Decoding of the Lao-zi (Dao-De Jing): Numerological Resonance of the Canon's Structure

Decoding of the Lao-zi (Dao-De Jing):

Numerological Resonance of the Canon’s Structure

Published by Alexander Goldstein

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Alexander Goldstein

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Contents

Author’s Note

Part One: Groundwork

Chapter 1: A Journey from ‘Wu-ji’ to ‘Tai-ji’ and Back Again

Chapter 2: The Pre-Han Historical Context: Three Books of Changes

Chapter 3: A New Trip from Concealed Maps to Harmonious Formation of Numbers

Part Two: Framework

Chapter 1: The Canon’s Architecture

Chapter 2: The Five Pairs of Central Verses as Binders of Canon’s Structure

Chapter 3: A Few Constructive Remarks

Part Three: Fieldwork (Mythography)

Chapter 1: The Legend: Masters of Oneness

Chapter 2: The Wudang Mountains: The Cradle of Tai-ji Quan

Chapter 3: From ‘Huang-Lao’ to ‘Lao-Zhuang’

Appendix

The Complete Translation of the Dao-De Jing with Commentaries

About Author

Endnote

Author’s Note

Since the end of the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century interest in the Chinese Lao-zi, better known as the Dao-De Jing, has risen to unprecedented levels in Europe and America. It has gained an immense popular reputation as a piece of one of the most ancient world philosophies, a reputation no doubt enhanced by the interest shown in it by the Russian writer Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910) and Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961) who has advocated that this is one of the titles on a short list of Chinese books every civilised person should read. As a result, translations, popularisations and works of study have flooded onto the market in recent hundred years. The various editions of it are innumerable; it has appeared from time to time in almost every conceivable size, shape and style of execution. Many commentaries have been written upon it, and it is regularly published with a collection of several hundred anecdotes along with pictorial illustrations to explain every stanza seriatim. It may, therefore, seem superfluous to add yet another title to an already extensive literature. This work object is not to restore the original Lao-zi, but on the basis of the logical rules and numerological analysis disclose its canonical structure. In the intrinsic line with current philosophical perspective and the theory of cognition, this is an attempt to comprehend Lao-zi’s epistemological model revealed through two correlative aspects specified as the heavenly 'Dao' and earthly 'De.'

The initial phrase of the Book of Dao, which says, Dao that can be followed is not the absolute Dao (Verse 1) signals that the term ‘Dao’ may denote numerological item-systems of guiding the absolute and non-absolute, positive and negative, tangible and intangible, Dao and non-Dao, also known as De. The contrast of the positive and negative, material and immaterial, heavenly and earthly pervades the original Lao-zi. My conception of the terms ‘Dao’ and ‘De’ is quite different from that of most researchers. But this is not the place to justify myself. It may best be judged from the following pages whether my viewpoint is acceptable or incorrect. In any case, I must be satisfied with offering the overall result of my labours. My dream has been to reproduce the canon of five thousand and odd characters in a readable form, which would be as precise as the difference of languages permits to be intelligible to English-speaking readers. Lao-zi’s work is far too broad in implication to be fully captured by such a specific language as English. English words cannot be made as fat with meaning as Chinese characters in their ancient ideographic script, unless they spread out in another course or dimension. Therefore, the reader’s proficiency in reading Lao-zi’s scripture ‘back-to-front’ will allow him or her to take them as a hologram, a three-dimensional model and a whole piece, the method which is widely employed in traditional arts, including the Tai-ji Quan practice. The present translation addresses this problem by offering a multidimensional matrix, from which a virtually unlimited number of translations can be derived. This offers an average of perhaps half a dozen different English options for each Chinese word and often demonstrates choices between different figurative patterns and logical constructions. This may be so unusual and so contradictory to most readers that it is the best thought of as a demonstration of the thought processes by which translation of each line has been derived. It can still be used to answer some questions about the turn of certain phrases and often deliberate polysemy and ambiguities in the original. There are several reasons for such confusion. The most obvious is that there exists a large demand for this book, while most of the readers within this market know next to nothing about the Old Chinese (gu-wen) and ways of thinking of the ancients. They seem to trust that publishing house editors, or the reviewers quoted on the covers, are more knowledgeable. This is not the case. But there is still a deeper source of confusion. The original work is not that much better understood in Chinese than in English. Tons of volumes of interpretation exist in the Chinese language, dating as far back as Wang Bi and He-shang Gong in the second century CE. Interpretations tend to follow schools of philosophical thought and cumulative error that this often entails. Often the systems of thought, which were in some way derived from the canon, were used retroactively to clarify the meaning of the original. The original language is terse, ambiguous in places and full of word play; it has no set parts of speech, no tense, gender, voice, mood, plurals, etc. In many ways, it resembles the subject of divination on the tortoise shells and yarrow stalks more than it does correlative language. Most words carry a large number of possible translations in many parts of speech and intended meanings and do not become clearer until studied in their more oriented contexts, when specific patterns and analytical models come in the picture. Therefore, the structural analysis and deductive approach need to be done to read the text in its originally epistemological significance to disclose the centuries-old ‘mystery’ of Lao-zi.

