NATURAL LAW

"Medieval thought regarded the universe as an articulated whole, and everything in it as both a part and a whole. The world is cosmos, a divinely instituted harmony. And, in accordance with the Neoplatonic philosophy, the higher principle is not divided up when it 'comes down' in its creative power to give life and order to the lower ranks of being. It is present everywhere in its entirety, though enfeebled to a greater or less degree in its operation, from its admixture with lower existences. Therefore, every institution and even every individual is a microcosm or minor mundus (hsiao tien). God, the Absolute One, is above the plurality of the world, the source and also the goal of every living being. Hence the lex eterna, the eternal law of God, permeates all the apparent multiplicity of the world. 'All multitude', it was said, 'is derived from the One, and is brought back to the One': in other words, all order consists in the subordination of plurality to unity. The heavenly bodies have their unity in the primum mobile. So, in societies, there must be a unum regens in every whole."

"The State Invisible is the kingdom of absolute values, the kingdom of eternal life."

W. R. INGE, D.D.

p. 80

IV
DISSERTATION ON
NATURAL LAW

{notes|elucidations and analyses}

The origin and processes of all creation issue from the Cosmic Spirit. The causes of Natural Law and anarchy, the winning of power and the loss of it proceed on constant lines.

Chinese Editor.

The rule of the T‛ai Ch‛ing Felicity of all order in the Cosmic Spirit. Actions were simple and without ostentation. So there was no recourse to horoscopy and divination of the eight signs p. 81

During these periods the primal fluid was surpassingly glowing (in men of the period) and transmitted its brilliancy. The phoenix and the Lin nestled on the land; the divining grass and tortoise were found. The fattening dews descended; the flowering bamboo came to ripeness; the yellow jade appeared; the vermillion grass showed itself in the palace precincts. Portents of good omen were all these. Men's hearts were free from secret craftiness and the smartness of cunning.

When we arrive at the decadent age, we find that men dug into the mountains for precious stones. They

Decadent age marked by

wrought metal and jade into cunning vessels and broke open oysters in search of pearls: they melted brass and iron; the whole of nature withered under the exploitation. They ripped open the pregnant and slew the young, untimely (in order to get skins and furs). The Chilin, as a result, did not visit the land. They broke down nests and despoiled the birds that had not lain, so that the phoenix no longer hovered around. They drilled wood for fire: they piled

Luxury and poverty.

up timber to make verandahs and balustrades: they burnt forests to drive out game and drained the waters for fish. In spite of this, the furniture at the service of the people was not enough for their use, whilst the luxuries of the rulers were abundant. Thus, the world of life partially failed and things miscarried so that the larger half of creation failed of fruition.

The classes made mounds and built on high grounds: they fertilized their land and sowed their corn: they dug the land for wells, to drink from, and opened up irrigation channels, for their enrichment. They laid foundations for

Rapacity of man disturbed Nature.

their cities, so that they were munitioned. Captured wild beasts were domesticated: thus, there was grievous rupture of the Yin and Yang, and the succession of the four seasons failed. Thunder-bolts wrought havoc, and hail-stones p. 82 fell with violence. Noxious miasma and untimely hoarfrosts fell unceasingly, resulting in atrophy and the failure of nature to bear abundantly. Luxuriant grass and thick brushwood were cut down in order to get land. They cut down the jungle in order to grow ears of corn. The plants and trees that died before germination, flowering and bearing fruit, were innumerable.

Next we see the building of great palaces and houses with their great erections of rafters and door pillars, the short rafters of the eaves and the smaller ones that support the tiles of the eaves. These were elaborately decorated and carved: one was dove-tailed into the other and all decorated with the lotus and calthrops. One colour vied with the other, and their harmonious blending in a whole was artistic and elegant. Rooms were decorated with pictures of every kind of plant and bird. The decorations were such as the cunning of craftsmen and skill of artisans, of the type of Kung Shu and Wang Erh, who plied the chisel and saw, producing the most perfect carvings and filigree work and every kind of fretwork, could not do. Nevertheless, all this lavish ornamentation seemed as though insufficient to satisfy the desires of the rulers. The cypress, the pine and the flowering bamboo, that bloom the year round, died even in summer (because the intrinsic nature of Yin and Yang was offended): the rivers and streams, too, dried up and ceased flowing,

