Nature and Principle in Islam

The first juan (volume) recounts in order how the macrocosm came to be manifest. There is a world of principle and a world of images. The world of principle is where images and numbers have not yet taken form but principle is already complete; this is what is called the Former Heaven. The world of images is where heaven and earth have been set up and the myriad things have been born; this is what is called the Latter Heaven. The manifestation of both worlds proceeds entirely from the one Real, yet in their order and their moments there seem to be distinctions. I set out diagrams and give explanations of them so that the general outline may be grasped; look at the text, take in its meaning, and one can awaken to what lies at the bottom of it. The subtlety of the flow of creation and the principle by which humans and things are endowed and completed cannot be seen with certainty apart from this.

Scan (1923 reprint), p. 68Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

Creation has a beginning, and it must have its very beginning. When images and numbers have not yet taken form but the many principles are already complete, this is the beginning of creation. When there is not yet any principle that can be named, this is the very beginning. The root-suchness of creation cannot be named or designated. The various schools, because it has no designation, go on to call it 'nonbeing' - how can that be allowed? It is said: those who call it nonbeing do not mean empty nothingness; they mean that it has the real and no illusion, has substance and no function. Even so, if it has the real, then the real is being, so why call it nonbeing? If it has substance, then substance is being, so why call it nonbeing? The sages here do not say 'nonbeing'; they say 'without designation'. The scholars of nature and principle here do not merely call it 'being'; they call it 'real being'. Real being is that which stands by itself without any counterpart. Real and illusory are not divided, substance and function are not distinguished; it has nothing at all, and yet in reality there is nothing it does not have. Someone asks: once you call it 'being', being is already a designation - why speak of 'without designation'? The answer: 'being' refers to meaning; 'designation' refers to name. In the realm of the very beginning, the meanings of real, illusory, substance and function are all present, so it is called being; the names real, illusory, substance and function have no exclusive application, so it is called without designation. To call being a designation without examining the difference between name and meaning is a mistake. Someone asks: in the realm of the very beginning there is no emptiness or illusion at all, so it may be called 'the real'; there is no activity at all, so it may be called 'substance'. Why then speak of 'without designation'? For as soon as one says 'real', one is confined to the rank of the real and so is set apart from the illusory; as soon as one says 'substance', one falls into the position of substance and so is cut off from function. That is not the meaning of this diagram. The meaning of this diagram is: at once real and illusory, at once substance and function; the one root and the myriad differentiations, outer and inner, fine and coarse, beginning and end, principle and vital energy (qi), all threaded on one string, while its name does not fall to either side. Therefore it is called 'without designation'. When it moves and becomes manifest, it divides into several grades: first, the grade of non-movement, which is substance; second, the grade of first movement, which is function; third, the grade of the Sovereign, in which substance and function divide; fourth, the grade of the First Mandate, in which the Real Principle appears; fifth, the grade of nature and mandate, in which the myriad principles divide; sixth, the grade of form and vital energy, in which qi and images become manifest. When the six grades are complete, creation is whole. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): 'The very beginning is the beginningless. The beginningless is the beginning of the myriad beginnings, so it is called the very beginning. It cannot be called nonbeing - this distinguishes it from heterodox learning; it cannot be given a name - this blocks one-sided views. The Changes speaks of the Supreme Ultimate, Zhou [Dunyi] speaks of the Ultimateless, the Buddhists speak of the Beginningless, the Daoists speak of the Primal Beginning: all of these speak of the ancestor of the Latter Heaven, whereas this is the root of the Former Heaven.'

