Chinese pragmatism had shown itself in Chou and Ch'in times - and the empirical tendency was not to change with the coming to power of Han (205 B.C.-220 A.D.). Han inherited the ethics of Confucianism, the political and economic theories of the Legalists and the mystique of the Taoists. Thinkers of 2,000 years ago faced the task of weaving these various threads into one meaningful Chinese whole.
Taoism was popular and influential in the early Han period. Its support of laissez-faire government was appropriate to the times. Subsequently, as governmental authority and bureaucracy expanded, the Confucianists gained the upper hand. But the latter-day Confucianism of Tung Chung-shu and his successors was a far cry from the simple ethical system of the Sage. The Han Confucianism was more sophisticated and borrowed from other thinkers. By affording man a complete philosophy for his own existence and the universe, the new Confucianism was able to become a government-supported orthodoxy.
The early Han leaning toward Taoism is expressed in this excerpt from an essay by the historian Ssu-ma T'an analyzing the merits of the six traditional schools of late Chou thought:
"The Great Commentary on the Book of Changes says: 'There is one moving force. From it a hundred thoughts and schemes arise. All have the same objective, though their ways are different.' The schools of the yin-yang, the Confucianists, the Mo-ists, the Logicians, the Legalists and the Taoists all strive for good government. It is simply that they follow and teach different ways, and some are more penetrating than others.
"It has been my observation that the yin-yang school in its theories puts strong emphasis upon omens and teaches a great many things to be shunned and tabooed. Hence it causes men to feel restrained and bound by fear. But in its work of arranging correctly the all-important succession of the four seasons it fills an essential need.
"The Confucianists are very broad in their interests but do not deal with much that is essential. They labor much and achieve but slight success. Therefore their discipline is difficult to carry out to the fullest. But in the way they order the rules of decorum between lord and subject and father and son, and the proper distinctions between husband and wife and elder and younger, they have something that cannot be altered.
"The Mo-ists are too stem in their parsimony to be followed and therefore their teachings cannot be fully applied. But in their emphasis upon what is basic (agriculture) and upon frugal usage they have a point that cannot be overlooked.
"The Legalists are very strict and of small mercy. But they have correctly defined the distinctions between lord and subject, and between superior and inferior, and these distinctions cannot be changed.
"The Logicians cause men to be overnice in reasoning and often to miss the truth. But the way in which they distinguish clearly between names and realities is something that people cannot afford not to look into.
"The Taoists teach men to live a life of spiritual concentration and to act in harmony with the unseen. Their teaching is all-sufficient and embraces all things. Its method consists in following the seasonal order of the yin-yang school, of selecting what is good from the Confucian and Mo-ist teachings, and adopting the important points of the Logical and Legalist schools. It modifies its position with the times and responds to the changes which come about in the world. In establishing customs and practices and administering affairs it does nothing that is not appropriate to the time and place. Its principles are simple and easy to practice; it undertakes few things but achieves much success."
Readers of this series may recall that the original Confucianists were not much concerned with metaphysics and cosmology. Confucius had said – in effect - that the business of man was man and let the gods take care of themselves. But the Taoists and the yin-yang school were interested in heaven and the hereafter. Although the Taoists and yin-yang advocates soon degenerated into cults of necromancy and divination, some of their concepts passed into the Confucianism of Han and thus into the thinking of the educated.
Yin and yang - expressed today in the flag of the Republic of Korea - is very old. Yet not until Han times did it become an important element of Chinese thinking. Through the works of Tung Chung-shu and others, yin and yang came to be an explanation of creation and existence. Yang was the male - the sun, fire, heat, heaven, creation, dominance, spring and summer. Yin was the female - the moon, cold, water, earth, nourishment and sustenance, recessiveness, autumn and winter. Their interaction accounted for the mundane processes of growth and change.
Probably not until Han times was yin and yang developed as a comprehensive system of cosmology expressed in a geometric system of eight trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams that had originated in divination. The combinations thus made available represented a universe in all its complexity. Through study of the various combinations, the scholar might come to understand the whole of the universe. Here was the past, the present and the future - all reduced to order and comprehension for those with knowledge and the fortitude to study. This led to a doctrine of the golden mean - a way between the extremes, a system that might represent the known and relieve men of their superstitions and the fear of the unknown.
