Front. Philos. China 2009, 4(4): 493510 DOI 10.

1007/s11466-009-0032-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

WANG Zhongjiang

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

Translated by Kuang Zhao from Wen shi zhe (Literature, History and Philosophy), 2008, (2): 4556 WANG Zhongjiang ( ) Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China E-mail: wzhjhd@sina.com

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Introduction

From the ancient silk book discovered at Mawangdui Daoyuan (The origin of Dao) in Huangdi sijing (The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor) to the bamboo-slip book of Chu discovered at Guodian Taiyi sheng shui (The Great One Gives Birth to the Water) and to another bamboo-slip book of Chu stored in a Shanghai museum Hengxian, the Daoist view on the cosmos and nature during the Zhou and Qin dynasties is now presented more richly and variedly than ever before. Because the writings of Laozi and his disciples are still difficult to identify, the genealogy of Daoist philosophy between Laozi and Zhuangzi is hard to sketch out (Li 2006), and a considerable gap seems to remain between the two thinkers. Based on the approximate periods of The Great One Gives Birth to the Water and Hengxian, the Daoist philosophy that emerged in these two recently excavated works might properly stand between that of Laozi and Zhuangzi, making the newly discovered texts a useful remedy to a blurred and deficient situation. Although The Great One Gives Birth to the Water and Hengxian are short, they are very precious; their main contents involve the theory of the production of the cosmos, and their theories have their own features. By comparing them with Laozis cosmology, which serves as their common theoretical background, we fortunately can determine the evolution of Daoist cosmology from Laozi to Zhuangzi. Dao is the core concept of the cosmology of Laozi, but not of The Great One Gives Birth to the Water or Hengxian. Even the great one can be compared with hengxian, for while The Great One Gives Birth to the Water and Hengxian do not designate Dao as the origin of the production of the cosmos, they do refer to the great one and hengxian respectively. In Hengxian, paleographers have discovered a single instance of the character (Dao), in the sentence tiandaojizai (the Dao of Heaven has already been formed), but it is suspected to have been a transcription error, with the original Chinese character being di (Earth) (See Li 2003; Pang 2004). Even if this suspicion is unfounded, this is still the only appearance of Dao in the text of Hengxian. It is worthwhile to note this. Why doesnt Dao act as the definite origin of the cosmos in The Great One Gives Birth to the Water either? This contrasts sharply with the texts Zhuangzi, Guanzi , The Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor, Wenzi , and Huainanzi , in which Dao is designated as the origin of the cosmos or the fundamental concept of philosophy. There are already many studies and discussions on Hengxian, which supply us with a starting point for our study here. However, we still face many difficulties and problems in this text. Its entire construction still needs to be further revealed in order for us to understand the new appearance of Daoist metaphysics, and the relations between

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Heaven and humans1 shown in it.

Hengxian: The primordial state of the cosmos

As the basis of our discussion about the cosmology of Hengxian, 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 is yu () (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 and still 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 after youren (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.
1

There 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, and Cao 2006a. 2 The original Chinese text of Hengxian used in this paper is based on Li 2003. I also have referred to Pang 2004 and Cao 2006b. The original text of Hengxian 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 9 should 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 among all 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 of Hengxian 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 of Hengxian. 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 in Hengxian. If hengxian can be designated as Dao, it would be easy to lose the cosmological features of Hengxian. 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 the instances 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,
3

This paragraph includes the content of Hengxian 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. 4 Qiu 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 still believe that it is not necessary for these characters to be recognized as . 5 The 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 always designated as in the silk and bamboo edition of Laozi and is originally chang in the ordinary version of Laozi. 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 The Four 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 of The Four 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 in Hengxian, 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 absolute priority 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 their curiosity 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 in Zhuangzi. If hengxian 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 generally designates shapelessness, i.e., the nameless and original chaos before differentiation.7 Hengxian 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 in Hengxian 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 common concrete 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
The 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. 7 For more information about the features of metaphysics of Daoism and the argument between Being and Nothing (Wang 2001, p. 131, p. 168).
6

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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; Liao 2004, 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 in Hengxian. 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 state of the cosmos in the context of Hengxian; 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 with the prefix self- in Hengxian, 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.