Scan vol. 2, p. 4–8Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the first of the grades into which the first diagram divides: it is substance, the grade of non-movement. Someone objects: 'Where there is substance there is movement; why speak of non-movement?' The answer: 'This substance is the utmost of pure essence and does not fall into place or location. Whatever has vital energy moves, but this substance does not belong to vital energy; whatever has image moves, but this substance does not belong to image; whatever fills and pervades, reaching some places yet unable to reach everywhere, moves, but this substance is neither void nor solid and has no use at all for filling and pervading. That is why it is called the grade of non-movement.' Its grade is named non-movement, yet in reality it is that from which all the myriad movements arise. What moves has attachment; this substance does not move, and so it is without attachment. Not only is it not attached to sound and colour, it is not attached even to unfolding and folding; not only is it not attached to clamour and stillness, it is not attached even to awareness and illumination; not only is it not attached to place and location, it is not attached even to being and nonbeing. All illusory realms are impermanent, but this one Real Substance endures forever and does not decay; everything with form or without form has a beginning and an end, but this one Real Substance is without beginning and without end. Being without beginning, trace it back from before and one cannot find its boundary; being without end, follow it forward from after and one cannot find its conclusion. Where could anyone apply conjecture to it? Someone says: 'Meaning and principle, as things, are also unmoving and without attachment. Might it be that this substance belongs to the unobstructed penetration of meaning and principle, and that is why it is thus unmoving and without attachment?' The answer: 'This substance is the source from which the meanings and principles of past and present come forth, but at this juncture there is not yet any meaning or principle to be sought.' Therefore whoever studies this diagram will not find it by seeking in the place of movement, nor by seeking in the place of attachment. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): 'The Real Substance is real being; this, then, can be designated. Being without attachment is not mysterious nothingness: it is like fire within stone.'

Scan vol. 2, p. 9–12Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the second of the grades into which the first diagram divides. At this juncture the vast, empty substance itself has not moved in the least, yet it already harbours the incipience of its movement. Having no alternative, we name it 'first movement'. The grade of first movement is the Great Function of the whole substance. The Great Function has not yet shown itself at all; it is simply the natural subtlety contained in the substance itself, provisionally named 'function'. Is natural subtlety, then, function? Only in that, where there is natural subtlety, there must be a gathering, stirring incipience of wanting to move; for this reason it is named function. The Great Function is no more than two things: knowing and power. In the natural subtlety there is as yet no knowing, yet it already possesses the subtlety of knowing everything; there is as yet no power, yet it already possesses the subtlety of being able to do everything. 'Knowing' refers to its awareness and illumination; 'power' refers to its arranging. Awareness and illumination are not yet manifest, yet all the kinds of awareness and illumination that come after have their beginnings stored here; arranging leaves no trace, yet all the kinds of arranging that come after have their meanings concealed here. Knowing with nothing known, power with nothing done: this is the moment when function has not yet separated from its substance. Jami says: 'The meaning of knowing is governing, except that at this time its grade as Lord has not yet been distinguished; the meaning of power is making and completing, except that at this time the incipience of its making and completing has not yet appeared. The grade of the Great Function comprehends all the proper movements of being Lord and all the possible movements of being a thing, stored undifferentiated within it.' Jami's account may be said to grasp the essentials of this diagram. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): 'Substance is still, function moves; substance knows, function is able. The still substance is about to become manifest; the moving function is on the verge of arising. "Awareness and illumination not yet manifest" means there is nothing yet of which it is aware; "arranging leaves no trace" means there is nothing yet that it arranges. At this juncture it is like fire within charcoal.'

