In this discussion of the Spring and Autumn Era we have briefly explored the ideas of the supposed founders of both Taoism and Confucianism. We have also suggested a connection with the preceding fertility cults. Now that we have differentiated these different Chinese philosophies, we will examine some of their common roots. We will see that Chinese philosophy simultaneously provides a foundation for both Taoism and Confucianism and also transcends them.
A common thread to the two polar philosophies of China, Confucianism and Taoism, which included the preceding Fertility cults, is the concept of the sage. In this section we will address two questions: 1) What constitutes a sage in China? & 2) How does one become one?
Let us begin with the concept of sage contained in the I Ching.
“With respect to creating things for use and making tools helpful to the whole world, there is no one greater than the holy sages. … Heaven creates divine things; the holy sage takes them as models. Heaven and earth change and transform; the holy sage reproduces them. The Yellow River brought forth a map and the Lo River brought forth a writing; the holy men took these as models.””[i]
The sage is someone who is best at making tools useful to everyone. Note that the sage is not connected with a mental state as much as it is connected with doing something useful, creating a tool, for humankind. The sage operates in the collective realm, not the individual. The Sage is not seeking liberation from this realm of existence, nor seeking peace of mind. The Sage is doing something useful. Confucius is considered the Great Sage; however both Jesus and the historical Buddha are also referred to as sages, presumably more for the fact that they helped out a lot of people through their life and ideas rather than for their links with divinity, peace of mind, or liberation.
As is our style, for a deeper understanding of the Chinese sage, let us now examine the implications of the word itself. In Chinese the word shéng is translated as sage. Its definitions are “I. sage, saint. II. 1. holy, 2. emperor.” Its original ideogram is made up of the three radicals for king, mouth, and eye.
One image that arises is of a kingly character, who, after observing, speaks with authority. Indeed much of the early philosophical dialogue focuses upon the sage-kings of old. Much of Chinese mythology has to do with the early kings bringing innovations to the Chinese people. Yu organized the Chinese people to drain and control the flooding of the Yellow river. The Yellow Emperor introduced medicine. While in many cultures these fundamental innovations are introduced by the gods or exceptional individuals, in China they are almost always introduced by kings or emperor. Hence in the earliest times the concept of sage is associated with kings and the aristocracy. Most likely the above passages from the Ta Chuan are obliquely honoring the Duke of Chou and Wen Wang as sages for creating the I Ching.
For emphasis, let it be pointed out that modern ideogram for sage is significantly different from the traditional one. In an attempt at universal literacy the Red Chinese government attempted to simplify the ideograms. While most changes were merely aimed at stroke reduction, some were aimed at altering the underlying ideographic meaning of the character. Such was true of the ideogram for sage. While the old ideogram contains the radical for king at the base, the new ideogram contains the radical for earth. While the old ideogram has the radicals for mouth and eye, i.e. speaking with understanding, the new ideogram has the radical indicating repetition.
While the old ideogram associated the imperial aristocracy with the concept of sage, the new ideogram associates the complex of earth/peasantry/agriculture with the concept of sage. While the old kingly sage speaks out with understanding, the new peasant sage repeats his task endlessly. The Communist leadership, realizing the power of the ideograms to teach, didn’t want their subjects getting the wrong idea.
While the early sages were also kings, by the time of Confucius, the sages advised kings. The aristocracy had grown in numbers some growing in power while others falling. The only real hope of wielding power for those who had fallen from grace was in advising the political leaders. This other meaning is also suggested by the original ideogram. Vested with the imperial authority, the sage speaks out with understanding. The regal power is the real foundation. This is the type of sage that Confucius envisioned. Again this sage is not engaged in the quest for enlightenment but is instead involved in administering the political world around him. While this type of sage must be wise to make the right decisions, the goal is not wisdom, but helping out.
While wisdom was not the goal of the sage/advisor, it was the only means to the goal. A sage must not only be wise, but must also act wisely for the good of human kind. Thus while wisdom is not the goal, acting wisely is. For a sage acquiring wisdom is secondary to acting wisely, which includes acting for the greater good. The Confucians and Taoists while agreeing up to this point upon what a sage was, diverged significantly upon their solutions on how to act wisely.
