A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (50 page)

The term physical nature' here means the nature as it is found actually inherent in the physical endowment of an individual. As thus found, it always strives for the ideal, as Plato would say, but always falls short of it and cannot attain it. Li in its originally universal form, however, Chu Hsi calls the nature of Heaven and Earth," by way of distinction. This distinction was already made by Chang Tsai and is followed by Ch eng Yi and Chu Hsi. According to them, the use of this distinction completely solves the old controversy as to whether human nature is good and bad.

In Chu Hsi s system, nature is different from mind. In the Recorded Sayings, one passage reads: "(Question:) Is the mental faculty in man the mind or the nature?' (Answer:) 'The mental faculty is the mind but not the nature. The nature is nothing but Li. (Chiian 5-) Another passage reads: "(Question:) 'With regard to consciousness: is it the mental faculty of the mind that is thus conscious, or is it the action of the Ch' i?' (Answer:) 'it is not wholly Ch i. There is firsl the Li of consciousness; but by itself it cannot exercise consciousness. There can be consciousness only when the Ch i has agglomerated to form physical shapes, and the Li has united with the Ch i. The case is similar to that of the flame of this candle.

It is because the latter receives this rich fat that we have so much light." (Ibid.) Thus the mind, just as all other individual things, is the embodiment of Li with Ch'i. The distinction between mind and nature is that mind is concrete

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and nature is abstract. Mind can have activities, such as thinking and feeling, but nature cannot. But whenever such an activity takes place in our mind, we can deduce that there is a corresponding Li in our nature. Chu Hsi says: "In discussing the nature, it is important first of all to know what kind of entity the nature is. Master Ch eng put it well when he said: ' Nature is Li.' Now if we regard it as Li, then surely it is without shapes and features. It is nothing but principle. In man the principles of human—heartedness, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom belong to the nature. They are principles only. It is because of them that we are capable of having commiseration, that we can be ashamed of wrongdoing, that we can be courteous, and that we can distinguish between what is right and wrong.

Take as an illustration the nature of drugs: some have cooling and some heating properties. But in the drugs themselves you cannot see the shapes of these properties. It is only by the result that follows upon taking the drug that we know what its property is; and this constitutes its nature." (Complete Works,chiian 4^-)

In chapter seven we have seen how Mencius maintained that in human nature there are four constant virtues which manifest themselves as the four beginnings.'ln the above quotation Chu Hsi gives a metaphysical justification to this theory of Mencius, which is primarily psychological. According to Chu, the four constant virtues pertain to Li and belong to the nature, while the four beginnings are the operations of the mind. We cannot know the abstract except through the concrete. We cannot know our nature except through our mind. As we shall see in the next chapter, the Lu-Wang school maintained that the mind is the nature. This is one of the main issues between the two schools.

Political Philosophy

If every kind of thing in this world has its own Li, then for the state, as an organization having concrete existence, there must also be the Li of statehood or government. If the state is organized and governed in accordance with this Li, it will be stable and prosperous; if not, it will become disorganized and fall into disorder. According to Chu Hsi, this Li is the principle of government as taught and practiced by the former sage-kings. But it is not something subjective. It is eternally there, no matter whether or not it is taught or practiced. Regarding this point, Chu had some warm debates with his friend Ch' en Liang (1143-1194), who held a different point of view. Arguing with him, he wrote: "During a period of fifteen hundred years, the Too Lthe principle of government], as handed down by Yao and Shun Ltwo traditional sage-kings] . . . and Confucius, has never been put into practice for even a single day in the world. But beyond human intervention, it is eternally there. It is simply what it is, and is eternal and immortal. It cannot perish, even though men have done violence to it during the last fifteen hundred years." ("Reply to Ch'en Liang," Collected Literary Writings, chttan 36.)

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"The Too,' he said again, 'does not cease to be. What ceases to be is man's practice of it." (Ibid.)