The following view of the creation is from the Huai-nan Tzu, a largely Taoist conception that was taken over by the Han Confucianists and subsequently by the Japanese:
"Before heaven and earth had taken form all was vague and amorphous. Therefore it was called the Great Beginning. The Great Beginning produced emptiness and emptiness produced the universe. The universe produced material-force (which in the Chinese really means the stuff of creation). The material-force had limits. That which was clear and light drifted up to become heaven, while that which was heavy and turbid solidified to become earth. It was very easy for the pure, fine material to come together but extremely difficult for the heavy, turbid material to solidify. Therefore, heaven was completed first and earth assumed shape after. The combined essences of heaven and earth became the yin and yang, the concentrated essences of the yin and yang became the four seasons, and the scattered essences of the four seasons became the myriad creatures of the world. After a long time the hot force of the accumulated yang produced fire and the essence of the fire force became the sun; the cold force of the accumulated yin became water and the essence of the water force became the moon. The essence of the excess force of the sun and moon became the stars and planets. Heaven received the moon, moon and stars while earth received water and soil.
"When heaven and earth were joined in emptiness and all was unwrought simplicity, then without having been created, things came into being. This was the Great Oneness. All things issued from this oneness but all became different, being divided into the various species of fish, birds and beasts. Therefore while a thing moves it is called living, and when it dies it is said to be exhausted. All are creatures. They are not the uncreated creator of things, for the creator of things is not among things. If we examine the Great Beginning of antiquity we find that man was born out of non being to assume form in being. Having form, he is governed by things. But he who can return to that from which he was born and become as though formless is called a true man. The true man is he who has never become separated from the Great Oneness."
Since earliest times, man has speculated about the astronomical structure of the universe. This is Chang Heng's analysis:
"Heaven is like an egg, and the earth is like the yolk of the egg. Alone it dwells inside. Heaven is great and earth is small. Inside and outside of heaven there is water. Heaven wraps around the earth as the shell encloses the yolk. Heaven and earth each are borne up and stand upon their vital force, floating upon the water. The circumference of heaven is 365¼ degrees. This is divided in half, so that 182⅝ degrees are arched above the earth, while 182⅝ degrees are cupped under the earth. Therefore there are 28 heavenly constellations, half of them visible and half invisible. Its two extremes are called the south and north poles. The north pole is the apex of heaven, but it is elevated 36 degrees above the true north of the earth. The north pole is the axis, hence 72 degrees of this upper sphere are constantly visible. The south pole is the other apex of heaven, but it also is deflected 36 degrees below the true south of the earth. It is the axis for the lower half, hence 72 degrees of the lower half are constantly hidden. The two poles are 182+ degrees apart. Heaven turns about the earth like a cartwheel, revolving constantly without stopping. Its form is complete and encircling, hence it is called the 'encircling heaven'."
There was an opposing equatorial theory found in Chin Shu:
"Heaven is like an umbrella, earth like an overturned dish. Both heaven and earth are high in the middle and slope down at the edges. The point beneath the north pole is the center of both heaven and earth. This is the highest point of earth, and from here it slopes down on all sides like water flowing downward. The sun, moon and stars alternately shine and are hidden and this makes the day and night. The highest point in the center of heaven, where the sun is at the winter solstice, is 60,000 li from the horizontal line representing the level of the edges of heaven. The height of the earth at its highest point beneath the north pole is also 60,000 li. The highest point of the earth is separated from the horizontal line representing the level of the edges of heaven by 20,000 li. Since the highest point of heave" and earth correspond, the sun is constantly at a distance of 80,000 li from earth."