Nature became savage.

in consequence. The spectre of the Lares p. 83 were divided into boundaries and frontiers: censuses of the

Social fission.

people were taken in order to know the population of this place and that: cities were built and moats and dykes dug: barriers were erected and weapons forged, for defensive purposes: officials were created for the departments with various robes and badges and with laws: they differentiated classes and masses and distinguished the worthy from the vulgar: they organized a system of reprimands and approbations, of rewards and punishments. Following these, there arose soldiers; and firearms were made, which gave birth to wars and strifes. The untimely death and annihilation of the oppressed people ensued. There was arbitrary murder of the guiltless, and the punishment and death of the innocent. These inquities all sprang up at these times and on such occasions.

The harmonious cooperation of Heaven and Earth, the evolution of creation by the Yin and Yang depends on

Cosmic order deranged by human enmity.

the spirit of man. Hence, when there is an estrangement between the classes and masses or rulers and the people, the very air of Heaven becomes noxious and disorganised: when prince and minister are not in harmony, the crops in the fields fail to ripen.

For forty-six days before the winter solstice, the firmament retains its own aura, which does not descend: the Earth embosoms hers, which does not ascend; that is to say the operations of the Yin and Yang are in abeyance.p. 84 hail in Winter and hoar-frost in Summer, the reason is that the proper fluids are short and evil humours have entered. Hence, we may say that this universe is of a similar nature to the human body and the spaces within the six cardinal points similar to its internal economy.

We may say that he who is of an intelligent nature is not alarmed at any of the operations of Nature:

The sage confident in the Unity.

he who is wise, by experience, is not disturbed by any unusual phenomena. The sage thus deduced the far from the near and concluded that the myriad varieties were based on an unity.

The ancients were one in spirit with Nature and identified with the spirit of the age. At this period there were no guerdons or largesse and congratulations, nor was there the dread of disciplinary punishment. Ceremonies, duty, honesty, (the pillars of society) had not been recognised: nor had the practice of ridicule, compliments, and

Bathed in the Tao.

niggardliness hegun. Thus the people never thought of deceiving, of oppressing, of victimising or of preying on each other. It was as though they were bathed in the great climate of the Tao.

If we consider, on the contrary, the decadent age of the world, we find that men were many and wealth little: even laborious work failed to bring in the means of subsistence. So there sprang up strifes and struggles. Thus it came about that benevolence, jen, came to find a high place (in the philosophy of life). Benevolence and niggardliness are inconsistent with each other. The men of narrow mind and those of catholic views both formed parties and factions. Schemes of cunning appeared; expediency and sophism

Rise of petty moralities.

were cherished. The simplicity and purity of man's nature died out with the development of this ingenuity of mind. Hence we see how duty and petty virtues came to be honoured.

The nature of the Yin and Yang elements is never p. 85 uninfluenced by sexual feelings.Partly due to sex feeling. they are not the most perfect instruments in the art of government. Benevolence is the means for saving men from war: duty that of saving men from loss of nature: ceremony that of saving men from lewdness of life: and music that of saving men from sorrow and trouble of mind.

When the spirit which is ordained by heaven is centred on spiritual things and is free from passion, and when this

Virtuous Nature is the essential.

spirit of wu wei is prevalent, the people will be good.p. 86

See the root is healthy.

and an extravagant ceremonial induced a regulated ettiquette. From this we gather that the spiritual or divine made men aware of the insufficiency of the ethical: a knowledge of the ethical led men to apprehend that benevolence and duty were insufficient for practical life; a knowledge of benevolence and duty led men to see that rites and music were not sufficiently comprehensive.Rites artificial. distinguishing the high and low notes and the five flavours, there is an implication that the original nature has been changed into an artificial application: the creation of benevolence and duty, the establishment of rites and of music imply that natural virtue has been replaced by an artificial one. Once the artificial came into operation, clever people overawed the simple and cunning schemes were used to deceive superiors. But remember that what the skill of one can do will be matched by somebody else's skill. Only the man who abides in the real nature can rule.

