《天原发微(鲍云龙)》Vol. 1

Tianyuan Fawei (Expounding the Subtleties of the Origins of Heaven) is a Daoist work on Yixue (the Learning of the Changes) written by Bao Yunlong of the Song dynasty. This passage is the opening of fascicle one and discusses the foundational concept of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate).

Taiji is the supreme principle that exists of itself within what is soundless and odorless—without sound or scent, that is, without form or image. It is the hub of the operations of creation and transformation, and the root of the generation of the myriad things. With respect to Heaven and Earth, Taiji is present within Heaven and Earth, like the hinge of a door or the button of a garment: it is the guiding cord that holds the whole together. With respect to the myriad things, Taiji is also present within the myriad things, like the root of a tree or the foundation of a trunk: it is the root by which each stands.

Taiji is said to be “nothing” because, in empty stillness and profound quiet, when no trace has yet appeared, the myriad phenomena are already fully contained within it. It is said to be “being” because, when traced back to the very beginning, not a single thing existed, and yet its source cannot be exhausted. This principle is supremely high yet does not neglect the lowly; supremely subtle yet does not depart from visible traces; supremely refined and pure yet not intermixed with Qi (vital energy); supremely numinous yet not detained by things. Between Heaven and Earth, what has not yet been born is born through it, and what has not yet emerged emerges through it; there is nothing that is not generated and transformed within it.

This is like the North Star, which remains motionless at the center of Heaven while the twenty-eight lunar mansions and the sun, moon, and five planets—the Seven Governors, that is, the five planets plus the sun and moon—revolve around it day and night, all their movements tied to the North Star. Yet the root cause that makes all this movement occur, the reason why it is so, itself never moves at all.

The Great Commentary on the Changes, that is, the Yizhuan (traditionally regarded as explaining the Zhouyi; this phrase appears in its Xici Shang), says, “In the Changes there is Taiji,” meaning that the principle of Taiji is already contained within the Zhouyi.

This passage is a set of discussions by several thinkers quoted by Bao Yunlong in the Tianyuan Fawei; it mainly explains the principles of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) and Yi (the Changes).

Heaven and earth are able to open and close, come and go, and ceaselessly generate because they possess this “principle.” Only with this principle can heaven and earth each settle in its place, and the transformations of the Yi also operate accordingly. From one arise two (Yin-Yang), from two arise four, from four arise eight. At the stage of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), the three lines interact and shift, and the principle of the three powers—heaven, earth, and humanity—becomes manifest. The sage drew the Bagua accordingly, using the hexagram images to display the subtlety of the Yi’s changes and on that basis to judge fortune and misfortune. “Yi” means change; the interweaving of Yin-Yang and its countless transformations all emerge from this. What Confucius called “the Yi without body” refers to change that has no fixed bodily form yet possesses the ultimate principle.

Zhu Xi (Zhu Zi) said that Taiji refers to both movement and stillness—the principle of the emotions already aroused and not yet aroused. Within Taiji all is “good”; that the sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred eighty-four lines of the Zhouyi contain both good and evil is something that arises only after the transformations of Yin-Yang. The Tongshu (by Zhou Dunyi) says, “Sincerity is the Wuwei (non-action) Taiji; incipience is the Yin-Yang of good and evil.” The virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness, correlated with the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), are all discussed with reference to the Taiji diagram.

Zhu Zhen (Zhu Hanshang) held that Taiji is the Great Void. Yin-Yang are the Great Void gathering to become Qi (vital energy); hardness and softness are Qi gathering to become bodily form. Benevolence and righteousness arise from the Great Void, manifest within Qi and bodily form, and are activated in perception. The Great Void divides into two and becomes Yin-Yang; divides into five and becomes the Five Phases; and further differentiates into the myriad affairs and things. All of them share one source, and this source is called “nature.”

Zhang Shi (Nanxuan) said that Taiji is the name for the central convergence of all principles, a description of the subtlety of nature. If one speaks only of “nature,” one can recognize it only in the not-yet-aroused state and cannot see its function; when one speaks of “Taiji,” the subtle workings of nature become manifest. Viewed as endowment, it is called “nature”; viewed as the creation and transformation of heaven and earth, it is called “mandate”; viewed as the interpenetration of heaven, earth, and humanity, it is called “principle.” Each of the myriad things possesses one principle: this means each thing has its own Taiji. All principles issue from one source: this means the myriad things as a unified whole are one Taiji.

The “ultimate” is everywhere. The people’s ultimate has the meaning of central convergence; the North Pole has the meaning of pivot; the royal ultimate has the meaning of standard. To call it Taiji is to say that it is the source. This principle stands prior to the two Qi, the Five Phases, and the myriad things, and it also operates within the two Qi, the Five Phases, and the myriad things. It has no shape of central convergence, yet it is truly the central convergence of the myriad things; it has no shape of a pivot, yet it is truly the pivot of the myriad things; it has no shape of a standard, yet it is truly the standard of the myriad things.

Zhu Xi says: Taiji refers to the root of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things, while Wuji is used to describe the principle that is soundless and odorless, mysterious and difficult to perceive. Taiji has no vessel or physical form, yet the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things are all contained within it; therefore it is called Wuji. Taiji possesses the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things, yet has no vessel or physical form; therefore it is said that Taiji is originally Wuji. It stands before the arising of the myriad things, yet does not exist independently apart from the myriad things; it transcends Yin-Yang (the two fundamental attributes in the universe that are mutually opposed and mutually dependent), yet also operates within Yin-Yang; it permeates the whole of things and is present everywhere, and thus cannot be described by sound, odor, or influence. Its sublimity has reached the realm of Wuji, and yet the refined subtlety of Taiji is in fact not apart from daily life.

Zhu Xi also says: “The carrying on of Heaven” (from the “Da Ya · Wen Wang” section of the Book of Songs, meaning the operation of Heaven, which is soundless and odorless) speaks of the formless in terms of the formed; “Wuji yet Taiji” speaks of the formed in terms of the formless. “Wuji” is used to describe that soundless and odorless mystery; “Taiji” is the name given to the utmost reached by this principle.

Deducing downward from Wuji (the Non-Ultimate) and Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), all things each attain their proper place; great and small each have their fixed portion, and every single thing possesses a Taiji of its own. Tracing upward from the fact that Taiji is fundamentally Wuji, all things are unified into one body; the one again differentiates into the myriad things, and the totality of the myriad things is itself one Taiji. Even though through the transformations of the two qi (Yin-Yang) and the Five Phases human beings and other creatures are born, with all their complexity, interweaving, endless variation, and mutual difference, Taiji still operates within them, having its own order and its own measure; it is not a blank emptiness. Therefore, when there is stimulus in the external world, the mind responds accordingly; whatever is touched and encountered before one’s eyes all follows this principle.

I heard my teacher say: what Master Zhou (Zhou Dunyi) called “Wuji and yet Taiji” is spoken in forward order, while “Taiji is fundamentally Wuji” is spoken in reverse order. The operation of Heaven is “soundless and odorless,” just like what Master Zhou called “Wuji and yet Taiji.” If the two lines from the Book of Songs were reversed and read backward as “soundless and odorless, the carrying of Heaven,” what objection could there be? What is called “Wuji and yet Taiji” does not mean adding another Wuji above Taiji.

Lu Xiangshan (Lu Jiuyuan) refused to take up the phrase “Taiji is fundamentally Wuji” and attacked only the preceding phrase, merely arguing stubbornly for victory. If I could meet Xiangshan, I would ask him about this question that I, a late learner, have not yet understood, and ask him to bring Taiji and show it to me. Xiangshan would reply angrily: “Taiji is something formless; it is the principle on which Heaven and Earth fundamentally rely. How could it be brought and shown? I cannot bring it to you, and you cannot see it—this is Wuji.” From this we can see that Master Zhou’s “Wuji and yet Taiji” and “Taiji is fundamentally Wuji” are indeed propositions that cannot be broken for a thousand ages.

It is also said: From the moment Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) begins to move, you cannot see any trace or form; this is Wuji (Limitless)—the source that has no image and cannot be named. Therefore Master Zhou (Zhou Dunyi) said, “Wuji and then Taiji” and “Taiji is originally Wuji.” This is a judgment that cannot be overturned through the ages.

It is also said: From Taiji all the way to the transformation and birth of the myriad things, it is all simply one circle.

In the second circle, Master Zhou drew yet another circle above it to express the principle that Taiji is undifferentiated and utterly complete, without visible form. This single circle naturally contains Heaven and Earth; it is this very same thing circulating within them and endowed into each and every thing. The Heavenly Principle is complete and fully present; they do not borrow from one another, nor encroach upon one another. Undifferentiated, it is the entirety of Taiji, present everywhere—this is the meaning of Wuji. The two qi of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases can therefore combine exquisitely and condense into form. Hence it is said: Every person has Taiji, every thing has Taiji; all this is natural and spontaneous. It is only that human beings and things share the same original nature, but differ in the qi they receive.

Master Zhu (Zhu Xi), explaining the Taiji Diagram, displays it for people: where does one body come from? Only human beings are like this; the following sections then show people the root of the human Way, so that they may know why humans are human, why sages are sages, and why noble persons and petty persons each receive different material endowments.

Someone says: The first section of the Taiji Diagram is like a chessboard, and the latter section is like people playing chess. I think: the upper circle is the nature of Heaven and Earth (the original nature endowed by Heavenly Principle), while the lower circle, divided into Yin and Yang, contains the nature of material disposition (the nature manifested after receiving material endowment).

Master Shao (Shao Yong) said: The Dao is Taiji.

Zhu Xi says: This is spoken with reference to the natural principle followed by Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things. Bao Yunlong holds that the Dao (the Way) is Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate; the cosmic source, from Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji Tushuo, Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate), and that the two are simply one and the same principle. If one regards the Dao as something independent and suspended in emptiness, existing prior to Taiji, then Dao and Taiji become two. How could Taiji arise outside the Dao? As it universally circulates and operates through the myriad things, it is called “Dao”; as it is supremely ultimate, it is called “Ji” (the Ultimate). Taiji is the undifferentiated, integral Dao; within the “Ultimate” various patterns are distinguished, and to follow these patterns in action is always Dao. This is like putting a nose-rope on an ox or a bridle on a horse: both follow the same path. How could Dao and the Ultimate involve two different principles?

It is also said: “The mind is Taiji.”

Zhu Xi says: This means that humans receive this principle and take it as the master of the whole person. Bao Yunlong holds that the mind is something empty, spiritual, bright, and aware; it is the outer shell of nature (the text’s “xie guo” should be “fu guo,” meaning an outer container). The Ultimate is the principle of supreme good and the substance of nature. The mind encompasses this principle, and in its undifferentiated wholeness it manifests Taiji; when it responds to the myriad affairs, each thing has its own “Ultimate.” Therefore Master You said: “Silent and unmoving, without thought or deliberation, before the various goods have been activated—this is Wuji (the Limitless); when this mind is clearly aware and the spiritual source is not obscured—this is Taiji.” If, within stillness, a single thought suddenly stirs, then movement and stillness divide into Yin-Yang.

Zhu Xi also cites Fu Xi’s making of the Yi (Book of Changes), taking the “single line” as the starting point. This means that the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and the sixty-four hexagrams were all gradually derived from the simplest single line, proceeding from simplicity to complexity.

Zhu Xi said: When Fuxi drew the trigrams and composed the Yi, he arranged them downward from a single line (a yang or yin line); when King Wen elaborated the Yi, he spoke downward from the “Yuan” of the Qian hexagram. Neither of them mentioned Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), the fundamental state of all things in the universe; it was Confucius who first proposed it. Confucius, speaking downward from Taiji, likewise did not mention Wuji (Non-Ultimate), the formless and imageless reality that transcends all things; it was Zhou Dunyi (Zhouzi) who proposed it. Fuxi and King Wen derived the myriad things downward from Yin-Yang, whereas Confucius went further upward from Yin-Yang and derived Taiji.

Cai Yuanding (courtesy name Jitong) said: If Heaven had not produced Confucius, the ages would be like a long night. Since Heaven first produced Fuxi and King Wen, if later generations had not produced Confucius, the principles of the Yi would have been lost for three thousand years; and the same would have been true if later generations had not produced Zhou Dunyi and the two Cheng brothers.

Bao Yunlong remarks: With Fuxi’s and King Wen’s Yi, if there had been no Confucian doctrine of Taiji, people would not know the root of the Yi; and having known the root, if there had been no Zhouzi’s doctrine of Wuji, people would not know the root of Taiji. The Yi takes Taiji as its root, and Taiji takes Wuji as its root. Once the principles of root and source have been clarified, the hearts of people throughout the ages have a place of return. Zhu Xi once said: Zhouzi spoke of “Wuji,” but the formulation “Taiji” is the best. He also cited Chengzi’s evaluation of Zhang Zai’s (Hengqu’s) doctrine of “clear void and great unity,” holding that it would lead people onto another path; the intent is profound.

Bao Yunlong also said: I consulted the discussions of earlier Confucians and sought instruction from teachers and friends, and only then arrived at this understanding. The sentence “The Yi has Taiji” is something that no one after Fuxi and King Wen, except Confucius, could have uttered; and for fifteen hundred years after Confucius no one truly saw through it. It was not until Shao Yong (Kangjie) that it was recognized as the root of composing the Yi, and Zhou Dunyi (Lianxi) who used “Wuji” to clarify its meaning. The sages and worthies transmitted the Dao (the Way) from one to another, and generation after generation their statements became increasingly close to the point. By adding the two characters “Yi you” before “Taiji,” it becomes evident that Taiji has a source, unlike the heterodox teachings of Buddhism and Daoism, which fall into void and nothingness. The character “Yi” is the most subtle; it is precisely the wondrous point of Yin-Yang transformation, the so-called “Yi without body”: before the Two Modes (Yin-Yang) and the ten thousand transformations, it nonetheless possesses the substance of the Two Modes and the ten thousand transformations. At this point, although it has not yet manifested as Yin-Yang, it clearly indicates that Taiji emerges from this. This shows that the “nonbeing” of Taiji is not empty nothingness; within it there is the principle of supreme reality. Therefore, inSpeaking of “Yi,” of “has,” and of “Taiji,” each character has its proper reference. Confucius feared that people would not understand this principle, and so he stated it plainly. If one regards the Yi merely as a book, one is mistaken.

Zhouzi feared that people would not understand the principle of Taiji, so he said “Wuji and Taiji,” using the two characters “Wuji” to explain the character “Yi” in the Yi, and only then was the original meaning of Taiji made clear. Zhu Xi further worried that people would understand the sentence “Wuji and Taiji” by splitting it apart, so he said “each thing individually possesses a Taiji,” meaning that every single thing completely possesses the whole of Taiji.

Once this principle is understood, one can understand the myriad transformations of the two qi (the qi of Yin and Yang) and the Five Phases, and thereby the Yi (Changes) is generated. Within each and every thing there is individually a naturally complete and wholly undivided Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the integral state of the cosmic origin); this is immutable. This principle fills the universe and is present everywhere; it is simply that people themselves do not understand it. The saying “generation and regeneration is called Yi” means that within the Yi there is the Yi of Taiji, and from this downward are generated the two modes (Yin and Yang), the four images, and the Bagua (Eight Trigrams).

