In order to further explore the evolution of religious thought during this Period of Disunity, let us spend a bit of time on Wang Pi, a brilliant commentator of the Three Kingdoms Era, early in the Period of Disunity. His discussions of the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching influenced Chinese intellectuals for centuries to come.
What is the meaning of the Tao Te Ching for the literati? The most widely held opinion about the Tao Te Ching is that it deals with the spirit.
“[This idea] was first advanced by the Confucian commentary of Wang Pi …, an interpretation which is widespread among non-Taoists in China. Wang Pi’s commentary has also influenced almost all translations of the Tao-te ching into Western languages. The Tao-te ching actually speaks of all kinds of things at the same time.”[1]
Thus Wang Pi’s commentary has not only had a great influence upon literati of China, but has come to influence the intelligentsia of West also. How does he interpret this Taoist classic?
“From among all the glosses of the Tao-te ching- and there are several hundred- the official culture of China has retained only the ‘philosophical’ ones. This, as we have seen, is by no means the most ancient tradition. It goes back to a commentary written by the scholar Wang Pi. … This commentary was used by almost all Western translators. … But Wang Pi was not a Taoist. His thinking was even quite removed from what we have come to recognize as the background of the Old Master’s aphorisms, that is: the mystery-religion of ancient China. Wang Pi belongs entirely to the intellectual currents of this time which developed after the fall of the great Han empire.”[2]
Wang Pi was not even a Taoist, but a Confucian. Taoism is rooted in transcending the polarity while Confucianism is immersed in polarity as those obsessed with words tend to be. Hence Wang Pi, as a word worshipper, gives a dualist twist to the Lao Tzu.
“In reading Wang Pi’s commentary, we see how his insistence on the ‘empty’ nature of the Tao leads him to conceive of the Tao as a kind of god. … Wang Pi … thinks in terms of a dualistic system, in which Being and Non-being form two opposite poles and in which the Tao is identified with the Non-Being. But we ask, if it was Non-Being that produced the One and the Ten Thousand Things, what has then become of the Mother, the Chaos and the Obscure Female, who, in the Tao-te ching represent the creative functions? They have no place in Wang Pi’s system. … Having decided to make the Tao a concept, he refuses to abandon the logical structures of thought and to let himself be guided by the fundamental indefinable nature of the body in this world. Wang Pi misses the fundamental meaning of the Tao Te Ching, and instead of clarifying the text, his commentary makes it more difficult to understand.”
Wang Pi turns the Tao into a type of universal God, quite palatable to Christians, Buddhists and intelligentsia everywhere. It fits so nicely into the synergetic pattern that truth everywhere is the same. While this is obviously a distortion of the non-dualist Way of the Taoists, Wang Pi’s interpretation gained global acceptance because of its palatability to dualists. He allowed thinkers everywhere to avoid the ultimate paradox of thought.
“The philosophical speculations of this brilliant scholar did, however, greatly impress his contemporaries and gained widespread acceptance, where as the earlier commentaries mentioned above were forgotten. For the Chinese literati, the philosophical interpretation of the Tao Te Ching became the only acceptable one, and from then on they claimed to have the only true key to the text.”[3]
Of course in the tradition of great thinkers everywhere they now owned the truth. Any interpretation that glorified paradox and physical practice were obviously misled, based upon the superstitions of the peasants.
So now that the literati had the Key, they could well afford to set up a Door between Us and Them. We understand the unknowable, while they don’t. We have the Key to get through the Keyless Door.
“Following Wang Pi’s exegesis, the literati made the famous distinction between a ‘philosophical ‘ Taoism that they claimed was noble and pure, and a ‘religious’ Taoism that was supposedly vulgar and materialistic, that is, the Taoism of the people. …These traditions stand condemned because of a so-called lack of philosophy. This measly quarrel is but one of the many aspects of the separation in China between the class of the literati- who call themselves Confucians (and sometimes Buddhists, or in later time, Christians or Marxists) - and the real country.”[4]
So now in the 20th century United States of America, the Tao is conceived like Buddha, who can be linked with monistic Gods anywhere.
