Constancy in the Yi Jing: Reflections from the Analects

Home , Analects, Bianhua, Jing (philosophy)

Yu-Yi Lai

A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Masters by Research

University of New South Wales

School of Humanities and Languages

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

February 2017

PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet

Surname or Family name: Yu-Yi

First name: Lai Other name/s:

Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: Masters by Research

School: School of Humanities Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Title: Constancy in the Yi Jing: Reflections from the Analects

Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE)

This thesis offers an original account of the idea of constancy (heng )in the Confucian-oriented Yi Jing through a creative rendition of heng in light of ideas in the Analects of Confucius. It argues that Confucian practices exemplify characteristics of heng which are communicated in the Yi Jing, namely, responsiveness, flexibility and timeliness. That is to say, a person who might be said to have the characteristic of heng responds to situations fittingly, taking into account the salient features of the circumstance. To demonstrate this, the thesis starts from the analysis of heng in the Yi Jing, where heng is understood as human responsiveness. In particular, changes in the world where one is situated in one’s position (wei ), occur in time (shi ). Therefore, a person must respond to events in his or her social-political context with flexibility— remaining constant in a changing world. Following the analysis of heng in the Yi Jing, themes in the Analects, such as benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness (xin ), are selected to demonstrate the characteristics of heng. Both ren and xin are context-and practice-oriented, allowing us to focus more sharply on how a person can maintain his or her ultimate commitments in light of changing situations. This thesis presents a new interpretation of heng as human responsiveness that is valuable for understanding the Confucian-oriented Yi Jing and the Analects, and it also discloses the nature of Confucian ethical commitment and practices.

Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation

I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation.

I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only).

…………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature Witness Signature Date

The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research.

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award:

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’

Signed ......

Date ......

‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.'

Signed ......

Date ......

AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT

‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’

Signed ......

Date ...... Abstract

This thesis offers an original account of the idea of constancy (heng ) in the

Confucian-oriented Yi Jing through a creative rendition of heng in light of ideas in the

Analects of Confucius. It argues that Confucian practices exemplify characteristics of heng which are communicated in the Yi Jing, namely, responsiveness, flexibility and timeliness. That is to say, a person who might be said to have the characteristic of heng responds to situations fittingly, taking into account the salient features of the circumstance. To demonstrate this, the thesis starts from the analysis of heng in the Yi

Jing, where heng is understood as human responsiveness. In particular, changes in the world where one is situated in one’s position (wei ), occur in time (shi ).

Therefore, a person must respond to events in his or her social-political context with flexibility – remaining constant in a changing world. Following the analysis of heng in the Yi Jing, themes in the Analects, such as benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness (xin ), are selected to demonstrate the characteristics of heng. Both ren and xin are context- and practice -oriented, allowing us to focus more sharply on how a person can maintain his or her ultimate commitments in light of changing situations. This thesis presents a new interpretation of heng as human responsiveness that is valuable for understanding the Confucian-oriented Yi Jing and the Analects, and it also discloses the nature of Confucian ethical commitment and practices.

Acknowledgements

First, it had been a long journey to finish this thesis. I have to thank my supervisor,

Karyn Lai. She was always patient and rigorous regarding my writing style, expression, and most importantly, my logical flaws when I was not thinking my points through. Furthermore, she has been that kind of supervisor that helps one builds one’s ability to reflect. She encouraged me to reflect on my own writing in order to be an independent researcher. I hope this thesis is a step forward in my process of becoming a mature scholar. I also have to thank my vice supervisor, Ping

Wang. She gave me comments that helped me clarify my thoughts.

Second, I have to thank my colleague Thomas McConochie (). He read my thesis and gave me valuable feedback. Especially, he helped me to correct language problems. He is a good friend.

I have to give special thanks to Meng-Chun. She read my thesis from a different angle, since she is not from this field. She spent a lot of time digesting my thesis. I know reading a philosophical paper can be painstaking. Thank you for doing this for me.

In the end, I owe my appreciation to other colleagues and friends who are not listed above. To my fellow colleagues and scholars in the discussion group, Dr. Wu, Dr.

Jing, Yuzhou, Oceana, Chari, and Andrew: I received valuable comments from all of you. I also have to thank Dr. Wai-Wai Chiu for giving me feedback to my thesis proposal. Finally, I would not be here without Wai-Wai.

iii

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... ii

Acknowledgements ...... iii

Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Aim and Significance ...... 1 1.2 Methodology ...... 2 1.2 Background of the Yi Jing ...... 7 1.2.1 The structure of the Yi Jing ...... 8 1.2.2 The authorship of the Yi Jing ...... 10 1.3 The Etymological study of the Chinese character Heng ...... 12 1.4 Methodology, Exegesis, and interpretation of the Yi Jing ...... 19 1.4.1 The Openness of the Yi Jing ...... 19 1.4.2 Change and Constancy as an unified idea ...... 21 1.6 Structure of the thesis ...... 23 Chapter 1 ...... 23 Chapter 2 ...... 23 Chapter 3 ...... 23 Conclusion ...... 24

Chapter 2 Constancy in the Yi Jing ...... 25 2.1 Introduction ...... 25 2.2 Time and change ...... 26 2.2.1 The Macro level of Shi (time) ...... 27 2.2.2 The Micro level of shi (timeliness) ...... 37 2.2.3 Conclusion ...... 45 2.3 Position and Situatedness ...... 45 2.3.1 The Macro Level and the Confucian Scheme of the World ...... 46 2.3.2 Micro level of Situatedness ...... 59 2.3.3 Conclusion ...... 67

Chapter Three Constancy in the Analects ...... 68 3.1 Introduction ...... 68 3.2 Constancy of Ren ...... 70 iv

3.2.1 Ren: an etymological enquiry ...... 71 3.2.2 Ren: Lifelong Commitment ...... 74 3.2.3 Ren: A Sense of Discrimination ...... 78 3.2.4 Ren: Reliability ...... 84 3.3 Constancy of Xin ...... 91 3.3.1 Xin: an Etymological Enquiry ...... 93 3.3.2 Xin: Reliability ...... 95 3.3.3 Xin: Flexibility and Timeliness ...... 100

Conclusion ...... 110

Bibliography ...... 116

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Aim and Significance

The aim of this thesis is to propose a new idea of constancy (heng ) in the

Confucian-oriented Yi Jing, also called the Book of Changes. It provides an exemplification of heng in a Confucian classic, the Analects. In particular, the thesis argues that heng includes three important characteristics of Confucian human practices: flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness. It aims to demonstrate how

Confucian context-oriented practices are encapsulated in heng.