The problem is made more difficult by the fact that, in places, the text is obviously corrupt. The pre-Han period Old Chinese is written with extreme brevity, this is especially true of the Dao-De Jing. The meaning of a phrase of the whole line can be totally changed if a single character is written wrongly, or if the meaning of an ancient character has changed or been forgotten at all. Later interpreters have to rely on the previous commentary apparatus to obtain the true meaning of the text and that commentary apparatus is not always accurate. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the modern reader's attention is sufficiently strong to allow him or her to confront a number of surprises as we delve deeper into the subject. Together, we shall have to deal fairly firmly with traditional material, examining both its chronology and its authorship. The results of this examination will show that the chronology must be revised to give later dates than those commonly accepted for the original itself; and in the process of connection with such a famous name as Li Er, or Lao Dan (c. 580 BCE) will necessarily be exposed as part of legendary heritage. In this edition, the Lao-zi will also be called Dao-De Jing, as this title comes from the name of the Dao-De School (instead of succeeding ‘dao-jia,’ by analogy with the Confucian ‘ru-jia’), the adherents of which unified the name of their self-determination; its authors will be referred to as Lao-zi, the author of the Dao-De Jing, leaving questions of identification open (the question of plural authorship should also be regarded as open). For me, the key question was how to surmount all these difficulties after I had found the clue to interpretation, which, in fact, I had unconsciously acted on in all my previous translations of the other classical texts. The point is that the written characters of Old Chinese are not representation of words, but symbols of ideas and that the combination of them in a composition is not a representation of what an author would say but of what he thinks. It is vainly, therefore, for the translator of the Dao-De Jing to attempt a highly literal version. When the symbolic characters have brought his mind a rapport with that of his author, he is free to render the ideas in his own or any other speech in the best manner that he can attain. This is the rule which Mencius (c.372–289 BCE) followed in interpreting the old songs and poems of his country, saying, We must try to meet the scope of a lyric line, and then we shall apprehend it. When the characters of old are translated verbatim et literatim, the translation is necessarily awkward and obscure. In a sense, Sinologists have unintentionally done Lao-zi an injustice by their scholarship. I have tried to peer into the circularly arranged 81 verses with their ‘living’ and, therefore, changeable in their significance pictographs and prayed that their figurative traits would make me sound to assume aright.

The subject matter of Lao-zi’s terminology is at once both smaller and larger than the canon’s contents. Smaller in that, as a Classic, it deals primarily with certain ancient schemes worked out around eight three-line figures termed ‘ba-gua,’ better known as the eight trigrams and ‘wu-xing,’ the five phases of everyday activity, manifested in their various arrangements, correspondences and applications rather than with textural language of this relatively short scripture. Larger in that it examines the concepts related to Chinese logic and numerology in a much broader context as a part of all-encompassing cosmological system developed, for the most part, from entirely different roots. It is a fully independent system which seeks to explain the nature of the world and its processes in terms of the Three Powers (san-cai), Yin and Yang principles, forward (shun) and backward (ni) moving numbers (shu), diagrams (tu), figures (gua), directions (fang-wei) and so on, correlated together like interlocking rings. This system generally survives in commentaries to the Zhou Yi (the Book of Circular Changes), also known as the third out of Three Books of Changes (san-yi), as well as in a number of other Classics from the same period of Chinese antiquity. Originally, intended as a logical guidance for superior men and leaders of a country, community and family, the Dao-De Jing came to be a handbook for living in the constantly changing world by realising the concept of two correlative principles of ‘Dao’ and ‘De’ derived from the same source and headed to the same destination called ‘Oneness,’ the Absolute, also known as the Great Dao (da dao).

