In the 860’s, 20 years after the Buddhist suppression, there was another great purge, this time a throwing up and out of the foreign merchants. In the early part of the T’ang multiculturalism was encouraged. As the T’ang rulers had family roots in the nomadic cultures to the north and west, they facilitated the spread of Buddhism and were tolerant of other foreign religions. In some ways the customs and rituals of the Chinese were just as foreign to the early T’ang rulers as were these foreign religions. The cosmopolitan Chinese cities housed larger groups of foreign cultures than they do today. Ch’ang-an, capital of the T’ang, boasted thousands of foreign merchants with foreign religions, including Jews, Moslems, Christians, and Manicheans. With disintegrating conditions, a general rebellion began in 875, which lasted to 884. During the rebellion thousands of these foreign merchants were killed. As before the T’ang retreated south to Szechwan. The aristocracy allied with the nomadic Turkic empires to suppress the revolt. However the imperial authority was so weak by this time that China fragmented into ten relatively tiny and peaceful kingdoms in the south and one fragile kingdom in the north – fragile in the sense that from 907 to 960 they went through 5 different dynasties.
Part of the problem was the Ch’i-tan (Khitan) of Manchuria. Proclaiming themselves emperors of the Liao dynasty, Chinese style, they invaded northern China in 946-7[1]. Although they were unable to administer northern China politically and retreated back home, they did gain some land around Peking and were content to exact tribute from the weak North Chinese dynasty. During this period, Southern China was relatively peaceful. Thus North China, as always, was the battleground, the front as it were, for the ongoing war between the nomadic cultures of the north and northwest and the agri-cultures of the Yellow River Valley. Once again the peasants of the Yellow River Valley were undergoing another shift in leadership.
There was yet another factor in the disintegration of the T’ang. Due to the weakening of the central government the military garrisons established by the Sui and T’ang dynasties became independent political entities, allying themselves with the most advantageous partner. This further increased the general instability of the north China boundary.
So at this point in Chinese history (just before the new millennium) remnants of the T’ang culture were split among 12 separate kingdoms in the South. The nomadic Khitan to the north maintained a strong control over their territory as well as parts of North China. Because of the dynastic struggles of northern China, a Tibetan based tribe, called the Tanguts had taken control of the northwest passage. Both the Tanguts and the Khitan were threatening to move south. Sandwiched between these hostile powers were a variety of northern dynasties attempting to consolidate their power.
Because of constant military threats from within and without, the military technology of the day had shifted to palace armies as opposed to garrison armies. The garrison armies, stationed on the perimeter of the empire, had tended to go independent in these unstable times, while the palace armies with their generals could be attended to more easily.
A boy ascended to the throne of the last of the short dynasties, the Later Chou. The palace army, understanding the potential threats to the dynastic stability from within and without, revolted and made their commander the head of the new dynasty, called the Sung. He was called Sung T’ai-tsu.
He carefully demilitarized his opponents. He offered the commanders of the armies who supported him generous pensions and then replaced them with officers loyal to him and the imperial government. Rather than relying on the feudal military cooperation of the regional governors and the great families the Sung imperial government gradually replaced all the regional military authorities with civil officials responsive to the imperial government. Also the rigid hierarchy of the T’ang was replaced by an interlocking system of officials, preventing any regional governor from amassing too much personal power. In effect the Emperor focused all military power in the imperial government so that there were not pockets of independent military resistance. This further centralized the imperial government. Prior to the Sung, China had been broken into independent spheres of military strength, who cooperated to establish a common stability, or who attempted to establish themselves as the new dynasty. This unpredictability was not good for stability.
Simultaneously with the consolidation of the north Sung T’ai-tsu began systematically conquering the southern kingdoms. After following his brother to the imperial throne T’ai-tsung, finished the process after him. Thus for the first time since the decline of the T’ang northern and southern China were reunited. However the Sung Empire never reached the full extent that the T’ang had. Both Vietnam and southwest China remained autonomous. Also much of the north and northwest was still under the control of the nomadic countries to the north. The Sung dynasties undertook some military actions against the Khitan and the Tanguts to the north and northwest, but they were unsuccessful, leaving the borders, or mode all of China. Neither considered themselves separate but as part of the Chinese Imperial tradition. Further their ambitions were not totally unrealistic as was seen in the ascendancy of the Han in the past and will be seen with the ascendancy of the Manchus in the future. China has nearly always found their imperial leadership in the militaristic north with its nomadic roots.
