."[6] "Origination and development" are the penetration of authenticity;[7] "adaptation and correctness" are the recovery of authenticity. Great indeed is change (i)![8] It is the source of human nature and endowment.
Being a Sage is nothing more than being authentic. Being authentic is the foundation of the Five Constant [Virtues] and the source of the Hundred Practices. It is imperceptible when [one is] still, and perceptible when [one is] active;[9] perfectly correct [in stillness] and clearly pervading [in activity]. When the Five Constants and Hundred Practices are not authentic, they are wrong; blocked by depravity and confusion.
Therefore one who is authentic has no [need for] undertakings (shih). It is perfectly easy, yet difficult to practice; when one is determined and precise, there is no difficulty with it. Therefore [Confucius said], "If in one day one could subdue the self and return to ritual decorum, then all under Heaven would recover their humanity."[10]
In being authentic there is no deliberate action (wu-wei). In incipience (chi) there is good and evil.[12] As for the [Five Constant] Virtues, loving is called humaneness (jen), being right is called appropriateness (i), being principled (li) is called ritual decorum (li), being penetrating is called wisdom (chih), and preserving is called trustworthiness (hsin). One who is by nature like this, at ease like this, is called a Sage. One who recovers it and holds onto it is called a Worthy. One whose subtle signs of expression are imperceptible, and whose fullness is inexhaustible, is called Spiritual (shen).[13]
That which is "completely silent and inactive"[15] is authenticity. That which "penetrates when stimulated"[16] is spirit (shen). That which is active but not yet formed, between existing and not existing, is incipient.[17] Authenticity is of the essence (ching), and therefore clear. Spirit is responsive, and therefore mysterious. Incipience is subtle, and therefore obscure. One who is authentic, spiritual, and incipient is called a Sage.[18]
To be active and yet correct is called the Way (tao). To be functioning and yet harmonious is called virtue (te).[19] To rebel against humanity, to rebel against appropriateness, to rebel against propriety, to rebel against wisdom, and to rebel against honesty is to be completely depraved. To be depraved in one's activity is abuse. To do so to an extreme is injury. Therefore the superior person is cautious in activity.
The Way of the Sages is nothing more than humanity, appropriateness, equilibrium, and correctness. Preserve it and it will be ennobling. Practice it and it will be beneficial. Enlarge it and it will match heaven-and-earth. How can it not be easy and simple? How can it be difficult to know? By not preserving it, not practicing it, and not enlarging it.
Someone asked: "Who makes all under Heaven good?"
Reply: "The teacher."
"What do you mean?"
"[He is one whose] nature is simply in equilibrium between firm and yielding good and evil."
"I do not understand."
Reply: "Firmness is good when it is appropriate, direct, decided, dignified, capable and certain. It is evil when it is violent, narrow, and limited. Yielding is good when it is compassionate, docile, and mild. It is evil when it is weak, indecisive, and treacherous."
Only equilibrium is harmonious and "moderately regulated."[20] This is "the all-encompassing Way of the world."[21] It is the activity of the Sage. Therefore the Sage establishes education, to enable common people to change their evil [tendencies], and on their own to reach equilibrium and stay there. Therefore those who first become aware awaken those who become aware later, the unenlightened seek from the enlightened, and the Way of instruction is established. With the Way of instruction established, then good people will proliferate. When good people proliferate, then the Court will be correct and all under Heaven will be well-governed.
In human life, it is unfortunate not to hear about one's errors. To lack shame is a great misfortune. Only with a sense of shame can one be taught. If one hears about one's errors, then one can become a Worthy.
The Hung-fan says: "[The virtue of ] thinking (ssu) is called perspicacity (jui).... Perspicacity makes one a Sage."[22] To be without thinking is the foundation. When thinking is penetrating, this is its function. When there is incipient activity on the one hand, and authentic activity on the other, with no thinking and yet penetrating everything,[23] one is a Sage.
If one does not think, then one cannot penetrate subtleties. If one is not perspicacious, then one cannot penetrate everything. Thus, [the ability] to penetrate everything arises from penetrating subtleties, and [the ability] to penetrate subtleties arises from thinking.
