Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) - The Philosophy of Human Nature

PROBSTHAIN
ORIENTAL SERIES
VOL.
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

BY
CHU HSI
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, HERTFORD
THE PHILOSOPHY OF
HUMAN NATURE
BY
CHU HSI
TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE, WITH NOTES
J.
PERCY BRUCE,
"
M.A. (LoND.)
AUTHOR OF
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHU H3I AND THE SUNG SCHOOL"
PROBSTHAIN &
41
CO.,
GREAT RUSSELL
ST.,
LONDON, W.C.
1922
JWYERSfTY OF TOB08T3
Asiatic StudL
IN THE PRESS.
An
of
Introduction to the Philosophy
Chu Hsi and the Sung School.

BY
J.
PERCY BRUCE,
:
M.A.
Being a Companion Volume to

of
The
Philosophy
Human
Nature, by
Chu
Hsi.
Translated from
the Chinese.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE
ix
BOOK
THE NATURE AND THE DECREE THE NATURE THE NATURE IN MAN AND OTHER CREATURES
BOOK
II
...
.16
. .
56
THE PHYSICAL NATURE THE DECREE

CAPACITY
79
130 152
BOOK
III
MIND
BOOK IV
157
THE MIND, THE NATURE, AND THE FEELINGS THE STEADFAST NATURE
FEELING AND MOTIVE THE WILL AND THE ETHER
229 245
THE WILL AND MOTIVES
THOUGHT
BOOK V
258 259 262
MORAL LAW
269
.
LAW
VIRTUE
290 303
vi
CONTENTS
BOOK VI
PAGE
LOVE
311
BOOK VII
LOVE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
LOVE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE, AND WISDOM LOVE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE, WISDOM, AND
.
387
897 409 419 425 433 439
SINCERITY
SINCERITY
INGENUOUSNESS AND TRUTH INGENUOUSNESS AND SYMPATHY SEDATENESS AND SERIOUSNESS
......
LIST
OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS
VOLUME
Analects
the translation of The Analects of Confucius
by Legge,
Soothill, or
by
Ku Hung
The
figures in brackets refer to

i
Ming. Legge s
translation, vol.
Classics.
of his series of Chinese
G.L.
"
The Great
Learning",
in vol.
of
Legge
Chinese Classics.
"
D.M.
Mencius
The Doctrine of the Mean volume as above.

ii
",
in the
same
Shu Ching
Odes
Yi Ching
= vol. = vol. = vol. = vol.
of the
same
,,
series as above.
,,
iii
iv
,,
xvi of the Sacred Books of the East.
The
references
to
the
Chinese Edition
flg
(Ch. Ed.) are to the
^ g
In the Imperial Edition the order of the

text
is
the same as in Legge
s translation.
Li Chi
vols. xxvii
and
xxviii of the
Sacred Books
of the East.
Complete Works
"
The Complete Works

Edition
"
of
Chu
Hsi, Imperial
-
g
at
ft
a*& n M ig .R sr it s -R w nr m js
rtf
PREFACE
riIHE work
-
here translated forms a part of the Imperial
Edition of
Chu Hsi
Complete Works
($
compiled under the direction of the Manchu Emperor K ang Hsi, and published in the year A. D. 1713. It is composed of selections from two earlier compilations, entitled Chu Hsi s
Conversations
(xfc
"f
^^?&
ff ),
(^
j5C
il)-
-^ | |g) and Chu Hsi s Collected Writings The former, as the title indicates, consists of
verbatim reports of the Philosopher s lectures, which, like the discussions of the Greek Academy, assumed the form of
conversations between the lecturer and his pupils.
They were
recorded by the more intimate of those pupils, and collated by them in various collections, some during the Philosopher s
lifetime,
and others soon after his death (A.D. 1230). From work entitled Chu Hsi s Conversations was later The compilation compiled, and published in A.D. 1270. entitled Chu Hsi s Collected Writings does not include Chu
these the
Hsi
larger works, such as his Commentaries,

etc.,
Modern Thought,
The Object of Learning,

writings.
It
but only his miscellaneous

of letters to correspondents,
most
of
them
Philosopher. upon a much
mainly but some of them opponents, of the The edition now extant under this title based
pupils,
earlier
consists
edition
not
now
obtainable
was
published about the year A.D. 1700, in the reign of ang Hsi. The title of the present work, which is complete in itself,
x
is

Hsing Li
(^
iCfl).
As has been pointed out

a
elsewhere,
the
expression
has
double
application.
It is used for
philosophy in its broadest sense, including the investigation and it is also used of all things physical and metaphysical
;
in the narrower
and more
specialized sense of Mental
and
Moral Philosophy, or the study of the constitution of man s nature. Here, as is indicated in our translation of the title,
it is
in the latter sense that

is
it
must be understood.
The work
Books
xlii
arranged according to subject in seven books to xlviii of the Complete Works and in groups of
sections, these groups being
chosen alternately from the two Each section, both from the compilations above named. Conversations and from the Collected Writings, stands by itself
and has no connexion with those that follow or precede,

except in the similarity of subject.
The companion volume referred

of the life
to above includes
an account
and works
is
of
Chu
Hsi,
and
it is
not necessary to
repeat here what
system
length.
of philosophy,
there said, nor to discuss the Philosopher s which is there treated at considerable
A few words, however, are needed concerning the nature of the task here attempted, and the object in view.
With regard
to the latter, it is a
matter for some surprise
that, while translations of the Chinese Classics into English have long been before the public, and translations of the works
of other Chinese philosophers
have appeared from time to
time,
no
serious effort has hitherto been
made
to present to
the English reader the works of
Chu
Hsi, the philosopher
whose teachings have done more than almost any other to

1
An
J. P.
Introduction Bruce.
to the
Philosophy of Chu Hsi and the Sung School, bv
PREFACE
xi
mould the thought of the Chinese race. The omission is the more noteworthy inasmuch as the Western student, in his
efforts to
understand the mentality of the Chinese people,
finds that the Classics, valuable as

of
they are from the point
view
of their high ethical standard, are, nevertheless,
some
what heterogeneous
in their contents
and, while
it is
obvious
that the study of those writings is one indispensable means to the attainment of his end, it must be confessed that not
infrequently he sighs for
some presentation of Chinese thought more systematized and compendious in its nature. Such a presentation is contained in the work of which this is a trans
almost every page the reader will find modes of and thought expression which may be observed among all classes of the people, from peasants to literati and will have abundant evidence that, however unconsciously to
lation.
;
On
themselves, their mental outlook has been formed in the matrix

of this philosophy.
What
has just been said has reference more particularly to
the student of Oriental thought and the Western resident in China. My aim, however, goes further. In my Introduction
to the
Philosophy
of
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
School, I
have
endeavoured to show that Chu Hsi ranks, not only as one of China s master minds, but also as one of the world s great
thinkers.
If
that be the case, his lectures and writings on
such a theme as the Philosophy of Human Nature have a claim to be rendered accessible to students of philosophy and religion
and only with a view to comparative study even apart from the subject matter, it may not be without interest to some to examine the workings of the Philosopher s
in general,
if
;
mind and the method
of his dialectic as they are revealed in
xii
the numerous arguments and philosophic statements contained in this work.
With regard
to the nature of the translator s task, the
first
impression made upon the reader of the original text is the simplicity of its style, when compared with that of the Classics,
or even with that of the earlier philosophers of the Sung School. This is particularly the case in the sections selected from the
Conversations, in which
we have the
ipsissima verba of the
Master as he taught and conversed with his pupils. But, while the phraseology is thus simple, it by no means follows
that the thought
is
the contrary, the work so full of allusions to, and quotations from, the works of other philosophers, and consists so largely of answers to arguments
is
easy to grasp.
On
of
letters the tenor of
which not more than isolated sentences are quoted, and to which must be inferred from the answers
is
themselves, that to follow the drift of the argument
often
extremely difficult. Moreover, the Philosopher in his lectures not unnaturally assumed a knowlege in his hearers which they indeed possessed, but which to readers of a later generation
is
often inaccessible.
When the effort is made to transfer the thought of the writer

or speaker into the English language there emerges a new set of difficulties. In works of history or poetry the translator
may
strict
with perfect propriety claim a measure of freedom from literalness and mechanical but in an consistency
;
argumentative work such as this is, if he would be faithful to his author s purpose, he must adhere closely to the text, no matter how much his literary sense be offended
may
otherwise the very point of the argument will be lost. The thus created is enhanced difficulty by the fact that the
PREFACE
reference has just been made, are in
different connexions,
xiii
quotations from the works of other philosophers, to which
many
cases repeated in
and arguments built upon them w^hich would be confusing and bewildering unless there were exact ness of expression and consistency in the rendering. And the
difficulty is still further
frequently the case, one part of a given passage is cited in one instance, and another in another, while in a third instance the two parts overlap, or possibly the quotation ends in the very middle
of a sentence.
accentuated when, as
is
To obtain
is
circumstances
consistency of rendering in such almost the despair of the translator.
true of arguments and quotations as a whole is in large part also true of individual words. Needless to say,
is
What
the content of the Chinese
word
in
many
cases does not
wholly coincide with that of any one English word, and yet arguments frequently turn upon a single word arguments
;
which would become unintelligible if the rendering of that word were changed with every change of aspect from which
it is
regarded.
An
obvious and easy escape from the difficulty

original
would be to reproduce the

exceptional instances this
word,
and
in
some
For
must
of necessity
be done.
controversy with the Taoists the word Tao as used by the latter manifestly has a different con notation from that which it has as used by Chu Hsi. In
example, in
Chu Hsi
other words the dispute is as to the meaning of the wT ord itself. In such arguments to adopt, say, the rendering Moral Law
"
"
to accord with
Chu Hsi s interpretation would be to beg the Reason question for Chu Hsi, while to adopt the rendering to accord with the Taoist interpretation would make Chu Hsi s
"
"
argument meaningless.
But, apart from such exceptional
xiv

an English equivalent
is
instances, unless
fit all
found which
be very
will
at a loss to
connexions, the English know what the argument
reader will often

is
much
about, and might
even plead that algebraic signs would be preferable.

Subject to the limitations and restrictions indicated ir the preceding paragraphs, I have allowed myself a largt and the aim, measure of liberty in the mode of expression
;
kept steadily in view, has been, not only to represent the thought of the original truly, but to do so in clear and readable
English.
In particular I
may mention that I have fully availed
matter of connecting particles. In the Conversations especially, these particles abound with
myself of this liberty in the
what
in English
would seem monotonous redundancy.
Sc
long, therefore, as the sentence as a
whole reproduces tht

not translated at
all.
complete thought been translated freely,
of the writer or speaker, the particles have

or, in
some
cases,
The reader
is
further reminded that the construction of
the Chinese and English languages is so different that many words not actually occurring in the original need to be supplied in the translation if the thought is to be completely expressed.
been considered desirable to disfigure the page and confuse the reader by indicating in all cases words so supplied.
It has not
Where words or phrases are needed, not merely to complete the sense, but to indicate some fact implied but not expressed
in the original, the necessary supplied words are printed in italics, or, in a few instances inserted in square brackets.
Words
inserted in curved brackets are in all cases inter
polations
by the Chinese
"
compiler,
"
It will be
noted that for the adjective derived from the

the spelling adopted
"
noun
"
ether
etherial
is
that
PREFACE
xv
this word, with its
used by Sir Oliver Lodge in his writings in order to distinguish somewhat technical meaning, from the more
common word
For
"
ethereal
".
my justification for the

li
puch as the names of the
five cardinal virtues
rendering of certain key- words, and the words
MO
(jg),
(gi),
Ch
jf), etc.,
the reader
is
again referred to
the
my
Introduction
to the
is
Philosophy of
also
Chu Hsi and
Sung
School.
The reader
any rendering which may followed the development of the Philosopher the body of the work itself.
begged to suspend judgment on appear to be unusual until he has

s
arguments in
In the foot-notes the source of the quotation or allusion pn which any particular argument is based has been indicated
wherever possible, so that the reader with a knowledge of Chinese will be in a position to acquaint himself with the statement quoted in its original setting. I have also, within
by foot-notes, given such biographical available concerning those correspondents and participators in the dialogue who are mentioned by name. Some there are whose names recur so frequently that
the limits afforded
information as
is
they become familiar friends. In the citations from the Classics I have freely availed
myself of the translations of Legge, Soothill,
Ku Hung
Ming,
and
my
have not, however, refrained from adopting own variations of their renderings in cases where it has
others.
I
seemed
desirable, particularly
is
when a more
literal
rendering
clear
than that adopted by them
required in order to
make
the Philosopher s argument. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without expressing my sense of obligation to the Rev. Sun P eng Hsiang and other
xvi
Chinese scholars for their help, given always with the utmost readiness, in the elucidation of the text and of literary
historical
problems related thereto.
I desire also gratefully to
to
my
acknowledge my deep indebtedness former tutor, Professor S. W. Green, M.A., of Regent s
Park
Rev.
College, University of
London, and to
my
colleague, the
J. C. Keyte, M.A., of the
Shantung Christian University,
China,
for
valuable
criticisms
and suggestions
and to
express
my
gratitude to the latter for unstinted help in the
arduous task of correcting the proofs.
Owing to
difficulties entailed
by war and post-war conditions
there has been considerable delay in the publication of this work. That the delay has not been longer extended is largely due to generous assistance in seeing the work through the
by the Rev. C. E. Wilson, B.A., of the Baptist Missionary Society, and by Mr. W. E. Cule, of the Carey Press,
press rendered
to
whom my
sincere thanks are here accorded.
I take this
opportunity also to express
my
appreciation of the courtesy
and patience of the publishers through all the difficulties mentioned above difficulties greatly enhanced by the fact
of the translator s residence in China.
J.
PERCY BRUCE.
TSINGCHOWFU, SHANTUNG, CHINA. March, 1921.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

I,.
BOOK
ke
BEING BOOK XLII OF
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF CHU HSI
IIS
81
THE NATURE AND THE DECREE
THE NATURE
THE NATURE IN MAN AND OTHER CREATURES
BOOK
(EJLEVEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
THE NATURE AND THE DECREE

"CONVERSATIONS".)
In distinguishing between the four terms Question. HEAVEN and the DECREE, the NATURE and LAW, would it be correct to say that in the term Heaven the reference is to
its
attribute of self-existence, that in the term Decree the

is to its
reference
all-pervading activity and immanence in the universe, that in the term Nature the reference is to that complete substance by which all things have their life,
and that in the term
Law
the reference
is
to the fact that

;
1 every event and thing has each its own rule of existence but that taking them together, HEAVEN is LAW, the DECREE
is
the
NATURE, and the NATURE
is
LAW
Yes, but in the present day it is maintained that the term Heaven has no reference to the EMPYREAN, 2
Answer.
whereas, in
1
my
pt.
view, this cannot be left out of account.

in the
p.
There
is
is
an allusion here to a passage

iii,
ii,
Classics, vol.
p. 541.
See also
Odes see Legge s Chinese 54 of this volume, where the

;
passage
2
quoted
in full.
is to the use of this expression in the Classics, where it It literally means frequently occurs in the title of the Supreme Ruler. azure azure See Introduction toChu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. xii.
The
reference
"
".
4
2.

Law
is
Heaven s substance, the Decree is Law in operation, the Nature is what is received by man, and the Feelings are the Nature in operation.
3.
The Decree
is is
like letters patent appointing
man
the duty pertaining to such office,! the 1 are the Feelings performance of that duty, and the Mind is the man himself. 2
to office, the
Nature
4.
The Philosopher remarked

it
to
Hou
Chili
Yesterday
of
is
evening
correct
was
paid
that
tand
the
Nature
consists
the
processes of creation
;
transformation.
This
not
and transformation are material processes, while Law, by which creation and transformation proceed,
creation
is
immaterial.
Fei
Ch ing 3
asked
When
"
it is said,
is
Perfection also
referred to
?
is undying," 4 is it
Law
or the Ether that
There are two groups of feelings to which this term
is
applied
the one
(Seven Feelings), named joy, anger, sorrow, fear, The other set are the love, hatred, and desire (see Giles Dictionary).
set are
known
as the
*|j|
S (Four
latter
2
Terminals), occurring inMencius, viz. solicitude, conscientious
ness, courtesy (sometimes given as respectfulness), and moral insight. The reference in this paragraph, and generally throughout the work, is to the
group of Four Terminals, answering to the four cardinal virtues which constitute the Nature. See Legge s Chinese Classics, vol. ii, pp. 78-9.
That
is,
the
Mind corresponds
to the
man who
in the illustration
is
appointed to
5
4
"
office.
SurnamedClm (J^). See Doctrine of the Mean,

is
dies."
p.
"
285.
;
Legge translates
this sentence,
"
Singleness likewise
unceasing
Ku Hung Ming
latter
translates
it,
Moral
j&ff
perfection also never

"
Legge, in his note, gives the meaning of
as
fine
and pure
"
",
unmixed".
The
word
"
unmixed,"
represents
the particular kind of purity represented by

character,
ij,
and, as applied to
" "
may
be
expressed
by such words
as
perfection
and

Answer.
dictum,
Nature."
1
It is
Law
that
is
referred to, as also in the

is
is
"The
Decree of Heaven
is
what
is
termed the
The Decree of Heaven

;
like the
command
of
a sovereign
sovereign
difference
;
the Nature
and in the
the receiving: of office from the Ether lies, as it were, the
between those who can, and those who cannot,

:
2 discharge the duties of their office. o Hsiieh 3 asked Even if you interpret the dictum^ The Decree of Heaven is what is termed the Nature," as
"
referring only to Law, is it not the ease that the moment you speak of the Decree the Ether also is implied ? For
were no Ether how could there be men and, things Moreover, what would there be to receive Law ?
if there
"
?
,
integrity
".
Cf.
The Conduct of
),
Life,
by
Ku Hung
Ming,
or
p. 49.
Note
The word
yi (
rightly translated
"singleness"
"sincerity",
also
occurs in the Doctrine of the Mean ; see D.M., pp. 271, 275. 1 The first sentence in the Doctrine of the Mean. In Legge s translation
the all-pervading immanent Will of individuated in Man. See Legge s Chinese Classics, vol. i, p. 247 Ku Hung Ming s Conduct of Life, p. 14.
;
the significance of fo conferred by Heaven
is
in part lost.
it
It is not
simply that the Nature
is
is
God
;
cf.
That
is
the difference in the good and evil of
men
is
due, not to
differences in the Decree, or the Nature, or
Law, but to
differences in the
material element in their constitution.
Cheng K o Hsueh ([) pj* J[|), style Tzu Shang (^ Jt), was an orphan while still young. After taking his degree of Chii Jen (M.A.), he made two ineffectual attempts to obtain that of Chin Shih (D.Lit.). He first met Chu Hsi at a place called Wu I, and thenceforth became one of his most devoted disciples. With a deep sense of his own limited abilities K o Hsiieh applied himself to hard study, and in the end surpassed the majority of his fellow-pupils in his power to assimilate the Master s teaching. While Chu Hsi was at Chang Chou, o Hsiieh was tutor in his family, but treated as an honoured guest rather than as a dependant. In later years the Philosopher entrusted to him some of his most important literary work. After his Master s death K o Hsueh became a teacher in a college at Chung
3
left
Chou(*g,
|
>j
i).
He was
the author of a work entitled
^j?
ft|
f||.

Answ&r.
Just
so,
just so
the fact
is,
in a comprehensive sense.
The passage
is
Ssu 1 spoke specially worthy

Tzii
of study.
Heaven may be likened to the Emperor 2 the Decree is like his handing to me Letters patent the Nature is the attached office which I to the thus receive, duty just as the
5.
;
duty attached to the office of district police is tQ arrest robbers, and the duty of the Comptroller of the Archives
the custody of documents the Feelings are like the attention to these and Capacity 3 duties personal given
is
;
;
is liko
the various forms of effort and achievement.
Shao
:
K angj Chi eh,

"
The Nature
the
Mind
is
in his preface to the Chi Jan$ Chi,* says the concrete expression of Moral Order the enceinte of the Nature the body is the
is
;
habitation of the Mindj

vehicle of the
6.
body."
and the external world
is
the
Liu asked:
"
Mencius
is
says,
s
"These
tilings are the
Decree concerning them/ and These things are the Decree, but there is also the Nature 5 thus making the Nature and the Decree two
",
Nature, but there
Heaven
Tzu Ssu, the grandson
of Confucius,
Doctrine of the
pp. 36
2
3
ff.
Mean
cf.
Legge
was the reputed author of the Chinese Classics, vol. i, Prolegomena,
the Son of Heaven. For a detailed exposition

Lit.
II, pp.
of the
word
"ft
see the concluding section of
Book
4
152
ff.
See Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. ii. For an interpretation of the sentence quoted see p. 48 of this volume. 6 See Mencius, p. 365, for the whole passage from which these quotations are taken. Legge s note, with a quotation from Chu Hsi, is specially Mencius shows that, though the appetites are the offspring interesting. of the Nature, they must be regulated in accordance with the Decree ; and though the cardinal virtues are the Decree, the noble man will develop his

"
different entities
Heaven
is
what
is
The Decree of while Tzii Ssu says, termed the Nature," thus making the
Nature and the Decree one.
Answer.
You must
How do you explain this ? take the words in the sense in which
they are used by the respective writers. What Mencius here calls the Decree includes the etherial endowment, while
Tzu
Ssii is
speaking only of that which
is
imparted by
Heaven.
7.
Ch uan
;
"
says
That which Heaven imparts

is
is
the
1
Decree
that which the creature receives
the
Nature."
Law
it is
as imparted by called the Decree, as received

is
:
one
Heaven
to the universe it is
called the Nature.
It is the point of
by the creature from Heaven view from which
the terms are used that differs.
8.
Yung Chih asked

"
The
the passage, the Nature

if
If
Virtue
fails
other day, sir, referring to to overcome the Ether
and the
succeeds
Decree
in
follow
the
the
Ether
Ether,
but
the
Virtue
overcoming
Nature, and not rest idly content with the thought that they are decreed. The passage is quoted here simply to show that for Mencius the Nature
"
"
and
entities, set in antithesis to
were not synonymous terms, but represented distinct each other, and so were inconsistent with the teaching of the Doctrine of the Mean, which says that they are identical (D.M., p. 247 Ku Hung Ming s Conduct of Life, p. 14). Chu Hsi reconciles the two passages by pointing out that both terms, hsing and ming, are used in two different senses ; in one case, they both refer to the essential in the nature as imparted by Heaven apart from the material element other case, the term Nature refers to the whole nature of man, including Decree to the both the ethical and physical elements, and the term Divine appointment respecting his whole life.
"
the Decree
"
"
"
"
"
Cf JT.
-
jft
if
(Literary
Remains of the Brothers C^ngr), pt. vi, f. 9-
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUEE

1
Nature and the Decree follow
Virtue,"
you
said that the

"
word
a
"
Decree
;
"
is
to
be
interpreted
as
to
obey
happened to read your former reply to P an Kung Shu, in which you argue that the words "Decree" and "Nature" are two terms
command"
but, at that very time, I
for the
same thing, reading the phrase as the Nature and 2 and that it is because of this that the Decree" the
;
"
entitled
Quoted from Chang Tsai s work, the Cheng Meng (J True Intelligence see -J^ book v f$ Bfl
"
"
^
is
J),
;
part
vi,
,
also jj^
|g
pt. xvii, p. 39.
The Ethe
as
in
man
nature,
the physical and psychical element distinguished from Law (131), or the ethical
(^)
is
principle.
The question
raised
by Yung Chih
as to the
meaning
"
of
the word
"
a noun meaning the Decree as generally used ? Or is it a verb meaning "to be decreed or determined by In either case the construction is i.e. to obey ? forced. In the former case the particle acquires the force of a verb, to
(Decree) in the passage quoted.
" "
Is
it
",
"
"jr^
follow
"
ming as a passive verb is not common. In the former case, however, the meaning and the use of the two words Nature and Decree are more in accord with general usage so far as this School, and especially Chang Tsai, are concerned. This is the interpre tation adopted by Chu Hsi, and therefore in this translation. On the other interpretation the passage would read, If Virtue fails to over come the Ether, the Nature is subject to the Ether but if Virtue succeeds in overcoming the Ether, the Nature is ruled by Virtue." Chu Hsi, however, seems to have been inconsistent in his inter pretation at different times (cf. p. 11). But, as Hsien shows (p. 9^, the meaning is not essentially different in either case. There are two
"
in the latter case the use of
"
"
"
"
roads open to us. Either the lower nature may be made subject to the higher, perfectly serving its uses, in which case it is, as it were, absorbed into it, and the Nature and the Decree, or endowment of Heaven, are
Or, per contra, the higher is brought into subjection to wholly Virtue. the lower and absorbed by it there is no more than a capacity to receive a material endowment imparted by Heaven. Cf. pp. 121-2 of this volume.
;
And
so interpreting
it
"
Decree
"
as a noun, whereas on the other inter

of
pretation
i.e.
would have the force
a passive verb,
"to
be
decreed,"
compelled to obey.

philosopher
Chang
later
Nature as Heaven
s Virtue,
on distinguishes the two the and the Decree as Heaven s

"
Law. 1
is some what slighter. If you regard the words "Nature" and Hsien asked Decree as two substantive words, how do you explain the Ether particle which is combined with the terms and "Virtue"? You will surely have to interpret it as meaning that the Nature and the Decree both "follow"
Answer.
And
:
it is so,
hut the word
Decree
"
"
"
"
"
the Ether, or both
"follow"
Virtue, as the case

ii
may
be.
Answer.
9.
That
is
just what Heng Ch
text says.
being asked a question with regard to the on Virtue failing to overcome the Ether, the chapter
Philosopher replied
:
On
What Chang Tzu

both
flow
says
is
that the
Nature and the
Ether
down from
above.
If, however, the Virtue in me is not adequate to overcome the etherial element, then there is no more than a capacity
to
receive
if
the
Ether which Heaven 3

is
But
this
Virtue
imparts to me. adequate to overcome the etherial
element, then what I receive of
Heaven s endowment
"
is
wholly Virtue.
investigation of
If,
therefore,
there
is
the exhaustive
principles"
with
"the
complete develop"
1 The whole passage in Chang Tsai s text reads If Virtue fails to overcome the Ether, the Nature and the Decree follow the Ether ; but if Virtue succeeds in overcoming the Ether, the Nature and the
:
Decree follow Virtue.
If there is
the exhaustive investigation of principles
and the complete development of the Nature, then the Nature is Heaven s Virtue and the Decree is Heaven s Law." 2 That is, Chang Tsai. The text referred to is the passage under
discussion.
3
Lit.
"
He
".
10

of the Nature
ment
V what
bestows
I receive
3
is
wholly Heaven
wholly Heaven s Law. Of the etherial element the only things which cannot be changed are life and death, longevity land brevity of life for life and death, longevity and brevity of life, with poverty and wealth, these return to Him as the etherial
is
;
Virtue, and what
He
upon me
On the other hand, the tilings spoken of by Mencius when he gays, Eighteousness as between sovereign and minister, and Love as between father and son, these
.element.
4
"
the things are the Decree, but there is also the Nature noble man does not say with reference to them They are
;
decreed
5
,
these
must
all
proceed from myself and not
from Him. 6
In the statement, "If there is the Question. exhaustive investigation of principles with the compliete development of the Nature, then the Nature is Heaven s
10.
Virtue and the
D ear.es
"
is
Heaven
"
Law,"
how
are tha
?
words
"
Nature
and
"
Decree
to be distinguished refers to
to
Answw.
pervading.
1
The word
word
"Nature"
"Decree"
dividualized, the
what is in that which is all -
The Decree
is like water flowing, as in this
These expressions are quoted by Chang Tsai from the Yi Ching ; see Sacred Books of the East, vol. xvi, p. 422. See also Legge s Chinese Classics,
vol.
2
i,
pp. 229, 280.
That is, the Nature. 3 That is, the Decree. 4 That is, they return to Him as the Ether with which and for which I have no responsibility.
5 6
was endowed,
Mencius, pp. 385-6. These virtues in contrast to life and death, etc., which cannot be changed by anything that we can do, are all possible of attainment and depend upon our own personal effort.
7
Quoted from the Cheng Meng, by Chang Tsai
see above.

stream
l
;
11
the Nature is as if you took a bowl and filled it from the stream. A big bowl contains more a; small bowl contains less. The water in a clean bowl will be clear, while
;
that in a dirty
11.
bowl will be muddy. 2

"
Form implies the Physical in reversing his Physical Nature 3 He also will preserve the Nature of Heaven and Earth." overcome the to the "If Virtue fails Ether, said,
Heng Ch ii said: Nature. He who succeeds
Nature and the Decree follow the Ether
succeeds in
;
but
if
Virtue
overcoming
the
4
Ether,
the
"
Nature
"
and
the
Decree follow
s
Virtue."
Again,
is
Heaven
the
Virtue,
the Decree
of
The Nature is 5 for Heaven s Law

;
etherial
endowment
men
this
different
differs,
individuals,
and
necessarily not because
differs
in
Heaven
By
themselves are differently endowed. education the Nature and Decree may be made to follow
but because
men
Virtue
without such education, the Nature and Decree
remain an etherial endowment only.

Question. Formerly you interpreted the sentence, "the Nature and the Decree follow Virtue," as if it read, "The Nature follows that which is decreed by Virtue";
now, however, you would interpret it as meaning that the Nature and the Decree both are Virtue. Is it not so ?
Ansiuer.
1
"
Yes.
water flowing thus". The Philosopher probably was standing Lit. by a stream and pointing to it as he spoke. 2 The bowl represents the physical element in man s constitution, the differences in which account for the moral differences between men.
" "
^
4
Quoted from the Cheng Mtng, chap, vi, book v, f. 27 or ffi || pt. ii, f. 21
, ; ,
"
True Intelligence
or
"
see
39.
^^
pt. xvii,
f.
Cf. p.
88 of this volume.
8, n. 1.
5
Seep.
Seep.
0, n. 1.
12

"
COLLECTED WRITINGS".) (FOUR SECTIONS FROM THE 1. The statement, "Truth in the creature is what is
termed
Heaven,"
I have already discussed in detail in
my
say
former communication.
that what I said
that
is still
As
to the contention in
:
your
I
letter
not the real meaning

1
may
was following the idea of the passage, To everything is given its Nature free from anything false and showed from this that the Decree of Heaven
I wrote I
"
when
l
diffused throughout the whole universe, and is thus the Heaven of each individual creature. But although this is what I meant, I am bound to confess that, owing- to the poverty and restriction of language, the idea was not very 2 happily expressed. (Eeply to Lin Tse Chili.)
is
2.
is
Question. that which

is
3
;
Would
is
it
Heaven imparts
be correct to say The Decree to the creature, and the

:
Nature
that which
received by, the creature
from
Heaven
but the Nature and the Decree have each two

:
from the point of view of Law, Heaven decrees to inhere in the creature, and therefore it is called the Decree, while the creature receives it from from the point of Heaven, and so it is call,ed the Nature view of the Ether, Heaven decrees it to inhere in the creature, and therefore this too is called the Decree, and,
applications
it
;
as the creature receives the Ether

called the
1
from Heaven,
it is
also
Nature
Yi Ching, p. 299. Lin Yung Chung

fxj)
(^
Jf]
style
(~jf
He became
one of Chu Hsi
Tse Chih, was a native of Ku Tien s pupils at Chien An, and was
clever, carefu],
singled out for

s
tireless in study,
Compare
special commendation by his Master as and worthy of highest esteem as a friend. Ch uan s statement, p. 7.

Answer.
Decree
;
13
The Ether cannot be

you can say
it.
all
by reason of
Earth
is
Nature or the and Decree exist Therefore, whon the Nature of Heaven and
called the
is
that l the Nature
spoken
of,
it
is
Law
is
only that
of,
is
referred to
when the Physical Nature

referred to in combination.
spoken
Law and
Ether are
But the Ether alone can never

(Reply
be regarded either as the Nature or the Decree.

to
Cheng
3.
Tzii Shang.)
"Heaven
in giving birth to the multitudes of the
people so ordained it that inherent in every single thing there is its rule of .existence." 3 This means that at thq
4 very time when a particular man already decreed for him this Nature.
is
born, Heaven has The Nature is simply

the Nature.
Law
end,
for,
is
it is
as received
by man
that
it is called
It is not a separate entity,
without beginning and without which can be made into the Nature by ,.the Decree to use the illustration I have already given, the Decreo
;
by the Throne, and the, Nature is like the office received by the officer, so that I Ch uan makes it very clear when he says, That which Heaven imparts is the Decree, and that which the creature
like the
appointment to
office
"
Therefore the saints and sages of old time, when they spoke of the Nature and the Decree, spoke of them in their relation to the realities of life. For
;5
receives is the Nature.
"
example,
when they
"
tell
us
to give full
development to
fH =
it is only that See p. 5, n. 3. See p. 52 and note.

}
"
"
"this
man".
14
our

Nature
l
",
they mean that we should without any. omission perfect the principles embodied in the Three Bonds and Five Constants, 2 such as the relationship between
and when they bid sovereign and minister, father and son 3 us "nourish our Nature they would have us so nourish
;
1
",
same ethical principles as to preserve them from injury, and thus unite together in one unity the most subtle principles and the most overt deeds without the slightest
these
omission or defect.
to
These are not empty words.

"
(Reply
to
Ch
4.
en
Wei Tao.) The Su school
say,
The sages held

stilli
that
be
conscious of the Nature as
remaining in
;
means that I still

possession of this
possess this
Mind
my Mind, and they regarded the

From
Mind as
the initial cause of error. 4

its
this they traced the
Nature to
ultimate source, and,
borrowing a name,
callied it
the Decree.
Now
Decree
means command
command,
the decree of a sovereign is termed a the command of Heaven is termed a decree. But
:
the ultimate source of the Nature is not the Decree
it
was
simply that there was no other nam,e to give to it, and therefore they borrowed this." 5 I maintain that when Su
1
Mencius, p. 348.
father
five
The Three Bonds are those between sovereign and and son, and husband and wife. The Five Constants
"
"
minister,
"
"
are the
cardinal
virtues,
Love,
Righteousness,
Reverence,
Wisdom, and
Sincerity.
3 4
is the one universal mind; that what we mind is an illusion, the cause of sorrow and sin and that it is only when we lose this mind that we attain to the true mind. 5 The Su School was founded by The Three Su s viz. Su Hsiin, Su Shili, and Su Che. See Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. iv. This passage is quoted from Su Hsiin s Exposition of the Yi Ching.
Mencius, p. 325. Buddhism maintains that there
call
"
",
15
says that the consciousness of the Nature as remaining in my mind is the beginning of error, he has not grasped the
source of the Nature
and when he says that the ultimate not the Decree, b ut that the name is simply borrowed, he does not see that the Decree is a reality. It is as much as to say that without any apparent
truth of the Nature
;
is
inherit this root of gross error, arid the sages deliberately concealed it, using a fictitious name to cover
it
cause
men
up
What
sort of reasoning is
this
The
fact is
there has not been, on the part of the &u soh>ool, the! Great thorough examination of the teaching of the
1
Appendix",
"Doctrine
the
"Book
of
History",
"
the
",
"Odes",
the
of the
Mean",
and
Mencius
necessary to
a clear understanding of this chapter ; and so they have fallen into the erroneous teachings of the Buddhists that,
before ever heaven and earth

existence.
to
came
to be, this
Nature was in
Trying to prove that the Nature was antecedent heaven and earth and all life, and realizing that then
the term Decreo
would be inapplicable, they invented
this
explanation to avoid self-contradiction.

the true
If they really knew meaning of the Nature and the Decree, and still wished to maintain that the Nature was before heaven and earth and all life, they surely would have some regard to
reason, arid not indulge in such irrelevant talk. the Criticism of the Su School Exposition of the
"
(From
Yi
2
".)
That
See
is,
of the Ft Citing.
pt. xcix,
f.
14
ff.
16
THE NATUKE
(EIGHTEEN SECTIONS FROM
1.
THE"
CONVERSATIONS".)
Moral Law is the Nature, and the Nature is Moral Law. It is true, these two are one and the same but wo need to understand why the term Nature thing is used, and why the term Moral La;w is used.
;
2.
"The
Nature
is
Law."
Subjectively
it
is
the
Nature, objectively
3.
it is
Law.
is
The
principle of life
termed the Nature. 2

innumerable principles pro
4.
The Nature
consists of
duced by Heaven.
5
.
The Nature
consists of substantive principles
Kighteousness, Keverence, and in it.

6.
Wisdom
are
all
Love, included
;
The
differences
in their discussion of the
which appear in the Confucian school Nature are not because the writers
it is
were not clear as

settled.
good or evil, but because the meaning of the term Nature itself was not definitely
to
whether
7.
1
The sages understood the meaning

;
of
;
the
term
pt. xv,
is
dictum by Ch eng I see jg ^|, pt. xviii, f. 24 cf. also fjjL In the latter work the complete statement is: "The Nature f. 27. Law, what we term the moral nature (f^ |{] gg jfa Q fjf |f
,
"
tt & & m This statement must not be confused with

).
2
"
the statement of
Kao
Tzu,
what is termed the Nature." The apparent agreement of Ch eng Tzu with Kao Tzu is fully discussed in the Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. viii. On the Nature as the law of life, compare Sir Oliver Lodge s remarks on the soul in his Man and the
Life
is
Universe, pp. 164-7.

Nature
because
;
17
the divisions in the later schools1 were simply was not understood. the word itself The
philosopher
is
Yang
flounders, while the philosopher Hsiin
the proverbial through his boot.

like
8.
man who
tries
to scratch his leg
After reading some essays by Yiin and others on the In discussing the Nature it Nature, the Philosopher said
:
is
important Nature is. (Pi
first
of all to
know what kind

4
:
of entity the
Ta s
record adds the words

;
The Nature
as a matter of fact is formless
it consists
implanted in man s mind.) Ch eng Tzu he said, The Nature is Law." Now if
"
of principles put it well when
15
we
regard
it
as
Law, then surely it is without form or similitude. It is n othing but this single principle. In man Love, Righteous ness, Reverence, and Wisdom are the Nature, but what
form or shape have they
is
?
They are
principles only.
It
done.
because of such principles that men s manifold deeds are It is because of them that we are capable of
solicitude, that
1
"
we can be ashamed
".
of wrong-doing, that
Lit.
A
A
He
j
the hundred schools philosopher whose opinions were in vogue in the time of Mencius. was an egoist. See Legge s Chinese Classics, vol. ii, Prolegomena ,
>p.
95-102.
philosopher
in
who maintained
that the nature of
man
is
essentially
s
ssics,
4
opposition to the teachings of Mencius. vol. ii, Prolegomena, pp. 82-91.
See Legge
Chinese
Ta in the first instance studied under Chang Ch ih andLiiTsuCh ien, subsequently attached himself to Chu Hsi. His surname was (^), id style Po Feng (fg |f ). Through the influence of his father he was
Pi
it
Wu
>ointed
to office as Magistrate at a place called Chi Shui
("
i:
retired
when Chu Hsi was
disgraced.
;
See
ljj
See
Jg
^
|c
,
^,
pt. Ixix,
f.
f.
?|C), 53.
pt. xviii,
f.
24
cf also
.
pt. xv,
27.
18
we can be
courteous, and can distinguish between right and wrong. 1 Take as an illustration the nature of drugs, some have cooling and some heating properties. But in
you cannot eee the shape of these properties upon taking the drug only by that you know what its property is and this constitutes
the
drug
itself
it is
the result which follows
its
nature.
It is so
with Love, Righteousness, Reverence,
and .Wisdom.
have their root in the Mind.
According to Mencius these four principles When, for example, he speaks

"
of a solicitous mind, he attributes feeling to the Mind. The Philosopher said further Shao Yao Fu said,
:
The
Nature
is
Mind
for
is
the concrete expression of Moral Order, and the the enceinte of the Nature." 2 This is wellj said,
itself is
Moral Order in
the Nature be
it finds it
<tould
in the Nature.
?
But
without concrete expression if there were no "Mind where

;
There must be Mind to receive the
Nature and carry it into operation,; for the principles contained in the Nature are Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, and they are real principles. We of the Confucian cult regard the Nature as real. Buddhists
regard
it
as unreal.
To
define the
Nature as the Mind,
as is done so frequently in these days, is incorrect. It is essential first to understand our terms and then proceed
to definition.
1
(Fi
is
Ta
record adds
If
we
point to that
;
The
allusion
to Mencius doctrine of the

ii,
Chinese Classics, vol.

courtesy,
p.
78.
and moral
insight
Four Terminals see Legge s These are solicitude, conscientiousness, four feelings which are the outflow of the four
principles, Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, and by means of which these four principles can be discerned. The whole subject is discussed in the Introduction to Chu PI si and the Sung School, chap. xi.
2 8
Quoted from Shao

See p.
17, n. 4.
preface to the
"
Chi Jang Chi
"
see p. 6.

of what
19
which possesses consciousness as the Nature, we axe speaking is really the Mind.) For example, there is tho Nature as implanted by the Decree of Heaven, and there is
the physical element. If we regard the Nature, as it is the Decree of Heaven, as having its origin implanted by
in the
you place the Physical Nature ? When, for example, it is said, "The natural, mind is un 1 stable, the spiritual mind is but a spark," the word mind
will
1
Mind, where
is
mind
9.
used in both cases, but we do not say that the spiritual is Mind, while the natural^ mind is not Mind.
Just as in the case of the body
within are the
five
as recorded in the
pt.
Quoted from the speech of Shun, the sage -emperor, to Yu,his successor, See Legge s Chinese Classics, vol. iii, Shu Ching The mind of man is restless, i, p. 61. Legge translates the passage
"
".
"
prone to err; its affinity for the right way is small." But this fails to bring out the play on the word "mind" (jjj). The expression (natural
>j^>
contrasted with Jf| fa (spiritual mind). Although j|| fe, as Legge says, is not a different entity from *2 it represents a different condition. as carnal Legge objects to Medhurst s translation of jfj
mind)
is
"
mind
",
and he
is
is
right in so far as the
in its generally accepted meaning.
word The mind

is
"
carnal
"
is
too one-sided
of
man
as ordained
Divine will
the
JU
jjj,
i.e.
the
mind which
is
in accord with
subject to jjj (Tao), Moral Law ; it is the mind of man as affected J|J
the ethically
by the and wholly The pure mind.
by the physical element.

falls )fr easily
Chu Hsi
says elsewhere
when
j(ji
,
consciousness
is
in accord with right ethical principle
we have the
&
^
",
and that the

"
A
"
into error, while the

(wet),
is
manifested with
difficulty.
is
translated
by the phrase
it is
but a spark
it is "minute
also
"obscure
&m
|.
see
&o
Chu Hsi
A *&##**&
fw
TO
which have ^ he more than one meaning (& ft $ H S ft m& m wmm %
To
the word
gives
",
figo
..#**<>);
31-6.
Conversations (f
|J|), pt. 78,
ff.
20
1 organs and six viscera, and without are the four senses of hearing, sight, taste, and smelly with the four limbs,
and
all
men
possess
them alike
so -with the
moral nature :
within are Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, and these are manifested in solicitude, conscientiousness,
respectfulness, and moral, insight, and all men possess them; so that in all relationships, such as those of father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, friend and
friend, sovereign
exist.
and minister, the same moral sentiments
Even in
inferior creatures it is the same, except that
in their case these principles are restricted by the rigidity of form and matter. Nevertheless, if you study their habits
yiou find that in
the
same
some particular direction they too manifest principles they, as well as we, have the affection
;
of parent
in their malje and female there is the relationship of husband and wife, in their differing ages that of elder and younger brothers, in the flocking together
;
and child
of those of a class that of friends,
and in
their leadership
that of sovereign
prevailing of the past subjugated the inferior creatures, their treatment of each was in accordance with its nature. In the animal and
are produced by Heaven from the One Source,
and minister. It is because ol\ things and Earth, and together proceed
that
there
is
this
uniformity.
When
the holy and wise
men
vegetable worl^d, for example, they invariably acted on this principle. In their appropriation and use of nature s wealth
they recognized seasons and exercised moderation.

birth season of spring they refrained
1
In the
from killing young

intestines, bladder,
Giles gives the Five Organs
J[
Jjjj)
as heart, liver, stomach, lungs,
and kidneys; and the Six Viscera (^ jjjj) as stomach, gall bladder, and the two functional passages.

were with young.
21
animals, they did not overturn nests, nor kill those that It was not till the plants and trees had!
1
begun to drop their leaves that the woodman entered the hiH forests with the axe. It was not till the otter had sacrificed its fish, that the forester entered the meres and
dams.
sacrifice
It
was not
tillj
the wolf
that the hunter
had offered its prey in commenced his hunting. 1 The
they were able to give all things their appro priate spheres was because they first understood the original purpose of Heaven and Earth in the production of things.
reason
why
10.
n.ot to
Ch uan
four words,
;
"
The Nature
is
2
Law,"
are
they are really the outcome of sub jective investigation. Later teachers only repeat what they have heard from others, without examining into the con
be gainsaid
stitution of their
own
being,
and therefore
err in
many
directions
11.
3 that most modern Question. Ming Tao says philosophers in their discussion of the Nature maintain
that the sentence,

4
ness,"
refers to the
is
"The
1
Nature
The law of their succession is good same thing as the dictum of Mencius, 5 Does not Ming Tao here imply good."
"
The whole passage is quoted, though in different order of the sentences from the Li Chi see Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxvii, p. 221. The wild beast having caught his prey has more than he can devour at once, and therefore spreads it out on the ground all round him, watching it until he is able to eat it. The appearance is as if it were laid out for sacrifice; hence
;
the expressions used. 2 See p. 16, n. 1.

3
Ses
sentence in the Yi Ching, pp. 355-6. The two paragraphs, 24 and 25, are frequently quoted by the writers of this school, and are very important. See p. 56 of this volume, n. 1.
5
g^
pt. xiii,
f.
29
jf fj,
pt.
i, f.
10.
Mencius, p. 110.
22
and that
describe
"
that the original substance of the Nature cannot be defined, all those who expound the Nature do no more than
If
its outflow as, for example, when Mencius says, look at the Feelings which flow from the Na/ture, may know that they are constituted for the practice of
;
we
we
what is good ? The philosopher nodded

"
assent.
2 Subsequently, a scholar of Kiangsi asked about the above statement by Ming Tao, and the Master replied in a letter
that the saying in the The Great Appendix of the Yi law of their succession is goodness," refers to the time before
"
"
",
birth, while
refers to the
Mencius, in saying that the Nature time after birth.
is
good,
That very evening he again referred conversation with Wen Wei, 3 and said that what I wrote to-day was not right.
to this subject in
:
It
seems to
"
me
speaks of thoir succession being goodness, it speaks of the flowing movement of Heaven s Moral Order, and that Mencius, in
:
Wen Wei
said
Is it not that,
when
the
Yi
"
The Feelings are the Four Terminals, referred to which flow from the four principles constituting the Nature, and therefore furnish the ground on which is based the doctrine that the Nature is good. The nature of the source is inferred from the
Mencius, p. 278.
" "
on
p. 18 (see note),
nature of the stream. The questioner here quotes the passage simply as describing the outflow of the Nature, and so explaining the point of similarity between the two sayings quoted by Ming Tao. Note, Legge takes the subject of the last clause to be the Nature Chu Hsi takes it to be the Feelings see p. 23 4 ; the meaning is the same in both cases.
"
",
"
",
A man named Ch en Yuan

,pt.xciii,f.l).
pupil of Chu Hsi at Shao Hsing. His full name was Hsu Wen Wei. held office at T ung Chou, but owing to false accusations made against him he went into retirement. After about six years, however, the Throne
$A
3
from Kiangsi studied under Chu Hsi
(see
He
recognizing his integrity appointed
him
to a secretariat.

"
"
23
saying that the Nature is good, speaks of the outflow of man s Nature. The Yi and Mencius each speak of a the one referring to Heaven, the other referring* flow
"
",
to
man, and Ming Tao uses the one

it is not,
to illustrate the other.
Thus
as you, sir, said, the distinction between the
time before and the time after birth.
The Philosopher
12.
replied
You
is
are quite right.
The Nature of man
universally good.
Even
Chieh and Chou, 1 who exhausted the possibilities of violence and went to the utmost extreme of wickedness, still knew that their actions were evil. But, though my Nature is
good,
when
would act in accordance with
it
I fail,
and
find that it has been
made
"
captive
by human
:
desire.
How does the, The Master asked the question the concrete expression of Moral Nature come to be
13.
Order
"
replied: the Nature.
Ch un 2
Moral Order
is
a principle inherent in
The Master said

sense.
The term Moral Order
is
used in a
universal sense, the term Nature is used in the individual
How
do we know that Moral Order exists in the

?
external world
Simply by our experience of

seeking
there
is it
is,
it
here. 3
(Ti-Lu reads
By
ever the Nature

1
in our own persons.) WhereMoral Order. The Moral Order
Chieh was Chieh Kuei ^). ^ ne ^ a3 ^ Emperor of the Hsia dynasty, and Choa was Chou Hsia (-f^f 5j5), the last Ernperor of the Yin dynasty. Both were notorious for their almost inconceivable tyranny and lust. The one was overthrown by T ang and the other by Wu. 2 Probably Ch en An Ch ing see p. 195, n. 2. 3 Here the Philosopher pointed to his breast.
(^
24

;
is Law as we find it in the external world Law as we finjd it in ourselves. But the
the Nature
iis
laws whieihi
we
find in the external world are all
Law which
14.
is
in myself.
comprehended in this The Nature is the framework of
the Moral Order.
Chi Sui, following the teaching of his school, 1 said: You cannot speak of the Nature as being good in the moral
sense, for ultimate goodness has
moment you say

it
with
evil,
and
no opposite, whereas the! that a thing is good you are contrasting when you speak of it as being good or
evil
you
are speaking of
is
The
original Nature
above comparison. beneath. The moment you say it is good you contrast it with evil, and then you are speaking of what is not the)
original Nature.
good,"
what is not the original Nature. from above, so honourable as to be Good as the correlative of evil is from
When
Mencius
said,
"The
Nature
"
id
he was not speaking of moral goodness, but simply What an using the language of admiration, as if to say, excellent thing the Nature is as Buddha exclaimed just
"
"
"Excellent
with reference to
"the
Path".
(This is
the theory of
1
Wen
Ting.)
Chi Sui was the third son of Hu Wu Feng (see p. 25), and grandson of the founder of the Hu School of Philosophy (see Intro duction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School). Hu Chi Sui was Chu Hsi s contemporary and the chief representative of the Hu school in his day. He studied under Chang Ch ih (style Nan Hsien), whose daughter he married,
Hu An Kuo,
and who had himself studied under

See
2
^
^,
Hu Wu
f.
Feng, the father of Chi Sui.
||,
pt. xlii,
f.
21
pt. Ixxi,
1.
the
in
Hu An Kuo (j^lj T (H}, canonized as Wen Ting, was the founder of Hu School, and grandfather of Hu Chi Sui. His teachings are recorded
two important works $j j
pt. xxxiv,
f.
jj|
-f and
f.
j(jj
3^
See
12
J=2
$,
pt. xvi,
15.

In criticizing
it is true, is
25
this statement I said:
The
original Nature,
the all-comprehensive perfect goodness apart
from any comparison with evil. This is what is imparted to me by Heaven. But the practice of it rests with man, and then it is that you have evil in addition to goojd Conduct in accord with this original Nature is good. Con
.
duct out of accord with
it is
evil.
How>
can
it
be sad(
that the good is not the original Nature ? It is in man s conduct that the distinction arises, but the good conduct is the outcome of the original Nature. If, as Wen Ting says,
there
is
both an absolute and a relative goodness, then there
are two natures.
from Heaven, and the Nature from which good conduct proceeds, are essentially one but the moment the good appears*
the Nature which
is
Now
;
received
there immediately appears with it the not-good!, so that It necessarily you speak of good and evil in contrast.
is
not that there
is
ness to appear with
an antecedent evil waiting for thdigoodwhich it is to be contrasted, butf that by

;
wrong actions we fall into evil. The doctrine taught by and from the Ting was adopted by his descendants time of Chih T ang l and Wu Feng 2 it diverged still further from the truth, and ended in the development of the doctrine
Wen
Hu Yin
("$}
H),
style
Chih
T ang, was
Chih
2
T ang studied under Yang Kuei Shan, and state. He died when Chu Hsi was 21 years old.
a nephew of held high
Hu An
Kuo.
the
office in
son of
Hu Hung Hu An
(~f$
*J;), style
Wu Feng, was cousin
to the above, being the
Kuo. He
of
also studied
was the teacher
Chang Nan
under Yang Kuei Shan, and in turn Hsien, a friend of Chu Hsi s. He was the
author of the Words of Wisdom (%$ f=f , see p. 28, n. 3), so often quoted and criticized in this work. Like his cousin Chih T ang, Feng stood high in the confidence of the Emperor and filled prominent positions at the
Wu
Court.
26
of two natures, the original Nature and that in which good and evil are contrasted. They only speak, however, of
one, the original Nature, contending that that in
which
can
good
first
is
contrasted with evil
is
not the Nature.
How
? Wen Ting from Kuci Shan, 1 and Kuei Shan obtained it from Ch ang Tsung of Tung Lin. 2 Tsung had formerly been a neighbour of Kuei Shan s, and thus they had had friendly intercourse together. Subsequently Tsung went
such a theory hold

instance
obtained his idea in the
to live at
visited
him on
Tung Lin in the Lu Mountains, where Kuei; Shan his way to the capital. Tsung was an abl e
man and deeply read in Buddhist literature, besides being a man of high moral principle. Kuei Shan asked him
doctrine, "The Nature is good," was answered tha,t it was. Again, Kuei Shan Tsung How can the Nature be defined in terms of good asked, and evil?" Tsung replied, "The original Nature is not
whether Mencius
correct.
"
contrasted
with
evil."
The
itself
eaying
which
was
thus
originated by
him was handed down from one

statement in
to another.
was not incorrect, because it is true that the Nature was without evil. The originally error began with Wen Ting, who Asserted that the dictum,
s
1
But Tsung
Yang Shih
five
(;j,g
{j*f
),
st
^ e Kuei
Shan, was a philosopher of Fuhkien,
and born
Ch eng Hao
years after the birth of Chu Hsi. He studied under both and Ch en^ I. Most of his life was spent in Honan, their
native province. chap. iv.

2
See Introduction
Forest), in the
at
to
Chu Hsi and

is
the
Sung
Si.
School,
Tung Lin (Eastern

called
Lu Mountains,
in
Kiang
Yang
which
in
Kuei Shan established a school
Ch ang Chou ( $f $H )
in Fuhkien,
was
the
Tung Lin
rebuilt
College
Ch ang Chou was
by
Ku
(]g $JC || Haien Ch eng (J|g
g^).
jjjj
The School
Jfjj)
in the reign of
Wan
Li (Ming dynasty).

"
27
was the language of admiration. Feng followed by making a distinction between the two "goods", maintaining that that of which good, is predicated is not the Nature. But if
The Nature
is
goad,"
Later, Chili
T ang and
Wu
that of which good is predicated is not the original Nature, where will you get your "good" from? Since, as is
admitted, the words in the dictum are used in admiration of the Nature, it folljowis that it is the Nature. (Hsien s
record reads
:
it
follows that the Nature
is
good.)
If the
Nature were not

just
"
.as
gookl, how could it inspire admiration Buddha, when in admiration he exclaims

!
Excellent
calls
and so
implies that the Path is good forth his admiration. The two Sus 2 in their
Excellent
"
discussion of the Nature fall into the
same error
as the
Hus.
3
Their contention
is
is
that Mencius assertion that the Nature
good
is
as if he said fire can cook, while Hsiin.Ch ing s
assertion that the
Nature is evil is as if he said fire burns. Kuei Shan turns this statement, and criticizes it by saying The reason why fire can cook is because it burns. If
:
The Sus could there be any cooking ? in their discussions concerning the Nature say From the times of the ancient sages until Confucius, the only way in which the Nature was interpreted was as Singleness 4
"
otherwise,
how
"
Hsien
record
is
probably the correct one
the sense of the text
is
otherwise not complete.

2
Su Shih
Sung
the
3
(or Su Tung P o) and Su Che. See Introduction to School, chap, iv ; also p. 14 of this volume.
Chu Hsi and
Hsun Ch ing (the Minister Hsiin) was the famous philosopher who asserted that the Nature is evil in direct opposition to Mencius. He lived
in the third century B.C.
4
See D.M., pp. 271, 275.
The word
".
literally
means
"
one
",
and
is
translated
by
Legge as
"
singleness
In his note on p. 271 Legge quotes
28

;
but and then the idea of the Mean 1 was introduced the question whether it was good or evil Lad not as yet been raised. When Mencius, however, said, The Nature is good the ideas of Singleness and the Mean sank
,
The into the background." All this is beside the mark. authors of such arguments simply content themselves with
plausible
principles.
statements,
without
regard
to
The Hus,
too, represented at the present
underlying time
2 by Chi Sui, show the same tendency.
15.
On
3
Yen
",
Chih the occasion of a remark in praise of the made by one who was discussing the Hu Hsiang
the
"
School,
Philosopher
its
it
said:
The
it also
"Chih
Yen"
admittedly has
errors.
good points, but
contains serious
For example,
evil,
says that the distinction between
good and
Ying Ta
referred
s
or between right
and wrong, Las no
real
translates
translation of the passage in which the word occurs, in which he as one meaning one method of practising the five duties
"
",
to. s
Chu Hsi
ness
1
"
Legge, however, is not interpretation of the word
satisfied
with
this,
and adopts
"
doubtless the meaning here.

to distinguish from
"
as meaning "sincerity", which is I have retained Legge s rendering of single

,
|^
the regular word for
"
sincerity
"
",
which
"
occurs so often in this work.

Lit.
middle
p. 248)
;
",
(see
D.M.,
and by
equilibrium interpreted by Legge as meaning Ku Hung Ming as right, true, fair and square
"
"
(Conduct of Life, p. 7). 2 See p. 24 and note.

3
The
"Chih Yen"
p. 25, n. 2).
It is
still
(Words of Wisdom) is a treatise by Hu Wu Feng extant, and can be referred to in the jjL
(see
^,
pt. xlii,
4
ff.
2-12.
(jjj)
3jfc
,
Hu
Hsiang
(see j|
$fl)
known
Hsiang
pt. Ixxi,
was a name by which the Hu (jj-Jj) School was f. 2), probably taken from a district named
T an
($|f j^), in
Hunan
(yjj^J
in the same j^), or from a river
region called the Hsiang River
(*jfH
7J<).

existence in the Nature.
29
But thus
to obliterate all
"
moral
"
distinctions is simply to fall into the

1
"
heresy of Kao Tzu. Again, it says, of the faculty of liking and disliking the noble man iri his liking and disliking is actuated by Moral Lav/ and the
:
Whirling Water The Nature consists
2 The Nature being thus ignoble man by selfishness." defined as liking and disliking, Moral Law comes to be a thing outside the Nature. Where such principles come
from
I cannot understand.
Does not the statement, that by investigating Question. the continuity of the functions of sighst, hearing, speech, and 3 activity we may understand the Feelings, express the same
idea as that of
Kao Tzu s
4
"?
assertion that
"Life
is
what
is
termed the Nature
Answer.
later
Yes, this statement also

said
,
is
on
it is
"Moral
Law and
Again, Righteousness are
at fault.
who can say that they constitute The seductions of the world betray us, but who can say that they are men s desires ? Thus Moral Law
clearly manifested, but
the
Mind
"
and Righteousness are contrasted with the seductions of the

that man s nature in water ; it will take the line of least resistance, flowing east or west in whichever direction a passage may be opened for it.
1
See Mencius, p. 271.
Kao Tzu maintained
relation to
good and
evil is like whirling
2
3
See
I
g,
pt. xlii,
f.
6.
cannot find this statement in my copy of the Chih Yen, but it is undoubtedly quoted from that work. The same thing is true of some others of the statements criticized. The word Feelings here is equivalent and the text maintains that, the functions Nature to the word enumerated being the functions of life, the statement is in effect the same as Kao TzCi s famous dictum.
"
"
"
",
Mencius, p. 272.
30
world
;

and
yet,
no Moral
according to this school, there is or Righteousness in the Nature originally, but the two opposites, good and evil, are subsequently
Law
implanted in it, and thus it is Nature also as "not good".

"
possible
to
define
the
The Nature
is
:
evil much more the word When The Nature is he is thei using says, good, and not with of admiration, contrasting good language To say that the .Nature is the mystery of the universe
!
the spirit-world describe it, how
Finally it is said: the mystery of the universe and of the word goodness is inadequate to
Mencius
evil."
and of the spirit-world
is to
use highflown and exaggerated
language, whereas, as I have said before, it is characteristic of the saints and sages that they expressed themselves in
simple language.
in vehement terms, Confucius
Although Mencius sometimes breaks out is always even and exact.

in the dictum,
"The
The theory
good,"
that
"good"
Nature! ig
is not moral good, originated in an interview which Kuei Shan had with the venerable Tsung, when the teaching of Mencius on the Nature of man was discussed, and this statement made. 1 Wen Ting 2 frequently heard Kuei Shan quote Tsung s remark, and based his theory upon it. But what the venerable Tsung said at that time seems to
have been that the

ness
is
all -comprehensive
not contrasted with
evil,
transcendbnt good which does not look as if he
had altogether abandoned the position that the Nature is good. To-day, disregarding what he said as to the allcomprehensive transcendent goodness, they insist that his statement that it is not contrasted wiiJi evil implies that he
1
See pp. 25-7.
See p. 24 and
n. 2.

meant that Mencius dictum
31
is the language of admiration, as a have fallen into very serious error. and, result,
16.
its
Mencius shows the goodness of the Nature from manifested operations, and thus supports his statement
that the Nature is good. Ch eng Tzu calls it the Original and Essential Nature, 1 but also shows the original ethical
principle by its manifested operations.
17.
"
Question.
What
is
says
The Nature
is that
meant by Heng Ch u when he by reason of which we cannot

"
but bo acted upon by the external world ? 2 Answer. The possession of the Nature in
that we are acted
itself
means
when we
upon by the external world. For example, recognize the daily obligations of the relationship
between sovereign and minister, and father and son, our minds are being acted upon externally. The same thought is expressed in the Yi Ching in the words, / When acted
3 Thlis upon, it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena." sentence of Heng Ch u s is parallel to his other statement
:
"
The Decree
1
is
that
4
but be
unceasing."
by reason of which Heaven cannoti For Law in the nature of things is

;
The saying
tfe
"*
is by I Ch uan f 4. see , pt. iii, Jj This Quoted from the Cheng Heng ( J passage H?). 88 Sf jl- Ifc ma y be found however, in the
.
>
is
not in the
the 5fc
7C
^^
p. 370.
g g ^
)
^,
or
P*- xviii
;
f-
33
H^D
Ch G ( Cnan g Tsai
is
alluding
to a passage in the Li Chi also p. 38 of this volume.

2
4
see Sacred
Books of
the East, vol. xxviii, p. 96,
Yi China,
See Cheng
Heng
(Jj|
pt. xvii,
f.
33), in
which
this sentence
appears
immediately preceding that quoted by the questioner. Heng Ch u alludes to a sentence in the Doctrine of the Mean, which reads The Decree of In the statement quoted Heaven, how profound it is and unceasing the first is that the Nature is the by the questioner there are two ideas
"
"
32

;
day and night, winter and summer, it Hence the saying of Confucius, goes on without pause. x to the Nature referring passes on just like thjs and that of Ch eng Tzii: It is one with the Moral Order." This principle, both now and from all eternity, never ceases
without cessation
"
"It
"
for a single moment It cannot cease."

"
day or night
to the
therefore
it
is
said,
18.
Again, referring
is
:
saying of Shao Tzir,
"
The
the
Nature
the concrete expression of Moral
2
Order,"
Though Moral Order is present every how arc we The answer is simply by to find it ? where, It is wholly found within turning and looking within.
Philosopher said
:
our Nature.
From
the
flact
that
we
ourselves possess the
principles of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, w a infer that others possess them also that, indeed, of the
;
beings, and of are without these in the there none universe, things Extend our as far as we will, principles. investigations
all
thousands and tens of thousands of
human
we
still find
them.
Shao Tzii
that there is nothing which does not possess states it well when he defines the Nature
as the concrete expression of Moral Order.
1.
is
(TWENTY-TWO SECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTED WRITINGS The Nature Question. The Master I Ch uan said:
"
".)
"
Law."
My definition of tlie term Law is that it consists

"
and the second is the continuity of consciousness It is in virtue of the cannot but be affected expressed in the words second idea that the sentence is said to be parallel to the one here quoted. 1 Analects, IX, xvi (p. 86). 2 See p. 6.
seat of consciousness,
".
Seep.
16, n,
1.

of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and not sure whether I am correct or not.
33
I
1
Wisdom.
am
Answer.
These four most certainly are the fundamental

to think into this
2
principles of the Nature, but
You need
what they include is boundless. more closely. (Reply to Liu

in the expression
I
ao Chung.)
2.
"
It is said,
is
The word good

not moral
The
the,
Nature
good
is
good."
hold,
on
contrary, that the original and essential good, and the good which in its issue is contrasted with evil are identical.
But thoughfjrom the point of view of the time before and the time after its emanation there is a difference for good
ness before its emanation stands alone as absolute goodness yet the good which emanates as the relative good is still
the same good. After its emanation there is intermingled with it the not-gooid,hut that which is termed good is none
the less the emanation of the original essential good. The Before there thought is made clear in the expressions,
"
was any action," and "After the Nature became which occur in the Ts ung Shu". 3 To say, in
"
active",
spite of
"The
these considerations,
"
that good in the expression,
Nature is good is not moral good, is in my judgment selfoontradictory, and can only raise, doubt in the mind of the
student.
1
(Reply
to
Kuo Ch ung
Hui.)
!$J refers to the questioner Liu Ping. Liu Ping (style T ao Chung) and his elder brother Liu
Yo
|||]
%$%} were
|jjc,
natives of Chien
ff.
Yang
(^
PI?)*
an(^ pupils of
Chu Hsi;
see ffi
|pt. Ixix,
3
5, 6.
Ts ung Shu are collections of works on a particular subject or of a There are many such collections in existence (see particular period. (Appendix to Wylie s Notes on Chinese Literature), and it is difficult to tell rhich of them it is to which reference ia here made,
I
34
*

3.
}>
The Decree of Heaven is what is termed the The possession of this Nature implies numerous in it. included The Thus, when it is said, principles
Nature
"
Nature
it
is
is
the seat
of
not
meant that
the assemblage of principles/ 2 there is a pro-existent Nature
without such principles, waiting for them to assemble within it. If we consider it in the- light of I Ch ujan s The Nature is Law," 3 we shall readily appre-. dictum,
"
hend the
the
In the sentence, virtues of the Nature and

idea.
4
"
The Mind moulds

the
Feelings,"
word
"moulds"
means
to direct their activities.
Further, as
to the saying quoted that filial piety is the root of virtue,
I grant that, though in my opinion filial piety cannot be characterized in terms of either root or fruit, it is never theless one
among the virtues.
But suppose
it
to
be as you
say, and the virtue of filial piety to be the root, do the other virtues then become the fruit ? You say that the
Nature
is
is
the root of
Law,
caji
you then say that the Nature

"
The simply one instance of Law ? Again, you say, laws of the universe all have their origin and! root in the
in which case the laws of the universe; spring from the Nature, and at the same time are outside the Nature.
Nature,"
Hence there are two

speak of
entities, the
Nature and Law, not to

(Reply to
Law
p. 247.
being the greater of the two.

2
Ho Shu
1
Ching.)
D. M.,
statement by I Ch uan.
See p. 16 and note.
Miao
($)
originally
means
"wonderful
or
"mysterious".
Here
it is
a very rare use of the word. It must be interpreted but as including the meaning of excellence and the in text, as stated wonderfulness as to method. The passage quoted occurs in The Sayings
used as a verb
of
Wu
Feng
ft
fg)
See
^^
pt. xlii,
f.
12.
Cf.
volume. p. 176 of this

4.
35
"We do not know whence The question thus raised is of human great importance. In my opinion what is called is exactly the opposite of You can desire Divine Law say that human desire exists because of Divine Law, but to
In your
this
letter
you say,
comes
human
desire."
"
"
"
".
say that it is Divine Law is wrong. For originally there is no human desire in Divine Law. It is from the deviation
in the latter
s
flow that
human
and
desire originates.
evil
1
Ch eng Tzu
(this
is
says,
"Good
are both Divine
When Law
statement seems very, startling ), 1 what he calls evil not evil originally (as thus explained the statement is
to;
2
considerably altered), but it comes

or
shortcoming"
"
(this
statement
is
question
Whence comes human

"
desire
be such by excess an answer to the ? The sentence

").
which you quote,

is
Evil
al(so
must be
called the
Nature,"
to be interpreted in this sense.

5.
(Reply to
is
Ho Shu
"
Ching.)
Sung Ch ing
is
Nature
said.
"
says, "Law not to be defined as the

"
the Nature.
1
The
is
root."
This
is
well
(Ch eng Tzii

",
also says,
The Nature
Law,"
see
The Remains Pt. 22, a.) When, however, he proceeds to draw a distinction between subjective and objective
influences, then he is at fault.
rightly.
1
Tso Hsu
also says,
Tso Hsu 5 denies this, and "The Nature is spontaneous,
The sentences
See
in parentheses are interpolations of the Chinese compiler
2
2
Jg
pt. iia, f . 2.
Lien Sung Ch ing (jg -f; |gp), a pupil of Chu Hsi. The statement refers back to section 3 on p. 34. 5 Feng Tso Hsu ($| ffJT JJH) a native of Shao Wu Hsien, and pupil of Chu Hsi, who praised his lectures to students as specially worthy of The Seat of commendation. The master named his pupil s home
4
>
"
Intelligence"
(^
Jjj).
See *f|
||,
pt. Ixix, p. 41.
30
while

Law
necessary and cannot be disobeyed or con This IB fairly correct (there is error here also), but
is
"
fused."
he goes on to say,
It is not that the existence of
Law is
subsequent to the Nature, but its manifestation as resulting Now this from the Nature is necessarily subsequent to
it."
is
very erroneous, for
distinct entities.
makes the Nature and Law two The Again, he is right when he says,
it
"
Nature is the assemblage of principles," but he is wrong when he defines Law as the unification of the Nature. For Law consists of the principles inherent in the Nature, and
the Nature
ciples:.
all,
is
Sung
the seat of the assemblage of those prin Ch ing errs in making no distinction at
errs in distinguishing
while Tso
Hsu
overmuch, so that
(Reply
to
both are one-sided in their statements.
Feng
the
Tso Hsu.)
6.
The
doctrine that goodness as
predicated
of
l
Nature is not contrasted; with evil was originally learned by Kuei Shan from the Buddhist priest Ch ang Tsung, and
it
must be confessed
t!he
that,
on the face of
it, it
appears to be
not incorrect.
the goodness of
While, however, you
Nature that
ajs
may say in references to yet there is no evil which

it never,
is
can be .affirmed as
its opposite, to
say that
can have
an opposite
eay that
is
a mistake.
For the Nature
one.
Since we
universally good, then of course there can be no evil bo bo opposed to the good. That is a truism.
it is
The
reason
to evil.
Law
is
why it is termed good, however, is its opposition, By the statement that the Nature is good, Divinei distinguished from human desire. Although these
1
are not synchronous entities, nevertheless, whenever you

See pp. 25-7 and notes.

describe
37
them in terms of before and
after birth, or of
altruism and selfishness, or of ethical perfection and moral obliquity, you cannol avoid their correlation as opposites.
This
there
is is
the reason
I cannot accept the theory thaitt another good which is not contrasted with evil. 1
why
(B/epy to
7.
Hu Kuang
I
Chung.
2 )
The Master
Ch uan
said: 3
"When
Heaven and
Earth stored up the subtle essences, it was man who received the choicest excellence of the Five Agonte. In its origin
the Nature
tion
it is
is
true
and in repose. 5
Before
its
manifesta
possessed of the five nature-principles, Love,
When Righteousness, Reverence, Wisdom, and Sincerity. form is is existence it acted into bodily upon brought
6 by the external world and the mind becomes
active
the
That
is
There was a time when there was no
human
:
desire,
and when
alone existed, and yet that fact does not prevent our con So with good and evil the fact that at first trasting them as in the text. good alone existed does not make it a different good from the good which
Divine
Law
later is contrasted
2
with
evil.
Feng. At the age of fifteen Kuang Chung sought the advice of Feng and became his pupil. He declined office in order to devote himself to teaching his doctrines. He had considerable
second cousin of
Hu Wu
Wu
controversy with
early age of 38.
pt. xlii, p. 20.
3 4
Chu Hsi and
also with
Chang Nan Hsien.
He
died at the
ffi
|j|
,
Selections from his writings are given in the

.
f 5. See Jj| , pt. xvi, True, i.e. without intermixture of
human
2.
falsity.
See
j[/
fg,
(Modern Thought), by Chu Hsi,

5
pt.
ii,
f.
Repose,
i.e.
fi
Note
the word
not yet affected by the external world, and therefore still. not jjj, is here used. The fact that this word tfi
,
is
1 used for the viscera JL c *- Giles Dictionary, No. 2875) suggests ( the mind in its lower and more passionate aspect, giving rise to the seven see p. 4, n. 1), by which the Nature is passionate emotions jprf,
(^
wounded.
Contrast these with the Four Feelings (also fjg) solicitude,
38

active there issue the seven emotions, pleasure,
mind being
blazing
anger, sorrow, joy, love, hate, and desire.
The emotions
Nature
is
up and increasing
in intensity, the
wounded." 1
I have thought over these words carefully, and their meaning seems to me not different from the teaching of the
"
Yo
Chi".
The word
Nature
is
"repose",
too, refers to the
time
previous to the
being acted upon from without,

filled
when the Mind
wholly
by Heaven
as yet none of the deceitful ness which we get the phrase, "The Heaven. .When it is acted upon by the external world so and becomes active, there arises: the distinction between
;
"3
Law, with of human desire from Nature as imparted by

s
right and wrong, truth

the Nature.
and
error.
But
insight,
if there
were no
conscientiousness, respectfulness,
1
and moral
which proceed from
occasion was asked how the Nature His answer was The Nature, of course, cannot but when men do not obey its principles and give pierced literally be reign to their own desires, then it receives injury." See j|J ,* cf. quotation from the Li Chi below. pt. ii, f. 2 2 The Yo Chi or Record of Music is Book XVII of the Li Chi (Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxvii), of which sec. 1, par. 11, reads
Or
"
pierced
"
".
Chu Hsi on one

,
could be
"
pierced
".
^,
"
"
"
"
"
"
A
&o
9$
there
%.
$&
m
*J
%. to
o3ett&oail*lSft,tii& m m % m % is * fj & man *bo ^ & I3o 5C 3 W &

&<>
ft
fib
"At
birth
Acted is repose, and we have the Nature as imparted by Heaven. upon by the external world activity ensues, and we have the desires incident to the Nature. As external things are presented to us knowledge is developed, and liking and disliking assume definite form. When liking and disliking are not regulated within, knowledge is led astray by external things, and thus there cannot be a proper examination of self, and Divine Law perishes 3 The phrase The Nature as imparted by Heaven and those which
"
"
",
follow, refer to the passage
from the
"
Yo Chi
"
given above.

"
39
Nature, there would be nothing from which desire could Desires incident spring forth, and thus we have the phrase, to the Nature." The expression "activity ensues" does
not differ in meaning from "to spring forth" in Thej l Doctrine of the Mean for right and wrong, truth and falsity of actions, depend upon whether there is "regulation"
"
"
or not, whether such actions strike
tjhe
due
Mean
or not. 2
"It
This
is
the same idea as
at this very point
is you express when you say, we must distinguish between the true and
the
false."
But in our daily
affairs there
needs to be ethical
nurture, so that
act intelligently.
when If we act
keep
the time comes for action

hastily
we may
and without self-control,

too late, then
delaying preparation
neglect
until! it is
we
fail to
pace with, events.

"repose",
As
to
by sheer your remark,

is
with reference to the word
that
"This
thei
word which represents the mystery of the Nature as imparted by Heaven, and not the contrasted expressions, I am doubtful for activity and repose, truth and falsity the Nature is all-inclusive: the laws both of activity and of
",
repose are contained in it. If we use only the word "repose" to represent the Nature, then the definition of the term
becomes one-sided and defective.

is
When
"
in the
Yo Chi
"
repose predicated of the Nature as imparted by Heaven, it simply means that before it is acted upon by the external
world, and before selfish desires have sprung forth, it is wholly Heaven s Law it is not necessary to use the word
:
"repose"
to represent the
"
words
1
"
true
and
"
"
false
mystery of the Nature. The on the other hand are different
2
2
D.M., p. 248. See the passage referred to above in the Doctrine of ike Mean. See above.
40

" "
"
from the words activity and repose". The Nature as such is possessed by everything in the universe, but there
is
nothing false in
in
"Moral
it.
The attempt
is
now made
false,"
to
include
truth also
says,
is
"
this negative
is
assertion, just as
Mr. Han
Law
neither true nor
for which he
ridiculed by
Ming Tao.
it
In the statement of I
Ch
uan,
is
In
its
origin
for the
is
true
and
in, repose,"
there
fundamental difference between the words

"Sriepose",
"true"
and
word
".true"
refers
to
the original
substance, while the word "repose" refers only to the fact that in the beginning it has not yet been acted upon by
the external worlld.
The Master Ming Tao
"
says
The
time preceding man s birth and the repose which then exists needs no discussion. The moment you apply the term
*
Nature
be the
birth
is
Nature."
what you are speaking of has already ceased to 2 For the moment of repose at man s
the emotions have not yet sprung forth but this merely shows the perfection of the Nature as imparted by Heaven, and cannot fairly be regarded! as
;
the time
when
using the word

to
"
repose
3
to represent the Nature.
(Reply]
Hu Kuang
8.
Chung.) This section* was produced
at
the very beginning

first
of the discussion, in the vain expectation that at the

1
Han
:
Shih Lang (f| f

of
jjg),
Vice-President (fj
says,
;
j||$)
of one of the
Boards
Government.
Ming Tao
false
not true, then it is quoted can it be neither true nor false ?

"If
"
if
answer to the statement not false, then it is true. How

in
Is it not manifest,
prehension of the simplest intelligence, that whatever is not, is false ? See ]|f pt. i, f. 3.
and within the com is, is true, and what
2
3
See jjj See also p. 97 of this volume. pt. i, f. 10. See above, p. 37, n. 2. Refers to the preceding section.
f,

glance,
41
and in a single moment, the accumulated error of Its arguments still meet with be rectified. could years some. Moreover, that I should opposition on the part of
pit
my one solitary my
of all the wise
men
discussion against the combined wisdom of former generations also makes me
uneasy in
Hence, to-day, when I read it, I find myself, even, objecting to it on many points. For example, Kuang Chung maintains that the word "repose" is the
mind.
word
to express the
is
mystery of Heaven
Law, and again
not to be described as having both truth and error, activity and repose which is the same doctrine as the Chih Yen l asserts when it says that the goodness
that the Nature
"
"
predicated of tho Nature is good in the sense of admirable and not good in contrast to evil. The way in which I ought to have answered him is this Good and evil, truth and error, activity and repose, the antecedent and the
:
former and the latter, all receive their names from their mutual opposition. Apart from its contrast with evil, good cannot be predicated of anything. Apart from
s_equent, the
opposition to activity, repose cannot be predicated of If a thing cannot be false, then neither can anything. it be true, and there is nothing of which these things can
its
be predicated at all. Now, has no real existence for us,

thing as evil.
is
if
it
the goodness of the Nature follows that there is no such

it
And
so
with truth, if
error.
does not,exist there
predicate repose implies) Therefore, to say that neither good and evil, nor truth and error, nor activity and repose, nor indeed any;
activity.
no such thing as
To
relative terms can

1
be usod to define the Nature, but that

See above, p. 28 and note.
42
transcending the relative there is another absolute good, and absolute repose, which alone can be regarded as repre senting the mystery of the Nature as imparted by
Heaven,
Not
surely very strange only was the reply which

!
is
made
at
the
time
inadequate, as I have shown, but there are several other omissions statements in which there are as, for
also"
;
example, when
I said that the
Nature
is
all-inclusive,
and
not to be defined as repose only., This is true, but the idea the should rather have been expressed thus: "Though and is of the Nature repose are repose, activity sphere
alike implied in its connotation. Therefore, the Yo 1 is right, but iix predicating repose of the Nature
Chi
when
the
Kuang Chung
[mystery
wrong."
uses
the
word repose
to
set forth
of
position.
repose"
Nature as imparted by Heaven he is Such would be an all-round statement of the Again, in discussing Cli eng Tztl s "true and in
the
statement, I took the
word
"true"
to the original substance,
and
"repose"
as referring as referring to
the time before
This also
is
expressed it in the latter part of the sentence are the explanation of the word repose and the five nature-principles explain
:
upon by the external world. have been better to have it would but correct, before its manifestation "The words thus
it is
acted
the
word
true
but Love,
Righteousness,
Reverence,
Wisdom, and Sincerity are to be defined as implied in the expression before its manifestation and are what is meant
,
by and
the
its
s
truth
of the
Nature."
In this way both the idea

"
Chung
expression are complete. (Reply to Hu Kuang criticism of Chu Hsi s Essay on the Nature".)
1
See above, p. 33, n.
1.

9.
43
is
Before the
etlierial
element
exists,
the Nature
already in existence. The former is transitory, the latter is eternal Although the Nature is implanted in the midst
.
of the Ether, the Ether is

is
still
the Ether
and the Nature!
still
other.
the Nature, without confusion the one with the As to its immanence and omnipresence in the
is
universe, there
nothing which
is
matter
how
fine or coarse the etherial
without this principle, no element may be.
It is not correct to
regard the more subtile part of the Ether as the Nature and the coarser part of the Nature
as tho Ether.
(Reply to Liu Shu Wen.)
10.
It is truo that the
Nature cannot be without

is
activity,
but
its
all-comprehensiveness
not because of
its
necessary
Even if there were no activity, how possession of activity. could there be anything lacking in its all-comprehensive
fallacy of the Buddhists lies in their falsely l regarding the spirit and soul as the Nature, and not in their
ness?
failing to recognize that the Nature is incapable of activity. If you regard them as understanding what tho Nature is,
The
you have no right to charge them with error. Seeing that you do so charge them, you have no right to appeal to their
statements that the Nature
is
is unreal. In these passages your as not if clear, language your own apprehension of the matter were not clear either. (Reply to P an Kung Shu.)
In the expression jj|
jffl
the word
;
j^
in
represents the principle of
sensation,
and
jp$
the intellectual principle
SI
>
&
represents the
higher or intellectual soul, and
$[ the lower or sentient
soul.
Thus the
ffi
jffl
two expressions, when analysed, seem mutually to correspond, but

again, in relation to rj|
of
(Ji|
,
ia
the higher element in the psychic part
man.
44
11
.