The thesis reveals that heng in the Yi Jing manifests flexible human responsiveness to circumstances. Heng is paradoxically embodied in change and constancy—the changing world and the eternally flexible responsiveness to situations.

Second, responsiveness refers to the way humans respond to changing circumstances, and it can further be distinguished into two components: acting with timely wisdom and then situating oneself in the appropriate positions.

Third, timeliness is the instantiation of the Confucian context-oriented practices in the Analects. The Analects contains ample anecdotes that exemplify heng as timeliness and flexibility in social-political practices. Two of the cardinal ideas in the

Analects, benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness (xin ), have different connotations that manifest heng in Confucian self-cultivation.

The significance of the thesis is expressed in three dimensions. First, it highlights the features of heng, namely flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness, to unfold important elements of Confucian-oriented practices. Second, it adopts the Analects to

1 interpret heng in the Yi Jing and the Analects. This perspective contributes to understanding of these texts as manifestations of human responsiveness to social-political circumstances. Third, the study of heng will provide a useful perspective that can benefit the understanding of cross-cultural philosophical comparisons in the areas of moral practices, self-cultivation, and ethics.

1.2 Methodology

Previous scholarly studies of heng have provided detailed etymological investigations into the character heng and the implications of heng in the Yi Jing.

These studies established a solid foundation for the study of heng that leans toward

Daoist tradition. For example, Wang proposes that it is the Yi Jing that first established the importance of heng in Chinese philosophy. In his view, heng is one of the most important hexagrams in the Yi Jing, based on the images of the hexagram, the judgments of the hexagram, the central position of the hexagram, and the connection linking taiji and heng (2000: 151). His goal is to reveal the importance of heng by the study of heng in the Yi Jing. Ultimately, Wang’s objective is the concept of heng in the Daodejing.

Second, the recent archaeological findings of unearthed texts, especially those of the Daoist-oriented Heng Xian and Laozi, have had impacts on the study of heng. It strengthens the connection of Daoist-oriented texts and heng. For example, Klein, in her cross-textual study of Heng Xian, focuses on exploring the connection between

Heng Xian and the Yi Jing. In particular, the study of the heng and fu hexagrams is one of the main focuses because heng and fu are among the most 2 important concepts in the Heng Xian. In her view, the similarities of Heng Xian and the heng hexagram link the human actions and the macro cosmic realm, the heaven and the earth, the sun, and the moon (Klein, 2013:211). This partly answers why in this thesis heng is separated into two closely connected categories, namely, the macro cosmic and the micro human level. Nevertheless, unlike Klein, the aim is not to boost understanding of Heng Xian by means of a textual comparison of heng. It is to uncover Confucian philosophical thinking by means of the study of heng.

The importance of heng in the Confucian tradition has the potential to be studied further. It has not been determined that heng and change can be seen as a combination that mutually sustains the purpose of guiding actions in Confucian tradition. The thesis aims to uncover the philosophical interpretation of heng as Confucian human responsiveness in the Yi Jing and to support the interpretation using the Analects as a complementary example.

The Yi Jing and the Analects were selected for the research on heng. The first, the Yi Jing, is the major text of the study. It depicts a changing world and how humans respond to their circumstances. Constancy (heng ) refers to the reality that the world is forever changing, and human responsiveness is the way humans adapt to the world. This study unfolds the characteristics of heng in the Confucian-oriented Yi

Jing. The second text, the Analects, is used to support the analysis of heng in the Yi

Jing. The Analects was chosen for a reason. The reason is that, unlike the Yi Jing, an abstract text that originated from a divinatory manual, the Analects, one of the classics of Confucianism, consists of dialogues on everyday practices. Thus, the Analects is a

Confucian application of heng in practical situations.

Heng is the idea that connects the Yi Jing and the Analects. In this thesis, the first step is to provide a new understanding of heng in the Yi Jing. The result of the research is to suggest that the Yi Jing’s heng may be manifest as flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness. These three important characteristics of heng set the framework of this thesis. Hence, in the second half of the thesis, the Analects is selected to express the characteristics of heng. In other words, flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness are the highlights throughout the thesis.

Heng in the Analects

One methodological issue is the dearth of appearances of heng in the Analects; however, it is not an issue in the analysis of the Yi Jing. Heng is one of the hexagrams in the Yi Jing, and it is an important focus in the Ten Wings.

On the other hand, this study faces the problem that heng appears only three times in the Analects. Among these, one of them is irrelevant, since it appears to be a person’s name (Analects, 14:21).

Between the two relevant appearances of heng in the Analects, the first is a quotation from the heng hexagram in the Yi Jing (Analects, 13:22). This confirms the connection between heng in the Analects and that in the Yi Jing. It can be said that this record of the Analects is influenced by the heng hexagram. This thesis takes the position that the Analects accepts the philosophical thinking behind the concept of heng in the Yi Jing. The reason is that the Yi Jing is regarded as one of the pedagogical textbooks of the pre-Qin era, and most importantly, it is one of the

Confucian classics. It is reasonable to believe the Analects is influenced by the

4 commonly accepted texts in the pre-Qin context. Furthermore, Confucianism is a philosophy based on several core texts, two of which are the Analects and the Yi Jing.