The Confucians felt that if someone had enough knowledge that they would act wisely[ii]. Confucius felt that people could be trained to act wisely by following certain universal tenets. His followers felt that his teachings contained these universal tenets. Eventually everyone who was going into government service was required to have a thorough understanding of the sayings of Confucius. Confucius was touted as a great scholar, who had acquired great wisdom. The wisdom advocated by the Confucians was knowledge-based and located in the brain/mind.
The Taoists had two objections to this reasoning. First they felt that the teachings of Confucius and his followers, while perhaps appropriate to certain circumstances, was not spontaneous enough to handle the unpredictability of the social evolution. Indeed, while the Confucians have dominated Chinese political life in a cyclical fashion for thousands of years, its downfall as a philosophy is normally related to a rigidity of interpretation[iii].
Further the Taoists felt that wisdom was not knowledge and fact-based but was instead physical and body-based. They felt the truth would emerge from quietude allowing the individual to act wisely. Too much knowledge could easily obscure the truth. Also fact-based knowledge is too rigid, not allowing the spontaneous response required by Life. The Taoists sought truth and wisdom from quietude while the Confucians sought them from knowledge.
There is one other distinction worth mentioning. While the Confucians were firmly committed to government involvement, the Taoists felt that the best way was through self-cultivation. While the Confucians attempted to transform society through political activism, the Taoists transformed the world through personal transformation.
It is easy to see that these approaches could and did easily merge. The student of Confucius simultaneously practices quietude to fine-tune the learned behavior and responses. Also the individual transformation could easily occur through political involvement.
This concept of politically involved sage has dominated the Chinese political landscape ever since its legendary beginnings. We will see both the sage/advisor and the sage/king regularly throughout Chinese history. We’ve already seen the sage/king in the Duke of Chou and his father. We will see the sage/advisor and his emperor during the incredibly important Chin dynasty. Even in 20th century China, Mao Tse Tung, for better or worse, attempted to fit the classic archetype of sage/king[iv].
In summary, the concept of sage is fundamental to the Chinese experience and has been an operative principle throughout their long history. While the Taoists and Confucians have differed upon how to become a sage and upon what is best for the common good, they both consider that the sage helps out in this world rather than trying to escape it as in India or dominate it as in the Biblical West.
Another incredibly important element which underlies the Chinese experience and her philosophies is the concept of Alignment with the Will of Heaven.
To understand the concept let us first briefly sketch its historical development. During the Shang dynasty, Shang Ti, the Supreme Ancestor was worshipped. During the Chou dynasty, Shang Ti, became associated with the concept of Heaven (T’ien)[v]. Just as the Shang attempted to align themselves with the will of Shang Ti, the Chou attempted to align themselves with the Will of Heaven, in order to obtain the Mandate of Heaven.
While Shang Ti and the Mandate of Heaven are associated with the Emperor and the Imperial Dynasty, the Taoists incorporated these ideas on a personal level. Just as failing to heed the Will of Heaven could lead to the downfall of a dynasty because of the withdrawal of the Mandate of Heaven, similarly the failure to heed the Tao of Heaven could lead to the dissipation of the individual. Just as governments were to align themselves with the Will of Heaven for ultimate manifestation, individuals were to align themselves with the Tao in order to most effectively manifest their individual lives.
Under the model of government of the Duke of Chou/Confucius line, one has a healthy country when the ruler concentrates on ruling rather than satisfying his own desires. In other words he serves the culture that he leads rather than serving his own needs. The ruler who abused his power through lack of responsibility to his subjects went against the Will of Heaven. If he went against the Will of Heaven then he lost the Mandate of Heaven and was subject to overthrow. Note how the culture is raised above the individuals, including the Emperor. As we saw earlier cultural preservation is a deeper genetic urge than self-preservation. This manifests through this role of leadership articulated by the Duke of Chou.
In the internalization of this idea by the Taoists, the government or culture becomes one’s body. Fulfilling desires dissipates one’s sense of mission or purpose. Of course the main deterrent mentioned is that of losing health prematurely. While health is important to the fulfillment of mission, it is truly secondary. Hence just as the focus upon the fulfillment of desires prevents the king or Emperor from ruling properly, so does the focus upon desires thwart an individual’s potential for fulfilling their destiny.