"
originally good. It is only after it has been acted upon by external influences that it may Ilose its poise and fall into evil." Such passages we may
is
Our Nature
verify
by reference
Their proof
to ourselves,
and need not question
lies in the fact that we have constantly watch and keep guard over ourselves with reference to those things in which we are acted upon in the direction, of good or evil. (Reply to Wang Ch ing Ch ing.)
them.
to
12.
Ch eng
"
Tzii said,
"
The Nature
is Law,"
and Shao
Tzii said,
Order." 2
The Nature
is
the concrete expression of Moral
but Shu
These two sayings explain, one another exactly, Ch iian in his criticism would have it that one is
good and the other not.

to grasp Shao
In
this,
Tzu s meaning, but

Further,
not only has ho failed I fear that he has also
failed to understand thoroughly the inwardness of
Ch eng
says
:
Tzu
language.
when Mr.
to
Fang
"Moral
Law
is
Nature
Heaven as the Heaven as imparted

is
self -existent,"
and
"The
and received by
the
passing on the teaching inherited from the earlier Confucianists. For, as a matter of fact, although are not two entities, yet there is a difference in the they
universe,"
he
is
meaning of the two terms which we must not fail! to observe. Moreover, la;ter on in the same context he says, "Although it is received from Heaven, it- is neither more nor less than that which makes Heaven to be Heaven, BO that it has never been regarded as two entities." But with reference to his statement The substance of Moral
"
Seep.
See p.
10, n.
1.
2
3
6, n. 4.
Probably Fang Pin
Wang
see p. 48.

Law
of
is
45
the seat
without activity,
it is
man
s
"
Mind which
Nature
"
"
is
"
activity,"
I say that the words
and
Mind
is
"
have each a different connotation, and this assertion cannot

stand.
Shao Tzu,
too, in his statement,

1
The Mind
the
enceinte of the Nature/
is,
near the mark, but his language
and thought are somewhat abrupt.
Remember
that tho
Mind
is
is
Law
13.
the ruler of the personality, 2 and that the Nature inherent in the Mind, and you will not go wrong.
(Reply to Chiang Shu
Ch
uan.)
:
Life is what is termed Question. the Nature. The time preceding man s birth and tho repose which then exists needs no discussion. 3 The moment you
Ming Tao says
apply the term
"
Nature
",
what you
are speaking of has
already ceased to be the Nature. All those who expound the Nature define it simply as what is spoken of in the dictum,
The law of their succession is Mencius refers to when he says,

"
goodness,"
"
the
same as
The Nature
"
of
man
is
.What Mencius good." uan, on the other hand, says, 5 speaks of as good is the original and essential Nature." How do yon reconcile these two statements ? Answer. The words, The time preceding needs no discussion," refer to the De-Jree of Heaven in its original substance, in contrast to it as imparted to and received The words, "original and essential," refer to by man.
I
"
Ch
the perfect
Law received by man,

"
Nature.
1
In the phrase,
See p.
6.
".
The
in contrast to his Physical law of their succession is
2
3 4 5
Or
"
body
Iff
See p. 40, n.
2.
i
2S
fc -
f-
10
See also p. 97 of this volume.
it *,pt.iiv.4.
46

1
goodness,"
the idea of the word,

" "
"goodness"
2
",
is
not the
but is whlat same as that referred to in the T ung Shu Mencius refers to in the passage, If we look at the feelings which flow from the Nature, we may know that they are constituted for the practice of what is good 3 the reference being to the Four Terminals in their ideal perfectiota.
"
(Reply
14.
to
"
Wu Po
Moral
Feng.)
is
Law
without form or substance
the
Nature possesses
spirit
and the
it,
spiritual
faculty."
" "
This
statement has some truth in

"
but the terms
spirit
and
"spiritual
faculty
do not mean what we speak of
as the
error of Kao Tzu in saying that life is what termed the Nature, and of the modern Buddhists in gaying that functional activity is the Nature, lies just here, and is
Nature.
The
is
one that should be carefully studied. Mr. Fang 4 in his It is by the Nature that the universe exists," statement,
"
accurately expresses the meaning of Hu Tzu, but to quote it as explaining the wordis of Shao Tzu is not fair, and
to turn
Tzu s idea
"
round and ridicule him as not having grasped Hu In Mr. Fang s statement is beside the mark.
"
that all things in the universe exist by means of the Nature, the word Nature refers to the Law of the whole universe.
This
is
what
is
termed
"
there that cannot exist
The Supreme Ultimate WJilat is ? universe Vast as the it is, it by

".
must not be forgotten that

1
it is
corporeal
and, although
2 3
"
Yi Ching, p. 356. Mencius, p. 278.
The passage
"
referred to
(
is
in chapter vii of
is
the
T ung
jfc
,
Shu, entitled
"Strength,
ii.
The Teacher
0j|j),
in
which the Nature

".
said to consist of
;/
Weakness, Goodness, Evil, and the Mean 4 Probably Fang Pin Wang, see below,
See
bk.
p. 43.

as
47
it
compared with men and the animal creation
has
priority in time, yet from the point of view of the distinction
ment
between the corporeal and incorporeal, Mr. Fang s state is not se very erroneous, and Chang Ju is mistaken
in disputing
15.
it.
(Reply to
Wang Chang
Ju.)
Such
is
the dignity of ancient teachings that
we
who come
after should not of course intrude
upon them
question
with our discussions.
But in
good or
relation
evil,
to
the
should, apart from 1 the ancient teachings, discuss the problem from other points of view, and thus, while escaping the odium of either;
whether the Nature
is
we
suppressing or avoiding difficulties, we shall still arrive at the real truth of the matter. 2 The two words good and
evil are the concrete expression
of Divine
Law and human

Nature
is
desire respectively.
Now,
to say that the
not
human
desire is quite right, but may we go on to affirm that neither is it Divine Law ? Rather than be forced to
an extreme statement of the goodness of the Nature, and

the contention that
it is
how much
Chi Sui.)
16.
1
easier
and
so good that it cannot be denned, truer would be the simple assertion
that the Nature is good

3
and can be defined
(Reply to
it is
Hu
be
"The
Nature
i>e
is Law." 4
Sometimes
gj(|
to
la
Hi
lit
6et as ide
>
the $fc
mentioned at the beginning

:
of the section.
2
There are three courses open to the modern student
First, to criticize
our predecessors, which reverence precludes. Second, to cover their faults, avoiding the questions on which we differ from them, which would be an offence against sincerity. Third, to discuss the subject without
reference to their teaching at all, which escapes both undesirables. 2 See above, p. 24 and note.
4
dictum by Ch eng
see p. 16, n.
48
regarded as the natural outcome of all laws, at other times as if it were a seperate entity in itself. The Master
K ang Chieii
of
"
said,
1
Moral
Order,"
The Nature is the concrete expression and the statement seems to be to thd
"
point.
It is also said,
When
is
there
is
calm, but at the
same time ignorance of what

to attain to the
to the
Mean."
preserved, the Nature fails Now, for the Nature to attain

fire
Mean
is as
natural as for water to be cold and

is
hot
but the
Mean
it
disturbed because
men
lose their
by habits engendered by the material It is not that the Nature fails to attain to the element. Mean. (Reply to Fang Pin Wang.)
17 The sentence, The Nature is the concrete expression Moral Order," occurs in the Prof ace to the "Chi Jang 2 Its meaning is The Nature is what men receive Chi". Moral Order is the natural Law of Right substantively which we find in the phenomena of the universe. The Law which we find in phenomena is really inherent in the Nature,
.
Nature and becloud
of
but when we speak

idea
is
of
it
is
as
of something which
the Moral Order, our boundless as a vast desert 3
and
that
else
"
diffused in infinite variety, so that its substance is
invisible,
we
!
and it is only when we seek it in our own Nature what constitutes its reality here and nowhere The passage in "The Doctrine of the Mean"
see
Conformity to the Nature is what is termed Moral Order 4 expresses the same truth. (Reply to Fang Pin
"
Wang.)
1
2
3
See p. See p.
G.
6, n. 4.
cf.
For
this simile
p. 247.
p.
297 and note.
D.M.,

18.
Order."
"The
l
49
Nature
is
the concrete expression of
Moral
When we
it
specifically call it the
Moral Order we
think of it as diffused in phenomena and untraceable.
When
we
look for
the
in the
Mind we
fixed
find that here its principles
and unchangeable. These Mind are what we call the Nature. Hence, Shao Tzu go-as on to say, "The Mind is the enceinte of the Nature." 2 If we examine into the in this we shall see where the truth and error subject way lie. (Reply to Fang Pin Wang.)
concrete,
assume
principles as inherent in the
19.
is
"
Your
rule
is
instructive essay
on the Nature and the Ether

"accord"
excellent.
But the word

of
existence
3
in the sentence,
The
is
that
by
means
is
of
which
man
in accord with
"
Heaven," is,
I fear, not satis
factory, because the
rule of existence" is
what
received
from Heaven by Man.

"Such
With
reference to the sentence,
nourish their life and are happy thereby," 4 which you quote from the "Tso Chuan", this is what is meant by the expression in accord with Heaven". In quoting
"
the phrase,
"
The Plenum of the Universe,"

5
",
"
in the
Western
to the passage in the Odes, see Legge s Chinese Classics, vol. iv, pt. ii, p. 541 ; cf. note on p. 54 of this volume. 4 The passage in the Tso Chuan teaches that those who are able to
is
"
Inscriptions 1 See p. 6 and 3 The allusion
it
seems
to
me
2
that your addition of the

Ibid.
note.
"
observe
life
Heaven
s law,
or
"
rule of existence
this
is
"
"
(H
to
"
J)>
and so obtain happiness, and
"
thereby nourish their accord with Heaven

"
"
Huang Tao Fu s error is which is Heaven s gift, in

5
in putting this law or the place of its observance,
rule of existence
is
"
which
man
work,
as the cause of this accord with
Heaven.
;
to
The Hsi Ming Chu Hsi and the Sung

("jflj
fit
J|.pt.
ii,
|j), a work by Chang Tsai The work School, chap. iii. as well as in the
see
is
Introduction included in the
^&
50

"
"
word
*
expa-nd
is
not happy.
You
is
should rather say,
The Plenum
wholly this
of the Universe
none other than the

our corporeity
Universe" 2
Either,
is
is
and that which we receive

Ether."
"*Tho
to constitute
Pilot of the
the Mind of the Uni verse, in which Law is inherent. The Five Agents are Water, Fire, Woodi, Metal, and Earth;
their nature-principles are Love, Righteousness,, Reverence, Wisdom, and Sincerity, each of which specially 3 In man, these naturebelongs to one of the Five Agents. and when principles are all complete and invariably good
1
and
men come
be affected from without, those who preserve a harmonious relation between their nature-principles are
to
good, and those who fail to preserve such harmonious 4 relation are not good. (Reply to Huang Tao Fu.)
20. I like
Han Tza
"
words,
There; are five principles

teachers, however,
ideas,
which constitute the

all
1
Nature."
Modern
mix up
That
their teaching
"
with Taoist and Buddhist

" "
"
fullness be is, how can expanded ? Also quoted from the Hsi Ming, see above. The whole passage reads The Plenum of the Universe is the substance of my being; the Pilot of
"
the Universe
"
my nature "(5c tt St tio ^hu Hsi s comment on this passage is ?C Mi 6ft la tio) The Plenum is the Ether, so that the substance of my being is the Ether
is
the law of
&^
^
,
of the
Universe
the
is
Pilot
is
the Ruler, the Eternal

of the
Universe."
Law
of the Universe,
so that
See %$ pt. ii, f. 2. 2 Love corresponds to Wood, Righteousness to Metal, Reverence to See Introduction to Fire, Wisdom to Water, and Sincerity to Earth.
the
my
Nature
Law
Chu Hsi and the Sung School, 4 Huang Ch iao Chung (^

Chou ( jjft and a deep
chap.
vi.
fljj), style
Tao Fu, was a native
of
Chang
He was a very religious man jjTJ ) where Chu Hsi held office. student. For days at a time, after leading his family in worship, he would sit in silent meditation. He was the author of a commentary 5 on the Book of Rites. Han Yii.

and so divergence
the nearest to the
school,
is
51
inevitable.
Of
all
the philosophers,
truth
that
else
are
the
those
of
our
in
its
Confucian
original of Love,
who
is
teach
Nature
the
essence
nothing
than
substance;
Righteousness,
Reverence, and Wisdom. According to Taoism and Buddhism, the Nature was pre-existent as an empty shell from which subsequently, these four principles
;
were evolved
that
or, if
which modern representatives, however*, do not understand their own teaching, but arc content with a semblance of know ledge, and therefore cannot escape from theso perplexities.
the
Nature
not pre-existent, they in itself is but the

these four principles. 1
still
maintain
shell
contains within
it
Their
it having been established that the four principles constitute the substance of the Nature, the doubt is next
Further,
raised as to whether they are not four separate entities heaped up within. These views of the matter are all
mistaken.
The
essential thing to note is that that
which
Nature is not something from have the four principles the four nor apart principles, form or shape so that they can be picked up and handled.
constitutes the substance of the
It is
simply that within this one all-embracing Law, while
not regarding them as separated one from another as if by a wall or fence, we nevertheless recognize them as having distinctive qualities. These principles, however, are difficult
to explain
;
so
much so
that even
Mencius could do no more
The four
principles, according to the
"
modern teachers
",
do not
constitute the substance of the Nature, but are contained within it as distinct from the Nature, somewhat as the contents of a vessel, though
contained within
it,
are not part of
it.
52

men
to recognize
than teach
them in
their nijanif estations 1
But Mencius did not mean that
their manifestations are in
the original substance of the Nature, to be called forth as but that, their substance being invisible they are needed
;
and intangible, they can be recognized only in their opera 2 tion, which is a simple process. (Reply to Lin Te Chiu.)
The dictum, The Decree of Mr. Chang says Heaven is what is termed the Nature/ 3 is simply in praise
"
21.
of the exalted character of the Nature.
At
this stage,
man
has not yet received it as his own. It is later, at the stage Conformity to the Nature is represented by the sentence
*
termed Moral Order that man embodies it as his 4 own, and then it clothes itself with the principles of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and -Wisdom." In my judgment
what
is
the dictum,
The Decree of Heaven is what is termed the Nature," means that the Nature receives its name from the fact that it is the endowment of Heaven, the original source of the moral element in his constitution, and not simply in
"
praise of its exalted character. to praise its exalted character
What
?
need
is
5
there for
"
man
The
the
Tung
Tzii
said
Decree
to the
1
is
the
commandment
This
of Heaven, the Nature
is
substance of
life."
may
be said to approach somewhat
meaning sf
Tzii Ssu,
and
differs
from Mr. Chang
That
is, in the Four Terminals, see p. 4, n, 1. Compared with the direct explanation of the four
principles,
which the
Philosopher has just said 3 D.M., p. 247.

4
is difficult.
y^ to enter. Tung Chung Shu

,
(ijjF
fl{l
7*),
a native of
Kuang Chou and

ff
$$>
scholar
"
of the second century B.C.
See
]g f^ ;g
f.
E W
fc -
>
the sentence here quoted occurs on
7.

statement.
53
it is
it.
Moreover, since
it is
it is called
the Nature,
manifest that
so called because said that at

!
man
has received
a certain stage it has not become So man s own then, Heaven in producing yet (i man does not at once confer the Nature upon him, but deposits it in a place apart, and the man must rise and!
Here, however,
it is
take
it
for himself
The exponents
of this view
only then does he possess it as his own do not realize that before man
!
has received this Nature, according to their theory, he is What is it that enables him to breathe already a man
!
and
and so to receive this Nature ? And further, how comes this Nature as a separate entity to be placed in some particular spot, so that it may be laid hold of and deposited in the body ? Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, inherent in the Nature, are the substance of the Nature but hero it is said that man embodies the Nature as his own, and afterwards it clothes itself with these principles fThis means that these four principles aro placed! on one side, and subsequently the Nature comes in on the other side and clothes itself with them, but where the four principles are to come from before the Nature clothes itself with them we are not informed The Doctrine (Criticism of Chang Wu Kou s exposition of
cat in the world,
1
"
of the
Mean".)
22.
In the
"Chili
Yen"
it is
said:
"The
:
Nature
consists of the faculty of liking
and disliking
the noble
man in his liking and disliking is actuatect by MonaJ Law, and the ignoble man by selfishness. Study this and
1
See
p.
f.
25,
n.
2.
The passage here quoted occurs
in the j|
pt, xlii,
6.
54

the expressions Divine
this passage, it
we shall understand what is meant by Law and human desire." As I read

that in the Nature there
evil.
is
means
If it be so,
no distinction between good and then within the Nature there is simply
"
and no standard of good and evil. is Seeing that the noble man in his liking and disliking actuated by Moral Law", Moral Law is a tiling outside the Nature. And since by studying this we shall under stand what is meant by the expressions Divine Law and human desire it follows that Divine Law and human
liking
disliking,
"
and
",
desire
synchronize
with
each
other,
and!
there
is
no
"
distinction between
them
authority. But what, on spoken of in the passage,
either in respect of priority or of this assumption, are the things

" "
Heaven in giving birth to the multitudes of the people so ordained it that inherent in every single thing there is its rule of existence. The people therefore hold within themselves a normal principle of good,
"
and consequently approve this excellent virtue ? 1 The The Decree of Heaven philosopher Yang Kuei Shan says, is what is termed the Nature, and human desire is not the
"
who
is quoted from the Odes, p. 541, and occurs also in Mencius, quotes it to support his doctrine of the goodness of the Nature. (See Mencius, p. 279.) Legge translates it thus Heaven, in giving birth to the multitudes of the people,
:
The passage
To every faculty and relationship annexed The people possess this normal nature,
its
law.
And they
The second
"
(consequently) love
"
its
normal
virtue.
have translated it, as Legge shows in his note. the things must be understood of what But," he adds, belongs to the human constitution." That, no doubt, is the case in that but the poet is stating the larger truth which particular connexion covers the special application, and it is better to translate it in the more Cf. Faber s Mind of Mencius, p. 47. general sense. See next page, n. 5.
line in the original is as I
;

Nature."
1
55
in error
This statement
is correct,
2
and
Hu Tzu is
says: "Liking- and contradicting it. Nan Hsien are Nature." This statement the in itself is harm disliking
in
less,
it is
error comes in.
in adding the sentences which follow that the The writer would maintain that liking
and disliking are the Nature, and that they constitute the
The noble man is the man who equity of Divine Law. follows his Nature, the ignoble man brings confusion into it through human desire, and loses his standard of right
and wrong.
for liking
I maintain that liking and disliking are inherent in the Nature, but do not constitute the Nature
;
and disliking are

"rule
3
"things",
and
4
to like
good
in
and
the
dislike evil is the

"things".
of
"
existence"
inherent
The sentence, Inherent in every single there rule of has the same must be its existence," thing are the Nature as the Form and colour statement, meaning
"
as imparted
by
Heaven."
Here
it is
sought to dei^ne the

"thing",
Nature by fastening attention upon the word

while the
"rule
of
existence"
is
lost
sight
of.
Such
reasoning, I fear, will inevitably prove mischievous.

the Criticism of
1
(From
)
Hu Tzu s
"Words
of Wisdom".
See p. 20.
ffi
I
s
Yang Kuei Shan

found in the
2
cannot find the passage here quoted in any copy of writings accessible to me, but the same thought is
t
*jg
pt. Ixxv,
f.
6.
Chang Ch ih (j| ^), a native of Ssu Ch uan, and a great friend of Chu Hsi, though holding widely different opinions. His literary name was Nan Hsien. See Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. iv. 3 Cf. the passage quoted from the Odes, p. 54.
4
Ibid.
Cf.
p. 54,
"
n.
1.
Here
".
is
an instance of
of the
larger truth
Form and
4
ff.
the wider application colour are the Nature of material
things as ordained
6
by Heaven.
flf.
S,
pt. xlii,
56
THE NATURE IN MAN AND OTHER CREATURES.

(SEVENTEEN
1.
SECTIONS
FROM
THE
"CONVERSATIONS".)
Question. Ultimate equally
Do
?
the Five Agents receive the
Supreme
Answer.
Yes, equally.
all
Question. Does man embody other creatures receive only one ?
the Five Agents, while
Answer.
Other creatures
also possess all the
Five Agents,
but receive them partially.

2.
Question.
What
is
your opinion of the statement
that the Nature consists of Love, Righteousness, Reverence,
and Wisdom ? Answer. It corresponds to the saying Their realization is the Nature But preceding this are the stages represented by the statements The alternation of the negative and
"
".
"
positive
modes
"and"
The law of
their succession
is
good
ness
1
"
When
the Moral
Law
of the negative
and
positive
These sentences are quoted from the Yi Ching, pp. 355-6. The whole passage is frequently quoted and discussed by the writers of this school and those with whom they disputed. The text reads f f!J|
:
alternation of the negative and positive Moral Law. The law of their succession is goodness
"
The
Baroffi**ifioj&ttJcmodes
"
"hich
I
is
;
have transited what is termed
their realization
",
One Yin one Yang The first sentence is literally which means the Yin and Yang in alternation, not the universal Yin and the universal Yang as rendered by De Groot (Religion in China, see Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. vi. p, 10) From this alternation of the Two Modes all things come to be. Why
is
the
Nature."
"
"
it
is
called Moral
Law
is
seen from the sentence which
follows
that
which causes the one to follow the other (|]f| j^ ^) in unfailing succession and with unfailing regularity is not a physical law merely, but ethical it is And the resultant of this ethical goodness
"
".

modes alone
creation of
existed,
57
and before ever the stage of the
other beings was reached, these four were principles already present. Even the lower orders of
man and
life,
them, but partially and not in their perfection, on account of the limitations caused by the grossnoss of the Ether.
such as
reptiles, all possess
3.
It is true that in the life of
men and other creatures the

differs
Nature with which they are endowed
from the very
beginning in the degree of its perfection. But even within the differing degress of perfection there is the further
variation in respect of clearness
4.
and
traiisluccnce.
In reply to a communication from Hwang Shang Po, you, sir, said, With reference to the one source of all things, Law is uniform whilie the Ether is diverse
Question.
1
"
look at the variety of substance in the universe, we see that the Ether approaches more nearly to uniformity while Law everywhere varies." Would the following
if
alternation
therefore
is is
but
we
the Nature
said to be
"
their
realization
".
is
the Nature
"
which
"
"
good sometimes drawn between the two

succession
is
goodness,"
itself
distinction in point of time is last clauses ; Their the clause,
referring to the time preceding man s birth. But at whatever stage of creation even when, as the text here their very alternation states, nothing existed but the Yin and the Yang
was Tao (Moral Law) comprising the four principles which constitute
man
1
s
"
Nature.
"
Shang Po is an official title the writer referred to is Huang Hao As a youth he showed considerable intelligence, and took his (gjfj).
;
degree early.
of
He held office in connexion with the Revenue, the duties which took him frequently to Kiangsi at the time when Chu Hsi was
Prefect at Nan K ang. Huang was in the habit of visiting the Philosopher and consulting with him about his own personal difficulties. There seems to have been a strong affection between the two. At the death of Chu Hsi,
Huang attended
the funeral at great personal risk to himself.
58
be a correct interpretation of this passage ? The sentence, Law is uniform while the Ether is diverse," refers to the
<;
beginning,
universe.
when
the Nature was
first
communicated
to
tl 10
operations of the Divine Decrfeo, In view of the differences

1
In view of the uniformity of the all-pervading Law is said to be uniform.

in the
clearness
and
purity,
of the
Two
said to be diverse.
after the
Ethers and of the Five, the Ether is The next sentence 2 refers to the period
Nature has been received by the universe, and
means
although there is this difference in clearness, yet in the unity of its Two Ethers and of the Five the etherial
that,
element comes nearer to uniformity, while Law, because

of the varying degrees of translucence and permeability in the Ether, is very decidedly diverse. The Doctrine of
"
the
first
Mean" 3
refers to the beginning,
when the Nature

"
is
Collected communicated, while the passage in the Comments 4 refers to the period after it has been received.
"
Answer. The approximation

element
is
to uniformity of the etherial in our sense of heat and cold and of exemplified
hunger and repletion, in the love of life and shrinking from death,, and in the instinctive seeking for what will benefit
andishunning what will be prejudicial:
1
jjijjj
"
all this is
common to
is
.
J|$
is
"
It
may
"
"
pure
turbid
",
in the pure be opaque, but it clear without necessarily being and means pure in the sense of being
"
"
sense of being unmixed, the opposite of will be of one colour without admixture ; it
".
^
"
is
clear
?
the opposite of $ clean or

" " "
"
;
"
it
may
be opaque, too, but without any sediment.

"
BJ^
again,
is
clear
as the opposite of opaque, i.e. translucent. That is, If we look at the variety of substance, etc." 3 The reference is to the oft-quoted dictum, "The Decree of
Heaven
is
D.M., p. 247. 4 By Chu Hsi, probably containing the statement to quoted by the questioner ; cf. p. 03.
is
Nature."
what
termed the
Huang Shang Po

man
the existence
59
with other creatures. The diversity of Law is seen in among ants and bees of the relation between
sovereign and minister, in which there is manifested no more or in the existence among than a gleam of Righteousness
;
wolves and tigers of the relation between parent and child, in which there is manifested no more than a gleam of Love;
while of the other principles you can discern nothing. It is just like a mirror, in the centre of which there are one
or two spots of light and the rest is all black. Of phenomena in general, it may be said that if the endowment is great
in one direction,
it is
defect in another direction, as
at the expense of some corresponding when tender-hearted men
are lacking in the judicial faculty, while

judicial faculty is
men
in
whom
;
the
for prominent tend to be tyrannical, more Love is developed the more is Righteousness obscured, and the more Righteousness is developed the more Love is obscured.
the
Question.
Whence comes
Love in women
the greater timidity of
women?
Is it also because of inequality in the Ether ?
Answer.
affection.
5.
is
confined to the feeling of
Question.
Men and
other creatures are all
with the
Law
of the Universe as their Nature,
endowed and all
receive the Ether of the Universe for their
Form. Granting
that the differences in
the translucence
and
are due to differing degrees in fulness of the Ether, I am not sure
men
whether
in
the case of
other
creatures
the
differences
between thorn are because they are imperfectly endowed with Law, or whether these also are due to the opacity and
cloudiness of the Ether.
60

It
is
Answer.
simply that the Ether received being
limited, the immaterial principle received is also corre spondingly limited. For example, the physical constitution of dogs and horses being as it is, their functions are
correspondingly limited in their range. Question. Seeing that every individual creature possesses the Supreme Ultimate in its entire substance, does it not
follow that
Law
is
universally complete
call it
Answer.
partial.
th.3
You may
it
As Law
Hence
complete or you may call it cannot be other than complete, but from
it is
point of view of the material element

Lii Yii
necessarily
partial.
Shu
:
creatures approximates to nursas another s kittens in the writings of there is a still more remarkable story of a cat
The Nature in other says, that of man (as when one cat
*
"
Wen Kung 2
iii
his
home),
of
and that of man

lunatics)."
to other creatures
(as in the
case
Question. in the degree of

as conferred
6.
Seeing that the physical element
differs
its opacity and grossness, does the Nature the Doicree of Heaven differ in the degree by
of its completeness ? Answer. No, there
is
completeness.
It is like the light of the
no difference in the degree of its sun or moon. In

of four
1 Lu Ta Lin (^ fj), style Yii Shu, was one under Ch eng I, known as the Four Masters Yang Shih (p. 26 and note), Hsieh Liang Tso
"
famous students
".
The other three were (p. 322 and note), and
Yu
as
Tso (jj The first two are frequently referred to in this work ). Kuei Shan and Shang Ts ai respectively. Lu Yii Shu also studied under Chang Tsai. He became a profound scholar, and received the
Doctor
of the Imperial
title of
cf.
2
Academy.
See
p]|
pt.
xv,
ff.
42-3
also Giles Biog. Diet., p. 561.
See p. 73, n.
2.
The interpolations are by the Chinese compiler of the text.
61
open spaces it is seen in its entirety, but under a mat-shed it is hidden and obstructed so that some of it is visible and
some not. The opacity and gross-noss belong to the Ether, and result in the Nature being hidden and obstructed as if
by
a mat-shed. In man,
however,
this
obstruction
is
capable of being completely whereas in birds principle

;
penetrated by and animals, though they
the
ethical
it is nevertheless restricted possess this nature, the which creates an impenetrably element, by corporeal barrier. 1 In the case of Love, for example, in tigers and
still
wolves, or Sacrifice
ness in bees
is,
and
as
in the jackal and otter, or Righteous ants, the penetration of this ethical
2
it were, not more than a chink of light. principle In the monkey, whose form is similar to man s, the
intellectual faculty is superior to that of other creatures, so
that it seems only to lack the power of speech.

7.
It is not the case that
of the highest intellect,
man, as the being possessed stands alone in the universe. His

1
mind
"
is
also the
mind of
"
Man,"
however,
is
birds and beasts, of grass, and trees. born endowed with the the
MEAN,
attribute of
1
Heaven and
s
Earth."
Cf.
Bergson
or instinct, or
to
2
human
elan vital penetrating matter, and producing vegetism, consciousness, as the case may be. See Introduction
School,
Chu Hsi and the Sung Cf. p. 21 andn. 1.
chap
ix.
Man
differentiates him
one Ether permeating the whole universe, but man receives it in a perfect In this respect equilibrium, with its five qualities mutually balanced. he ranks with the dual powers Heaven and Earth cf. D.M., p. 280. The closing sentence is quoted from the writings of Yang Kuei Shan
is
;
shares the faculty of intelligence with other creatures ; from them is his possession of the MEAN. There
what
|fi Ul 3t
*);
see Jp:
pt.
xxv,
f.
11.
62
8.

Chi submitted to the Master the following statement
:
with reference to a problem which had perplexed him The Nature in man and other creatures, it has been pointed out,
is
in
It is only
some respects uniform and in other respects diverse. when we know what constitutes this uniformity,
.
and also what constitutes this diversity, that we are in a position to discuss the Nature itself Now, by the activity of the Supreme Ultimate the Two Ethers assume form the Two
t
Ethers having assumed form, the myriad transformations are produced and these are the source from which men
;
and other creatures
lies what has been But the Two Ethers and the Five Agents, by their productive and interacting influences, cause innumerable changes and inequalities. Herein lies what has b een pointed out as their diversity. The source of the uniformity is in Law. The source of the There must be Law, for then diversity is in the Ether.
all
proceed.
Herein
pointed out as their uniformity.
and
only can there be that which constitutes the Nature in other creatures whence the uniformity, and
man
the
There must be Ether, for then only can there be that which constitutes Form in man and other creatures, whence the diversity and the impossibility
impossibility of diversity.
of uniformity.
Learning"
Therefore
"
in, your
you. sir, say: "From things have one source and there is no difference in dignity between man and other creatures. From the point of view of the Ether man receives this Law in its perfection and
Dialogues on the Great the point of view of
Law,
all
unimpeded, while other creatures receive it partially and with impediment. Herein is the cause of the necessary
inequality in respect of dignity.
Nevertheless, though in

the Ether there
is
63
inequality,
it is
the source of that life

;
which
in
is
common
to
man and
other creatures
and though
Law there is uniformity, it constitutes the Nature which makes man alone to differ from other creatures. Therefore,
consciousness and activity proceed
from the Ether; Love and
Righteousness, Reverence and Wisdom, proceed from Law.
Men
are capable of consciousness and activity, as also are hut though other creatures possess Love, other creatures
;
Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom in some degree, they Kao Tzti took are incapable of thorn in their perfection.
[account of
Ether, but lost sight of trammelled by the idea of uniformity

the
Law. and
He was
failed
to
to
recognize diversity.
iattack
This
is
where he laid himself open

"Collected
by
Mencius."
"
In the
Comments"
you
I
also say
.In
respect of the Either,

activity,
;
and in the spheres

other creatures do
of consciousness
and
man and
differ jnot appear to
while in respect of Law, the endow

is
ment of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom
In this necessarily imperfect in the inferior creatures." latter passage, from the statement that the Ether is uniform
we see that the dignity of nmn than that of other creatures. In unapproachably higher the former passage, from the statement that Law is uniform
but that
is
is
Law
diverse,
but that the Ether

the
is
diverse,
we
see the all -sufficiency of
Supreme Ultimate,
arid that this dignity is not
any
attainment of our own. Looked at in this

I
way
all difficulty
disappears.
"
When
",
discrepancies
questions are raised in regard to supposed in the Collected Comments and

" "
Dialogues
1
would
this toe
a correct answer or not
In the passage quoted from the Collected Comments ; cf. p. 58. In the passage quoted from the Dialogues on the Great Learning.
64

s
The Master
comment on
this statement
was
You have
discussed the subject with great clearness. It happened that yesterday evening a friend was explaining this very
point to
me and gave a brief statement
of
it,
but
it
was not
equal to yours in its consecutiveness.
In the relation of parent and child in tigers and wolves, of sovereign and minister in bees and ants, in the gratitude to progenitor of jackals and otters,
9.
Question.
and the faculty of discrimination in the water-fowl and

dove
1
:
though the ethical principle

only,
is
received
in
one
the
direction
yet
if
we thoroughly
investigate
phenomena, we
find that these creatures possess this ethical
principle with unerring truth. On the other hand, all men possess the Decree of Heaven in its entirety, but it is so
obscured by creaturely desire and by the
eitherial
endowment
that in some particular direction they are inferior to the brute in intelligence and power of complete development.
How
is
do you explain this
Answer.
It is only in the
one direction that the brute

concentrated, while
intelligent,
and there
it
is
man s
intelligence is comprehensive, embracing everything in some degree, but diffused and therefore more easily obscured.
Question. possess the Nature
10.
How
?
can dried and withered things also
Answer.
there
They
all possess this

;
Law from the first moment

"
of their existence
therefore
it is said,
In the universe
is not a single thing without the Nature." Walking up the steps the Philosopher said The bricks of these steps bamboo have the law of bricks. Sitting down he said
:
:
Seep. 91 n. 2

chair has the
65
that
law of the bamboo
chair.
You may say
dried and withered things are without the Vital Impulse, but not that they are without the law of life. 1 For example,
rotten
cooking stove.
anything except for putting in the without the Vital Impulse. And yet each kind of wood as it burns has its own fragrance, each
is
wood
useless for
It
is
differing
stituted
from the
so.
other.
It is
Law which
originally con
it
11.
Question.
?
Is
there
Law
in dried and withered
things
Answer.
inherent in
As soon
it.
Even in the
as the object exists there is case of a pen though
Law
not
produced by Heaven, but by man, who takes the long soft

hairs of the hare
and makes them into pens

inherent in
:
as soon as the
pen
It
exists
Law
?
is
it.
was further asked
How
can a pen possess Love and
Righteousness
In small things like this there is no need for such distinctions as that between Love and Righteousness. 2
Answer.
12.
Question.
and things.
Answer.
Law is received from Heaven both by men But do things without feeling also possess Law? Most certainly they possess Law for example,
;
a ship can only go on the water, while a cart can only go on land.
13.
1
Chi
is,
T ung 3
said: Animals cannot live in water,
That
the same law as

s
we
see in living things.
meaning is that Love and Righteousness do not belong to the functions of a pen none the less, the pen fulfils its own proper functions according to ethical law inherent in it.
;
Chu Hsi
Ts
ai
to
whom
T ung, was a pupil of Chu Hsi, Yuan Ting ), style Chi 7C he was junior by five years. His home was Chien Yang in Chien
(^
66

fish
and
live
cannot live on land.
prevails, in fish the negative ether prevails.
In animals the positive ether Those which

class of
both on land and in the water belong to the
the tortoise
14.
and
otter.
ether, while those of the
Things in tho vegetable kingdom receive the negative animal kingdom receive the positive
If within these
ether.
two
classes
we
classify further
then grasses receive the negative ether and trees tho positive,
animals the negative and birds the positive, so that animals recline in the field, while birds nest in trees. There are
animals, however, which receive the positive ether, such as the ape and monkey and there are birds which receive
;
the negative ether, such as the pheasant and the falcon. In the vegetable kingdom, all receive the negative ether and
;
yet here also there is the positive in the negative, and the negative in the positive.
In winter, flowers are slow to fall, like the Narcissus, which though brittle and weak, nevertheless retains its
15.
flower a long while
so
ako with the Plum Flower and the

f
Winter Plum. In the spring, flowers fall easily, and in summer still more easily, as in the case of the Sun-flower, tho Pomegranate, and the Lotus, which hardly last beyond a * single day. The fact is that in winter the Ether is correct and strong, and therefore the fall of the flower is more
Chou, Fuhkien.
very able scholar, he excited the admiration of

"
Chi T ung reads difficult books with ease, Hsi, who said of him, while others read easy books with difficulty." When visited by Chu Hsi they would share the same bedroom and discuss philosophical questions
Chu
far into the night.
He
f^,
died in 1198, two years before the death of his

pt.
xvii.
teacher.
1
See
The word j|
in the text
J.

difficult.
67
In spring and summer, the moment the strength
of tho plant is put forth it is put forth to the utmost, with the result that it is not enduring.
The Philosopher
flowers fall easily.
also said
So
also with fruits.

;
pear-tree decays very easily, is a sudden outburst of fruitfulness for one year, and then it dies. This is the Ether about to disrobe.
For the most part, large For example, the when nearing its eoid there
16 The Two Ethers and Five Agents mutually interact, and pass through a myriad transformations, so that in the production of men and things there are differences in the degree of their etherial fineness. From the point of view
.
of the Ether as one,
men and
other creatures
all
come into
being by view of the varying degrees o|

received
receiving this
one Ether.
1
From
fineness,
the point of the Ether as

;
as
by man is received by other

receiving
it
and free from impediment perfect creatures it is imperfect and impedes.

its
Man
it
in
perfection, the ethical principle

;
permeates completely and without impediment while in the case of other creatures, in which it is im perfect, the
ethical principle is
too,
liow
in
man
Notice, impeded and unintelligent. the head is round resembling

,
and his feet square like the earth. He is well poised and erect. He receives the Ether of the Universe in its perfection, and thereflore possesses moral and
the
heavens,
intellectual faculties.
As
is
Ether of the Universe
received by other creatures the imperfect, and therefore birds and
beasts are horizontal in form,
head downwards and
tail
1
and grasses and 1re;es have upwards. Such creatures as have

p. 115, n. 2.
See
68

it
intelligence have
in one direction only
for example,
birds are
filial, tlio
otter sacrifices, the
dog
can.
do no more
than keep guard, and the ox no more than plough. In man, on the other hand, there is nothing he cannot know, nothing he cannot do. That which constitutes the difference between
man and
17.
beast, that in
which
man
excels, is just this.
have
Birds and boasts, as well as men, all consciousness, though with differing degrees of
Question.
Is there consciousness also in
penetration.
the vegetable
kingdom
watered
Answ&r.
it
There
is.
As
its
in the case of a plant

;
when
sheds forth
and droops.
Can
l
it
pinched, it withers be said to be without consciousness ?
glory
when
Chou Mao Shu

impulse
is
refrained from clearing

his
away the
said he,
grass
"its
from the front of
window,
own."
"because,"
just like
my
In this he attributed
consciousness to the plant.
But the consciousness of the
animal creation
nor
is
is
not on the sa:me plane as that of man,
that of the vegetable kingdom on the same plane as that of the animal kingdom. Aguin, there is the drug
;
rhubarb
when
taken,
;
it
3
has heating properties case in the one direction only. On being further asked whether decayed things also have consciousness, the Philosopher replied Yes, they too have
:
acts as a purgative, while aconite but their consciousness is in each
Chou Tzu, the founder of the school. That is, grass seeks to live and avoids what causes death, just as I do myself. See j^ ^, pt. iii, p. 2 cf. p. 338 of this volume. 3 In Chinese medicine, drugs are classed roughly into those which are heating and those which are cooling in their properties, the latter having
1
tonic action.

consciousness, as,
69
when burnt
this
to ashes
by
fire,
and then
made
into broth, they will be caustic
and
bitter.
:
Following on
Only just now

you
the Philosopher smiled * and said I met the gentry of Hsin Chou, whoi said
that vegetable things do not possess the Nature,
and to-night
say that vegetable things have
no Mind
(FIVE SECTIONS FROM THE

1.
"COLLECTED WRITINGS".)
"
The Master
Ch uan
said,
The Nature
is Law." 2
From ancient
such a statement as
times no one had ventured to give utterance to The Mind is consciousness in this. 3
man, and that in which
Law is inherent. The Master Heng
Heaven
the Great Void we have the term from the transformations of the Ether we have the term Moral Order by the union of the Void with the
"
Ch u
also said,
;
From
;
Ether we have the term Nature
by
the union of the

Mind."
Nature
with Consciousness we have the term

their distinctive
The terms and
ment
is
meanings are profound, but the whole state conclusive, and not to be gainsaid. For in the pro
duction of things by Heaven, while there is no diversity in Law, material form as received by men and things variee hence Mind differs in the degree of its intelligence, and the
;
Nature
differs in the
degree of
of which
1
you speak,
it is
completeness. As to Love, the head of the Four Virtues it is

its
;
to
all
2
The smile is at the fact that, in spite of all such considerations as those which he had just given expression, men can be found who deny that
things possess the Nature.
Seep. 1C. It is probable that there is a mistake in the punctuation of the text here, and that the po nt should come after j|| making fo the subject of the next sentence. The translation represents the text as thus corrected.
3
;
Quoted from the Cheng Mtng.
See
jfj|
^,
pt.
iii,
f.
11.
70
not another entity outside the Nature, and parallel to it. In Man alone, however, is the Mind perfectly spiritual,
so that he can perfect the Four Virtues and manifest them as the (Four Terminals. In the beast, the etherial element
is deflected and* impure,
the
mind
is
darkened and obscured.

it
Henco there are
directions in
which
cannot attain to
completeness. Oocasionalily, indeed, affection between parent and offspring and the bond between sovereign and minister exist in some degree, and are not eclipsed but in the Love
;
masters self and returns to right principle", 1 in the Righteousness that loves good and hates evil, there are
that
"
and heights which cc them are impossible of attainment yet we may not say that they are without this Nature. As
;
t J things
which have life but not consciousness:
here, again,
is still
within the restriction of the corporeal element there
further restriction, so that Law in this class of things, accommodating itself to the corporeal, becomes simply
the
law of
one
single
thing.
Although
we
cannot
predicate Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom of such things in the same sense as of man, yet, neither can we Bay that they are wholly without these natureprinciples. The meaning of this is clear enough, and there 2 is, is no difficulty in understanding it, but Fang Shu
and dogged, and it is not worth while to correct him Nor is it necessary to say that Tzu Jung 3 does severely. not understand either. As to the argument from the
dull
Buddhist doctrine of knowing the

1
spirits
it,
too, is not
relevant, because the Buddhists regard Nothingness

2
3
and
See Analects, XII, i, Yu Fang Shu, see p. 72.
1 (p. 114^.
Hsu Tzu Jung,
in criticism of
whose essay
this section is wri tea.
71
Nirvana as paramount, and therefore look upon the know

ledge of spirits as a source of life and death. According to our Confucian cult, knowledge of spirits is the mysterious
operation of the Mind how can to use to define the Nature

:
we do without
is
it ?
But
"this
altogether irrelevant.
Again,
still
it is said that withered things have, only the Physical Nature, and do not possess the original Nature, which is
creatures
more absurd, for if it were really so, other would have only one Nature while men would have two Natures. The statement is more than ordinarily erroneous and reprehensible, proceeding as it does from
ignorance of the fact that the Physical, Nature is simply the original Nature inherent in the physical element, becoming
;
ono Nature in union with
Tzu
is precisely what Chou Each has its own Nature." If there were no original Nature, whence could we get this
it,
which
refers to
when ho
"
says,
Physical Nature! Moreover,
it is
Chou,
*
Ch
eng,
"
also says,
and Chang, who Their realization is the

obtains
its
not only the philosophers teach this, but Confucius

1
Nature,"
and again,
Nature as ordained by Everything Heaven." 2 Where is there any distinction here between one thing which has the Nature and another which has
correct
not
Mencius
"the
also speaks of
"
the nature of mountains
",
and
nature
of
water".
Does a
mountain have
consciousness, or does water
If
we thoroughly understand
such passages as these, wo shall realize that there is not a single thing in the universe which does not possess the
Nature, and that
it is
only when the thing

p. 356.
itself is
non-
In the Ti Chiny,
Ibid., p. 213.
72

Nature
is
existent that the
exist without the
Nature
dies.
it
non-existent. If anything could would be, a,s you say in your
essay, the ashes of burnt wood, or the dust
which
man
But the ashes and the dust possess and if so, they possess the the ether of ashes and duet) nature of ashes and dust. How then can dry and withered
;
becomes when he
things be said not to possess the Nature
(Reply to
Hsu
Tzu Jung.)
2.
flesh
In the production of things by Heaven, some possess and blood together with consciousness, such as men
;
and beasts
some are without
flesh
and blood, and without

trees;
;
consciousness, having in others again life has perished,
life only,
such as grass and
form and
matter.
solidity,
odour and
taste,
remain only as in withered and dead

the-re
and
Although in all these we have diversity of and yet, function, the ethical principle does not differ
;
following the differences of function as each individual, it cannot but differ.

that
of
inherent
in
is
Hence
it
man
is
is
most
spiritual,
x
and in him the
Nature
the
Five Constants
beasts it
and
trees,
is complete, while in birds and obscured and incomplete. And again, in grass in withered and dead matter, it disappears
;
but Law, by which each thing is what it is, is still present. As to the statement that dead materials are without life, and thus without this Law, is
together with consciousness
it
possible that there can be anything in the universe
which
does not possess the Nature, or that Law, immanent as it is in the universe, can leave any part of it empty and not
completely
filled
1
by
That
it ?
is,
(Reply to Yii Fang Shu.)
the Five Cardinal Virtues.

3.
73
With regard
to
Ts
ai
Ch ing
statement that minute
creatures, although they possess the Nature, cannot be described as having Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, it is true that there is nothing in which we can
discern these principles in the nature of minute creatures, yet what is there to show that they do not possess them ?
This sp-ecies has not yet been, thoroughly investigated you need to consider the subject more carefully. Again Ts ai Oh ing says In the statement, The phrase Conformity
;
"
to the
Nature
is
men and
duct,"
other creatures should

"
used simply in reference to the fact that embody the Nature in con
the words
The phrase
...
is
used
should be
is
omitted. This also
is a mistake. The Moral Order
simply
the Nature in the distinctive sense of all-pervading. It is not that Moral Order comes to be such through, man s con
1 formity to the Nature.
(Reply to
Ch en Ts
ai
Chung.)
4.
it
If the principle has not been received, then of course
cannot be practised.
ii
Master Heng Ch
to that of
That goes without saying. But the Man s Nature approximates other creatures, and the Nature of other creatures
"
also said,
Here we have another approximates to that of man." for example, cats nourishing one principle introduced
;
another
"
kittens
in
The Writings
of
Wen
Rung"
the
author gives an actual instance of such a cat which was
Tao, or the Mora JOrder,
itself as all-pervading.
is not conformity to the Nature, but the Nature Conformity to the Nature is the manifestation of
Moral Order.
2
philosophers
Ssa-Ma Kuang, a statesman and historian contemporary with the Ch eng and Chang see Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung
;
School, chap,
ii;
cf
also
Jg
% g
"g
fy
$,
pt,
xv a
8. 10-13.
74
is a case in which the Nature with which they are endowed approximates to, and one might almost say surpasses, that of man, but, and this is the pity
specially remarkable
of
it, it is cramped by its physical form. (Reply to Li Hsiao Shu.) The Nature of men and other creatures is essentially 5.
;
the same
differs.
the etherialj endowment,

Tzii says,
"
however, necessarily
The dictum, Conformity to the Nature is what is termed Moral Order, 1 is said of both men and other creatures," and when he says, Not men
"
When Oh eng
only, but all things are so constituted," he is speaking of the uniformity of the Nature. -In the statement, Man
"
receives the
Ether of the Universe in

else,"
its
perfection, differing
"
therein from all
and in the statement,
Bu t
;
other
creatures cannot reason, while

"
man
can,"
he
of
the variation in the etherial endowment.
speaking of Therefore, he
is
says again,
If
you
take
account
the
Nature
;
apart from the Ether, your statement will be incomplete if you take account of the Ether and disregard
the Nature, it will fail in clearness.
To make them two
2 Ponder this statement well, separate entities is incorrect." and it will be seen that the Master s meaning^ is far enough
removed from the teachings of Buddhism With reference tq what you say in the treatise you s#nt me, Hu Tzu.
!
says exactly the same thing.

1
(It is the chapter beginning,
Quoted from the Doctrine

i,
of the
Mean;
see
Legge
Chinese Classics,
vol.
2
p. 247.
pt. vi,
f.
See jjj |f,

(see p. 88)
2.
Tao
,
and to
ia
The passage Ch uan (see p.

of
is
attributed both to Ming
94).
The word _n
in
.n
ffl
.
;y|
a verb
which
is
the object referring to
f^
and

"
75
The philosopher Tzu Ssu said.") But the Nature is else it seems to me than and that it cannot be Law, nothing
divided in this way. It is simply that, owing to the diversities in the physical endowment, Law is to some extent
obscured and cannot clearly manifest itself. Law itself is one and indivisible. As to the argument quoted from Moncius: l Mencius is speaking of principles as applied to
man
it is
only, whereas the meaning of Tzu Ssu s statement includes man and other creatures. The Nature is uniform,
"
the Ether that
differs"
this sentence alone contains
most profound teaching, and will well repay careful thought. If you can grasp its meaning, you will find that all your difficulties in the sayings of the Baints and sages will
disappear.
1
(Reply to Hsu Yiian
ing.)
differs.
Mencius says that the Nature in
men and animals
See Mencius,
pp. 201, 273.

BOOK
II
BEING BOOK XLIII OF
THE PHYSICAL NATURE
THE DECREE
CAPACITY
BOOK
(TWENTY-SIX
1.
II
THE PHYSICAL NATURE

SECTIONS FROM
"The
THE
"CONVERSATIONS".)
In the dictum,
*
Decree of Heaven
is
;
termed the
Nature,"
the Decree
like a
taining instructions from a superior, duty, such as the keeping of records, the settling of accounts,
or the
is what is document con the Nature is official
work of a
is
district military officer or constable

;
the
Mind
the Physical Element is the the whether lenient or violent shown officer, disposition by the Feelings correspond to his sitting in court and judging
the officer himself
;
cases.
The Feelings are thus
the manifested operations
and the Nature is Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom. As to the statement that the Decree of Heaven and the Physical Element are bound up together as soon as
:
the Decree of
exists, so soon does the Physical be apart. If one is liacking, cannot They then nothing can be produced. Since the Decree of Heaven exists, Ether must also exist, for only thus can there be a
Heaven
Element
exist.
receptacle for
Law
if there
?
were no Ether where could

is
Law
find its
lodgment
There
no inequality in the
Nature imparted by the Decree of Heaven, but there is in the physical endowment. The Ether differs in the degree
of its clearness
and fulness
but of the four principles,
Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and \Yisdom, not one is lacking. And yet if there be an excess of solicitude it will
1
See D.M.,
p. 247.
80

1
take the form of favouritism and weak gentleness if there be an excess of conscientiousness we shall be ashamed of
;
what we ought not

illustration
:
to
be ashamed
of.
Take
there
must be some
reflecting
an body, whether
light as
a mirror or a sheet of water, in order to have light. The the mirror or water is the physical light is the Nature
;
element
and
lost.
without the mirror or water the light is dispersed Or lake the five colours if they fall where black
:
predominates they are all black, or if where red predominates they are all red. In the same way everything depends on
what your ether iai endowment

is
is.
Law, on the other hand,

it
only good. Seeing that it is Law how could What is termed eviL is in the etherial element.
be evil
doctrine asserts absolutely that the Nature is when men are not good, it is because they allow themselves
;
Mencius and good

lie
to be
"ensnared
and iso- submerged"
in evil
*
:
by which
that, in his view, the Nature in the beginning is wholly good, and that afterwards evil comes into existence.
shows In
this,
apparently, he takes account of the Nature but not
of the Ether, and thus in
some
respects his statement is
incomplete. The Ch eng school, however, have supplemented this doctrine with the doctrine of the physical element, and
so
we get a complete and all-round view of the problem. The Philosopher further said Capacity 2 belongs to the
:
physical element. In
1
ui Chili s
exposition of his doctrine
2
3
Mencius, p. 280. See p. 152.
as having three grades The Superior the Superior, the Middle, and the Inferior. is capable of being led, grade is good, and good only ; the Middle grade it may rise to the Superior or sink to the Inferior ; the Inferior is evil and
century.
Han Yu, whose style was T ui Chin, the great Han Yu described the nature of man
litterateur of the eighth

"
of capacity

"
81
The Three Grades
"
he
is
speaking
all
through of the
iall that he says is good, except hat he ought to have mad:e it clear that this was so. If, lowever, what he says is applied to the Essential Nature, it for if it be possible thus to s an inadequate statement
Physical Nature, and as such
divide the Nature into three grades,
why
stop at three
hundred or a thousand would do equally well. The tatements advanced by Hsiin and Yang,1 on the other hand,
,ake account only of the Ether, and not of the Nature, with the result that they fail in clearness. Through leaving
he Nature out of account the ethical principle is obscured. 2 Again he said In "The Counsels of Kao Yao" the
:
passage
which
"
treats
of
affability
"Nine
combined
Virtues"
3
with
meekness"
and the
rest of the
implies
n every case the conversion of the physical element, 4 only

t
does not state it in so
many words.
treatise,
PoPeng
)f
said:
In
K ang Heng s
when he speaks
the
method by which
to rule the Nature, he also refers
o the physical element.

vil
i,
In the Superior grade Love is supreme, and the other four In the Middle grade Love is not wanting, but has tendency to its opposite and is confused with the other four- In the nf erior grade there is the opposite of Love, and the violation of the other
only."
irtues are practised.
our virtues.
See Legge
translation of the
ii,
)fj(
$$
(Original Nature)
n
1
his Chinese Classics, vol.
Prolegomena, pp. 92-4.

of
1
4
p. 1 7, nn. 2 and 3. The Philosopher is here using the arguments Shu Ching, p. 71.
See
Ch eng
Tzfi
see p. 74.
It
is
in
dignity",
that
correcting one virtue by its opposite, e.g. "affability" by virtue in its true sense is attained to. This is to
5
5
f-
^t jiC ^ reverse the physical element. Po Feng was the s yle of Wu Pi Ta (JjJ. ft), a student of Chu Hsi; ik z Pt. Ixoc, f. 63.
82

Ying
1
The second term in the phrase affability combined with meekness and in the other similar phrases,
said
"
",
implies effort. To both these statements the Master assented.

;
Solme one asked whether

it
when
;
can be changed or not good It must be changed and converted, as when it is said, If another man succeed by one effort the noble man will use a hundred efforts if another man succeed by ten efforts he
"
the physical element is not to which the Master replied:
will use a thousand.
become
strong."
Thus, though dull he will surely intelligent, though weak he will surely become
2
2.
of heaven
The Nature and the
is
Law
only, but apart
from the Ether

have
solid matter of earth
Law would
however,
is
nothing in which to inhere. When this Ether is received, if in respect of its clearness and translucence there
;
neither obscurity nor obstruction, Law flows forth freely if there be obscurity and obstruction, but in lesser degree, if there be then in its outflow Divine Law is victor
;
obscurity and obstruction in greater degree, selfish desire obtains the victory. Thus we see that the original Nature is invariably good which is the Nature described by Mencius as good by Chou Tzu as perfectly pure" and most and good by Ch eng Tzu as the Nature s source and the Original and Essential Nature "but it is obstructed the by opacity and grossness of the physical element. Hence,
"
"
"
",
"
"
",
"
1 Ying was a native of Fen Ning and a friend of Chu Hsi. His surname was Huang (;jf[) and his style Tzu Keng ffi JJf). Fen Ning is noted as one of the places where Chou Tzu held office.
D.M.,
p. 278.

"
83
The characteristic
of tho noble
If
man is to
deny the Physical

it,
Nature to be his
Nature." x
by culture
we reverse
then
In defining the Nature, therefore, we must include the physical element in order to make a complete statement.
3. When we speak of the Nature of Heaven and Earth we refer specifically to Law when we speak of the Physical Nature we refer to Law and Either combined. Before the
;
the Nature of Heaven and Earth abides.
etherial element existed the
Nature was already in existence.

is eternal.
The former
the Nature
is transitory,
is
the latter
Although
the Nature,
implanted in the midst of the Ether, the

is still
Ether
is still
the Ether, and the Nature
without confusion the one with the other.
As
:
to
its
immanence and omnipresence in the universe again, no matter how fine or coarse the Ether may be,tkero is nothing which does not possess this Law.
Fei Ch/ing* 2 asked for an explanation of the Physical Nature.
4.
The Philosopher replied The Nature of the Divine Decree, apart from the physical element* would have nothing in which to inhere. But the etherial endowment in men
:
differs in clearness
and perfection, so tha,t the perfection of the Divine Decree also varies in the deptihi ajid fullness
1
The important thing is that still it otherwise than as the Nature. Some styliod time ago I saw that Pinig Weng said! I Oh s theory of the Physical Nature is exactly similar to the illustrations
of
its
manifestation.
cannot be
"
u<an
Quoted from the Cheng Meng (fjj
Bjj
j\.
1
&
>
Bk. v
or Ijl
|g
pt xvii,
f.
34.
Cf. p. 88 of this
J|), by Chang Tsai; eee volume.
Surnamed Chu
84
used in Buddhist books of the salt flavour in water, and glue

in colour
wash."
Question.
How
does Mencius doctrine of the Nature
compare with that of I Oh uanj ? Answer. They are not the same.
the Nature and defines
defines
it it
Mencius fastens upon in respect of its source. I Ch uan

the
physical
element,
in
combination witih
to their not
"
attaching importance
Ch eng
plete
;
Tzii says,
apart from
if
the
Thus being separated. If you take account of the Nature; Ether your statement will be incom
:
you take account

it
of the Ether
Clearness."
l
and disregard
I,
the Nature
".Exposition
will
fail
in
also,
:
in
my
of the Supreme
Ultimate",
say
"What
we
as
call
ap-arjjt
tha
Supreme Ultimate is not to be thought of from the Two Modes, nor is it to be confounded
2
with
5.
them."
The Physical Nature is the Nature of Heaven and But how does this Nature of Heaven and Earth come to be ? The good Nature is like water. The Physical
Earth.
Nature
is
as if
you sprinkled soy and

"
salt in it so that it all
becomes one flavour.
The passages, The unending stream of Question. transformations in the Universe," Proceeding from the
6.
"
one positive and one negative ether," "Endless production," 3 The law of their succession is goodness," all refer to Divine Law. 4
1
How
2.
can
it
2
be other than good

ft
,
Mencius
See p. 74 n Compare the

.
Bk
**
f-
T ai
Chi
u Shuo by
is
given in the Introduction to the ideas, though not the exact phrasing of these sentences. 4 / Ching, pp. 355-6.
Chou Tzu, of which a translation Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap, vi, for

refers to the
1
85
samo thing when he speaks of the original The two ethers with substance of the Nature being good their reciprocal repulsion and attraction, union and con
.
trariety,
both good and
which
good
is
naturally possess there strange then in that endowed with material form also possessing both
equilibrium,
evil.
and
deflection,
What
is
and
?
evil ?
Its
source,
however,
la
can
this
only
a
be
characterized
as
invariably
good.
correct
statement
Answer.
It is quite correct.
:
You, sir, in your exposition of tjhla in the Doctrine of the Me,an which speaks of passage The Great The Great Root say that as it is called
"
Ting Fu Chih said
"
Root
good.
"
it
must refer
to
Law, and
is
therefore absolutely
is
The moment human

"
desire exists there

;
the etherial
it
element, which also must have its source

originally in
7.
but
was not
The Great
of all
Root".
The Nature
men
is
good, and yet there are
those
evil
who
from
are good from their birth and those who are This is because of the inequality their birth.
of the etherial endowment.

variety of
it
Moreover, amid the infinite
may
phenomena in tho revolutions of the Universe be seen that if the sun and moon are clear and
and the climate temperate and seasonable, 2 the man born at such a time and endowed with such an ether is and honest possessed of a pure and bright, sincere
bright,
1
P.M.,
p.
243
is
^
it
-^
climate or
"
season
;
"
^[] is
is
neither too cold nor too hot,

it
neither too dry nor too
humid
jj
hot when
ought to b6 hot, cold
when
ought to be cold,
etc.
86

and
will be a
1
good man. But if the sun and moon are darkened and the temperature unseasonable, it is due to the untoward ether of the universe, and it is riot surprising
disposition,
if
the
man endowed with
such an
etlier is
a bad man.
The
object of self-culture is to transform this etherial endow ment, but the task is exceedingly difficult to accomplish.
When
"
The Nature is good," although he Mencius says makes no reference to the etherial endowment and says only
"
he means every man may become a Yao or a Shun that if a man will courageously and fiercely press forward,
that
1
inequality of the etherial endowment will of itself disappear, and his task be accomplished. For this reason, Mencius does not mention the etherial endowment. If my
the
Nature is good, what is there to prevent my being one of the holy and wise men? Nothing but the etherial endowment. For example, when a man s etherial, endowment has excess
of strength he
is
tyrannical,
he
is
weak.
Men who
gentle to excess excuse themselves by saying that

it is
when
their etherial
will fail
;
endowment
it,
is
while those
who
bad, and so do not persevere, piay no regard to the injury
possible
will
from
alfso fail.
but go blindly on in their heedless course, The one thing we must realize is that we
effort
;
must use our earnest
and master
all will
it,
cut
off its
excesses
and
said
restore the
"
Mean
then
be well.
Lien Hsi
The Nature
consists of the five qualities, Strength,
2 Hence the Weakness, Goodness, Evil, and the Mean." the evil, reverse of men to the was to teaeh object sages
1
Mencius,
p. 300.
vii
;
img Shu (5J if), chap,
see
fc
;
Zfe or
cf. p.
$J
111.
ifj|.
Note, these
five are
the qualities of the physical nature
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUKE

attain to the
"
87
:
Mean, and rest therein. Tse Ch en said The operations of the physical element are limited, while
vast."
the achievements of ethical culture are

8.
Question.
I
Mencius
says
"
said,
"The
Nature
is
2
good,"
which
Ch uan
is
Confucius said:
Men in their
the original and essential nature. 3 Nature are nearly alike," 4
and
the
Gh
uan, says that this refers to the physical nature.

,are
:
These two cases
Meow
it is
said
quito clear, but in the Doctrine of "The Decree of Heaven is what we

v
term the
Nature." 5
I cannot
tell
whether this
is
tho
original and essential nature or the physical nature.
Answer.
is
The Nature
by
the
conferred
to
is one only. How can that which the Divine Decree differ ? It is entirely
owing
variation
in
the
differences
"
Menoius was fearful lest people expression should speak of the Nature of man as originally unlike; therefore, differentiating the Nature as decreed by Heaven
.
develop, and nearly alike
these
physical element that led Confucius to use the
"
from the physical element, he expounded it to his con temporaries in this sense, and asserted that the Nature is invariably good, which is what Tzu Ssti refers to when he
"
says
is
what we term the

:
Nature."
9. Ya Fu asked the question With doctrine of the physical element originate ?
whom
did the
Answer.
1
It originated
ethical culture
is
with Chang and the two

fully
Ch engs.
That
is,
adequate to overcome the demerits

s 5
of the physical element. 2 Mencius, p. 110.

4
jg
pt.
iii, f.
4.
Analects, xvii,
ii
(p. 182).
D.M.,
p. 247.
88

them not only
as deserving
I regard
also as
after.
much
of the sages, but
having done great service
to scholars
who have como
The study of
grateful to utterance to this doctrine.

his essay
"
makes one extremely for one no them, previously had ever given
their writings
Han T ui Chih, 1
",
for example,
in.
of
The Original Nature propounded his theory The Three Grades/" and what he says is true, but
on
"
he does not state clearly that he is speaking of the physical in the original nature. Where can you get three grades nature ? Mencius, in his assertion that the Nature is good,
" "
speaks of it only in respect of its origin, making no reference to the physical nature so that in his case, too, there must be careful discrimination while of the rest of the
; ;
some assert that the Nature is evil, others that it is both evil and good, whereas, if the doctrine of Chang and the two Ch engs had been propounded earlier there would have been no need for all this discussion and controversy. If, then, the doctrine of Chang and the two Ch engs stands, that of the rest is shown to be confusion.
philosophers,
A question was raised with reference to Heng Ch

"
ii
s state
ment After form is the physical nature. in reversing his physical nature will preserve the Nature of Heaven, and Earth. Therefore the characteristic of the noble
:
He who succeeds
man is to deny the physical nature to Ming Tao s statement was also quoted
account
the
of
be his
:
nature."
the
Nature apart
;
you take from tho Ether, your

"If
statement will be incomplete if you take account of Ether and disregard the Nature, it will fail
,
See
p. 80.
Meng"
Cheng
(f$
BJj
jg), see
p. 11 of this
volume.

in clearness.
l
89
To make them two separate
entities is
wrong."
Referring to these statements the Philosopher said If we say that Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom alone constitute the Nature how are we to account for the fact
:
that in the world

It
is
owing
to
some are born with no such principles ? the etherial endowment that it is so. If you
do not take the etherial element into account, your theory will not represent an all-round view of the facts, and will
therefore he incomplete. If, on the other hand, you only take into account the etherial endowment, recognizing this
as good
and that as
evil,
and disregard the unity of the
From the time source, your theory will fail in clearness. of Coniucius, Tseng Tzii, Tzii Ssu, and Mencius, all of
whom
understood the
principles
involved,
no one had
propounded
.
this truth [until the
time of Chang and the two

itself
Gh engs] Ch ien Chih

according to
opaque and impure, the varying degrees of opacity and impurity

asked
:
Is
Law
?
in the Ether of the Universe
Answer.
Law
in itself never varies.
It is the
Ether
alone that varies in this way. If the etherial element varies in this Question.
way
and Law does not, will

separate ?
it
not follow that
Law and
Ether are
Answer.
Although Ether
is
produced by Law, never
theless, after it
Law
has been produced, Law cannot control it. dwelling-place, as it were, in the etherial element, from which the continuous stream of daily activity
has
its
See
p.
74, n. 2.
90

;
proceeds but the Ether is strong while Law is weak. It may be illustrated thus: On the occasion of some great festival a
proclamation of grace is issued remitting one season s taxes, but a local magistrate who is hard and grasping extorts
from the people under his jurisdiction, simply because of their proximity to, him and his ability to influence
the
tax
the higher authority to turn a deaf ear to their petitions for relief. Here we see illustrated the coarseness of the
Ether
and the
fineness of
Law.
Or
take as an illustration
;
the relationship between father and son if the son will not follow in the footsteps of his fatlier, the father cannot compel
him.
is to
Indeed the very object of tho teaching of the sages

save such. 2
10.
The Nature
is
like water.
If it flows in a clean
channel
turbid.
it is clear, if it
When
is
flows into a dirty channel it becomes the physical element is clear and perfect,
the Nature
received in its completeness, as in the case of
man. When the physical element is turbid and defective, the Nature is obscured, as in the case of birds and beasts.
The Ether
is
clear or turbid.
As
received
by man
In
it is
clear, as received
by birds and beasts
it is turbid.
man
the physical element is in thie main clear, hence the difference between man and the brute, but there is also some turbidity,
and, consequently, birds and beasts are not so very far
removed from man.

11.
ence
be
1
Given tho existence of Law, there follows the exist the Ether. Given the Ether, there must Law. in Ether there are differences.] the [But
of
The
is
coarse like the magistrate,
who
an
is
more powerful than the

simply
Emperor. 2 Note, JJ
~p =
"these"
^p
is
enclitic

Those whose etherial endowment
sages in
.water.
is clear
91
are the saints and
whom the Nature
is
like
a pearl lying in clear cold

is
Those whose etherial endowment
turbid are the
is like a pearl in water. To make manifest illustrious lying muddy The virtue is to cleanse the pearl from the muddy water. brute creation also possess this Law, and in them the Nature
foolish
and degenerate, in
whom
"
the Nature
"
is like
But
their
the pearl dropped into the filthiest of muddy places. endowment is still clear l in some directions, so
is
that the Nature
not wholly obscured!, as
may be seen in the
bond between parent and offspring in tigers and wolves, in the relation between sovereign and minister among bees and ants, in the gratitude to progenitors to be seen in the
jackal
and
otter,
water-fowl and dove.
or in the faculty of discrimination in the It is from such characteristics that

" "
we
get the expressions 2 creatures

".
virtuous creatures
and
"
righteous
12.
Questioned as to inequalities in the clearness and

:
turbidity of the etherial endowment, the Philosopher said The differences in the etherial endowment are of more than
one kind and are not covered
by the two words,

.
"
clear"
and
"
turbid
is
".
There are men whose
intellect is such that
thero
1
nothing they do not understand

"
In such the Ether

"
0J5 is
clear
*
as opposed to
as opposed to "blurred muddy or turbid

" "
"
"
or
"
opaque
is
"clear"
".
2 The first of these expressions refers to the jackal and otter. These animals are accustomed to spread out before them their prey as if offering * sacrifice to the gods, and are therefore caJed * virtuous creatures (fc US).
to one female,
*vs
The second expression refers to doves, in whose mating the male cleaves and because they thus observe the principles of morality
between the sexes they are called
"
righteous creatures
"
(^|
||j).
92

but their actions possibly do not always hit the in respect of ethical principle, the reason being that
is
is clear,
mark
There are others who are respectful and generous, loyal and true, in whom the Ether is rich, but whose knowledge possibly is lacking in discernment
the Ether
not rich. 1
because the Ether
is
not clear.
Follow
this out
and you
will
understand the matter.
Although the Nature is the same in all men, their endowment is necessarily unequal There are those in whose endowment the Ligneous ether 2 predominates, and
13.
etherial
.
them the feeling of solicitude is generally uppermost, while the manifestation of conscientiousness, the courteous
in
spirit
and moral insight
are those in
whom
and, similarly, there the Metallic ether prevails, with the

is
impeded
result that conscientiousness is
exclusion of the other three terminals.
prominent to the comparative So with the Aqueous
and the Igneous
ethers.
It is only
when
the
Two Modes
unite all the virtues, and the five nature-principles are all complete, that you have the due Mean and the perfect 3 uprightness of the sage.
14.
Where the
here
also be
;Nature
is
cramped by
is
the
etheriai
endowment,
1
the ethical
"
principle
"
able
to penetrate
as
of wine,
|jj{
probably means
"
rich
or
"generous"
"
but
it
may
2
pure
(
The Five Ethers

Hsi,
etc.
mean".
J ^)
as the opposite of $j| dregs are the Five Agents
".
JJ,
fj), see Introd.
to Cliu
3
r^t
$>
"
% ^
for
fill
name
what
is
Legge quotes a gloss by Chu Hsi in which he says chung* is the it ffio without deflection or inclination, which neither exceeds
X
J
&
^ &
"
>
nor comes
short"
that
is
>
is,
a quality not
is
a Quality which in
itself
might be
The
right, opposite of
but
TF.
simply unbalanced, as an excess of generosity. on the other hand, is a quality which in itself is
definitely
wrong, as dishonesty.

in
93
largo
one
direction
of
only.
Thus
is
in
very
in
number
direction
instances,
there
excellence
one
and defect in
another,
freedom
here
and
obstruction there. 1
a perfect understanding of everything that is advantageous and injurious while they know nothing of moral principles, and another excels in all
the arts but cannot understand books.
Some men, have
Just as the tiger and
panther know only
the relationship between parent and bees and ants that of sovereign and minister, so offspring, a man may be filial to his parents and mean towards others.
The Emperor Ming, 2

is
for example,
brothers that he had a long bolster
was so affectionate to and large coverlet

to the
or
them
to sleep together,
life
;
and continued the practice
end of his
ther he killed his son,

ero
but as sovereign he killed his minister, as and as husband he killed his wife.
was a
case in
nd obstruction in
d therefore in
which there was freedom in some respects others, a man in whose nature there was
other directions obstruction.
ee course for the ethical principle in

all
one direction only, This was
wing to the
hat
is
jind
1
endowment and also to ignorance of advantageous and injurious. How is it that Yao was father to Tan Chu, 3 Question. Kun was father to Yii ? 4
etherial
Cf.
Bergson
dan
vital
see J. P. Bruce, Introduction to
Chu Hsi and

of the
\e.
Sung School, chap. ix. 2 Ming Huang or Li Lung Chi

See Giles
(^
j^r
3|1),
sixth
Emperor
Biog. Diet., p. 450. 3 The allusion here is to the passage in Menciua referring Ibid., p. 710. o Tan Chu ; see Mencius, p. 235.
4
ang dynasty.
Kun was
y the
9-40.
latter
ither to
Works under Yao and Shun, and was banished Emperor for failure in the task assigned to him. He was Shun s successor, the Emperor Yii. See Shu Ching, pp. 23-5,
Minister of
94

This again
is
Answer.
because the
Two
Agents, at the
moment
of their union
Ethers and Five and revolution, differ
in different cases in the degree of their clearness or turbity, and the man at his birth oomee into contact with them! alt
the very
15.
moment
said
of this union.
:
Ya Fu
The Nature
is
is
like the sun
tho turbidity of the Ether

Th-3
like the clouds
and moon, and mist.
Master assented.
the ashes
:
16. The Nature of man is like a fire buried in when the ashes are stirred the fire brightens. 1
Question. People constantly speak of the nature of a man or thing being so and so as, for example, when it is said that the nature of one thing is hot and of another
17.
;
not such statements include both the physical element and the immaterial principle with which they are
cold.
Do
?
endowed
Answer.
18.
Yes.
2
T uiChih s
theory that Capacity
is
of three grades
and that the Nature has five grades, is superior to those of Hsiin and Yang. He defines the grades of the Nature as Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, which is still
better.
But as
to three grades of Capacity,
we might
in
the samo
way
discover hundreds
this
and thousands of
varieties,
and
just the doctrine of the physical nature without the name. I Ch uan s state "If ment you take account of the Ether and
to
summarize then! in
way
is
The
allusion
in the ashes,
2
is to the charcoal brazier in which the live charcoal but glows immediately the ashes are stirred. is
is
buried
ui
Chih
Han Yu
see p. 80.

if
95
;
disregard the Nature your statement will fail in clearness you take account of the Nature apart from the Ether will be incomplete," 1 expresses the idea exactly. it
For example, in teaching that in their Nature men ore 2 nearly alike but by practice grow wide apart, the physical element cannot be left out of account and this is precisely the theory propounded by the two Ch engs. Lien Hsi teaches the same truth in his exposition of the Supreme Ultimate. From the time of the Han and Wei dynasties 3 till the sudd en appearance of Wen Chung Tzu philosophers were few. In the T ang dynasty T ui Chih 4 appeared,,
;
whose
teaching
reached
generally,
however,,
moral
truth
higher level. Speaking has never entirely
disappeared from the world.
Even though
generation there are none who there will not fail to be some in another age.
19.
"
in the present understand these principles,
To make them two Questioned as to the phrase, entities is the separate wrong," Philosopher said You must
:
not divide
Nature
is
sections, and say that the nothing but the Nature, and the Ether How then shall we nothing but the Ether.
1
them into two separate
is
not separate them

incomplete"
By
taking
in
Ming Tao s
expressions,
and applying them on both sides, the reason will be understood. Hence, in the statement, To make them two separate entities is the make them two separate entities," wrong," expression,
"fail
and
"
clearness,"
"
See
p. 74, n. 2.
2
3
The
See
allusion
is
to the Analects, xvii,

f.
ii
(p. 182).
jf If,
pt. xix,
16.
See p. 80.
96
defers to the
two preceding sentences. (Ying s 1 record says: take account of the Nature apart from the Ether, and to take account of the Ether and disregard the Nature,
To
is
make two separate entities.) 2 Someone asked When Ming Tao,

to
:
in his assertion that

"
what is called the Nature", says, The Nature is the Ether and the Ether is the Nature," 3 is this what he means by not making them two separate entities ? Answer. That, again, means that the Nature resides in
"Life
is
the etherial endowment,

is
imparted the Ether and the Ether

"
to it.
This
is
When the Ether is received Law The Nature is why it is said

"
at the statement that
Ether
is
the Nature
",
you stop The Nature is the Ether, and the then still more will you have failed
Nature."
is
the
But
if
to discriminate
between the two.
20.
It is necessary to recognize the differences in the
In the u^niformity and the uniformity in the differences. is difference iso far as Law there is no concerned, beginning
when Law is deposited in the Ether there is likeness only in the coarser features, such as the capacity for hunger
but
and
the
thirst,
and seeking what
is
advantageous and avoiding
injurious, with man, so that, apart
which: birds and beasts have in
common
from moral
principles,
man would
not differ from them.
See See
p. 82, n. 1.
pt. lix,
3
ff.
(Conversations), f jff preceding page. See also $C 13-14, for a clear and detailed exposition of this passage.
fl:, pt
.
Seejf
i,
f.
10.

The Philosopher
great
said
97
"
further
The
passages,
The
God
1
sense,"
has conferred on the inferior people a moral and "The people hold within themselves
principle
of
2
good,"
normal
The
I
saying,
"The
mass
represent the of people

3
it,"
"differ-
cast
it
a way, while the noble
man
preserves
means that we
to be
"
must preserve
jdistinguished
:iggling
this difference.
from the brute.

of
Only thus are we We must not say,
The
like
movement
;
the
worm
the
holds the
spiritual
dthin
it
all
things
have
Buddha nature
>urselves."
21.
Question.
"Life
The
is
chapter
is
commencing
with
5
the
mtence,
1
what
called the
Nature,"
is very,
Shu Ching,
p. 185.
1.
2
3
4 5
Odes, p. 541, vide p. 54 of this volume, n. Mencius, p. 201.
quotation from Buddhist pantheistic statements.
10. See also ffi ^j|, pt. xiii, f. 29, where the Jfi lH Pk i ^ xt of the whole passage referred to is given. The following is a transla-
ion
Life
is
what
is
termed the Nature.
The Nature
is
the Ether and
he Ether
the Nature, and this is what is called Life. All men at their irth are endowed with the Ether, and in law there is both good and evil, ut it is not that originally, when man is born, there are in the Nature
is
two things in opposition to each other. There are those who are from their youth, and there are those who are evil from their youth ; ut this results from the differences in the etherial endowment. Goodness certainly the Nature, but evil cannot be said not to be the Nature, or Life is what is termed the Nature. The time preceding man s birth d the repose which then exists needs no discussion. The moment you ply the term Nature, what you are speaking of has already ceased to the Nature. All who expound the Nature define it simply as what is of The law of their succession is goodness," the the dictum, ,me as Mencius refers to when he says The Nature of man is good ow that which is spoken of in the dictum, The law of their succession is
>oken
"
".
"
ii
98

"
difficult to follow.
the sentence,
the beginning of the passage to Evil cannot be said not to be the Nature,"
From
makes two or three sections. Answer. This chapter is extremely difficult, but if you look carefully at the connexion you will understand its It is not meaning. The statement at the beginning that when man is born there are these two things in opposition to each other," means that the Nature is good,
"
Question.
It is true that it is stated that the
Nature
is
\
good; but following this it is said, "Goodness is certainly the Nature, but evil cannot be said not to be the Nature."
My
difficulty
is
that to
introduce
the
Nature of the
etherial
endowment seems
inconsistent with the preceding
context.
goodness",
flows to the sea itself without defilement
water downwards. It is all water; som how can such be achieved b? human strength ? Some becomes gradually turbid before it has proceedec far on its way ; some becomes turbid after it has proceeded som distance in its course ; some is more turbid, some is less turbid ; bu
is
like the flow of
though
is
you cannot say that the should not fail to apply themselves to th work of purification. By this means those who are earnest and courageou in their efforts will be speedily cleansed ; while in those who are slow an* lazy the cleansing will be slow. When it is cleansed it is nothing els than the original water, and you do not bring clear water to take th
differing in the degree of turbidity
turbi<
not water.
Therefore
men
place of the turbid, nor do you take the turbid water and place it in a spc by itself. The clearness of the water represents the goodness of the Natun Therefore it is not that in the Nature there are the two things, good an
evil,
Th in opposition to each other, each with a different origin. law is the Decree of Heaven. To follow it and accord with it is tt Moral Law. To accord with it and cultivate it so that each receives From the Decree of Heaven according to his capacity is Religion. the inculcation of it in me there is no injurious admixture in the proces It was by this that Shun and Yu held possession of the Empire as if it we nothing to them.
1

Answer.
aent which
It is not the
is
99
Nature of the etherial endowiWhat

is is
spoken
of.
said is that the Nature
vas originally
good and
that
it
now
thick
evil,
and that
it
is
the
by,
ame Nature, but

vil
ret
;
has been thrown, into disorder
just as water is
made
by mud and
refers to
sand,
and
you do not refuse

it
to call it water.
Question. heory, dees
The question just asked

not
?
Nan Hsien s
Answer.
,nd contained
lis
treatise was issued too soon, and contradictions. It includes may discussion on the Commentary on Mencius>. Many, the nobles urged him and it was difficult to with-
Ching
Fu s
errors
tand them.
Question.
entence
? 2
Should the words,

exists,"
"
Man s
birth
as
and the
epose which then
be
regarded
a separate
Answer.
Nature
I*
They should be taken with
the words which
immediately follow, in order to complete the sense.

seta
thins
The from the time of its endowment. In the time preceding man s birth and the repose which. hen exists there there was as yet no material form as nothing to receive Law. How then could it be called
is so-called
"
he Nature
Question.
2ocfl>
How do you explain the section,

Nature."
"
The moment
ou apply the term Nature, what you are speaking of has

iready
ceased to be the
(At
this point the
Ching Fu is the Nan Hsien named in the question If taken as a separate sentence they would read :
is repose,"
;
"
see p. 102, n. 1. At man s birth

"
as*
here
and the sentence following

discussion."
this
would be
The time
receding needs no
100
writer could not recall clearly what the master s reply was, and would not venture to record it. The next evening the
question was repeated, and is given below.) Question. iWith reference to the statement,
in the dictum
"
All who
expound the Nature define it simply as what is spoken of The law of their succession is goodness
,"
"
how can
ness
the phrase The law of their succession refer to the Nature ?

"
is
good
most
to
is
Answer.
germane.
The question
Here, however,
"
raised
it
by my friend
is
is
really
in
reference
man
that the sentence,

is
The law
if
it it
of their succession
goodness,"
quoted
at the
1
for
transcendental
reference,,
would
of
were quoted with a refer to Divine Law,

outflow could not be
and Divine
Law
moment
"
its
called the Nature.
Life is what is termed the Question. In the passage, Nature ; the Nature is the Ether and the Ether is the
not the meaning that at Nature and the Ether combine ?

is
Nature
"
man s
birth the
Answer.
When man
is
formed from the Ether,
Law
it
is
inherent in the person so created. called the Nature.
Then only can

ui
be
Question.
Some time back T eng Te Ts

"
questioned
is
you with reference

termed the
to the statement,
Life
what
is
Nature."
You, Sir, said

it is
Master Ch eng
1
statement,
all
"
you follow the right. At that time.

