hengxian1

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Front. Philos. China 2009, 4(4): 493510

DOI 10.1007/s11466-009-0032-3

Translated by Kuang Zhao from Wen shi zhe (Literature, History and Philosophy),

2008, (2): 4556

WANG Zhongjiang ()Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaE-mail: [email protected]

RESEARCH ARTICLE

WANG Zhongjiang

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2009

Abstract A thorough interpretation of the ideological structure of the recently

unearthed Daoist text Hengxian has not yet been achieved, and a few

doubtful and difficult points still remain to be discussed. Based on the concepts

of hengxian, Qi, the Field, beginning, movement, spontaneity, and

name, this paper comprehensively discusses the text ofHengxian with respect

to the primordial state of the cosmos, the evolution of the cosmos, the production

and existence of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things, and the measure of

human behaviors in a society. It further addresses why the word Dao does not

appear in Hengxian, why it contains a theory of production instead of an

ontology, and what is meant by a series of special concepts including the Field

and wuxian (the state before the myriad things).

Keywords cosmology, evolution, production, spontaneity

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The construction of the view of the cosmos and the human world in Hengxian 495

Heaven and humans1

shown in it.

As the basis of our discussion about the cosmology ofHengxian, we first have to

refer to the main part of the text in full:2

There is non-being in hengxian (permanent priority), and it is simplicity,

stillness and emptiness. The simplicity is the great simplicity; the stillness is

the great stillness; the emptiness is the great emptiness. It is ziyan

(self-sufficient), but it bu ziren (cannot restrain itself) and the Field

appears. There isyu () (the Field), so there is Qi (material). There is

Qi, so there is Being. There is Being, so there is a beginning. There is a

beginning, so there is movement. Before the existence of Heaven and Earth,

and before activities, behaviors, developments, and creations, there was the

stillness and the emptiness as one, which is in tranquil chaos. It is unified andstill unclear, and produces nothing as of yet. The Qi is self-creating and

self-operating, and it is not created by any other permanent thing. The

production of permanent Qi is not alone; it comes into existence with the Field,

which is also self-creating. What is the principle of this complex creation? Yi

creates yi; wei creates wei; fei creates fei; ai creates ai. All things have an

inclination to reproduce themselves and reproduction is the way of creating

them. The muddy Qi forms the Earth; the clear Qi forms Heaven. The

evolution and mutual creation of Qi is wonderful and mysterious, and this

process fills the space between Heaven and Earth. Everything is from the same

origin but they are different from each other because of their own desires. The

illustrious Heaven and Earth present varied and colorful diversity. Because wuxian (the state before the myriad things) is good, there follows the

result of political stability; because evil appears afteryouren (the human

being came into existence), there follows the result of political disorder. There

is first the inside, then the outside. There is first smallness, then largeness.

1There have been many studies on the cosmology in Hengxian. See Li Xueqin 2004, Liao

2004, Chen Ligui 2004, Ding Yuanzhi 2005, Lin 2005, Ding Sixin 2005, Chen Jing 2004, andCao 2006a.2The original Chinese text ofHengxian used in this paper is based on Li 2003. I also have

referred to Pang 2004 and Cao 2006b. The original text ofHengxian is composed of 13 slips.

Based on Li Lings explanation, they should be divided into 4 groups slips No. 1, 2, 3 and 4;slips No. 5, 6 and 7; slips No. 8 and 9; and slips No. 10, 11, 12 and 13. The difficulty is the

location of slip No. 4. Pang Pu holds that it should be connected with slips No. 8 and 9.Logically, this is a proper and reasonable scheme. Based on this scheme, slips No. 8 and 9should be connected with slips No. 5, 6, and slip No. 7 should be connected with slip No. 10.

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There is first gentleness, then firmness. There is first the circle, then the square.

There is first darkness, then brightness. There is first the short, then the long.

The Dao of Heaven has already been formed, but the One is still the One and

the reversion is still reverting. The production of permanent Qi comes from the

reversion unto its own desire. Only this reverting process forever exists amongall operations of Heaven. If we can understand this principle, our thoughts will

not be a breach of Heaven. Being proceeds from the Field. Life proceeds from

Being. Sound proceeds from the life. Speech proceeds from sound. Names

proceed from speech. Events proceed from names. If the Field is not Field,

there is no name of Field. If the Being is not Being, there is no name of Being.

