 | CHAPTER IV. Lunheng |  |
CHAPTER IV.
The Nature of Things (Wu-shih).
The literati declare that Heaven and Earth produce man on
purpose. This assertion is preposterous, for, when Heaven and
Earth mix up their fluids, man is born as a matter of course unintentionally.
In just the same manner a child is produced spontaneously,
when the essences of husband and wife are harmoniously
blended. At the time of such an intercourse, the couple does not
intend to beget a child. Their passionate love being roused, they
unite, and out of this union a child is born. From the fact that
husband and wife do not purposely beget a child one may infer
that Heaven and Earth do not produce man on purpose either.
However, man is produced by Heaven and Earth just as fish
in a pond, or lice on man. They grow in response to a peculiar
force, each species reproducing itself. This holds good for all the
things which come into being between Heaven and Earth.
It is said in books that Heaven and Earth do not create man
on purpose, but that man is produced unintentionally, as a matter
of course. If anybody holds this view, how can he admit that
Heaven and Earth are the furnace, all things created, the copper,
the Yin and the Yang, the fire, and all the transformations, the working?
If the potter and the founder use fire in order to melt the
copper, and to burn their ware, their doings are dictated by a certain
purpose. Now, they own that Heaven and Earth create man without
a purpose, that, under given circumstances, he grows spontaneously.
Can it be said of the potter and founder, that they too make their
ware purposeless, and that it grows naturally, and of its own accord?
If a comparison is not to the point, it cannot be called an
analogy, and if words do not express the truth, the statement cannot
be considered correct. It may be urged that the purport of
the above simile is but to show that the heavenly fluid, with which
man is imbued, is not quite uniform, as the moulds into which the
liquid copper runs, and the fire applied in burning earthenware,
may be different, and that it is not said that Heaven and Earth
create man in the same way as potters and founders do their
business.
Whenever human affairs are referred to, to explain human
nature, they must be taken as a whole, which cannot be divided
into different parts. When the eye tries to have a look at its
own head, the head will turn, and when the hand grasps at the
foot, the foot will move. Eye and head belong to the same organism,
hand and foot to the same body.[1]
The potter and founder having first prepared the clay for
the vessel, require a mould to form it, which is a designed act.
Burning coal in order to have a fire, they regulate the furnace or
stove, which is done on purpose also. Yet not all the molten
copper gets a proper shape, and the burned vessels do not invariably
turn out well, for their completion is not a designed act.[2]
Since Heaven and Earth cannot create man on purpose, the
creation of all the other things and beings cannot be intentional
either. The fluids of Heaven and Earth mixing, things grow naturally
and spontaneously.
Tilling, weeding the ground, and sowing are designed acts,
but whether the seed grows up, and ripens, or not, depends on
chance, and spontaneous action. How do we know? If Heaven had
produced its creatures on purpose, it ought to have taught them
to love each other, and not to prey upon and destroy one another.
One might object that such is the nature of the Five Elements, that
when Heaven creates all things, it imbues them with the fluids
of the Five Elements,[3]
and that these fight together, and destroy
one another. But then Heaven ought to have filled its creatures
with the fluid of one element only, and taught them mutual love,
not permitting the fluids of the five elements to resort to strife and
mutual destruction.
People will rejoin, that wishing to use things, one must cause
them to fight and destroy each other, because thereby only can
they be made into what they are intended to be. Therefore they
things, and man uses all these things in performing his many works.
If one thing does not subdue the other, they cannot be employed
together, and, without mutual struggle and annihilation, they cannot
be made use of. If the metal does not hurt the wood, the wood
cannot be used, and if the fire does not melt the metal, the metal
cannot be made into a tool. Thus the injury done by one thing
to the other turns out to be a benefit after all. If all the living
creatures overpower, bite, and devour one another, it is the fluids
of the Five Elements also that compel them to do so.