All the Confucian classics presumably have the same values that qualify them as

Confucian-oriented texts. This thesis only focuses on Confucian thought, so it precludes any interpretation of the Yi Jing outside the Confucian realm. It is the goal of this thesis to uncover the Confucian philosophical values underlying the concept of heng. Thus, the important Confucian values shared by the Analects and the Yi Jing are the values that this study of heng aims to disclose.

The thesis holds that, by definition, Confucian texts have similar philosophical implications in order to sustain a consistent philosophical system. It is consistent that the Analects accepts the Yi Jing’s heng as its premise because both must fit into the definition of Confucianism. The study of heng in the Analects is based on this foundation..

It is crucial to note that in this thesis, the Analects is treated as an extension of the study of heng in the Yi Jing. Theoretically, the thesis focuses on the interpretation of heng, which has been developed in the study of heng in the Yi Jing. This is why the study of heng in the Analects applies the philosophical interpretation of the text, rather than philological correlations. The fact that heng is not understood literally, but rather refers to the Confucian spirit of human responsiveness to the world, suggests that we should understand heng conceptually. Thus, the ideas in the Analects are explored according to their fitness, meaning the degree to which they capture the characteristics of heng.

Although the literal heng is not the goal of the thesis, it still needs to be

5 explained. Heng in the Analects should not be contradicted by the interpretation of heng in the Yi Jing, even if the information is not sufficiently clear to reveal the philosophical implications of heng. This is the case of the last occurrence of heng in the Analects.

The last occurrence of heng in the Analects is a passage wherein Confucius compares four types of morally desirable exemplars. In this passage, someone who is constant (hengzhe ) is one of them:

The Master said, ‘I will never get to meet a sage (shen ren )—I will be

content to meet an exemplary person (junzi ).’ The Master said, ‘I will

never get to meet a truly efficacious person (shanren )—I will be content to

meet someone who is constant. It is difficult indeed for persons to be constant in

a world where nothing is taken to be something, emptiness is taken to be fullness,

and poverty is taken to be comfort.’1

This passage suggests that a hengzhe is unwavering in the face of unfavorable circumstances. In this case, responsiveness is required for a person to endure variable conditions. In addition, the fact that the hengzhe is in the group of Confucian exemplary models indicates that this person possesses the characteristics qualifying one as an exemplar. Thus, this person must possess the qualities that are linked to the

Confucian ideals, of which heng is an important component. This suggests that

1 (7:26 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:89) 6 hengzhe is linked to heng, if not directly. Thus, it is reasonable that the description implies that a hengzhe possesses the qualities of heng proposed in this thesis, namely flexibility, responsiveness, and timeliness. It is however difficult to infer a profound meaning based only on this paragraph. Hence, the analysis of heng is based not on the explicit heng character in the Analects but on the characteristics of heng.

The characteristics of heng are linked to ideas in the Analects. These qualities of heng, namely flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness, are related to two ideas, benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness (xin ). Ren and xin have the qualities of flexibility, responsiveness and timeliness. Instead of looking for the same character, the study analyzes these ideas, for these ideas are related to the characteristics of heng in the Yi Jing. Thus, this thesis focuses on the characteristics of heng and on the ways these characteristics manifest in ideas in the Analects.

1.2 Background of the Yi Jing

The Book of Changes (Yi Jing ), or the Zhouyi (), has been a cultural classic throughout Chinese history. Since at least the Warring states period (Zhanguo

; 475-221 B.C.E), it has been considered one of the Six Classics (Liujing )

(Shaughnessy, 2014:xiii). The Yi Jing was originally used for divination purposes, and it has continuously met this purpose throughout Chinese history. The origins of the book date to the Shang Dynasty (Shang Chao ; 1600-1046 B.C.E), and many sections were composed in the Zhou Dynasty (Zhou Chao ; 1046-221 B.C.E).

This section is separated into two main parts to develop two points. In order to provide the background knowledge for the study in the next stage, the first part 7 introduces the structure of the Yi Jing. The second part discusses the authorship of the

Yi Jing.

1.2.1 The structure of the Yi Jing

The Yi Jing consists of two sections: the “Basic Texts” (Benwen ), and the commentaries, known as the Ten Wings (Shiyi ). The reason for this division is that the Ten Wings is a later addition. The earliest “Basic Texts” section is thought to have been composed around the early Zhou period. The Ten Wings section dates from the Warring states period (Zhanguo ; 475-221 B.C.E) to the early Han period

(Lynn, 1994:3).

The Benwen consists of two parts: sixty-four pictographs and statements. The fundamental part of the Benwen comprises sixty-four pictographs symbolizing milfoil stalks, the so-called sixty-four hexagrams (liushisi gua ). The Yi Jing is a divination manual, and in ancient times, people used milfoil stalks to perform divinations. These divining sticks manifest a sign relating to an appropriate hexagram.

A hexagram refers to a particular social-political issue. Before the Yi Jing, divination in the Shang Dynasty involved ancestral worship. In the Zhou Dynasty, the practice of divination developed into a systematic system of decoding the correlations between cosmological phenomena and the social-political world (Lai, 2008:200).

Each hexagram has a name and is composed of six lines. The lines are either broken or solid. Solid lines are referred to as yang lines (yangyao ) .

“Yang” symbolizes vigorous and masculine qualities. Broken lines are referred to as yin lines (yinyao ) . “Yin” represents the opposite side of yang—gentle 8 and feminine qualities. A hexagram may be composed of any combination of broken and/or solid lines.

Each hexagram consists of a pair of trigrams, an upper trigram and a lower trigram. There are eight trigrams in total, and they are called the eight trigrams (bagua

). The invention of the trigrams is attributed to a legendary figure, Fuxi (), in one of the Ten Wings, the Xici Zhuan (): “When in ancient times Lord Bao

Xi [Fuxi] ruled the world as sovereign…he thereupon made the eight trigrams.”2

Each trigram has a name and is connected to a basic cosmological element.

