Principles and Numbers Combined

理數合解

Principles and Numbers Combined (理數合解, Lǐshù Hejiě) is the masterwork of Beihai Laoren (北海老人), the pen name of Wang Jueyi (王覺一, 1821--1884), the fifteenth patriarch of the Yiguandao (一貫道) lineage. Written in the final decades of the Qing dynasty and compiled posthumously in 1895, this four-volume work represents the most ambitious philosophical synthesis in the Yiguandao canon -- a unified explanation of Principle (理, the unchanging metaphysical ground) and Number (數, the patterns of cosmic change), woven through commentaries on the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Book of Changes.

Volume Three of this collection -- Exploring the Origin of Unity (一貫探原) -- was previously translated into English in the Good Works Library. This translation opens Volumes One and Two for the first time: the commentary on the Great Learning (presented here) and Exploring the Three Changes.

The Chinese source text is from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com), which states: "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate" (歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通). This is the first English translation.

Preface

Reflecting quietly: before chaos was opened, Principle was everywhere. When the Great Mist first parted, Number was throughout. Principle is constant and unchanging; Number changes yet has its pattern. Thus Principle is called fixed principle, and Number is called fixed number -- this in itself needs no explanation, and indeed cannot be explained. How much more so when Emperor Shun grasped the meaning of "holding the center, refining to oneness," plumbing the wellspring of the study of Principle, and when Jizi unfolded the Great Plan and set forth its categories, detailing the foundations of the study of Number! The sayings of the ancients are already complete -- what further explanation is needed?

And yet -- to leave things unexplained, merely waiting for people to realize on their own: how is that better than offering an explanation to dispel their doubts? The holy teaching conceals nothing; the Dao of nature and destiny is revealed to the worthy. Through utmost sincerity one can foreknow; through understanding continuity and change one can fathom a hundred generations. All of this was achieved by explaining through explanation -- none of it was achieved by explaining through non-explanation. As the generations descended, commentaries multiplied. The writings of Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming were detailed on Principle but brief on Number. The writings of Chen Tuan and Shao Yong were detailed on Number but brief on Principle -- yet both penetrated to the source, never missing by a single grain of millet.

But each was partial, failing to raise the whole, and the resulting harms only grew. Later scholars established separate gates and rival schools, contradicting one another. Those who spoke of Principle retreated into the land of cessation and annihilation. Those who spoke of Number drifted into the arts of prophecy and prognostication. This was not entirely the scholars' fault -- the explanations themselves had never been combined, and there lies the blame. The discerning worried about this, and greatly wished to find a single compilation that could set things right -- yet in the end, no worthy edition appeared.

Therefore we have gathered the lifetime insights of the Old Man of the North Sea -- all that he strove to show others -- and compiled them into a single collection in four volumes. Knowing that Principle is rooted in the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, we placed the commentaries on those texts first. Knowing that Number is rooted in the Great Changes, Exploring the Three Changes comes next. Knowing that Principle does not separate from Number, nor Number from Principle -- that substance and function return to the same, that the manifest and the hidden are of one accord -- Exploring the Origin of Unity comes after. And to resolve doubts about the nature of Principle, the work concludes with Resolving Doubts on Principle and Nature.

This book was not written all at one time, and there is inevitably some repetition. Yet the thinking ran deep, and so the words recur; the insight was urgent, and so the expression is detailed. This is the painstaking earnestness of a teacher exhorting with all his heart -- it should not be judged by ordinary literary standards. I fear that readers, not understanding why the book was written as it was, may wish to discard this explanation and seek some other.

This is the Preface.

Written by the Hermit of Bamboo Slope at the window of the Studio of Cultivated Bamboo, in the early winter of the yiwei year of the Guangxu reign [1895].

Preface to the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean

Why have we written this commentary on the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean?

The Analects speak of nature, distinguishing nature from habit -- but they did not separate Principle from Breath. And so, a hundred years later, the followers of Gaozi arose, and the doctrines of "nature is like willow wood," "nature is like rushing water," and "nature is evil" flourished -- while the abiding nature bestowed from Heaven was obscured. This is what happens when one discusses Breath without discussing Principle: the substance of nature remains unclear.

Therefore Mencius, who received the true transmission of the Confucian gate, arose and corrected this with the teaching that nature is good -- and he was right. Yet he discussed Principle without discussing Breath, and so the emotions and consciousness that arise later were not fully accounted for. Those who did not understand considered his teaching impractical -- for Principle is subtle and hard to see, while Breath is manifest and easy to know.

When the great Confucians of the Song dynasty -- the schools of Lian and Luo -- arose in succession, they supplied what the earlier worthies had left incomplete. Nature was at last divided into "original nature" and "temperamental nature," and Principle and Breath were clearly distinguished, far more thoroughly than before. And yet they never spoke of where these two natures ultimately come from: the great root and the great source.

Those who lost the intended meaning and passed on only words, who recited words and forgot their taste, who pursued fame and profit with no heart for sagehood -- they need not be discussed. But even those with genuine aspiration, if their understanding of the source remained unclear, had no way to begin. Their arguments either failed through empty words without substance, or erred by mistaking Breath for Principle. The gates of the worthy and the domains of the sage were thrown into confusion; the human mind and the mind of the Dao were blurred into one road. The transmission of "refining to oneness, holding the center" hovered between dark and light.

Therefore, not presuming upon our own limited understanding, we have taken the "heavenly nature" of the Doctrine of the Mean and the "luminous virtue" of the Great Learning and clarified the difference between the Heaven of Principle and the Heaven of Breath -- showing how they give rise to the nature of Principle and the nature of Breath, and to the mind of the Dao and the human mind. This is so that future students will not face the helpless frustration of having no way to begin, gazing at the ocean and turning back in despair.

In this commentary, all discussions of Principle are rooted in the River Chart. Verify this against the great earth itself: north, south, east, and west hold their unchanging cold, heat, warmth, and coolness. Extend this to the nature, and it divides into the four beginnings and ten thousand goodnesses -- so that the Heaven of Principle, the Limitless, which is utterly still and yet responsive, constant and unchanging, stands clear before your eyes.

Then extend further: "the truth of the Limitless, the essence of the Two and the Five, wondrously combine and congeal; the way of Qian completes the male, the way of Kun completes the female." This is where nature comes from, and how human beings come to be. The essence of the Two and the Five gives rise to the body of form. The truth of the Limitless wondrously combines within it as the nature without form. The Three and the Five join together; the formed and the formless merge into one. Heaven dwells within the human, and the human dwells within Heaven. What dwells within the human is only a single point of Heaven -- yet its Principle is undivided, and its spiritual power can communicate the whole. It is, in truth, the complete body of Heaven's Principle.

Heaven's Principle is the nature that unites all things as one. Human nature is the Heaven that each thing possesses within itself. This nature, dwelling within the body, is called "the hidden." Transcending the world of form, it is called "the manifest." In its manifest aspect, released, it fills all six directions. In its hidden aspect, gathered, it withdraws into the innermost place. Filling all six directions, it is so great that nothing is outside it. Withdrawing to the innermost, it is so small that nothing is within it.

The Way of the Great Learning is already attained before we are born.

But then the body comes into being. With the first cry, the breath of the post-heaven enters. Breath is manifest, Principle is subtle. The subtle cannot overcome the manifest, and so we are confined by our temperamental endowment. As knowledge gradually opens, as we grow fond of food and attracted to beauty, as contact with things draws us outward, we become obscured by material desires. Principle is veiled by Breath; Breath is veiled by the material world; things interact with things. From Principle to Breath, from Breath to things: the foolish know only things and do not understand Breath; the worthy understand Breath but do not reach Principle. Without undertaking the study, one remains confined by the small and blind to the great.

At such a time, to enter from the small into the great requires learning. And the way of that learning? The student must seek out a true teacher, who will explain clearly the source of the Heaven of Principle, the Heaven of Breath, and the Heaven of Image, and the distinctions among the nature of Principle, the nature of Breath, and the nature of material substance. Only then will the student know: what comes from the Heaven of Principle is the subtle mind of the Dao. The mind of the Dao is luminous virtue. Luminous virtue is the utmost good. What comes from the Heaven of Breath is the precarious human mind. What comes from the Heaven of Image is the heart of flesh and blood.

The mind of the Dao is the truth of the Limitless. The true mind does not disappear with death, nor come into being with birth. Bright and silently illuminating, it penetrates everywhere. Dwelling within the body, it transcends the world of form. Released outward, it spans the three realms vertically, so great that nothing is outside it. Gathered inward, it is stored within the single body. All responses are communicated through it.

The Way of the Great Learning

The Way of the Great Learning lies in illuminating luminous virtue, in drawing near to the people, and in resting in the utmost good.

The Great Learning is the study of greatness. What is great? Only Heaven is great. Can Heaven be studied? It can.

The single stroke that opened Heaven -- that was Fu Xi's study of Heaven. "Observe the Way of Heaven, execute the workings of Heaven" -- that was the Yellow Emperor's study of Heaven. "Only Heaven is great, and only Yao was its equal" -- that was Emperor Yao's study of Heaven. "The mandate of Heaven -- oh, how deep and ceaseless! How pure was the virtue of King Wen" -- that was King Wen's study of Heaven. "I wish to say nothing. Does Heaven speak? The four seasons proceed, the hundred things are born" -- that was Confucius's study of Heaven. "The work of high Heaven -- no sound, no scent" -- that was Zisi's study of Heaven. "To fully develop one's mind is to know one's nature; to know one's nature is to know Heaven" -- that was Mencius's study of Heaven.

Heaven is where nature comes from. Nature is what every person inherently possesses. Since nature is inherent in everyone, then Heaven is what everyone should study. Study it, and you may ascend to the heights of great transformation, sagehood, and divine intelligence. Fail to study it, and you may descend to the depths of madness, delusion, and the world of beasts and hungry ghosts.

But Heaven has three levels: the Heaven of Principle, the Heaven of Breath, and the Heaven of Image. Therefore nature has three kinds: the nature of Principle, the nature of Breath, and the nature of material substance. And the mind has three forms: the mind of the Dao, the human mind, and the heart of flesh and blood. This is why the studies, insights, and attainments of the foolish, the worthy, and the sage are different from one another.

The Heaven of Principle is the source of the nature of Principle and the mind of the Dao. Principle is the truth of the Limitless. Before heaven and earth existed, this Principle was already here. When heaven and earth are exhausted, this Principle brings heaven and earth back into being. Before this body existed, this Principle was already here. After this body perishes, this nature still endures.

Principle is originally without image. Heaven manifested the River Chart to give it image. The River Chart with image is the ground-plate -- like the human body. The River Chart without image is the Heaven of Principle -- like the human nature. The hexagram Kun in the Changes says: "Yellow within, penetrating Principle." For this Principle runs through the center of the great earth and transcends the great earth's boundaries.

The numbers of the River Chart: Two and Seven dwell in the south and belong to Fire. Fire is warm, so the south is mostly warm. This is the beginning of courtesy and deference -- the beginning of propriety. One and Six dwell in the north and belong to Water. Water is cold, so the north is mostly cold. This is the depth of discernment between right and wrong -- the beginning of wisdom. Three and Eight dwell in the east and belong to Wood. Wood is the first of the four seasons, the origin, the spring. Wood gives birth to Fire, so the great light rises from the Fusang tree in the east. Being first among the four virtues, being spring where the life-force emerges -- this is the tenderness of compassion and fellow-feeling, the beginning of benevolence. Four and Nine dwell in the west and belong to Metal. Metal is harvest, autumn. Metal gives birth to Water, so the great rivers have their source at Kunlun in the west. Harvest is the power to cut decisively. Autumn is the shared joy of the western ingathering. This is the decisiveness of shame and indignation -- the beginning of righteousness. Five and Ten dwell in the center and belong to Earth. They unite the four beginnings and encompass ten thousand goodnesses. They are the original substance of nature and mind, the great function of sincerity and trustworthiness.

This is why Principle is everywhere and everything has its Principle. Its substance is utterly void, so ten thousand particularities rest in one root. Its function is utterly spirit-like, so one root can respond to ten thousand particularities. Utterly void, it possesses nothing -- yet there is nothing it does not possess. Utterly spirit-like, it does nothing -- yet there is nothing it does not accomplish.

Master Zhou said: "The truth of the Limitless, the essence of the Two and the Five, wondrously combine and congeal. The way of Qian completes the male; the way of Kun completes the female." This is where nature comes from, and how human beings come to be. The essence of the Two and the Five gives rise to the body of form. The truth of the Limitless wondrously combines within it as the nature of no-form. The Three and the Five join together. The formed and the formless merge into one. Heaven dwells in the human, the human dwells in Heaven. What dwells within the human, though only a single point of Heaven, carries Principle undivided and spiritual power that communicates the whole -- it is, in truth, the complete body of Heavenly Principle.

Heavenly Principle is the nature that unites all things as one. Human nature is the Heaven that each thing possesses within itself. This nature, dwelling within the body, is called "the hidden." Transcending the world of form, it is called "the manifest." Manifest, released, it fills all six directions. Hidden, gathered, it withdraws to the innermost place. Filling six directions, its greatness has nothing outside it. Stored in the innermost, its smallness has nothing within it. The Way of the Great Learning is already attained before we are born.

But then: this body is born. With the first cry at birth, the breath of the post-heaven enters. The discriminating spirit and the human mind take charge. Breath is manifest, Principle is hidden. The nature of Principle and the primordial spirit -- the mind of the Dao -- are obscured.

The Way of the Great Learning requires a true teacher to explain clearly: the source of the Heaven of Principle, the Heaven of Breath, and the Heaven of Image, and the distinctions among the nature of Principle, the nature of Breath, and the nature of material substance. Only then will the student know that what comes from the Heaven of Principle is the subtle mind of the Dao.

In Illuminating Luminous Virtue

Luminous virtue has three meanings. First: the substance of virtue is originally luminous. Because it is luminous, we call it virtue. Second: though luminous virtue is inherent in every person, confined by temperamental endowment and obscured by material desires, most people possess it without knowing they possess it. Without learning, there is no way to know where one's luminous virtue is -- this is "making clear" one's luminous virtue. Third: knowledge without practice is not enough to fill the substance of luminous virtue or expand its capacity. One must practice in order to extend it, enlarge it, and ascend from greatness to transformation to sagehood to divine intelligence.

And what is the way of knowing and practicing?

In Renewing the People

Luminous virtue is what the human being receives from Heaven -- it is what the Doctrine of the Mean calls "what Heaven has decreed is nature." To know one's luminous virtue and to fill it is what the Mean calls "to follow nature is the Dao." To renew the people is what the Mean calls "to cultivate the Dao is instruction."

Teaching without the Dao, and the path between Heaven and humanity is lost, the work never completed. The Dao without teaching, and the bond between teacher and student is severed, the transmission broken. When the Dao is complete in oneself, one can carry on Heaven's mandate and establish the standard. When one teaches the Dao to others, one speaks on behalf of Heaven. To carry on Heaven's mandate is to illuminate substance. To speak on behalf of Heaven is to extend function. Illuminating substance is to make clear one's own luminous virtue. Extending function is to help others make clear their luminous virtue. To help others make clear their luminous virtue -- this is renewing the people.

The character "親" in the text is read as "新" -- renew. But there is no renewal without closeness. The way of teacher and student knows no distance of near or far, no division of close or distant -- all are taught and nurtured together. Through long influence and gradual transformation, the people are steeped in benevolence and shaped by righteousness. When the transformation reaches bone and marrow, all within the four seas ascend to longevity in benevolence, and near and far alike become as parent and child. Between Confucius and his disciples there existed the dignity of Yao and Shun between ruler and minister, and the closeness of the Zhou kings between father and son. Nearly three thousand years and a hundred generations later, this has not changed.

The four companions, the ten philosophers, the seventy-two worthies, the three thousand disciples -- most began as men of humble lanes and wild fields. Yet after their luminous virtue was made clear and their arts perfected, they became the great students of the Confucian gate, and the lords of many states showed them the courtesy due to equals. The habits of humble lanes and wild fields were gone; they were transformed into men of virtue and refinement. Old habits gradually dissolved; new virtue daily grew. Is this not "renewing the people"?

Today Confucian temples fill the whole land, and the Confucian teaching spreads beyond the seas. The seventy-two worthies share the temple with the Master and receive offerings together, and their descendants share the same naming convention through the generations. Not only renewed for one age but renewed for ten thousand ages. Not only close for one generation but close for ten thousand generations. Seen from this: to renew the people, one must be close to the people. The more they are renewed, the closer they become. Renewed until every old stain is washed away, close until a hundred generations cannot alter it -- only then can it be called "renewing the people," only then "being close to the people."

Close and renew -- one yet two, two yet one.

And what is the way of closeness and renewal?

In Resting in the Utmost Good

The utmost good is ultimate Principle. Ultimate Principle is the divine that cannot be seen or heard, the Heaven that has no sound or scent, the nature that has no thought or contrivance.

This Principle: in Heaven, it is called heavenly Principle. On earth, it is called earthly Principle. In the human, it is called the Principle of nature. In things, it is called the Principle of things. In affairs, it is called the Principle of affairs. Writing has its Principle. The Dao has its Principle. Therefore, only by fathoming Principle can one fully develop nature. Only by fathoming the divine can one know transformation.

Principle is the substance of the utmost good. The divine is the function of the utmost good. The Heaven of Principle is the utmost good of all things united as one. The Principle of nature is the utmost good that each thing possesses within itself.

When Heaven loses Principle, stars and constellations fall into disorder. When earth loses Principle, mountains collapse and rivers overflow. When humans lose Principle, the bonds of kinship go awry. When writing loses Principle, it cannot endure. When the Dao loses Principle, cultivation cannot succeed. Between heaven and earth, among all things and all affairs: gain Principle and there is good; lose Principle and there is evil.

The Heaven of Principle, the Limitless, possesses the five constants complete. The nature of Principle, the Limitless, encompasses the five virtues fully. The Way of Heaven rewards the good and brings calamity upon the wicked. The Way of humans praises the good and punishes the evil. Accumulated goodness brings lasting blessings. Accumulated evil brings lasting misfortune.

Yet goodness has degrees. And goodness has truth and falsehood.

The abdication of Yao and Shun -- therefore the music of Shao was fully beautiful and fully good. The conquests of Tang and Wu -- therefore the music of Wu was fully beautiful, but not yet fully good. Fully good and fully beautiful: this is the utmost good. Fully beautiful but not yet fully good: this is good, certainly, but not the utmost of goodness.

The feigned benevolence and righteousness of the Five Hegemons -- they were better than some, but to call them good? Not necessarily. Principle and desire advance and retreat against each other; there are gains and losses. Principle and Breath are confused together. This is not the utmost good. Beginning with diligence but ending with negligence, gaining only to lose again, starting and stopping -- this is not "resting in the utmost good."

Mencius said: "Nature has nothing that is not good." This discusses Principle without discussing Breath. Gaozi said: "Some natures are good and some are not good." This discusses Breath without discussing Principle. Xunzi said: "Nature is evil." This discusses neither Principle nor Breath, but only desire. Discussing desire, nature has only evil and no good. Discussing Breath, nature has good and not-good, but is not the utmost good. Discussing Principle -- only then do we know that nature has nothing that is not good, and this is the utmost good.

Xunzi spoke of nature as evil because he knew only Image but not Breath. Gaozi spoke of nature as mixed because he knew Breath but not Principle. Knowing Image, one is far from the Dao. Knowing Breath, one draws nearer. Discussing Principle -- then one has arrived at the Dao.

When one has arrived at the Dao: Principle is ultimate Principle. Good is the utmost good. Sincerity is utmost sincerity. The divine is utmost divinity. The sage is utmost sagehood. The person is the utmost person. Nature is utmost nature.

And what is the utmost good? It is where luminous virtue resides. Luminous virtue is what the human being receives from Heaven -- it is what the Doctrine of the Mean calls "what Heaven has decreed is nature." All students know that every person has a nature, but they do not know that nature comes from Heaven. Even those who know nature comes from Heaven do not know that Heaven has three levels -- the Heaven of Principle, the Heaven of Breath, and the Heaven of Image -- and that the mandated nature has corresponding distinctions: Heaven-endowed mandate and original nature, Breath-determined destiny and temperamental nature. Nor do they know that the mind has three forms -- the mind of the Dao, the human mind, and the heart of flesh and blood -- and that the spirit has three aspects -- the primordial spirit, the discriminating spirit, and the animal soul.

Temperamental nature, the heart of flesh, and the animal soul come from Image. The nature of Breath, the human mind, the discriminating spirit, and Breath-determined destiny come from Breath. Original nature, the mind of the Dao, the primordial spirit, and Heaven-endowed mandate come from Principle.

Image is dark and not luminous. Breath is sometimes luminous, sometimes dark. Principle -- its original substance is always luminous.

The place of constant luminosity: this is the ground of the utmost good.

At this ground, in terms of Image, the five elements are fully present. In terms of Breath, the five breaths return to their origin. In terms of Principle, the five virtues are completely possessed. The formed and the formless merge into one. The manifest and the hidden have no gap between them. Both are present and unfathomable, pervading inside and outside, neither inside nor outside.

Released, it fills all six directions -- great beyond all outer limit. This is the manifest aspect of luminous virtue and the utmost good. Gathered, it withdraws to the innermost place -- small beyond all inner limit. This is the hidden aspect of luminous virtue and the utmost good.

The foolish cling to Image, taking the substances of the five elements for the Dao. This is molding sand into rice -- bitter toil with nothing achieved. The worthy take the breaths of the five elements for the Dao. This is shooting an arrow at the sky -- when strength is spent, it falls back down. The sage takes the Principle of the five constants for the Dao -- and only then can one fathom Principle, fully develop nature, and arrive at destiny.

The nature of the five constants is luminous virtue. It is the utmost good.

To illuminate luminous virtue is to rest in the utmost good. To rest in the utmost good is to illuminate luminous virtue.

Luminous virtue is inherent in every person. But after we are born, confined by temperamental endowment and obscured by material desires, chasing illusions and abandoning truth, turning from awakening and conforming to dust -- unless one is a sage born knowing, most people possess it without knowing they possess it.

The way of resting in the utmost good? The student must seek out a true teacher, who will point out clearly and explain fully, leading the student beyond Breath and past Image, penetrating to the divine clarity. One will gain the place where luminous virtue and the utmost good reside, and know the not-empty within emptiness, and recognize the wondrous existence within nothingness. Then, through lessening desires and nurturing the mind, following Yan Hui's "four refusals" and Zengzi's "three examinations," embodying the Analects' "think no evil" -- from thought one enters no-thought, from action one returns to non-action. This is the method of resting.

Add to this: when occupied, guard against lustful thoughts. When idle, guard against scattered thoughts. Then whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, the divine clarity is present before you. In court or in the mountains, in stillness or in speech, in noise or in silence -- wherever you are, you find the place of rest.

To find rest is to return to propriety. When propriety returns, luminous virtue is restored to its original state. When luminous virtue is restored, the whole world turns toward it in its heart. When the mind rests in the utmost good, virtue is achieved. When affairs rest in the utmost good, the work is accomplished.

Knowing Where to Rest, One Then Has Stability

Knowing where to rest, one then has stability.

Now, beneath heaven all is heedless wandering. At the forked road the sheep is lost, and none know where to go. For those who pursue the worldly are forever sinking in the sea of desire, while those who pursue cultivation force the growth and pull at the seedlings. Some reach white-haired age with nothing achieved, gazing at the ocean and turning back in despair. Others face walls of iron and bronze with no gate to enter. All of these arise from not knowing where to rest, or from resting in the wrong place.

Not knowing where to rest, one struggles alone in solitude -- this does no harm to the world. But resting in the wrong place, passing error along as truth, spreads poison without end.

Those with aspiration for learning must first seek true knowing. True knowing, then true practice follows. True knowing is to know where the utmost good resides. True practice is to rest in the utmost good and not waver.

Resting without wavering, inwardly the single mind, outwardly the hundred limbs -- all attain great stability.

"Knowing" is the entry point. "Resting" is the practice. "Stability" is the proof. "And then has" indicates the progression from shallow to deep, the sequential stages of attainment.

When the mind knows where to rest, the mind is stable. When affairs know where to rest, one's work is stable.

Stable, One Can Then Be Still

Stable, one can then be still.

Stillness: all restlessness and delusion within the single mind completely released, the ten thousand impressions of the whole world no longer able to shake it. Ultimate Principle and true nature, tranquil and unmoving.

When the mind is still and the spirit at ease -- still water, a clear pool. When stone harbors jade, the mountain glows. When the deep holds a pearl, the river shines. Fullness accumulates within; brilliance radiates without. This was Zhou Maoshu's breeze after rain and moonlight after clouds, and Master Yan's single bowl and bamboo mat in the humble lane.

Stability: the body does not move. Stillness: the mind does not move.

