[In the essay below, Bruce analyzes the concept of Tao and examines how Chu Hsi's interpretation of it differed from that of contemporary Taoists. Bruce emphasizes that Chu Hsi opposed the “ultra-transcendental” view of Tao held by the Taoists of his day.]

… [The] fundamental meaning of the word Li is Law; that it is essentially ethical; and that, while it derives its name from the fact that every single thing has its own rule of existence, it also has a universal application. There is another word, Tao, which specially expresses both the universal and the ethical aspect of Li.

TAO OR MORAL LAW

The term Tao … fills a large place in Chinese philosophy of all schools. It has given its name to one of the three religions of China, it is a general term for philosophy itself, and it is the word most used as the term for religion. Its primary meaning, which must not be lost sight of in the study of its deeper meanings, is a “road” or “way”.¹ It is called a “road” from the fact that it is a universal law common to all the ages as distinguished from li, the law of individual existence;² it is a highway “so level that it can be travelled upon for countless myriads of years, and all men find their way to it”.³ But it is an invisible road; the evidence of its existence is to be found in men's actions. In other words, it is the hidden moral principle from which proceed the common virtues of every day life, the Moral Law followed by all men in all ages.

This is the fundamental meaning of the term Tao, and formed the starting-point or line of approach for Chu Hsi in his exposition of its more comprehensive meanings. Shao Tzŭ said: “The Nature is the concrete expression of the Moral Order (Tao).” “This,” says Chu Hsi, “is what is taught by all the Masters, but by none is it expressed so exactly as by Shao Tzŭ.”⁴ It is also in accord with the teaching of Mencius. “Love is the distinguishing characteristic of man,” said the Sage; “as embodied in man's conduct it is termed Tao.”⁵Tao is seen in the relations of father and son, sovereign and minister, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, friend and friend. “Tao is near,” said he, “and men seek it in what is distant. The work of duty lies in what is easy, and men seek for it in what is difficult. If each man would love his parents, and show due respect to his elders, the whole empire would enjoy tranquillity.”⁶ Chu Hsi's own interpretation of Tao was fully in accord with the teaching of the Sage. “Though Tao is present everywhere,” he said, “how are we to find it? The answer is: simply by turning and looking within.”⁷ “We need not talk about empty and far-away things; if we would know the reality of Tao we must seek it within our own nature.”⁸

But while this was the line of approach, the Philosopher did not stop there. Looking out from his own heart into the hearts of men in all ages, and beyond the domain of man into the wider world of phenomena in general, the Philosopher saw the very same principles pervading the universe as those which constituted the law of his own being. They are manifested in the moral excellence of the sages, they are written in the consciences of the most wicked of men. Heaven, earth, and all things follow along the same ethical highway as man himself. The essential meaning, then, of the word Tao is that the moral principles which we find engraved upon our own hearts are common to all our fellow-creatures. “From the fact that we ourselves possess the principles of Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, we infer that others possess them also; that, indeed, of the thousands and tens of thousands of human beings, and of all things in the universe, there are none without these principles. Extend our investigations as far as we will, we still find that there is nothing which does not possess them.”⁹

There is thus a co-ordination of the principles underlying all phenomena in what is called “The Moral Order”. Probably no one English word can be found consistently to represent the meaning of the word Tao, but of all possible renderings, such as Way, Path, Truth, Reason, or Logos, that perhaps which best expresses its meaning is this term “The Moral Order”. Moral Order, however, is simply Moral Law as pervading the Universe, and it is often more convenient to use the latter form of expression. The essential thing to note is the twofold idea conveyed by either term. It is Law, but it is moral Law; it is Order, but it is an ethical Order. Dr. Faber speaks of Tao as “The Universal Reign of Law”. He says: “According to the Chinese, there is only one universal law that makes itself known in all the unities throughout the course of the universe. Physical nature or spirit life makes no difference. Each follows in its way a fixed ordered course.”¹⁰ That is true, but it is from the ethical aspect of Law and its co-ordination in a universal moral standard for man and the universe that Tao derives its name. “According to my view,” says Chu Hsi, “Tao obtains its name simply from the principle of inherent right present in all phenomena.”¹¹ Speaking of the varied species of the myriad phenomena, he says, “Each one has within it the principle of right, what we call Tao, the road along which we ought to walk.”¹² That is, not only is there a principle of right in everything, but it is the same “right” for all men and all things. This is Tao. “There must be some reason why, when the hawk and the fish come into existence they are hawk and fish. The cause is in the presence of the substance of Tao. The hawk flies and the fish leaps, not by the individual choice of the hawk and fish, but because of the Divine Law imparted to them in unceasing flow.”¹³ “The sun sets and the moon rises, the cold passes and the heat returns, the four seasons pursue their course, and all things are continually being produced.” This is the pervading and manifested operation of Tao, while the immovable and abiding element in all this procession of phenomena is the substance of Tao.¹⁴