These two theories remained in controversy until the coming of modern science. Because the latter theory did not account for the appearance and disappearance of the sun, some modifications were suggested: that the earth was flat, that both earth and heaven were flat, or that the center of the umbrella - like heaven was inclined so that the edge of heaven revolved a little below the surface of the earth. Wang Ch'ung of the Later Han explained the rising and setting of the sun in this wise:
"Heaven is flat just as the earth is flat, and the rising and setting of the sun is due to the fact that it revolves along with heaven ... To the gaze of men it appears that heaven and earth unite at a distance of no more than ten li. This is only the effect of distance, however, for they do not actually come together. In the same way when we seem to see the sun set, it does not actually set. The illusion of setting is the effect of distance ... As an experiment, let a man take a large torch and walk at night down a road which is level and without obstructions. By the time he has gone less than one li from the observer the light of the fire will have disappeared. The fire, of course, has not actually gone out. It is only the effect of distance. In the same way when the sun revolves to the west and disappears from sight, it does not actually set."
The appendices or "wings" of the Book of Changes were written after the time of Confucius, some of them in early Han times. This passage tells how the sages of Chinese history gave instruction in the arts of civilization and how their inventions and discoveries were inspired by the symbolism of the hexagrams:
"When in ancient times Fu Hsi ruled the world, he looked up to observe the phenomena of the heavens, and gazed down to observe the contours of the earth. He observed the markings of birds and beasts and how they were adapted to their habitats. Some ideas he took from his own body, and went beyond this to take other ideas from other things. Thus he invented the eight trigrams in order to comprehend the virtues of spiritual beings and represent the conditions of all things of creation. He knotted cords and made nets for hunting and fishing. This idea he probably adopted from the hexagram li.
"After Fu Hsi died Shen Nun arose. He carved a piece of wood into a plowshare and bent another piece to make a handle, and taught the world the advantages of plowing and weeding. This idea he probably took from the hexagram i. He set up markets at midday and caused the people of the world to bring all their goods and exchange them and then return home so that everything found its proper place. This he probably took from the hexagram shih-ho.
"After Shen Nun died, the Yellow Emperor, Yao and Shun arose. They comprehended change and caused the people to be unwearied, transforming them with spirit so that they were rightly ordered. When the Changes has run one course to its extreme, then it changes, and by changing it is able to continue, and by continuing it achieves longevity. Thus the Changes receives help from Heaven: good fortune and nothing that is not beneficial.
"The Yellow Emperor, Yao and Shun allowed their upper and lower garments to hang down and the world was ordered. This they probably took from the hexagrams ch'ien and k'un.
"They hollowed out logs to make boats and shaved pieces of wood for rudders, and by the advantages of boats and rudders opened up new roads of communication to distant places for the profit of the world. This they probably took from the hexagram huan. They yoked oxen to pull heavy loads and mounted horses to go long distances, thus benefiting the world. This they probably took from the hexagram sui. They provided double gates and watchmen with wooden clappers to guard against robbers, and this they took from the hexagram yu. They split wood to make pestles and scooped hollows in the ground for mortars and thus benefited all mankind by the advantages of mortar and pestle. This they probably took from the hexagram hsiao-kuo. They strung a piece of wood for a bow and whittled arrows of wood and introduced the bow and arrow to awe the world. This they took from the hexagram k'uei.
"In the earliest times men dwelt in caves and lived out in the open. But the sages of later times substituted houses with ridgepoles and roofs to protect them from wind and rain. This they probably took from the hexagram ta-chuang. In the earliest burials the dead were covered thickly with brushwood and buried in the fields with neither mound nor trees to mark the grave, and there was no set period of mourning. But the sages of later times substituted inner and outer coffins. This they probably took from the hexagram ta-kuo. In the earliest times knotted cords were used in government but the later sages substituted written documents and tallies so that the officials were kept in order and the people had a clear idea of their duties. This they probably took from the hexagram kuai."
Resembling the yin-yang theory are the five agents or wu-hsing. The agents are metaphysical forces or modes that dominate or control periods of time, usually the seasons, in fixed succession. Wood is associated with the color green and the direction of east. Fire is linked to summer, its color is red and its direction south. Metal belongs to autumn, white and west; water to winter, black and north. But there are five agents and only four seasons. Earth with its color of yellow is assigned a central position to help the other four elements control the seasons. Each agent reacts upon another: wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal and metal produces water. Some of the fundamental relationships are shown in the accompanying table.