When the mind is still, the breath is harmonized and the spirit at peace. When the world is still, the people are at peace and all things flourish.

Still, One Can Then Be at Ease

Still, one can then be at ease.

Ease: righteousness refined, benevolence ripened, moving at ease along the middle way. Attaining without deliberate thought. Hitting the mark without forced effort. Inside and outside as one. Motion and stillness not two. This was Confucius at seventy: following his heart's desire without overstepping the measure. And Mencius: reaching left or right and always meeting the source.

The Rites say: "At ease, one's words settle." The Documents say: "Refined in thought, at ease" -- at ease in his time.

A vast ocean: you cannot make it clearer by settling it, nor make it muddier by stirring it. The mind like a bright mirror. Knowledge like divine illumination.

From rest to stability, from stability to stillness, from stillness to ease. When practice reaches this stage, material desire is entirely dissolved, temperamental endowment fully transformed. Inside and outside pure and white. Heavenly truth standing alone and revealed.

Voice measured, body poised. The mirror empty, the scales level. The great substance of "tranquil and unmoving" is established. The great function of "moved, it penetrates all things" is complete.

When the mind is long at ease, the whole body is relaxed and at peace. When the world is long at ease, all affairs are set in order.

At Ease, One Can Then Deliberate

At ease, one can then deliberate.

Rest, stability, stillness, ease: this is entering stillness from motion, turning emotion back to nature, gathering the ten thousand particularities back to the one root -- to establish the substance of the Great Learning.

Deliberation: managing the threads of the world, responding to all encounters, guiding along the joints and striking at the gaps -- like Cook Ding butchering an ox. Distinguishing right from wrong like Bole judging a horse.

Since the ten thousand principles are fully present within, there is nowhere one goes that is not fitting. When the mirror is empty, beauty and ugliness reveal themselves. When the scales are level, not a fraction can deceive.

Deliberation is "moved, it penetrates all things" -- to fulfill the great function of the Great Learning.

Substance complete, function prepared. The vessel hidden, awaiting the right time. In adversity, perfect yourself alone. In success, perfect all others as well.

Submerged or revealed, leaping or soaring -- in great undertakings, nothing added; in constrained dwelling, nothing lost. Nowhere entered that one does not find oneself at home.

When nothing stirs, the ten thousand desires are all at rest. When something arises, no deliberation is unfitting.

Deliberating, One Can Then Attain

Deliberating, one can then attain.

The preceding stages of practice have illuminated substance and fulfilled function. There is no aspect of substance not fully present, and no application that is not complete.

When this is so, the Great Person's learning is complete, and the Great Person's Way has been attained.

"Knowing where to rest" is the entry point of the Great Learning. "Being able to attain" is the Great Learning's fulfillment. Stability, stillness, ease, deliberation: from the first step to the final achievement, the verified stages of attainment. Practice and its stages, brought here to their conclusion.

At ease but not deliberating: roots and branches remain hidden, and there is no function. Deliberating but not at ease: restlessness has no anchor, and errors multiply.

From ease to deliberation: substance is established, function is in motion. The Way of the Great Learning is attained!

Things Have Roots and Branches

Things have roots and branches. Affairs have beginnings and ends. To know what comes first and what comes last -- this is to draw near to the Dao.

There was heaven and earth, and then there were ten thousand things. There were ten thousand things, and then there were ten thousand affairs. There were ten thousand affairs, and then there was the order of root and branch, beginning and end, first and last.

The Great Person's learning traces the source to its end, seeks the origin and grasps the conclusion. Roots and branches are not confused; first and last are in order. Only then can one act on Heaven's behalf in ordering all things, managing the ten thousand affairs.

Qian is the yang substance. Kun is the yin substance. Humans are the spirit of the ten thousand things. Those that fly, those that dive, those that move, those that are rooted -- all are things. Heaven has four seasons and eight solar terms, rain and shine, calamity and blessing, the waxing and waning of yin and yang -- all of these are affairs. Humans have the three bonds and five constants, clothing and food, rising and resting, public and private, celebration and mourning -- all of these are affairs. Heaven has Heaven's affairs, Earth has Earth's affairs, humans have human affairs.

Though heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things each have their own affairs, spoken of together they are all within the Great Person's domain -- affairs one should know and should carry out.

Heaven opened in the Zi era, Earth was formed in the Chou era, humans were born in the Yin era. This is the fundamental origin of heaven, earth, humanity, and all things -- the very first of affairs.

The rise and fall of epochs, ages, cycles, and generations; the circulation of years, months, days, and hours -- though great and small are different, long and short are various, each has its own order of root and branch, ending and beginning, first and last.

The Great Person's learning fully comprehends the reasons for the rise and fall of epochs and ages, and follows the waxing and waning, the flourishing and decline of affairs, practicing the way of the constant and the expedient, the enduring and the changing, applying the methods of following, reforming, reducing, and augmenting.

What works, follow. What fails, reform. What falls short, augment. What exceeds, reduce.

For roots, put origins first. For branches, put conclusions last.

Where heaven and earth fall short, the Great Person supplements them. Where yin and yang lose harmony, the Great Person adjusts them.

The fullness and waning of sun and moon, the alternation of heat and cold -- regulate the calendar and clarify the seasons, so the people are not confused about the time for planting and harvesting.

Sweeping, cleaning, answering, attending -- this is what the beginning and root put first, and so the Lesser Learning was established to teach these things. Fathoming Principle and fully developing nature, entering service and holding office -- this is what the end and branch put last, and so the Great Learning was established to teach these things.

People differ in wisdom and foolishness -- so government was established to unify them. Too lenient, and discipline is lost -- so rites were devised to regulate them. Too strict, and freedom is cramped -- so music was made to harmonize them. For the diligent, rewards to encourage them. For the obstinate, punishments to awe them. Worthies differ in greatness -- so rulers were appointed to lead them.

The Three Dukes discourse on the Dao. The Six Ministers divide their offices. The hundred officials attend to their tasks. The ten thousand people serve in their ranks.

Kindness has degrees -- so the seven ancestral temples, the five mourning grades, the three kindred and six relations were established to graduate them.

Therefore the Zhou Rites say the Grand Minister of Education, with the three categories, teaches the ten thousand people: the six virtues -- wisdom, benevolence, sagacity, righteousness, centeredness, and harmony; the six conducts -- filial piety, friendship, marriage-duty, neighborliness, reliability, and compassion; the six arts -- rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.

Though called three categories, they encompass the ten thousand affairs. Virtue first, conduct in the middle, arts last. This is the order of root and branch, beginning and end, first and last.

Furthermore: water, fire, wood, metal, earth. Appearance, speech, sight, hearing, thought. The five tones: gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu. The five rites: auspicious, funerary, military, diplomatic, celebratory. All are affairs, and things reside within them. Where such things exist, such affairs arise. Where such affairs arise, there is the order of root and branch, beginning and end, first and last.

As great as the ending and beginning of heaven and earth. Next, the rise and fall of emperors and kings. Then the survival or destruction of self and family. Then the rise and fall of a single affair. As brief as the space between breaths. As subtle as the boundary between motion and stillness.

The Great Person's learning illuminates the manifest and penetrates the subtle, reveals the past and observes the future. The ten thousand principles are all prepared; no response is unfitting.

Not acting before the affair, not losing the moment after. Adapting measures to the time, motion and stillness following as they should.

Knowing the ultimate, one reaches it. Knowing the end, one completes it. Then one is not far from the Dao!

This section is the conclusion of the Three Guidelines and the beginning of the Eight Conditions. It is the waist of the wasp: the narrow passage where breath crosses from one vein to the next.

The Eight Conditions

The ancients who wished to illuminate luminous virtue throughout the world first brought order to their nations. Those who wished to bring order to their nations first regulated their families. Those who wished to regulate their families first cultivated their persons. Those who wished to cultivate their persons first corrected their minds. Those who wished to correct their minds first made their intentions sincere. Those who wished to make their intentions sincere first extended their knowing. The extension of knowing lies in the investigation of things. Things investigated, then knowing is extended. Knowing extended, then intentions are sincere. Intentions sincere, then the mind is correct. The mind correct, then the person is cultivated. The person cultivated, then the family is regulated. The family regulated, then the nation is in order. The nation in order, then the world is at peace.

Part One

These eight are the method of tracing the stream back to its source: ten thousand particularities, one root. From root to branches: one root, ten thousand particularities. All things and all affairs, completing their beginning and completing their end -- these are the sequential items of first and last.

Examine antiquity: Emperor Yao was able to illuminate his lofty virtue, and thereby drew near to the nine clans. When the nine clans were harmonious, he distinguished and reconciled the hundred families. When the hundred families were luminous and clear, he united the ten thousand states in concord. The common people were transformed and at peace.

Confucius inherited and transmitted the ways of Yao and Shun, and took King Wen and King Wu as his model. He followed the old laws while supplementing them with his own insight, pruning their excesses and filling their gaps. Above, he took the Three Sovereigns as his standard; in the middle, the Five Emperors; below, he incorporated the Three Kings. The early sages and the later sages fit together like matching tallies. Old songs, new settings -- different mouths, the same sound.

He asked of the one like a dragon beneath the pillar -- Confucianism and Daoism are one family. He took the holy title from Mount Ni -- East and West share the same character.

Parochial Confucians failed to understand the source: three teachings under one Heaven, ten thousand nations under one Principle. They forced divisions of this and that, set up rival gates, took up arms within the same house, and treated each other as ice and fire.

For three thousand years: dust gathers beneath the pillar, grass overruns the Apricot Terrace, clouds bewilder India, fog locks the Jeta Grove.

Confucius said: "The practice of the Great Dao, and the brilliance of the Three Dynasties -- I, Qiu, have not reached them." How much more so for me, born late, thousands of years after. Looking forward, I cannot see the sages of the past. Looking back, I cannot see the wise ones to come. Beholding the remnant writings, grief arises. Suddenly, tears stream down.

Yet the Way of Heaven delights in return: nothing goes without coming back. What has been long united must divide; what has been long divided must reunite. Though human determination can overcome Heaven for a time, Heaven's determination will in the end overcome the human. Where Number resides, Principle cannot displace it. Where Principle resides, Number cannot overturn it.

There is no need to grieve for Heaven and pity humanity, or mourn the past and lament the present. Let us sound the jade chimes and the golden bells -- and with the present, return to the ancient.

"The ancients" means Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu.

For the root of the world lies in the nation. The root of a nation lies in the family. The root of a family lies in the person. The root of a person lies in the mind. The mind's operation depends on intention. Where intention tends follows knowing. The right and wrong, gain and loss of knowing depend on study. And the entry point of study begins with the investigation of things.

Of the Great Learning's ten chapters, only the chapter on "investigating things and extending knowing" has lost its transmission. This classic is preserved in the Book of Rites. From the Han, Jin, Sui, and Tang dynasties onward, few recognized its importance. Only when the true Confucians of the Song dynasty arose in succession did they raise it up, making it the crown of the Confucian orthodoxy. Nine chapters still have their text, and there is no dispute. Because the one chapter on extending knowing lost its transmission, it became the great unsolved case of a thousand ages.

There are those who take "investigating things" to mean investigating the things of the world -- this is Master Zhu's teaching. There are those who take "investigating things" to mean eliminating material desire -- this is Master Lu's teaching.

Some affirm Zhu and reject Lu. Some affirm Lu and reject Zhu. Some seek to reconcile them. Some outwardly follow Zhu but inwardly lean toward Lu. For a thousand years, there has been no settled verdict.

And so later students face north while their cart faces south, not knowing which way to turn. Those with aspiration, finding no gate to enter, content themselves with small achievements. Others reach white-haired age with nothing accomplished, gazing at the ocean and turning back in despair.

All because the clam and the snipe locked in their struggle, letting the fisherman profit. And the eight-legged essay learning of the Halfmountain school has become the orthodox transmission of the Confucian gate.

The single character ge (\u683C) originally carries several meanings. In "reaching to those above and below," it means extending and communicating. In "the Miao came and submitted," it means arriving and yielding. In "correcting the wrongness of one's mind," as in "only the great person can correct the wrongness of a ruler's mind" -- it means setting right. These uses together carry the meanings of moving by sincerity, arriving at, and eliminating. In other compounds -- to resist, to fight, the standard of reward, beyond the bounds -- it carries the further meanings of overcoming, obstructing, limiting, and reforming.

Master Lu of Xiangshan, whose teaching begins from honoring the virtuous nature -- weary of complication, delighting in stillness -- saw clearly that the turmoil of material desire is the true impediment to nurturing the mind. He honored the Book of Music's words: "Humans are born in stillness -- this is the nature of Heaven. Stirred by things, they move -- this is the desire of nature." Therefore he took ge as "to eliminate" and wu as "material desire." Ge is to overcome. Wu is the self. Gewu -- the investigation of things -- is to overcome the self.

This interpretation, though close to the truth, contains within it the difference between the real method and the gradual method, between true emptiness and stubborn emptiness.

If the teacher's transmission is true and orthodox, the student truly knows that luminous virtue and the utmost good are the nature of Heaven's mandate, the subtle mind of the Dao. Feet planted on solid ground, emptiness that is not empty -- this is the real method, true emptiness. Lessen desires, nurture the mind. Engage the mind until it becomes spiritually illuminated.

When material desire is entirely extinguished, the limbs feel as if they have fallen away. When temperamental endowment is fully transformed, sight and hearing seem to recede. The nature of luminous virtue, empty and numinous, is suddenly free of all encumbrance. Released, it fills all six directions, encompassing heaven and earth. Gathered, it hides within the innermost place, concealed at the tip of a hair.

This is precisely Yan Hui's experience: letting the limbs fall away, dismissing sight and hearing, departing from form, letting go of knowing -- becoming one with the Great Thoroughfare.

After the human being is born, the nature of heavenly Principle is confined by temperamental endowment, and the nature of temperamental breath is dragged down by material encumbrance. Things arrive, and the person is transformed into things. First, one no longer knows there is Heaven. Then, one no longer knows there is nature. After that, one no longer knows there is even a body. There is only the indulgence of appetites and desires, only the following where things lead.

The deeper the delusion, the farther from the Dao. One takes the roadside inn for one's homeland. One holds another's child as one's own. One clings to the squalor of the Ghost Gate and the Beast Gate, and forgets the heights of the Worthy Gate and the Holy Realm.

Since the Great Dao went into hiding, not only has no one reached the Heaven from which nature comes -- even the true master, the Heavenly Sovereign of original nature, has gone unrecognized. For at the moment of birth, with the first cry, the breath of the post-heaven enters. The discriminating spirit and the human mind take charge. Breath is manifest, Principle is hidden. And the nature of Principle, the primordial spirit -- the mind of the Dao -- is dimmed.

The Way of the Great Learning requires a true teacher to point out the source of the Heaven of Principle, the Heaven of Breath, and the Heaven of Image, and the distinctions among the nature of Principle, the nature of Breath, and the nature of material substance. Only then does one know: what comes from the Heaven of Principle is the subtle mind of the Dao. The mind of the Dao is luminous virtue. Luminous virtue is the utmost good. What comes from the Heaven of Breath is the precarious human mind. What comes from the Heaven of Image is the heart of flesh and blood.

The mind of the Dao is the truth of the Limitless. The true mind does not vanish with death, nor come into being with birth. Bright and silently illuminating, it penetrates everywhere. Dwelling within the body, it transcends the world of form. Released outward, it spans the three realms vertically, great beyond all outer limit. Gathered inward, it is stored within a single body. All responses are communicated through it.

Supreme Principle, perfectly round, precedes the Great Ultimate.
It pervades end and beginning, pervades center and periphery.
Grandly encompassing all that covers and supports, beyond all form.
Finely entering kite and fish, before all image.
When Two and Five combine, nature and destiny are complete.
When One and Three divide, they thread through human and Heaven.
After Fu Xi drew the trigrams, the True Lineage was revealed.
Sage upon sage, deep upon deep -- here is the transmission.

Luminous virtue, empty and numinous -- a single ray of light.
The source of the mind, the ocean of nature, descended from the August One.
To unite with Heaven, one must know the road that connects to Heaven.
To arrive at destiny, one must know the place where destiny is established.
The manifest and the hidden, the revealed and the subtle -- the spirit is in both.
Center and periphery, root and branch -- Principle abides in each.
From doing, one must arrive at non-doing.
Sound and scent emptied -- the Hall of the Utmost Good.

This is the Limitless, the Heaven of Principle -- luminous virtue and the utmost good. In the worthy, it does not increase; in the foolish, it does not diminish. Every person originally possesses it, though they do not know they possess it. The true teacher transmits it, explains it thoroughly, speaks it clearly -- truly obtained within the mind.

Then, following Master Lu's sense of elimination: first eliminate the things of wealth, honor, riches, and beauty that darken nature -- to govern the outer. Then eliminate the lustful thoughts, scattered thoughts, and disordered thoughts that disturb nature -- to settle the inner.

When material desire is fully eliminated, heavenly Principle is naturally pure and complete. Heavenly Principle is the very ground of luminous virtue and the utmost good.

When practice reaches this point: the Heavenly Sovereign, though exalted, stands before your eyes the moment you lift your gaze. The Heaven of Principle, though distant, is reached without taking a single step.

Before arriving: everything heard by the ears seems vague and remote. After arriving: what is seen by the eyes is at last real.

Having reached the utmost place, one truly knows the utmost place. Therefore it says: "Things investigated, then knowing is extended."

The reason intention is not sincere: material desire disturbs it. When material desire has been fully eliminated, the heavenly truth stands alone and revealed. Penetrating earth and reaching Heaven, the Heavenly Sovereign is at peace. The hundred parts of the body follow its command. Not a single thread clings. The ten thousand impressions are all at rest. Nature is like a still pool. Intention is like the Great Void. At this stage, everything is true and without falsity -- can intention fail to be sincere? Therefore it says: "Knowing extended, then intention is sincere."

When intention is utterly true and without falsity, the mind is centered, correct, and without bias. Therefore it says: "Intention sincere, then the mind is correct."

When the mind is correct, breath is harmonized and spirit at peace. Words and actions follow Principle. Inside and outside are pure and white -- and the person is naturally cultivated.

Things investigated, knowing extended, mind corrected, person cultivated: this is the work of illuminating luminous virtue and perfecting oneself.

When the person is upright, things proceed without commands. Sincerity can move spirits. Sincerity can reach Heaven. Sincerity can stir all creatures -- how much more the members of one's own family?

Teaching with words, transforming with conduct, transmitting the Dao. Beginning with one's wife, reaching to one's brothers. When everyone in the household can eliminate material desire, restore heavenly Principle, extend knowing, make intention sincere, correct the mind, and cultivate the person -- then the family is in order.

From kin to strangers, from near to far: as wind blows, grass bends. Transformation proceeds and custom becomes beautiful. When all the people of a nation can eliminate material desire, restore heavenly Principle, extend knowing, make intention sincere, correct the mind, and cultivate the person -- then the nation is governed.

Part Two

The spread of virtue is swifter than the relay post bearing commands. Where great virtue moves, people cross mountains and sail oceans, arriving uninvited. Shouldering their packs and carrying their satchels, they come upon hearing the word. The Great Dao is universally transmitted; the sweet pear is broadly planted. They arrive with empty minds and return with full bellies.

When all the people of the world can eliminate material desire, restore heavenly Principle, extend knowing, make intention sincere, correct the mind, and cultivate the person -- then the world is at peace.

Family regulated, nation in order, world at peace: this is the learning of perfecting others, the work of renewing the people. To illuminate luminous virtue is to store the utmost good in one person. To renew the people is to store the utmost good in every person.

Yet there is still the fear: too sharp an advance leads to too swift a retreat. Beginning with diligence, ending with neglect. Starting and stopping, abandoned at the halfway point, defeated when success was near. Or encountering misfortune and being burdened by circumstance. Or one's good name not yet reaching those who matter, leading to regret born of obscurity.

Such situations are ones the Great Person has experienced many times and understands thoroughly.

Therefore one must broadly establish halls of learning, carefully select the line of teachers, teach according to each person's ability, and encourage, support, guide, and reward. Assist and shape: those in whom the Dao is bright and virtue established receive highest honors. Those who fail to cultivate and lose their conduct receive the lowest disgrace. Provide them stipends and exempt them from corvee labor. They shall be the foremost of the four classes of people, the orthodox heirs of sages and worthies.

Those whose arts are refined shall enter government service. Those whose Dao is lofty shall teach the foolish and transform the worthy. Rulers shall lead by earnest example. Officials shall not slacken in their duties. From near to far, from shallow to deep -- until righteousness is refined and benevolence ripened. Then one has fully developed nature and arrived at destiny, and the highest governance is achieved.

When the highest Principle governs, every household can be addressed in kind. The Dao does not press for quick results; what matters is that the work be accomplished through people. Laws established for ten thousand generations without decay -- only then is the resting point found and constancy endured.

Wait until heaven and earth are destroyed --
all that has form returns to the formless.
Do not grieve that dead wood meets the fire;
together rejoice in autumn's harvest, the western ingathering.
The supreme bliss of Huaxu, the peace of Wuhuai:
where there is no death, naturally there is no birth.
Rest, and wait for the Yin era;
make ready to descend once more to the Eastern City.
This is the cycle of end and origin:
autumn's harvest awaiting spring's new birth.

The frog in the well thinks heaven is small.
The summer insect cannot be told of solid ice.
These are all confined by what they have heard and seen,
unable to draw one analogy from another.
Push from one corner to infer the other three --
only then will you know the beginning and end of heaven and earth.

Walking the Dao, serving Heaven, bearing its command:
the three realms and the ten directions, all connected.
Below, delivering the ten thousand sentient kinds.
Above, delivering the stars of the Milky Way.
All connect to the utmost Principle of the Limitless --
and the Great Learning's work is complete.

These heavenly words were spoken;
praise me or blame me as you will.
Now to speak of investigating the world's things:
both ends unite -- only then complete.
One person's knowledge is limited;
the Two Greats' things are infinite.
One bamboo stalk, investigated for seven days --
when will the breakthrough come?
Leading the whole world down this road:
suffering to death, with nothing achieved.

The Reconciliation

The ancients said: even if you examine every book since the time of Fu Xi, cataloguing them by rank and kind; even if you investigate every object within the universe, comprehensively surveying all that moves and grows -- it is still a distant and diffuse search, with no bearing on the Way of illuminating luminous virtue and resting in the utmost good.

Does this mean the theory of investigating the world's things is wrong? Not at all -- it too is one aspect of the Great Learning. To investigate the things of the world is the Great Learning's work of seeking knowledge where knowledge is not yet attained. To eliminate material desire is the Great Learning's work of seeking to practice what is already known. Knowledge and action united -- this is the correct method of the Great Learning. Knowledge alone or action alone -- either is only one aspect.

For if you know but do not act, the Dao is not truly yours. If you act without knowing, you are pulling the sprouts to make them grow. When knowledge and action arrive together, substance and function are both embraced. Hold both ends and apply the center to the people -- the work of the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean is complete.

Though the things within and beyond the universe are without limit, the Way of the sage truly has a gate through which one may enter. If you grasp the essential point, the rest splits apart like bamboo. And what is this essential point?

The Dao is rooted in the Great Void. A single Breath flows through all things. In the large, it encompasses the transformation of heaven and earth and never exceeds them. In the small, it bends to complete each of the ten thousand things and misses none. Investigate from the side of the ten thousand things, and all things can be investigated. Investigate from the side of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth too can be investigated. If you can fix your gaze within the realm of no sound and no scent, then you will naturally grasp the truth beyond the mare and stallion, the dark horse and the yellow.

Though the things between heaven and earth are ten thousand varieties, trace them to their origin and they are nothing more than two: movement and stillness.

What is rooted in Heaven tends upward. Moving creatures have spirit; their spirits are linked to Heaven; their roots are above. Their great tribes are five: the feathered, the furred, the scaled, the shelled, and the naked.

What is rooted in Earth tends downward. Still creatures have no consciousness; their breath connects to the earth; their roots are below.

Beings rooted in Heaven are born from the union of three: spirit, breath, and form. Beings rooted in Earth are born from the union of two: breath and form alone. This is the number of yang odd and yin even.

Among still creatures, those that can be eaten and are called grains have five great kinds: root, ear, horn, vine, and hanging.

Rivers flow -- they are rooted in Heaven. Mountains stand -- they are rooted in Earth. "Heaven one generates water" -- yet the fire that leaps forth is born from Heaven. "Earth two generates fire" -- yet the clouds that rise from mountains and rivers come from Earth.

The male is rooted in the nine of Qian, yet functions through the lesser yin number eight. The female is rooted in the six of Kun, yet functions through the lesser yang number seven. This is the wonder of yin and yang being mutually rooted, water and fire mutually stored.

In the nations of the south, warmth is greater than cold, and women are more numerous than men -- nine transforming into eight, the great function of Qian residing in Li.