It is this wide and comprehensive meaning attached to the term Tao which differentiates it from Li (Law). It must not be forgotten that both terms refer to the same entity. The unity and universality of Li are clearly asserted more than once. The two terms, however, represent different aspects of this unity. The term Tao calls attention to the vast and comprehensive; the term Li calls attention to the minute and infinitesimal,¹⁵ and refers to the innumerable vein-like principles inherent in every individual thing, like the grain in wood, or the lines vertical and horizontal in bamboo, or the strands of a piece of thread, or the bamboo splints of a basket.¹⁶Li derives its name from the fact that everything has each its own rule of existence; Tao expresses the fact that everything conforms to one Moral Law, and is part of one Moral Order. Thus Li may be compared to the innumerable trees in a dense forest, whilst Tao is compared to a vast, trackless desert with its vision of the illimitable.¹⁷ It is here that we reach the full transcendental meaning of the word Tao. Shao K‘ang Chieh said: “Moral Law is the Supreme Ultimate,” and Chu Hsi confirms his statement as referring to Tao as the self-existent law of the universe.¹⁸Tao, as we saw in the preceding chapter, existed before all things, and is the true source of all things.¹⁹

It was in his doctrine of Tao from the transcendental point of view that Chu Hsi came into conflict with Taoism, although at the same time there were marked affinities between the two systems. Lao Tzŭ, the reputed founder of this sect, in the classic work entitled Tao Tê Ching says: “There is an Infinite Being which was before Heaven and Earth. How calm it is, how free! It lives alone and changes not. It moves everywhere, but is not affected. We may regard it as the universal Mother. I know not its name. I call it Tao.”²⁰ Here is the same idea as that which we have found in Chu Hsi's teaching. Moreover, Lao Tzŭ's Tao was also the principle of which Tê …, or Virtue, is the manifestation; which is closely akin to Chu Hsi's doctrine of Tao as the comprehensive term for the four cardinal virtues, the principles which become Tê … when appropriated by man. What, therefore, Mr. Gorn Old says of Lao Tzŭ and Confucius is true: “At most they were not far divided on essential points.”²¹