To buy off further northern aggression the Sung simply paid off these nomadic empires with regular tribute payments, called ‘brotherly gifts’. Considering that the strength of their armies surpassed the military power of the T’ang, it seems unusual that the Sung were so accommodating. Not only didn’t the Sung establish a military presence in the north but they actually offered tribute to these neighbors. This seeming contradiction is understood in light of the method they used to rise to power. To consolidate power in the hands of the central government the Sung emperors had de-toothed the military aristocracy that had provided such an impetus to expansion. During the T’ang there were warrior kings, warrior princes and dukes all devoted to battle as a way of life. Now during the Sung there were no more warrior aristocracy to fuel the wars. These were replaced by Confucian administrators more devoted to peace and internal politics than they were to military expansion and war. Better to pay the barbarians off to avoid war than to fight and perhaps lose life. To better enjoy their thriving culture the Chinese, especially during the early Sung, were happy enough to avoid battle.
It was under this thriving Chinese culture of the Sung that the policy of san-chiao, or the Three Doctrines, was established.
Modern China is characterized by the Three Doctrines - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Taoism considered herself at the root of the three. For one, as the wayless Way, she was more than willing to accommodate the other Ways, other taos, which might be effective in certain situations.
In addition the classics of her tradition had transcended Taoism to become Chinese. Any cultured Chinese citizen had read and was acquainted with the Lao Tzu and the Chuang Tzu whether Taoist, Buddhist, or Confucian. As Cleary says,
“Ever since that time (300 AD), virtually all literate people in China have read Tao Te Ching and Chuang-tzu.”
Also the Taoist legends accommodated Confucius and Buddha as those who had found the Way. Lao Tzu, still the archetypal Sage, had Confucius as his student. Reincarnation was not Chinese. The Chinese had been too focused upon ancestors and the here and now. Thus the idea of reincarnation is definitely foreign and Buddhist. But in Taoism’s accommodating spirit, Buddha was also the reincarnation of Lao Tzu.
“At the dawn of modern China, Taoism, which more that ever had become the religion of the people, presented itself as the root from which the new branches of Confucianism and Buddhism had developed; it was the oldest of the “Three Doctrines,” san-chiao, the common source. We are constantly reminded that, according to legends, Confucius was the disciple and Buddha the reincarnation of Lao Tzu.”[2]
Buddhism and Confucianism attempted to separate themselves from Taoism but couldn’t deny its influence either. It was the Taoists who propagated the concept of the Three Doctrines as Chinese. The others couldn’t deny their connection and yet felt above it.
Remember Taoism was and is inextricably connected with popular religious practices and superstitions. Mama Taoism, like Hinduism, is very tolerant welcoming all into her embrace, to transform and be transformed. What Compassion!!
“The term Three Doctrines (often translated as “Three Religions”) in fact corresponded to that form of Taoism which proposed itself as the representative of Chinese culture. For clearly, the other two partners refused responsibility for this ecumenism and sought instead to set themselves apart.”[3]
The Confucians tended to be literati who considered themselves above the peasants – with whom Taoism was intimately associated. The Buddhists considered themselves the highest manifestation of understanding and insight. Hence they also considered themselves above the superstitious rituals of the local religions.
The Taoist didn’t mind getting dirty with a little superstitious ritual as long as they could use the energy. The Taoists in transcending polarity put the Buddhists in the same basket as the local rituals. Taoism became the Mother of them all. While some of her children felt superior to other of her children because they felt smarter or more spiritual, she loved them all the same.
Let it be stressed that the Three Doctrines represented neither a synthesis, nor a merger. Each was somewhat tolerant of the other, but more importantly they borrowed heavily from one another. Thus the Confucian in his service of the state would utilize breathing practices, focusing upon the Void, in order to maintain his balance and Vitality in his dealings with the exterior world. Buddhism, which became Zen, still emphasized the Emptiness and the Void, while shifting to the non-verbal reality of Taoism, while practicing some form of social responsibility of Confucianism. The Taoist would not call himself a Taoist and would do whatever was practically effective to increase Vitality and Longevity.
“Considering how much the ideas of the three had become convergent, it is surprising that their institutional interpenetration remained so slight. It seems thus incorrect to view ‘The modern popular religion’ as a syncretism of the three religions. In reality what we have here is Taoism asserting itself, as it had done in the past, as national religion.”[4]
This idea of Taoism as a national religion, the religion of the people is, confirmed by the fact that during the Sung dynasty the government leaned on the Taoist to give them support from foreign invasion.
“The Sung government sought in Taoism an ideological and nationalist support against the Tibetan and Mongols. … Taoism served as a movement for cultural awakening and passive resistance.”[5]
As Westerners, we tend to break everything into parts; the reality is much more integrated. Part of the Chinese intellectual reality was that Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian concepts and books were well known to these ju, these academics, who read and wrote books. To call the intelligentsia as partaking of one philosophy or another would be to put them in a box that they might not quite fit.