Why were Lao Tzu’s practical considerations ignored? He seemed to advocate small self-governing, bottom up, units of government, which was and is heresy to big Government, Big Business everywhere. Better to encourage Buddhism, which has no political philosophy, or Confucianism, which glorifies the State, Christianity is not bad because of their call for faith not knowledge. Render unto Caesar. But horrors for Taoism which calls for individual freedom and liberty on personal and political levels. Let’s drop that theme, for our political health. Push the Buddhist connection. Much better for everyone. No uprisings. No retaliations. We’re happy. You’re happy. Don’t question. Just believe. Disconnect.
“This form of decentralized, almost democratic, nation was the one which the liturgical movement of the heavenly Masters always sought to create. … It is evident that this interpretation and use of the political thought of the Old Master was forever unacceptable to the Confucians. As a consequence, the ancient commentaries were banned.”[5]
We see that indeed the political implications of the Tao-te ching had to be suppressed to discourage independence movements within the Empire. Totalitarian governments are never too happy with independent thinking.
What are we trying to say? The political structure of China encouraged Wang Li’s interpretation of the Tao Te Ching because the other was too politically threatening. It was not an accident of history. It was not a quirk of fate. Those in power have forever been conscious to threats to their power. It would not be politically expedient in any time during the Empire to stress the physical side of Taoism, which encourages transformation upon the personal level. Unfortunately the body and the universe are connected, and in-between is the State. Thus to transform the Self is to transform the State, no question about it.
Say the leaders of the Chinese Hierarchy, whenever they might rule:
“We love Buddhism. It teaches detachment.
Accept your role. No interference.
This world is not real anyway,
Except to us who want to hold onto our power.
We are aware of the power of the people
And we don’t want any paper fire igniting the dry tinder
Waiting to explode and spread like a wild fire,
Burning everything in its path.
Now we don’t want that to happen. Do we?
Now be like nice boys and put your pens down and stop writing.
Of course, we can always organize a little book burning.
That always settles things down.”
Taoism under the literati becomes esoteric symbolism based in a mental world. Why? It’s safer that way. Physical Taoism is too politically radical. Momma Tao was pushed underground. Any obviously physical interpretation was inevitably suppressed, more and more harshly.
The Taoist learned to communicate through the ages in specific abstract symbolism basing their practices in the physical world. Seeds that will bear fruit, Watered by the emptiness of true knowledge; weeded and pruned by the Fire of conscious knowledge. These seeds are created between the spirit of Heaven and the matter of Earth. This is an alchemical Taoist image in an agricultural metaphor. More later.
Dualism tends to be encouraged by the Word Masters because it increases their stock. The Hierarchy loves and demands dualism to put them on Top. Hence the Word Masters join with the Hierarchy to promote conformity to the State. The Wordless Masters speaking from Emptiness come up Silent. They finally speak up. But their attack upon words with words is easily deflected with words. Woe is us! But at least a candle in the dark forest.
Let us summarize our differentiations. We are bifurcating like crazy. Hold on. Don’t let go. First we explored the Taoist/Confucian gorge focusing upon personal vs. social responsibility. Then we examined mental Taoism vs. physical Taoism. The first focuses upon the ideas of Taoism, while the second focuses upon the body. Thus we have two levels of Taoism: the more public conception based upon wisdom, and the initiates’ conception based upon non-verbal body techniques yielding vitality. The Vitality school splits again. One school seeks Vitality for Immortality, while the other seeks it for Fertility. The immortality school also focuses on sexual stamina and individual power. The main emphasis of this school is personal gain. The Fertility school seeks Vitality in order to manifest fruit, to accomplish the Mission, to fulfill the collective Destiny, to align with the Tao of Heaven.
In this section we are going to examine Song-poem 38 of the Tao Te Ching in order to elucidate some thematic concepts. This examination will help us to better understand Wang Pi and Shipper's objection. Further it will elucidate the difficulties of translation from Chinese to English.
Let us first summarize the 16 sentences of the song-poem. Sentences 1 & 2: The man of superior virtue is not conscious of it, while the man of inferior virtue is constantly aware of it. Sentences 3 & 4: The man of superior virtue takes no action and yet still finishes things, while the man of inferior virtue takes action but doesn’t finish things. Sentences 5, 6 & 7: The man of superior humanity takes action but has no ulterior motive, the man of superior righteousness takes action, but has an ulterior motive, and finally that the man of superior propriety takes action, and when people do not respond that they force them to do it.