Scan vol. 2, p. 13–16Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the third of the grades into which the first diagram divides. Function is contained in substance, and at this juncture there is a slight incipience of showing itself; this is the grade of second movement. Doing nothing at all, it already holds in store the means of all doing. Spoken of in sum, these are knowing and power; spoken of in detail, they are giving life, transforming, bestowing, taking away, and all kinds of arranging and disposing. When function and substance are not yet divided, this is called the first manifestation; when function and substance first divide, this is called the second manifestation. The first manifestation is like the fire's own brightness: the brightness is one with the fire and does not reach far. The second manifestation is like the fire's outward light: though the light does not leave the fire, it can illuminate everything. At this juncture the grade of the Sovereign becomes manifest. For doing is done by the Sovereign; because there is doing, one knows that there is a Sovereign. Once the grade of the Sovereign is manifest, all the means of doing rise steadily from the inside out to the surface. Taking the Great Function of knowing and power and following it to the end, there is what is called beauty and what is called majesty. Beauty means harmony and accord: all the kinds of arranging, all the kinds of naming, all the kinds of meaning and principle belong to harmony and accord. Majesty means awe and severity: all self-strength, all constant victory, all everlasting vigour belong to awe and severity. The Sovereign's function of self-strength remains only within Himself and is not put to use; were it used, heaven and earth would be destroyed and the world would perish, for this function of self-strength does not allow a single thing to remain. Those who understand, pondering this realm, call it the Predetermination, for the Sovereign, about to create things, first stores up this Great Function beforehand. It is also called the Ink Pool, meaning that the patterns of heaven and earth and the principles of the myriad things are all first gathered in essence in the ink pool. Jami says: 'This grade is the Real One comprising all the movements that imprint traces from the root; it is the outward aspect of real being.' 'Imprinting traces from the root' means that the Real Sovereign bestows what His own substance possesses upon things, as a seal leaves its impression. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): 'The still realm is vast and calm; the incipience of movement surges up. Substance is the Real; function is the Sovereign. Only because there is the Real Sovereign is there creation. From the inside reaching to the outside, like fire giving rise to flame, from which ten thousand lamps may be lit. The name "Predetermination" and the image of the "Ink Pool" are refined and beautiful indeed.'

Scan vol. 2, p. 17–20Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the fourth grade in the division of grades of the first diagram. The mandate (ming) means the solemn, unceasing flowing-forth; it is the first grade of the Real Ruler's manifestation. It is not substance, not function, and not action either. For that which is manifested and becomes the mandate is the Real Ruler's manifestation: once it has been manifested, one can no longer call it the Ruler, yet neither can one hastily call it a thing. At this moment of solemn flowing-forth, the Real Ruler manifests, entirely within this first grade, the wonder of lacking nothing that is within its own substance. The first grade is the one comprehensive mandate of all the mandates of all ages. All later creation and transformation is this first grade manifesting, one by one, what the Real Ruler has manifested. The first grade is the Real Ruler's first grade, but it may not be called the Real Ruler. Whatever the first grade has is wholly what the Real Ruler has; the principles and images contained in the first grade are wholly the principles and images contained in the Real Ruler. All later affairs of creation are the first grade's affairs, and the Real Ruler seems to take no part in them. Therefore it is here named the Deputy Principle (dai li). Taking what is present within its flowing-forth, it is divided in two: one is nature (xing), one is intellect (zhi). Nature is the transformation of what in the Great Function was called knowing; intellect is the transformation of what in the Great Function was called ability. Nature and intellect are the knowing and ability of the Real Ruler. This nature is the head of all spiritual awareness through the ages; this intellect opens the beginning of all activity through the ages. Nature and intellect together are the capacity that carries out creation on the Ruler's behalf. Hereafter all things possessing spirit begin rooted in this nature: humans, spirits, birds and beasts, and the like. Hereafter all things possessing action begin rooted in this intellect: heaven, earth, the myriad things, and the like. For this reason the first grade is also named the Great Pen, meaning that all principles and images through the ages are written out from this Great Pen. It is also named the Way, for it is the road by which principles and images, past and present, go out and return. The Real Ruler's initiation of transformation never fails to arise from this station; and the return of the myriad transformations to the Real never fails to return by this station. A discerning one says: the myriad transformations return to the Real by way of this station; is there anything in this station that does not return to the Real together with the myriad transformations? Upon reaching this station, it too has returned to the Real; why then must one distinguish it as the first grade? Note (Hei of Qingyuan): When the Real Ruler manifests, the Great Mandate comes forth. The Real Ruler is knowing, the Great Mandate is ability; the Real Ruler is stillness, the Great Mandate is response. At this moment it is like a thought in the mind, like fire in hot water. Lianxi's (Zhou Dunyi's) Ultimateless, Qingni's Great Way, and Muni's (the Buddha's) Great Awakening all take this as their master.