This is not only so in the book of the Yi. Within Yin and Yang there is this principle; within male and female there is this principle; within the human heart there is this principle; within the ten thousand things there is also this principle. All without exception are unfolded from it, and all are the same unchanging principle. Therefore, when the Yi generates Yin and Yang, this is said with reference to Yin and Yang; but the Yi itself should not be understood by rigidly clinging to Yin and Yang, and still less should the changes of Yin and Yang be used to explain the Yi. Yin and Yang themselves are not “Yi”; it is the alternation and transformation of Yin and Yang that is “Yi.” And “Yi” itself has no fixed form, and so I say: the Yi has Taiji, and the Yi has no body.

“Without thought and without action” (a phrase from the Xici zhuan, meaning silent and unmoving) is the substance of the Yi; “setting out positions and arranging them, so that the Yi is established and operates” is the function of the Yi. In the Dao of Heaven it is called “Yi”; in the human person it is called “nature” (xing); in reality both are the same Taiji. Confucius’s Yi says, “The Yi has Taiji”; Master Zhou (Zhou Dunyi, a Song-dynasty Neo-Confucian and author of the Taiji tushuo) says, “Non-Ultimate, and yet Taiji”; the two are not contradictory. The “meaning of ‘before daylight’” of Master Shao (Shao Yong, a Song-dynasty Yi scholar)—referring to the central purport of Prior Heaven Yi learning—is also this same principle. People of later ages were misled by what the Liezi calls “the Great Beginning, the Great Commencement, and the Great Simplicity” (several stages in the ancients’ conjectures about the origin of the ten thousand things), and so lost the fundamental meaning of the word “Yi”; and they took the Daodejing’s statement “there is a thing formed in chaos and yet complete” as a separate transmission of Taiji. This view is not far from the words of the sage, but it still deviates somewhat.

This passage consists only of a volume heading, collation notes, author attribution, and the chapter title “Movement and Stillness”; there is no main text to translate, so what follows is only a brief interpretation of the text that is present.

Volume and collation: “Tianyuan Fawen, juan one, ends here” indicates that the first volume ends at this point, and “juan two” begins the second volume. The notes preceding the volume come from the collation of the Siku Quanshu edition; their content consists of several variant readings, such as alterations between bi and ci, bian and hou, and wen and you, as well as the difference between “each is happy” and “greatly happy.” These belong to textual and edition criticism and have no direct relation to doctrinal meaning.

Author and revision: Tianyuan Fawen is attributed as “compiled by Bao Yunlong (Jingxiang) of Luzhai and corrected by Fang Hui (Wanli) of Xugu.” Bao Yunlong was a Yuan-dynasty scholar, and Fang Hui was a famous Yuan-dynasty scholar; their work is a writing that expounds the principles of the movement of heaven and earth.

Chapter title “Movement and Stillness”: This is a topic of the present volume, discussing the motion and rest of things. In cosmology, movement and stillness are regarded as the basic states of the changes of heaven and earth: movement generates Yang, stillness generates Yin; movement and stillness are rooted in each other and cycle without end. The chapter title indicates that this volume will begin from this pair of categories and expound the generative transformations of the Dao of Heaven.

Within the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), once movement and stillness divide, Yin-Yang are thereby separated. The Taiji itself has no form or image; Yin-Yang are Qi. Movement and stillness are both functions of Qi, while Li (principle) relies on Qi in order to operate. Odd and even numbers transform into one another; Yin and Yang, female and male, each govern and alternate with the other. Those endowed with Yang Qi become men of the Qian Dao (the way of Heaven, chiefly Yang); those endowed with Yin Qi become women of the Kun Dao (the way of Earth, chiefly Yin). Qi gathers and forms shapes; shapes interact, the mechanisms of Qi resonate, and Yin and Yang interweave and combine—this is the principle expounded in the Yijing (Classic of Changes). Between Heaven and Earth there is nothing but the cycle of movement and stillness, ceaseless and unending; beyond this there is nothing else.

Someone asks: Yang’s movement is function; Yin’s stillness is substance. Now Zhou Dunyi (a Song dynasty Neo-Confucian, known as Zhouzi) says that the Taiji “moves and generates Yang.” This speaks from the side of movement, which would make function precede substance. Then what was it like before movement? Bao Yunlong (a Yuan dynasty Daoist, author of Tianyuan Fawai, here calling himself “I, the ignorant one”) answers: Before movement is precisely Li, which is what is called “Wuji (Non-Ultimate) and Taiji.” Li cannot be spoken of as opposed to movement and stillness: when not yet moving, it is stillness; when not yet still, it is movement; after the not-yet-moving, it is again stillness. Therefore Li has no opposite counterpart; the substance of Li is prior. Li cannot be described by movement and stillness; it is only through movement and stillness that it manifests. As for Shao Yong (Shaozi) saying that “function arises before Heaven and Earth,” and Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) saying that “this is how the function of the Taiji operates,” both speak from the aspect of function. Bao holds that the principle before “movement generates Yang” no longer permits further discussion; its meaning is profoundly deep.

Zhou Dunyi says: The Taiji moves and generates Yang; when movement reaches its extreme, it turns to stillness; stillness generates Yin; when stillness reaches its extreme, it turns again to movement. One movement and one stillness are each the root of the other; Yin and Yang thereby separate, and the Two Modes (Liangyi, the two states of Yin and Yang) are established.

Zhu Xi’s interpretation of this chapter is extremely subtle. He holds that Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate) has both movement and stillness, and that this is the ceaseless operation of the Heavenly Mandate. The saying “one Yin and one Yang—this is called the Dao (the Way)” refers precisely to this. “Cheng (sincerity)” is the nature of Heavenly Principle that is real and without delusion; it is the root of the sage, the beginning and end of the myriad things, and the Dao of the Heavenly Mandate. When Taiji moves, it is the penetration of Cheng; “that which continues it is goodness” (what receives and continues this operation is goodness) is the source from which the myriad things begin. When Taiji is still, it is the return of Cheng; “that which completes it is nature” (what completes this process is nature) is the means by which the myriad things each rectify their nature and destiny.

When movement reaches its extreme, it turns into stillness; when stillness reaches its extreme, it turns back into movement. Movement and stillness root each other, and this is why the Heavenly Mandate flows ceaselessly. Movement generates Yang; stillness generates Yin. Yin and Yang separate and stand apart, and the Two Modes (the two aspects of Yin and Yang, namely the images of Heaven and Earth) are established. Yin and Yang each become fixed and do not change because there is within them an unchanging boundary.

What is called Taiji is the inherently marvelous principle; movement and stillness are the mechanism on which it relies. Taiji belongs to the metaphysical “Dao”; Yin and Yang belong to the physical “instruments.”

Bao Yunlong held: Taiji is principle, while movement and stillness are Qi (vital energy). Taiji is like a person, and movement and stillness are like a horse: the horse carries the person, and the person rides the horse; as the horse goes out and in, the person also goes out and in with it. Taiji precisely rides upon the movement and stillness of Qi and thereby generates Yin and Yang. In movement, it is the Taiji within Yang; in stillness, it is the Taiji within Yin. From the standpoint of Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang exist only within Taiji; it is also acceptable to say that Taiji is within Yin and Yang.

If one is attached to things, one becomes stuck in already fixed forms: either movement alone without stillness, or stillness alone without movement, and thus one cannot achieve penetration. Shen (spirit), by contrast, does not depart from form and is not confined by form. There is stillness within movement and movement within stillness; this is what is meant by “Shen makes the myriad things wondrous.”

Tracing upward from the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and the two Qi (the Qi of Yin and Yang), one returns to the single Taiji. The passage from movement to stillness and from Yang to Yin is the source of the myriad things’ return to the one nature. Tracing downward, it disperses into the myriad things; the passage from stillness to movement and from Yin to Yang, whereby the one reality scatters into ten thousand divisions, is the operation of the Heavenly Mandate. In stillness, Taiji blends and returns to the one; in movement, Taiji opens and scatters into the ten thousand.

Someone asked: Does Taiji then also divide? The answer is: originally there is only one Taiji. The myriad things each receive it, and each fully contains a Taiji, just as there is only one moon: when it is reflected throughout rivers and lakes, its image can be seen everywhere, but how could one say the moon has divided? This is the principle of “one root, ten thousand particularities; ten thousand particularities, one root.”

Chengzi said: Movement and quiescence have no beginning, nor do Yin and Yang have an origin. When things move, Yang is generated; the source of this movement can be traced back to quiescence. Yet before quiescence there is movement again, and if we push further back, the source is still without beginning or end. This is the operation of the Dao of Heaven: it begins with Yin, completes through Yang, takes quiescence as its root and movement as its flowing expression. The human Dao is likewise: Yang Qi returns to quiescence, and quiescence in turn has movement as its root. Therefore movement and quiescence are originally both without beginning or end.

He also said: Movement and quiescence are each the root of the other. The word “root” deserves the closest consideration. Beyond movement and quiescence that are already fixed and visible, there is movement and quiescence not yet fixed and invisible; that is precisely the root of movement and quiescence. This level is very difficult to explain clearly. If one says only that movement takes quiescence as its root and quiescence takes movement as its root, this is merely mutual transformation and cyclical coming and going, without distinguishing host from guest; the meaning is not profound enough, and it is not as comprehensive and coherent as Zhu Xi’s account. Zhu Xi said: “Yuan and Heng are the penetrating movement of sincerity; Li and Zhen are the returning quiescence of sincerity. Yuan is the firm correctness of movement, rooted in quiescence; Zhen is the substance of quiescence, manifested in movement.” This Zhen is precisely the root by which the myriad things end and then begin again.

The so-called “Ultimate” (referring to Taiji, the Supreme Ultimate, the highest source of the universe) takes quiescence as master; whatever manifests in movement naturally accords with due measure and does not lose its original quiescence. Quiescence is the foundation by which nature is established; movement is the mode by which life-destiny operates. In fact, every movement and every quiescence is the operation of life-destiny, while what governs movement and quiescence is the firm settling of nature. Hence it is called “the Zhen of Wuji, the Ultimateless.” This is the centrality before issuance that includes movement and quiescence, and it seems to refer precisely to this word Zhen as the root of movement and quiescence.

Bao Yunlong remarks: The movement that generates Yang is not Yang Qi moving of itself; it is rooted in the movement of Taiji, which emerges and confers itself upon the myriad things. The quiescence that generates Yin is not quiescence coming to rest of itself; it is rooted in the quiescence of Taiji, which enters and causes the myriad things each to rectify their nature and destiny. From this we can see that Taiji is the root of Heaven and Earth; it governs the Qi of Yin-Yang, movement and quiescence, causing them to operate and transform-generate the myriad things. As the root, how could it be lightly spoken of?

This passage uses a great tree as a metaphor to show that Taiji (Supreme Ultimate, the primordial source of the universe) transforming and generating the myriad things is a whole that is connected from beginning to end and cannot be split apart. It is like a hundred-foot-tall tree: from root to tip, its branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit are originally one body and cannot be separated. If one regards its “movement” and “stillness” as two independent matters, one loses the original principle and can only arrange them step by step by human effort. Taiji is like this tree growing from the root: first it divides into trunk and branches, then produces flowers and leaves, generating again and again without cease. When it comes to bearing fruit, within the fruit there is a new vitality, and so it produces endless branches and leaves, cycling in this way. After the fruit ripens, the seed within it becomes a new Taiji and continues to grow without interruption. It is only when it comes to fruiting that growth naturally contracts and rests for a time. The Yijing (Classic of Changes) says, “In bringing all things to completion and beginning them anew, nothing surpasses Gen.” The Gen trigram signifies “stopping,” and this stopping is precisely the rest and replenishment within unceasing generation. The naturalness of the creation and transformation of all things is originally like this—why should human beings arrange it? This is entirely the principle that root and branch are penetrated by one continuous thread.

Zhu Xi (courtesy name Hui'an, a Southern Song Neo-Confucian) said: Within movement and stillness there are also the two modes (liangyi)—the two basic states of Yin-Yang. One is change (bianyi), referring to the state of flowing operation; the other is interchange (jiaoyi), referring to the state of mutual opposition.

Movement and stillness produce Yin-Yang. “Continuing goodness and completing nature” (from the Xici zhuan of the Zhouyi, meaning that the Dao of Heaven flows and generates goodness and completes the nature of all things)—this is the aspect of flowing operation. When Yin and Yang separate and the two modes are established, forming a configuration of mutual opposition, this is the aspect of opposition. As soon as Taiji moves, there is flow; when movement reaches stillness, Yin-Yang opposition is formed; after opposition, it moves again and flows. For example, cold comes and heat goes, one horizontal and one vertical—this is flow. After flow, it again returns to stillness and becomes opposition, like heaven and earth and the four directions: east is Yang, west is Yin, south is Yang, north is Yin—this is opposition. Opposition is substance (ti, body/structure), while flow is function (yong, operation/activity). Substance is still and function is moving; the two ends of movement and stillness push each other, and therefore transformations are inexhaustible. The so-called “change” (bianyi) is, for example, Yang changing into Yin and Yin into Yang, old Yang into young Yin and old Yin into young Yang; this is the change in divination (using yarrow stalks or hexagram images to infer good and ill fortune), that is, movement of the kind of bending and stretching, coming and going. The so-called “interchange” (jiaoyi) is Yang interacting with Yin and Yin with Yang, as in arrangements such as the positioning of heaven and earth in the trigram diagrams.

After Mencius, no one could again explain the principles of human nature clearly. It was not until Zhou Dunyi (Lianxi) began to discuss the changes and differences of activity and stillness, Yin-Yang, and the Five Phases that the two Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi) derived from this the idea of the “nature of physical endowment.”

Before a person is born, there is only this Principle (Heavenly Principle). Receiving this Principle and being born, one then has “nature.” This “nature of Heaven and Earth” is purely Principle, without impurity. Once it falls into Yin-Yang and the Five Phases, it becomes the “nature of physical endowment.” If Principle and Qi are spoken of together, then people differ in dullness and clarity, thickness and thinness. Therefore it is said: when the five natures (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness) are moved by external things, good and evil are thereby distinguished.

As for original substance, nature belongs to the category of “above form” (formless Principle) and is entirely Heavenly Principle. Qi belongs to the category of “below form” (tangible instrument) and is the dregs within form and Qi. As for things that have physical bodies, they are the most turbid part of the dregs.

It also says: ordinary people possess the Principle of activity and stillness, yet constantly lose it in activity; the sage, however, completely possesses the virtue of activity and stillness and always takes stillness as the root.

Movement and stillness exist in mutual opposition; this is the natural law of Heavenly Principle. If it were not opposed to movement, it could not be called stillness; if it were not opposed to stillness, it could not be called movement. However, the movement of ordinary people merely flows into movement without stillness; their stillness sinks into stillness without movement. Therefore, once desires become intense and emotions overpower reason, they attack each other over profit and harm, and follow their thoughts in deluded movement—such people are not far from birds and beasts.

The sage is different. When he acts, the principle of stillness is not lost; when he is still, the principle of movement does not cease. Thus his conduct accords with the Middle Way, he handles affairs uprightly, his initiatives arise from benevolence, and his judgments conform to righteousness. Whether moving or still, he preserves the integrity of Heavenly Principle without any deficiency—this is the Way of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). The faults of desires overwhelming reason and strife over profit and harm can be settled here. If one has not yet reached this state, one must cultivate: with a mind of caution and fear, nurture it so that the practice of stillness remains dominant. The gentleman who follows this will be fortunate; if one does not understand this principle and violates it, indulging in evil, perversity, and extravagance without restraint, the petty person will head toward misfortune and ruin.