Sentences 8, 9, 10, & 11: He then goes through a quadruplet of ideas. If the Tao is lost, then the concept of virtue arises. If virtue is lost then Humanity arises. IF Humanity is lost then Righteousness arises. While if Righteousness is lost then Propriety Arises. Sentences 12: Because of the preceding sequence, he says, Propriety is a superficial expression of loyalty and faithfulness and the beginning of disorder.
Sentences 13, 14, 15, & 16: He follows this with another quadruplet. Those who are the first to know have the flowers of the Tao, but are at the beginning of ignorance. Because of this the great man dwells in the thick, not the thin; the fruit, not the flower; rejecting the one and not the other.
On the surface this song-poem is arcane and unintelligible. While we used Chan’s translation, Cleary’s is not any better. If however we restate the song-poem in Chinese terms that we have become acquainted with in the course of this paper, it makes a lot of sense. Basically the song-poem is discussing the relation between the Tao = the way, te = virtue, jen = compassion, yi = righteousness or rectitude, and li = propriety, ritual or ceremony.
Refreshing the memory, it is remembered that the Confucians stressed li, ceremony and ritual, as the way of controlling society. Confucius stressed jen, love and compassion, as the proper focus. We remember that the I Ching considered that the realm of Humans consisted of jen and yi, compassion and justice. We also remember that the followers of Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the ju class debated the attributes of te, virtue. While the Confucians related te to one’s ability in their six ‘Confucian’ talents, which emphasized literacy and ceremony, li. Confucius connected te with social service, which he associated with jen for the culture.
In this song-poem the Taoists who wrote the Lao Tzu are stating what they consider te to be. As such it seems that this song-poem is a Taoist statement in reaction to both Confucius and the Confucians. As such it would have been composed after and in reaction to Confucius.
The song-poem is pointing out the relative hierarchy of ideas. Tao, te, jen, yi, and finally li – in that order. The way, virtue, love, justice, and ritual. Not only do these Taoists put ritual at the bottom of the hierarchy, they further insult it by calling it the beginning of anarchy, associating it with superficial loyalty and faithfulness. Thus they are taking a major intentional potshot at the philosophy of the ju class, which as we remember, was to dominate Chinese politics for thousands of years. In some ways, the orthopraxy of the Chinese could be related to obsession with rituals of the ju class, which has been such dominant force in Chinese politics.
A few points in this context. First Cleary translates li as courtesy, while Chan, tr. translates it as propriety. These words while accurate translations of li give none of the historical and political background behind li. The magnificent li, which has dominated Chinese culture for 4000 years, since the beginning of dynastic China is translated as courtesy and propriety? To understand the term li, one must understand Chinese culture, history, and philosophical debate to some degree. This paper is a humble attempt to give dimensionality to these Chinese words to give them a social and historical context.
Let us stress that we are in no way criticizing any of the translations of the Tao Te Ching. Instead we are merely pointing out the inadequacies of Chinese to European translations. Ritual has not dominated European politics like it has the Chinese. We have no cultural background to understand the depth of the statement that li is subservient to yi. While understanding the subservience of li to yi comes through Chinese culture it has major human significance, which we will soon explore.
To understand this song-poem let us use it to grok[6] the Taiji process. First comes li or the forms. The beginner is so out of alignment that it is necessary to focus on the form in order to learn it. Then second comes yi or self-rectification. This has to do with self-correction and adjustment. Third comes jen or compassion. At this point the practitioner begins teaching the forms as a type of love for humanity. Fourth comes te or virtue. At this advanced point one begins manifesting the Taiji principles in one’s day-to-day life, if not spontaneously at least mindfully. The last stage, the Tao, is represented by spontaneous manifestation.
It must be stressed that understanding, in and of itself, does not allow one to jump from the first stage of li to the fifth stage of the Tao. Indeed most beginners start at a point of dis-integration due to the processes of growing up. The internalized pressures of existence have fragmented their soul. Hence their body structure has been shattered. Thus the five stages are the process of reintegration of the body/soul. The work attempts the realignment of one’s body metal with that of Heaven and Earth. Even if one understands the ideas contained herein, it is not the end but just the beginning.
This is the meaning of the end of the song-poem, when it states ‘the first to know have the flowers of Tao but are the beginning of ignorance.’ The illusion of mental understanding can be a distraction to body integration and without body integration there cannot be a spontaneous manifestation of the Tao, the final stage. Indeed the ‘knowledge’ that li, i.e. form in this case, is the first and lowest stage, might even encourage the practitioner to attempt to skip this stage in pursuit of the higher levels, when indeed the only way to abandon li is to integrate it first.