The trigrams are listed in the chart below:

Qian Dui Li Zhen Xun Kan Gen Kun

Heaven Lake Fire Thunder Wind Water Mountain Earth

Tian Ze Huo Lei Feng Shui Shan Di

The statement part of the Benwen refers to the interpretation of the pictorial hexagrams. Each of the six lines has a short statement. The comment on a hexagram is called a hexagram statement. The comment on a line is called a line statement.

These statements are often abstruse and composed of divinatory phrases. For example, the hexagram statement of the Great offering (Dayou ) hexagram states “Ta Yu indicates that, (under the circumstances which it implies), there will be great progress

2 (trans. Lynn, 1994:77) 9 and success.”3 For a clearer understanding of the cryptic comments, more explanation is required; this explanation is to be found in the Ten Wings.

In the Ten Wings section, the sixty-four hexagrams are presented in a specific sequence. For instance, the heng hexagram (henggua ) is the thirty-second of the sixty-four hexagrams. The Commentary on the sequence of the

Hexagrams ( Xugua Zhuan ) is the part of the Ten Wings that offers an explanation of the sequence. In the Xugua Zhuan, the sequence of the hexagrams is a system of an imaginative cosmogony that connects every hexagram.

The Ten Wings is a philosophically profound commentary of the Benwen. It turns the Yi Jing from a divination book into a Confucian classic (R. Smith, 2008:48).

During the Han Dynasty (Han Chao ; 202 B.C.E-220 A.D.), the text was recognized as a Confucian canonical classic (K. Smith, 1993:13). The Yi Jing has historically been regarded as Confucian thinking, since the Ten Wings is associated with the cultivation of virtues (Hon, 2008:260). For example, typical Confucian phrases in the Ten Wings, such as “gentleman (Junzi )” or “The Master said

(ziyue )”, are connected to Confucius. Therefore, Confucius is considered to be the author of the Ten Wings. This is the reason why the Yi Jing is important for

Confucian followers. The actual authorship of the Yi Jing is the next topic.

1.2.2 The authorship of the Yi Jing

The actual authorship of the Yi Jing is an intriguing topic, one that is hard to

3 (trans. Legge, 1971:104) 10 settle. There is no evidence of specific authorship, although it is clear that the text has undergone multiple revisions through time, especially during the Han Dynasty (Rutt,

2002:38-43). A traditional method often used to attribute authorship to ancient

Chinese texts is to identify a master who represents the tradition, although it is understood that the text may have been collectively written by the master and his followers. In the Analects (Lunyu ), which is associated with Confucius

(551-479 B.C.E.), the master, Confucius himself, did not write any of the conversations, which were compiled as late as possibly even the early Han Dynasty.

The issue of authorship of the Yi Jing is similar: It is associated with certain figures, although scholarly opinions hold that the text has been modified by many hands through time (Graham, 2003:13; Shaughnessy, 2014:57).

An orthodox view holds that Fu Xi () observed the universe to create the resonant images, the so-called basic eight trigrams. Shen Nong () is said to have further expanded them to sixty-four hexagrams for completion. It is believed that later,

Wen Wang () and Zhou Gong () each contributed to the hexagram statements and line statements (R. Smith, 2008:8). This ideology is supported in the canonical commentaries of the Ten Wings. This allegorical creation of the Yi Jing implies that the Yi Jing was developed by a sage ruler, one who learned the mechanism of the way nature operates. This understanding is crucial knowledge for a divination manual to predict the future.

The Yi Jing did not alter in status until contemporary archeological findings surprisingly unearthed multiple ancient Yi Jing texts, and even an alternative ancient hexagram-based text: i.e., the Shanghai Museum manuscript, Fuyang Zhouyi, the

Mawangdui manuscript, and the alternative ancient hexagram-based Wangjiatai

Guicang. In other words, there actually have been different versions from the one we would call the received texts. Archaeological finds have opened new perspectives on

Yi Jing studies, and new possibilities have arisen.

The following passages attempt to disentangle these complexities and provide the answer inside the Yi Jing. The spirit of the divination manual lies in the word heng, the opposite of change, to support divinations.

1.3 The Etymological study of the Chinese character Heng

The following discussion will provide an exploration of the character heng.

There are two main meanings of heng. First, heng resides in the commitment to moral continuity. It refers to an enduring self-cultivation aimed at the regularity of the person’s practice of moral standards. Second, heng relates to the cosmos through the idea of pervasiveness, such as that of the sun, the moon and natural phenomena.

Heng () is the conventional version of heng (). In the Kangxi Zidian (

),4 heng () is a conventional homonym of heng ().5 That is why heng (), instead of heng (), is listed as a homonym in the Shuo Wen Jie Zi (). The

Shuo Wen Jie Zi, the Han Dynasty dictionary, is considered to be the first dictionary.

It comprehensively analyzes characters according to their graphic similarities.

According to the Shuo Wen Jie Zi, this is the definition of heng ():

4 The Kangxi Zidian was the official dictionary of the Qing Dynasty (1889C.E.-1912C.E.). 5 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 12

The heart (the will) crossing from the beginning till the end, as a boat

does from one bank to the other; the moral trip continues till one reaches the

harbor.6 ([freely] tr. Wieger, 1927:28)

It is important to note that the description does not fit the character heng ().

Heng () lacks the zhou () character. This incongruity is addressed in the annotation of the Shuo Wen Jie Zi (Shuowenjiezizhu ) by the Qing

Dynasty scholar Duan Yucai (), which solves this puzzle. As he explains, an archaic form of heng () depicts the heart as a boat traveling back and forth over “a prolonged distance” between two lines, or river banks.7 Thus heng (), through its archaic form (), matches the metaphor.

The metaphor of “a boat cross[ing] over a prolonged distance” depicts the idea of prolonged (chang ). Prolonged (chang ) is an abbreviation of the compound word lasting/enduring (chang jiu ). As Duan Yucai explains, heng’s synonym chang

() is regarded as chang jiu of time or measurement. In the boat metaphor, chang () means prolonged distances, and it further suggests an enduring period of traveling. In this metaphor, it places physical activity in relation to an internal process. The mental activity is manifested as a journey across physical distances.