p. 87

In ancient times, Tsang Chueh invented the art of writing, and (in alarm) Heaven rained corn; the demons cried the night through (fearing the rise of skill and craft). When Pei I bored for the first well, the dragon ascended the sable cloud and made its spiritual roosting place in the K‛un-Lun mountain. Thus, the more the display of ability, the less becomes the power of virtue. Therefore, the maker of the Chou Ting (Urn), cast the figure of Ts‛ui, a man biting his finger, on the surface of an urn, in token of his opinion that cunning works of skill should not be the creation of human skill, but great art comes from Wu-Wei, not from craft, Yu-Wei.Govern in the spirit. blends with his nature. With this tranquillity he embodies the virtue (tê); in movement he is permeated with reason; his nature conforms spontaneously and follows automatically the flux of nature; he is permeated with the spirit of Wu-Wei, and the empire spontaneously is at peace: he is unruffled by desire, and so the people, as a consequence, are simple in their habits: he is not interested in omens or myths, and so the people meet with no untimely fates: there is no strife, and so plenty exists.p. 88 by a gifted speaker. The tao is inexplicable. The tao that cannot be expressed is embosomed in the very Heaven of Truth. This Tao can be used without exhaustion, and it yields its treasures without ever being the poorer. Its source is unknown: let us call it the Yao Kuang, the north constellation. Yao Kuang is the treasury and granary of creation.

To save the needy and supply the deficient gave rise to the name jen, benevolence: to advance the interests of men and eliminate the sources of misfortune, arrest anarchy and stop violence is the work of the soldier. Were the world without plagues and evils, even an angel would find no room for the exercise of charity. Were the classes and masses living in amity, even the most worthy would find no channel for the dispensation of good works and the establishment of merit.

In olden times, when Yung Ch‛eng Historical observations. an infant could be placed in a bird's nest; surplus corn could be left in the open fields for anyone to share in; the tail of the tiger and leopard could be played with; the viper could be stepped upon. Nevertheless, none knew the cause of such a state, but simply said it was natural.

Coming to the times of Yao, ten suns once appeared together, scorching the crops, killing trees and plants, so that the people had nothing to eat: ferocious dragon-like beasts, baboons with long teeth, monsters of the deep, gorillas or bears, great boars and pythons are hurtful to people. So Yao employed I to slay the baboons in the wastes of Ch‛ou Hua and killed the monsters on the shore of the evil waters (of the barbarian north); he bound the evil beast that creates hurricanes in the marshes of the Ch‛ing Chiu; he shot the ten suns above and destroyed the dragon-like beast below; he cut down the python in T‛ung Ting lake and captured the wild boars in the Mulberry forest. The people were delighted and placed p. 89 Yao on the pedestal of the Son of Heaven.p. 90 Tao, possessing inexhaustible knowledge, yet keeping silence, putting a muzzle on their own mouths and a gag on their lips, have died without the age knowing how to esteem their silence. THEY DARE NOT, WITHOUT WEAPONS, ATTACK A TIGER;
THEY DARE NOT CROSS THE HO, WITHOUT A BOAT.
THEY KNOW ONE THING;
BUT THEY ONLY KNOW THAT ONE.

The Sage-Emperor embodies the principle of wu-wei. The King imitates the Yin and Yang. The Autocrat copies the Four Seasons. The Prince uses the Six Laws.Emperor, King, Autocrat, Prince. He sends forth and calls in the Yin and Yang, and lengthen out, as well as draws in, the Four Seasons. He stretches out the Heavens and holds together the six quarters of the globe: he supports and covers all things, sending dew, giving light, affording guidance. His mercy overflows without selfish partiality. He is impartial in His love and dislike; all flying insects or creeping things p. 91 (all creation) depend on His energy for birth.

Yin and Yang, with harmonious endowments from Heaven and Earth, give bodily form to myriad varieties: possessing the tempered fluids, the flux of matter proceeds to the end, so that the embryos of species may be produced. The expansion and contractions, the impalpableness and tenuity cannot be fathomed. The beginnings and the endings, the unformed, with its later maturity, proceed in their paths in unceasing march.