3 From Field to Qi: The evolution of the cosmos and the production of Heaven and Earth
Generally speaking, Daoist metaphysics contains both ontology and cosmology, each of which has been emphasized by different people. Laozi recognizes the Dao 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 the reason 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 in Hengxian is a kind of cosmology instead of ontology, but the theory of production in it differs from that of Laozi 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 Qi Being 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 on the appearance of the word field in Huainanzi and Laozi; 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
8

See Tian rui in Liezi, 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 in Huainanzi. Space and time are real from the viewpoint of Chinese philosophers. The myriad things are embraced in space and time, and evolved in the production process 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 in Hengxian. The cosmology in Hengxian is, so to speak, a theory of spontaneity. This is one of the features of Hengxians 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. In Hengxian, 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 in Hengxian. It is necessary for us to pay attention to how Heaven and Earth are concretely 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 if Liezi 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 as Zhuangzi, 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 clear Qi, 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 is pure and muddy water is turbid. These two concepts were also introduced into music in later periods. Chapter 15 of Laozi 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 clear Qi. Confucians use clear and muddy to indicate good and evil respectively in politics and human affairs. The author of Hengxian 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 in Laozi does not directly display the stage of Heaven and Earth. On the other hand, the patterns in The Great One Gives Birth to the Water and 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 one through water, and this process continues from Heaven to Earth. In Hengxian, clear Qi 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.

4 Beginning and movement: The production, existence, and activity of the myriad things
The beginning and movement, which are mentioned successively in the pattern 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 of Laozi 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 of Laozi, which says that 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 by Zhouyi (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 are created by Heaven and Earth because of the operation of Qi between heaven and earth. Hengxian says: 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; 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. In Hengxian, the creation of the myriad things does not mean that all different species 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
9

In the bamboo slip edition of Laozi, this sentence is: The cosmos and the myriad things arise from Being, and from Nothingness. According to this, there is a kind of parallel relationship between Nothingness and Being. In the traditional version of Laozi, it is hard to affirm whether there is an equal relationship or a successive relationship between Being and Nothingness. According to Wang Bis explanation, Nothingness is more fundamental than Being 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 in Hengxian 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 of Laozi: 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 in Laozi 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 of Laozi 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 the tiny 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 creates yi; 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 and Xunzi . 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 also consistent 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 in Hengxian 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 its own 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 the operation of Heaven and Earth.

5 Human affairs and the measure of human behaviors

The latter part of Hengxian 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 not independent; 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 heng to 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

10

The 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 in Hengxian. 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 in Hengxian? This question can be addressed through the following respects. If our above interpretations are correct, there is no forceful denial of name in Hengxian, as is common in Zhuangzi. It is believed in Hengxian that the name is justified and irrevocable, contrary to the case in Laozi and Zhuangzi. 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 Hengxian states: 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 of Laozi states: Skill bears fruit! Do not presume, in view of that, to choose coercion. Have effects and avoid regard.
This paragraph includes the content of Hengxian from slip No.7 to slip No.13 except slip No.8 and No.9. 12 Cao Feng has a special discussion about this point. See Cao 2006a, p. 123 and p. 148.
11

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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. It accomplishes 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 of Hengxian, 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 of Hengxian, 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 everyone can 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 came into 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 of Laozi 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 of Hengxian reveals that mingjun (wise kings) and mingshi (wise officers) who can insist on non-action will realize their desires for

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righteous politics.

References
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Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe Liao Mingchun (2004). Shangbo cang Chu zhushu Hengxian xinshi (A New Explanation of the Chu Bamboo Slips Book Hengxian Stored in Shanghai Museum), History of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. 3 Lin Yizheng (2005). Lun Hengxian de yuzhou siwei Jiyu neiguan gongfu de lingyige (On cosmological thought of quanshi Hengxian An explanation based on internal view exercises), a paper for International academic panel on up-to-date archaeological literatures and the re-construction of thoughts in Pre-Qin Period, Taiwan University, Mar. Pang Pu (2004). Hengxian shidu (A primary reading of Hengxian). In: Jiang Guanghui ed. Zhongguo gudai sixiangshi yanjiu tongxun () (Studies on Chinese Intellectual History) (II) Qiu Xigui (2007). Shi hengxian haishi jixian (Was it or ?). In: International Forum on Chinese Silk and Bamboo Slips Books in 2007, Taiwan University, Dec. Wang Zhongjiang (2001). Daojia xinger shangxue (Metaphysics of Taoism). Shanghai: Shanghai wenhua chubanshe Zhao Jiangong (2005). Hengxian yijie (shang) (An explanation of Hengxian from angle of change (part I)), http://www.confucius2000.com/admin/list.asp? id=1541