Where, then, was the point of divergence which resulted in the controversy between the two systems? We must bear in mind that Chu Hsi in his attacks on Taoism and the teachings of Lao Tzŭ was attacking them as interpreted by the representatives of that sect centuries after its founder had uttered his mystical teachings. Chu Hsi's charge against Taoism as interpreted by the scholars of his own day was what he regarded as its ultra-transcendentalism, which, he maintained, tended to destroy all moral distinctions. The chief points of controversy gathered round two passages, or sets of passages, in the Tao Tê Ching, which touch on the two aspects of Tao referred to above, the ethical and the transcendental. In Chapter XVIII Lao Tzŭ said, “When the great Tao is lost, men follow after Love and Righteousness,”²² and in the chapter following he gives utterance to the bold paradox that “if men would forsake Love and Righteousness they might revert to their natural relationships.”²³ Of the chapter in which the first of these passages occurs, Mr. W. Gorn Old gives the following explanation: “In this chapter Laotze (Lao Tzŭ) refers to the doctrines of Confucius as a system of ‘patching up’ that which is already worn out. The so-called virtue of Charity and Duty to one's neighbour (translated above as Love and Righteousness), the recognition of wisdom and learning by marks of merit, filial duty, and parental indulgence, are all regarded by the Old Philosopher as so many marks of degeneracy in the people. Against them he sets the natural virtue of integrity, and to this he would have us revert.”²⁴ That is, Lao Tzŭ maintained that when Confucius inculcated Love and Righteousness he in that very fact confessed that Tao was lost, and therefore the only true remedy is to seek, and revert to, the lost Tao. To which Chu Hsi retorts: “If we separate Tao from Love and Righteousness we have no ethical principle at all, in which case how can Tao be Tao?²⁵ You have nothing left but an empty abstraction. What is Tao but Love and Righteousness? If you forsake Love and Righteousness you have forsaken Tao itself. You cannot destroy them without destroying virtue, for the simple reason that they are virtue. You cannot weaken the bonds of the Five Relationships without injuring the moral sanction itself, because they are the embodiment of it.” It may perhaps be questioned whether Chu Hsi did not misconceive the Old Philosopher's meaning. It is hardly likely that when rightly understood the latter would lay himself open to so obvious a retort. The gloss by C. Spurgeon Medhurst suggests what is possibly a truer interpretation: “Virtues and duties are separative, subtle forms of self-assertion, something lower than that Ideal of ideals which identifies itself with the All, and in the joy of service annihilates self. Benevolence, righteousness, filiality, paternalism, loyalty, devotion, is each in its own way a degenerate, when the Tao, the Great Ideal, the One Life, recedes from view. Woe to that captain who, when navigating his vessel into port, allows the various lights and sounds of the harbour to turn his attention from the flashing signals of the lighthouse.”²⁶

Chu Hsi's point, however, remains. It is just here, indeed, that he joins issue with what he regards as a false mysticism. Tao itself is Love and Righteousness. It is not some far away, vague, and incomprehensible ideal. It has to do with everyday life and its relationships. This he makes clear in his answer to the other group of classic statements referred to above, in which the great Mystic's love of paradox is still more manifest. “The Tao which can be expressed in words,” says Lao Tzŭ, “is not the eternal Tao. The name which can be named is not its eternal name. Nameless, it is the Beginning of heaven and earth; with a name it is the Mother of all things.”²⁷ “All things in the universe are born of the Existent; and the Existent is born of the Non-Existent.”²⁸ To quote again from Mr. W. Gorn Old, “The Causal Principle of all effects Laotze calls the Non-Existent. The well-known philosophical gamut of Principles, Causes, Effects, and Ultimates is reduced by the Sage to Non-Existent and the Existent, for seeing only One Cause (Tao) he regards all else as a single Effect (Nature).”²⁹ And in another passage the Sage speaks of Tao as the intangible and inscrutable. “Inscrutable, intangible,” he says, “yet within are Forms. Intangible, inscrutable, yet within there is substance.”³⁰ Chu Hsi's answer to this doctrine was that Tao has a real existence and is not transcendental to such a degree that it has no connexion with men. “The Nature is what men receive substantively; Tao is the natural Law of Right which we find in the phenomena of the universe. The law which we find in phenomena is really inherent in the Nature; but when we speak of it specifically as Tao, our idea is of something which is boundless as a vast desert and diffused in infinite variety so that its substance is invisible, and it is only when we seek it in our own Nature that we see what constitutes its reality—here and nowhere else!”³¹ Chu Hsi therefore did not exclude the transcendental aspect of Tao, but he held that the transcendental Tao is identical with the Tao which we find in our own hearts. “Is it maintained,” he says again, “that Tao is lofty and distant, inscrutable and mysterious, and beyond the possibility of human study? Then I answer that Tao derives its very name from the fact that it is the principle of right conduct in every day life for all men, that it is like a road which should be travelled upon by the countless myriads of people within the four seas and nine continents; it is not what the Taoist and Buddhist describe as Tao: empty, formless, still, non-existent, and having no connexion with men. Is it maintained that Tao is far removed from us, so vast as to be out of touch with our needs, and that we are not called upon to study it? Then I say that Tao, present as it is in all the world in the relation between sovereign and minister, and between father and son, in down-sitting and up-rising, and in activity and rest, has everywhere its unchangeable clear law, which cannot fail for a single instant.”³²

O world invisible, we view thee;
O world intangible, we touch thee;
O world unknowable, we know thee;
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee.