In the nations of the north, cold is greater than warmth, and men are more numerous than women -- six transforming into seven, the great function of Kun residing in Kan.

The sun rises in the east because wood generates fire. The moon rises in the west because metal generates water. The Prior Heaven trigrams are the ground plan of the Middle Kingdom, corresponding to the River Chart. The Later Heaven trigrams are the circulating Heaven of Breath, corresponding to the Luo Writing.

The Five Tribes

That moving creatures have five great tribes corresponds to the five phases of Heaven. That plants have five great grains corresponds to the five phases of Earth. That each tribe and each grain numbers three hundred and sixty: this is because Heaven has three hundred and sixty degrees, and Earth also has three hundred and sixty degrees. Among the five tribes, the male is yang and the female is yin. Among the five grains, those with lighter breath are yang, and those with heavier taste are yin. Yang foods reach the exterior when eaten; yin foods enter the interior. Heaven wraps around the outside of Earth; Earth sits within the center of Heaven -- each follows its own kind.

The male belongs to the nine of Qian. Nine transforming to eight: therefore a boy grows his first teeth at eight months, his yang essence becomes active at twice eight, and his cycle is complete at eight times eight. The female belongs to the six of Kun. Six transforming to seven: therefore a girl grows her first teeth at seven months, her heavenly water arrives at twice seven, and her cycle is complete at seven times seven.

The natures of the five tribes are each distinct:

The Feathered Tribe belongs to fire. They are born from the breath of the summer solstice. The nature of fire flames upward -- therefore they can fly. Fire governs brilliance -- therefore their plumage is vivid and splendid. Fire governs propriety -- therefore mandarin ducks do not mate promiscuously, knowing the rites between male and female; and wild geese fly in orderly lines, knowing the rites of elder and younger. Their tribe numbers three hundred and sixty, and the phoenix is their chief.

The Furred Tribe belongs to wood. They are born from the breath of the spring equinox. The yang breath first emerges, and the hexagram is called Great Strength -- therefore camels, mules, elephants, and horses are powerful and serve human labor. They eat grass, and so their fur resembles grass. The nature of wood is benevolent -- therefore cattle and horses do not eat living creatures. Their tribe numbers three hundred and sixty, and the qilin is their chief.

Feathered insects mostly nest in trees because the nature of fire rises. Furred insects do not nest in trees but dwell on the ground because the nature of wood is level. Spring and summer lie east of the north-south axis: wood and fire are one family -- east three plus south two together make five.

The Scaled Tribe belongs to water. They are born from the breath of the winter solstice. The nature of water flows downward -- therefore they lurk in the deep. Water governs wisdom -- therefore the divine dragon transforms, dwelling in heaven and in the abyss, now rain, now cloud. Water becoming breath is cloud; cloud becoming rain is water. Becoming cloud, it ascends from earth to heaven. Becoming rain, it descends from heaven to earth. Water benefits all things without competing, avoids the high and seeks the low, fills each hollow as it flows, combines all five colors, fits all shapes both square and round -- this is why water holds first place among the five phases. Fish can transform into dragons, and the kun-fish can transform into the peng-bird -- this is the spirit of water. The kun transforming into the peng is water becoming fire. The sparrow transforming into the clam is fire becoming water. One shows the mutual storing of water and fire; the other shows the transformation of the two breaths. Their tribe numbers three hundred and sixty, and the dragon is their chief.

The Shelled Tribe belongs to metal. They are born from the breath of the autumn equinox. The breath descends but has not yet gone deep -- therefore they are half aquatic, half terrestrial. The nature of metal is hard -- therefore their shells are worn on the outside. Metal governs the lungs, and the lungs govern breath -- therefore the tortoise regulates its breathing and does not eat; its breath can communicate, and so the tortoise has foreknowledge. Metal governs righteousness -- therefore the tortoise tells people of fortune and misfortune, helping them know what to seek and what to avoid. Their tribe numbers three hundred and sixty, and the tortoise is their chief.

Autumn lies west of the north-south axis: metal and water are one family -- north one plus west four together make five.

The wood and fire tribes, born from the ascending breath of yang, have many voices and sounds -- for expression belongs to fire, which radiates outward. Their energy scatters into feathers and fur and does not produce pearls. The metal and water tribes, born from the descending breath of yin, have few voices and sounds -- for their breath is contained within. Their energy gathers inward, and so they produce pearls. The immortal crane cultivates the spirit -- refining what is above. The numinous tortoise regulates the breath -- refining what is below.

The Naked Tribe belongs to earth. They are born from the central breath. Therefore the four beginnings are all present, and the five virtues are whole and complete. Without depending on feathers, fur, scales, or shells, they dwell in palaces and wear crowns of office. They pattern themselves on heaven and earth, eat the five grains, and keep the four spirit-beasts as domesticated animals. They act not alone but in community; their knowledge is not partial but encompassing. The three bonds and five constants, the nine degrees of kinship and ten forms of righteousness -- standing in the center of the three powers, they are the most numinous of the ten thousand creatures. Sages, worthies, immortals, and Buddhas are cultivated from this; the Dao, virtue, literature, and learning issue from this. They create rites and compose music, distinguishing themselves from the beasts. They calculate the calendar and illuminate the seasons, patterning themselves on heaven and earth. Their tribe numbers three hundred and sixty, and the sage is their chief.

The Five Tones

This Earth occupies the center and responds to all eight directions. Wu and Ji naturally reside at the generating number five, uniting East three, South two, North one, and West four into one. Exhale on the odd, inhale on the even -- these form nine and six. The three-part diminishing and augmenting is the source of the five tones and six pitchpipes. The odd proceeds forward, the even proceeds backward -- these form one and two. One breath is the hexagram of Return and the hexagram of Encounter -- this is the root of the River Chart and the Luo Writing.

One and two combine in harmony to produce pitch and rhythm. The throat produces Gong: it occupies the center and governs the sounds of the upper teeth, the tongue, the lips, and the lower teeth.

The tip of the tongue is red, connects to the heart, and belongs to fire -- it carries the breath of the summer solstice. Therefore its tone is Zhi.

The lower lip belongs to water -- it carries the breath of the winter solstice. Yang lies hidden below. Its tone is Yu, and its breath issues from the kidneys.

The upper teeth are near the tongue. Wood and fire are one family -- it carries the breath of the spring equinox. Yang rises but has not yet climbed high. It belongs to the liver meridian. Its tone is Jue.

The lower teeth are near the lips. Metal and water are one family -- the breath of the autumn equinox, descending but not yet deep. It belongs to the lung meridian. Its tone is Shang.

Though Zhi, Jue, Shang, and Yu are four tones, all issue from the throat. They are unified by the spleen meridian and belong to earth. Earth is the master of the four phases -- therefore Gong is the sovereign.

Gong's number is eighty-one; what is greatest is most honored. Shang's number is seventy-two, second to Gong -- therefore it is the minister. Jue's number is sixty-four, second to Shang -- therefore it is the people. Zhi's number is fifty-four, second again to Jue -- therefore it is affairs. Yu's number is forty-eight, second again to Zhi -- therefore it is things: what is small and lowly.

The numbers of the five tones are all rooted in the odd yang of the winter solstice. The breath of the five tones is rooted in Heaven -- therefore they use one as their root. The breath of the six pitchpipes is rooted in Earth -- therefore they also employ the earth-number two. Thus the lü pitchpipes begin at nine and the lǚ pitchpipes begin at six. Old Yang and Old Yin are the father and mother of all sounds and all instruments. From this, measures of length and weight are also derived. Even the feathered dances and the shield-and-axe dances can be traced from this.

The Zhi tone is the breath of the summer solstice. The nature of fire flames upward: where there is this breath, there must be this pattern. Therefore the form of its dance is called "rising high beyond all."

The Jue tone is the breath of the spring equinox. Its expression radiates outward. Therefore the form of its dance is called "advancing bravely and straight."

The Shang tone is the breath of the autumn equinox. Its breath governs gathering in. Therefore the form of its dance is called "drawing inward."

The Yu tone is the breath of the winter solstice. Its breath lies hidden below. Therefore the form of its dance is called "low and self-tending."

The Gong tone resides in the center and responds outward. That which resides in the center is the pure Gong -- therefore the form of its dance is called "cultivating the self alone." This is the great person in a lesser position. That which responds outward is the turbid Gong -- the form of its dance is called "making all under heaven good." This is the great person in a high position.

Sound has four qualities: light, clear, heavy, and turbid -- these are the four images within sound. Light and clear are rooted in Heaven and face outward. Heavy and turbid are rooted in Earth and face inward.

Light sound issues from the outer tongue -- this is the sound of the Primum Mobile, the Heaven Without Form.

Clear sound issues from the tip of the tongue -- this is the sound of the fixed and wandering stars, the Heaven of Form.

Heavy sound issues from the middle of the tongue -- the sound of the earth's exterior.

Turbid sound issues from the back of the tongue -- the sound of the earth's interior.

Within each of the five tones there are light, clear, heavy, and turbid divisions. This is why the sè-zither has twenty-five strings: twenty-five is the number of five times five. The sè strings begin at five but afterward become seven, because beyond the five proper positions of the mouth -- upper teeth, tongue, lips, lower teeth, and throat -- there are also the half-tongue shift and the half-teeth shift: Zhi transforming into Yu. Therefore two more strings are added, the literary and the martial, making seven.

Five phases, seven governors, eight trigrams, nine palaces, twelve stations, three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter degrees -- and then the cycle returns to its beginning: one revolution of the heavens. This is the origin of the five, seven, eight, nine, and twelve tones rotating to become Palace in turn.

In the cosmos, where there is this breath there is this form. Where there is this form there is this affair. Where there is this affair, there are omens fair and foul, order and disorder -- rise and fall, survival and ruin divide from this.

Music at its height can supplement what the eight winds lack and restrain what the movements of breath have in excess -- supporting the weak, restraining the strong, diminishing surplus and supplementing deficit. How great is the importance of music!

Extending by category: light sound communicates with the Principle of Wuji. When sacrificing to the spirits of the Heaven of Principle, play light sound. Clear sound communicates with the Breath of Taiji. When sacrificing to the spirits of the Heaven of Breath, play clear sound. Heavy sound communicates with the surface of the earth. When sacrificing to the spirits of mountains, rivers, and the altars of soil and grain, play heavy sound. Turbid sound communicates with the dark realm. When sacrificing to the spirits of deepest yin, play turbid sound.

Light is Old Yang. Turbid is Old Yin. Clear is Young Yin. Heavy is Young Yang.

When ritual and music are in proper sequence, heaven and earth take their places and the ten thousand things are nourished. When ritual and music lose their sequence, the four seasons are disordered, yin and yang reverse their norms, and plagues, pestilence, and monstrous disasters appear -- the life-force of the ten thousand things can hardly fulfill itself.

Ritual distinguishes the ranks of high and low, male and female. Music harmonizes the feelings of above and below, yin and yang. Without ritual, there is no reverence. Without music, there is no intimacy.

When ritual is excessive, it produces separation -- fearing that there is reverence but no intimacy, music is composed to harmonize it. When music is excessive, it produces dissolution -- fearing that there is intimacy but no reverence, ritual is established to restrain it. Ritual restrains and music harmonizes: this is the great authority by which kings and teachers of all ages govern things on behalf of Heaven. Beyond this, there are rewards, punishments, and governance to supplement where ritual and music cannot reach.

Heaven is originally one, but as the primordial breath circulates, high and low differ, clear and turbid diverge, and the speed of its motion varies unevenly.

The Nine Heavenly Spheres

The Primum Mobile has both breath and form. Its position is the highest, its ritual the utmost pure, its motion the fastest. Its degrees cannot be directly observed, so the degrees of the fixed stars are taken as its measure.

The fixed stars reside above the wandering stars. Following the Primum Mobile in their motion, they circle the earth once per day and advance one degree beyond it. In somewhat more than thirty days they move through one station. In three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days they complete one revolution of the heavens -- this is called one year.

Saturn borders the fixed stars. Its motion is slightly delayed -- it falls behind the fixed stars by one degree every twenty-eight days, moves through one station in twenty-eight months, and completes one revolution in twenty-eight years. The Primum Mobile is the upper line of the Qian trigram. The Heaven of the Fixed Stars is the middle line of Qian. The Heaven of Saturn is the lower line of Qian. These three heavens together form Qian, and their collective name is "The movement of Heaven is vigorous."

Jupiter resides below Saturn. It falls behind the fixed stars by one degree every twelve days, moves through one station in twelve months, and completes one revolution in twelve years. Mars resides below Jupiter. It falls behind the fixed stars by one degree every two days, moves through one station in two months, and completes one revolution in two years. The Sun resides below Mars. It falls behind the fixed stars by one degree each day, moves through one station in one month, and completes one revolution in one year. Wood and fire are one family: together they form the Li trigram. Jupiter is the initial line of Li, Mars is the middle line, and the Sun is the completing line. Qian is pure yang, therefore its movement is vigorous. Li contains one yin within, therefore it is next in vigor after Qian.

Venus and Mercury reside below the Sun. Their orbital circuits are roughly similar to that of the Sun, yet each has its own periods of concealment, station, delay, speed, advance, and retreat. In general: when near the Sun they move slowly, when far from the Sun they move quickly. When at the same degree as the Sun, they are concealed. When they precede the Sun, they appear at dawn -- this is called the Morning Star. When they follow the Sun, they appear at dusk -- this is called the Evening Star.

The Moon resides below Venus and Mercury, moving more slowly still. It falls behind the fixed stars by thirteen and seven-nineteenths degrees each day. In twenty-seven and a half days it meets the Heaven of the Fixed Stars; in twenty-nine and a half days it meets the Sun. Venus is the initial line of the Kan trigram, Mercury is the middle line, and the Moon is the completing line. Metal and water are one family: together they form Kan. The Kan trigram has two yin and one yang, therefore its movement is slow.

One month is thirty days. One year is twelve months. Three hundred sixty days is the proper number of a year. But the Sun meets the heavens in three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days -- the surplus of five and one-quarter days is called the breath excess. Thirty days is the proper number of a month. But the Sun and Moon meet in only twenty-nine and a half days -- a deficit. Therefore a year has six short months. For if no short month is placed in the second month, the moon would be full on the fourteenth. If none is placed by the fourth month, the moon would be full on the thirteenth. If no short months are placed in a year, the moon would be full before even the tenth day. The placement of short months corrects the new and full moons. The placement of intercalary months corrects the four seasons.

The breath excess is five days with a remainder -- therefore, to know next year's spring from this year, add five days and three double-hours. Adding the new-moon deficit of nearly six days: "To find next year's spring, add eleven." This is why five years have two intercalary months.

The nine heavenly spheres: the upper three form Qian, the middle three form Li, the lower three form Kan. Below them is the earth, which is Kun. Above the earth's surface, the five sacred mountains and all other peaks are the earth within heaven. The four seas and hundred rivers are the heaven within earth. Add to these the flying, the submerged, the moving, and the rooted -- all dwelling together between them.

Death and birth succeed each other. In general, the transition from movement into stillness is the initial line of Kun. Descending further, the earth and stone are pure and clean -- this is the middle line of Kun. Descending further still, springs of water arise -- movement within stillness -- this is the final line of Kun. Kun's initial line passes from movement into stillness, descending from heaven to earth. Kun's final line passes from stillness into movement, ascending from earth to heaven. Kun's middle line is the essential body of earth's stillness.

The Four Great Continents

Heaven's degrees number three hundred and sixty, and the earth's degrees are likewise. The earth's nature is square in character but round in form, high at the center and low at the four sides. The high places are mountains, the low places are water. Three hundred and sixty degrees, each of the four sides receiving ninety degrees -- these form the Four Great Continents.

Jambūdvīpa, the Southern Continent, spans ninety degrees. Its mountains anchor the northwest, its marshes drain to the southeast -- high in the north, low in the south. Where the land is high, earth predominates and heaven is slight, so earth is the master. Where the land is low, heaven predominates and earth is slight, so heaven is the master. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Water originates in the west and flows to the east. Yang arises in the northeast, yin arises in the southwest. When yang arises, cold gives way to warmth. When yin arises, warmth gives way to cold. In this continent the sun rises in the east and reaches its zenith in the south -- therefore the post-heaven Li trigram is placed in the south.

The land of Uttarakuru, the Northern Continent, is high in the south and low in the north. The sun rises in the west and reaches its zenith in the north. Its post-heaven Li trigram is placed in the north. Pūrvavideha, the Eastern Continent, is high in the west and low in the east. The sun rises in the north and reaches its zenith in the east. Its post-heaven Li trigram is placed in the east. Aparagodānīya, the Western Continent, is high in the east and low in the west. The sun rises in the south and reaches its zenith in the west. Its post-heaven Li trigram is placed in the west.

From the sun one can deduce the moon. From the moon, the stars. From the stars, the four continents. The differences in climate are approximately these: between the northern and southern continents, the four quarters differ by two. Between the eastern and western continents, they differ by one. When it is noon here, it is midnight there; when midnight here, noon there. Between the south and the east or west, the quarters differ by one. The Southern Continent's noon is the Eastern Continent's Rooster hour and the Western Continent's Rabbit hour. The rest may be inferred by analogy.

One degree of earth measures two hundred and fifty li. From the Central Peak, traveling two hundred and fifty li south, warmth arrives one day earlier. Two hundred and fifty li north, cold arrives one day earlier. This is the reason the River Chart places Two and Seven in the south and One and Six in the north.

The full circumference of three hundred and sixty degrees is ninety thousand li. Each continent spans twenty-two thousand five hundred li. The circumference is three to the diameter's one, and the earth's thickness is thirty thousand li.

The Southern Continent sits atop the earth: the sun, moon, and stars are above, and above is above. The Northern Continent sits beneath the earth: the sun, moon, and stars are below, and below is above. Yet the Southern Continent's eastern sea should be the Northern Continent's western sea -- but the people of the Northern Continent also call it the eastern sea. If heaven above the earth is above, then heaven below the earth should be below -- yet the people of the Northern Continent also say heaven is above.

This is the Dao: as a thing, it is undivided; in generating things, it is unfathomable. At its utmost, even the sages have that which they do not know. Heaven wraps the earth from without. The earth dwells at the center of heaven. The utmost Principle does not move -- congealing, it becomes earth. The great breath circulates -- accumulating, it becomes heaven. Principle bears the great breath. Breath bears the great earth. Earth bears the myriad kinds. Birds fly through the void and forget it is void. Fish swim through water and forget it is water. Yet when humans rise into the void they fall, and when they sink into water they drown -- because their endowed breath is different.

The Moon and Cosmic Time

The great Dao knows all things but does not speak. The myriad things follow it but do not know it.

The moon has no light of its own -- it borrows the sun's light for its light. Brightness is born where the sun shines. Darkness is born where it does not. The bright side is yang, the hun-soul, the unbroken line of the odd yao. The dark side is yin, the po-soul, the broken line of the even yao.

At the dark of the month, the moon is pure yin without yang -- the Kun hexagram. "Kun gains companions in the southwest": waxing through three and five, it fills, generating Zhen, Dui, and Qian. "Losing companions in the northeast": waning through three and five, it empties, generating Xun, Gen, and Kun. The eight trigrams contain only six because the sun and moon are themselves Kan and Li. The six yao lines are in truth eight because the nine and the six are also Kan and Li.

Heaven's three hundred and sixty degrees, when the root degrees of heaven, earth, sun, and moon are added, come to three hundred and eighty-four. The Changes' three hundred and eighty-four yao lines, when the root yao of Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li are subtracted, likewise come to three hundred and sixty -- the number of use. One month is thirty days. One year is twelve months: three hundred and sixty days -- these are the three hundred and sixty yao, the Great Cosmic Cycle, governed by the breath of the Luo Writing. One day is twelve double-hours. One month is thirty days: three hundred and sixty double-hours -- these are likewise three hundred and sixty yao, the Small Cosmic Cycle, governed by the images of the eight trigrams.

Extending further: one epoch contains three hundred and sixty periods. One era contains three hundred and sixty ages. One period spans three hundred and sixty years. One age spans three hundred and sixty months. One month spans three hundred and sixty double-hours. The Great and Small Cosmic Cycles both use three hundred and sixty because it is the accumulation of six sixes. Three hundred and sixty makes six sexagenary cycles. Six divides into three phases and two circuits. The three phases require two circuits because from Zi to Wu are the three phases of yang ascending, and from Wu to Zi are the three phases of yin descending. Yang ascending and yin descending -- the Great Ultimate generating the Two Modes. In general, when yang ascends, things pass from nonexistence into existence. When yin ascends, things pass from existence into nonexistence. Within each epoch there are two modes, which are the Jiazi and the Jiawu. Within each pair of modes there arise another pair, which are the Jimao and the Jiyou -- and the Four Images are divided.

One month spans three hundred and sixty double-hours. From the new moon to the full, one hundred and eighty double-hours: the moon's light passes from nothing to being. At the full, it reaches the extreme of existence. From the full moon to the new, one hundred and eighty double-hours: the moon's light passes from being to nothing. At the dark, it reaches the extreme of nonexistence.

One epoch spans three hundred and sixty periods. From heaven opening at the Zi era to the Si era, one hundred and eighty periods: things pass from nonexistence into existence. From the Wu era, when the Dao opens, to the Hai era, one hundred and eighty periods: things pass from existence into nonexistence. Heaven opens at Zi and ends at Hai. Humanity arises at Yin and ends at Shen.

When a human being nears death, the primordial breath weakens and essence and blood become insufficient. When essence and blood are insufficient, the vital fluids dry up. When water no longer restrains fire, the sovereign fire and minister fire seize the weakness and blaze upward. The lungs -- metal -- are injured, and phlegm, wheezing, and shortness of breath arise. What should descend cannot descend, and the condition is beyond cure.

But when a human being is alive and strong, vigorous breath generates essence. Full essence generates blood. Abundant blood generates vital fluids. The vital fluids fill and moisten the hundred bones. The sovereign fire and minister fire lie dormant and do not rise: the ears hear clearly, the eyes see sharply, the breath is regulated, the spirit is harmonious, and the hundred illnesses do not arise. When the breath weakens, the blood grows deficient. When the blood is deficient, it cannot restrain the fire. The fire seizes the weakness and blazes -- and the appointed time of death arrives.

The empty fire of the human body is the catastrophe fire of the cosmos.

The Catastrophe Fire and the Return to Principle

A human life lasts no more than a hundred years. Its birth and death, all people can see. But heaven opened at the Zi era, earth parted at the Chou era, humanity arose at the Yin era. Heaven opened at Zi and ends at Xu. Earth parted at Chou and ends at You. Humanity arose at Yin and ends at Shen -- for heaven is greater than earth, and earth is greater than humanity.

Heaven's primordial breath is born at Zi and reaches its peak at Si. It declines from Wu and reaches its nadir at Hai. The Hai era is where the previous kalpa ends and the post-heaven is about to begin.

The fire of the Sun's wheel and of Mars above is the sovereign fire. The fire within the earth -- coal, charcoal, and sulfur -- is the minister fire. The fire within the earth relies on rivers, lakes, and seas to restrain it, so the earth's fire benefits without harming. The fire above relies on Mercury, the Moon, and the Milky Way to restrain it, so heaven's fire benefits without harming.

When the primordial breath weakens, rain and dew diminish. Rivers and seas shrink day by day. As water wanes, fire grows fierce. As fire grows fiercer, water can no longer overcome it, and the vital force dies.

I observe the great oceans -- ten thousand leagues of vast waters. Even a hundred years without rain would not dry them completely. But for humanity and all creatures, not even a hundred years are needed: ten years without rain and all is long since finished. Moreover, in the age of extreme decline, a hundred diseases arise together. Even if there is rain, the decay grows daily more extreme, the vital force daily more withered -- the world can no longer endure.

Therefore, the human world need not wait for the age of extreme decline. Heaven moves in advance of the crisis. Immortals and Buddhas are born in response to the occasion. Yao and Shun first opened the Dao Lineage. The Three Teachings followed in succession like the three legs of a tripod. Buddhism transmits the True Void. Daoism transmits the Wondrous Nonbeing. Confucianism sweeps away the sensory habits of the people, knowing that what is "like a hair" is not yet it -- one must exhaust the search until reaching "no sound, no scent."

Indeed, what is "like a hair" has not yet departed from image. "No sound, no scent" has departed from breath. Departing from image, departing from breath -- one arrives at the Principle of the Limitless. The Principle of the Limitless is precisely Buddhism's True Void and Daoism's Wondrous Being. To return to Principle is to return to the Limitless Heaven of Principle, to revert to the root and restore the beginning, and to transcend beyond the kalpa.

For the catastrophe fire brings calamity only to things that have form and image -- not to the formless Principle and Spirit. The one who opens heaven and gathers heaven is the Unborn True Sovereign. Those who carry out this work are the sages and worthies of the Three Realms. Original true nature, not waiting for the era of decline, returns together to the homeland of Ultimate Bliss. At this time, above -- all the constellations of heaven; below -- the shadowy spirits of the Ten Courts: all share this Dao and return together to Principle. The original natures of the Three Assemblies return together to the Limitless -- and the Great Kalpa arrives.