Ergo we are to understand that all created things must injure
one another, if they are to be useful. Now tigers, wolves, serpents,
snakes, wasps, and scorpions attack and hurt man. Did then Heaven
design man to be made use of by those animals?
Furthermore, because the human body harbours the fluids of
the Five Elements, man practises the Five Virtues, which are the
outcome of the Five Elements. As long as he has the Five Organs
in his bosom, those fluids are in order. If, according to this view,
animals prey upon and destroy one another, because of their being
endued with the fluids of the Five Elements, the human body with
the Five Organs in its breast ought to be a victim of internecine
strife, and the heart of a man living a righteous life be lacerated
by discord. But what proves us that there is really an antagonism
of the Five Elements, and that therefore animals oppress each other?
The sign Yin corresponds to wood, its proper animal is the
tiger.[4]
Hsü corresponds to earth, its animal is the dog. Ch`ou and
Wei correspond to earth likewise, Ch`ou having as animal the ox,
and Wei having the sheep. Wood overcomes earth, therefore the
dog, the ox, and the sheep are overpowered by the tiger. Hai goes
with water, its animal being the boar. Sse goes with fire, and has
the serpent as animal. Tse means also water, its animal being the
rat. Wu also corresponds to fire, its animal is the horse. Water
overcomes fire, therefore the boar devours the serpent. Fire is
quenched by water, therefore, when the horse eats the excrements
of rats, its belly swells up.[5]
However, going more thoroughly into the question, we are
confronted with the fact that not unfrequently it does not appear
that animals overpower one another, which they ought, after this
theory. Wu is connected with the horse, Tse with the rat, Yu with
the cock, and Mao with the hare. Water is stronger than fire,
why does the rat not drive away the horse? Metal is stronger
than wood, why does the cock not eat the hare? Hai means the
boar, Wei the sheep, and Ch`ou the ox. Earth overcomes water,
wherefore do the ox and the sheep not kill the boar. Sse corresponds
to the serpent, Shên to the monkey. Fire destroys metal, how
is it that the serpent does not eat the monkey? The monkey is
afraid of the rat, and the dog bites the monkey. The rat goes
with water, and the monkey with metal. Water not being stronger
than metal, why does the monkey fear the rat? Hsü is allied to
earth, Shên to the monkey. Earth not forcing metal, for what
reason is the monkey frightened by the dog?
The East is represented by wood, its constellation is the Blue
Dragon,[6]
the West by metal, its constellation is the White Tiger.
The South corresponds to fire, and has as constellation the Scarlet
Bird, the North is connected with water, its constellation is the
Black Tortoise.[7]
Heaven by emitting the essence of these four stars
produces the bodies of these four animals on earth.[8]
Of all the
animals they are the first, and they are imbued with the fluids of
the Five Elements in the highest degree. Now, when the dragon
and the tiger meet, they do not fight, and the scarlet bird and
the tortoise do each other no harm. Starting from these four famous
animals, and from those belonging to the twelve horary characters,[9]
we
find that all the other animals endued with the Five Elements, can much
less be prompted to strife and discord by their natural organisation.
As all created things struggle and fight together, the animals
subdue one another. When they try to tear their enemies to pieces,
strength of their muscles and sinews, the agility of their movements,
and their courage.
If with men on earth the power is not equally divided, or
their strength equally balanced, they vanquish and subjugate one
another as a matter of course, using their strength to subdue, and
their swords to despatch their foes. Man strikes with his sword
just as the beasts butt, bite, and scratch with their horns, teeth,
and claws. A strong arm, pointed horns, a truculent courage,
and long teeth win the victory. Pusillanimity, short claws, cowardice,
and blunted spurs bring about defeat.