Therefore thinking is the foundation of the Sage's achievement and the opportunity for good fortune or misfortune. The I says, "The superior person perceives incipience and acts, without waiting all day."[24] It also says, "Knowing incipience is his spirituality."[25]
The Sage emulates Heaven. The Worthy emulates the Sage. The literatus emulates the Worthy. I-yin and Yen Yüan were great Worthies. I-yin was ashamed that his prince was not Yao or Shun. If one person did not attain his rightful place, it was like being whipped in the marketplace. Yen Yüan "did not transfer his anger and did not repeat an error,"[26] and "for three months did nothing contrary to humanity."[27]
Be determined to have I-yin's determination. Learn what Yen Yüan learned. If you exceed this you will be a Sage. If you reach it you will be a Worthy. Even if you do not reach it you will not miss out on an honorable reputation.
Heaven generates the myriad things through yang, and fulfills the myriad things through yin. Generating is humanity. Fulfillment is appropriateness. Therefore when a Sage is above [on the throne], he nourishes the myriad things with humanity and corrects the myriad people with appropriateness.
The Way of Heaven proceeds and the myriad things comply [with it]. The virtue of the Sage cultivates [others] and the myriad people are transformed. Great compliance and great transformation leave no visible trace. Since no one understands them, they are considered spiritual. Therefore everything under Heaven is originally contained in every person. How can the Way be distant? How can its methods be numerous?
Teaching by speaking directly to everyone is not sufficient even in a village of ten households. How much more difficult in an extensive Empire with millions of people! I say: Purify the mind/heart, that is all. "Purify" means to do nothing contrary to the four [virtues of] humanity, appropriateness, propriety and wisdom, whether in activity or when still, in one's speech, appearance, seeing and hearing. When his mind/heart is pure, then worthy and talented men will assist him. When worthy and talented men assist him, the Empire will be well-governed. Purifying the heart/mind is indeed essential. Employing worthy men is urgent.
Ritual (li) is Order (li). Music is harmony. Yin and yang are harmonious only when Ordered. Then the ruler is [truly] ruler, the minister is minister, father is father, son is son, elder brother is elder brother, younger brother is younger brother, husband is husband, and wife is wife. The myriad things are harmonious only when each achieves its Order. Therefore ritual is first and music follows.
For actualization to dominate [one's work] is good. For fame to dominate is shameful. Therefore the superior person advances his virtue and cultivates his work with unceasing diligence, devoting himself to the dominance of actualization. If his virtue and affairs are not prominent, he apprehensively fears that others will know [about it]; he wants to distance himself from shame. The inferior person, on the other hand, is simply hypocritical. Therefore the superior person is always at ease, while the inferior person is always anxious.
[What if I] do not measure up to a good person?[28]
"If you do not measure up, then learn to do so."
Question: "[What if] there is a bad person?"
"If he is not good, then inform him that he is not good. Furthermore, exhort him, saying, 'Suppose you change; you will then become a superior person.'"
"If one person is good and two are not good, then learn from the one and exhort the two." "If someone says, 'This person has done something that is not good, but it is not a great evil,' then say, 'Who makes no errors? How do we know that he cannot change? If he changes, then he can become a superior person. Not changing results in evil. Evil is what Heaven hates. How can he not fear [Heaven]? How do we know that he cannot change?'"
Therefore the superior person possesses all goodness, and there is no one who does not love and revere him.
Activity as the absence of stillness and stillness as the absence of activity characterize things (wu). Activity that is not [empirically] active and stillness that is not [empirically] still characterize spirit (shen). Being active and yet not active, still and yet not still, does not mean that [spirit] is neither active nor still. For while things do not [inter-]penetrate (t’ung),[29] spirit subtly [penetrates/pervades] the myriad things.
The yin of water is based in yang; the yang of fire is based in yin. The Five Phases are yin and yang; yin and yang are the Supreme Polarity (t'ai-chi).[30] The Four Seasons revolve; the myriad things end and begin [again]. How undifferentiated! How extensive! And how inexhaustible!
The ancient sages and kings systematized the ritual procedures and reformed education. The Three Bonds were corrected, the Nine Divisions were arranged, the hundred surnames [i.e. all people] were in great harmony, and the myriad things were all in accord. They created music to give expression to the airs of the eight [directional] winds and to pacify the dispositions of all under Heaven.