When the Great Kalpa arrives, rain and dew cease to fall, and rivers and seas all dry up. The Moon is the essence of water. When water has dried, what essence remains? The fire within the earth, dormant and unrising, was restrained by rivers and seas. The rivers and seas are now exhausted -- the earth's fire emerges. The fire of the Sun and Mars does not descend because the Moon's water holds it at bay. The water-essence now gone -- the fire of heaven descends.

The two fires meet. All things burn. Mountains become ash. Earth becomes dust. The fierce wind scatters the rubble into the void -- and the second chaos arrives.

When the Zi era comes again, the natures of the constellations receive the mandate and open heavenly Principle. Where Principle arrives, breath is born. Where breath moves, form is born. When breath is full and form is complete, all flows and operates. The ash of the previous kalpa is kneaded into a single mass -- and the earth is born.

Earth's form is set. The natures of mountains, rivers, plants, and trees descend. Principle again generates breath, breath again generates form -- and the earth is opened at the Chou era. Heaven moves above, earth is still below, and between them is emptiness. The natures of humans and creatures descend. Principle again generates breath, breath again generates form. Humanity is born at the Yin era -- and the world is established.

When the Wu era arrives -- in the eleventh period, sixth age, twentieth year, before the full moon of the sixth month of the guiwei year -- the Man of the Eastern Mountain once again in Jingmen expounds the Great Learning, elucidating how to return from form to breath, from breath to Principle: the final Dao, where heaven and human intersect, and the Gathering is accomplished. This is the general outline of "investigating things and extending knowledge."

Wandering like duckweed, busy with a hundred tasks, the brush can hardly record everything. Gaps and omissions await the future.

For "investigating things" in the sense of investigating material desires is the focused study of honoring one's moral nature. "Investigating things" in the sense of investigating the affairs of the world is the broad study of pursuing scholarly inquiry. Focused without breadth, one has substance without function -- one can leave the world but cannot enter it. Broad without focus, one has function without substance -- one can enter the world but cannot leave it. Those biased toward entering the world cling to being and are blind to the great Dao of exhausting nature and fulfilling destiny. Those biased toward leaving the world cling to nonbeing and are blind to the great authority of governing the realm and saving the world.

Therefore the Doctrine of the Mean says: "Honor the moral nature and pursue scholarly inquiry" -- encompassing both substance and function, arriving at both knowledge and practice. Then one neither ascends into stubborn emptiness nor falls into clinging to form. Utterly beautiful, utterly good, perfectly centered and supremely upright -- the Way of the Great Learning is attained, the study of the great person is complete.

This supplements the chapter on "investigating things and extending knowledge." The nine chapters of the transmitted commentary are all extant -- I need not add further elaboration. Those who aspire to learning may read them together.

Zhu Xi and Lu Xiangshan both possessed lofty natural endowment and refined scholarly discipline. The one who honored moral nature could proceed from the root to reach the branches. The one who pursued scholarly inquiry could trace the stream back to the source. When it came to reaching the summit, both arrived at the same destination by different paths. Therefore the two masters, separated at first, were united in the end. Master Wang Yangming possessed both substance and function: in martial affairs, he could pacify rebellion; in the Dao, he could transmit the mind. Regrettably, his commentaries and writings were not extensive, so he remained ranked among the two corridors and had not yet been paired with the Ten Sages. Master Han Yu of Changhe initially reviled Buddhism and slandered Laozi, but in his later years finally returned to the Dao -- through the power of the Zhenren Mumu.

The Chain of the Great Learning

Those of antiquity who wished to illuminate luminous virtue throughout the realm first governed their states. Those who wished to govern their states first ordered their families. Those who wished to order their families first cultivated their persons. Those who wished to cultivate their persons first rectified their minds. Those who wished to rectify their minds first made sincere their intentions. Those who wished to make sincere their intentions first extended their knowledge. The extension of knowledge lies in the investigation of things.

When things are investigated, knowledge is extended. When knowledge is extended, intentions become sincere. When intentions become sincere, the mind is rectified. When the mind is rectified, the person is cultivated. When the person is cultivated, the family is ordered. When the family is ordered, the state is governed. When the state is governed, the realm is at peace.

The Three Factions and the Decline of the Song

At our dynasty's founding, all the sages deeply entered the ocean of Buddhism. Therefore they could continue the Dao from Yao and Shun and surpass the Han and Tang in governance. Yet Emperor Wu of Liang lost his kingdom through devotion to Buddhism. Perhaps because Number had so decreed -- yet I fear the Dao lies in what humans make of it.

The Duke of Zhou used the Rites of Zhou to open the eight-hundred-year foundation of the Western Zhou. Yet Wang Anshi used the Rites of Zhou to disorder the Northern Song's half-realm. When a righteous person practices a crooked law, the crooked law returns entirely to righteousness. When a crooked person practices a righteous law, the righteous law also becomes crooked.

Liu Bei escaped danger at Tanxi on the horse Dilu. Pang Tong died at Luofeng on the same horse Dilu. This is destiny.

Wang Anshi was honored in Emperor Shenzong's ancestral temple for forty years. The Northern Song did not fall because of Wang Anshi. Yet all say Wang Anshi used the Rites of Zhou to disorder the Song. The Song's disorder arose from the blades of the Liao and Jin. Even had the Zhou and Cheng masters both been present, they might not have prevailed. This is heaven.

Wang Anshi was supremely proud. Yet when he came alone to call at Zhou Dunyi's gate, Master Zhou would not see him. Three times he came to the gate, and three times he was turned away. Finally, in great vexation, he said: "Can I not go home and seek it in the Six Classics?"

Master Zhou had received the true transmission of the mind-method of Confucius and Mencius. Most of Wang Anshi's conduct relied on talent and scorned others -- this is why Master Zhou turned him away. Wang Anshi never obtained the mind-method, yet studied books with bitter determination. Though he read thoroughly, the essential subtleties did not penetrate. Added to this, Emperor Shenzong aimed high and pursued the distant, considering the laws of his ancestors lowly and near, unable to satisfy his ambitions. Therefore Wang Anshi's techniques for enriching the state found entrance -- for the techniques of enriching the state are conspicuous. Though the Zhou and Cheng masters' learning was refined and their cultivation pure, they could not gain the court's trust -- for theirs was the subtle. Because their perspectives differed, their arguments diverged. They envied each other, and right and wrong were born.

Wang Anshi had learning without the Dao. His difference from the Zhou and Cheng masters was inherent. Yet even Su Shi of Mount Emei did not get along with Master Cheng. From this perspective, the splitting into three factions was not the fault of Wang Anshi alone. In truth, national destiny was due to decline, and this caused it.

At the end of the Han, factions split and the Han fell. In the middle of the Song, factions split and the Song declined. When scholarship splits first, rivers and mountains split after. Where there is the subtle cause, there must be its manifest effect.

Those who hold a state, at such times, must select the worthy, employ the able, accumulate virtue, and practice benevolence -- only then may things be reversed.

The decline of the Northern Song began when the cuckoo cried in Luoyang. Then the three factions split beneath the palace gates. Then the Jin entered the Central Plain. The arrival of calamity and auspice: subtle at first, manifest at the end. The momentum of rise and fall -- nothing goes forth that does not return. The divine knows in advance of the crisis. The sage acts upon seeing the crisis. The fool misses the crisis and goes against the times.

The Doctrine of the Mean

The Two Heavens and the Fish in Water

What is heaven? It is Principle, and it is Breath.

The Breath-heaven turns the constellations above and penetrates the great earth below. Cold comes, heat goes; its cycling never ceases. Where it has accumulated thickly and has color, it is called the azure vault. Where it has not yet thickened and is formless, it is called the void. The azure vault and the void are both heaven -- where Breath is everywhere, heaven is everywhere.

From the moment a person is born, the first cry draws this Breath in through the mouth and nose -- the Breath of the void is the Breath-heaven. This Breath, divided through mouth and nose and given to the person, is called destiny. What a person receives from heaven's mandate and lives by is called nature. Therefore it is said: "What heaven mandates is called the nature." This is the destiny of Breath and Number, the nature of the Breath-endowment.

Heaven and humanity share the same Breath. Yet people differ in wisdom and folly, worthiness and baseness, long life and early death, poverty and fortune -- ten thousand differences, none alike. Why?

Though this Breath is one undifferentiated mass, it divides into the Yin Principle and the Yang Principle.

The Yang Principle rises from below the nine depths of earth at the winter solstice, becoming Return. Over one hundred and eighty-two days and a fraction, it ascends to the nine heights of heaven and becomes the pure month of Qian -- six Yang lines unbroken. Within this Yang span of one hundred eighty-two days, ninety days and a fraction are Spring, and ninety days and a fraction are Summer. Spring corresponds to the River Chart's Eight -- the number of Lesser Yin. Summer corresponds to the River Chart's Seven -- the number of Lesser Yang.

Spring's number on the River Chart is Three-Eight: Lesser Yang within, Lesser Yin without. On the Luo Writing, Spring occupies the left position of Three -- pure Lesser Yang. Summer occupies the position of Nine above -- pure Greater Yang. After the summer solstice comes the position of Two -- Lesser Yin. Before the winter solstice comes the position of Six -- Greater Yin. This is the principle of Yin and Yang rooting in each other -- and the Four Images are distinguished.

Extending this further: to the Eight Trigrams, to the Sixty-Four Hexagrams, to the Three Hundred and Eighty-Four Lines, expanded to the Eleven Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty Strategy-Numbers -- and the degrees of heaven are fully fixed! The origins of transformation are made manifest! Wisdom and foolishness, worthiness and baseness, long life and early death, poverty and fortune: all are distinguished from this.

Add to this the Twenty-Eight Mansions, which move attached to heaven. At the moment a person is born and receives the mandate, they stand under the exact Breath of a particular Mansion at a particular degree. Arriving precisely at that conjunction, the Breath enters -- and that person's nature takes on the character of that Mansion. Since the Mansions have auspicious and inauspicious natures, people have good and evil. As for destiny, it is further determined by the interplay of Spring and Autumn, cold and heat, new moon and full, waxing and waning, the generating and overcoming of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches at the day and hour of birth. This is why the Breath-endowed nature has ten thousand differences, none alike. This is what is received from the Breath-heaven after birth.

But the original nature -- the heaven-bestowed destiny -- comes from the Principle-heaven.

The Breath-heaven turns the constellations above and penetrates the great earth below. One hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years make a single cycle -- flowing without rest, changing yet constant. The Principle-heaven penetrates within the Breath-heaven and is lord of the Desire Realm and the Form Realm. Though it does not separate from Breath, it is truly not mixed with Breath. Beyond the Desire Realm and the Form Realm, it stands alone, leaving Breath behind -- and this is the Formless Realm: still and unmoving, constant and unchanging.

The heaven that flows without rest and changes with constancy is formless yet has traces. The heaven that is constant and unchanged -- form and trace both vanish.

What is formless yet has traces enters through gaps and arrives through movement. What has neither form nor trace enters without gaps and arrives without movement. Within and beyond the Three Realms, pervading above and below, in all four directions and eight quarters -- all is Principle. And Principle is what is called the Truth of the Limitless.

When heaven and earth interact, they are the Two Fives. When male and female interact, they are the Two Fives. When the Two Fives interact, the Truth of the Limitless is blended within all of it, without exception. The Two Fives have form, and generate formed substance. The Limitless has no form, and creates formless nature. Nature is what is spoken of in terms of what people and things receive.

The Limitless does not fall into Yin or Yang, does not divide into the Five Elements -- it is utterly whole, utterly pure. Therefore, the heaven-bestowed destiny, the original nature, is the same for Yao and Shun as for the common person. This is what is received from the Principle-heaven before birth. This too is: "What heaven mandates is called the nature."

What is received from the Principle-heaven: the spirit is the Primordial Spirit, and the mind is the Mind of the Dao. Its gate opens through the eyes.

What is received from the Breath-heaven: the spirit is the Discerning Spirit, and the mind is the human mind. Its gate opens through the mouth and nose.

Therefore: a person's eyes connect to the Principle-heaven. The mouth and nose connect to the Breath-heaven. Like fish in water -- connected, yet they do not know their connection.

What prevents the great connection -- the final union of self and heaven -- is the pulling of material desire and the veiling of emotional thought. The original nature is veiled by emotional thought. Emotional thought is enslaved by material burdens. Thus one mistakes the false for the true, chases delusion and abandons reality, drifts through birth and death -- and the Gates of Ghosts and the Gates of Beasts are entered, while the Gates of the Worthy and the Domains of the Sage are abandoned. This is why the nature must be led.

The Three Canons and the Way of Centrality

Master Zhu said: to lead means to follow. To follow the Breath and turn it, one enters the Gates of the Worthy. To still the Breath and merge with Spirit, one enters the Domains of the Sage. To enter the Gates of the Worthy means returning Breath to the Taiji-heaven. To enter the Domains of the Sage means returning Spirit to the Wuji-heaven. To know one's Breath and nourish it until it fills heaven and earth -- this is the Way of the worthy. To know one's Spirit and concentrate it until it encompasses heaven and earth -- this is the Way of the sage. Therefore it is said: "To lead the nature is called the Way."

"What heaven mandates is called the nature" -- this is the Great Learning's "luminous virtue."
"To lead the nature is called the Way" -- this is the Great Learning's "illuminating luminous virtue."
"To cultivate the Way is called teaching" -- this is the Great Learning's "renewing the people."

The Three Canons of the Great Learning are the Three Canons of the Doctrine of the Mean.

The Great Learning is the study of greatness -- and what is greatest is heaven. Therefore Tang Yao modeled himself on heaven. Confucius measured by heaven, joined heaven, matched heaven. The "leading" of "leading the nature" is the "following" of "without transgression, without forgetting, following the old canons."

Transgression means going too far -- the worthy and wise who go too far often enter stubborn emptiness. Forgetting means falling short -- those of lowly temperament who fall short often sink into mere gain. Both are partial and not centered.

Without transgression, without forgetting: one knows the old endowment that the Luminous Lord gave to me, and follows it. To know its substance is called centrality. To reach its function is called the ordinary.

For when joy, anger, sorrow, and delight have not yet arisen -- that is the centrality of substance, the learning of the Inner Sage. To hold both ends and apply the center to the people -- that is the centrality of function, the substance of the ordinary, the learning of the Outer King. The two ends are the division between honoring moral nature and pursuing scholarly inquiry.

"The Way cannot be departed from for a single moment" -- to depart from Principle is to abandon the Domains of the Sage. To depart from Breath is to enter the Gates of Ghosts. This is spoken of the Way as substance. As for the Way in its function: hold it and it abides -- even the unrestrained, if they master their thoughts, can become sages. Release it and it is lost -- even the sage, if he abandons mindfulness, can also become unrestrained. Can the Way be departed from for a single moment?

On the matter of watching in solitude: Master Zhu took "solitude" to mean what others do not know but one's own self knows -- this is the method of entry. Li Zhongfu took "solitude" to mean what has no counterpart, no pair, the lord of the ten thousand images -- this is the method of completion. The method of completion: sincerity is the Way of heaven. The method of entry: making sincere is the Way of the person.

"Look for it and it cannot be seen; listen for it and it cannot be heard" -- this is the hiddenness, the subtlety of heaven's Way. "It is as though above you, as though at your left and right" -- this is the breadth, the manifestness of heaven's Way.

What is manifest: the Three Universal Virtues, the Five Universal Paths, the Nine Canons, the Three Weights. What is subtle: the working of highest heaven -- without sound, without scent.

Substance is Heavenly Virtue. Function is the Kingly Way. This is why the way of the noble person is rooted in one's own person, verified among the common people, examined against the Three Kings without error, established between heaven and earth without contradiction, tested against ghosts and spirits without doubt, and can await the sage a hundred generations hence without confusion.

One who walks this Way neither seeks the hidden to practice the strange, nor rests content with small achievements, nor gives up halfway to regret being unknown. Therefore one can act according to one's station and be self-possessed wherever one enters. Only then does one attain the power of joining heaven and earth, assisting transformation and nourishment, heaven and earth gaining their proper positions, and the ten thousand things being born and flourishing. If this is so, then the full capacity of "Only heaven sends down the center; only the sage embodies centrality in the ordinary" is accomplished.

The Seasons of the Heart

The Doctrine of the Mean as a single book opens with heaven and closes with heaven. It begins with the unseeable and the unhearable, and concludes with the soundless and the scentless. At its pinnacle: the manifest and the subtle. At its breadth: the broad and the hidden. Threaded through by sincerity and illumination. Extended into the Three Universal Virtues, the Five Universal Paths, the Nine Canons, the Three Weights, the three thousand and three hundred details -- the substance and function of heaven and humanity, root and branch at both ends, the methods of the Inner Sage and the Outer King.

And at the very end, one stroke sweeps it all away: "Sound and appearance are the least of transforming the people. Virtue is light as a feather. A feather still has substance. But the working of highest heaven -- it must be without sound, without scent -- and only then is it the ultimate."

From this, one knows: the existent originates in the nonexistent, is born from the nonexistent. The existent is the manifest; the nonexistent is the subtle. Existent and nonexistent, manifest and subtle -- they share one source.

To reach the subtle but not reach the manifest is called plainness: substance without function. To reach the manifest but not reach the subtle is called partiality: function without substance. Both fall to one side and are not centered. Those who cling to images and those who cling to stubborn emptiness -- let them know where to return.

On the matter of centrality: there is a further distinction between the warp-center and the weft-center.

The warp-center is Principle -- and Principle is constant and unchanging. The weft-center is Breath -- and Breath changes yet has its pattern.

What is constant and unchanging: the Three Bonds and the Five Constants, unchanged through all antiquity. What changes with its pattern: the alternation of refinement and simplicity, the three calendrical traditions, adapting institutions to the times.

To embody it is called centrality. To practice it is called the ordinary. To practice it successfully and with effect is called harmony.

Someone asked: "Attaining centrality and harmony -- heaven and earth gain their positions, the ten thousand things are nourished. If people do not attain centrality and harmony, will heaven and earth be overturned?"

I answered: Heaven and earth are Yin and Yang. Joy, anger, sorrow, and delight are the four seasons. When each arises and perfectly strikes its proper measure -- as when one is joyful and joy is due -- then spring carries out spring's mandate, striking the measure of the ten thousand things' sprouting. When delight is due and one delights -- then summer carries out summer's mandate, striking the measure of the ten thousand things' flourishing. When anger is due and one is angry -- then autumn carries out autumn's mandate, striking the measure of the ten thousand things' ripening. When sorrow is due and one sorrows -- then winter carries out winter's mandate, striking the measure of the ten thousand things' storing.

Therefore in the governance of sage-kings: rewards were issued in spring, punishments in autumn. Summer was welcomed from the south, winter received from the north. Edicts and commands each followed their proper time, never violating heavenly harmony. The Three Dukes discussed the Way, harmonizing and ordering Yin and Yang. When Yin and Yang found their positions, heaven and earth found their positions. When heaven and earth found their positions, the ten thousand things were born and flourished.

But if this order is inverted -- if one is angry when joy is due, and mid-spring carries out autumn's mandate -- then the realm suffers great floods; cold air descends in waves; invaders and marauders come to plunder. If one sorrows when joy is due, and mid-spring carries out winter's mandate -- then Yang cannot prevail, the wheat does not ripen, and the people rob each other. If one delights when joy is due, and mid-spring carries out summer's mandate -- then the realm suffers great drought; warm air arrives too early; insects and blights cause harm.

All cases where high and low encroach upon each other, where men and women fall into discord, where conduct is untimely and commands are misguided -- all can be inferred by this principle.

When Yin and Yang are disrupted, heaven and earth lose their positions. When heaven and earth lose their positions, rain and sun, cold and warmth come at the wrong times. When rain and sun, cold and warmth come at the wrong times -- then pestilence, premature death, and the blighting of a hundred grains, grasses, and trees follow in their wake. And so: heavenly calamity and human suffering, and the birth and growth of the ten thousand things can hardly be accomplished.

Yet people have high and low station, positions have honor and humility, and governance and action range from small to great. Therefore: the king examines the full year; the ministers examine the months; the officers examine the days; the common people examine the stars. The gains and losses of their conduct summon disaster or blessing -- affecting the realm, or a single state, or a single family, or a single person. The weight of responsibility has its own ten thousand differences.

If the Son of Heaven possesses the Way and sits in dignified composure doing nothing -- then his stilled mechanism and concentrated spirit dispels the malignant Breath of the great earth entirely. Therefore the wind does not shake the branches, the rain does not break the clods, the sea does not raise its waves. Under auspicious clouds and a propitious sun, in clearing moonlight and gentle wind, the ten thousand things find their place, and all ascend to benevolent longevity. This is why white pheasants were offered in tribute, and foreign hunting dogs were presented -- and those who came, from mountain-cliffed and sea-crossing nations, came without being summoned.

Above the Three Dynasties, the Way resided in rulers and ministers, and the responsibility was with the court. Below the Three Dynasties, the Way resides in teachers and scholars, and the responsibility is with the learned. The mutual summoning of heaven and humanity is as swift as shadow following form. The flow of virtue is faster than posting a relay horse. Those with discernment will not take my words as empty.

Exploring the Three Changes -- Part One

The Ancestor of All Scriptures

The Changes as a book makes clear the meaning of the Unchanging, the Transforming, and the Exchange -- and furnishes the methods of the study of Principle, the study of Number, and the study of Image. At the highest level: the domains of the sage and the gates of the worthy, exhausting one's nature and fulfilling one's destiny, the subtlety of the Way of heaven. At the next level: the bonds and constants, the named teachings, maintaining one's person and engaging with the world, the manifest affairs of human life. Below these: calendrical reckoning and seasonal timing, the waxing and waning of yin and yang, the rise and decline of things, the changes of fortune and misfortune. It opens the way for things before heaven, and completes things after heaven. This is why the Changes is the ancestor of all scriptures and the source of all methods.

The Principle is subtle, the Way is great, and its applications enter through many gates. The benevolent see it and call it benevolence; the wise see it and call it wisdom; the common people use it daily without knowing why. Before Confucius, the Changes was devoted solely to image and divination, placed under the Grand Diviner, not listed among the studies of the academy. When the Master composed the Ten Wings, opening up moral meaning and bringing in the named teachings, the Changes was first transmitted alongside the Five Classics, no longer classed among the arts of number and technique.

The Unchanging -- The River Chart and Principle

What is the Unchanging? It is the River Chart. What is the Transforming? It is the Luo Writing. What is the Exchange? It is the sun and moon making "change."

The River Chart is Principle. Principle governs the Five Constants, and what is constant endures forever without changing. In heaven it is called heavenly Principle. On earth it is called the Principle of the earth. In the human being it is called the Principle of the nature. Principle has no image of its own. Heaven revealed the River Chart to give it an image. The River Chart is the subtlety of Principle.

Principle is still and yet responsive -- this cannot be seen. But the earth is still and yet able to bring forth life -- and this can be seen, in semblance. Thus the River Chart is taken as the earth-plate. Principle is inherently still, and the earth is likewise still.

The numbers of the River Chart: Two and Seven are in the south, belonging to Fire, which is the radiance of Propriety. Fire's nature is to flame upward -- therefore the south is warm, unchanged through all antiquity. One and Six are in the north, belonging to Water, which is the depth of Wisdom. Water's nature is to flow downward -- therefore the north is cold, unchanged through all antiquity. Three and Eight are in the east, belonging to Wood, which is the life-giving power of Benevolence. Wood can generate fire -- therefore the Great Brightness rises from the eastern mulberry. Four and Nine are in the west, belonging to Metal, which is the decisiveness of Righteousness. Metal can generate water -- therefore the source of the Yellow River springs from the Kunlun Mountains. Five and Ten occupy the center, belonging to Earth, which is the solidity of Faithfulness -- therefore yin and yang are harmonized and the seasons are ordered. These three are likewise unchanged through all antiquity.

Therefore it is called the Unchanging. Formless Principle pervades the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. Above, it orders the Milky Way, the stars, and the constellations -- the five phases receive it and are disposed in harmony. Below, it orders the ten courts and the offices of the underworld -- the nine depths receive it and are kept in rank. In the middle, it orders the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, the myriad surnames and billions of people, all that flies and swims and moves and grows, all sentient and insentient beings in the world -- they receive it and each finds its proper place.

This Principle also transcends the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. It is the Wuji Principle-heaven, the highest of all Principles. The True Spirit of non-action -- those who attain it wander free through all eternity, enduring through ten thousand kalpas. Principle governs all things, and all things are governed by it; each attains its own Principle -- therefore it is called the Ultimate Principle.