The antithesis of the Non-Existent and the Existent … suggests the famous dictum of Chou Tzŭ: “Infinite! And also the Supreme Ultimate!” Those who entered into controversy with Chu Hsi frequently referred to this as teaching Lao Tzŭ's doctrine of the Non-Existent, contending that it was so implied in the word “not” …, which enters into the term “Infinite”. … Chu Hsi, however, as was seen in the preceding chapter, was careful to explain that Chou Tzŭ in his doctrine asserted the invisibility and infinity of the Supreme Ultimate, and not that it was a separate entity paradoxically named the Non-Ens.

To sum up: Tao is the all-comprehensive Moral Law pervading the universe. It is identical with Li the ultimate element in the dualism of the cosmos. It is before all things, in all things, and the source of all things. Illimitable, it nevertheless has a real substantive existence; and—not least in the emphasis which the Philosopher places upon it—though transcending all things, it is identical with the Moral Law written upon the heart of man. For there is only one Moral Law. Any other hypothesis would conflict with the fundamental thesis of Chu Hsi's philosophy—the unity of the Nature.

THE FOUR ULTIMATA

The opening sentence of the Yi Ching contains four words of exceptional interest to the student of the Sung philosophy. They are Yüan, Hêng, Li, Chêng …, or the principles of Origin, Beauty, Utility, and Potentiality.

In Section I of the First Appendix of that classic the writer sets forth, somewhat vaguely it must be confessed, the relation of these principles to physical phenomena and to the virtues of the Sage. To quote Dr. Legge's note: “In paragraphs 1, 2, 4 the four attributes in Wên's Text are illustrated by the phenomena taking place in the physical world. In paragraphs 3 and 5, the subject is the sage.”³³ In the Fourth Appendix the relation of these attributes to man's nature, with special reference to the Noble Man, is enlarged upon. The whole passage is as follows:—

1. What is called Yüan is in man the first and chief quality of goodness; what is called Hêng is the assemblage of all excellences; what is called Li is the harmony of all that is right; and what is called Chêng is the faculty of action.

2. The Noble Man, embodying love is able to preside over men; presenting the assemblage of all excellences he is able to show in himself the union of all forms of reverence; benefiting all creatures he is able to exhibit the harmony of all that is right; correct and firm, he is able to manage all affairs.

3. The fact that the Noble Man practises these four virtues justifies the application to him, of the words: “Ch‘ien³⁴ represents the Principle of Origin (Yüan), the Principle of Beauty (Hêng), the Principle of Utility (Li), and the Principle of Potentiality (Chêng).”³⁵

In this and the other passage referred to we have two ideas set forth. The first is that pervading the whole cosmos are four principles; they are ethical in character, they enter into all physical phenomena, and may be termed the Ultimata of the Universe. The second is that these ethical principles which pervade the universe enter into the nature of man; they are exemplified in the character of the Noble Man, and find their highest expression in the Sage or Saint. These two ideas constitute the germ from which the Sung School doctrine of the Four Ultima was developed.

In the preceding pages it has been pointed out that, according to our philosopher, Li (Law) consists of the four principles Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom, while Tao represents the transcendental and universal aspect of Li. We have also seen that Chu Hsi, in criticizing what he regarded as the ultra-transcendentalism of Taoist philosophy, maintained that the transcendental Tao is identical with the moral principles to be found in our own hearts. What it is now desired to make clear is that just as the term Tao represents this transcendental and universal aspect of Li (Law), so the four terms Yüan, Hêng, Li, Chêng, translated in this work as the principles of Origin, Beauty, Utility, and Potentiality, represent the transcendental and universal aspect of the ethical principles of man's nature—Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom. In other words, Yüan, Hêng, Li, Chêng are the ethical principles which constitute that Moral Order which was the subject of the preceding section.