The character jiu () is the second element of the compound word changjiu

(). Jiu () exclusively refers to a long period of time. In the compound word changjiu (), prolonged (chang ) refers to extended distances. It is important

6 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 7 (Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 13 that jiu () adds the component of time into changjiu (). Thus, chang (chang ) includes both prolonged time and distances in the context of the etymological heng. In summary, heng is connected to long-term commitment because of the association with the compound noun chang jiu ().

Heng is linked to enduring commitment to self-cultivation. The heart-mind radical of heng connects the enduring period of time and self-cultivation. In self-cultivation, one’s heart-mind needs to be resolute on the regularity of moral standards. The archaic Great Seal script (Daizhuan ) of heng demonstrates the connection between long-term commitment and the human heart-mind. The Daizhuan was a writing style in the Zhou Dynasty. As Michael Carr argues, the ancient

Daizhuan’s form of heng ( ), with its heart-mind radical, is a signal for the regularity of moral standards. This human heart-mind aspect of heng differs from the physical aspect of heng:

The earliest graph for was the “greater seal ” , which elaborated

with the ‘heart/mind’ radical to distinguish the psychological

‘constancy, regularity’ (Mori 1970, 211 says moral ‘trustworthiness’) from the

astronomical Gen ‘constancy’ (Carr, 1992:97).

Heng originates from the connection between constancy and the human heart-mind.

The heart-mind radical of heng represents the constancy or regularity of the human heart-mind in self-cultivation. Thus, heng indicates that one must cultivate one’s heart-mind until it attains the regularity of the person’s practice of moral standards. 14

Heng is defined in early Chinese texts as long continuance and the solidity of virtue. For example, in the Ten Wings, the Tuan Zhuan (), the Zagua Zhuan (

) and the Xugua Zhuan () all explain that heng denotes long continuance:

“Perseverance means long lasting;” 8 “Heng here means ‘long enduring.’” 9 In addition, the early Han dynasty canonical classic the Zhong Yong () states: “Not ceasing, it continues long.”10 One of the earliest collections of poetry, dated before the 7th century B.C., the Book of Odes (shijing ), writes: “Why do they prolong the time? There must be a reason for their conduct.”11 The other definition also appears in the Ten Wings. The Xici Zhuan () defines heng as the solidity of virtue: “Heng [Perseverance, Hexagram 32] provides virtue with steadfastness.”12

These interpretations are strongly linked to the jiu of changjiu (). As Chad

Hansen would argue, “The role of language and discourse is to guide behavior”

(1992:85). What needs to be jiu () is human behavior. In Confucian terms, self-cultivation must be prolonged. In other words, the long continuance refers to one manifesting one’s virtues. Thus, the meaning of heng combines long continuance and the solidity of virtue in the Confucian tradition.

Finally, the heng character was transformed into the archaic lesser seal script

(Xiaozhuan ) form of heng (). Differing from the Daizhuan, the Xiaozhuan was the official script after the Qin Dynasty (Qin Chao ; 221-207 B.C.E) unified

8(trans. Lynn, 1994:335,114) 9(trans. Lynn, 1994:107) 10 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 11 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 12(trans. Lynn, 1994:87) 15 the writing system. The moon (yue ), which is inside gen (), was transformed into a boat (zhou ) character. The final form of heng () was subsequently developed during the Han Dynasty because of the logographic taboo on using an emperor’s personal name. As Carr explains:

Heng was the personal name of Han dynasty Emperor Wen Di (r. 179-156

B.C.), Tang Emperor Mu Zong (r. 821-825) and Song dynasty Emperor

Zhen Zong (r. 998-1023). Since writing an imperial name was strictly

proscribed, was avoided for seven centuries during these dynasties. The Han

taboo was most significant because that period was when classics destroyed in

the 213 B.C. “Burning of the Books” were restored (Tsien, 1962:13-16). There

are graphic and synonymic ways of avoiding a tabooed logograph, and Heng

was replaced in both: with its alternate graph or with its synonym Chang ,

‘constant, regular’ (1992:97).

The latter form of the heng () character replaced heng () because of the taboo.

This is how the character heng was formed.

Heng has a second dimension of cosmic pervasiveness. The components making up heng () and the conventional heng () are the sun (ri ) and the moon (yue

), respectively. The celestial sun and moon capture the dimension of cosmic pervasiveness. This dimension of heng lies outside the human realm, where "heaven’s way" resides. According to Duan Yucai, another archaic form of heng ()13 consists

13 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ 16 of a moon (yue ) inside the number two (er ). He describes it this way in The

Book of Odes (shi jing ): "Like the moon advancing to the full”14. This natural phenomenon further suggests the constancy embodied by heng.

Human moral standards and the laws of nature are different. Nature functions as a regularly repeating mechanism. As Benjamin Schwartz describes, the way (Dao ) is what humans imitate, compare, and work into a human way15 (1985:194). This is in accord with the spirit of Confucianism. Confucianism holds that people need to cultivate their morality until they become sages. This mode of thought goes on to manifest in the Confucian commentaries of the Yi Jing, the Ten Wings and the other

Confucian texts, including the Analects.

What, then, is the connection between Confucius and heng? A study of shamanic interpretation of heng may shed light on this question. Carr argues that heng is the name of a shamanistic ritual. Carr’s thorough analysis of how the character heng changed in history provides valuable materials for this study. Moreover, he demonstrates the connection between the Yi Jing and Confucius. He claims that his study is based on Arthur Waley’s idea: “This paper re-examines Arthur Waley’s hypothesis that Chinese heng () ‘constant, continuous’ was the name of a shamanic

‘stabilizing ritual’” (Carr, 1992:93). He offers evidence from textual exegesis, mainly of the Analects and other ancient texts, and historical linguistics. His study of heng in the Analects is a quotation from the heng hexagram of the Yi Jing. Thus, he suggests

[Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 14 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015]) 15 “Beginning, however, with the mystical dimension of Taoism, we are immediately struck by the use of the word tao as the dominant term of this Chinese mysticism. How does a term which seems to refer in Confucianism mainly to social and natural order come to refer to a mystic reality?”(Schwartz, 1985:194) 17 that heng in the Yi Jing refers to shamanism.

