WE HAVE named
group 8, consisting of five thematically linked chapters, “Heavenly Principles” because all are devoted to clarifying how various political and moral values derived from Heaven are instrumental to the health of the physical body and the body politic. In this respect, this last group exhibits clear affinities with the cosmological chapters found earlier in the
Chunqiu fanlu, as most contain repetitions and revisit themes that appear in earlier chapters.
GROUP 8: HEAVENLY PRINCIPLES, CHAPTERS 77–82
77. 循天之道 Xun tian zhi dao Conform to Heaven’s Way
78. 天地之行 Tian di zhi xing The Conduct of Heaven and Earth
79. 威德所生 Wei de suo sheng The Origins of Severity and Beneficence
80. 如天之為 Ru tian zhi wei In Imitation of Heaven’s Activities
81. 天地陰陽 Tian di yin yang Heaven, Earth, Yin, and Yang
82. 天道施 Tian dao shi The Way of Heaven Bestows
Despite their thematic links, these chapters are the worst preserved in the entire collection. They are a ragbag of essay fragments that appear to have been sorted into different chapters according to the similarity of their topics. Their fragmentary condition has inspired many attempts over the centuries by editors and commentators to restore them to some semblance of order. Among them, Su Yu has provided the most coherent arrangements. Consequently, in addition to our translation of the standard D. C. Lau text, we have translated Su Yu’s arrangements for those chapters (78, 80, 81, and 82) that depart from that text, and our discussions of them follow Su Yu rather than Lau. The Su Yu versions of these chapters are numbered 78A, 80A, 81A, and 82A.
Description of Individual Chapters
In Su Yu’s reconstruction,
chapter 77, “Conform to Heaven’s Way,” is a collection of six essays and essay fragments, all of which address themes germane to nourishing life.
1 These materials apparently are linked to the supposed works of Confucius’s famous disciple Gongsun Nizi. We discuss those links in our remarks on dating and attribution. Section 77.1 derives principles for nourishing the body from the annual path of Heaven, with its “two conjunctions” and “two midpoints,” the equinoxes and solstices mentioned in several of the chapters in
group 5, “Yin-Yang Principles.” Section 77.1 echoes these chapters, describing the conjunctions and midpoints and their respective functions and critical roles in the annual cycle of Heaven: “[The myriad things] are completed by a conjunction; their birth also must arise from a conjunction. They begin at a midpoint; their ending also must be at a midpoint. The midpoints are that by which Heaven and Earth begin and end things. The conjunctions are that by which Heaven and Earth engender and complete things.”
2 These two aspects of Heaven’s yearly cycle are then linked to the ethical values “harmony” and “centrality.” The force of the argument here, that ethical principles are derivative of nature’s cycles, comes from a clever play on words for the astronomical terms for “midpoint” (
zhong) and “conjunction” (
he), which are homophonous with the political/moral value “centrality” (also
zhong) and “harmony” (also
he). The essay concludes: “Therefore, the virtue of those who are able to rely on centrality and harmony to govern the world will greatly flourish; the life span of those who are able to rely on centrality and harmony to nourish their bodies will be greatly prolonged.”
3Section 77.2 develops standards of healthy living and sexual practices for men and women derived from the yearly circuit of yin and yang described in 77.1. By imitating these natural cycles, people can make themselves healthy and long-lived. They also can ensure that their sexual unions will synchronize with those times that are optimal for procreation without being excessive (and thus impairing longevity).