The five agents play an important role in Chinese dynastic history. Each dynasty supposedly was ruled by virtue of an agent and adopted the requisite color in its vestments and flags. The First Emperor of Ch'in believed that his dynasty ruled by virtue of the power of water, adopted black as his color and changed the name of the Yellow River to Te shui (Powerful Water). In addition to the usual succession of wood, fire, earth, metal, water, there was another sequence involving the power of one over another. Thus fire is extinguished by water, water is overcome by earth, earth by wood and wood by metal - producing an order of fire, water, earth, wood, metal. Early Han honored earth as its element in following this second sequence. Subsequently, Liu Hsin and his school constructed a theory of history based on the succession of agents in accordance with their emergence. Wang Mang the usurper made use of this in attempting to justify his claim to the throne.
Tung Chung-shu used both yin-yang and five-agent theories in his Confucian system. The following selection shows his use of the five agents in describing the five traditional departments of government:
"Wood is the agent of the Minister of Agriculture. If the Minister of Agriculture becomes corrupt, playing partisan politics and forming cliques, obscuring the wisdom of the ruler, forcing worthy men into retirement, exterminating the high officials and teaching the people wild and prodigal ways, then the retainers of the lords will wander about and neglect the work of the fields, amusing themselves with gambling, cockfighting, dog racing and horsemanship; old and young will be without respect, great and small will trespass upon each other; thieves and brigands will arise, perverse and evil men who destroy reason. It is then the duty of the Minister of the Interior to punish him. Now wood is the agent of agriculture and agriculture is the occupation of the people. If the people are not compliant but revolt, then the Minister of the Interior is ordered to punish the leaders of the rebellion and set things right. Therefore we say metal overcomes wood.
"Metal is the agent of the Minister of the Interior. If the Minister of the Interior acts rebelliously, encroaching upon the ruler, taking a high hand with the military forces, seizing authority and usurping power, punishing and slaughtering the guiltless, invading and attacking with ruthlessness and violence, making war and snatching gain, disobeying orders, ignoring prohibitions, disrespecting the generals and leaders and misusing the officers and troops, then the armies will be exhausted, the land lost, and the ruler will suffer disgrace. Metal is the agent of the Minister of the Interior. If he is weak and does not know how to use the officers and men properly, then the Minister of War must punish him. Therefore we say fire overcomes metal.
"Fire is the agent of the Minister of War. If the Minister of War gives himself up to rebellion and scornful talk, libeling and defaming people, then within' the palace flesh and blood relatives will be set against each other, faithful ministers driven away, wise and sage men ruined, and the slander and evil will grow day by day. Now fire is the agent of the Minister of War. When he turns to evil and slander, deceiving the ruler, then he who administers the law shall carry out punishment. It is water that administers the law; therefore we say that water overcomes fire.
"Water is the agent of the Minister of Justice. If the Minister of Justice turns to false ways, using extravagant respect and petty caution, crafty words and insinuating looks, taking bribes when he hears law suits, prejudiced and unfair, slow to issue orders but quick to punish, punishing and executing the guiltless, then the Minister of Works must correct him. Ying T'ang, Minister of Justice of Ch'i, is an example of this. T'ai Kung, who held a fief in Ch'i, once asked him what were the essentials of ruling a state. Ying T'ang replied: 'Simply practice humanity and righteousness, that is all.'
| Five-Agent System | |||||
| Correspondence | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
| Seasons | Spring | Summer | Autumn | Winter | |
| Divine rulers | T'ai Hao | Yen Ti | Yellow Emperor | Hao Hao | Chuan Hsu |
| Attendant spirits | Kao Mang | Chu Yung | Hou T'u | Ju Shou | Hsuan Ming |
| Sacrifices | inner door | hearth | inner court | outer court | well |
| Animals | sheep | fowl | ox | dog | pig |
| Grains | wheat | beans | panic1ed millet | hemp | millet |
| Organs | spleen | lungs | heart | liver | kidneys |
| Numbers | eight | seven | five | nine | six |
| Stems | chia/i | ping/ting | mou/chi | keng/hsin | jen/kuei |
| Colors | green | red | yellow | white | black |
| Notes | chueh | chih | kung | shang | yu |
| Tastes | sour | bitter | sweet | acrid | salty |
| Smells | goatish | burning | fragrant | rank | rotten |
| Directions | East | South | central | West | North |
| Creatures | scaly | feathered | naked | hairy | shell-covered |
| Beasts | green dragon | scarlet bird | yellow dragon | white tiger | black tortoise |
| Virtues | benevolence | wisdom | faith | righteousness | decorum |
| Planets | Jupiter | Mars | Saturn | Venus | Mercury |
| Ministers | Agriculture | War | Works | Interior | Justice |
"'What do you mean by humanity and righteous ness?' T'ai Kung asked. Ying T'ang replied: 'Humanity means loving men. Righteousness means respecting the aged.'