As the reader will see, though there is no downright evidence of it in the original itself, the canon is a product of much later philosophical thought, which can be shown to have reached its greatest state of elaboration during the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). Unfortunately or not, but its reputation as a piece of ancient wisdom of one single sage-author is such that it has become commonplace simply to accept everything in it, both the original text and commentary, at face value. In some cases, where the body text was reinterpreted from a certain narrow viewpoint, the results could be positively misleading. This is as true of some ‘first water' translators as it is of its popularizers and, more often than not, the traditions attached to it are simply repeated unquestioningly, while totally disregarding the scientific work of the immediate past. And this is not surprising. Much of this scientific research is both technical and inaccessible to the general reader who may find its inferences unpalatable. I obviously cannot view all the interpretations here, as my interest is mostly numerological than linguistic. I can justify my point whichever Chinese numerology tells from of old, looking for the algorithm of logical assumption that could better defend Lao-zi's attitude and explain his reasoning.

For the above reasons, I have perceived a need to return to the oldest version of content available hitherto, as best as it can be reconstructed from the point of numerological and logical analysis, rather than plod word by word through this five thousand and odd characters text until it makes sense. Paradoxically, but owing to its word by word translation into various languages, these translations often miss the meaning of old characters. Of course, to comprehend in full Lao-zi’s context every word must be understood more or less objectively in terms of one’s own sensual experience and verbal skills. To reach the height of objectivity I have used to resort to a three-step analytical method and deductive approach, scrutinizing carefully tens and tens of commentaries compiled upon the original during the more than two thousand years that have passed since it was issued. The present translation has been made after studying many of these commentaries and talking with a number of Daoist masters and Tai-ji Quan experts. I have tried to expose the Dao-De Jing as a philosophical work with specific terminology and lots of complex schemes, not just as a Daoist treatise. It is, after all, a top-rank Classic, which has survived throughout these two millennia and, as it turned out, if introduced properly, which is able to speak for itself.

It occurs to me that one primary flaw lies at the root of every translation that has been published hitherto—this is that each one seems to have been based solely on commentaries furnished by members of the following Daoist School—here, I think, an injustice has been done to Lao-zi again. To a Confucian scholar, the Daoist system, in every sense of the word, is a source of the universe, as the Daoist element enters largely into all, and a commentator who holds this belief is certainly the best expositor. Now in metaphysical speculation now in pursuits of alchemy, now in the search for the pills of immortality and the ‘elixir vitae’ now in astrological fancies, now in visions of spirits now in magical arts to control them, . . and finally in the terrors of its purgatory and everlasting hell—its phases have been continually changing and at present it attracts the notice more as a degraded adjunct of Buddhism than as a development of the speculations of Lao-zi and Zhuang-zi. Up to its association with Buddhism, it subsisted as opposition to the Confucian system, which, while admitting the existence and rule of the Supreme Power, based its teachings on the study of man's personality and the enforcement of the duties, binding on all men from the ethical principles of their constitution. As for Lao-zi, he never denied these values but tried to regulate them through the middle way (the golden mean) and proper positioning of oneself in the centre, so much ingrained in the Confucian School. Wang Bi, in his commentary, vehemently strives to prove this theory, not only that Daoism and Confucianism are at one upon such points, but that the latter is actually based upon the former, being a mere carrying-out in practice, a careful systematizing, as it were, of the radical doctrines of canonized then in the Tang-period Lao Jün, or Lord Lao-zi. How come this becomes possible? Because both schools derived from the same source of Chinese numerological systems styled ‘He-tu’ and ‘Luo-shu.’ Commentary in this edition will be made on some of obscure cultural references and passages where misinterpretation has been the most common. Restraint has been the most difficult where refraining from explaining such key terms as ‘dao,’ ‘de,’ ‘xuan,’ ‘zi-ran,’ ‘wu-wei’ and so forth. For these, the reader is referred to the Groundwork at the beginning of this work.