:
If
twofold application of the dictum, The law of their success it It may refer to Divine Law pervading the univers< possible. in the mutual succession of the two Modes, or it may refer to the Chu Hsi says that in the passagr law, but. as imparted to the individual.
goodness," is
sam<
in question it
is
obviously the latter.
Cf. p.
56 of this volume.

p
101
Ithough further elucidation was repeatedly sought for, you ave no answer. Afterwards, when thinking it over careully,
it
we
recalled that this

ireally
had
was Kao Tzu s statement, and accorded with that of the Master Ch emg
;
here
ds
s
mind
would have been nothing to object to in it but in the reference was directly to the etherial element
the Nature, and thus the meaning of his statement ffered from that of the Master Ch enig.
The Master Ch eng s words do indeed confirm Kao Tzii as not incorrect. But if the truth is as Kao Tzii contended, why should Mencius oppose leally ? From this we may assume that the principles jiim 1 |nunciated by Kao Tzu were really wrong. The Confucian
Answer.
he language of
jchool,
in their discussion of the Nature, for the most part
efer to the etherial element, just as the Buddhists also

iegard the operation of Intelligence only as the Nature.
Question. In your Commentary on Mencius it is said The teaching of the Su and Hu schools 2 in the present y is similar to this." But on examining the tenets of
:
ese
two schools
it
looks as if they do not hold the
"Ether"
eory.
Their tendency is so of necessity. Question. When the Hu School maintain that the Nature not to be defined in terms of good and evil, does it not
lofts
Answer.
em
as
though their desire

?
is
to represent the greatness
the Nature
That
the language was not inis, there is a verbal correspondence but the fact of Mencius vehement opposition shows that Kao Tzu eant something very different from the teaching of Ch eng Tzu. 2 See T. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. iv.
rrect
102

No,
it is
not with the idea of representing the It is simply that they do not greatness of tho Nature. Otherwise they would not the matter clearly. perceive
Answer.
1 Ching Fu also formerly held this speak in this way. I to view. But isaid When every tiling that exists is him,
"
relative,
why do you want
to
make
the Nature like a one"
The Master branched horn, 2 a thing with; no correlation ? The Gh enig in, his treatment of the Nature says simply
"
Nature
matter
?
is
Law."
Is this not a clear discernment of the
He
Question.
truly deserves well of the school of the sages. Was it the Master Ch enig who first discerned
"
The law of theitf clearly the bearing of the passage, succession is goodness, their realization is the Nature ? 8
"
is
Answer. Previously no one had expressed it thus. fact that he did is the evidence of his clear insight.
The
to
the Philosopher was again questioned Life is what with reference to the passage beginning,
"
The next evening
A
A
to
is
termed the Nature.

"
"
We
apprehended your meaning.

sentence
:
have not, it was said, wholly We do not know whether the

the term Nature, what
The moment you apply
you are speaking of has already ceased to be the Nature," refers to the time preceding man s endowment with the
Nature, or to the time following it. Answer. It refers to the time following the endowment. The Nature is nothing else than the all-comprehensive
1
Chang Ch
ih
(g
/fjj),
also called
Chang Nan Hsien, a great

iv.
friend
"h
of^Chu Hsi, but holding very different views. duction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap.
See J. P. Bruce, Intro-
2 $Q ia a perverted point leaning to one side with nothing on the other side to match it, as in the case of a cow having only one horn. 3 Yi Ching, pp. 355-6.
103
Hvine Law, but the moment you can speak of it as existing already carries with it the etherial element. In the
;
"
tatement,
o
Apart from the Two Modes there would be

x
Moral
Law,"
Question.
f
[f so,
The
great discrimination needs to be used. The flow passage following the sentence,
"
water downwards/
seeing that
? 3
refers to the etherial
endowment.
all is
fixed
from
"
birth,
how
can.
"
we
the
difference
between
nearly
alike
and
"
speak wide
part"
Answer.
22.
3
means that there is practice also. In the chapter beginning Life is what Question. called the Nature", in the passage extending from the
It
" "
But evil cannot be said not pening sentence to the words, 4 o be the Nature," it appears to my poor judgment that t is the original nature combined with the physical nature
that is referred to.
At the very beginning of the passage he writer uses the single word "Life" which combines
oth natures.
Chu
Hsi.
said
:
But what about the word

It seems to
"
Nature" ?
Yung
me
that the
word
"
Nature
"
is
also applied to both.
Some time ago arising out of this used the simile of water to illustrate the you and the one and perfectly pure Divine then said that Nature,
Yung asked
further.
ery subject
Liaw is like water in its original clearness.
The cloudiness
and turbidity resulting from the complex interaction of the Two Modes and Five Agents is like water as it is defiled by
1
Cf -
^C
n.
l.
>
i,
f.
26
or
2 8
pt. xv,
*
f.
22.
See
5 on p. 97. Analects, XVI, ii, p. 182.
See
n. 5
on
p. 97.
104

The
possibility of restoring- tho cloudy and turbid due to the fact that its source was
mud.
to clearness again is clear. Is it not so ?
Answer.
incapable
smelling-
Yes, of
and the lower

are
foolish
people,
who
is
are
amendment,
filthy.
like
water which
foul
and
Question.
Answer.
Can they not also be cleansed ? The impurity can be reduced to some
went on to say
:
extent.
earlier
From
this the Philosopher
In
times it was the custom for people to fill their vessels with water at the Hui Hill Well and carry them into the city. If after a while the water became foul, the city people .had
a way of cleansing it. They filled a bamboo pipe with sand and stones, and, pouring the water on them, let it run through. By doing this several times the water would
gradually be restored to its original purity. Some one asked Can the lower foolish people be cleansed?
:
Yung
cleansed.
said
Possibly they would not be willing to be
Answer.
Even foul-smelling water would

filth.
scarcely
be
regarded as the extreme of
that when a thing has reached Question. the stage of being past such conversion it is more like
Would you say
putrid mud ? Ansiver. Yes, that
Question. the Nature" to
The
what I mean. For Life section, from

is
"
is
what
is called
"like
water flowing
?
downwards",
refers
to the original nature, does it not
Answer.
what
is
do you explain the phrase, called the Nature ?

"
How
"
For
life is

Yung Yung
"
105
said
simply a quotation. then proceeded to ask further

:
It is
The time preceding man s then exists needs no discussion," the writer, in the phrase, man s hirth and the repose which then exists," refers to
"
In the sentence, birth and the repose which

:
the beginning of life but does he not also, in the phrase in which he speaks of "the time preceding", refer to the
;
Divine Decree
Answer.
"Great
is
;
Yes, and therefore the sentence in the Ye, the Principle of Origin, indicated by
1
Ch
things owe to it their beginning," refers solely to the source of Truth. 2 It is when you come to what is ien
all
"
The method of Ch ien is to expressed in the sentence, and transform so that change everything obtains its correct nature as ordained by Heaven," 3 that the Nature is in
existence.
The
passage,
"All
who expound
,"
the Nature
*
simply define it as what is spoken of in the dictum The law of their succession is goodness 4 implies the physical
|
element.
Question.
Is it not that
Feeling only
the
is
included
Feeling Mencius, in his reply to

"
Answer.
includes
physical.
Therefore
Kao Tzii s question with respect to the Nature, said, If we look at the Feelings which low from the Nature we may know that they are constituted
or the practice of what 1 F Ching, p. 213. Ch ien
Iso
is
is
5
good."
Referring to Love,
of the first diagram. It
is
the
name
used for Heaven as one of the dual powers, Heaven and Earth.
See
ntrod. to
2
Chu
is
(
Hsi,
etc.,
chap.
vi.
!$
^C
here
Truth
in the absolute
of
and transcendental
6
sense, the
synonym
or
3
&
The Decree
Ft Ching, p. 213.
Heaven). 4 See p. 97.
Mencius, p. 278.
106

Reverence,
Righteousness,
solicitude,
and
Wisdom,
he
conscientiousness,
respectfulness,
and
spoke of moral
insight
for the
Nature
is invisible,
their objective manifestation in deeds,
but the Feelings have and it is only by way
of the Feeling s that you are able to define the Nature. Question. To know the Nature by way of the Feelings
is just like
"
knowing the river s source by the flowing stream. Ts ai Chi T ung 1 ask K ang Shu Lin: Formerly Everything has two termini. Solicitude is the terminal
I heard
Is it the initial or the final terminal
it
?"
of Love.
Shu Lin
regarded
as the final terminal.
Chuang Chung
report
all.
you
Recently I heard Chou as saying that there ought to be
no such division at
Chu
Hsi.
What
To know know the
Questioner. the substance by means of its movements is to source by means of the flowing stream. It seems
do you say ? Solicitude is the movement of the Nature.
to me, therefore, that it is the final terminal.
Answer.
Question.
"
That
is right.
"
What about the section, from
It is all
water
"
"
to
but you must not regard the turbid as not water ? Answer. Water here is simply the physical element.
degree of cloudiness in the physical element strength of creaturelj desire, just as you know
scientiousness.
you can estimate the from the Love and Righteousness from the presence of solicitude and con
Yung
said
It seems to
me
that
Answer.
That
:
is
true also.
is
Another asked Are those in whom the Ether therefore free from creaturely desire ?
1
clear
See
p. 65.
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUBE
107
Answer. That cannot be asserted. The desire of taste and the desire for musical sounds are common to all. Even though the Ether with which h,e is endowed is clear, the
man
will drift into desire at the least relaxation of
watch
fulness
and
self-control.
"
Therefore Question. With regard to the section, from men should not fail to apply themselves to the work of
purification"
to "place ifc in a spot by itself", is the meaning that when men have sought the conversion of the
physical element in their constitution, their success in that conversion and their return to their original nature are not
imparted from without Answer. It is so.
The Question. Is the meaning of the section, from clearness of the water represents the goodness of the Nature"
"
"
Yii held possession of the empire as if it were nothing to them that the learner in his search for moral truth does not obtain it from without, and the sage
to
Shun and
in teaching men does not force natural sphere of duty ? 2
them
to act outside their
Answer.
"
You may
is
This
23.
Law
gather that also from the sentence, the Divine Decree."
Does not the passage, "Goodness certainly is the Nature, but evil cannot be said not to be the Nature," 3 contradict Mencius ? Answer. This kind of statement is difficult to explain.
1
2 3
That
Analects, VIII, xviii, pp. 77-8. is, the sage does not inculcate monasticism as
Buddhism
does.
SS
P*-
f-
10
see P- 97
>
n 5
-
108

get the meaning
formerly, was
all at onoe.
One cannot
looked at
it it
I myself, as I
But as I read and the distinction between the two passages again again became clear, so that now I am confident that there is no mistake and no contradiction. It is only necessary to devote time and care to the study of it, and not, with an over
also perplexed.
weening confidence in one preceded us to be wrong.
own
ideas, declare those
who
same
Question. Is the Nature in the vegetable kingdom the as in man and the animal kingdom ?
Answer.
You must
recognize
the differences without
and recognize uniformity without losing sight of the differences, and then you will be right.
losing sight of the uniformity,
<
explain the section The time preceding man s birth and the repose beginning: which then exists needs no discussion." *
Question.
"
24.
How
do
you
Answer.
"
The time preceding man s birth and

"
the repose
which then
exists
is
the time before the creature, whether
man or animal, is born; and before birth the term Law only can be applied, the term Nature is as yet not applicable. This is what is meant by the statement, On its Divine
"
The sentence, The moment the what term Nature, you apply you are speaking of has ceased be the to Nature," tells us that when you already the "Nature" man is already bom, term apply and tihe ethical principle has lodged in the midst of material ether, so that what we have is
side it is called
The Decree
"
."
"the
See
p. 97, n. 5.

not wholly the hence the phrase,
original
"
109
;
substance
of
the
"
Nature
Nature"
;
and
it is
has already ceased to be the this that is referred to in the words,
From
the
point of view of idea is that it

that
man
is
it is called
the
Nature."
The main
fooim
when,
man
possesses
1
material
Law becomes
at
inherent in
it, and
is
termed the Nature.
But at the stage

it is
which you thus apply the term Nature, involved in life and combined with the physical, so
;
that it is no longer the original substance of the Nature and yet the original substance of the Nature has not become
confused.
The important thing in this matter is
to recognize
that the original substance is neither separate from nor confounded with the material element- In the passage,
All who expound the Nature simply define it as what spoken of in the dictum, The law of their succession
"
"
is is
goodness
portrayed
;
the meaning
is
that the Nature cannot be
expound
excel in their exposition of it simply it according to its manifestation in the Terminals. 2
those
who
And
of the Nature can most certainly be recognized intellectually, as when Mencius speaks of the goodness of the Nature and the Four Terminals. yet the
25.
Law
the words,
Questioned concerning the section beginning with The time preceding man s birth and the repose
."
which then
exists,"
Ch eng used the word

nature,
the Philosopher replied The Master Nature in the sense of the original
:
"
"
and
also in the sense of the physical nature.
In
the
the case of
1
man
as dwelling in the material
body
it is
See
p. 97, n. 5.
The Four Feelings
or
Terminals
enumerated
by Mencius
see
Mencius, p. 79.
110

"
physical nature. In the phrase, the term the work! Nature

"
The moment you apply

refers to the
"Nature"
physical element in combination with the original nature. In the phrase, "Has already ceased to be the Nature," the
word Nature
refers to the original nature,

;
meaning that the
moment you
original.
predicate
After
man
the physical it is no longer the s birth, the moment of repose, man
has bodily form, so that he can be said to posses^ the Nature. Before this moment of birth and repose he has as yet no
bodily of him
26.
form
?
how can
the Nature,
then,
be predicated
"The
moment you apply
the term Nature, what

"
* you are speaking of has already ceased to be the Nature for directly you apply to it the term Nature you are speaking
;
of
it
the
in combination with the physical element. In The time passage beginning with the words,
as it
is
"
preceding
man s birth and the repose which then
exists needs
birth the opening phrase singles out with the repose which then exists, and, for the purposes of discussion disconnects; it from the time preceding, for the
discussion,"
no
man s
term Nature cannot be applied until the appearance of the physical element, and of the time preceding the birth of
man and
"
the
moment
is
Heaven s Moral Law

This
"
able.
of repose we can only use the term Nature is inapplic the word the explanation of Tzu Kung s language
"
"
"
when he said, His discourses about the Nature and Heaven s Moral Law cannot be heard." 2 The statement The Decree of Heaven is what we term the Nature that
"
"
points to this element in

1
man
personality as the Nature of

3
See
p. 97, n. 5.
Analects, V, xii (pp. 41-2).

the Divine Decree without confusion with the
111
etherial
The moment you apply the In the phrase, term Nature," the Nature is referred to as in combination with the etherial endowment. Therefore, at the very time
endowment.
"
implied in the term used,
it is
Hsi
"
said,
The Nature
consists
already not the Nature. Lien of the five qualitiesi
Lien Strength, Weakness, Goodness, Evil, and the Mean." Hsi defined the Nature as consisting only of these five, but
when he also spoke of the Nature of the four ethical principles Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Widsom. Now, the nature of the etherial endowment does
there were times
not go beyond the five qualities mentioned by Lien Hsi, it it is still the nature of the four ethical, principles whole the is not a different nature. the nature of Indeed,
but
universe
is
not
outside these
five
;
Goodness, Evil, and the

subject carefully
Mean
for
Strength, Weakness, if we follow up the
we
find that, vast as is the variety of
phenomena, with their thousand species and hundred genera, beyond our powers of investigation, we still do not
get
1
away from
See
these five categories.

vii (gjjj).
Tung
Shu, chap,
N.B.
These
five are
given as the
principles of the physical nature, not of the essential nature, of which Chou Tzii himself gives the constituent principles as Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom. Strength is the manifestation of the positive
and weakness of the negative. Each of these again is and then it is good evil or negative, and then it is
ether,
"
either positive,
"Strength,"
"
".
",
when when
"good",
is
righteous, straightforward, resolute, majestic,
and firm
evil it is harsh,
proud, and cruel.
"
Weakness,"
when
and
"
Good
",
ia
kind, yielding,
meek
when
"
evil
"
it is soft, irresolute,
false.
The
Mean
is
the maintenance of these principles in equilibrium so that there no excess of the "Good" qualities, and the "Evil" are moderated so that
is
they come to be not Evil.
112
(FOURTEEN SECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTED WRITINGS.)

1.
Question.
Men
constantly have differences in clear
and translucence, which undoubtedly are due to the etherial endowment. But the mind, necessarily following
ness
the variations in the etherial endowment, also differs to
some extent.
The mouth,
the ear, the eye, and the mind,

;
Heaven makes no and translucence in the case of the mouth, the ear, and the eye, and does so only in the case) of the mind, ? If we say that the ethical principle of the mind
difference in clearness
however, are all organs of intelligence in imparting the physical, element,
how
is it
then that,
so that
does not differ, but that it is fettered by the physical element it cannot maintain its translucence, we have on the
other side the fact that Yi, Hui, and Yi
Yin were not
fettered by the physical element, and yet their righteousness in the handling of affairs was not equal to the timeliness of the Master. 1 For we find that Mencius in discussing
the three sages said that their wisdom was not equal to that can of the Master. But moral insight constitutes wisdom
;
it
be that these three could be
filled
with
solicitude,
conscientiousness,
and courtesy, and lack only moral insight? Answer. The mouth, ear, and eye also differ in clear for example, Yi Ya, the musicness and translucence master K uang, and Li Lou 2 possessed a very high degree
;
See Mencius, pp. 245-8 and 69-70, where the virtues of the three * time sages are characterized, but declared to be still not equal to the as it arises occasion i.e. the power to meet the demands of every liness
1
"
of Confucius,
2
"A
"
the Master
".
Yi Ya was cook to Duke Huan worthless man, but great in his
of
Ch
of the
seventh century
B.C.
that he could distinguish between
his palate was said to be so delicate the waters of two rivers. See Mencius,
art,"

of clearness.
It is precisely the
113
same
with.
Mind.
Yi and
Hui were
element, therefore Mencius regarded from his own, and did not way"
not free from the limitations of the physical them as of a "different

"desire
to
learn"
of
them. 1
2.
(Reply
to
Chu
Fei
Ch ing.)
iWith reference to the Nature and Decree, Question. are born sages are wholly and perfectly good, and in them there is a clearly marked distinction between
those
who
the etherial
and
ethical
elements,
so
that
the
two
have no entanglement with each other. In their case there is no need to speak of the physical element. In the case
of such as are inferior to those
who are born

yet,
there
e
is
no defect in Divine Law,

is
sages, although being tied to
etherial
principle
Ether,
e
element, the brightness of the ethical in proportion to the clearness of the and the obscurity of the ethical principle to
of
turbidity
2
the
Ether,
the
two being constantly,
together.
the idea
>.
is
Hence, when referred to as the physical nature, that the advancement and retardation of the
*
281 ; cf. Giles Biog. Diet., p. 351. Li Lou, it is said, was of the time of [uang Ti, a legendary ruler of China, circ. 2600 B.C. Li Lou was so acute )f vision that at a distance of 100 paces he could discern the smallest lair uang Tzii Yeh was music-master and a wise counsellor of See Mencius, p. 161 and note. ?sin, a little prior to the time of Confucius 1 See Mencius, pp. 69-70, where Mencius says Po Yi and Yi Yin were of
".
".
iifferent ways from his own, and gives reasons why he had no desire to Hui is not mentioned here, but is included in the three êarn of them. jntioned on pp. 245-8, as stated above.
the difference between the sages and others is, that in the two elements are perfectly separate, and in the other conSo says the questioner, who, however, is wrong. Chu Hsi itly united. lys the difference is not because in the one case the two elements are
is,
That
case the
jparate and in the other not, but simply because of the varying degrees the purity, etc., of the Ether.
i
114

element in
itself is
ethical principle depends

plrysical
upon the Ether, and not that the the Nature and Decree.
are
Answer.
In those
who
born sages the Ether
is
extremely clear, and the ethical principle is unclouded. In the case of those who acquire knowledge by learning,
and
all
below them, the clearness of the Ether varies, jand

is
the ethical principle
correspondingly affected
An
the
degree of
3.
its
completeness.
1 (Reply to Cheng Tzu Shang.)
we
From the Great Void Question. Henig Ch ii said have the term Heaven from the transformations of the
"
Ether we have the term Moral Order
Void with the Ether we have the term Nature

Mind."
2
by the union of the by the

;
union of the Nature with Consciousness we have the term
Does not Heng Ch

?
ii
in his reference to
3
the
Nature combine the Nature of Heaven and Earth

the physical nature
with
does
And
"
in his reference to
Mind
"
he not combine both the
natural
mind
"
and the
spiritual
mind
"
Answer. Apart from the Ether there would be no form, and without form there would be nothing to which the
goodness of the Nature could be imparted. Therefore, those
who expound
Inherent
1
the Nature all start from the physical element. in it, however, is the imparted ethical
See p.
5, n. 3.
Quoted from the Cheng Meng, chap. i. Chang Tsa (or Herig Ch u) uses two expressions rarely used by the other philosophers, namely, "The Great Harmony" ft) and "The Great Void (-fa jig). (
"
The former refers to the Moral Law of the Universe, i.e. the Moral Order and the latter to the Nature of the Universe, the substance of being. 3 The essential nature.

"
" "
115
"
principle.
in
tlie
The natural mind and the spiritual mind same way are not two separate entities. (Reply (to
Ghiu.)
It is stated in the Dialogues
1
:
LinTe
4.
Question.
"But
and perfection, 2 and creaturely desire differs in its intensity and fullness therefore the saint and the foolish, men and animals, are at the extremes apart, and cannot be alike." The state ments of this passage respecting the physical element and 3 creaturely desire, the saint and the foolish, seem to me, If we distinguish between the saint and the perplexing. foolish according the clearness and turbidity of the and between men and animals according physical element, to its perfection and imperfection then to. what can the fullness of and phrase, intensity creaturely desire," refer ? If we say it refers to the saint and the foolish, the difficulty is that the saint is free from the selfishness of creaturely desire and if we say that it refers to men and animals,
their physical element differs in clearness
;
to>
"
the difficulty then is that in the case of animals the differ ences in intensity and fullness do not apply. I fail to
understand
1
it.
Dialogues, by Chu Hsi. The expression ^j| j here translated tion is literally It true and deflected
2
,
"
"
perfection
and imperfec
refers to the regularity and evenness or otherwise in the consistency of the ether. the Ether is of even consistency, that is, when the proportions of the yin and the yang
",
".
When
permeable by uneven, that
is said to be J and it is equally the nature-principles, as in the case of man. When it is is, when the yin and the yang are in unequal proportions, the ether is said to be and the manifestation of the nature-principles is unequal, as in the instinct of animals.
are correct
and harmonious, the ether

all
JtjjC
(Hui)
is
the writer Li Hui
Shu
ming, by which he speaks of himself.
Hui Shu (P|
jg[) is his style.
116

The expressions clearness and perfection taken from the phraseology of the Cheng Meng, and
" "
"
Answer.
are
"
Doctor Lii 1 in his exposition of the Doctrine of the Mean has further [developed the subject. But he also
contrasts
with the foolish
animals, and wise men and learned men and degenerate, and necessarily so. Speaking in general, in man the Ether is clear and in
men with
animals turbid, in
man
it
is
perfect
imperfect. Again, learned we have the
to distinguish clpar
and in animals more in detail, in the

clear,
within the
in
the
in
wise
man we
have the perfect within
the
perfect,
the foolish
in the
perfect.
"
we have the turbid within the clear, and degenerate we have the imperfect within the And in what Hong Ch ii refers to when he
says,
that of
man/
There are animals whose nature approximates to 2 we have the clear within the turbid, and the
"
The expression, intensity perfect within the imperfect. of fullness and creaturely desire," is spoken of the human
race as a whole. If you were to classify men as possessing or not possessing it, those who do not possess it are so few that they could not make a class. are therefore shut
We
up
1
to this
method of speech.
is to
If
it
presents
men"
any
for
difficulty,
"saints",
the best
way
substitute
"wise
Probably Lii Tsu
Ch<ien
(g
jjjjj.
f),
style
Po Kung (fg gg),
scholar of the twelfth century greatly admired by Chu Hsi, who said that if a man would study as Po Kung he would be able to transform his physical
of
He was a native of Kuei Lin Fu in Kuangsi, and the author famous works on history as well as on the Odes and the Yi Ching He received the title of -fc J|| f|| J^ , Doctor of the Imperial See Shang Yu Lu, pt. xv, p. 4 also Ones Biog. Diet., p. 561. Academy." Cf. J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. iv.
nature.
" " "
".
"
Cf. p. 73.

and so avoid the ambiguity.
regarded
as
117
The
saints
may
well be
above
the
rest,
and therefore outside the
classification.
(Reply to Li Hui Shu.)
5. The production of a man by Heaven is like the command of the Throne to a magistrate man s possession
;
of the
office.
Nature
is
like the magistrate s possession of
his
The duty imposed by the Throne
consists
:
of
administering the law and governing the people how can there be in it anything but what is good ? Heaven in
producing a man does not fail to impart the principles of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom again, where is there room for anything that is not good ? But in
:
producing a particular being there must be the Ether, which
by subsequent consolidation furnishes the physical substance of that being. But the Ether in the constitution of the
creature
differs
in
the
degree
of
its
clearness
(and
translucence.
is
When
the Ether with which the individual

translucent, there is freedom
endowed
is clear
and
from
the entanglement of creaturely desire, and we have the saint. When the Ether with, which the individual is
endowed
is
clear
and
translucent
but neither pure nor
complete, some entanglement of creaturely desire is unavoid able but it can be overcome and got rid of, and then we
;
have the wise

individual
is
blurred and turbid, there is the beclouding by creaturely desire to such an extent that it cannot be shaken off, and we have the foolish and degenerate.
is
man. endowed
When
the Ether with which the
All
this
is
the
action
of the etherial
endowment and
itself
creaturely desire,
but the goodness of the Nature
does
118
not vary. The Nature received by Yao and Shun at their birth was the same) [as that of others, but because of the
endowment there was no beclouding by creaturely diesire. Therefore to be Yao and Shun did inot mean that something* was added over and above the Nature itself and the learlner, knowing that the Nature is good, knows that the holiness of Yao and Shun was no forcing of the Nature. To know how Yao and Shun became what they w*ere is to know what is the type and model of the good ness of the Nature and that the means by which we all) may day by day banish human desire and return to Divine Law lies within what is our proper and natural duty, a strong favouring force and free from difficulty. (Yii Shan s Commentary.)
clearness
and transluoence of
their etherial
6.
Hsiao Shu said: The expressions
"Excellent"
"
and
and
probably originated in tihe phrase, in the Tung Weakness, Goodness, and Evil
"Evil"
",
Strength,
Shu
*
;
it
appears to me that the degree of clearness applies to the Ether in its etherial form, while the terms Strength
"
",
"Weakness",
"Excellence",
and
"
"Evil"
apply to the Ether

"
in the form of solid matter.
Clearness
"
and
"
"
turbidity
"
are terms pertaining to Heaven. Evil ness," Excellence," and

"
"
Strength,"
Gentle
"
earth.
to
Clearness
"
"
and
"
are terms pertaining to are terms applicable turbidity

"
"
"
knowledge
excellent
"Clear"
to capacity.
and evil and "turbid
"
"
11
are terms applicable correspond to the
terms
"wise"
and
"foolish".
"Excellent"
and
"evil"
correspond to
"worthy"
and
"degenerate".
In those of
See note on
p. 111.

highest
119
wisdom the Ether
is perfect
invariably excellent. as well as excellent, 1 and invariably clear.
* pure as well as clear, and In those of greatest worth the Ether
is
The
;
highest wisdom corresponds to clearness, and greatest worth to excellence. But it is not that there is any inequality just as in the Doctrine of the Mean, Shun is called wise and Hui worthy. 2 Below these are those who .are
called wise, in
whom
thero
called
is
not sufficient of the excellent.

is
the clear ether abounds, but possibly In those who are
worthy there
goodness leaning
,to
excess in the
direction of either strength or weakness, but perhaps at the same time an insufficiency of clearness. This results in an
incompleteness in the character of the worthy and the wise, so that their wisdom cannot be termed highest wisdom nor
their
worth greatest worth.
Even in
the case of the
degenerate there are also degrees. For the difference in. clearness and excellence appears to be due to differences
between the positive and negative modes in the physical

element.
the positive
intricate
ethers,
(The positive is clear and the negative turbid is good and the negative evil.) Therefore in the complexity and myriad transformations of the
;
four, yet the proportions in
though the main divisions are not more than these which they interact are so
I do
if this is correct.
in the genus in
" "
unequal that the myriad varieties naturally follow.

not
1
know
That
is,
clear
"
there
is
the species
"
highest
wisdom belongs,
which case the ether

"
is
to which pure pure as well as clear

" "
".
Similarly in the genus 2 D.M., pp. 252-3.
excellent
there
is
the species
"
perfect
",
etc.
they chose the Mean.

wise, as in the case of
Both Shun and Hui were what they were because There is no inequality in the virtues of either the
Shun, or the worthy, as in the case of Hui, because both are governed by the Mean.
120

Ch/en Liao
Answer.
had
this idea.
Weng 1
"
speaks of
.
"the
ether of
heaven and solid matter iof earth
Our
predecessors already
(Reply to Li Hsiao Shu.)

"
In the phrase, Man s birth and the repose which then exists," the word it is true, refers to the repose Nature but the word birth in itself implies the physical element. The time preceding the "birth" "needs no
7.
"
",
"
"
for the ethical principle has not as yet any means of material manifestation. Therefore at the very
discussion,",
moment when we apply
the term "Nature" the physical included element is necessarily you cannot suspend the The Nature you are describing in mid-air. The dictum,
:
"
law of their succession
is goodness,"
primarily describes the
Ming Tao, how processes of creation and development. ever, is here speaking of the operation of the Nature, just
as Mencius does
when he
"
says,
If
we look
at the feelings
which flow from the Nature, we may know that they are What constituted for the pra.ctice of what is good." 2
I
Ch uan
calls
"the
original
and
;
essential
nature"
is
in
contrast
to
the
physical nature
although the physical

evil,
is
element differs in respect of good and

trace it to its origfin
yet,
if
you
and
essence, the
Nature
never other
than good.
1
(Reply to
is
Wang
TziiHo.)
(jJ?
is
Ch en Liao Weng
5lf)
Ch en Ch uan
Jg), who was
called Liao Chai for the
(T
ky
his pupils.
Weng (||)
an honorific substitute
second word in the sobriquet, in accordance with frequent usage. Liao He was fond of books when Chai was a native of Chien Chou in Fuhkien.
young.
See
^^
pt. 35, f ols. 1
ff.
The sentence quoted
will
be found
on
a
f.
3.
Mencius, p. 278.
jg fj,
pt.
iii, f.
4.

8.
121
P an Kung Shu
and
said
I should say
to
that the terms

"Virtue"
"Nature"
"Decree"
apply
is
Law;
and
the
the etherial
element"
apply to the person.
When
(embodied in the personality it is Virtue, and that which crushes 2 and submerges it is the etherial element. For Virtue cannot be other fohan
good,
it is
Law of
the Nature and Decree
the Ether which
is
unequal.
Goodness
is
that
whereby the Nature is completed and the Decree established, but the Ether by reason of its inequality constitutes an obstruction. These two elements 3 in the personality grow
and diminish in relation

"
to each other
and, following this
variation in degree, the one overcomes or is overcome by the other. The phrase, When Virtue fails to overcome the
Ether,"
means
that Virtue
has
no means
of
over
coming the inequality in the Ether. When ,the Ether is thus unequal it becomes relatively more powerful each day, while goodness becomes less and so the Law of the Nature and Decree is thrown into confusion by the etherial
;
element.
Therefore
4
"
it is
said
When
virtue fails to over
come the Ether the Nature and the Decree follow the
Ether."
The
phrase,
"If
the
Ether,"
means
that
Virtue succeeds in overcoming Virtue has the power to
overcome the inequality in the etherial element, and good ness daily becomes more abundant, while the inequality melts away and $o the Law of the Nature and Decree
;
|lies
1
within the sphere of Virtue.

Lit.
Jfjt
"
Therefore
is is said,
Your
friend
ffi
,
Kung would submit

fettered.
".
2
3
is
used for
That
is, Virtue and the Ether. Quoted from Chang Tsai s Cheng Meng
see p. 9 of this volume.
122

Virtue overcomes the Ether
Virtue."
"When
the
Nature
and
Decree follow
,1
do not know
if this is right.
;
Answer. The Ether differs also in purity you cannot speak pf it only as crushing and submerging. But when Virtue fails to overcome the etherial element, what there is of good also proceeds from the fleshly endowment. (Reply,
to
P an Kung
9.
Shu.)
difference between the teaching of Confucius and that of Mencius respecting the Nature is not easy to explain in a few words. 1 But, express it as briefly as possible, the Master spoke of it in combination with the physical,
(p>
The
while Mencius spoke especially of the Law of the Nature. It is because the Master spoke of it in combination with
the physical that he used the term and did nearly alike 2 not say he alike for the "reason that realized that
",
"
"
"
men
cannot but differ morally, and yet have not reached

"by
the stage of being

point of view of
Law
practice wide we are told

:
2
apart".
From
the
has
"
The great God
conferred on the inferior people a moral sense." 3 "The 4 people hold within themselves a normal principle of good."
could there at the beginning be two Laws of our But there is that about the indwelling of this being ?
How
Law in man which it is not easy to find.. Mencius, therefore, in his explanation to Kung Tu Tzu, expounded the Nature
5
1
U
Shu
here
=
;
J
cf.
to compare.
Analects, XVII,
ii,
p. 182.
3
4
Cliing, pp. 185-6.
Odes, p. 541
disciple of
Mencius
see also p. 54 of this volume. Mencius, p. 279 see Mencius, p. 277.

; ;

in terms of
123
1 For example, Capacity and Feelings. is water that if you want to ascertain essentially clear, and cannot get at the source, then observe its flow at a point
man s
ta
n
not Jar
source itself it
from the source, and you will know that at the must be clear. (Reply to Sung Shen Chih.)
10.
Questioned as to
Ming Tao
"
words,
The time
receding man s birth and the repose which then exists The repose eeds no discussion," 2 the Philosopher said hich exists at man s birth is before there is any outgoing
:
:
The time preceding is before the birth of e creature, when the term Nature is not applicable. The The moment you apply the term Nature/ refers irase, the post-natal period when Law has become inherent in
the Nature.
"
e physical element,
and so man
constitution
is
not wholly
e Nature in its original substance. And yet the original ubstance has not come to be outside of it. It is important
hat
we should recognize at this point that the original bstance of the Nature is not confused with the physical sment. In the Great Appendix of the Ti the
"succession"
xpressions
atal period.
ood,"
and "goodness" refer to the anteThe Nature is Mencius in his dictum,

"
refers to the post-natal period

stillj
but even
so,
the
iginal substance is
not confused with the physical
sment.
1
(Reply
to
Yen Shih Heng.)

/f~
:
Mencius, p. 278.
Legge renders
Chinese gloss
"
as
"
natural powers
jfef"
"
in his
te
he
quotes
"
the
"
ich he translates e rendering

2
man
See
p.
capacity 97, n. 5
jfc f8 4fco f? o natural powers I have adopted as best fitting the various contexts in this work.
/t*
s ability, his
".
124
11.

Question.
Ch eng
it
,Tzu said:
the Nature define
simply as what
is
dictum
as
"
The law
l
2
:
of their succession is
who expound spoken of in the the same goodness

"All
,
Mencius
said
refers to
when he
says,
The Nature
of
man
ie
good.
you
Just now, sir, in your reply to Yen Shih Heng The dictum The law of their succession it
"
in the Great Appendix of the refers tc goodness the time before birth, while Mencius in his dictum refer*
,
"Yi,
to the time after
birth."
This seems to
differ
from Ch
enj
Tzu s statement. Answer. The Master Ming Tao s language is lofty, far! The interpretation o seeing, comprehensive, and broad. it must not be restricted to its literal meaning. Sue
3 passages are many. If you hold to a rigid interpretatio you will find that this is not the only passage you will no be able to understand. Grasp the fact that the Nature in it
origin
is
good, that in
its
issue
it is still
no other than gooc
then the meaning of the Great Appendix and Menciu

will appear as perfectly consistent. Hsi Hsiin.)
(Eeply
to
Ou-Yan
The time preceding the birth of tt 12. Question. creature is that referred to in the dictum, "The alternation (
the negative and positive modes is what we term Mori 4 The permeating activity and in the phrase, Law,"
"
<
the Divine
their
1
Decree."
So that the phrase,

goodness,"
"The
law
"
<
succassion
p. 97, n. 5.
is
refers;
2
to
the
tin
See preceding section. the opposite of a round thing which will r "square", along the ground, while a square thing is immovable and rigid. 4 See p. 56.
See
3
Lit.
i.e.

receding
".
125
Why,
.
.
then, should it be said that

discussion" ?
"
"
The time
certainly
receding )fore the creature

.
needs no
is
For
"
to the time
is
born the word
Nature
ot applicable
it is
after the creature has been born that

"
term must be used.

rth
Although you
say,
After
man s
Law
an
vil
becomes inherent in the material form, so that constitution is not wholly the Nature in its original
1
ubstance,"
still,
in the etherial
the inevitable presence of both good and endowment is the Nature s flow, while
evil in the
e presence of
But to both you The important thing for .3 student is to embody in life and apply to himself what e finds in the books he reads. Now to say, The moment m apply the term Nature, what you speak has ready ceased to be the Nature," I very much fear, simply men to exhaust their! brains upon an insoluble roblem. 2 Then again, you say 3 that the expressions
,culty is
good and the absence of the Nature s original substance.
moral
ust apply the term Nature.
"
succession"
and
"goodness"
in the
Great
:
efer to the ante-natal period,
that
is
it
is
Appendix what the
rincipleôf the Decree,

"ature
;
which cannot
as yet be called the
while Mencius
dictum concerning the Nature

:
efers
reat
the post-natal period, that is it is what the Appendix of the Ti refers to in the words Their realization is the Nature and not what is referred
to
",
>
in the phrase
1
"
The law
of their succession
is
goodness
".
See Chu Hsi

15:
previous answer to the same questioner, p. 123.

examine."
ft
"
to
3 4
See
p. 123.
f or
JJt is used
g| a
,
principle or law.
126

the other hand
it
On
*
Ming Tao
says,
is
Nature define
simply as what
All who expound the spoken of in the dictum

"
The law of
their succession is goodness
the
same
as
is
Mencius
."
refers to
when he
says
The Nature of man
This again mystifies me. good Answer. This passage I have already explained in the section replying to Hsi Hsiin. 1 There are many such
passages in
literally
Ming Tao s
cannot
is
writings.
If
you
understand
you take them too any of them. The
important thing
letting
meaning and not
aliiow yourself to
go the letter, to grasp the be tied to one way of

to
looking at a passage.
13.
(Reply
"
Yen Shih Heng.)
The
"
Nature
The moment you apply the term phrase, refers to what is received by man. This is Law
but
to
combined with the Ether,

it refers directly to
be
correct,
since
the Nature, you must recognize in the Ether another entity which is not to be confounded with it.
to
As
Chiang Ch nan
is
statement that the Nature of lower

evil,
creatures
originally
how can such an

to hand.
idea possibly
be true
well
still
Your communication is more earnestly to ponder
You
will do
to
these truths.
(Reply
Li Hui Shu.)
In the passage by Ch eng Tzii, 2 from the sentence Life is what is termed the Nature to what is called life the meaning is What is imparted by Heaven to the universe is called the Decree, what is received by the creature from Heaven is called the Nature. But in the must be of Decree there the Divine permeating activity
14.
"
" "
",
See
p. 124.
See
p. 97, n. 5.

:he
127
Ethers and the Five Agents interacting and The then only can there be production. consolidating Mature and Decree are immaterial, the Ether is material.
;
Two
lio
immaterial
is
one
all -comprehensive
is
Law,
and
[nvariably good.
The material
endliess
confusion and
Therefore in the miplexity, and is both good and evil. iroduction of man and other creature?, this Ether, with
riiich
ie
they are endowed in order to their production, becomes This repository of the Nature of the Divine Decree.
how Ch eng Tzu expounds the words used by Kao Tzu, Life is what is termed the Nature," l and expresses the The Nature is the Ether and the icught in the words,
"
]ther is the
Nature."
"
In the section, from the sentence All men at their birth :e endowed with the Ether" to the words "cannot be
dd not to be the
Ferences
ie
te
nature",
the cause of the necessary;
,of
good and
evil in the etherial
endowment
is
Law
of the Nature.
it is
For in the permeating

is
Ether
the Nature which
|ividing
into good and So then it is not that within the ipurity of the Ether. ature there are two mutually opposing principles for fen in the case of the evil in the Ether its Nature is
;
activity of the controlling factor, evil according to the purity or
tiled
other than good, therefore evil cannot but likewise be the Nature. 3 The Master also said, Good and evil
"
both Divine Law.

1
What
is
termed evil
is
not originally
2 See p. 97, n. 5. Mencius, p. 272. 3 Note the paradoxical statements, characteristic of Ming Tao, as if :ended to startle the reader. The context shows clearly that they do
)t
mean what
at
first
sight they appear to
mean.
Evil
is
is
in the
Nature
ly in the sense that it is the perversion cf the
good which
in the Nature.
128
so,

but becomes so by excess or by
nothing1
shortcoming."
For
there is
in the universe which lies outside the

is
Nature.
All
evil
good originally, but

"
"
it
has lapsed
is
2
",
For life is what In the section, from the sentence termed the Nature to the flow of water downwards
"
the Nature
to
is
express
simply the Nature. .What words are there Therefore even those who excel in it ?
expounding the Nature do no more than expound it in terms of its manifested phenomena, from which the mystery
of the Nature may be apprehended by the intellect, as when Meneius speaks of the Four Terminals. 3 When you see
that water
inevitably flows downwards, you deduce the downward tendency of water and similarly when you see that the outflow of the Nature is inevitably good you deduce
;
its
immanent goodness.
"
In the section, from the words It is with a different origin", 4 the subject
all
is
water
"
"
to!
each
again illustrated
by the clearness and turbidity of water. The clearness of the water corresponds to the goodness of the Nature. Its
flow to the sea without defilement illustrates those in
whom
the etherial
endowment
is clfear
;
from
their
youth are good
and translucent, and who such is the Nature of the Saint;

is
so that in
him the Heavenly type
perfected.
The stream
which, before it has proceeded far on its way, has already become turbid is like one in whom the etherial endowment
and impervious to an extreme, and is evil from his youth. The stream which becomes turbid after it has proceeded some distance in its course, is like one who when
is
deflected
"
See Jf$ pt. Meneius, p 79.

,
iia,
f.
2.
2
4
See
p. 97, n. 5.
n.
See p. 97,
PHILOSOPHY
grown up follows
his child-heart
1
"-
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
"
129
has lost after everything he sees, and The varying degrees of turbidity in the
.and impurity in the

jthat
stream are analogous to the varying degrees of cloudiness etherial element. You cannot say
the turbid
is
evil is not the
Nature.
not water, and you cannot say that the But though man is beclouded by
the etherial element, and 30 lapses into evil, the Nature does not therefore cease to be inherent within him. Only,, if you call it the Nature it is not the original nature, and if
\yo\i
say
it is
not the Nature,

"
jBecause this
:bo
i
is so,
men
not separate from it. should not fail to apply themselves

still it is
the
work of
Culture a
man
It is only when by eelfovercomes the etherial element that he knows

purification."
Jthat this
all-comprehensive and has not perished, the original water !;hat it is what in the figure is called illthough the stream is turbid the clear water is there never-
Nature
is
"
".
"
jheless,
j)lace
so that
you
"
do not bring clear water to take the

;
of the turbid
and when
"
it is
cleansed there
is
no
urbid water, so that you do not take the turbid water nd place it in a spot by itself". From all which the
onclusion
is
that the Nature in its origin is good.
How
an there be within it two principles mutually opposed, nd side by side with each other ?
In the section, from the words
...
"
This
Law
",
is
the Decree
was by this that Shun held possession of 2 be Empire as if it were nothing to him the sentence This Law is the Decree of Heaven includes the beginning lad ending, the root and the fruit. Although the cultivation
f
Heaven"
to
"It
"
If
moral principle
Mencius, p. 193.
is
spoken of in relation to
2
human
K
affairs,
1
I
Analects, VIII, xviii, pp. 77-8.
130
still
PHILOSOPHY
the means whereby
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
;
it is
cultivated are nothing else than

it is
the essence of the Divine Decree
own wisdom can
accomplish.
Were
not what man, by his it not for the saints,
man would
of
find
attainments
impossible, therefore the

forth.
Shun 1 is used to set i,t example of Ming Tao s "Exposition of the
(A
discussion
Nature".)
THE DECREE.
(NINETEEN SECTIONS FROM
1.
THE"
CONVERSATIONS".)
The Nature is the source of all things, 2 but in the etherial endowment there are varying degrees of clearness
and turbidity which account for the differences between the sages and the foolish. The Decree is what all beings
alike
receive
;
but in the rotation of the negative and

there is irregularity in varying degrees, exist in the
3
positive ethers
which accounts for the inequalities which

happiness or misery
1
of
man s
lot.
That
Lit.
:
is,
Shim
"
possession of the
Empire as if
it
were nothing to him
"
The Nature
"
former
the source of all things. is identical with Jjj. (Law), Of th the five happinesses and six extremes of misery r( "The first is long life (U), the second riches (S?), tne
".
soundness of body and serenity of mind (j^

"
^)?
the fourth the love
virtue (fl^ $? $? J fg), and the fifth an end crowning the life Of the six extremes of misery : The first is misfortune shortening th
life
(^
(KI
&),
tne second sickness

fifth
^),
the third sorrow (|J), th
fourth poverty (j^), the
wickedness
(),
and the sixth weaknes
(||).
See Sriu Ching, pp. 324. 343.

2.
131
An Ch ing
ways in
asked for an explanation of the different is used, sometimes which the word Decree
1
"
"
referring specially to
Law and
sometimes to the Ether.
They cannot be separated, for, apart from the would have no means of imparting the Heaven Ether, Decree to man, and man would have no means of receiving
Answer.
me
I
Decree conferred by Heaven.
3.
nds
You, sir, say that the Decree is of two Question. the one relating to wealth and honour, to life, and
;
longevity
earness
and the other relating to the
difference between
turbidity, perfection and imperfection, the se and foolish, the worthy and degenerate. The one rtains to the etherial element and the other to Law. As look at it, the two kinds both belong to the etherial
and
ement
olish,
because
the
differences
between
the wise
and
the worthy and degenerate, and in the degree of earne&s and turbidity, perfection and imperfection, are the result of the Ether.
Answer.
tiho
That
is true.
The Nature, however,
consists
ethical principles of .the Decree. 3

"Decree"
The word ecree of Heaven

4.
in such a sentence as
Nature"
4
"The
is
what we term the
refers to
Ch en Ch
"Hsien"
un, see p. 195, n. 2.

({J}]) refers to the speaker. class are all related to the
The second
nstitute the
erefore,
s
ethical
essential
nature, which
is
not true
principles which of the first class,
wise and foolish,
though what Hsien says is true, and the difference between etc., is due to the Ether; nevertheless, that they
is
what they are

D.M., p. 247.
also
due to the ethical principles (3E) in them,
ich constitute their essential nature.
132

with which
in the passage, These the but there are is the Decree Nature, things concerning them/ * it refers to the measure of man s etherial endow
is
;
Law
man
endowed
"
ment which
5.
"
varies in the degree of its fullness
and depth.
in
the
Question.
2
"
How
does the word
"Decree"
sentences,
Nature,"
The Decree of Heaven is what we term the and Death and life have their Decree," differ
?
"
in meaning
Answer. have their

"
Decree
Decree,"
in the sentence, includes the etherial
"
"
Death and
life
element, which,
varies in fullness
and depth. "Decree" in the sentence, The Decree of Heaven is what we term the Nature," refers only to Law. It should be remembered, however, that that which is decreed by Heaven is never really none the less, the, separated from the etherial element statement in the Doctrine of the Mean refers to Law. Mencius in the sentence These things are the Nature, but there is the Decree concerning them includes the etheriai endowment and the sensations of taste and colour in the term Nature and the word Decree in the sentence, These things are the Decree but there is also the Nature,"
;
"
",*
"
"
"
"
"
includes
the
is
etherial
5
element.
The
"
statement,
Th(
the
Nature
good,,"
again, refers to
what transcends
"
etherial.
tto .With regard to the statement that 6 the cardinal virtues Master seldom spoke of the Decree
6.
Question.
"
Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, are all alik decreed by Heaven, but in the Decree relating to honour
1
Mencius, p. 365. Mencius, p, 366.
2
5
D.M.,
p. 247.
3 e
Analects, XII, v, Analects, IX,

i,
3, p. 11
Mencius, p. 110
p. 80.

life,
133
and longevity there are

explain
this ?
different degrees.
How
do
iyou
All are decreed by Heaven. Those whose endowment is pure and bright are saints knd sages, and they receive the ethical principle Those in whom |n its completeness and perfection. endowment is clear and translucent are eminent S;he those ,in whom! it is simple and generous laid refined
Answer.
dtherial
lire
l-ncl
gentle
and.
genial
elevated are honourable

;
Ind generous are rich
Extended are long-lived Jeteriorating, attenuated and turbid (one copy reads Those n whom the endowment is decaying and solitary are the
;
:
whom it is clear whom it is abundant those in whom it is enduring and those in whom it is feeble and
;
those
;
in
those in
boor,
[.egenerate, the poor, the

jver
[
the mean, and the short-lived), are the foolish and mean, and the short-lived. When-
Heaven by means of the ethorial element produces man, a large number of other creatures are produced at ne same time. The Philosopher said further: That which Heaven decrees, is true, is one and homogeneous, but in the etherial endowb.ent we find inequalities, and all depends on what that
it
jndowment
erfect.
is like; if it is generous, the ethical principle is I have said before that the Decree is like letters
atent conferred
fficer
..
sent to his office.

:
by the Throne. The Mind is like the The Nature is like the duty of
f prefect,
the prefect has the duties belonging to the office and a magistrate those of magistrate. But duty One, and only one. Heaven in producing a man instructs itn in numerous ethical principles, and thereby entrust^
office
mt
134
to

:
The ethical duties (another copy reads is like The etherial endowment one is only). principle the emolument honourable status is like high office, lower
him numerous
status is like a small post
wealth
is
is
like
high pay, and
poverty like small pay
longevity
like filling the office

;
for two or three years and then having a second term short ness of life is like one who does not even complete his term
and when the Throne sends a man in his wake a numerous retinue.
7.
to his office there follows
Question.
"
For Yen Yuan

short".
"
the time decreed
un
fortunately was
said,
office or not,
When Po Niu
"
died Confucius
It is decreed, alas
2
"
Confucius said, there no distinction between

"
In regard to his obtaining That is as decreed." 3 Is

in these cases and
is
"decree"
in the dictum,
the Nature
"

its
what we term
? *
Answer.
its
The Decree in
true
meaning proceeds from
variations proceed from the physical element. The Law, important thing is that in both cases it is imparted by
Heaven.
causing
in
its
Mencius
it to
to fulfil his
That which happens without man s but man ought himself happen he then whatever with is the Decree meets part,
"
said,
is
the Decree
"
true sense.
:
of this arose the question At the present time the school which expounds the mystical meaning of numbers 5 according to ang Chieh s theory teaches that all is fixed
Out
and unchangeable.
1
What do you
say
?
2 4
3
5
Analects, VI, ii, p. 49. Mencius, p. 241.
Ibid., VI, viii, p. 52.
D.M., p. 247.
ii.
See
J, P.
Bruce, Introduction
to
Chu Hti and
the
Sung School, chap,
PHILOSOPHY
Answer.
All;
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
is
135
gather the main trend of growth and decay, diminution and increase, in the
you can do
to
The saints and sages, how-* negative and positive ethers. Those who in the this not did ever, teaching. emphasize s Chieh theory of numbers as ang present day expound
teaching that every single event, and every single thing has its moment of success or failure all such are superficial
in their exposition.
8.
Wen
him.
Yi asked
In the plaint of Confucius,

?1
!
"It
is
killing
It is decreed, alas
does the word
"decreed"
refer to the etherial
endowment
:
The Philosopher
brevity of
life, it is true,
Life, death, longevity, and replied are the endowment of the Ether.
"
These things Mencius words, are the Nature, but there is the Decree concerning them." 2 Tse Chih 3 asked: What about the word "Decree" in the phrases, Without recognizing the Decree," * and To
to look at
"
You have only
"
know
"
the Decreie of
It
Answer.
Heaven ? 5 has not the same meaning.

"
In the sentence,
To know
the Decree of
whence
this
Law
is
Heaven," the meaning is to know derived. Take water as an illustration.
All know
it
to be water, but the sage

"Without
knows
its source.
In the sentence
ever, the reference is
recognizing the to the Decree of death,
Decree",
how
life,
longevity,
"A
wealth,
and honour.
p. 52.
But Mencius
said again,
man
Analects, VI, vii
Possibly Liu Tse Chih, cf. see p. 300. likely Lin Tse Chih
;
^f
fff
pt. iv, p.
5
Mencius, p. 365. 54 but more

;
Analects,
XX,
iii,
1 (p.
218).
Ibid., II, iv,
(p. 11).
136

its
should receive submissively the Decree in in defiance of natural laws, he If,
true
meaning."
"stands
beneath
a precipitous wall
meaning.
then he has not received
it
in its true
The Master was mild Li Chih quoted the saying, and yet dignified, majestic and yet not fierce, respectful and
"
9.
yet
and with reference fa it asked Those who receive the clear and translucent ether are saints and sages
2
easy";
those
who
receive the clouded

;
and turbid
ether are foolish
and degenerate those in whom the ether is generous are those in whom it is attenuated wealthy and honourable
;
are poor and lowly. All this is true, but when the sage receives the clear, translucent, equable,, and harmonious Ether
of the Universe he ought to be without any defect, and yet the Master was poor and lowly. How was that ? Can it be that his horoscope was unpropitious Or is it that his
;
endowment was inadequate ? Answer. It is because there was a deficiency in the endowment. His clear and translucent ether could only secure his being a saint and sage it could not guarantee his being wealthy and honourable. Those in whom the endowment is elevated are honourable those in whom it is
; ;
generous are rich

lived.
those in
whom
it is
extended are long-
and short-lived the reverse is the case. Although the Master was endowed with the clear and translucent ether and was therefore a sage, while on the other hand his endowment was low and attenuated, and therefore his lot was one of poverty and lowliness. Yen Tzu
.In the poor, lowly,
1
Mencius,
p. 326.
Analects, VII, xxxvii, p.
71,

1
137
was not even equal to Confucius, being endowed with the contracted ether, and so was short-lived as well as poor. Question. The negative and positive ethers should be
equal and homogeneous, and therefore the worthy and degenerate ought to be in equal proportions. How is it that the noble-minded are always few and the ignoble always
many
Answer.
It is because the
phenomena of the two

:
ethers
are so complex and intricate as to make equality impossible. Take coins thrown in gambling as an illustration l it is
very rarely that they turn up all alike, more often they are mixed. It is simply that the Ether, either at an earliier
or
at
a later
stage
is
alloyed and complex
the Ether
received, therefore, cannot be perfectly fitting,
and
so
can
not be evenly proportioned. For example, in any one day, it may be cloudy or bright, windy or rainy, cold or hot,
clear
see
and sparkling, or keen and biting so that you may many changes in the oourse of one day. Question. Although the Ether is alloyed and complex,
;
yet after all there are but two ethers, the one negative and the one positive how can there be all this inequality ?
;
If there were but as you put it. a single negative and a single positive ether, then there would be equality. But it is because of tho infinite variety
Ansiver.
It is not
and complexity of their phenomena that we cannot meet with that which would be exactly suitable.
The allusion is to the process of gambling by which several coins are thrown by the gambler on to a stone slab if all are obverse or all reverse the gambler wins, if they are mixed he loses. Obviously it is a rare and
1
;
lucky chance that gives them to the gambler.
138
In that case Heaven and Earth l produce the saints and sages by accident and not intentionally.
Answer.
Earth
to
Whenever
it is
the intention of
is
Heaven and
thefe in due
produce a saint or sage the Ether
proportion, and thus the

will of
saint or sage is produced.
The
by the
very fact that he is produced seems to
show that
it is
Heaven.
Ching Tzu 2 asked a question about natural pro portions in the etherial endowment. Answer. There are those in whom the etherial endow ment is generous and their happiness is full, or the Ether is attenuated and the happiness is meagre. Those in whom the etherial endowment is bright and glittering have abundance of riches those in whom it is weak and feeble are in humble station. When the Ether is extended there
10.
;
is
long life when it is contracted there is premature death. This is a necessary law. Question. Is there any foundation for the doctrine of
;
spirits
and
fairies ?
But certainly exist. their work is generally speaking difficult. It is only when they lay aside every tiling else, and concentrate on the task
says not
?
Answer.
Who
They
in hand, that they can accomplish

1
"
it.
"
Note : the expression Heaven and Earth is here used interchangeHeaven alone; cf. the last sentence in the answer ably with the term to this question. See J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung
"
"
School, chap.
2
xii.
Li
Fan
(^
"
$g),
style
Ching Tzu, a native of
Nan
K ang,
s
where
Chu Hsi held
office,
and a
death he was invited by

President of the
After Chu Hai a disciple of the Philosopher. the Governor of Nan ang to the post of
Whita Deer College
",
associated with
Chu Hsi
name.
PHILOSOPHY
He
said further
:
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
139
I saw in a famous temple pictures of
the patron saints representing them 1 as majestic and heroic. It must he that they stood out thus as heroes among men.
Thus Miao Hsi, in praise of a Buddhist priest, says, Originally if it had not been for this religion he would And sight was certainly have been a great chief." enough to convince one that the remark was true. How
"
t<he
avarice hold ensnared
could riches, honour, gain, advancement, music, women, or man with such a countenance ? He
>a
regarded them all as powerless to move him. Some one asked If the Buddhists had not picked up, would he have followed our Confucian cult ?
:
him
Answer.
a
but simply a man of independence and individuality, a man who in all that he did must be conspicuous. If a sage had taken him up,
",
He was still not of 2 King Wen rouse themselves
the sort
who
"without
probably he would have been all right. But at that time our teaching was obscure and eclipsed. Scholarship
Such a man as this could no more be controlled by such pedantic teaching than a dragon or tiger. He was bound to break loose very soon. There can be no doubt of that. The serious tiling is that it went so far that good men were led away by these Buddhist
consisted of stilted phrasing.
saints.
11.
Question.
and honour are

1
-With reference to the statement, "Riches 3 decreed," how did the low and mean, such
s
%f here means a man

speech.
appearance.
$
It
is
frequently so used in
3, p. 117.
modern
2
Mencius, p. 320.
Analects, XII, v,
140
as appeared in after ages, obtain riches and honour in the time of the three dynasties of Yao and Shun ? 1
Answer. In the period of the three dynasties of Yao and Shun they did not attain to riches and honour. That they did so in kter generations was because it was so
decreed.
Question.
uncertain,
In
that
?
case
the
etherial
endowment
is
is it
not
to
is
Answer. For those endowed with this kind of ether be born in a favourable time 2 is because the Decree
favourable.
For the same phenomenon
to appear
in
is
".
another than this particular age is because there is what spoken of as the natural endowment just fitting the age
"
For example, that 400,000 men died

because they fell into the hands of
at
i
Ch ang P
3
.
Po Ch
ing was That he should
be the one they should come into collision with, was owing to the Decree.
12.
When
the saints and sages are in high position

is
it is
When equable and harmonious. otherwise it is because their Ether is unequal in its flow. Therefore in some the Ether is clear, and these are intelligent
because their Ether
but without wealth.
In others the Ether is turbid, and they are wealthy but without knowledge. In both cases the 1 That is, of Yao, Shun and Yil. 2 The first low and (this ether) refers to the ether of the Jfc mean the second (this time) to the later generations in which they
" "
"
"
"
"
obtain
3
"
riches
and honour
is
".
to the incident which took place in a war between the feudal states of Ch in and Chao in the third century B.C. Four hundred
allusion
The
thousand
men
of
Chao were treacherously pu: to death at a place
called
Ch ang P
ing, after surrendering to the enemy under Po Ch i, the mander-in- chief of the Ch in forces. See Giles Biog. Diet., p. 629.
com-
PHILOSOPHY
determining factor
is
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
141
Yao,
in the proportions of the Ether.
1 Shun, Yii, Kao, .Wen, Wu, Chou, and Shao all received the Ether in its perfection, whereas tho Ether as received 2 by Confucius, Mencius, Yi, and Ch i was imperfect. In the period of the Five Dynasties, after exceedingly turbulent
times, there again appeared
numerous
the
saints
and sages
of
as
though revolving cycle patriarchal times came round once more. (The Yang record It is the same principle as is expressed in the saying, says 3 It is like "A great fruit which has not been, eaten.")
:
in
the
statesmen
the
renewal of energy when he awakes from a deep (The Yang record adds Now, however, is a time of sleep. deceit and folly from which we have not yet awakened.
a
:
man s
When
1
the extreme of disorder fails to reach
its
limit in the
All these are celebrities mentioned in the
Shu Ching.
The
first
three
famous emperors, Yao, Shun, and Yii. The third was Shun a Then follow the two kings Wen and Wu, and minister Kao Yao. lastly the two dukes, Chou and Shao, mentioned in the Books of Chow. See
are the three
Shu Ching, p. 420. 2 For Yi and Ch

sons of
They were Po Yi and Shu Ch i, kingdom to Shu Ch i, who refused to take the place of his elder brother Po Yi. Po Yi in turn declined the throne, so they both abandoned it and retired into obscurity. When
i,
see Analects, V, xxii.

"
King
Ku
Chu.
Their father
left his
King
their appearance,
was taking his measures against the tyrant Chou, they made and remonstrated against this course. Finally, they died of hunger, rather than live under the new dynasty." See Analects, p. 45 and note. They were thus a noble instance of the ether being
Wu
favourable to virtue, but not to material wealth or power. 3 The quotation is from the Yi Ching (p. 106). The picture is of one large specimen of fruit which remains on the tree, the one survivor of the autumn gathering. The passage occurs in a chapter which treats of the * Small men decay of the power of the good, but with hope of its return.
have gradually displaced good the lesson for him is to wait.

"
men and great, ... A change
till
but one remains
and
for the better will shortly
appear
(See Legge a note, pp. 106-7.)
142

iii its
course of fifty or sixty years, the Ether becomes fixed dormant condition and does not revive. Alas, the
pity
of
it
The Philosopher was questioned about I Oh uan and 1 Heng Ch/ii s theory of the Decree and Chance.
13.
Answer.
of the
What
is
termed the Deere
is
like the
Emperor
to
occupy some
official post.
command The degree
of simplicity and ease, of complexity and difficulty, and the question where one can succeed and where not, belong to the
Decree of the particular period. All one has to do is to go Therefore Mencius says simply: and occupy the post. 2 Every thing is decreed." But there is what is truly called the Decree and what is only indirectly so. 3 What I mean by the true Decree is what Heaven appoints for me at the
"
beginning, euch as loyalty in serving piety in serving my father, in which

included.
my
prince
and
filial
many
principles are
The differing degrees of fullness and depth, on the
other hand, pertain to the etherial endowment, which though it would not be right not to call it the Decree, is still not the
true Decree.
"
Death under handcuffs and
"
fetters
can
not be described as not the Decree, for the simple reason that it results from a perverse ether with which the subject
1
I
"
Ch uan was asked the

to
difference
between the decree and chance

"
"to meet with calamity or not thus denying the existence of chance. Heng Ch ii is not so clear ; he said that to explain the difference in recompense for the same deeds was as difficult as to explain the difference between decree and
(j[
meet wit k
")
an(* replied that
is
decreed
chance.
2 3
See JjJ ^ff, pt.
xviii,
f.
23.
See Mencius, p. 325. For the force of the word J See Mencius, p. 326.
see Mencius, p. 325.

was originally endowed, but
to call it the true
"
143
Decree would
be wrong. Therefore the noble man trembles as if on the because his brink of a deep gulf, or t-reading on thin ioe in its true Decree the desire is to receive submissively
meaning, and not that which is only indirectly termed such. Again, if a man says he is destined to die in water or fire,
he does not, on that account, himself leap into the water, or But what is needed to-day is to regard it fire, and die. simply as the Decree, and not concoct a number of fine
distinctions, saying, this is the Decree and that these are uniform and those are diverse. 2
is
Chance,
"
14.
is
Question.
"
Does the exclamation of Confucius,

3
It
decreed, alas
mean
that [in the case of
Po Niu]
the
proportion of the Ether determining his life was exhausted

at this point
?
Answer.
this
It
way.
The Decree
was that he received his endowment in just is like what we have said before
There are two kinds of Decree, is the Decree which includes the
is
concerning man s mind. There not two Decrees.

physical,
15.
and there
is
the Decree which

"
wholly Law.
Question. In tha t part of the Literary Remains"* in which the Decree is discussed, what is the meaning of the The sages were not ignorant passage in the commentary,
t
"
of the Decree, but in
human
"
affairs
?
they did not fail to
use their utmost endeavour

1
See Analects, VIII,

for the
ii
(pp. 72-3).
ii
Probably referring to Heng Ch
remark
about^the"
;"
difference in
recompense
3
4
Introduction to
same deeds (fj [p] ^g fl) Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. vi.
viii (p. 52).
.
see J.
P.
Bruce,
See Analects, VI,
The
Jf
144

is
"
Answer. For man there receive must not fail to

1
certainly the Decree, but he it submissively in its true

"
meaning",
as taught in the words,
He who
understands
what the Decree is will not stand beneath a precipitous 1 is decreed", goes and stands If a man, saying wall." beneath a precipitous wall and the wall falls and crushes attributed solely to the Decree. In human him, it cannot
"It
t>e
affairs
when a man has done
his utmost
you may
talk of
the Decree.
16.
length of a
Heng Ch ii man s
is
said,
life."
"The
unchangeable thing
is
is
the
It is important to bear in
mind
that this too
changeable, but the statement
true in the
main.
17.
Question.
With
"
reference to the statement,

s
That
which happens without man 2 Decree" in the case of Pi

:
causing
s
Kan
the happen death, from the point

it to
3
is
of view of
Law it may be
called the
Decree in
"
its
true sense,
but not surely from the point of view of the etherial element. Answer. How can you say so ? Death sustained in the
discharge of duty
is
the Decree in
its
true
sense."
When
one who ought to die does not die, that is to lose the Decree in its true sense. This kind of passage must bo looked at broadly, as when Mencius said, Death under handcuffs
*
2 See Mencius, pp. 325-6. Mencius, p. 235. Pi Kan was uncle to the tyrant Chou, the last Emperor of the Yin dynasty, 1153-1122 B.C. Owing to his remonstrances against his nephew s tyranny he was thrown into prison, where to escape death he
3
Pi Kan, persisting in his remonstrances, was bar feigned madness. barously put to death, the tyrant having his heart torn out that he
"
might
see,
4
he said, a sage s Mencius, p. 326.
heart."
See Analects, XVIII,
i,
(p.
195).

and
145
fetters is not the Decree in its true sense," 1 you must have regard to what Mencius himself meant. And again, in the case of Kung Yeh Ch ang, who, "although he was put
had not been guilty of any crime," 2 if he had died in bonds you could not have said his was not the true Decree.
in bonds,
He
could say with truth, innocence or guilt rests with How the ancients by their death could establish myself." 3 virtue, and what they could accomplish after their death
"
My
may
be seen in
"
this.
It is
he says,
"
I will let life go
what Mencius refers to when and choose righteousness," 4 and

never forgets that his end the brave officer never forgets Let the student get a clear
again,
The determined
officer
;
may be in a ditch or a stream that he may lose his head."
grasp of this principle, and when face to face with the, choice between gain and loss, he will willingly give himself up to be
cut in pieces.
6
high.
He must be set, too, like a wall 10,000 rods But now-a-days, if there be a question of choice
between even small gain or injury, there is calculating comparison. How can it be correct to speak of death in the case you mention as not the Decree in its true sense ?
"
18.
Heaven and Earth have a mindless Mind
"
"
The
Fu
diagram represents one positive mode as produced under
Mencius, p. 136.
Kung Yeh Ch ang was

bonds
the son of Confucius.

;
Nothing
is
known
aa
to the cause of his

3
6
See Analects, V, i, p. 36. 4 5 Analects, xv, viii, p. 161. Mencius, p. 287. Ibid., p. 265. That is, so that no temptation can get over his resolute will. The
.
word rod ({$)
is
a measure equal to 7 or 8
feet.
146

:
the negative
"
this is the
Mind which delights in creating
"
l
;
The
great
2
;
"
God has
The
"
sense
"
conferred on the inferior people a moral way of Heaven is to bless the good and
3 these passages indicate that there is punish the evil a Person, as it were, 4 ruling in it all. The Mind is His agent, and the Feelings are His purpose.
The further question was asked 5 How may we know what are the Feelings of Heaven and Earth ? Answer. Man is true and great, whence we may know that the Feelings of Heaven and Earth are true and great. But the truth and greatness of Heaven and Earth are
:
absolute
there
is
never anything false, there
is
never any
thing small in them.
When we consider the inequalities of the Question. seem as if there is not really One who does it not Decree,
19.
imparts
it to
intricate complexity
man, but rather that the two ethers in their and inequality follow wherever they
happen
1
to strike, and,
is
knowing that these

s
inequalities do
This passage
quoted from Chu Hsi
commentary on the
Ching.
"
It
must be taken
:
which says "Do Yi Ching, p. 233. Legge in his note on the same page says The Mind of Heaven and Earth is the love of life and of all goodness that rules in the course of nature and providence."
"
in conjunction with the passage in the First Appendix we not see in Fu the mind of Heaven and Earth ? See
:
2
3 4
Shu Ching,
The
p. 185. Ibid., p. 186.
translation here given
is literal,
as also
s
on p 147.
s
The
discussion
of its import goes to the heart of
Here it is Hsi, etc., chap. xii. the phrase as meaning a Person,

universe.
teaching, see Introd. to Chu sufficient to say that the Translator regards
Chu Hsi
i.e.
the Supreme Personality ruling in the
5 The 5C suggests that there was a previous question not recorded, to which the preceding paragraph is the answer.

not proceed from
as decreed
147
man
?
town powers, people speak of

flow. from the
them
by Heaven
Answer.
there
is
is
They simply
V
Great Source.
The
phenomena may
not really
be such as would lead one to think that
0ne imparting
the Decree
but that there

things
" "
a personal Being above us by whose

to
pass,,
"
command these
Odes
come
"
seems to be taught by the
and
in such passages, for example, as speak of the wrath of the Supreme Ruler. But still, this Ruler is none
is nothing In the passage which says, The great God has conferred on the inferior l the very word confer people a moral sense,, conveys
Records
other than
Law.
"
In the whole universe there

the term Ruler.
higher than
Law and hence

*
"
"
tho idea of
One who
exercises authority.
is
!
Question. indicated by
2
"Great
Yuan, the principle of Origin,
Ch ien
"The
From
it
all
things derive their

is
beginning"
method, of
2
;
Ch ien
to change arid
transform so that everything obtains
its correct
fill
Nature as
"
ordained by
"
Heaven"
"All
things
"
the universe in
;
an endless succession of production and reproduction The ssun goes and the moon comes The cold goes and the heat comes 3 in the phenomena referred to in these passages, (and in the causes at work in the rushing wind, the torrent of rain, the rivers flow, and the mountain peaks,
"
"
is it
that the
Empyrean
truly possesses the power which

;
and transforming processes or is it that the simply Supreme Ultimate is the PIVOT on which all transformations turn, and therefore that the universe is
controls the creative
what
1
it is
by a
process of self -evolution

2
?
*
Shu Ching,
p. 185.
Yi Ching,
p. 213.
Ibid., p. 389.
148
PHILOSOPHY
This
is
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
Answer.
answered.
the same question as the one already
(THREE SECTIONS FROM THE

1.
"COLLECTED
WRITINGS".)
People
reckon
prosperity of
men
and happiness, longevity, by the time of their birth in its con

the
1 junction with the Celestial Stemkaraid! Terrestrial Branches, 2 together with the quality of the Ether indicated by them.
Although the art is apparently simple, it nevertheless frequently happens that the calculations of its disciples are For the means whereby not very successful in detail. Heaven arid Eiarth produce all things are no other than the
1
The
Celestial
Stems (Jf
f) and Terrestrial Branches
(ftjj
])
are the ideographs used to denote the days of the month and the sixty years of the Chinese cycle. There are ten of the former and twelve of the
so latter, of which two numbers sixty is the least common multiple ; that the two series, combined together in fixed order, give sixty different combinations, one for each year of the cycle. The Celestial Stems repre sent the Five Agents, two stems for each Agent, corresponding to which are the five planets, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury. Each planet bears the name of its corresponding Agent, and is represented by
Thus Jupiter is the Wood Planet, Mars the Fire Planet, Saturn the Earth Planet, Venus the Metal Planet, and Mercury the Water Planet. The Terrestrial Branches represent the
the same combination of Stems.
twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the twelve periods into which the divided. Each of these signs, in both series, represents either the
day is Yin or the Yang according to the order of their notation, the odd numbers and in com referring to the latter and the even numbers to the former bination they represent different proportions of these two modes of the Ether.
;
From this it will readily be seen how men s horoscopes may be made to indicate the proportions of the Two Modes in their etherial endowment, with variations ad infinitum.
2
$I
is
ê kind of ether, whether Ligneous or
Caloric, etc., indicated
by the horoscope.

Two Modes and Five
Agents.
expansion, their diminution
149
Their contraction and and increase, their intricacy and
transformations, are truly beyond the power of human while the difference between the wise and investigation
;
foolish,
between the highly placed and the lowly, does not represent more than a liair s breadth of difference in the
degree of translucence and fulness in the Ether imparted to the creature. Is it to be supposed that such a science
can be easily understood ? Mr. Hsii is a Confucian scholar and understands this science. He thinks deeply, and most
of his pronouncements are accurate, and confirmed as correct. If those who are high-minded come into contact with him
and seek to know their horoscope, not only will his art be adequate to win their faith in the art itself and increase its fame, but it willj also enable them to realize that the
proportion in which the etherial endowment was received by them at birth is even as thus reckoned, and so learn that
wealth, honour,
and fame are not
to
be obtained by coveting
them, nor poverty, lowliness, and calamity to be avoided by

skill. They will therefore take the straight path and follow Destiny and their own virtuous resolves. Thus, at one go, evil habits will be changed, and there will be a return
man s
to those customs of honesty, incorruptibility,
and modesty,
which have been handed down

all this
to us
from our ancestors
may be achieved by the help of Mr. Hsii. But none the less will he teach those who are sons to rely on filial
piety,
and those who are statesmen

"
their true destiny.
When
to rely on loyalty, for neither premature death nor
long life causes a
man
to hesitate, but, cultivating
his
personal character, he awaits them, whatever the issue
may
150
be

this is the
way
in which he establishes
Ms
destiny."
(A Preface on Tuan Shu.)
the subject of Destiny written for
Hsu
is exhaustively to {strong desire Question. laws the the of but the phenomena universe, investigate
12.
My
are so multifarious that I cannot find

to begin.
any point
is
at
which
At
present
all,
I can
(see
that riches
and
honour are not to be obtained by coveting them, and poverty and lowliness are not to be avoided by our own efforts.
from the point of view of Destiny you must further consider, from the point of view of Righteousness, whether you ought to seek them and whether you ought to avoid them and still further, from the point of view of duty, you must examine your
Answer.
;
What you
say
is
desires as to why you seek or avoid them. Moreover, must know whether it is or loss, glory or shame, gain you which will have the greatest effect upon your own moral gain and loss, advantage and injury, and so have that whereby you will be able to take a stand. (Reply to Chu Fei
own
Ch
ing.)
3. Question. The fact that some men are long-lived and others suffer premature death is due to the Ether the fact that some are wise and some are foolish is also because of the Ether. Longevity and premature death proceed from
;
Menciua, p. 325.
_
fifc
PHILOSOPHY OE HUMAN NATURE

the Ether, and therefore, while all alike receive
is
life,
151
there
a difference between Yen Tzu and the Rohber Chih.. The wisdom of the wise and the foolishness of the foolish both
proceed from the Ether, and therefore, while both alike are in their essential Nature good, there are different types of men such as Yao and Chieh. 1 Now I thought that the
Ether of the Universe was one, that the cause of long life and premature death was this Ether, and that the source
of the difference between the wise
and the foolish was
this
same Ether.
But when we think of the Robber Chih, an extreme instance of folly and yet long-lived, and Yen Tzii, the acme of wisdom and yet subject to premature death, it looks as if the Ether of longevity and the Ether of wisdom were not the same. Ming Tao in his epitaph on Ch eng Shao Kung says Having regard to the trouble he met with in his time, that his days could not be many was well. My ôn So pure and yet so contracted was the Ether he received Considering this carefully, it would seem that
"
"
the jEther differs in clearness and in extension.

it is clear,
Because
it is
is
;
we have
Because
the wise
man
but though clear

of
his
contracted,
and therefore
the
measure
life
contracted.
it is turbid,
we have
the foolish
man
but though turbid it is extended, and therefore the measure of his life is extended. I am not sure whether I am correct
or not.
Yen Tzu was
the favourite disciple of Confucius, and the Robber
Chih was a famous robber of the same period ; see Mencius, p. 161 and note. Yao was the famous sage emperor. Chieh was the notorious tyrant emperor, the last of the line of Hsia, and overthrown by T ang, the founder of the Shang dynasty. See Shu Ching, p. 170.
152
Answer. Your explanation is correct. It is the same But before the Three Dynasties * with honour and wealth the proportion of the Ether was generous and abundant,
.
was unfailingly full and and sages were at the same time Afterwards it came to honourable, long-lived, and wealthy and therefore the
clear
Etjher
extended/ so that the saints
be the opposite.
(Reply
to
Cheng Tzu Shang.)
CAPACITY.
Question.
"CONVERSATIONS".)
What
is
the difference between the Feelings
and Capacity ? Answer. The Feelings are the roads and paths issuing from the Mind. Capacity is the power of the Feelings to emanate from the Mind in a particular way. For example, the difference is due solicitude may be earnest or otherwise
:
to a difference in Capacity.
In that case the operations of the Question. Capacity are of the same class.
Mind and
Answer.
Capacity
is
up
of etherial force.
The Mind is the

is
the power of the Mind, it is made controller and ruler ;
it is
in this that its greatness consists.
The Mind may be

the
;
likened to water.
principle, as it were,
The Nature
the law of water
which resides in water as still Feeling is the principle which works in water as moving; Desire is the
1
That
is,
See p.
5, n. 3.
the three Emperors, Yao, Shun, and Yu. 3 See p. 123, n. 1

;
153
flow of water extending to an overflow Capacity is the force of which reason it is physical by possible for water
to
flow,
the
difference
in
the
rapidity
of
its
is
flow
corresponding to the difference in Capacity.

I
Ch uan means when he

element." 1
ment of
etherial
what The Nature is the endow Heaven, and Capacity is the endowment of the
This
"
says,
2. The Nature is the law of the Mind. The Feelings aro the activities of the Mind, Capacity is the power of the Feelings to act in a certain way. Feeling and Capacity are in fact nearly alike. But the Feelings
are called forth
by contact with
;
object, their roads

is
and
to be
paths are crooked and curved sO. Bear in mind that the
Capacity
their
power
web of
consciousness with its
innumerable threads proceeds wholly from the Mind.

3.
Some pne asked

"
In the
"Collected Comments" it
Capacity is akin to ence between these two ?

is said,
ability."
What
is
the differ
Answer.
The word
"Ability"
"
"
The word
"
refers to the principles. refers to their operation. In the
Capacity
passage, When people see the bare and stripped appearance of the mountain they think it was never finely wooded," 2
Mencius uses the word ts

the
"It
"
ai with the
"wood"
radical
with
meaning is not owing

P*- 18,
*
of
suitable in operation
".
In the
sentence,
to their natural capacity conferred
by
3
^f,
19",
lff>
Mencius, p. 283.
"
"
finely
wooded
is
the same word as that rendered
"
ability
above.
154

A
Heaven, that they are thus moral principles.

Question.
different,"
tho reference
is
to
The word
"
"
Capacity
is
used with, reference

"
to its explaining mental operations. includes the corporeal, does it not ?
The word
"
ability
Answer.
Yes,
it
includes the corporeal, hence
you speak
?
of useful abilities.
Question.
Is it not similar to the
word materials
Answer.
Yes.
(ONE SECTION FROM THE

1.
"
COLLECTED WRITINGS
".)
The use
!of
the
word
"Capacity"
by Mencius and
Ch eng Tzu is different. As the teachings of saints and saiges, we learners of a later generation would not venture But on. such to criticize. subject as this we need
a,
only to realize the truth

in order to understand
and recognize
it
;
it
in our
own persons
apprehend
"
nor
shall
we
fail to
the reasons for the correctness

of our predecessors.
it is
and accuracy or otherwise

"
Thus in the Collected Comments out that Ch eng Tzu is very detailed, while pointed
1
in
what Mencius says lacunae have not been altogether avoided. To-day we are iguided solely by Ch eng Tzu and gather from his teachings what we need to make up what is lacking in Mencius. Thus nothing is lost to truth, and, at the same time, the w ritings of (both are found to be not seriously conflicting. (Reply to Lin Shu Ho.)
r
Mencius, p. 280.
The Collected Comments
of
Chu
Hsi.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUKE

BOOK
III
BEING BOOK XLIV OF
MIND
BOOK
MIND
(FORTY-NINE SECTIONS FROM
1
.
"
III
THE CONVERSATIONS
".)
Chih Tao l said
Lin Cheng Ch ing said Ultimate. Chih Tao raised the question with the Master. Such points are very minute and The Master replied difficult to explain. It would seem that Mind is both active and passive. Its substance is termed Flux, 2 its law is termed Moral Law, and its operation is termed Spirit." 3 Chih Ch ing 4 in expanding and explaining this statement The Master s teaching is very ripe, he expresses him said self easily, and always explains a subject thoroughly.
:
Mind is the Supreme Ultimate. Mind is indwelt -by the Supreme
"
Surnamed Chao
jg)
cf. p.
387.
the same as that whioh occurs in the title of ( J^), the Yi Ching (The Canon of Changes), the book on which the philosophy cf. J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hs\ of our school is professedly based here translated "Flux", is and the Sung School, chap. x. Yi,"
The word
is
Yi
"
used to represent the substance of Mind, the material of which it is com posed. The word itself in such a connexion inevitably reminds us of the
doctrine of
Heraclitus.
all
But
also
1
things as a perpetual flux in the Sung School there
and reflux, enunciated by was a further development

,
of its meaning, as indicated here in the text.

pt.
3
i, f.
19)
Cf.
,
note
Cf. T ung Shu, f. 19 1352 J Complete Works, book xlix, f. 16. The whole sentence is by I Ch uan ; see on p. 159.
style of Huang Kan (3^ ^), a native of Foochow, who held office in Hupeh and Anhui. He was a disciple and son-in-law of Chu Hsi, and assisted his teacher and relative in the commentary on
P t.i,f.4. it 4 Chih Ch ing was the
the Li Chi (Book of Rites)
see Giles
Biog. Diet,, p. 335.
158

asked
Huo Sun
termed
Flux,"
In the statement, Its substance ia what is meant by the word "substance" ?