Li = ritual, would be equivalent to the instrumental exercises that are practiced to improve technique. Once the movements are internalized then one forgets the exercises. Once technique, yi = discipline, is internalized it too is forgotten in the service of the music, itself. However, without the internalization of technique there is no music. Then comes performance and the awareness of audience, itself, the sharing of jen = love. First comes the awareness of audience, then comes the integration of audience. Instead of thinking in terms of us and them, the musician has integrated the music and the audience. Then comes awareness of the performance itself. It is at this point that the performer becomes aware of talent which is associated with te = virtue. Hence exercise, technique, and audience have been integrated by this time. Now is the time for the performer to become the performance itself rather than differentiating themselves out. Once the performer has ‘forgotten’ their self, then virtue or talent is no longer an issue, for the performer has achieved complete integration with the Tao. It is at this point that musician, instrument, audience, and event are all one
Remember that awareness normally precedes integration. While the conscious awareness is necessary to lead one in the right direction, it must be let go of once the integration has occurred. First the conscious leads the individual to master an instrument through exercise and technique. Once the individual is able to loose consciousness of exercise and technique, they become a musician. The consciousness of ability then leads the musician to perform for an audience. Once the musician leaves the consciousness of separation of audience and self behind the musician becomes a performer. Consciousness then leads the performer to perfect their talent. Once the performer has left consciousness of talent behind, they have become one with the Tao. It is at this point when exercise, technique, audience and talent are all forgotten, that the performer can become unified with existence, not separated by the mind, and can spontaneously manifest the Tao. This is the world-class musician playing transcendental music.
Let it be stressed again that while consciousness is inevitably lost after integration, that consciousness initiated the process of self-perfection and integration. To forget consciousness it must be remembered first. Many times Taoism is accused of being anti-intellectual because of its emphasis on forgetting the mind, not remembering that consciousness was fundamental in initiating the process. In five-phase theory we saw the same process in the withdrawing of metal bit-by-bit replacing it with wood. The discipline of consciousness leads, but is replaced by the spontaneity of life. Let us re-emphasize that while spontaneity is the goal that it follows the discipline as a stage. Spontaneity is not an insight that jumps over self-discipline. There is a big difference between Michael Jordan’s spontaneous performance in the NBA finals, and the spontaneous behavior of a drunk. Don’t get confused.
One more example of the sequence is found in push hands. Li, the participants, learn the forms of push hands. As the forms are learned, yi arises, in the sense that one is attempting to dispense and receive justice at the hands of one’s opponent. Normally this has to do with the aspect of winning or losing. Jen arises when one begins to attempt to learn and be taught in the exercise rather than attempting to win. With the listening energy developed through the compassionate energy of jen, one develops te, virtue, or mastery. However the consciousness of te slows it down and diminishes its power, its virtue. This is the meaning of sentence 2: “The man of inferior virtue never loses (sight of) his virtue, And in this way he loses his virtue.” At the final level of the Tao, one becomes the listening energy itself, mirroring one’s opponent instantly, almost instinctually, as it were.
In playing music, sports, waiting tables, and push hands, thinking is far too slow. By the time the eyes have taken the information to the brain and back to the muscles the music has been lost, the ball has escaped, the customer is mad, or your opponent pushes you off balance. The response must be integrated to the extent that it is automatic, rather than thought of or planned. This is the meaning of sentences 3 & 4: “The man of superior te takes no action, but there is nothing left undone. The man of inferior te takes action, and there is something he will not do.” The action in this case is consciousness itself. Taking the action of consciousness, disables the performance of music or push hands leaving the work undone. While the manifestation through non-consciousness is quick enough to be thorough, completing the task.
Similarly one who is dominated by thought has a difficult time living life spontaneously. One is trapped at the level of false or inferior virtue. Many reach this level to go no further because li, in this case the actual form of virtue itself, traps them. Wanting to hold onto truth and insight the Initiate holds onto the form of their own life, rather than allowing the spontaneous transformation into the next generation.