Further, in a passage cited in the “Symposium” Ch‘ên Ch‘un, one of Chu Hsi's most noted pupils, quoting his Master, says: “Yüan, Hêng, Li, Chêng are the eternal constants of Heaven's Moral Order; Love, Righteousness, Reverence, and Wisdom are the governing principles of man's nature. … The Decree of Heaven is the diffusion of the Moral Law of Heaven throughout the universe and its impartation to the creature. Regarded as Yüan, Hêng, Li, Chêng it is called the Moral Order of Heaven; regarded as diffused throughout the universe and imparted to the creature it is called the Decree of Heaven.”³⁶ From this passage it will be seen that these Ultimata have both a transcendental and an immanent aspect. As transcendental, they constitute the Tao, or Moral Order; as immanent they are the Decree of Heaven, which is implanted in the creature and becomes the law of his being.

In their relation to the physical universe, the most conspicuous manifestation of these Four Ultimata is in the Four Seasons. “The first budding forth of things into life is the manifestation of the Principle of Origin, and among the seasons is Spring. The growth and development of things is the manifestation of the Principle of Beauty (or Development), and among the seasons is summer. The attainment to full fruition of things is the manifestation of the Principle of Utility, and among the seasons is Autumn. The storing up of nature's resources is the manifestation of the Principle of Potentiality, and among the seasons is Winter.”³⁷

The relation of the Four Ultimata, thus manifested in the Four Seasons, to the Four Cardinal Virtues which constitute man's moral nature is also set forth by Ch‘ên Ch‘un in the passage alluded to above. “Of the principles of which the Decree of Heaven is composed the Principle of Origin when received by me is termed Love; the Principle of Beauty when received by me is termed Reverence; the Principle of Utility when received by me is termed Righteousness; and the Principle of Potentiality when received by me is termed Wisdom.”³⁸

It will be noted that the Four Ultimata are always named in the same order, namely, Origin, Beauty, Utility, and Potentiality, corresponding to the order of the Seasons. But this order differs from that in which the Cardinal Virtues are almost invariably named, thus:—

The reason is that the order of the Cardinal Virtues arose from the historical development of their doctrine. In the early period Love alone, and later Love and Righteousness, coupled together, were emphasized as comprising all the virtues. Later still, these were further analysed with the result that Reverence and Wisdom were added; Reverence having a special relation to Love, and Wisdom to Righteousness. In considering, therefore, the anology between the Ultimata and the Cardinal Virtues, it must be borne in mind that there is this difference in the order in which they are named, so that the Principle of Beauty in the universe corresponds to Reverence in man, and the Principle of Utility to Righteousness, while the principles of Origin and Potentiality correspond respectively to Love and Wisdom.

The first of the Four Ultimata is Yüan, the Principle of Origin. Chu Hsi thus explains the relation of this principle to Love … : “The Principle of Origin is the beginning of the production of things by Heaven and Earth. The Yi says, ‘Great is the Principle of Origin indicated by Ch‘ien! All things owe to it their beginning.’ ‘Perfect is the Principle of Origin indicated by K‘un! All things owe to it their birth.’ From this we learn that the Principle of Origin is the thread running through all stages in the production of things by Heaven and Earth. Yüan, the Principle of Origin, is the vital impulse itself; in Hêng, the Principle of Beauty, it becomes the development of the vital impulse; in Li, the Principle of Utility, it becomes the fruiting, and in Chêng, the Principle of Potentiality, the completion of the vital impulse. It is the same with Love. Love in its essence is the vital impulse, the feeling of solicitude. If this vital impulse is wounded, then the feeling of solicitude is called forth. Conscientiousness also is Love manifesting itself in Righteousness; courtesy is Love manifesting itself in Reverence; and moral insight is Love manifesting itself in Wisdom.”³⁹ Elsewhere he endorses the statement, “Love is the creative mind of Heaven and Earth, which is received by all men as their mind. … It is what is called the Principle of Origin of Ch‘ien and K‘un.”⁴⁰