Section 77.3 addresses “midpoints” and “conjunctions” once again, but in this essay the conjunctions of Heaven and Earth are said to “represent the balance points of Heaven and the equilibrium of yin and yang.” These cosmic moments, in turn, provide the template for human beings wishing to restore the harmony and centrality of their own persons so as to promote longevity. The specific techniques to do so take as their point of departure Mencius’s claim to have developed techniques to nourish his “floodlike qi.” Section 77.3 expands on this theme with a long citation from Gongsun Nizi’s work Nourishing Qi, which enumerates the various decentering and disharmonious conditions that are injurious to one’s bodily qi. When such conditions arise, the noble man takes concerted steps to revert to the norms of centrality and harmony within his person: “when angry [he] reverts to centrality by satisfying his qi with harmony; when happy [he] reverts to centrality by collecting his qi with uprightness; when worried [he] reverts to centrality by calming his qi with determination; when startled [he] reverts to centrality by solidifying his qi with refinement.” The key to restoring these desired states, the essay continues, is the mind within (nei xin), because the bodily qi invariably follows the mind. With the mind properly balanced, qi will flow through the four extremities of the body, promoting health and long life. Thus nourishing and regulating the qi with a centered mind is the key. The noble man understands these truths and therefore deeply cherishes his bodily qi. Even when enjoying “the pleasures of the bedchamber,” he matches Heaven’s timeliness, regulating his sexual activities with the rhythms of the cosmos so as not to harm or dissipate his bodily qi:
[W]hen he has just entered puberty, he seeks pleasure in the bed chamber once every ten days; when he is in his middle years, he doubles the interval of the adolescent; when he has just begun to decline, he doubles the interval of the middle-aged man; when he has arrived at his middle years of decline, he doubles the interval of the man just entering his declining years; and when he is well into his years of decline, he takes a month for each of the adolescent’s days, thereby identifying his self-regulation with that of Heaven and Earth above.
4
Therefore, people must cherish their Heavenly
qi as they naturally cherish clothing and food. But unlike these rudiments of life that can be replenished when exhausted, when one’s bodily
qi is used up, it cannot be replenished and death is inevitable. Therefore, the essay concludes, nothing is more essential than the
qi for nourishing life.
With the essay fragment preserved in section 77.4, the reader encounters the argument well after it has begun. From what survives of the original essay, it appears that it described how the noble man directs the people to consume certain foods beneficial to the body and to avoid those that are harmful. Diet is thus correlated with the rhythms of Heaven, which is said to ripen certain grains at certain times of the year to nourish the various species of living things.
5 Section 77.6 returns to the themes of centrality and harmony and their benefit for achieving longevity, but here longevity is discussed in relation to the allotted life span that people receive at birth:
Attaining the eminence of Heaven and Earth extends and lengthens one’s life span; failing to attain the eminence of Heaven and Earth harms and shortens one’s life span. The basic substance of a long or short [life span] is something that human beings receive from Heaven…. But whether they live out their life span or die prematurely rests with their own actions. For those who through their own actions follow the Way of longevity, their life span is comparatively long; for those who through their own actions do not follow the Way of longevity, their life span is comparatively less long.
6
Longevity, then, is partly a matter of fate, but it is also partly under the control of individuals, who can enhance or diminish their fated life spans.
Chapter 78A, “The Conduct of Heaven and Earth,” consists of two essays, both of which articulate general standards of conduct for the ruler and his ministers. Section 78A.1 correlates the roles of the ruler and his ministers with Heaven and Earth, and section 78A.2 makes an analogy between the ruler and his ministers with different parts of the human body. Section 78A.1, as mentioned in the introduction to
group 2, “Monarchical Principles,” appears to be either a more complete recension or a later reworking of the essay preserved in
chapter 18, “Departing from and Conforming to the Fundamental.” There are some telling differences between these two essays that suggest the second possibility is more likely. Using cosmological notions such as
qi, yin and yang, and quintessence, section 78A.1 details the ways in which Heaven and Earth provide standards of conduct for the ruler and his ministers, whereas such concepts do not appear in
chapter 18. Moreover, it identifies the ruler with the Way of Yang, whereas
chapter 18 emphasizes the ruler’s non-active attributes. Section 78A.1 emphasizes the importance of the minister’s loyalty to his ruler, as in
chapter 18, but with an even greater emphasis on ethical values typically identified with Confucius. For example, it maintains that the minister is instrumental in assisting the ruler “in becoming a noble man” and identifies as righteous the minister’s willingness to attribute his accomplishments to his ruler.