Therefore the sounds of music are placid and not distressing, harmonious and not licentious. When they enter the ear they move the heart/mind; [yet] they are entirely placid and harmonious. Being placid, they calm the desirous heart/mind. Being harmonious, they ease the fierce heart/mind.
To be easy-going and evenly-balanced is the height of virtue. In the transformation of all under Heaven, government is perfected. This is what is meant by the Way that matches Heaven-and-Earth, the Ultimate of antiquity.[31]
Later generations have neglected ritual.[32] Their governmental measures and laws have been in disorder. Rulers have indulged their material desires without restraint, and consequently the people below them have suffered bitterly. Rulers have claimed that ancient music is not worth listening to and replaced it by or changed it into modern music, which is seductive, licentious, depressive, and complaining. It arouses desires and increases bitterness without end. Therefore there have been cases of people destroying their rulers, casting away their fathers, taking life lightly, and ruining human relations, and it has been impossible to put an end to such atrocities.
Alas! Ancient music appeased the heart but modern music enhances desires. Ancient music spread a civilizing influence, but modern music increases discontent. To hope for perfect government without restoring ancient ritual and changing modern music is to be far off the mark.[33]
Music is based in government. When government is good and the people are at peace, then the minds/hearts of all under Heaven are harmonious. Therefore the Sages created music to give expression to these harmonious hearts/minds. When it spreads throughout heaven-and-earth, the ch'i of heaven-and-earth is stimulated and there is great harmony throughout. When heaven-and-earth are harmonious, then the myriad things are compliant. Therefore the ancestral and natural spirits (shen ch'i) will approach [when sacrifices are offered], and birds and beasts will be tame.
When the sound of music is quiet then the listener's mind is pacified. When the music's lyrics are good then the singer is respectful. Thus styles shift and customs change. The influence of weird sound and passionate lyrics is also like this.
[Someone asked:] "Can Sagehood be learned?"
Reply: It can.
"Are there essentials (yao)?"
Reply: There are.
"I beg to hear them."
Reply: To be unified (i)[34] is essential. To be unified is to have no desire.[35] Without desire one is vacuous when still and direct in activity. Being vacuous when still, one will be clear (ming); being clear one will be penetrating (t’ung). Being direct in activity one will be impartial (kung); being impartial one will be all-embracing (p’u). Being clear and penetrating, impartial and all-embracing, one is almost [a Sage].
One who is impartial toward oneself will be impartial toward others. There has never been one who was not impartial toward oneself and yet was able to be impartial toward others. When one is not perfectly clear [ming] then doubts arise. Clarity is the absence of doubts. To say that being able to doubt is clarity is a thousand miles off the mark.
The manifest and the subtle: without intelligence one cannot perceive them. There is firm good and firm evil, and the same for yielding. Rest in the mean [chung] between them. The two [modes of] ch'i and the five phases transform and generate the myriad things. The five are the differentia and the two are the actualities; the two are fundamentally one. Thus the many are one, and the one actuality is divided into the many. Each one of the many is correct; the small and the large are distinct.
Yen Tzu "had only one dish [of rice] to eat, only one gourdful [of water] to drink, and he lived in a squalid lane. Others could not have endured such distress, yet it did not alter his happiness." Now, wealth and honor are what people love. Yet Yen Tzu, neither loving nor seeking them, took pleasure in being humble. What was his idea?
In the world there is extreme honor and extreme wealth, which can be loved and sought after. Yet he [Yen Tzu] was one who differed from others in seeing what was great and ignoring what was petty. Seeing what was great, his mind was at peace. With his mind at peace, nothing was insufficient. With nothing insufficient, then wealth and honor, poverty and humble station were all the same [to him]. Being all the same, then he was able to transform and equalize [others, i.e. regard others as equal].[37] Thus Yen Tzu was second only to the Sage [Confucius].
The most revered thing in the world is the Way; the most honored is virtue; the most rare [difficult to attain] is the human being. What is rare about the human being is having the Way and virtue in one's own body. Without teachers and friends, it is impossible to seek out and obtain in one's own body that which makes the human being the most rare.
Morality [tao-i] is valued and honored only when it is possessed by a person. People at birth are ignorant. As they grow, if they have no teachers and friends they become stupid. This is why morality acquires honor and reverence when it is possessed by a person in reliance on teachers and friends. Is the meaning [of teachers and friends] not important? Is it not a pleasure to associate with them?