Shaozi (Shao Yong, style name Kangjie) said: Heaven is born from movement, Earth is born from stillness. The beginning of movement is the generation of yang; when movement reaches its extreme, yin is born. The beginning of stillness is the generation of softness; when stillness reaches its extreme, hardness is born. Within yin and yang there is again yin and yang, hence there are greater yin, greater yang, lesser yin, lesser yang; within hardness and softness there is again hardness and softness, hence there are greater hardness, greater softness, lesser hardness, lesser softness.

Note: According to Shaozi, Taiji divides into movement and stillness—this is "one generates two"; movement and stillness further divide into yin and yang, hardness and softness—this is "two generates four"; further dividing into greater and lesser, the four images generate the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). From this, the drawing of trigrams and their deduction—heaven, earth, and the myriad things cannot escape this framework. Within the undifferentiated Taiji, there is such orderly structure. Earlier Confucians said that Kangjie "saw clearly where yin and yang meet"—this is indeed so.

This chapter explains that movement takes stillness as its root. Heaven and earth and the four seasons run ceaselessly, yet always have stillness as their foundation. Without night, day could not distinguish light from dark; without winter, spring, summer, and autumn could not cause the myriad things to grow and ripen. People spend the whole day responding to affairs and need rest before the spirit can recover; if the four seasons had no winter and only ever generated and expanded, the original Qi (vital energy) would eventually be exhausted.

The Xici of the Zhouyi says: “Closing the gate is called Kun; what precedes the opening of the gate is Qian—this is the process from stillness to movement.” The Kun hexagram begins at the summer solstice; one yin line moves to the right, and the myriad things accordingly withdraw and enter, which is why it is called he (closing). The Qian hexagram begins at the winter solstice; one yang line moves to the left, and the myriad things accordingly emerge and grow, which is why it is called pi (opening). When Kun closes, yang qi transforms into yin; when Qian opens, yin qi transforms into yang. Thus one closing and one opening is called bian (change). Closing and opening alternate back and forth, and their changes do not cease: in the course of a year they appear as cold and heat; in a day, as day and night; in a person, as coming and going, life and death. Without stillness, there would be no movement.

Although yin qi first begins to sprout at the summer solstice, before yin qi becomes exclusively dominant and reaches the top line (yao), one cannot yet say that it is only when stillness reaches its extreme that it turns into movement.

The Xici of the Zhouyi also says: “It is without thought and without action (Wuwei, non-action), tranquil and unmoving; this is the reason it can, through response, penetrate all under heaven.” Chengzi (referring to the Northern Song Neo-Confucian brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi) says: “Zhong (centrality) means being tranquil and unmoving; He (harmony) means responding and penetrating. Within the tranquil there is never a moment without response; within response there is never a moment without stillness. This is the complete original substance of Heaven’s Mandate and the most upright state of the human heart-mind. Before it is activated, one can see the substance of responsive penetration; after it is activated, one can see the function of stillness. The human heart-mind and Heavenly Principle are originally one entity.”

Shaozi (Shao Yong) said: “The interval between one movement and one stillness is the most subtle and wondrous, the most subtle and wondrous, principle among Heaven, Earth, and humanity!”

Yang qi opens and gives rise to movement; yin qi closes and returns to stillness—this is one movement and one stillness. That which is not made a servant of movement and does not linger in stillness, which is neither movement nor stillness yet governs movement and stillness, is “the interval between one movement and one stillness.” Someone cites the Taixuan (the philosophical work by Yang Xiong that takes “Xuan” as the origin of the universe) as saying: yang qi lies hidden in the position of Huangzhong (the first of the ancient twelve pitch pipes, corresponding to the winter solstice) and remains in stillness; this too is one movement and one stillness. Whichever account is used, “the interval between one movement and one stillness” is contained within it. What is called “xin” means being honest and not false.

Zhou Dunyi (Zhouzi) says in the Tongshu: “Yuan and Heng are the penetration of sincerity; Li and Zhen are the return of sincerity.” Between one penetration and one return, there is a true principle. This is probably the meaning of “zhen” in the Zhouyi’s “Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen.” After Zhen comes Li; before Zhen is Yuan. From Li to Zhen, the subtlety of Heaven, Earth, and humanity is stored here; from Zhen to Yuan, the subtlety of Heaven, Earth, and humanity radiates outward here. Upright and firm, sincere and not false—this is the root by which, amid the unceasing changes of the ten thousand things, Zhen reality preserves itself. The subtlety of “Wuji (the Limitless) and Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate)” is precisely the key that connects Heaven and humanity. The sage takes this as the foundation, takes stillness as master in order to establish the human, and the essential meaning of the “ultimate” lies precisely here. Calling it “most wondrous, most wondrous” further emphasizes that it is difficult to describe in words.

This subtlety can open up creation and transformation. When movement reaches its utmost, it turns to stillness—this is death; when stillness reaches its utmost, it turns again to movement—this is growth. When yang reaches its utmost, it gives birth to yin—this is transformation; when yin reaches its utmost, it gives birth to yang—this is change. If people can recognize the principle of the interval between one movement and one stillness, they can understand the patterns of change and of life and death.

It also says: Before Wuji, it is yin containing yang within; after forms and images have arisen, it is yang differentiating into yin.

This passage discusses the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang in the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) Diagram, using “Wuji” (the Limitless, the primordial state before images have manifested) and “having images” (the condition after the myriad things have taken visible form) as boundaries to explain the sequence of Yin and Yang.

The opening two sentences are the general outline: before Wuji, yang is already contained within yin; after having images, yang in turn divides out yin.

Zhu Xi (Zhu Zi) explains that from the Xun hexagram (where one yin first arises and yin qi begins to withdraw) to the Kun hexagram (pure yin), this is the stage in which yin qi contracts to its utmost and yang qi remains hidden and unmanifest. The stillness at this time is inherent stillness; it is not opposed to movement but is the root of all movement and stillness. Confucian scholars of earlier generations called this stillness, which is not set against movement, “Wuji yet Taiji.” At the time of utmost stillness, there is only the fundamental substance capable of knowing and perceiving, with no concrete things to be known or perceived; thus in the Yi (Book of Changes) it corresponds to pure Kun, the image in which only yin is seen and yang is not visible.

Shao Yong of the Northern Song said, “At the place where one yang first stirs, at the time before the myriad things are born”—this is probably the same meaning. Seen from the human heart, this is precisely the interval when a movement is about to arise but has not yet arisen. For example, when an infant is about to fall into a well, the sudden feeling of alarm and compassion that arises in the human heart—the intention at that moment can be apprehended only with an empty mind and quiet contemplation.

Look again at the diagram. The right half of the diagram belongs to yin, and yin governs closing. That yin contains yang—namely, from the recession at Xun all the way to the convergence at Kun—is the mystery of stillness, that is, “before Wuji, yin contains yang.” The left half of the diagram belongs to yang, and yang governs opening and expansion. Yang qi withdraws and differentiates into yin—namely, from the growth at Zhen all the way to Qian, where yin and yang differentiate—this is “after having images, yang divides out yin.”

When the Qian hexagram gives birth to one yin, it is therefore said, “The father grows his eldest daughter and becomes Xun”; when the Kun hexagram gives birth to one yang, it is therefore said, “The mother conceives her eldest son and becomes Fu.” This joins Qian-yang and Kun-yin, using a single diagram to discuss the whole in general. If one discusses Wuji alone, then it lies only between Gou and Fu, and one cannot broadly refer to the state after having images. Therefore it is said, “From Kun turning back to Gou is before Wuji.” It is also said, “Between Fu and Gou is the interval of Wuji.”

Wuji originally has no movement or stillness, yet it contains movement and stillness; it has no yin-yang, yet it contains yin-yang. It possesses this principle without showing its traces; it is without sound or scent, utterly subtle and utterly wondrous. What Zhou Dunyi called “Wuji yet Taiji” is truly difficult to exhaust in words.

Zhu Zi’s understanding is appropriate. As a poem says: In the middle of the night a thunderclap suddenly sounds; ten thousand doors and gates open one after another. This is a metaphor for the first stirring of one yang and the beginning manifestation of the myriad phenomena. If one can recognize the images inherently present therein, it is as if one had personally seen Fuxi draw the trigrams.

It is also said: “Yuan” (origin, beginning) has two layers of meaning, and it is difficult to describe it fully with words or images. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, a peal of thunder sounds, and the doors of a thousand households open one after another: this is the scene of yang qi reviving and the myriad things stirring into life. If one can grasp the image of “Yuan” within this, it is like seeing Fuxi (the ancient sage king who, according to legend, drew the Bagua (Eight Trigrams)) with one’s own eyes. Master Zhu (Zhu Xi) probably also attained its essential meaning.

It is also said: “Yuan” has two layers. One is the original source from which heaven and earth begin, namely Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the ultimate state that is the source of all things); the other is the starting point from which the myriad things grow, namely the root of life.

The Dao of pre-heaven returns to the source and settles into stillness; this is called “Kun.” Measured by a single day, it corresponds to the hai hour (9 to 11 p.m.); measured by a year, it corresponds to the tenth month; measured by a great cycle (a yuan), it corresponds to Taiji. This is the state before anything has yet been set in motion and before any trace or form has appeared. The post-heaven yang qi stirs internally; this is called “Fu.” Measured by a single day, it corresponds to the exact center of the zi hour (midnight); measured by a year, it corresponds to the winter solstice; measured by a great cycle, it corresponds to the moment when Taiji first begins to stir. If one discusses “Fu” in terms of hexagram qi (guaqi), then it again belongs to the pre-heaven. The saying “If one wishes to observe the one Yuan of all ages” refers precisely to this principle.

The winter solstice is the beginning of the heavenly primal qi; the spring equinox is the point at which the yuan of the myriad things is halfway through. “One” is the substance of Yuan; “two” is the function of Yuan. First closing and then opening is spring; complete opening is summer; first opening and then closing is autumn. Winter closes and stores without sound: although it is the end of gathering and storage, it is in fact the beginning of the issuing of life-giving power. In “Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen,” “Zhen” is gathering and storage; the more tightly it is closed and stored, the more the spring yang can stretch out and issue forth. The rhythm of the year is established from this, and the foundation of creation and transformation lies precisely here. Therefore, if winter is warm and without frost or snow, the five grains will fail in the coming year—this is exactly because the yang qi has leaked away and dispersed.

Zhu Xi said: When there is movement within stillness, one can see the mind of heaven and earth. It is just like a single point of light suddenly appearing in the midst of great darkness.

When the three yang flourish, the myriad things are luxuriant. Yet what people see at such a time is only the grandeur of the myriad things; they do not see the original mind within them. Only when the myriad things have not yet arisen and all is silent can it be seen. When one yang first arises, stirring beneath accumulated yin, it naturally cannot remain hidden, and the heart/mind of Heaven and Earth thereby becomes manifest. Shaozi (Shao Yong of the Northern Song) said: the heart of Heaven never changes; year after year, month after month, day after day it is so, without the slightest error.

I once said: in the Fu hexagram (one yang born beneath five yin, the image of the winter solstice), one yang stirs beneath Kun, and the first trace of good appears; from this one may see the heart/mind of Heaven and Earth. In the Dazhuang hexagram (four yang growing strong, the image of thunder above Heaven), Zhen is above Qian, and it issues forth in outward atmosphere and color; from this one may see the feelings of Heaven and Earth. In the Kun hexagram (the hexagram of pure yin), among the six yin one is ruled by stillness, silent and unmoving; from this one may see the nature of Heaven and Earth.

I also said: stillness can remedy the deviation of movement—this takes stillness as the root. When in stillness the mind is empty, bright, and thoroughly clear, one then responds to the myriad affairs from this point, and naturally there is no obstruction. If private thoughts are present in the mind, then all will be off the mark.

The human original heart-mind should be clear and settled, dwelling here in pure singularity and concentration, without a single trace of selfish intention or distracting thought. If the mind is disturbed by distracting thoughts, then when external things arrive it can only distinguish and name them; yet both movement and stillness should accord with principle.

It is said that Mr. Li Yanping (Li Tong, Zhu Xi’s teacher), in teaching people, mostly had them observe and recognize the original heart-mind in stillness. The so-called “Great Root” (referring to the fundamental substance in the Zhongyong before joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are aroused) has a tenor that includes both stillness and movement; when responding to affairs and meeting things, it naturally hits the mark and conforms to proper measure. This is the essential formula transmitted in the school of Guishan (the Yang Shi lineage).

The human mind should be like a bright mirror or still water, not like a withered tree or cooled dead ashes, utterly without vitality. A bright mirror and still water, though their substance is still, can reflect the myriad things. This shows that stillness contains movement and substance harbors function; herein lies the wonder of the human mind. If a withered tree cannot live again and dead ashes cannot be rekindled, then it has become a useless dead thing. The mind possesses all principles and responds to the myriad affairs; if it is set aside and unused, what use is it?

Again it is said: what is called stillness does not mean shutting the door and sitting alone, woodenly guarding oneself, or ignoring things altogether. The Gen hexagram of the Yijing says, “Gen keeps it still”: stopping is stillness, but the function by which it stops is movement. This too is a teaching that stillness contains movement and does not fall into one-sided attachment.

The learning of Laozi is movement within stillness; the learning of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, by contrast, drifts into movement without stillness. Thus there are some who devote themselves specifically to working at the place of “silent and unmoving” (referring to the empty, still, natural state of the mind-substance, a phrase from the Xici of the Zhouyi); yet when they come to respond to affairs, they are all topsy-turvy and instead disturb the originally silent mind. There are others who learn and experience only in affairs but have no effort at all at the root. One must penetrate above and below and be unified within and without—just as abiding in benevolence enables one to proceed from righteousness, and proceeding from righteousness enables one to abide in benevolence; straightening the inner can square the outer, and squaring the outer can straighten the inner. Only then has one truly achieved it.

Reverence (jing) pervades both movement and stillness. In this way, seeking the lost heart-mind and maintaining and preserving it are both contained within reverence; it is not a rigid guarding of immobility that is called stillness.

The noble person’s learning of the unified inner and outer cannot be divided into two separate halves. If one speaks only of cultivating before thoughts have arisen, then faults after thoughts have arisen cannot be checked—this is to gain only in stillness and not in movement. Conversely, if one only controls thoughts that have already arisen and does not cultivate before they arise, then one gains only in movement and not in stillness. Preserving and nurturing (cultivating the original mind in ordinary times) is the practice of stillness; self-examination (checking one’s thoughts afterward) is the practice of movement. In stillness one should make awareness clear and bright, not obscured—this is like the “mind of Heaven and Earth” seen in the Fu (Return) hexagram, which is movement within stillness. In movement, all thoughts that arise accord with measure and stop where they ought to stop—this is what the Gen (Keeping Still) hexagram means by “not obtaining his body, not seeing the person,” which is stillness within movement.

The preceding chapter is titled “Movement and Stillness,” saying that Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the undifferentiated origin of the cosmos) moves and gives birth to Yang; this speaks of the operation before the formation of heaven and earth. This chapter is titled “Stillness and Movement,” saying that one gathers in stillness and unfolds in movement; what it embodies is prior heaven (the principle before heaven and earth were born) as applied in latter heaven (the function after the myriad things were generated). Therefore it is said: if dragons and snakes do not hibernate, they cannot vigorously soar and fly; if the inchworm (huò, a kind of insect) does not bend, it cannot stretch. This too is the principle by which Heavenly Principle naturally manifests. The noble person hides his abilities within himself and acts only when the time comes; this point also must be carefully pondered.