The discussion in section 78A.1 of how the ruler secures worthy and capable men to staff his bureaucracy is far more elaborate than that in
chapter 18, depicting a ruler who enjoys a more symbiotic relationship with his ministers. The ruler leads his ministers by implementing a series of bureaucratic techniques that emphasize impartiality, constancy, and transparency and that allow the ruler to promote men based on reliable criteria. The result is that capable men are employed, the worthy are attracted to his court, those who truly possess merit are promoted, and those who do not are demoted. For their part, the ministers who emulate Earth dedicate themselves to their ruler, deriving honor from their accomplishments, healing the ruler when ill, sacrificing their lives if necessary, and serving without thoughts of usurpation. In short, they apply themselves to the utmost to promote the ruler’s excellence. This symbiotic vision of the ruler-minister relation has none of the negative attitude toward ministers found in
chapter 18, in which the ruler is advised to hide from his ministers and take on the mysterious and recondite qualities of a spirit.
Section 78A.2, as in
chapter 22, “Comprehending the State as the Body,” views the body politic as analogous to the human body. In this instance, the ruler of a unified state is likened to the mind of a unified body: the mind ideally works in concert with the components of the body, just as the ruler ideally works in concert with the components of his bureaucracy. In such conditions, the ruler attracts auspicious omens, just as the adept summons potent symbols of immortality.
The two essays of
chapter 79, “The Origins of Severity and Beneficence,” revisit one of the ruler’s most important functions: the proper dispensation of rewards and punishment, a theme discussed earlier in
chapter 55, “The Correlates of the Four Seasons.” They recommend that the ruler dispense rewards and punishments in accordance with models of conduct derived from Heaven. Section 79.1, like many previous chapters, argues that the principles of governance lie in Heaven. In this case, harmony, beneficence, impartiality, and severity are identified in quite standard fashion with Heaven and its respective seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Thus the ruler—interestingly referred to here as “the Perfected”—embodies “Heavenly Virtue” by emulating these cosmic patterns.
Section 79.2 begins by reminding the ruler that his awesome power and responsibility over life and death mirror that of the Way of Heaven: “One who would rule others occupies the position of Utmost Potency and grasps the positional advantage of life and death, thereby altering and transforming the people. The people follow their master [just] as the grasses and trees respond to the four seasons.” It instructs the ruler to synchronize his happiness, anger, severity, and beneficence with the cold, heat, winter, and summer of Heaven. When he does so, he becomes a “counterpart to Heaven.”
Chapter 80A, “In Imitation of Heaven’s Activities,” has been restored by Su Yu from the two chapter fragments that we identify as sections 80A.1 and 80A.2. The essay begins with themes that by now are thoroughly familiar to the reader of the
Chunqiu fanlu. It repeats that Heaven and humanity share a characteristic organic unity defined in terms of
qi and explains that in human beings, this
qi is manifest as love, hate, happiness, and anger. These four human emotions are correlated with Heaven’s heat, cold, warmth, and coolness expressed in the four seasons. These correlations between the emotions and the seasons appeared earlier in chapter 43.2, “Yang Is Lofty, Yin Is Lowly”;
chapter 44, “The Kingly Way Penetrates Three”; and
chapter 45, “Heaven’s Prosperity,” in which the ruler’s emotional states also were the focus of discussion. Similarly,
chapter 80A argues that the ruler’s four emotions should not be restrained from issuing forth when he has a desire to express himself, just as Heaven’s four climates should not be obstructed when their respective seasons arrive. But then, rather than suggesting, as in earlier chapters, that the ruler should simply regulate his emotions and his policies in accordance with the seasons, the essay modifies these earlier claims to make room for those exceptional circumstances when the ruler is compelled to depart from these seasonal correlations:
[But] when urgent situations arise, one should not wait for the normal season [to take action]. Such is Heaven’s will. The sage receives Heaven’s will and governs accordingly. For this reason, in spring he cultivates humaneness and seeks out goodness; in autumn he cultivates righteousness and seeks out evil…. This is how he complies with Heaven and Earth and embodies yin and yang. Nevertheless, when he has just begun to seek goodness, if he sees evil he does not dismiss it; … if he sees a grave malefaction he immediately eradicates it. He thereby imitates … Heaven and Earth.