Of the Four Seasons the Spring begets, the Summer fructifies, the Autumn gathers, the Winter conserves. There is method in the reception and bestowment: there are times for ingress and egress. The pullulating arid withering seasons, the expansion and suspension of life have their timely order: there is no mistake in the process. Spring (joy), Autumn (anger) (asperity), Summer (strength), Winter (weakness), never depart from their appointed courses.

The Six Laws The Characteristics of their rule. Heaven and Earth and animated with the obligations due to tao and te: his intelligence is clear as the noontide; his spirit is identified with creation: his activity and rest synchonize with Yin and Yang: his joy and anger act in cordiality with the Four Seasons. His virtuous charity reaches the most distant parts, and his name is transmitted to later generations. This is the man, the Emperor, who embodies p. 92 the principles of the T‛ai I.

The King imitates Yin and Yang; his virtue stands on a par with Heaven and Earth; his intelligence is comparable with the sun and moon; his spiritual character is like the divinities. He is similar to Heaven and Earth (they are the round and square); he maintains the principles of right, justice and truth. Able to govern himself, he obtains the adhesion of men. So there are none in the empire who do not follow and give general assent to laws and commands, as they are issued and promulgated.

The Autocrat copies the Four Seasons and acts flexibly, but not with impatience, firmly, but not with harshness, generously, but not with excess, eagerly, but not refractorily. Leisurely, flexibly, deliberately, persistently he acts so as to nourish the various things and affairs of life. His goodness tolerates the simple, and suffers the reprobates. There is no trace of a baleful partiality.

The Princes use the Six Laws, suppress anarchy, arrest the violent, advance the worthy and degrade the unfit: they brush away the incompetent and forcibly correct them: they straighten out the rough and awkward and bend the crooked to make him straight. These know what to prohibit and permit, what to encourage and what to discourage. Following the spirit of the times and popular ideas, they act so as to command the allegiance of men.

Now, when he who is emperor acts in sympathy with Yin and Yang (and not with God, as he should) he will

Abuse of the proper order leads to failure.

suffer from the aggression of others. When the king imitates the Four Seasons, he will have his territories sliced away. When the autocrat uses the six laws, he will suffer shame at the hands of his neighbours. When the prince loses his square and line i.e. righteousness and justice, he will see the defection of his people.

Thus we may conclude that when a man of minor gifts attempts deeds beyond his abilities, he will act in a very defective manner, lacking all the marks of a finesse of p. 93

A Square peg in a round hole.

detail which is the characteristic of the first-rate man, so the people are estranged. When the man in a superior station deals with second-rate affairs, it will follow that his government will be narrow and his plans skinny. His plans will offer no room for development of great things. When the classes and masses attend to their own businesses, each to each, the empire will be properly ruled.

Heaven is careful of its own powers and Earth of its own elements: men guard their own natures. The powers of Heaven are sun, moon, planet, thunder, lightening, wind and rain. The elements of Earth are fire, water, metal, wood, soil. The nature of man consists of feeling, thought, meditation, intelligence, joy and anger. And so, when the four senses are closed up and the "five extravagances"p. 94 to the extravagant use made of the five elements. Let us take these in order.Waste and excesses the cause of anarchy. each the other, in the creation of palaces and residences, lofty storeys are built, with high passages connecting the one with the other: spacious basements, rafters, poles, pillars, planks and boards, of every description, are used, each and all mutually connected and affording mutual support, one being clamped and dovetailed into the other. Cunning workmanship is used to engrave the floating dragon and crouching tiger on these, or in decoration of the rooms. The most dazzling colours are used to depict pictures of water and flowers, wreathing and encircling in tortuous lines the pillars and walls, elaborate designs of luxuriant scenes of grass and water, one following on the other, in great profusion.