Distinguishing Directions: Distinguishing directions and the Five Phases. The north corresponds to ren, gui, hai, and zi, the region where Water flourishes; its hexagram is Kan (Water). In the Kan hexagram, one yang line is trapped between two yin lines, symbolizing danger, toil, and concealment. The hexagram characteristic of this direction lies precisely in “movement,” and it requires cautious handling.

The north corresponds to the four positions Ren, Gui, Hai, and Zi; it is the place where water Qi (vital energy) reigns, and its trigram image is Kan. In the Kan trigram, one yang line is sunk between two yin lines, symbolizing danger and hardship, toil, and concealment. This direction is called Youdu (Dark Capital) and is also known as Shuofang (Northern Region). “Shuo” means “su,” that is, revival. When the myriad things reach this point, it is as if they revive after death; it is like the moon, which after its dark phase gives birth again to the first day (shuo). When the sun travels here, it sinks beneath the earth, and all phenomena are dark and hidden.

According to the Xiantian Tu (Diagram of the Prior Heaven), Qian is in the south and Kun is in the north. When one yang line from Qian comes to interact with Kun, it becomes Kan; when the yin of Kun goes to interact with Qian, it becomes Li. Yang Qi arises in the midst of the Zi position, and yin Qi arises in the midst of the Wu position; Kan and Li intersect, and Zi and Wu stand opposite each other. Yang is primary, yin auxiliary. Heaven and humans alike have their backs to the north and face south; therefore the south is exposed and the north is hidden. The North Star (Chenji) resides in the north, and the multitude of stars surround and guard it. In enumerating the four directions, north is always honored and south is its counterpart; only then are east and west arranged in order. Yang Xiong’s Taixuan (Great Mystery) takes “Wangming” as the north, which accords with this idea. Shao Kangjie (Shao Yong) held that the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) lies between the Kun and Fu hexagrams.

Cheng Shuzi (that is, Cheng Yi; “Yichuan” below also refers to Cheng Yi) said: “Shuo means beginning, referring to the direction where yang Qi first arises. In the case of the north, it both brings yin Qi to an end and begins yang Qi.”

Shaozi (Shao Yong) said: “The character shuo denotes the place where yang Qi changes; it arises from the north and is exhausted again in the north, showing that change is cyclical. In the Canon of Yao, the three directions all speak of ‘shu,’ while only the north speaks of ‘shuo’; in the Yi, the three directions all speak of ‘pingzhi,’ while only the north speaks of ‘pingzai.’ The Yue Ling says: ‘When the reckoning is nearly at an end, the year will begin anew.’ Yichuan also says: ‘Having completed the end of this year, one again considers the beginning of next year.’ To speak of ‘end,’ ‘beginning,’ ‘this year,’ and ‘next year’ is always to speak of the Liangyi (Two Modes) paired in opposition. Moreover, Kun changes into Kan: one trigram becomes two trigrams. The yang Qi of last year ends here, and the yang Qi of this year arises again from here.”

Master Zhu said: “Things between heaven and earth fall into two cases. One is a fixed, unchanging configuration, such as the four directions (east, south, west, and north). The other is cyclical transformation, such as the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter).

Take the north: it has two layers of meaning. Using the winter solstice as an example, the forty-five days before the winter solstice are counted as this year, and the forty-five days after it as next year. In terms of a single day, the first four ke of the zi hour (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.) are counted as today, and the last four ke as tomorrow. This is a division of belonging according to temporal nodes.

The trigram Gen is located in the northeast; it is the junction where the myriad things end and begin. The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird—these three images belong to the same category, all being single divine-beast forms; only Xuanwu (Dark Warrior) is formed by combining two animals, the turtle and the snake, into one. Hence it is said, ‘Only the turtle and the snake are two creatures.’”

Heaven has the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and its climatic changes are uneven; Earth has the four directions of east, west, south, and north, and their positions are fixed and do not shift. Therefore the region of the northwest is called both “Shuofang” and “the North.” In the south of Heaven there are sovereign fire and ministerial fire: sovereign fire is the proper fire in the heart, while ministerial fire assists sovereign fire and has the function of warming and nourishing. The sun and moon are the essence of Yin-Yang and can generate water and fire. Thus, among the seven luminaries—the sun, the moon, and the five major planets—there are both the sun and Mars, and both the moon and Mercury.

Among the five viscera of the human body, the heart has the pericardium—the protective membrane outside the heart, which receives pathogenic influences on the heart’s behalf—and the kidneys have the Mingmen, the root of life between the kidneys. Water and fire are each divided into two: sovereign fire and true jing (essence) actually communicate with each other, and true fire has Qi (vital energy) but no form. This is precisely what is meant by “the heart is odd, singular, and the kidneys are even, paired.” The Vermilion Bird belongs to yang fire and is only one; the turtle and the snake are two. The heart is “odd” and is only one; the kidneys are “even” and are two.

The lines of the Qian and Kun hexagrams symbolize that in the north there are both turtle and snake. When we examine the Li hexagram in the Yijing, it has the image of a turtle and also a shell. The three hexagrams Sun (Decrease), Yi (Increase), and Yi (Nourishment) all speak of turtles because their nuclear trigrams contain Li. The turtle has a shell, and its breath is stored within, like the image of yang qi hidden in the earth; at the center of the turtle’s back there are five markings. Extending this outward, it again forms the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), and extending outward once more forms the twenty-four qi. Although taking the image from this is quite apt, I do not know how it corresponds to the twelve earthly branches, and the “ji” position is not the position of the north either. Examining the Book of Rites and the Shuzhuan, neither mentions it—why is that? Perhaps the character xuan winds and coils, having the shape of a snake, and when it transforms it becomes a dragon. Zhen is dragon and lies hidden beneath Kun; taking the meaning of the Fu hexagram may be close, but this should be investigated separately.

Another explanation says: Xuan belongs to yang and is the snake; Wu belongs to yin and is the turtle. Master Wang says: the kidneys are two, and the turtle and snake are also two; therefore “Shuoyi belongs to zhen.” Zhen has two senses: upright and firm. The character zhi, wisdom, also has two senses: its first half is storing and belongs to yin; its latter half is opening and belongs to yang. The Rites of Zhou says that the turtle and snake move through the four directions in order to symbolize Yingshi, a lunar mansion among the seven northern lodges. The turtle has a shell and can guard and resist, so it is called Wu; the color of water is black, so it is called Xuan.

Master Wei says: the male does not dwell alone, and the female does not live by itself. Xuanwu, the turtle and snake, coils and supports itself. When a hen incubates eggs by herself, the chicks are not complete. Observe the union of male and female: hard and soft bind together and cannot be untied, obtaining the way of fitting together without needing a skilled craftsman to control it. If a male lies prone at birth and a female body lies supine, this was originally so when the fetus first received qi, and after death it is again similar. This is not caused by the instructions of father and mother but is the mystery of natural creation.

Mr. Cai of Xishan says: one odd and one even, set in mutual opposition, are the fundamental substance of Yin-Yang. Yang is three and Yin is one; one side is abundant and the other deficient—this is the function of Yin-Yang. Thus in spring, summer, and autumn the myriad things grow, but in winter they do not grow; of heaven and earth, the east, west, and south can be seen, but the north cannot be seen. When people look, the front and the left and right can be seen, but what is behind the body cannot be seen. All these are the profound wonders of natural creation and transformation. Yang Ziyun took the north as Xuan (Mystery) and made it govern the other three directions; the meaning of “there is the obscure and the dark” lies precisely in this.

(Note: “Mr. Cai of Xishan” refers to Cai Yuanding of the Southern Song, whose style name was Xishan and who was a disciple of Zhu Xi; “Yang Ziyun” is Yang Xiong of the Western Han, whose Taixuan takes “Xuan” as its core concept; “wang” and “ming” mean dark and invisible.)

In the latter half, the sentence “Now, using the Taixuan to examine it” appears to be textually incomplete in the original, and the text that follows repeats the preceding passage, so it is difficult to provide a complete interpretation on this basis. If we consider only the text as it stands: here the viewpoint of the Taixuan is used to compare with the preceding passage, reiterating the principle that “what is behind cannot be seen,” and again pointing out the idea of taking the north as Xuan (Mystery) and governing the three directions.

This passage uses the five terms Wang, Zhi, Meng, Qiu, and Ming from Yang Xiong’s Taixuan (Canon of Supreme Mystery), a Western Han philosophical work modeled on the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), to discuss the mysterious significance of the north in the movement of heaven and earth.

The quoted passage says that Wang refers to the north, where all things lie hidden in the Yellow Springs (the dark region beneath the earth) and cannot be named. Thus all things hide in the north; Zhi is contraction; Meng is in the south; Qiu returns again to the north. Wang is being generated from nonbeing; Ming is light stored away in darkness. Wang contains Yang Qi (yang vital energy) within; Ming causes Yang Qi to return to its depths, and all things thereby emerge from and enter into obscurity, with the old and new replacing each other. What is about to arrive advances; what has accomplished its work retreats. How mysterious is the season of Wang: the formed returns to the formless, and the formless again produces the formed; therefore it is called Xuan (the dark and profound). The time of Wang can be grasped and put to use; the derivation of the eighty-one shou (heads) in the Taixuan all comes from Wang.

The Taixuan also says: Heaven takes invisibility as its mystery; earth takes formlessness as its mystery; humans take the heart and belly as their mystery. Heaven’s mystery is in the northwest, where Yin Qi condenses. In the tenth lunar month, the purely Yin Kun hexagram governs, and Yang Qi is stored beneath the earth. Earth’s mystery is in the Yellow Springs, where the po (the yin spirit in the human body, as opposed to the hun) is nourished. Human mystery is in thought and deliberation, which contain the utmost Jing (essence). If one carefully savors this chapter, the principle of Wang and Ming in the north can be determined.

Bao Yunlong (the author of this book) explains: When all things enter the north, it is being transforming into nonbeing, so it is called Ming; when all things emerge from the north, it is nonbeing transforming into being, so it is called Wang. Master Zhang holds that Ming corresponds to the “one” that is “not used”; the three cease activity and lie hidden in the obscure and secret. I take this to be the first half of the winter solstice, belonging to the affairs of this year. Master Zhang also holds that Wang corresponds to the “one” that is “without body”; the four are generated from this and appear out of emptiness. This is the latter half of the winter solstice, belonging to the affairs of next year. First they enter Ming; afterward they emerge from Wang. Ming should correspond to the north; Wang should correspond to the center. Thus the center of heaven is in the north, namely Chenji (the North Pole, the pivot of heaven). Ming and Wang first come to rest and then generate; such is broadly the origin of all things.

Hence it is said: Heaven has four seasons, and winter is not used; earth has four directions, and the north is not used; humans have four limbs, and the back is not used. The One dwells in the center and does not move; the three operate and are inexhaustible. The mystery of heaven and earth lies in the north—how profound!

Some also say: Ming is mysterious De (Virtue/Power), dwelling in the center without moving; Wang, Zhi, Meng, and Qiu are equivalent to the four virtues Yuan, Heng, Li, and Zhen spoken of in the Qian hexagram of the Zhouyi. This formulation is quite apt.

Zhu Zhen (sobriquet Hanshang), a Song-dynasty Yijing scholar, said: The Kan hexagram originally arose through a transformation of the Kun hexagram. It is located in the north and governs the affairs of ghosts and spirits between heaven and earth.

The north is dark and obscure and is the image of heaven. Kan is the dwelling place of ghosts and spirits; the Dipper mansion is heaven’s temple hall; and the Wei mansion also governs matters of temple sacrifice—this is one explanation.

Furthermore, the Earlier Heaven Bagua (the hexagram order established by Fuxi) places Kun in the north, opposite Qian in the south, and thus encompasses both celestial and subterranean affairs.

King Wen (Zhou Wen Wang, who established the Later Heaven Bagua) changed the north to Kan because the middle yang line of Qian entered the body of Kun and became Kan.

Kan and Li stand opposite each other, forming the water-fire Jiji (After Completion) pattern—water and fire aiding each other, each attaining its proper use, beneficial for nourishing the common people.

Within the Kan hexagram is hidden the nuclear hexagram (formed by combining the middle lines of a hexagram), Gen. The northwest belongs to yin, and yin qi reaches this point and stops; the mild yang qi of the south is constrained, and beneath it Zhen is hidden, whereby the myriad things begin to sprout. Within Kun, in turn, Kan is hidden.

In the Zhouyi, the Wenyan commentary on Kun, on the top six line, says: “Heaven is dark and earth is yellow.” “Heaven’s dark” refers to the color of the single yang line within Kan; “earth’s yellow” refers to the four yin lines outside Kan. Therefore at the winter solstice, the sun, moon, and five planets all begin their reckoning from the first degree of Qianniu. Qianniu is Xingji (one of the twelve star stations), belongs to the water position, and corresponds to the Kan hexagram. Thus the doctrine of hexagram qi (correlating hexagrams with solar terms) begins with the Zhongfu hexagram, and Yang Xiong’s Taixuan begins with the Zhong head, also on this principle.

This passage consists of the collation notes at the end of volume 2 of Tianyuan Fawen and the title heading at the beginning of volume 3.

The note at the end of volume 2 is an edition comparison. Using the Qing dynasty Siku Quanshu edition as the reference, it marks several textual similarities and differences. For example, “duchu” appears as “jichu” in the Siku edition; “yan” appears as “yang”; “zhen” was originally “zheng” and was changed according to the Siku edition. The statement mentioned in the note, “yang qi first stirs in the palace of Huangzhong,” is a formulation that pairs the Huangzhong pitch pipe with the first birth of yang qi at the winter solstice. In the entry on “dongjing,” the Siku edition lacks the character “jing.” These notes only explain textual differences and do not concern doctrinal meaning.

The heading of volume 3 states that this book was compiled by Bao Yunlong of Luzhai, courtesy name Jingxiang, and collated by Fang Hui of Xugu, courtesy name Wanli. The following “Xuanhun” is the title of one section in this volume; here there is only the title, with no main text to explain.

Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) says in the Original Meaning of the Zhouyi: The yang Qi (vital energy) is vigorous and strong; among the forms it condenses into, the greatest is Heaven. The nature of Kun (Earth) is yielding and compliant; among the forms it condenses into, none is broader than Earth. His “Ganxing” poem also says: “Looking up, I observe the dark vault revolving; in a single breath it rushes ten thousand li. Looking down, I observe the square model at rest; serenely it has endured for a thousand ages.” From this one may know the vigor of Heaven and the compliance of Earth.

Between Heaven and Earth, all things have times of growth, decline, and rest; only the movement of Heaven turns daily without ever stopping. Heaven, unlike Earth, has no solid body; above Earth there is nowhere that is not Heaven. If one stirs a foot of soil on the ground, above it there is a foot of Heaven—people simply do not see it. What is light and clear rises upward and becomes Heaven. Heaven is round, revolving without cease, wrapping around Earth; Earth is within Heaven. Earth is square and at rest, and so what is heavy and turbid sinks downward; all of it is the dregs that have settled and congealed below within the Qi of Heaven. Tracing back to the very beginning, they were originally the same Qi. This one Qi divided into two; yang can contain yin, but yin cannot contain yang. Therefore the one of Qian (Heaven) encloses the two of Kun (Earth), and combined they make three. Earth is within Heaven; the Qi of Earth is entirely the Qi of Heaven.