:
"
Answer. Substance,
is
not substance as used in contrast to
1 operation, but rather in_ he sense of material, as if we said, the material of which Mind is composed is to be defined as
FluXjjvnd
Law is the Nature.
taken not too literally. has its different connexions

"Love
The word
;
Passages of this kind need to be mind for example,

"
",
as in the
statement by
man s mind/ 2 in. which Love is saidi Mencius, to be man s Mind and Mind is regarded as in combination with Law while in the passage, There was Yen Tzu, for three months his Mind did not offend Love," 3 Mind
is
"
the ruler and is said to do nothing contrary to Love. 4 must look at the connexion and then we shall be jdght.
is
We
2.
The law
of the
activity
and repose
alone
Mind is the Supreme are the Two Modes.

is
Ultimate,
its
3.
Mind
absolute.
4. Question. or the Nature ?
Is the spiritual faculty in
man
the
Mind
the
Answer.
Nature.
1
The spiritual faculty The Nature is Law.
is
Mind and
not
Cf; the
same double meaning

p. 290.
of the English word.
2
3
Mencius,
Analects, VI,
referred to
*
by
That
is,
v (p. 50). N.B. Yen Tzu in the name Hui (fBJ) instead of Love being identical with Mind
his
.
original passage
is
it is
spoken of as
if
it
were a principle distinct from Mind.

5.
159
the
isi
Question.
1
With regard
of the
?
to consciousness
is
is it
spiritual faculty
Mind
that
thus conscious, or
it
the action of the Ether
Answer.
It
is
not
.
wholly etherial.
There
is first
the
law of consciousness But Law in itself cannot he conscious: there must be union with the etherial element before there
can be consciousness.
candle, it is
Take for example the flame of

it
this
because
receives this rich fat that
we have
?
so
much
light.
Is the efflux
Question.
from the Mind Ether
Answer.
6.
No,
it is
simply consciousness.
Mind ia QoflacfamsnftaR a.nd the .Nature is Law. How do the Mind and Law come to be united as one ? ^~Anwer. You must not think of their being made to
Question.
unite.
They
start united.
Question.
How
do they start united
Answer.
which"
La_w.apart_from
Mind would have nothing
in
lu irnhepa*
7.
8.
Mind
is
the pure and refined portion of the Ether. 2

" "
Expounding the word mind the Philosopher said: One word will cover it, namely, Life. "The highest attribute of Heaven and Earth is the production of life. 3
*
with this difference, Ling (f[|) and Shen (jp$) both mean spirit is substance and ling operation, a favourite distinction with the Chinese philosopher. Because of this meaning of ling, it has often the meaning of intellect, or intellectual ; and may be good or evil, whereas shen is only good, like the Nature in its source as distinguished from its
1
"
",
that shen
flow.
2 The Ether is regarded as of two kinds, the grosser and denser portion becoming physical, and the finer or purer portion becoming mind or spirit. 3 Yi Ching, p. 381.
160
It is
by receiving the Ether of Heaven and Earth that man lives therefore the Mind must love, for Love is life.
;
9.
In your consideration of the
Mind you must combine
the ideas of immensity 1 and permeating activity, and then add that of the Vital Impulse. 2 Ch eng Tzu, too, defined
Love as the life-producing Mind of Heaven and Earth which means that immensity is an attribute of Heaven and Earth, and that in the production of things their activity
;
permeates
the
universe
in
endless
production
and
reproduction.
10.
Mind and Law

by
side with
:
entity side
thetm.se] ves.
Law is not a separate but inherent in Mind. Mind Mind,

are one.
issues forth as
cannot be confined
it
phenomena present
:
At this the Philosopher smiled and said Saying this makes one smile. It is just like a library with all the books removed and a lamp lighted on all sides and in every
:
corner
it will
be flooded with brilliant light just as
it is
here at this spot. 3 To-day, however, few people are able to look at the matter in this way.
11.
Question.
Mind
as
a distinct entity possesses
all
1
laws in their completeness, so that the good manifested

1
" "
The expression refers to the power of the Mind to immensity penetrate in thought to an infinity of distance, whether in space or time ;
of.
2
pp.
170-L
See J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hs\ and the Sung School, chap. xiii. 3 That is, instead of the shadows created by the books obscuring the It must be confessed that the application of the simile is difficult light.
to follow.
It suggests the Philosopher s favourite doctrine of the
Cf. p. 164.
Ether
and Law.

undoubtedly proceeds from the Mind.
evil
161
But what about the

desire
?
manifested, which
consists entirety of the selfishness of
the material
also
endowment and creaturety from the Mind ? proceed
Does
this
Answer.
Mind,
It is not indeed the original substance of the but_it~ fllsft pro^-pAds fram t^ A Min^
*
Question.
Is this
what
"
-*-""
is
called the-
natural
mind
"~~"^~"-^
"
Answer.
"
Yes.
:
Tzu Sheng, following on the above, asked natural mind include both good and evilj
"
DQR^
f,hg_
Ansiver.
Yes, both are included^
12. Question. Is there any connexion between bodily movements and the Mind ? Answer. How can it be otherwise ? It is the Mind which causes bodily movements.
Before there are any stirrings of pleasure, Question. anger, sorrow, or joy, the body exercises its functions for example, the eyejsees and, the ear^ hears. Is this before
;
or after the activity of the Mind ? Answer. That, as yet, there are no stirrings of pleasure,
bat sight, hearing, and anger, sorrow, or joy, is one thing locomotion also imply the presence of Mind. If the Mind
;
is
ignorant of the bodily movements, then and has not noticed them, in which case
1
it is
to
not present before say

"
aetLvity>
M8~Tiot~ttp^
js
activity"
does not
It is
mean that the Mind

1
steeped in unconsciousness.
if?)
is
The
"
"natural
mind"
(^
contrasted with the
"
spiritual
mind
n. 1.
(?j[
J&).jn the Shu CUng,
p. 61.
See also p. 19 of this volume,
162
spoken of the Mind as continually awake, and not as though it were asleep, as your way of expressing it would suggest.
and conscientiousness, and joy, are, it is true,, the outcome pleasure, anger, sorrow, of the Mind, as may be clearly and easily seen from the
13.
Question.
Solicitude
fact that before their issue is the time of perfect stillness
and repose. But it cannot be like a log of wood. The eye and ear have their automatic sight and hearing, and the hand and foot their automatic movements. What I do not
understand
this period is called. there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, Answer. sorrow, and joy, it is the Mind which has not as yet put forth its activity. The movements of the hand and foot
is
what
When
are purely bodily

14.
movements
Question.
1
The Five Agents become in man the
Five .Organs, but the Mind possesses the principles of the Five Agents. Is this because the Mind is formless spirit ?
Answer.
Mind
2
as a bright
and
active thing belongs to

it
the Igneous class,
and therefore
it.
can
have numerous
principles inherent in
15.
man s
organs
1
Question. How do you explain the statement that heart is both corporeal and incorporeal?
Answer.
is
The heart 3
as
one"oT
the internal physical
certainly a concrete. thing.

*
What modern
scholai
See
p. 20, n. 1.
Fire
is
one of the Five Agents.
"heart" is the same word ( tf?) as is elsewhere rendered^ Like the word "heart in English it has the meaning of tht as well as of heart mind and both are discussed an physical compared in this and the following section. It has not been possible tc retain the same rendering throughout. The reader, however, will bear ir mind that in Chinese only one word is used.
"
The word
"
"mind".
"
"
",

speak of as the
preserved"
163
go",
Mind
"lost"
to be
1
"held
fast"
or
"Jet
or
is
unfathomable in
its spiritual
Thus the physical heart if diseased can be cured by medicines, but this Heart is not to be healed by Calamus and China Root.
intelligence.
Question.
In that case
?
is
Law which
is
inherent in the
Mind
incorporeal
The Mind as compared with_the Nature has more something ôjLnsible^traces, and as compared with the Ether it is in the nature of the case more spiritual.
Answer.
The Question by 1 Kong. You, Sir, once said Heart is not this particular piece of flesh." I venture to
"
16.
suggest that the whole person is the Heart, and that this
particular organ
Answer.
no more than the pivot. Not so. This is not the Heart but the home
is
whence the spiritual intelligence of the Miad-ôes forth and to which it returns. When, .paople- s hearis~axfi-_.diseased it
so it is of their Minfd which is suffering with the rest of the organs. The Mind cannot be without
is
the
home
activity
it
body, just as the magistrate of this county, Chien
must always be within the confines of the Yang,

Office
:
must always be in his Magisterial

I
only thus can
be administer the affairs of his district.
But Ch eng Tzu said "Let your mind 2 by which he meant, did he not, that your the Mind should be in its home and not outside ? Answer. Not necessarily so. It is as if he said the
Kang
said:
be in
breast,"
Mencius,
jfi
p. 285.
If*
Pt- vii,
f.
cf. ibid.,
pt.
iii, f.
3.
164

not be in the foot, or in the hand, but in the
Mind must
body as a whole ?
17.
Han Ch
is like
ing
asked:
;
Is
not the passage,
"The
on all sides and in every corner a library Mind it is flooded with brilliant light just as it is here at this
like the Buddhist illustration of a monkey in a room with six windows ? ^Whichever way he calls therai&an echo?
3
spot,"
deal in
it
The Buddhist teaching on Mind has a great is good. Former philosophers declared that was Jiettex than that of Yang and Mo. 4
Answer.
it
that
"~"
~"
-^^.^
""-
jjfv^**--"^
18.
The word
"
"
"Miner* is itself
"
&
radical. 5
Hence the
words
Nature and the word "Mind".

19.
"
Feeling
are both derived from
Chang Tzu combined the Nature and Consciousness
as the explanation of the term Mind. This, I think, cannot be quite correct because it assumes another consciousness
outside tta Nature.

Lit. in these i.e. in the body and its members. The Mind not in the physical breast any more than in any other part of the Breast is merely a form of expression for the person. It ia body. a popular way of saying preserve your mind
1
" " "
",
"
"
is
"
"
"
"
(^ &)
Fu Kuang (ff
disciple of
and
^) style Han Ch ing, a native of Ch ing Yuan ( Jg $g)i Chu Hsi, a man of singularly pure spirit and keen intellect
;
;ei!
he was specially gifted as a poet. 3 See p. 160 and n. 3.

4
;
See
f|f
pt. xvii,
f.
20.
Yang Chu and Mo Ti see Mencius, p. 158.|4 One of the 214 root ideographs of which all the ideographs in Chinese language are compounded. The word (nature) is composec
th<|
of
j (mind) and (birth), [ also occurs as its radical.
and
in the
word
jgf (feeling)
the f (mindl!

20.
"
165
The daughter of Fan Ch un Fu 1 said, "How can ihe Mind have outgoing and incoming ? I Ch uan said, This woman did not understand Mencius, but she underThis remark should be noted. from Confucius by Mencius, going and incoming cannot be defined as to time or Elsewhere this saying of I Ch uan s is given as
tood the
o the quotation
"
Mind." 2
It refers
Its out
8
place."
"
This
woman Ch un
/o
understood the Mind, hut the Mind is easy understand she did not, however, understand what
;
Mencius
21.
meant."
perfected is like a clear mirror hich isjEreaJrom. blemishes. If you IboFTnto a mirror with patches which da -&ok r&ect, the effect will be that
that
..is
The Mind
our
own
pe.rgon.. appearsJblptchy.
jonduct of
many
is
marred by a number of
In the present day the follies and
lemishes because their vision of themselves is imperfect. - The Mind is 4 alTlaWs" are essentially formless spirit ;
jomplete within it, and phere of its knowledge.
elj.
phenomena come within
the
In these days people are for the part perverted by their physical nature, and beclouded y creaturely desire. Thus their minds are darkened and
1
Fan Tsu
Yii, style
jentury. e f
2
He
assisted
Ch un Fu (Jg Ssu-Ma Kuang

f.
(*),
was a scholar
of the eleventh
in the compilation of his history.
/& 31,
P*. xvii,
f.
5.
^h If,
"
P*- xi,
6.
3 Mencius, p. 285. Legge in his note quotes a comment by Chu Hsi, hus Mencius quoted these words of Confucius to illustrate the un:
athomableness of the spiritual and intelligent mind, how easy it is to ve it or to lose it, and how difficult to preserve and keep it, and how t may not be left unnourished for an instant."
xxxii,
f.
6.
166
This is why the they are unable to perfect knowledge. saints and sages placed such emphasis on the exhaustive
investigation of principles.
Again, take as an example a graduate in his studies. First he would study this, and then he would study that again, he must learn penmanship, and then he must learn
!22.
;
the poetic art this reason I
and so the whole mind
is
scattered.
For
taught that thejmJd_4iojj]dô^ be He would have the used in any but the one direction. student exclude penmanship and essay- writing from his
studies.
Ch uan
This was not prejudice, but in accord with right it is not reasonable principles. Men have only one mind
;
you give.only spare time to the use of the of mind, to what good scraps proper will it lead ? It does not help the original object of study in any sense. Further, consider those scholars of ancient
times
to divide it in so
many
directions.
If
who were
experts in essay-writing.
They
have, it
an undying fame, but who of them to-day can be regarded jas men of knowledge ? At the beginning, it is true, they jia4 bent their- miads-in the one direction only [but in the opposite sense] and so in their (Case also the mind was scattered. But to attain.. to making the desires few" and to "preserve this mind exfrem^Ty^difficTilt; -Even
is true,
_"
"is
of the saints,
;
T anâM.Wu ..Meiiciiis
J
"by
what they were

return
;
conversion".
says thaT they .were Conversion means to
mind.
to return and receive again the original For example, the passage which says T ang "did not come within the .sound of lewd music, nor approach
that
is,
Mencius, p. 371.
PHILOSOPHY
dissolute
1
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
167
women, nor seek to accumulate property or means simply that his desire was to preserve this money,", mind. Look at the book The Round of Lit. 2 To receive one hound was ,so grave a thing that repeatedly, and earnestly the Grand Guardian warned King Wu against accepting it. From this we may see how desires should be feared wh.ether ^reat_oreimalli there must be no carelessness
:
withrggard
23.
to
any pt
Lu Yu Shu 3 said: "Before activity Question. is put forth the substance of the Mind is present in its After (activity is put forth entirety, brightly luminous.
you 4iaâ4fee-tJperation of the
Mind."
"
Nan Hsien
criticizes
"
the statement, contending that it is brightly luminous after activity is put forth. Is this not somewhat beyond
the
mark
Answer.
1
The
p. 180.
criticism has
no meaning in
it.
Ching
Fu 4 was exceedingly clever,

Shu Ching,
2
but not sufficiently exact in his

"
Hounds Legge renders the word Jj* in the plural, The critics generally understand the term in the text in the singular I know not why. There is nothing in the Book, and no ancient references to it, which should make us do so. We more naturally take it in the plural, and it seems to me more likely that several It is generally hounds, and not one only, would be sent to King Woo." understood, however, by Chinese scholars that the hound was of a very rare species, large in size, and regarded as exceedingly valuable. In any case, here the context shows conclusively that Chu Hsi understood it
Ibid., p. 345.
",
and says in
his note
"
as
3
a single hound, and See

p. 60, n.
1.
therefore
the word must be translated in the
singular.
4
Chang Ch
ih
(fjj|
^),
Ching Fu, and
Nan Hsien were
his tzu
and hao
He was Chu Hsi s great friend, but holding very different respectively. views. See J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School,
chap.
iv.
168
study,
PHILOSOPHY OE HUMAN NATUKE

of philosophy.
Mr. Lu 1
"
is
simply
criticizing
Ch nan s
it
statement that
all
who
discourse on the
2
Mind
But
"This
refer to
later, I
Ch
as having already put forth activity." uan corrected his former statement thus
statement, I admit, is not accurate. Some refer to its substance that which
The Mind
is
is
one.
still
and without
that
movement
others refer to its operation
which,
when acted upon penetrates forthwith all phenomena. 3 We must have regard to the nature of its manifestation."
(
This
is
an
alll-round statement
and
faultless.
Generally
terse,
speaking the sayings of
;the saints
;
and sages are

to.
presenting only the germs of truth
these are developed
hy later must see
teachers,
and then expanded and added

;
We
to it, however, that we get at the original meaning of the saints and sages otherwise at what point shall we in our begin development of their teachings ?
24. Question. The Mind is essentially an active thing. I do not understand whether before activity is put forth
it is
absolutely still, and in repose, p condition holds within it the principle of activity. Answer. It is not that the principle of activity
^
is
con
tained in the repose.

ens"
Chou Tzu
is
said, "Repose is
4
the nonjaot^non-
and
"activity
the
ens".
But repose
is
existence.
It is called the non-ens as being

is
without form.
The meaning
but that
it is
not that
it is
existent because of its activity,
so
named because
of
its
manifestation.
Heng
is
f.
Ch
1
way
of combining the Nature

2
and the Feelings

Jg,
9
;
Lu
Yii Shu, quoted above.

see
7 Ching, p. 370. T ung Shu, chap,
^
f.
pt. xxxi,
18.
i ;
^ ^
book
ii,
or
|^ jj
pt.
i.

excellent. 1
169
The Nature
is
passive, the Feelings are active, passive.
and the Mind combines both the active and
We
refer to its substance or to its manifestation according to
the point of view. The moment the passive state is past, I Ch uan said, the principle of movement is present. 2 "At the moment between the active and passive states the
ear cannot hear
and the eye cannot see, but the principle of both hearing and sight is there." And when movement
takes place it is still that same thing which was passive. Ch un 3 raised the question of I Ch uan s theory that
"
The
principle of activity
is
the Hindi of
Heaven and
Earth".*
Answer.
Earth
;
Activity
is
not the
Mind
of
it
simply reveals the

?
Mind
Heaven and Heaven and Earth.

of
For instance, in the tenth .month-,- 5 do we not have the Mind

of the Universe
Of the Four Ultimata 6 Yuan, the Principle is the season when the young sprouts begin to
:
It is permeating all things just as before. of Origin,
shoot up
Heng, the Principle of Beauty, is the season of growing 1 Li, tbe^PHSCTpfe of ÛtSityîs.. the fruit-bearing foliage
;
season season
and Cheng,- -the Principle of Potentiality, is when the fruit returns to the place of its rest.
the
-If
in the end thgre-wm-e, JQO jsuch return to would restjthere be no Yuan.__ But because therels" the reiturnto rest Yuan
springs forth from
it.
*
When Yuan
;
has completed
its
course
=
see p. 195, n. 2.
Probably Ch en Ch un
;fc
4 6
&
That
xxvi, f. 16. , Ptis, in the winter when
all is still
and apparently
lifeless.
Yiian, Heng, Li, Cheng, the principles of Origin, Beauty, Utility,
and
Potentiality.
\
170

returns,
Cheng
Yuan
returns,
and when Cheng has completed its course and so on for ten thousand ages in endless
"
revolution.
It is completely expressed in the words,

!
The
"
Decree of Heaven
How
all
In the tenth month
* and undying things are stored up, and leave no
profound
it is
traces, until the positive ether is again active, when the Mind that produces all things becomes once more manifest.
Question.
case of
Is not ,the return of tlie positive ether*
in the
sprouting of goodness ? Answer. As goodness, it is the first sprouting of good ness. As virtue, it is that first thought of repentance and
the
first
men
turning towards goodness which arises in the midst of the darkness this is a "return". The sudden awaking from
Or when, the repression return of moral principle in man having reached its climax, there is a sudden clearing of the channel, which, although slight,
sleep is a picture of the
"
".
is still, is
"
the earnest of the full flowing stream this again The principle has countless transformations return
".
and, whenever you find

mysterious.
it,
it
is
always
profound
and
25.
The Mind
is
most spiritual.
So
fine is it that it
penetrates the very point of a hair, or the smallest blade of grass, and I become conscious of them. So great is it that there is not a single place from nadir to zenith, or
within the four points of the compass, where

present.
it
is
not
Back through the oountless ages of the
past, or
forward through the unknown periods of future time,

1
my
note
Odes, p. 570.
Compare the Fu Diagram
in the Yi Ching, p. 107,
and Legge
on pp. 108-9.
171
thought reaches to the end of them the very moment it proceeds cfrom my Mind. It is unfathomable in its spiritual
intelligence,
in
its
orderliness
most intangible, most spiritual and marvellous And yet, though there is no one who
!
does not possess this Mind, most men know only the desire for g&iiviilL the Mind becomes completely submerged in it.
or abroad, all that they seek is pleasure and selftheir every thought the moment it is born, indulgence
;
(,
At home
is
of these things.
26. Question. The word "Mind" never occurs in the while Mencius constantly speaks of man s Analects and as in the discusser it again and again Mind,
"
",
"
expressions, "Perfect the
Extend
mind,"
this
3
*
heart,"
"
Seek the
4
heart,"
lost
2 mind,"
"The
child
"Preserving
the
mind
"
.Was
themselves
knew
because the disciples of Confucius and. understood all about the Mind, and
this not
did not trouble the sage to discourse upon it, whereas by the time Mencius appeared the world had very much changed, men had become inferior ^n ability to the ancients, andf
therefore
Mencius did his utmost

in its origin
?
to teach
them what the
Mind
is
Answer.
Although Confucius did not discourse on the
Mind, yet he could not have replied to the questions of his disciples on Love if he had not understood Mind; fo^"l76ve
is
Mind.
".
"Mind
Only at that time they did not use the word Studjrjhfc f^^ffi oaref nlly,, and ynn wjll find
is
that there
1
no great
difficulty in it.
2
5
Mencius,
p. 15.
Ibid, p. 290.
Ibid., p. 285.
Ibid., p. 324.
Ibid., p. 198.
172
127. Question by Li Te Chili. Ming Tao when repairing a bridge had to choose some long beams. Afterwards, every time he saw a specially fine forest he immediately began
mentally to measure the

course to his students
trees.
From
this
he began
to dis
on the
anything on the mind. must think about everything in order
desirability of not having It seems to mo obvious that you

to
understand them.
How
could he say
?
you must not have anything
on
your mind
Answer. How can you not think about things ? But the right course is, when the matter is ended, not to keep it on the mind any longer. Ming Tao had one beam in his
mind.
several
He
still fell
short of the people of to-day
beams
in. thair
minds.
who have The Buddhists have the
idea of consciousness being like a stream of flowing water. (Water naturally flows on, but if there be several leaks in the channel the flow will be checked. 1
"
Question. It is said 2 breast." What should; be the

:
28.
Let your mind be in your
s attitude to thought about phenomena, and the response to external influences ?
mind
Answer.
Thought and responsiveness are indispensable,

the.
but the mind should be concentrated on

Question.
thing in hand.
the
external
In
that
case,
then,
when
impression is received the mind must be fastened on the matter before us, but when the matter has been dealt with
the
1
mind must not continue
to
busy
itself
with
it.
That is, the mind should set aside all thought about things which have been dealt with and pass on to other duties, just as water flows on unless, indeed, the channel is leaky.
2
it ff.pt-
vii,
f.
cf. ibid., pt. iii, f. 3.

Answer.
29.
living,
173
Certainly, that
is
how
it
should be.
Question.
In the passage,
l
"Man s
mind should be
"
permeating confined to one spot,"
in all directions
wha,t is the
without limit, and not
meaning
of
it
"
living
Answer. If the mind is without selfishness, and enlarge. Living is the opposite of dead.
30.
can expand
The mind
is
into
which
"anxiety
"
external things can find no entrance

"there
"
is
the
mind
arising from in which
a controlling principle and is therefore filled". The mind into which evil arising from external things
"
can find no entrance

1
is
the
mind in which
2
".
"
there
is
controlling
is
principle and
is therefore
made
the controlling principle in one s
empty mind and nothing
When this
else
to
enter
has any existence! in it, where is it possible for evil ? How otherwise can it be described than
?
as
empty
is
But in the writer
"
s statement,
The mind
in
which there
"
there
is a controlling principle is empty," the words, a controlling principle," in themselves imply
being
filled.
The Philosopher
in which there
said further
The
"
sentence,
The mind
is a controlling principle is filled," means that when one s mind has within it a controlling principle,
anxiety arising from external things can find no entrance what is this but to be filled ? The sentence, "The mind
:
in which there
that
is
no controlling principle
is
filled,"
means
controlling principle, evil from external comes in and fills it. How can arising tilings this be described otherwise than as filled ?
1
when oneY mind has no
1?
"s
P*.
40.
|c, pt. xv,
ff.
7-8.
174
31.

Question.
What
is
.meant by concentration?
nqt-io.
is
lose,
Answer.
Concentration means
-the
mind
in
this or that directionr Concentration
the .opposite of
mind-wandering
Question.
What
There
about thought upon things that need
to be thought about ?
Answer.
is
no objection to that
but there should
be no incoherent thinking, and the thought should be on one To be thinking about a certain thing and thing only. to let then your thoughts go off to something else will
not do.
32.
"|When
the
mind
1
is fixed,
to calmness of
is
:
speech."
importance is attached The meaning of this statement

If the
Speech
is
the outcome of the mind.
mind
be fixed there will be careful discrimination in the use of

language, with the result that it will carry the accent of assurance, and wilj. be calm and deliberate. When the mind
not fixed, confusion prevails within, while language flows forth without previous thought, and is shallow and hasty 2 in consequence. This, too, is the fruit of the action of
is
the will upon the physical element. 3
Question. Does the statement, "The Mind is the enceinte of the Nature," mean that the Nature is enclosed
33.
in the
Mind
?
:
The Master nodded assent, and said Yes, but Heng Ch u s statement, The Mind unites the Nature and the
"
>
ft *,pt.*i,f.4.
The
jjfc
(this) refers to
the passage quoted at the beginning of the
paragraph.
3
An
element
allusion to the teaching of Mencius on the will moving the physical and vice versa ; see Mencius, p. 65. jjfQ
(^

1
175
Feelings,"
is
spoke of the you consider

this.
not to be improved upon. Mencius often Mind, but said nothing so exact as this. If
it
carefully
you
will see that in the books
of the other philosophers there is nothing even approaching
34.
Fang Pin Wang

:
The question the Nature," should be explained as meaning that the Mind is the seat of that ruling principle which controls
the personality.
enceinte
principles
3
in a letter asked the following statement, "The Mind is the enceinte of
Ko
Hsueh 2
4
says,
that
the
means
replied
to enclose.
The Mind
its
is
expression contains these
as a city wall
:
does
inhabitants.
too vague; 5 Who is it that explains the external operation Question. of the Mind as the exhaustive investigation of principles ?
Chu Hsi
Fang
statement
Answer.
It is
Questioner.
The manifestation
a statement of the Kiangsi School. of the Mind in speech
cannot be regarded as the external operation of the Mind, 6 because in that case the external operation of the Mind would be wholly dependent on the brief moment of time
occupied in speech, and what dependence could be placed
upon it ? Answer.
1
The Hunan School 7

f.
all
take this view.

see p. 3.
^^
That
Lit.
siz
pt. xviii,
14.
Surnamed Cheng,
and
3
4
is,
the principles of Nature.

"
?R 9R
The outermost
",
walls enclosing the city

clear.
suburbs."
5 6
".slow
i.e.
not crisp and

jfo
refers to
Jj
J5S
$h
immediately above.
The
Hu
j) School,
founded by
p. 28, n.
Hu An Kuo
;
(see p. 24), also called
the
Hu
Hsiang School, see
4.
Nan Hsien
see
ffi
(see p. 102)
,
was a
prominent representative
of this School
pt.
1, f.
3.
176

When Mencius spoke to
the King of Ch i * his desire was by means of speech to help him:, but if he had depended only on speech he would have failed, would
Question.
he not
Answer.
Question.
Yes.
"
The necessary
existence of life in the seed
corresponds to the necessary existence of
Love in
life
man."
Thus
is
life is
taken to illustrate Love.
The
of the seed
life^
the principlp of life, so that the principle of regarded as Love. Is it not so ?
is
Answer.
It certainly should be so.

s
2
The Philosopher further explained Nan Hsien

ment that the
is
state
active manifestation of the
Mind
substance
incessant.
When
:
it is
manifested
it
should be preserved
and be master of whatever phenomenon it is dealing with. K o Hsiieh said How can the Mind wait till after its
manifestation before
it
controls the
Answ&r.
If
you
force the
phenomenon ? meaning of a passage in
this
way you
35.
1
will find
many
seeming mistakes in
"
Nan Hsien s
3
statements.
In the statement,
The Mind moulds

2
the virtues
Mencius, p. 194.
Chang Ch
ih (ijjt fj).
3 The word ^j? generally means "wonderful" or "mysterious"; I cannot find that there is any other instance of its use as a verb meaning
mould except as this sentence is referred to in other The sentence is from the writings of Hu Wu Feng (see j^ pt. xlii, f. 12), and means that the province of the mind is to mould the powers or virtues of the Nature and Feelings, and so unite them in harmonious operation. It is similar to Heng Ch u s saying, The
"
to fashion
"
or
"
",
parts of this work.
"
Mind
jjjl
and Feelings (jfr fj ff), see p. 174. the object of the verb j? $? ; and the statement means that the Mind is like a pivot, controlling the operations of the Nature and Feelings.
unites the Nature
"
Jfj is

of the
177
Nature and
Feelings,"
the word
"moulds"
means
to direct their activities.
36.
Ch uan
said at first that all
who
discoursed on the
Mind
referred to
Mind
as manifested.
Subsequently he
1 acknowledged that this statement was not correct. 2 Feng, however, adhered to the earlier statement
;
Wu
and, regarding Mind as already "manifested and the Nature as not yet manifested, he contrasted the one with the other
in this sense.
37.
to that
The Chih Yen

"
is
full of such statements.

3
The expression,
which
is
the natural mind,
refers solely
affected /tv^jjig material body^
Tha pnasftSRAr
add the ethical element and termed Law -^-und-tha^jwhich has what ,is MoâL youjiaye consciousness is termed the Mind.
;
of Tv^-ftyHWrm-^wA-ra. n
man
The positive ether is clear when it prevails the virtuous nature operates the negative ether is turbid when it prevails creaturely desire becomes active." 4 You
"
38.
need only to examine and test your

will find it so.
own thoughts and you

is
When man s mind

it is
empty and
still, it
pure and clear. When it is clouded by creaturely desire, it is sunk in the densest darkness. This is how the turbid negative ether comes
wQj follow
naturally that
to be
predominant.
-W8 and
of
n. 2.
See p.
The son
Hu An Kuo and author

"
of the
Chih Yen (Words
of
Wisdom)
1.
see p. 23, n. 2.
3
*
Contrasted with the
spiritual
mind
(gjj
13.
"
(Jjf
0fl
IJJ)
Jj|),
see p. 19, n.
Quoted from the Cheng Meng
by Chang Tsai
see
X,
&,
pt. v, or
gi jg,pt.
iv,
f.
178
(39
.

"
.When the mind
is
enlargedît
.
can enter into every

"Of
thing throughout jiie umv^

*
The mind
the
man
of the world rests within the
narrow limits of the

"
senses,"
aad therefore cannot enter into every thin|^ r throughout the who develops his Nature universe. It is the sage alone lie
and .so does not allow his mind to be fettered and hears" whose* mind is large enough to embrace all things, so that under the whole heaven is a which he there not does not look upon as single thing he looks upon himself." 2 All other distinctions lost in this distinction between greatness and littleness. 3 Mencius means the same thing when he says, By
to its utmost,
by what
he. gees-
"
a>re
"
developing the mind to the our Nature and know Heaven.
utmost
"
we understand
to develop the
For
mind
it is
to the utmost is to enlarge it to its utmost.
When
enlarged to its
utmost we understand our Nature, we

is
know Heaven, and there

>Tao
no
trace of egoism. 5
not, like the
Fu
asked
p. 261.
To-day,
we who have
Cf.
D. M.,
2
3
Quoted from the

"
CMng Meng (ft fa

sentence
Littleness
"
refers to the
speaks of the heart of the worldly

to
man
j|), see above. above, in which Chang Tsai as so small that it confines itself
what
4
it sees
and
hears.
See Cheng Meng.
p. 324,
5
For the quotation from Mencius, see Mencius, and Legge s note. When the mind embraces all things there is nothing outside it. The
is
opposite of this
6
egoism, or ^f
fy\*
jjji
Chu Hsi s disciples whose surnames were respectively Huang (j|), Chao (Jg), and Yang (;jj but whose style in all three cases was Tao Fu. For Huang Tao Fu, see Yang Tao Fu was a disciple of Chu Hsi in the latter s declining p. 50. see Chu Tzu years, and a faithful companion at the time of his disgrace
either one of three of
;
Tao Fu may have been
Nien
u (jfc
|f), pt.
iv,
f.
44.
Chao Tao Fu (ming
tjfr
jj

sages, attained to such
179
development of the mind, must we

? *
not also extend
it
so as to influence others
wo must
Although we have not attained to that standard learn to say naLa^âHidllEQ senses there is If of a realm principles which cannot be seen or heard.
still
A nsiver.
we Eave~5ot learned so much, how can the mind be extended? The important thing is that this is what Heng Ch ii meant; 2
what Mencius meant. 3 Tao Fu. For Mencius real meaning we must rely upon the passages quoted in the Dialogues on the Great
it
does not follow, however, that
it is
Learning ? Answer.
Yes, Mencius
meaning
is
simply that when
your investigation of principles is perfect the mind naturally attains to the fullness of its upmost capacity, and not that
you must enlarge it in order to understand your Nature and know Heaven. But simply as Heng Ch ii expresses it, it is T0jo Fu.
very
difficult to
carry out.
Answer.
times, as
That is just Heng Ch ii s way of talking at though ho were carried away by his imagination.
is
The mind
large
by nature [why
talk of enlarging
it]
was the grandson of Chao Ju Yii, Chu Hsi s friend and the Emperor Ning Tsung s Prime Minister see J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung He held office in various provincial posts, in all of which School, chap. iv.
;
he followed the principles of government adopted by his grandfather. The education he received from the same source also bore fruit in ripe scholarship and a well-balanced mind.
1
2
3 4
The meaning of is the same as in Mencius, p. 20, q.v. That is, in the statement quoted on the previous page. That is, in the passage (p. 324) referred to by Chang Tsai. A work by Chu Hsi see J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and
;
the
Sung
School, chap. iv.
180

mean
that
Passages like this really
from an exhaustive
"
investigation of phenomena there follows naturally and from the study freely communion with all things. This is l and the meaning of the lowly to understand high things"
of Mencius
40.
enter
is precisely
the same.
"
In the passage,
into
"
When
the
mind
is
enlarged, it can
"
everything
"
tfarougliouFI^
the enter into 3 is like what is spoken of as expression and that Love in means actions universal embodiment of
",
the principle of the mind permeates everywhere like the blood If there is a single thing into which circulates in the body. it does not enter, its permeation is incomplete, and it fails
perfectly to
embrace
all things,
which
is
egoism.
For
selfishness produces separation
between the ego and the nonstand so that ego, opposed the one to the other. The they result is that even towards those dearest to us there is no
"The assurance of a perfect altruism. egoistic mind," 2 therefore, "cannot be one with the Mind of Heaven."
When there is any Question. In the statement, 3 thing which the mind do,es not enter into, it is egoistic," which is the meaning of the expression enter into (t i) ?
"
41.
"
"
Answer.
It
means
eo
is
to
to
import
the
it
mind
into
the
its
phenomenon,
principle.
1
and
It
investigate
as to grasp
the same
meaning as
that
of
the
Analects, xiv, xxxvii, 2, p. 153.

.
"
Cf. p. 350. Cheng Meng, ft j$ jf 4 Cf. Bergson s doctrine of intuitive sympathy as the means whereby we get into the heart of things in the making ; see Eucken and Berg son,
"
by E. Hermann, pp. 149-152.

expressions
knowledge"
"investigation
x
;
181
and
differs
of things" and "perfection of from that of t i 2 meaning sub
stance as contrasted with its manifestation.

42.
Heng Ch u
said:
"When
there
is
anything which
;
;
the
"
mind does not enter into, it is egoistic" 3 and again, The egoistic mind cannot be one with the Mind of Heaven." 3 For Heaven is great and altruistic, when in my investigation of things embracing all things there is one principle in them which eludes my search, my mind is egoistic and unlike the Mind of Heaven.
;
43.
*
Answer.
Someone asked It means
What
is
meant by egoism
is
When
there
selfish
thought,
obstruction arises bet vveei^ the ..subject
and
jobj-aet-.- We-eee
only ourselves, and every thing- external is regarded a& having no relation to the self. Such is egoism.
44.
principle
Question. be in
How can the mind by means of moral communion with external things to an
?
unlimited extent
Answer. The mind is not like a horizontal doorjfibich has to be made largerjby foroe. 4 You must clear away
it will
the obstructions arising from creaturely desire, and then be pure and clear with no limit to its knowledge
;
"
in investigating the principles of phenomena there will be free communion. Heng Ch u said, Do not allow the mind
to be fettered
1
by
the senses
"
";
When the Mind is

i
,
enlarged
G. L., p. 222.
The same word as
to enter into.
Cheng Meng,
jfr
4 It is upright and of adequate size ; all that is needed is to clear the obstructions, and then there will be no difficulty of access.
away
182
it
can enter into every tiling throughout the universe/ L The expression, "To be in communion with external things by
principle,"
means of moral
munion.
means
this unobstructed
com
Merely to guard the senses of hearing and sight a narrowing effect. has naturally
2 The Mind is the principle of This sentence 3 was recordqd by, Chang Ssu Shu. I question whether there is not some statement omitted. It must be that when the text was corrected it was accidentally, lost. Po Feng 4 said! Why was it included in your work,
45
"
life."
Modem Thought ? Answer. How dare

I fear there
is
I do other than reoord
it,?
But
some
defect.
These four words are not
adequate to express the idea.

46.
The Mind The
is
Mind, and the Mind
the principle of life man possesses dwells in a material form and thereby
;
man How
lives.
solicitous
mind
is
the principle of
life."
do you explain this ? Answer. The Mind of Heaven and Earth 6 which gives
is
birth to all things

1
Love.
f|
.
Man by his endowment

see
|f|
receives
CMngMtog, ft
ifr
statement by I Ch uan
"
"
pt.
is
li
translated
principle is tao ( Jf|). Its meaning text indicates. It is probably equivalent to tao
The word xv, f. 28. somewhat obscure, as the SI) =

"principle
",
(jjj
22.
a frequent use of the word.

3 4
8 b
pupil of I
Ch uan
see
Wu Pi Ta (J%
See
jj
style
:fj
pt. xii, f
;
jg
^J ^),
.
Po Feng
see p. 17.
pt. xv, f
28.
The use of this expression here is Mind of Heaven in the next section
"
in the
cf. J.
same sense
as that of
"
P. Bruce, Introduction to
The Chu
Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap.
xiii.

this
183
Heaven and Earth and thereby his life. Hence the "solicitous mind in man is also the principle of life.
of
"
Mind
47.
The statement,
"
"
The Mind is
the principle of
1
life,"
means that the Mind is the principle which produces life. The statement, The solicitous mind is the principle of life in man," means that we receive the Mind of Heaven and
thereby
live.
To
give birth to things
is
the
Mind
of
Heaven.
In the section on the Mind as the Question. of does not the first part, The Mind is the life, principle
48.
"
* principle of life," refer to the Mind of Heaven and Earth as giving birth to all things and th/e latter part, The
"
solicitous
mind
is
the principle of
life in
man,/
to the
is nothing but this Law, and apart from material form Law would have nothing in Which to inhere. Hence the statement, "Man possesses Mind, and Mind dwells in a material form, and thereby
Mind of Heaven and Earth as Mind? For in Heaven there
received
by man
to be his
lives.
""*
The
first
law of their succession

the statement,
"
part corresponds to ^fh& statement,;/ The 2 is goodness the latter part to

"
Their realization
the
first
1
is
the
Nature." 3
Answer.
principle
To make
of
;
part,
"The
Mind
is
the
life,"
refer
is
solely;
to
Heaven
is
not
correct either
man
is
one all-comprehensive Law, and Heaven and Earth. united to inseparably

for
Law
49. Let the mind go, so that it may be broad and tranquil and it will be enlarged. Do not l!et it be pre possessed by the divisive influence of selfish thought, and it
;
1
See
p. 182.
Yi Ching,
p. 355.
Ibid., p. 356.
184

With the mind enlarged it naturally will be no hastiness; if we meet with be no fear; if we meet with prosperity
;
will be enlarged.
follow that there
calamity there will there will be no exultation
for in a very little while calamity
give place to prosperity, and prosperity to calamity. The noble man with a mind enlarged Hsiin Tzu said, will be one with the Divine, and in accord with Moral Law,
may
."
If his
mind be
small
he
will
be
inspired
1
by
awe
the
and righteousness and be self-controlled." noble man, when his mind is enlarged it
For with
the
is
Mind
of
Heaven, when it is small it is the watchful and reverent mind of King Wen, 2 and both are good. With the ignoble
man,
small
if
his
mind
is
enlarged
it
will
be reckless,
if
it
be
it
will
be petty and narrow,
selfish
and miserly, and
both are bad.
(THIRTY SECTIONS FROM THE COLLECTED WRITINGS.)

1
.
Man
lives
by the union of the Nature with the Ether.

find,
But given
this
union we
when we analyse
it,
that the
Nature pertains to Law and is formless, while the Ether pertains to form and is material). The former as pertaining to Law and formless is altruistic and invariably good the latter ajs pertaining to form and material is selfish and
;
potentially evil.
it is altruistic
The manifestations
of the former, since
Law
1
and good, are all the workings of Divine the manifestations of the latter, since it is selfish
See ~p
this
^ ^
a.
-f-
H, } ,,
p t.
;
ii,
char.
Ifjj
iii.
note
on
phrase in the work referred to says
5c
8
9 m
"*
&
lK
See Odes, p. 433.

"
185
and potentially ,etvil, are all the actions of human desire. Hence the distinction between the natural mind and the 1 For this mind" in Shun s admonition to Yii. "spiritual distinction is a root distinction, and not to be explained as excess or shortcoming) in the action of the Ether, with
"
But the statement subsequent Lapse jntto human desire. and implies, natural mind does not go beyond the term
"
",
go beyond the term unstable", and equally implies that it is not necessarily foredoomed to become criminal. But seeing
"
surely, that it is not necessarily wholly evil.
It does not
that it pertains not to
Law
and even crime

"instability",
is
not
difficult.
it
but to form, its lapse into evil This is the reason for its
differs
and herein
is
from the
its
"spiritual
and and can standard, be relied upon. In regard to these two, therefore, we must use the utmost discrimination and singleness, and so make the altruistic and invariably good the perpetual master of our
",
mind
which
infallibly
good and never
evil, is stable
never falls to one side or the other, has
and of all our conduct, while the selfish must be allowed no place in our lives. Then, in everything we do and say, there will be no need to choose between excess and shortcoming: it will spontaneously and unfailingly accord with the Mean. (Whenever you
entire personality
and potentially
evil
begin
your
examination
of
anything you should
first
consider and decide
upon
its goodness or otherwise,
and
or not.
then proceed to consider whether it accords with the Mean By discrimination and singleness * you examine
" "
See Shu Ching,
p.
61
also J. P. Bruce, Introduction to
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap. x.
186
its

"
sincerely holding fast goodness or otherwise then by l nor there is excess the Mean" neither shortcoming, and You do not seek the the Mean is attained to naturally.
;
Mean, by means of discrimination and singleness. ) This was r the real meaning of Shun s admonition to Yii recorded in
"
the
Preface
2
".
The manifestations
of the Ether are not
when
directly regarded as wholly evil, with no allowance for times it is clear and translucent, pure and unadulterated, as
But such clearness and treatise. and unadulteratedness, seeing that they transhicence, purity
suggested
in
your
belong to the accidental condition of the material Ether, can do no more than retain connexion with Law and assist
its
animating influence. They cannot be regarded as the spiritual mind, or as a substitute fx)r discrimination and concentration. In Mencius, for example, although he speaks
"
of the Ether as ,the

nevertheless, that
restorative influences of the night

it is
3
",
which
desired to retain
by them
resides
in the moral mind,

"
and he does not
directly regard such
influences as paramount.
"
Again, although he speaks of

"
resides in
nourishing the ether", yet the power it employs for this 4 he does the accumulation of righteous deeds
;
not directly select the non-excesses and shortcomings of the
Ether with a view to nourishing them.
you
not,
1
place too
much emphasis on
examine
your
the word
other
"
In your treatise I will Ether

".
therefore,
statements.
For
Shu Ching reputed to be written by This admonition of Shun to Yu, however, is not specifically mentioned in the Preface, but in the body of the work, p. 61, as above. 3 * Lit. Ibid., p. 66. night-ether", Mencius, p. 284.
to the
p. 1.
;
"
See Shu Ching, p. 61. The Chinese Preface Confucius see Shu Ching,
2

example, the distinctions you make between the ether", the "excess ether", and the "inadequate
"
187
medium
ether",
to be at fault, but as they do not affect the of the "minuteness of the spiritual mind" it is subject worth while to discuss them. hardly (Reply to Ts ai Chi
seem
to
me
T umg.) 1
2.
T have received your

Piao.
Hu
Your
and two essays replying to criticism of Mr. Lii s treatise 2 on the

letter
Mean is most trenchant, and very striking. But there are some points not clear. Permit me to set out in order my reasons for saying so, and I beg you will submit them to your friends for their criticism. Your reply to Kuang Chung 3 on the faults peculiar to the scholar 4 hits the mark exactly, but in my opinion the chjief fault lies in
Doctrine of the
is
the fact that in ordinary times the illumination of principles imperfect and the nurture of the mind immature, so that
Affairs present themselves there is
when
no preparation for
To say that at the very time when dealing with them. affairs crowd in upon us we should make a careful
investigation of the
1
Mind
origin,
means that in addition
See
p. 65, n. 3.
Probably Lu Tsu Ch ien

is
;
(g
fjj.
ff )
see
p.
116,
n.
1.
Or
possibly the reference

criticized
to Lii
by Nan Hsien
Shu, whose writings were, in fact, I have not been able to find the see p. 458.
p. 37, n. 2.
Yu
treatise referred to.

3
4
Hu Kuang
Chung, see
The idea combated
in the following
argument
is
that
we can
attain
to perfection by understanding the mind (ffij jft) as a pre-requisite, and that this should be done in the time of the mind s activity and when its workings and springs of action can be investigated.
188

with these
affairs
to the task of dealing
we have
at the
same time the further thought of investigating the Mind Thus with the Mind we examine the Mind, and the itself. difficulty and complexity of our task are intensified. More over, the importance of using such effort before we meet with affairs is lost sight of. This makes me question your
The essence of Confucian teaching is to the investigation of principles first, because each put This must be first under individual thing * has its own law
line of reasoning.
.
stood,
to have in each case a standard
and then the phenomena of the Mind will be seen 2 by which their character
may
as
be estimated.
"
The Shu
Chmgm
",
Divine
"
isocial
arrangements
,the
such expressions Divine social

"
distinctions",
"Divine
appointments",
and
"The
"Divine
retributions
and Mencius in
words,
relations
of all things
may
be thus determined, and
it is
of the
"
greatest importance to estimate the actions of the 5 If we fail first to both express this same idea.
mind
"
extend
our knowledge to the utmost

1
"
in respect to this fact,

;
and
Thing here For the force

"
"
refers to the of
<jjjQ
mental faculties
see p. 54.
]|r
J|
@,
see Mencius, p. 20, verse 13, in

"
reference to which Legge says in his note ^jj? means that the t\j $j mind, as affected from without, and going forth to affect, may be light or heavy, long or short, i.e. may be right or wrong, and that in different
:
degrees,
3
etc."
Shu Ching,
4
5
pp. 73-4. Mencius, p. 20 ; see note 2 above. That is, that each individual thing has
ji{j
its
own law
jlfc
>
as stated above
the
in
if |f
jlfc
and
>
in
/
5fc
US
?B
refers to * h e
viz.
same
as that referred to in the sentence
Jfc
above,
jO|
the state
ment immediately preceding thing has its own law).
J\^
%fy
(each individual

are content -with knowing and understanding
189
how
the
Mind
comes to be what
to guide us
it is
and that vaguely, with no standard

is it
then
how
or
the manifestations, of the
possible for either the content, Mind to accord with eternal
Consider, moreover, the teachings of the Buddhists on rigid posture and hard discipline. 1 They, indeed observe and contemplate the Mind, and yet with it all
principles ?
we cannot in their company attain to the moral ideal of Yao and Shun, simply because, not recognizing the Divine
Law, they regard Mind alone as
ruler
;
and thus there
is
no security against falling into selfishness. This accords with a saying of our predecessors that the sages regard Heaven, and the Buddhists regard Mind, as the foundation
In your treatise you speak of the mind being continuously emptied of anxiety and evil. I grant this so far as the original substance of the mind is concerned, but
of things.
when you have regard to human desire and selfishness in which the mind has so long been submerged, how is it
possible in [one
day suddenly
to attain to this
standard
sages therefore insisted that the mind must be rectified, that to rectify the mind there must first be sincerity of thought, and that to be sincere in thought, knowledge must
"
The
first
be extended
fco
the utmost
2
".
When
efforts
are
made
it
in this order, then the truB-miiid~i^fbttairLaH%
a retnfiTto its~~ori^maLstate of emptiness

to be achieved in
but this
is
not
a single day!
You, howeyeg_speak baldly

so empty.
of the
1
mind being continuously

"
Again you say
Lit.
rigid position), carrying

2
Holding a dusting-brush with the hands erect (i.e. in a forced all as acts of self-discipline. water and fuel
",
G. L., p. 222.
190
"

Mind be
it
If the
ever direction
understood, it-^willJiaîiccessful in what may..be_ employed." Here again you are
mistaken in representing the process as too rapid, and BO
According to the teaching of the Conthere must be perfect righteousness and fucianists, spirituality in (Order to succeed in whatever direction the mind may be employed. Then indeed you may say that the mind is continuously emptied of anxiety and evil.* When
fall into
error.
Mencius speaks of preserving and losing "outgoing and "incoming", 2 hi|s meaning surely is that the mind should be held fast and preserved for one must suppose
"
"
"
"
",
that he did not use such expressions with the idea merely that the mind should be understood. If we can constantly hold fast and preserve it, then the reverent care of which
you speak will be same whether in
If this be perfect it will be the or activity inactivity, and the mind will
perfect.
ba continually preserved. You insist, too, that we should seefc it in activity, with the idea of avoiding the onesidedness
of inactivity, overlooking the fact that the result must be a leaning to the onesidedness of activity. The man, how ever, who can claim to hold fast and preserve his ,mind
one who surpasses even Yen Tzu. Again, you say that by understanding the mind that we can guard it. As to which my 3 fear is that the method is all too easy. The,
is
it is
Master Ming Tao said, we can enter into things with * we need fear not We joy, inability to guard the mind."
"If
i-e. your statement that the mind 3$f fiff Itf emptied would then stand see above. 2 Mencius, p. 285 ; cf. Legge s note in loco.
j
is
continuously
1H
refers to the speaker.
4
jjL
|j|, pt. xiii, p. 5.

must adopt
According
the
this attitude
;
191
only thus will our position be
unassailable, without flaw,

to
and free from vitiating
errors.
mind
is
is
jour esteemed opinion this preservation of to be sought for in its manifested operations,
exactly the idea of the Buddhists when they speak of sparks from the flint and lightning, 1 while you appear
which
to
pay
little
attention to the
work of prolonged
it is
leisurely
nurture.
Hence the search for
too hasty, its attainment
is with apprehension, the reliance upon it is weak, and its What the Yi Clfiing manifestation too evanescent.
"
expresses as
with broadness of mind continuing in what

2
,to",
has been attained

into this error.
.
means
the unwillingness to fall

in Fu.)
3
(Reply to
Chang Ch
3 The position of the Buddhists is that we need only to Understand the one Mind, but, as a matter of fact, they themselves do not know what the mind-substance really is.
Although they assert that all laws have their origin in the Mind, they really hold that there is a law external to it. 4 Hence there is no room in their philosophy for the First Cause of the Universe, and their doctrine of subject and But those who teach this doctrine object is incomplete. know enough to make them mask their position on both sides,
1
Possibly refers to their quality of instantaneousness. Yi Ching, p. 416.

>(S)
3 see J p Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi Chang Ch ih (fi and the Sung School, chap. iv. Ch in Fu was probably his style in early life and was subsequently changed to Ching Fu, the style by which he is referred to in his biographies. That Ch in Fu is identical with Nan Hsien (Chang
;
-
Ch
4
ih s literary
name)
"
is
clear
from a passage in the
j^JT
That
"
is,
that outside the

:
Mind
Chu Hsi
sense
?
replies
No, how
another Law. can there be two * Laws

there
is
j, To
jfc
pt.
i, f.
5.
this doctrine
in the ultimate
See below.
192
in so
and, skilfully veiling their ideas, persistently decline to say many words that outside the one Mind there is another
First Cause. According to the account of our sacred Confucian cult the Divine social
"
Mind
given by
arrangements",
",and
"
Divine social distinctions
"
",
Divine appointments
"
"
Divine retributions
",
V
"
"
solicitude
2
",
",
conscientiousness",
"
tooral insight and courtesy and there is no law external to it.

"
are
all
included in
it,
Mencius said
therefore,
He who
develops his
Mind
to the
utmost understands his
Nature.
preserving his
Heaven." 3
Understanding his Nature he knows Heaven. By Mind and nourishing his Nature he serves
Here, then, we have Heaven and Man, the Nature and the Decree, united in one : how can there be
"
two
Laws
"
in the ultimate sense
But
those
who to-day
propound! this theory

to the
Mind
there
is
maintain on the contrary that external another First Cause that apart from
;
another method by which the Nature may be developed, and the Decree perfectly embodied. I fear that this only means an ungrateful disregard of the teachings
is
Love there
which the saints and sages have bequeathed to us, and of their lifelong devotion to learning and inquiry into truth.
itself to attack
I fear also lest this theory should spread and, exposing by heretics, seriously involve our doctrine.
Fu.) In seeking to regain the lost mind 4 it is not necessary to explain what it is, but through the hours of the day, in its various activities, continuously and carefully to watch and in course of it, not allowing it to get beyond control
4.
;
(Reply to Chang
Ch
in
Shu
Cliing, p. 73.
2 *
Ibid., p. 325.
Mencius, p. 79. See Mencius, p. 290.

be illuminated,
193
time the result will appear naturally, the moral nature will and steadfastness attained, without any
effort.
abnormal expenditure of
5.
"
(Reply
to
Li Shu Wen.)
the
Ye,
1
The sentence
in
the
Commentary on
it is still
Although free from heart depravity

principle,"
not in accord
with right
inactivity^
really includes
j3pl|tjyg^
both activity and
If in a time of
leisure
I am
affected
rpmfliim ripjfjly a r\A obstinately unresponsive, then, although there is the absence of heart depravity, the inaction is in itself out of- Tcccord
iiftJTirl
by some particular way, but *PT
the
externaT~~Worlcr~ and
.oughlTTo^pespond
in
wkh^rjght principle. Or if I ought to respond to a certain phenomenon in a certain way, but I actually respond to it
in a different way, then, although not necessarily proceeding from intentional selfishness, this alone is out of accord with
right
principle.
Seeing
that
it
is
out of accord with

?
right principle, what is not depend solely on
it if it is
not depravity
We
must
this
rectitude
and carefulness for
preservation and nurture, thinking that if I preserve the Mind in this way, there will be no heart depravity. On the contrary, we must bear in mind that it is possible for
carefulness to fail through anxieties and distractions, and pave the way for falseness and heart depravity. In what
you say about the modern heresy with respect to under

standing the Mind you strike at the very root of the error. What the learning of the ancient/s emphasized in the
preservation of the
to investigate the
1
Mind was
I.
to extend it so as exhaustively
laws of the universe.
What
the moderns
j
commentary by Ch eng
>
It is included in the
j^
^|y
ijjf,
and
entitled
194

the
mean by understanding
therefore, the
Mind
is
tQ stand outside the laws of the universe.
by reliance upon it With the ancients,
more exalted their knowledge was, the deeper was the humility which characterized their Reverence while with modern scholars, the loftier their discussions are, the greater is their arrogance and licence from which you may
;
judge of the correctness or otherwise of their teachings. (Reply to Fang Pin Wang.)
6.
It is not necessary to
of the natural
shall rule.
mind That is,
go out of one s way to get rid needs only that the spiritual mind if the natural mind is to be rendered
it
powerless to play the robber,
it
must be by the
desire.
spiritual
mind.
But
this is exceedingly difficult to secure, so
sudden
and rapid are the movements of human 1 Cheng Tzu Shang.)

.
(Reply to
7.
The
*
intellectual
powers of the Mind,

>
when they
stitute the
manifest themselves on the plane of ethical principle, con l when they manifest them sS4iirj]Mj3ainiL
<
selves in the region of desire,
they constitute the
"natural
mindr. 2
8.
(Reply to
Question.
Cheng Tzu Shang.) The Mind of man is a
spiritual
tiling.
It is true that
to
by day, before there has been any response external phenomena,, it is still and without activity *
;
true that, in this state of inactivity, the Mind is 2 See p. 5, n. 3. See Shu Ching, p. 61. J here is a different word with a different meaning Spiritual (fjj|) from that in the expression spiritual mind (jjf[ e f rmer ^n JJjOit is also
1
"
"
"
"
spiritual in the sense of pertaining to_-spirit, ..or the intellectual part of man s being in contrast to the physical. In the latter case it IB spiritual in the sense of morally pure and good.
it is
case
Yi Ching,
p. 370.

;
195
while in continuously awake and not blindly unconscious dreams of the night again tho Mind is active as in thought by day. When dreams cease, however, and there is no
return to consciousness, we have deep sleep, and at such times to speak of the Mind as still and without activity 13
a mistake
ness,
for
when
the
mind
thus sinks into unconscious
total
and that unconsciousness is so deep that there is as an absence of knowledge or perception of things as
tr ees,
in
rocks -and
unconsciousness of death
"
hardly differing indeed, from the still and itself, the expressions
"
"
without activity
is
"
are not applicable.
But what
mystifies
me
Where is the mind-substance at euch times, and where is what we call the spiritual faculty ? What is the difference at such times between the sage and the common man ? And what ought the inquirer to make the object
this
:
of his search in such
phenomena
states of the
Waking and sleeping are the active and inactive Mind. Thought and absence of thought are the active and inactive phases of its active state. Dreams and dreamlessness are the active and inactive phases of its inactive state. But the waking state belongs to the positive mode, and sleep to the negative mode, waking to the clear,
Answer.
and sleeping to the turbid ether. Waking is under control, and sleeping not. Therefore the mystery of that
stillness,
and,
when
acted upon, that penetration to

"
all
1 phenomena, referred -to in the
Yi
",
of the waking state.

1
(Reply to
Ch
can only be predicated en An Ch ing.) 2
See Yi Ching, p. 370.
Ch en Ch un (fj
f|r),
style
was a native
of Fukien.
An Ch ing, also called Ch en Pel Hsi He was first interested in ethical
196
9.
PHILOSOPHY
[Question.
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
On thinking over your statement, and Waking (sleeping are the active and inactive states of the Mind, etc.," the subject presents itself to my. 1 mind All men possess the two ethers. The spirit has in this way
"
its
origin in the positive and the body in the negative ether. Mind enters into these two ethers and resides in
both alike, whether active or passive. It is the home of the By day the negative spirit and the ruler of the body. ether subsides land the positive is in operation. Since th,e
positive
is
kctive, the spirit is in motion, and, the
responding
condition
tho negative
to the
movement
of the
spirit,
(results.
is
At
night the positive

the spirit
is
body waking ether subsides and

the
is
in operation.
is rigid,
The negative
is inert,
passive
the
body, therefore,
is sleep.
and the
is
result
(When
its
the spirit
active the substance of the

clearly,
invisible psychic powers
and of consciousness
life
manifested
can be seen, as when, with the return of the positive mode, the whole world puts on the garment of spring. This is how it is that the Mind,
;
budding
whether
control.
still
or affected
by the external world,

is
is
under
of
When; the
spirit
inert
the
substance
the invisible psychic powers and of consciousness sinks into hidden depths it is silent and leaves no traces of its exist
:
2 just as, in the vvin,ter months, every, sign of life and became study by reading Chu Hsi s Modern Thought ( (J Jjfj, J), his pupil at Chang Chou. Chu Hsi spoke of him as eager and in
;
"
ence
domitable
".
He was
J|)>
(tt
1
S ^
Jg, used
the author of a glossary of philosophical terms an d the first to use the term Hsing Li ( J which
g|),
formed part
a
of the title of his book.
for J^!, refers to the writer

,
Ch en Ch un
;
see note above.
are
|^ the negative mode, jg = wholly thus f fg J$ ; the months wholly under the influence of the negative mode, i.e. winter
$$
months.
197
throughout the universe is hidden beyond our power toi search; it out. This is why the Mind, whether still or affected
hy the external world, differs in sleep from the wondrous mystery of waking hours, and there is the absence of control. Nevertheless, there is that within which does not perish
;
there
it
still
and
it
remains the unfathomable mystery. answers you startle it and it responds

;
You
;
caJJ
so thafi
it is still
not without some control, nor
is it
without a wonder
Therefore, speaking broadfy, the waking state is positive and the sleeping state negative, in which the Mind
is
of its own.
respectively active an.d passive.
More
particularly, the
thought of the waking hours is the activity of the active The absence state, the positive within the positive mode. of thought in waking hours is the inertness of the active
state, the
negative phase of the positive mode. The dreams of sleep are the activity of the passive state, the positive
;
while dreamless sleep is the phase of the negative mode inertness of the passive state, the negative phase of the)
negative mode.
still
further, thought divides itself
Again, to show their complex interaction into good; and evil
thoughts, in which the clearness of the positive ether and the turbidity of the negative ether affect the activity of the active state. The absence of thought is divisible into the
right and wrong kinds of responsiveness to phenomena, in which the clearness of the positive ether and turbidity, of the negative ether affect the inertness of the active state. Dreams are good and bad according as the activity of the
passive state is affected
by the clearness and turbidity of the two ethers respectively. And in dreamless sleep there ie a difference in the degree of responsiveness to external
198

the
impressions corresponding to the difference between clearness and tur bidity of the two ethers by which
the
Thus we have inertness of the passive state is affected. the active and the passive in continuous alternation and
complex interaction. The sage and the ordinary man are one, and yet differ in the trans! ucence and turbidity of
their positive
and negative
ethers respectively.
The
sages,
whether active or
in
inactive, are actuated
by singleness and
them purity and perfection are paramount, while the masses are mixed in their motives and uncertain. But from
this
may
be seen
how
great are the consequences attaching
to earnest study.
Answer.
10.
.Correct.
(Reply to
Ch
s
en
An Ch ing.)
Qwstion\. In 2 controlling the mind,

of the
Ch eng Tzu
it
doctrine of the
mind
appears to
me
that the double use
word
"
"mind
is best
distinction between the natural

:
explained as referring to the mind and the spirii ual mind.

"
In the one case the "mind is the spiritual mind That is and refers specially to right principle and right conduct 3 * is the natural mind and refers in the other case, the mind
;
"
See
p. 195, n. 2.
The
allusion is to one of I
is
Ch uan
sayings
see
:
^ ^
]%
pt. xv,
-JJJ*
f.
10.
Lt J
The whole sentence which

Plo
here referred to reads

(
jjj
jjj
*fr
9
;
control the
mind
&OS$C^&o man mind

if
You
musfc u s e the
it will
mind
be
to
is
allowed to go free
lost.)
j
3 See Mencius, p. 283, where these expressions occur, and to which the phrase as here used probably alludes. Legge, in his note in loco, explains it thus , jjji HH * ne mental constitution, the
:
^1
moral nature
acting
and
sjj%
= =
>
fo
J3
^ na ^
>
constitution,
or
nature,
outwardly."

to the physical element.
199
To say
that the
mind should
control
the
that the spiritual mind should rule thai entire personality, and the natural mind obey its behests. Ansiver.
It is so too.
mind means
But
if
meaning, you will see that should be master of yourself. you

s
Ch eng
you look at the Master it is no more than that (Reply to Ch en An
Ch
ing.)
11.
Qiiesticm.
Recently, I understood you to say that
some years ago, when you were at

the sound of a bell
from hearing you learned the method of conserving

I
1
T ung An,
the mind.
At
first
did not understand
how
this could
be, but on Jurther examination I saw that it would be so. Answer. That was not the real meaning of what I said
at the time about hearing the sound of a bell. All I said was that the time of the outgoing and incoming of man s mind is indeterminate, for before the sound of one stroke of the bell had ceased my mind had already changed many
times.
12.
(Reply to Chang Ching Chih.)
Hu Wen
rises
Ting
"
said,
into consciousness nor subsides is
That which neither rises the substance of the Mind.

If
onej
the,
and subsides is the Mind s operation. and preserve the Mind, though in a hundred risings and subsidings, there be day may
That which
we can hold
fast
Mind
will
maintain
its character."
This
is
well said, but
the reader
rising or subsiding is not a solid

1
must remember that what is referred to as not immovable thing without

3C
refers to the writer,
Chang Ching Chih.
Hu An Kuo,
the founder of the
Hu
School
see p. 24.
200

;
consciousness
nor
is there,
amid the hundred
risings
and
Bubsidings, a separate thing which does not rise or subside. But when the Mind is luminous and wholly without selfish
then you have the original substance of the Mind, 1 and when its risings and still and without movement*" alike to arc according right principle, then you subsiding^
ness,
"
have
what
is
described
all
as
"acted
upon
and
forth
with penetrating
the phenomena of the
universe". 1
(Eeply to Shih Tzu Chung.)

13.
Your
treatise
would be
better if it were
on Mind is excellent, except that it more concise and restrained. Your
questions on the for Ch eng Tzu s
controlling the mind are good too, meaning also is that you should be master
mind
of yourself, and not allow the mind to become scattered or* wandering. It is the same idea as that of Mencius when
or holding fast and preserving the mind 2 of How can it mean to use seeking the lost mind one mind to control another ? But in the present day the
he speaks of
"
"
"
".
words
"
examine"
and
BO
"
understand"
discussion,
and
the
and
and
"seizing",
get the which are altogether different from

fast", expressions by the saints and sages.
we
are brought into the ideas of seeking

" "
the
spirit
"
of
"hold
"preserve",
rule",
as used
Though
the
point is a fine one, it is essential that we should clearly understand it otherwise we shall slip into the heresy of the Buddhists. (Reply to Shih Tzu Chung.)
;
14.
In the essay you sent

370.
me you
"
say
2
The Master in
discussing Love regarded

1
the mastery of self as the

Menciuc, pp. 285, 290,
See Yi Ching,
p.

important thing
1
;
201
the Buddhists in discussing the Nature the regard negation of Mind as supreme, denying- Kuei Shan s doctrine that the Mind cannot be non-existent."
According
to
my
view,
what
is
termed
self
so termed in
opposition to external things is a selfish recognition of self, which gives rise to a calculating comparison and pro
This, therefore, ought to bo liking and desire. mastered. If it is mastered, there naturally follows the
duces
"return
to right
principle",
which
is
Love.
The Mind
has a real existence.

1
It is pure, undivided, penetrating,
and all-pervading in its influence. The perfect develop ment of the Nature and the practice of the Moral Law both proceed from this. You, however, regard it as vain and would get rid of it, and yet you yourself recognize that this would not do, arid therefore say there is the true Mind which must be preserved (this is the language of In this and so after all there is a Mind your essay)
"
"
case
how can
?
right
the theory of the negation of Mind be wholly And how can those who do not assert this doctrine
?
be wholly wrong
Suppose you take the negation of Mind

?
to be correct, then, I contend, the mastery of self presupposes
Mind, for how otherwise could one master himself

if
1
Or
your
you take self-mastery to be a reality, then make

Analects, XII,
Ibid.
i, 1
it
(p.
114).
here is almost equivalent to g! ; cf. Legge s note in loco. j|g what is right and proper Soothill renders the word as and, like Legge,
"
",
Li , quotes gloss, jjg j?t fj is the restraints and graces of Divine Law", see Soothill s Analects of It is probable that the sage in his use of the Confucius, pp. 557-8.
s
Chu
Hsi
&
"
word
"
in
this
passage had
".
the
Divine
Law
in
mind more than
its
restraints
and graces
202
business to practise it, and that is alj. that is required. Again, why speak of self-mastery in one connexion and of
the negation of Mind in the other, as if they had their origin in two different sources, and so cause inconsistency
in your statements
15.
"
(Eeply to Li Po Chien.)
is
The
Mind
"
unity.
What
"
is
called
Mind. Your idea of seeking the Intelligence Mind and using the Mind by means of Intelligence *,
is
also the
feverishly trying to get hold of it in various w ays, I fear is a mistake. Not only is it exactly like pulling up the
r
young
to
corn,
but, in itself, it is not so
good
as in daily life
Then, naturally the real
be guided by reverent care and never to lose sight of it. Mind will be unclouded when acted
;
upon by
to
external! thingls it will penetrate
them
and ba
reispeet to everything without waiting Therefore Confucius spoke of self-mastery and return to rigUt principle, 2 and not of making oneself
"intelligent"
with
be made
so.
intelligent or exercising reverent care. Mencius speaks only of holding fast and preserving the mind, or of letting go
and losing
it is
and does not say that it and preserved by unintelligenoe it is

it,
3
is
by
intelligence
lost.
The Master
in
Hsieh,
of
although
.he
liked
to
define
Love
terms
Consciousness,
.nevertheless
did
not
speak of being
by Mencius, in which he who, grieved that his growing corn was not Sung I am tired to-day, I have longer, pulled it up, and said to his family been helping the corn to grow long," upon which his son went and found
tells of
An
allusion to one of the illustrations used
the
"
man
of
"
it
withered.
2
3
See Mencius, pp. 66-7.

i,
1
Analects, XII,
(p.
Hsieh Shang Ts
ai,
114). see p. 322, n. 3.
PHILOSOPHY
consciousness."
OF*
HUMAN NATURE
"The
203
conscious of the Mind, but said,
Mind must have
(Reply to
is
Yu Ch
eng Chih.)
18.
it
The mind-substance
it is
originally in repose,
and yet
cannot but have movement.
Its operation is originally
good, and yet
Now
its
movement and
possible for it to lapse into the not-good. lapse into evil cannot be called
the original character of the mind-substance, and yet it cannot be termed otherwise than Mind. It is only because
it
has been beguiled by external things that it becomes evil. The former sages therefore said only, "Hold it fast and
(If it is preserved
you will preserve it. then its movement

it
and thus
is
in repose,
;
will not be otherwise than good)
let
go and you
will lose it (It is thus that

;
movement
results
in the lapse into evil) its outgoing and incoming cannot bo defined as to tipne or pljace (Its outgoing and loss, its
incoming and preservation, are without any set time or place. They depend wholly on the way in w hich men hold
T
the
mind
fast or let it
l
go)."
In
this sentence the
Mind s
substance and pperation,

falsity,
it
its
its
source and issue, truth and

all
depravity and rectitude, are

is its
included
and from
wa
it
see that not to hol;d fast to it is to let it go, that

:
incoming there is no middle position According to your argument the rectitude of the Mind consists in the outgoing and incoming; having
non-outgoing
to rest in.
for
their set time
in which case the indeterminateness of thd
is
outgoing and incoming of which a disease of the Mind r and he

categorically concluded his
1
Confucius
speaks
"
ought not to have It is statement with the words

p. 285.
Mencius,
204
the

Mind
of
which
this is said
"
(Reply to
Yu Ch
eng
Chih.)
17.
The
instructive communication
and
treatise
on Mind
which I have received from you. are excellent, though, as it appears to me, somewhat incomplete. For the incoming is the and preserved (mind true mind, and the outgoing
and
lost
mind
is
also the true mind, but has
become
lost
2 You say that through the seductions of its environment. the preserved mind and the l;ost mind, -the outgoing and the
incoming mind, are dike produced by the seductions of the

environment.
is still
Thus in addition
another true mind. 3
to the preserved mind there But, in that case, why did
Confucius not speak of it ? Tzu s Chung s * contention contains the same error. Tzu Yo 5 too would combine the
outgoing and lost mind with the incoming and preserved mind, and not distinguish between the true and false, but regard both as an unfathomable mystery. Both
ideas are wrong. My recent reply to these The two correspondents 6 was not altogether complete. 7 I which Yu somewhat made later to Ch Chih was reply eng
these
more
upon
satisfactory.
hope that
it.
a copy of it, in the have your instructive opinion you As to the Mind s substance and manifestation,
I
will let
now send you
me
however, with
1
its
origin
and
issue,
although
it
is
to
This sentence immediately follows on the others quoted above. Legge s note on the passage referred to ; see Mencius, p. 285. 3 If the preserved mind, as well as the lost mind, is the result of the true seductions (!) of its environment, then there must be still another
2
Cf.
"
"
mind which
4
seeks to bring
it
back from
its
seductions.
6 7
See pp. 199-200. See p. 208 for reply to Tzu Yo.
See pp. 206-8. See pp. 202-3.

be distinguished as to
rectitude, it is
its
205
truth and falsity, depravity and none the less unfathomable in its mystery
;
and, although
tihe
it is
unfathomable in
I do not
to
its
mystery,
it is
none
less
to
be distinguished as to its truth

rectitude.
and
falsity,
depravity and
opinion
18.
may
be.
(Reply
know what your Ho Shu Ching.)

on Mind.
exalted
I have studied your treatise

is
You
say,
still
The mind of the sages

water
:
like
a mirror or a sheet of
is
the Divine
Law
in
them
pure and
perfect."
In
this sentence
mind.
you are speaking of the preservation of the But although it is true that the sages, without the
;
holding fast the mind, continually preserved! while it, ordinary men preserve it by holding it fast nevertheless, when ordinary men do thus preserve it, it does
special, effort of
from the mind ap preserved by the sage it is if they do not hold it fast they fail to preserve that eimply it. The mind preserved is the spiritual mind the mind
not differ
; ,
lost is the natural
mind.
But the Mind
is
one
it is
not
that really there are these two minds, each a separate entity without any connexion the one with the other, but only that different terms are used to distinguish between preserving
and losing.
there
is
It is true that
when
it is lost it is
not the
original state of the
mind
another mind which
is
but neither must you say that both preserved and lost, out
its source,
going and incoming, waiting to return to

that
and
exchange which has no distinction between preserved and lost, out going and incoming. There is only this one Mind. The
failure to preserve it is in itself to lose
it,
we are
to seek to
it
for
still
a different
mind
not to lose
it is
to
206

it.
preserve
There
is
not the smallest conceivable middle
The student, therefore, must be earnest in holding and preserving the mind. For even between Shun and Yii there was the warning to cultivate discrimination and 1 And as in the case of peace and danger, good singleness. government and disorder in the world, although in the time of the sages Yao and Shun there was peace and good government and no danger and disorder, still you would not say that the expressions peace and danger
ground.
fast
" "
"
",
"good
government"
and
"disorder",
cannot be applied
Yao and Shun. If you were to do BO you would be falling into the same heresy as the Hu School, who maintain that there is no distinction between 2 good (and evil in the Nature. I beg you to consider the subject once more, and give me your views. (Reply to Ho
as a whole to the time of
Shu Ching.)
19.
it
Mind
as referred to in the sentence, "Hold-fast to
and you will p r ee eryej.tj ^ is itself th original substance, and there is no need to seek for another. But when the holding fast is long continued and mature, there naturally ensues resting in righteousness and moral principle, and
1
See Shu Ching, p. 61.
Ching s position is, that the preserved mind and the lost mind two different entities ; or, if they are one, there is another, the true mind, which has no such distinction aa that between preserved and lost, the Hu which means that it has no distinction between good and evil With this Hu heresy in his mind, Chu Hsi combats their favourite heresy. argument that the Nature cannot be said to be good because that would imply that it was evil, and uses the illustration of the times of Yao and Shun, to which, though there was no confusion whatever, the opposite is applied. term Similarly, the term preserved peace may be applied to the mind which has not gone, and yet may go, astray.
2
Ho Shu
are
"
"
"
"

in which case tho absence of evil activity will manifest itself without stillness"
;
"
207
called
what any
You,
is
so-called
"examination"
and
"
"understanding".
however,
"
would make out that in
by you may
of the
that
is
the application of
arrive at
momentary holding fast and examination" and understanding

this
"
"stillness".
I fear that the substance
Mind
as still cannot be understood in this

call
"examination"
way and
what you
and
"understanding;"
but to accelerate movement and activity, and lapse into care and vexation. The same idea is expressed in the Master
Ch eng s
nurture
"
statement,
The moment thought comes

its
into
existence the
is
Mind
is
already manifested; therefore,, while
possible before
into accord with the
Mean
manifestation, to bring before its manifestation

is
it
is
not
possible."
fast"
But the Mind

"preserve"
one,
and the expressions
"hold
jand
cannot
mean
that there are
two minds, each holding fast to the other in the same way as two wrestlers grasp each other and will not let go. Tho Master said further, 1
absent-mindedness
;
"Let
there be concentration and no
let there
;
be no activity unless in accord
with right principle 2 then there will be self-control and The countless utterances the preservation of the mind."
oft the saints and sages, if you trace them to their beginning and follow them to their conclusion, you will find have no other meaning. (Reply to Lii Tzu Yo.) 3
2fc
2
refers to
is
Ch eng Tzu.
jjg here
equivalent to
jg.
gl
see p. 201.
LuTsuChien(g
of the
$>),
style
TzuYo (J- $j ),
fi SB ( \ I/!**
I
pupil of
Chu
Hsi,
and brother
more famous
Lii
Tsu Ch ien
|f). W\v* /
208
20.

The
"
expressions
anid
holding
",
fast"
and
"
letting
go",
"preserving"
"losing
;
represent the instability of

spiritual
the
"but
natural
mind
hut
the
other
a
are
spark"
is
no
than this
mind which is same mind.

these
2
You
mistaken
1
when
you
interpret
four
sentences
as referring, not to
man s Mind,
but to the
mystery of its activity and inactivity, without beginning or ending, without location, without corporeity. You
are wrong, too, when you say Even in the wild restless which does not know where to rest, to fro and turning
:
"
although
original Mind, you may see the for if impossibility of restraint of the Mind s essence" the mind-essence is reaJJy as you say, why should you dis
not
the
approve of
find its
It must not knowing where to rest and say ? rest in reverent care (Reply to Lu Tzu Yo.)
its
"
"
21.
Everyone regards the passage on preserving and
losing the mind as teaching that the selfish actions of the natural mind are due to relaxing hold of it and losing it, but forgets that preservation is simply by holding fast this
very same mind.
Tzu Yo
says the terms

"incoming
"preservation"
,
and
"loss",
"outgoing"
and
s
alike express
the excellence of the

intelligence
;
unfathomable spirituality and hence he makes no distinction between true

is
Mind
and
is
:
false.
In both these respects he
wrong.
The
truth
the preservation and loss, the outgoing and incoming,

That
is,
sentences in Mencius in which the expressions quoted occur

"
see Mencius, p. 285.