As a matter of fact, not only have the sage—kings governed their states in accordance with the Too, but all persons who have achieved something in politics must, to a certain degree, have followed the same Too, even though sometimes unconsciously or incompletely. Chu Hsi writes: I always think that this Li L principle of government ] is one and the same both in times past and present. Those who follow it, succeed; those who violate it, fail. Not only did the sages of antiquity practice it, but even among the heroes of modern times, none can have any achievement without following this Li.Herein, however, is a difference. The ancient sages, being cultivated in the wisest way in what is fundamental, could hold the golden mean, and therefore what they did was all entirely good from the beginning to the end. The so —called heroes of modern times, however, have never undergone such cultivation, and have only moved in the world of selfish desires. Those of them who were talented have succeeded in coming into a seeming agreement Lwith the Li], each making accomplishment to the extent that he followed this Li.

There is one aspect in which all the so-called heroes are the same: that is,what they do can never be completely in accordance with ihe Li, and therefore is not perfectly good. (Ibid.) To illustrate Chu Hsi' s theory, let us take as an example the building of a house. A house must be built in accordance with the principles of architecture. These principles eternally remain, even if in the physical world itself no house is actually built. A great architect is a man who fully understands these principles and makes his plans in accordance with them. For example, the house he builds must be strong and durable. Not only great architects, however, but all who want to build a house, must follow the same principles, if their houses are to be built at all. Such non-professional architects, however, may simply follow these principles through intuition or practical experience, without understanding or even knowing about them. As a result, the houses they build cannot completely accord with the principles of architecture and therefore cannot be of the best. Such is the difference between the government of the sage—kings and that of the lesser so—called heroes.

As we have seen in chapter seven, Mencius maintained that there are two kinds of government: that of the wang or king and that of the pa or military lord. Chu Hsi s argument with Ch en Liang is a continuation of the saine controversy. Chu Hsi and other Neo—Confucianists maintain that all governments from the Han and T'ang dynasties downward have been those of pa, because their rulers have all governed in their own interests and not in the interests of the people. Here again, therefore, Chu Hsi follows Mencius, but, as before, gives a metaphysical justification to the latter's theory, which is primarily political.

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Method of Spiritual Cultivation

The Platonic idea that we cannot have a perfect state until the philosopher becomes king or the king philosopher,' is shared by most Chinese thinkers. In the Republic, Plato dwells at great length upon the education of the philosopher who is to become king. And
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Chu Hsi too, as we have seen, says that the sage-kings of antiquity were cultivated in the

wisest way in what is fundamental. What is this method of cultivation? Chu Hsi has already told us that in every man, and indeed in everything, there is the Supreme Ultimate in its entirety. Since the Supreme Ultimate is the totality of the Li of all things, hence these Li are all within us, but, because of our physical endowment, they are not properly manifested. The Supreme Ultimate that is within us is like a pearl in turbid water. What we have to do is to make this pearl become visible. The method for so doing is, for Chu Hsi, the same as that taught by Ch eng Yi, which, as we have seen in the last chapter, is twofold: The extension of knowledge through the investigation of things," and "the attentiveness of the mind."

This method has its basis in the Ta Hsiieh or Great Learning, which was considered by the Neo—Confucianists as the beginner s door for entering the life of virtue. As we have seen in chapter sixteen, the method of self-cultivation as taught by the Great Learning begins with the "extension of knowledge and investigation of things. According to the Ch eng—Chu school, the purpose of the "investigation of things is to extend our knowledge of the eternal Li.

Why does not this method start with the investigation of Li instead of things? Chu Hsi says: "The Great Learning speaks of the investigation of things but not of the investigation of Li. The reason is that to investigate Li is like clutching at emptiness in which there is nothing to catch hold. When it simply speaks of 'the investigation of things, it means that we should seek for 'what is above shapes' through 'what is within shapes'."