Scan vol. 2, p. 21–25Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the fifth grade in the division of grades of the first diagram. It is where, within the Great Mandate of the First Manifestation, signs of division brightly appear. Colour and image have not yet taken form, yet their principles are already fully and densely present. Whatever is to be human or thing, sage or ordinary, high or low, and all the principles and vital energies that the World of Images possesses, all here seem to show one undivided trace. The root-suchness within the Great Mandate of the First Manifestation is called nature and called intellect. What is here called nature arises rooted in the nature within the Great Mandate: it is that by which humans are so. What is here called principle arises rooted in the intellect within the Great Mandate: it is that by which things are so. That by which humans and things are so both come from one source, with no difference. Why then is that by which things are so called principle, while that by which humans are so is alone called nature? Nature is what has spiritual awareness; naming its spiritual awareness distinguishes it from things. Nature is that by which humans are so, and human nature has, broadly, nine grades. Principle is that by which things are so, and the principles of things likewise have, broadly, nine grades. The first of natures, nearest to the Real Ruler, is the nature of the Utmost Sage; next the nature of the great sages; next the nature of the revered sages; next the nature of the ranked sages; next the great worthies; next the knowing; next the upright and scrupulous; next the good; next the ordinary: nine grades in all. The first of the principles of things, conforming to the Real Principle, is the principle of the 'Arsh (a-er-shi). The 'Arsh contains eight heavens and holds their function together; it is the greatest of the grades of heaven. Next is the principle of the Kursi (ku-er-xi). The Kursi contains seven heavens and carries out their function on its behalf, and it too lies within what the 'Arsh contains. Next the principle of the heaven of Saturn (earth-star), next that of the heaven of Jupiter (wood-star), next that of the heaven of Mars (fire-star), next that of the sun, next that of the heaven of Venus (metal-star), next that of the heaven of Mercury (water-star), next that of the moon: nine grades in all.

Scan vol. 2, p. 26–29Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

When the natures and principles of humans and heavens were complete, from the surplus of human nature there were further transformed the root-suchnesses of all birds and beasts; from the surplus of the root-suchness of birds and beasts, the root-suchnesses of all plants and trees; from the surplus of the root-suchness of plants and trees, the root-suchnesses of all metals and stones. These several classes too flowed forth out of the nine grades of human nature. Human nature has growth, has perception, has spiritual intelligence: it obtains the whole of nature. The nature of birds and beasts has growth and perception but no spiritual intelligence. The nature of plants and trees has growth only. And the nature of metals and stones has only firmness and fixity. From the surplus of the principles of the nine heavens were transformed the principles of the four elements: wind, fire, water and earth. The principle of heaven is to revolve without ceasing; the principles of wind, fire, water and earth likewise all revolve without ceasing, only the principle of earth shows a slight tendency to firmness and congealing. All of these divided in sequence and flowed forth. Then the surplus of all this flowing-forth and division, taken together, became the primordial murk (ming-xing): this is what is called vital energy (qi). Vital energy is the root of all forms and images. Someone asks: 'At the first division of nature and principle there are these differing grades and this unequal order of before and after. Did creation do this with a purpose, or without purpose, simply letting things be as they are of themselves?' The answer: 'The Real Principle, flowing forth to this extreme, must indeed let things be so of themselves; yet since, among them, high and low and their order never deviate by a hair, there is a fixed governance that arranges them. Therefore to call it purposive action will not do, and to call it non-action will not do.' Note (Hei of Qingyuan): The one reality divides into the myriad; the myriad differences have one root: this is what is called 'the Ultimateless and yet the Supreme Ultimate'. Colour and image have not yet taken form, yet principle is already complete, like ideas in consciousness. The primordial murk (ming-zha) is the very first of the Latter Heaven, and also the utmost point at which the transformations of the Former Heaven are exhausted and return to the root.

