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PREFACE

The Vegetable Roots Discourse — A Treasury of Eastern Wisdom

The traditional culture of China was a self-sufficient agricultural civilization of a clear inward-looking nature that developed centripetally, was perfect in itself and placed an emphasis upon holism and harmony. The traditional culture of the West was an oceanic culture of a markedly extrovert character that expanded outwards, that explored, that advanced actively and emphasized an individualistic and competitive spirit. The present era is one in which Western and Chinese cultures are tending to merge and where each civilization mirrors the other. Each civilization has its own particular content and values. Western culture concerns itself with individualism, regards human rights as important, pursues liberty and wealth and is one that Eastern cultures could well learn from. At the same time, Western culture would find it worth learning from Eastern culture and the value it places upon inner reflection in life and its striving after harmony and tranquility. Whilst both cultures may adhere to the great twentieth-century sociologist Fei Xiaotong’s (1910–2005) principle of “unto each its own beauty,” they must further “see the beauty of others” and “beautify the beauty in all” before they can achieve the bilateral reciprocity of “world community.”

For the Westerner wishing to achieve a direct and vivid understanding of Eastern culture and a sense of Chinese culture, the Vegetable Roots Discourse is an excellent primer.

The Vegetable Roots Discourse is a remarkable Ming dynasty (1368–1644) collection of quotations, aphorisms and proverbs published during the Wanli reign (1573–1620). The compiler and author was Hong Yingming, a man immersed in the essential aesthetic of Chinese culture. His style name was Zicheng and given name Huanchu Daoren, meaning a practitioner of Daoism who sought to return to the purity of his original mind. Why was this book given the title Vegetable Roots Discourse? The Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) scholar Wang Xinmin (1071–1110) said that someone who could “chew on vegetable roots” could “achieve everything.” The average person prefers to eat the leaves or the heart of vegetables, very few are willing to eat the root because it is coarse, tasteless and difficult to swallow. The kind of person who is willing to eat it, and does so with relish, possesses a nature of imperturbable self-cultivation. He does not pursue a life of material luxury and does not easily succumb to the temptations of material desire, while his ability to live an ordinary life with enthusiasm and enjoyment makes it possible for him to do anything he wishes.

With this concept in mind, Hong Yingming compiled his popular Vegetable Roots Discourse, subsequently a widely circulated treasury of Eastern culture. Through figuratively eating vegetable roots it is possible to calmly and cheerfully discuss heaven and earth, ancient and modern, and love and passion. What a fascinating prospect this is.

The Vegetable Roots Discourse combines the traditional Chinese cultural wisdom of the Confucian doctrine of the mean, the Daoist concept of non-action (wuwei) and the Buddhist doctrine of transcendentalism into a panorama of an ideal life for which the modern generation yearns and in which it is possible to lead an unencumbered and enlightened life in a natural landscape of beauty, tranquility and humanity, or within an ordinary life of coarse tea and cold rice. As the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) put it, quoting a line from Hölderlin (1770–1843): “poetically dwells the man” (dichterisch wohnet der Mensch).

The principal point of the Vegetable Roots Discourse is an emphasis upon the beauty of the harmony of traditional Chinese culture. This subdivides into three main aspects: harmony between man and nature, harmony between man and society, and harmony between man and his inner being. These may be exemplified as harmony with heaven, harmony with earth, and harmony with man.

The Discourse advocates harmony between man and nature—harmony with heaven. In Eastern cultures man is not the master of all things, so it is impossible to adopt an anthropocentric viewpoint of self-supremacy that controls, plunders and contaminates all nature. Instead, we should coexist harmoniously with nature so that “Heaven and Man are as One.” Because heaven and man are one, the body and soul of heaven and earth are thus human, the auspicious stars and clouds of the heavens are the vital energy of human joy, and thunder, lightning, tempest and storm are the emanations of human anger. Man is of the same body and soul as heaven and earth and the latter possess great powers for the healing of humanity. Borrow the support of the natural world to regulate the spirit, wander among the rocks and springs of the hills and woods and the longing for the bustle and hubbub of the world will gradually expire, thereby transcending the mundane, discarding the secular world and combining both body and spirit in purity.

The Discourse also advocates harmony between man and society—harmony with earth. One should not regard other people as hell, our sense of compassion may be a heaven for others. Society is formed of innumerable individuals, you comprise me and I also comprise you, thus we should exercise mutual toleration, mutual devotion and mutual achievement and not scheme against each other, exploit each other or harm each other. Traditional Chinese culture has always valued harmony itself above all and revered the harmonious qualities of good nature, kindness, amiability and peace. If, nowadays, as we show concern for individualism and human rights, we can also show a little more tolerance and concern for others, then interpersonal relationships will become both more harmonious and more beautiful. The Eastern cultural concept of harmonious coexistence may solve the difficult problem of the “clash of civilizations.” It is only through a strengthening of dialogue, mutual respect and understanding, and harmonious coexistence that Eastern and Western cultures can further strengthen and develop in accord and harmony.

Finally, the Discourse advocates harmony between man and his inner being—harmony with man. There is no greed, anger or stupidity to man’s inner being, no contradictions or suffering, it is a state of harmony. When we have no greed in our heart, we cannot take the road of no return towards the pursuit of desire. Without anger’s root in our hearts we are filled with gratitude towards others and towards all things of the universe. When there is no stupidity in our hearts, our life is a little calmer and clearheaded, a little more relaxed and unperturbed. A heart filled with the spirit of enthusiastic advance is obviously all very praiseworthy, but when fine ideals receive a bloody nose at the hand of reality we always need to see through to the question of attachment and heal the wounds of sorrow. In this, the Vegetable Roots Discourse is a miraculously effective cure.

Historically, the Vegetable Roots Discourse has always had a wide circulation as an excellent primer for the study of Chinese culture and has appeared in a number of different editions. Two comparatively important editions are the Ming and Qing dynasty (1644–1911) block-printed editions. The Ming edition consists of two sections, “former” and “latter,” the “former” containing 225 items and the “latter” 135, a total of 360 in all. A copy of this edition is held in the Japanese Cabinet Library, Shoheizaka Gakumon Academy in Tokyo. The Qing edition is a single volume divided into a number of chapters such as “self-cultivation,” “social entertainment,” “leisure” and so on. It is the Ming edition that has been used as the basis for this translation.

The Vegetable Roots Discourse has had a worldwide influence and there have been a number of translations. The present translation has its own particular characteristics. For the last fifty years I have nurtured a passion for the traditional culture of China and have lived the life advocated in the Vegetable Roots Discourse. At the same time I have tried hard to study and absorb the essence of Western culture. Consequently, the commentary in this translation is a realization of the mind of Hong Yingming, but it also takes account of the particular spiritual characteristics of Western culture. Tony Blishen, the London-based translator, is imbued with Western culture but he has also spent some time living and working in China and has a unique knowledge and experience of Chinese culture. He has previously translated two of my books into English, Chinese Zen and The Power of Enlightenment: Chinese Zen Poems, the latter has been used as teaching material in a Western university and both have been widely welcomed in universities and colleges in China. I am grateful for his dedication and am confident that this new translation of his will give readers the same kind of vigorous spiritual stimulus. At the same time, I would like to thank the editorial team for the strenuous efforts that they have made towards the world circulation of the Vegetable Roots Discourse.