The passage here referred to teaches that Yüan, the Principle of Origin pervading the physical universe, and Love, the premier virtue in man, are identical; and that it is to this Principle of Origin, or Love, that all things owe their beginning. But that is not all. Not only do all things physical owe their beginning to this principle, but all four principles are wrapped up in this one. We see it in the case of the Cardinal Virtues in man, and we see it in the material universe as exemplified in the progress of the seasons, which, though they differ one from another, all proceed from the Spring: Spring is the birth of Spring, Summer is its growth, Autumn is its consummation, and Winter is the storing up of Spring.⁴¹

The second of the Four Ultimata is Hêng, the Principle of Beauty. The word Hêng is explained by two Chinese words—t‘ung …, which has the double significance of “permeating” and “continuing”; and chia …, which means “beautiful” or “excellent”. In the gloss on the original text of the Yi Ching, which appears in the passage already quoted from the Fourth Appendix, the meaning of Hêng is given as “the assemblage of all excellencies”⁴² But the idea of t‘ung …, “permeating” or “continuing”, is also present to the mind of the Chinese student when considering this word. It is the latter meaning which is most emphasized in explaining the relation of the Ultimata to the seasons. Hêng finds its manifestation in the Summer season, which is the “continuance” or “development” of the vital impulse of Spring. “Spring is characterized by the vital impulse; in the Summer we see its persistent and permeating principle.”⁴³ But the meaning “excellence” also in this connexion is obviously appropriate; Summer is the Beauty season just as Spring is the Love season. In fact, the underlying thought in the use of this word seems to be a combination of both ideas—“permeating” or “continuing”, and “excellent”. Pervading all physical phenomena is a peculiar appropriateness and harmony, a surpassing excellence which produces in us the sense of Beauty. A modern writer on Theistic Philosophy says, “If Beauty be an ultimate element in the Universe—not analysable into anything else, but an essence or characteristic quality which defies the disintegrating effort of the analyst—it may perhaps supply us with one means of escape from that ‘slough of despond’ into which materialism plunges us. Beauty is as ultimate as anything that is known in the spheres of the true and the good; and while the discussion of its ‘ultimate’ is as interesting as the problem of metaphysical and ethical philosophy, it may be found to cast much light upon the latter.” One of the special characteristics of Beauty, the same writer says, is its prodigality, “and its being diffused in quarters where it is not at first recognized. There is, in truth, ‘no speech or language where its voice is not heard.’ It is not only in external aspects of form and colour, however, that it is to be seen as an adornment of the world. It exists in the very heart of its laws, as these hold sway over the realm of the organic and the inorganic world. … Nature everywhere ornaments herself. There is a process at work which is a real effort of Nature to realize the Beautiful by the production of harmony. That is much the same thing as saying that the inmost spirit of Nature is itself beautiful, and that it strives to disclose itself through this channel. It is not the world of matter, or dull inert substance, however, that is beautiful, or that ornaments itself. It is the spirit of the cosmos that shines through, and irradiates, or transfigures material substance. It thus becomes a genuine apocalypse. … So far as, and so long as, it is discerned, our apprehension of it is a knowledge of the very essence of things, and therefore of that which transcends Nature.”⁴⁴ In this passage Professor Knight admirably expresses in modern phrase the underlying thought which this word Hêng represents to the Chinese philosopher. The “assemblage of all excellencies” manifest in physical phenomena, or the prodigality of beauty diffused throughout the cosmos, is due to an ethical principle behind and beneath it all which ranks among the ultimata of the universe, and this principle is termed Hêng, or the principle of Beauty.

This meaning of the term best explains its relation to its corresponding virtue Reverence. “The Principle of Beauty (Hêng) inherent in the Decree of Heaven when received by me is termed Reverence.”⁴⁵ The connexion is sufficiently apparent. Poet and artist alike will tell us how near akin are Beauty in the universe and Reverence in man, and there is no need to enlarge upon it here. But this is not the only connexion between the two terms. Reverence is itself beautiful, it is “Love in graceful expression”.⁴⁶ It is the spirit of worship, the essence of ceremony. Worship and ceremony are perhaps the most common meanings of Li …, the word which in this work is translated Reverence; and worship and ceremony, though they include much more, are, or are intended to be, forms of Beauty. While “Beauty” … best explains the relation of Hêng to Reverence, the other meaning of the word Hêng, namely “continuance” or “development” …, is not excluded. Reverence is the development of Love just as Summer is the development of Spring. Love seeks expression. It cannot stop at the subjective, it must find its continuance in objective manifestation. Love seeks to express itself in deferring to the object of its solicitude, and deference or courtesy is Reverence in operation.