Scan vol. 2, p. 29–31Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the sixth grade in the division of grades of the first diagram. When the pure and refined grades of the Former Heaven have flowed forth to this point, there first appears an image of undivided chaos: this is what is called primal vital energy (yuan qi). The wonder of the Former Heaven, without colour or image, ends here; the traces of the Latter Heaven, with colour and image, begin here. This station is, one might say, the great pivot that receives the flow and spreads transformation. Although primal vital energy is the outer surface of the solemn flowing-forth, as a thing it is not outside nature and principle, nor outside the Great Mandate of the First Manifestation, nor outside the Complete Substance and Great Function. At the time of the Very Beginning without designation, the root-suchness of primal vital energy was already lodged within it. But at the very beginning, division had not taken form; flowing forth to this point, its root-suchness is revealed: it is the juncture at which what was within reaches the outside. As a thing it seems turbid yet is clear, seems a trace yet is subtle. In order of sequence it is the surplus of all the flowing-forth of the Former Heaven; yet when it is revealed, everything the Former Heaven possessed, humans together with their natures, things together with their principles, is revealed in consequence of this revelation of primal vital energy. Even what in the Very Beginning was called the Complete Substance and Great Function is likewise revealed in consequence of the revelation of primal vital energy. It is turbid, yet the clear cannot lie outside it; it is a trace, yet the subtle cannot depart from it. Therefore one who names it may not name it merely 'vital energy', but must name it 'primal vital energy'. 'Primal' is where all that is pure and refined gathers; 'vital energy' is the vessel in which all that is pure and refined is lodged. The diagram says 'vital energy manifest, principle hidden'. Principle is not hidden because of vital energy. Rather, principle as a thing has little motion and much stillness, while vital energy as a thing has much motion and little stillness. At this time vital energy moves and principle is still; that is why it is called hidden. What is hidden in each case waits for something before it is manifested. The revelation of primal vital energy also divides into six grades: first, the grade of undivided sameness, which is the positioning of this juncture; second, the grade of initiating transformation, in which yin and yang divide; third, the grade of broadening transformation, in which the four images become manifest; fourth, the grade of correct positioning, in which heaven and earth are fixed; fifth, the grade of proliferation, in which the myriad things are born; sixth, the grade of completion, in which humankind comes forth. When the six grades are complete, the work of primal vital energy is finished. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): The Real Principle is the net-cord of all spirits, and nature and principle divide from it; primal vital energy is the net-cord of all forms, and colour and image become manifest by it. Before this there was principle without trace, and vital energy was hidden in principle; after this there is trace and principle, and principle is hidden in vital energy. At this time it is like writing contained at the tip of the brush; when yin and yang divide and the four images become manifest, the writing has come down onto the page. This is the Supreme Ultimate.