This Principle is the Supreme Sovereign who bestowed the central endowment, the highest Heaven that bestowed our nature, the Ultimate Truth of the Wuji. Within the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm, it does not depart from Breath, yet it is not mixed with Breath. Beyond the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm, it leaves Breath behind and stands alone. From the Zi era when heaven was opened, through to the Xu and Hai eras when heaven and earth reach their end -- when the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm all return to nothingness -- this Principle brings heaven and earth back into being.

Therefore in China it is called Shangdi, the Supreme Lord. In the West it is reverenced as Tianwang, the Heavenly King. Spoken of together, it is called the Dao -- the True Sovereign of heaven, earth, the three realms, the ten directions, and the myriad spirits. The myriad things share one True Sovereign as a whole; each thing possesses its own True Sovereign individually. The transmission of the heart in the Three Teachings is the transmission of this True Sovereign's heart. The True Sovereign endures through ten thousand kalpas; this heart also endures through ten thousand kalpas. Cultivate this heart and you share the lifespan of the True Sovereign. Lose this heart and you enter the cycle of birth and death.

This is the Unchanging among the three Changes -- the reason it is not easy to know, not easy to speak of, and is the deepest source of the Great Way.

Therefore Confucius said: "The Changes has no thought, no action. Silent and still, it responds and thereby penetrates all under heaven." And again: "It encompasses the transformations of heaven and earth without excess; it bends to complete the myriad things without omission. It comprehends the Way of day and night and thereby knows. Therefore the spirit has no fixed place, and the Changes has no fixed form."

The Buddha said: "Luminous and silently illuminating, penetrating everywhere. The unmoving place of the Way pervades all realms of sand."

Laozi said: "The Great Way has no form -- it gives birth to heaven and earth. The Great Way has no feeling -- it turns the sun and moon. The Great Way has no name -- it nourishes the myriad things." And again: "The Way that can be spoken is not the constant Way. The name that can be named is not the constant name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of the myriad things."

These are all those who deeply understood the difficulty of the Unchanging, who skillfully used the Unchanging among the three Changes, and who skillfully spoke of the Unchanging among the three Changes.

Heaven-One generates Water; Earth-Six completes it. Water in the heavens becomes clouds and mist -- it has breath but no substance. This is the prior-heaven generation. On earth, the breath transforms into substance -- this is the post-heaven completion.

Earth-Two generates Fire; Heaven-Seven completes it. Fire within the earth lies hidden in metal and stone -- it has breath but no form. This is the prior-heaven generation. When metal and stone see heaven and are struck, they burst into flame -- the breath transforms into form. This is the post-heaven completion.

Heaven-Three generates Wood; Earth-Eight completes it. Wood is rooted in the earth. Yet it is said "Heaven-Three generates Wood" because wood requires the breath of heaven to arrive before the earth can bring it forth.

Earth-Four generates Metal; Heaven-Nine completes it. The ores of the five metals must emerge from the earth, but exposed to heaven and passed through fire, they can be put to use.

Heaven-Five generates Earth; Earth-Ten completes it. The dust of the void, reaching the ground, accumulates into solid form.

The Chart emerged from the River. This is heaven's generation and completion of all things -- the utterly proper and unchanging Principle, revealed to humanity.

The Transforming -- The Luo Writing and Breath

The Luo Writing is the Transforming among the three Changes. A single breath flows through all -- there is no day without transformation, no moment without change.

From One to Nine: Return, Peace, Strength, Parting, Vigor, Heaven. From winter into summer -- this is the Yang Polarity of the Supreme Ultimate. From Nine to One: Meeting, Retreat, Obstruction, Contemplation, Stripping, Earth. From summer into winter -- this is the Yin Polarity of the Supreme Ultimate.

Within the Yang Polarity are contained Primal Eight and Beneficent Seven, the two lesser phases of spring and summer. Within the Yin Polarity are contained Advantageous Nine and Steadfast Six, the two greater phases of autumn and winter. These are the Two Polarities giving rise to the Four Images.

Spring has the Beginning of Spring at Gen, the Spring Equinox at Zhen, the Beginning of Summer at Xun, and the Summer Solstice at Li -- these are the four trigrams within the Yang Polarity. Autumn has the Beginning of Autumn at Kun, the Autumn Equinox at Dui, the Beginning of Winter at Qian, and the Winter Solstice at Kan -- these are the four trigrams within the Yin Polarity.

The Yang Polarity's four trigrams: Eight White, Three Azure, Four Green, Nine Purple. The Yin Polarity's four trigrams: Two Black, Seven Red, Six White, One White. Five Yellow is the original substance of the primal breath -- it occupies the central palace and responds to the eight directions, the ultimate pivot of the nine palaces, the master of the eight trigrams.

One trigram governs three breaths; the breaths transform twenty-four times. One breath governs three pentads; the pentads transform seventy-two times. One pentad spans five days and a fraction. Combined, this gives three hundred sixty-five days and one-quarter. From Primal to Steadfast, one year's breath completes its cycle.

Setting aside the fraction, we get three hundred sixty days, which become three hundred sixty lines composing sixty hexagrams. Add the primal breath's original substance as Heaven and Earth, with Water and Fire as the working pair, and we have sixty-four hexagrams, three hundred eighty-four lines -- and one year's breath is complete.

This is the Transforming among the three Changes: the Supreme Ultimate, the Breath-heaven.

The River Chart with images is the earth-plate. The River Chart without form is heavenly Principle. The Wuji Principle-heaven wraps around the Supreme Ultimate Breath-heaven from without and pervades it from within.

Wrapping from without: the heaven beyond heaven, the unmoving heaven, the Great Net heaven, the Thirty-Three Heavens. Pervading from within: the heaven within heaven, the heart of heaven and earth, the heaven of the Supreme Ultimate.

It pervades the great earth from within and wraps it from without, extending up to the heaven of the constellations and stopping there. The twenty-eight mansions, the fixed stars, turn with heaven -- one day, one revolution, always gaining one degree. In thirty days and a fraction, they pass one lodge. In three hundred sixty-five and a fraction, from the border of Xu and Wei where they began, they return to the border of Xu and Wei. This is one revolution of heaven.

Qian is heaven -- pure yang, vigorous. Li is the sun -- two yang, one yin -- therefore next in vigor. One day, one revolution, but the sun falls behind heaven by one degree each day. Over three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days, the sun again meets heaven at its original position. This is called one year.

Each year has twelve months. Each month has thirty days. Together, three hundred sixty days make one year. Yet the meeting of heaven and the sun requires three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days in truth. The remaining five days and three double-hours are called the "breath-surplus." To know next year's spring from this year's, add five days and three double-hours.

The breath of the Supreme Ultimate is half yin, half yang. Yin is cold; yang is warm. Yang rises from the midnight hour of the Winter Solstice. One month, it passes one lodge: through Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, and Si to the Summer Solstice. Yang is entirely above, yin entirely below -- therefore heat is on the earth's surface and cold is underground. After the Summer Solstice, yin advances and yang retreats: through Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai to the Winter Solstice. Yang is entirely below, yin entirely above -- therefore heat is underground and cold is on the surface.

When the yang breath rises, the hundred grains, grasses, and trees sprout in spring and flourish in summer -- yang governs life. When the yin breath descends, grasses and trees yellow and fall, harvested in autumn and stored in winter -- yin governs death.

When the yang breath rises, creatures of movement respond and transform: first the kun-fish transforms into the peng-bird, then thunder sounds and field mice transform into quail -- from the hidden to the soaring. When the yin breath descends, creatures of movement respond and transform: thunder ceases its voice, and sparrows enter the great waters and become clams -- from the soaring to the hidden. What soars does not soar of itself -- the rising breath summons it to soar. What hides does not hide of itself -- the descending breath summons it to hide.

From this we know: the four seasons do not make themselves cold, hot, warm, or cool. They do not of themselves sprout, flourish, harvest, or store. The breath makes them so.

The breath of the Supreme Ultimate rises through the constellations above and sinks through the great earth below. Though it pervades everything without gap, in truth its ten thousand portions are never the same. From One to Nine: one hundred eighty degrees and a fraction. The first ninety degrees pass from cold to warm; the last ninety from warm to hot. From Nine to One: one hundred eighty degrees and a fraction. The first ninety from hot to cool; the last ninety from cool to the extreme of cold.

From Xu to Dou, forty-five degrees of deepest cold. Past Ji, cold gradually warms. From Ji to Fang is the heart of warmth. From Fang to Jiao, warmth enters heat. From Zhen to Xing, heat begins. From Xing to Jing, heat ends. From Shen to Mao, coolness begins. From Mao to Kui, coolness ends. At Bi, coolness returns to cold.

From the one breath dividing into the Two Polarities, yin and yang separate. The Two Polarities divide into four seasons. From four seasons into eight nodes. From eight nodes into twenty-four breaths, seventy-two pentads, three hundred sixty-five degrees and one-quarter. Each pentad's breath and flavor differ; each degree's mansion and nature are distinct. People and things are all born from this endowment. Since the time of birth differs and the mansion-degrees vary, creatures have nobility and lowliness, greatness and smallness. Human lives have length and brevity, poverty and success, wisdom and foolishness, worthiness and unworthiness -- and all this too the breath makes so.

The Two Natures and the Two Spirits

The Original Nature is bestowed at the very beginning of life. It comes from Principle-heaven. Principle is one and the same -- therefore those who cultivate this nature, sage and commoner alike, return to the same source.

The Temperamental Nature is received after birth. It comes from Breath-heaven. Breath has its risings and sinkings, ascents and descents. The stars have fortune and misfortune, goodness and malice. And so human lives are unequal in ten thousand ways -- in wisdom and foolishness, in worthiness and unworthiness, in length and brevity, in poverty and success.

Those confined by Breath are the ordinary masses. Those who penetrate to Principle are the direct heirs of the sages. This is why the Way of the sage does not remain within the five phases and transcends the three realms.

What is Principle-heaven? It is the Wuji. What is Breath-heaven? It is the Supreme Ultimate.

The theory of the Wuji originated with Laozi. In the writings of Confucius and Mencius, it is seldom encountered. When Zhou Dunyi of Lianxi in the Song dynasty wrote his Explanation of the Supreme Ultimate Diagram, he first brought it to light. After several transmissions, few could grasp his meaning. Most took the Supreme Ultimate as Principle and assigned the Wuji to a place of no importance. But how could they not know? The Supreme Ultimate has already fallen into yin and yang -- what is it if not Breath? If one takes this for the nature, what is it if not the Temperamental Nature?

The teaching of Gaozi that nature is like willow wood, of Xunzi that nature is evil -- these were enough to persuade the ears of the world. And Mencius's teaching that nature is good raised doubts even among the learned. This is because Principle is subtle and Breath is manifest. The subtle is hard to see; the manifest is easy to know. A hairsbreadth of difference leads to a gulf as wide as heaven and earth. This is why the Way so easily loses its transmission.

Though both Principle-heaven and Breath-heaven are formless, the Breath-heaven flows and cycles -- cold and heat alternate, it moves and leaves traces that can be seen. The Principle-heaven does not move -- still, without image, difficult to glimpse.

Shun's transmission to Yu distinguished the human mind from the mind of the Dao, insisting on the strict discernment between the precarious and the subtle. The human mind is the visible sprout of the Temperamental Nature. The mind of the Dao is the visible sprout of the Original Nature.

The Original Nature is received at the beginning of life. It comes from Principle-heaven -- what Zhou Dunyi called "the truth of the Wuji, and the essences of the Two and the Five, wondrously combined and condensed." Before birth, it needs no breath from mouth and nose to live, no nourishment from the five grains to grow. This is the marvelous function of the Wuji's true Principle in its stillness.

But after birth, the breath of the Supreme Ultimate enters through mouth and nose. From then on, breathing comes and goes, filling the body. At the very moment the breath divides, it falls upon a particular mansion and degree -- and the person receives that mansion and degree's breath at birth.

If the star is auspicious and the degree aligned, and year, month, and day support each other, the person's temperament will be good, and fortune, rank, and reputation will go undiminished through life. If the star is auspicious and the degree aligned, but year, month, and day partly support and partly harm, then the temperament may be good but blessings are incomplete -- one may pass through hardship before achieving glory. If the star is auspicious and the degree aligned, but year, month, and day only harm with no support, and the great cycles bring further erosion -- then one will never meet one's moment, will have ambition but no path. From this come the loyal ministers and righteous heroes. The breath and the numbers make it so.

In reverse: star inauspicious, degree askew, but year, month, and day in support -- then wealthy without benevolence, noble without righteousness. From this come the treacherous ministers and rebel sons. This too the breath and the numbers, the nature and the destiny, make so.

This destiny is not the heaven-bestowed destiny but the destiny of breath and number. This nature is not the Original Nature but the Temperamental Nature. What manifests is the precarious human mind, not the subtle mind of the Dao.

Why is the human mind precarious? Its source is the Breath-heaven -- it moves and is hard to still. Sweet food and pleasing beauty; contact with things draws it outward; it indulges the emotions and enslaves the will, veiling the original state. Its end flows toward the polluted and the low.

The yang of the Breath-heaven, in the human being, is the hun-soul. Waking, it busies itself with scattered thoughts. Sleeping, it wanders in dreams. The yin of the Breath-heaven is the po-soul. In movement, the fire of desire blazes. In stillness, the demon of torpor descends.

The four gates stand unguarded, the nine orifices flow downward, the six desires run wild, the seven emotions rage. Alas! The single point of the mind of the Dao -- that almost-imperceptible spiritual clarity -- how can it not be veiled by all this, dragged down by all this, cast adrift in the sea of birth and death?

The mind of the Dao comes from Principle-heaven. It does not enter yin and yang, does not fall within the five phases. It is pure and unmixed, still and able to illuminate, its spirit reaching the marvelous. In the human being, the mind of the Dao emerges above the surface of Breath, pervading the midst of Breath -- it is called the Primordial Spirit. This spirit is at all times connected to Principle-heaven. Only spirit can achieve this connection. Yet it is connected without knowing its connection, unable to achieve the great and final connection -- because Breath encumbers it.

The human mind dwells within the body -- it is called the Discerning Spirit. This spirit is at all times connected to the Breath-heaven. Only Breath can achieve this connection. Yet it too is connected without knowing its connection, unable to achieve the great and final connection -- because desire encumbers it.

A person of aspiration, if they have not received the direct transmission of the sage's heart-method, may yet do good, remove evil, accumulate virtue and merit, and dissolve the hidden debts of past lives. Eliminating desire and regulating the breath, through long and pure practice, the breath received from the Breath-heaven reunites with the Breath-heaven. All that pertains to the Breath-heaven is felt and known. Freed from the four elements, returned to the Great Void -- one becomes a spirit within the Breath, sharing the lifespan of heaven and earth, enduring as long as the sun and moon. If born again by the turning of destiny, one may become a lord or minister, brilliant and gifted, surpassing all others.

But if, through rare fortune, one encounters the Great Way and learns where the mind of the Dao and the primal breath reside -- then too one must accumulate virtue and merit, abstain from flesh and eat plainly, still the thoughts and concentrate the spirit. Through long practice, as Breath transforms and Principle purifies, the Principle received reunites with Principle-heaven. All that pertains to Principle-heaven is felt and known. Freed from the four elements, returned to the Wuji -- no matter how the world changes, no matter how heaven and earth begin and end, it has nothing to do with the dharma-body of the Wuji. Beyond the three realms, not confined by the five phases, one attains the great peace and never regresses. One may stand shoulder to shoulder with immortals and buddhas, keep company with sages and worthies, preside over creation, and share in the lifespan of the Wuji.

But Principle is subtle and the Way is great. Without the right person, it is not transmitted. The laws of heaven are strictly guarded -- unauthorized disclosure brings punishment. This is why the true teaching is so difficult.

The Three Laws and the True Teaching

The transmission of the heart in the Three Teachings distinguishes True Law, Semblance Law, and Decline Law. The attainments and fruits are distinguished among the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. The Changes has its Exchange, Transformation, and the Unchanging. Learning has its study of Image, Number, and Principle. The Way has its lower, middle, and upper vehicles. Medicine has its upper, middle, and lower grades. Attainment has its Jade Purity, Supreme Purity, and Grand Purity -- the pure dharma-body, the complete reward-body, the billion transformation-bodies -- the Great Person, the Sage, the Divine Person. The titles are too numerous to list, yet none of them fall outside the three Changes.

To penetrate to the source of Exchange, Transformation, and the Unchanging is to unite substance and function, to span root and branch, to make being and nonbeing one, to close the gap between the manifest and the subtle -- the still sage in repose, the active king in motion -- holding both ends and applying the center. This is called the True Law.

To penetrate Exchange and Transformation but not the Unchanging is to have function without substance -- knowing being but not nonbeing, the manifest but not the subtle, having the active king but not the still sage, confined within the Desire and Form Realms without reaching beyond the Formless. This is the Semblance Law.

To penetrate only Exchange, without reaching Transformation or the Unchanging, is to be confined within the Desire Realm, revolving in the cycle of birth and death. This is the Decline Law.

In Confucianism: preserving the mind and nourishing the nature -- the Way of the One Thread. In Buddhism: illuminating the mind and seeing the nature -- the Way of Returning to the One. In Daoism: cultivating the mind and refining the nature -- the Way of Guarding the One. Through earnest practice, the Confucian may become a sage, the Buddhist a buddha, the Daoist an immortal. This is the True Law.

A thousand years later, the True Law is lost. The Confucian clings to exegesis, losing the meaning and passing on only words. The Buddhist and the Daoist are confined to chanting, reciting words while forgetting their flavor. Clinging to the manifest without reaching the subtle, confined to the human without reaching the heavenly -- this suffices to make a good person, but falls short of the sage or the divine. This is the Semblance Law.

A thousand years later, the Semblance Law wanes. The Confucian sinks into literary ornamentation, using the Four Books and Six Classics as stepping-stones to profit and rank. The monk and the Daoist work solely for food and clothing, borrowing the scriptures as credentials for begging. The words of the three sages hover between existence and extinction -- even a good person is hard to find. This is the Decline Law.

The Tathagata, at the time of his final nirvana, said: "My Way: the True Law lasts a thousand years, the Semblance Law lasts a thousand years, the Decline Law lasts a thousand years. After the Decline Law, the True Law comes again."

When the true lineage loses its transmission, heterodox teachings spring up. The deluded and the reckless steal the names, inflate their claims, fabricate wonders, and lead the ignorant astray.

Some compete in strange powers, taking the mechanical mind, mechanical affairs, and mechanical devices as the Way. In daily use and sustenance, in military strength and national wealth, these are not without small benefit. But when the mind is used too far, simplicity scatters and honesty thins. When the province intrudes too deeply, excess and license multiply. Lu Ban and Mo Di -- their arts were undeniably divine. Yet in the end they could not enter the Way of Confucius and Mencius, because their path was external.

In the Decline Law, there are also those who use inner cultivation to deceive the hearts of others. Their Way does not penetrate the three Changes; they are blind to the great source of heaven, humanity, nature, and destiny. Their words are not rooted in the three sages; they disorder the great foundation of the bonds and the constants. They exploit the ignorance of the masses, pour forth baseless ravings, confuse people with ghosts and spirits, and lure them with fortune and calamity. They take breathing through mouth and nose as "leading the nature," and the mind's creation of images as "attainment."

They do not observe the precepts, do not distinguish inner from outer, do not distinguish good from evil, and transmit recklessly. But without strict precepts, cultivation is fruitless. Without true transmission, one forces the seedling upward. Practiced alone, the harm is small. With disciples and followers, the poison multiplies. In the worst cases, when numbers and power swell, they aspire beyond their station -- forgetting that the Yellow Turbans of the Han, a hundred myriads strong, were destroyed in the end. In the late Yuan and early Ming, Han Liner and Liu Futong gathered forces of hundreds of thousands -- and lost their persons and destroyed their families, judged as rebels and sorcerers.

Such people harm others more cruelly than tigers and wolves, more terribly than floods. Tigers and floods harm the body. Heterodox teachings first transmit petty techniques and corrupt the art of the mind; then they disorder the bonds and constants, ruining name and integrity; finally they aspire beyond their station, destroying the state and ruining the family.

Their art of deception, for the most part, consists of leading the spirit upward to "see" immortals and buddhas, "visit" palaces, "learn" which heaven one has been assigned to and what robes and headdresses one wears. But have they not heard the Doctrine of the Mean say: "Sound and appearance are the least of transforming the people. Virtue is as light as a feather. A feather still has substance. The working of highest heaven -- without sound, without scent -- only then is it the ultimate."

The Diamond Sutra says: "If you seek me through form, or pursue me through sound, that person walks the wrong path and cannot see the Tathagata." And again: "All that has form is illusion."

Laozi says: "The Great Way has no form."

The sages of the Three Teachings never spoke of castles in the sky or splendors in the stillness. Such claims are either sorcery or delusion. Not only the foolish believe them -- even the literate and the learned follow after. How pitiful!

Furthermore: a woman pining for her beloved may cause her spirit to leave her pillow. A friend a thousand miles away may still walk the road in a dream. Thinking of a man, one dreams of union; thinking of a woman, one dreams of conception. When thought reaches its extreme, the ghosts and spirits convey it. When delusion reaches its extreme, the fox-demons ride it. Those who enter such gates, at the extreme of thought and delusion, cannot fail to "see" something. They congratulate themselves on their attainment -- not knowing they have entered the lair of demons and fox-spirits, unaware.

The lesser arts can also train the Discerning Spirit to travel and roam, knowing others' fortune and misfortune. As the Wuzhen Pian says: "Closing the eyes, contemplating the form, focusing upon the spirit -- this method is hard at first but smooth later. In a flash one may roam ten thousand kingdoms -- but alas, the house is broken, and one must find new lodging." "House broken, new lodging" means: the body dies, and the soul still enters the cycle. If a single thought goes astray, one ends in downfall.

Again: "Seizing a womb, taking a body, changing one's dwelling -- these are called the Four Fruits. Why not turn your head and cultivate the Great Medicine? A house of true gold -- when will it ever decay?"

The byways and lesser paths are not without their effects, but the first step is wrong and the final fruit cannot be attained.

Therefore Confucius said: "Though the lesser paths must have their worthy aspects, if taken far one fears the mire. This is why the noble person does not practice them."

The teachings of Yang Zhu and Mo Di were practiced throughout the realm. In their own time, they were not without merit. Yet separated by a hair, they diverged by ten thousand miles. Only through the Way of Mencius, across a thousand autumns and ten thousand ages, does everyone know their teachings for heterodox. A lifetime of bitter effort is not as good as quiet obscurity.

Heaven and earth have but one Principle; the sage has but one heart. Outside this Way, all is byway. To enter lightly and invest wrongly brings not only no benefit but considerable harm. Yang Zhu and Mo Di were both of outstanding natural endowment, lifelong in their diligence. But because the gate between Principle and Breath was not clearly distinguished, because the secret pivot of heaven and humanity was not fully known, the great foundation was already wrong -- and the rest was not worth examining.

The Golden Thread

Consider: Ran You and Ji Lu served in the halls of power. Guan Zhong and Yan Ying were splendid ministers of hegemony. The achievements of Ran and Ji, compared to Guan and Yan, were as distant as heaven from earth. Yet Ran You and Ji Lu have been honored for a thousand autumns, while Guan Zhong and Yan Ying cannot escape the judgment of "small vessels." Why? Between the two greats, only the Way stands supreme. The small achievement of hegemonic statecraft is separated from it by ten thousand leagues.

Not presuming upon our limited understanding, we have attempted a rough commentary on the sages' scriptures. Whatever is absurd or mistaken, we submit for the correction of the discerning. Those who understand will know; those who condemn will condemn. We leave it to their judgment.

Since the split between honoring moral nature and pursuing scholarly inquiry, those who honor moral nature tend toward focus: taking "investigating things" as investigating material desires. Those who pursue scholarly inquiry tend toward breadth: taking "investigating things" as investigating the affairs of the world. Each holds fast to their position.

But do they not know? Moral nature and scholarly inquiry -- substance and function -- cannot be treated partially. Material desires and worldly affairs -- the heavenly and the human -- both must be addressed. When material desires are investigated, the self is overcome and propriety restored -- this suffices to reach the great foundation of heavenly virtue. When worldly affairs are investigated, rites are made clear and music ready -- this suffices to reach the great function of the kingly way. This is the method of the still sage and the active king.

Therefore the Doctrine of the Mean says: "Honor the moral nature and pursue scholarly inquiry." Both ends must be held in equal weight. To grasp one is to be partial -- the union of substance and function.

If one is confined to the human without reaching the heavenly, one may enter the gates of the worthy but cannot enter the domains of the sage.

And yet heaven itself is hard to speak of. The Han Confucian Dong Zhongshu said: "The great source of the Way issues from heaven." The whole world has taken this as insight into the Way. But which heaven is meant? If Principle-heaven, then heaven IS the Way and the Way IS heaven -- there is no separation, no issuing. If Breath-heaven, then it is the great source of heaven that issues from the Way -- and the great source of the Way does not issue from heaven.