2
A
man
&
s
but
nere probably means not the mind in a general sense.
natural mind
"
specifically,

of the
209
Mind
are indeed the operation of

;
its
unfathomable
1 but its truth and falsity, its spirituality and intelligence error and rectitude, the beginning and ending of its activity and inactivity, must be distinguished. (Reply to
Lu Tzu
22.
is
Yo.)
Your account of
the natural
very good, for if the spiritual

is
mind and spiritual mind mind is allowed to rule,

the
then the natural mind
transformed into the spiritual

dress are originally
but,
mind.
For iexalnpTeTôod and

of
outcome
the
natural
mind,
as
is
shown in
the Hsiang Tang, 2 in the case of the sage tEey proceed (Reply to Huang Tzu wholly from the spiritual mind.
Ching.)
23
It
is
of the
Mind
reply
It
a& taught
is
:
asked whether the doctrine of the contemplation by the Buddhists is true.
My
objects
his body.
by w4ich-ioaii rules It is subject and not It is one and not divided. controls the external world and is not its slave.
is the^ agent
The Mind
Therefore, with the
and
"so
contemplate external objects, discover the principles of the universe. According
Mind we
to this theory, however,
and contrariwise, we examine the

;
Mind by means
to this
my
that is, in addition of an external object Mind external to it, by, I another have Mind,
which
1
it is controlled.
But
is this
thing that
"
we
"
call
Mind
"
and himself says that the terms loss preservation express the operation of the unfathomable spirituality, etc., but not the excellence of them as Tzu Yo says they do. By saying they express the excellence of the unfathomable spirituality Tzii Yo excludes everything
Chu Hsi
",
etc.,
not excellent, such as

-
falsity.
The
title of
book x in the Analects.
The passages
referred to are
in chaps, vi to viii (pp. 94-7).
210

?
one entity or two

free or
tot
Is it subject or is it object
?
Is it
is it
the slave of the external
We
do not need!
ba told in order to see the fallacy of
it all.
If this argument is correct, how are we to explain such expressions in the writings of the saints and sages as Discrimination and singleness Hold fast
Someone may say

"
"
and preserve
3
2
it",
"Perfect
Nature",
"Preserve
the
the Mind and understand the Mind and nourish the Nature", 4
".
and
See them in front of you and resting on the yoke 5 I reply 6 The apparent similarity but essential differ
:
"
ence between this theory and such sayings in the classics 7 or is just like the difference between wheat and tares
between them.
natural
vermilion and purple, and the student must discriminate When we read of the instability of the
mind 8 and
the budding of
8
human
desire, or of the
smallness of the spiritual
mind and the mystery of Divine Law, we must remember that the Mind is one, and that
different terms are used
simply to express
its
accord or
otherwise with what
The meaning
ness"
is
is right. of the phrase "discrimination and single to fasten upon what is right and discern all that
p. 61.
2
5
Shu Ching,
Menciu?, p. 285.
Analects,
Ibid., p. 324.
4 6
Ibid., pp. 324-5.
XV,
v, 3 (p. 160).
The answer is first given in general terms, and then in detailed sections corresponding to the sayings quoted by the questioner, and in the same
order.
7
Yu,
is
a weed, very similar in appearance to the young sprouts
of corn.
8
9
is
Shu Ching, p. 61. The first of the sayings quoted in the question, To right and discern all that diverges from explains
"
fasten
upon what
all
it,"
"discrimination"
"
(St)
to discard everything that

"
is
opposed to
"
it
and
restore
that
ie
in accord with
it,"
explains
singleness
).

diverges from
it
it,
211
to discard everything that is opposed to
and restore
all that is in accord

"
with
it.
If
we can do
thi*
we
sEall indeed
hold fast
,the
Mean
and be free
from
either excess or shortcoming.
The phrase does not
mean
tli3
that the spiritual

is
is
one mind and the natural one
mind, and that there
another mind by which we make

"
it,"
mind discriminating and single. The meaning of the phrase, hold it is not that one mind is used to hold
;
the other
that one
is!
nor
is .the
is let
meaning
lost
of
"letting
and preserve and preserve 2 and go losing

fast fast
it"
mind
go and
it is let
held fast by the Mind go and not held fast, then the preserved
"holding
by another. When the itself, then the lost is saved

;
Mind
when
is lost.
jSL.jEjjBflL_.iQ__he_ explained as ^^^^P^^ the day to fettejiJLnrL destroy the natural goodness of the virtuous nature, 3 and not that we are to sit in rigid posture and preserve a manifestly useless
But
at
fast"
4
"intelligence"!
"
To
perfect the
Mind
"
means
"
to investigate things
7
",
6
",
"
to study exhaustively the laws of the universe

to
and
"
be possessed of a wide and far-reaching

p. 61.
"
penetration",
Shu Ching,
Occurs in the same connexion as
hold fast and preserve

it
it
".
See
Mencius,
3
cf.
4
p. 285. Alluding to the context of the saying, "hold the whole of chap, viii, Mencius, pp. 283-5.
fast,"
in
Mencius
As the Buddhists do. This paragraph explains the third of the sayings quoted in the question, but not -wholly part of it, viz. understanding the Nature", is explained in the next paragraph in connexion with the phrase nourishing the
5
"
"
Nature
6
".
G.L., p. 222.
Ibid., p. 229.
212
and so to, have that by means of which we may develop to their utmost extent the principles inherent in the Mind. maintain inward To preserve the Mind" means to and correctness by seriousness, regulate outward conduct
"
"to
what has already been said in discrimination and single explanation of the expressions, There and fast land preserving the Mind ness/ holding Nature our understand fore by perfecting the Mind we can
1
by, righteousness",,
as in
"
".
and know Heaven, because, the substance of the Mind being

unclouded,
we
are able to search into this
Law
"
as the Self-
Existent. By preserving the Mind we can nourish our Nature and serve Heaven 2 because, the substance of the
",
Mind
being not Ipst, we can obey this Law as the SelfExistent. How can this be regarded as one mind perfecting
another mind, or one mind preserving another mind, like two things holding each other and not letting go ? The passage, See them in front of you and resting on
"
the
yoke,"
is
in reference to the preceding expressions,

truthful,"
"sincere
and
is
:
"earnest
-and
serious."
For what
and
it
means
If sincerity
and truthfulness,
earjiestnesjL
seriousness, do not perish from the Mind, then we cannot and not that go anywhere but we shall see them facing us
;
we
see our
Mind
in front of us.
Moreover, what rhyme
or reason would there be in saying that the body is here and the Mind in front of us, or the body in the carriage
and the Mind resting on the yoke

.To isum up,
:
?
is,
The teaching
of the sages
that îth the
Mind we
1
exhaustively
p. 420.
investigate
2
principles,
and by
Yi Ching,
Analects,
Mencius, p. 325.
XV,
v, 2 (p. 159).
213
following these principles we determine our attitude to external things, just as the body uses the arm, and the arm the hand. Their doctrine is even and dear, their attitude
broad and caljm, their principles real, and the practice of them spontaneous. The teaching of the Buddhists, on the other hand, is with the Mind! to seek the Mind, with the Mind to use the Mind, like the mouth gnawing the moutli,
or the eye gazing at itselif Its methods are uncertain and its course is feverish, dangerous and clogged, its principles are hollow, and its tendency antagonistic to what is right.
.
These, then, are the reasons
I maintain that, though in phraseology there are some points of similarity to that of the sages, their teaching is essentially different. And yet
why
who but
the high-minded with careful reflection and clear

?
discrimination! can avoid error on such a subject on the Contemplation of the Mind.)
(Treatise
24.
Question.
Heng Ch u
;
said,
"If
"Let
the
mind be
are large-minded expanded widely" we shall possess penetration in all tHings, if we are small/and again,
we
minded everything will be wrong." 1 Sun Ssii Miao 2 said, Be great in courage but small in mind." My own explana tion of these two statements is that Heng Ch ii was speaking of the mind-substance, while Ssu Miao was speaking of its I do not know if I am correct or not. manifestation. 3 The Answer. mind, of course, ought to he large in some If you insist upon forcing directions and small in others.
"
fljf.pt. iv,
f.
19.
;
scholar of the seventh century

Biog. Diet., p. 695.
see
fjj^
^,
pt. iv, f.17
also
Giles
214
the letter of the text, then all thinking becomes impossible. (Reply to P an Tzu Shan.)
25.
We
We must turn inwards and examine our own mind. must examine it in its outgoing and incoming. We
we hold
it fast.
shall preserve it just in so far as
Our
to
labour must be continuous and unbroken.
(Reply
Li
Hui Shu.)
26.
Question.
once said that

1
the
student
should
in rectitude and singleness, and not allow the smallest shadow of selfish thought to
constantly preserve his
mind
intrude
will be
itself.
Then
it will
follow naturally that there
an inward controlling principle, and the mind will not be scattered and wandering, and we shall come verynear to the comprehension of the original substance of
spirituality
and
intelligence.
But
if
we would
really
and
truly understand the original substance of this spirituality and intelligence, we must also cultivate daily intimacy with
moral principle, and eradicate selfishness
only thus shall
we
attain to
an understanding
of the original mind-sub-
stance.
Ansiver. You need to get rid of a lot of superfluous methods and useless verbiage to look only at what is meant 2 by the saying, Hold it fast and you will preserve it and not add redundant comments. (Reply to Li Hui Shu.)
;
"
"
Scholars of the present day for the most part busy themselves for the most part with irrelevant matters, and do
27.
r
1
j$
refers to the questioner Li
Hui Shu
(^
flj$
<g[)
jjji
was
his
ming,
2
Menciua,
p. 285.
215
not realize that the mystery of the Mind is the source of all 1 phenomena. Those who do know can do no more than, with
brows and glaring eyes, shout and swear away the views they are opposing, asserting that this alone is the virtuous mind and original nature, and that it is invariably
beetling-
good.
no holding fast and preserving it, no practical conduct, no explanation, and no thorough examination, then all this beetling of the brows
that if there
is
They do not realize
human
and glaring of the eyes resolves itself into selfish thought and passion, and Ihe more earnestly sincere it is the
morei wild will it be.
You must not fail carefully

this error.
to
examine
and studiously avoid

questioner.)
(Reply to an anonymous
28.
nor death
I regard the theory that the Mind has neither birth 2 as very nearly akin to ,the Buddhist doctrine of
transmigration.
In the production of things by Heaven
and Earth
"
it is
man who
receives the ethers in their highest

".
3 excellence, and is therefore the most spiritual of all beings What we call Mind is the psychical faculty and conscious
ness, as seen in the hearing and sight of the ear and eye. In the case of Heaven and Earth, there never has been and]
never can be either creation or dissolution

of
but in the case
man and
all
other creatures, on account of their material
form, there is both beginning and ending. If we under stand that Law is one but its functions are diverse, then
1
See
p.
217
ft.
2
3
tenet of the
Cited from the
Hu School see Jf| T ai Chi T u Shuo

;
:
jjfc
;
pt. xlii,
f.
8.
see J. P. Brace, Introduction to
Cliu
Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap. vi.
216

need
why
from
we
devise this theory of the

,
Mind being
without
(Extract
birth or death and startle the ear of the student.
Chu
Hsi
"
Criticism
of
Hu
and
Tzu
Words
of Wisdom".)*-
29.
2
Now
between
"holding
fast
preserving"
the
Mind on
it
the one hand, and
"letting
go and
losing"
on the other, there can be no gap.

it
recognize
exists.
as bst and seek
it,
it
Seeing that we follows that the Mind

is lost
It is said that the
Mind which
;
cannot be
held fast and again preserved we can only lay aside our wait for other time when we see the Mind s some quest,
manifestation in pome other direction, and then follow it up and hold it fast. 4 But. in this interval, while you are
waiting to see its manifestation, there is a break in the [Mind s continuity, and no means of renewed activity. Even
you could see its manifestation again and hold it fast, what you thus hold fast would not be the wholo Mind but 5 When, so far as its original and entire only a part.
if
substance
concerned, not a single day s labour has been used in nourishing the Mind, to expect to be able "to
is
fill it
expand and
seems to
so that it
may be
great as
!
me
contrary to all reason

of
Heaven itself (Extract from Chu

",
Hsi
1
"Criticism
Hu
Tzu s Words
of Wisdom". )i
The
treatise
Words
Hsi
s
of
Wisdom
($
in
ftf),
by
Hu Wu
,
Feng,
is
to be
found with Chu

2
3
4
criticisms
the
JJ|
||v
pt. xlii,
S. 2-12.
Mencius,
Cf.
p. 285.
Ibid., p. 290.
the whole paragraph

5
the Chih Yen (see note is taken.
1),
from Chu Hsi
criticisms, of
which
$|
i-e.
one only of the
Jjg.

30
Question by
wrote a treatise
of Heaven,
217
Ch en An Ch ing. Some time back I 1 on Mind in which I said: "The Decree

it is
how profound
and undying
"
That
is
by means! of which it rules over the production of things the Mind of Heaven. Man receives the Decree of Heaven and so is born and because this by which Heaven
;
gives by me in its entirety to be lord of my complete personality, and in its entirety to reside in
me
birth is received
me, spiritual and intelligent, continuously illuminating and unclouded, living and imperishable this we call the Mind of Man. Its substance, answering to what are termed th e
:
principles
is
inherent in
of Ôrigin, Beauty, Utility, me as the nature-principles
and Potentiality,
Love, Righteous
ness, Reverence,
and Wisdom. 4
Its operation, answering-
to what are termed the ethers of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, 5 is manifested in me as the Four Feelings 6 solicitude, conscientiousness, courtesy, and moral insight. Therefore, though the substance resides in a very minute 7 spot, that which constitutes it the substance is really as the countless laws of the great as Heaven and Earth universe are present in their completeness, and there is not
;
a single thing outside their scope.

1
Although
(style
its
operation
see p. 195, n.
\&
refers to the questioner
Ch en Ch un
An Ch ing)
Odes, p. 570.
3
4
5
51
Jt
Sh
principles.
to
See J. P. Bruce, Introduction

Ibid., chaps, vii Ibid., chap. xi.
"
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap.
vii.
and
xi.
6 7
is a term for the mind or heart and, of cours?, has ~Jj TJ* that meaning here, but the force of the expression in this connexion is
"
"
",
in its literal meaning.
218
proceeds from a very minute spot, yet that which constitutes its operation is really in union with the pervading activity
of
Heaven and Earth

by
universe are united
it,
and there
the countless phenomena of the is not a single law which
Herein lies the mystery of the Mind it unifies activity and repose, the manifest and the hidden, the external and the internal, the source and the
does not operate in them.
;
issue, to the exclusion of all harriers.
But man
is
fettered
by
the impurity of the
Two
is
fall to his lot, to
which
;
Ethers and Five Agents which added the entanglement of the

is
desires of the senses
and thus the Mind
cramped by
cannot be enlarged in a lofty sympathy and unselfishness, nor has the spiritual faculty any means of ruling in the Mind. Those who would give full
material form,
it
substantiality to this Mind so that it the ruler of their entire personality,
may
must
continually be see to it that
their energy in perfecting knowledge is adequate, their cultivation of seriousness whole-hearted, and their inward
light brilliant
and pure, and

desire.
is
thjus rise
above the material
endowment and human

in so far as it
is is
original mind-substance, in greatness to Heaven and Earth, equal in brightly illuminating every direction, so that there not one principle which is not luminous. In the original
My
Mind, in so far as it is in union with the all-pervading activity of Heaven and Earth, there is nothing to divide or separate, and there is not even a momentary
operation of
my
cessation
of
life.
Thus, before being
afTected
brilliant,
by the
clear as
external world, the
Mind
is
pure and
a mirror and poised evenly as a balance, truly able to stand before God, with all laws established within. After being

affected
219
or
by the external world, the favourableness

phenomenon.
1
un
fa vourabl en ess, as well as the degree, of the
responsedepends
all
upon
its
this particular
For this Law is
com
prehensive, and resides in every single thing- as the law of The as is said in the Yi Climg individual existence
"
method of Ch ien
is
to
change and transform BO that every
thing obtains its correct nature as ordained
by
Heaven,"
and without the smallest
error.
The Mind,
therefore, does
not linger with a matter that has once been dealt with. In repose the substance of Heaven and Earth remains one
source with an infinite plurality of phenomena. the operations of Heaven and Earth go forth
plurality
In activity an infinite one

unity.
itself,
of phenomena but The substance constantly enfolds
united
its
in
operation within
and
The
operation substance and
its
is
never separated from the substance. its operation are united in one revolving
wholly that Divine Law which daily and manifests itself in motion and rest. Now*, continuously I received in its entirety from what have following this,
unity,
and
this is
Heaven becomes in me the assurance of a return to the source, and I too, like that Decree of Heaven so profound,
may
way
1
be
3
"undying".
in which
==
"
man may
",
This, I apprehend, preserve his mind.

"
is
in brief, the
or The response to reception of treatment of a particular phenomenon by a mind such as

J?K
".
is
response to or here described
depends entirely on the nature of that phenomenon, just as the treat ment of a man by a perfectly good man will depend entirely on what kind of man the former is. The treatment will be perfectly appropriate to
the subject treated.
2
3
Yi Chinj, p. 213. See p. 217.
220

eng
style
Your way of treating the subject is most excellent, but what you Bay about the mind-substance being as great as Heaven and
Wang Ch
Tzu Cheng
said: 1
Earth, and
I
its
operation as in union with the all-pervading

substantiating, and
operations of Heaven and Earth, needs
would be glad to receive your further instruction. I therefore prepared another supplementary treatise as
follows
as
The statement, that the mind-substance is as great Heaven and Earth, is made from the point of view of
:
Law
Law
1
as the ultimate reality, the pivot of creation
for permeating the whole universe there is but one and trans
all
formation, received alike in all ages by men and creatures. Yet among all creatures it is man who
other
is Spirit.
embody and receive congregated in Mind all those my principles which are comprehended in that one Law, and which constitute what is termed th$ Nature. But although these principles are thus congregated in my Mind and become my Nature they are never severed from the Divine. What in my Mind is called Love, is
So true
is this
that I
Reverence,
the Divine principle of Origin whlat in my Mind is called what in my is the Divine principle of Beauty
;
Mind
is called Righteousness,, is
;
Utility
what in
my Mind
is
the Divine principle of called Wisdom, is the Divine
2 principle of Potentiality. They are really identical and not; simply used as illustrations. The Moral Law of Heaven
all-comprehensive and the Law of my Mind is all-com the Moral Law of Heaven is limitless and the prehensive
is
; 1
Ch en An Ch
ing tells
Chu Hsi what Wang Ch eng bad

Chu Hsi and
the
said in criticism
of his essay. 2 See J. P. Bruce, Introduction to
Sung
School, chap. vii.

Law
of
221
Moral Law of Heaven enters into every single thing without exception, and there is not one thing in the universe which is not Divine, and
my Mind
is
limitless
the
the
Law
of
my Mind
also enters into everything
without
exception, and there is not one thing in the universe which is not my Mind. (What is there that is not done by
the
Mind ? What principlo is there not inherent in the Mind ?) In all the world h|OW can there be anything out
side the
Law
it is
Nature, or not included within the of my Mind. From the point of view of Law only the all-comprehensive universe, and we do not think
bounds of
my
of it as in its close relation to myself.

it
the substance of
of
Law
as it
is
But when I call from the point of view my Mind, then, is arch-controller an inherent in me, there
and its operations are traceable. This is why the Mind is most spiritual and most wonderful. To whatever point Law
reaches, the thought
greatness
it
of
my Mind
follows
it
it.
If in its
reaches to infinitude, or if
be so fine as to
pierce things indescribably minute, the Mind penetrates and permeates all. If it reaches back to the most ancient time,
or forward ten thousand generations, the Mind comprehends all. Whether it be near or distant, a foot or ten thousand
miles,; it is all alike.
order in
still
Even though it extend to heaven and earth, and nourishing all

:
establishing
1
things",
it
does not go beyond the fullness of the original mindBubstance it is not something accomplished outside its
sphere.
"
This
The
egoistic
is what Chang Tzu means when he says mind cannot be in union with the Mind of
:
D. M.,
p. 249.
222

l
Heaven."
is
that the operation of the Mind in union with the all-pervading operations of Heaven,
The statement,
and Earth, 2 is made from the point of view of the pervasive For Law pervades and revolves throughout ness of Law.
the universe without a
moment s
cessation.
Of
all
things
phenomena, large and small, coarse and fine, there is not one which is not pervaded by Divine Law. This Law I receive into my Mind in its entirety, and being in
and
all
my Mind
there, is
not a
moment when
and in union with th|e and Earth. Let men s desires be pure, and their feelings far-reaching, with no barrier in their all-pervading
operations, then they will be continually in union with the all-pervading operations of Heaven and Earth. Take, for
not productive all-pervading activity of Heaven

it is
example, the feeling of solicitude. In the case of those who are near, it is manifested in family affection. When we
are affectionate towards those to
whom we
ought to be
affectionate it is the pervading activity of the Decree of Heaven. I simply unite with it in its pervading activity,
and then I do not defraud the objects of
my
its
affection.
If there is the slightest lack, it is because Divine
Law
is
impeded in the sphere of family

activity ceases.
to
affection,
and
pervading
Or in a wider circle, in the sphere of love such as the men, obligation to comfort the aged, to treat 3 the young tenderly, and to be apprehensive for one falling
j
into a well, 4 this, too, is the pervading activity of the Decree

1
Cheng Meng, ft ,fr See p. 220, and Wang Ch eng

.
criticism, to
which
this passage is
an answer.
3 4
Analects, V, xxv, 4
(p. 46).
Mencius, p. 78.

of Heaven.
223
I simply unite with it in its pervading activity,
and so do not
fail in cherishing, in comforting, and in If there be failure in the slightest being apprehensive. it because Law is impeded in the sphere is Divine degree,
of love to men,
and
still
wider
circle,
pervading activity ceases. Or, in in the sphere of kindness to inferior

its
creatures, such as sparing the
young sapling, saving the life of pregnant animals, and avoiding the destruction of young 1 creatures, this, too, is the all-pervading activity of the
Decree of Heaven.
activity
I simply unite with it in its pervading and so do not injure the growing, the pregnant, and the young. If there be the slightest injury, it is
because Divine
Law
to inferior creatures,
impeded in the sphere of kindness and its pervading activity ceases. And
is
the
all
is
same is true of the response of all the Four Feelings in the affairs of everyday life. If in only one thing there not the appropriate response, it is because in that one
If in a single
is
thing Divine Law is impeded. time there is lack of union, it of time Divine
because in that
if in all the
moment of moment
innumer
Law
is
impeded.
But
able threads of life
we
is
Heaven, and there
follow the simplicity of the laws of on the part of the Mind an all-round
carrying of them into effect, then in its operation it will be one with the principles of Origin, Beauty, Order, and Potentiality, in their all-pervading activity throughout the
universe.
This
is
why
"
in the Yi Ching. formations produced by Heaven and Earth, plants and trees
Ch/eng Tzu refers to the saying Through the changes and trans
See Li Chi, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxvii,
p. 221.
224
PHILOSOPHY
1
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
grow luxuriantly," to represent the picture of the fullness and growth of a mind ruled by sympathy. But we must have the substance great as Heaven and Earth, then only can we have the pervading operation of Heaven and Earth. And we must have the pervading operation of Heaven and Earth, then only can we have the substance great as Heaven and Earth. We must remember, however, that they are really two separate entities.
2 eng criticized this supplementary treatise somewhat more closely, saying further The Decree of
:
Wang Ch
Heaven, the Nature, and the Mind, although not separate entities, yet have each their own sphere which must not be mistaken. In your discussion of the mind -substance,
you ought
to
be content
to
show
the
Mind s connexion with

is
the Nature and with Heaven, for then what
there
to
which such a statement would not apply? Once we under stand this clearly, half a sentence, or a word even, will be
enough
to
make your meaning
plain.
You need
to give the
matter further consideration and investigation. On thinking over the matter further it seems to
"The
me
that
speaking in the ontologies! sense it is still correct to say,
mind-substance
is
as great as
Heaven and Earth,
and its operation is in union with the all -pervading activity of Heaven and Earth/ but to express it only in this way would be to fall into the opposite error of speaking on too
lofty a plane,
1
and of not bringing the subject into touch
Yi Ching,
p. 420.
;
2
3
Ch en An Ch ing s treatise cf. p. 220. Ch en An Ch ing again states his own opinion in
That
s
is,
reference to
Wang
Ch eng
further criticism.
PHILOSOPHY OS HUMAN NATURE

with our
"
225
seems best simply to speak from our own point of view in our daily experiences, and say, is within the is That which ail-comprehensively
faults.
It
own
substance
that which
is
affected
by the
as the
external world
and responds thereto

spoke in simple
is its operation,"
statement of the matter.
I recall
most pertinent saints and sages that the

I
common
speech.
fear that
my
ideas
will
must
all
go beyond
the truth,
and
trust
that you
If
correct them.
Answer. 1
a
still
This treatise
is
indeed excellent.
you take
broader view in your consideration of the subject, your understanding of it will be all the more exact. More over, do not be content to confine your study to the direct
investigation of the metaphysical aspect of the subject. Devote some labour also to the study of daily practical,
of the teacjijing of the classics, of the lessons of then, the subtle and the coarse, the external and history the internal, will be united together in perfect union, and
affairs,
;
there will not be a single principle lost sight of.

to
(Reply
Ch en An Ch
ing.)
1
That
ig,
by Chu
Hsi.
is:

BOOK IV
BEING BOOK XLV OF
THE MIND, THE NATURE, AND THE

PEELINGS
THE STEADFAST NATURE

FEELING AND MOTIVE
THE WILL AND THE ETHER. THE WILL AND MOTIVE THOUGHT
BOOK
(TWENTY-ONE SECTIONS FROM
IV.
THE MIND, THE NATURE, AND THE FEELINGS,

"THE
CONVERSATIONS".)
1. The Nature corresponds to the Supreme Ultimate. The Mind corresponds to the Two Modes. The Supreme Ultimate is inherent in the Two Modes and is inseparable
from them, but the Supreme Ultimate is the Supreme Ultimate, and the Two Modes are the Two Modes. is So it with the Nature and Mind. As is in the "One and yet two, two expressed; saying:
and yet one." The philosopher Han 1 defined the Nature as Love, Bighteousness, Reverence, Wisdom, and Sincerity, and the Feelings as Pleasure;, Anger, Grief, and Joy. This was an advance upon the teaching of the rest of the philosophers with respect to the Nature. But in his
doctrine of the Three Grades he dealt with the material
element only, and did not take the Nature into account.
2.
Question.
That which
is
imparted by Heaven to
is
men and other
creatures is the Decree, that which
received
by them from Heaven is the Nature. The ruler of the Is it the case that some obtain personality is the Mind. from. Heaven that which is bright and dear, true and great, 2 and that this is Illustrious Virtue" ?
"
See
p. 77, n. 3.
G. L., p. 220.
230

Hsi.
Ch u
the Nature?
How do you distinguish between Mind How do you place the word
"receive"
and
?
"Illustrious"?
"obtain"
What
is
the difference between
and
.What are the distinguishing features of "men", "other and the person" ? Does Illustrious Virtue creatures
"
"
"
",
pertain to
Mind
or to the Nature
Questioner. The Nature is concrete, but if you take into account affection by the external world and the response
thereto, emptiness of self and the resulting clearness, then are many. the meanings attached to the word "Mind Answer. Of these two, to speak of one is to imply the
"
other.
to distinguish.
They cannot be To be
separated, and are perforce difficult withjout the Mind would be to be
without the Nature and vice versa.

account of the
two.
Hence Mencius in
his
Mind and
;
the Nature always associates the
Ho
Wisdom
the
epeaks of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and and then of the solicitous mind, as the Nature
,
mind, the courteous mind and the 1 You need to study the subject still discriminating mind.
conscientious
more thoroughly.
Although the Nature is formless it consists of concrete principles; Although the Mind is a distinct entity, it is formless and therefore can contain innumerable principles It is desirable that people should examine this for them
3
.
,
selves,
4.
and so arrive at the truth.
The Nature
is
essentially without form, but consists

it
of concrete principles. The Mind is as though but its substance is really formless.
1
had form,
Mencius,
p. 79.

5.
231
The Nature consists of the concrete principles con tained, in the Mind. The Mind is the seat of the assemblage
of those principles.
the receptacle which holds and stores the principles of the Nature, the agent
6
.
The Nature
is
Law. The Mind

sets
is
which distributes and

7.
them in operation.
To
the
substance.
Mind the Nature stands in the relation of The Mind holds the Nature within it like the
Nature that
it
stuffing of cakes, for the simple reason that it is in virtue
of its possession of the

principles.
possesses these
8. When you have succeeded in describing a thing, and when you have succeeded in naming it, you may claim are also clearly to understand it. The Mind and the Nature
very
difficult to define.
Answer.
A
is
definition
which I have already given

;
is
The Nature
the law of the

;
Nature in action
and the
Mind the Feelings are the Mind is the ruler of the Nature
and Feelings.
The Nature is undefinable We are able to assert that the Nature is good because we observe the goodness of the Four Terminals. From these we infer the goodness of the Nature, just as we know the purity of the stream from the purity of its source. The Four Terminals are feelings, The issues are! while the Nature consists of principles. Feelings, the source is the Nature. It is the same principle as when you infer the presence of an object from the shadow
9
. .
it casts.
232
10.
PHILOSOPHY
Po Feng 1
"OF
HUMAN NATURE
as
raised the question of the Nature
having both a pre-active and a post-active state. Answer. The moment the Nature has put forth activity you have Feeling. The Feelings are divisible into good
and
is wholly good and the Mind and the Feelings. Generally that the remember in Nature mu^st you speaking, defining Its in its origin it is the Decree received from Heaven. endowment thus has its source outside itself, and it cannot,
evil,
while the Nature
includes both the Nature
as in the case of the
Mind, be defined by a single word.
The Confucian
is
scholars of the
2
Han
"
dynasty, however, in
of
their explanation of the dictum,
The Decree
Heaven
what we term
"
th,e
Nature
"
as,
The Ligneous
is
disposition is
"
made use of such expressions the Metallic Love

;
disposition Righteousness did not adopt them heedlessly. these expressions closely.
and did so advisedly they The student should examine

:
At
thip point the
Philosopher sighed and said
Granted
you do not clearly open up the matter and are content with simple nurture, you will attain your object and even savs eome strength nevertheless, if you would expound
that if
;
teach, you must combine investigation with carefulness in teaching, and thus, it may be, avoid disrespect to the
and
ancients.
3 Feng long time ago I saw a statement by in which he spoke only of the Mind in contrast to the
11.
Wu
Nature, leaving no place for the Feelings.

1
Subsequently
Wu Pi Ta, style Po Feng, a pupil of Chu Hsi cf. J^ s Hu Wu F D.M., p. 246.

;
^
see
pt. xlix,
p>
f.
53.
ng>
25, n. 2.

I
233
saw the statement by Heng Ch u that the Mind .unites the Nature and the Feelings, 1 and recognized it as exceedingly
valuable, because it gives us the true application of the term treatment of the Feeling", and accords with Mencius
4
subject. Mencius says, of Love." 2 Now Love
"
A solicitous mind is the terminal
is the Nature, and Solicitude is we have the Mind recognized in Here then, Feeling. ,he Feeling. says, "Love, Righteousness, Rever Again 3 Here and have their root in the Mind." Wisdom ence, wo have the Mind recognized in the Nature. For the Mind includes within it both the Nature and the Feelings. The
Nature
12.
is
the substance and the Feelings are

define the
it
its
operation.
Most people
first.
Nature
first
and the Mind
afterwards, whereas
wôuld seem as if the
Mind
should
come
The ancients also in their construction of the the "Mind" ideograph first: the words made ideographs
"Nature"
and
".
"Feeling"
word
first
"
Mind
It is true that it is at
being both derived from the man s birth that he
receives these principles, but at the very moment of birth they are inherent in the Mind. Them again Love and
"
Righteousness are the Nature, but Mencius speaks of the Solicitude and con Heart of Love and Righteousness
".*
" "
"
scientiousness are Feelings, but Menoius calls them th)e and the conscientious mind 5 It is solicitous mind
".
because the Nature is the Law of the Mind, and the Feelings arq the operation of the Nature. Now by defining tho Mind
first,
men
are taught to recognize a lie&d to the Nature

pt. xviii,
f.
See
J^ |g,
14.
2
6
Mencius, p. 78.
Ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 336.
Mencius,
p. 283.
234
and the Feelings, and a receptacle for the principles of the Nature. If we put the Nature first, it gives the impression
of
an
additional
mind present
in the Nature.
Heng Ch
and
ii
statement,
Feelings,"
"The
Mind
unites
the
Nature
the
is
excellent.
13.
The Nature
is
that
;
which precedes
activity, the
and the Mind includes both the Feelings follow activity and the pre-activo post-active states. For the Mind s preactive state is the Nature,
and
its
post-active
"
state
is
The Mind unites Feeling, as is expressed in the saying the Nature and the Feelings." Desire is Feeling in its
:
The Mind is like water, the Nature is the of water at rest, Feeling is the flow of water, and Desires are the waves. But waves are good and bad. So
manifestation.
still ness
with desires
virtue
"
l
;
I desire there are good desires;, as when and there are evil desires which rush out pre
"
cipitately like wild
and boisterous waves.
For the most
part, evil desires destroy the
Divine Law, as when a
dam
bursts and carries with it universal destruction.
Wjitn
Mencius speaks of the Feelings as constituted for the practice of what is good, 2 he refers to the Feelings as they ought to
be.
As
they flow from the Nature they are infallibly good.
14. The Mind must be thought of as ruler. In activity and repose alike it is ruler. It is not that in repose the Mind is unemployed, and only rules when there is activity. I say "ruler" I mean that a,n all-comprehensive supreme ruler dwells within. The Mind unites and controls
1
When
Analects, VII, xxix, p. G8.
Mencius, p. 278.

the Nature
;
235
and Feelings but it is not united with the Nature and Feelings in such a way as to form one entity, without any distinction.
15.
Question.
clear,
When
man is
:
empty,
and unclouded
is
unoccupied and his mind not this the Ether, and

?
his spontaneous activity the
Nature
clear, and unclouded is the Mind. which dwells within in its entirety and without the Law,
Answer.
The empty,
slightest defect, is the Nature.
Activity in response to
by the external world is Feeling. Heng Ch ii it well when he says, From the Great Void we have puts the term Heaven from the transformations of the Ether we have the term Moral Law." 1 This is said of the universal. 41 By the union of the Void with the Ether we have the term Nature by the union of the Nature with Conscious
affection
"
ness
we have
the term
Mind."
This
is
said of
men and
other creatures.
16.
Question.
What is
?
the difference between the Mind,

"
the Nature, and Feeling
Answer.
corn
:
Ch eng Tzu
said
The Mind
is like
the seed
;
the principle of life contained in it is the Nature the putting forth of life on the part of the positive ether is x Extend this principle and you will find that it Feeling."
is
so with everything that exists.

17.
directly of the Nature.

i
Mencius, in his account of the Nature, did not speak What he said was, If we look at
"
Cheng Mtny,
f.
ft
f-
see
^
is
or
ft
f|
also
pt. xvii,
*
11.
P*"*
7TI
il?
The statement
by
Ch uan,
see p. 333.
236
the Feelings which flow from the Nature we may know that * they are constituted for the practice of what is good /
From
the goodness of the Feelings you
am infer the good
ness of the Nature.
The Philosopher eaid further In the case of solicitude and conscientiousness, for tho most part we infer the Nature from things contrary to its principles. It is when we see something calculated to wound that the feeling of solicitude is stirred it is when we do something hateful that the
:
conscientiousness feeling of "serving one s parents"
of
is
stirred.
In
the
casej
and
"obeying
one
elder
brother
2
",
the Nature
is
manifested in spontaneous accord
with these principles.

18.
Mind"
"-The
perfecting the 3 the Nature", you, sir, say: "understanding Mind is without substance: the Nature is its
Question.
In your comment on
"
and
substance."
How
is it
so
is
Answer.
are
The Mind
a hollow receptacle
the Nature
constitutes its inward content.
The principles of the Nature contained in the Mind, and when activity is put forth
is is
;
put forth pertains to the Nature. It is not a perceptible object inside called the Nature it is simply the inherent tightness of Law which constitutes the Nature. man ought to act in a certain way this
that there
that which
is
what constitutes his Nature. As to the passage in Mencius beginning with the words,: "The feeling of solicitude is 4 the terminal of Love these four sentences refer to the
"
Mencius, p. 278.
Ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 189.
Ibid., p. 324.

Nature, to the Feelings, and to Mind, which, well to consider in conjunction with Heng Ch
"The
237
it
ii
would bu dictum
Mind
unites the Nature and the
Feelings."
19.
The meaning of
the statement that the

:
Mind
r
unites
When th e Mind is the Nature and the Feelings is this still and as jet without movement, 1 the principles of Love,
Righteousness, Reverence, and
it is active
we have Feeling
Wisdom are present when Some assert that the state of

;
repose
is
the Nature, the activity the Mind, hut this is
dividing the
Mind
Mind and
the;
into two separate compartments, the Nature. It is not to be accounted for in terms
1
Everything has Mind and within, it is hollow like the heart of a chicken or pig which you have in your food, and which when you carve it you see to
of activity
and
repose.
be hollow.
Man s Mind
is like
that
it consists
of such
hollow places in which numerous principles are stored. If we take into consideration the whole universe with eternal
time, and apply this reasoning,
we
shall recognize that in

is
the whole heaven and in the whole earth there
nothing
origin here and that this is what constitutes the mystery of Man s Mind. Law inherent in
which does not have
its
man s Mind
Law.
is
what we
call
the Nature.
fills
the soil of the
Mind
is
that which
The Nature is like the Mind is simply
the seat of the spiritual intelligence, the ruler of the entire personality. The Nature consists of
T
The Mind
numerous principles received from Heaven and contained in the Mind, the manifestations of w hich in knowledge and
thought are all Feelings. unites the Nature and
1
Hence the statement

2
"
The Mind
See above.
Feelings."
a
Ti Ching,
p. 370.
238

You have discussed the Mind from the man s personality. Can you take what man s personality and apply it to
all
20. Question. point of view of we learn from
the universe
Answer.
The Decree of Heaven pervades

;
things
the
agent by which these principles are controlled is the Mind o Heaven 2 that which possesses these principles is the
Nature of Heaven,
the four seasons
;
and nourish
21.
If
all
as, for example, the law which produces and those influences which are put forth things are the Feelings of Heaven.
we
illustrate the relation
between the Mind and
the Nature by a grain of corn, 3 the envelope represents the Mind, from which in some cases there develops millet and
in other
cases! rice
;
the cause of the difference in the develop
ment from the

to produce.
1
different seed represents the Nature.

is
The
agent pf the development
the
Mind
by
its
province
is
simply
Or we may
illustrate
is its
the taking of medicine.

;
The healing
it is
which, follows
medicinal property whether

;
warm or warm or cold
and the cold in its property is its Nature effect as actually experienced after it has
Feeling.
"THE
been taken
is its
(TEN SECTIONS FROM

1.
COLLECTED
WRITINGS".)
Tso Hsii
said
"
Feelings proceed from the
Nature
and therefore stand in contrast to the Nature. The Mind has consciousness of both, and can unite and control both.
1
As
3JL
in the preceding section.
are the principles of the fo is the Mind of Heaven. 3E|| Nature which, in the universe at large, as in man, are controlled by Mind. 3 * See 235, n. 2. Feng Tso Hsu see p. 35, n* 5.
;
239
In a pre-active state, apart from a uniting factor, there would be inertness and nothing- more in the post-active state apart from a uniting factor there would simply be
;
confusion."
as the
why
mind
is good, but to regard inactivity If the Mind is originally inactive wrong. should Mencius "at forty attain to an unperturbed
This passage
Mind
?
*
is
If we recognize that the pre-active state is the Nature, that the post-active state is Feeling, while the Mind connects the activity and repose and is present in both, then
"
we
shall have the true account of all three.
In the
Word s
it is said, "The Nature exists in all things the universe, the Feelings follow the activities throughout of the universe, and the Mind moulds the virtues of the
of Wisdom"
Nature and the
Feelings."
This statement
is
very exact.
(Eeply to Feng Tso Hsu.)

2.
? Tho Mind
is
rules the
Nature and the
3
Feelings."
This principle
any further argument in
well understood, and time will not permit its support. But, as I view it,
the fact that in the pre-active state consciousness is unclouded shows unmistakably that the Mind is ruler of the Nature ;
and the fact that in the post-active state there is perfect order shows unmistakably that the Mind rules over the Feelings. The "Mind connect^ the hidden and the manifest, it unites
"
the higher and lower, it is everywhere present, and cannot be described in terms of extension or form. (Reply to Hu
Kuang Chung.) 4
1
same
2
3
Mencius, p. 61. The words in the original.
"unperturbed"
and
"inactive"
are the
$
Ibid
:
!>
P1
xlii
f.
P- 12 14.
see P- 32 of this
volume and note

4
pt. xviii,
See
p, 37, n* 2.
240
3
is
.

It is
granted that you cannot say that before activity
put forth tlie Nature and the Feelings are non-existent, but neither can you say that they are one and without any distinction nor can you say that there is no time when
;
For before activity is put empty and still. are contained within it but the countless forth, principles midst of the formless, and the activity in concrete in the the stillness, are as jyet wholly without manifestation or
the
is
;
Mind
location,
and
therefore
this
state
is
described
as
After activity is put forth, the concrete equilibrium. principles contained within operate in the midst of the
activity.
4.
(Reply to Hsu Yen Chang.)
I do not
know what your
later opinion
your
teaching as to the distinction between the
may be on Mind and
The Nature consists of principles, the Feelings are their outflow and operation. The Mind s consciousness is the agent by which these principles are possessed and the Feelings put into practice. Take Wisdom for example the principle by which we know the difference between right and wrong is Wisdom a principle of the Nature that by
the Nature.
;
which we actually regard a particular act as right or wrong is Feoling and the agent which possesses the principle and
;
is
conscious of the distinction
made
is
the Mind.
These
distinctions are subtle, but
they are examined with discrimination they will be understood. Affection, respect, the sense of obligation, and discrimination, 2 pleasure, anger,
if
1
j|l
2
=
:
"
to settle
",
as also does
correspond respectively to Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, and stand for the Four Feelings more usually given as Solicitude, Conscientiousness, Courtesy, and Moral Insight.
Note
These

grief,
241
and joy arc
the rest
may
Feelings. From what has been said be easily inferred. (Reply to P an Oh ien
all
1
Chin.)
5. The principles of Origin, Beauty, Order, and 1 Potentiality, are the Nature production, growth, maturity,
;
thq agent which causes Feelings of production by principle Origin, growth by the principle of Beauty, maturity by the principle of Order,
iare
and storage
the
the
and storage by the principle of Potentiality, is Mind. Lovej Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom are the Nature solicitude, conscientiousness, courtesy, and moral insight are the Feelings and the agent by which Love is affectionate,
;
;
by which Righteousness hates evil, by which Reverence is courteous, and by which Wisdom knows, is the Mind. The Nature is the law of the Mind the Feelings are the operation of the Mind, and the Mind is the ruler of the Nature and
1
Feelings.
Flux,
its
Ch eng Tzii s statement, Its substance is termed law is termed Moral La^v, and its operation is
"
termed
2
Spirit,"
is
just this idea.

:
The Philosopher went on to say When we speak of the Divine self-existence we refer to what is termed the Moral
Law of Heaven when we speak of the Divine immanence we

;
refer to the
Decree of Heaven.
He said
further
the state
ment,
Earth,"
To give birth to things is the Mind of Heaven and 3 expresses the same thought. (Treatise, on the Four
Ultimata.)
1
See
See
J. P.
2
3
p. 157,
Bruce, Introduction notes 2 and 3.

"
to
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap.
"
vii.
The phrase The creative Mind of Heaven and Earth expresses the same idea as the immanence of the Divine Decree referred to in the preceding
sentence.
242
6.

The possession
of
form implies the possession
of Mincl
the principles received by the Mind from Heaven are termed the Nature, and the movements of the Nature when affected
by,
the external world are termed
the;
Feelings.
These
three all
the rest
men have. The of men is not that
distinction betwesn the sage
and
have not. 1 But

the
the sage has them and that others in the case of the sage the Ether is clear and
Mind
true, therefore the

.
Feelings are without confusion his Mind so as to nourish

the Feelings.
Nature is complete and the The student should preserve the Nature and control
You, say that in the sage the
non-existent, and go on to maintain that keep Anything in our Mincl for a single
Mind we ought not

moment. 2
is
to
But
among
iall
those benefits which

it
now comes
useless drag
7.
that there
?
is
3 given to us just this one thing tn at is a
Heaven
lias
upon us
(Reply to
Hsu Ching Kuang.)

;
Question.
The Nature inj its beginning is only good
there is no evil originally which can be attributed to it. It is the Principle of Origin, the first of the Four Attributes,
Love the parent of the Five Cardinal Virtues. This is what is implied in Mencius The Nature of man is dictum, 4 what Ming Tao means when, quoting the. statement good," The law of their succession is goodness", 5 he says it refers
"
"
to the manifested operations of the Nature, the
Mind
of
the
Four Terminals.
?
,How then can you describe
it as .one
with Feeling
Cf.
Mencius, p. 288.
p. 356.
2
4 6
The Buddhist
idea.
3 5
Ibid., p. 294.
Yi Ching,
Mencius, p. 110. Mencius, p. 79.

Answer.
wholly
tho
243
is
The
:
Nature from
good
you
must
not
beginning to end in at it is say
at
good. wholly beginning that the Nature is Could you, in line with what your statement suggests, say that the Nature in the end is evil ? If the manifested
operations of the Nature are not Feelings, what are they ? What you may say is that the Feeling^ in their beginning are wholly good and without any ovil. In the phrase, If
"
the feelings which flow from the Nature/ I do not to accord think that the word jo (if we lo,ok at) means
"
we look at
with",
(Reply to
Wang Tzu
Ho.)
"
1
If we look at the Feelings Question. Mencius said, which flow from the Nature we may know that they are
8.
constituted for the practice of what is good and Chou Tzu said, "When the five nature-principles act in response
1
"
to affection
by the external world there omes the distinction

<
between good and evil." 2 This again connects both good and evil with activity. Can it be that Mencius is speaking from
the standpoint of the condition prior to the activity of the Feelings, and Chou Tzu from the standpoint of their postactive condition ?
necessarily wholly good, but in their origin they are constituted for doing good, and not for doing evil it is when they are perverted, that
;
Answer.
The Feelings are not
they issue in the practice of evil

1
3
.
Mencius spoke
(jo), in
of
them in
Ibid., p.
*
278
its
cf.
Legge
note on the word ^j

"
which he quotes
to
the view of
2
See the
the
interpretation referred to here. T ai Chi T u Shuo ; cf. J. P. Bruce, Introduction

s
Chu Hsi
and
3
Sung
School, chap. vi.|
See Legge
note on the original passage
Mencius,
p. 278.
244

;
their original perfection

their original perfection
Chou Tzu spoke
of
them both
in
and as they are when perverted.
Chuang Tzu has the same idea when he speaks of forsaking Heaven and violating the Feelings. (Reply to Chang Ching
Chih.)
9. Ch eng Tzu in his later writings clearly states that his statement that the Mind refers to the post- active period
was
inaccurate. 1
If
It is not easy to avoid slight error at
some
time or other.
we follow
his later statement there will be

is
no mistake
are
its
for the
Nature
the substance, the Feelings

"
operation, and the Mind connects the two. We must The Mind keep to the Master Heng Ch ii s statement unites the Nature and Feelings his way of expressing it
:
"
is
very exact.
10.
4<
(Reply
to
Fang Pin Wang.)
Borrow, or joy, the

2
Before there are any stirrings of pleasure, anger, Mind may be said to be in a state of
equilibrium."
This
is
the Nature.
in their
"After
they have
is
been
stirred,
and they act
due degree, there ensues

3
what may be called a
state of harmony."
This
Feeling.
Tzii Ssii in writing this desired the student to recognize what ho said as referring to Mind. The Mind
!
How
wonderfully
*
it "moulds
the virtues
of the
5
Nature and
Feelings"
1
(Reply to Chang Ching Fu.)

xxxi,
ff.
Jfl
gs,
pfc.
13-14.
The Philosopher
referred to
is I
Ch
uan.
See
2
3 4
p.
168 of this volume.

p. 248.
D.M.,
Ibid.
j(
H|,
pt. xlii,
f.
12
see p. 32
and
note.
Chang Chi h (J;J| Sung School, chap. iv.
|j^)
Chu Hsi and
the
PHILOSOPHY OP HUMAN NATURE

THE STEADFAST NATURE
(FOURTEEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
245
"CONVERSATIONS".)
How do you explain Ming Tao s state The highest attainment is with broadness of mind to be actuated by a high altruism, and to respond naturally and fittingly to each phenomenon as it presents itself ? * Answer. If with broadness of mind we are actuated by a
Question.
"
ment
"
2 high altruism we shall not be full of anxious thoughts if we respond naturally and fittingly to each phenomenon as
"
"
it
presents itself we shall not be in the position of having 3 only our friends follow us and think with us". It is just
the same idea as in the passage which speaks of a man being 4 I partisan and not catholic, or catholic and not partisan.
used to regard this section as calculated to confuse one, but

Quoted from the Essay on the Steadfast Nature (^j? ^y Ch eng Ming Tao; see Bfl Jff jJC $| pt. iii, ff. 1-3. The essay, which covers How little more than two pages, was written as an answer to the question is it that, even with a steadfast nature, we cannot but be active, as though we
1
1f)>
,
"
were one with the external world
^
"
o St (jjj? {4 1L The q 116811011 was P*- xiii i Do) See propounded by Chang Tsai, and therefore the essay is often referred to as The word The Essay on the Steadfast Nature in reply to Heng Ch ii in the passage quoted, includes the ideas of appropriateness and a
?"
%\*
$fa
fa
"&
f>
l&>
".
JH
spontaneous ease in the response to the external things. Jpp %fa which indicates with broadness of mind I have translated by the phrase the sphere in which the operates, corresponding to the high altruism
,
"
",
"
"
JJ&
2
2K tiie sphere in which a natural and fitting response is called for. That is, irresolute and unsettled. The allusion is to a passage in the
>
Yi Ching, p. 389 the complete sentence you go and come."

;
"
is
Full of anxious thoughts
3
4
Ibid.
This
ii,
is
a continuation of the sentence quoted above.

(p. 14).
Analects,
xiv
246

I have come to see that
"
now
2.
its
arguments are particularly
clear.
Shun Pi asked
"
Is not the essay

?
on
"
The
Steadfast
Nature
fast
very
difficult to
it is
Answer.
No,
grasp not very difficult.
The
"
title,
Stead
Nature,"
"Nature"
somewhat strange. The word jmeans Mind. Ming Tao s style is very com
bounds
prehensive.
reading one fails to understand or grasp liis full meaning, but with more careful study the divisions of the subject and their mutual relation become
the
first
At
clear.
This treatise was written when he was at

very young.
1
Hu
and
was
3.
still
Ming Tao s
treatise,
"The
settled
Nature/
gushed
out from his mind, as if there was some power behind pushing the ideas out so rapidly that he could not get them
all into
writing.
2
Chin Ch ing
said
This
is
exactly
what
is
described
as the language of a creator of truth. Chu Hsi. Yes, but throughout the whole treatise one
fails to find
any indication of howi
to
Fei
of
Ch iag. 3 Does not mind to be actuated by
the sentence,
make a beginning. With broadness

"
a high altruism and to respond

it
naturally and fittingly to eadi phenomenon as 4 furnish the point of departure ? itself,"
1
presents
See J. P. Bruce, Introduction
to
Chu Hsi and

ing,
the
Sung
School, chap.
s
iii.
Huang Kan (if| 1$), slyle, Chih Ch
one of Chu Hsi
most honoured
After some years of official life, he himself became a teacher of philosophy and had many followers, who gave him the name Mien Chai
disciples.
(16
3
<
*)
Surnamed Chu
See
p. 245.

Chu
Hsi.
247
This represents the goal.
present age men s selfish distract and distress them with no
Moreover, in the desires in innumerable forms
means
"
of escape:
how
can they ho
is iall
by a high altruism ? Their conduct to contrary principle, how can there be the natural
actuated
"
"
and fitting response to their environment ? Tao Fu. 1 -It is as you said the other day,
preserve our
mind."
sir,
We
must
2
,
Chu
ever
Hsi.
It does not lie
with you to preserve
it.
What
remedy you
find for the distraction
and
distress of the
cannot regain its lordship. You must perceive and understand the principles of the universe without the
Mind you
slightest
admixture of
selfish motives,
:
then you will succeed^;
The point where to rest 3 Otherwise, you will being known the mind is settled." find that selfish desire becomes like a live dragon or tiger,
as is expressed in the saying
impossible to master.
4.
Question.
4
"The
It is said in the treatise
on the
"
Settled
things to be feared are for the most part self -concentration and the calculating mind. 5 With selfconêntration there cannot be the action appropriate to the
Nature,"
for. 6
circumstances in which response to a phenomenon is called With the calculating mind there cannot be the
spontaneity of clear insight/

1
What
is
your opinion
See
p. 178, n. 6.
3
4 5
G.L., p. 220
see
Legge
;
quotation from Ying
Ta
in his note
on
p. 221.
See
p.
245,
and
is
note.
^ (wisdom)
Jfi
good
but to
^ ^
SB, *
"
(lit.
to use
wisdom
is
")
bad,
i.e.
8
to rely on calculating cleverness.
3$
JS
$J
p. 253.
248

This treatise from beginning to end has only
Answer.
these two thoughts. I Oh uan s style is to divide clearly, into sections. Ming Tao generally favours con At first it seems to lack a governing tinuous discourse.
carefully grasped you perceive the unity and connexion running through the entire work. "In the
unity, but
when
study of the noble-mindM the highest attainment is with broadness of mind to be actuated by a high altruist, and to respond naturally and fittingly to each phenomenon as it
1 There is a great deal that follows after, presents itself." but it says no more than is expressed in these two sentences.
r
The passage in the Yi Ching: "When one s resting is like that of the back, and he loses all consciousness of self when he walks in his courtyard and does not see any of the persons
;
in
expresses the same idea as the phrase, With broad ness of mind to be actuated by a high altruism." The
2
"
it,"
passage in Mencius,
the
"What
their boring out their
I dislike in your wise men is 3 conclusions," expresses the idea of

naturally and
itself."
phrase,
"Respond
fittingly
to
"
each
phenomenon
1
as it presents
In the passage,
Only
See p. 245, n. 1. Yi Ching, pp. 175-6. Legge explains the hexagram referred to as the mental characteristic of resting in what is right of which denoting the symbolism is taken from different parts of the human body. One of
2
"
",
these parts
"
is
the back, of which Legge says in explanation of this passage
The back alone has nothing to do with anything beyond itself hardly with itself even. So should it be with us, resting in principle, free from the intrusion of selfish thoughts and external objects. Amidst society, he who realizes the idea of the hexagram is still alone, and does not allow himself to be distracted from the contemplation and following of principle." See It is this attitude of mind which Chu Hsi says corresponds ibid., p. 177. to Ming Tao s high altruism
"
".
Mencius, p. 207.

let
249
s anger straightway forget the and the consider right and wrong of the principle anger 1 the phrase involved/ straightway forget the anger"
"
one in the midst of one
answers to the phrase, "With broadness of mind to be consider the actuated by a high altruism," and the phrase,
"
and wrong of the principle involved," answers to the phrase, "respond naturally and fittingly to each phenomenon
right
as it presents
itself."
If
you thus study the passage care
fully
you
will get at its
meaning.
In Ming Tao s essay in reply to Heng Ch ii s question 5. on our experience that "even with a Steadfast Nature we cannot but be active," 2 his idea is that we should neither
despise external things nor banish
day in their and in banishing things are nevertheless things reject led away by them whereas true goodness is neither to reject them nor drift with them, but in all cases to respond to them in exactly the right way. 3 For Heng Ch ii s idea is that we should cut ourselves off from the outward, and make stead
all,
;
of the present
them from us. People disapproval of some external
fast the
inward
while
Ming Tao
idea
is
that
we should
harmonize the outward and inward in one unity. Alike in activity and repose the Mind should be steadfast, then in the
response to external things we shall naturally avoid being in bondage to them. If the Mind is steadfast only in the time of repose, then it is to be feared that in the time of
activity
1
we
shall
be ensnared by external things.

the Steadfast Nature, see p. 245.
Quoted from the Essay on

Ibid.
rfft BO
2
3
f&
H3
,|A Itl
250
6.

Question.
fast alike in activity
In the case of the sages, the Mind is stead and in repose. Is what is described
?
as
;
"steadfast"
the substance
Answar.
Yes.
it
Question. Does
fast
mean
that the
Mind remains
or
stead
when
evil
good and evil When Answer.
things approach and affect us, things approach, and affect us ?

evil
when both
things approach us they do not affect us, and of course there is no response from myself.
Question.
What
There
Answer.
is
about good things ? response in every case where there

I myself remain steadfast. Master bewailed Yen Yilan
should be response, and just in proportion to the degree

of the approach.
Question.
But through all

"
When
"/
the
exceedingly
Answer.
right.
wherein did the steadfastness appear ? There was response which was in accord with
also
We
must
with broadness of mind be actuated
by a high altruism, and respond naturally and fittingly I have thought to each phenomenon as it presents itself this over often, and regard it as an all-round statement
:
of the truth.
7.
tlie
Question. I do not clearly understand the nature of steadfastness in the case of the sages
.
Answer.
is
"The
point where
)to
rest
steadfastness." 2
Look only at
this
being known there one sentence iand
you
there
meaning. In everything in the universe the right point in which to rest. Know this, and naturally the Mind will not be moved by external things.
will get at the
is
1
Analects, xi, G.L. ; p. 220.
ix, 1, p. 104.

Question.
heavens".
1
251
sorrowful
and wept toward the pitying "When Hsiang was sorrowful he was also when Hsiang was joyful he was also joyful." 2
cried out in this
?
Shun
"
.When Shun acted
way
in
what respect oould he be
said to be steadfast
Answer. This is a case of response where there should be response when that is the case there is steadfastness. To respond where there should be no response is confusion not to respond when there should be response is to be dead.
;
;
8.
Question.
"It
is
the constant rule of Heaven and

to
It
Earth by means of the Mind to fill all things, and yet do so spontaneously and without effort of the Mind.
is
the constant rule of the saês by means of the Feelings to be in harmony with all things, and yet to be so
spontaneously and without effort of the Feelings. There fore in the study of the noble-minded the highest attain
ment
is
with broadness of mind to be actuated by a high
altruism,
and
to respond naturally
itself."
and
fittingly to each
phenomenon
as it presents
What
about che learner
who
has not yet attained to this

"
Answer.
Although we may not have attained
to this,
With broadness of mind to bo yet such is the ideal. actuated by a high altruism" is to expel selfish motives, to act in given circumstances in harmony with the principle
by those circumstances. Suppose a case in which you yourself recognize that you shoiuld act on certain principles towards a certain man, but from motives of
indicated
1
See Mencius,
Ibid., p. 223.
p. 218.
2 3
The whole passage
is
quoted from Ming Tao
Essay
see p. 245.
252

you accord
this treatment to
partiality
Tliis
is
some other man.

response.
the Opposite of just, and does violence to those
principles, so that there cannot
be the
fitting
The
saint has the saint s measure of altruism, the sage has the sage s, the learner the learner s.
Question.
attain to it
I certainly dare not ask
what
is
the measure
of altruism attainable
;
as though I could but what -should be the attitude of the learner ?
by saints and sages
Answer.
Simply
selfish desire.
altruism"
preserve his mind and crvercome These two sentences are complete; "high
let
;
"
him
"natural expresses the matter comprehensively in detail what is fitting response expresses comprised within it. Altruism is ingenuousness ; it corresponds to
and
the passage
"
The Decree of Heaven, how profound

J>1
it is
and undying
"
"Fitting
response"
corresponds to the
passage
The method
2
of
Ch
ien
is
to create
and transform
so that everything obtains its correct nature as ordained
by
9
Heaven."
The
phrase,
With broadness of mind
to be actuated
by a high altruism," corresponds to the expression, "Still and without movement." 3 "To respond naturally and to each phenomenon as it presents itself" fittingly
corresponds to
to all
"When
3
acted upon
it
penetrates forthwith
phenomena".
"It
10.
means of
the constant rule of Heaven and Earth by the Mind to fill all things, and yet to do so
is
1
Odes, p. 570.
2
3
Yi Clung,
p. 213.
Ibid., p. 370.
253
It is the spontaneously .and without effort of the Mind. constant rule of the sage by moans of the Feelings to be in harmony with all things and yet to be so spontaneously
and without
"
effort of the Feelings."

"
In
this passage the

all
phrases,
things",
fill
all
things
to
and
"
"
be in harmony with
broadness of
be correspond while the phrases, without actuated by a high altruism effort of the Mind" and "without effort of the Feelings",
"With
;
mind
"
to
correspond
to
"respond
naturally
and
fittingly to each
presents phenomenon makes high altruism with broadness of mind impossible, and then there cannot be the action appropriate to the
itself".
as
it
Self -concentration
for
circumstances in which response to a phenomenon is called a calculating use of wisdom makes a natural Paid
;
response to each phenomenon as it presents itself impossible, and then there cannot be the spontaneity of
fitting
clear insight.
11.
In
Ming Tao
is
statement:
"There
cannot bo the
action appropriate to the circumstances in which response

to a
phenomenon
called for/
the expression ying
clii
means the circumstances in which response to a phenomenon is called for. As to the Mind, it is not yet active.
12.
Question.
C?
Yesterday, arising out of the statement
that
Ch eno; Tzu. attributed self-concentration to the 2 Buddhists, Wei Tao quoted from Ming Tao s essay in to Ch ii. You, sir, replied But this refers reply Heng
:
to the selfishness of people generally.

1
It
was objected
his
Quoted from Ming Tao s Essay on the Steadfast Nature. Wei Tao was a disciple of Chu Hsi. His surname was Yeh, and Chih Tao
ri
.
254
that
"

if
self -concentration," expressions, the of use with wisdom," expression "checking calculating which follows, then the statement seems limited anger
"
we
"
take
the
but if we have in mind the complete in its application be self-concentration there cannot be If there sentences,
;
"
tho action appropriate to the circumstances in which response If there be calculating to a phenomenon is called for," and,
"
wisdom there cannot be the spontaneity of clear insight," we shall realize that what is referred to is very wide. You, That is true but Ming Tao was speaking of men s sir, said selfishness in a general sense. Wei Tao then referred to the
:
theory of looking at one s reflection in a mirror, and the theory that advocates aversion from external tilings. You
said:
men and
These also are selfishness. The selfishness of ordinarythe self -concentration of the Buddhist are one
selfishness.
and the same

then said
of
referring to the
:
But Oh eng Tzu was not specially You self -concentration of the Buddhist. But there are some whose minds 2
This was said by way of admonition because

ii
Heng Ch
s error. 1
are naturally
to their
in a
empty and therefore are not able to respond and there are those who are immersed self-induced emptiness and will not respond to their
environment
;
environment
with,
and both are self -concentration. If we can openness of mind be actuated by a high altruism,
;
then the exalted will not
fall into
a vacant
solitariness,
and the lowly will not be entangled by creaturely desire

1
That
"
is,
his
2
*
"
Essay
in the question which was the occasion of see p. 249, and p. 245, n. 1. ;
Ming Tao writing
4 =
1
j&-
As do the Buddhists.

as a matter of course
255
we
"
shall be able
to
respond naturally
itself".
and
fittingly to each
phenomenon
and
as it presents
13.
The Master
stirred
referred to the fact that

difficult
men s
are
easily
to
control
feelings that ;
anger is the most difficult to control, but that in the midst of the anger we can rapidly check it and consider the right and the wrong of the matter involved. Formerly
he said that
of
itlie
when we thus matter we shall see
consider the right and wrong ourselves to be right and the

is intensified.
other to be wrong, and thus the contention

"
Afterwards he came to see that this was a mistake and that Mencius is right when he says The noble man will say
:
I Inust be lacking in love

.
.
and will examine himself and
be loving
perversity and unreasonableness of the other, however, are still the same Then he will
. .
The
say
This
is
simply a lost
man
"
14.
Questicm.
The
sages, one
would think, never wore
an angry countenance. Answer. Why should

countenance
?
they never wear an angry :When one ought to be angry the anger ought also to be manifested in the countenance. For example, it would not be right to go and reprove a man when he is wrong with a smile on your face.
1
The whole
is
of this section appears to

all of
answer
recorded, unless one or
form one question to which no the instances in which
^ ^R
occurs are taken as the Philosopher s answers. could not be consecutive, and the
-ffc
But in that case the dialogue

|^[ is
is
not generally used in
this
manner.
It
seems most probable that this
given as the only record
of the conversation received

2
by the questioner.
Mencius, pp. 209-10.
256
In that case the quality of the anger would Question. be affected, would it not ?
Answer.
criminals
it
When Heaven
was right
for
is
angry
there
cut
off
are
the
reverberations of thunder.
When Shun
him
also to
the four
be angry.
Bub
in
the midst of the anger there should be moderation, iand when the matter is past the anger should subside and not
revive.
(ONE SECTION FROM THE COLLECTED WRITINGS The expression "Steadfast Nature" means the attain ment of the original quality of the Nature by the completion
"
".)
has become steadfast
work of preservation and nurture. When the Nature it remains the sajme whether in activity or repose, and there is no difference between the internal and external. Is it not because of their steadfastness that Heaven and Earth are Heaven jand Earth, and that the sages are sages ? The study of the noble man, too, aims Therefore with broadness of mind solely at steadfastness. to bo actuated by a high altruism is what makes Love to bo the substance and what makes Righteousness its
of the
"
"
operation
established
is
is
the
as
"natural
(and fitting response to each

itself".
phenomenon
it
presents
When Love
is
and Righteousness practised, then the Nature mado steadfast and activity is everywhere unified,, as
1 expressed in the term "Cheng". Why, then, should he be in haste and in a fever of anxiety about putting away
external temptations
1
The reason why ordinary men

and therefore
true",
fail
fixed
Cheng (Jj) means
"correct
i.e. it
is
j,
or steadfast.

n
steadfastness, however, is not because the
defective, but because
its
257
>riginally
Nature wag Love has been violated
yy self -concentration, its Righteousness has been injured yy calculating cleverness, and so the Feelings are beclouded
They do not think of turning and themselves eliminating the evil, but fix their upon attention upon hatred of external things as their object, and
d feverish anxiety prevails.
seek illumination in solitude.
ihey toil
The
result is that the
more
and expend their energy, the more beclouded is Jie illuminating principle within them, and they are all the more feverishly anxious and jself -ignorant. When "the l we shall be free from selfresting is like that of the back
"
sonccntration.
processes"
When we can
ishall
we
accomplish things by natural be free from a calculating cleverness.

is
To be oblivious of both subject and object

If
not oblivion.
we
act in accordance with right principle
we
shall not
;
assert the subjective at the

if
expense of the objective
and
we do not assert the subjective at the expense of the objective, we shall attain a high altruism and be in harmony,
with our environment, in which case what is there of all The pleasure and ihings external that can entangle us ?
anger of the sages, because they were actuated by a high, altruism and were in harmony with their environment, were
pleasure and anger of the mass of men, because they are actuated by selfconcentration and calculating cleverness, are the ebullitions
the perfection of the Divine
Law.
The
human passion. Discard anger and cherish altruism, observe principles and act in harmony with them those are the prescriptions for examining oneself and eliminating
of
:
Yi Ching,
p.
175
cf. n.
2 on p. 248 of this volume.
258

Now
it is
the evil.
not for us who come after to
criticize
Chang Tzii s philosophy, but, in view of his way of forcing arguments and his lack of wide penetration and mature
consideration, there could not hut be doubts
It
1
on this subject. was for this reason that Gh eng Tzu issued his treatise his ftim was profound. (Discussion of the "Steadfast
;
Nature".)
FEELING AND MOTIVE

(FOUR SECTIONS FROM THE
"CONVERSATIONS".)
1. Question. N1^re Motives the operation of the Mind, or the emanation ^from the Mind ?
Ansiver. the Mind.
The
operation of the
Mind
is
emanation from
what, then,
is
Question. Feelings are also emanations the difference ?
Answer.
determines
refers to the character of the

its
Feelings emanate from the Nature. Feeling emanation Motive is wfojat

;
character. For example,

;
when I like
a certain
the wherefore of my liking it is thing, that is iFeeling the Motive. Feeling is like a boat or a cart, Motive is like
the
man s
use of them
it is also Motives issue Question. said that Motives come after Mind, so that their emanation
2.
from the Mind
is still
But when selfish motives controlled by the Mind. abound the Mind also follows them. Is it not so ?
Answer.
3.
Certainly.
Li
Meng Hsien asked

?
What
is
the difference
between Feeling and Motive

Answer.
Feeling
is
259
is
the ability to act
Motive
the
ways of how to act. Motives come into operation after, and because of, the existence of the
consideration in various
Feelings.
"
4.
Question.
Nature"
l
;
The Decree
of
Heaven
is
what we term
plenum of the body is the Ether; affection and stimulus by the external world are Feeling
;
the
the
the ruling faculty is the Mind that which determines the direction is the Will that on which thought is fastened as
;
its
objective
is
the Motive
and the driving force is Desire.
Answer.
is
The
,the
correctness or otherwise of these statements
a matter of speculation.
The important thing

;
is
in
subject not to be hurried,, but to exercise a wide penetration with mature consideration thus in course
discussing
of time it will
become
clear.
I have heard the Master;2

is
say that the definition of terms
exceedingly difficult to determine. For example, in defining the Nature there is the Nature of Heaven and Earth and there is the physical
;
nature
in defining Love, I Gh uan sometimes speaks of Love in the universal sense and sometimes in the particular sense. Such distinctions must be thought about quietly and
thoroughly understood.
THE WILL AND THE ETHER. THE WILL AND MOTIVES

(Six SECTIONS
1.
FROM THE
"CONVERSATIONS".)
The Nature
is
Divine Law, with which

is
all things are
endowed so completely that there

1
not a single principle

Chu Hsi and
D.M., p. 247. Probably Li Yen
P ing
the
Sung
School, chap. iv.
260

The Mind
is
the ruler of the entire person. The Motives are the emanation of the Mind. Feelings are
lacking.
the
the
movements of the Mind.
The Will
is
the direction of
Mind, and is stronger than Feeling or Motive. The Ether is what constitutes the fleshly element and
the
plenum The
of the body,
it is
more corporeal and

is
coarser
than the
2.
rest.
direction
of the
Mind
"
termed the Will
the
"
direction of the pun

is
is
termed time.
The
"
ideograph,
"
will
towards derived from the ideographs The ideograph "time" is derived from
"gun".
and
"
mind
3
".
"towards!"
land
The idea in
fat
the formation of the ideograph for
"time"
was taken from the sun s forward movement as

noon or daybreak.
seen, for example,
The Will
is
the
direction in which the
Mind
4 moves, going straight forward.
Motives are the working processes, backwards and forwards, of the Will they are the feet of the Will. A1J the doing of business and calculating and going to and fro of the
;
Mind
Will
3
.
are the Motives.

is altruistic
Therefore
Heng Ch u
"
said
The
and the Motives are
egoistic."
Question.
What is
the difference between Motive and
Will?
1
Z
The
= %.
old form of
J^ was composed
~, of
of
is
an(*
>&
^r
Chalfant gives
5
its
probable original as
pi. xxii.
which
S(^
the original of
8ee
Ear ty
Chinese Writing,
3 4
cf. the old form The j^ in fl wa3 originally given above. Chu Hsi thus explains these ideographs as expressing the idea of motion,
;
but the old form of

Chinese Writing,
J^,
as
"
rather the idea of will as

pis. xxii
given by Dr. Chalfant (see n. that which issues from the heart
viii.
2),
suggests
".
See Early
and

Answer.
two terms
weak, Will
4.
261
Heng Ch u
Motive
is
said
"The
difference between the
and
Will
is
that Will is altruistic

is
and the Motives are
Will is strong and Motive positive and Motive is negative."

egoistic,
Question.
Motives are the outcome of the
Mind how
;
do they compare with the Feelings and the Nature Answer. Motives are closely allied to Feelings.
Question. Ansioer.
What
is
about the Will

is
The Will
also closely, allied to the Feelings.

"
But the Mind

its
originally "still and without movement first activities are called the^ Motives. Heng Ch ii said
is altruistic,
and the Motives are egoistic." This well The Will is clear, Motives are to be paid. appears Will thle turbid the is strong, the Motives are weak
; ;
The Will
Will
is
assertive,
Motives are in the background.
You
need only to consider this carefully and you will see that it The Motives we speak of are for the most part selfish. is so.
Of
the Will it
"
is
said
The Will of even a common man

2
cannot be taken from
him."
The Will pertains to the positive element in the 5. 3 universe, and the Ether is the negative.
6. When the Ether is concentrated it naturally energizes the Will, as the ancients were nourished in their activity
and
1
rest.
2
The
Ft Ching, p. 370. fact that
Analects, X,
xxv
(p. 88).
ftff,
is
here contrasted with
J^ and
said to be
the
negative mode, shows that it is used in a limited and narrow sense. It is not the primordial ether, which is both positive and negative, but the negative ether which becomes solid matter and the physical element in man s
the pure and bright portion of the being, in contrast to the positive, which becomes spirit. It is to the latter that the will pertains.
"
ether,"
262
(ONE SECTION. FROM THE "COLLECTED WRITINGS".) The Ether is one. When it is controlled by the Mind, it becomes resoluteness when undJer the control of the body it is passion. (Reply to Li Hui Shu.)
1
.
THOUGHT
(Six SECTIONS FROM THE "CONVERSATIONS
1.
.)
Te Fu
jsaid
Thought
lost,
it
1
is
perspicacity.
Learning
without thought
thought. not think
is
labour
How
?
then can
simply because there is no be maintained that we must
Answer. Yes indeed, if we must not think, of what value would the books left us by the sages be ?
2.
A
;
Answer.
question was asked about thought and distraction. Without thought you cannot know what the
Mind is it is when you apply thought that you know that You know it the Mind is thus subject to distraction.
gradually, but also
3.
by mental
evoked.
.a
application.
;
Learning originates in thought

is
it is
by thought
s
that intelligence
4.
Ts a,i
;asked
question about Clr eng Tzu

to
words,:
"When
you
seek
cease
from thought, you
find that
thought does not cease." Answer. You must not try to cease from thought. Simply exercise care and all anxious thought will die away.
5.
Question,.
2
Heng Ch
ii
said:
"When
undisciplined
less
;
thoughts
1
abound the constant mind becomes

",
when
Analects, II, xv (p. 14).

"
Lit.
guest thoughts
s control,
i.e.
under the mind
and hankering
thoughts that come in from outside, not after the impossible.

the
263
practised in error prevails the true mind is not Is there any difference between the expressions perfected."
mind
"
"
undisciplined thoughts
"
and
"
the
mind
practised
in
error
Answer.
Yes, there
"
is
a difference.
"Undisciplined
"The thoughts" are thoughts that (overflow like a flood. mind practised in error is the mind which in the past has
by practice become contaminated and obtained the mastery on the wrong side. The "true mind 7 is the moral mind. 6. Question. The manifestations of the mind in thought
are both good and evil. It seems to me that evil thoughts there are those wh,ich appear in the are of two kinds
:
thoughts and proceed from within unconsciously. There are others which arise from external temptations and so The way to exclude depravity is to be stir the thoughts. unremittent in effort, to examine the mind s outgoings in thought, and not allow them when wrong to be actualized in deed. In temptations arising from external things there must be watchful tare over sights and sounds, speech and actions. But the most important thing is to maintain
seriousness
:
if
there be seriousness, then there will be
a dignified interaction of the bodily and mental functions, the inward and the outward, and no injurious divorce
between the two
Answer. To say
is
that there are two kinds of evil thoughts
undoubtedly correct.
But
after all, those
which appear
unconsciously in thought are also from outside. The Divine Law is one, and if there be anything evil it does not proceed from the Divine Law,; if it does not proceed from the
Divine
Law
it
must come from
outside.
Sights and sounds,
264
speech and actions, include both the outward and the inward, and must not be referred to as if they were purely external functions. If in your thought you make one set
of functions to be internal and another set of functions to
be external, then the internal and external are separated the one from the other, which is an impossible idea. There
must be sincerity in thought and watchfulness in action, then there can be the proper interaction of the internal and
external functions.
(SEVEN SECTIONS FROM THE

1.
"COLLECTED WHITINGS".)
Man s mind is never without the

thought
is called for
principle of thought.
to think,
When
we ought
and not
l
make painful
2.
efforts to
banish and crush thought, and so
fall into the evil
of unrest.
(Reply to
Wu
Po Feng.)
2
Question.
How may we
"repress
desire" ?
It is thought that can repress desire. Some one said If thought be not correct it is inadequate to repress desire this is how it happens that the business
:
Answer. Simply by thought. In nothing more important than thought.
learning there
is
of life
is
?
injured.
How
about thoughts which are not
depraved
desires.
Answer.
Thoughts which are not correct are simply To think on the right and wrong, the ought and
tlijing desired,
ought not, of the

correct.
can never be other than
(Reply to the students at the
Tu Ch ang
District
School.)
1
pupil of
Chu Hsi
p. 317.
his
ming was Pi Ta,
See
|j|
Ixix,
f.
53.
Yi Ching,

3.
265
The expressions
true"
"guard
your .mind
"
and
"make
do not mean that we are to be immersed but that we should be con in a condition of no-thought
the inind
;
stantly on the watch, think upon what we ought to thiink (Reply- to Kuo upon, and not violate moral principle.
Hsi
4.
Lfl.)
perfecting even though the response to environment be natural and easy, how can there be neglect of thought when approaching any matter ? And still more, when we
"investigation
1
In the
of
things"
and
"
of knowledge",
have not attained to that condition,

exercise repeated thought?
5.
(Reply to
how can we fail to Ch en. An Oh ing.) 2
To
the time has
consider the principle involved in an affair after: come for dealing with it, or to consider the
principle of anything
is
when
past, is to fail
of attainment
the time for taking it in hand from lack of forethought.

it
On
the other hand, to discuss
beforehand
is to fall
into
the error (spoken of as thinking about what is not my, But with business 3 and so creating confusion of thought.
prolonged
difficulty.
6.
effort there will
appear a
way
ing.)
of settling this
(Reply to
Ch eng Tzu Ch
What you
say as to thoughts being so multifarious
that the breast becomes solidified
and clogged,
is
what
all
learners deplore, but it is very difficult to rid ourselves
of
them
all at once.
It is better to use the

it to
mental energy
devoted to such thought and devote

1
the investigation;
G.L., p. 222.
2
3
Seep. 195,
n. 2.
See Analects,
XIV,
xxviii, p. 150.
266

;
of principles
let us
be earnest and whole-hearted in
the!
latter direction,
and the things that trouble us in the former any

effort of ours
direction will unravel themselves without

to solve them.
7.
(Reply
la
to
Wang Tzu Ho.)
question on the subject of thought and distraction, someone has said the Mind is really with for the most part its consideration is of things out thought
In answer to
past or of things
still
to
come.
is
I say that the relation

-of
between
its
Mind and thought
that
the substance and
operation, and it is for this reason that the knowledge of the future and the memory of the past are united together
so ithat there is not a single thing outside its iscope. 1 If
only
we can be
it
careful
and so hold
it fast,
then we
may
have
in its perfection and be free from anxiety as to Your anixiety as to distraction, and your distraction.
statement as to the
Mind
being originally without thought,

distinction between
show that you have not grasped the
substance and operation. And further let me ask how can your theory of the Mind being originally without thought cure the -avil of distraction which already exists ? (Record
of Doubts.)
1
That
is,
of the
Mind.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUKE

BOOK V
BEING BOOK XLVI OF
MOEAL LAW
LAW
VIRTUE
BOOK V
MORAL LAW
CONVERSATIONS".) (FOURTEEN SECTIONS FROM THE 1. The term Moral Law 1 includes both substance and its hidden essence and its wide peration, both
"
manifestation.
2.
is
efers
The word Tao means a road. Generally speaking the road which all men follow while Li 2 to each principle as distinct and marked off from.
;
rest.
tatement,
is
Arising from this the Philosopher quoted "Tao is a road. But Tao itself
in
K ang
Chieh
s
;
is invisible
men s
made
t
manifest.
actions as they, walk along this road that it It is like the road itself so level that
can be travelled upon for countless myriads of years,

all
nd
3.
men
find their
way
to
it."
Question.
How
is
do you distinguish between

is
Tao
nd Li?
Answer.
Question.
Tao
Yes.
a road, Li
like the veins of
bamboo.
Is it like the grain in
wood
Answer.
Question.
e alike.
1
In that case the two terms would seem to
The word
for Moral
Law
is
Tao
(jit).
In
many
contexts
it
is
mpossible to translate, particularly in this book (Book V), largely taken as it is with controversies with Taoists, whose use of the word is .p
lifferent
2
3
from that
*s
of
Chu
f
Hsi.
r
(SI)
*ke worci
is
This statement
It will be
Law, the immaterial element in the Universe. by the philosopher Shao Yung, canonized as K ang
lihieh.
found in the
JE |g
pt. ix, f
8.
270

The content of the word Tao is wide Li numerous vein-like principles included in the
;
Answer.
consists of
<
term Tao.
jt
The Philosopher further

tion to the vast
said
The term Tao

;
calls attencalls
it
and comprehensive
the term Li
attention to the minute and infinitesimal.

4.
"
Question.
sets
1
The sun
Viewing the universe comprehensively, and the moon rises, the cold passes and the
"
heat
all
returns,"
the four seasons pursue their course, and

2
This is the things are continually being produced." pervading and manifested operation of Tao. Speaking in a collective sense, does the continuity of this going and
returning,
moment s
Answer.
is
transforming, without a single cessation, constitute the substance of Tao ?

creating
and
Your explanation of substance and operation but right, you ought not to use the word "collective/ because then you are including the operation. Take only the immovable and abiding element, and you have what
is
I!
the substance.
For
instance, the flow of water,
the
cessation of its flow, or the lashing into billows

its (operation
;
these are
flow,
or to be lashed into billows

:
the unchanging power to flow, to cease from this is the substance.
Or take the human frame
the body
is
the substance, the
sight of the eye, the hearing of the ear, and the movements The hand is the of hand and foot, are its operation.
substance,
the
movements
its
of
the
fingers
in
picking
up things are
operation.
7i Ching, p. 389. Analects, XVII, xix, 3 (p. 190).

Ch un 1
"
271
aying,
ie break
2 quoted the Commentary on the Analects as The past is past, but the future joins on without
a single 16 substance of Tao

oj:
moment."
is.
This
is essentially
what
Answer.
5.
That
is
the idea.
The other evening it was said that there Question. in the relation between substance and operation, fixity ut that it varies according to circumstances. What if we
no
phenomena together and regard them as one vast and operation ? Answer. The relation between substance and operation nevertheless fixed. The present is the substance, the merging future is its operation. The body is the substance, movements and activities are its operation. Heaven is
ike all
ibstance
ie substance
its
"
that
all
things owe,to
it
their
beginning"
"all
operation.
Earth
birth"
is the substance,
that
we
f
to it their
4 is its
operation.
From
is
view of the positive mode, the positive

its
;
things the point the substance
nd the negative
ie
from the point of view of operation the negative mode, negative is the substance, and the
said sometime ago,
"
ositive its operation.

6.
j
Question. the substance
You,
"
sir,
"Reverence
is
now you
say,
Reverence
the graoe-
nl
expression of Divine Law, the pageantry of human which is more like operation than substance. [fairs,"
Answer.
1
Your people in Kiangsi have a

2 3 4
particular
way
Probably Ch en Ch un see p. Chu Hsi s own Commentar}

;
"
90 and note.
".
Yi Ching,
p. 213.
Ibid., p. 214.
272

When you
have
is the operation foot rule without
of talking about substance and operation. divided a thing into sections you. say it
and not the substance.

the divisions into inches
into inches,
it is
For example, a
is
the substance
with the division
the operation.
scale
without the dots

;
with these marking the different weights is the substance d ots, it is the operation. 1 Or again, a fan has the handle, the bones, and the paper pastel on this is the substance
:
when one waves
Yang
\
you have its operation. Chih Chih asked about the term substance.
it
Answer.
7.
The inherent
call
fitness of a
is
thing
is
the substance,
j,
.What we
ordinary
Moral Law
has
to
not something out of

sought.
It
is
!ii
the
which
be
what
Li
we commonly speak
by me, and
of as moral principle, and not eome other Tao which needs suddenly to be discovered and seized
so recognized as
Ji
Moral Law.
It is no
than the ordinary principles of everyday life, that this is right and that is wrong. The recogni tion of right in everything is Moral Law. In the present
more by which
we know
day the Buddhists talk of a

suddenly. handled.
8.
But Tao
is
Tao which is to be apprehended not a thing which can be felt and

the
The Moral Law
is
past and in the present. filial obedience of the son, the benevolence of the sovereign, and the loyalty of the minister, are one principle common
to all people.
1
followed by all in the The kindness of the father, the
Law
Virtue
is
is
the reception of this
Law
in one
Chinese scale
a steelyard with the different weights indicated bj
brass brads.

wn
person
;
273
just as, when the sovereign cannot but be Benevolent and the minister loyal, it is because they have
eceived this
Moral
Law
within themselves, and therefore
nanifest this disposition.
o the virtue of Yao. o the virtue of Shun.
Yao cultivated it and Shun cultivated it and
attained
attained
From
before heaven and earth,
rom the incarnation

.as
of the Imperial Hsi, 1 in all there from the ages of the been but this one Moral Law
;
ast right
acli
up
till
now
there has been no othjer.
Only in
truth into
generation there appears one

2
who
stands out as leader;

th|is
ut he is leader because he has received

tis
own
personality.
It is not that
jaw, and
another, }how, with Confucius, each h ad theirs.
Shun
is
Yao had on Moral while King Wen and the Duke

Lao
Tzii said,
3
iWhen Tao
lost people follow after
Virtue,"
which
bows that he did not understand either of these terms.

distinguish
?ao lat
tie
them
as
two separate
entities is to
make
to all
an empty abstraction. Our they are simply one entity
Confucian school teaches

;
it is as
common
ages, and not from the point of view of the individual Virtue is this Tao received ion, that it is termed Tao.
by the individual personality. Lao Tzu ays, "When Tao is lost, people follow after Virtue, when r irtue is lost people follow after Love, when Love is lost 3 But if We separate eople follow after Righteousness."
its
entirety
>
Fu Hsi, the first of the Five Emperors of the legendary period, supposed have been miraculously conceived by his mother see Giles Biog. Diet.,
;
233.
2
3
Showing that the apparent exception is no exception. cf. The Sayings of Lao-Tzii, See the Tao Te CMng, chap, xxxviii
;
y Lionel
Giles, p. 25.
274

ethical
Tao from Love and Righteousness we have no

principal at all.
In that case how can
it
be
Tao?
:
9. The Master in consequence of some remark said Modern scholars exhaust their efforts in the search for the
transcendental instead of beginning with

fault of
what
is
near.
Someone replied to this modern scholars is
It is inde3d the case that the
too great a love for the trans

".What is
cendental. I
uan, however, was asked, and he replied, It is seen in conduct."