As it has been mentioned earlier, in the study of a Chinese classical text, there is not so much an interpretation of the characters employed by the writer as participation of his thoughts; there is the seeing of mind to mind. The canon hence derived for the translator is not one of the licenses. It will be his intention to convey the meaning of the original as accurately and concisely as possible. But it will be required for him to introduce a word or two, now and then, to indicate what the mind of the writer supplied for itself. What I have done in this position will generally be seen enclosed in the following chapters with a hope that I have been effective in this way to make the translation comprehensible to readers. If, after all, they shall conclude that in what is said on the verses there is often much ado about nothing, it is not the translator who should be deemed accountable for that, but the original.

Nonetheless, this book is not just a work of disclosure. In clearing away the dead wood of Daoist tradition, the body text itself is still remained to be largely reconsidered; however, for those whose interest in it lies primarily in its value as a self-cultivating manual nothing at all is lost. And with the dead trees removed, it is possible to shed a much clearer light on the commentator’s facts surrounding the Dao-De Jing, specifically on that part of them, which deals with a classical structure and its involvement in the correlative system of Han. That the material, with which we have to consider, is the work of anonymous author(s) of a later date than previously thought does nothing to destroy the intrinsic interest or value of cognition itself. Dating the matter to the Han period opens the door for different interpretations and speculations; it allows us to suggest possible solutions to a number of problems that have remained unsolved for many years, among which dialectical relationship of the Dao-De Jing with the Zhou Yi (the Book of Circular Changes), as well as with a complete philosophical system of the Zhong Yong (Doctrine of Precise Acting Through Due Mean), also known as The Doctrine of Due Mean, which is about the central positioning in accord with one’s preferences to obtain the ultimate goal, the concert with one’s environment.

Acknowledgements

It is only after several years of hesitation that I have undertaken a new version of the Dao-De Jing, as it may be translated The Canon of Two Ways of Oneness: the Dao and De. I candidly admit that this has not been done without some effort. As such, it owes an enormous thanks to earlier scholars in the field. My gratitude is no less keenly felt where, on the odd occasion, I have reason to disagree with the opinions of many of them; none of them is responsible, of course, for the purpose I have made of their support and priceless assistance, for which I cannot be sufficiently grateful. It is in the nature of such studies that problems arise where solutions may differ, or where no definite answer appears to be possible. Such problems may still be examined and, therefore, I have allowed myself the liberty to offer speculations, no matter how tentative, where straightforward answers are not possible. Hopefully, such speculations will be immediately apparent to the acute reader, and will be seen in the context of elaborate material. However, I cannot help thinking that I have advanced a step towards understanding of the true significance. There are some passages, the existing translations of which, I believe, to be partially or wholly in doubt, and of these I now offer a new rendering with confidence.

Strange as it may seem, there is one more debt of gratitude to record, to Wang Fu-si (226-249 CE), better known under the name of Wang Bi, an outstanding intellect renowned for his brilliant approach to many Chinese Classics, who died at the early age of twenty-four. He was one of the acknowledged leaders of the movement called Xuan-xue (namely, Studies of the Three Powers and Five Phases of Activity) also known as san-wu (the 3:5 integrating), a revival of Daoist thought that came into prominence during the Wei-period (220-265 CE) and dominated on the Chinese intellectual scene until the sixth century. The movement has been identified, perhaps inappropriately, as ‘Neo-Daoism’ in some Western sources. It signifies a broad philosophical front united in its attempt to discern the true meaning of ‘Dao-De,’ not in terms of a sectarian school. The adherents did not neglect the Confucian Classics but drew inspiration mainly from the Zhou Yi, Lao-zi, and Zhuang-zi, which were then referred to as the Three Studies of Trinity (san-xuan), that is to say, the three main canons unlocking the spirit of Dao-De. Wang Bi, despite his short lifespan, distinguished himself as a brilliant interpreter of the Lao-zi and Zhou Yi, his works have always been much prised. It was his book which Lu De-ming used in his Explanations of Terms and Phrases on Classics written in the seventh century CE. I need not speak of editions or commentaries next to Wang Bi's first and most sophisticated analysis on the Dao-De Jing, they soon begin to be many, so numerous as those of the Confucian Classics. It was with him that my research began; without him, none of what follows would have been written. It may be that my work contains far more of myself than I am aware of; but even so, it is an outpouring of the thoughts and feelings called up in me by Wang Bi’s words about the quintessence of Dao-De reflected in Lao-zi’s doctrine of centeredness (zhong).