If life is not life, there is no name of life. If the sound is not sound, there is no

name of sound. If the speech is not speech, there is no name of speech. If the

name is not a name, there is no name of naming. If the event is not an event,

there is no name of event.3

The fundamental concept in the cosmology ofHengxian is hengxian, the

characters of which literally mean permanence and priority respectively.This concept is generally designated as the Dao by the majority of researchers

(such as Li 2003, p. 288), but as mentioned above, the author might be trying to

avoid using the word Dao and to designate the origin of the cosmos by another

new character in the text ofHengxian. There is another phrase, hengwu

(permanent nothing), used in The Origin of Dao in The Four Canons of the

Yellow Emperor, but there Dao is the fundamental concept, unlike inHengxian.

If hengxian can be designated as Dao, it would be easy to lose the

cosmological features ofHengxian. Qiu Xigui questions this, and thinks that

() should be read as the character .4

His main argument, one of several, is

that the word can be recognized as ji and that is equivalent to

. Among the characters of the bamboo-slip books of Chu, the majority of theinstances of the word can be recognized as meaning ji (ultimate). In

Shuo wen (),5

the word means dong, which is the supporting

beam of a house. This meaning is extended to mean a very high and distant point.

Moreover, (permanence and priority) signifies the very beginning of the

cosmos, so to recognize it as jixian (an ultimate point which is prior to

everything) is more reasonable than to recognize it as hengxian. In conclusion,

3This paragraph includes the content ofHengxian from slip No.1 to slip No.9 except slip No.7,

and the sequence is slip No.1, slip No.2, slip No.3, slip No.4, slip No.8, slip No.9, slip No.5,

slip No.6.4Qiu 2007, p. 116. This paper discusses why the characters should be recognized as

for reasons philological and meaningful. Qius opinion is very enlightened, but I stillbelieve that it is not necessary for these characters to be recognized as .5The oldest dictionary in Chinese history, compiled in the Han Dynasty.

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literally can be recognized as and surely is equivalent to .

Meanwhile, refers to the very beginning of the cosmos, which can be

naturally recognized as .

This paper however has a different opinion about this problem. First, the word

is often used in pre-Qin philosophical literature. This character is alwaysdesignated as in the silk and bamboo edition ofLaozi and is originally

chang in the ordinary version ofLaozi. is changed into to avoid

using the character in the name of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, . This

concept is also very important in TheFour Canons of the Yellow Emperor. By

contrast, there are only a few examples of which can be recognized as .

Second, in The Origin of Dao ofTheFour Canons of the Yellow Emperor, the

word wu (Nothing) used in the sentence hengwu zhi chu

(originally permanent nothingness) need not follow the example of to be

recognized as . The character properly means nothingness in this

context. This meaning coincides with the Daoist opinion on the nameless and

shapeless origin of the cosmos. Third, in The Origin of Dao, after the

sentence , there follows the phrase hengyi (permanent one) .The use of this phrase is like that of hengdao (permanent Dao) and

hengde (permanent virtue), where means permanence and cannot

be recognized as jiyi (the ultimate one). The phrase in Hengxian

should be recognized as hengqi , which signifies hengchang zhi qi

(permanent or eternal Qi). This is not the origin of the cosmos inHengxian,

so it cannot be recognized as jiqi (ultimate Qi). The in the sentence

(do not disobey the heng) (in slip No.12) should be , which means

not to be against the (eternal). Fourth, basically means (long) and

(eternal). Both characters and are temporal concepts, and here

means the original or the prior point and the very beginning of the cosmos.

Pang Pu interprets it as , and believes that hengxian is absolutepriority from timeliness (Pang 2003, p. 21). This explanation is also based on

the origin of time in how it seeks to understand the phrase hengxian .

Hengxian as the original or prior point and the very beginning of the cosmos is

as same as the Great One that appeared in The Great One Gives Birth to the

Water, as the originally permanent nothingness in The Origin of Dao in The

Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor, and as taichu (the primordial

beginning) in Heaven and Earth in Zhuangzi. The temporal origin of the

cosmos is also the state of non-being (shapeless and nameless).

According to the theory of construction, the myriad things are constructed

from the most fundamental elements, which serve as the ultimate cause of all

things. By contrast, according to the theory of production, the myriad things are

evolved and produced from the origin of the cosmos. In Chinese philosophy, this

origin is often reduced to Dao or Qi (as in jingqi (vital energy) and

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yuanqi (original energy). Since the cosmos has been produced, there

should be a producer and products. In Hengxian, the producer is the origin

itself, which is the most temporally primordial entity compared with any evolved

products. Human beings seek to know their origin because of their curiosity

about themselves; they seek to know the origin of all things because of theircuriosity about nature. Humans are unique in having this awareness concerning

their origin and this sense of belonging.6

This awareness and sense are presented

as the worship of ancestors and the belief in gods, and as various ontologies in

philosophy. Hengxian is believed to be the origin of the cosmos in Hengxian,

which is similar to Dao of Laozi, to the Great One in The Great One Gives

Birth to the Water, and to primordial beginning inZhuangzi.