"'Loving men and respecting the aged,' said T'ai Kung, 'just what does that mean?'
" 'Loving men,' said Ying T'ang, 'means that, although you have sons, you do not accept any support from them. Respecting the aged means that if a man's wife is older than he, the husband submits to her.'
"T'ai Kung replied, 'I wish to use humanity and righteousness to govern the state of Ch'i, and now you take this so-called humanity and righteousness of yours and throw the country into confusion. I must punish you and bring order to Ch'i again.' (Ying T'ang had violated the ethical rule that a son serves his father and a wife her husband. According to Confucian belief, departure from the proper order of the ethical, political and natural worlds will bring chaos to all three spheres. This is the reason behind Confucian insistence on the maintenance of order and propriety.)
"Now it is water that administers the law. If the administrator is prejudiced and unfair, using the law only to punish people, then the Minister of Works must execute him. Therefore we say that earth overcomes water.
"Earth is the agent of the servants of the ruler and their head is the Minister of Works. If he is very subtle, then whatever the prince does he will approve; whatever the prince says, he will reply, 'Excellent!' Fawning upon the prince and complying with his desires, aiding and carrying out his private whims, he will busy himself with whatever pleases the prince in order to gladden his will, complying with the prince's faults and misdeeds and betraying him into unrighteousness. Great will be such a ruler's palaces and halls, many his terraces and pavilions, with carved ornaments, sculpted and inlaid and resplendent with five hues; but his taxes and levies will be without measure, plundering the people of their means, his expeditions and corvees many and burdensome, robbing the people of their time. He will think up endless projects to wear out the people's strength, and they will groan in oppression and revolt and abandon his land. King Ling of Ch'u was like this, raising the Terrace of the Heavenly Valley, and when after three years it was still not completed, the people were exhausted and spent and they rose up in revolt and killed him. Now earth is the agent of the king's servants. If the king is extravagant and wasteful, exceeding all bounds and forgetting propriety, then the people will rebel and when the people rebel, the ruler is lost. Therefore we say wood overcomes earth."
Also influential in the Han amalgam of politics, ethics, religion and astronomy was a kind of almanac that was compiled under Lu Pu-wei, the powerful prime minister of the First Emperor, and subsequently incorporated into the Book of Rites. This is a selection:
"In the first month of spring, the sun is in the constellation Ying-shih. The constellation Shen (Orion) reached the zenith at dusk, the constellation Wei (Scorpio) at dawn. The first two days of the month are chia and i, its divine ruler is T'ai Hao, its attendant spirit Kao Mang. Its creatures are scaly, its musical note chueh, its pitchpipe t'ai-ts'ou, its number 8. Its taste is sour, its smell goatish; its sacrifice is at the inner door for which the spleen of the victim is essential.
"The east wind dispels the cold, the hibernating insects and reptiles begin to stir, the fish rise up under the ice where the otter catches them to eat and the wild geese fly north in season.
"The Son of Heaven shall live in the apartment on the left side of the Green Bright Hall. He shall ride in a great belled chariot drawn by dark green dragon horses and bearing green flags. He shall wear green robes with pendants of green jade. His food shall be wheat and mutton, his vessels coarse and open to represent a coming forth. In this month, spring begins. Three days before spring begins, the Grand Astrologer shall report to the Son of Heaven, saying: 'On such and such a day spring will begin. The agent of wood is in the ascendance.' The Son of Heaven shall then fast and purify himself and on the first day in person lead the chief ministers and feudal princes and officials to the eastern suburbs to greet the spring. On his return he shall hold court and bestow rewards upon them. He shall order the three chief ministers to publish abroad his good teachings and to relax the prohibitions of winter, to present awards and bestow alms to all down to the common people so that everyone who is deserving shall receive awards and gifts.