(Complete Works, chiian 46.) In other words, Li are abstract and things are concrete. We investigate the abstract through the concrete. What we as a result come to see lies both within the eternal world and within our own nature. The more we know Li, the more our nature, ordinarily concealed by our physical endowment, becomes visible to us.

As Chu Hsi says: "There is no human intelligence [utterly] lacking knowledge, and no single thing in the world without Li. But because the investigation of Li is not exhaustive, this knowledge is in some ways not complete. This is why the first instruction of the Great Learning is that the student must, for all the separate things in the world, by means of the Li which he already understands, proceed further to gain exhaustive knowledge of those Lwith which he is not yet familiar], thus striving lo extend Lhis knowledge] to the farthest point. When one has exerted oneself for a long time, finally one morning a complete understanding will open before one. Thereupon

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there will be a thorough comprehension of all the multitude of things, external or internal, fine or coarse, and every exercise of the mind will be marked by complete enlightenment. (Commentary on the Great Learning, ch. 5-) Here we have again the theory of Sudden Enlightenment.

This seems to be enough in itself, so why should it be supplemented by the attentiveness of the mind?

The answer is that without such attentiveness, the investigation of things is likely to be simply a kind of intellectual exercise and thus will not lead to the desired goal of Sudden Enlightenment. In investigating things we must keep in mind lhal what we are doing is to make visible our nature, to cleanse the pearl so that it can shine forth. In order to be enlightened, we must always think about Enlightenment. This is the function of the attentiveness of mind.

Chu Hsi s method of spiritual cultivation is very like that of Plato. His theory that in our nature there are the Li of all things, is very like Plato's theory of a previous knowledge. According to Plato, "We acquire knowledge before birth of all the essences. (Phaedo 75-) Because there is ihis previous knowledge, therefore he who "has learned to see the beautiful in due course and succession," can "suddenly perceive a nature of wondrous beauty. " (Symposium 2JI.) This, too,is a form of Sudden Enlightenment.

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CHAPTER 26

NEO-CONFUCIANISM: THE SCHOOL OF UNIVERSAL

MIND

As we have seen in chapter twenty-four, the Lu-Wang school, also known as the Hsin hslieh or Mind school, was initiated by Ch'eng Hao and completed by Lu Chiu-yiian and Wang Shou-jen. Lu Chiu-yuan (II39~TI93), popularly known as the Master of Hsiang-shan, was a native of the present Kiangsi province. He and Chu Hsi were friends, despite their widely divergent philosophic views. Their verbal and written debates on major philosophical problems evoked great interest in their day.

Lu Chiu—yuan s Conception of the Mind

Both Lu Chiu -yuan and Wang Shou-jen are said to have become convinced of the truth of their ideas as a result of experiencing Sudden Enlightenment. One day, it is said, Lu was reading an ancient book in which he came upon the two words ytt and chou. An expositor remarked: "What comprises the four points of the compass together with what is above and below: this is called yti. What comprises past, present, and future: this is called chou." Thereupon Lu Chiu-yiian experienced an instantaneous enlightenment and said: "All affairs within the universe come within the scope of my duty; the scope of my duty includes all affairs within the universe. (Lu Hsiang-shan Ch'iian-chi or Collected Works of Lu Hsiang-shan,,chiian 33-) And on another occasion he said: The universe is my mind; my mind is the universe. (Ibid., chiian $.)

Whereas Chu Hsi endorses Ch eng Yi s saying that the nature is Li, Lu Chiu-yuan replies that "the mind is Li." (Collected Works,chuan 12.) The two sayings differ only by one word, yet in them lies the fundamental division between the two schools. As we have seen in the last chapter, the mind, in Chu Hsi's system, fs conceived of as the concrete embodiment of Li as found in Ch'i; hence it is not the same as the abstract Li itself. Chu Hsi, consequently, can only say that the nature is Li, but not that the mind is Li. But in Lu Chiu-yiian s system, on the contrary, the mind itself is the 5O4 NEO-CONFUCIANISM:THE SCHOOL OF UNIVERSAL MIND