However, I think this association between heng and shamanism is questionable.

In his study, Carr proposes that the connection is from the Analects:

Why was ancient Chinese shamanism associated with heng ‘constancy?’

In a nebulous Lunyu (Analects) passage, Confucius quotes a Southern Saying

about shamanic heng and a possibly interpolated line from the Yijing (Book

of Changes) hexagram named Heng …Owing to anti-shaman prejudices,

Confucianist scholars have covered up the original meaning of this passage for

over two thousand years” (Carr, 1992:93-94).

Carr suggests that the Analects supports the association between heng and shamanism.

However, heng appears in the Analects only three times; one of those times, it is part of a person’s name. In addition, the authorship of the Analects is controversial. It is debatable who the historical Confucius was (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002:134). The

Confucius we know is a historical creation; therefore, a saying of Confucius is unreliable evidence. The scarcity of solid proof weakens Carr’s hypothesis.

In my view, heng and Confucianism are connected in two aspects. First, the heart-mind radical of heng suggests that one should cultivate one’s mind until it attains the regularity of the person’s practice of moral standards. This is a connection between heng and Confucianism. Confucianism urges one to cultivate one’s morality until one becomes a sage. Second, the etymological history of heng reveals that in the later stage, its components were transformed into the sun and the moon. This change

18 captures another aspect of heng. Heng is cosmic pervasiveness. It lies outside the human realm, where "heaven’s way" resides. Notably, there is a tendency to focus on the union of humans and Heaven in early Confucianism. In the Analects, the comparison between celestial phenomena and the human social realm is evident. As

Confucius states in the Analects: “He who rules by virtues is like the polestar, which remains unmoving in its mansion while all the other stars revolve respectfully around it.”16 The cultivation of Confucian virtue and that of cosmic pervasiveness are not separate. They mirror each other.

1.4 Methodology, Exegesis, and interpretation of the Yi Jing

The discussion in this section focuses on the exegesis of the Yi Jing. Throughout

Chinese history, the Yi Jing, one of the Six Classics, has been seen as a repository of pre-Qin wisdom. It not only contains a diversity of philosophies but also in itself forms a consistent system of thought. That the Yi Jing contains a diversity of philosophies could lead to two possible meanings: first, that the Yi Jing is an open text, and second, that it embodies knowledge of the changing cosmos.

1.4.1 The Openness of the Yi Jing

First, the Yi Jing can be viewed as a diversified manual. Although the text has served as a canonical Confucian classic since the Han Dynasty, it has never solely belonged to any particular school of philosophy. Rather, it has also been considered as

16 (2:1 trans. Leys, 2014:5) 19 a Daoist text or even a Daoist religious book, or as a channel for introducing foreign religions such as Buddhism (R. Smith, 2008:3). Hence, it is no surprise that the

Zhouyi is read as an open text that allows anyone to venture an interpretation. As

Ming Dong Gu states,

I venture to suggest that Zhouyi has been able to retain its exalted status as

history’s primary classic and has attracted the attention of scholars all over the

world largely because it is an open book amenable to appropriations and

manipulations by people of any political doctrine, religious belief, and moral

standard, and its openness comes from its being a semiotic system whose

principle of composition warrants unlimited interpretation. (2005:258)

The Yi Jing is an open text by means of the textual structure. This means that the Yi

Jing guaranteed flourishing interpretations by the time it was composed. It is possible that divinatory practices need openness to apply to every possible situation. The flexibility of the text embraces different interpretations.

In summary, the Yi Jing is made to allow, or encourage, a multiplicity of interpretations. The composition of the text indicates that openness is the main function of the book. Furthermore, different traditions cherish the Yi Jing’s openness.

They utilize the Yi Jing to express their ideas. These are the reasons why the Yi Jing is considered an open text.

1.4.2 Change and Constancy as an unified idea

The Yi Jing embodies knowledge of the changing cosmos. The text itself contains sixty-four hexagrams. The hexagrams represent different phenomena or situations. In other words, the Yi Jing includes both natural phenomena and situations in the world. The hexagrams of the Yi Jing are made from images, and the images represent the ceaseless phenomena in the world. The lines of each hexagram are also symbols of diversified possibilities (Hon, 2003:229). A similar idea also appears in the writings of a famous Yi Jing’s exegete in Chinese history, Wang Bi (;

226-249 A.D.).17 Wang Bi holds that the lines are embodiments of changes in the world (Lynn, 1994:27). Thus, the Yi Jing provides knowledge of the changing cosmos.

Nonetheless, a changing world must be guided by constant principles.

Divinations need underlying principles to sustain predictions. For example, the Xici

Zhuan comments:

What is it that the Yi does? The Yi opens up (the knowledge of the issues of)

things, accomplishes the undertakings (of men), and embraces under it (the way

of) all things under the sky. This and nothing more is what the Yi does…18

The above passage claims that the Yi Jing is a system for interpreting the diversity of

17 Wang Bi, the author of commentaries on Laozi's Dao De Jing and the Yi Jing, was a prominent neo-Daoist scholar in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 C.E.). For an English translation of Wang Bi’s exegesis on Yi Jing, see Lynn’s translation (Lynn, 1994). 18 (trans. Legge, 1971:393) 21 knowledge. The hexagrams symbolize diversified changes, and these changes have to be unified by a system of constancy.19 Thus, the Yi Jing as constancy is the base of the fortune-telling book. It maneuvers through every encountered uncertainty. It is a book that combines change and constancy.