-- AG

Written in the third day of the fifth lunar month of the cyclical year Xin-mao.

chao wen dao, xi si ke yi

Once you grasp the way of Dao, all your past mistakes can be buried.

-- Confucius (The Analects, Book 4, Section 8)

That government which governs least, governs best.

-- Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

Part One: Groundwork

Chapter 1: A Journey from ‘Wu-ji’ to ‘Tai-ji’ and Back Again

It is to be hoped that the reader will have at least some basic familiarity with the Chinese cosmological background that play a crucial part in the material assembled on the following pages. By the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) the latest version of the Dao-De Jing was seen as one of the greatest philosophical works on the nature of social order; its numerological and symbolic systems (xiang-shu) had been fully integrated into a correlative cosmology.

Of course, it goes without saying that the canon’s system developed in a particular historical and geographical context, reflecting the social conditions and concerns of its time. Nevertheless, as a canon, it is a symbolic work, and its symbols transcend its context. When this is properly understood, all 81 sections of it termed verses and divided into two halves have universal application. Any attempt to translate them with no account taken of the numerological and symbolic systems means to remove them entirely from systematic canon’s context and narrow the field of application, causing damage to philosophical concepts it contains. At worst, it can result in a distortion of the meaning, which is quite inappropriate to the original.

For the benefit of those who might not be familiar with the commentaries on the Dao-De Jing and for those to whom a summary of Chinese cosmology might be useful as a quick reference, this chapter provides a concise look at some of the basic philosophical concepts and numerological systems. Most of these concepts originated shortly before the Han dynasty, although their integration together is largely a product of Han China.

A Few Words about Chinese Cosmology

Chinese have traditionally viewed the world as composed of ‘wan-wu’ (literally, ‘ten thousand things,’ meaning the whole world collectively). Things infinitely numerous in shapes and sizes dazzle the human senses with an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colours, sounds, aromas, tastes and textures. From birth people are forced to find their proper place within these ever-turning worldly things around them. And philosophy they develop can provide them with wisdom and skills that determine how successful they will be with their means for survival.

The features of cosmic realm are explicated largely by the aid of language and images of the standard Chinese cosmological system. This system, often referred to as ‘correlative cosmology,’ is based on a series of numerological and symbolic patterns (xiang-shu), such as Yin and Yang, the three powers (san-cai), the five phases of activity (wu-xing), the eight trigrams (ba-gua) and so forth. All these figures function as categories, to which the single entities or phenomena can easily be assigned. The five phases of activity, as an instance, emblematise specific modes, in which the primal substance-qi (yuan-qi) issued from the Absolute, or ‘Great Dao’ (da dao), appears in the cosmos under the names of natural elements, such as Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Directions of space, segments of seasonal cycles, numbers, colours, organs of the human body, musical notes, planets and so forth can be assigned to one of these emblematic categories in order to define not only the relations that occur among the elements of a series, but also those that occur among the different realms. Wood, for example, is associated with the east, spring, colour ‘qing’ (green and bluish), Jupiter, liver and the musical note ‘jiao.’ The purpose of correlative cosmology, as a comprehensive system, is not so much to explain what causes an apparent entity to exist as to define its unapparent relation to other phenomena. An important corollary to this view is that an event or action performed in one domain may affect the corresponding components in another domain according to the principle of ‘motive and response’ (gan-ying), by which things of the same category (lei) influence each other. Correlative cosmology, which took shape as a comprehensive system between the third and the second centuries BCE, was not tied to any specific intellectual or ideological legacy; it was the result of an effort to create a comprehensive analytic and synthetic system with contributions both by thinkers and specialists of various traditional activities, including diviners, astronomers, strategists, administrators and physicians. The Dao-De School was one of several traditions, which had drawn upon this system to formulate its notions and to frame its techniques and practices.