Ifhengxian signifies the origin of the cosmos, it remains to be explained what

sort of origin it is. Hengxian says that it is non-being, pu (simplicity),

jing (stillness) and xu (emptiness). Non-being literally means

nothingness. According to the discrimination of Being and Nothingness in Daoist

metaphysics, Being means having shape, i.e. being a concrete thing with any one

of countless different aspects, or qi (an instrument). Nothingness generallydesignates shapelessness, i.e., the nameless and original chaos before

differentiation.7Hengxian also affirms that the primordial state of the cosmos is

Nothingness, which should mean shapelessness and namelessness and

cannot be understood as absolute nothingness, because such nothingness cannot

produce Being using a shape and name. Here Nothingness is similar to the Dao

of Laozi and the primordial beginning of Zhuangzi, which are also said to be

shapeless and nameless yet real. Non-being inHengxian is similar to the above

concepts, only presented in a different way. Hengxian holds that the primordial

state is Nothingness which is simplicity, stillness, and emptiness, but the

Nothingness still actually exists. Hengxian says that this state is a special great

simplicity, great stillness, and great emptiness, surpassing commonconcrete things. Scholars have many arguments about the word (simplicity).

Li Ling interprets the original Chinese character as (simpleness or essence),

but he still suspects that it should be the word based on the context (Li 2003,

p. 288). Li Xueqin recognizes it as (the whole), meaning that the original

text should thus read the great whole rather than the great simplicity (Li

Xueqin 2004, p. 81). The great whole has appeared in Tian Zifang in

Zhuangzi,where it does not mean the primordial state of the cosmos but rather

everything which is embraced between Heaven and Earth. This paper holds that

6The self-awareness which separates human beings from nature and also the self from the

society is contrary to this awareness, which manifests itself as discriminations between

humans and matter, between humans and animals and between individuals and society.7For more information about the features of metaphysics of Daoism and the argument

between Being and Nothing (Wang 2001, p. 131, p. 168).

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the original characters can properly be interpreted as simplicity and the great

simplicity. There are also different opinions about the original word

(stillness). Li Xueqin thinks that it should be qing (cleanliness), and Liao

Mingchun further says that the phrase taijing (great stillness) should be

recognized as taiqing

(great cleanliness) (Li Xueqin 2004, p. 81; Liao2004, pp. 8384). My own understanding, however, is that it is more proper to

interpret the original characters as great stillness. Simplicity, stillness, and

emptiness are all among Laozis favorite words as well as important concepts

in Daoist philosophy. All concrete things must follow on the highest level the

great simplicity, great stillness, and great emptiness of the Dao. They are

the attributes and states of Dao, and perfectly exhibit the highest level of it. Laozi

does not however add the word great before them. To account for the highest

level of these states of simplicity, stillness, and emptiness, there appears

the word great before them inHengxian. If the word great can be interpreted

as extreme, then the great simplicity, great stillness, and great emptiness

must be read as the extreme simplicity, extreme stillness, and extreme

emptiness. This thought coincides with the interpretation of the primordial stateof the cosmos in the context ofHengxian; it concretely illuminates the fixed and

unclear permanent state of the cosmos origin, and also embodies the general

opinion of Daoism as to the primordial state of the cosmos.

Hengxian is the primordial state of the cosmos by itself, and as such it is

also self-sufficient. Hengxian calls this state self-sufficiency. However, this

state would not remain still. As the origin, it has to produce. This Hengxian

describes by saying that it cannot restrain itself. Laozi admires the spontaneous

actions of the myriad things and believes that the original Dao does not control or

interfere with the things it has produced. Dao gives things life, yet does not

manage them. It assists them, yet makes no claim upon them. It rears them, yet

does not lord over them (Chapter 51,Laozi). We can also find many terms withthe prefix self- inHengxian,bearing the same meaning as in Laozi. Confucians

usually advocate the endurance and restraint of the self, but Daoists generally

believe in spontaneous and uncontrolled transformations of nature. As the

primordial state of the cosmos in its normalcy, hengxian is both self-sufficient

and spontaneous.