Scan vol. 2, p. 32–36Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the grade of primal vital energy initiating transformation. Primal vital energy is the primordial murk of the solemn flowing-forth, and what it holds in store is all the surplus of nature and intellect within the Great Mandate of the Former Heaven. Its division into yin and yang still proceeds from what it received of the surplus of nature and intellect. Intellect is the beginning of action and the source of the delight in motion; so what primal vital energy received from the surplus of intellect must have an impulse delighting in motion, and it moves because it cannot but move. Nature rests and does not move along with it; so what primal vital energy received from the surplus of nature likewise does not move along. The surplus of nature and intellect, one moving and one not moving, thereupon produced within it an image of twofold division. What moves is called yang; what does not move is called yin. This is how the one vital energy transformed into a twofold division. When they first divided, the two were intermixed and not far apart. Later, yang gathered in one place and swiftly tended toward the outside; yin gathered in one place and faintly tended toward the inside. The surplus of intellect transformed into yang; the surplus of nature transformed into yin. Thus the root of yin and yang arises from the surplus of nature and intellect. Someone asks: 'When the Former Heaven speaks of principle, nature precedes intellect; when the Latter Heaven speaks of vital energy, intellect precedes nature. In the flowing of primal vital energy, is this not putting first what came after and putting after what came first?' The answer: 'In the time of the Former Heaven, when principle prevails, intellect is stored in nature and nature in fact encloses intellect. In the time of the Latter Heaven, when vital energy prevails, nature is stored in intellect and intellect in fact encloses nature. Hence the main line of yang arises from the surplus of intellect and stands first; the main line of yin arises from the surplus of nature and stands after. This too is an order of before and after that proceeds as it cannot but proceed.' Note (Hei of Qingyuan): This is the Changes' 'The Changes have the Supreme Ultimate, which gives birth to the Two Modes.' Yin is still and yang moves, but who has glimpsed its root? Yin on the left and yang on the right, but no one has recognized the error. Now it is said that they are rooted in nature and intellect and issue toward outside and inside, and all the meanings become clear. Looking at the diagram, it is like the image of muddy water not yet settled and already settled, and the principle becomes still clearer. Yin and yang divide at the same moment; the explainer's talk of an order of before and after is a mistake.

Scan vol. 2, p. 37–40Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the rank of vital energy's broad transformation. At this juncture yin and yang transform into water and fire. When water obtains fire, air (qi) is produced; when fire scorches water, earth is produced. Thus water, fire, earth and air: the four images are formed. Someone asks: "Why do yin and yang transform into water and fire?" I reply: "Yang is rooted in the wisdom within the First Mandate, and wisdom is in turn rooted in the capacity within the Great Function; wisdom and capacity both shine outward. This is why yang transforms into fire, for fire is what shines outward. Yin is rooted in the nature within the First Mandate, and nature is in turn rooted in the knowing within the Great Function; nature and knowing both illuminate inward. This is why yin transforms into water, for water is what illuminates inward." Water, receiving the blaze of fire, produces air; air is the subtle transformation of water that seeks to rise. Although the body of water tends downward, it contains true yang within, so that on receiving the blaze of fire its air strives straight upward. Fire, contending with water, produces earth; earth is the residual trace of fire that seeks to fall. Although the body of fire tends upward, it contains true yin within, so that in contending with water its earth cannot but fall. Of the four, water, fire, earth and air, the high contain a tendency to attach below and the low contain a cause for attaching above. They are called the four origins (siyuan) because they are the ancestral origin of all forms and colours. Their root meaning is the four singles (siji): 'single' means unpaired, that is, each of the four images forms its own line alone, without a partner. Hereafter, when metal and wood are produced, there will be paired lines. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): "Yin and yang transforming into water and fire is like the knowing and capacity of the Former Heaven transforming into nature and wisdom; water and fire interlacing to produce air and earth is like nature and wisdom flowing forth to produce principle and qi. Fire is rooted in wisdom and capacity, so its flame shines outward and blazes upward; yet it contains true yin within, so below it is quenched by water and its ashes become earth. Water is rooted in nature and knowing, so rivers illuminate inward and moisten downward; yet it contains true yang within, so above it is warmed by fire and steams up as air. At first fire was above and water below, and earth, being turbid yin, passed through the air and went down; earth having gone down, the clear yang air went up. Next, earth, being heavier than water, in turn sank beneath the water; air, being lighter than fire, in turn rose past the fire. Air and fire rose day by day, earth and water sank day by day, and so an empty interval was marked off between them."