Chung Yu [Tzu-lu] was happy to hear about his transgressions, and his good name [reputation] was inexhaustible. Today, when people transgress, they are not happy for others to correct them. It is like concealing one's illness and avoiding a doctor, preferring to harm oneself without being aware of it. Alas!
The empire is simply power. Power is either weak or strong. Ultimate power cannot be overcome. If one recognizes its strength and promptly [tries to] overcome it, one can [succeed]. If one does not recognize it early, the effort to overcome it will not be easy. When effort is exerted without success, it is due to Heaven. When it is not recognized or no effort is made, it is due to the person. Is it due to Heaven? Then how can a person find fault?
Writing is the vehicle of the Way. When the wheels and shafts of a carriage are ornamented but inoperable, the ornamentation is in vain. How much more so an empty carriage!
Literary expression is an art. The Way and virtue are real (shih). If one is devoted to what is real and expresses it artistically in writing, its beauty will be loved. Being loved, it will be transmitted, and Worthies will be able to learn it and achieve its object. This is education. Thus it is said, "When one's words are not written, they will not go far" (Tso-chuan, Duke Hsiang, 25th year).[38]
But the unworthy will not learn it even if father and elder brother are nearby, or teachers and tutors exhort them. Even if forced, they will not comply. They do not know how to devote themselves to the Way and virtue; they lower themselves to being experts in literary expression. This is nothing more than art [i.e. it does not express concrete reality]. Alas! This is a long-standing defect.
"To those who are not eager to learn I do not explain anything, and to those who are not bursting to speak I do not reveal anything. If I raise one angle and they do not come back with the other three angles, I will not repeat myself."[39] "The Master said, 'I wish to do without speech. ...What ever does Heaven say? Yet the four seasons run their course through it and all things are produced by it'."[40]
So then, were it not for Yen Tzu, the Sage's comprehensiveness (yün) might not have been seen. Yen Tzu was the one who brought out the Sage's comprehensiveness and taught 10,000 generations without limit. Was he not equally profound?
The ordinary person, having heard or understood one thing, is anxious that others will not quickly know he has it. To be in haste to be known by others by reputation is very superficial.
The essence of the Sage was displayed in the drawing of the hexagrams [of the I Ching].[41] The comprehensiveness of the Sage is expressed by means of the hexagrams. Were the hexagrams not drawn, the essence of the Sage could not have been seen. Were it not for the hexagrams, it would almost be impossible to know about the comprehensiveness of the Sage. How can the I merely be one of the Five Classics? It is the mystery of Heaven and Earth, ghosts and spirits!
"The superior person is creatively active and unceasing in his authenticity."[42] But he must "control his anger and repress his desires,"[43] and move towards the good and correct his transgressions[44] before he can reach his goal. Among the functions of Ch'ien this is the best. Of the greatness of Sun and I, nothing surpasses this. The Sage's meaning is profound indeed! "The auspicious, the inauspicious, repentance and regret arise from activity."[45] Alas! The auspicious is only one [of the four]. Can we not be careful about activity?
There is a foundation for ruling the world; it is called the [individual] person.[46] There is a model for ordering the world; it is called the family. The foundation must be proper (tuan); the proper foundation is nothing but the authentic mind. The model must be good; the good model is nothing but harmonious relations. The family is difficult [to regulate], while the empire is easy. For the family is close, but the state is distant. If family members are separated, it is surely caused by the wife. Thus K'uei (Opposition) comes after Chia-jen (Family Members). "When two women live together, their wills do not go together."[47] This is why Yao "sent down (li-chiang) his two daughters to Kuei-jui" [to marry] Shun, to determine whether to abdicate to him, saying "I will test him."[48]
Thus to see how one rules the empire, observe his family. To see how he rules his family, observe his personal life. When his personal life is proper, we say his mind is authentic. An authentic mind is simply one that turns away (fu) from activity that is not good. Activity that is not good is error. When error is turned around (fu), there is no error. With no error, one is authentic. Thus Wu-wang (No Error) follows Fu (Return) and says, "The former kings vigorously nourished the myriad things according to the season."[49] How profound!