Generally speaking, Daoist metaphysics contains both ontology and cosmology,

each of which has been emphasized by different people. Laozi recognizes theDao as both the origin and the fundamental principle or ultimate essence of the

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myriad things. Most of the theories concerning the Dao in the Daoist

metaphysics of The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor, Zhuangzi, Guanzi,

Huainanzi, and Wenzi claim that the Dao is the principle and foundation of the

myriad things. The latter depend on Dao and obtain their nature from Dao. These

theories show that the Dao is in many respects ultimate and infinite and is thereason for the existence of the myriad things, but they do not explain how the

myriad things and the cosmos are produced by it. By contrast, Hengxian, The

Great One Gives Birth to the Water, and other Daoist works8

do probe into the

manner in which the myriad things in the cosmos have been produced.

The metaphysics inHengxian is a kind of cosmology instead of ontology, but

the theory of production in it differs from that ofLaozi and The Great One Gives

Birth to the Water. Laozi illuminates the continued production process that leads

from Dao to the myriad things: The Dao engenders one, one engenders two,

two engenders three, and three engenders the myriad things (Chapter 42,Laozi).

A more complex pattern is explained in The Great One Gives Birth to the Water.

According to the pattern of cosmic production in Hengxian, the procession,

starting from the cosmoss primordial state, is as follows: Field QiBeing beginning movement.Hengxian states: There is the Field, so

there is Qi. There is Qi, so there is Being. There is Being, so there is a beginning.

There is a beginning, so there is movement. The procession from Nothing to

Being described in Hengxian is an evolutionary process with an underlying

order. In the processions five phases, the Field part is the most difficult one to

understand. Li Ling presumes its meaning as follows: It is a kind of Being

between absolute nothingness (Dao) and reality (Qi, Being), or a potential trend

of derivation (Li 2003, p. 288). The Field is a kind of Being that exists

between the original nothingness and shapeless Qi, which can be regarded as

space. The original Chinese character is equivalent to the character

(space or field); Pang Pu designates it as a field (Pang 2004, p. 21) based onthe appearance of the word field in Huainanzi andLaozi; Li Xueqin says that

this Field is equivalent to cosmos (Li Xueqin 2004, pp. 8182), but

intuitively, the Field corresponds to space. In traditional cosmology, it is

generally believed that space and time are forms of matter, and that they are not

substances themselves. If time and space are regarded as something non-actual,

or as subjective intuitive forms used by human beings to set laws for nature, as

claimed by Kant, it would be very difficult to understand why they can produce

things. Modern physics teaches that space and time come from the simplest

original state or a primordial hot, singularity via the Big Bang (Davis 1995, p. 10,

p. 26, p. 59, p. 60). Compared with this theory, the Field which produces the

8See Tian rui inLiezi, Jingshen xun and Tianwen xun in Huainanzi, and Zhang Hengs

Lingxian, etc.

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cosmos in Hengxian is not only comprehensible but also remarkable. Hengxian

declares that space and time are produced together. This line of thinking can also

be found inHuainanzi.

Space and time are real from the viewpoint of Chinese philosophers. The

myriad things are embraced in space and time, and evolved in the productionprocess of the cosmos. Wang Bi interprets the Field in Laozi as something

nameless and unnamable, which is a part of the above process. In Hengxian,

the Field is regarded as permanence. In the production process from

hengxian to Field, the Field evolves from hengxian, but it is emphasized

in Hengxian that the Field is produced by itself spontaneously. According to

Daoist naturalism, the spontaneous self-production in Hengxian can be

comprehended as an evolution and production of the cosmos, which is totally

dependent on an ultimate cause inside itself rather than on the forces of gods. On

the other hand, this spontaneous self-production can also be comprehended as a

part of the evolution and production process of the cosmos, which is a kind of

reciprocal influence and realized by internal compulsion. The ceaseless evolution

of the cosmos proceeds from its self-compulsion, which is termed desire inHengxian. The cosmology inHengxian is, so to speak, a theory of spontaneity.

This is one of the features ofHengxians view of the cosmos and reveals the

spontaneity and internality of the evolution and production of the cosmos, which

means that its production process does not depend on the divine forces. Being, the

beginning, and movement are all different phases in the evolution of the cosmos

that appeared after the production of Qi. Qi, the Field, and hengxian are

shapeless emptiness, as opposed to Being with shape. It is presumed that these

concepts are designated Heaven and Earth. InHengxian, Heaven and Earth are

the greatest of all shaped things. The shape evolves from the shapeless and

marks Heaven and Earth. This concept also means Being inHengxian.