7
In this way, the essay modifies the claims about the seasonal rules made in the earlier yin-yang chapters, affording the ruler a degree of flexibility not present in earlier versions of that long-standing theory and allowing him to follow seasonal imperatives overall but also to respond to compelling circumstances when necessary.
Chapter 81A, “Heaven, Earth, Yin, and Yang,” also has been restored as a continuous essay, thanks to Su Yu. This essay revisits several themes touched on earlier in the
Chunqiu fanlu—for example in
chapter 43, “Yang Is Lofty, Yin Is Lowly”;
chapter 52, “Heat or Cold, Which Predominates?”; and chapter 53.5, “Laying the Foundation of Righteousness.” As in those earlier chapters,
chapter 81A emphasizes the number ten, which is seen as the complete expression of Heaven’s numbers. In turn, Heaven’s numbers symbolically account for all the essential components of the cosmos: “Heaven, earth, yin, yang, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water constitute nine things. Together with human beings, they total ten, completing Heaven’s numerical categories.” This Heavenly numerology is key to understanding, in turn, the nobility of humankind, a theme broached in
chapter 41, “Heaven, the Maker of Humankind,” and
chapter 56, “Human Correlates of Heaven’s Regularities,” and in Dong’s memorials to Emperor Wu.
Chapter 81A asks, “Why are human beings noble?”
8 and replies, “[It is because] what originates with Heaven extends to human beings [and thus] is brought to completion.”
9 The chapter concludes that the ruler must be absolutely vigilant because he is in a position to “stir and shake” the world.
Chapter 82A, “The Way of Heaven Bestows,” begins with a claim made earlier in chapter 56.1: “The virtue of Heaven is to bestow; the virtue of Earth is to transform; [and] the virtue of humankind is to be righteous.” In section 82A.1, however, the righteousness of humankind is not grounded in the numerical correspondence between Heaven and humankind, as it is in
chapter 56; rather, it derives from the rituals that the sage creates. As is also the case in the
Xunzi, this essay argues that the sage understands the source of depravity and disorder and consequently creates rituals to bring tranquillity to the people. In this way, they can live lives defined by the cardinal Confucian virtue, righteousness: “Now ritual is what embodies the emotions and prevents disorder. Human emotions cannot control desires, so we cause them to be regulated by the rites [so that] the eyes gaze on correct colors; the ears listen to correct sounds; the mouth savors correct flavors; and the person carries out the correct Way.”
10 This does not mean, however, that people are encouraged to become ascetics.
After all, emotions are internal and integral to human nature, but the influences that stimulate the emotions to manifest themselves clearly are external. Although such external influences may become so habitual as to appear to be part of human nature, and therefore part of the very self that defines humankind, to assume that they are part of the self is a mistake. The essay concludes: “[It is] like a discarded cicada skin [lying] amid turbidity and filth: how could it muster the means to affect you? To follow along with the myriad things but not lose the [essence of] the self—this is the mind of the sage.”
11Section 82A.2 revisits the important Confucian theory of the rectification of names, a subject treated extensively in
chapter 35, “Deeply Examine Names and Designations.” In a manner similar to that in
chapter 35, this essay interprets the
Spring and Autumn to be an expression of this critical approach to naming:
The terminology [of the
Spring and Autumn] does not conceal the true nature of things. It illuminates the true nature of things but does not neglect proper terminology. If people’s minds follow it and do not struggle against it, it will penetrate and connect the ancient and contemporary without the least disorder. Such are the righteous principles of [its use of] names.
12
The names and designations of the
Spring and Autumn follow the Human Way, which uses varied expressions of propriety and righteousness that, in turn, deviate from or comply with the Way of Heaven. Thus the careful reader who observes the distinctions expressed in the
Spring and Autumn will ultimately come to understand its underlying moral message and learn to “find joy in the rites.” Given the fragmentary quality of this material, this section may very well once have been part of
chapter 35 and certainly should be read today alongside that chapter. Or this may be all that remains of an independent essay that found justification for the rectification of names in the terminology of the
Spring and Autumn. Whatever the case, this essay once again illuminates the ways in which Gongyang exegetes linked Confucian theories to the subtle language of the
Spring and Autumn.