Zhangzi (Zhang Zai) says: “The void is the root of Heaven and Earth; Heaven and Earth come forth from the void.” This principle takes utmost emptiness as reality. Metal and iron can decay, mountains can be destroyed; all things with form are easily damaged. Only Taixu (the vast, formless void, the state in which Qi has not yet condensed into form) does not waver, and so it is the utmost real. The carrying operation of Heaven is without sound or smell, and reaches the utmost. He also says: “Empty and without things, yet the ten thousand things are born from it.”

Shaozi (Shao Yong) says: “Heaven divides creation within the One.” This means that the generative transformation of Heaven and Earth is divided forth from within the One.

Heaven was originally the undifferentiated “One”; only after Earth came into being did it divide into two. Yang was originally a single line; with the emergence of Yin, it differentiated into two lines. Thus all things in the world are like this: where there is extinction, there is generation and growth; where there is a front, there is a back. All this arises from nature and cannot be fabricated by human effort.

The phrase “in the Pre-Heaven (xiantian) there is not a single affair” means that before any human arrangement, things are already thus; they do not need to wait for arrangement before coming to be. It also says: as for the one line of the Pre-Heaven, from nonbeing to being, one generates two, two generate four, four generate eight, and so on up to three hundred and eighty-four (the number of lines contained in the sixty-four hexagrams). Although it proceeds step by step from this, where is there any need for people to arrange it?

Shao Yaofu (Shao Yong, courtesy name Yaofu) asked Master Cheng (Cheng Yi, known as Master Yichuan): “Do you know where thunder arises from?” Yichuan said, “I know.” Yaofu said, “I do not know. Since you know, why still use image-number (xiangshu) calculation?” Yaofu then asked, “Where do you think thunder arises?” Yichuan replied, “It arises from where it arises.” Hearing this, Yaofu was delighted and praised it.

The author (Bao Yunlong) comments: Thunder arises from the One of the “Heavenly Root” (Tiangen). The Heavenly Root is a term in Shao Yong’s image-number learning; it refers to the place where Yang Qi (vital energy) first stirs and creation begins to sprout. This is how creation is differentiated within the “One.”

It also says: Heaven relies on “form,” while Earth relies on Qi (vital energy).

Someone asked Shao Yaofu (Shao Yong, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian and styled Kangjie): “What does Heaven rely on?” He answered: “Heaven relies on Earth in the form of qi.” “What does Earth rely on?” “Earth relies on Heaven in the form of bodily form. Heaven and Earth rely on each other. As for their fundamental substance, Heaven differentiates into Earth, and Earth differentiates into the myriad things. Yet the Dao cannot be divided; ultimately the myriad things return to Earth, Earth returns to Heaven, and Heaven returns to the Dao.”

It is because Heaven constantly revolves without rest that Earth can remain in the center without falling. If Heaven were to stop for even a moment, Earth would collapse, and people would fall to their deaths.

Cheng Bozi (Cheng Hao, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian) said: “The qi of Heaven descends and reaches the earth; all things that grow on earth are transformed from the qi of Heaven.” Cheng Shuzi (Cheng Yi, younger brother of Cheng Hao) said: “Whatever has qi is Heaven; whatever has form is Earth.” Zhang Zi (Zhang Zai, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian) said: “The void is qi; qi coalesces and forms Heaven and Earth, so for every Heaven and Earth there is a qi of Heaven and Earth.” Zhu Zi (Zhu Xi, the great synthesizer of Southern Song Neo-Confucianism) said: “The shape of Heaven is round like a pellet, revolving morning and evening. Its north and south ends are high behind and low in front; that is where the pivot is and where it does not move. The revolving thing also has no fixed form or substance; it is only like a powerful whirlwind, rising and descending without cease—this is the celestial body, and in reality it has no solid substance. Earth is the dregs of qi condensed into something with form and substance; merely because it is bound within the powerful whirlwind, it can suspend in the air without falling.”

The Yellow Emperor asked Qibo: “Does Earth have something to rely on?” Qibo answered: “It is the great qi that supports it.” This says the same thing.

Investigating this carefully, I find: Qian originally is a single unbroken line; its substance is entirely solid, like a single integrated thing, generated solidly from within and filling the heavens. The qi within the compass of Heaven’s covering all penetrates into Earth. Kun is divided into two lines, so its volume is empty, and thus it has the changes of opening and closing. The shape of Earth is like a lung; although its substance is solid, its center is empty.

The Qi (Vital Energy) of Heaven and Earth and the Source of the Myriad Things

The Formation of Heaven

When Qian qi (yang qi) rises, Kun Earth splits open on both sides, allowing the Qi of Heaven to burst upward; even things of metal and stone can be penetrated by it. The form of Heaven is like a drum: on the outside is a layer of skin or shell, while within it is wrapped a great deal of Qi.

The Monthly Ordinances (Yueling) says: In the first month of spring, the Qi of Heaven descends and the Qi of Earth rises. From the zi month (the eleventh month), yang Qi accumulates without cease, and by the fourth month it forms Qian (pure yang). Yang Qi lies below yin Qi and evaporates upward, just as steam rises when rice is cooked. By the fifth month, one yin is first born; by the seventh month, with three yin below, it becomes Kun (pure yin); with three yang above, it becomes Qian. When the Qi of Heaven rises and the Qi of Earth descends, Heaven and Earth do not interact; they are closed off and blocked, and thus winter is formed.

The Generation of Heaven and Earth

Heaven and Earth were at first merely the two Qi of Yin-Yang. The two Qi ceaselessly rotated and rubbed against each other, squeezing out the dregs within them, which remained in the middle with nowhere to go. The dregs of water settled out and congealed into Earth, which remained motionless at the center.

Thus today, when one climbs high and gazes into the distance at the mountain ranges, they look like rolling waves; or like rising tides and swelling sandbanks. The Qi of fire is extremely hot, and so it transforms into wind, thunder, lightning, the sun, the stars, and other celestial phenomena.

The layers of Heaven number nine, rising gradually from below to above; the higher it goes, the clearer the Qi becomes. The clear and firm Qi becomes Heaven; if it were not sufficiently strong and vigorous, it could not encompass and cover the myriad things. Heaven is like a whirlwind, ceaselessly rotating on the outside and spinning out dregs, which congeal in the middle to form Earth.

Therefore Shao Yong (Master Shao) said: “The bodily form of Heaven and Earth has boundaries, but their Qi is boundless.”

Dao and Heaven, Earth, and the Myriad Things

It is also said: The Dao (the Way) is the root of Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth are the root of the myriad things. If one looks at the myriad things from the perspective of Heaven and Earth, then each of the myriad things is a thing in its own right; if one looks at Heaven and Earth from the perspective of the Dao, then Heaven and Earth are merely one among the myriad things.

A Quotation from the Commentary

The statement “One yin and one yang is called the Dao” comes from the “Appended Remarks, Part I” of the Zhouyi (Book of Changes). The Dao is the noumenon transcending form and belongs to what is “above form”; Yin-Yang are concrete transformations of Qi and belong to what is “below form.”

Note: In the original text, the character ji in the phrase “ji chao xuduo chazi” is suspected to be an error for ji meaning “to squeeze”; “chazi” means “dregs.” The final passage of the original, “The Dao is the root of Heaven and Earth…,” repeats the preceding text and is suspected to be an interpolation made during copying; therefore the translation renders it only once.

The mutual transformation and cyclical flow of one Yin and one Yang—this is called Dao (the Way). Dao transcends bodily form and is the root of what is “above form”; Yin-Yang, by contrast, are the states in which concrete things operate and belong to what is “below form.” The greatest Yin-Yang Qi (vital energy) between Heaven and Earth disperses and becomes the myriad things; the myriad things are born by receiving the Yin-Yang Qi of Heaven and Earth. Whatever is confined to bodily form and practical utility may be called a “thing.” Within every thing there is a complete Taiji (Supreme Ultimate—the fundamental substance of the universe and the root of all transformation); this is what is called Dao. Thus, from the perspective of bodily form, Heaven and Earth are the greatest and the myriad things are very small; from the perspective of Dao, Heaven and Earth are merely one thing within Taiji. Shu Guangwei (the Jin-dynasty scholar Shu Xi) said: When one looks up at drifting clouds while watching the moon, one feels that the moon is moving and the clouds are not; when crossing water in a boat, the water is flowing away and the boat is not moving. These words are full of meaning.

Master Zhou (Zhou Dunyi, whose sobriquet was Lianxi) said: One should observe the living atmosphere with which Heaven and Earth give birth to and nourish the myriad things.

When Heaven and Earth give birth to things, each thing enfolds within it a heart-mind of Heaven and Earth, which naturally reaches everywhere. This is the transformation of the Qian Dao (the firm and vigorous movement of the Heavenly Dao): the myriad things each attain their proper alignment and each fulfill their nature and life. If a person, at the moment when the sprouts of goodness (the stirrings of a good heart-mind such as benevolence and righteousness) arise, turns back and examines himself, he will naturally understand. Animals have blood and Qi, and so can perceive; plants, though they cannot perceive, still reveal the same vital impulse within them. If they are harmed, they wither and grow haggard, no longer joyful, as if they too had perception. In grass and fish, everyone can see the principle therein, but only Mingdao (Cheng Hao) and Lianxi (Zhou Dunyi) had the same insight. When Cheng Mingdao saw the lush plants and trees on the courtyard steps, he said: One should constantly see the creative vitality of the Creator. When he saw fish kept in a pond, he said: One should observe how each of the myriad things attains its own interest and delight. These are all the bearing of a person who has Dao. Hence it is said: In quiet contemplation of the myriad things, each finds its own joy.

The Masters Cheng (the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi) said: Heaven and Earth take the myriad things as their heart-mind. Master Zhu (Zhu Xi) said: Heaven and Earth have no other business; they simply take giving birth to and nourishing the myriad things as their heart-mind.

In the tenth month of winter, beneath the purely yin Kun hexagram, a single yang is first born. The creative vitality of heaven and earth had nearly been extinguished, and only at this point does it appear again. Cheng Yi (Yichuan) holds that the beginning of “movement” is the mind of heaven and earth. He also says that movement itself is not the mind of heaven and earth; rather, it is through movement that the mind of heaven and earth becomes manifest.

From the perspective of the Prior Heaven hexagram sequence (which refers to the Itō-style circular diagram arrangement and represents the yin-yang structure before the universe came into being), the bottom line of the Fu hexagram is a yang line. It transforms from the yang line at the top nine of the Bo hexagram and, after ten months of accumulation, is completed at the top six of the Kun hexagram. This is like a fetus in the mother’s womb: the intention of heaven and earth to generate things has not yet been revealed. From the perspective of the Later Heaven hexagram sequence (which refers to King Wen’s Bagua (Eight Trigrams) directions and represents the operation after the myriad things have been generated), the bottom line of the Kun hexagram suddenly changes into the Zhen hexagram, and when reversed it becomes the Gen hexagram (Gen is stillness). Yin qi comes to rest in stillness, and yang qi then flows within it, just as when the fetus has already left the mother’s body, the mind of heaven and earth to generate things is clearly visible.

The qi of the One Origin moves without cease, only giving birth to the many myriad things. Heaven and earth are like something wrapped around a great mass of qi, yet the qi has no outlet. Each time it gathers, it gives birth to a batch of things. The workings of creation are like a mill grinding flour: what is scattered from the mill is fine or coarse, uneven.

Zhu Xi (Zhuzi) says: The four seasons run their course, and the hundred things grow. Heaven and earth are upright and great, and their disposition can be seen; but this is said with regard to their being without intentional mind. If they were truly without mind, then cows would give birth to horses and peach trees would blossom with plum flowers. In reality, however, the myriad things each have their fixed norms; this is the mind of heaven and earth having its own orientation.

Cheng Yi (Chengzi) also says: To name it by its ruling power, it is called “Di” (Lord/Emperor), and mind is precisely where its ruling resides.

In the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, whatever carries the sense of ruling is called Di (the Lord); whatever carries the sense of embracing and covering the myriad things is called Tian (Heaven). Nanxuan (Zhang Shi) says: One need not fixate on the azure appearance of the sky; one should simply examine it in seeing, hearing, speaking, and acting. When a single thought is pure and upright, that is Shangdi (God on High) present here. The passage “He watches and observes; Shangdi is with you; your intentions are discerned in the heart of Shangdi” means that Shangdi above watches over you, and your intentions are also known to Shangdi. A single improper thought is Shangdi’s wrath. Master Zhu (Zhu Xi) says: One must know that Shangdi is without mind, and yet also recognize that it has mind.

Heaven envelops the earth, and Heaven’s activity is simply to cause the myriad things to grow—this is the “mind without mind.” As for rewarding good and punishing evil, it is as though someone were presiding within it. Again, when wind rises, rain falls, thunder rolls, lightning flashes, flowers bloom, and fruits form, if there were no Shen (spirit) within them, what else could it be?

It is further said: All men under heaven receive Qian—the pure Yang, vigorous Qi (vital energy) of Heaven; all women receive Kun—the pure Yin, yielding Qi of Earth. From above to below, penetrating all things, it is the same Qi. This Qi penetrates thoroughly, so that even the most subtle, hidden, hair’s-breadth things all possess the images of Qian and Kun.

The sounds of all things under Heaven arise from a single opening and closing; the principles of all things arise from a single movement and stillness; the numbers of all things arise from a single odd and even; the forms and images of all things arise from a single square and circle. All of this originates in the basic Yin-Yang line drawings of the two hexagrams Qian and Kun (the two hexagrams in the Zhouyi that represent Heaven and Earth, Yang and Yin).

Viewed in terms of bodily form, it is called “Heaven”; viewed in terms of governing rule, it is called “Di” (the Lord); viewed in terms of function, it is called “gui and shen” (the contraction and extension, the coming and going, of the yin and yang Qi); viewed in terms of its mysterious operation, it is called “Shen” (spirit). Heaven and Earth are like the outer shell of Qian and Kun, while Qian and Kun are the nature and actual reality of Heaven and Earth.

Between Heaven and Earth there is only a single stream of Qi; when it wishes to generate, it can generate—this requires an extremely strong and vigorous power to accomplish.

Generally, living things rooted in Heaven tend to incline upward, as the heads of animals all point upward—human beings are like this; living things rooted in Earth tend to incline downward, as the roots of plants all point downward—grasses and trees are like this. The heads of birds and beasts are mostly set horizontally, and so they lack wisdom. The Way of Heaven is above, and the human head is above; only thus do many things come forth.

With respect to the single common origin of all things, their principles are the same but their qi-endowments differ; with respect to the concrete forms of all things, their qi-endowments remain broadly similar, but their principles are utterly different. In qi-endowment they are similar: for example, all know cold and warmth, can distinguish hunger and fullness, cling to life and fear death, and seek benefit and avoid harm—human beings and animals are no different in this. In principle they differ: among ants there is a distinction between ruler and minister, but only a tiny bit of moral principle; between tiger and wolf, father and son have familial affection, but only a tiny bit of benevolence. If one extends this further downward, nothing more can be inferred. This is precisely why Heaven and Earth are called the “outer shell,” within which all things are wrapped and encompassed. Qian and Kun are the nature and disposition of Heaven and Earth; according to the differences in what each receives as endowment, they manifest all kinds of differences.