Remember that while these paragraphs speak disparagingly of thought that thought or consciousness served the role of leading us to the water. However once we’ve reached the water, our body must drink of itself. Hence the level of non-thought is reached indirectly through thought. The thought leads to integration. Once integration is achieved then thought can be abandoned. If you have crossed the river, then you don’t need the boat anymore. Indeed to lighten the load, it might be important to leave the boat behind. But remember that when you reach the next river crossing that you will need another boat.
Because of the fundamental importance of literacy in this work, let us briefly develop the process of reading and writing in this framework. In European languages li has to do with learning the letters and their phonetics, i.e. their sounds. Integrating these letters and their sounds into words and sentences follows this stage. This is yi. It is only at the point that the individual can integrate these letters into sentences that they can actually read. Letters and words are not enough. With the consciousness of others there arises the need to communicate with words. This is connected to jen. Once one has employed consciousness to learn the techniques of writing, one can begin writing to communicate. Again the last trap is most subtle. Once the talent, te, of writing is developed, there is a tendency to become enamored with one’s own cleverness and lose sight of essence. Here the writer becomes trapped by a sense of self and talent, rather than moving onto the higher levels of divine manifestation. Once one can forget self and talent, one can spontaneously manifest the Tao. One’s muse has been awakened and the words flow easily through the fingers onto the page.
The 4 sentence sequence, sentences 8->11. of losing and arising has to do with polarities. When the unity of spontaneous manifestation of the Tao is lost or forgotten, only then does the polarity of virtue and non-virtue arise. As long as we operate within the unity of the Tao, virtue = te is not an issue. As long as we operate within the unity of te, then the polarity of jen, compassion and non-compassion doesn’t arise. As long as we operate within the unity of compassion = jen, the polarity of yi, justice and non-justice, doesn’t arise. And finally operating within the unity of justice, the polarity of ritual = li, and non-ritual doesn’t arise. There is no polarity unless the unity is polarized. Taiji polarizes Wuji, the original unity, into yin and yang. Thus polarization is the natural way of Heaven and existence. While polarization occurs, we attempt reintegration, to reunite the polarity.
In the hierarchy of concepts the Old Master places the Tao first followed by te. This is indicated by sentence 9, “Therefore when Tao is lost, only then does the doctrine of te arise.” Another way of phrasing this is “only when the path is lost does the concept of rediscovering it arise.” Placing the Tao above te is also at odds with rational Confucianism. In many ways the polarities of Confucianism were harmonized with the statement by Tung Chung-shu, the follower of Confucius in the Former Han, who was instrumental in the state’s endorsement of Confucianism, that man is born good but that laws are necessary to keep him in line. The Confucian good is defined by the social good. What is good for the greatest number of society is best. This virtue then is trained by society. This implies some absolute standard of human morals. Lao Tzu, the Old Master says no, the morality of the Tao transcends the absolute black and white morality of humans. This disagreement is the basis of the adoption of Confucianism by the state and its rejection of Taoism. Confucianism stands behind popular standards of morality while Taoism advocates flexibility and change.
Now let us see what Wang Pi says about the song-poem:
“How is virtue to be attained? It is to be attained through Tao. How is virtue to be completely fulfilled? It is through non-being as its function. As non-being is its function, all things will be embraced. Therefore in regard to things, if they are understood as non-being, all things will be in order, whereas if they are understood as being, it is impossible to avoid the fact that they are products [phenomena]. Although Heaven and Earth are extensive, non-being is their mind and although sages and kings are great, vacuity is their foundation … Although it is valuable to have non-being as its function, nevertheless there cannot be substance without non-being.” p168 They Way of Lao Tzu
Wang Pi correctly interprets the focus of the song-poem as the emphasis upon the nature of virtue, te. Further accurately he connects te with the non-being of the Tao. This would correspond with the concept that if you’re aware of it that you’re not there. He also differentiates between substance and function, pointing out that emptiness, or vacuity, is the function that manifests as substance. These ideas, all of them, are incredibly insightful. Then what is Shipper’s problem with Wang Pi?
It is all contained in the song-poem sentence number 13: “Those who are the first to know have the flowers of Tao but are the beginning of ignorance.” Wang Pi’s flowers of Tao knowledge are a distraction from the process of firing, integration through intense physical practices. His words and ideas are beautiful flowers, which distract us from the fruit, the essence. In a similar way, one of the thrusts of this book is that the Tao Te Ching, itself, only represents the flowers of Taoism, not its fruit. This work also only represents the beautiful flowers. Hopefully the words of this book have not distracted the Initiate from practice, the real firing process. Hopefully the words of this book are pointed enough towards practice that these words will not be the beginning of ignorance but are instead the beginning of practice.