Chu Hsi was the thinker of his age. While the West calls him a Neo-Confucian thinker and his movement Neo-Confucianism, the Chinese of the time called the movement Tao-hsüeh, the study of the Tao, i.e. the way. Hence the focus of the intelligentsia of the day was on the Tao from a Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist perspective. This movement was modern and resisted by traditionalists in each of the three philosophies. At some times the teachings were even considered subversive of the old way and banned.
Chu Hsi’s commentaries were so dominant that in the centuries that followed they became the status quo. His teachings were fundamental to further philosophical speculation in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. His interpretations were used in the state exams that continued through to the end of Imperial times.
One of Chu Hsi’s teaching centered around li, ch’i, & t’ai chi. Briefly and simplistically li represents the principle or form of existence; ch’i represents the life force that animates it, while t’ai chi represents the interaction of the two. Any direct translation of any of these terms limits their meaning.
Chu Hsi postulated that each thing had a different li and chi. This is what makes everything unique. While each human has a general human li, they also have an individual li and chi. It is the purpose of each human to become a sage by fulfilling his own li/chi combination. Of course, it is easy to be out of balance. This is where t’ai chi comes in. Too much li, i.e. form, means not enough ch’i, life. Too much life means not enough structure. T’ai chi is the balance of structure and life. The t’ai chi point is where the divine manifestation occurs. When the individual achieves that balance and is able to manifest it he becomes a sage.
Thus Chu Hsi like the I Ching, Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chuang Tzu before him is also exploring what it is to become a sage. Thus he like those before him is stating that neither Buddhist enlightenment, nor Taoist immortality, nor even Confucian social action is the goal, but that instead one’s goal is to achieve the t’ai chi of chi and li, i.e. self-actualization in modern terminology. In five-phase theory we might say that we need a balance of metal and wood, a balance of water and fire, to achieve the state of earth.
Many times, however, t’ai chi is translated Grand Ultimate, and ch’i is translated life force. Grand Ultimate evokes the notion of our absolute Biblical God. Sometimes writers will link the Tao and T’ai chi to this ultimate god principle. This is a distortion. Both words, while containing the concept of divine manifestation, represent principles distinct from our somewhat anthropomorphic God.
T’ai chi is merely in-between, the interaction of li and ch’i. The idea that something magic is associated with this in-between state is the divine manifestation. Then in the Chinese way they associate the magic with the in-between state itself. Master Ni once said: “Watch when the swords cross – like when man and woman cross – something special happens.” It is easy to associate t’ai chi with this god like concept of the Grand Ultimate when it is more connected to the magic of the middle. The Tao as we’ve mentioned is the method or the path. The Tao of Heaven is the way of nature. Again in the Chinese fashion the tao is associated with the Tao of Heaven, which is connected with divine manifestation. Suddenly the Tao becomes this divine god like concept. In actuality it is not God, but only God’s way.
Heaven, sky, tian, is a more accurate translation of our God principle. However one difference is that Tian, Heaven, is always balanced by Earth. Some might say that our Biblical God is balanced by Nature, but probably most devout Christians would say that Nature was just part of God, not a balance. Heaven, tian, is not an independent absolute agent, but is instead just part of the picture. In Indian mythology we find the absolutes common to the western mythology, while in the Chinese conceptual world everything is balanced, even God or Heaven by Earth.
And then it is man who makes it all matter. Heaven did not create man, as much as the balance of Heaven and Earth yields the field of Action upon which man acts. The Chinese principles begin with the idea of temporal meaning and divine manifestation and then explain how it all works out. Man and his interactions are the center of the universe for the Chinese, while God is the center of the Biblical world.
While Heaven is a dominant force in China, it is just a force. It does not incarnate a son to save the poor humans. Its morals are not revealed by any divine work. Instead its morals are relative and unpredictable. The Chinese view the Tao of Heaven as something to be studied. It is not set or fixed by divine revelation but instead is revealed through historical development. While historians of any cultural persuasion tend to see what they want to see, the Chinese tend to view the unfolding of history as divine revelation. Thus the Tao of Heaven is revealed through historical manifestation rather than through divine revelation. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Communism, are only divine to the extent that they are effective in establishing social order, cooperation, and stability. To the extent that they can’t contain man’s natural inclination towards greed and power is the extent to which they are not divine. Heaven’s way is only known through manifestation not through revelation. Confucian thought was only revered because it was effective. When it didn’t work it was disdained and other solutions were sought out.