Zhang Zai’s “Western Inscription” (a famous work of Northern Song Neo-Confucianism that expounds the kinship between Heaven and Earth and humanity) says: Qian is the father, Kun is the mother; human beings dwell in the midst of Heaven and Earth, are their children, and should fulfill the way of children. Therefore Qian is Yang and Kun is Yin; the Qi of Heaven and Earth fills the space between them, and human beings and all things rely on it to complete their bodies. Qian is vigorous and Kun is yielding; the intentions of Heaven and Earth serve as the commander of Qi, and from this human beings and all things obtain their nature. Human beings therefore receive the correctness of nature and destiny and become the most intelligent among all things; what other things receive is merely a partial and incomplete aspect.

Zhang Zai says: It is from Taixu (the Great Void—the formless, imageless source pervading heaven and earth) that the name “Heaven” arises; it is from the gathering and dispersing changes of Qi that the name “Dao” arises. Viewing Taixu and Qi together, there is the name “nature” (the inherent principle endowed by Heaven to all things); viewing nature together with perception and awareness, there is the name “mind” (the faculty capable of perceiving, thinking, and governing body and mind).

Zhu Xi explains: The universe was originally simply one Taixu, which gradually differentiated and became increasingly refined and dense. Taixu is the totality; what is called “Qi transformation” refers to the various manifestations of Yin-Yang creative transformation—cold and heat, day and night, rain and dew, frost and snow, mountains and rivers, grasses and trees, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and so on—all are results of Qi transformation. Although these are changes of various Qi, in reality none of them departs from Taixu. Taixu is like the topmost circle in the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) diagram, in which Yin is still and Yang is active, representing the movement and stillness of Taiji itself. Only when Qi exists does principle have somewhere to settle; without Qi, principle has nowhere to be placed. This is like the moon’s reflection in water: only where there is water can the moon in the sky be reflected. Qi has form, while Taixu is invisible; therefore tangible Qi carries intangible principle. Thus the perception of “nature” and “mind” is the empty, spiritual, bright, and aware intelligence within Qi. The functions of the ears and eyes—hearing and seeing—all operate by means of this awareness; only with this awareness can principle be put into operation.

Shao Yong says: Only with Yin-Yang can heaven be generated; only with hardness and softness can earth be generated.

The Liyun says: Ritual is rooted in Taiyi (Taiyi: the root of all things, the unified fundamental reality); Taiyi differentiates and becomes…

Bao Yunlong’s Tianyuan Fawei interprets this passage from the Liyun as discussing how heaven and earth arise from Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), and the cycles of waxing and waning of the two Qi of Yin-Yang and hardness-softness.

The Meaning of the Scripture

The Liyun says that ritual is fundamentally sourced in Taiyi and differentiates into heaven and earth. Here “Taiji” (the Supreme Ultimate, the original chaotic substance of the universe) is the state in which Qi (vital energy) has not yet appeared; “Taichu” (the earliest stirring of the universe) is the beginning of Qi; “Taishi” (the beginning of things with form) is the beginning of form; and “Taisu” (the plain and simple source) is the beginning of substance. These four statements all discuss the time before heaven and earth divided and the initial period of heaven and earth, explaining the order in which Li (principle), Qi, form, and substance are generated.

The Generation of Heaven and Earth

Heaven arises from movement: at the first movement of Taiji, Yang is produced; Yang Qi is light and clear and floats upward to form heaven. Within heaven there is again Yin-Yang, and hence there are the sun, moon, stars, and constellations. Earth arises from stillness: at the first stillness of Taiji, Yin is produced; Yin Qi is heavy and turbid and sinks downward to form earth. Within earth there is again the distinction of hardness and softness, and hence there are water, fire, soil, and stone. Therefore, fundamentally speaking, the movement and stillness of Taiji generate Yin-Yang, and Yin-Yang in turn generate heaven and earth.

The Waxing and Waning of the Two Qi

Viewed separately, the beginning of movement is the birth of Yang, and when movement reaches its extreme, Yin is born; the beginning of stillness is the birth of softness, and when stillness reaches its extreme, hardness is born. When Yin and Yang intersect, the function of heaven is completed, and so it is said that Yin-Yang can generate heaven; when hardness and softness intersect, the function of earth is completed, and so it is said that hardness and softness can generate earth.

From the perspective of the single Qi of heaven and earth: Yang Qi rises from below upward, and rising is birth; when Yang is born, Yin wanes. Yin Qi descends from above downward, and descending is waning; when Yin is born, Yang wanes. Spoken of separately, Yang Qi rises from below; from the zi hour to the si hour it forms Qian, which is the image of generating heaven. At the wu hour Yang reaches its extreme, heaven is exactly at its center, and it again generates Yin to assist Yang. Yang Qi then moves again, forming the leftward revolution of the Dao of Heaven. Yin Qi descends from above and generates Yin within heaven; from the wu hour to the hai hour it becomes pure Kun, which is the image of generating earth. At the zi hour Yin reaches its extreme, earth is exactly at its center, and it again generates Yang to assist Yin; Yin Qi then moves again, forming the rightward turning of the Dao of Earth.

Conclusion

When heaven generates, the myriad things are born; when earth generates, the myriad things are completed. Qian and Kun each have six yao (lines), and the six reside in the middle. Whether advancing six or retreating six, in advancing it is the end, and in retreating it is the beginning. The end of day is the beginning of night, and the end of night is the beginning of day. One who comprehends the principle of day and night knows that the numerical principles of the Yi (Book of Changes) can exhaust the beginning and end of heaven and earth, thereby clarifying the principle of waxing and waning, filling and emptying—the rise and fall, advance and retreat of things.

Notes

Taiji: the substance of the universe before it divided; here it refers to the undifferentiated state prior to movement and stillness. Taiyi: the One of the source; together with Taiji, it refers to the origin of the universe. Qian and Kun: two hexagrams in the Zhouyi; Qian images heaven, and Kun images earth. Leftward revolution and rightward turning: these refer to the directions of the movement of the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of Earth; they are the author’s explanation of the motion of heaven and earth.

It is further said: Qian and Kun establish the order of advancing six and retreating six, of above and below. When advance reaches its limit, it is ending; when retreat returns to its starting point, it is beginning. When day is exhausted, it turns into night; when night is exhausted, it turns into day. Understanding the alternation of day and night, one knows that the numerical principles of the Yi (Book of Changes) can exhaust the beginning and end of heaven and earth, and thereby clarify the principles of waxing and waning, fullness and emptiness.

It is further said: Qian and Kun determine the positions of above and below; Kan and Li arrange the gates of left and right (Kan is water and Li is fire, the two respectively occupying north and south). Heaven has four images (Greater Yang, Lesser Yang, Lesser Yin, and Greater Yin), and earth also has four images; heaven has the images of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), and earth also has eight images. Heaven and earth connect with each other, and Yin-Yang intermingle.

Heaven governs through the movement of the four seasons, and Earth governs through bearing the myriad things, so that all things may grow. In the Pre-Heaven Bagua (Xiantian Bagua), Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li establish the positions, corresponding respectively to the four cardinal positions Zi, Wu, Mao, and You (Zi is north, Wu south, Mao east, You west). These four cardinal positions refer both to what is above in heaven and to what is below on earth. The opening and closing of heaven and earth, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, the succession of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the changes of the dark moon, new moon, quarters, and full moon, the lengthening and shortening of day and night, and the increase and decrease in the movements of the sun and moon all cannot depart from these Four Images (Old Yin, Young Yin, Young Yang, and Old Yang).

In heaven, the Four Images manifest as the old and young aspects of Yin-Yang; if the sun, moon, stars, and constellations are added, they become eight kinds. On earth, the Four Images manifest as the old and young aspects of the firm and yielding; if water, fire, earth, and stone are added, they also become eight kinds.

The so-called “mutual interleaving” (xiangcuo) refers to the Xiantian Diagram (the Pre-Heaven Bagua diagram transmitted in the Song dynasty), in which the left side has one hundred and twelve yang numbers and eighty yin numbers, and the top is likewise so; the right side has one hundred and twelve yin numbers and eighty yang numbers, and the bottom is likewise so. The so-called “mutual intersection” (xiangjiao) is like the union of male and female, husband and wife, the female and male of animals, and the female and male of birds: the Qian hexagram goes to unite with Kun and forms the Fu hexagram; Kun comes to unite with Qian and forms the Gou hexagram; this belongs to this category. Qian and Kun are the separation of Yin and Yang, by which the substance of heaven and earth is established; Kan and Li are the union of Yin and Yang, by which the functions of heaven and earth are brought into play. Yin-Yang, through Kan and Li, creates and transforms heaven and earth; heaven and earth, in turn, through Kan and Li, give birth to the myriad things.

The Post-Heaven King Wen Bagua (Hou Tian Wenwang Bagua) has directions different from the Pre-Heaven: Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui occupy the four cardinal directions, while the remaining four trigrams occupy the four corners (the four diagonals). Why is this so? The North Star (Chenji) resides in the north and slightly to the west; it is the dwelling place of the celestial deity, and so the northwest is Qian. Mount Kunlun lies in the west and slightly to the south; it is the dwelling place of the earth deity, and so the southwest is Kun. Among all things that shake, none is more powerful than wind; the qi of wind moves from east toward south, and so the southeast is Xun. Among the Five Peaks, the Eastern Peak is the most revered. The terrain extends from north toward east, and so the northeast is Gen.

It is also said: Heaven is round and Earth is square. Heaven is high in the south and low in the north; therefore, when one looks up at the sky, it is like leaning beneath a slanting canopy.

The Tang monk Yixing (an astronomer who once took part in revising the calendar) said: the Gaitian (Canopy Heaven) theory—written as “Yitian” in the original text—depicts celestial phenomena as a portrait does, capturing only half the truth. The Huntian (Spherical Heaven) theory, by contrast, is complete like the full moon and can reflect celestial phenomena in their entirety. It is said that the jixuan, an instrument used in Shun’s time to observe celestial phenomena, was made precisely according to the Huntian method.

In the Eastern Han, Cai Yong said in his “Treatise on Astronomy” that there were three schools of thought on the shape of heaven.

The first is the Zhoubi theory, which comes from the Zhoubi Suanjing and belongs to the Gaitian school. It holds that heaven is like an inverted basin, centered on the North Pole, high in the middle and low at the edges. The sun and moon revolve around heaven; when they come near people they can be seen, and this is day; when they move far from people they cannot be seen, and this is night. Its methods of calculation are regular and complete, but it contains many errors and omissions, so the official historians did not adopt it. Another account says: heaven is round like an open umbrella, and earth is square like a chessboard. Heaven rotates to the left like a millstone, while the sun and moon move slowly to the right and are carried leftward by heaven. Thus the sun and moon in fact travel eastward, but are carried by heaven and sink westward. When the sun rises high it can be seen; when it sinks it cannot. In the morning the sun rises from the yang place, and in the evening it enters the yin place; the yin qi is dark, and so it cannot be seen.

The second is the Xuanye theory. Yu Xi of the Eastern Jin explained: “xuan” means bright and “ye” means dark, and this theory takes into account both the bright and the dark. According to the record of You Meng (that is, Xi Meng, a man of the Eastern Jin), the sun, moon, and stars float in the empty void, and their movement and stopping all depend on qi. It also says that heaven is indeed high above and has a fixed shape, which adopts the viewpoint of the Gaitian theory. Li Chunfeng, the Tang astronomer, said in his “Yitian Shuo”: heaven and earth are high in the middle and low at the edges; the sun and moon obscure each other, and thus day and night are formed. The circle often visible near the North Pole is called the “upper circle”; the circle often hidden near the South Pole is called the “middle circle”; and the equator running across the sky is called the “lower circle.”

The third is the Huntian theory. Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin said: the shape of heaven is like an egg, and earth is like the yolk; earth lies within heaven, and heaven is large while earth is small. There is water both inside and outside heaven, and heaven and earth each ride upon qi and float upon the water, carrying the water as they move. If the degrees of the celestial circumference are divided equally, half is above the earth and covers the earth, and half is below the earth and supports the earth. He Chengtian of the Liu Song said: the form of heaven is perfectly round, and water occupies half of it.

The east is where the sun rises, called Yanggu; the west is where the sun sets, called Xianchi (the pool in legend where the sun bathes at sunset). Zhuangzi’s discussion of the “Northern Pool” and “Southern Pool” shows that there is water in all four directions, hence the term “Four Seas.” In the Five Phases, Water is generated by Metal; the hundred rivers all originate in the mountains and finally flow into the sea. The sun belongs to the essence of Yang; when it enters the water at night, it would be scorched by the water’s Qi, but the hundred rivers returning to the sea are sufficient to replenish one another. Therefore, a great drought does not dry up the seawater, and a great flood does not make it overflow.

Wang Fan of the Three Kingdoms period also said: the sun rises into the sky in the morning and enters the earth at night; by day it is above ground, by night below ground. Today official historians/astrologers often use the “observation terrace” (a high platform for observing celestial phenomena) to measure the heavens, and this is the method they rely on.

Yang Ziyun (Yang Xiong) said: Luoxia Hong (a Western Han astronomer) created and established the calendar, Xianyu Wangren (a Western Han astronomer) carried out calculations based on it, and Geng Zhongcheng (Geng Shouchang, a Western Han official who once supervised the making of astronomical instruments) used it to model celestial phenomena. Cai Yong, Zhang Heng, and Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han all considered the Huntian theory the most acceptable. The Huntian theory holds that heaven is like a round sphere enclosing the earth.

The author believes that in addition there are the Xuantian and Xintian theories, but neither is sufficient to stand independently. Yao Xin of the state of Wu said: humans are like the most sentient and refined of creatures, and their bodily form most resembles heaven. The human face points forward, the chest faces forward, and the crown of the head does not cover the back. Therefore the celestial body is low in the south and high in the north, and the portion that enters the earth is inclined toward the north and high. This also explains why humans are noble.

Master Ouyang said: when the ancients measured solar shadows, their original intent was to regulate Yin-Yang Qi and assist the growth of the myriad things, not to divide and order the stars. As for the right and wrong of the Gaitian and Huntian theories, the noble person should preserve them but not discuss them. If one holds to Gaitian, then the southern degrees gradually narrow; if one holds to Huntian, then the northern pole appears too high. What benefit to human moral teaching can come from entanglement in disputes over the similarities and differences of the two theories? Yet in investigating the principles of things, the noble person regards “exhausting principle and extending knowledge” as foremost.

He also said: the terrain of the northwest is high, covering the top of heaven.

Mr. Zhang said: Yu Xi once said that heaven is firmly above and has a constant and stable form. These statements are all quite reasonable; unfortunately, he did not investigate their beginning and end.

Zhang said: Yu Xi once made a statement saying that heaven is truly above and has a fixed, unchanging, stable form; these words are all quite reasonable. It is a pity that he did not thoroughly investigate the beginning and end, the final and initial, of heaven.

According to the numerical principles of the Luoshu, one (Water) is the starting point and nine (Fire) is the endpoint, belonging to the “wearing nine and treading one” configuration. The numbers begin from one below; this is Kan Water (symbolizing the north and the attribute of Water), the beginning of celestial phenomena. When the numbers reach nine above as their limit, this is Qian Metal (symbolizing the northwest and the attribute of Metal), the completion of celestial phenomena. Therefore Kan Water is soft and able to move, while Qian Metal is solid and firmly settled. The power of movement causes the channels to proliferate, and the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) in the brain are thereby quieted; this is the North Pole residing at the summit of heaven. It is motionless and still, possessing a fixed and stable form; this, too, is the celestial phenomenon revealed by the Luoshu.