Men are audacious or faint-hearted. That is the reason why
they win or lose their battles. The victors are therefore not necessarily
endowed with the fluid of metal, or the vanquished with
the essence of wood.[10]
Confucius afraid of Yang Hu[11]
took himself off, covered with
perspiration. Yang Hu's colour was not necessarily white, and Confucius
was not blue-faced.[12]
Because the falcon pounces upon pigeons
and sparrows, and because the hawk-owl kills, and devours
wild geese, it does not follow that the falcon and the hawk-owl
are born in the south, or that pigeons, sparrows, and wild geese
inhabit the west.[13]
It is but bodily strength and courage that lead
to victory.
In the mansion there will always be people disputing, and in
the cottage, litigating. In a law-suit there must be right and
wrong, in a discussion truth and error. He who is in error,
and in the wrong, loses, whereas he who tells the truth, and is
right, wins.
It may happen, however, that in arguing, the glib-tongued,
whose speech flows with flippant rapidity, win, and that the ineloquent,
who falter and stammer in their speech, are beaten. The
tongue plays the same roll in debates as swords and halberds in
battles. Sharp swords, long halberds, strong and quick hands and
feet secure the victory. Blunt swords, short spears, and slow hands
and feet cause the defeat.
Whether one creature vanquishes the other, depends on its
bodily strength, or its prowess, or its dexterity. If a small being is
courageous, and possesses a quick tongue and nimble feet, a small
animal may overpower a big one, and a big one without bodily
strength and destitute of powerful horns or wings, may succumb
to a small antagonist despite its bigness. The magpie eats the skin
of the hedgehog, and the shrike swallows the snake, for the hedgehog
and the snake are not very nimble. Gnats and mosquitoes are
not as strong as the ox or the horse, yet these latter are tormented
by gnats and mosquitoes, which are a very audacious lot.
The horns of a stag are strong enough to pierce a dog, and
a monkey might well catch a rat with its hands, but the stag is
brought to bay by the dog, and the monkey driven away by a
rat, for they do not know how to make use of their horns and
claws. Thus an ox, ten years old, is lead by a herdsboy, and an
elephant, eight cubits high, obeys the hook of a young Annamese
mahout, all for want of skill. With cleverness a small creature
gets the better of a big one, but without it the weak succumbs
to the strong.
The meaning is that, if the creation of man by Heaven and Earth be compared
to the melting of copper or the burning of earthenware, these latter processes
must be taken in their entirety like a body or an organism. Touching one member,
one affects the whole organism. One cannot single out some constituent parts of
the process, such as the moulding or the firing. Then "purpose" is comprised in
the image, which thereby becomes distorted.
The completion of a work done by man on purpose, depends on conditions
and circumstances over which he has not always control. Man acts with a purpose,
but the forces of nature which he sets in motion, and which bring about the final
result, have no purpose.
In the ancient, so called natural philosophy of the Chinese, a cyclical character,
such as Hsü, Ch`ou, Wei, etc., and a certain animal are supposed to correspond
to each of the five elements. From the relations between the elements one has drawn
conclusions concerning their attributes. The greatest Chinese scholars have indulged
in these plays, and mistaken them for natural science.
To wit the horse is hurt by the rat, because fire, the element of the horse,
is quenched by water, which corresponds to the rat.
The points of the compass, the stars, hours, days, months, and years, colours,
grains, etc. have all been incorporated into the afore-mentioned scheme, based on
the interaction of the elements.
These Four Constellations are the Four Quadrants into which the Twenty-eight
Stellar Mansions are divided. (Cf. Mayers Manual, Pt. II, N. 91 and 313.)
Those four constellations are stars, but not animals, though they bear the
names of animals. How then could Heaven produce animals from their essence?
The Twelve Horary Characters are the Twelve Branches or Twelve Cyclical
Signs applied to the twelve double hours of the day. They as well as their
corresponding animals have been enumerated above, though not in their regular
sequence. The Twelve Animals are:—Rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse,
sheep, monkey, cock, dog, boar. (Vid. Giles, Dict. p. 1383.)
| CHAPTER IV. Lunheng | |