In the categorical thinking, inherently preoccupied with the relation of macrocosm to microcosm, it came to be applied to many areas of inquiry, among which the most significant were (1) the portent theory; (2) rectification of names; and (3) point-by-point analogies between the human body, the body politic, and the universe. We are familiar enough with body analogies; we often talk of heads of state, for example. The portent theory and rectification of names, however, may need some explanation for the modern reader. Early Chinese portent theory assumed that a king, as focus for his state and people, exerted an influence for good or for ill upon those entities that were accounted his categorical analogues: Heaven, because it was high; the Big Dipper as pivot for the sky; father as a head of the household and so on. More specifically, evildoing on the part of mankind’s representative on earth (namely, the supreme ruler and the Son of Heaven) provokes dislocations in his counterparties in the natural world.

The mentioned above correlative cosmology suggests that all existence is associated with the Yin and Yang principles. Since the symbolism of metaphorical language failed to convey the meaning of Yin-Yang, a more appropriate symbol was required. Of all of the cosmological diagrams invented in China, the Tai-ji motif is no doubt the most famous. It also remains the most useful symbol for expressing the Yin-Yang theory. Characters for ‘Tai-ji’ should first be analysed before discussing the symbol itself. When the characters for Tai-ji written in archaic script (gu-wen) are broken down, we find that the individual pictograph ‘tai’ refers to something at once very big and very small, expressing the idea of extremes. Hence, its extremely big part is so big that there is nothing in the world bigger than that, while extremely small part is so small that there is nothing smaller than that either. As to the second graph ‘ji,’ it is more complicated and depicts an adult man standing between Heaven and Earth depicted by two strokes above and below; we also can trace the right hand to the right of him and mouth to his left to declare the universal principle of Naturalness (zi-ran), which should be regarded as adequacy zi-zuo zi-shou (literally, as a man sows, so he shall reap). Implemented on the individual level of Man whose proper place is always between Heaven and Earth, the pictograph ‘ji’ ties the three vertical and three horizontal parts in a bundle of ‘san-cai’ (three powers) and ‘wu-xing’ (five phases of activity). It also means ‘extreme,’ but more importantly a ‘pole,’ the extreme of any axis. In ancient times, it was a common word for ridgepole, upon which the structure of a house would rest. With reference to cosmology, Tai-ji is the principle of Supreme Extremes, the cosmological ridgepole which supports the whole universe. However, since the sphere of all-encompassing influence of it is fathomless, its true meaning is supposed to be Extremeless. In philosophical terms, Tai-ji means the Absolute. It is the most basic principle upon which ‘wu-xing’ (the five phases of activity) and ‘wan-wu’ (the ten thousand things) rest. The Absolute is so limitless and pervasive that it does not have any apparent signs to be perceived. For this reason, the Yin-Yang combination becomes its first apparent attribute. The motif for Tai-ji, or Supreme Extremes, is intertwining of Yin and Yang diagrammed as a small circle within a big one. The parts are not static but constantly in motion, varying their relationship in fluctuating percentages, or even transforming one into the other. Through the varied interactions of Yin-Yang the universe remains to be in ceaseless change; therefore, it roots in Tai-yi, or Ultimate Change. Tai-yi is supposed to be derived from the concept of Wu-ji, Ultimate Nothingness, which includes in its bottomless womb the entire universe and all, but which we cannot observe; hence we refer to it as Emptiness.