The superior person takes agreement with the Way as honor, nd personal peace as wealth. Therefore he is always at peace, with nothing lacking. He regards ceremonial carriages and caps as small change; he regards gold and jade as dust. The weight [of his riches] cannot be exceeded.
The Way of the Sages enters through the ear, is preserved in the mind/heart, is comprehended in one's moral behaviour, and is enacted in one's affairs and undertakings. Those who engage merely in literary expression are vulgar.
"Being perfectly authentic,"[50] one acts. Acting, one changes. Changing, one transforms. Thus it is said, "Deliberate before speaking; discuss before acting. By such deliberation and discussion one can complete one's transformation."[51]
Heaven gives birth to the myriad things in the spring and ceases in the autumn. Not to cease after things have come alive and been completed would be going too far. Therefore comes the autumn for completion. The Sage models Heaven in governing and nourishing the myriad people. He regulates them with punishment. As the people flourish, their desires become active and their feelings overwhelming, and benefit and harm come into conflict. If not stopped, there would be injury and destruction and no more human relations. Therefore they receive punishment to regulate [their behavior].
Feelings are unreliable [false] and obscure; they change in a thousand ways. They can only be regulated with centrality and correctness, clarity and intelligence, firmness and decisiveness. Sung [Conflict, hexagram 6] says, "It is beneficial to see the great man,"[52] for "the firm [line] has gained the central position."[53] Shih-ho [Biting Through, hexagram 21] says, "It is beneficial to use litigation"[54] to "clarify through activity."[55]
Ah! Throughout the empire, those who control punishment direct the lives of the people. In appointing them to their position, can one not be careful?
The Way of the Sage is perfectly impartial. Someone said, "What does that mean?" I replied, "Heaven and Earth are perfectly impartial."
The Spring and Autumn [Annals] rectifies the Kingly Way and clarifies the great models [of the past]. Confucius compiled it for the kings of later generations. The rebellious ministers and wicked soms who were put to death in the past are a means of arousing fear in those to come. It is fitting that for 10,000 generations without end, kings have sacrificed to Confucius to repay his inexhaustible virtue and achievement.
Confucius was the only one whose Way and virtue were lofty and abundant, whose educational influence was unlimited, and who could truly form a trinity with Heaven and Earth and be equal to the Four Seasons.
"The ignorant youth (t'ung-meng) seeks me out,"[56] and I "correct"[57] him and "determine his course of actions,"[58] as in divination. Divination is beseeching the spirits. [To ask] a second or third time is a violation. In that case, I make no pronouncement.
"Below the mountain issues forth a spring;"[59] still [mountain] and clear [water]. When disturbed, [the water] is mixed up; when mixed up, it is not clear.
Be cautious! This means [to follow] the "timely mean"![60] "Keep the back still,"[61] for the back is not seen. When still (ching), one can stop [at the right point]. To stop is not to act [deliberately]. To act [deliberately] is not to stop [at the right point]. This Way is profound!
NOTES
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This translation is extracted from my work in progress on Chu Hsi’s appropriation of Chou Tun-i, which includes a complete translation of Chu Hsi’s commentaries on and recorded conversations about Chou’s two major works, the T’ai-chi-t’u shuo (Explanation of the Supreme Polarity Diagram) and the T’ung-shu. The source text is Chang Po-hsing, comp., Chou Lien-hsi hsien-sheng ch'üan-chi (Complete Collection of Master Chou Lien-hsi; 1708), in Cheng-i t'ang ch'üan-shu (Library of Cheng-i Hall) (Pai-pu ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng ed.), hereafter cited as Chou Lien-hsi chi. Other, more easily accessible sources of the two texts by Chou alone are: Li Kuang-ti, comp., Hsing-li ching-i (Essential Meanings of Nature and Principle) (1715; rpt. Ssu-pu pei-yao ed.), ch. 1; and Huang Ts’ung-hsi and Ch’üan Tsu-wang, comp., Sung-Yüan hsüeh-an (Scholarly Record of the Sung and Yüan Dynasties), ch. 11. [Back]