"He shall order the Grand Astrologer to cherish the laws and publish the ordinances, to observe the sun and moon, the stars and zodiacal signs so that there will be no error in the calculations of their movements and no mistake in their courses, taking as a model the astronomical laws of ancient times.
"In this month, on a favorable day, the Son of Heaven shall pray to the Lord-on-High for abundant harvests. Then, selecting a lucky day, he shall himself bear a plowshare and handle in his carriage, attended by the charioteer and the man-at-arms and, leading the chief ministers, feudal princes and officials, shall personally plow the Field of God. The Son of Heaven shall plow three furrows, the three chief ministers five, the feudal princes and officials nine. On their return they shall assemble in the Great Hall where the emperor shall take a chalice and offer it to each of them, saying, 'This is wine in recompense for your labors.'
"In this month the vital force of Heaven descends, the vital force of earth arises; Heaven and earth are in harmony and grass and trees begin to burgeon.
"The ruler shall order the work of the fields to begin. He shall order the inspectors of the fields to reside in the lands having an eastern exposure, to repair the borders and boundaries of the fields, to inspect the paths and irrigation ditches, to examine closely the mounts and hills, the slopes and heights and the plains and valleys to determine what lands are good and where the five grains should be sown, and they shall instruct and direct the people. This they must do in person. When the work of the fields has been well begun, with the irrigation ditches traced out correctly beforehand, there will be no confusion later.
"In this month the Chief Director of Music shall be ordered to open school and train the students in dancing.
"The rules for sacrifices shall be reviewed and orders given for offerings to the spirits of the mountains, forests, rivers and lakes, but for these sacrifices no female creature may be used.
"It shall be forbidden to cut down trees, to destroy nests, to kill young insects, the young yet in the womb or new born, or fledgling birds. All young of animals and eggs shall be spared.
"Multitudes of people shall not be summoned for any service, nor shall any construction be done on walls or fortifications.
"All bones and corpses of those who have died by the wayside shall be buried.
"In this month it is forbidden to take up arms. He who takes up arms will surely call down Heaven's wrath. Taking up arms means that one may not initiate hostiles, though if attacked he may defend himself.
"In all things one must not violate the way of Heaven, nor destroy the principles of earth, nor bring confusion to the laws of man.
"If in the first month of spring the ruler carries out proceedings proper to the summer, then the wind and rain will not come in season, the grass and trees will soon wither and dry up and the nations will be in great fear.
"If he carries out the proceedings proper to autumn, then a great pestilence will strike the people, violent winds and torrential rains will come in abundance, and the weeds or roach and fescue, darnel and southernwood will spring up together.
"If he carries out the proceedings of winter, the rains and floods will cause great damage, frost and snow will wreak havoc, and the first seed will not sprout. "
Everything in its place and a place for everything. That has been one of the eternal verities of Chinese culture. The Universalists of Han were not the least successful of China's thinkers in giving expression and implementation to a concept that still has a powerful influence on Chinese life and institutions.
So far as we know, the I Ching (Book of Changes) was first of all a book of divination. To divine is to resolve doubts of the mind or mysteries of the universe. Would a particular day be auspicious for hunting or an expedition? Would rain come to relieve a long drought and the threat of dearth and famine? And even more important, would Heaven or Shang Ti (Supreme Being) be gracious enough to grant deliverance from the menacing calamities of the day such as the eclipse of the sun, the falling of meteors, and the incursion of barbaric tribes? Indeed, could its divine blessings be invoked and relied upon on the eve of a great battle against an enemy attack? The proper course of action for such weighty affairs was usually sought from the indications on the tortoise shell or the way in which the milfoil (an herb) grouped themselves. The I Cheng says, "For making certain of good and bad fortune, and accomplishing things requiring strenuous effort, there is nothing better than the milfoil stalks and· tortoise shell. - From the Ch'u Chai and Winberg Chai Introduction to James Legge's translation of I Ching.