Thus just as the leadership of China attempts to retain the Mandate of Heaven by fulfilling the Will of Heaven, the Taoists attempt to fulfill their destiny by aligning themselves with the Tao, the Way of Heaven. In some contexts, te’.[vi] is translated the virtue of alignment with the Tao of Heaven. Hence one way of translating the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu would be the classic book concerning the virtue of alignment with the Tao of Heaven.
After determining the importance of alignment, the next question was how was one to align oneself with the Tao of Heaven, whether ruler, government, or individual.
One time honored device was the oracle. The Longshan culture used a hot point on a variety of bones and then interpreted the cracks to understand Heaven’s Will. The Shang applied the same techniques to tortoise shells. The Chou threw the yarrow stalks and used the I Ching to interpret their meaning. Each of these techniques was based upon the concept that because Heaven regularly manifested itself in the affairs of humans, that it would also manifest itself in the random events of day-to-day life.
While Shang Ti was anthropomorphic and Heaven was more abstract, they both shared the concept of intentionality. Heaven was not so abstract as to be removed from day to day affairs. Instead Heaven manifests regularly in the day-to-day affairs of humankind. Heaven is not the Big Bang or just scientific principles but instead reaches out in a meaningful way to touch the lives of humans.
Confucius of a more practical bent still spoke of aligning one’s behavior with the Will of Heaven, but felt that the Will of Heaven was that the ruler adheres to the needs of the people. There was nothing mystical about this. He felt that the best people should be chosen for the job. He didn’t feel that heredity was the qualification but that ability should be the criteria. Hence on a political level Confucius felt that rulers that both chose advisors by merit rather than by gene pool and had the good of the people at heart served the Will of Heaven. Nothing mystical here.
While Taoists, as an umbrella term, referring to a multitude of practices, also practiced divination to determine the Tao of Heaven, one school of Taoism felt that the Will of Heaven was revealed in stillness. They felt that conditioning obscures the Will of Heaven. As mentioned earlier, this conditioning manifests on cultural, genetic and personal levels. Hence the little voices, urges, and demi-urges that are constantly screaming to be heard within the brain are a mixture of conditioning and Heaven. While Confucius might use the logic of the brain to distinguish Heaven from the rest, while the early Imperial dynasties might consult an oracle to determine the right from the wrong course of action, a certain branch of Taoism felt that quietude was the first step. This stillness, associated with meditation, quieted all those little voices in order to allow the one pure voice of Heaven to arise. (This is to be differentiated from Buddhist meditation, which even detaches from Heaven’s little voice. We’ll be back to this theme later.)
While Taoism and Confucian are polar Chinese philosophies, Chinese thought is at the root of and transcends both. We first explored the concept of the Chinese sage, seeing how Taoists and Confucians solved the problem differently. Then we explored the concept of Will of Heaven, also called Tao of Heaven. We saw that the Confucians saw the Will of Heaven in terms of social responsibilities to the state and family which could be tightly defined, while the Taoist saw the Tao of Heaven in terms of personal responsibility to oneself. We saw that both relied on the I Ching to align with Heaven. While the Confucians relied upon tradition and education, the Taoist relied upon quietude to align with Heaven’s Tao.
[i]Wilhelm, I Ching, Ta Chuan, (always included with the I Ching. like a philosophical instruction book) p 319
[ii]This is our modern strategy. If an individual is pumped full of enough knowledge then he will probably become wise. This is why those with credentials are given greater respect and prestige than those without.
[iii]Witness that the modern computer revolution has been powered and is still powered by those without a lot of formal education. Their wisdom seems to be based upon intuition rather than an accumulation of facts.
[iv]While we have had some enlightened rulers in the West, it is in no way part of our tradition. Most of our rulers have been warrior kings or conquering kings bent upon accumulating wealth and power not upon furthering the social good.
[v]The Arts of China by Michael Sullivan, p41
[vi]The Arts of China by Michael Sullivan, p. 41