Note: Yu Xi was an astronomer of the Eastern Jin who held that celestial bodies have definite shapes and positions. The Luoshu, according to legend, was a diagram and text on the back of a divine turtle that appeared in the Luo River when Yu the Great controlled the floods; its numbers are arranged in a nine-palace grid, and in the nine palaces “wearing nine and treading one” refers to the layout with nine at the top and one at the bottom. Kan and Qian are the names of two trigrams among the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) of the Zhouyi, corresponding respectively to Water and Metal and matched with directions. The North Pole refers to the position of Tianshu (Celestial Pivot) near the North Star, which the ancients regarded as the central pivot of heaven.

The yang Qi of Heaven is in the south and its yin Qi in the north; the yin Qi of Earth is in the south and its yang Qi in the north. Since Heaven’s yang Qi resides in the south, the south is said to be the place where yang Qi “dwells.” Earth’s rigid nature (hardness, the quality of coagulation) is in the north, and therefore mountain ranges are located in the north. Thus the Earth is high in the northwest and the sky is high in the southeast (the original reads “shunan,” i.e., southeast).

The South Pole is intensely hot and the North Pole is bitterly cold. Where the south is hot, things melt; where the north is cold, things coagulate. Hence both are “dead lands” where the myriad things cannot grow.

Heaven is high in the south and low in the north; yang Qi is at the southern end above, and yin Qi at the northern end. Therefore, in the ancient “Xiantian (Pre-Heaven) circular diagram” (the Pre-Heaven Bagua diagram transmitted since the Song dynasty, arranging the eight trigrams in a circular pattern according to directional position), the Qian position is in the south and the Kun position in the north. Earth is high in the north and low in the south; yang Qi is in the north and yin Qi in the south. Therefore, in the “Xiantian square diagram” (the same set of eight trigrams arranged in a square pattern), Qian is in the northwest and Kun in the southeast (as above, the original reads “shunan”).

When the sun is in the south, yang Qi manifests on the Earth’s surface; when the sun is in the north, yang Qi lies hidden. In the south of Heaven, yang Qi occupies the upper position, so the South Pole is intensely hot, and the portion of yang Qi that manifests on the Earth is melted by water. Although the Earth has yin Qi, it cannot suppress the yang Qi. In the north of Heaven, yin Qi occupies the upper position, so the North Pole is bitterly cold, and the portion of yin Qi that manifests on the Earth coagulates into mountains. Although the Earth has yang Qi, it is pressed down and subdued by yin Qi.

When yang Qi is excessive it melts; when yin Qi is excessive it coagulates. The south of the Earth ought to be cold, yet when Earth’s Qi descends there it is rather hot; the north ought to be warm, yet when Earth’s Qi ascends there it is rather cold. This is because Earth’s Qi follows the seasonal changes of cold and heat in Heaven’s timing.

Water’s nature is soft and weak, belonging to yin; because yin cannot overcome yang, water is driven by yang Qi. Mountains’ nature is hard and rigid, belonging to yang; because yang cannot overcome yin, mountains are made to serve yin Qi. Therefore, the physical form of the Earth changes according to the softness and hardness of the terrain, while climate changes according to the cold and heat of Heaven.

When yang reaches its extreme or yin reaches its extreme, both lose the Qi of harmony and balance, and the myriad things cannot grow; thus they become dead lands. Only between Heaven and Earth, where cold and heat alternate and are harmonized and moderate, can the myriad things grow.

Zhu Xi cites the words of Mr. Hu of Anding (the Northern Song scholar Hu Yuan): Heaven is the external bodily form of Qian, and Qian is the function of Heaven. Viewed as form, Heaven is a single vast blue expanse; the south pivot (the southern polar axis of Heaven) extends thirty-six degrees below the earth, while the north pivot (the northern polar axis) emerges thirty-six degrees above the earth, so that its shape is like a leaning spring pestle. Viewed as function, Heaven moves roughly over 900,000 li in one day and night. Each inhalation and exhalation of a person constitutes one breath, and in the interval of one breath Heaven moves more than eighty li. In one day and night a person has approximately over 13,600 breaths; therefore Heaven moves over 900,000 li in one day and night.

Bao Yunlong remarks: The Danshu (a Daoist text on Neidan, or internal alchemy, cultivation) says that a person has 13,500 breaths in one day and night, and that "one thousand moves more than eighty li" (such is the original wording, meaning that in each breath it moves more than eighty li). It also says that a person has more than 13,600 breaths in one day and night, and therefore Heaven moves over 900,000 li in one day and night.

Vernacular Explanation of Selected Passages from Volume One of Tianyuan Fawei

The author (Bao Yunlong) notes: The Danshu says that a person takes about 13,500 breaths in a day and night. Every 1,125 breaths corresponds to one shichen (the ancient two-hour period), so that one day and night make 13,560 breaths. Here he uses the round number, and therefore speaks of “13,500.”

When Zheng Xuan annotated the Kaolingyao, he said that the Great Void originally has no substantial form or shape; people know the heavenly bodies only by observing the movements of the various stars. The revolutions of the stars proceed from east to west, and only after 365¼ days do the stars return to their original positions. Since the stars revolve to the left (westward), the sun moves to the right (eastward), and likewise only after 365¼ days does it return to its original stellar position. Accordingly, the sun’s movement in one day is fixed as one degree, and by this the twenty-eight mansions are calculated. One circuit of heaven is approximately 365¼ degrees; this is the measure of heaven’s single revolution.

Heaven is like a round ball, with a circumference of 365¼ degrees. One degree is approximately 2,932 and 348/1461 li; reckoned together, the circumference of heaven is about 1,071,000 li. This is the number of li in heaven’s circumference. If one calculates according to the rule that “the circumference is three times the diameter,” the diameter is about 357,000 li. This is the diameter of the circle on which the twenty-eight mansions lie.

Beyond the twenty-eight mansions, above and below, east and west, there is an additional 15,000 li on each side. This is the limit of the four wandering stars, called the Four Limits (Sibiao). Within the Four Limits, adding the space occupied by the stars, the total is about 387,000 li. At the center of heaven, the level place above and below, the distance is about 193,500 li. The earth is situated at this center; this is the distance between earth and heaven. Another account holds that the thickness of the earth should add another 30,000 li.

In the commentaries and subcommentaries on the Shangshu, Wang Fan says: Heaven covers the earth. Viewed from above the horizon, the visible heaven is a little more than 182½ degrees; the heaven below the earth is likewise so. The North Pole stands thirty-six degrees above the ground, and Mount Song is precisely at the center of heaven; the South Pole is fifty-five degrees below the ground, and the position opposite Mount Song is directly above it.

Notes: The Danshu is a Daoist Neidan cultivation text; here its account is borrowed to discuss the number of a person’s breaths. “Zheng’s commentary on the Kaolingyao” refers to the Eastern Han scholar Zheng Xuan’s commentary on the apocryphal weft text Kaolingyao, which discusses the structure of heaven and earth. The twenty-eight mansions are the twenty-eight groups of constellations divided along the ecliptic and celestial equator in ancient astronomy, used to measure celestial phenomena and mark years. The Four Limits refer to the four boundaries of the celestial sphere, by which the ancients explained the extent of celestial bodies. Songgao is Mount Song, which the ancients regarded as located at the center of heaven and earth.

The ancients used Huntian theory (the view that heaven is like a spherical shell enclosing the earth, with the sun, moon, and stars attached to the celestial sphere and revolving with it) to describe the movements of celestial bodies. This passage from the scripture discusses the path along which the sun moves (ridao, the solar path). The sun’s position on the celestial sphere over the course of the year is arranged with the celestial equator as the reference: at the summer solstice it is twelve degrees to the north; at the spring and autumn equinoxes it is twenty-four degrees to its south; and at the winter solstice it is again twenty-four degrees to its south. Measured from the earth, at the winter solstice the solar path is about thirty-one degrees above the ground. At the summer solstice the sun is sixty-seven degrees from the North Pole; at the spring and autumn equinoxes it is ninety-one degrees from the North Pole; and at the winter solstice it is one hundred fifteen degrees from the North Pole.

The two ends of heaven are the South Pole and the North Pole; heaven, together with the sun, moon, and stars, revolves obliquely around these two ends. This is approximately the situation in Huntian theory. The ancients originally possessed this method of calculation, but it was lost because of the book burning in the Qin dynasty.

Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han said that the earth lies at the center and is level, while heaven tilts north and south: the North Pole rises thirty-six degrees above the horizon, and the South Pole sinks thirty-six degrees below the ground. Therefore the northern celestial hemisphere is generally visible, while the southern celestial hemisphere is generally hidden. The surrounding celestial sphere is divided into two parts: the region extending seventy-two degrees around the North Pole is visible throughout the year and is called the Upper Rule (shanggui); the region extending seventy-two degrees around the South Pole is invisible throughout the year and is called the Lower Rule (xiagui). The stars in between, which are sometimes hidden and sometimes visible, are called the “static number” (jingshu) and correspond to the stalk count of the Kun hexagram (ce, the method of counting with yarrow stalks in Yijing learning; the Kun stalk count is one hundred forty-four). Those that revolve in cycles and appear in alternation are called the “moving number” (dongshu) and correspond to the stalk count of the Qian hexagram (the Qian stalk count is two hundred sixteen).

According to Yijing learning, the hexagram images represent Earth, and the line images represent Heaven; their numbers accord with the two stalk counts of Qian and Kun.

Zhangzi said: The earth has changes of high and low undulation, and the length of the sun’s day and night also varies with the seasons; all of these correspond to the stalk counts mentioned above.

Zhang Zai (a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher) said: The earth has rising and falling, and the sun has lengthening and shortening. Although the earth is a condensed and undispersed solid, the rising and falling of the two Qi of Yin-Yang accompany it without ever ceasing. When yang Qi rises, the earth accordingly descends, because the lower part becomes empty; when yang Qi descends, the earth accordingly rises, because the upper part becomes full. This is the pattern of the yearly changes of cold and heat.

The Kaolingyao (an astronomical work among the Han-dynasty weft texts) says: The thickness of the earth increased by thirty thousand li. At the spring equinox, the earth is exactly at the center of heaven, and thereafter it gradually sinks. At the summer solstice, the earth has moved downward fifteen thousand li, and the upper edge of the earth is level with the middle of heaven. After the summer solstice, the earth gradually rises. At the autumn equinox, the earth again returns to the center of heaven, and thereafter gradually rises. At the winter solstice, the earth has moved upward fifteen thousand li, and the lower edge of the earth is level with the middle of heaven. After the winter solstice, the earth gradually descends again. This is the earth’s rising and falling within a range of thirty thousand li. Heaven extends in the four directions, and the limits of the four directions all connect with heaven; the earth also rises and falls within heaven. At the winter solstice the earth sinks, and at the summer solstice it rises; between the two solstices it moves up and down repeatedly, thereby fully accounting for the thickness of the earth. In winter the earth is biased toward the south, in summer toward the north, in spring toward the west, and in autumn toward the east; its positional changes all take the four directional limits of heaven as their boundaries.

Again according to the Kaolingyao: In the first month, the sun is eighty thousand li from the upper heaven and one hundred four thousand li from the lower earth, hence the distinction between “borrowed above” and “borrowed below,” that is, the sun’s upward and downward distances. Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han commented: Heaven and earth are 193,500 li apart. During the Yushui (Rain Water) solar term in the first month, the sun is above, eighty thousand li from heaven and 113,500 li downward to earth. At the summer solstice, the sun reaches its highest point, level with the outer surface of heaven, and thereafter gradually descends. At the winter solstice, the sun descends to eighty thousand li from the earth and 113,500 li upward from heaven.

The commentary to the Kaolingyao says: The twenty-eight lunar mansions (the twenty-eight groups of stars distributed along the ecliptic) and all the other stars move in the left-rotating direction of heaven, completing one circuit around heaven in a day and a night. Beyond one circuit, they must move one additional degree (the unit of degree on the celestial sphere), so in a year there are altogether 365 and one-quarter circuits of heaven. The sun, moon, and five planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn) move to the right. The sun moves one degree per day, and the moon moves thirteen and seven-nineteenths degrees per day. This is the calculation method by which the various data are mutually integrated.

Zhu Xi said: The “four wanderings” of the sun and moon between heaven and earth—the sun’s seasonal back-and-forth movement among east, south, west, and north—have a rising and descending distance that does not exceed thirty thousand li. The Zhouli records the use of the “earth gnomon,” a kind of pole for measuring the noon shadow: each one-cun difference in the solar shadow corresponds to a distance in heaven of about one thousand degrees plus seven-nineteenths of a degree. This is a conversion ratio used in both ancient and modern times.

The second passage explains further: each one-cun difference in the solar shadow corresponds to one thousand li on earth; one chi and five cun, that is, fifteen cun, corresponds to fifteen thousand li. Because the place of measurement is located at the center of the earth—what the Zhouli calls the “center of the earth”—the distances to north and south, and to east and west, are each thirty thousand li. This does not mean that the space between heaven and earth is only this large. In spring the sun travels east thirty thousand li, in summer south thirty thousand li, in autumn west, and in winter north; all are likewise so.

This scriptural passage uses the metaphor of “a water-filled vessel with a floating object” to explain the movement of the Earth. It is like a large basin filled with water, with a hollow vessel placed to float on the surface, its four sides aligned exactly with east, west, south, and north. If the vessel shifts three cun to the east, then, reckoning each cun as equivalent to ten thousand li, it is thirty thousand li farther from the west. The relationship between Earth and water is likewise so: if the upper part of Earth shifts thirty thousand li eastward, it is also thirty thousand li farther from the west. The same reasoning applies in the north-south direction.

From this it can be known that the difference in the length of day and night between winter and summer is not only caused by the appearance and disappearance of the sun’s shadow; it is also brought about by Earth’s continuous wandering and revolving through the four directions.

Someone asks: “Surely there is no such principle?” The answer: although this principle cannot be directly verified, the results calculated by calendrical specialists all agree with it; there is probably indeed such a principle.

In addition, both Earth and the stars have a rising-and-falling motion of the “Four Wanderings” (Siyou) type. The “Four Wanderings” means: beginning at the Start of Spring, Earth and the stars wander westward. At the Spring Equinox they reach the western extreme; although Earth is at the western extreme, its rising and falling is at the midpoint. Thereafter it gradually moves eastward, returning to its proper position by the end of spring. After the Start of Summer it turns and wanders northward; at the Summer Solstice it reaches the northern extreme, Earth’s rising and falling is at its lowest, and by the end of summer it returns to its proper position. After the Start of Autumn it turns and wanders eastward; at the Autumn Equinox it reaches the eastern extreme, its rising and falling returns to the midpoint, and by the end of autumn it returns to its proper position. After the Start of Winter it turns and wanders southward; at the Winter Solstice it reaches the southern extreme, Earth’s rising and falling is at its highest, and by the end of winter it returns to its proper position. The stars also rise and fall together with Earth, but none exceed the range of thirty thousand li.

Halving thirty thousand li gives fifteen thousand li, which is close to the value measured by the earth gnomon (the standard for measuring the sun’s shadow). A difference of one chi corresponds to ten thousand li; a difference of five cun corresponds to five thousand li; one fen corresponds to one hundred li. Each one-cun difference in the length of the sun’s shadow corresponds to a matching change in distance. Therefore the royal domain (the capital region), one thousand li square, takes the sun’s shadow as its standard. With one cun as the standard, when observing the round disk of the sun, a width of one chi corresponds to one thousand li.