Just as the flowers attract insects to the fruit, so does the Tao Te Ching attract us to the real fruit. Further Wang Pi’s flowers also reveal something about the fruit. While words are on the edge of ignorance, they are also on the edge of substance or essence. Similarly the form conceals the essence, while simultaneously reflecting it. Sometimes the surface appearances distract us interior essence. However if one can see through the surface into the essence, without getting stuck on the surface, the flowers can lead us within to the thick of things. The Taoist hope is to move into the thick away from the thin, into the interior away from the surface, disappearing into function of emptiness from the beginnings of form. Thus the dangers of Wang Pi’s flowers is that they are so beautiful that one gets lost in them rather than tasting the fruit. It is not because of falsehood or misinterpretation. Wang Pi, the Lao Tzu, the Chuang Tzu, and this work can all be dangerous as word distractions from the essence of bodily practice.
Curiously Wang Pi uses this same polarity argument against Lao Tzu. Wang Pi says that Lao Tzu has obviously not found the Tao because he talks about it, while Confucius doesn’t talk about it because he has already found it. Confucius doesn’t need to talk about it. Lao Tzu is saying that talk about virtue means you’ve lost the Tao, while Wang Pi is saying that talk about the Tao means you’ve lost it.
This statement indicates in essence Wang Pi’s fundamental misunderstanding of Taoism. He is not realizing that body practices and life experience lead to the Tao, while words merely point to it. A more accurate criticism of the Tao Te Ching and Lao Tzu is that they talk about the Tao so much that their followers might forget their physical practices and life experience in the midst of the many words. While this is a valid criticism, Wang Pi has contributed to this trend with his pretty words. By talking about the Tao Te Ching with such flowers of wisdom he has distracted the rest of the world from the essence of the Tao. The authors of the Tao Te Ching knew full well that they were only pointing out the correct direction. Understanding the meaning of the words only helped one to get onto the path but were in no way the goal. A signpost is not the destination.
Remember that the only problem with the flowers is that it is possible to get distracted by their beauty and lose sight of the fruit, the essence. However if you can get past the beauty of the flowers, the fruit is underneath. Hence ideally the flowers lead to the fruit, from the thin to the thick of it. The charioteer drives into the thick of battle, participating fully in life’s drama.
Let us use one more of Wang Pi’s flowers to lead us to the fruit:
“Images are the means to express ideas. Words are the means to explain the images. To yield up ideas completely there is nothing better than images, and to yield up the meaning of the images, there is nothing better than words. … Similarly ‘the rabbit snare exists for the sake of the rabbit; once one gets the rabbit, he forgets the snare. And the fish trap exists for the sake of fish; once one gets the fish, he forgets the trap.’ Therefore someone who stays fixed on words will not be one to get the images, and someone who stays fixed on the images will not be one to get the ideas.” General remarks by Wang Bi in his introduction to his commentary on the I Ching, in the section called Clarifying the Image, page 31
Wang Bi, is pointing out that obsession with form distracts from essence. While the form attracts us to the essence, acting as a snare, it must be thrown away or discarded once essence is found else we will be trapped on the surface away from the thick in the thin. Musicians who become obsessed with notes at the expense of the music, writers who become obsessed with words at the expense of meaning, waiters who become obsessed with financial reward at the expense of customer happiness, Taiji practitioners who become obsessed with external form at the expense of internal essence, all these are individuals who have become obsessed with the snare, forgetting the rabbit they sought to catch.
This is what it means in the Tai Chi Classics when it says in the Eight Truths of Taiji,
“1. Do not be concerned with form. Do not be concerned with the way form manifests. It is best to forget your own existence.” [7]
Back to Song-poem #38: Form is represented by li, while the other 4 levels become thicker and thicker. Each level is the snare of the level above it. Awareness of correct form, li, leads to self-rectification, yi. After a process of rectification, one can forget the li. One can also become obsessed with self-rectification forgetting the next stage of jen, compassion, sharing, teaching, extending outward. In the obsession with transmitting form one can lose sight of te, the virtue of higher-level spiritual transformation, social activity, life experience. Then of course the obsession with the form of virtue one forgets the spontaneous manifestation of the Tao.