It is necessary for us to pay attention to how Heaven and Earth areconcretely produced from Qi. Laozi says that The Dao engenders one, one

engenders two, two engenders three. These one, two, and three are

generally interpreted as being different kinds of Qi. Laozi also says that The

myriad things bear Yin and embrace Yang. Blend the Qi and make harmony

(Chapter 42, Laozi). These Yin and Yang mean Yin Qi and Yang Qi.

There was a long history of using these two concepts to explain natural

phenomena and the transformation of things before Laozi. Qi is not divided

into Yin and Yang in Hengxian, but it is definitely divided into clear and

muddy . This dichotomy may be the earliest in history ifLiezi is later

than Hengxian. In the philosophy of the pre-Qin period, there are many texts

which use Yin Qi and Yang Qi to explain the transformations of natural

phenomena, such asZhuangzi, in which the above opinion is very typical. In the

Han dynasty, Qi was usually used as original energy. The theory of original

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energy is influenced by the pre-Qin idea which divided Qi into Yin and

Yang or clear and muddy. This theory claims that Heaven above us is

made of clearQi, and the Earth below sustains the myriad things of muddy

Qi. It was very common in the Han dynasty to divide Qi into clear and

muddy, which originally referred to different statuses of water: clear water ispure and muddy water is turbid. These two concepts were also introduced into

music in later periods. Chapter 15 ofLaozi remarks, Obscure: like muddied

water. Who can, while muddy, using calmness gradually become clear? Here,

clear and muddy still refer to water. Chapter 39 states that Heaven achieves

the one in being clear. Earth achieves the one in stability. Here, clear still does

not refer to clearQi. Confucians use clear and muddy to indicate good and

evil respectively in politics and human affairs. The author ofHengxian divides

Qi into clear and muddy, and this may be the first time in history that Qi

is claimed to have these two properties, and that Heaven and Earth are claimed

to be made of clear Qi and muddy Qi. In Laozis doctrine that The Dao

engenders one, one engenders two, two engenders three, and three engenders the

myriad things, to which stage Heaven and Earth belong is hard to determine.Chapter 6 states that The Valley energy never dies. This is called the fathomless

female. The channel of the fathomless female: This is called the basis of the

cosmos. Chapter 25 states that There is a thing made up of a mix. It emerges

before the cosmos. Solitary! Inchoate! It is self-grounded and unchanging. It

permeates all processes without tiresomeness. We can deem it the mother of

Heaven and Earth. Thus, Heaven and Earth seem to be directly produced by

the Dao and take up a special status in the cosmos. The pattern of production

of the cosmos inLaozi does not directly display the stage of Heaven and Earth.

On the other hand, the patterns in The Great One Gives Birth to the Waterand

Hengxian recognize the birth of Heaven and Earth as a separate stage. In The

Great One Gives Birth to the Water, Heaven evolves from the great onethrough water, and this process continues from Heaven to Earth. In

Hengxian, clearQi and muddy Qi cooperate to produce the shaped Being

of Heaven and Earth. The evolution of the cosmos is from hengxian to the

Field, then from the Field to the Being of Heaven and Earth, succeeded

by the beginning, that is, the emergence of myriad things. In this process, only

the Qi between Being and the Field is omitted.

The beginning and movement, which are mentioned successively in thepattern of the production of the cosmos in Hengxian,denote the beginning of

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various concrete things and the circular movements and transformations of the

myriad things. Chapter 1 ofLaozi says: Nothingness names the beginning of the

Heaven and Earth. Being names the mother of the myriad things. In this

sentence, Heaven and Earth are opposite to the myriad things, while

Nothingness is opposite to Being. According to Chapter 40 ofLaozi, which saysthat The cosmos and the myriad things arise from Being. Being arises from

Nothingness, Nothingness is more fundamental than Being, and the latter is

produced from the former.9

Nothingness is also more fundamental than Heaven

and Earth. Being is designated as Heaven and Earth, which are the matrix of

the myriad things. It is generally believed in the cosmology of Chinese

philosophy that Heaven and Earth are the creators of the myriad things, and the

latter exist between them. Heaven and earth are two kinds of forces that

cooperate to produce the myriad things. This idea is shared byZhouyi (The

Book of Changes) and Zhuangzi; thus it is easy to understand what Hengxians

creation proceeded from Being really means. The Being mentioned here is the

being of Heaven and Earth, while creation means the production of the

myriad things and the beginning of the myriad things. The myriad things arecreated by Heaven and Earth because of the operation of Qi between

heaven and earth. Hengxian says: The evolution and mutual creation ofQi is

wonderful and mysterious, and this process fills the space between Heaven and

Earth. Everything is from the same origin; they are different from each other

because of their own desires. The illustrious Heaven and Earth present varied

and colorful diversity. This sentence means that various things are produced

by the operation and activity of wonderful and mysterious Qi. All things are

different from one other because of their own desires for self-accomplishment.