Someone asks: “The theory of the ‘Four Wanderings’ is fabricated out of thin air and does not accord with the classics; the Erya is probably not Zheng Xuan’s annotated edition either.” I hold: when opinions are divided, take the classics of the sages and the commentaries of the worthies as the standard, and the matter will naturally be settled. Now that Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi both accept this theory, there is no need to doubt it further.

First Paragraph

Someone asked: Zhu Xi said that the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli) uses the method of the “earth gnomon” (tugui) to measure the depth of the ground, and he provided annotations on it. I believe that when accounts are numerous and confused, it is sufficient to decide the matter by the classics of the sages and the annotations of the worthies. Now that both Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi accept this view, there is no need to doubt it further.

(Earth gnomon (tugui): an ancient instrument for measuring shadows; the tool recorded in the Rites of Zhou for measuring the sun’s shadow to determine directions and seek the center of the earth. Zhangzi: Zhang Zai, a Northern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher. Zhuzi: Zhu Xi, the great synthesizer of Southern Song Neo-Confucianism.)

Second Paragraph

Someone asked: Zhu Xi said that the Rites of Zhou uses the method of the earth gnomon to measure the depth of the ground and to calibrate the sun’s shadow, thereby seeking the “center of the earth.” When the sun is in the south, the shadow is long and the weather is mostly cold; when the sun is in the east, the evening shadow is often accompanied by strong winds; when the sun is in the west, the morning shadow is mostly overcast.

(Center of the earth (dizhong): what the ancients regarded as the center of the world, the basis for determining directions and establishing capitals.)

Zheng Xuan (an Eastern Han classicist, here annotating the Rites of Zhou) commented: “Jingxi” means that the sun has already declined toward the west before the gnomon shadow reaches the center; “Jingchao” means that before the sun reaches noon the shadow has already reached the center. (“Jing” is the sun’s shadow; the “biao” is the gnomon set upright in the ground to measure the sun’s shadow.) When the gnomon is set to the east, it is close to the sun; when set to the west, it is far from the sun.

Zhu Xi (a Southern Song Neo-Confucian philosopher) replied: The two phrases “Jingxi brings much wind, Jingchao much cloudiness” cannot be dismissed on the basis of Zheng’s commentary, but he has got them backwards. In my view, “Jingxi” means “late shadow”: before the sun reaches noon, the shadow has already reached the center. The gnomon is set to the south, and the position taken is close to the sun, so before noon the shadow is short and after noon it is long. “Jingchao” means that the sun has already passed noon while the shadow has still not reached the center. The gnomon is set to the north, and the position taken is far from the sun, so before noon the shadow is long and after noon it is short.

Someone asked: Why is there much wind and much cloudiness? Zhu Xi said: Places where the sun is near the east are naturally windy; as in the commanderies along the coast, the wind is especially frequent. Winds all come at their proper seasons: in spring it must be the east wind; in summer, the south wind. In open plains with no mountains to block them, the winds blow from their respective directions. Winds arise as yang qi waxes and wanes: at dawn yang qi rises and wind arises with it; at noon yang qi is at its height; after noon the force of the wind weakens; toward evening the wind stops. As for the northwest having much cloud, this is not only because high mountains screen it; it is also because the yang qi there has already declined. When the sun reaches there it is already near noon, while the hour there is already late; soon the sun sets, so the west does not see the sun very much. The ancients had the saying “Shu’s sun, Yue’s snow,” and they also called Shu “the leaking sky,” both referring to the rarity of sunshine in Shu.

From this one may see that heaven and earth are not so very vast after all. By the movements of the sun and moon, the changes of cold and heat, and wind and clear or cloudy weather, one can verify this.

Jia Gongyan (a Tang dynasty classicist, who composed subcommentaries on the Rites of Zhou and other works) said: When the Duke of Zhou (a statesman of the early Western Zhou) established Luoyi, he determined the center of the earth and set up five gnomons; at Yangcheng in Yingchuan (around present-day Dengfeng, Henan) there was also a central gnomon. The traces of the shadow measurements still exist today.

This passage explains how the ancients determined the “center of the earth” (dizhong), that is, the center of the world. They set up a gnomon (biao) at points one thousand li apart to the south, north, east, and west, and observed the solar shadow at the same time in order to correct the length of the noon shadow. Zhu Xi (Zhu Zi) said that people no longer used the earth-gui (tugui) for measurement, and Zheng Xuan (Kangcheng) also mistakenly took the gui for a measuring instrument. The tugui was a jade gui ruler one chi and five cun long, used to measure the length of the gnomon’s shadow.

The method was to set up a gnomon on level ground and measure its shadow with the jade gui. If the shadow was exactly one chi and five cun long, that place was the “center of the earth.” The solar shadow changes with the seasons; at the winter solstice it is longest, reaching more than one zhang and three chi.

The “center of the earth” recognized in ancient and modern times has not been the same. The Han dynasty took Yangcheng as the center; the Song dynasty took the Yuetai at Mount Song; and today Junyi (present-day Kaifeng, Henan) is taken as the center. In the twelfth year of the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang (724), the court sent envoys to survey the whole realm, from Linyi in the south (central Vietnam) to Hengye in the north; taking the midpoint between them, they arrived at the Yuetai in Junyi and considered it to lie exactly at the center between north and south. When the Later Zhou established the state and made Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng) the capital, they set up a gui-biao and installed measuring arrows at the Yuetai in order to observe the solar shadow and calibrate the solar terms.

Lu Jiuyuan (Xiangshan) said: A perforated vessel was used as a water clock, with a floating arrow to indicate the scale. A day was divided into twelve double-hours, ten Heavenly Stems, and four corner directions; a year into twelve months and twenty-four solar terms. The earth-gui measured the solar shadow, and the lodestone distinguished directions; the twenty-four directions were thereby corrected. The sun’s movement has northern and southern differences, and day and night have different lengths, so twenty-one arrows were established for timekeeping. South of the Yuetai, with every three shifts, six arrows were no longer used; north of the Yuetai, with the same shifts, six arrows were also not used. As for the specific correspondences of the directions, opinions differ: some hold that they refer to front and back, some that they correspond to a particular position among the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and some say they lie between “bing” and “wu”; each school has a certain basis.

The ancients observed solar shadows to correct cardinal orientation, and their accounts differ. Some take Qian as the standard; some take the wu position, deflected toward bing by a certain fraction, as the standard; and others hold that it should lie between bing and wu. Since the time of the Duke of Zhou, there have been these different standards for determining orientation, and scholars should investigate them.

It is also said that Heaven wraps around Earth, and the “Earth” within Heaven in turn moves within the great Earth.

Zhang Hengqu (Zhang Zai) said: Earth is set opposite Heaven, but it is merely one object within Heaven. Thus, when they are joined as one body, what is called “great” is Heaven; when they are divided into two parts, what is called “small” is Earth. He also said: the celestial body is higher in the north and lower in the south, while the terrestrial body lies flat in the middle of Heaven.

Shao Kangjie (Shao Yong) said: Heaven covers Earth, and Earth supports Heaven; there is Earth above Heaven and Heaven above Earth. People live on Earth but are simply unaware of it. He also said: Heaven is round like a ball, and Earth is placed obliquely within it, separating above and below. He also said: outside Heaven there is no boundary, but the empty expanse within it is finite. It is like a ball suspended in space: observed from within the ball, if the position centered on the North Pole remains unmoving, then Heaven rotates to the left, and all the stars revolve around the North Pole. Viewed from the other side, it presents another scene. The celestial body revolves through the four directions and stops only when it reaches the four boundaries of Heaven and Earth.

According to the Xiantian Diagram, the sixteen hexagrams from Lin to Shi and above belong to Heaven and are called “Heaven of Heaven” and “Earth of Heaven”; they govern the numbers of cosmic cycles such as yuan, hui, yun, and shi, and exist in Heaven (yuan, hui, yun, and shi are cosmological time units established by Shao Yong; from smallest to largest they are shi, yun, hui, and yuan). The sixteen hexagrams from Tongren down to Dun and below belong to Earth and are called “Heaven of Earth” and “Earth of Earth”; they govern the numbers of years, months, days, and chen, and exist on Earth.

It is also said: terrestrial positions are fixed and unchanging, while celestial asterisms ceaselessly revolve. Only when the celestial Quail Fire (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, located in the south) coincides with the terrestrial wu position can the correct position of celestial motion be obtained.

The positions in heaven are divided into twelve divisions, and what each division corresponds to is called a “chen.” In the eleventh month, the chen position is at Xingji; in the twelfth month, it is at Xuanxiao; in the first month, it is at Zouzi; in the second month, it is at Jianglou; the rest follow by analogy. From the standpoint of the earth, when a person stands facing south, front, back, left, and right also each have the positions of the four directions and the twelve chen; they stand in mutual opposition and cannot be altered. The full circumference of heaven is 365¼ degrees. Around the celestial circumference are arranged the Twenty-Eight Mansions, which are used to manifest the forms of celestial bodies and to determine the bearings of the four directions.

Viewed as heaven revolving around the earth, in one day and one night heaven makes exactly one revolution and one extra degree. The sun, moon, and five planets also move with heaven as it revolves around the earth. Only the sun’s motion is exactly one circuit per day, with neither excess nor deficiency; the other celestial bodies differ in speed. Yet they hang in the sky, and are not originally attached or fixed to the sky, nor are they moved by pushing and pulling. It is simply that where their respective Qi-force is at its fullest, their spirit naturally radiates, and thus each has its own order.

It also says: the northwest of heaven is not completely filled, and the southeast of earth is not completely filled. Therefore the southeast has much water, and the northwest has many mountains.

The commentary on the Suwen says: the terrain of the Central Plains is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The Hetu Kuodixiang says: the northwest is the Heavenly Gate, and the southeast is the Earthly Door. The Heavenly Gate has no upper end, and the Earthly Door has no lower end. Heaven looks down from above, reaching as far as ten thousand li. It also says: the sun borne overhead in the south is fifteen thousand li below. Reckoned from the center of the earth, the distances north–south and east–west are each thirty thousand li.

(Note: This passage contains many repetitions, presumably due to transcription of the original text; they have been consolidated in the interpretation.)

Earlier Confucians held that the mountains and rivers of the Central Plains all originate in the northwest; therefore those who describe the courses of mountains and rivers begin in the northwest and end in the southeast. The mountains and rivers on earth are like the blood vessels of the human body: some appear close together yet are not connected, while others appear far apart yet communicate with one another. Thus, how could rivers and seas ever sever the earth’s veins?

Master Cai (Cai Chen of the Song dynasty) said: The mountains north of the Yellow River all have their root veins in Daibei (present-day northern Shanxi) and in the highlands of the Huan, Wu, Lan, and Xian prefectures, extending along the high ground. Waters west of the ridge flow west and enter the upper reaches of Longmen and Xihe; waters east of the ridge flow east and become the Sanggan River, which passes through the You and Ji regions (present-day northern Hebei) before entering the sea.

The northern mountain range divides into several branches: the western branch is Kongtong and Taiyue; the next branch encircles the north of Fen and Jin (Fen and Jin refer to the present-day Fen River basin in Shanxi); the next is the Taihang range; and the last is Hengshan (the “Da Mountain” in the original text should be “Heng Mountain”). This is one of the northern mountain ranges.

The southern mountain range consists of the mountains and rivers on the south bank of the Yangtze and the Han. Within the vein-system of the Min Mountains, the northern branch is Hengshan, which extends to the western side of Lake Dongting; the southern branch crosses Guiling, goes north through the Yuanzhou and Junzhou area, reaches De’an, and is called Fufuqian (some identify it with present-day Lushan in Jiangxi). Between the two branches, the Xiang River is cut off. Hengshan lies southeast of the Xiang River and Fufuqian northeast of it; their mountain-and-river sources can all be traced and verified.

Master Zheng divided mountains and rivers into four categories: Qian and Qi are Zhengyin (upright yin), through which the Yellow River and the Ji River pass; Xiqing Mountain is Beiyin (northern yin), through which the Yi, Luo, Huai, and Wei pass; Bozhong Mountain is Ciyang (secondary yang), through which the Han River passes; and Min Mountain is Zhengyang (upright yang), through which the Yangtze passes.

The Account of the Western Regions records: The Yellow River has two sources, one from the Congling and one from Yutian. The two waters join and flow east into Puchang Sea (also called Yanze, more than three hundred li from Yumen Pass and Yangguan). The lake’s water volume is stable, neither increasing nor decreasing in winter or summer; the water seeps underground and emerges to the south at Jishi Mountain (in present-day Qinghai).

Master Cheng (Cheng Dachang of the Song dynasty) said: Before the Nine Rivers had sunk into the sea, from the present coastline extending another five hundred li to the northeast was all flat land. The Yellow River divided into nine channels and entered the sea; at the point of entry there was Jieshi, located on the northwest bank. Today in the Yan and Ji regions this stone no longer exists, but due south of Pingzhou there is a mountain named Mashi, located in the sea more than five hundred li from shore; this is precisely where the Yellow River in ancient times entered the sea.

Wang Heng of the Han dynasty said: Formerly, it rained continuously and a northeast wind arose; the sea swelled violently and overflowed southwest for several hundred li, so that the Nine Rivers and Jieshi were both submerged in the sea. Later Confucians only know to look for the Nine Rivers on flat land, but do not investigate whether Jieshi exists as corroborating evidence; therefore the explanations of successive scholars have been diverse and conflicting, and to this day there is no settled conclusion.

Vernacular Interpretation

The Tang-dynasty study of fa-xiang (cosmological correspondences) held that the configuration of mountains and rivers throughout the world is embodied in two great “jie” (mountain-range alignments).

The Northern Jie begins at the two mountains Sanwei and Jishi, with Zhongnan Mountain at its back, and extends along the yin side of the earth network (diluo) to the regions of Huimo and Korea; it is called the “Northern Ji.” Heaven uses it to mark the northern boundary and to separate the Rong and Di peoples.

The Southern Jie begins at Mount Min and Mount Panzhong, with the yang side of the earth network at its back, and reaches the regions of Dong’ou and Minzhong; it is called the “Southern Ji.” Heaven uses it to mark the southern boundary and to separate the Man and Yi peoples.

The He Yuan says: The Northern River flows from the starting point of the Northern Ji to Huayin, where it meets the earth network; then, branching eastward, it joins the Jing, Wei, Ji, and other rivers.

Notes

The earth network (diluo) refers, in Daoism and feng shui, to the veins of the earth—the hidden pathways of Qi (vital energy) formed by mountain ranges and rivers.

Sanwei, Jishi, Zhongnan, Mount Min, and Mount Panzhong are all famous ancient mountains. Sanwei is near present-day Dunhuang in Gansu; Jishi lies in southeastern Qinghai; Zhongnan is in southern Guanzhong, Shaanxi; Mount Min stands at the border of Sichuan and Gansu; and Mount Panzhong lies at the border of Shaanxi and Gansu.

Huimo, Korea, Dong’ou, and Minzhong are ancient names for peoples and regions in the northeast and southeast.

The Northern Ji and Southern Ji: the ancients took mountain ranges as the “ji” of heaven and earth—the framework that divides territories.

Huayin is present-day Huayin in Shaanxi, located at the northern foot of Mount Hua.

The Jing, Wei, and Ji are all names of ancient rivers. The Jing and Wei converge in Guanzhong, and the Ji was one of the ancient Four Waterways.