This is the conventional translation, following Chu Hsi’s claim that the original title was I t’ung shu, or “Penetrating Writing on [the Classic of] Change.” Although this is not misleading, since the piece certainly does focus on the Chou I (or I-ching), the title could just as well be translated more literally as “Penetrating Writing.”[Back]
“Authenticity” (ch’eng) is a term found prominently in the Chung-yung (“Doctrine of the Mean,” or “Centrality and Commonality”). The usual translation is “sincerity,” although that does not convey the metaphysical connotations of genuineness and reality that the word holds both here and in the Chung-yung. See Joseph A. Adler, "Response and Responsibility: Chou Tun-i and Neo-Confucian Resources for Environmental Ethics," in Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans, ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Berthrong (Cambridge: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, 1998), pp. 130-135.[Back]
I-ching (Classic of Change), T'uan commentary on hexagram 1. See Chu Hsi, Chou-I pen-i (The Original Meaning of the Classic of Change) (1177; rpt. Taipei: Hua-lien, 1978), 1:3a.[Back]
Ibid. (Chou-I pen-i, 1:3b).[Back]
I-Ching, Hsi-tz’u (Appended Remarks), A.5.1 (Chou-I pen-i, 3:5a). [Back]
"Origination, development, adaptation and correctness" are from the Ch’ien hexagram text, and came to be known as the "Four Virtues (or Powers)" of Ch’ien (see Chou-I pen-i, 1:1a). For a discussion of the Four Virtues and various interpretations of them see Iulian K. Shchutskii, Researches on the I Ching, trans. Wm. L. MacDonald and Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, with Hellmut Wilhelm (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979), pp. [Back]
This sentence is the same as the penultimate sentence of the "Explanation of the Supreme Polarity Diagram," where i is interpreted as the Classic of Change rather than the process of change (following Chu Hsi's readings). But, while the different readings make sense in their contexts, both meanings were probably intended by Chou in both cases. This would reflect a traditional view (expressed in the Hsi-tz’u appendix of the Classic of Change) that the hexagrams comprising the core of the text are "spiritual things" (shen-wu); they are manifestations of the cosmic process, not merely symbols of it.[Back]
"Imperceptible" and "perceptible" are wu and yu, literally "absent” and "present.”[Back]
Analects 12:1, referring to the ruler. Chou Lien-hsi chi, 5:9a-10a.[Back]
This chapter title, ch'eng chi te, is usually parsed as a sentence, e.g. by Wing-tsit Chan: "Sincerity is the subtle, incipient, activating force of virtue" (A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, p. 466). However, in Chu Hsi's comments on this chapter in the Chu-tzu yü-lei, he consistently treats chi "incipience" as a distinct phase of mind, never subordinating it grammatically to te "virtue" or to ch'eng "authenticity." I have therefore translated the title in accordance with Chu Hsi's treatment, parsing it as three distinct terms -- the topics of the first three lines of the chapter -- with no closer grammatical connection. The Chapter titles were added by Hu Hung and/or Chu Hsi. [Back]
As explained below and in the previous section, the Sage is authentically good without deliberate effort. "Incipience" is the first subtle stirring of activity, and the first point at which good and evil can meaningfully be differentiated. The "Five Constant Virtues" are the full expression of the innately good nature.[Back]
Chou Lien-hsi chi, 5:11b-12a.[Back]
The characteristics described here refer specifically to the mind of the Sage.[Back]
I-ching, Hsi-tz’u, A.10.4 (Chou-I pen-i, 3:12b).[Back]
I.e., the point at which mental activity has begun but is not yet apparent. [Back]
In other words, the mind of the Sage expresses the moral nature, it responds immediately to stimuli, and it is aware of the first stirrings of its activity.[Back]