Issues of Dating and Attribution
We suggested earlier that most of the chapters of
group 8 revisit themes addressed in those of
group 5, “Yin-Yang Principles.” Some, in fact, repeat verbatim lines that appear in these earlier essays, showing the close links and affinities to these writings. The following list clarifies these affinities:
A closer look at these repetitions and affinities uncovers clues to understanding the general structure of the text as well as the dating and attribution of these chapters.
By now, the reader must recognize the poor condition of the
Chunqiu fanlu, having already encountered numerous instances in which we have pointed out the fragmented nature and questionable arrangement of materials in many of the chapters. This last group of chapters is in the worst condition, which may account for their placement at the end of the text; they seem like leftovers. The content of these chapters, with their thematic links to the earlier
group 2, “Monarchical Principles”;
group 5, “Yin-Yang Principles”; and
group 6, “Five-Phase Principles,” would indicate that they properly belong with them. So in this respect, the archaeology of the
Chunqiu fanlu illuminates important underlying and pervasive features of the text. It once again suggests the existence of an unknown compiler intent on preserving all he could find that was relevant to and associated with Gongyang Learning in the Han, no matter how garbled or fragmented the materials.
Chapter 78A, “The Conduct of Heaven and Earth,” repeats many lines that appear in
chapter 18, “Departing from and Conforming to the Fundamental,” although here we find a much fuller account of the themes found in
chapter 18.
Chapter 79, “The Origins of Severity and Beneficence,” draws on Heaven to establish guidelines for how the ruler should reward and punish the populace, as does
chapter 55, “The Correlates of the Four Seasons.”
Chapter 80A, “In Imitation of Heaven’s Activities,” develops arguments that the ruler’s emotional states should be restrained and regulated in accordance with their seasonal correlations, as does chapter 43.2, “Yang Is Lofty, Yin Is Lowly”;
chapter 44, “The Kingly Way Penetrates Three”; and
chapter 45, “Heaven’s Prosperity.” Here, once again, we find resonances with earlier arguments that are developed and modified in new ways.
Chapter 81A, “Heaven, Earth, Yin, and Yang,” revisits several themes touched on earlier in the
Chunqiu fanlu, for example, in
chapter 43, “Yang Is Lofty, Yin Is Lowly”;
chapter 52, “Heat or Cold, Which Predominates”; and chapter 53.5, “Laying the Foundation of Righteousness.”
In
chapter 82A, “The Way of Heaven Bestows,” section 82.1 repeats the opening claim of chapter 56.1, “Human Correlates of Heaven’s Regularities,” but seeks the ontological origins of humankind’s righteousness not in correlations with Heaven but as the product of rituals created by the sages of the past. Once again, we find a new development of a theme addressed earlier in the text.
These links to earlier chapters in the Chunqiu fanlu have several possible explanations. They may indicate that over the centuries, these chapters migrated from their original locations earlier in the text to the end of the collection. Or perhaps the anonymous compiler purposefully placed these chapters at the end of the text precisely because they were later productions, essays that consciously addressed earlier themes but developed them in new ways. Or they may be here as added materials, the last gleanings of Gongyang materials available to the compiler. Whatever the case, they are generally in keeping with the larger contours of the Chunqiu fanlu and the spirit of Gongyang Learning that permeates other parts of the text. They are equally valuable for understanding the ways in which Gongyang Learning developed during the Han dynasty and the approaches taken by exegetes of this tradition to address the institutional issues of that period.