They present varied and colorful diversity between the illustrious heaven and

earth.

InHengxian, the creation of the myriad things does not mean that all differentspecies and individuals are created together at the same time. Species can

increase or decrease; individuals are created and exterminated in an unceasing

circulation. This process embraces the beginning and movement. In Genesis,

God creates all things in an orderly manner. Similarly in Hengxian, the

production and evolution of nature is an ordered process; it is not finished at once.

Another pattern of cosmology in Hengxian is: Being proceeds from the Field.

Life proceeds from Being. Sound proceeds from life. Speech proceeds from

9In the bamboo slip edition ofLaozi, this sentence is: The cosmos and the myriad things arise

from Being, and from Nothingness. According to this, there is a kind of parallel relationshipbetween Nothingness and Being. In the traditional version ofLaozi, it is hard to affirm

whether there is an equal relationship or a successive relationship between Being andNothingness. According to Wang Bis explanation, Nothingness is more fundamental thanBeing for Laozi.

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sound. Names proceed from speech. Events proceed from names. The Field

mentioned here is between hengxian and Qi; Being is between Qi and

the beginning. Life is just one aspect of the creation of Heaven and Earth.

The process from life to names and events is only one part of a series of

connections among the myriad things in Hengxian. This series is emphasized inHengxian because human life and language are the most amazing parts of the

evolution of nature. Distinctive to the series of the evolutionary pattern, there is

also another kind of idea-pairing in Hengxian: There is first the inside, then the

outside. There is first smallness, then largeness. There is first gentleness, then

firmness. There is first the circle, then the square. There is first darkness, then

brightness. There is first the short, then the long. Based on the dialectical

relations among things, the series of idea-pairings mentioned above constructs

mutual and transforming relationships. It is hard to say which appears first and

which is created later. There is a similar relationship based on mutual reliance

and transformation in Laozi. Chapter 2 of the work states: Thus Being and

nothingness mutually sprout. The difficult and the easy mutually achieve. The

long and the short are mutually gauged. The high and the low mutually incline.Sound and tone mutually blend. Before and after mutually follow. Of cause, in

these mutually reliant relationships, Laozi usually emphasizes one side of them

and believes that the other side can emerge from it. As put in Chapter 22 ofLaozi:

If crooked then intact; if twisted then straight; if vacuous then filled; if worn out

then new; if deficient then endowed. Many examples can be found inLaozi that

express the same idea as the above sentence; it is characteristic of Laozis

thought. Based on what does Hengxian deem that inside and outside, smallness

and largeness, etc., are produced in the flow of time? It is hard to determine.

Chapter 64 ofLaozi states: An armful of wood arises from small sprouts; nine

story towers start from a pile of earth. A thousand mile trip begins with one step.

From this gradualism logic, prominent and strong things must sprout from thetiny and gentle ones in an unceasing process.

All things have their own nature and essence, which make them different.

Their mutually-creating relations are based on species: Yi createsyi; wei creates

wei; fei creates fei; ai creates ai. This is a structure in which A creates A, but

there is no proper interpretation about what A in this structure actually means.

Li Ling explains A as human emotions. According to him, the items in the

above sentence are hope, fear, sorrow, and grief. However, his explanation and

analogous researches by other scholars seem to be inadequate (Zhao 2005). At

the level of human emotion, it can be suggested that various feelings might be

mutually generated. For instance, in traditional Chinese thinking, the highest

level of happiness might turn into grief. Nevertheless, Chinese people usually

would not think that grief creates further grief, as Li Lings interpretation would

entail. This paper presumes that these As might be different plants. There are

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two kinds of production and transformation in Chinese philosophy. One is mutual

transformation like the mutual creation of the wuxing (five elements);

the other is creation based on the same species, such as described in Hengxian

andXunzi. It is emphasized in Hengxian that things are created by the same

category. Philologically speaking, the original Chinese characters of

,

,and are equivalent to , , and respectively. , , and

are the names of plants in ancient Chinese; as such, it can be properly supposed

that the above items mentioned in Hengxian are plants and the relationships

between them are homogeneously, mutually creating. According to Hengxian:

All things have the inclination to reproduce themselves and reproduction is the

way of creating them, and a creature reproduces itself by its instinct towards

rebirth. Creatures multiply themselves in an evolutionary process. If they

cannot multiply their own descendants, they would be regarded as something

monstrous. This is consistent with what Hengxian says: If the Field is not a

Field, there is no name of Field. If Being is not Being, there is no name of Being.