Laozi said: "The Great Way has no form -- it gives birth to heaven and earth." The name "Way" is the same, but the reality differs.

The Changes says: "One yin, one yang -- this is called the Way." But this refers to divination. Divination is based on image and number, which do not depart from yin and yang. This is the way of divination, not the Way of the Great Learning, not the Way of leading the nature. Not the Unchanging, but Exchange and Transformation.

The Way of the Great Learning, the Way of leading the nature, though rooted in the Unchanging, is the Way every person possesses within themselves -- not yet the Way that gives birth to heaven and earth, the Way that cannot be spoken and cannot be named.

Yin and yang have their division between the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, Exchange, and Transformation, image and imageless. The yin and yang of the Desire Realm: male and female, movement and stillness, hard and soft, death and life. The yin and yang of the Form Realm: the constellations, the sun and moon. These are yin and yang with image -- they mostly belong to Exchange.

Yin and yang without image: the azure breath of the sky, carrying the sun, moon, and stars, encompassing and pervading and nourishing and ending all beings. Rising is yang; descending is yin. Extending is spirit; contracting is ghost. These are yin and yang without image -- they belong to Transformation.

But the Transforming, though seemingly without color or image, is fundamentally different from the imageless Unchanging. The Breath of Transformation moves and flows, has beginning and end. Its outer limit does not exceed one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years before it is exhausted. The Principle of the Unchanging is still and yet responsive, without beginning or end. It does not fall within yin and yang, yet it governs yin and yang, begins and ends yin and yang, and is the mother of "one yin, one yang."

The Breath-heaven may resemble Principle-heaven, but it is vastly different. Just as the Temperamental Nature and the precarious human mind are hard to distinguish from the Original Nature and the subtle mind of the Dao.

This is why the semblance of the Way is easy to follow, and the true Way is hard to believe.

Therefore Laozi said: "When the superior person hears the Way, they practice it diligently. When the middling person hears the Way, they half believe and half doubt. When the inferior person hears the Way, they laugh aloud. If it were not laughed at, it would not be worthy of being the Way."

Zhuangzi said: "The hedge-sparrow knows nothing of the swan. The summer insect cannot be told of ice. The frog in the well does not believe the sky is vast."

Song Yu said: "The higher the melody, the fewer who can join."

Confucius said: "As virtue increases, slander rises. As the Way ascends, ruin comes."

Zisi said: "What the noble person does that others cannot match -- is it not precisely what others do not see?"

Mencius said: "What the noble person does, the common people cannot fathom."

The difficulty of speaking the Way did not begin today.

Master Cheng's Way, in the Northern Song, was condemned by the entire world as false learning. He was called a partisan, slandered at court and inscribed upon stone. To avoid his teachings was to be innocent; to study them was to break the law. To slander and attack them was rewarded. In all the wide world, he could scarcely find a place to stand.

Master Zhu's learning, in the time of Emperor Gaozong, was branded as delusion and denounced as sorcery. He was stripped of office and salary. His followers were banished to the frontier.

Therefore Mencius says: "When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it first makes bitter their heart and will, wearies their sinews and bones, starves their body, empties and exhausts their person, and confounds their every undertaking -- so as to stir the heart, toughen the nature, and supply what was lacking."

This is why the Analects takes "being unknown and unresentful" as the mark of the noble person. The Doctrine of the Mean takes "being unknown and without regret" as the mark of the sage. Guarding the good Way unto death is the method of the gate of Confucius. Departing from the Way to win a thousand praises is the warning of the court of Shun.

Exploring the Three Changes, Part 2

The Three Changes and the Way

The ancient transmission of the Way was first entrusted to the Changes. To penetrate the Unchanging is to encompass all creation -- this is called the sage's domain. To penetrate the Transforming is to illuminate creation -- this is called the worthy's gateway. The sage's domain is wu wei -- this is the virtue of heaven. The worthy's gateway is purposeful action -- this is the kingly way. If one knows only the Exchange, one knows the manifest but not the subtle. One who knows what has image but not what is imageless is not yet fit to speak of the Way.

The Transforming originates from Qian in the upper canon. Qian is heaven. Prior-heaven Qian transforms into post-heaven Li. Qian's "use of nine" is the use of Li. "The way of Qian changes and transforms; each being receives its correct nature and destiny" -- this is the function of heaven. "The great brightness illuminates from beginning to end; the six positions are established in their times; riding the six dragons, one governs heaven" -- this is the function of the sun. Heaven and sun revolve, cold and heat alternate -- therefore it is called the Transforming.

The Exchange originates from Kun in the upper canon. Kun is earth. Prior-heaven Kun transforms into post-heaven Kan. Kun's "use of six" uses prior-heaven Kan. That Qian uses post-heaven while Kun uses prior-heaven reflects the distinction: yang advances forward, yin retreats backward. Kun is earth; Kan is the moon. "Kun's thickness carries all beings" -- this is the function of earth. "The ten thousand things transform in light" -- this is the function of the moon. When earth exchanges with heaven, things sprout, grow, are gathered, and stored. When the moon exchanges with the sun, there are dark moons, new moons, quarter moons, and full moons. Earth and moon both change through exchange -- therefore it is called Exchange. Earth's exchange with heaven is formless but leaves traces. The moon's exchange with the sun is manifest in both form and trace.

The Moon Borrows the Sun's Light

As for the saying "in the southwest, gain companions" -- its interpretations are many. Let me cite one or two and defer to the wise.

In terms of divination, Kun is the hexagram consulted. The southwest is Kun's position; when Kun meets Kun, they are of the same kind -- the same kind is called "companion" -- hence "in the southwest, gain companions." Kun gives birth to three daughters -- Xun, Li, and Dui -- all positioned in the southwest, also companions of the same kind. This interpretation seems reasonable but ultimately has nothing to do with Exchange.

The moon is the Great Yin and the essence of water. Its substance is Kun; its function is Kan. The moon has no light of its own -- it generates light through exchange with the sun. The bright part is the hun-soul, is yang -- the unbroken line of the odd. The dark part is the po-soul, is yin -- the broken line of the even.

At the dark of the month, the moon is pure yin without yang. Kun is the old mother.

On the third day at dusk, the moon appears in the direction of Geng. The moon is above, the sun below. They exchange and light is born. Kun gives birth to the eldest son -- the trigram transforms into Zhen.

At the eighth, the first quarter: the moon is in the direction of Ding. Yang is greater, yin less. Zhen transforms into Dui.

At the full moon, light is sealed and shines from the direction of Jia. Yin is exhausted, yang pure. Dui transforms into Qian. This is the "three fives reaching fullness."

On the eighteenth at dawn, the moon is in the direction of Xin. The yang light gradually wanes. One yin is born below. The father gives birth to the eldest daughter, becoming Xun.

On the twenty-third, the last quarter: the moon is in the direction of Bing. Yin is greater, yang less. Xun transforms into Gen.

On the thirtieth, the moon is in the direction of Yi. The yang light no longer appears. The hun-soul is exhausted, the po-soul complete. The moon returns to the substance of Kun. This is the "three fives reaching emptiness."

Zhen, Dui, Qian, Xun, Gen, Kun -- the trigrams stop at six. Of the eight trigrams, only six are used. "Difficulty at Dawn, Obscurity at Dusk" -- sixty hexagrams make one month's full cycle of heaven. One day, one line; six days, one hexagram. Therefore three hundred sixty days make sixty hexagrams -- one year's full cycle of heaven.

Of the eight trigrams, only six appear. Six lines are in truth eight lines -- because Qian's lines use nine and Kun's lines use six. Of the eight trigrams, only six appear: Zhen, Dui, and Qian in the waxing; Xun, Gen, and Kun in the waning. The two that are absent -- Kan and Li -- are the moon and sun themselves.

The two functions have no fixed line-position. They circulate through the six empty places. Six trigrams are in truth eight.

The Calendar and the Great Function of the Unchanging

"Hexagram" means "suspended": the sun and moon hang suspended in empty space, and hexagrams are born from them. "Line" means "exchange": the sun and moon exchange with each other, and lines are born from them. The character for "hexagram" is composed of two earths: the sun inwardly contains Ji, and Kan inwardly contains Wu. "Hexagram" is Wu and Ji -- the two earths -- combined. Why does the sun contain Ji? Ji IS the sun. Why does Kan contain Wu? Wu IS the moon.

Above are eight trigrams; below are eight directions. Eight times eight, and the sixty-four hexagrams are complete.

The sun adorns heaven but falls slightly behind: each day it falls short of heaven by one degree. Over three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days, this accumulates as the breath-surplus. The sun contains one yin and is next in vigor after heaven. The moon has only one yang and is slower still than the sun: it falls behind heaven by thirteen degrees and seven-nineteenths each day, accumulating to twenty-nine and a half days for one cycle. Therefore in one year, the waning-deficiency falls six days short, and the breath-surplus exceeds by five days and more.

The waning-deficiency falls six days short -- therefore spring's calculation for the next year adds eleven days. Five years require two intercalary months. Nineteen years require seven. When breath and dark moon are reconciled, this is called one chapter.

The breath-surplus arises from the Transforming. The waning-deficiency is born from the Exchange. But the Unchanging does not participate in either. This is the great function of the Unchanging.

The Three Changes in Human Nature

Exchange is like the human body and form -- yin and yang exchange, and it changes. The Transforming is like the human temperament -- from youth to vigor, from vigor to age, changing naturally. The Unchanging is like the human Primordial Spirit -- form has birth and death, breath has change and flux, but the spirit has no birth or death, no change or flux. Leaving one dwelling, entering another -- neither increasing nor diminishing. Therefore it is called the Unchanging.

Not only this -- the Buddhist diamond and the Daoist golden elixir are both rooted in the Three Changes.

The Buddha says "Namo." Na is the prior-heaven position of Qian. Qian is heaven; heaven is so great that nothing is not encompassed -- this is the Transforming. It is also the post-heaven position of Li. Li is the sun; the sun is so bright that nothing is not illuminated -- this is the Exchange. Great enough to encompass all, bright enough to illuminate all -- yet even this cannot exhaust the wonder of the Buddha's teaching. Only Mo is subtle enough to enter everywhere -- this is the Unchanging.

The Golden Elixir and the Return to Principle

The Daoist golden elixir: in the prior-heaven, Qian and Kun are nature and destiny. When the ten months of gestation are complete and the fruit is ripe -- at the first cry -- Qian loses the yang of its middle line, becoming hollow, and transforms into Li. Kun receives the middle line of Qian, becoming solid, and transforms into Kan. Qian and Kun exchange and become Kan and Li. The sun is above, the moon below. Water and fire are not yet in harmony.

The work of the golden elixir is to know where the pivot of Kan and Li lies. One applies the fire of the void-spirit, descending into the palace of Kan. Then the true gold at the ocean's floor is transmuted into breath. The breath forces open the passes, reverses the Yellow River, ascends to Kunlun, and falls into the center of Li. Breath gathers, spirit congeals, returning to the original Qian. The dharma-wheel turns of itself -- this is the Transforming.

When the nine turns of the elixir are complete, the spirit ascends to the upper realm, merges with the Way in truth, and returns to the Wuji -- this is the Unchanging. The Unchanging is neither born nor extinguished, neither defiled nor pure.

The Buddha calls it the diamond; the Daoists call it the golden elixir. Both use gold as a metaphor. The Original Nature comes from Principle-heaven -- utterly refined, utterly pure, without stain or dust. Still yet responsive, empty yet luminous.

After birth, the Temperamental Nature comes from Breath-heaven. It enters through mouth and nose, filling the entire body. Primal chaos is broken open. The four gates swing wide. Feeling and consciousness gradually awaken. Heavenly innocence gradually fades. When the six desires run wild and the seven emotions churn, clouds and fog obscure the sky, and the blue heaven seems lost.

But the blue heaven is the indestructible golden nature. Every person has this indestructible golden nature. Yet constrained by temperament and obscured by material desire, they chase the false and forsake the true, turn from awakening and cleave to dust, unable to exhaust their karmic debts, cycling through ten thousand transformations of rebirth.

Therefore the court of Yu distinguished between the human heart and the Way-heart: one is perilous, the other subtle. The Western Zhou judged the rise and fall of dynasties by whether reverence overcame negligence or negligence overcame reverence. And Confucius and Yan Hui took "overcome the self, restore propriety" as their practice.

The Temperamental Nature gives rise to the human heart. The Original Nature gives rise to the Way-heart. The human heart dwells within the viscera. The Way-heart appears at the surface of primal Qian. Within the interior, it is murky and benighted -- the commander of the seven emotions and six desires. At the surface, it is luminous and radiant -- the master of the three blossoms and five breaths.

The interior draws near to springs and sinks into the base -- hence it is perilous. Perilous means chasing the false and forsaking the true. To forsake the true is to lose the Way forever. To chase the false is to suffer the anguish of rebirth. The surface connects to heaven and advances toward the luminous -- hence it is subtle. Subtle means returning from falsehood to truth. To return from falsehood is to extinguish all suffering. To return to truth is to arrive at the shore of the Way.

These two dwell together in the same body of four elements, yet their suffering and joy differ, and the gap between sage and commoner is vast. To know it truly is to be without doubt -- hence "refined." To hold it firmly is to be without division -- hence "one." Refined, then emotion and desire are utterly extinguished, and the self is overcome completely. One, then the three fives merge in harmony, and propriety is restored to wholeness. When the self is overcome completely, the clouds of delusion scatter. When propriety is restored to wholeness, the blue heaven is revealed.

Every being possesses its own heaven. Heaven is Qian, Qian is gold, gold is nature, nature is Principle. To restore Principle is to restore nature. To restore nature is to restore gold. The Buddha calls it the diamond -- for its power to cut. The Daoists call it the golden elixir -- for its perfect wholeness.

Heaven and Humanity Are One

When the self is overcome and propriety restored, Confucius did not say "restore the Principle of heavenly Principle" -- he said "restore the propriety of rites and music." He feared that later generations would abandon the bonds and duties of human life and seek heaven at the expense of humanity. Heaven and humanity are one. Hold both ends and use the center. Therefore one neither ascends into the uselessness of empty space nor sinks into the pettiness of utility. This is what is called "sincerely holding to the center."

Using the propriety of rites and music in place of the Principle of heavenly Principle, Confucius ensured that those who grasp the refined teaching may fully realize nature and fulfill destiny, becoming sages and worthies at their greatest. Those who grasp only the broad teaching will still practice filial piety, fraternal love, loyalty, and trustworthiness -- and at the very least stand without shame before the moral tradition.

How great the sage! His concern for the world and posterity reaches the utmost!

Later Confucians said: "When human desire is utterly extinguished, heavenly Principle flows freely." These words are not without warmth. Yet compared with the sage, they are not without omissions and errors. "When human desire is utterly extinguished, heavenly Principle flows freely" -- this speaks only of the substance of nature. When degraded to later followers, it produced those who clung to emptiness and yearned for stillness, abandoned the bonds and duties of human life, and lost sight of the sage's great mandate to govern the world on behalf of heaven.

Principle is "still and unmoving, responsive when stirred" -- essentially still yet responsive. But to speak of it as "flowing" and "proceeding" confuses it with Breath, making no distinction. When degraded to later followers, it produced those who mistook Breath for Principle, neglected the subtle and refined, and lost sight of the sage's great foundation of wu wei and ultimate stillness.

Therefore the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean address substance and function, root and branch, beginning and end, prior-heaven and post-heaven, manifest and subtle, expense and concealment, the Way of heaven and the Way of humanity, great virtue and small virtue, the nine canons and the three-fold weight of great function, and the soundless and odorless great substance -- elaborating and exhorting without rest. "Honor the moral nature and pursue scholarly inquiry. Reach the utmost breadth and exhaust the utmost refinement. Ascend to the utmost luminosity and practice the Mean. Revive the old and know the new. Be generous and reverent." Probing both ends, they withheld nothing -- fearing that the scholarship of later ages would divide.

The Way's Transmission and Its Loss

But the sage's learning was great and broad. Among the seventy disciples who received his personal teaching, apart from Yan Hui and Zengzi, few penetrated his domain -- how much less those beneath them. Therefore after only a few transmissions, the doctrines of Yang Zhu and Mo Di swept the world. Fortunately Mencius received the true transmission from Zisi and rose to refute them. The Way transmitted from sage to sage was preserved from collapse.

Afterward, not many generations passed before the Qin burned the Poetry and Documents, relied on its own judgment, and reaped impermanent fortune -- the dynasty fell in two generations. The Han, taking warning, issued edicts to recover the lost classics and governed with broad tolerance. The Confucians of that era mostly took the classics as their profession, establishing specialized schools and reputations. The greater among them were bound to the letter and confined to commentarial glosses, frequently losing the intent while transmitting the words. Therefore the ancients lamented: "Burning the classics, the classics survived. Annotating the classics, the classics perished."

The commentators Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan were not without breadth, but they were confined to scholarship and neglected moral nature. Jing Fang applied himself to the Changes solely through divination and drifted into the lesser Confucianism of image and number. Wang Bi applied himself to the Changes solely through meaning and principle, transforming it into the empty talk of the Wei and Jin. Some were partial toward the root, some toward the branch -- this was the divergence of Han Confucian scholarship.

The Jin Confucians indulged in talk of pure emptiness. Compared to the rigid scholarship of the Han, this was lofty indeed -- yet grand and empty, it offered no practical entry point. At its worst, it led to contempt for ritual propriety and descent into abandon. The Tang valued poetry and competed in ornament; few entered the inner chambers of Confucius and Mencius.

When the Song dynasty arose, it honored Confucianism and revered the Way. Five stars gathered in the mansion of Kui; literary fortune opened from heaven. Chen Tuan emerged first. The Lian and Luo masters followed in succession. The heart-method transmitted from sage to sage was preserved and illuminated.

After the two Chengs, Master Guishan continued the transmission. The Way passed to Yuzhang, then was entrusted to Yanping. When the Way reached Xin'an, the sage's classics received their collected commentaries. At this time, Zhu pursued scholarly inquiry and Lu honored moral nature -- and the one-thread Way split into two paths.

After Lu Xiangshan, there arose Wang Yangming in honoring moral nature. After Zhu Xi, He and Wang rose in succession, followed by Jin and Xu, in pursuing scholarly inquiry. To this day, the Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang schools have not settled their differences. Each grasps one end and forgets the Mean.

Moral nature and scholarly inquiry -- how can they be given unequal weight? As for the method of leaving the world, it relies on Buddhism and Daoism. In the late Song and Yuan, the methods of both flourished. Yet where they entered was not the same. Daoists refined in the palace of water; Buddhists cultivated in the palace of fire. Hanshan and Longmen were the great ones of their era. They established separate gates and guarded their own traditions. Compared with the three sages, something of wholeness was lacking.

After this, those who would leave the world did so for livelihood; those who would dwell in the world did so for glory. The true lifeblood of the Three Teachings had already lost its trace. Heterodox teachings rose like swarming bees. Deviant methods swept across the land -- harming the state, endangering families, trapping the ignorant, disrupting the ancient institutions, and corrupting public morals. The sorrows of the heart are as of a wound. Wishing to save, yet unable.

Not presuming on my own worthiness, I have composed this common commentary on the sage's classics. If there are absurdities and errors, I defer to the wise. Whether they know me or condemn me, I leave to their judgment.

The Difficulty of Speaking the Way

Since the Confucian tradition divided between moral nature and scholarly inquiry: those who honor moral nature hold to simplicity, taking "investigating things" to mean investigating the things of material desire. Those who pursue scholarly inquiry hold to breadth, taking "investigating things" to mean investigating the things of the world. Each clings to their view. But do they not know? Moral nature and scholarly inquiry -- substance and function -- cannot be treated partially. Material desires and worldly affairs -- the heavenly and the human -- both must be addressed. When material desires are investigated, the self is overcome and propriety restored -- this suffices to reach the great foundation of heavenly virtue. When worldly affairs are investigated, rites are made clear and music ready -- this suffices to reach the great function of the kingly way. This is the method of the still sage and the active king.

Therefore the Doctrine of the Mean says: "Honor the moral nature and pursue scholarly inquiry." Both ends must be held in equal weight. To grasp one is to be partial -- the union of substance and function.

If one is confined to the human without reaching the heavenly, one may enter the gates of the worthy but cannot enter the domains of the sage.

And yet heaven itself is hard to speak of. The Han Confucian Dong Zhongshu said: "The great source of the Way issues from heaven." The whole world has taken this as insight into the Way. But which heaven is meant? If Principle-heaven, then heaven IS the Way and the Way IS heaven -- there is no separation, no issuing. If Breath-heaven, then it is the great source of heaven that issues from the Way -- and the great source of the Way does not issue from heaven.

Laozi said: "The Great Way has no form -- it gives birth to heaven and earth." The name "Way" is the same, but the reality differs.

The Changes says: "One yin, one yang -- this is called the Way." But this refers to divination. Divination is based on image and number, which do not depart from yin and yang. This is the way of divination, not the Way of the Great Learning, not the Way of leading the nature. Not the Unchanging, but Exchange and Transformation.

The Way of the Great Learning, the Way of leading the nature, though rooted in the Unchanging, is the Way every person possesses within themselves -- not yet the Way that gives birth to heaven and earth, the Way that cannot be spoken and cannot be named.

Yin and yang have their division between the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, Exchange, and Transformation, image and imageless. The yin and yang of the Desire Realm: male and female, movement and stillness, hard and soft, death and life. The yin and yang of the Form Realm: the constellations, the sun and moon. These are yin and yang with image -- they mostly belong to Exchange.

Yin and yang without image: the azure breath of the sky, carrying the sun, moon, and stars, encompassing and pervading and nourishing and ending all beings. Rising is yang; descending is yin. Extending is spirit; contracting is ghost. These are yin and yang without image -- they belong to Transformation.

But the Transforming, though seemingly without color or image, is fundamentally different from the imageless Unchanging. The Breath of Transformation moves and flows, has beginning and end. Its outer limit does not exceed one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years before it is exhausted. The Principle of the Unchanging is still and yet responsive, without beginning or end. It does not fall within yin and yang, yet it governs yin and yang, begins and ends yin and yang, and is the mother of "one yin, one yang."

The Breath-heaven may resemble Principle-heaven, but it is vastly different. Just as the Temperamental Nature and the precarious human mind are hard to distinguish from the Original Nature and the subtle mind of the Way.

This is why the semblance of the Way is easy to follow, and the true Way is hard to believe.

Therefore Laozi said: "When the superior person hears the Way, they practice it diligently. When the middling person hears the Way, they half believe and half doubt. When the inferior person hears the Way, they laugh aloud. If it were not laughed at, it would not be worthy of being the Way."

Zhuangzi said: "The hedge-sparrow knows nothing of the swan. The summer insect cannot be told of ice. The frog in the well does not believe the sky is vast."

Song Yu said: "The higher the melody, the fewer who can join."

Confucius said: "As virtue increases, slander rises. As the Way ascends, ruin comes."

Zisi said: "What the noble person does that others cannot match -- is it not precisely what others do not see?"

Mencius said: "What the noble person does, the common people cannot fathom."

The difficulty of speaking the Way did not begin today.

Master Cheng's Way, in the Northern Song, was condemned by the entire world as false learning. He was called a partisan, slandered at court and inscribed upon stone. To avoid his teachings was to be innocent; to study them was to break the law. To slander and attack them was rewarded. In all the wide world, he could scarcely find a place to stand.

Master Zhu's learning, in the time of Emperor Gaozong, was branded as delusion and denounced as sorcery. He was stripped of office and salary. His followers were banished to the frontier.

Therefore Mencius says: "When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a person, it first makes bitter their heart and will, wearies their sinews and bones, starves their body, empties and exhausts their person, and confounds their every undertaking -- so as to stir the heart, toughen the nature, and supply what was lacking."

This is why the Analects takes "being unknown and unresentful" as the mark of the noble person. The Doctrine of the Mean takes "being unknown and without regret" as the mark of the sage. Guarding the good Way unto death is the method of the gate of Confucius. Departing from the Way to win a thousand praises is the warning of the court of Shun.

Exploring the Three Changes, Part 3

The Two Robes and the Two Dharmas

The Way of the Buddhist tradition, from the time of Master Zhigong, was divided into the Green Robes and the Yellow Robes. The Green Robes were in the south. They upheld the precepts and rules, taking the school's teachings and precepts as their path, precepts, concentration, and wisdom as their attainment, and illuminating the heart to see the nature with sudden transcendence into nirvana as their ultimate aim. True transmission was personally conferred -- therefore they could become buddhas and patriarchs. Integrating school and teaching, excelling in both discourse and principle, raising the whisk to meet the moment, shouldering the true dharma -- in every generation there were those who carried it. This is the Real Dharma.