The Yi Jing, being an all-inclusive system of understanding, can be directed in any given way. There is irrefutable evidence of the numerous approaches and applications connected to the Yi Jing throughout Chinese history. Richard J. Smith suggests, “As early as the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368 C.E.) more than seven hundred different scholarly approaches had come to be identified with the document [the Yi

Jing].” (2008:3) In order to function well as a divination manual, theory is insufficient to rein in that diversity, so as to enable a consistent prediction system.

In summary, the Yi Jing is the body of a system that welcomes diversity of application. It originated as a divination manual, and what divination is able to accomplish is contemplation of the vicissitude between the past, present and future.

The Yi Jing can be visually represented as the center of a wheel—regardless of the motion and movement of the rim of the wheel, it remains still while simultaneously supporting and flowing with change. This is how the Yi Jing is able to respond to change. Constancy is the answer to a changing world.

19 Professor Lawrence Scott David kindly reminded me that heng, as one of the sixty-four hexagrams, occupies the central position in the sequence of sixty-four hexagrams. I agree with David that this supports the importance of the concept heng in the Yi Jing. Qingjie Wang has also emphasized the centrality of heng in the Yi Jing by referring to the sequence of sixty –four hexagrams. See also Wang (2000). 22

1.6 Structure of the thesis

Chapter 1

This chapter focuses on the background of the study of constancy (heng ). It aims to present three points. First, the background of the Yi Jing provides the knowledge of the major text of the study. Second, the etymological study of heng analyzes the formation of heng and proposes two meanings of heng: one’s commitment to moral continuity, and cosmic pervasiveness. These two meanings are linked to Confucian self-cultivation. Third, the exegesis of the Yi Jing reveals the openness of the text, and the text is a unified system of constancy to guide the changing world.

Chapter 2

This chapter focuses on the study of constancy (heng ) in the Yi Jing. It aims to show how heng is regarded as human responsiveness with two points. First, time (shi

) contextualizes the changing cosmos, and time as timeliness also indicates a proper timing for responding to social-political contexts. Timeliness reflects human responsiveness, which is linked to Confucianism. Second, the practice of heng is interpreted as humans being situated in proper positions. Position (wei ) and situatedness are keys to understanding human responsiveness.

Chapter 3

This chapter focuses on the study of constancy (heng ) in the Analects. It aims to present a reflection on the Analects to support heng as responsiveness, timeliness and

23 flexibility with two points. First, in the Analects, three connotations of benevolence

(ren ), namely lifelong commitment, a sense of discrimination, and reliability, are related to heng. Second, trustworthiness (xin ) refers to lifelong commitment to self-cultivation. In addition, xin requires timeliness and flexibility to adjust to situations.

Conclusion

This section focuses on the conclusion of the study of constancy (heng ). It aims to summarize the findings and to propose future perspectives. The findings are that heng is understood as human responsiveness in the Yi Jing, and two important characteristics of human responsiveness are flexibility and timeliness. Moreover, the

Analects is used as an exemplification of the analysis of heng in the Yi Jing.

Confucian practices adapt encountering social-political circumstances by means of flexibility and timeliness.

Chapter 2 Constancy in the Yi Jing

2.1 Introduction

Change is always taking place. This is the fundamental presupposition of the Yi

Jing’s worldview. This idea gives rise to the famous paradox of unchanging change.

According to the Yi Jing, change (yi ) is the only thing that is unchanging (buyi

). That is to say, change is constant (heng ). Heng is a multifaceted idea manifested in multiple dimensions in the Yi Jing. At first glance, heng means constancy. In the Yi Jing, one constancy of reality is that the world is changing. Heng can be understood as the constantly changing world. That is to say, change is always happening. Heng is the dynamism in the cosmic realm. This is the cosmic dimension of heng.

In the Yi Jing, a major focus is how humans respond to the changing world.

For humans, change is the necessary condition beyond the control of human beings and all other agents or entities. This means that humans can only accept change as an undeniable fact of life. Thus, the cosmic aspect of heng has another connotation for humanity, namely, how to respond to the changing phenomena of life. This is what is disclosed in the Tuan Zhuan of the hexagram ‘elegance’ (bi ):

One looks to the pattern of Heaven in order to examine the flux of the seasons,

and one looks on the patterns of man in order to transform and bring the whole

world into perfection.20

20(trans. Lynn, 1994:274) 25

The reflection of the cosmos and the human realm is how Confucianism bridges the cosmos and human responsiveness. In the Confucian exegesis, heng is interpreted as the practice of responsiveness to variable social-political interactions.

This chapter focuses on the analysis of constancy (heng ) in the Yi Jing. Heng can be understood as human responsiveness in two aspects: time (shi ) and position

(wei ). First, time is regarded as the context of the changing world. Time also refers to proper timing, or so-called timeliness, in social-political contexts. Timeliness is how humans respond to socio-political circumstances with flexibility. Secondly, position and situatedness manifest human responsiveness in the Yi Jing. Humans adjust their positions within contexts wherein they are situated. This is how responsiveness is practiced.

2.2 Time and change

The structure of this section comprises two levels of time (shi ): the macro level of cosmological time, and the micro level of timeliness in humanity. First, how time is expressed in the passages of the Yi Jing will be introduced to facilitate the understanding of time (shi ). The critical question in this part is how the concept of time (shi ) is understood in the changing world. Time contextualizes the changing world, for time, as the measurement of duration, is how we perceive change. This is the relation between the metaphysical dimension of heng and time, the cosmos and the observer. This part of the discussion refers to the macro level of shi as time.

Second, a feature of heng is the importance of timing for humanity. Therefore, time also indicates proper timing for measuring social-political events. The important 26 question in the present study is how shi is linked to the Confucian view of humanity.

The focus of this section is that shi reflects a human-oriented approach towards interpreting time. In short, time is understood as timeliness, which is how shi bridges environs and practice by interpreting heng as humans’ timely responsiveness to circumstances. This is the micro level of shi, or simply timeliness. First, we discuss time at the macro level.