If life is not life, there is no name of life. If sound is not sound, there is no name

of sound. If speech is not speech, there is no name of speech. This is alsoconsistent with traditional logic: A is A, and A must not be non-A. According to

Aristotle, the nature of things is their purposes of self-evolution, and everything

pursues its own nature. Regarding the relationship between name and reality, if

the name of a thing does not fit its reality, the name cannot be used to refer to the

thing. Hengxian states: If the Field is not a Field, there is no name of Field.

This mainly explains the relationship between name and reality, between idea

and actuality; it emphasizes that the existence and activity of all things totally

depend on their own natures. With regard to the concrete process of production,

the proper condition is needed, by which the nature of things can be fully

developed. If the condition is better, things will evolve to their best state and

realize their ideal existence better as well.It has been mentioned above that the movement in the pattern of production

and transformation of the cosmos inHengxian mainly denotes the existence and

activity of the myriad things after they have been created by Heaven and Earth.

In the complex cosmos, there exists another kind of movement in the mutual

transformation of things distinct from the movement of homogeneous mutual

creation. Laozi calls it fan (counter), and believes it is the movement of the

Dao. Laozi also uses the word fu (revert) to explain the activities and

changes of things. Counter and revert have effectively the same meaning,

and are used to describe the transformation of the nature of real things under the

ultimate Dao. Zhuangzi has an opinion similar to Laozi on this question, and

further suggests that the only way we can end the degradation and alienation of

human beings is to revert to a primitive society. The thoughts of Laozi and

Zhuangzi about countering and reverting have two aspects: One is the mutual

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transformations of the myriad things and the life and death of the individual,

while the other is the movement of things reverting to their own nature.

Movement in Hengxian also means revert. Hengxian states: The Dao of

Heaven has already been formed, but the One is still the One and the reversion is

still reverting. The production of permanent Qi comes from the reversion unto itsown desire. Only this reverting process forever exists among all operations of

Heaven. If we can understand this principle, our thoughts will not be a breach of

Heaven. The word Dao in this sentence should be the word Earth. We can

find examples of this in The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor: Tiandi

yicheng (Heaven and Earth have already been formed) and Tiandi

yiding (Heaven and Earth have already been steady). Zai means

cheng (formed). In this respect, the word Dao in the sentence tiandao ji

zai (the Dao of Heaven has already been formed) should be the word

Earth.10

Heaven and Earth have already been formed and only the One and

the reversion are still in operation. The One can be interpreted as the united

and common essence of things. Reversion means the movement of things

maintaining and reverting to their own nature, which eternally keeps up with theoperation of Heaven and Earth.

The latter part ofHengxian is mainly about human beings social affairs:

Luck, propriety, benefit, skill, and various things are the results of activities. If

there are activities, then there are events; if there are no activities, then there

are no events. All events in the world are spontaneously done, and cannot be

changed. All entities which have appeared before the name are notindependent; all entities which follow after speech need to be confirmed. Even

if all names in the world are wrongly formed, it is hard to modify them against

custom. All qiangzhe (powerful men) in the world will have dazuo

(great achievements) if they can avoid pride. There are two results of an action

success and failure. All behaviors in the world are self-accomplished

without any help and assistance. All creations in the world are created by their

own species in a reverting process. All activities in the world do not disobey

the heng, so they will not lose their status. All activities in the world need the

hengto be accomplished, but in fact, some gain it and others lose it. All names

in the world can not be cancelled. No wise king or officer in the world would

10The whole sentence means that Heaven and Earth have already been formed.

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have desires yet do not reflect on them.11

It is worthwhile to notice that there are many sentences with structure All in

the world in Hengxian. Based on this sentence structure, Pang Pu makes

powerful observations as to the meaning of this bamboo book (Pang 2004, pp.2223). This sentence structure is very important for us to understand the view

on the human world inHengxian. Human beings are a part of nature, so the view

of the human world should also be a part of the view of the cosmos. However, if

the human being is regarded as contrary to nature, then in the view of human

world, more attention should be paid to the difference between the human being

and nature. Daoists, especially Laozi and Zhuangzi, are inclined towards

spontaneity and non-action. They hope that human beings can be unified with the

simple and pure Heaven and Dao, can positively refuse to intervene into the

world with constraints, and can wish to clear up the formalization brought about

by rituals, political institutions, and culture. Is there the same trend inHengxian?