Tao-te in colloquial usage means “moral.” The two terms separately are, of course, central to the classical Taoist thought of the Lao Tzu, or Tao te ching (Classic of the Way and its Power). Chou Tun-i, given his Taoist connections, must certainly have had the Taoist usage in mind, but here he is giving the terms a clear Confucian meaning, stressing moral activity. [Back]
Quoting Chung-yung (Doctrine of the Mean), 1.[Back]
Hung-fan chapter of the Shu-ching. See Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics, v. 3, p. 327.[Back]
Wu ssu erh wu pu t'ung. This is undoubtedly a pun on Lao Tzu 37,"No doing and yet nothing undone" (wu wei erh wu pu wei).[Back]
Hsi-tz'u B.5.11 (Chou-I pen-i 3:22b).[Back]
The text appears fragmentary here, lacking specific indication of dialogue.[Back]
I.e. they are limited by their physical forms.[Back]
There is a nearly identical sentence in the "Explanation of the Supreme Polarity Diagram."[Back]
Paraphrasing Lao Tzu 68.[Back]
The rest of this chapter of Chou's text is given in Wing-tsit Chan's translation (Source Book, pp. 472-473), substituting "ritual" for "ceremonies." [Back]
In what is apparently an oversight, Chan here has omitted the word "ritual" [or "ceremonies"]. Chu Hsi's commentary, which Chan generally follows, makes no sense without it.[Back]
I.e. to focus the mind on fundamentals.[Back]
See Chou's parenthetical note in the "Explanation of the Supreme Polarity Diagram."[Back]
Yen Yüan, or Yen Hui, was Confucius' favorite disciple. He was known for his dedication to self-cultivation despite personal poverty.[Back]
According to Mencius (7B.25), the capacity to "transform" (hua) others is the hallmark of the Sage. "Equalizing" (ch'i) others, or seeing all things as equal, is a characteristic of a Taoist Sage in the tradition of Chuang Tzu (see Chuang Tzu, chapter 2). Given Chou Tun-i's Taoist connections, this is not an implausible thing for him to say, although it seems to trouble Chu Hsi.[Back]
Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics, vol. 5, pp. 512, 517.[Back]
Analects 7:8, trans. Raymond Dawson, The Analects (Oxford Univ. Press, 1993), p. 24.[Back]
Analects 17:19, trans. Dawson, op. cit., pp. 71-72.[Back]
While the "comprehensiveness of the Sage" in the previous chapter refers to Confucius, here it must refer to Fu-hsi, and possibly King Wen. Fu-hsi was considered to have been the Sage who first drew the trigrams of the I. King Wen later combined them into hexagrams and wrote the hexagram texts (although according to a variant tradition, Fu-hsi also combined them and King Wen only wrote the texts). [Back]
This sentence is composed of three fragments from the texts of Ch'ien (Heaven): Yao (Line text), 3rd line; Ta-hsiang chuan (Greater Image Commentary); and Wen-yen (Words on the Text), 2nd line. Chou-I pen-i, 1:2a, 1:4a, 1:5b.[Back]
From Ta-hsiang commentary to Sun (Decrease), (Chou-I pen-i 2:17a).[Back]
Paraphrase of Ta-hsiang commentary to I (Increase) (Chou-I pen-i 2:18b).[Back]
Hsi-tz'u B.1 (Chou-I pen-i 3:17a). These are four of the basic oracular pronouncements that form the core of the original text of the I-ching.[Back]
Cf. the Ta-hsüeh (Great Learning): "From the Son of Heaven to the common person, in each case self-cultivation is the foundation." The core text of the Ta-hsüeh, particularly the "eight steps," is alluded to throughout this chapter.[Back]
T'uan commentary to K'uei (Opposition) (Chou-I pen-i 2:12a).[Back]
Shu Ching (Book of Documents), "Yao tien" (Canon of Yao). See Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics, vol. 3, pp. 26-27.[Back]
Ta-hsiang commentary to Wu-wang (No Error) (Chou-I pen-i 1:50a).[Back]
This phrase occurs six times in the Chung-yung (Doctrine of the Mean) (chs. 22, 23, 24 twice, 26, and 32) and in the Hsi-tz'u ( ).[Back]
Chou-I, Hsi-tzu A.8 (Chou-I pen-i 3:7b).[Back]
Chou-I, hexagram text of Sung (Conflict) (Chou-I pen-i 1:19b).[Back]
Chou-I, T'uan commentary to Sung (Chou-I pen-i 1:20a).[Back]
Chou-I, hexagram text of Shih-ho (Chou-I pen-i 1:43b).[Back]
Chou-I, T'uan commentary on Shih-ho (Chou-I pen-i 1:44a).[Back]
Hexagram text of Meng (Chou-I pen-i 1:15b).[Back]
T'uan commentary on Meng (Chou-I pen-i 1:16a).[Back]
Ta-hsiang commentary on Meng (Chou-I pen-i 1:16b).[Back]
