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CHAPTER 1

Origins and Background

There is in the Changes the Great Primal Beginning (Tai Chi). This

generates the two primary forces. The two primary forces generate the

four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams.

—I Ching, Chapter 11, in Liu 1986, 24

Much of what is known of early Chinese philosophies comes from the work of two famous historians, father and son, Ssu-ma Tan (d. 110 B.C.) and his son Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145–86 B.C.). Ssu-ma Tan was the historian of the Royal Library. Ssu-ma Ch’ien wrote an extensive history entitled Records of the Historian. The records and writings of these two men have helped historians through the ages piece together the often vague background of China’s great philosophies.

EARLY BELIEFS

The foundation of Chinese thought is the belief in a single cosmic universe, a Oneness with no beginning or end. Older than any of the schools of Chinese philosophy were certain basic beliefs that helped the Chinese understand themselves in relation to the world: in the beginning, the world was an endless void called Wu Chi. It was pictured as an empty circle formed by dotted lines. From this arose activity, expressed as yang and shown as an empty circle, and inactivity, expressed as yin, and shown as a black circle. The interactions of activity and inactivity are called tai chi, shown as the famous yin-yang circle, half black and half white (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Wu Chi, Tai Chi

I CHING, THE BOOK OF CHANGES

If all is one undivided cosmic universe of dynamic forces, then seers could help rulers predict and interpret those forces. To accomplish this, a system of divination gradually developed with a theory of how the universe goes through its cycles of change. Using an extraordinary handbook, passed down over the centuries, the I Ching (the Book of Changes), experts commented on the diagrams it contained to interpret the present, predict the future, and guide behavior in helpful ways. The original author is unknown, but the I Ching is considered a primary book of Confucianism and was also incorporated into Taoist thought.

From the vast mysterious cosmic universe, the One, all emerges. As this Oneness manifests in the world it divides into two: yin and yang. These dynamic opposites are represented as a yielding, broken – – line for yin and a solid, firm line—for yang. The I Ching combined these lines in patterns which were used for divination. There are four possible ways to arrange these lines in pairs: two solid lines, two broken lines, one solid over a broken line, and one broken over a solid line (See figure 2).

Figure 2

Figure 3: Diagram of Eight Trigrams

Trigrams, combinations of three lines in a column, were thought to correspond to certain qualities of nature and the inner workings of the universe. The lines were first arranged as trigrams by Emperor Fu Hsi (2852–2738 B.C.). He saw the patterns on the shells of tortoises, which were commonly used as oracles. The two extremes, Ch’ien (three solid lines), Creative, and K’un (three broken lines), Receptive, were thought to represent the dynamics of heaven and earth. Ch’ien was the creative element, the ruler, the father, the light. K’un was the receptive principle, the mother, ruled from above, the dark. All the other trigrams were combinations of these two opposites (Figure 2).

The eight trigrams were combined into sixty-four possible hexagrams. By interpreting all the different patterns, the Chinese developed a way of predicting the likely course of events if things followed according to nature. The I Ching’s elaborate science of divination predicted with uncanny accuracy (Figure 3).

This theory became the basis for Chinese natural science. Lunar calendars, developed as early as 1200 B.C., the Chinese tradition of healing with herbs and acupuncture are also rooted in this theory.

CHI AND ANCESTRAL SPIRITS

The ancient Chinese believed that the universe was chi. To them, everything in the world was far more than its biological, corporeal being. All was energy, or chi, a vital force in the universe that could be utilized in all facets of life. Chinese medicine, martial arts, and creative arts are all based in the proper raising and directing of chi.

Also part of the belief of the ancient Chinese was that when people died, part of them went down into the earth, but their spirits lived on in the Heavens as chi to become One with the cosmos. All people, alive and dead, then, were thought to be part of the universal energy. This allowed the living to be in touch with their ancestors through worship, rituals, and ceremonies. Ancestors could continue to influence life on earth, thereby perpetuating the interaction. Ancestors were actively involved in the ongoing, everyday lives of their descendants.

Figure 4: Five Element Diagram

Time was not linear, as we think of it in the West, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Time was an overlapping series of circles, a continuum of shifting cycles. Death was not an ending but rather a step in the continuum of time, with the potential for higher status as an ancestral spirit. Natural and supernatural forces were also in continuous flux, acting upon the spiritual and material universe. Boundaries were fluid, elastic, permeable.

THE FIVE ELEMENTS

All that we encounter is made up of five elements that the Chinese believed basic to life: water, wood, metal, earth, and fire. Because they perceived that the entire universe was in flux, always shifting, the elements were also always shifting through their interactions with one another. Some interactions were complementary, others were contending. For example, wood produces fire, making a complementary pair, whereas water puts out fire, making those two elements a contending pair. If we look at the world around us, we can see how the elements shift. We can observe destructive cycles—for example, when water evaporates or wood decomposes. But concomitantly, there is a regenerative cycle, during which water condenses and new trees grow. The Chinese believed that things do exist, but that existence is time-limited within the cycles of inevitable change (Figure 4).

THE SIX SCHOOLS

Chinese philosophies are based on the principles of Oneness and continual change. Each of these many philosophies developed their early principles in different directions, guiding people in how to lead healthy and happy lives.

During the last third of the Chou dynasty (approximately 551 – 221 B.C.), numerous philosophies emerged, known as the One Hundred Philosophies. Ssu-ma Tan classified these One Hundred Philosophies into six schools.

The Literati, or Scholar School, was exemplified by Confucius. The followers of the school were devoted to study and learning. They believed that the Way of morality and virtue could be cultivated and developed by education and correct practice.

The members of the School of Mo-tzu adhered to his doctrine of universal love. This was the first school to oppose Confucius. The School of Names looked for the distinctions between names and things. The Legalist School believed in fixed codes of law and government rather than morality and virtue as a solution to the world’s problems.

The Yin Yang School derived from the principle of opposites. Yin is female and yang is male. The dynamic interplay of these polarities was fundamental to the manifestation of all phenomena in the world. Occult practices developed from this school and eventually merged with Taoism. The Taoist School was based in the Way and its power, natural virtue, and morality. The Way for the Taoist School was to follow Tao. What this was and how to do it unfolds here in this book.