Scan vol. 2, p. 41–44Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the rank of vital energy's settling into position. The air of true yang issues outward and becomes heaven; the substance of true yin gathers inward and becomes earth. Hence heaven envelops earth and earth lodges in the centre of heaven, like the yolk and white of an egg. With heaven and earth settled in position, water and fire are held within them. Heaven is air, and air is water that has received the blaze of fire and mounted upward: this is why heaven is positioned above. Earth is soil, and soil is the trace left when fire contends with water and falls downward: this is why earth is positioned below. To be positioned above and below is to be divided in form into outer and inner. Looking at heaven from the earth, it seems that heaven is high and earth low; but viewed as the whole form of heaven and earth, in truth heaven is outer and earth inner. Fire, having nothing to cling to, attaches itself to heaven. When the body of heaven was first formed, its air flew up in ordered tiers, and fire, following those tiers, scattered into it and became the images of the sun, moon, stars and constellations. Water by nature goes downward and attaches itself to earth. When the body of earth was first fixed, its lie was here high and there low, here firm and there porous, and water, following the highs and lows, the firm and porous, flowed and soaked into it and became the shapes of the rivers, seas, streams and channels. The trace of fire falls downward while its clear part attaches above to heaven; the true yang of water rises upward while its turbid part attaches below to earth. So of the images in heaven and the shapes on earth, none is formed except through the interlacing of water and fire. The reason water and fire cannot but interlace is that within yang there is true yin and within yin there is true yang; yang is not purely yang, nor yin purely yin. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): "When the four images took form, above and below were separated; and when form endures it becomes firm and fixed. But once yin and yang have divided, how can yang still contain yin and yin still contain yang? I answer: water and fire both come from one origin, and in yin and yang neither can wholly prevail. See how fire is dark within and water bright within, and this is plain."

Scan vol. 2, p. 45–48Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the rank of vital energy's proliferation. With heaven and earth settled in position and water and fire interlacing, the work of transformation and nurture begins. The myriad things cannot be transformed and nurtured without a cause: within heaven, earth, water and fire there first coalesce metal, wood and the living, these three, to serve as the guiding cords for transforming and nurturing all that exists. Metal, wood and the living are each formed by some combination. Metal is based on the congealing of earth and water and is completed by receiving the transforming action of air and fire. Wood is based on the bestowal of air and fire and grows by receiving the nourishment of earth and water. The living is based on the convergence of all four, air, fire, water and earth, and overflows to fill the space between. Seen from the transforming and nurturing of heaven and earth, metal, wood and the living are the three children of heaven and earth; seen from the transforming and nurturing of the three, they in turn are the mothers of the forms and colours of all that exists. Thus when the metal-qi flows forth, mountains obtain it and become jade and stone; waters obtain it and become pearls and oysters; soil obtains it and becomes ores of the five metals; birds and beasts obtain it and it becomes their treasures; plants obtain it and it becomes their essences; and all things obtain it and each thereby becomes hard, bright, stable and firm. When the wood-qi flows forth, mountains obtain it and grow fine trees; waters obtain it and grow duckweed and algae; fertile soil obtains it and grows grain; poor soil obtains it and grows grasses. Among these four kinds of growth, those endowed chiefly with earth have solid substance, those endowed chiefly with air are hollow within, those endowed chiefly with water have many flowers, those endowed chiefly with fire have much fruit; but all obtain this wood-qi for their transformation and nurture. When the living-qi flows forth, those born in the mountains are running beasts, whose bodies resemble hills; those born in forests are flying birds, whose feathers resemble branches and leaves; those born in water are scaled and shelled creatures, whose scales and shells resemble ripples; those born in the earth are burrowing insects, whose bodies resemble soil. Among these four kinds of birth, those endowed chiefly with air and fire can fly; those endowed chiefly with earth and water can run; those endowed chiefly with air and earth are mild in nature; those with fire and earth are fierce; those with air and water are greedy; those with water and fire are violent; but all obtain this living-qi for their transformation and nurture. Metal, wood and the living are, within the transforming and nurturing of heaven and earth, its three children; yet afterwards all things depend on them for their beginning, so they are in truth the mothers of the forms and colours of all that exists. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): "The great progenitors of the myriad things are three. Earth joins with water to produce metal; air joins with fire to produce wood; the four qi join together to produce the living kinds. Thus heaven produces one, earth produces one, and heaven and earth together produce one; hence there are only three. The qi of the three enter into all that exists, and each thing is named after the qi that prevails in it: where metal-qi prevails it is called metal, where wood-qi prevails it is called wood, where living-qi prevails it is called bird or beast. Know that within the myriad things there are myriad things. Their birth has a natural order: first metal, then wood, then birds and beasts. The reason is that without metal wood does not grow, and without wood birds and beasts are not nurtured. Moreover, all things are born from the earth, proceeding from below upward: so metal is hidden within the soil, wood appears above the soil, and birds and beasts move and fly in the air. The three carry out the transforming and nurturing of heaven and earth on their behalf; hence they are called the mothers of things."