"
Ch
Tao
"
Ming
Tao, too,
and he taught the student to seek the answer in the relation between father and son, All sovereign and minister, older and younger bro.th.er. the Masters spoke in the same sense. In these there was no talk of the lofty and distant. Ansiver. That was certainly Ming Tao s teaching, and yet in the relationship between father and son, elder and younger brother, sovereign and minister, there is, in each case, the principle of inherent right, wLich is Tao.
"
was asked,
"
What
is
Tao
10.
It is just this principle
which
is
universally indis-to their
pensable. For instance, the Buddhists and Taoists discard
human
relationships,
and yet they pay reverence
teacher as to a father, they regard their younger brethren as eons, their seniors as elder brother teachers, and their juniors as younger brother teachers. that they are all imitations.
11.
"The
The only
thing"
is
incorporeal
is
termed Tao, the corporeal

*
is
termed the vehicle of

1
manifestation."
The Tao
is
the
21.
Yi Ching,
p. 377.
But
cf.
Chinese text, Imp. Edition, pt. xiv,
f.

ethical principle
;
275
which every phenomenon has the vehicle Tao is the corporeal vestigia which every phenomenon has. must have its vehicle of manifestation, and the vehicle of manifestation must have its inherent Tao. That is, Inherent in every single thing there must be its rule of
"
existence."
12.
is
Question.
Is it correct to
its
say that the substance
termed the Nature and
Answer.
Moral
Law
is
operation Moral Law ? simply the comprehensive term
for these cardinal principles and must not be regarded as their operation. Love, Righteousness, Reverence, Wisdom,
and Sincerity are
principles,
and Moral
Law
unites
them
in one comprehensive term.
Chih Ch ing 2 said: The term Moral Law appears to combine both substance and operation. For example, when we say that these principles are termed Moral Law we are Con and when we say, referring to it as substance 3 formity to the Nature is what we term Moral Law," we
"
are referring to its operation. Answer. This saying in its higher application refers to Heaven, and in its lower application refers to man.
13.
Cheng Ch ing asked

statement,
"The
How
Tzu s
concrete
do you regard Shao expression of Moral

all
Law"?*
Amiver.
This
is
what
stated
is
taught by
the Masters, but
by none
is it
expressed so exactly as
first
the doctrine is
1
by Shao Tzu. When there does not seem to be even

2 4
See p. 54, n. 1. D.M., p. 247.
See p. 246,
See
n. 3.
p. 6, n. 4.
276

"
the semblance of a moaning in it. But the truth of the The Nature is the concrete expression of Moral statement,
Law,"
may
be apprehended with certainty.

:
We
need not
empty and far away things only let us turn inwards and study our own personality, and we shall know whether this principle really exists or not. For this reason I said once before, If we would know the reality of Moral
talk about
"
Law, we must seek
it
in our
own
Nature."
Shao Tzti
"
Preface abruptly said not more than a few sentences in his to the Chi Yang Chi," but what he said was most
excellently said.
.When Kuci Shan l regarded the satisfying of hunger with food and the quenching of thirst with drink
14. as T&o,
r"
jhe lost
the
"Tao,
in the
"
manifesting
in the
"
vehicle",,
and
lost the
"rule
of
existence"
:
thing".
"
The Philosopher
Moral
be left
said further
be, left
In
the
passage,
:
The
Law may
it
not
for an instant;
if it could
would not be Moral Law," 2 it is what cannot be left that is called Moral Law. If we regard the common actions of everyday life as Moral Law, then in all that we do there is nothing that is not Moral Law. But in that case, why should the noble man be cautious and
"
"
apprehensive
3
;
why
should he
"it
still
study the action of
Moral Law? It is because must not be left" that he must walk in conformity with Moral Law. Take speech for example You would hardly say that the act
:
Yang Kuei Shan

D.M.,
p. 248.
see p. 26, n.
1.
2
1
As the author
of the saying
quoted above admonishes us
see ibid.

of speaking
is
;
277
ness, Reverence,
Moral Law there must be Love, Righteous and Wisdom in the speech before you can Moral Law. If you take ordinary bodily there is that say movements to be Moral Law, why should you say further
that
"it
must not be
1
left".
(NINE SECTIONS FROM THE

.
"
COLLECTED WRITINGS
".)
1 The infinite greatness of the substance of Moral Law, and at the same time the necessity that the student in his study of it should be "accomplished, distinctive, contem 2 plative, and all searching", an d n t allow error even to the extent of a hair s breadth this is what the; saints and sages exhibited in discoursing upon Moral Law. There It sends forth and nourishes all things, fore, having said,
:
"
3 and so pictured its on to embr&ces the vastness, they of necessity go say, three hundred rules of ceremony and the th**ee thousand rules of demeanour," 3 in order fully to recover its extreme
rising
up
to the height of
Heaven,"
"It
minuteness.
task of
virtue",
And
in their instruction to the scholar in the
"actualizing
Moral
Law by
on
to
the cultivation
of
having spoken of
"perfecting its
ness
",
they of necessity go
show that
breadth and great none of its

"
exquisite
Modern and minute points may be omitted". 4 teachers in expounding the meaning of Moral Law are} very different. In discussing its vastness, they rejoice in its comprehensive completeness, but dislike research into its
therefore, that
2
There must, or ought to be, tao in what we do, but you cannot say what we do is tao per se otherwise, why should the Doctrine, of the Mean say it must not be left
1
" " "
"
"
".
D.M.,
p. 292.
Ibid., p. 286.
D.M., pp. 286-7.
278

;
ramifications
they delight in
"
but gloss over its broadness and greatness

" "
"
transcendent mystery, So far as its infinitesimal minuteness

its
.
are concerned, they do not differ but from the they do not examine into its materially sages, so that even in respect of what exquisite minuteness
;
they
call its "broadness
and greatness
"
they are not in a
position to discuss the true account of its entire substance.
(Reply
2.
to
it
OhaoT iChu.)
maintained that Tao
is
Ijs
l
lofty
and
distant, inscrut
able
jstudy
and mysterious, and beyond the possibility of human ? Then I answer that Tao derives its very name from
that
it is
tlie fact
day
life for all
the principle of right conduct in every men, that it is like a road which should be
countless myriads of people within
travelled
upon by the
tajid
It is not what the Taoist and Buddhist describe as Tao, empty, formileas, still, non Is it existent, and having no connexion with men. maintained that Tap is far removed from us, so vast as to be out of touch with our needs, and that we are not called upon to study it ? Then I say that Tao, present as it is
the four seas
nine continents.
in
all
tho
world
in
the
relation
between
sovereign
and minister and between father and son, in down-sitting and uprising and in activity and rest, has everywhere its unchangeable clear law, which cannot, fail for a single instant. For this reason the saints and sages exerted them
selves
and gave
,us
their instruction
so
as
clearly
and
perfectly to manifest its jneaning, botli in its vastness
and minuteness,
in its fineness of detail

1
and broad
outlines
is
for

and the student of
,
279
their books
examining the letter only, for the
must not be satisfied with mere pleasure of analysis
[and -synthesis, he must discuss their teachings intelligently, and .examine them exhaustively, in order to remember them,
practise them,
only
(thus
can he
universe.
He
and manifest them in the business of life fulfil his mission and take his place in the must not- examine the letter only for the mere
;
pleasure of tracing out and compiling. Tzu Yu quoted the Master as saying
When,
1C
therefore,
When
the
man
;
of high station is a disciple of Moral Law he loves men when the man of low station is a disciple of Moral Law he 1 How is easily ruled," the Master endorsed his words.
"
different is
here,
to
from the teaching

I
as presented to us the study of Moral Law of the scholars of ,this age [(Reply
",
Chou
3.
Kung.)
the heretical doctrine of
to
?
You regard
that
"
Tao
as useless,
and therefore go on
make
Can
bq
right
"
On
"
a useless tiling. the contrary, while the word

the
itself
Tao
"Jjove
refers directly to the mystery pertaining to
man s
Mind, the word

moral -nature
description of
it
Tao
common
the comprehensive term for the to all. Therefore, although the

is
combines both the individual and the trans
cendental, there are not really
two
entities, the
Doctrine
Love."
of the
Mean
"
says,
"
Moral
Hu Tzu
also says,
If a
Law is cultivated by man has not Love, the essence

idea.
of
Moral Law is gone," which conveys the same to Lien Sung Ch ing.)
1
(Reply
D.M.,
Analects, XVII, iv, 3 (p. 183). p. 269.
280
4.

There is only one Law of Heaven and Question. The root and fruit are identical. When the Moral
Man.
of man s Nature is perfected, the Moral Law Heaven is also perfected. The realization of the fruit does jnot mean separation from the root. Even those whom we regard as saints spoke only of perfecting- the relation ships |of human life. The Buddhists discard man and dis course on Heaven, and thus separate the fruit from the root, as if they were two horns of a dilemma 1 of which you must choose one and reject the other. The presence of the Four Terminals and the Five Cardinal Virtues in man s nature 2 The indispensable they regard as masking the Nature. relationships between father and son, sovereign and minister, husband and fwife, senior and junior, they regard
of
as accidental.
Law
and
so
Ejarth,
creatures, as
They even go so far as to regard Heaven, the Two Modes of Matter, mfcn and other, phantasmal transformations. They have never
much
Nature of the Great Void.

the universe
;
as inquired into their reality, but simply assert the Now there are no two laws in
how then
can they take Heaven and Man,
the root and fruit, summarily asserting the one and denying the other, and yet call this Tao ? When their perceptions
are so partial, so small and incomplete, what possibility is there of the familiar doctrine of a perfect union between
the transcendental iand the lowly
Those who follow the

"from
sacred Confucian school, on the other hand,

Note them as a
1
:
the
the
jfjjr
and the
".
ffi
^=
"
separate
and present
case for choice
SB fjt is a Buddhist expression, meaning that these principles hide the true nature from us ; cf j|J :fj- pt. xviii, f. 15 ; 4| |J pt. xvii, f 44.
. .

tudy of the lowly understand high things
"
281
*
;
they advance
the humble accomplishments
of
"sprinkling
weeping,
eceding
!
answering
2
".
and replying, advancing Whether in food and drink or in the relation

were never lacking in seriousness.
and and
tween the
or
"the
sexes, they
Moral Law which, the noble man follows after far-reaching and yet mystical". Far-reaching, it
;
braces the whole of his daily life
mystical,
it is
Divine
in the
sorx,
w.
With
this
Divine Law, then, in daily
life
elation between sovereign
and
minister), father
and
usband and wife, senior and junior, or when engaged in
and pledging of social intercourse, or when eating, resting, seeing, and hearing there is not one sphere activity which is not under the guidance of Law, and
e toasting
>f
ot lone that can be confused
for wherever there
is
con-
usion Divine
has perished. 3 "Therefore the noble n is never lacking in seriousness." 4 By this means the
is
Law
held fast with firmness, the practice of good is and so the hidden and manifest are blended, the utward and inward are united and Moral Law dwells
ind
ture,
ithin
me
to express
What is this;! What

!
there
in
Buddhism
call
adequate
is
Buddhists
"Intelligence"
morej than a glance at the connecting thread.

reality
The
Mind
"
and unchangeableness of Divine Law and man si they have not apprehended. What they call
",
culture
1
also, is
nothing more than control of the Mind
Analects,
Ibid.,
2
3
XIV, XIX, xii,
xxxvii, 2 (p. 153).

1 (p. 207).
is
The charge against Buddhism

Cf. Analects,
the
"
confusion
"
of
the social
relationships.
4
XII,
v,
(p. 117).
282
and
sitting in silence. Discarding human relationships, destroying the Divine Law, they reap no good that can bo after all, they fail even to perceived. As you, sir, said
:
geit
near a solution of the problem.
"
Before the stirrings of

1
pleasure, anger, grief,
and
joy,"
is
the condition
and without movement". Heaven and Earth, the Source of the universe. There are not two sources in the universe therefore the transformations of Ch ien and K un, and the classification of species, all proceed from this one source. Every form, produced and reproduced, has each the Nature of Heaven.
Nature
is
still
when the Here we have

"
the
Mind
of
This
is
from
its source. 2
the reason for the inseparableness of the creature Receiving its spiritual essence we become
man, and within the confines of the four cardinal principles it resides, inscrutable, formless, still, and, it would seem,
unnameable.
it
Tzti Sstt, having regard to the absence in
any leaning to one side or the other, called it The Mean. Mencius, having regard to its perfect purity called it Good. The Master 3 having regard to its life-producing substance called it Love. The terms differ but the thing named is the same, and is not separable from everyday,
of
life.
This
is
why you
it.
said that its
meaning
is
manifest
without our seeking

drift
Formerly
I read
many
books from
different points of view,

;
but failed to grasp their main
I studied vaguely such subjects as
Heaven and
Modes, man and other creatures, good and but did not find any principle of unity. With the truth near me, I was seeking it afar off, suffering prob
Earth, the
evil spirits,
Two
ably from the mistake of over-eagerness in

1
my
".
search.
5
See Ft Ching,
p. 370.
Lit.
"
fruit
from the root
Confucius.

t is fcaid
283
*
hoard that in the discourses of the Master Kuei Shan

:
list
is
"Before we speak of perfecting the Mind, we understand what the Mind is after we have realized
;
clearly and
distinctly,
"
we may proceed
to discuss the
dea of perfecting
single instant
it
ith this exactly.

2
".
and my former explanation accorded Ti But Moral Law cannot be left for In everyday life it is brightly shining
; ;
hy should there be any waiting to search for what you,

t
it ?
This
venture
have enjoined: and taught, and I could to do other than respectfully receive your
sir,
As to the misleading character of the mirror d image illustration, were it not for your teaching my nderstanding of the truth would have been in considerable
ching.
eril.
perceived
Formerly, in a time of leisure and meditation, as its all-comprehensive, omnipresent, and all-
3 ervading attribute, and realized that every single thing n the universe is manifested in it, it seemed to me that the
,ble
jof
guro of the mirror and image was approximately euitI therefore expanded it and elaborated the statement
;
the
hawk and
fish,
jshowed the error of this
regarding this as an apt simile. You by reference to the Great Void and
the myriad phenomena. After considerable study I fully realized that my statement was not correct. If it were, then the hawk and fish, on the one hand, and my Nature, on
the other, would become two separate entities. carefully your meaning, it is that there must be
Examining some reason

p. 248*
i
why, when the hawk and

1
fish
come
into existence, they are

2
Yang Shih
see p. 28, n.
1.
D.M.,
* H
3K 88
a,
<>
HE
0r
xm;
ft
284

fish,
hawk and
and that the cause
is
in the presence of the

flies
s|
and the fish leaps not by the individual choice of the hawk and fish, but because of the Divine Law imparted to them in unceasing flow. 1 Between "not forgetting" and "not assisting the
"
substance of Moral
Law.
The hawk
m
j
growth
is
"
of the physical nature Divine

s
Law
flows in
;
its
!
:a
operation with not a hair

exactly the
breadth of selfishness
which
same idea. This is what Ming Tao calls 3 Such is my unworthy opinion. I should uniformity". like to know, sir, whether or not it accords with yours. For the rest, such as the doctrine of life and death, good and evil spirits, I must wait till I have opportunity of
receiving your instruction in person.
Answer. Your communication accords with my own mind It shows your fine ability. I now know in all respects. were mistaken, former not that my surely expectations There are One or two points not quite accurate, but they
I am now travelling and are not of very great moment. I unsettled, and therefore unable to reply point to point. would advise you still to apply yourself to discriminating
1
^
j
fjl
\
The
illustration of the
(pt.
iii,
the Odes
bk.
fish is taken from a stanza in one which reads The hawk flies up to heaven ;
i,
hawk and
of
ode
v),
The
fishes leap in the deep.

;
Easy and self-possessed was our prince Did he not exert an influence upon men ? The hawk rises in the sky. and the Upon which Legge s note says
"
fishes
leap about in the deep, without an effort ; it is their nature so to do. So there went out an influence from King Wen, unconsciously to himself." This spontaneous flying and leaping is here attributed to Tao, the Divine Moral Law. See Odes, p. 445 and note. 2 See Mencius, p. 66. * That is, the uniformity of nature in man and other creatures.

tudy, and ad correct.
5.
E
285
true
your
ideas
to
will
gradually
become
(Reply
Liao Tzu Hui.)

s
1
explanation of Tao as the walk life is certainly too wide, and you, Tzu Yo, 2 are right contradicting it; but his use of the word "walk" ia
Chang Yuan Te
evertheless not without reason.

eglect to follow this
nt,
When, therefore, you and up analyse his argument for him, taking a different line, answer him by quoting Ch eng
simile of the boundless desert, 3
it is not surprising are conscious Off you yourself having fallen into the Tor of being neither clear nor relevant. (Ch eng Tzii in
zu
lat
is
statement
is
comparing Moral
Law
with Righteousness
that his simile has a natural appropriateness and is ithout fault.) The effect of your method of answering
is
argument
is
4
ifferent things
that you and he are talking about two which have no connexion with each other,
5
his is because your
own
perceptions are not perfectly
ear, and so you cannot avoid resorting to guesswork, 6 and forced statement, with the result that eneralizing, ou branch off into superficial and vague arguments, and
re
unable to
Chang Hsia
make your meaning

(5j|
clear.
According to
s
my
most
ominent
2
disciples.
^), style Yuan Te, was one of Chu Hsi He was a native of Ch ing Chiang (^ fQLii,
pia
3
Tzu Yo was another disciple, surnamed section was a reply. See p. 207, n. 3.
See yJ
3lC
"
to whose communication
^, pt.
*$C
my,"
xv,
f.
"
11
cf.
also p. 291 of this

side
volume and
I
n.
1.
side."
4
5
Lit.
but
= W=
He
is
on the east
own,"
and
am on the west
Tzii
"
one
and
refers
to
Yo, to
whom
section
8
is
addressed.
to cover, or include, in a basket, hence to generalize.
286
idea,

Tao obtains
|1
fl
|
its name simply from the principle of inherent right present in all phenomena. Yuan Te says baldly that it is the walk of life, in which he is certainly;
wrong. If at the time, however, you had contented yourself with answering him by saying that Tao is the road
along which we ought to walk, you would have succeeded in making your own l idea clear in his language, and the phrase "boundless desert" would also have its place in
"
P
lf
your argument. Further, with regard to your reference to the expressions "negative and positive modes", "the
1 J
j
between sovereign and minister and between father "the corporeal and incorporeal," and the simile of "the boundless desert": if we first combine and then analyse them, the negative and positive modes, the relation between sovereign and minister and between father and
relation
and
son,"
IJ
i
;
son, are
all
phenomena, the actions of
man
while the
corporeal consists of the varied
species
o f the
myriad
phenomena each one of which has witliin it the principle of right, what we call Moral Law, the road along whictt we ought to walk and the incorporeal is the void of the
boundless desert.
the
If
we speak
of
it
from the point

desert"
of
view of the incorporeal,

is
its "boundless
character
substance, and its manifestation in If we speak of it from the its (phenomena operation. of view of the corporeal, then phenomena constitute point
certainly
the substance and the manifestation

operation. incorporeal is the substance of duties of universal obligation
"
of
the principle
it?
You must
not combine
them and say that tht Moral Law, and "the fivj
operation.
its
What
Yiiac
See
p. 285, n. 5.

?e
287
nwards,
from the sentence "Tao cannot act of itself" is without error, and yet you argue against it. The answer says what is so far true, but as a reply is
says,
"
rrelevant.)
ay,
The incorporeal
of
Referring again to a later statement, you is termed Tao, and constitutes the
things,
rinciples
chicle
the corporeal
is
the manifesting
and constitutes the things
themselves." 1
You
ould do well to cast everything else aside and confine our argument to these two sentences! for if you get lese clear, the rest will of its own accord become per;
ectly clear
6.
and complete.
(Reply to
Lu Tzu
Yo.)
The reason why I cannot agree with explanation of Tao as the walk of life is that the rord "walk" is not adequate to express the meaning of tie word Tao; you must also include the reason for the
Question.
s
an Te
was it necessary Tzu s simile pf he "boundless desert", anxious that Yuan Te should earch deeply into this great substance, and by meditation perceive the mystery which lies beyond the perception of senses then, as a natural consequence, he would realize hat the word was altogether inadequate. If
alii.
But
still,
?
in order to find the one,

I therefore used
look for two
Ch
engi
"walk"
had said "the road along which we ought to walk then fear he would not have been able to grasp the idea of universal obligation", 4 nor would the origin of Tao have
",
f.
Yi Ching, p. 377, where, however, the passage the Chinese text, Imp. Edition, pt. xiv, f. 21. 2 See above.
3
is
translated differently
See p. 285 for the argument to which this whole question refers. See D.M., p. 270.
288

The
corporeal
the
been easy to explain by such language.

is
the incorporeal.
"
When
subtle
is
the
Commentary on
it
is
"
Yi
says,
The most
law,"
which
is
phenomena,
The
fore,
says the corporeal which is referred to. substance and operation have one source, the mani
",
is
referred to, and

it is
when
it
the incorporeal the most manifest
festation
and the subtle principle are inseparable. There though there is the distinction between the corporeal
incorporeal,
and
they
fault in
2
are
still
but
this one ethical
principle.
Answer.
The
Yuan Te
statement I have fully

case will
i
II
explainelcl already.
But your way of stating the
it
not meet his point. I fear you can only see yourself and have not carefully examined what I said. You right
say that the law according to which we ought to walk con stitutes the universal obligation, and that the phrase,
"
void like the boundless
desert,"
represents the origin of
This really does not amount to a serious statement, and is not what I would have expected of Tzii Yo. That
Tao.
you can write this
is in itself sufficient to account for your You must lay hold other statements not being correct. of the truth that there is only this one natural principle
of right.
less
When we
it is
any such entity in addition to this principle. As to the corporeal and in You have to corporeal there certainly is a difference.
desert,"
use the phrase, not that there
"
void like the bound
is
divide
them
(and say that this is substance
and
thatl is
operation, before you can say that they have one source.
1
That
is, the Commentary by See pp. 285-7.
Ch cng
I.

You have
to say that this is
289
is its
phenomenon and that
principle, before you can say that they are inseparable. [f they were merely one entity there would be no need to
peak of one source, and of their being inseparable. (Reply
Lu Tzu
7.
Yo.)
)RjI
Lao Tzti taught us about Bay but of said little the ao, manifesting vehicle, because, the student confines himself to the knowledge of the |f
school
2
"
The Su
ehicle,
then Tao will be obscured

Righteousness
he therefore excluded
ve and
"
and rejected
Tao."
Ceremony and
3
usic, in order to
make
clear the
I explain the
ord
Tao
"
as the general
term
for Love, Righteousness,
eremony, and Music, and these four are the substan ce operation of the Tao. The cultivation of Love and ighteousness, and the development of Ceremony and
in?
by the sages, were in order to manifest the Tao. the Su school to say that Love and Righteousness jJV)r e .excluded, and Ceremony and Music rejected, in order
usio
manifest the Tao,

f
is to
discard the multiples two and

is
ve in order to find ten.

the
This surely
s
wrongt
(Criticism
4
Su Huang School
Exposition of Lao
"
Tzu.")
>e
The Su school say Heaven s Moral Law cannot what can be so expressed is its expressed in words imilitude. The understanding know the true by means
:
>
the similitude,
1 2
and the ignorant by fastening upon the

to
See above. See

Ip:
J. P.
Bruce, Introduction
pt.
s
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
School, chap. iv.

;
H|
xcix,
f.
25.
the
See also Tao Te Ching, chap, xix
cf.
V.
4
Gorn Old
The Book of
xcix
f-
Simple Way,
p. 54.
SH
>
Pt"
24
290

l
similitude fall into
error."
My
position is this
1
The
sages explained Moral Law as the relation between sovereign and minister, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, and between friend and friend what I ask is, do these express Moral Law or only its similitude ? Does fastening upon these and acting accordingly mean that we shall fall into error ? But why really ehould Tao be inexpressible in words ? It is only because men do not realize that Tao and the manifesting vehicle are never separate, and seek it in the inscrutable and formless, that they use such language. (Criticism of
;
the
9.
Su Huang School
Exposition of Lao
;
Tzii.)
principle is invisible
it is
only in actions and
wrong are perceived. The more we minutely investigate and understand it, the more
speech
,that
right and
exquisitely fine ,the principle appears. When the ancients spoke of investigating things" and "perfecting know 2 ledge they meant no more than that we should make
"
",
a beginning at this point.
(Reply to
Hu
Chi Sui.)
LAW.
(SIXTEEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"CONVERSATIONS".)
Law
this
is
or
like
bamboo
like a piece of thread with its strands, basket. Pointing to its rows of
bamboo
splints, the Philosopher said,
One
strip goes this
way
1
and, pointing to another strip, Another strip goes

f.
Ibid.,
25 f cf. Tao Te Ching, chap,

p. 25.
see
The Book of the SimpleWa\

J
by W. Gorn Old,
2
G.L., p. 222.
See
p. 24, n.
1.

that way.
It is also like the grain of the
it is
291
:
bamboo
on
of
the straight
of one kind, on the transverse,
it is
another kind.
So the mind possesses numerous
principles.
2. Whether great, as in heaven, earth, and; all things, or small, as in the activities and rest of ordinary life in #11 (alike is the Law of the Supreme Ultimate and of
the
3.
Two Modes.
In
all
thing s
throughout the universe there
is
nothing that is not relative. Given ttie negative, mode, there is the positive; given Love, there is Baghteousness
given good, there
is
evil
given speech there
is
silence
1 And yet there is but given movement, there is repose. one principle, (as when a man walks out, or when he
returns, it is with the
same pair of
:
feet.
it is
It is like the
breath of one s
inspiration
4.
mouth
in expiration
warm,, and in
it is cold.
Whether high or there is but one Law.

5.
low, fine or coarse, root
ior
fruit;,
Whenever
.clearly
it is still
you
consider
principles
all
you
must
apprehend
stages
the fountain-head); in
subsequent
this
Law which
is
diffused in the ^n finite
variety
his teaching enunciated principles on any and every, subject as they were presented to him, but did not point out one supreme But if you take thing s which are all general principle.
of
phenomena.
Confucius
in
about
us,
and generalize
concerning!
them,
you
will
perceive a general law.

1
Men cius drew

|r,pt. *v,f.
20.
attention to this
See jfi
292

;
in his teachings while in his doctrine of the
Chou Tzu made

Supreme
:
it
specially clear
Ultimate.
Take, for
instance, the feeling of solicitude if from this you trace backwards you will arrive at Love, winch is inherent in
the
Mind but Love is the Principle of Origin, one of the Divine Attributes, anid the Principle of Origin is the Thus positive and active mode oi: the Supreme Ultimate.
;
by tracing backwards stage by stags we arrive at the the Supreme If now, we apprehend fountain-head.
Ultimata clearly, we shall certainly be able to recognize thg numerous laws and principles of the universe as all
is
In every single phenomenon there proceeding from it. a principle, and nothing is without its principle.
6.
Some
truths
are
obvious,
and
it
is
best
to
expression to
them
7.
free and easy terms. in tortuous language is mischievous.
them in
To
give clothe
Throughout the universe
this principle
;
is
in
everything, even in insignificant things Decree of Heaven is what we term the Nature
is
for
present the
"
V But
the
formless, with nothing in which, to inhere, principle except in the affairs of everyday life. These two are
never separate in every single thing there is its law, therefore "the noble man makes an extensive study of all
;
learning".
It
might seem
as if extensive study were
an
unimportant matter, but those many principles are all to be found, here, and all proceed from the ono source.
Therefore, whether fine or coarse, great or small, all alike the simple are made use of and mentally grasped,
f<or
D.M., p. 247.
Analects, VI,
xxv
(p. 57).

eason that there
lire
293
all
is
nothing extraneous to me.

is
When
thus understood, knowledge
perfectly developed,
and
Becomes full-orbed and complete.

8.
The
l
",
"
Great
not
Learning"
hings
but
2
of an
to
"
speaks of "investigating exhaustive investigation of

principles
of.
principles",
because
"
investigate
is
like
lutching at vacancy with nothing to lay hold

t
When
simply says
he corporeal
it means, through investigate things vehicle to seek the incorporeal Moral Law ; 3
",
md when we
>o
"
do that we find that the two are inseparable, that there is no need to say more th,ain intvesti^gata
"
Heaven in giving birth to the multitudes of hings he people so ordained it that inherent in, every single hing there is its rule of existence."* This is what is
".
neant by Tao.
Where do you
find it said
1
that
every
hing
9.
is
;
is itself
a rule of existence
it
This principle is infinite. It is present all around runs through all the myriad threads of the web of
ife.
Drawing
:
circles
is
mid
See, there
circle
with his finger, the Philosopher within circle. Horizontally it

it
s so,
.s
perpendicularly
If
it is so,
all so.
1
we
express
backwards and forwards it from the point of view of
G.L., p. 222.
Ibid., p. 229.
" " "
In the original text of the G.L. the word translated by is in the phrase investigation of principles It different word from that used in the phrase investigating things neans exhaustively to search for". Chu Hsi s point is You investi
-egge as
"
"
investigation
"
"
"
gate
3 4
or
"
examine
"
a phenomenon or thing
;
you
288
"
search for
"
its
principle.
Alluding to the passage in the Ti Ching

Odes, p. 541.
cf. p.
of this
volume.
294
the ,Two Modes, the Supreme Ultimate is the Supreme From Ultimate, and the Two Modes are its operation.
the point of view of the Four Symbols, the Two Modes are the Supreme Ultimate and the Four Symbols are its operation. And {again, from the point of view of the
Eight Trigrams, the, Four Symbols are the Supremo Ultimate and the Eight Trigrams its operation.
10.
This principle
1
K un,
hair.
and
;
BO great as to include Ch ien and sustain the processes of creation and trans
is
it
formation
2
minute as to penetrate the All-comprehensive and all-pervadin!g, we

is
so
finest
must
nevertheless ascertain
11.
what
it is
that
it
comprehends.
"It
that everything has its correlative and! stands alone nothing why did he go on to quote the the feet begin to dance and the passage, unconsciously
"
of
the
Question. universe
"
iWhen Oh eng Tzu
said,
is
the law
hands to olap" ? 3 Answer. If it be true that there is nothing which not have its does correlative, and we realize what it means, As it is indeed a matter for astonishment and laughter. to the Two Modes, now, they have a correlative, but what
is
the correlative of the Supreme Ultimate)? The correlative of the Supreme Ultimate Questioner.
is
1
the Infinite.
The dual
the
creative Powers
School, chap. vi.
$!>
Chu Hsi
so small
and
2
Sung
>
31
H[>
that the word

s
itself
and ?& are four measures of which the largest is means infinitesimally minute and of this the
;
smallest
of these measures
jjjj
is
equal to one thousandth part.
;jf
p t.
xi, f .
cf .
Mencius, p. 190.

Answer.
This
is
295
Of
the Five Agents,
only referred to in one sentence. Earth appears to be without any

its
correlative,
and yet each one has

is
:
correlative.
The
is
Supreme Ultimate The incorporeal as shown in thq statement what we call Tao, the corporeal is what we l the But the correlation manifesting- vehicle."
"
the correlative of the
Two Modes
call
is
a,
cross-relation.
Earth
is
the
correlative of the other
Four Agents, Metal, Wood, Water, and

four have their location, while Eartjh
these also are correlated.
is
Fire, because the
lias
:
not
2
so that
(Pi
all
is
that the
Four Agents are

3
The reason pervaded by Earth.) The
Ta
records
Hu
evil.
School
say that good
not to be contrasted with
the negative of good, just as you have Love and not-Love why should they not be cantdasted! ?
evil is
;
But
If not, then everything in the universe will appear to be
one-sided like a single-branched horn, 4 and nothing can be predicated of anything.
its correlative and nothing Given movement there must be repose, given the negative there must be the positive, and so on to bending and straightening diminishing and growing,
It is Question. universe that everything has
12.
"It
said>
is
the law of the
stands alone.
See
p. 287.
style
2
3
4
Wu Pi Ta,
See
i* J.
Po Feng
see
to
P. Bruce, Introduction
is
j|
it.
School, chap. iv. a point leaning on one side, with nothing on the other side
the
^ |g, Chu Hsi and
pt. Ixix,
f.
53.
Sung
to
match
296

and decaying
?
"
flourishing
nothing
is excepted."
Is this
naturally so
Answer.
tive of
It is all naturally so.
One
"
is
the correla
and the corporeal of the incorporeal,. But there is a correlation within it, as, in the case of "one for example, in the cose of an object in front of me, there are its back and front, its higher and lower parts, its inside
"two",
"
and
"
outside.
it is
Two,"
also,
lias
its
own
its
correlatives.
Although
said that everything, has

is
;
correlative and;
noihing stands alone, yet there
an aloneness which
for example, on the; nevertheless also has its opposite of in each chessboard, pair squares the two are mutually
correlative,
hut there
is
one in the
centre
which
is
simply an
correlative.
;
empty
track, and apparently without any but this track stands in contrast to the whole
It is
three hundred and sixty squares. 2
what we speak
of
Cf Jfj
.
|fj , pt. xv,
f.
20,
where a similar statement
is
made. See
p. 39,
n. 2.
There are two Chinese games played with a board divided into The one is named Hsiang C hi ( jfc fS), and is said to have squares. It is doubtless connected in origin been invented about 1120 B.C. with the western game of chess. The game is played with thirty-two men on a board of sixty-four squares the board, however, differs from that used in the western game in that there is a gap between the fields The other of the two opponents popularly called the Yellow River.
2
;
game
is
called Wei
Ch
(pg
fjt).
Its origin is ascribed to the Sage-
white pieces on Emperor Yao. The game is played with 360 black and a board with eighteen rows of eighteen squares each. The pieces are the points of intersection of the placed not in the squares, but on the boundary lines. dividing lines and of the union of the latter with Of the places thus formed there are 361. It is the board used in the
second
of these
two games that
is
referred to in the text.

s
297
to the
the
One
in contrast to the All,
Tao in contrast
ehicle of manifestation.
Void Question. With regard to the passage, ike the boundless desert lead men to enter the beaten
"
13.
1
bh,"
jpath
[act,
",
when Ch eng Tzu uses the expression "hearten does he not mean the way in which men ought to
and that of everything we ought
exists beforehand, so that
when we
is
to do, the principle are about to do a thing
pre
do not need
to
search for
it
its principle.
Answer.
(there is its
What
law
;
says
that before the case exists
for example, the law of the relationship
sovereign and minister exists before there is the law of the relationship between Sovereign or minister and son exists before there is father and son. It Bather
between
cannot be that before the relationships of sovereign and minister, father and son exist, the law of those relation
ships is non-existent, and that it is when they come into existence that the principle is implanted in them.
pt. xv,
f.
jf^
11.
fif-",
The whole passage reads:
yfjl
Sj
|}
a"
a*
sis
&n
^So ip f*
ft
51
Void
like the
!
a dense forest
boundless desert, but filled with innumerable Forms like Before the response [i.e. to a particular phenomenon] is
not before, and after the response is not after. Just as a tree a hundred feet high is one unity from the root to the topmost branch and outermost leaf, so you must not say that the transcendental is a thing by itself, formless
and
trackless, waiting for
man
specially to prepare
and bring into

Seeing that
his
personality,
and so lead him into the beaten path.

is
it is
beaten path there
only one beaten
path."
298

"
What does ;the sentence, Seeing it is a Question. beaten path, then there is only one beaten path," mean? In any one phenomenon there is but one Answer.
principle
:
whether
it
subtle
or
coarse
there
is
one law
see
running through
only the
speak of
it
and no other.
The moderns, can

;
first part, its
formlessness and tra cklessness
and
1
a vast emptiness. They have not realized that though it is "Void like the boundless desert it filled with innumerable Forms like a dense forest
as
",
"is
",
For example, the Buddhists speak only of Vacuum and

the .Taoists speak only of the Non-ens, but do not realize
that it
Question.
is
with innumerable principles. the sentence Before the response not before, and after the response is not after does
is filled
In
<
",
the word
"
"response;
mean response
the
response"
to
Answer.
"after
"Before
phenomena means before
the:
i
response to a
the
particular
response"
phenomenon, and, similarly, means after the response to!

tlie
a particular phenomenon. is "before" in time, but
Before the response of course! event responded to is sub
sequent, and after the response is made, is, it is true, in time, but the principle of the response is "after" antecedent.
"The Question. It is said good and evil in the 1 Of the schools of Yang universe are both Divine Law."
14.
Quoted from Ch eng Ming Tao s writings; see j[| The whole passage is :1 The good and evil in the
1
"
pt.
ii,
A,
f.
universe are botl
Divine Law. What is called evil is not evil originally, but it comes to.bc such by excess or shortcoming, as is exemplified in the schools of Yang and Mo.*

nd
ess.
299
Mo
2
the one went too far and the other not far
nough,
but they both started from Love and RighteousTo call these Divine Law is right, but can the great
ickedness of the world be called Divine
Law
Answer.
Originally,
it
was Divine Law, but
it
has
een perverted and so come to what it is. For example, is the of reverse and Arson solicitude. murder, too, ruelty
extreme of wickedness, but the use of fire for the ooking of food, and the killing of a man that ought to be illed are not these Divine Law ? It is simply from
re the
:
ie;
perversion
of
it
that wickedness springs.
Ethical
Obedience:
rinciple
has
both
its
obverse and reverse.
Lo it is right,
Law
a
exists that evil exists.

:
sewer
if
it is wrong. It is because Like the mudd|y stream of in the beginning there had beeln no clean
disobedience to
pater there could not have been this
muddy
to
3
:
stream.
15. Some one asked with reference Good and evil are both Divine Law
excess or defect, or in the case of
it
"
the statement, In the case of
many
call
small wickednesses,
is
granted that
you may
still
them Divine Law.
But how can the great sin and wickedness of the world
also
be Divine
Law ?
original
Answer.
1
The
mind which man has
at the
philosophers of the fourth and fifth centuries whose views were combated by Mencius. Yang was the apostle of egoism and Mo of altruism. See Legge s Prolegomena to Mencius, chap. iii. Mo Tzu in his doctrine of universal love went too far, i.e. he went
B.C.,
Yang Chu and Mo Ti were
jeyond the Mean, while

;he
3
Yang Tzu
in
his
egoism did not come up to
Mean.
See above.
300
PHILOSOPHY
is
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
it
beginning
instance,
wholly good, but very early

for pleasure
becomes clouded
by the desire
and shrinking from pain.
For
violence
:
and robbery
is
are the reversal of the
solicitous inind
this
a case of
man
himself reversing
the Divine Law.
Huo Sun
can
Is
it it
asked
If it
is
a reversal of Divine Law, how
be said that good and evil are both Divine Law? not that the wickedness of violence and robbery
;
originally issued from the feeling* of shame and hatred that lust and eovetousness originally issued from the and that bo/!h became wrong by feeling of solicitude
;
excess, but that in their issue at the beginning they were
both Divine
Law
Answer. This statement of the problem is also good. But with reference to what is called reversal, in the Four
Terminals themselves there are mutual contrasts for of shame and hatred is the opposite example, the feeling
;
of solicitude, the sense of right and wrong is the opposite of the feeling of modesty and humility. What you say is also a good interpretation, and from it I now see the meaning of a former stateiment of yours which I could
not understand.
You
said,
"In
the exercise of
human
reject the disingenuous, in the exercise of human courage reject the tyrannical." In these two sentences I could follow your meaning. But when you said, In
wisdom
"
I could the exercise of human love reject eovetousness, when not understand you. Now, however, you say that eovetousness originally issues from the feeling of love, what you said then becomes clear and is also right. When
"
one
thought dwells upon
it,
how easy
it
seems for the

perfectly
301
good
man
to contract
the faults of carelessness
ind indulgence, leniency and covetousness.

16.
Chi Jung
"
Fu
asked
What
is
the
meaning
of the
tatement,
To
Accord with
is
Law
pertains to the thing
ono
Righteousness Answer. The phrase,

;
in the
"
heart" ?
To
accord with
Law,"
"
applies
done in accordance with Law, Righteous is that by which we are able to do it in aceordanqe ess dth Law. Righteousness implies choice and rejection, he Commentary on fk& Yi 1 says: the thing
3
the thing as
"
"In.
jself it is
Law, in the management! of the thing
it
is
righteousness."
(FIVE SECTIONS FKOM THE

1.
All in
is
me
ave to do
ale,
j
r
that is not the body is not to allow the body and
Law.
its
What
Law.
passions to
It
and see
to it that they wholly follow this
not that outside

e call
Law.
To
my person there is another entity which drift into some side course is not what
(Reply to Lii Tzu Yo.)
2
"
an be called attaining.
2.
o,"
The saying, By the art of Meditation to enter 3 means that when thought reaches the point that
is
is
stream
T
cut
off,
Divine
Law
is
perfectly manifested.
;
his
b.e
True thought IS Divine Law! again continuous flow and operation are nothing else than How can it be that manifestation of Divine Law.
incorrect.
e are to wait till the

1
stream of thought
2
is
cut
off
before
By Ch
eng
I.
See
p. 207, n. 3.
Referring to the Buddhist Meditation Trance.
302
Divine
we,

Law
is
manifested
Moreover, what
Love,
is this
that
call
Divine
Law
Are not
Divine
Reverence,
and Wisdom,
Law
Righteousness, Are not the
-ffl
relationships of sovereign and minister, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, friend and
friend, Divine
Divine
cut
Law ? If the Buddhist really apprehends Law, why must he act contrary to and confuse,
^
;*.
off, and destroy all these, beclouding his own mind, and losing his true knowledge of himself ? (Reply to
^
j
Wu
3.
Ton. Jtfan.)
say: "For the Buddhist, apart from the one no Intelligence, there are no distinctions ;for him phenomena k
You
have no existence. For us Confucianists, of all phenomena there are none which are not Divine Law." This state-
-m
;k
ment
is correct,
but
for
us
Confucianists
Intelligence.
also, these ^
distinctions are not apart
from
But within
con
this Intelligence there are the differences of height and
;ln
depth as of heaven and earth, and the infinite variety oi i tilings, of all which, not even the smallest hair can be
changed. Divine
"
ITi
This
social
is
exactly expressed in the expressions, ^

"
(arrangements,"
Divine
social
"Divine
dis
tinctions,"
"Divine
Appointments,"
and
re
tribution." 1
(Reply to Chan Chien Shan.)

subtle
is
Law, the most manifest i phenomenon the substance and operation have source the manifestation and the subtle principle ar
4.
; ;
The most
on<
tot
inseparable.
operation
is
For from the point of view of Law thf latent in the substance, which is what is mean
1
Shu Ching,
p. 73.
PHILOSOPHY
"
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
303
From tlie point of view of the subtle phenomenon, the principle cannot be outside the
iy
one
source".
nanifestation,
which
js
what
is
meant by
"
inseparable
".
Reply
5.
to
,Wang Shang Shu.)
Divine
hat
it is called
Law is all-comprehensive but the very fact Law implies the existence of ramifications.
;
of which it consists, Love, and Wisdom, have in the nature Righteousness, Reverence, the case each its own principle, and there is no conPherefore
the
four
virtues
>f
usion between them.

lot
Before their manifestation
we do
see any clue to their character and are not able to [escribe them as any one particular law therefore we It is not that within ise the term all -comprehensive.
;
he comprehensive there are no distinctions, and that subequently Love,

*>me
Righteousness,
Reverence, and
Wisdom
into existence one aften the other, as four visible
hings. You must bear in mind that Divine Law is simply ho general term for Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and (Visdorn, and that these four are the several component
xrinciples of
Divine Law.
(Reply to
Ho Shu
Ching.)
VIRTUE.
1.
"CONVERSATIONS".)
The
Doctr.ine
of
the
Mean
when
"the
tween Moral
relationships
Law and
as
"the
Virtue
it
distinguishes be speaks of the five
universal
as
Moral
Law
"/
and
of
2
Wisdom, Love, and Courage

1
universal
2
Virtues".
D.M.,
p. 270.
Ibid., p. 271.
304
The sovereign has the Moral Law of the sovereign, the minister that of the minister, and Virtue is the practice
of Moral Law. Therefore the sovereign is ruled by love, the minister by seriousness, and love and seriousness should be termed Virtue and not Moral Law.
2.
In the expressions
1
"
perfect Virtue
"
and
"
perfect
Moral Law is that which is followed by men in common. Virtue is that which the individual all, receives for himself alone. Of the expressions complete 2 virtue" and is what virtue "supreme goodness", complete the person receives, 3 supreme goodness is what the person Of the terms sincerity, ingenuousness, attains to. 4 and truth, singleness of mind is what we call honesty, complete self-expression is what we call sincerity,
Moral
Law",
"
ingenuousness
as
it
is
in the heart
it is
it
is
honesty, as
manifested in objective fact

3.
truth.
Virtue
is
what we obtain from Heaven; when by

obtain the very thing that pertains
study
to
we obtain it, we our own duty.

To
serve
4.
to
1
serve one s parents is the virtue of filial piety one s elders is the virtue of fraternal respect.
>
Ibid., p. 286.
2
"
G.L., p. 227.
There
is
a play on the word

"
virtue
"
"
here.
In Chinese
"
it is
te
",
and the word

"
to receive
"
is
also
te
",
different ideographs
but the
,
same sound. The allusion is to a sentence in the Li CM |^ Virtue means realization in oneself see Li Ki, vol. ii, p. 95, and Legge
"
^^^
;
note.
is hardly distinguishable from Ch eng see (jpjj), sincerity 199 and note on p. 200. The word honesty is here adopted to distinguish from sincerity occurring just before, but of course in its older sense of true-heartedness Cf. p. 431.
4
Fu
(Jfc)
p.
Yi Ching,
"
"
"
"
"
".

/irtue
is
305
what is received into the heart. Before serving parents and following one s elder brother, to already )0ssess a perfectly filial and fraternal mind this is what ve term Virtue.
me
he
told
The Master asked Literary Remains*

the Divine
2
How do you regard the section in

which
says,
"If
we wish
"
to
?i
Law
firjmljy,
the secret lies in Virtue

of
Pi Ta
replied:
The Doctrine
the
Only by perfect virtue can the perfect Moral,

ealized."
3
Mean say^ Law be
The Master remained silent for some time, until Pi Ta isked him what he thought, when he replied This also is
:
orrect, but
you are only quoting.
What
really is Virtue ?
It is simply this ethical principle. When by we and it into translate conduct, and show tudy practice it is our own certain possession, then we are able to? [hat
Pi Ta.
preserve
and not
Hsi.
to lose
it.
Chu
I
How
do
you
explain
the
sentence
"
[Ordinarily you may Pi Ta replied by quoting Heng Ch ii s explanation of rirtue as guarding whatever moral principle we receive
?
"
see the evidence of it in Virtue
n the proportion in which we receive
it
".
Chu
i
Hsi.
You must
receive it before
still
you can guard

".
it.
According to this explanation you

is
thorough understanding of the word

:
"Virtue
have not acquired More-
>ver
you say simply principle"; but ou must be continually watchful, and make the principle
"It
this ethical
1 2 3
The Literary Remains of the Brothers Ch eng, by See p. 295. D.M., p. 286.
Chu
Hsi.
306

is
which
you such that action is certain to be in accord ance with it. For example., when sitting in meditation alone before serving my parents and my sovereign, and! before holding intercourse with my friends, there must already be in me the perfectly filial and fraternal, loyal and faithful disposition, which so inspires my conduct that
in
parents I cannot bo othjer than filial in serving my sovereign I cannot be other than loyal, in intercourse with friends I cannot be other than faithful,
in serving
my
and this .spontaneously

preparation
Virtue,
2
"
1
"-
without waiting for special For as cherished in the heart it is called

1
"
says
is called conduct. The Y* In the noble man his conduct is the fruit of his 3 completed virtue," which expresses exactly the idea that
as seen in action it
Virtue
is
seen in
all
kinds of action.
perfected in me, it is as though there who of necessity is filial and fraternal, loyal and faithful, and would not in any wise do anything that is not filial
When Virtue is were a man in me,
and
one.
fraternal, lioyal
s
and
faithful,.
It is
something
this
like
the Taoist
idea of nurturing a child into existence within
will in
Everything pertaining to no wise consent to let

"
human
desire,
man
it
is
me
do.
Theirefore
of the study of them by silent and the meditation, securing of the faith of others with out the use of words, depended on their virtuous conduct." 4 What this means is Although as yet it is not expressed
said
The completion
See
p.
297 and
n. 1.
Though not yet put

Yi CUng,
p. 416.
into practice,
if it is
received into the heart,
it is
Virtue.
3
Ibid., p. 378.
PHILOSOPHY
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
thjis
307
which there must be watchfulness, concern, and nurture. The reason why there must be such nurture is to guard against any break. Ch eng Tzu s statement that we must secure that faith of others in us which will be independent of words means that before speech or action there is already this
1 perfectly virtuous "man" in me, but without as yet any It is hard Therefore it is said!, visible manifestation.
"
in words, yet being cherished in the heart, conduct is already determined upon, after
kind of
to picture
it
in
words."
1
See above.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUBE

BOOK VI
BEING BOOK XLVII OF
LOVE
I
ex;
I
to
BOOK VI
LOVE
(FORTY-NINE SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
-
CONVERSATIONS".)
Some one asked

inactive,
md
does
Answer.
not
Is Truth the all -comprehensive and Love the flowing forth of Law ? From the point of view of the Nature Love
:
forth either, 1 but its energy-producing irinciple includes the four cardinal virtues.
flow
2.
It
is
after
we
Ji,ave
received! this Vital Impul.se, 2
,nd are thereby in possession
of
life,
that
we have
1
From Reverence, Wisdom, Righteousness, and Sincerity. of view of priority Love is first, from the point |the point of view of greatness Love is greatest.
1
To-day we shall endeavour to understand what is the meaning of the word "Love". The saints and sages one it one in expounded frequently, way and another in Their use of words and the meanings attached janother. to them differ, hut when we have definitely ascertained
1
3.
[what the
lleoted together
1
meaning is in each case, and when we have and carefully examined their statements
differ
That
is,
Love does not
from Truth, so
far as flowing forth is
concerned.
The Vital Impulse is Love (fc), the parent of all the virtues, as is repeatedly taught throughout Book VI ; cf. especially pp. 314, 315, 316. See also J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. xiii.
312

we
shall find that
scattered as they are like the stars

this is the invariable interpretation,,
and that it is every In the definition of Love as where consistent. The virtue of mind of the the and which affection, principle
"
",
is
given
in
the
Collected
is
Comments, 1
;
affection
is
is
solicitude,
and solicitude
"The
Feeling
its
principle
Love.
In the phrase,
is
virtue of the
inind,"
virtue, again,
why Love is caUed mind is that it is the source of affection. The two elements which make man to be man are Law, which is the Law of Heaven and Earth, and Ether, which! is the Ether of Heaven and Earth. Law is without traces and invisible, so that it is only in the Ether that we can ses it, and if we would understand the meaning of Love,,
simply
affection, because the reason
the virtue of the
we must
think of it as manifested in an all-comprehensive,, 2 and This Ether is the positive spring mild, gentle Ether. time Ether of Heaven and Earth, its Law is the life-praIf now we turn to ducing Mind of Heaven and Earth. man s own personality and suppose him to possess this Law, what do we find ? The moment he possesses it he is 3 good in precisely the same way, and free from drought in the same way, as Heaven and Earth. 4 If we examine the
1
A work compiled by Chu Hsi
(at)
the emotion love
jen)
the dispostion love. 2 Jin (Love) is a principal or law and purely immaterial, but Law can hence the only be discerned in the Ether as its medium of manifestation meaning of each of the four nature-principles is seen in the Ether, which
;
in the case of Jen

3 JlSi
is all -comprehensive,
i>e
mild,
and
gentle.
t ^ 1U3
man
exhibits the
same
characteristics as
Heaven
and Earth.
*
"
Drought," i.e.
the opposite of
"
life-producing
".

we
313
lany passages in which the saints and gages discuss Love find that they alii have the same meaning. Confucius
it to
^described
jof self, is
Yen
"
Tzii as
1
|return to right
principle".
The mastery of self and the To master,, and BO get rid

It is not
;
obviously this very idea.
something
in every one it jthat must be arranged for the occasion is from birth a perfect, all -pervading! thing. This who no man has selfish element the separate (principle
;
|is upon other men as one with himself, he looks upon lower creatures as one with himself. When the altruistic principle has free course, there cannot but
ruled by
it
looks
jbe
this
Jdnd of outlook.
The
disciples
of
Confucius
;
inquired only as to
what wo should do to practise Love as to what Love is in itself they all know already. Modern how scholars on the other hand are ignorant of what it is
;
then can they speak of practising it ? Consider further the Master Ch eng s statement, "In the narrow sense it
but one, in the comprehensive sense it includes the four." The statement above this: "The Principle of
is
Origin, of the Four Attributes, corresponds to Love in the Five Cardinal Virtues," seems -to imply that there
is
a great Love and a small Love.
What Ch eng
Tz;i
speaks of as love "in the narrow sense" is the small What he Love, which is simply the one thing, Love. of is ithe as love "in the sense, speaks comprehensive
1
"
great Love, and includes Reverence, Righteousness, and When described in this Wisdom, in addition to Love.
way we
are apt to think there are two kinds of Love, for getting that Love is only one. Although we speak of
1
Analects, XII,
i,
1 (p.
114).
314
it
PHILOSOPHY
it
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
many
principles are in
in the narrow sense, all these

;
cluded in
sense
it is
and when we speak of it in the comprehensive still these principles which are included in it.
:
when
Is it not like the spring, the season; are born, which already enfolds within it the things of summer, the fruitage of autumn, and the storage growth
?
Chih Tao said
of winter
Answer. The spring is the season when things are born. In summer, autumn, and winter there is still the same ether flowing onward but in spring we have the idea of the new-born burst of glory. In the summer, after the fruit becomes fixed, this Vital Impulse gradually be comes old.
;
Huo Sun
said
We
can certainly recognize the mild

if
and gentle ether as Love, and
consider it ais including there is refinement, the the four virtues, then naturally sense of obligation, and clear discrimination.
we
Answer.
4.
Yes.
penetrates, whatever
Whenever and wherever Love

be
should be Righteous will should be Reverence or
Righteous,
will
and whatever
Wisdom
be Reverence or
Wisdom.
Consider, also, the storing operations through out the universe how can there be any cessation of them ?
:
All have the Vital Impulse latent in them. Just as seeds or peach and apricot kernels, if sown, will spring into life, and are not dead things which accounts for the use of the
word jen as the name for a kernel 1

1
so
we
see all
play on the word jen

".
(),
"
Love,"
of
which a secondary meaning
"
is
kernel

|7ital
315
fhings possessed of this Vital Impulse. Thus spring is the Impulse itself; summer is the production of things in in the
shear profusion;
autumn we
;
gradually gathering itself in itored in ;the storehouse.

I
Impulse and in the winter we see it
see this Vital
The Philosopher further said Spring and summer are progression, autumn and winter are the retrocession
:
ust as in breathing, when exhaled the breath rhen inhaled it is cold.

5. It is
is
warm,
manifest that we should
use our efforts in
all
dnds of virtuous conduct, but how are we to ascertain rhat they are ? All kinds of virtuous conduct are summed
ip
r
in the Five Cardinal Virtues, and the Five Cardinal
irtues are
ind
summed up in Love. Therefore Confucius Mencius simply taught men to seek Love. To seek is to make seriousness the ruling principle, and thus
If
to
seek the lost mind.
we can do
this
we
shall
have
Found the truth.

6. Some one asked an explanation of the statement To preserve the mind this is Love." Answer. To preserve the mind we must not be over come by selfish desire, we must apply ourselves with snergy to everything we meet with requiring our attention.
:
"
must not allow ourselves to be led away by external If we lings, but keep an extremely watchful guard.
e
affairs,
rget,
mtinually preserve our minds, then, in dealing with all although we may not hit the centre of the
"
we
shall not be far
from
2
it."
Anxious thought
2
ig
ought."
D.M.,
p. 234.
316

to pre!&i
and inward distraction are because we are unable

servo the mind.
When we
what we
not
are unable to see
preserve the mind, welf to see, or hear what we ^ ought

fail to
ought
to hear.
Question. seriousness
Does
?
the
secret
of
it
all
lie
in
Answer.
Seriousness
is
not a separate thing,
it is
con
stantly to stir
up
the mind.
People
fly
through the days

appears;
and never stop

to
is
it.
to collect their minds.
The Philosopher
said further
Although Love
have the quality of strength and directness, it really a mild and gentle tiling. But in its operation;
manifests several phases
;
there
must be moral
insight
and judgment, these three, before the deed jod! Love is complete. But when the deed is done, these three retire and Love remains mild and gentle, because its original nature is such. Men only see the moral insight, but to say that these are the refinement, and judgment fundamental qualities of man is wrong. Spring is essentially mild and gentle, and therefore gives birth to thing s this is why we say that Love is the spring.
courtesy,
;
:
7.
serve the
Some one asked mind this is

This
"
bout the statement
"To
pre
the
Love."
Answer.
sentence
sentence following,
very good, but If a thing is in harmony

is
it,"
in
-wilfch
the
mind do
it,
if
not, then do not do
thei
writer 1ms
digressed, and is treating of what pertains to Righteous ness and not Love. Moreover, we need only to take
1
fl :$
Giles gives the
meaning as
"
to
swoop down
like a
hawk
".

encius statement,
ess is
"
317
-
Love
1
is
man s mind and

For
"
Righteous
is
man
path,"
in
order to
see the difference
tween Love and Righteousness.

tue of the
Love
the
when we preserve the mind there be nothing but Love. For example, when the sage aks of The mastery of self and the return to right 2 he simply means that when we have put inciplei", ry selfish desires the mind will be continually premind
"
"
When ed, and is not at this point speaking of conduct. ou say, If a thing is in harmony with the mind, do it/ ou have stepped over the boundary and trenched upon the ound covered by the phrase, "Righteousness is man s
"
th."
But the
ability to practise Righteousness
e operation of
Love.
is by The student must constantly pre-
erve his mind, then he will be able to estimate both the
enomenon that presents itself and the law it embodies, d so do what he ought to do. This is the teaching of
1
nfucius
and Mencius.
first
;
Therefore
we must put
all
the
ursuit of Love
e
t,
for
Love
is
the source of
laws,
foundation of
we must
The
is
first
phenomena, and we must first know then we shall preserve and nourish it
all
:
ave the point d appui.

8.
virtue of the ear is alertness, the virtue of t|ha
is Love. Think and them. study meaning Take the expression, The principle of affection," and study and consider it with respect to your own mind, and you. will see what Love is.
clearness, the virtue of the
mind
er the
of these statements
"
Mencius,
p. 290.
Analects, XII,
i,
1 (p.
114).
318

is
Love
mild and gentle, soft and yielding.
Lao
Tzii
soft and yielding belong to the class of living said, things, the strong, and hard belong to the inanimate." This represents the idea, of Love. How could you sow
"The
seed upon stone ? Gentle like the mildness of spring These are the Buoyant like the richness of new wine
!
!
true similitudes of Love.

is received from Heaven at the beginning is simply and is therefore the complete substance of the Mind. Love, But Love branches out into .four divisions the first division is thq Love of LOVE,, the second is the
:
What
Righteousness of LOVE, the third is the Reverence of LOVE, and the fourth is the Wisdom of LOVE one sub
stance with four
members united under the headship

contains
these
four, and
of
all
LOVE. The Mind
only things and all events proceed from them. The different characteristics of heaven s four seasons
are very manifest.
summer they grow,

seasons
the
The spring gives birth to things in autumn they are reaped, and
;
in
in
winter they are stored.

Vital
But, although divided into four Impulse runs through them all; even
in the severity of frost and
snow there
is still
the Vi lal
Impulse.
Love in terms of life we are going we need to recognize the purpose of| Heaven and Earth in giving me birth.
define
;
When we
back a stage
but
Note anything which is hard, such as a block of stone: whatever it comes to be it will! be lacking in Love.
Note what takes place when there is a mild and gentle, filial piety and soft and yielding spirit by this come
"
PHILOSOPHY
jase of
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
j
319
In the
ratcrnal submission, the foundation of
Love".^
the block of stone you can neither sow seed in it You can see the idea in the prolor reap fruit from it.
"
bial
expression:
hard
heart";
when
man
is
lard .hearted, how can you talk with him ? In each of the expressions, solicitude, conscientiousness,
,ourtesy,
and moral
insight, there
"
is
a combination of the
"
combines the word Solicitude neanings of two words. which initial with is the "distress which word, grief
1
",
",
neans
*
"
pain
conscientiousness
meaning shame at my hatred meaning hatred of wickedness in others combines the word humility", having refer courtesy ence to myself, with "complaisance", having reference
shame",
",
combines the word own wickedness, 2 with

"
"
"
o others
the expression
as
"moral
As soon
fore
Love
exists it
3 insight/ explains itself. there produces [Reverence

;
spring*, and Reverence to the summer. Righteousness represents decision and restraint, ind when you obtain Wisdom you reach the end therefore Righteousness and Wisdom answer to autumn and winter.
Love answers to the
;o
When, having thus clearly understood Love, we com practise it, we must "master self anid return to right? 4 "When we go abroad we must behave to mncipLe".
1 2
"
Analects, I, ii, 2 (p. The sense of the

s
3).
shame which we usually

"
call
conscience
"
;]
see
Faber
3
Mind
>
of Mencius, p. 114.
"
:>f
ri g nt and wrong," or 7lk ^P h t. discrimination between them, which is

:
true
and
"
false
",
with the idea
"
moral insight
(see
".
Faber
calls
(here translated
p.
"
wisdom
"
"
")
Moral Knowledge
Mind of Mencius,
wisdom,
98).
4
Legge also says, It will be seen how to ^jj, (Mencius) gives a moral sense." See Mencius, p.
Analects, XII,
i,
knowledge*,
79, note.
1 (p.
114).
320

if
everyone as
we were receiving an honoured

1
guest,
we
must employ people and we must not do

done to
9.
ourselves."
1
as if assisting at a great sacrifice, to others what we would not wish
This
is
to practise Love.
Cliou
Ming Tso asked about

The
saints
Love.
their discourse
Answer.
and sages in
;
some
times referred to the essential principle, as in the sentence, 2 "Love is man s Mind" and at other times referred to
the practice of Love as in the sentence,
"
To master
self
and
return to right
10.
principle."
Love
;
is
spontaneous,
reciprocity
is
produced
;
voluntarily Love is natural, reciprocity is by effort Love is uncalculating, and has nothing in view, 3 reciprocity is
calculating
11.
and has an object before
it.
earlier philosophers, in teaching men to seek Love, spoke only of its profound depth, its mildness and
The
purity, including all ethical principles.

12.
Love
is
the principle of Love
the principle of affection, and altruism is therefore, if there is altruism there is

;
Love, and
13.
is
if there is
Love there
:
is affection.
Chou Ming Tso
To be
cleansed from selfish desire
Love.
Answer. To say that when we are cleansed from selfish Love in its substance is manifested, is allowable; but you must not say that to be freed from selfish desire is Love. For example, the light of the sun and mooiu
desire
1
3
Ibid.,
XII,
ii
(p. 115).
Mencius, p. 290.
f$u
HI
)Ht
a visible object facing one.
321
yhen covered by clouds and mist is invisible, but you puld not point to the disappearance of the clouds and and say that that is the sun or rnoon. And so water, jaist
irhen
mixed with sand and
stone, is certainly not in its
Jriginal condition, but when you have removed the sand nd stone and have nothing but water left, you do not Bay
bat the absence of the

14.
sand and stone

said
:
is
the water.
of selfish desire
Yu Cheng Shu
To say
is
The absence
Love.
Answer.
avo Love
esire is
)lfish
that
when
selfish desire is
absent
we
allowable, but to say that the absence of selfish Love is incorrect. For it is simply that when
is
desire
is
absent
Love
is
made
hen there
nothin
to choke the channel water
manifest, just as can flow
Fang Shu 1 said To be one with

:
all
things in the universe

to
Love.
Answer.
ove
:ter
;
The absence
of selfishness is antecedent
to be one with all things in the universe
Love.
;
Let there be no selfishness

things in the universe.
to
comes and Love will

one-<
How
3ss
let there
all
be Love and there will follow the

(It is
with
important to
all
is
Lstinguish between the two.)

Ike ?
Whatj after
Love
understand the meaning of the term, must consider the three words, Righteousness, ReverIf
we wish
ice,
r
and Wisdom together.
If
we
really
wish to see the

"
pical expression of Love,

self
1
we must
practise
2
".
the mastery
and the return to right principle

Fang Shu, a
friend
i,
(Love
as
Li
and pupil
of
Su Tung
P- O, the poet.
Analects, XII,
1 (p. 114).
322
explained by the modern schools is like sauce which all say is sweet, and yet they have never tasted it, and do not
even
m
|
know what
sort of flavour sweetness is.)

;
The
sages
to
never explained it it simply rested with the learner it in his own person. embody
15.
;^
ifffl
is expressive of breadth, and the entire substance. The words solicitude and represents
The word Love
tender affection express

16.
its essential similitude.

is the young sapling, love of the people, and parents,
1
Love
to
is
the root, solicitude

to
while
i3e
"attachment
kindness
other
creatures",
are
its
expansion
in|
branches and leaves.

I
fa
17.
Question.
In your
written
reply
to
the
Hul^f
2 school, you, sir, used the word "affection" tc Love what was your meaning ? explain Answer. It was because Shang Ts ai 3 laid too muolj, |J stress on the word Consciousness", and so he borderec on the Meditation doctrine.
Hsiang
"
"
"
Question.
"
Kuei
",
solicitude
Shan, did he not
however,
?
analysed
the
terr
2 3
Mencius, p. 352. See p. 28, n. 4.
Hsieh Liang Tso
(jpjj
J^
),
style
Hsien Tao (jgj
jjfQ,
a nati
Shang Ts ai (Jh. ^), in Honan. His literary name was Shang Ts from the name of his birthplace. He studied under both the brotht Ch eng, and himself established a school called the Shang Ts ai School
of
"
but an earnest student with phenomenal memory. See f Cf. pp. 348-9 of this volume. flj , pt. xv, f. 2 Iff.
*
jfc
^,
pt. xxi
:
See
p. 26, n. 1.

Answer.
323
is
Kuei Shan
etc.,"
statement
"
The universe
one
?
ith myself,
is
also too wide.
Question.
Does
tins refer to the substance of
Love
Answer.
ove.
It is not the
it is true,
Love,
)nsciousnass is
Love
is
substance but the capacity of has consciousness, but to say. that) not correct. It is also true tjha C
ove can be one with the universe, but to call oneness ith the universe Love is not correct. For example, in
Deaking of a room, without discussing whether :e made of wood or its partitions of bamboo,
so large,
it
its pillars
we say
it
contains
many
things.
it
So with
the phrase,
oneness
ipacity
with the
of
universe,"
Love.
(From
the
simply expresses the mention of the word

"Capacity.".)
Meditation"
arose the subject of
Question. ove as "Consciousness". 1

jgree
18.
Scholars of the
Ch eng!
school explained
The
Ke
Chai Chi 2 doee not

?
with
it.
What
is
your opinion
1 In the Literary Remains Ch eng Ming Tao is recorded as saying, In medical books a hand or foot which is numb is said to be ^ it. without love ) and from this he draws an illustration of Love, ; or Love is the recognition of all things as one with myself, while the ick of love means that I am unconscious of any connexion of other things ith myself, as in the case of the hand or foot when it is paralysed or numb ;
"
e
ess
I
^
"
^,
pt.
ii,
A,
f.
2.
This
of
is
"
what
"
is
meant by the
"
"Conscious-
theory.
The absence
consciousness
;
in this sense, is the
non-recognition of ethical principle

still
see pp. 332-3.

"
The analogy
(îj
|jj;),
is
|lsewhere
[he
further applied to the term
solicitude
"
one of
Four Terminals or Feelings, corresponding to Love (fc) as one of the rour Principles. The two characters ts e and yin (||f;) mean pain (*[jji]) r and distress When a limb is numb it is insensible to pity and there is no feeling of and is therefore said to distress pain
"
"
"
"
".
"
"
",
>e
fc (without Love),
just as in the ethical sphere to lack
"
solicitude
"
324
Answer. Love cannot be separated from affection. The if ^ Shang Ts ai school all reject affection as the explanation of a( Love. They had regard to I Ch uan s statement Love is a principle a Universal affection is not Love. 1
of the Nature, 2 affection,
is Feeling".
But
Ch
iian did
L
not say that affection is not Love. If anyone had asked him the question, he would certainly have said M Affection is the feeling of Love, and Love is the
:
of principle the matter.
affection."
In
is
this
way we can understand

"^
The pity
",
tha,t
those of this school have
taken hold of that one idea, and so explain Love wholly Consciousness to the detriment, it would seem, of hy its true explanation in terms of the emotion love. As
"
a
is
consequence
of
this,
having
passed
over
the
true
Tzu
to be lacking in the manifestation of Love (tl). A section of Ch en s disciples, led by Hsieh Shang Ts ai (cf. p. 322), gave an excessiv
emphasis to this explanation, excluding the idea of "affection" ($j^l ?% from the term Love and so restricting the latter to the idea c 1;
" "
(),
"
consciousness
2
".
See
"
p.
368.
They became a separate

".
school,
di;
tinguished
by the
Consciousness Theory
The
writings of Shih
of
Tzu Chung (fa ~p l|), a

office at
disciple of
Chu
a native
first
Tai Chou, and at one time in
T ung An, where Chu H

gf ), the name
Yiian
itH ufj
T<
held
office.
His literary name was

of
Ke
s
Chai (l]
his
1
home.
direct contradiction
Han
Yii
statement in the
Love"
iHn that /
sl
"universal
affection
is
fM
\ ITTT
$& ^^
^C^
3>
f~ 1_
lana
interpreted jen (fcj in terms of ai (Zjz) like other scholars w preceded the two Ch engs ; but the latter philosophers maintained th
Han Yii
-:
the word could not be explained simply in terms of ai is its basal idea. See p. 362.
2
^),
tlie
>
although
tl
Love, Righteousness,
Lit.
etc.,
are called the
J, tt
nve natu
principles.
3
nature or nature -principle.
PHILOSOPHY
pplication
efinition of
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
passage,
"When
325
of
the
word
"Love"
they have no proper

people see
it to give.
The
child about to fall inijo a well, they; will all without

* xception experience a feeling of alarm and distress," ears on this closely. The saints and sages in expounding
ove
all start
Question.
napulse
?
from this passage. Docs not consciousness
also have the Vital
Certainly, but to explain Love in terms of Consciousness pertains more Dnsciousness is too cold.
Answer.
intellect,
and only in a small degree to Love. LOVOJS f Jiarmony. But to add another sentence would You must study it for yourself and you repetition.
get the meaning.
ill
19.
The Hunan
school 2 in their
exposition
of
Love
many years, been in the habit of ropounding a speculative theory without any foundation I saw recently that Wang Jih Hsiu, in explaining it.
ave all of them, for
>r
[encius,
said,
"The
.Ch
Lin
is
lion."
Love
is
jsentially solicitous,
mild, and generous, but, as described
y them fictitious notions are imported into it, and the lea of fierceness is added as if it actually had beetling rows and glaring eyes. It is just like Wang Jih Hsiu s
1
ying that the Ch

armless
creature
inds of beasts.
Lin
the
a lion, attributing to this appearance; of one devouring all

is
All this proceeds from the use of the word consciousness". (The Ch i Lin did not eat raw flesh or
1
2
3
Mencius, p. 78. See p. 175, n. 7.
The
"
Ch
it
.nd
which
i Lin is a fabulous animal said to be a species of would be utterly incongruous to speak of as a lion
"
"
giraffe,
".
326
raw vegetable, while the lion, as soon as it hears the sound of any beast, seizes it and tears it to pieces.)
20.
As
"
the
in the narrow
as the
principle of affection" Love is referred to sense of one of the four nature-principles

;
cf
virtue of the
mind"
it is
referred to in the
com
1 Therefore, prehensive senso as including all the four. four virtues are all virtues of the speaking collectively
the mind,
severally,
but Love
is
the
ruling
virtue;
speaking
Love
the
ness
is
the principle of affection, Righteous Reverence is obligation, principle of

is
;
the principle of respectfulness and courtesy and is the principle of moral discrimination.
Wisdom
The statement, Love regards Love as divided

21.
"
is
into
the principle of affection," four. Love is the

for
principle creatures
of
is
affection
affection
men
this
or for other
principle.
the
manifestation
of
Righteousness is the principle of obligation, Reverence is the principle of respectfulness, Wisdom is the principle
of moral discrimination.
Principles are invisible
it
is
from affection, the sense of obligation, respectfulness, and moral insight, that we know that there are the principles Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom in the mind But this what are termed the virtues of tlhe mind. is in its of to include the four virtues Love thus ability pervading operation, what is called, preserving in union
"
the conditions of great harmony." 2 "Love of life. To be without Love is to be dead.
is
Man
a principle is never
;
without Love,
1
it is
simply clouded by
2
selfish desire
Ching, p. 213.
when
See
p. 312.
PHILOSOPHY
le "masters self
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
to right
1
327
is
and returns
principle",
Love
bund to be still present. Chih Ch ing 2 said Selfish desire is not an additional hing, it is simply the mind s perverted condition. Wang Cheng Fu asked The minister Tzu Wen three times took office and throe times retired from office, and the sage could not say that he was actuated by Love 3 but Kuan Chung was pronounced as having Love. 4 Why
:
was this
The thrice taking office and thrice retiring Ansiuer. was a private matter. When Kuan Chung came out, it was really to accomplish a work of Love. For example, one man perishes suddenly where he sits or stands, 5 another
relying on his integrity suffers a violent death for righteous ness sake. Really it is the man who relying on Ms modera
tion, dies for righteousness sake
who
is
counted good, while
the
man who dies where he sits or stan,ds Teaps no benefit. Hwan Ya Fu asked a question about the passage which
life
speaks of sacrificing one s

1
in order to preserve in its
6 completeness, and seeking life at the cost of injuring Love. Answer. The desire for life inevitably means the
heart
1
unrest.
i,
If
when
s tyl e
principle
demands death, the

Chu Hsi
Analects, XII,
1 (p. 114).
Huang Kan
(^
Chih Ch
^$")>
ing, a disciple of
see
p. 246, n. 2.
3
See Analects, V,
Ibid.,
xviii, 1 (p. 43).
xvii (p. 145-6). 5 Referring to the fixed posture of the Buddhist ascetic who remains in that posture until he dies. The point of the argument is in the
XIV,
difference
6
between the
altruistic motives,
selfish motives, on the one hand, and the on the other, in the cases cited.
Analects,
XV,
viii (p. 161).
328
sacrifice of life is made, then, though, the body dies, the principle abides. Ya Fu said It is important to collect all the passages which refer to Love and study them together. Ânswer. This is indeed a quick ethod, but it is not
:
a ,good method. It is best to study the passages in order. Although, sometimes, after you have understood the
meaning of a particular section, it may seem to you as if you have forgotten it, nevertheless, suddenly, as you grasp the meaning of another section, you will find that the idea comes back to you with perfect clearness. 22. Someone asked for an explanation of the sentence.
"Love is
the virtue of the
mind." 1
Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom are all contained in the Mind, while Love is all- comprehensive.
Ansiuer.
Speaking of these separately, Love s special province

affection.
is
Speaking of the other three.

:
them
collectively,
Love includes
Some one asked What is meant by saying that Love has the Vital Impulse ? Answer. It is because of the Vital Impulse that mind is a living thing. There must be this mind 2 before we
can
know humility,
before
we can know
conscientiousness, If the
and before we can know right and wrong.

is
mind
and
not living how can we know humjlity, conscientiousness^ the difference between right and wrong ? Further, it the birth of things in spring when the growing summer comas it is the life that grows, when
:
is like
season of
See
"
p. 312.
"
This mind
refers to
"
Love
"

the fruiting season of
yields fruit,
it is
329
autumn
corners it is
the life that

1
and
that
in.
tho
life
is
consummating season of winter consummated. In the ripening of all

the
kinds of grain, when the process has reached to seven- or eight- tenths of the fruitage, if the root is cut off the life
and not more than the seven- or eight-tenths of the obtained. If the life does not perish the ten are grain tenths may be reached. This is reaped and stored, and
perishes,
but in the following year, if apparently the life ceases The various it be sown, there wiH be the return of life.
;
philosophers of the past have differed in their study of Love. But the modern definition of it as the principle of affection means that in "the mastery of self, and the
return to right principle," 1 we require nothing else than that we should preserve this affection, and that "the
mastery of
itself
self
and return
Love.
"To
make
service
to right principle," is not in friends of the most virtuous
scholar s,
and take
2
great
officers,"
also
means nothing
with the most worthy of the else than that there

It is so
should be a manifestation of this affection.

all
with
the rest. 3
23.
Question.
How do you
and the
is
explain the definition,
"The
principle of affection
virtue of the
mind
4
"?
Answer.
principle
is this
in the Nature.
Because in
tlie
Nature there
it is
principle of affection, therefore

is
when
Tzii
manifested there
1
unfailing affection.
114).
Ch eng
Analects, XII,
Ibid.,
i,
1 (p.
2
3
XV,
ix (p. 161).
All the rest of the passages in the Classics
on Love (f~).
See above.
330
said
:

"
its life
The mind is Love/ 1
is like
the seed, the nature-principle of

"
of its of
life"
expression "The nature-principle The principle corresponds to the expression
The
affection".
24. In saying that altruism is Love, altruism must not be regarded as parallel to Love. Altruism is simply the absence of selfishness when there is no selfishness Love
;
has free course.

is
near
it,
to
like
the Master Ch eng said "Altruism he did not mean near in the sense of being but when there is altruism Love is present,
it"
When
therefore he used the

"
word
"near".
passage near the

in what
these
To know what
truth"
2
is first
For example, the and what is last is to be

that the truth consists
does not
mean
is first
and what
is last,
but that when we know
we
are near the truth.
Just as when you remove
the
the water flows freely, but the flow of water is not made by the removal of the dam. The water is there
;
dam
as soon as the originally, but dammed up it flows. Love is there originally, but
dam
is
is
removed
off
selfishness
when one
said
:
selfishness
is
is
by and conquered
cut
removed that which then acts
Love.
Huo Sun
Altruism
is
the substance of Love, and

to do
is
Love is Law. Answer. You need not explain
it
in this way^
so is a futile l&ck of discrimination.
What
is
needed
When there is the simply the absence of selfishness. absence of selfishness there is the absence of anything
which beclouds Law.
1
With people
of the present day joy

s.
it flf,pt. xviii,f. G.L., p. 221.

is
331
joy, anger is selfish anger, grief is selfish affection is selfish affection, fear is selfish fear, grief, hatred is selfish hatred, desire is selfish desire. If
selfish
we can master our mind be actuated by

altruistic joy,
selfishness
and
"
with broadness of
1
then joy will be be altruistic anger anger grief, fear, This matter affection, hate, desire will all be altruistic. What Yen Tzil is very important in its consequences.
a high
altruism",
will
the mastery learned from the Master was simply that 2 of self and the return to right principle is Love In the
".
"
study of a book one should shun most of all the vice of expounding it according to one s preconceived ideas, and, trying to make the book accord with them, not realizing
that they do not represent the real meaning of what we are reading. ought to make our explanation accord
We
s
with the author
meaning, and
clear
if
in our endeavour
tot
we find that there are obscure meaning with our own ideas. them then compare passages, Hu Wu Peng 3 said: "Man may be lacking in Love, but the mind never." This is most excellently said. Lovei
make
that
may
be hidden by
man
s selfish
desires
and
so rendered
invisible, but
It is like the present in the mind. sun and moon, which are originally bright and clear, and though hidden by the clouds, are still bright and clear or
it is still
;
like water which,
though dammed up by mud and

possesses the flowing nature.
therefore
not flowing,
still
Therefore
See See
p. 245.
i,
2
3
Analects, XII,
p. 25, n. 2.
1 (p.
114).
332
"the

mastery of
self,
and the return to right principle", 1 is Love only in the sense that when we have conquered! Or it is like a selfish desire we find Love still present. mirror which originally was bright and clear, but because if you wipe away the of the dust has become blurred dust you will find the brightness and clearness still there.
;
26.
Question.
"
In
"
the
Remains"
the
use
is
of
the
pu jen by expression to explain Love. 2 In another paragraph it is stated that the medical school call insensibility to pain "pu jen". 5
Again, unconsciousness, the non-recognition of ethical And yet principle, is regarded as being without Love.
again, the subject
the medical profession
borrowed
Answer. ness with respect

Question. Ts ai * or not
?
explained in tennis of consciousness. is conscious Consciousness Yes, but the

is
"
"
to principle.
Is this in accord
with the teaching of Shang

ai explained in recognizing this stage
;
Answer.
"
No,
"
it
is
different
first
Shang Ts
Consciousness
as the
mind. 5
Question.
1
What do you
i,
think of
Nan Hsien
statement
Analects, XII,
1 (p. 114).
2
3
it fj,pt.ii,f.2.
"
without love Hsieh Liang Tso, whose literary name was Shang Ts ai; see Jg, Cf. p. 323 of this volume. pt. xxiv, f. 1. 5 this," refers back to g[, principle," That is, the ethical mind jlfc,
Lit.
".
"
"
in
Chu Hsi s The literary name

;
preceding answer.
of
Chang Ch
ih
opponent
chap.
iv.
Chu Hsi s friend and (55 Chu Hsi and the Sung School,
J$)>

that
333
Shang Ts
"
ai s
account of
"
"
"
consciousness
?
is different
from the Answer.

the
Intelligence
of
Buddhism
"
When Shang Ts ai says

he does not
differ
It flows forth
from
a great deal from Buddhism. mind," Your statement that consciousness of pain represents the
faculty of consciousness with respect to principle is good, but it is the second stage. For a satisfactory explanation
you must ask How do we know pain ? Where does the 2 Whence does this consciousness pulse come from ?
:
proceed
Some one
said
If
we do
not discover the source we have
not reached the immaterial principle, but are speaking
only of what is material. Answer. True. The passage in which I

of the nature of the seed-corn
27.
is
Ch uan
3
speaks
very good.
Question.
filled
What
"
is
being
with solicitous
meant by the whole breast mind ? 4

"
Answer.
The word
Does
in
it
breast
refers
simply
to
the
hollow parts of the body.