This question can be addressed through the following respects. If our above

interpretations are correct, there is no forceful denial of name inHengxian, asis common in Zhuangzi. It is believed in Hengxian that the name is justified

and irrevocable, contrary to the case in Laozi andZhuangzi. Hengxian refers to

name in many places; collectively they compose the view on name in the text.

This view has several meanings. First, name comes from speech; second,

name refers to human affairs and justify them; third, name has certain

connotations and rules; fourth, name is stable, which means that once a name

has been formed, it will be maintained in the language even if it never refers to

any corresponding entity. It can be concluded that Hengxian does not deny the

name and its function in principle.

The political doctrine in Hengxian claims that people should be spontaneous

and non-acting by their nature. This is similar to Laozis proposition.12

Hengxianstates: All behaviors in the world are self-accomplished without any help and

assistance. This sentence means that wise kings do not control peoples

behaviors but allow them to spontaneously act by themselves. Hengxian also

states: All events in the world are spontaneously done, and cannot be changed.

This means there is no need for rulers to act against affairs which people do by

their nature and which coincide with the eternal Dao. If the wise king follows the

spontaneous actions of the people, he will be powerful in the world and have

great achievements. Chapter 30 ofLaozi states: Skill bears fruit! Do not

presume, in view of that, to choose coercion. Have effects and avoid regard.

11

This paragraph includes the content ofHengxian from slip No.7 to slip No.13 except slipNo.8 and No.9.12Cao Feng has a special discussion about this point. See Cao 2006a, p. 123 and p. 148.

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Have effects and avoid assault. Have effects and avoid pride. Have effects and

treat it as inevitable. Have effects and avoid coercion. Laozi criticizes the

inevitability of war here. Under normal conditions, Laozi prefers to be powerful

and maintain power in a reasonable way, which means that the Dao gives things

life, yet does not manage them. It assists them, yet makes no claim upon them. Itaccomplishes its work yet does not dwell in it (Chapter 2, Laozi). Hengxian

confirms that to be powerful means to bring about great achievement, and

dwell in power and great achievement with humility. In the opinion ofHengxian,

rational and proper behaviors and actions should obey principles and the eternal

Dao: All activities in the world do not disobey the heng, so they will not lose

their status. Do not disobey the heng means not to be in breach of the eternal

Dao. Laozi states that Those who do not lose their station are long-lasting

(Chapter 33, Laozi). Dont lose their station means dont lose what their

existence depends on. Otherwise, the results of actions will become uncertain.

This is consistent with the ideas in Hengxian. In the opinion ofHengxian, all

activities in the world should be totally achieved because of the obedience of

the heng (permanence). However, it is not in fact the case that everyonecan obey the heng. Thus, some people have achievements and others lose them.

This corresponds to the original text: There were two results of an action

success and failure.

To obey permanence means that when a human being faces the myriad

things, he should get rid of his subjective prejudices. In the pairs of contrary

relationships in the series of ideas in Hengxian such as wuxian (the

state before the myriad things) and youren (the human being came into

existence), good and evil, and stability and chaos the state before the

myriad things and the human being came into existence are two causes that

are contrasted with one another. Because of the state before the myriad things,

there followed the results of good and stability; because the human being cameinto existence, there followed the results of evil and chaos. This paragraph can

be explained properly based on ideas of Laozi and the school of Huanglao

on spontaneity and non-action. In Laozis political thoughts, action and

non-action are two kinds of opposed political activities. Laozi is against a

series of interventions (actions) by the ruler and believes in non-action for the

sake of the peoples welfare. Chapter 53 ofLaozi criticizes the extravagant

behaviors of rulers: The palace is profoundly stripped. Fields are profoundly

overgrown. Granaries are profoundly bare. Clothes are embroidered colorfully.

Belts have sharp swords. Bored of drink and food. Wealth and commodities are

excessive. This is called stealing. Exaggeration! This is not the Dao!Hengxian

also advocates non-action and not-doing instead of action and human affairs. The

last conclusion ofHengxian reveals that mingjun (wise kings) and mingshi

(wise officers) who can insist on non-action will realize their desires for

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