Scan vol. 2, p. 49–54Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share

This is the rank of vital energy's completion. When heaven, earth and the myriad things are all in place, the human being is born. The birth of the human is not simply left to the qi of yin and yang rubbing and stirring against one another; there is truly the Real Ruler presiding over it. For if there were heaven and earth but no human, what use would the setting-up of heaven and earth be? If there were the myriad things but no human, to whom would the use of the myriad things return? From this we know that heaven, earth and the myriad things were all produced for the sake of the human. As for the human, the whole substance and great function of the Real Ruler are entirely gathered in him. With a knowing and capacity that are so of themselves, it worked the finest essence of the four elements, air, earth, water and fire, and after forty mornings his body was first completed, its outer and inner parts, frame and apertures, all corresponding to what exists in the world. The human body comprises the bodies of all that exists; the human heart embraces the hearts of all that exists; the human nature contains in undivided form the natures of all that exists. This is why the human is the most spiritual of the myriad things. Discussed by the principle of the Former Heaven, what makes the human human is the seed of all principle and qi; even vital energy issues from this seed. Discussed by the principle of the Latter Heaven, what makes the human human is the fruit of all principle and qi; from the time vital energy divided into yin and yang, running straight through to the end, all its manifestations came about for nothing other than this fruit. The fruit of the Latter Heaven is the seed of the Former Heaven. His frame and apertures lack no excellence, and the most subtle of them are the heart and the nature. The nature has ten virtues: five illuminate outward and five illuminate inward. Seeing, hearing, speaking, smelling and touching are called the five senses; they are distributed from the heart and issue at the surface. Recollecting, deliberating, retaining, awakening and general awareness are called the five powers; they are distributed from wisdom and lodged in the brain. The heart has seven layers, and its feelings are ten: joy, anger, love, aversion, grief, delight, worry, desire, hope and fear. When the ten feelings of the heart issue in accord with the ten virtues of the nature, that is the highest of its ranks. This is what makes the human human. The one who first received creation and became a human body is named Adam (Adan). The multitude of humankind hereafter were all born of Adam; even his mate came forth from his left rib. Adam is the first ancestor of all under heaven for ten thousand generations. Note (Hei of Qingyuan): "The four origins and the three children gathered their essence and formed the human body; the whole substance and great function were entirely gathered and formed the human nature; the Former Heaven and the Latter Heaven were knotted together and formed the human, the most spiritual of the myriad things. Heaven and earth are like a tree and the human is its fruit; the tree is fulfilled in the fruit, and when the human emerged the work of creation was complete. Hence it is called the rank of great completion. The fruit of the Latter Heaven is the seed of the Former Heaven. If one knows that the fruit is no different from the seed, one may come near to knowing how to fulfil one's humanity."

Scan vol. 2, p. 55–60Transcribed from the scan by AI (Claude), checked as described on the About page. Share