Extravagant and Luxurious Use of Water.—Long and deep channels are dug through the ground, stretching right to the far distance. Waters are led into these from the hills. Ornamental and zigzag ways are created, slabs of stone are piled up; squares of marble are built into ornamental banks or jetties and landing places; obstacles are placed in the water to create artificial waves and fountains, the waters being lashed into angry waves. The water is bent in its path, being deviated hither and thither,—now straight, now oblique, here turning sharply round, there moving in a curving channel, in imitation of the waters of Yü, Ou, and Wu. The lotus and the chestnut plants are grown in abundant luxuriance in these waters, to feed the tortoises and fishes. Great herons, the turquoise kingfishers p. 95 for bulwarks:p. 96 the roaring heat. So it went on, day by day. There were no big trees left on the mountains nor wild mulberry in the fields: wood was burnt into charcoal; grass was scorched and burnt into ashes; the grasses of the fields, betimes, were scorched white, so that nothing found its seasonable ripeness. The sky, above, was hidden by the smoke, and the wealth of the land, below, was exhausted by the extravagance.

One, alone, of these five extravagant wastes would be enough to bring the empire to ruin! Consider the simplicity of the ancient court of the Ming Tang Luxury inflames the passions. curious articles are enough to agitate the mind and give inconstancy to the will, to stir the soul and inflame the passions in an indescribable way.

The production of wealth by Nature consists really of no more than the five elements. The sage king, by the economical use of these,p. 97 simple, are animated with the feeling of pleasure. Pleasure seeks to express itself in movement: movement gives rise to motion, the tripping of the feet: this again leads to song and dance. When song and dance are spontaneous, wild animals come in and join in the dance.p. 98 for this self-expression.

In the government of these modern days, the taxes on agriculture and fisheries are heavy: the octrois and local

Heavy taxes lead to despair

taxes are collected harshly: prohibitions against fishing and the use of weirs make it impossible to use the nets. It is useless to plough the fields. The strength of the people is spent in attending to the demands of the official minions, and their wealth is used up in paying the poll taxes. There is no food at home; there is no corn for those who go forth:and deterioration of life rites have degenerated. Prince and minister are given to mutual deception: father and son are suspicious of one another; the spirit of antipathy and aversion fills every breast; thoughts of true filiality are dead in the mind. A feeling p. 99 of hilarity and levity exists in those who are clad in the mourning dress and who wear the white cap: and though there is a full three years observance of mourning rites, the real feelings of mourning are wanting.

In olden times, the king's demesne of a 1,000 square li and the land of the feudal lords of a 100 li were sufficient

Unworthy ruler to be removed.

for the needs of each; there was no need of mutual aggression; each attended to his own possessions. Should it happen that a recalcitrant appeared who did not act in this princely spirit, but oppressed the people, quarrelled over territory, plundered land, created anarchy in government, violated prohibitions, who neither responded to summonses, nor obeyed commands,—a person whom no laws could keep in check nor admonitions change, there was nothing for it but to move troops against him for punishment, take him captive and disperse his supporters, wall up his cemetery and substitute a party to sacrifice at the hearth in his place. One of his sons or grandsons was selected by lot to continue the reign.

In these later times, on the contrary, kings plan to enlarge their dominions and snatch frontiers, by

The right use of Soldiers.

appropriating the land of others and increasing their possessions unceasingly. Their use of soldiers is without just grounds: they punish innocent countries, slay guiltless people and exterminate the descendants of the holy kings of old. Other great countries follow their example of aggrandisement, and rulers, committing the cares of their own country to petty allies, rush forth to rob people of their cattle and make slaves of their children. They destroy the ancestral temples and move away the precious inheritance; they fill the land with rivers of blood and create desolation by their ferocity. All this is done to satisfy the desires of lustful lords. Soldiers were never meant to be used in this way.p. 100

And decay of music.

for the consummation of concord in human nature, not to be the cause of voluptuousness. Mourning is a rite expressive of the feeling of grief, and not meant to be merely an artificial act.

There are, therefore, principles in the service of parents, love being the predominant element. There are demeanours and miens observed in the Court, with the feeling of reverence as the chief factor. There are ceremonies in the observances of mourning, but the dominating idea is grief. There is an art for the use of the military, and justice should be the ruling idea in their employment.

Build on the foundation, and the Tao will operate: when the foundation is neglected, the Tao will fail.

NATURAL LAW

NATURAL LAW

// Related Texts

// Related Texts