Though limited by the framework of the diagram, the Tai-ji motif contains within itself the myriad things and their conditions. In fact, the Yin-Yang interaction portrays an endless cycle, the mechanism of reproduction and multiplication of all under heaven. Tai-ji is not simply an embodiment of Yin-Yang chaotically mixing but the origin from which the two elementary forms (liang-yi) are issued forth. These two forms are followed by the four emblematic symbols (si-xiang), which then creates the opportunity for the eight three-line figures better known as the eight trigrams (ba-gua) to emerge. This three-step process works as the genesis of the universe; afterwards, the myriad things and their various forms multiply endlessly. As for Tai-ji, it remains to be the source of all things at every stage of multiplication. Similar to coordination of both hands, the Tai-ji motif is tied to deities in Heaven and spirits on Earth to fix the sequence of moving simple numbers: from the smallest 1 to the largest 9 and back again, owing to which there is a strong connection between the past, present and the future in all available opposed categories, such as good and bad, light and dark, within and without, movement backward (ni) and forward (shun), so on and on. Inherent in this is the concept of Dao, usually translated as the Way, to indicate the process of development, which invisibly penetrates into all and exists within everything, unfolding the limits of the myriad species without revealing its own appearances. It gives birth and fashions the stuffs of such great abstractions as the round Heaven and square Earth, for example. The round Heaven wobbles unsteadily, like a pestle that stands up in a round mortar, while the square Earth, by definition, is always at its place as its nature consists in storing harvests. Upon exhaling (the Yang activity, or closing), the bodies of all things flow out; with inhalation (the Yin activity, or opening), as a rule, they get solidness of appearances. For this reason, what encloses Heaven we term ‘spaces’ and what opens spaces out is known as ‘times.’ The sun and moon come and go in alternation so that now it is winter and now it is summer of a single annual cycle. Heaven is above and Earth is below, both are at their proper places; therefore, the established order is simply hard to overrate. All the four seasons proceed in order; the five phases of activity (wu-xing) give birth to each other; there is succession when son inherits from father and so on. In a sense, Tai-ji has one single way also known as ‘chang-Dao,’ the Absolute, symbol of what is even beyond the universe in its absolute self-sufficiency; it is ‘thing-in-itself,’ which is unchangeable and, therefore, which cannot be expressed verbally. What can be expressed by way of words has been termed ‘fei-chang-Dao,’ non-Absolute, or the relative Dao, also known as ‘the heavenly Dao’ invented by the adherents of the Dao-De School as an implement of their arguments. Furthermore, since everything has its own shadow or the opposite side, the verbal or relative Dao also has its opposed side termed ‘the earthly De’ (which in traditional literature is usually translated as ‘virtues,’ ‘merits’ and ‘worldly achievements’) or the other hand’s instrument used mainly to explain this concept from the other viewing angle known as the human factor, morality and subjectivity.

It is said that all phenomena begin with the undivided Tai-ji, the Yin and Yang principles of which cannot be separated from each other even for the shortest while. Then it gives birth to two divine images of Heaven and Earth; the two divine images give birth to the spherical universe, the circle of which gulps back all and sundry. The cosmic sphere gives birth to three models of Heaven, Earth and Man called ‘san-cai,’ usually translated as the three powers, or Trinity. Multiplied by themselves the three give birth to nine positions (3x3) also known as the Nine Circulating Houses (jiu-gong). From this point of view, Tai-ji is ‘one’ just because of ‘three’ represented by ‘san-cai.’ Besides, the one gives birth to things by threes. Those that have arisen as a result of interaction between Oneness and Threeness are designated by three levels of being: Heaven, Earth and Man between the two. The Tai-ji motif, as a true embodiment of Yin-Yang (Heaven-and-Earth), is like a ‘vessel’ for all things around. Meanwhile, the sun and moon are the fixed sources of light; the five phases of activity (wu-xing) hold the categories of things together: the five sacred peaks (wu-shan) act as masters to the other mountains, the four great rivers (si-chuan) act as elders to the other waterways and so on. How do we know that it is so? Looking up, we contemplate the heavenly starry images; looking down, we view the earthly conditions; but looking at ourselves, our own bodies, we decode the living numbers of the universe. Thus, Heaven governs its way above, Earth disposes its tasks below; Yin and Yang interact to produce the myriad things, among which male and female are stood out. It is truly said that the way of Heaven is a perfect compass, the way of Earth is a perfect carpenter's square. The compass in motion describes a complete circle through the sites; the square brings things to the state of rest, securing them in their proper places in the four corners. All affairs and all things are contained in the womb of the universe to be organized directly from the darkness; and the Pole Star is the precise centre of it in the night heavens. The sun and moon establish boundaries for their spheres of influence to the left and to the right from the centre. Yin and Yang in deep secrecy make contact; the four seasons sneak up without being noticed by others, by stealth taking their places; the five phases of activity conceal their actions until the proper moment. Once all the six directions (up and down, north and south, east and west) become cohered with no apparent separation, the four seasonal palaces revolve in succession around the Dipper, as if a heavenly dial plate.