The third of the Ultimata is Li …, the Principle of Utility. The use of the word “utility” to express that ultimate principle in the Moral Order which answers to Righteousness in man is at least arresting, if not startling. A little reflection, however, will show its peculiar appropriateness. At the very root of the idea of Righteousness is that of order; and order in the philosophical sense implies not only regularity but, what is another name for the same thing, adaptation or useful collocation also. These two ideas are coupled together in one of the “Proofs” so familiar to the student of Theism. The late Professor Flint in his Baird Lecture said, “In what may be called general order, that which strikes us chiefly is regularity; in what may be called special order, that which chiefly strikes us is adaptation or adjustment. … While we may readily admit the distinction to be so far valid, it is certainly not absolute. Regularity and adjustment are rather different aspects of order than different kinds of order, and so far from excluding each other, they will be found implying each other. … Wherever regularity can be found adjustment will also be found, if the search be carried far enough.”⁴⁷ It is the aspect of adaptation or useful collocation which is most suggested by the term Li. … A phrase which has been much used in connexion with the doctrine of Evolution is “the survival of the fittest”. Chinese philosophy sees something deeper, namely, mutual service. All things are made to serve. Everything has stamped upon it as the law of its being the creative purpose that it should be of service to its neighbour.

Oh, we live! Oh, we live!
And this life which we conceive
Is a great thing, and a grave,
Which for others' use we have.

This principle of Utility is manifested in the Autumn season. The vitality which is born in the Spring and of which the Summer is the growth and development, finds its consummation and full fruition in Autumn, the harvest or fruit season. Western science teaches us that fruit in contrast to the leaf is self-giving.

In fruiting, the tree expends its life for the enrichment of others, so that Autumn may be characterized as the service season. The fulfilment of such service for all, says the Chinese philosopher, is what constitutes Order in the universe and Righteousness in the individual. Righteousness, then, is the fulfilment by each individual of the purpose of his existence in serving and benefiting his fellow creatures. “Benefiting all creatures he is able to exhibit the harmony of all that is right.”⁴⁸ This principle pervading the universe is termed Li …, the Principle of Utility.

The last of the Four Ultimata is Chêng …, the Principle of Potentiality. Its physical manifestation is in the Winter season. In man it becomes Wisdom. Like the word for the Principle of Beauty, Chêng has a double interpretation, chêng … and ku. … Legge translates it “correct and firm”. Its meaning is: “strong to do, and to do rightly.” In the gloss given in the Fourth Appendix this principle is defined as the “faculty of action” and is said to confer on the noble man ability to “manage all affairs”.⁴⁹ It is, however, a reserve faculty; and this is the special characteristic of Wisdom: a reserve of knowledge and ability adequate to all emergencies.

But this sense of reserve is not the characteristic of man alone; it is everywhere, in all the phenomena of the universe. Its typical manifestation is in the season of Winter. Life's powers to all outward seeming have died down. The fruit has passed, the leaves have fallen, the tree itself is dry and hard. But we are not deceived. We know that there are hidden resources reserved within it; the forces of its vitality are stored up for future need, and when the need emerges they will be called forth to the new task, strong and unerring in their efficiency. “Of the Four Attributes of Ch‘ien, Origin is the chief and next to it is Potentiality as revealing the meaning of the end and beginning. Apart from the Principle of Origin there could be no birth; apart from the Principle of Potentiality there could be no end; apart from an ending there would be no means of making a beginning; and without a beginning the end could never be consummated; and so on in endless rotation.”⁵⁰ In other words, Spring is the Mother of the Seasons, but Winter is the Mother of Spring. The hidden reserves of Winter are the guarantee of the permanence of the cosmos. This is Chêng, the Principle of Potentiality. And what Winter is among the seasons, that is Wisdom among the virtues. Love as Love is creative; as Reverence it finds its development and expression in humility and self-repression, as Righteousness it finds its consummation in sacrifice and service, and as Wisdom it is fathering up its energies for new creations of love and humility, of service and sacrifice.