The Arts of Nourishing Life: Chapters 78A.2 and 77.2
What about the two chapters in this group that do not have links to earlier chapters? How can they be contextualized? The essays and essay fragments in
chapter 77, “Conform to Heaven’s Way,” and in
chapter 78A.2, “The Conduct of Heaven and Earth,” contain themes and express concerns not seen in earlier chapters of the
Chunqiu fanlu: they recommend a panoply of bodily techniques and sexual practices to promote health, longevity, and immortality. Rather than simply dismiss these essays as spurious because there is no historical evidence linking Dong Zhongshu to a “nourishing-life” (
yang sheng) tradition, we prefer to ask: How did essays on nourishing life, longevity, and immortality find their way into a collection attributed to a Confucian scholar working in the tradition of Gongyang Learning during the middle years of the Western Han? The answer may lie in a tradition of hagiography with roots in the Western Han. To identify these roots, we must digress briefly to
Traditions of Divine Transcendents (
Shen xian zhuan 神仙傳), the hagiographical collection attributed to Ge Hong (283–343). There, in a classic conversion story, we find a narrative describing Li Shaojun that links Dong Zhongshu to one of the most famous nourishing-life practitioners of the Han period. At the outset of the story, Dong is adamantly opposed to the practices proposed, in this case a certain medicinal regimen. The more opposed he is, however, the more dramatic the conversion is:
In the beginning, Li Shaojun had been a close friend of Court Gentleman for Consultation Dong Zhongshu. Seeing that Dong was bedridden with a chronic illness, his body withered and his breath shallow, Li produced two doses of medicine for him along with instructions…. But Dong Zhongshu was stubborn and upright in his ways. He had studied the Five Classics extensively but had never attained an understanding of arts of the Dao. He often scoffed at people of the world for ingesting drugs and practicing the Dao. He presented memorials to Emperor Wu arguing that human life was limited by an allotted life span and that aging was a naturally given process, so that [human life] was not something that arts of the Dao could possibly lengthen. He maintained that even if there were apparent exceptions to this rule, they were due to natural endowment, not to these arts. So, when he obtained [Li’s] medicine, he did not take it, nor did he ask for the method for making it.
13
Only when Dong’s illness takes a turn for the worse does he begin to warm to the practices of the nourishing-life tradition:
Several months after Li Shaojun had departed, Dong Zhongshu’s illness worsened. When he heard Emperor Wu speak on several occasions about his dream and how regretful he was about the loss of Li, he remembered the medicine Li had given him. He tried taking less than half a dose: his body grew light and strong, and his illness was suddenly healed. Then he took a full dose, his breath and strength were as they had been when he was young. Only now did he believe that there was a way of long life and deathlessness. He quit his official post and traveled in search of a master of the Dao whom he could ask about the method [for making the drug he had taken]. He never succeeded in grasping all of it; he only managed to prevent his hair from going white and to stay very healthy. Only when he was more than eighty years old did he finally die. Before that, he told his son, Daosheng, “When I was still young, I obtained Li Shaojun’s esoteric medicine. At first I didn’t believe in it; after I used it, I regained strength, but then I was never able to grasp [the method for making] it. I will carry this regret with me to the Yellow Springs. You must go and search among people for a master of esoteric arts, someone who can explain the meaning of this method. If you persist in taking this medicine, you will certainly transcend the world.”
14
Robert Campany explains: “Dong Zhongshu’s portrayed conversion is a powerful apologetic device: the sometime skeptic who, badly ill, takes the proffered medicine and by its results becomes convinced—too late to save himself—of the efficacy of the arts of transcendence.”
15In addition to this conversion story, Ge Hong supplies a further link between Dong Zhongshu and Li Shaojun, portraying Dong as the author of the “Family Records of Li Shaojun” (
李少君家錄). Dong also appears in the hagiography of Wang Xing, in which he is described as fasting and meditating on the gods in a Daoist meditation chamber at the behest of Wang Xing while accompanying Emperor Wu on a pilgrimage to Mount Song.
16Even though no historical sources confirm that Dong actually took up the longevity arts, these references, as well as the ascription to Dong Zhongshu of a book describing Li Shaojun’s esoteric methods, demonstrates that by the late third to early fourth century, Dong had become associated with the quest for immortality. In addition, a reading of Ge Hong’s works shows that he was undiscriminating in his acceptance of tales of life-nourishing techniques. Living in a world in which Dong Zhongshu was said to have promoted the arts of nourishing life as well as the Confucian tradition of Gongyang Learning, our anonymous compiler had ample reason to include
chapters 77 and
78 in a comprehensive collection of the works of Dong Zhongshu and his disciples.