Heaven and Earth Heaven and EarthHeaven is eternal, earth lasts long.
The reason why heaven and earth
are eternal and last long
is because they do not live for themselves.
That's why they endure forever.
Daodejing 7
157
Heaven and earth are everywhere.
and richly transform the ten thousand things.
The essence of male and female intermingles
and transforms and births the ten thousand things.
Yijing, The Great Treatise II
158
Fortunate is the person whose self is in accord with heaven.
Proverb
I have long heard of Dongting Lake.
Now I climb Yueyang Gate Tower
dividing Wu and Chu to the south and east.
Here floats heaven and earth, day and night.
Not one word arrives from family or friends.
Old and sick, all I have is a lonely boat.
War horses block the mountains in the north.
I lean on the pavilion rail, weeping and sobbing.
“Climbing Yueyang Gate Tower,” Du Fu (712–770)
160
Heaven moving
is the image of vigor.
A noble one strengthens
themselves without pause.
Yijing, Image of hexagram 1: Heaven
161
In front, no one sees those of the past.
Behind, no one sees those yet to come.
We ponder how heaven and earth last and last:
alone and sad, we can't stop the tears that fall.
“Song of Climbing the Youzhou Terrace,” Chen Zi'ang (661?–702)
Sparse grass, a light wind along the shore,
the tall mast of my lone boat in the night.
Stars hang over the broad, flat plain.
The moon rushes along the great river current.
How could I ever make a name by writing?
Old and sick, I should rest from my duties.
Floating, fluttering, what am I?
A single gull between heaven and earth.
“Thoughts Written While Traveling at Night,” Du Fu (712–770)
163
Fire in the center of a lake
is the image of reform.
A noble one sets their timing
clearly by the seasons.
Yijing, Image of hexagram 49: Reform
164
Heaven and earth change and transform
grass, trees, and all things.
Yijing, hexagram 2: Earth
Heaven and earth joined
is the image of prospering.
Be like the queen who
granted wealth, fulfilled
the Tao of heaven and earth,
and helped fit people on all sides
to both heaven and earth.
Yijing, Image of hexagram 11: Prospering
166
Away, away: the basic way of grass.
Each year, the withered becomes green again.
Wildfire can never seem to burn it all:
it comes to life again in the spring wind.
How that scent pervades the ancient road,
clear skies, jade green up to the city ruins.
Again I say goodbye to my honored friend:
emotions are abundant and full as we part.
“Poem of Farewell on the Basic Cause of Grass,” Bai Juyi (772–846)
Since my youth, what was popular didn't suit me;
my basic character was love of hills and mountains.
Mistakenly, I fell into the dusty net,
and trapped, I lost all of thirty years.
A caged bird yearns for the ancient forest;
a fish kept in a pond will miss old waters.
I'll clear the wasteland at the southern border,
I'll stay honest and pure, and keep to the fields.
Around my house, I have more than ten acres,
and my thatched hut has eight or nine spans.
Elms and willows shade my back eaves;
peach and plum are heaped in the front hall.
The nearest hamlet is dim in the distance;
its smoke seems reluctant to leave the village.
Dogs bark from deep within the lanes;
chickens squawk through the tops of mulberry trees.
No dust swirls through my courtyard door;
empty rooms offer abundant leisure.
For so long, I felt that I lived in a prison.
I'm restored, content to return to nature.
“Returning to Live on the Farm, 1,” Tao Yuanming (365–427)
Fire in the sky above
is the image of great holdings.
A noble one curbs the bad,
spreads the good,
and serves the will of heaven.
Yijing, Image of hexagram 14: Great Holdings
169
The Son of Heaven sacrificed to heaven and earth.
Rulers of the vassal states sacrificed to the gods of the soil
and grain.
Great men offered the Five Sacrifices.
The Son of Heaven sacrificed to heaven,
and then to the famous mountains and great rivers.
The Five Sacred Peaks were as honored as the Three Great
Ministers.
The Four Rivers were seen as honored as the rulers of the
states.
The princes sacrificed to the famous mountains and great
rivers in their own lands.
Book of Rites, “Summary of the Rules of Propriety, Part 2”
Humans rise from the virtuous power of heaven and earth,
the combination of yin and yang,
the interaction of ghosts and spirits,
and the subtle energy of the Five Phases.
From the start, heaven controlled yang
and hung the sun and stars.
Earth controlled yin
and gave channel to the mountains and streams.
The Five Phases spread throughout the four seasons.
When they reached harmony, the moon was produced,
and that is why it waxes for fifteen days
and wanes for fifteen days
in alternations of great effort and exhaustion.
The Five Phases, the four seasons, the twelve months—
each one comes to prominence.
The five notes, the six fundamentals, the twelve pitch-pipes—
each one can be the tonic tone.
The five flavors, the six condiments, the twelve foods—
each one has its substance.
The five colors, the six figures, the twelve kinds of clothes—
each one has its place and use.
So people are the heart of heaven and earth
and part of the Five Phases, born of food, flavors,
distinctions, sound, and color.
Book of Rites, “The Use of Ceremony”
Heaven and earth combine,
and afterward all things arise.
Thus, marriage is the beginning
of the ten thousand generations.
Book of Rites, “Jiao Te Sheng”
172
Thus when the sages made the rules,
they took heaven and earth as their basis,
yin and yang as commencement,
the four seasons as authoritative,
the sun and stars to set the time,
the moon to set periods,
followed the ghosts and spirits,
understood substance by the Five Phases,
made rites and righteousness as their instrument,
the character of people as their fields,
and the four creatures for domestication.
Book of Rites, “The Use of Ceremony”
The great person
follows heaven and earth
and joins with their virtue,
follows the sun and moon,
and joins with their brightness,
follows the four seasons
and joins with their sequence,
follows the ghosts and spirits
and joins with their good and bad influences.
They may act before heaven,
but heaven will be with them.
They may act after heaven,
yet they respect heaven's season.
Yijing, hexagram 1: Heaven