The Yellow Robes were in the north. They drank wine and ate meat, still following the customs of the northern steppes. They did not put an end to the karma of killing. Among them, occasionally one would break through -- but such a one at most played in empty non-action, recalled past lives, and entered womb after womb, unable to escape the cycle of rebirth. Arriving at understanding through scripture without true pointing -- this is the Expedient Dharma.

Those who excelled in the Real Dharma surpassed buddhas and exceeded patriarchs. Those who excelled in the Expedient Dharma merely cleared karmic debts.

The Southern and Northern Schools

After the Fifth Patriarch, the Green Robes divided into the Southern School of Sudden Awakening and the Northern School of Gradual Cultivation.

The Southern School of Huineng swept away the written word and pointed directly at the human heart. To see one's nature and become a buddha -- this was called the Sudden Teaching. Its Way was mostly transmitted among the laity, while monks and nuns rarely received its truth.

The Northern School of Shenxiu transmitted the robe and the bowl, but was attached to lecturing and chanting and did not penetrate the source. Those among them who excelled could clear karmic debts and ward off calamity, winning human fortune and worldly glory -- but could not transcend birth and death. When their merit was exhausted, they fell back at last.

Yet if one truly embraced purity and held the precepts clean, gave generously in both dharma and material wealth, and brought both blessings and wisdom to their fullness -- then through the power of innate wisdom, never retreating from the original aspiration, such a one could encounter the true transmission, gradually enter the true school, shoulder the Tathagata's burden, and greatly renew the wind of the lineage. The Way has no partiality. Where there is sincerity, there is always penetration -- it is not limited by caste or kind.

The Three Sages Were One

The Way of the Supreme Lord -- before Zhenren Wei Boyang -- consisted of the Classic of Purity and Stillness and the Dao De Jing, which were Laozi's true transmission. The golden elixir and furnace-fire had never been spoken of.

At that time, the three sages shared one source and looked upon each other without the slightest discord. This was the most supreme one-vehicle dharma.

The Diamond Sutra says: "Through non-action dharma, there arise differences." The Dao De Jing says: "Non-action, yet transformation." Confucius also says: "The one who governed through non-action -- was that not Shun? What did he do? He simply composed himself and faced south."

The Classic of Purity takes purity and stillness as its foundation. The Diamond Sutra likewise speaks of purity and stillness. The Great Learning takes settling and stillness as its point of entry.

The Daoist calls it emptiness and non-being. The Buddhist calls it cessation and extinction. And the Doctrine of the Mean likewise says: "The doings of heaven above -- without sound, without scent."

The Daoist says: "Guard the One." The Buddhist says: "Return to the One." And the Confucian likewise says: "The thread of the One."

The Buddhist speaks of form and emptiness. The Daoist speaks of being and non-being. The Confucian speaks of the manifest and the subtle.

The Buddhist says: "Contemplate sound." The Daoist says: "Contemplate the heart." The Confucian says: "Attend to the bright mandate of heaven."

The Daoist says: "Return to one's destiny." The Confucian says: "Restore propriety." The Buddhist says: "And likewise is it so."

The Buddhist says: "Illuminate the heart and see the nature." The Daoist says: "Cultivate the heart and refine the nature." The Confucian says: "Preserve the heart and nourish the nature."

The method of entry, the place of ultimate attainment -- the three sages share one source. Melting gold to make a vessel, melting ice to make water -- there was originally no difference. How could they be set against each other?

The Golden Elixir Decoded

After Wei Boyang, the Changes were borrowed to elucidate the Dao. The principles of nature and destiny were united with the heavenly Way of yin and yang, cross-referenced with the hexagrams, lines, River Chart, and Luo Writing -- gazing upward and looking downward, taking from the near in one's own body and from the far in all things.

Through the ascending and descending of cold and heat, the waxing and waning of sun and moon, the male and female of living things -- he compared and unified them, sealed and certified them, and tested them against the human body. They matched like the two halves of a tally.

Nature and destiny are received from heaven. Heaven in the Great Changes is Qian. Qian in the Five Phases is gold. Therefore the substance of the original nature is metaphorized as gold.

When the spirit congeals and the breath gathers, the ten thousand channels return to their source. Feeling and intellect are utterly extinguished, and all melts into one unified mass. Therefore the function of the original nature is metaphorized as the elixir.

The spirit dwells in Li. In the prior-heaven, Li is in the east. The east is the Azure Dragon -- seven mansions of its celestial field. Therefore it is called the Green Dragon.

The breath dwells in Kan. In the prior-heaven, Kan is in the west. The west is the White Tiger -- seven mansions of its celestial field. Therefore it is called the White Tiger.

Li-fire is born in the east and thrives in the south. Therefore Li-fire moves from east to south, replacing prior-heaven Qian. The south is the domain of the Vermillion Bird's seven mansions. Therefore it is also called the Red Dragon.

Kan-water is born in the west and thrives in the north. Therefore Kan-water moves from west to north, replacing prior-heaven Kun. The north is the domain of the Dark Warrior's seven mansions. Therefore it is also called the Black Tiger.

Li is in the south. In the post-heaven, the Original Spirit is hidden by the Discerning Spirit. The Discerning Spirit is easy to release but hard to contain. Therefore it is metaphorized as mercury.

Kan is in the north. It too is the post-heaven original breath, burdened by turbid essence -- easy to sink, hard to raise. Therefore it is metaphorized as lead.

These are the origins of the drug-materials.

Li-fire is the sun. Kan-water is the moon. Li internally contains Ji. Kan internally contains Wu. Sun and moon together make "change." When they exchange, they make "brightness." When they transform, they become the "elixir." When Wu and Ji exchange, they make the "knife." When the two earths combine, they make the "scepter." These are the origins of the golden elixir, the knife, and the scepter.

The palace of Li is nine. The lines of Qian are nine. When Li turns back into Qian -- this is the Nine Turns.

The single yang within Kan transforms into breath and rises, restoring the body of Qian. This is Restoring Yang.

When Qian is complete, the yang is restored. When the yang is restored, the nine turns are achieved. When the nine turns are achieved, the gold is pure. When the gold is pure, yin and yang unite as one. When they unite as one, the elixir is complete.

The elixir is completed in Li. In the post-heaven, Li is the nine-purple. Therefore it is called the Nine-Turn Restoring Yang Elixir. The Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, the Nine-Turn Purple Gold Elixir -- metaphor upon metaphor, name upon name, piled and layered, changing beyond end.

Therefore today those who hear are deafened, those who see are dazzled. A thousand branching paths, ten thousand diverging schools -- doubts multiply without cease. And from this arose the heterodox byways of furnace-fire, harvesting-and-supplementing, transporting, and breathing exercises.

But do they not know? Gold IS heaven, heaven IS Principle. "Overcome the self, restore propriety" -- one sentence covers it all.

The Three Sages at Their Founding

The three sages, at the founding of their teachings, took as their standards:

Preserving the heart and nourishing the nature. Illuminating the heart and seeing the nature. Cultivating the heart and refining the nature.

Embracing the origin and guarding the One. The ten thousand dharmas returning to the One. Holding to the center and threading the One.

Purity and stillness through non-action. Settling and stillness through non-action.

Compassion, resonance, and reciprocity as their practice.

The Three Refuges and Five Precepts, the Six Perfections and Ten Thousand Practices. The Three Blossoms and Five Breaths, the Five Hundred Great Precepts. The Three Bonds and Five Constants -- "Do not look, listen, speak, or act against propriety" -- as their conduct.

Exhausting the nature and fulfilling the destiny. Returning to the root and recovering the destiny. "And likewise is it so" -- as their ultimate attainment.

Grand, centered, most upright. Perfectly good, perfectly beautiful. They did not dare speak wildly or wield their words extravagantly -- fearing that the slightest hair's breadth of deviation would lead a thousand miles astray. Therefore they measured their conduct by pitch and rhythm, their circles by the compass and their squares by the ruler, encompassed heaven and earth, served as models for a hundred kings, and endured for ten thousand ages without corruption.

The Decline of the Three Teachings

After the golden elixir doctrine arose in Daoism, its later followers mostly fell into attachment to images. After the sudden and gradual transmission was lost in Buddhism, its later followers mostly fell into the void of obstinacy. After Confucius and Mencius passed away, from the Cheng and Zhu onward, scholars were mostly confined within the bounds of words and written characters.

Confucians confined to writing at least kept to the human Way. But when the true transmission of Buddhism and Daoism was lost, there was scarcely anything left worth observing. Without true cultivation, the lesser offense was abandoning human relationships. The greater was the crime of disordering them.

This was not the fault of Laozi or Shakyamuni. It was the fault of later scholars who overcorrected, cast off the bonds and duties of human life, and abandoned the human to seek the heavenly.

For Laozi served as an official and held post in the Zhou court throughout his career -- he never cut himself off from others or abandoned his ruler. Shakyamuni had a son, and his lineage carried the dharma for generations -- how can it be said he abandoned human bonds and had no father?

Confucius served as Minister of Justice and left Lu after three months. Mencius was offered a ministerial salary and soon departed Qi. Yan Hui and Min Ziqian spent their entire lives without taking office -- not because their ruler dismissed them or their abilities fell short. They had a higher purpose, and therefore would not be mired in the pursuit of wealth and honor.

For the Principle is subtle and the Way is great -- it is hard to speak of to those who do not know.

The Buddhist and Daoist traditions practiced fasting openly and spoke directly. Confucius held it within, never revealing it outwardly. The Buddha was the ruler of a kingdom, with nothing to fear. Laozi was the spirit of great transformation, unbounded by the world. But Confucius had no position and no authority, dwelling where circumstances placed him. Therefore he left no visible trace -- he walked with integrity but spoke with deference -- for the melody was high and few could join in, and as virtue deepens, slander rises.

The Sage's Dietary Practice

Were it otherwise, how would we explain the Xiang Dang chapter? Wine not bought from the market he would not drink. Meat not from the proper butcher he would not eat. Improperly cooked he would not eat. Improperly cut he would not eat. Without the proper sauce he would not eat. Out of season he would not eat. Ginger he never removed from the table.

Beyond this: when Ji Kangzi presented a banquet, Confucius ate but did not take meat. Before fasting, he always changed his diet. What the Master was cautious about: fasting, war, and illness. "The noble person fasts and purifies to illuminate their virtue with spiritual clarity." Not merely the three days of strict fasting and the seven days of preparatory fasting -- in truth, he was never not fasting.

To eat flesh is to take life and harm Principle -- it violates benevolence and nourishes the yin. To eat pungent vegetables is to cloud the nature and darken the intellect -- the pure yang does not rise, and spiritual clarity does not arrive. To go without fasting is to let heart and will scatter in disorder, emotions and desires rush in from every side, and essence and spirit lose their guard, sinking into baseness.

Let those with heart discern the meaning: the sages of the three teachings, though in different lands, were all the same in this.

The Three Teachings Divided

At that time, the three teachings had split into separate schools, contradicting one another. Each clung to its own views and could not return to unity -- confined to the human, they had not reached the heavenly. Each grasped the branches and leaves, forgetting the root.

Laozi was the ancestor who transmitted the Dao. Eastward, he transmitted to Confucius, who became the supreme sage -- hence the exclamation, "like a dragon!" Westward, he converted the Hu king and disclosed the True Scripture, and at Hangu Pass the auspicious purple vapour appeared. The blue ox went west, and the Dao was transmitted to India. The white horse came east, and Buddhism arose in China.

The Way of Confucius and Mencius drew support from Laozi. The learning of the Cheng brothers had its true root in Chen Tuan. The archivist beneath the column and the Daoist master of Mount Hua -- both benefited Confucianism without harming it.

How is it, then, that from Han Yu onward, attacking Buddhism and refuting Laozi became the proper business of the literati? And from the Xin'an school onward, opposing Lu Xiangshan and rejecting Wang Yangming was taken for true Confucianism?

Han Yu attacked Daoism -- yet his nephew Xiangzi became a leader among the Daoist priesthood. His Dao was attained in heaven; his name endures in the mortal world. His temple receives fragrant offerings, and even children and women know his fame. Seen from this, Han Yu's attack was one attack too many.

Zhu Xi's character was upright and great, but in the inner sanctum of Confucius and Mencius, he was off by a hair. In tracing the Dao and discussing learning, he did not address the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge -- already wrong from the first step; the rest can be inferred. His essays and accomplishments were magnificent. But on the nature, destiny, and the heavenly Dao, one cannot discuss these things with him.

The learning of Zhu Xi and Lu Xiangshan was initially opposed but ultimately converged. Wang Yangming's scholarship cannot in the end be effaced. Yet the debates over their similarities and differences have not ceased to this day -- the partisanship of rival schools.

The River Chart and the Luo Writing

The River Chart and the Luo Writing -- one follows the sequential order, the other the reverse.

The River Chart moves sequentially in mutual generation: from one root to ten thousand branches, from substance into function. The Luo Writing moves in reverse through mutual conquest: from ten thousand branches back to one root, gathering function and returning to substance.

The River Chart uses the completion numbers seven, eight, nine, and six as the four images. Seven is young yang. Eight is young yin.

Seven represents the three trigrams Zhen, Kan, and Gen -- each having one yang line and two yin lines. Yang is odd, round, with a circumference of three; three uses its full measure. Yin is even, square, with a circumference of four; four uses its half. Using the full three: one yang as sovereign yields the number three. Using the half of four: two yin as subjects yield the number four. Three and four together make seven. All three male trigrams are seven -- hence "young yang."

Eight represents the three trigrams Xun, Li, and Dui -- each having two yang lines and one yin line. Two yang yield the number six; one yin yields the number two. Six and two together make eight. All three female trigrams are eight -- hence "young yin."

The six children are all "young" -- said in contrast to the two parents, Qian and Kun, who are "old."

Qian the Father is pure yang: three threes make nine -- hence old yang uses nine. Kun the Mother is pure yin: two times three equals six -- hence old yin uses six.

The old transform while the young do not -- because when things reach their extreme, they reverse. Yang at its extreme transforms into yin; yin at its extreme transforms into yang.

Qian uses nine; when it transforms, it becomes eight. Qian descends to interact with Kun, empties, and becomes Li. Kun uses six; when it transforms, it becomes seven. Kun receives Qian's line, fills, and becomes Kan.

Stated in terms of number: using nine transforms to eight -- Qian interacts with Kun and becomes Li. Using six transforms to seven -- Kun receives Qian and becomes Kan.

Stated in terms of principle: Qian's yang advances sequentially, from substance into function -- hence Qian uses Li of the post-heaven arrangement, and Li's number is nine. Kun's yin retreats inversely, from function back to substance -- hence Kun uses Kan of the prior-heaven arrangement, and Kan's number is six.

Kan is originally the middle son, yet Kan is the moon -- and the moon is called the Great Yin. Li is originally the middle daughter, yet Li is the sun -- and the sun is called the Great Yang. This is the principle of yin and yang mutually rooted in each other.

Yang contains yin within; its outer appearance is yang. Yin contains yang within; its outer appearance is yin.

The Accumulations

In the River Chart, the accumulation of heaven's numbers is twenty-five, and the accumulation of earth's numbers is thirty. The combined accumulation of heaven and earth is fifty-five.

Remove five -- it is not used. What is used is forty-nine. Five is the function of the Great Ultimate. One is the substance of the Great Ultimate.

Forty-nine is the accumulated number of seven times seven. Yang reaching seven transforms into yin; yin reaching seven, yang returns. At six the mechanism of change has not yet arrived. At eight the mechanism of change has already passed. Change is the mechanism of transformation -- therefore milfoil divination uses the number seven times seven.

The Weight of Earth and the Clarity of Heaven

The River Chart is earth -- earth is heavy and turbid. The Luo Writing is heaven -- heaven is light and clear. What is heavy and turbid has many numbers; what is light and clear has few.

The Luo Writing's accumulation is forty-five -- it lacks earth's completion number, and therefore it is light and clear, and transforming change flows without rest. The River Chart's accumulation is fifty-five -- it has earth's completion number in full, and therefore it is heavy and turbid, stable and thick, and does not shift.

The Ten Stems and Twelve Branches

Heaven's substance is yang, and yang's central number is five. Heaven's breath rises and descends: rising, it is yang -- five yang stems: jia, bing, wu, geng, ren. Descending, it is yin -- five yin stems: yi, ding, ji, xin, gui.

Earth's substance is yin, and yin's central number is six. Earth has paired oppositions: from Zi to Si is the inner circle; from Wu to Hai is the outer.

Among the heavenly stems, two belong to earth. Among the earthly branches, four belong to earth -- again, earth predominates. Therefore heaven takes breath as its substance, and earth takes soil as its substance.

The Five Tones and Six Pitches

Heaven uses five as its function -- hence the five tones, generated through three-part gain and loss, model heaven.

Earth uses six as its function -- hence the six pitches, generated by separating eight to produce the next, model earth.

The Nine Positions and the Three Sources

The ancients drew the well-field pattern to divide territories, established states and capitals, deployed troops and arranged formations, set camp and raised fortifications. All the variations of orthodox and unorthodox strategy were rooted in the Luo Writing.

Scholars, seeing that the ancients drew the well-field based on the Luo Writing, often take the Luo Writing as an earth diagram -- not knowing that although its application is on earth, it actually models heaven.

Thus the annual stars, monthly stars, daily stars, and hourly stars -- the nine positions rotate through their courses, fortunes and misfortunes interleaving, great and small alternating.

Therefore: one who reaches the source of the Luo Writing knows heaven's timing. One who reaches the source of the River Chart knows earth's advantages. One who reaches the common source of heaven's principle, earth's principle, and nature's principle -- three principles sharing one root -- achieves human harmony.

To understand breath but not principle is called "partial." To understand principle but not breath is called "plain." To reach the source of principle, illuminate the function of breath, and fully realize earth's advantages -- this is the Way of the inner sage and the outer king, great center and utmost uprightness.

Principle in its subtlety: exhaust the nature and reach the destiny. Principle in its manifest form: the Three Bonds and Five Constants -- unchanged across ten thousand ages.

Breath in its hidden aspect: the cycles rise and fall. Breath in its manifest form: the world's affairs shift and change -- one must adapt to the times.

Earth Held Aloft

The sun, moon, and stars are attached to heaven -- that is, they are attached to Breath. The hundred grains and plants are attached to earth -- that is, they are attached to soil. Blue Breath forms heaven; soil forms earth -- this is indeed not empty talk.

People only know that grains and plants are attached to earth, but do not know that earth itself is merely one object within heaven.

The Yellow Emperor asked Qi Bo: "The earth is one object within heaven -- does it too have something supporting it?" Qi Bo replied: "The Great Breath lifts it, that is all."

Guiyu Qu knew the heaven above the earth, but did not know there is heaven below the earth. Qi Bo spoke of heaven on all four sides of the earth, but never spoke of heaven beyond the four sides of heaven.

That there is heaven beyond heaven -- only the Supreme Lord Laozi spoke of this repeatedly. The Classic of Purity and Stillness says: "The Great Dao is formless; it gives birth to and nurtures heaven and earth." The Dao De Jing says: "The Nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth." The Scripture of Collected Deeds says: "Above the nine heavens is what is called the Milo. The heaven above heaven -- ascending to the extreme, there is no end."

This is the treasury of the Great Dao, the mystery of ultimate Principle. Heaven above keeps it secret -- it may not be recklessly transmitted. Treasure it and revere it; reveal it to none but the worthy.

That which pervades all is called "Mi." That which encompasses all is called "Luo." The Great Breath lifts the earth; the Great Dao gives birth to heaven.

The Three Attainments

Scholars of common learning mostly take the knowable and visible as their enterprise, not knowing that the enterprise of the sages and spirits far surpasses ordinary perception -- as the Doctrine of the Mean says: "How abundant is the virtue of spirits and gods! You look for them but do not see; you listen but do not hear; yet they give substance to all things and cannot be left out. They cause all the people of the world to fast and purify themselves, put on their finest robes, and perform the sacrifices. Overflowing -- as if above, as if at their left and right."

The sages and perfected ones of the three teachings -- exemplars for ten thousand generations, models for a hundred kings -- their altar offerings are fragrant, and the longer time passes, the fresher they become.

The Confucian, through settling in the supreme good, through stilling, through "not seeing, not hearing," reaches the heaven of no sound and no scent -- and becomes a sage. The Daoist, through purity, stillness, and non-action, through tranquil simplicity and empty vastness, becomes an immortal. The Buddhist, through subduing the mind, through cessation and true emptiness, becomes a Buddha.

Because they do not enter attachment to form, they do not fall into stubborn emptiness. Empty yet not empty -- this is called marvelous existence. "Marvelous" means the divine brightness is unfathomable. "Existence" means giving substance to all things without leaving anything out.

The Persecuted Way

Among the ancients: when virtue was cultivated, slander arose; when the Dao was lofty, destruction came; when the melody was high, few could harmonize. The whole world could not contain them. Yet they neither regretted nor resented, staking their lives on it -- for the sake of the Dao.

King Wen was imprisoned at Youli. Confucius was besieged between Chen and Cai. The learning of the Cheng brothers was banished by Cai Jing. The learning of Zhu Xi was denounced by Han Tuozhou.

In part, vulgar eyes see little and find much strange. In part, refined gold awaits the furnace -- the shaking of the heart and the tempering of the nature are fitting and proper.

Likewise, Wang Yangming quelled rebellion but received no reward. When he discussed Chan at a rural temple, his bearing was as if nothing had happened -- because the taste of the world had grown thin to him. Cai Yuanding assisted Zhu Xi, was exiled without crime, and taught the Dao from his place of imprisonment, not avoiding disaster -- because he had truly seen Principle.

In our own dynasty, the Emperor Shizu and the Emperor Shizong both deeply explored the cavern of Principle. Their understanding had merged with the wonder of the Dao -- the Dao and imperial power were united. Yet though the sage's governance can be carried out openly, the sage's Dao they did not dare transmit openly. First, they feared that ministers and people could not fully grasp it, and change would be difficult. Second, they feared that Principle is subtle and the Dao is vast -- divergent paths easily arise, and once recklessly bestowed, the poison is easily released but hard to contain, spreading unchecked. Therefore Shizong composed his Discourse Records to declare his intent.

Shizu cast aside mountains and rivers like worn-out sandals -- he possessed both the Dao and imperial authority. Yet even two such sage-rulers could not transmit the subtlety of this Dao to all their ministers and people -- how much less those below them!

Alas! The age of Great Harmony has passed. The rivers run ever downward. The stain of habit is already deep -- what can be done?

The Classics Traced to Their Root

The Great Learning takes its origin from the Canon of Yao, and therefore begins with "illuminating virtue." Its sequence of cultivating the self, ordering the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world is precisely: "Overcoming to illuminate lofty virtue. Bringing harmony to the nine clans -- and the nine clans become harmonious. Distinguishing the hundred families -- and the hundred families become enlightened. Coordinating the myriad states -- and the common people are transformed into concord."

Its stilling, calming, peaceful deliberation unfolds the treasury of "cultured thought, serene and serene." Its "investigation of things and extension of knowledge" manifests the meaning of "reaching" to what is above and below. The character ge carries three meanings: to move by feeling, to remove, and to arrive at -- all three are encompassed. But in the Canon of Yao, the meaning of "arriving at" predominates. Its root and branch, first and last, beginning and end -- this is the sequence from "illuminating virtue" to "transformation."

In the Canon of Yao, the commands to Xi and He come after "transformation" -- this is exhausting the human and merging with heaven. The Great Learning speaks of human affairs but never touches upon heavenly affairs -- each has its own domain, and speech does not exceed one's office. The heaven of heavenly Principle is the scholar's concern. The heaven of heavenly timing belongs to the officials in charge.

The Doctrine of the Mean takes its origin from the heart-transmission of Yu. The proclamation of Tang speaks of nature -- the human mind and the mind of the Dao are the heavenly way and the human way. "Precarious" and "subtle" -- the manifest and the hidden, the expansive and the concealed. What does not deviate is called "centrality." What is faithfully held is called "constancy." Centrality is the substance of the Dao. Constancy is the function of the Dao. "Faithfully hold to the center" means to employ its centrality.

"The sovereign above sends down the endowment; there is an abiding nature" -- this is "what Heaven decrees is called nature." "Refine to oneness, faithfully hold to the center" -- this is "to follow nature is called the Dao." Its words about "not seeing, not hearing, no sound, no scent, overflowing as if present, giving substance to things without leaving anything out" -- all unfold the true substance of the sovereign above. Its words about the three universal virtues, the five universal pathways, the nine guidelines and three important things, positioning and nurturing, assisting and completing -- these are the ultimate extension of the great function of the endowment from above. Its words about virtuous nature and inquiry and learning, the vast and the subtle -- these distinguish the two poles of the heavenly way and the human way, and apply the great authority of "faithfully holding to the center."