Through examining the nature of all the three constituents of being (Heaven, Earth and Man) we come to know the universal principle (li) according to which One is Yang, Two is Yin, while Three means Change (bian). Why this is so? As it goes, Dao begets the undivided one (Tai-ji); One begets the divided two (Yin-Yang); Two begets the combined three (Trinity, or Three Powers); Three begets all the myriad things (Tai-yi) (Verse 42). This is why the ‘three’ represents change. This ‘three’ is not the sequence number, but a living figure able to operate in the domain of Threeness, which is actually Oneness and conversely. Upon seeking the origin of beginnings, we can see their final outcome. The three components of Oneness share the same principle, according to which thick and turbid Yin interacts with thin and clean Yang, intersecting in the myriad things and different phenomenal forms. This is the basic platform on which the overall framework of Chinese cosmology is grown up. It can be considered as the Grand Code of Chinese thinking for the last five thousand years.

Correlative cosmology serves not only to explicate the functioning of the cosmos, but also to illustrate the notion that single entities and phenomena ultimately originate from the absolute Dao (da dao), and that the different forms in the world of multiplicity are governed by Oneness, the principle of the cosmic unity. The emblems of correlative cosmology serve to regulate the process of returning to Oneness through support of a microcosmic framework—the realm of Grand Ancestry and the human beings. The realm of Grand Ancestry is arranged so as to correspond to the cosmos and its temporal and spatial configurations. In communicating with the spirits of departed ancestors in the Ancestral temple by means of seasonal sacrifices and sacrifices to Heaven and Earth reproduced in a reverse sequence the cosmological configurations intervened between the absolute Dao and the realm of relativity. Therefore, it is said, Whoever understands the ceremonies of sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and the meaning of the seasonal sacrifices to the ancestors will govern a kingdom as easily as looking at one's palm (the Zhong Young, Verse 19). The cosmos generated by the Dao and the heavens inhabited by deities that personify the heavenly Dao are intermediaries between the Absolute and the human world. These two realms overlap to a significant extent for certain deities and certain features of the cosmos correspond to each other. Both of them play an essential role in the various ways that the concept of Oneness provides for returning to the Dao (fan-dao) addressed either to the single individual or to the community as a whole. In this view, the cosmos, as we know it, is the self-manifestation of Dao, which first determines itself as Oneness. Primal Oneness contains Yin and Yang in their pure state; the joining of Yin and Yang generates the world. To appreciate the details of this view it is convenient to follow the emblems of the Book of Circular Changes (Zhou Yi). Figure Qian (Heaven and the pure Yang) and Kun (Earth and the pure Yin) are constantly joined to one another in the state of unity. Being joined, Qian unceasingly bestows its essence to Kun, and Kun brings it to achievement; the world with its countless events and phenomena is generated. However, due to the fact of being continuously joined with one another, Qian becomes trigram Li (Fire), and Kun becomes Kan (Water). The essence of Yang in its pure state is now found at the bottom of arrangement, within Kan, but of Yin at the top of it, within Li. This principle of Oneness (i.e., the state of unity represented by blending of Yin and Yang) is what a sage seeks to recover, moving back and forth to be now immovable as a mountain and now inscrutable as the operations of nature. He can be infinite as the universe and everlasting as the blue void, vast as the ocean and dazzling as the lights of heavens; he can foresee droughts and floods and knows the nature of the ground and understand the possibilities of allies; he conjectures the excellences and defects of opponents.

According to correlative cosmology, Man, as the integral part of the universe, embodies its regulations, proclaiming the principles of ‘subsequent changing’ and ‘circulating back and forth.’ According to these, any kinds of extremeness are inevitably turned into their opposite (wu ji bi fan), as Yin alternates with Yang and vice versa. Man has to follow the evolutional principle (li) to ensure his own well-being by means of adaptation and further improving. Those who are good at talking about phenomena of Heaven and Earth use human affairs by way of comparison; and those who are good at talking about human affairs use Heaven and Earth by way of comparison, as well. This is because the ways of three powers (san-cai) are closely coupled the light that is cast by each one out of these three, illuminating and mutually clarifying each other, like the lights of sun and moon that succeed one another in the open sky. As year upon year the celestial bodies shine one against the other, and Heaven and Earth continue to fashion even more phenomena, of it the ancients used to say, "The