Although we might call Chu Hsi Confucian, we can see that his themes, while related in different terminology, are common Chinese themes, not necessarily exclusively Taoist, Buddhist or Confucian themes.
However his methods for achieving tai chi are definitely Confucian.
“Man can do this by developing a strong sense of sincerity or earnestness and by devoting himself to ‘the cultivation of the self’ through ‘the investigation of things’.” China to 1850, p 118
While ‘the cultivation of the self’ harks of Taoism and ‘the investigation of things’ seems related to the goals of modern science, instead this suggestion manifested as the study of the classics. The ‘things’ were Chinese culture and history, not the laws of nature like modern science. The cultivation of self had more to do with applying Confucian moral principles to one’s life, than it had to do with cultivating quietude, the cornerstone of Taoism.
Indeed the Taoists had been attempting to achieve this state between li and ch’i for millennium. However they hadn’t named it so clearly as did Chu Hsi. They, being the Chinese, had simply called it fulfilling the Tao of Heaven. Chu Hsi had just brought the concept to a more individual level, pointing out that each of us is unique and because of this we need to fulfill this Tao of Heaven in our own way rather than in a collective way. The Confucians like Chu Hsi, linked the achievement of human potential to social service. The Taoist had always linked this self-actualization to physical bodywork. While the Confucians felt that one’s destiny would work out through the manifestation of proper moral or virtuous behavior, the Taoist stressed that proper manifestation was only possible with the proper body cultivation, which included opening up the channels through meditation and spinal alignment.
Because Chu Hsi’s analysis was so basic to the Chinese experience it has been adopted by the three doctrines and spread through the Orient. Because of his prestige, the predominantly Confucian imperial officials adopted his solution. While providing a philosophical framework for the Taoists, they had already been attempting to achieve this state for generations through bodywork.
Because Chu Hsi’s tao of achieving t’ai chi between li and ch’i, had to do with the study of the Classics and government service, the imperial government was quick to adopt his philosophy. This natural alliance lent it great prestige in the centuries to come. We must also remember that Chu Hsi was a member of aristocratic class of officials from the militaristic north, which influenced his solutions to his deep analysis.
To show how patriarchal Chu Hsi’s tao was, let it be pointed out Chu Hsi advocated spreading Chinese culture through the newly originated custom of foot binding for women. He pointed out that foot binding established the proper Confucian relation between a man and his wife or wives and that in so doing that it properly ordered society as a whole. Hence Chu Hsi must be considered a reactionary sexist pig by anyone with the slightest feminist leanings, although his abstract philosophy has had an incredible influence because of the depth of his insight. We must not throw out the baby with the bath.
The equilibrium between the Sung, the Liao, and the Hsi Hsia lasted for over a century. In 1115 a northern tribe of Manchuria, called the Jurchen proclaimed themselves yet another Chinese style dynasty called the Chin. The Chinese imperial government allied with them to crush the Liao between them. While solving one problem, it created a bigger one.
The Chin were not content to just take over the Khitan lands of the Liao, they moved into China proper and sacked the capital of the Sung. As always the Sung moved south of the Yangtze River. The Jurchen and the Sung fought for decades for control of the Yangtze River Valley.
Finally in 1142, a peace treaty was signed establishing the Sung in the south of China and the Jurchen Chin in the north. The peace treaty was hotly debated in China. While the treaty was probably a realistic solution to the military parity between the Jurchen and the Chinese imperial forces, popularly those who signed the treaty have been vilified, while those who fought the peace treaty have been glorified. Remember that the Yellow River Valley was always the traditional seat of power of a strong Chinese imperial government. This was the traditional Middle Kingdom. While the armies that fought the war were quite acquainted with the military prowess of the nomadic armies, the government officials, who favored continued military action, tended to minimize the military strength of the ‘barbarians’ and maximize the strength of the imperial army. The idea of bargaining with the ‘inferior barbarians’ was unpalatable to many of the government officials. This same pattern was to occur again during the Ming dynasty.
While the Sung Empire was constrained to the Yangtze River Valley in the south of China, their cultural and business life continued to thrive. Indeed their capital, Hangchow, was reported to have some 2 to 4 million residents, the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world at the time. European reports of these huge cities were considered lies because their biggest cities contained only 50 thousand residents.
Thus the Sung have followed the time-honored pattern of Chinese dynasties. They came conquering from the north, uniting all of China. They themselves were then conquered from the north moving south. Soon they were to fulfill this geographical pattern. Anytime a dynasty moved south it was only a matter of time before they were themselves conquered from the north. We have already seen this pattern manifested in the Chou, the Han, Chin, and T’ang dynasties.
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