Not pursuing what is hidden and strange -- this is the proper gate of entering virtue. Not abandoning halfway -- this is the warning against near-complete failure. As for "withdrawing from the world, unknown and without regret" -- this is delighting in heaven and knowing one's destiny. The noble person enters nowhere without finding contentment.

The Taste Within the Food

One who does not avoid pitfalls -- their wisdom is not true wisdom. One who does not know the taste of food -- their foolishness is real foolishness. This is why the Dao is neither easy to illuminate nor easy to practice.

Food nourishes yin; drink nourishes yang. The substance of food and drink originates from earth -- it has form and is easy to see. The taste of food and drink originates from heaven -- it has no form and is hard to perceive. The taste of food and drink resides within the food and drink, yet reaches beyond the food and drink. A real image in emptiness -- it resembles the Dao, and therefore serves as an analogy.

The Three Investigations

The method of investigating things has an essential path. First investigate the Principle of Wuji -- exhaust the great source of heaven and earth. Next investigate the Breath of the Great Ultimate -- probe the parent of all things. Then investigate the forms of the Two Modes -- distinguish the origins of movement and stillness.

The Principle of Wuji: without form and without image, sound and scent both extinguished. It is the original beginning of heaven and earth, the great source of nature and destiny. It can be grasped by the mind, but its traces are hard to find. Without end and without beginning. Still, yet able to respond. Without thought, without action, yet whenever touched, it communicates. Unless one has entered the hall and penetrated the inner chamber, silently merging with the divine transformation, one should not lightly discuss these matters.

The Breath of the Great Ultimate: though it has no form or image, it can give form to form and image to image. Though it has no sound or scent, it can give sound to sound and scent to scent. At its beginning, all things follow it and have their beginning. At its end, all things follow it and return to their end. The Breath of the Great Ultimate: yang is clear, yin is turbid. The greatest form of clear Breath becomes heaven -- heaven wraps around the outside of earth, carrying the constellations, sun, and moon in ceaseless revolution. The greatest form of turbid Breath becomes earth -- earth rests within heaven, carrying mountains, rivers, and all living things, thick and heavy and unmoving.

Heaven gives birth to all things through Breath. Breath divides into yin and yang through rising and falling. Rising, it tends toward warmth; falling, toward cold. First rising and warm -- this is spring. Rising to its fullness and hot -- this is summer. First falling and cool -- this is autumn. Falling to its depth and cold -- this is winter. Spring, summer, autumn, winter -- as they cross from palace to palace, the four intervals between them are called the four seasons.

Earth carries all things with soil. North and south divide yin and yang. The south is mostly warm; the north is mostly cold; the east is mostly temperate; the west is mostly cool. The four directions correspond to the four seasons of heaven. Cold belongs to water. Heat belongs to fire. Warmth belongs to wood. Coolness belongs to metal. And the breath between the four seasons belongs to earth. The Breath of yin, yang, and the Five Phases gives birth to and completes all things.

The Five Creatures

The five great categories of formed creatures are: feathered, furred, scaled, shelled, and naked. Those born through transformation are the residual breath -- together, six kinds. "Phase" means movement. Moving creatures have spirit. Spirit is linked to heaven -- its root is above. They are born through the union of three: spirit, breath, and substance.

Spirit is fundamentally one; breath has ten thousand variations, but the five main categories are: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Those born with the breath of metal are called shelled creatures -- hard on the outside, soft within. Their species number three hundred and sixty, and the turtle is their chief. Those born with the breath of wood are called furred creatures -- soft on the outside, firm within. Their species number three hundred and sixty, and the qilin is their chief. Those born with the breath of water are called scaled creatures -- they mostly dwell in the depths and can swim, for water's nature descends. Their species number three hundred and sixty, and the dragon is their chief. Those born with the breath of fire are called feathered creatures -- they mostly dwell in the heights and can fly, for fire's nature ascends. Their species number three hundred and sixty, and the phoenix is their chief.

Those born with the central breath of earth, combining the fullness of metal, wood, water, and fire, are naked creatures. They do not rely on feathers, fur, scales, or shells, but clothe themselves in robes and caps and dwell in palaces and chambers. They domesticate the four sacred creatures. Their species also number three hundred and sixty, and the sage is their chief.

Pure metal governs righteousness -- therefore the divine turtle is used for divination, foretelling fortune and misfortune. Pure wood is benevolence -- therefore the qilin harms no living thing and is the auspicious sign of sages and worthies. Pure water governs wisdom -- therefore the divine dragon transforms, existing in two states beyond all reckoning. Pure fire is culture and propriety -- therefore the phoenix displays all five colors, geese fly in formation, and their pairings do not become disordered. Pure earth unifies the four beginnings and encompasses ten thousand virtues.

The sound of feathered creatures is clear and high, close to the zheng tone. The sound of furred creatures is long and straight, close to the jue tone. The sound of shelled creatures is gathered and restrained, close to the shang tone. The sound of scaled creatures is low and deep, close to the yu tone. But human beings comprehend all five tones and master the six pitches.

In form: metal is short, wood is long, fire is pointed, water is curved, and earth takes the round as its head. Those whose breath is pure each resemble their elemental form. But those mixed with partiality are endlessly diverse.

Those with nine orifices reproduce through physical union and give birth to live young. Those with eight orifices reproduce through breath-union and lay eggs. Wood and fire creatures mostly dwell on land. Metal and water creatures mostly dwell in the deep. This is the division of yang ascending and yin descending.

The immortal crane nourishes its spirit, knowing the luminosity of wood and fire. The divine turtle regulates its breath, obtaining the essence of metal and water. Therefore one can communicate with the divine, and the other can undergo feathered transformation.

Heaven's breath completes one circuit in three hundred and sixty-five and one-quarter degrees. There are also the twenty-eight lunar mansions of fixed stars. Though each mansion governs a different number of degrees, whatever mansion and degree governs a creature's breath, its form and nature will resemble that mansion. Through the waxing and waning, purity and impurity of yin and yang, and the fortune and misfortune of stellar mansions, are distinguished: noble and base, great and small, wise and foolish, worthy and unworthy, male and female, early death and long life.

Extend and expand from this, enlarge and fill it out, draw analogies and grow the understanding -- though moving creatures are many, they can all be investigated from this principle.

Earth's Five Substances

Earth carries all things with five substances, waiting for heaven's breath to arrive before they are born. Turbid substance belongs to stillness. In stillness, plants grow their roots in the earth. Growth is their movement; inability to move by themselves is their stillness.

Mountains produce the five metals and grasses and trees -- this is stillness within stillness, imaging earth's bones. Water is born from mountains and moistens grasses and trees -- this is movement within stillness, imaging earth's blood.

When grasses and trees achieve beauty of form and become fit to nourish people, they are the five grains, called: root-grains, spike-grains, pod-grains, vine-grains, and hanging-grains.

Among all the roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, branches, and trunks of the five grains: those that are green in color, sour in taste, and straight and long in form are born from the wood-breath of spring. When people eat them, they enter the liver and gallbladder meridians and produce sinew.

Those yellow in color, sweet in taste, and round in form are born from the earth-breath of the four seasons. When people eat them, they enter the spleen and stomach meridians and produce flesh.

Those red in color, bitter in taste, and pointed in form are born from the fire-breath of summer. When people eat them, they enter the heart and small intestine meridians and produce blood.

Those white in color, pungent in taste, and short in form are born from the metal-breath of autumn. They enter the lung and large intestine meridians and produce breath.

Those black in color, salty in taste, and curved in form are born from the water-breath of winter. They enter the kidney and bladder meridians and produce bone.

Those that are light in substance and mild in taste belong to yang -- they enter the breath-division and ascend. Those that are heavy in substance and rich in taste belong to yin -- they enter the blood-division and descend.

All plants have life through the union of breath and substance. They have no spirit, and therefore no knowing. Their roots grow in the earth.

The Great Chain

Between heaven and earth, the ten thousand things are many, yet none goes beyond the moving and the planted. The moving and the planted are many, yet none stands outside the Five Phases. The Five Phases are many, yet none departs from yin and yang. Yin and yang are rooted in the Great Ultimate. The Great Ultimate is rooted in Wuji.

The Two Diagrams

The Principle of Wuji is originally without form. The dragon-horse emerged from the River and revealed the Chart, borrowing the numbers of heaven and earth's generation and completion to give it form. The Great Ultimate is originally without image. The divine turtle emerged from the Luo, bearing on its back the numbers of the one breath's flowing, to give it image.

Thereupon Fuxi comprehended the numbers of heaven and earth, and from the River Chart's paired-and-resting body, drew the image of the Prior Heaven Eight Trigrams. King Wen comprehended the numbers of the one breath's flowing, reversed the Prior Heaven's resting body, and created the Post Heaven's moving-and-functioning image.

Before the Changes were drawn, the Changes were in heaven and earth. After the Changes were drawn, heaven and earth were in the Changes.

Music and Measure from the Source

The River Chart and Luo Writing express breath's real images in emptiness. Ling Lun drew upon them and created music.

The River Chart's heaven-one. The Luo Writing's treading-one. Heaven-one is the ancestor of the Five Phases. Treading-one is the beginning of the first yang. Therefore the five tones, six pitch-pipes, measures of length, capacity, and weight all have their origin here.

One is the odd number. The odd circle encompasses three. Three thrice makes nine. Eighty-one silk threads make the gong string of the Yellow Bell. From this comes the method of three-part gain and loss. When this reaches the sixty-fourth step, the three-part division does not come out evenly, and therefore the tones stop at five.

The odd circle encompasses three -- therefore the Yellow Bell pitch-pipe has a hollow circumference of three fen. Three thrice makes nine -- therefore its length is nine cun. From this, tones are generated by the separating-eight method, and thus the notes come to number eight.

The Yellow Bell pitch-pipe holds twelve hundred grains of black millet in its bore, weighing twelve zhu -- the image of the twelve months. Twenty-four zhu make one liang -- the image of the twenty-four solar terms. Sixteen liang make one jin, giving a total of three hundred and eighty-four zhu -- the image of the sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines.

From this, from the width of millet grains, the fen and cun are derived, generating the system of length. From the vessel that holds millet grains, the sheng is derived, generating the system of capacity. Knowing this, pitch, length, capacity, and weight can all be investigated from their source.

The Trigrams and Civilization

Fuxi drew the trigrams to illuminate the phenomena between the two realms.

The Yellow Emperor drew upon them to invent clothing and caps, to order palaces and dwellings, to craft vessels and utensils -- for the benefit of the people.

Heaven is positioned above; earth is positioned below -- and from this, the rites of high and low were born. Qian is called father; Kun is called mother -- and from this, the rites of kinship were born. The three young trigrams are sons -- and from this, the rites of brothers were born. The three young trigrams are daughters -- and from this, the rites of sisters were born. Three sons and three daughters are matched -- and from this, the rites of marriage were born. Like voices respond to each other; like breaths seek each other -- and from this, the rites of social intercourse were born. From youth to prime, the rites of capping and wedding are born. From old age to death, the rites of mourning and sacrifice are born.

Extend and draw analogies -- and the three thousand three hundred rites can all be investigated from this.

The Trigram Family

Taking from what is near at hand in the human person: the sixty-four hexagrams are born from Gen and Dui, and their great root is in heaven. The three hundred and eighty-four lines never depart from the odd and the even.

From the youngest son to the middle son, from the middle son to the eldest son, from the eldest son to the old father -- four trigrams are but one trigram's transformation. From the youngest daughter to the middle daughter, from the middle daughter to the eldest daughter, from the eldest daughter to the old mother -- four trigrams are but one trigram's transformation.

One yang is born at the winter solstice in the hexagram Fu -- and all one hundred and ninety-two yang lines originate here. One yin is born at the summer solstice in the hexagram Gou -- and all one hundred and ninety-two yin lines commence here.

The Sages and Their Arts

The Luo Writing is the flowing breath-heaven. The birth, death, fortune, and misfortune of all things arise from breath. Therefore the manifestation of human affairs is wholly rooted in breath. Kings take their model from it. Above, they use it to regulate the calendar and clarify the seasons. Below, they use it to draw the well-fields and divide territories. The Nine Categories are the great law for all the people. The Eight Formations are the universal tool for the nine expeditions.

How majestic! -- he revealed the formless Dao through the Luo Writing and River Chart, borrowing number to manifest the Dao. Fuxi grounded the River Chart and Luo Writing's images in the Prior Heaven and Post Heaven, borrowing image to manifest number. The Yellow Emperor drew upon the trigram images to create rites and compose music. Feng Hou drew upon the Nine Palaces to develop the Art of the Mysterious. Cangjie drew upon the trigram images to develop the six types of writing. Li Shou drew upon the River Chart and Luo to develop mathematics. Qi Bo examined the River Chart, Luo Writing, and trigram images, investigating the heavenly function of Principle and Breath to create medicine. Guangchengzi transcended the River Chart, Luo Writing, and trigram images, returning to the great source of Principle and Breath to transmit the Dao.

Uniting Principle and Breath, extending from the manifest to the subtle and reaching to human affairs -- governance was perfected, the winds of civilization gradually opened. This was the passage from the age of Emperors to the age of Sage-Kings.

The Four Ages

Yielding the throne originated with Tang and Yu -- the Dao at its peak. Conquest and punishment arose with the Three Dynasties -- the Dao gradually declining.

Yet the Xia honored loyalty, rooting it in the heart. The Shang honored simplicity, not departing from the person. The Zhou honored culture -- then outward forms governed affairs, and the learning of body and mind gradually dimmed. This was the passage from the age of Sage-Kings to the age of Kings.

When it came to Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, they borrowed the forms of these things but mixed them with deception and force. This was the passage from the age of Kings to the age of Hegemons.

From Emperor to Sage-King is called yuan -- Origination. From Sage-King to King is called heng -- Flourishing. From King to Hegemon is called li -- Benefit.

Descending to the age of Confucius and Mencius, the Dao was entrusted to teachers and scholars. Following the ancients and setting forth the codes, modeling heaven and patterning earth -- this is the close of zhen, Steadfastness. And also the beginning of yuan.

Therefore Confucius is the Uncrowned King of the declining Zhou, and Mencius is the Merit-Minister of the Uncrowned King.

Colophon

Principles and Numbers Combined (理數合解) is a four-volume philosophical work of the Yiguandao (一貫道) tradition, attributed to Beihai Laoren (北海老人, the Old Man of the North Sea), pen name of Wang Jueyi (王覺一), the fifteenth patriarch of the Yiguandao lineage. The work was compiled posthumously and published in 1895 (Guangxu 21) by the Hermit of Bamboo Slope (竹坡居士). The four volumes are: (1) Commentary on the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, (2) Exploring the Three Changes, (3) Exploring the Origin of Unity, and (4) Resolving Doubts on Principle and Nature. Volume Three (Exploring the Origin of Unity, 一貫探原) was previously translated for the Good Works Library and is published separately.

Good Works Translation from Classical Chinese by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Sections 1--6 translated by Tulku Mingxin (明心). Sections 7--12 translated by Tulku Huiguang (慧光). Sections 13--14 translated by Tulku Huiguang II (慧光). Sections 15--16 translated by Tulku Míng (銘). Sections 17--18 translated by Tulku Chén (晨). Sections 19--20 translated by Tulku Míngdào (明道). Sections 21--22 translated by Tulku Míng (明). Section 23 translated by Tulku Yúnlái (雲來). Section 24 translated by Tulku Huíguāng (回光). Section 25 translated by Tulku Tōng (通). Section 26 translated by Tulku Míng (明). Section 27 translated by Tulku Lián (蓮). Section 28 translated by Tulku Chéngxīn (誠心). Section 29 translated by Tulku Zhēn (貞). This is the first English translation. Gospel register. The English was independently derived from reading the Chinese source text. The established Yiguandao translations in the Good Works Library were consulted for terminological consistency. Note: In Section 18, the source text reads 水星 (Water Star, i.e. Mercury) where the orbital data (twelve-year period) and the later trigram mapping (木星, Wood Star) both identify the planet as Jupiter. This appears to be a scribal error in the Chinese original -- 木 (wood) miscopied as 水 (water). The translation follows the astronomical data. Note: Section 21 contains Beihai Laoren's eschatological self-placement -- "the Man of the Eastern Mountain" (東山人) is his own persona, and Jingmen (荊門) is the location where he taught. The "Zhenren Mumu" (目真人) in the passage about Han Yu is a Yiguandao epithet for the enlightened teacher. Note: In Section 22, the source text reads 義成而後心正 where the standard Great Learning text reads 意誠而後心正 (intentions become sincere). Both 義 and 意 are pronounced "yì" -- this appears to be a scribal substitution. The translation follows the standard reading. Note: Section 22 references "our dynasty" (本朝), meaning the Qing -- this dates the composition to the late Qing era, consistent with the 1895 publication. The characterization of Wang Anshi (王荊公/半山) as "having learning without the Dao" reflects the standard Neo-Confucian critique, which Beihai Laoren extends through his own subtle/manifest (微/顯) framework. Note: Section 23 (中庸解, the Doctrine of the Mean commentary) is Beihai Laoren's most detailed cosmological exposition. It maps the Doctrine of the Mean's three opening propositions directly onto the Great Learning's three canons, demonstrating their identity. The three-heaven cosmology (Principle-heaven, Breath-heaven, Form-heaven) is given its fullest treatment here: the eye opens to Principle-heaven, the mouth and nose open to Breath-heaven. The famous passage "like fish in water -- connected, yet they do not know their connection" (如魚之在水焉，然通而不知其通) expresses the fundamental human condition in Yiguandao terms. The final movement maps the Doctrine of the Mean's "centrality and harmony" onto a theory of cosmic governance where the ruler's emotional state directly governs the seasons -- a framework drawn from the Yueling (月令, Monthly Commands) tradition. "Stilled mechanism, concentrated spirit" (息機神凝) describes the sage-ruler's wu wei. Note: Section 24 (三易探原 Part 1) opens the Yijing material -- the longest single section of the text. It maps the three kinds of change (不易 Unchanging, 變易 Transforming, 交易 Exchange) onto the River Chart, the Luo Writing, and the sun-moon cycle respectively, then extends the framework to human nature (Original Nature from Principle-heaven, Temperamental Nature from Breath-heaven), the Primordial Spirit (元神) and Discerning Spirit (識神), the Three Laws (True, Semblance, Decline) in all three teachings, a detailed critique of heterodox practices, and the full history of Confucian transmission from the seventy disciples through Song Neo-Confucianism. The section contains Beihai Laoren's definitive statement of why the Breath-heaven resembles but differs from Principle-heaven -- the fundamental epistemological problem of the Yiguandao. It quotes the Wuzhen Pian (悟真篇) on the dangers of cultivating the Discerning Spirit, the Diamond Sutra against seeking the Way through form, and seven sages on why the true Way is always persecuted. Note: Section 25 (Exploring the Three Changes, Part 2) maps the Three Changes onto the lunar hexagram cycle, calendrical astronomy, the Buddhist 'Namo,' and the Daoist golden elixir, demonstrating their common root. The key structural argument: the Breath-heaven resembles Principle-heaven but is not the same -- the breath-surplus arises from the Transforming, the waning-deficiency from the Exchange, but the Unchanging participates in neither. The golden elixir reverses the post-heaven Kan-Li back to prior-heaven Qian-Kun. Gold is heaven, heaven is Principle, and 'overcome the self, restore propriety' covers it all. The closing historical survey traces the Way's transmission from the seventy disciples through Han commentary, Wei-Jin empty talk, Tang poetry, and Song Neo-Confucianism, diagnosing each era's partial grasp of the whole. Note: Section 26 (Exploring the Three Changes, Part 3) maps the internal splits of Buddhism (Green Robes vs Yellow Robes, Southern Sudden vs Northern Gradual) and Daoism (before and after Wei Boyang), then demonstrates the three sages' identity through parallel quotations from the Diamond Sutra, Dao De Jing, and Confucius. The golden elixir is decoded at its deepest level: spirit as Li/Green Dragon/mercury, breath as Kan/White Tiger/lead, the four animal spirits mapped to the celestial mansions, and the complete numerology of the Nine-Turn Restoring Yang Elixir. The section culminates in the refrain "Gold is heaven, heaven is Principle, overcome the self and restore propriety -- one sentence covers it all," then diagnoses the decline of all three teachings when later followers lost the true transmission, and closes with Confucius's dietary practices as evidence that the three sages practiced the same discipline. Note: Section 27 (Exploring the Three Changes, Part 4) opens with the historical divergence and reconciliation of the three teachings -- Laozi transmitting east to Confucius and west to India, Han Yu's attack on Buddhism (and his nephew Xiangzi's Daoist apotheosis), Zhu Xi's near-miss, and Wang Yangming's endurance -- then turns to the deepest mathematical cosmology in the text: the River Chart's sequential generation (一本萬殊, substance to function) versus the Luo Writing's reverse conquest (萬殊一本, function to substance); the four images derived from completion numbers 7, 8, 9, 6; the proof that Qian-uses-nine transforms to Li and Kun-uses-six transforms to Kan; the yin-yang mutual rooting of Kan (moon/Great Yin) and Li (sun/Great Yang); the accumulations (55 for River Chart, 45 for Luo Writing) and the derivation of 49 (7x7) for milfoil divination; the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches mapped to yin-yang ascending/descending qi; the five tones (三分損益, three-part gain and loss modelling heaven) and six pitches (隔八相生, separating-eight modelling earth); and the closing synthesis: Luo Writing gives heaven's timing, River Chart gives earth's advantages, the three principles (heaven, earth, nature) sharing one root give human harmony. Translation notes: 良 in the source text (七為震、坎良、三卦) is read as 艮 (Gen); 互艮 is read as 互根 (mutually rooted); 捂真經 is interpreted as "disclosed the True Scripture" (捂 likely scribal for 悟 or 授); 年白/月白/日白/時白 are the flying-star cycles of the Nine Palaces (九宮飛星) system. Note: Section 29 (三易探原 Part 6, Exploring the Three Changes, Part 6) is the final section and the grand synthesis. It descends from cosmic principle to earthly substance -- the five substances (minerals, water, grasses, grains, creature-foods), the full nutritional cosmology mapped to the Five Phases and the meridian system, the chain of being from creatures through Five Phases through yin-yang to the Great Ultimate and Wuji. The River Chart and Luo Writing reappear: Fuxi's Prior Heaven from the Chart, King Wen's Post Heaven from the Writing. The musical cosmology derives all measurement from the Yellow Bell pitch-pipe: 1,200 millet grains, 12 zhu = 12 months, 384 zhu = 384 hexagram lines. The trigrams generate all civilization: clothing, ritual, writing, mathematics, medicine, and the Dao itself. The grand historical sweep maps the four ages (Emperor, Sage-King, King, Hegemon) onto the four virtues of the Yijing (yuan, heng, li, zhen). Confucius closes the cycle of zhen and opens the next yuan. Translation note: 於穆 in the sages passage is the classical exclamation from the Book of Odes (於穆清廟, "How majestic, the pure temple"). Translation note: 作榮 is read as 作樂 (composed music), a likely variant. This section completes the text. Twenty-nine sections across fourteen translators. The first complete English translation of Beihai Laoren's masterwork. Note: Section 28 (Exploring the Three Changes, Part 5) moves from mathematical cosmology to philosophical cosmology. It opens with the earth held aloft by the Great Breath (大氣舉之, from the Huangdi Neijing -- Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), then ascends to heaven beyond heaven: the Milo (彌羅, the All-Pervading Net), Yiguandao's term for the highest reality beyond all formed heavens. The "Scripture of Collected Deeds" (本行集經) citation is likely a sectarian attribution rather than the standard Buddhist sutra of that name. The three sages' attainments map exactly to the three-heaven cosmology: Confucian settlement in the supreme good reaches Principle-heaven; Daoist non-action reaches Breath-heaven at its purest; Buddhist cessation reaches true emptiness beyond form. The food-and-taste analogy is striking: the taste (invisible, heavenly) resides within the substance (visible, earthly) yet reaches beyond it -- "a real image in emptiness" (空中實像). The three investigations (格物) are ordered: Wuji's Principle first (the formless), then the Great Ultimate's Breath (the form-giving), then the Two Modes' form (the formed). This is investigation descending from the highest to the lowest -- the reverse of the empirical method. The five-creatures section (羽毛鱗甲裸) maps the entire animal kingdom onto the Five Phases with each creature-category having 360 species and a chief: turtle (metal), qilin (wood), dragon (water), phoenix (fire), sage (earth). Translation note: the source text reads 稟火氣而生者 (born with the breath of fire) for 鱗蟲 (scaled creatures), but the description ("mostly dwell in the depths and can swim, water's nature descends") clearly identifies water creatures. This appears to be a scribal error -- 火 (fire) for 水 (water) -- since the immediately following entry also reads 稟火氣 for 羽蟲 (feathered creatures), which IS correct. The translation follows the zoological logic and reads the first occurrence as 水 (water). The character 麟 in 麟蟲 is read as 鱗 (scaled), a common variant.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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