Note that at each level that the form itself traps the Initiate. The Initiate first holds onto the forms, then onto the form of self-purification, then onto the form of teaching, then the form of virtue. Although we haven’t mentioned it before we will now. The most insidious form that is held onto is the form of the Tao. Many feel that they know that the follower of the Tao is pacifist, ascetic, generous, spiritual, as they define it, quiet, kind, or loving. They think the Tao has form? Many individuals of high achievement get stuck on possessing the form of the Tao – trapping themselves with the Tao snare. Remember of course that the Tao snare, while appearing like the real Tao is actually an impostor, trapping spontaneity, never letting it go. The Tao has no fixed form.
Wang Pi’s commentary on the I Ching was also incredibly influential on the intelligentsia. Let us just look at one example to get a flavor of his style. We will examine Song-Poem 51 of the I Ching called Thunder because it is made up of the two trigrams called thunder. The trigram for Thunder is a single yang line beneath two yin lines.
Wilhelm translates the judgment as follows:
“Shock brings success.
Shock comes – oh, oh!
Laughing words – ha, ha!
The shock terrifies for a hundred miles,
And he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice.”
The Wilhelm interpretation, loosely based upon the Confucian commentary, interprets the Shock as the sound of divine manifestation from the depths of the earth, which startles the listener into a greater respect for the divine, which brings success. First there is fear followed by laughter. The listener is so centered on the great rite that even though those all around are scared that he performs the ritual properly.
“This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men – a profound inner seriousness from which all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.” Wilhelm p.198
In contrast, Wang Bi, interprets this passage from the viewpoint of the leader. To control the people, the leader inspires awe, which is followed by fear. This will lead to prosperity because it will shake the lazy out of their indolence and ‘they will have constant rules to live by.’ Because of this, their initial fear will turn to happiness. If one’s influence can extend 100 miles in every direction, the ancestral rituals will be performed properly because one’s influence will be exerted even though one be absent. Wang Bi I Ching p. 460
While the Confucian/Wilhelm translation stresses inner calm to avoid being startled by external events, Wang Bi gives it a patriarchal twist. Establish dominance by awe and fear. His thrust is entirely about external power rather than inner transformation. Control the world around you by fear and no one will dare give you problems. Wang Bi’s first line is interpreted as “Quake means prevalence.” indicating the dominator metaphor at work.
Liu I Ming, 19th century Taoist, interprets the first line as ‘Thunder is developmental.’ His interpretation like the Wilhelm/Confucian commentary stresses the inner transformation that is taking place. He says that this particular hexagram focuses upon the contrast between inner and outer work. The focus must be on the inner transformation, then exterior events will not disturb the interior work. Further he says that it is necessary to nurture the energy without agitating it. The way to do this is by constantly focusing upon the mind of the Tao rather than on the conditioned human response. Our conditioned human response is to fear and overreact to external events rather than focusing upon inner transformation.
Further he points out that:
“It is necessary to remove impurities in the midst action in order to accomplish the task. This is because the Tao is alive in movement; it is neither material nor void. We use worldly realities to practice the reality of the Tao, and use human affairs to cultivate celestial virtues; both striving and non-striving, comprehending essence and comprehending life, the endless work all must be done in the midst of activity.” Taoist I Ching, p. 191
The point here is that because the Tao is alive in movement that the purification and integration process do not occur outside the field of action but inside of it. In other words, one does not retreat from the world to purify. Instead one uses worldly realities and human affairs to achieve purification. While this is difficult because of our multitude of conditioned responses, as long as one focuses upon the essence of transformation, one can always rectify one’s mistakes rather than being swept downstream by them.
This was a major theme of The Journey. The five members of the pilgrimage started with the correct intent, supporting Tripitaka’s quest. While their individual impurities regularly threatened the Quest, they were always able to rectify their problems by focusing upon the goal.
Remember that for all his brilliance that Wang Bi was not even 30 years old when he died. He was just a kid. His imperial interpretation is based around an optimistic political orientation. As a member of the ju class, he felt that his class in conjunction with the rulers could make a difference. He lived just after the end of the Han, when the imperial order retained some semblance of order. Had he reached old age, his youthful exuberance would have probably been tempered by the experience of age. Even within his short life, he began as a protégé of an influential official, who fell out of favor dragging Wang Bi’s political fortunes with him. That Wang Bi’s interpretation was so popular for so long shows the external orientation of the age, and its somewhat juvenile character, with its stress upon external action to enforce internal order.