Question.
solicitous
1
mean
that at birth
?
"
man
possesses the
mind
its
fullness
which is translated above. consciousness The expressions fjjjz and ^J J^ cannot be consistently rendered by one word in English. Sometimes the idea is mere sensation, sometimes fully developed intelligence. Most often it is expressed by the more general term As used by Ming Tao to illustrate Love it is consciousness
as that
" "
The same word
".
"
Consciousness
"
".
"
Intelligence
2
3
is
representing the teaching of the Buddhists the best rendering. Its use by Shang Ts ai hovers
As
between the two.

See p. 342.
pt.
iii>
f-
7 3
see p. 235 of this

cf ibid
-
volume
f-
for translation.
31 flh
P1 -
f-
P*- vii
l-
334

It is so
is
Answer. what I do
is
regarded in the present day.
When
not satisfactory and I feel dissatisfied, this the solicitous mind. Lin Tse Chih 1 once said, "A man
will feel the
as high as seven feet, if he receives a pin prick in his
body
pain."
Question.
Such being the case .with
my
body, will
it
be the same in
my
conduct of
to
affairs ?
Answer.
there
is
The response
environment by the Mind

1
is
infinite in its multifaxiousness.
If in every single instance

it is
this solicitous
it is
mind then
,
Love*,; if in
one
still
instance
absent, then
Is
it is
to that extent not Love.
Question.
present
?
3
the
original
mind
in such a case
Answer.
is
it is
Up
till
;
now
I have not thought out

to
whether
it
present or not
according
the principle of the thing
present, but not in the particular spot in
feeling of solicitude is lacking.
For example
",
which this Within

"
the sea-boundaries all are the king s sen-ants 4 but there is one district where the people do not suibmit to the king s
sway, and rebels set themselves up as princes and rulers. In such a district there is no king and yet the king is You must not say, there, but he cannot be relied upon.
;
howeven
it
"
The Divine Law

can
let
is
in some other place and
not here,
will not
1
matter".
my Wang
selfish desire
have full play and Hsin Po was in a room with
See
p. 12, n. 2.
is, is,
That That
".
will
in the case
? one minute fault cause pain and distress in one instance the feeling of solicitude where
" "
"
is
absent
4
5
Allusion to Odes, p. 360.

"
Lit.
only
there."

Fan Po
"
335
Ta, who asked him Ought not a man to regard as in the universe falling within the sphere of everything his Love ? Wang pointed to the window sill and asked
:
"
Fan
"
Should the window
fall
Love?"
Fan was
:
silent.
have replied
sphere of
"If
this
To window
within the sphere of one s my thinking he ought to

docs not
come within the

*"
my
Love why do
affairs,
I not smiash it?
If in a
man
every case is dealt with rightly, then every case has come within the sphere of his Love. Take the window for instance to be treated properly, it
s
conduct of
should be papered 1 in some part or other, and not be smashed without reason.
When "Love regards all things as one." Question. matters have actually come before us for action, then we have the means of dealing with them but before they are actually present we are not in a position to enter into them.
2
;
What
is your opinion ? Answer. Even when they are not actually present the principle is, and when they are present we deal with them
in accordance with
28.
it.
Question.
How
?
does the solicitous
mind include
the four Terminals
Answer. Solicitude is manifested at the time of the first movement of the mind. Conscientiousness, moral insight, and respectfulness are possible only when solicitude has become active they are seen only in its movement. Take for example the four season^ apart from the vital ether
;
The window supposed would be one
of lattice-work
covered with thin
paper which has to be renewed from time to time.

2
pt. xiii,
f.
18.
336
of things in spring, what growth could there be in summer? What would be reaped in autumn ? Or what would be
stored in winter
?
29. The Principle of Origin is the beginning of the The Yi production of things by Heaven and Earth. Great is of the indicated Yuan, Principle Origin, says
"
by Ch ien
"
Perfect is
All thing s owe to it their beginning". 1 Yuan, the Principle of Origin, indicated by
it
K un
All things owe to
their
birth".
From
this
we
learn that the Principle of Origin is the thread running through all stages in the production of things by Heaven
and Earth. Yuan

the
is
development
of
the Vital Impulse, in Heng it becomes the Vital; Impulse, in Li it is its
and in Cheng its completion. It is the same with Love. Love is essentially the Vital Impulse, the feeling of solicitude if this Vital Impulse is wounded, the feeling
fruitage,
;
of solicitude is called forth.
Conscientiousness also
;
is
courtesy is Righteousness Reverencef and moral insight is Love manifesting itself in Wisdom. If a man have not Love how can he have Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom ?
Love manifesting
manifesting
itself in
Love
itself in
30.
Question.
Ch eng Tzu
said:
"Love
is
To main
tain inward correctness
outward conduct by be regarded as Love ?
by seriousness, and to regulate 3 How can these righteousness.

".
Answer.
These too are Love.
If
we can
attain to the
perfect cleansing from

1
selfish desire,
and Divine Law have
Yi Ching,
p. 213.
2 3
Ibid., p. 214.
Ibid., p. 420.

course, all these
337
:
For example Wide learning and earnest purpose, eager inquiry and x or "To ihought with self -application Love is in these" naster self and return to right principle 2 is also Love
may
be termed Love.
"
go abroad, to behave to everyone as if you were Deceiving an honoured guest, to employ the people as if 3 In private insisting at a great sacrifice," are also Love
"
When you
ife
to
>erious,
be sedate, in handling public in intercourse with all to be
business
to
4
be
are
ingenuous,"
ilso
once entered upon, oily let it be followed till the goal of perfection is reached; hen all are equally the paths of Love.
Love.
follow,
Whatever path you
31.
"Probably
5
leld firmly
it is
in every case when the mind cannot be lacking in love." In view of this state:
nent G the question was asked

bf the
The
original
substance
calm, empty and clear, free from the enof even a hair s breadth of selfish desire, in panglernent trhich case the virtue of the mind does not fail to be pre
is
mind
served.
the
The
inability to hold the
mind
firmly
is
the result of
pandering Answer.
j
confusion caused by selfish desire, which means the of the mind, and the perishing of its virtue.
According
to
your statement,
it
is
because
"
pf
|;o
be lacking.
"
the inability to holjd the mind firmly that Love is said But in this instance, the phrase lacking
n Love
means that
it is
because of the lack of Love taa fc
here is the inability to hold the

1
3
mind
2
firmly.
XII, i, 1 (p. 114). XIII, xix (p. 135).
Hsi.
Analects,
Ibid.,
XIX,
ii
vi (p. 205).
Ibid.,
Ibid.,
XII,
,
(p. 115).
f.
4
6
pt. xiii,
17.
By Chu
338
32.

Question.
do you explain Chou Tzu s not removing the grass from the front of his window, and the remark that its Vital Impulse was the same as in
himself
? *
How
Answer.
Question.
of
of
fthe a,ss 2
It rwas just that accidentally
he saw what
accorded with his
own impulse. Was Heng Ch u s
reference to the braying

activity.
intended to illustrate the spontaneous
& man s original instinoti ? Answer. Certainly it was so, but he also heard it In the case quoted of the grass according accidentally. with Chou Tzu s own impulse, would not the leaves of a tree also have a likeness to himself ? And in the case pf L the braying of the ass being akin to one s own calling out, would not the neighing of the horse be equally akin ? Question. Was Ch eng Tzu s use of the phenomenon of the production of things by Heaven and Earth the same ? 3
,
Answer. He also observed this by accident simply, and then gave utterance to it in order to teach others. But you must not suppose that all you need is to observe the
phenomenon
of the production of things.

"
In observing young chickens we can observe Question. Love." This illustration surely is to the point, express 4 ing as it does the first manifestation of the Vital Impulse.
1
for
2
Refers to an incident in Chou Tzu s an explanation see j^ pt. iii,

;
life,
f.
and
3
his
answer to a request
P*. xiii
f>
2.
it It,
The
"
P*.
iii, *.
2.
"
it
29
tf>
= Love). impulse regarded as a manifestation oijen It represents the instinctive love of life which characterizes all living things, corresponding to the Divine love of life manifested in the love of creating Here there is a further things, as shown in the preceding examples.
4
vital
is
(l
extension of the idea.

Answer.
It is
their skin that observation, is possible.
339
simply because of the transparency of In the full-grown
)ird it is not that

;he fact
Love could not be observed, except for
that the skin is thick.
33.
Pi
Ta 1
said
WhenTziiHou 2 heard of the

was sad
birth of
prince he rejoiced greatly, but
at the sight of
3 starving people eating a meal. Cheng Ch )n this as rejoicing with those that rejoice
un remarked and grieving

"He
vith those that grieve.
Lu Tzu Shou 4
You,
sir,
"
said:
simply
"Have
"
nade the incident a
text."
asked him
He answered thought about it thoroughly ? are one in it matter and one in substance hings
;
All
is
when
hat which resides in
perfectly altruistic and without goism that there can be the absence of all separating iarriers, and I can rejoice with those that rejoice, and
is
me
grieve
with those that
grieve."
it only represents part of the matter. When Cheng Ch un said this, lie was ndeed using the incident merely as a text, without really
Answer.
That
is
so far true, but
What sort of egoism is there understanding the matter. n earth and wood for instancy ? And yet they have no nion with other things. Man, however, poiss-esses this
aind originally, and therefore, 1 Wu Pi Ta, style Po Feng see Jfl
;
if
he be perfectly
,
altruistic
pt. Ixix,
f.
53.
Chang Tsai
(JjH
f.
^)>
whose
style
was
Tzii
Hou.
3
4
Jg
fjr, pi. iii,
2.
The second
of the three brothers

s
Lu
Tzii Mei,
Lu Tzu
(j[>
Shou, and
Tzu Ching. Lu Tzu Shou imily home was Chin Ch i (^

ru
The ming was Chiu Ling fft). f) in Fuhkien. He was associated with
is
vere contemporaries
younger brother, Tzu Ching (^p ^), as a teacher of philosophy. Both and opponents of Chu Hsi.
340
PHILOSOPHY
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
and without egoism, all .tilings Mall be under his control, and there will be nothing to come between them and him.
34. Love is latent in the feeding of solicitude) this is Love us substance. 1 When several things are accomplished
:
each action contains

operation.
35.
2
its
own
bit of
Love and
this is its
The
inclusion of the four virtues in Love
is
like
the union of the six ministers under the headship of the Prime Minister.
36.
If thought as soon as it springs up is firmly held, Love but if the thought as soon as it springs up
;
that
is
goes
>astriay,
then
it is
robbed of
its
Love
if
when
it
ought
;
to dispense deeds it errs, it is robbed of its Beveren-ce, if when ifc ought to be gathering in it serrs, it is robbed of
its
Piightoousness
if
when
it errs, it is
robbed of
its
it ought to be still and at res,t .Wisdom. This principle is present
in everything.
37.
Spring
is
proceed summer, the spring. Therefore Lovei
the beginning of the year. autumn, and winter all

is
From
"born
it
of
said to include the four
But virtues for the simple reason that the four are one. as to three Yuan in Yuan, the principle of Origin, there
are included the principles of Origin, Beauty, Utility, and and conversely the principles of Origin, Potentiality
;
Beauty,
1
*lf*>
Utility,
"
and Potentiality have each
its
Yuan, or
lit
bones
",
as the framework of a thing, or the ribs of a fan.
JJ| is equivalent to
^,
"
which
is
an
"
event
"
in contrast to
".
$j
"
thing
",
or
"
operation
in contrast to
"
substance

Drinciple
341
of Origin. If we grasp this idea, the statement hat Love includes the four virtues will be clearer. 38. Question. I
Ch uan
said:
The
Vital Impulse in
ill;
things
?
is
fully capable of observation.
What
is
your
>pinion
ar
Answer. At the beginning of life, when things are not removed from their source, it is certainly easy
;
o observe
>ut
but when branches are formed iand leaves are

it is
forth in their luxuriance,
not easy.
As
in the
solici-
aso of the child falling into the well, the feeling of
ude and alarm

he case of
t is
is
Love in
it
its
elementary stage,
it.
vhen we meet with
we can
easily perceive
and But in
a government dispensing Love" 1 so far-reaching 2 that we cannot see whore the Love is.
"instituting
"
Question. In the In feeling the pulse we

39.
Literary Remains
see
"
it is
said
is."
may
who
?
what Love really

it ? 4
3oes not this
mean a
Is it the
sincere seeking after
Chu
Hsi.
one
feels
the pulse that repre-
ents Love, or the pulse itself

1
See Mencius,
p. 78.
In the case of solicitude concerning a child who
as fallen into a well, it is easy to watch and analyse the springs of Love, ut in the case of government with its complicated and far-reaching
rganization, often
;
"
masking
its
love
"
in
law and severe punishment,
it
not by any means so easy. 2 Mencius, p. 22.

3
The
origin of the saying
was
"
in
an interview between Ming Tao and
Isieh
Liang Tso.
is."
While
sitting
ulse
eally
4
and Ming Tao remarked,

See
together one was feeling the other s In feeling the pulse we may see what love
1.
jj ^f
pt.
iii,
f.
Just as the physician in feeling the pulse
is
intent and sensitive to its
lightest beat.
342

The
a,ot
Questioner. Love.
of feeling the pulse represents
Chu
pulse,
Hsi.
1
If that be the case, then,
when
feeling the
we ought
also to cherish the resolve to
embody Love
in practice.
Chu Hsi
opinion of
further asked Fei

jSsii s
3
Ch ing
?
2
:
What
is
is
your
Chung
:
statement
Fei Ch ing
According to
my 4
view
it
the game as
in the case of the
young
chicken.
Chu
Eei
Hsi.
How ?
The young chicken
?
Ch
ing.
Chu
Fei
Hsi.
What
represents Love. about feeling the pulse and embodying

is
Love in practice
the permeating flow of the blood. By feeling the pulse we can perceive Love. Cha Hsi. Yes, it is probably so. The blood pervades the whole body it is so also with the principle of Love.
ing.
1
Ch
The pulse
The
Philosopher
further
?
asked
How
it
do
young
chickens represent Love Tao Fu 5 said: You,
sir,
onoe said
was because of
the tenderness which characterizes the beginning of their

life.
what
1
Looked at in this way the meaning is some time they drink, they peck their food with perfect self-possession, and as yet have no
Hsi.
clearer, for at this
Chu
That
."
is,
Chu Hsi does not agree with

Love
;
the questioner that
"
feeling the
pulse
2
3
represents
see below.
Surnamed Chu (^). The original questioner.

fg
See
*
5
is
Chu Fei Ch
ing.
p. 178, n. 6.

experience of the alarms pf fighting and raiding. t is that represents Love.
40.
>orrect
.
343
This
s
>f
it is the principle of Love, that Love a principle of flowing movement and the putting forth life, and that it is for this reason that altruism asi em
Question. to say that
With, reference to
jaltruism,
is
it
Dodied in
man
as
is
termed Love
? *
is nob easy to answer. The statement, embodied in man is Love," is somewhat but if we really understand what is meant it, faulty we shall recognize that it is well said. It was on this
Answer.
This
Altruism
;
"by
account that
to
Love."
Ch eng
Tzii also said
"Altruism
comes near
For Love belongs

T>irth
to the connotation of the
"man". You possessed it originally, you brought 2 but because of the lack! with you at your 7 of altruism it has been covered up and choked so that it cannot flow forth if you can attain to altruism, Love
word
it
will have free course.
It is like the water in
dyke,
and clogged by sand and earth, ceases to flow if you can remove the obstructions the water will flow freely. It is not ,that you go outside and bring in fresh water to ihrow into the dyke the water was in the but was impeded by foreign substances* dyke originally
which, obstructed
;
Remove
the obstruction
"
and the
self
water has free course.
In the saying,
L
To master
and return to right
Cliu Hsi s answer seems to

I
sayings.
following.
!
imply that this passage is from Ch engTzu s have not succeeded in finding either this or the one immediately
fT
?S
T *
;
to obstruct
= O a failure of water J$ = Jj| to oppose.

;
344

is
1
Love,"
principle
to master self and return to right more than removing- the egoism. If principle nothing we can remove the egmsm Divine Law will, naturally have
is
free course.
It is not that
having mastered
it
self
we
seek
another Divine
it is
said
"
implant Altruism comes near to
Law and
within.
Therefore
Love."
Questioner. Altruism is the quality by exercise sympathy and affection. Sympathy

of Love, affection
is
which we can
is
the bestowal
the
outflow
of
the operation of Love. Affection is Love, sympathy extends this feeling of
affection for the object loved, so that it actually reaches
that object.
Is it not so
Answer.
in
What you say is not

If
incorrect, but
so<
your
defini
tions are not related to each other, arid
them
to excite interest.
it
way what would no progress is made is

in this
there is nothing were only studied philosophy ? The reason why; accomplish
phenomena no
just because interest is excited.
in
the
study
of
Question. Ought we not in our explanation to retain the word "altruism" as it occurs in the first part of the
sentence
? 2
Answer.
in the Love principle. But apart from altruism there be either ;the one or the other ?
Yes, sympathy and affection both originate how can

Is not affection the initial outflow, but not
Question.
as yet applied to the object, and sympathy the quality by which we can import ourselves into the object ?
Ansiver.
1
The outflow
of
Love
is
simply
affection.
Analects XII, i, 1 (p. 114). Refers to the opening sentence of this section on
p. 343.

Sympathy is that which applies the affection, and but s that which is applied by sympathy
;
"
345
affection
for
the
ympathy applying the affection, the affection could not attachment each to the object loved there could be no
o
parents,
1
love
of the
people,
or
kindness
to
other
ireatures",
but simply a feeling of affection.
If there
vere no affection there originally, what would there be to extend ? It is like the clearing of a dyke the water is
:
here originally, and therefore when the dyke is cleared he water flows. If there were no water in the dyke )riginally, how could there be a flow of water when the
On the other hand, although there is lyke is cleared ? vater there, how can it flow out if the dyke is not cleared ?
The water
lyke
41.
is is
the feeling of affection, that which clears the
sympathy.
Questioner.
It is Baid
xhaustively expressed in Altruism is the principle of Love.

s s
The doctrine of Love Altruism the one word

:
"
is
".
It is because altruism
embodied in
that
man
that
it is called
Love.
What
I say
Love is a principle in itself, and that altruism is Therefore he work of self-mastery arrived at its g-oall. il truism l,eadb to Love. The sentence, "Altruism as em
bodied in
e s
it
When is Love," may be expressed thusi if look been we has solely wholly eliminated, egoism man s personality, it is seen to be Love. The word
man
:
embody"
1
"
suggests
"
"bony
framework". 2
Its
meaning
Mencius, p. 352. 2 As the bones are in the body, forming its framework, so is altruism to embody," is the embodied in man s personality. Note, the word t i, in the and same word as that translated enter into sympathy
" " "
"
",
sentences following.
346
is

same as in the sentence,
"
They enter into all things and there is .nothing without them," l and the construction is the same as in the sentence, The Principle of Potenti 2 is the of action;." It is not the word meaning faculty, ality
"
the
sympathy. Answer.
Altruism
is
the
method of Love
is
man
Love
;
is
the
for,
material of Love.
Where man
there
is
having physical form, he possesses the principle of life. If there is no selfishness with its separative barriers, tha
entire substance of
man s
personality
is
Love.
If there
were no physical form, the Vital, Impulse would have no The statement that the word "embody" seat of unity.
Sympathy is to import as in the sentence, and so study Kind and considerate treatment of the whole body of officers/ in the Doc-trine of the Mean.
is
means sympathy
one
"
also allowable.
s self
into the object
it,>
4-
42.
The term
"Love"
is
but from
man
5
;
hence the statement,

is
Love."
not derived from altruism, It is when ial truism

<
as embodied in
man
43.
is
1
"Altruism
as
embodied in man
is
Love."
Love
a permanent principle of
2
man
mind. If altruism, then
This sentence is quoted p. 403 (Ch. Ed., pt. i, f. 5). = simply to assist in the interpretation of the word t i (ifff). Kan (^^) a framework When any action is performed, it must embody on framework wisdom, i.e. it must contain wisdom within it as the which it is built then only will it be satisfactorily performed. Similarly
"
"
" "
D.M., p. 261. See Yi Ching,
"
".
"
"
"
altruism
3
must be embodied in man. Chu Hsi shows that there is no practical difference between
" "
"
(V)
t
these two
uses of the word

4
5
i;
see the end of this section.
D.M., p. 272.
That
is,
from the ideograph J{

;here is
r
347
Love
if
egoism, then there
is
not Love.
But
>e
ou must not therefore regard altruism as Love. It must embodied in man before it can be Love. Altruism,
^mpathy, and affection,
5.
all may be employed to explain antecedent to Love, sympathy and iffection are subsequent ; because where there is altruism
Al|truism
is
;hero can
iffection
be Love, and where there and sympathy.

:
is
Love there can be
In the statement, Sympathy Love s bestowal, affection is Love s operation," what is difference between bestowal and operation ?
44.
"
Someone asked
"
"
"
"
Answer.
Section
;
"That
which
is
is
T>es
towed by sympathy
is
the
if
there
affection, the affection
not sympathy, then, although there cannot reach its object.

the
is
"
45.
Question.
bestowal,
In
"
statement,
Sympathy
what
"
"
is
is
ove
affection
Love
"
operation,"
operation ? Answer. Bestowal is the flowing forth from one s own erson, operation refers to the thing done. The extension
f the self is
its
e difference
between
bestowal
and
sympathy,
it is
object
affection is the first
the outflow from self reaching beginning of it. Affection
water, and sympathy is like the flow of water. The Questioner again asked You, sir, said that affecion is like water, and that sympathy is like the flow of ter. After I l went away, and thought it over, it seemed to me that this was not quite accurate. I would prefer
s like
:
f,
^g is for ^jT (Ch un) and is the questioner Ch en Ch un see p. 195, n. 2.

;
way
of referring to
him-
348
Lovo is like water, that the affection, is like tho quality of humidity in water, and that sympathy is like the flow of water. I do not know what you think of it.
to say that
Answer.
incorrect.
"
You
are right,
what I
said yesterday was*
Sympathy is Love s bestowal, affection is Love s The two expressions bestowal and opera 2 tion" must on no account be Such virtues* transposed, were only possible to Confucius arid Mencius. The rest from Hsiin and Yang downwards were unable to attains
46.
"
"
li
operation."
to them,
and therefore
it
their statements could be altered.

"
Formerly
is
was said
call
what we
Completeness of self-expression ingenuousness, and completeness in the

:
I Ch uan said, representation of an object sympathy." the in of an object can "Completeness representation no more than the idea of truth, the extension of express
one s
self to the object is

"
termed
"
sympathy."
For the
is
sentence,
Sympathy
is
the extension of the
self,"
the
as
bestowal". only true explanation of this need to be studied very minutely.
Such passages
Hsieh Hsien Tao, 3 the first time he met Ming Tao, was full of self-confidence because of his wide learning he knew every word in the books of History. Minig Tao said, "Honoured sir, you have a prodigious memory, but is it not what might be character47.
Question.
Sec
p. 345.
2
3
it
*,
p*- xxiii
f - 1-
Hsieh Liang Tso, see
p. 322, n. 3.

ized as the kind of
*
349
familiarity
by which one
aims are
ruined?
5>1
When
said
:
Hsieh heard
"
this the perspiration
poured
down
his back
and his face flushed crimson.

This
is
Whereupon
Ming Tao
a case of
solicitude."
Now his
feelings were hurt by the question of his teacher, and the manifestation of his wounded feelings in his countenance do not seem to fit in with solicitude What, then, did
"
Ming Tao mean Tyy his remark ? Chu Hsi. Let us discuss this question now.
he
"
"Why
"
did
call it
solicitude
"
and not
"
conscientiousness
Let
each one of you give his
own
:
opinion.
Li Li Ch eng answered
Probably he had in mind the
theory of consciousness of pain. 2 The Master did not accept this.

question being put to
:
The next day, the

:
him
again, the Master said
It
was
When Hsieh Hsien Tao heard what Ming simply this Tao said he was moved, and the fact that he was so moved was itself a good thing. But you must not say that all
students should desire to be
over,
moved in the same way.

solicitude,
More
the
four
Feelings
conscientiousness,
courtesy, and moral insight do not all come at once. In the narrow sense solicitude is one of Tour, in the wide
leense it includes the four.
When
one
is
moved then
all
follow.
spoke of solicitude, the other three conscientiousness, courtesy, and moral insight were all
48.
1
When he
included.
Chao Kung Fu asked

fj||
;
"
It is said,
s
Heaven
enters
See
J|c, pt. xiv,

cf.
f.
6.
Ming Tao
quotation
is
from the Shu Ching,
pp, 348-9
2
Legge
note on J^.
Cf. p. 323, n. 1.
350

and there is nothing excluded from its Love enters into all actions, without
j
into all things,
operation, just as
exception."
there
is
Does this not mean that in every single thing; Divine Law, and in every deed there is Love ?
Yes, Heaven
is
Answer.
is
embodied in things, and Love
embodied in actions.
Moreover, to say that Heaven

;
enters into things and Love into actions, means essentially that the substance of a thing is Heaven, and the substance of an action is Love. The construction of the sentencei
arises
;|t
from the necessity of expressing the idea in terms

:
of the higher in each case. 1
Chih Tao asked

sentence
"
Is it the
same meaning
as in the
is
They
"
enter into all things and there
nothing
without them
? 2
Answer.
Yes.
You, Question. explain the phrase

"
to
manage
affairs
".
your Commentary on tlie Yi "enter into things" by the expression 3 What is the connexion ?
sir,
in
Answer.
1
The phrase
"to
same meaning as
is, ^C and therefore *|
manage affairs" has the have the management of affairs"*

"to
That
an(i
fc
m ^st
be the subject of the sentence in each
case,
has to be used as a verb and in a transitive sense.

"
It
is
thus equivalent to
"
tion,
2
makes itself the substance of or, inherent is embodied enters into,"

",
"
as in the transla
in."
in,"
"is
D.M., p. 261.
Cf.
Yi Ching,
"
p. 408.
The meaning
is
",
of
3f
as
it
occurs in the passage in the Yi, to
faculty oi made, is doubtless as Legge translates it action or the gift of managing affairs. But the quotation of it here is not because of its meaning but because of its construction, ijjfc Jf and and are parallel in construction to f| ff |jj j ffi to frame affairs It is as if in the one case the phrases were rendered
which allusion
^
"
"
and to be the framework of affairs", and in the other embodied in things" and to be the body of things
"
case,
"to
be
".

nd to say
>e
351
"
"
enter into
"
"things
.
is
the
same
as saying
to
ths substance of things
Kung Wen
>assage
asked
What
"
a6out
t"he
after-part of the
which says
.
It embraces
the three hundred
ceremony, and the three thousand rules of lemeanour 1 There is not a single thing without Love."
ules
of
"
embraces the three hundred rules Answer. and the three thousand rules of demeanour ceremony
"It
of
;,
ut Love
49.
must be recognized
as the
framework.
statement, is the
Question.
How
"
do you explain the
To be
sincere, earnest,
?
empty
empty
01"
self
and calm
foundation of Love
Answer. To be
sincere,
of self,
and calm
is
the
foundation of the practice of Love.
THIRTY-TWO SECTIONS FROM THE

1.
:<hintgs
"
COLLECTED WRITINGS
".
From the two statements, that to give birth to is the Mind of Heaven and Earth, and that nien
creatures each receive this
it
nd other
Mind
of
Heaven and
follows that to express the virtue of the mind, although the supremacy and unity of the [Mind are perfectly complete, one word will nevertheless
cover
it,
Earth as their mind,
and that word
think over this
Please none other than Love Mind of the of the For virtues carefully.
"
is
".
[Heaven and Earth are four
the
;
principles
iBeauty, Order, and Potentiality Origin unites and controls them
and In their operation and become they spring, summer, autumn, and winter
all.
;
of Origin, the Principle of
the vital ether of spring permeates the whol,e.

1
Therefore
D.M.,
p. 286.
352
in
the

mind
of
man
also there are four virtues, Love,
and all are Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom; included in Love. In their operation they become affection, and all are united respect, obligation, and discrimination
;
in the solicitous mind.

of
Therefore in discussing the Mind

"
Heaven and Earth, when indicated by. Gh ien" 1 and

indicated
The
"
The
Principle of Origin Principle of Origin
by
un"
is
mentioned, the
substance
and
operation of their four virtues are pausing to enumerate them in detail.
all^ implied, without When, in discussing
the mystery of man s mind, it is said, "Love is man s 3 the substance and operation of the four virtues mind," are again all included, without waiting to state them in
Love in the Moral Order is the life-producing Mind of Heaven and Earth present
detail.
For
the place of
as
in
its
everything. substance is there in

the Feelings
its
Before the movement of the Feelings

its
entirety, after the

is infinite,
movement
of
operation
it,
and
>us
if
we
can truly
all preserve the root of virtue. This what is is taught every goodness, by the school of Confucius; and for this reason we are
embody and
we have within
the spring of
bound to lead the student to be eager in his pursuit of Love. To master self The statements of the Sage arei First. and return to right principle, is Love" 4 teaching us that if we can conquer and eliminate our selfishness and return
"
to Divine
Law, the substance of

its
this
mind 5
will be in
active.
variably present, aind

1 3 6
operation
2
everywhere
See Yi Ching, p. 213. Mencius, p. 290.

"This
Ibid., p. 214.
Analects, XII,
"
i,
1 (p. 114).
mind
"
>
refers to
"
Love

Second.
"In
353
private life to be sedate, in handling public be Business to serious, in intercourse with all to bo in1 these are the means by which we may preserve ennous To be filial in. serving one s parents, his inind. Third.
"
"
o be fraternal in serving one s oljder brothers, and to these also are the means extend kindness to animals"
:
>y
which we practice
2
it,"
this
mind.
a
Fourth.
"
To
seek Love
retire,
3
nd obtain
to
decline
kingdom and
4
:
to
these are the and perish by starvation To mind. lose this we do not neans by which Fifth. 5 this means that aerifies life in order to perfect Love here is something we desire more than life and something hat we hate more than death, and so we can avoid injury o this mind. What mind is this ? In Heaven and Earth t is that mind to produce things which fill^ the universe, man it is that gentle mind which loves men and is dud to other creatures. It includes the Four Virtues, mid mites the Four Terminals.
hoose death
"
"
"n
Some one
liove
is
Dh eng Tzii
According to your explanation, do 33 not statement that affection is a Feeling and the Nature, and that affection muslt not be regarded
:
md
Love, become erroneous
Answer.
Not
so.
What Ch eng
Tzii
deprecates
is
ipplying the term Love to the outflow of affection. What maintain is that the term Love should be explained as
.
the principle of affection.

1
For what are termed Feel.ing
8
|
An
Analects, XIII, xiv allusion to T ai

Cf. Analects,
(p. 135).
Po
;
the father of
4 *
King Wen XVI, xii,
2 Analects VII, xiv, 2 (p. 63). retirement in favour of his younger brother, see Analects, VII, i (p. 71), and Legge s note.
1 (p. 179).
Analects,
XV,
viii (p. 1GI).
Aa
354

is
and the Nature, although there
a distinction between
them, have nevertheless each of them their placo in one how then can they be sharply separated!, organic union and made to have no connexion with each other ? iWhat
;
student
was just now most anxious about was to prevent the from repeating Ch eng Tzu s words and not
stopping to find out his meaning, lest he should end in; leaving out of account altogether the feeling of affection,
and confine himself to the recognition of the love-principle. I have therefore purposely dealt with this point with a
view to explaining what he has omitted.
Do you
regard
that as differing from Ch eng Tzu s doctrine! ? Some one askedJ The, disciples of Ch eng Tzu give various explanations of Love. Some say that affection
:
is
as the substance of Love.
not Love, and regard the unity of all things with myself Others say that affection is not
Love, and explain the term as the Do you, explaining consciousness.

to
mind
it
possession of
as
you do, mean
imply that these are all wrong ? From the statement, "The universe is one Answer. with myself," we may learn how Love includes all things it does not tell us what within the sphere of its affection Love ,is in its real essence. 1 From the statement, "The mind possesses consciousness," we may learn how Love
:
includes
derives
1
Wisdom
its
it
does not
tell
us from what
to
it really,
name. 2
If
you
"
refer
"
Confucius
answer
is the answer to what some say as reported in the question. supported by the reference to Confucius answer to Tzu Kung. 2 as reported in the question. others say This is the answer to what It is supported by the reference to a statement by Ch eng Tzu. Cf. p. 323
This
It is
"
"
and
n. 1.
PHILOSOPHY
o
vide
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
355
Tzu Kung s question about conferring benefits far and and succouring the people, and to Ch eng Tzii s stateis
nent that Love

.ciousness,
not to be explained in terms of conHow then can you you ? these word as the Love Instead, with egard explaining about the substance, you confuse ague language unity of
will see that it is so.
d hinder people, while you give nothing that will have he effect of admonition such error is likely to result n regarding the object as subject. Those who lay em
;
phasis
on
"
Consciousness
"
induce in
men
self -display
;
ind irascibleness without

>rror
any suggestion of depth
such
is likely to result in
>n
the one
hand there
is
regarding desire as principle. the negation of the ego, 1 on

" "
he other the reinforcing of tho passions, 2 and both Consciousness j-e wrong. Furtner, the .theory does
"
ot accord
nig
with the picture presented by the sages of find3 and so being able to preserve pleasure in the hills e. How then can you regard this as explaining the
"
void Love
Because of the importance of the subject these sayings f the Philosopher are collected and formed into a treatise
Love. 4
(The Treatise on Love.)

Tzii
s
2.
Ch eng
xhaustive.
To sum up
exposition of Love throughout is very the main drift of his teaching a
ew sentences only
Love
1
are necessary.
is
the nature-principle of
"
For example, he says, life, and affection is its

"
The The
result of
"
regarding object as subject regarding desire as principle

s disciples,
;
"
Jg
;
=. ^gj
8
3
result of
{JJj
^
tfjfc
JJj
Analects, VI, xxi (p. 56).
Probably by one of Chu Hsi
such as
Wu
Pi Ta.
356

;
the filial and fraternal spirit is corresponding Feeling its operation while altruism is that by which it is made
;
and further, right principle is Love/

concrete
"
"
To master
In the
self
and return
to
first
three sentences
may learn the terminology and meaning of Love, and in the last sentence the method of putting forth effort in its practice. Modern scholars do not thoroughly
the student
meaning of Ch eng Tm s exposition as a whole. Looking solely at his distinction between the Nature and Feeling, they declare that affection and Love have absolutely no connexion with each other. Because
search into the
he regarded altruism as coming near to Love, they say that he defined altruism directly and most emphatically as the substance of Love. They do not realize that Love is the
virtue of the Nature
and the root of affection. It is because there is Love in the Nature that there can be affection among the Feelings. (In the same way, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom aret also virtues of the Nature.;
Righteousness is the root of the hatred of evil, Reverence is the root of courtesy, and Wisdom is the root of the know
ledge of good and evil. It is because there is Righteous ness in the Nature that there can be hatred of evil among!
the Feelings, it that there can
is
is
because there
is
Reverence in the Nature

Feelings,
it
be
is
humility
among the
e\vil
because there
Wisdom
in the
Nature that there can
be
knowledge
if
of
good and
among
the Feelings.)
th<
by the selfishness of egoism, of its substance and operation cannot be per mystery fected. It is only by the mastery of self and the returr
it
But
is
choked,
"
Analects, XII,
i,
1 (p.
114).
PHILOSOPHY
o right principle
Jtruism",
",
OFi
"
HUMAN NATURE
mind and
357
a high
by
broadness of
that
this
substance
Complete, its
operation brilliantly manifested,
can be comprehensively and activity

be united in organic
Tzii s statements,
tnd repose, the root
and
its
fruit,
mity.
10
This
is
the meaning of
Ch eng
hey do not mean that affection and Love have absolutely connexion with each other. (This point has been dealt
I beg again to dispose
f it in
vith in detail in previous treatises.
position is that the outflow f the Nature is Feeling, that Feeling has its root in he Nature, and that there is no such thing as Feeling
a word or two.
My
without the Nature or the Nature without Feeling, each separate entity, unaffected the one by the other. You
nay
see
here
the
correctness
or
otherwise
that
of
the
word!
wo
positions.)
Nor do they
mean
the
the
of
altruism"
refers directly to
substance
Love.
Examining closely your communication I find that you If altruism be extended to the whole universe so ay, hat the egoism resulting from the distinction between
"
ubject and object is entirely obliterated, then affection I am not sure in which of these nust be universal."
;wo sentences
ove.
it
is .that
yjou refer to the substance of
you regard the universality of affection as the! ubstance of Love, then you fall into the error of conbounding Feeling with the Nature, and with your
If
eminently clear insight you could not do that. If you egard the "extension of altruism to the whole universe
30
that the egoism resulting

is
from the distinction between

"
subject and object

)f
entirely obliterated
as the substance
"
Love, then I fear that
what you
call, "altruism
would
358

But
since in
be but a calm emotionless indifference.
animate wood and stone cannot, even in the case of things of the same species, have mutual affection, how can there
But neither can be such a thing as universal affection ? I in these two sentences discover a single word expressing
must bear in mind that Love exists originally as a nature-principle and as the creative mind, and finds its concrete expression only in altruism; and not that Love oomes after al&ruism. Therefore it is said Altruism as embodied in man is Love." If you
the substance of Love.
"
We
"
examine
this
"
statement carefully you will see that the

is
word
"
Love
implied in the word
"
man
".)
From
Love
the
as
time of the
affection
Han
dynasty, the error of defining
was because no distinction was made between the Nature and Feeling, and so Feeling was regarded as
the Nature.
To-day, in the endeavour to correct this

"
error,
"
Love the opposite error is incurred of making the word so vague that there is nothing to which it can be referred,
with each other.
to talk of
real
and so the Nature and Feeling come to have no connexion This is to go from one extreme to the 1 which is other, simply foolish. The error leads the student
Love
meaning. and the virtues of the Nature and Feelings are also in volved in the same obscurity. In my opinion Ch eng Tzii would never have meant anything of the kind. (Reply to Chanig Ch in Fu s 2 essay on Love.)
1
day long and yet never understand its Moreover, the Mind of Heaven and Earth
all
Lit.
it
that
2
"To correct a crooked thing beyond the straight becomes crooked in the opposite direction.
:
position,"
sc
Chang Ch
ih
()}j|
${)
see p. 191, n.
3.
PHILOSOPHY
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
359
3. Upon a further perusal of the three points contained n another communication of yours, it seems to me that
hough with your excellent insight you have realized the

aistakes of
your
first essay, still
in this fresh treatment of
bat
our subject, there are a few small errors which suggest you have not examined it with sufficient care. BeIt
pectfully, therefore, I discuss the matter once more.

ias
already become unnecessary and first informed Tessions,

"
to discuss
"
Mencius ex-
"
first
in
apprehension,"
rhich
aenit
lis
Kuang Chung quotes 1 to explain Shan g Ts ai sstatethat Mind has consciousness". 2 And as to
"the
talk about
"knowing
this
is
"
and
"
apprehending
this
",
do not know what

je
to
it
we
are to
know
is
or
what we
apprehend.
it
Indeed, seeing that he

it is
wrong in the
undamental part of the subject

ve discuss
immaterial whether
or not.
On
"
hat
1
you regard the and knowing this Love" and knowing

"
"this"
reading your treatise I find as Love>; that is, you take

"
apprehending this "apprehending Love
as
".
Now
meaning Love
is
o teach ion
really the virtue of me to know it and
my mind
who
it?
is it
then that
apprehend from Mencius, Gh eng Tzu has already explained

to
As
is
to the quota it
detail,
the effect that
"
to
know
"
to
know an
be
vent (to
know
that this particular
action ought to
Hu Kuang Chung
see p. 37, n. 2.
,
The passage
;
referred
323,
n. 1,
to
is
to
be found in the
gfc
pt. xlii,
f.
20
cf.
also p.
of this
volume.
2
For
his allusions to Mencius, see Mencius, p. 246.

"
"
is a compound expression The word consciousness and to perceive the two ideographs, $$ to know
"
consisting of
".
",
"
360
thus),

and
"
"to
apprehend
is
to apprehend a
law
(to
know
the principle because of which this action ought to be thus). The meaning is already perfectly plain, and there
is
no niecessity to seek for some recondite mystery in the

Besides,
phrase.
Ch eng
Tzti
idea and that of
Shang
"Con
Ts
ai really
"
have no connexion with each other.
as used by Shang Ts ai is consciousness of and heat, hunger and repletion, and similar sensations, and although you extend its application to inter-
sciousness
cold
i
fi
course
with
spiritual
beings,
it
is
still
;
the
same
a
E
ii
[consciousness
and not a
different thing
it is
simply
which
forth
question of the difference in the importance of the thing to it is applied. This, however, is the operation put
;
by Wisdom alone but it is only the man of Love who can combine thefai. Therefore we may say that in the man of Love the Mind has consciousness, but we cannot say that the Mind s possession of consciousness is what we term Love. For when wq say that in the man of Love the Mind has consciousness we refer to the fact
Love includes the operation of the four virtues, as though you said that the man of Love knows the objects of conscientiousness and courtesy while if you say that the Mind s possession of consciousness is what we term Love, then I answer that this is not that from which Love derives its name. You, now, instead! of inquiring into what it derives its name from, point to what it includea as the substance of Lovo ajs has been said, "the man of Love is sure to possess courage," and "the man of Virtue is sure to have correct speech". 1 But how could you go
that
;
;
Analects,
XIV, v
(p.
140).

>n
361
and correct speech as Virtue ? insisting upon regarding con[With reference to iiousness as Love, you, honoured friend, are opposed to and yet in your arguments on the degree of con scions [it,
to regard courage as Love,
Po Feng
you scarcely avoid proving! his contention for him, As position which I would not venture to commend. for Po Feng s further statement, that what Shang Ts ai means is simply the possession of mental energy, and ithat if we obtain this mental energy the operations of Heaven and Earth become our own operations, the theory,
less
j
know
indeed, is lofty and mysterious enough, but, as he does not the meaning of Shang Ts ai s terms, and as there is
1
no indication
as to the starting point, but only a sudden reference to this mental energy, it is a case in which the loftier the conception and the more mysterious the
language, the less foundation do we find for it when look into the constitution of our own personality.
[to
we As
what he says of the operations of Heaven and Earth becoming our own operations, I fear he has simply heard
or imagined these things, but has never attained to such 2 (Reply to Chang Ch in Fu s essay on
an experience.
Love.)
4.
thought for others in collating all the passages in Confucius and Mencius which treat of Love, with a view to a general statement on the subject, was
Tzti
s
Ch eng
most opportune. But to devote oneself exclusively to this kind of work I fear would unavoidably produce a tendency
to indulge in hasty
1
and short-cut methods, resulting in the

in obtaining the mental energy.
That
See
is,
p. 191, n. 3.
362
a tendency you must not fail to be on your guard against. Speaking generally, before the two Ch engs, scholars knew nothing of the word Love
evil of ill-digested theories,
;
the statements of the saints and sages concerning Love they simply construed in terms of affection. It was from
two Oh engs that scholars began to realize that the word could not be explained simply as affection.
the time of the
own attendent error. For by confining the attention to the discussion of Love there was neglect of the work of holding fast and preserving the 1 and of "nurture and maturity, V so that again mind" there was no satisfaction pr pleasure in the study, 3 nor any real mastery of .self and return to right principle Not only did this result in the beclouding which leads to foolish simplicity", 5 but there was a complete divorce from the word "affection". Thus, building upon empty
But
this idea did not escape its
" "
".*
"
guesswork without any real perception of the subject, their theories became wild and grotesque with all sorts of
fallacies, to the extent ,that it haid
been better to know
nothing of the deeper
meaning
it
of the
!
word Love
at
all,
and simply interpret

if there is is
1
as affection
I have said that
a genuine desire to seek Love, certainly there no way so near of attainment as the energetic practice
Mencius,
ilH
p. 285.
"
"
to nourish
^=
"
"
"
to
swim about
".
in
water",
immersed
in
it,
1
4
5
holding fast, Confucius mentions this as the result of

"
and revelling in it. The proper result of the The proper result of the
nurture
etc."
"
the love of being benevolent
without the love of learning
JJ
fc
Jf
^)
see
Analects,
XVII,
viii,
3 (p. 186).

>f
363
it. But to try and exhibit it without study means the inxious uncertainty of groping in the dark like a blind ian, the result of which is the beclouding of a foolish
"
are earnest and perfect our know ledge, each of these .supplementing the other, we shall ivoid this evil. If, again, we desire to understand the
simplicity".
If
we
content of the term

follow
/ove
ill
up the
comes to
we cannot do better than word "affection". If we understand how be affection and how the latter still cannot
"Love",
out the idea of Love, the meaning and content of the will stand out clearly before our eyes, and there will
no need
whether
it
to look for it wildly, in uncertainty as to

is
or
is
not a reality.
(Reply to Chang
o.
)f
(is
Looking carefully at your
"Preface
to
The Exposition
one
s
Love",
I find the statement,
"Though
desire
s utmost endeavour in the practice of Love, lack of clearness in the apprehension of goodthrough This is faults are more than can be enumerated." one |ness,
to use one
;,
issage dees not
appear satisfactory.
to
"
To have
".
Love,
it is
apprehend goodness clearly, but this Confucius meaning of the word Love |is In these therefore always contrasted Love with Wisdom. differentiate do not scholars in their explanation [later years
ue,
you need
not the chief
it
deeds of the minister Tzti

|the representation of
1
from Wisdom, so that in estimating the errors in the Wen and of Ch en Wen Tzii 2
them
is superficial
;
and not
like the
\to
Chang Ch ih (ijj| /jj^), style Ching Fu Chu Hsi and the Sung School, chap. iv.
Analects, V, xviii,
i,
see J. P. Bruce, Introduction
2 (pp. 43, 44).
361

I fear that the teaching
language and thought of the Sage.

of
your
"Preface",
from
beginning
error.
to
end
is
not
altogether free from this
same
(Reply to Chang
Ching Fu.}
6.
Love in terms of affection is like ascending from the lowlands in this way we can which lies close at hand, from that our search prosecute The modern theory, and come very near to attainment. which eliminates at once all connexion between the two is like going a long way off to find the path which lies This is how it is that your mind 2 went so n.ear at hand. far astray in your former essay, while you yourself were not
discuss
to the heights
;
To
aware of your
also
error. What you say about collating passages in order to arrive at a statement of the doctrine of Love
seems
to
me
to be
at faujfc.
It is just
is
what the
he
he seeks
modern scholar does disliking what chooses what is easy, and avoiding the
a short cut.
troublesome
difficulties
This custom has already increased to such
an extent that scholars everyday are taking the shortest and therefore the most dangerous routes. 3 If they continue
to
pursue this method, I
fear their spirit of impatience
for results
the
and eagerness for rapidity will grow still more, more urgent and more distracted, and so they will fall into the opposite of what they seek, and
mind
will be
be destitute
See above.
2
of
Love.
They have not

"
realized that in
(g [g =
1
"
small
.
"
and hence
the mind
"
it is
similar in
its
idea
to that of -sj
3
fy
"
Wt
lifc<
>
Dangerous and
shallow,"
and so
"
sparing of
trouble"
as the dangerous short-cut.

)h eng
365
Tzu
s collection
of sayings, 1 there
is
the exhortation
2
",
from the study

f
t
of the lowly to understand high things
o that in his case his
method was
perfectly complete,
we thoroughly investigate it and energetically practice how can we fall into such error ? (Reply to Chang
7.
Dhing Fu.)
When selfishness is eliminated, there is say oroadness of mind and high altruism, there is living union
You
the
"
riih
whole
universe,
the
principle
is
of
affection
is
eoeived into the heart, its operation
manifested without,
ind in all the universe there is not a single thing

Loes
which
not come within the circle of

is
my
Love. 3
This means
(These few
hat the principle of affection
the original possession of

effort."
ny nature and
is
not achieved by
entences (again are not satisfactory.) 4 For when our elfishness is eliminated, the broadness of mind with its
iigh altruism majestically penetrates in all directions, Now ind there is nothing to hide the substance of Love.
vhen the principle
is
not hidden there
is
living unio,n
vith all things in the universe, and the operation of Love s universal. But what we call the principle of affection
s the possession of my original Nature. All that the Broadness of mind with its high altruism does is to bring
t into evidence
1
it is
not the cause of

XIV,
its
existence. 5
By
See
p. 361.
Analects,
There seems to have

if
3 Cf. p. 367. xxxvii, 2 (p. 153). been a lacuna here in the original text hence
;
;he sentence in brackets supplied
by the
editor.
The
sentence, however,
s criticism
should be read as
without the brackets as part of Chu Hsi
of the passage quoted. 5 Note the difference
between
j^*
an^ ^t
",
means
"
to exist
"
means
"
to exist and also to be present
i.e.
in evidence.
366
all but it directions, living union it penetrates in is not preserved by this living union. These few sentences I beg you, therefore, to examine are somewhat inexact
;
them again. The principle of affection towards men is Love. If Heaven and Earth and all things were non-4
into
principle would not bo lessened thereby. From this you may gather what is the substance of Love; after which you are in a position to assert the living union
existent, this
For this things and its aU-inclusive operation. 1 of is affection principle essentially conservative, and to
with
all
bring in
absurdity, as is
things in the universe is to reduce it to an, shown in the Master s reply to Tzu Kung s and aboutquestion conferring benefits far and wide 2 and in the sentence, "Do we "tsuccouring the people",
all
"
"
not seo in
Fu
the
Mind
of
Heaven and Earth
"
For
in
the return of the Positive
Mode
the
perfected and satisfied, look for it elsewhere. 3 Again, take Lien Hsi
Earth
is
Mind of Heaven and and we need not wait to

s
remark
:
about the grass having the same impulse as his own 4 if it be as is asserted in the present day, the words "the same as are all you can retain of this remark. What
"
then has become of the words

to
"
his
own impulse
"
(Reply
Chang Ch in Fu.)
$1
1 2
3
"
f& $f
p.
to
restrain."
Analects, VI, xxviii, 1 (p. 58).
Yi Ching,
"
233.
"
Fu
"
symbolizes the idea of strong line the positive

at the
4
5
returning
mode
twenty-fourth hexagram, In the preceding hexagram, thhere it "returns has reached the top
an<
".
is
the
of the figure. See p. 338.

p. 191, n. 3.
bottom
See

"
367
To look upon the world as not having a single this also is open to question. which is not Love thing For to say, To look upon the world as not having a single thing which is not within the sphere of my Love," is
8.
"
"
Allowable)
borrect. 1
but to say that things my Love is not are while Love how is mind For things things,
:
ARE
3an you say that a thing is mind ? (Reply to Chang ph in Fu.) 9. With reference to the meaning of the word Love Mind combines the |Mencius in his use of the word Substance with its operation, and uniting the Nature and he speaks of them both as one. Ch eng Tzu, in (Feeling account of the Nature makes careful distinctions ;; pia separating the substance from its operation, he contrasts
"
I
",
"
"
[hem one with the other.

10.
(Reply to Lii Po Kung.)

"Love
As
to
my
statement, that
is
the love of
Beating in the Mind of Heaven and Earth, and that men mid other creatures receive it as their mind", 3 although
t
was the extempore utterance of
Nevertheless, that it
s s
hypothesis, I contend, exactly expresses the truth that there

a.
no separation between Heaven and Man. The statement somewhat subtle, but if you understand it you will
that in the midst of their all-comprehensive unity there a natural distinction between Love and Mind, and that
is
see
hough there
part.
1
this fine distinction, they cannot be torn

to
(Reply
Ho Shu
Ching.)
Cf. p. 365. Lii Tsu Ch ien
(g
riend of
3
Chu
Hsi.
the
ff), elder brother of Lu Tzu Yo, a very close jjjjj. His style was Po Kung. See J. P. Bruce, Introduction
School, chap. iv.
Chu HH\ and

Cf. p. 351.
Sung
368
11.
PHILOSOPHY
Love
:
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
is all-
is all
penetrating, therefore solicitude
penetrating
this is precisely the mysterious inseparable-
ness of the substance
from
its operation.
If
Love were
BIT
all-penetrating, but there were limits to the penetrating power of solicitude, then we should have the substance
ill-i
great and
operation small, an all-round perfection in the substance and imperfection in its operation. You may
its
fl
istl
see the point in the incident in which Hsieh Tzti was hurt by Ch eng Tzii s words and turned red in the face while
:fc
the perspiration poured "the sense of shame",

said,
"This
is
down him it was what is termed but Ch eng Tzti referring to it solicitude (Reply to Ho Shu Ching.)
:
losi
die:
".1
Thf
kt
12.
ness,
As to the exposition of Love in terms of Ch eng Tzii has already exposed its error;
conscious1
^
m
.
for when! ^ e
you explain Love as consciousness, you have only expressed what is its operation, and even then you have not expressed
it all.
T or
It
is
best to use the
word
"affection"
as the most
correct explanation of the operation of Love, and one: which has an all-round completeness. 2 (Reply to Ho Shi
^
Lov
Ching.)
13.
In
your
of
latest
communication you say

is
"
Thd
original
Mind
man
invariably
Love,
but having
^
YOU
become submerged in creaturely dosire, it has lost thif, virtue. Hence we must use our most earnest endeavour then only can we regain the Love of the original Mind. Therefore the sentence in your former letter, Love is thi
"
fruit
of
1
earnest
endeavour,"
as
you see
2
it
now,
ontyi
See pp. 348-9.
Cf. p. 323.
PHILOSOPHY
"
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
369
;
l expresses the second half of your present statement rhile the sentence, The Mind originally is a perfect expresses only the first half of the statement. hing,"
3ut the two sentences are not wrong, they simply lack an .11-round completeness. If you sayj The Mind is that
"
ch connects the beginning with the end, while Love the original excellence of the mind-substance but since
;
iis
Mind, although we
still
possess
it,
has become sub-
lerged in creaturely desire,

Dst,
its
original excellence has been
and can only be regained by earnest endeavour;" hen you will come somewhat nearer to a true statement.
Mencius, it is true, is comprehensive, never been without this Mind, and if pertiance he comes to be destitute of Love, it is simply that
of
?he language
ut
man
lias
tie
original excellence of the
Mind has been

to be correct.
lost.
You
the,
lust still
fords
i-e
make some
and
"
distinction, however,
Love"
between
"Mind"
I recall that
Master Li
3
,
lind
said, "When Mencius said Love is man s he did not mean that Mind is the definition of
2
JOVQ":
this
statement has considerable force.
(Reply
Ho Shu
14.
Ching.)
"
Your statement,
"
roceed from
consciousness,"
Solicitude apparently does not But as to is very good.
The word consciousness is not our further assertion, I I only said never meant that it was tecessarily bad,"
:
hat
1
2
where we
Yen P
need to put
forth,
our
effort is
not in
The statement with which

Li
ing
;
this section opens. see J. P. Bruce, Introduction to
Chu Hsi and
the
Sung
>cloo1,
chap. iv. Mencius, p. 290.
Bb
370

Shang Ts
ai said,
1
consciousness but im reverent care.

"
Seriousness
is
the method of constant
watchfulness,"
which is correct, but there may be a tendency to regard such watchfulness as in itself Love, and this would not be satisfactory. (Reply to Yu Ch eng Chih.)
15.
Although Mencius in
"
his discourses
"
on Love gave
"
1^
e
two interpretations man s mind r solicitude," and and Ch eng Tzii also used the word in both a narrow and H
:
comprehensive sense
nevertheless,
if
in the narrow
ma
bU
sense of solicitude
comprehensive use
substance.
this point 2
you can discern man s mind, then in the of the word you will perceive its entire
your understanding of you are not accurate that you fail to recognize its complete substance seeking to clothe your exposition in swelling words, and masking it with .your own vivid
;
It is only because in
imagination, you fail to realize that the bigger your language the less trenchant will your meaning be. In the
explanations given by Ch eng Tzii the most apt is the simile of the seed corn 3 but this does not represent altruism as Love and at the same time is particularly subtle. You
;
:
<
now
set
aside
obiter
alj
this,
and
insist
on
taking
some
.
laudatory
dictum! of tho Comm-eniaryi on the Yi
as a direct definition of the
meaning of the word, and so not only do you miss the meaning of Love, but you also
wrongly interpret the
"Commentary".
(Reply
toLu
p(
Tzu Yo.) 5
the 1
9^
See
pt-
xxiv
f-
For $h an #
Ts<ai
see P- 322
>
n 3 and
>
P-
323
n>1
>
belo
2 3 *
The point that Love

p. 235.
is
to be explained
by
solicitude.
By Ch
eng
I.
See
p.
207 and
n. 3.

16.
371
The word
f solely
"Loves", it is true, must not be thought from the point of view of its manifested operation,
ut neither
must we
lose sight of the fact that it is a
Otherwise the rinciple capable of manifested operation. rord would have no connotation at all, and would be in-apable of definition.
"
Note, too,
virtues" 1
2
ho
first
of
all
the
is
the Principle of Origin, the first step in the
the original substance capable of nanifested operation. You must not make the original ubstance of Love one thing and its manifested operation
tilings,
,
eginning of all
different thing.
(Reply
to
Lu Tzu
Yo.)
17. The meaning of the word "Love" must be sought long one line of thought and on one principle of definition, hen your doctrine will be in union with what has gone
become wliat we know of as everyJiinig being one soul, a hazy Buddha Mind, and the very vord "Love will have no application at all. (Reply to
efore.
If not,
"
it
will
jii
Tzu Yo.)
Question. Your kind criticism arid instruction with eference to my questionings I have now mastered. For n tho man of Love the Mind has consciousness, but we
18.
Qust not call

er tains to
consciousness Love, because consciousness
.Wisdom.
Law is
one, its functions are diverse,
there are degrees in the feeling of affection. Now he regulation of this diversity, and of these degrees,
nd
)elongs to Reverence, to
make them accord with what they

Righteousness.
2
ught to be belongs
1
to
Righteousness,
Ibid., p. 213.
Yi
Citing, p. 40S.
372

Wisdom
are
all
Reverence, and
Love
it is
Love alone
that
can include these three. But in respect of whence their names are derived each has its own province, and we must
investigate the distinctions between
will all be
i-lie-m
;
otherwise they
jumbled together, and there will be no means of knowing which is Love, which is Righteousness, or which is Wisdom. Answer. Your explanation of the word Love is very
gcod. It
is important to bring the four principles together and by comparison make them throw light on each other then we can see the distinctions between them clearly,
an<
in the midst of the distinctions see the union of al and headship of the one. This is the true presentation o:
the inclusion of
the
four in Love.
Scholars of
recen";
years have confined their attention to the word
"Love
and given no thought to the other three. Hence the un\ they start b; certainty and mistiness of their ideas asserting the inclusion of the four, but do not really knov in what sense they, are so included. Now that we hav
;
you, with your depth of thought and clear discrimination scholars will have someone on whom they can rely. (Repl;
to
Lu Tzu Chung.)
19.
In your communication you say: The similes

1
"
feeling t,he
pulse"
and
"observation
of the
chicken,"!
are certainly good, but at the very time of observation ther are numerous cross-currents in consciousness so that th
Mind
is
divided
1 2
in
its
operations and a hindrance
See p. 341-2 and notes. cf. n. 2 on the next page. See pp. 338-9
;

jtself,
373
|ivhat
13
with the result that not only can we not perceive Love is, but the strength and rapidity of the pulse,
che appearance of the

10
phenomenon
in the chicken,
we have
:;
time to properly observe. I have thought over these but the statements, by feeling pulse we .observe the
Circulation
r i
:.;
vj
1 through the body, and by watching oung chickens we can observe the manifestation of life 2 these two phenomena are used to teach men, jherefore
of blood
KJ
::
tzu
ust as the physicians saying about numbness 3 and Chou s not removing the grass from his house are used. 4
Reply
20.
to
Lin Tse Chih.)

"
In the study of the word
Love
"
you must from the
ne operation learn the fullness of its entire substance, nd from the entire substance you must learn the reality
then your understanding will be operation and have without ving unity, sluggishness or obstruction. Reply to Wang Tzii Ho.)
f its single
;
21
You must
"
mind orn. The expression "The principle of affection" is xactly what is meant when we say that Love is the feeling
f the
1
mind that the expression Virtue to Ch eng Tzu s simile of the seedbelongs
bear in
"
Love
()
permeates
all
things just as the blood permeates the

is
ntire body.
2
In the young chicken the skin
so thin
and transparent that you can
ctually see life at work, in contrast to the old bird when the skin is too hick for such observation. Similarly in spring, in all nature you can ctually see life springing to birth in contrast to late autumn and winter,
hen
)
life,
though present,
is
hidden. Spring
is
the season that corresponds

illustration of
(Love), hence the use of the

8
young chicken as an
4
ove.
See
p. 323, n. 1.
See
p.
338 and
n. 1.
374
PHILOSOPHY OE HUMAN NATUEE

it is
of affection before
put forth, and that affection
is
the
tJi
You must keep your love-principle after it is put forth. reasoning in lino with this thought and not import
th
:io
extraneous ideas, involving the subject in confusion and If your understanding of Love is in accord $ indistinctness.
tea
with this, there is no objection to the assertion of union with all things in the universe but if you do not grasp this, and still make union with all things in the universe m
;
ace
COE
to be Love,
you
will find,
on the contrary, that there
is
no
I
not
connexion at
22.
all.
(Reply to Chou Shun Pi.)
tie
phrases,
"The
In your instructive communication you quote the 1 "Fine words and insinuating appearance," and
firm, the enduring, the simple,
and the
modest",
.
as indicating the
method of the practice of Love which the Sage taught and which men might thus obtain for them I have some doubt with reference to this, though, selves.
imr
;
in
my former communication, I did not touch upon it. For these two phrases exactly represent what the Sage
how men
as
in setting to work should guard If we can and establish their hearts. against calamity abstain from "fine words and insinuating appearance" and cultivate "simplicity and modesty the mind will no1 break loose from restraint, and we shall be near to Love The phrases were not intended merely to teach us Love is. For the most part the teaching hitherto has beer a sacrifice of heart and strength in seeking to understanc
teaches as to
the
"*
reft
di>(
wha"
(fit-
Confucius said, Confucius said

;
"
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are

"
seldoi
fur.
associated with Love

2
:
;
"
see Analects,
I, iii (p. 3).
are near to Love
The firm, the enduring, the simple, see Analects, XIII, xxvii (p. 138).
and the modes
PHILOSOPHY
lie
tie
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
375
word
"
Love",
explanation Love. To-day, upon investigating the gracious was that eaching of the sages, we find that their ai
is,
with the result that the more ingenious the more superficial is the representa-
ion of
aen should practise it in their own person and act in ccord with its doctrine, cultivate inward rectitude and
onquer
selfishness,
make
all
forms of
frivolity,
mean-
ess, self-exaltation, and contempt of others dissolve into thingness, and that we should preserve and never losa
honest and kindly, just .and upright character of our This is Love. Practice and effort in it riginal mind.
tie
nay differ according to

ait
its
degree in each
is
man s
disposition,
energetic practice and ripe to this we shall know we attain If can really naturity. ts meaning and spirit, for it is not to be known by
the important thing
magination and guesswork, nor are we to wait for magination and guesswork before we can know it. (Reply o Wu Hui Shu.)
From the point of view of the Nature, Love has not yet flowed forth, but its energizing principle includes he four principles. It is quite certain that it does not
23.
is
same thing as the word Truth. You fmusit liscriminate more clearly between them to be accurate. 1 Reply po Gheng Tzu Shang.)
efer to the
24.
Question.
With
reference
to
the
sentence
in a
Altruism as embodied in
ef erring to
man
is
Love",
Mr. Li
as
it
brmer question regarded the word
"Love"
mankind
1
as a race.
See
p. 5, n. 3.
I said that
wholly ought not
376

Mr. Li understood you,
sir,
to be so explained, but-
to!
emphasis was to be placed on the say word "man". I have now received your criticism and instruction, from which it appears that this is not the
that
the
case.
I beg to submit
my own
is this:
opinion expressed to the

refers:
in|
best of
my
my
in
ability,
and ask you to determine the matter.

It differs
is
My
view of the passage

person.
"Love
to this
The word from the word
"man"
as used
the phrase,
man,"
the
the distinguishing characterisjtic of Doctrine, of the Mean* and should noi

"
be emphasized.
"Love is
the
The important word is embodied" for virtue of the mind^ it controls the Nature;
;
and the Feel ings, and rules all actions. It is essentially tin! most characteristic element in my personality. Altruism
is
simply the principle of Love.
If you speak of altruism;

j
per se you are speaking of a principle merely, which haej no reference to myself. Therefore it must be embodied in my person. Union is then established between my-, self and the principle, and this is called Love. This accorde
;
or
with the words of Mencius,

it is
"
As
it
united with
man
how
pcrsoi
Moral
is
to
Bat as be embodied, and how

Law."
to the question
altruisnj
the answer
is
that
it
is
no
comes to be termed Love, more than the complete

is
!
all-pervading; perfectly pure and bright, wholly characterized withou and within by the altruism of Divine Law, and springing Thei to birth again and yet again without any break.
elimination of selfishness until this mind
the
life-producing impulse of Heaven and Earth will: constantly abide. Therefore, in the state of stillness befon
1
D.M., p. 269.
Mencius, p. 361.
377
manifestation, it is sparkling with intelligence and un clouded, like the virtue of the one Yuan, the Principle of
Fu in the midst of the Origin, brightly shining in the earth 1 with not a single event or thing which is not
"
(
"j
In its movement principle of life. in response to affection by the external world, the grief u like the positive ether of is combined with distress"
wrapped up in
this
my
"
"
2 spring developing in .the "Yii above the earth", with not a single event which is not united by this principle, and
not a single thing which is not provided for by this Vital Impulse. This is how the embodiment of altruism comles
to be Love.
By
it
we can
exercise sympathy,
it
can (manifest affection. Although

ness, or
is it
is
by it we become Righteous may
Reverence, or Wisdom, or Sincerity, wherever it I do not know if this is correct all-pervading.
or not.
Answer.
This statement
then
it
is correct.
If
it
were not as
s sacrifice
you
1
state
it,
would be
=
like the
Buddhist
107.
See the
Fu hexagram EE
in the Yi Ching, p.
;
The upper
the lower half is the half is the K un trigram EE EE symbol of earth The bottom line Chen trigram symbol of thunder or movement. whole hexagram the to which is strong and is the line gives returning which develops its name, and also its brightness symbolic meaning of ; from day to day and month to month as the strong line makes its way see Legge s note on p. 109. From this analysis of the hexagram we see that Chen, representing bright movement, is below K un, which repre
"
"
"
",
"
"
sents earth
2
hence the phrase Fu in the midst of the earth The Yii hexagram is the converse of the above. It has the Chen
"
".
trigram above the

Yii
"
K un,
thus
".
see Yi Ching, p. 91.

is
Thus the
is
above the earth
The Chen
symbolical of thunder which
begins to develop in the spring of the year.
378

it
of self to feed a tiger ; it may be altruism but 1 not Love. (Reply to Ch en An Ch ing.)
;
is
AYin
Question. Mr. Lii doctrine of solicitude 3

25.
:
2
"
says with reference to Mencius For if there is a real wounding
of
my
heart,
and not a mere
figure of speech, I shall then
recognize the universe as all of one substance with myself, the life-producing mind as all my own mind, the distress
of others as
my own
distress.
This
is
not achieved by
calculating thought or forced effort." expressions "all of one substance with
This use of
myself"
the
"
and
all
my own mind
Ch
"
means, does
it not,
nothing more than

"I
1
the assertion of the unity of Law ? Answer. Not unity of Law only, but of Ether as well.
(Reply to
en
An Ch ing.)
is
26. Altruism
affection.
without feeling, Love has the feeling of Altruism pertains to Law, and Love pertains
to personality.
self
What
is
altruism but
"
"the
mastery
is
of
and the return to right principle tion of every atom of selfishness.

";attachment
with the elimina
What
this
Love but
:
to parents, Ipve of the people,

"
and kindness you

will get
to other creatures
Reasoning from
the
the idea.
(Reply to Yang Chung Ssu.)

is
With reference to the passage beginning with the words, The principle of Origin, of the Four
27. Question.
"
Ch en Ch un
Probably
Lii
(fjjj
Tsu Ch ien
2. ff), one of Chu Hsi s disciples ; see p. 195, n. see J. P. Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hxi and
;
{he
3 5
Sung
School, chap. iv. Cf. Mencius, p. 78.
Analects, XII,
i,
(p. 114).
Mencius, p. 352.

Lttributes,
r
379
irtues,"
corresponds to Love in the Five Cardinal would say that taking the one virtue in the
rrow sense
>ur
we have
the operation of Love, taking the
in a comprehensive sense,
we have
the substance of
affection
;
;0ve.
>ut
The operation of Love

:
is
no other than
affection is not adequate to express the substance of
>nly
you must include the four in your statement, then do you get the substance of Love. Answer. Love as a single virtue is the very thing that
includes the four.

ler
You must not
leave this
to
and
find
some
Lao.)
:
Love
to unite the four. 2
(Reply
T eng Wei
28.
"Love
Question. How do you is the virtue of the

"
mincl,
explain the statement the principle of
[affection ?
Answer.
Love, as the virtue of the mind is like humidity as the virtue of water, or heat as the virtue of fire
;
of affection, it is like the root of a tree or jthe principle the spring from which water flows. Make a study of it
[with this idea in
mind.
(Reply to Tseng Tse Chih.)
29.
the
I
of
is
Your statement that when there is the absence from mind of selfish desire we have the complete substance but you must remember that there Love, is correct here an original Vital Impulse, presenting the
;
phenomenon
1
of
an overflowing joy
this is necessary to
J|jj,
3
Ch
is,
That
stance,
iung, refers to the speaker. is affection (gj), and if the sub the operation of Love In . l , comprises the four, then so also does its operation,
()
other words, what applies to the outflow, the transitive attribute.

5
immanent
attribute applies also to
its
See p. 381.
380

1
complete the idea.

affected.
Yen Tzu That is, when by
"
did not allow his joj^ to be his efforts he had attained
to Love, there was spontaneous joy, altogether indepen dent of poverty, or wealth, or high estate, or low estate,
virtuous
so that they could not affect it. In the case also of the and wise, with their joy and longevity, 2 when attainment is reached the result naturally follows. (Reply
to
Lin To Chiu.)
30. Question. On examining Confucius use of the word as when he said to Yen Tzu it is the "mastery
",
"Love
of self
and the return to right principle", 3 it seems as if the method of Love is perfectly set forth and nothing left unstated. When we come to Mencius, although he con tinually refers to Love as man s Mind/ yet his idea is that we should infer it from the feeling of solicitude, and his tendency is to emphasize the word affection. Although his teaching is subtle and incisive, yet it is not like that of tihe Sage 5 in breadth and completeness, and in its quality of leading men themselves to attain to it by devoting them selves to quiet thought and energetic practice. Is not this because Mencius lived in a time of battle and bloodshed, when the need was to find some way of saving men from lire and flood, or to give medicine to men stricken down by
disease
?
Yen Hui
is
jfj
|n|), style
Tzu Yuan
(^
called }J$), often

;
Yen Yuan-
This saying
2
s
part of a famous eulogy spoken by Confucius
see Analects,
VI, ix (p. 52),
and note.
i,
Of. Analects, VI, xxi (p. 56).
Analects, XII,
e.g.
1-2
(p.
114)
cf.
note above.
Confucius.
Mencius,
p. 290.
PHILOSOPHY
Answer.
i
OF,
said!
HUMAN NATURE
"
381
Ch eng Tzu
The Principle
of Origin
n the Four Attributes corresponds to Love in the Five In the narrow sense it is but one, in Cardinal Virtues.
!
;he
)f
solicitude
comprehensive sense it includes four. As the feeling it is used in the narrow sense, as the mastery
)f self it is
But it is used in the comprehensive sense." us one virtue which includes the four, for they are not
ro
things.
Therefore
**
in
the
"Love
Collected
is
Comments on
virtue
is
Analects
dnd,
the
it
is
said,
the
of
the
[pressed,
ly,
principle excellently You must not is well worth thinking over. however, that Mencius statements are not equal to
of
affection."
This
and
tose of
30
Confucius in all-round completeness.

of
Mencius
sense
2
speaks
Love
in
the
comprehensive
is
example, in the statement "Love ind Confucius speaks of it in the in the statement that it |or example,
for
ten".
man s
is
Mind"
narrow
to
"
sense
love
3
all
Your statement that Mencius used
the
word
olicitude because of the bloodshed of his time is also
Further, you should keep in view the fact that Confucius did not contrast Righteousness with lough he ve, constantly contrasted Wisdom with Love. (Reply
roiig.
Ou-Yang Hsi
31.
If in the
Hsiin.)
"Literary
"
Remains"
we
study the dis-
ussion
of
!
the
passage,
Filial
ubmission
1
Are they not
the
piety root of
and fraternal
all
benevolent
collection of
comments by various
writers,
compiled by Chu Hsi.
Mencius, p. 290. == the emotion love, or affection. jf

Analects, XII, xxii (p. 124).
382

Dfl
actions?"
with the sayings, "Love is the Nature, filial ^ piety and fraternal submission are its operation", "Universa! affection is Love and the reply to the theory that .^
",
and then compare these m three sections with the words of the former saints and
"
the
Mind
is like
a seed-corn
",
cel
sages,
we shall find that there is nothing to call in question. The statement that solicitude cannot unite the three
"
sen
"
E0:
is
^ strongly questioned also by our friend Ho, and he cannot come to a decision upon it but it is not difficult ,to under- ^
;
stand.
If again
2
you carefully study the chapter in Mencius ^

1
on the
"commiserating
mind",
and, in the
"Additional
3
^
f
Remains",
remark on the philosopher Hsieh ^ that his memory was "the kind of familiarity by which one s aims are ruined", then it will all become clear. ^
JMing Tao
s
(Reply
32.
to
someone not named.)

one
:
Love is the life-producing Mind of Heaven and Earth which is received by all men as their
Question.
ani
sub
mind.
the
Hence
all
and unites
substance pervades heaven and earth things in the universe, its principle includes
its
so
cai
Four Terminals and
unifies all goodness, because
i sty
fl]
comprises all the virtues of the mind, and rules the Nature and Feeling. It is what is called the Principle of Origir
of
La
cut
Ch ien and
K un.
Therefore,
its
it is
from
this that wt
;
4 get our definition of
name and meaning
that
is!
Mencius, p. 79.
The
fy\*
=l
,
as stated in the preface to that work,

j|
was a compilatio
of the
3
Ch eng sayings supplementary to the see pp. 348-9. Hsieh Shang Ts ai

;
^.
li5 is a
verb
"
to define
".

rom
ess
its
883
mild-
transforming and nurturing influence,
its
and purity, its simplicity and liberality, its reprouctive life and deathlessness, it is termed Love. But len obscure it by their selfishness, and so its life-principle
eases,
Divine
Law
is
banished,
hardening-
and
in
visibility ensue,
and they become
cruel.
To embody Love
must cleanse themselves absolutely from selfish desire, broad-minded that there will be nothing to obscure he life-producing substance of heaven and earth their earts must be true and sincere, earnest and solicitous, Dvable as the gentle spring which we would fain retain Iways. Uniting the internal and external, the great and tie minute, the end and the beginning, it is wholly Divine
len
so
;
pervading activity, all -encompassing, reaching In the Ether flowing from the verywhere, all-uniting.
its
in
ne source
nd may
permeates everywhere without interruption, well be regarded as the all-comprehensive perfect

it
If there be one spot with never o small a defect, never so minute an event that its care annot reach, one short moment in which there is never so
ubstance without defect.
light a separation, then this
mind has become

is
selfish,
yhen
selfishness is in progress the life-principle ceases,
Jaw does not penetrate, and there

slitting off
numbnes%and the how can there be erfection ? Love is like our body: when the blood circuates perfectly throughout, we are absolutely free frojn
of affection
:
in such a case,
iisease
o reach,
for
1
which the blood fails Yen Tzu three months did not depart from Love"; 2 after
;
but
it
if
there be one finger
is
dumb and
destitute of Love. 1
Cf. p. 323, n. 1.
Analects, VI, v (p. 50).
384
the throe months there was some slight departure, but there was an immediate return, the obstruction melted
away, and once more there was no departure. It appears me that during the three months there was to the phenomenon of one "resting in Love". 1 After the
three
months it was attained by effort. 2 Is it so ? Answer. After attainment there would be no

it
effort,
but after a while

a departure.
might be that again there was
(Reply to
1
2
Ch en An Ch ing.)
ii
See Analects, IV,

Cf.
(p. 29).
D.M.,
p. 277.

BOOK
VII
BEING BOOK XLVIII OF
LOVE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS ,OVE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE, AND WISDOM ,OVE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE,
WISDOM, AND SINCERITY
SINCERITY
INGENUOUSNESS AND TRUTH INGENUOUSNESS AND SYMPATHY SEDATENESS AND SERIOUSNESS
cc
an
Big
no-
m
faiK
3,
suv
too
serv
acte
I
del
I.
Bll
VII LOVE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

(FIFTEEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"
BOOK
CONVERSATIONS
".)
Chao Chih Tao asked for an explanation of Love nd Righteousness from the point of view of substance and Deration, motion and rest. Answer. Love is the substance, and certainly the but and is Love ighteousness operation Righteousess are each of them both substance and operation in
;
herent aspects.
2.
Investigate this thoroughly yourself.
Love and Righteousness are reciprocally substance nd operation, motion and rest. The substance of Love
essentially inert-, but its operation is infinite in its persive
activity.
1
The
ssentially active, while

flexible.
its
operation of Righteousness is substance in every case remains
3.
The awful majesty pf Righteousness

2
is
the con-
erving
4.
aspect of Love.
say that Love pertains to the positive mode, nd Righteousness to the negative, the term Love refers
When we
outgoing activity, and the term Righteousness to conOn the other hand, Yang Tzii s saying "As ctuated by Love he is weak, as actuated by Righteousness
rvation.
1
operation, varies according to the innumerable dealt with, but, in each case, there is an flexible principle on which the phenomenon ought to be treated. 2 Lit. gathering in as in harvest. Righteousness is that element
Righteousness, in
its
irieties of
phenomena to be
"
"
Love which does not

lerance of wrong. are altruism.
let itself
It gathers itself in so that it is strong
go in wanton sentiment and weak and true in
388 he
is

1
2 The fact expresses a different idea. bo or other either one the it must you cannot say depends upon the point of view.
strong,"
is,
it
The Master, replying to the statement of some difficulties by Shu Chung, $aid: In Love the substance is in Righteousness the strong and its operation weak substance is weak and its operation strong.
5.
;
Kwang Ch
weak.
ing said
From
the point of view of the
is strong and Righteousness the point pf view of the Two Modes inherent in the individual thing, the operation of Love is weak and
Supreme Ultimate, Love
From
the operation of Itighteousness strong. Answer. It is so too. Love contains the idea of flowing
movement and activity put

and gentle.
tion as to
is
forth, but its operation is tender; Righteousness contains the idea of delibera
!
decisive
what is in accord with and distinct.
right, but its operator
Love and Righteousness! are like the Two Modes 6. which are two modes of the one Ether the positive is the ether in process of expansion, and the negative is the ether
:
after
is
the
process
of
contraction
as
it
has
set
in.
Lov(
birth
Righteousness
just
has
come
to
and Righteousness is Love in retrocession. The importan point is that Love cannot exhaust the whole meaning 0; Moral Law. Moral Law is universally diffused ii
See fj| ? 1=, pt. xii, f. 18. the egoisb. The "he" refers to the Yang Tzii has been, questioned.
2
"
Yang
Tzii
is
Yang Chu
(gj,
%]
"noble
man",
concerning whoc
"
refers to the negative mode, and strong the opposite of what is said in the preceding sentence.
Weak
"
"
to the positive

di things
;
389
Love cannot exhaust

its full
it,
but
it
can and does
mply
it
in
x>sitive
we know
substantive meaning. If we know the if we know Love we know the negative

;
Righteousness.
est.
When we know
the one
we know
all
the
Righteousness is the the Philosopher replied Righteousness to ias the meaning, *to cut it is the quality, f decision, after which it sends forth Love in abundance.
7.
Asked
abou,t the statement,
"
naterial of
Love,"
"
off,"
sever""
Not
r
do
to look at anything, listen to anything, say anything, 1 anything inconsistent with right principle," is the
quality of decision.
;an
The passage,
"
"
If for one
master
self
and return
to right principle, the

2
day a man whole

pervading
mpire
will return to Love,
expresses the
.ctivity of
Love.
8. the Question. Mencius regarded solicitude as erminal of Love, and conscientiousness as the terminal of
Righteousness.
o
Chou
is
Tzti said
"Affection is
3
right Righteousness." ubjective point of view, while it is true that solicitude and -ffection are the outflow of a mind actuated by Love, conientiousness
;
do what
is
Love, and But, from the
that is, it is shame at what is unrighteous a negative expression, and does not refer directly to he terminal of Righteousness. The word "right", again, efers to objective phenomena. What then is the actual
leaning of Righteousness as
1
it is
subjectively
Analects, XII,
Ibid., XII.
i.
1,
2 (p. 114)
114).
"
cf. p.
201 of this volume.

ii, f.
2 3
1 (p.
Quoted from the
T ung Shu
",
see Jp.
|g
pt.
4.
390
PHILOSOPHY
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
Subjective Righteousness is the determinate decision in favour of what is objectively right.
Answer.
Righteousness bonds.
10.
9.
is like
a sharp knife severing
many
Righteousness
is like
a sword held horizontally, by

is
which every phenomenon

two, as
as it presents itself
"
cut in
may
bo illustrated in the statements,
The
noble
man
r<
considers Righteousness to he essential," 1 "He con sidered Righteousness to be of the highest importance," 2 3 Righteousness requires that he should not eat,"
"
.[
r?f;
Righteousness
11
When we
4 requires that he should not ride," have a fine discrimination of the rightness of
C
ran:
5 things, so that we enter into the inscrutable and spirit- like in them, we attain to the largest practical application of 6 them." That is, to be perfectly practised in righteousness
us
t]
wk
\
exp
is to
perceive the practical use of things.

11.
ikt
From
the definition of Love as the virtue of the
mind
it
follows that Love includes the four virtues.
But
in the definition of Righteousness as the law of the mind the reference is to Righteousness only.
Answer.
1
That
XV,
is correct.
Analects,
Ibid.,
xvii (p. 163).
2
3
XVII,
xxiii (p. 193).
*
5
Yi Ching, p. 311. Ibid., p. 295. This rendering differs
from Legge
s,
but a gloss quoted in the Imperial
Commentary
3f
6
gives this meaning of

^|t
ifei-
j.
The
gloss
reads:;
^ ^
2H
&
The context hero
certainly requires this meaning

7
rather than that given by Legge.