These then are the Four Ultimata, the Attributes of Heaven. We see the creative principle at work throughout the universe; we see its development in all-pervading beauty and harmony; we see its consummation in a universal perfection of adjustment the secret of which is mutual service; and we see everywhere, not less in the tiniest insect than in the mightiest physical forces, a reserve of efficiency which ensures the permanence of all things. These principles find their expression in the typical characteristics of the Four Seasons—in the Love season of Spring, in the Beauty season of Summer, in the Service season of Autumn, and in the Reserve season of Winter; their highest manifestation is in Man—in his Love, in his Righteousness, in his Reverence, and in his Wisdom; and among these Love is pre-eminent as the source and sum of all the rest.

Notes

1. … bk. xlvi, f. 1. (P.H.N., p. 269).

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid., f. 4 (P.H.N., p. 275).

5. Mencius, p. 361.

6. Ibid., p. 178; cf. Faber's Mind of Mencius, p. 76.

7. … bk. xlii, f. 13 (P.H.N., p. 32).

8. Ibid., bk. xlvi, f. 5 (P.H.N., p. 276).

9. Ibid., bk. xlii, f. 13 (P.H.N., p. 32).

10. Mind of Mencius, by E. Faber, p. 75

11. … bk. xlvi, f. 10 (P.H.N., pp. 285-6).

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid., f. 9 (P.H.N., pp. 283-4).

14. Ibid., f. 1 (P.H.N., p. 270).

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid., ff. 1, 12 (P.H.N., pp. 269, 290, 291).

17. Ibid., f. 16 (P.H.N., p. 298).

18. Ibid., bk. xlix, f. 14.

19. … pt. i, f. 4.

20. Chap. XXV; cf. The Simple Way, by W. Gorn Old, p. 9.

21. The Simple Way, p. 6.

22. Chap. XVIII.

23. Chap. XIX.

24. The Simple Way, p. 53.

25. … bk. xlvi, f. 3 (P.H.N., pp. 273-4).

26. The Tao Teh King, by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, p. 32.

27. See Chap. I; cf. Lionel Giles, The Sayings of Lao-Tzŭ, p. 19. Mr. C. Spurgeon Medhurst explains this passage thus: “That aspect of God which is hidden in eternity, without bounds, without limits, without beginning, must be distinguished from that side of God which is expressed in nature and in man. The one, apparently, subjective, certainly unknowable; the other, a self-manifestation, or a going forth, the commencement of our knowledge, as of our being.” The Tao Teh King, by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, p. 1.

28. Chap. XL.

29. See The Simple Way, p. 26.

30. Chap. XXI; see ibid., pp. 57-8.

31. … bk. xlii, f. 22 (P.H.N., p. 48).

32. Ibid., bk. xlvi, f. 6 (P.H.N., pp. 278).

33. Yi Ching, pp. 213-4.

34. For the meaning of Ch‘ien see p. 157.

35. Yi Ching, p. 408.

36. …, bk. xxix, f. 3.

37. Ibid., f. 4.

38. Ibid., f. 3.

39. …, bk. xlvii, f. 14 (P.H.N., p. 336).

40. Ibid., f. 39 (P.H.N., p. 382).

41. Ibid., bk. xlviii, f. 12 (P.H.N., p. 407).

42. Yi Ching, p. 408.

43. …, bk. xlviii, f. 13 (P.H.N., p. 410).

44. Aspects of Theism, by William Knight, pp. 191-3.

45. …, bk. i, f. 2.

46. …, bk. xlviii, f. 17 (P.H.N., p. 417).

47. Theism, by Robert Flint, pp. 132-4.

48. Yi Ching, p. 408.

49. Ibid.

50. …, bk. xlviii, f. 14 (P.H.N., p. 411).