Let us mix the variety of interpretations to come up with a delicious soup. Let us view the power of manifestation as emerging from the bottom, the bottom and then transformed through the waist to shock the world around us. Because the power arises internally from heel and waist, it comes from the depths of the earth. Further in traveling through all the yin energy, it surprises one’s opponent with the depth of its power. On the external level the integrity of this unobstructed inner strength is irresistible to the outer world because it is aligned with the Tao of Heaven and Earth. Further the integrity of the movement is so deep that its influence spreads 100 miles. Its intensity resurrects the sacred ritual, inspiring others to inner transformational work. Also the power is so rooted that external events do not unbalance or disturb the process.
Let us again remember that merely understanding these mechanisms is only the beginning of the process of transformation, not the end goal. Once the Taiji practitioner understands that the power begins in the earth from one’s root, the yang line at the base of the hexagram, they must then cultivate the stability of the root. Once one realizes that the power will only travel through the body if there are no obstructions, the two bottom yin lines in the second and third positions, then one must purify one’s body structure so that it will transmit the grounded energy smoothly without interruption. This means working on the flexibility of the knees and hips. Once one realizes that the waist is the key to the manifestation of the earth’s energy, the yang in the fourth position, then one must cultivate the straight and flexibility of the waist. Once one realizes that this transformed energy needs a path clear of obstructions to manifest itself, the yin lines in the 5th and 6th positions, then one needs to work on the flexibility of the shoulders, the neck, the elbows, wrists and hands. Needless to say none of these processes occur simultaneous with insight. While the insight leads us to the path, the path is not the goal but only the way to the goal.
Remember again that while bodywork is important that it too is only a metaphor for manifesting in day-to-day life. Transforming the body through physical practices, while important, is secondary to emotional purification through life experience. This is why jen, te and the Tao are all later stages following li and yi. The form and self-purification only set the stage for real work that needs to be done. Getting trapped in bodywork is another case of mistaking form for essence, getting trapped on the surface in the thin out of the thick of it, distracted by the beautiful flowers of Taoism never tasting the fruit.
One of the purposes of this section is to show the diversity of interpretations possible from a single hexagram of yin and yang lines. The Wilhelm/ Confucian, the Wang Bi, and the Liu I Ming interpretations rested heavily upon the song-poem given us by King Wen, father of the Chou dynasty. While our Taiji interpretation also used that ancient song-poem it also incorporated the abstract body interpretation of the lines. Thus again the universal quality of the yin/yang polarities transcends the interpretations. In other words, while King Wen’s judgment was a helpful aid to interpretation, it was not essential or necessarily the only one.
Thus Wilhelm interprets this Hexagram in terms of internal transformation based upon internal stability in the face of frightening external events. Wang Bi interprets it in terms of external political activity generating fear in order to inspire and set the people in order. Liu I Ming interprets it as the personal transformation that results as a balance of internal and external activity. The Taiji interpretation looked at the Thunder Hexagram in the sense of an internal manifestation of power from the roots to transform the world, while not getting knocked off balance. The diversity of interpretation combined with the similarity of starting point exhibits the firmness and flexibility of the I Ching in dealing with different stages of personal growth.
In summary Wang Pi, a brilliant thinker, following the fall of the Han, provided a commentary for the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching, which had a huge impact upon future interpretations of these Chinese classics. Because he was a Confucian, he interpreted these works from the point of view of ideas rather than the bodywork and life experience that underlies the Taoist experience. Because of the prestige of his insightful commentaries, future word masters of the Confucian persuasion, multiplying words upon words, which were eventually picked up by the west, interpreted the Tao Te Ching as a philosophical work representing ideas rather than as a practical text that illuminated body practices. This led many intelligentsia of the West and East to seek understanding rather than the integration of body and mind.
[1]Schipper, p 186
[2]Schipper, p 192
[3]Schipper, p 194
[4]Schipper, p 194
[5]Schipper, p 195
[6]‘grok’ is Robert Heinlein’s word used in his book, Stranger in a Strange Land. It means roughly to become one with a concept, to integrate the meaning into your being. It is a higher level of the word ‘understand’. I can think of no better word to express this higher level understanding.
[7]Tai Chi Classics, p. 126
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