Ibid., p. 390.
Cf. p. 328,

12.
nind,"
391
the
Question.
The
"
"
expression,
The virtue
of
11
tho virtues, while
refers comprehensively to the entire substance of The principle of affection refers

"
)ariicularly to the single substance of
one virtue
and,
ilthough ncluded.
we use the word substance, operation is also The expression, Law of the mind," refers to
its
"
"
ubjective Righteousness, (and

>bjectiv
Oughtness of an
so
act"
to
Righteousness
1
and
"
the
subjective
and
also
Abjective are united.
Ansiu&r.
efers
to
The
expression,
"
Law
of the
mind,"
the entire substance of
Righteousness,
and
lOughtness of an act to the fact that in all the countless amifications of phenomena which present themselves to
is
vhich
there is inherent in every single thing the principle on Nor does the it to be dealt with. "ought"
;
,hat presents itself to us,

t
;
whatever it is xpression refer to external things only is some there duty embedded in
and [the performance of] that duty is Righteousness. The Philosopher then referred to I Ch uan s statement, from [From the point of view of the object, it is Law
;
;he point of
view of
my
2
conduct in relation to the object,

said
t is Righteousness."
The Philosopher farther

i
Righteousness
is
like
sharp knife,
:
which
will cut
through whatever presents
tself
it is
not the cutting of the knife but the knife itself
that is Righteousness.
13.
The universe
consists of one Ether

positive inode. 3,
2
which divides
it
into tho negative

1
and
and, because
-g-,pt. l,f.
6.
is
D.M.,p.283.
$?
392
by the interaction of these two modes that all things are produced, all phenomena assume the aspect of relativity. Heaven is contrasted with earth, life with death, speech with silence, activity, with repose, because the source 1 from
spring itself contains this principle of relativity. Hence of the four virtues two only are men and for; the tioned, corresponding to the Two Modes
which
they
same reason we find it stated that, In representing the Law of Heaven they used the terms Negative, and Positive/ and in representing. the Law of Man they used ,the terms Love and Righteousness
"
."
14.
With regard
"Weak
:
to the correlative
terms
"
Negative and
and Strong", "Love and Righteous ness it would seem as if the order should be Righteous ness and Love, "because Love should correspond to the
Positive",
"
positive.
it
If
Love be not
exercise so
much
creative
ness is strong
it is
and strong, how could power Although Righteous self -conserving, while Love is selfpositive
?
imparting.
This again
is
the negative enfolded within the
positive and the positive within the negative, each con taining hidden within it the root of the other. Or take the
manner in which men

:
act to-day in regard to rewards and
at
a case of reward the deed is done punishments once and without hesitation, but if it is a case of punishment by death there is delay, hesitation, and an unwilling
if it is
ness to decide.
positive
1
Thera is a case
Two
mode and the

source
"
of the self-imparting of the retraction of the negative, of the

Modes, which, as negative and
.
The
"
is
the
"
positive,
themselves contain the

2
principle of contrariety
Yi CUng.
p. 423.
PHILOSOPHY OE HUMAN NATUEE

iffinity
393
of
negative
i
Love and Righteousness modes respectively.

as fc e a
.
fotr
the positive and
15.
Gh en Chung Weii
it
2
Kuei Shan
said,
"As
Ine
in principle
is Love, as diverse in function
it
is
Doee this mean fhat Love is the suband Righteousness its operation ? jtance Answer. Love is simply the flowing forth Righteous|ligateousness."
!
less lias
in
its obligation to flow in a particular direction.
Like waiter, the flowing
movement of which
is
Love
its
as [ow as rivers, or its collect-ion in pools and ponds, is the of solicitude The Love, feeling ighteousness.
due to parents, 3 brothers, to neighbours, and to friends and acquaina,nces, is Righteousness., Again, respectfulness is but one,
ifference in the varying degrees of affection
ut there are
many
different
it is
ways of showing
respect,
"
ependent upon whether

r to elders, or to sages.
accorded to the sovereign, The So also with Reverence

:
ncestral temple of the Son of Heaven embraced seven irincs, the temple of the prince of a state embraced five
brines
"
3
;
this
was Reverence, but the question whether
five shrines belongs to Righteousness. the grace of Law, and Righteousness is the The meaning of uglitness of actions. Lii Yii Shu said he dictum, The Decree of Heaven is what we term the
should be seven or
is
everence
"
"
ature
1
"
may
be expressed thus.
style
That the nine
clans
Ch en Chung Wei,
Cheng Kuang
(^
J|), was a native of
hui
under the Government, {SJ|) ut, owing to an unsuccessful accusation against Chia Ssu Tao, a tyrannical nd traitorous Prime Minister, he retired into private life.
Yang (3^
he held important
offices
JL
H,
pt.
xxv.
f.
10.
Li Chi,
i,
223.
D.M..
p. 247.
394

I
have no regrets concerning the differing grades of mourning clothes or that from the palace to the lowest grade of 1
;
of
jjl
tffO
lictors, there are
none who venture to contend in regard
to
I Lov
I
the differing grades of ceremonial apparel, is because the Divinely conferred Nature is so." Again, take a home
toft
itn
with ten families
that every father
and every son filial respect them, is as it should be. The tenderness and the filialness are Love that each son is affectionate to his
;
tender to his son, to his father, and the neighbours alii

is
ij
op?r
Eigl
own.
father,
and
it is
each
.
child is Righteousness
father tender to his own These things cannot be separated.
;i
In
its
outflow
is called into
Love, but in the very moment that Love movement there are present Righteousness^
ofC
Reverence, and
Wisdom
it is
not that
when Love comes
ib
into operation Righteousness remains behind to be set free after a little while. In a word, it is one principle, but with
many well-marked
distinctions.
fe
an(j
I have already said that the pervading activity and 1. manifested operations of the Nature as ordained by Heaven are manifest in daily life there is not a moment when it
:
Ma
not so, tiiere is not a thing into which they do nofcj and the great source, the complete substance, from enter which they proceed is what we term Love. But within
is
;
j
v,
**"
this,
every phenomenon has

;
its
own
natural distinctive
characteristics
for example, the four points of the

t
com
pass, with the zenith and nadir have their unchangeable: positions, from which they never err by a hair s-breadth. Law This is what we term Righteousness. The
"
PHILOSOPHY
>f
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
by these two
395
man" 1
is
"represented"
only, but these
wo are inseparable. Therefore the student in seeking jove and in perfecting Righteousness will not fail to use oth of them together. In his pursuit of Love his eliminaion,
of selfishness
and return to Divine
Law
will
be
In perfecting perative in the sphere of everyday life. his discrimination between the true and Righteousness
also
and between what
is
lawful and not lawful will be
pplied to every thought.

L
>f
nothing that does ot come within the scope of Divine Law and man s mind, substance and its operation, and which cannot be re
is
For there
Mencius said to the King we know what things are light and By weighing Ivhat heavy By measuring we know what things are long and what short. The relations of all things may be thus
garded
as having distinctions.
"
pf Cli i
Determined,
2
it."
and
it is
the motions of the
mind.
is
of the greatest importance to estimate I beg your Majesty to measure
Here indeed
the method by which to seek Love,

!
the foundation of the practice of Righteousness p,nd Mencius truly possessed the secret of knojwing the right
ping
!
to say
3
!
(Reply to Chiang Yuan
Sliih.)
2.
Question.
Yu
TZLI
considered
filial
piety
and
4 (fraternal submission to be the foundation of Love. Mencius regarded serving one s parents as Love and serving
one s
What is the Righteousness. ? to be found in Is not of it this xplanation discrepancy

older
brother
as
1 Referring to the passage in the Yi Ching quoted in the T ai Chi T u Shuo, see J. P, Bruce, Introduction to Chu Hsi and the Sumj School, chap. vi. 2
Mencius, p. 20.
Analects,
I, ii,
Ibid., pp. 65, 67.
2 (p. 3).
Mencius, p. 332.
393
this
:

The school
of Confucius in their discussion of
Love
included the operation in the substance, and this is what is termed Love in its comprehensive sense while Menciua
;
when he used
its
the
word Love always contrasted
it
with
correlative Righteousness, that is, he used it in its narrow sense. In serving one s parents all that is needed
is to
be ruled by affection. Righteousness is the duty of affection. When we extend to our elders the affection with
|Hai
-
which we serve our parents, and so fulfil the duty of such affection, then the Law of Love is in operation. Answer. Your explanation is correct. (Reply to Wu Po
Feng.)
the principle of affection, it is evident that Righteousness is the principle of obligation,
3.
is
Seeing that Love
because both are the original substance preceding the mani festation and affection and duty are their operation. You,
the obligation of Law, 1 which is to make Righteousness the manifestation of the original substance, and comes near, does it not, to th e error of making Love subjective and Righteousness objec
however, say
.that
Righteousness
is
tive
4.
(Reply to Chiang Shu
Ch iian. )
practice of Righteousness is by the operation of Love, therefore the student must constantly preserve this
The
2
;
mind
the principles of things.

1
thus only will he be able thoroughly to estimate If net, there will be no controlling
" "
The word here translated Law is 33! ^t the same as that rendered above. Note the play upon the two words *gfc and %!|| in the principle expressions ^ the law or principle of obligation, Jj| and g{l and the obligation of Law or right principle. 2 That is, Love.
,
" "

,
397
acuity in the mind and he will be unable to estimate right ,nd wrong or to fulfil his duty in life. This is why the
Tor
11
chool of Confucius always pu,ts the pursuit of Love first. Love is the source of all things and the foundation of
thing s, and therefore the understanding and nurture Love must be put before everything else then only;
hall
we secure our
starting point.
(Reply to Li Yiian
Ian.)
5. Question.
Yu Tzu considered filial

s
piety and fraternal
ubmission to be the root of Love. 1

etween serving one
Mencius distinguishes parents and obedience to one s elder rother, regarding the one as the fruit of Love, and the 2 Is respectful sub,ther as the fruit of Righteousness.
aission the determining factor in Righteousness, or the Inherent lightness of things ?

If right is made the determining factor, will be included in it. submission (Reply to jespectful
Answer.
jinTeChiu.)
LOVE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE,
AND
".)
WISDOM
(TEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"
CONVERSATIONS
ess,
Love, Righteous Reverence, and Wisdom,, according ,to their substance

Question.
classification
;
How would you classify
nd operation ? Answer. Their

lation to the
ive,
1
may
be seen from their
Two Modes Love and Reverence are posithe former Righteousness and Wisdom are negative
;
Analects,
I,
i,
2 (p.
3).
Mencius, p. 189.
398
are
PHILOSOPHY
OF,
HUMAN NATURE
substance.
and winter are negative. of Love and According 1 the of season Righteousness, originating spring and the
,to
operation, the latter are summer are positive, autumn

this
Spring
and
dual
classification
growing season
season
are
of
summer
are Love, the gathering-in

1
of
autumn
Love,
and the storing season of winter

Described
in
Righteousness.
is
terms
of
the
four,
is
spring
summer
is
Reverence,
autumn
Righteousness, and winter is Wisdom. Love and Revorence are centrifugal and give out. Righteousness is stern and incisive, Wisdom s.tores up, as a man stores up many
things in his mind so that they are invisible, and the greater his wisdom the more deeply they are stored. This In repreaccords exactly with the passage in the Yi,
"
1
senting
the
Law
and
*
of
Heaven they
,
used
the
terms
Law representing of Earth they used the terms W.eak and Strong , in representing the Lav/ of Man they used the terms Love
Negative
Positive
in
the
and
regard Love
The commentators as a rule weak and Righteousness as strong but this is a mistake, it is Love that is strong and Righteousness weak. For .the movement of Love is outward, and so is inflexible and forceful Righteousness gathers in, its movement is inward, and so appears externally as weak.
Righteousness
as
2
."
irhi
ion
2.
ful
1
Question. Love and Reverence are positive and force Righteousness and Wisdom are negative and
equivalent to
ffi is
^,
"to
produce."
Spring
is
the season in which
life
2
has its beginning. Ft Ching, p. 423.

lelding.
399
deter-
ained, its
Righteousness is divisive, idea is that of gathering
its
sphere
is
egative and yielding. Visdom ? Answer. Wisdom! is
But how
still
and naturally is could you describe

in,
its
more
devisive,
;
idea
of
athering-in is still more prominent now a .thing to be true or you know
for example, to be false.
you
it
You
it, it has no further function, from the other three. Wisdom .this respect and then hands on the matter to the other three, mows, so that its blicitucle, conscientiousness, and courtesy is more keen even than that athering-in quality
now
it
and that ends
iffering in
Righteousness.
3.
The
inclusion of the three in
Love
is
in this
way
Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom all have flowing and therefore are gradually evolved from Love.
1
povement Love and Wisdom, Origin and Potentiality, are the henomena of the beginning and end and these two are the in each, case most termini important of the four an and Chen, in rinciples. as we see in the diagrams
;
rhich
things take their rise and find their consummawhile Ken is tlae connecting point between them. 1 ion,
all
4.
1
Wei Tao 2 asked:

;
Love
Legge
s
includes
note on
Righteousness,
Yi Ching, pp. 425-6
see
p. 426.
Surnamed Yeh (3J|), style Chih Tao (0 jg), a native of Wen Chou ^ jjll). Yeh Wei Tao was a keen student of literature. After taking
2
is
!
Chou
degree of Chin Shih he accepted the post of teacher in a college at In response to inquiries made by the Emperor Li Tsung ( |H| W)-
oncerning Chu Hsi s pupils, Wei Tao was mentioned as one of the most rominent, and the title of Doctor of the Imperial Academy was conferred pon him. He was the author of several works on the Classics.
400

and
Reverence,
Wisdom
solicitude
includes
;
con
scientiousness, courtesy, and moral insight of Origin includes Beauty, Utility, and Potentiality, spring includes summer, autumn, and winter. What I
the Principl
an<
not understand
is
how, of the Five Agents,

is
Wood
include
Fire, Metal, and Water.
Answer.
life
;
Wood
the vital ether by which things hav
apart from
this vital ether, Fire,

;
Metal and Wate

it
could not possibly exist includes the other three.

5.
this is
how
is
that
Woo<
The Four Terminals are like the Four Virtues we take them individually there is a line of dema icatidj
;
classify them, Love and Righteous ness form the main divisions. Hence it is said Lov
between each
if
we
"
is
man
same
Mind, Righteousness is man s path." way the section on Ch ien in the

s
2
3
1
"
In th
Fourt
refers to them in one place as the "Fou and in another place says, "The Principl of Origin represented by Ch ien is what gives thei
Appendix"
Virtues"
;
beginning to
development.
refer to the
6.
all
things,
The
and secures their growth an principles of Utility and Potentialit

4
Nature and
Feelings."
of the four principles of th Nature, said that they alternately control and are sufc
sidiary to each other, but that they are united under th headship of Love and Wisdom. In the statement
"Respectfulness
1 3
Cheng Ch un, speaking
without
2
Reverence
becomes
laboriou.
Yi Chin
Mencius, p. 290.
The Fourth Appendix

Ibid., p. 415.
of the
Yi Ching,
p. 403.

1
.ustle,"
401
Reverence is regarded as the controlling principle.

"
n the
statement,
The
noble
man
2
in everything considers
is
Righteousness to be essential
",
Righteousness
regarded
the controlling principle. For the Four Virtues are never js 3parated. In contact with affairs they are severally manibsted as in reciprocal relation.
this
;
Let a
man silently meditate
and he will understand it. pon Answer. What you say is true.
7.
The word
"
Love
"
mus.t be taken in conjunction with

if
is
uighteousness, nders.tand its
Reverence, and Wisdom, true meaning. Love itself
we
would
the original
Love expressing itself in raceful form, Righteousness is Love in judgment, and Wisdom is Love discriminating. It is like the difference stween the four sea sons which all proceed from the Spring.
ibs.tance of Love,
Reverence
is
pring
is ,the
birth of the Vital Impulse,
summer
is
the
evelopment of the Vital Impulse, autumn is the conimmation and winter the storing up of the Vital Impulse.
puree. the one negative and the one positive ether ; the fito Negative and positive ethers resolve into the one Supreme
Hamate."
8
he four are resolved in,to two, and the two into one, and bus all are united under one head, and gathered into one Therefore it is said The Five Agents resolve
"
The Philosopher
1
said further
Love
is
the head of the
Principles, bu,t
Analects, VIII,
Ibid.,
3
ii,
Wisdom
can be both beginning and
1 (p. 72).
XV,
xvii (p. 163).
Cited from
Chu Hsi and
Chou Tzu s T ai Chi Tu Shuo the Sung School, chap, vii-
see J. P. Bruce, Introduction
Dd
402
end, just as the Principle of Origin is the head of thfl Four Attributes, but has its source not in the Principle of
^ ^
T(U
1 For unless UT Origin, but in the Principle of Potentiality. of influences the transforming the universe are gathered
into unity they cannot be sent forth
and
diffused.
In the
^
3
conjunction of Love and myriad transformations

are endless, the union
Wisdom 3 is the very pivot of the The revolutions of this principle

never dissolved.
Therefore,
if
T
J(V(
is
w;,
there were no Potentiality there could be no Origin.
the going forth of Love, Wisdom is the storing up of Righteousness. If we extend this thought to men s natural dispositions, we shall finTd that the gentle
8.
Reverence
is
W
idea
k<
and honest disposition is generally humble and courteous, while the man who knows everything is sharp and exacting.
9.
and
of
I
The
;
to
end
feeling of solicitude is solicitude from beginning the other three are solicitude in the beginning
but end as conscientiousness, courtesy and moral insight
Without solicitude these three are dead, respectively. because solicitude is the fountain-head from wliich the
other three proceed.
10.
out
Love and Reverence represent the idea of giving life, Righteousness and Wisdom represent the idea of
j
jfj
gathering in.
^
as
]

1.
Hsiao Shu, having noticed the Master s reply to Secretary Hwang s question on the classification of the
1 2
As the spring grows out of winter. Love grows out of Wisdom as spring out
of winter.

"our
403
Virtues according as they are forceful or yielding, 1 They are described both separately and altogether, [aid views on them separately I have already handed to [y
:
k)u.
them taken together, my them is that when in operation some *e active and some inactive, and from this point of view ;ove and Reverence are forceful, and Righteousness and isdom are yielding. But if we consider what really institutes them the Four Virtues, then Love is the mind
to the statement of
1
As
iderstanding of
tt
lea
of gentleness and yielding
cannot bear to see suffering, and seems to have the while Reverence has its
;
ixed
and unchangeable grades, and seems

two,
discriminating. a yielding
its
to 6e negative
id finely
|f
Is there not then, in the case
these
within
decisive
their
forcefulness.
ighteousness again in
jternness
r
2 judgment and rigid
seems to have the idea of strong; decision; isdom in its unimpeded comprehensive flow seems to Is ive the idea of the positive mode and of activity.
:e
not, in the case of these two, a forcefulness within
leir
id
yielding
Whence
it
may be
the positive modes are never separate.

I fancy that
seen that the negative I do not know
this is correct.
Answer.
what
I said at the time
[ividing them are four and uniting :pressed in your way the idea is the
was that them are two. But same it is the same

;
in the statement,
"
Water
is
negative and has
its
root
1 2
See
~Jj
p. 398, section 2.
"
is
square
"
",
and so
"
rigid
",
in that it
cannot be rolled along the
md
as a
round
"
object can.
404

its
in the positive, Fire is positive and has 1 negative." (Reply to Li Hsiao Shu.)
2.
root in the
The Nature
it
is
the
all -comprehensive
its
substance of the
Supremo
within
Ultimate, and in
essence
is
undefmable
but
up
are innumerable principles which are summed in four leading comprehensive principles. To these,
the names Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom) are given The school of Confucius did not
then,
give full expression^ to this aspect of the question ; it was Mencius who first elaborated it, the reason being that in the time of Confucius the doctrine of the goodness of the
1
Nature was not in question.

none the
sprang
But although Confucius
did
not enunciate the doctrine in detail, his statement was less complete. In the time of Mencius, heresies
-up like bees in swarms, and the goodness of the Nature was repeatedly denied. Mencius was concerned lest this truth should be obscured, and considered how he
might make
stance alone
it clear.
had been
If the all -comprehensive entire sub stated, the fear was that it would be
different
like a steel-yard
with no marks to indicate the
weights, or a foot-rule without inches, and in this way he would be unable to make the meaning clear to people
generally
truth,
he therefore found other language

off its
to express
th<
marking
fourfold distinctions.
This was
th(
beginning of the doctrine of the Four Terminals. For ever before their manifestation, the Nature, though "still anc without movement 2 is not a,vague empty nothingness, bir
",
comprises an orderly framework of principles, so that whei

1
See
J^
H, pt.
i, f.
7.
Yi Ching.
p. 370.

cted
405
upon by the external world there

;
is
an immediate
1
fall into ubjective response well * there is the response of the principle of Love, nd the feeling of solicitude assumes visible form. Or
as
when men
"see
a child
"
we appear at a temple, or before the Throne, there is he response of the principle of Ejeverence, and the feeling f respect assumes visible form. For from within, all and complete, each one xrinciples proceed, comprehensive
f
clear and distinct, so that whatever we meet with n our environment we are affected by it and respond tio t. Thus the Four Terminals in their going forth have ach its different manifestation. Mencius therefore uialysed the Nature into these four, and- taught Ihe student o recognize that within the all -comprehensive complete ubstanco there is a marvellous orderliness from which the goodness of the Nature may be known. But before the of the Four Terminals, the all -comprehen jnanifestation
>erfectly
sive
senses
complete substance how then can

;
is
its
imperceptible by, any of the marvellous orderliness be
[mown
pxists
}f
piples is
is, the investigation of these prinin their manifestation. Everything that possible
The answer
has its source and root. Although the principles the Nature are invisible, their manifestation in the
is
Terminals
solicitude
fully capable of investigation.
So that from
we may surely infer the existence of Love, and Similarly we can infer Bight eousness from conscientious ness, Reverence from respectfulness, and Wisdom from
-
moral insight.
If there
were no such inward principles,

?
how
could there be the visible terminals

1
From
the visible
Mencins, p. 78.
406

we
unhesitatingly infer the inward principle. we look at the Feelings Therefore Mencius said which flow from the Nature, we may know that they are
terminal
"If
constituted fo
the practice of what is good." 1 This is what Mencius meant in saying that the Nature is good, for we know it by tracing the Feelings back to their source.
clearly understood the distinction
Having
between these
four principles, it was necessary to understand further that, of these four, Love and Righteousness stand to one
but Reverence
ness
another in the position of correlatives. For Love is Love, is the manifestation of Love Righteous
;
,
ness is Righteousness *but

;
Wisdom
four
is
hidden Righteous
"but
just
as
there
are
seasons,
"
spring
and summer belong to the positive mode, and autumn and winter to the negative. Hence it is said In representing
:
the
Law
of
,
c
Heaven they used the terms

in representing the
Negative
and
Positive
the terms
Law
,
W,eak
Law
ness
7
of
."
Man
2
and Strong they used the terms Love

this
and
of Earth they used in representing the
and
Righteous
that
apart
From
we
may
;
know
from the principle of duality the Law of Heaven and Earth could not be set forth therefore, though
by the Love and thus stand although Righteousness to one another in the position off correlatives, and so we have the two, Love nevertheless permeates and unites all the four. For the narrow sense Love is only one,
two.
there
are
four
principles, they are represented
And
"in
but in
the comprehensive sense it includes the four". Therefore Love itself is tho original substance of Love,
1
Mencius,
p. 278.
Yi Ching,
p. 423.

leverence
is
407
lighteousness
is criminating.
Love expressing itself in graceful form, is Love in judgment, and Wisdom is Love
It is like the four seasons
all
which, though from the spring, proceed is the birth of spring, summer is the growth of pring mng, autumn is its consummation, and winter is the
ley differ
one from another,
toring
up of spring. From the four we arrive at two, nd from the two at the one thus all are united under ne head and gathered into one source. Hence it is said
;
:
The Five Agents resolve into tlie one negative and the ne positive ether the negative and positive ethers resolve 1 This assuredly is the i\to the one Supreme Ultimate." aw of Heaven and Earth. 2 Love includes the four prin;
ples and the place of Wisdom is at the end of the four or winter is the storage season in which all things take
;
"
leir rise
and find their
consummation."
Wisdom
has
:he idea of storage,
together with that of the end and the

itself
eginning.
oes
Thus
solicitude, conscientiousness andrespect-
ulness, all have
something to perform, while wisdom

its
nothing tween what

expression
is
province is true and what

stores".
simply
is
to
distinguish
false
whence we get
Again, solicitude, concientiousness, and respectfulness each have but one aspect, rhile moral insight has two. Seeing that it distinguishes
10
"hidden
what
this
is true, it also
we have an image
and in distinguishes what is false of the consummation and th,e

;
luction to
2 8
Quoted from Chou Tzu s T ai Chi T u Shuo Chu H.si and the Sung School, chap. vii.
Referring to a later paragraph in the See p. 399.
see J. P. Bruce, Intro-
ai Chi
u Shuo
ibid.
408

all things.
beginning of
tlie
Therefore Love
is
the head
of
.,,-
four principles, while Wisdom can be both beginning and end.. 1 It is like the Originating Ether which, -although
the premier attribute, still does not spring from the prin for unless the ciple of Origin, but from Potentiality of Heaven and Earth are gathered transforming influences
;
into unity they cannot be sent forth
and
diffused.
This
is
an unmistakable principle. In the conjunction of Love and Wisdom is ,the very pivot of the myriad transforma
tions.
The
is
union
never dissolved.
revolutions of this principle are endless, the This it is that Ch eng Tzii refers
to when he speaks of Motion and Rest as alternating without an end, and of the two* Modes as alternating without a beginning. 2 (Reply to Ch en Ch i Chih.)
Of the four attributes of Ch ien, to regard as Potentiality corresponding to winter does not raise any in mind, but of man s four virtues to regard difficulty Wisdom as corresponding to winter seems to me not clear.
3.
Question.
my
ex
in
can the labour of the whole year, the consummation of all things, be fully represented in winter as the clear
discrimination of
How
Wisdom
ruling
Answer.
storing
The
characteristics
.
of
Wisdom
are
cs
up and discriminating it has intelligence but no activity, and this is the phenomenon of winter. (Reply to
;
MiuTzuHui.)
1 *
Cf. p. 401.
iff
f^pt.u.n.

JOVE,
409
RIGHTEOUSNESS, REVERENCE, WISDOM, AND SINCERITY

"

1 f
.
CONVERSATIONS
".)
Someone asked
How
is it
that to the four virtues
the Nature, another, Sincerity, is added, the whole Lumber being .termed the Five Nature-Principles ?
1 the four, so that Sincerity gives reality to jovo has a real existence, and Righteousness has a real
Answer.
existence,
ine
and Reverence and Wisdom.

;
It is like Earth,
of the Five Agents if there were no Earth, there vould be nothing to contain the other four. 2 Again, it is
ike the sphere of
is
Earth in the Four Seasons
it
rules
if
3 sojourner for eighteen days in each of them, or
you
1
iJjlc
Hi
is
is
use d in a verbal sense,

field in
"
"
"
to
make
real."
Earth
the
xisten.ce,
3
the
which Water, Fire, Metal, and Wood, have their mother as it were of them all as of course is the case
n the physical sphere. o the Four Seasons, Spring,
The Four Agents Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water, correspond respectively Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and to the r Virtues, Love, Reverence, Righteousness, and Wisdom. In the ase both of the Virtues and of the Agents there is a fifth, viz Earth and But there is no fifth season. How then is the analogy carried iincerity.
:
i
In the case of the Virtues, Sincerity qualifies all the rest, i.e. gives In the case of the Agents, similarly, Earth is regarded as the ground of existence for the rest and of the seasons, while they are ruled respectively by Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water, Earth enters into all as the ruling Agent for the last eighteen days each season. The summer
at
?
ealitt/
to them.
season, however,
its
"
own
"
rules
regarded as specially related to Earth and is called Thus while Earth special sphere (lit. original home. /f t[jf ) in all seasons, the Spring, Autumn, and Winter are not its
is
special sphere.
410
Chi days, 1 that is say that it rules absolutely in the because its own special sphere is the summer, 2 and it is therefore more powerful in that season. The phrase in the
Yileh Ling,
this. 3
"
Wu
ai]
Ea
-^
Right
in
the middle
is
Earth,"
refers to
h
L<)
Recently, in your weighty instruction on the meaning of Love, you said You must neither put it in the place of, nor must you eliminate it from Righteous
2.
Question.
"
then you will Wisdom, and Sincerity; understand the sense in which it unites the Five Virtues."
ness, Reverence,
;
You, excellent
sir,
now
use the tree as an
illustration
but, while the vitality resides in the root of a tree, can you,
in view of the organic union prevailing throughout, say that the branches and twigs, flowers and leaves, are without
this vitality?
Answer. Certainly not,

Vital Impulse
It is just like the

is
Four Seasons.
Spring corresponds to Love, and

;
in the
;
permeating principle the fruit and in winter we

;
in the
Summer we Autumn we
see)
characterized by the see its persistent and

see
it perfecting correctness and
its
strength.
In
all
four
;
seasons
there
is
no cessation
of
the Vital Impulse even though the leaves fall and are Vital the scattered, Impulse is still there. The fact is,
there
1
is
but one
Law
in the universe, but
it
has various
They
There are certain days in which each Agent is specially powerful. are, in the case of each Agent, represented by those Celestial Stem? which form the combination to which their Agent specially corresponds
;
thus:
2
3
Wood
corresponds to
rp
Fire to
\iou chi]
Metal to jf
p. 409, n. 3.
^, and Water to
;
pj JL %$
~J~,
Earth to
See
See Li CM,
p.
2SO
and the note on pp. 281-2.

lames
in
411
accordance with,
its
different manifestations,
âch of the
1
Four Virtues corresponds
to one of the Five
Agents
(Sarth,
[jove,
but Sincerity is the one which corresponds to the one by which, we know that the Four Principles, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, have a real
;
and are not mere figments of the imagination. Igain, it is like the Four A ttrib utes of Ch ien, of which it is j)rigin is the chief, and next to Potentiality LS of the the end and revealing meaning beginning. Apart rom the Principle) of Origin there could be no birth, apart Tom the Principle of Potentiality there could be no end, ipart from an ending there would be no means of making beginning, and without a beginning the end could never ie consummated, and so on in endless revolution. This a what is referred to in the sentence, The sages grandly inderstood tlie connexion between the md and the
,-xistence
1
"
eginning."
3.
In the
,
"investigation
of
s
principles",
the principles
re to be sought for in
one
own
person.
They
are none
ther than Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, jook at all the myriad transformations and you will find
LOthing without these four principles. You,
o
sir,
need only
will
examine the common affairs of daily nd that there is nothing without them.
Sincerity
is reality,
life,
and you
As
and
to Sincerity,
jfc
is so called as expressing the reality of
the existence
reality
f the other four.

1
means
and "five" are as in the original text, Virtues and Agents are said to be four or five ccording as sincerity and earth are included or not but the numbers re often, as here, used loosely. 2 See Yi Cking, p. 213.
"four"
The numbers
brictly speaking, the
412
that a thing IS. In terms of the substance, there reallj are Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom. Ii
terms of their operation, there really are solicitude, con it can scientiousness, respectfulness, and moral insight
;
not be that
they,
are
counterfeit.
Search the
univers<
and -where can you find counterfeit Love,
counterfei
counterfeit Reverence, or counterfei Righteousness, Wisdom ? Therefore Sincerity is defined as the expression
of the fact that they have a real existence
counterfeit.
and
arei
na

1
.
"
COLLECTED WRITINGS
".)
is
The assertion of distinctions between the Five Virtue show that the Five Agents in the Nature hav; each their own individual characteristics, which must b distinguished without separating them. You must not sa
to
no
that prior to being affected by the external world there ar distinctions, and that subsequently there are. You wil
get the true idea
"Void
from Ch eng
Tzii s
1
section
beginnin
to
like the boundless
desert".
(Reply
Lin
Chin.)
2.
My
former
letter dealt
with the doctrine that Lovi

seve:
is tl
n<
Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom correspond ally to the Five Agents and the Four Seasons. This
ancient doctrine of the early Confucianists, and is to be regarded lightly. Although your recent letter
do<
not go so far as to depreciate it, yet, fearing that my lett did not fully explain the most important part of this trut: I feel that I must exhaustively investigate the subje
1
See
p. 297.

>r
413
one
you.
For in the whole universe there
is
but
]tlier,
dividing into the negative and positive modes, and becoming two entities the positive therefore is Love,
;
nd the negative
1 its
->
But the two modes Righteousness. gain divide each into two. The positive mode therefore
is
beg inning is Wood, Spring, and Love; in its fullness becomes Fire, Summer, and Reverence the negative lode in its beginning is Metal, Autumn, and Righteous ess at its extreme it becomes Water, Winter,
;
;
nd Wisdom. For no sooner does the solicitude of Love roceed from within than the respectfulness of Reverence no sooner iani,fests itself outwardly in all its fulness
;
oes the conscientiousness proceeding from Righteousness enetrate from without inwards, than Wisdom s moral
isight in its completeness conceals itself within. There3re, since the phenomena are of this nature, it is manifest
lat the
comparison
xaggerated.
lind
)
not false nor the generalization If you quietly think it over in your own
is
is so.
the
you will see that it Four Ultimata.
The same reasoning applies

collectively
still
If
you
be
examine
all
10 classical passages it will
more
obvious, and
ou
f
will see ,that it is not
merely the recent hypothesis
insignificant self. Of the Five Agents, he four avo each their counterpart, but earth placed at the centre l
my
Is
,the
rn
1
tha
ground of the other four agents, the ruling factor Four Seasons. This in man is Sincerity and has
409-10 and notes.
;
:
In the order of etherial production, Earth Agents thus Wood, Fire, EARTH, Metal, ter. These in the same order, with the exception of Earth, correspond the seasons, Wood to Spring, Fire to Summer, Metal to Autumn, and vater to Winter, while Earth rules in all.
Cf. p.
mes
in the centre of the Five
414
the meaning of reality ; it is the ground of the Four Virtues, the ruling factor in all good. (The five notes, five
colours, five flavours, five odours, five organs, and 1 creeping things, are all classified in the same way).
five
For
Heaven and
are one
Man
Law,
subjective and objective and flowing permeating in organic union so
are one,
,the
that there is no separating barrier. Not to realize this means that though living in the universe we are ignorant
of the law of that universe s existence of the
;
though possessed
form and countenance of a man, we are ignorant of tho very principles which make us to be man. This
doctrine therefore very closely concerns us, its importance is even greater than that of the doctrines discussed in my
former
items.
3.
letter
it is
not merely a collection of insignificant

of the Analects treats
(Reply to Yuan Chi Chung.) Ch eng Kung asked The Book

:
chiefly of
Love,
while Mencius
combines
Love
It seems to me that Confucius Righteousness. of fhe speaking primordial Ether, while Mencius spoke of its Two Modes, and I should say that Love is the substance
and was
and Righteousness
1
is
the operation.
The
$%.>
"
five
&>
notes
B5>
"
^>
$J>
which compose the Chinese musical scale are Cilio Ch ih, Kung, Shang, and Yii, corre
sponding to the notes of the Western scale with the omission of the sub-
dominant and leading notes.

||j,
6t>
The
"five
colours"
are
"five
^,
ffi,
^,
are
"five
J1L, blue, red, yellow, white,

??>
*tf>
and
black.
The
flavours"
^>
sour acrid
S8>
8weet
bitter,
and
salt.
The
odours"
are ^j|,
J, ^,
b
r
J]J[,
jfj,
rank, scorched, fragrant, frowzy,

jff,
and
rotten.
heart,
1lv>
The are )j!|, Jjj|j, |JJ, organs" The "five creeping liver, and kidneys.
"five
pf, spleen, lungs,

are
$$|,
ffl,
things"
^?
s ca
"^j
feathered,
bare-skinned, hairy, and shell -covered.
See the Yiieh Ling, Book

vol. xxvii.
IV
in the
Li Chi, Sacred Books of
the East,

The Master
JMencius had
said
its
:
415
The language
and
of
Confucius
similarities
dissimilarities
and which
But what we need to Bought certainly to be explained. concern ourselves -about now is to understand what Love
is,
and what Righteousness

terms,
1
is.
When we
understand these
their
two
|
clearly
distinguishing
respective
leanings,
[in
and so obtain the means
of using our efforts
the sphere of our own duty, then we shall be in a position discuss the similarities and differences in the language
)f
the two sages. If we do not understand these two terms, md are negligent of our duty, of what advantage will it be
us in the affairs of life to be able to talk oracularly

ibout the language of the sages, and how shall we expound LQ ethical In .principles embodied in these two words ?
substance the doctrine is this

ill
Heaven,
its
;
"in
the creation of
things,
endowed each with
own Nature.
But the
fature is not a material thing
it is
me.
Therefore that which

existence
consists
a principle inherent gives to the Nature a

Love, Righteousness,
substantive
Reverence,
of
Sincerity these five, and the of whole the are included in them. .universe, :inciples Wen Kung 2 said that there are five principles which
Wisdom, and
msfitute
tat his
man
Nature, and his statement was very true,
doctrine was by later teachers of philosophy mixed ith the doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism, and so the
i
ature
pd
be regarded as equivalent to "Consciousness Intelligence, differing from the original trend of the
to
came
pctrine of the Nature as taught by the saints and sages.

1
Si ^ ere means meaning and The Philosopher Han Yu.

"
principles
".
416

principle
foi
Of these five, that which we term Sincerity is the

of reality
enoe,
;
as in the case of Love, Righteousness, Rever-
and Wisdom, they are all real, with nothing false in them. Therefore there is no need to say anything further on the term Sincerity. But there are differences "between the
other four terms
is
fco:
|not
which must be distinguished.
"For
Love
jmo
jfoll
the principle of mild gentleness and kindly affection, Righteousness is the principle of judgment and decision ;
is is
sen
Reverence
the principle of respectfulness and reserve; \m

|Loi
Wisdom
the principle of discrimination between right and wrong. The possession of the whole of these four is what constitutes the original substance of the Nature.
Before their going forth they are illimitable and invisible
after their going
solicitude,
;
L ri
forth into
operation
Love
becomes
Reverence
tio;i
Righteousness
conscientiousness,
respectfulness, and Wisdom moral
insight, manifesting themselves according to circumstances, each having its ramifications, but without confusion. These are what we
is
Prii
LOT
isb
term the Feelings. Therefore Mencius
"
said,
is
Solicitude
is
the terminal of Love, conscientiousness
the terminal of
111
iai(
Righteousness, respectfulness is the terminal of Rever1 ence, and moral insight is the terminal of Wisdom."
Lovi
they are called terminals it is as though there were things within which are invisible, and it is only by means Lovt of threads put forth and manifested externally that we wn arc able to trace their existence. For within the one
When
lVi;<
mind the Four

tion
;
Virtues have each their lines of demarca-
^
;^;
.Rig|
and their nature-principles and feelings, substance and operation, also have their respective differences. These
1
lurtt
Meacius,
p. 79.
417
nust bo clearly understood, and afterwards within these our we shall recognize the larger distinction between Love
nd Righteousness just as the creations and transformaHeaven and Earth, the course of the seasons, do one positive .ot really go beyond the one negative and node. After we have clearly apprehended this, we must
;
ions of
ollow
it
up
"by
ents the Vital
understanding the term Love, which repreImpulse permeating and flowing in the
oidst of the four.

jove,
G
Love
is
itself is
the original substance of
Righteousness
expressing itself
Love in judgment, Reverence is in graceful form, Wisdom is Love

:
iscriminating.
irth of life,
Just as in the case of the vital ether of which permeates the Four Seasons spring is the pring
autumn is the retracion, and winter the storing up of life. The idea, therefore, The 3 expressed exactly in Ch eng Tzu s statement
is its
summer
growth,
"
rinciple of Origin of the Foiur Attributes corresponds to in the narrow sense it ;0ve in the Five Cardinal Virtues
;
hut one, in the comprehensive sense it includes the four." Vhcn Confucius spoke only of Love he was speaking of it
3
a.
its
comprehensive sense,
other
three,
jove, the
Chough he spoke only of Reverence, and "Righteousness,

arid,
Visdom, were included in

x)ve
it. Mencius, in speaking of and Righteousness in combination, spoke in the arrow sense. But he did not import an additional concept he simply Righteousness into the teaching of Confucius
;
lade distinctions within the one principle. Again, the iirther combination of Reverence and Wisdom with these
wo is similar for Reverence is the manifestation of Love, nd Wisdom is the storing up of Righteousness, but Love
;
EG
418

all
pervades
the four.
With regard
to substance
and
operation, there are again two ways of expressing the relation, for from the point of view of Love as subjective,
and Righteousness as objective, it is said Love is man s * s man and BO Love and mind, and Righteousness is path,"
"
Righteousness ate regarded as reciprocally substance and operation. If we discuss it from the point of view of Love
corresponding to the feeling of solicitude
E;
and Bighteousness to conscientiousness, we shall with reference to the one principle, distinguish between before manifestation, when we have its substance, and after manifestation, when we
have
its operation.
If
we understand
this perfectly,
it
and
see it clearly, then, whether

objectively,
2
we
regard
subjectively or
rea
But we must in
devote time to
it.
or in any other way, everything will be clear. daily, life use exact investigation, and
further
me
Kung 3
Dynasties
fection".
6
asked
4
In
the
"
time
"
of
the
Three
"
5 and of Per they only spoke of the Mean In the replies of Confucius to his quostionerls
he discoursed on what Love is. How do you explain this ? Answer. The expressions "Mean" and "Perfection"
are to-day misunderstood as to their language and meaning, neither have I time just now to explain them in detail.
1
Mencins,
Lit.
"
p. 290.
elegant as fine carving/ i.e. carving on the surface, which represents the external or objective, as contrasted with "penetrating inwards or the subjective. Tn any other way." lit. is perpen
:]
"
"
",
dicularly, horizontally, right

3
way
up, or upside
down."
;
4
5
Ch eng Knng, named at the beginning of the section Referring to the Emperors Yao. Shun, and Yii. See Shu Ching, P 62.
.
see p. 414.
!
ti0n
am
<
Uat
Ibid., pp.
328
if.

" "
419
But that it was not till the time of Confucius that the lerm Love was expounded is because the various sages passed on the truth from one to another, so, that it was only in his
time, and by gradual stages, that it could be expounded The superiority of Confucius to Yao and Shun clearly.
may
be seen in this
among
other things.
(The
Yii
Shan
Exposition.)
SINCEEITY i
(TEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"CONVERSATIONS
.)
Han
and also guilelessness. From the downwards it was regarded solely as guiledynasty
Ch
enig is reality
eng Tzu appeared he interpreted it as reality, and the scholars who succeeded him dropped the of guilelessness, forgetting that in the Doctrine [meaning the both meanings occur we must not regard Mean \of
lessness.
;
When Ch
3h
eng
as
raiethinig
2.
Is
meaning only reality, different from Ch eng.
and
guileless-ness as
Question.
? i
What is meant by
is
Baying that the Nature
Truth
"Truth"
the name of a principle, the word of a quality. The Nature is like ds fan, Truth is as if to say, it is well made.
"
Answer. ie word
The Nature
Nature
the
"
substantive, Truth is abstract.
is
is
name
Ch eng (fljj|), though a different word from the fifth of the cardinal virtues,
is
"
phich
tion of
more
lat
"
hsin ( fg"), is similar in meaning, especially in its twofold interpreta truth and sincerity The word Ch eng, however, is used in profound sense than hsin. Ch eng is the absolute "Truth" ; it is
"
"
".
"
Sincerity
ft
;
which
is
the very foundation of Divine
Law>
Jjj},
see D.M., p. 277
and
note.
420

said further
:
The Philosopher
is
Wu
Feng 1
said,
"Truth
the ethical principle of the Decree, the Mean is the ethical principle of the Nature, Love is the ethical principle
of the
tion.
"
Mind."
This statement
"
is
excellent in
its
discrimina
to
"
would,
"
however, prefer the word

as
"virtue"
ethical principle
more
apt.
fit
principle
3.
does not perfectly
expression the meaning.
The
ethical
his pupils how they would between Sincerity and Seriousness. distinguish 2 each Oh They quoted eng Tzii s statement as the correct
The Master asked
answer.
The Master
ness.
said
is
Sincerity
Seriousness is the opposite of wanton the opposite of deception. Seriousness

is
4. Sincerity is reality.
5.
its
awe.
Someone asked:
?
Is
Truth the substance and Love
operation
Answer.
Truth.
Law
is
one.
As having
real existence it is
As
to substance, it is
the reality of the
four
principles
Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and "Wisdom; as to operation, it is the reality of the four feelings solici"
tude, conscientiousness, respectfulness and moral insight, Therefore it is said The Five Cardinal Virtues, and the
:
ope!
hundred varieties of conduct, apart from Truth have no existence, for thus they would have no reality, and so could
not even be
6.
named."
^ ^
acco
Some one asked:
Is it possible
?
by concentration
2
to
attain to Sincerity
1
and Seriousness
Hu Wu
Feng, see
p. 23, n. 2.
gee
p.
423.

Answer.
421
Smceritjis^jeprinciiple whether before nien^s" facelToT behind their backs.

doing a thing, to do
partially,
it,
Sincerity and Seriousness axe not identical. of reality. It is to b e the same
_J^L
it
it
perfectly
is
Sincerity.
If
we do
while
it
all
and talk exaggeratedly about how we will do the time we are really indifferent as to whether
we do
in this particular
way
is
or not
"
of Sincerity.
hensive".
Seriousness
to be
that is the opposite cautious and appre
mind is what is termed Sincerity, wholeheartedness is what is termed Ingenuous I regard ingenuousness as in some respects the ness."
.
I Ch/uan said:
"
Singleness of
for example, when we say we operation of Sincerity, hate a bad smell, and love what is beautiful", 2 and in fact do so completely that is Sincerity. If we do so
;
to
of one -tenth do not,
the extent of only eight or nine-tenths and to the extent then there is an admixture of thd
false,
empty and
s to
and that
is
is
not Sincerity.
Ingenuousness
is
be wholehearted, and to be wholehearted

I
the same
as
the explanation of Sincerity ; saying therefore I say, Ingenuousness is in some respects the
what
am
operation of Sincerity.
Singleness of holeheartedness is
8.
;
Mind
what
it
is
is
what
is
termed Sincerity, termed Ingenuousness.

is
sincerity
is
spontaneous reality, apart from any action

it:
3
accompanying
1
subjective.
Ingenuousness, on
D.M., p. 248.
G.L., p. 230. Lit. but at this point
"
2 3
it is
as yet
unaccompanied by
action."
422

is
the other hand,

it is
seen in dealing with affairs and things
objective.
"
To be devoid of anything false is the 1 Is the way to seek Sincerity, then, path of Sincerity." not to allow any self-deception ?
9.
Question.
devoid of anything false is a saint. To say that the saint is devoid of anything false is all right, but you cannot say that the saint must not allow
is
Answer.
He who
self-deception.
passage
Question. Is not this just the same as Is expressed in the Sincerity is the law of Heaven, to ihink upon
"
Sincerity
and so attain to
to
it is
the law of
manT
? *
be devoid of anything false is spon Yes, taneous Sincerity, to allow no self-deception is Sincerity
acquired by
10.
effort.
"
Answer.
Wei Tao 3 asked about

is
the passage
To be
;
devoid
of anything false
self-deception
is
what is termed Sincerity

attainment."
not to allow
a lower
Answer.
phrase,
It is
;
of the false
not that Sincerity is because of the absence The the absence of .the false is Sincerity.
absence of the
false,"
"the
is all -comprehensive,
taking in the whole sphere of operation, leaving no room for anything else in opposition to it. The phrase, not to allow self-deception," implies two things in opposition
"
to each other. 4
1
* 3
&
That
is,
,pt. xxi,
2.
T,*
2.
D.M., p. 277. See p. 399, n.

I
have to make up my mind not to deceive natural spontaneous outcome of the perfect nature.
it is
not tha

(FOUR SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"
423
COLLECTED WHITINGS
".)
Question.
Liu Ch
Chih asked
Wen Kung
about
Wen Kung replied: "Wo methods of Sincerity. should begin by sincerity of speech." Is this not what is meant by the passage in the Yi Ching which speaks of 2 attention to speech and establishing sincerity Answer. It is near it. (Reply to Ch eng Yiin Fu.)
the
"
"
"
".
me the question "In the Literary Remains it is said, Sincerity is followed and of the time before we have reached by Seriousness
2.
Queq&on.
student 3 asked
Sincerity
it
is
said,
By
Seriousness
w& can
attain
to
answer to the Sincerity/ suppose, then, ? would be that I How can to attain question Sincerity there is no way so good as to be wholly guided by Serious 5 I 4 replied, ness ? Sincerity is the law of Heaven
I
that the
"
"
it
perfected is a sage. rectify oneself and be inspired by a sense of awe may also bo regarded as Seriousness. The learner should use his
may man in whom

also
be.
expressed as the principle of reality

Seriousness
is
;.
The To
strength in both these directions." Answer. Seriousness is apprehension, as

is
if there were and the utter absence truth, something feared. Sincerity of anything false. The meaning of the two words is
1
Ssii-Ma Kuang, one of whose pupils was Liu

i
An Shih
(^
-J^), style
Ch
2 3
Chih see Giles Biog. Diet., Yi Ching, p. 410. One of Hu Chi Sui s pupils.
;
p. 489.
ft
i$f
Ta
Shih) refers to the questioner himself, viz.

;
Hu
Chi Sui,
whose ming was Ta Shih

5
see p. 22. n.
1.
D.M., p. 277.
424

"
The sentence, Sincerity is fallowed by Serious are sincere the heart "when the motives means ness," becomes upright. The sentence, By Seriousness we can attain to Sincerity," means although the motives as yet are not sincere, yet by constant apprehensiveness we shall become afraid to allow self -deception, and so attain, to Your This is what Ch eng TZU meant. Sincerity. a of was unable had this and idefr, glimmering questioner
different. 1
:
"
to
put
it
into words
but your answer misses the point.
(Eeply to
3.
Hu
Chi Sui.)
Question.
"Truth,
What
is
your opinion of Mr.

"
Lii
"
state
ment,
Answer. is reality, but its use in the classics differs in different places and can not bo expressed in one definition. For example, as Mr. Lii
uses
it
(Ch eng) is the reality of Law The meaning of the word Ch eng
?
"
here
"
it
saying,
What we speak
3
has the same meaning as in Chou Tzii s of as Truth is the foundation of

reality.
sainthood,"
where the word means

saint
is
In Chou Tzu
4
eng),"
saying,
"The
wholly
sincere
(Ch
the
meaning
"
is
that in this case the
man
really possesses this
principle; as in the phrase in the Doctrine of the Mean, The individual possessed of the most entire Sincerity
that can exist under

of as ch eng the phrase,
1
Heaven."
"The
What Wen Kung

"
speaks
is
what
Groat Learning
refers to in
7
"making
the thoughts
sincere";
that
is,
Hu
Chi Sui makes them parallel.

Lii Yii
Probably
See
Shu
see p. 60, n.
1,
but I have not been able to

4
find the passage quoted.

8 6
T ung Shu,
"fc
pt.
6
ii,
chap.
i.
D.M., p. 293.
Referred to on
p. 423.
Ibid., chap. ii. G.L., p. 230.

making
4.
,the
425
heart true and not allowing self-deception.

said, "To be devoid of any termed Sincerity not to allow selfa lower attainment. To be devoid of anything
(Reply to an unnamed questioner.)

Question.
Ch eng Tzu
is
thing false is
what
deception is false is the Sincerity of the saint, not to allow any self1 is What is your the of the learner." Sincerity leception
;
Dpinion
apparently a definition of the meaning of the term, and not intended ;o define the differing ranks of men. (Reply to Ch eng
is
Answer.
This section of
Ch eng Tzu s
Ymi Pu.)
INGENUOUSNESS AND TRUTH

(TWELVE SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
CONVERSATIONS Ingenuousness proceeds from within, Truth

,to
"
".)
has
reference
me
2.
1
Ingenuousness whole heart, Truth is perfect

true heart
actions.
is
the expression of accord with one s
>rinciples.
this is the citadel
for the learner.
*,pt.xxi, -f,f.2._ Chung (/jj) and hsin (f^) can neither of them be rendered conThe common rendering of Chung is istently by one English word. but it has a wider meaning than that word represents, and loyalty n most cases the better rendering is ingenuousness". Similarly with As has been seen already it is one of win, its use is very varied. he Five Cardinal Virtues, and as such is perhaps best rendered by the rord Here it is contrasted with loyalty or "ingenuoussincerity and explained as objective in this connexion its meaning is someless imes "faithfulness" or "fidelity", but most often or "truthift
2
",
"
"
" "
".
",
"truth"
ulness
3
!
".
*4* is
^s
-^ n
anc* JP!
PÎ
*s
ormer capitals
tie
of the
Empire.
if
The
he
is
learner
Honanfu, the ancient Lo Yang, both must have a true heart as

" "
citadel of his personality
to be successful.
426
He must
first obtain this, then only can he succeed in the If lie has it not, to preserve tho of practice Sincerity. mind is toe same as to lose it; how then can fh ere be
jis
success
The saying,
a
"
He whose
1
goodness
is
part of
himself
3.
is
man
is
of truth/
exactly expresses this thought.
ness
Ingenuous 2 Manifested deeds it complete self-expression. becomes Truth, so that Ingenuousness is seen in Truth.
is
"in
Truth
the evidence of Ingenuousness.
4.
Ingenuousness and Tru,th are one and the same thing.

as
proceeding from the mind in complete selfexpression it is Ingenuousness; as tested by principle and found to be in accord with it, it is Truth. Ingenuousness
But,
;
is
the root of Truth. Truth
is
the outcome of IngenuousIP
ness.
6. Ingenuousness and Truth are one and the same thing but are related to each other, as the subjective and
objective, as the source
and issue, the root and
fruit.
Sub
jectively it is Ingenuousness, objectively it is Truth. You may describe them as one or separately; you will be equally
correct.
I
the
Question. Ingenuousness is truth in the heart. In the service of a father it is called filial piety, in the treat
6.
ment of friends
1
it is
called fidelity, it is only in the service

I
i |
%
&
of
Mencius,
p. 36(5.
2 Cf. section i. The expression ^ f/g jî means an exhaustive expression of self, either in word or deed, and may be either loyalty, or as is more often tli3 ease here, ingenuousness. It is to be whole-selfed
"
",
if
the expression
may
".
be allowed, and
is
parallel to
"
j?
jjj,
whole-
L
)
!
hearted."
It is contrasted
with
t|gf
$[fy,
which mea,ns
"the
exhaustive;;^
j
representation of fact
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATUHE

of the sovereign that it
is
427
comes to be called loyalty. 1
Why
this ?
Answer. In the case of parents, brothers or friends, the essential principle of their duty is mutual affection,
whereas, in the case of serving a sovereign, the place of and whenever men in this duty is one of great awe position act under constraint, it is because their action does
;
not proceed from sincerity of heart. 2 Therefore this virtue is expressed by the Sage as Serving the sovereign with
"
loyalty."
What is the difference between Ingenuous and Sincerity ? Answer. Ingenuousness and Sincerity are both the principle of reality. Singleness of mind is Sincerity, and
Question.
ness
whole-heartedness
is Ingenuousness. Sincerity is the fundamental ruling factor of the mind Ingenuousness is but this the operation of sincerity, operation,
;
as Ingenuousness, is only subjectively manifested.

7.
Someone asked
How
are
we
to
compare the com

"
plete self-expression of
"
the
Ingenuousness in the learner with 4 in the saint ? indestructibility of perfect Sincerity
Answer. It is one and the same thing. But there are differences in degrees of perfection. There is the
Ingenuousness of the ordinary man, the Ingenuousness of the learner, the Ingenuousness of the wise man,
The same word as that rendered ingenuousness. Constraint means that the Minister s obedience to the sovereign is contrary to what he would do if his actions accorded with his own heart.
2
1
Constraint, therefore,
is
an evidence
of insincerity.
"
following sections the word translated 3 Analects, III, xix (p. 2-5).
sincerity" is
Note, in this and the ch eng (IJw)*
D.M.,
p. 283.
428
and the Ingenuousness of the holy man. In the ordinary man, even though it is no more than unaffected simplicity 1 and honesty, it is still Ingenuousness. Chih Ch ing 2 said: The word in the expression
"self"
"
"
"
self-expression
" "
"
corresponds to
complete
"
to
indestructibility
"
".
and perfect sincerity Perfect sincerity

",
"
"
corresponds to the expression

indestructibility
"
"The
Divine
decree",
and
to
how
profound
it
is
and
undying
8.
Wen Chen
asked about the statement
"
self -expression is
what
is
Complete termed Ingenuousness, to be

:
[;
|*
real is
what is tenned Truth." * Answer. Ingenuousness and Truth are one principle as proceeding from the heart it is Ingenuousness, as estab
by actual
fact it is Truth.
Ingenuousness may be described as stating a matter to others wholly and exactly as it is perceived by oneself if one only states the half and is not willing to state the whole, it is disingenuousness.
;
lished
a
j
acc
|
**
To say
is
a thing
is
when
p
^
I
it is,
and
is
not
when
it is
;
not,
They are one and the same principle as pro- m ceeding from the mind it is called Ingenuousness,
Truth.
it is
as evidenced in objective fact
Truth.
Wen Chen
impendence
1
1 1
\>
replied
"The
^ outgoing of oneself in com;
plete self-expression
is
with
object
r
Ingenuousness perfect correis The outgoing in Truth/

"unaffected."
f
.*%
**.
>jr
M
IJTC
"simple,"
Huang Kan
n/2.
(^ ^),
is
slyh Chih
Ch
ing, a disciple of
Chu Hsi
see
p. 246,
3
4
D.M., p. 285. The statement
by
Ch uan
se e p. 430.
429
to be whole-self ed. 1 Truth [complete self-expression is as perfect correspondence with object may be illustrated To call an incense burner an incense burner and [thus:
a table a table
to call
|
Itradict
is to be true, and not to contradict facJfc; an incense burner a table and vice versa is to confact and to be untrue.
Question.
*eal is
self-expression is
what
said
is
Complete termed Ingenuousness, to be termed Truth," since Truth is reality, and
With regard to the

what
is
"
statement,
sir,
the other day that Ingenuousness
is
reality
in
the heart, I
am
puzzled to
know what
constitutes the
lifference
between them.
Ingenuousness
is subjective,
Answer.
while Truth has

to do
in objective reference.
For example, the intention

;
as objectively thing has to do with Ingenuousness a asks you what is when man Or it Truth. Lccomplished
the property of
fire,
and you
say,
"It
is
heat"
that
is
That it is really heat is Truth. If there there will be corresponding objective subjective reality [s if is there not ?ality subjective reality, then objectively will as is expressed, in be absence of reality the fhere
Ingenuousness.
; ;
ie
2 Without sincerity there can be nothing the mind itself is unreal, what can there be in the way
" "
statement,
real things in its manifestation

1
s
? 3
See
p. 426, n. 2.
D.M.. p. 282.
"
In his notes on the passage just quoted from the Doctrine of the thus All comment from the tean, Legge translates a |jf
:
up the space between heaven and earth are things (^). They id and they begin again they begin and proceed to an end every ige being accomplished by sincerity, and every phenomenon having
it
fill
;
430
10.

i
Question.
"
In the statement,
"The
outgoing of
oneself in complete self-expression is Ingenuousness," To turn inwards and search oneself ? not say,
"
why
is
of turning inwards and searching oneself is to speak of what is wholly devoid of action how then could the writer 1 have connected this sentence
Answer.
To speak
ac
with what follows

that there
is
To express the mind
in such a
way
is U
C
absolutely nothing left unexpressed Ingenuousness, and Truth is included in it. As the
it
:
that
common
fa
i
saying expresses
of
"Men
what
is
in
their
never .say more than a third is act thus to to mind";
lack Ingenuousness.
tive facts
To
accord with and enter into objec-
In
and things without any conflicting eletment is what is termed Truth. Subsequently, I Ch uan saw fre- ^ quently that this statement was not clear, and therefore restated it thus: "Complete self-expression is what is
is
tell
termed Ingenuousness, to be real which is satisfactory and clear.

11.
is
what is termed
Truth,"
ace
iH(
T
Question.
Ming Tao and
Ch uan
explained
In.-!.
,,
genuousness and Truth as internal and external, subjective and objective. How is this ?
Answer.
"
Complete
self -expression is
what
is
termed
Ingenuousness";
Ingenuousness manifested in objective
fact is Truth.
tive is right too.
To regard them
As
it.
and objec in from proceeding myself complete

as subjective
So
far as the
of
is
sincerity unceasingly in
there be not sincerity, can an unreal mind accomplish rea things it is simply equivalent to nothing."
1
mind then every movement of it

?
man
as
is
concerned,
if
vain and
Although it
false. How may do something
Ch uan
see below.
ord

[
431
it
self -expression it is
Ingenuousness, as seen by others
Truth.
Answer.
[and not
"
Are they not one and the same thing ? They are one principle. Truth sometimes used Question. Why is the word
Question.
"
"
"
Ingenuousness ? Answer. Because it is used as including both the subctive and objective.
Question.
tes
Why
is
"
the word
"
"
"
Ingenuousness
some-
Truth ? from Apart Ingenuousness there cannot be ^ruth. If there be Ingenuousness there must be Truth. The Philosopher said further It is like some affair diich one has seen, and in relating it to others he only ?lls a third of what he saw, keeping back the rest. That is to be in how can it be said to be in for Truth, lacking iccord with fact, and without any conflicting element ? 1 one asks me Where have you come from to-day ? to From the Ta Chung Temple." There ought reply fore the Master Ch eng said Singleness of mind is what is termed Sincerity, whole -heartedn ess is what is termed
used and not
Answer.
"
"
"
"
[ngenuousness
12.
as it is in the heart
it is
Honesty,
as
lanifested in objective fact
it is Truth."
"
Question.
In the statement,
is Truth,"
Completeness in the
the expression
430.j
"
representation of a thing
1
com-
Refers back to a sentence in Section
10, p.
The
illustration is
case of ingenuousness, but the Philosopher shews that

truth.
2
it is
also a case
is the name o? one of the hexagrams in the Yi (see Yi Ching, and note on p. 290) hence the use here of these two words, t%* = heart and JJ = or in the older sense of the sincerity honesty
t^t
199;
"
"
"
"
"
rord
cf. p.
304.
432

"
plcteness in the representation of a thing it not, as "perfect correspondence with a
is
the same,
1
is
thing"?j^
Answer.
Yes.
"
(Two SECTIONS FROM THE

1.
COLLECTED
WRITINGS".)
|
and Question. Truth are one principle, but looking at the point of view from which each is used they are different. As I underYou, sir, said that Ingenuousness
stand
it,
ff|
|j
they are one principle, but subjectively
it
is
j^
called Ingenuousness,
"Complete
"
and objectively
"
1
it is called
Truth.
refers to the mind, while the self-expression word thing, calls attention to the principle of the thing therefore the mind which expresses itself completely is
;
>f
ingenuous, and the principle which corresponds with the thing is true. Although there is the difference between
the subjective and objective, the point
is
L
(
that both are
TRUTH
and you
a
thing"
in myself.
"
Answer.
Mind
"
and
"
"
principle
"
cannot be contrasted
"
as subject and object.
Substitute
"act"
for
"
principle
will be right.
Perfect correspondence with r
does not
of a thing,
mean correspondence with the principle^ but in denning a certain thing to make your
is,
definition perfectly
thing.
This
what
correspond with the reality of thatf^ Truth. is termed (Reply to
Fan Kung Shu.)

1
Cf.
section 10, p. 430.

thing",
|||
$J
"completeness
in the representa
tion of a
means that
in the
treatment of any matter, or in the
X
.
use of any thing, there is a complete expression of the principles inherent in that matter or thing.
2
1T
Ch eng
^jj) a different
;
word from the word

419, n.
1.
(hsin)
rendered Truth JL
in the rest of this section
cf. p.

"
433
2.
Question.
dial is
In the statement, Singleness of mind is termed Sincerity, and whole-heartedne&s is what

Ingenuousness,"
termed
leant
?
what
really is
"
the
distinction
is
Again, does the statement, law of Heaven," mean the

? l
"
Ingenuousness
same
thing
is
as
rhole-heartedness
Answer. termed [s
ie
The
"
sentence,
Singleness of
is
mind
is
what
;
Sincerity,"
refers specially to the substance
sentence,
"
Whole- hear tedness
what
termed In
genuousness,"
ie
refers to the operation of this substance.
Ingenuousness is the law of Heaven," is "the extension of one s self", the with quality Contrasted sympathy, and refers definitely to the meaning of the whole-heartedness (Reply to Lii Tzu Yo.) [xpression
sentence,
"
".
INGENUOUSNESS AND SYMPATHY

(SEVEN SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"
CONVERSATIONS".)
Cli
eng Tzu
said,
"The
saying,
The Decree
2
!
of
[eaven,
how profound
;
Ingenuousness
tilings.
corresponds the principle of reality permeating The method of Ch ien is to change and trans it is
it is
and undying
so that everything obtains its correct nature ordained by Heaven, 3 corresponds to sympathy it is ie principle of to extended the object." reality
*m,
Shou Yo asked
"
jmilar to that of the

thy
Explained in this way, is the meaning words Ingenuousness and Sym"
"
"
in the saying,
"The
doctrine
is
of our Master to
?*
23
;
igenuousness and Sympathy, that

The statement
is
all"
by Ming Tao, see
ffi
^|
4
pt. xiii, p.
for its
)lanation see below, pp. 437-8. 3 Ft Cliing. p. 213. D.M., p. 233.
Analects, IV, xv, 2 (p. 34).
Ff
434
Answer. There is but one Ingenuousness and Sym How! can there be two ? Even the difference pathy between that of the saint and of the ordinary man is not
:
very great.
does
as
The Philosopher said further Complete self-expression not mean a complete expression of the Truth
:
it
is
in
is
myself
to
foe
complete
feared
Truth.
here.)
1
(It
IS self-expression that there is a lacuna

short
of
If
there
is
falling
the
whole,
I desire
there
is, to that extent, unreality.

;
For example,
filial,
to be filial
although I
am
two-thirds
and only
one-third short of the complete thing, I am still to thai extent not true to my purpose. Even if I am nine-tenth*
filial,
and no more than the
trifling
one-tenth short of
th<
whole, I
2.
am
still
untrue to
my
purpose.
Ingenuousness
is
;
is subjective,
Sympathy
is
objective
>,
Ingenuousness
self -deception
the absence of even a hair

"
s -breadth o
of}
in my treatment of mysel and others, to act equally, according to the nature of th
Sympathy
is,
2
case."
In explaining Ingenuousness and Sympathy th Master pointed his two hands towards himself to represer
3.
1S
Ingenuousness, and turned them outwards to represei
Sympathy.
Ingenuousness is but one, but it produces and thousands of varieties of Sym/pathy.
4.
1 2
eompc
!
hundre<
A note
by the Chinese compiler.

286.
YiCMng,p.

5.
435
;
The mind
in equilibrium is Ingenuousness
s
com
parison with one

I
own mind
is
of expression is to be seen in the
Sympathy. commentary on the
This mode
Chou
6.
Eitual".
Question.
What do you mean when you

s
"
"
say,
Com-
iparison with one Answer. By

|
own mind
is Sympathy" ?
"
I mean to compare the comparison mind of another with my own, and so put myself in their place. Love is not very different from Sympathy. Love is
spontaneous,
Sympathy springs from comparison
and
[transference of one s self.

7.
Liu asked for an explanation of Ingenuousness and

ingenuousness is the principle of reality. In is ,the one principle, "Sympathy is its innumer
Sympathy.
Ansiver,
genuousness
of Heaven,
able functions.
For example, the

it is
"
saying,
"
The Decree
3
how profound
and undying
:
represents
simply
this one principle of reality in its all-pervading
the ox receives it and operations producing all things is an ox, the horse receives it and is a horse, grass and
[trees receive it
1
and are grass and
trees.
There
is
a play on the word here.
The word
"
"
"
ingenuousness
is
composed
of the
two ideographs,
PJ5
$fl
"Sympathy"
is
composed
of
= =
"
equilibrium
"
"
and
)JJ
"
mind".
like
and
){j
"mind".
See
3xt section.
2 A work, believed to have been composed during the Chou dynasty, mtaining detailed descriptions of the duties of the various officers of See Wylie s Notes on Chinese Literature (1867), p. 4. Istate. 3 D.M., p. 285.
436

"

1.
Sympathy springs from induces self-reproach, and, Ingenuousness. Ingenuousness knowing the difficulty of conquering ourselves, we realize
Chang
said,
Wu Kou
;i
^
ft
that everywhere those who have not learned the meaning ft of their Nature are not so much to be blamed." He also h
j
"
said,
When we know
self,
the difficulty in our
own
case of
"j
conquering
we
realize .that all

Sympathy."
to be treated
with
1
everywhere ought m According to my view
men
Sympathy springs from Ingenuousness. Ming Tao, Hsieh

Tzu,
tion
Hou
is
Tzti,
have
all
affirmed that, but their explana
not the same as this.
To
"
say,
When we know
we
realize
in our
own
case the difficulty of conquering self,

to be treated
to
that
all
pathy,"
is to treat
men everywhere ought men according

:
with
Sym
our
own
selfishness,
1
whereas the real meaning of Sympathy is not that at all. The Chen^f Meng says "To blame ourselves as we blame others is to fulfil the Moral Law. To love others as we
love ourselves is
.to
tions of
led. 3
1
men by
is
perfect Love. Measure your expecta the maiss, 2 and you will find them easily
DC;
This
the true identity of the external world with

Hsieh Liang Tso
frfl
;
Hsieh Tzu
is
see
p.
322,
n.
3.
Hou Tzu
i:
Hou Chung Liang ($|

Ch eng Ming Tao and
2 3
>fe
J),tyle Shih Sheng
(gfj
Jg), a pupil o
That
is
highly esteemed by his master. do not expect every man to be a sage.
5^
Bk. v
39
In tneir original setting the three sentence

i
quoted are given as the author s explanation of three sayings of Confucius viz. In the way of the noble man there are four things, to not one o which have I as yet attained What you do not like, when done fr The noble man governs men accordin yourself, do not do to others to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they chang
"
"
"
"
"
437
myself. Let everyone be in accord with principle and never disobey it. The words of the saints and sages have
their guiding principles,
and
this is
what
is
."
expressed as
1
governing the statement

the
is
mass,"
men
Although Measure your expectations of men by The Moral Law the writer would also say,
"
according to their nature

"
is,
not far from
men,"
so that those
who
constitute the
Moral Law. To take one s own to inability conquer selfishness, and use it as a reason for tolerating others and to assist them to perfect their wicked ness, is for men to lead one another to become like birds and beasts and what more glaring instance of the very reverse of Ingenuousness and Sympathy could there be than that? (Criticism of Chang W.u Kou s "exposition
mass
"
still
possess this
of the Doctrlnie of the

2.
Mean".)
"
Question.
In the statement
the
difference
Sympathy
3
is
Love
[bestowal, affection is the operation of
Love,"
do not
know
[and
rare
what
is
".
between
"bestowal"
"operation
Answer.
reach
What Sympathy
bestows
is affection
if
there
no Sympathy, the
its object.
affection,
even
if it existed,
could
[not
3.
(Reply to
Fan
Tztt Shan.)
Question.
jlaw of Heaven,
/hat
is
Ch eng Tzu considered Ingenuousness as the and Sympathy as the law of Man. Does
legative
1
wrong, he stops." It will be noted that the golden rule in the form as enunciated by Confucius assumes the positive form as
explained
by Chang
Tsai.
It is probable that the quotation from the Cheng D.M., p. 258. teng extends to this point, though it does not exactly correspond with he passage in the /^
Ibid., p. 257.
See
<g,
pt. xiii,
f.
23.
438
PHILOSOPHY OF
mean
its
HUMAN"
NATURE
itself,
not this
saint,
that Ingenuousness is the possession of the
and
is
operation one with Heaven
while
Sym
the law of behaviour towards men ? pathy iAnsufef. One s behaviour towards oneself is not different
in principle from one s behaviour to others. The distinc tion here maxle between Heaven and man means simply
thedifferen.ee between substance
to
and
its
operation.
(Reply
YenShihHeng.)
4.
Your
treatise
on Sympathy
the
phrase
is excellent,
"
but in the
2
Groat
L&wwing
measuring
1
square"
3 always occurs after the phra&e "investigation of things". For principles must first of all be clear, ana* the heart!
true
liien in
what we
desire or do not desire
we
shall
naturally attain to what is correct. Afterwards, when we extend this to external things, in the treatment of them
also we shall not fail to be correct, so that there will be no separation between the external world and myself. If otherwise, and, allowing ourselves to be ruled by selfish ness and personal convenience, we seek to extend this to
others,
we
shall fail even to establish the
law of man
on
the contrary,
itself
we
.
shall drive a
whole world into making

(Reply
to
!
a den of selfishness and evil-mongering.

)
Hwang Shang Po
5.
i,
Question.
Modern
Jwoid
scholars look
arid
1
Sympathy
is,
as simply substance
upon Ingenuousness and operation.
in a
j
~prsi the comparison is really between the law of Heaven and the law of Man, between which there is this relation of substance and operation, source and flow- Human desire originates in Divine Law and becomes
That
evil in its flow,

2
Cf. p. 395.
3
Ibid<>
G.L., p. 395.

substance
is
439
is
"
as expressed in the saying,

l
;
"
Perfection also
undying
fills
its
operation
2
is
as expressed in the saying,

is real
"It
the
its
universe."
The substance
broad and
and un
But changing, operation substance and operation are from one source and cannot
is
all -penetrating.
be separated. Therefore Ch eng Tzu said, I regard the two terms Ingenuousness and Sympathy as reciprocally
"
each the operation of the other." And the Master said, 3 "My doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity."
Answer.
Tzii Yo.)
This statement
is
very good.
(Eeply to Lii
SEDATENESS AND SERIOUSNESS 4

(FiVE SECTIONS FROM THE
1.
"CONVERSATIONS".)
Question.
Why
?
are Love and Seriousness spoken

5
of in combination
Answer.
1
From
the time of Shang Ts ai

2
the word
p. 66.
D.M.,
p. 285.
1 (p. 33).
Mencius,
Analects, IV, xv,
Ching (f|) in its most frequent use is reverence as accorded to others. Throughout this section, however, its special reference is, not to persons, but to actions expressing the spirit in which actions are done. Legge, in such connexions, clinging to the idea of reverence, translates the word
reverential carefulness by such expressions as "reverent attention", Soothill and Ku Hung Ming for the most part break away from the word reverence and adopt the renderings serious and earnest in a few instances, All these meanings are to be found self-respect." in the word in different connexions. The prevailing meaning ching here is an awe-inspired seriousness, the inward attitude which characterizes the actions of the noble man, answering to sedateness, the external demeanour appropriate to this inward attitude in one or two instances, Cf. however, the word "earnestness" expresses the meaning better,
"
",
etc.
"
"
"
"
",
",
"
"
"
Suzuki
5
Early Chinese Philosophy, pp. 56-7

3
See
p. 322, n.
440
"

"
Seriousness
it
has been considered small and inadequate was therefore felt necessary to add the word "Love".
as a matter of fact there is no
But
in
it.
"Love".
If a
man
has
seriousness
>
need for the word Love is included
1
;:
2.
Stateness has
with action.
heart into
it,
When
and do
is
do with demeanour, Earnestness anything is to be done, to put one s

to
it
without any wavering of the mind,

is
this is Earnestness.
Sedateness
objective manifestation,
Earnestness
subjective.
"
From
making
portant
oneself sincere,
Sedateness
the point of view of ~ 9 is the more im

of
word
from the point

is
view
of
action,
"Earnestness"
more appropriate.
stage
"
, the word learning, iSeriousness is more applicable,; in the final stage, when the virtue is acquired, Siedateness is more natural.
3.
In
the
initial
of
"
"
"
Seriousness pertains to action. It is true that in the more comprehensive sense we speak of seriously cultivating
"
one
2
.self",
seriousness"
3
;
word demeanour.
of the
4.
it
maintaining inward correctness by but regarded only in the narrower sense has to do with action, and Sedateness with
of
"
an
ids
Apropos of the statement that the two words Sedateness and Seriousness stand in the same relation to one another as Ingenuousness and Truth, someone said Seriousness is subjective, Sedateness is the objective mani
1
festation.
1
Love
is
the source of
p. 420.
all virtues.
Analects,
XIV, xlv
(p. 156).
Ft Ching,

Answer.
it
441
are apt to think of
must
speak of objective manifestation we as nobler than the subjective, because reach to an overflowing fullness before it can be
it
;
1
When we
how then can the subjective be objectively manifested ? be must not It superior forgotten, however, that the is source. the subjective
5. Question. What ness &nd Seriousness ?
is
the difference between Sedate-
Answer.
of the
Sedateness refers to demeanour

is
("
The
virtue
demeanour
called
sedateness". 1
"The
hands
"
were respectful in demeanour/ ) 2 Seriousness refers to In In handling public business be serioop." 3 action.
("
his duties his care is to bo
4 earnest.")
Question.
How
does Earnestness refer to action
Answer.
I
If, at this
moment, I am doing
it
must put
my
whole heart into
to be satisfactory
(anything, I ,am
speaking of bad things. If I am studying the "Analects" and my mind is on "Mencius", how can
not, of course,
1
understand what I read?

if
We
it
shall never succeed in
we do janything
ielse.
while doing
the
mind
is
on something
The Philosopher
:
said further
Seriousness includes the
of apprehension. jidea Again he said When one is occupied about something, when one Itho mind is concentrated on that one thing;
;
|is
1 2
z
not occupied with anything, the

Shu Ching,
Li Chi,
Ibid.,
vol.
p. 326.
ii,
mind
is clear.
p. 25.
"
"
Respectful
;
is
the same word
(^ ) as
"
sedate
".
Analects, XIII, xix (p. 135)
cf. Sootliill.
XVI, x
(p.
178)
cf.
Soothill.
442

said
:
Again he
Sedateness
is
is
cautious, Seriousness
is
majestic. apprehensive, Dignity ever, are not the qualities with which
so that dignity in this connexion
Majesty and awe, how
we
serve our parents,

place.
would be out of
"
But in our bearing towards those below us there should be Let him preside over dignity, as is said in the passage, them with dignity and they will revere him." 1 If dignity
be lacking in the transaction of business the people will not revere him.

1.
"
COLLECTED WRITINGS
"Sedateness"
".)
Question.
for
The
two
words
and
Seriousness"
"Mencius";
occur frequently in the "Analects" and example, "The noble man is serious
and free from
fault, in intercourse
2
"In
with others he
is
sedate
and
courtly." private life be sedate, in handling 3 "In his conduct of himself public business be serious." he was sedate, in serving his superiors he was serious" ;* To urge one s sovereign to difficult achievements
"
may
be called showing respect for him.

is
To
set before
him what
good and repress his perversities may be The Master called showing earnestness in his behalf." 5 I Ch uan eaid (manifestation is what is "The objective termed Sedateness, and the subjective quality is what is
:
termed
If
1 3 5
Seriousness,"
for Sedateness objective
and Seriousness
"
are
one principle in
its
and subjective
in
aspects.
"
we explain the passages

Analects,
Ibid.,
II,
the
2
Analects
XII,
v,
and
xx
(p. 1G).
(p. 135).
Ibid.,
(p. 117).
XIII, xix
*
6
Ibid., V,
xv
(p. 42).
f.
Mencius, p. 168.
jj[
^,
pt. vi,
10.

"
443
Mencius
Is it
"
according to this definition,
it
?
does not seem to
fit.
n ot
that they differ in degree

lias to
Answer.
Sedateness
Seriousness with action. more force than Sedateness, hut from the point of view of the virtue attained to, Seidateness has more of repose. (Reply to Lien Sung Ch ing.)
do with demeanour, and For the learner, Seriousness has
we compare the statements from early times to the Ch eng

2.
If
of the saints and sages
neatness
in
dress
school, all would put and gravity of demeanour first for
one heginning his study. For this must be first attained to, and after that the mind is preserved, and lapse into
as is said in the Yi guarded against 1 Guarding against depravity, he preserves his sincerity." Ch eng Tzu s saying, By control of outward conduct he nourished his heart," is just this idea. But we must not go off to an extreme and sink in the slough of externals, such as ceremonies and vestments. (Reply to Lii Po Kung.) 2
depravity
"
"
tion.
Question. I have received your instructive communica To maintain Seriousness involves fatigue, the physical
fails,
and one cannot overcome one s languor. For example: Sometimes when I would hold nry head erect, and be sedate in the use of my hands, I find myself unable, and so my hold on Seriousness is imperfect, and selfish thoughts spring up in my mind. Thus, though my
element
desire is in every detail to act in accordance with the,
1 3
Yi Ching,
Lii
p. 410.
Tsu Ch ien (g fji f$), Chu Hsi s friend; Introduction to Chu Hsi ani the Sung School, chap. iv.
see J. P. Bruce,
444

from sheer lack of strength.
I
rules of ceremony, I fail
know whether, if I were to maintain a serious mind simply, and allow some indulgence to the bodily
should like to
members, there would be any injury

or not.
to
one
s final
success
Answer.
it
When
there is unfailing Seriousness, the body

self-control,
will naturally
assume a corresponding
and
will not be necessary to wait while one deliberately oneself.
settles
The
bodily posture
will
be easy and
natural.
If one requires consciously and deliberately to arrange one s posture, then, indeed, to continue in it long will be difficult and fatiguing. (Reply to Chu Fei Ch ing.)
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Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) - The Philosophy of Human Nature

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Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) - The Philosophy of Human Nature

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PROBSTHAIN

PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, HERTFORD

TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE, WITH NOTES

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHU H3I AND THE SUNG SCHOOL&quot;

Introduction to the Philosophy

Chu Hsi and the Sung School.

Being a Companion Volume to

THE PHYSICAL NATURE THE DECREE

THE WILL AND MOTIVES

258 259 262

897 409 419 425 433 439

INGENUOUSNESS AND TRUTH INGENUOUSNESS AND SYMPATHY SEDATENESS AND SERIOUSNESS

OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS

the translation of The Analects of Confucius

figures in brackets refer to

of his series of Chinese

The Doctrine of the Mean volume as above.

= vol. = vol. = vol. = vol.

xvi of the Sacred Books of the East.

(Ch. Ed.) are to the

In the Imperial Edition the order of the

the same as in Legge

The Complete Works

here translated forms a part of the Imperial

larger works, such as his Commentaries,

The Object of Learning,

but only his miscellaneous

Philosopher. upon a much

PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

As has been pointed out

specialized sense of Mental

in the latter sense that

sections, these groups being

and has no connexion with those that follow or precede,

The companion volume referred

repeat here what

matter for some surprise

have appeared from time to

serious effort has hitherto been

the English reader the works of

Hsi, the philosopher

whose teachings have done more than almost any other to

Philosophy of Chu Hsi and the Sung School, bv

understand the mentality of the Chinese people,

finds that the Classics, valuable as

they are from the point

of their high ethical standard, are, nevertheless,

themselves, their mental outlook has been formed in the matrix

has just been said has reference more particularly to

Chu Hsi and

that be the case, his lectures and writings on

mind and the method

of his dialectic as they are revealed in

PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN NATURE

the numerous arguments and philosophic statements contained in this work.

to the nature of the translator s task, the

ipsissima verba of the

letters the tenor of

themselves, that to follow the drift of the argument

When the effort is made to transfer the thought of the writer

quotations from the works of other philosophers, to which

consistency of rendering in such almost the despair of the translator.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHU H3I AND THE SUNG SCHOOL"