2.2.1 The Macro level of Shi (time)

This section analyses the macro level of shi recorded in the Yi Jing, which incorporates the structure of the cosmic changes. The cosmic changes, or natural changes, is one of the major topics in the Yi Jing. As Chung-Ying Cheng argued, the book of changes, the Yi Jing, declares itself to contain all the changes, including natural and human social-political (2008:79). However, the scope of the cosmos is not clear. I believe that as a starting point, there is a need to clarify the scope of the cosmos in pre-Qin Chinese philosophy.

The Scope of the Cosmos: Heaven (tian )

"Nature" in ancient China refers to heaven (tian ), but tian also denotes the heaven and earth wherein humans are situated. These meanings of tian are often overlapping. Within the context of this study, “cosmic” change would include all interpretations relating to the natural realm within the tian category. The tian category is explained below.

The all-inclusive nature of “Cosmic” change is not unusual, given that in ancient 27

China, heaven and earth, nature, cosmology and human fate were deeply connected to one concept, heaven (tian ). Fung proposed five senses of tian in Chinese texts: a physical tian, sky or heaven and earth (tiandi ); a ruling tian in the form of an anthropomorphic supreme ruler, Shang Di (); a fatalistic tian, fate (ming ); a naturalistic tian, nature; and an ethical tian, an ethical principle intertwined with the cosmos (1991:55). Fung’s explanation is comprehensive but somewhat vague. In his interpretation, tian not only comprises a combination of the concepts concerning the natural realm, such as sky or nature, which belong to cosmology, but also a human-oriented perspective of the cosmos, such as Shang Di, fate or an ethical principle.

By contrast, David L. Hall and Roger T. Ames argue that tian and its constitutive phenomena interdependently generate each other. This is because tian as a cosmological whole does not have an origin, nor does it exist beyond the parts of its phenomena. The phenomena, myriad in nature, each contribute to the order of the whole cosmos, and metaphorically everything is the descendant of the nurturing mother, the whole that contains the need for every unit to flourish. In this respect, tian can be understood as the source of human beings, and as a source of admiration as well. Humans do not challenge tian. They express their admiration and respond to it.

Furthermore, because of the correlation between the parts and the whole, we naturally extend our human realm to tian. The lord of the human world is the son of tian psychologically and cosmologically. Hall and Ames’ interpretation successfully captures the Yi Jing’s worldview—heaven and earth as one (tian) consists of myriad things contributing to their own interacting phenomena (Hall and Ames, 1987:207).

Then, what exactly is the worldview of the Yi Jing?

The Worldview of the Yi Jing: A Changing World

The Yi Jing delineates a changing world. In order to understand time, the concept that contextualizes the world, one must start from an investigation of the worldview.

That is to say, in the Yi Jing, time is the key feature underpinning the processes of cosmological transformation; it indicates never-ending transformation (Nelson,

2011:386). Because time is a key component within the cosmos, then to know how the perspective of time shapes the ideology of the cosmos, one will inevitably have to deal with the cosmological structure. The changes in the cosmos have been elucidated in the Xici Zhuan:

In the heavens there are the (different) figures there completed, and on the earth

there are the (different) bodies there formed. (Corresponding to them) were the

changes and transformations exhibited (in the I).21

In order to fully understand this passage, it is necessary to clarify the ideas mentioned in the above passage, for these ideas, as critical parts, join together to form the picture of cosmic change. Four ideas will be examined with an etymology-oriented investigative approach. The above passage describes figures

(xiang ) and bodies (xing ) in the heavens and on the earth, while changes and transformations serve to exhibit the process of completion of xiang and xing. The

21(trans. Legge, 1971:377) 29 notions of xiang and xing require further study. Once they have been clarified, the concepts of change (bian ) and transformation (hua ) will in turn be examined, thus offering a better grasp of the meaning of the passage.

The Xici Zhuan provides three layers of definitions of xiang, which are “the phenomena” under the sky, the corresponding “diagrams or hexagrams” representing these variable phenomena, and diagrams “to resemble” phenomena. The Xici Zhuan states:

The sage was able to survey all the complex phenomena under the sky. He then

considered in his mind how they could be figured, and (by means of the

diagrams) represented their material forms and their character. Hence these

(diagrams) are denominated Semblances (or emblematic figures, the Hsiang).22

The diagrams are what we call hexagrams, which represent the semblances

(resemblances) of phenomena.

We have introduced that xiang contains three meanings: phenomena, hexagrams and resemblance. It is helpful to use an example of xiang’s three meanings from the

Yi Jing. For example, the Tuan Zhuan of the heng hexagram explains how the heng hexagram was created:

The sun and the moon have found their places in Heaven and so can shine

forever. The four seasons change one into the other and so can occur forever.

22(trans. Legge, 1971:385-386) 30

The sage stays forever within the course of the Dao and so brings about the

perfection of the entire world. If we observe how things manage to persevere, the

innate tendency [qing] of Heaven and Earth and all the myriad things can be

seen.23

First, heng refers to constancy. To be more specific, it means changing phenomena

(xianxiang, ), like seasons, the sun, and the moon. These phenomena change all the time in order to last forever, for change is the inevitable process of the world.

Second, the authors of the Yi Jing have observed these phenomena and created the heng hexagram. Thus, heng is also the name of a hexagram (guaxiang ) in the Yi

Jing. Finally, the heng hexagram is a resemblance of changing phenomena. Thus, the connection between phenomena and hexagrams is the source of the Yi Jing’s wisdom, the sage’s emulation of heaven.

In the same vein, the definition of bodies (xing ) relates to xiang (), which means xing carries the meaning of "to resemble" (xiang ) as well. This interpretation can be traced back to Shuo Wen Jie Zi, which simply combines xiang

() with xing to create xiangxing ().24 Thus, the conclusion is that xing and xiang are synonyms, as Duan Yucai concluded.25

In the Yi Jing, diagrams represent actual phenomena for the purpose of

23 (trans. Lynn, 1994:336) 24(Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 25(Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 31 divination. Thus, these diagrams serve as semblances of changing phenomena and the mutation of prognostications. The description in the Xici Zhuan states that the xiang and xing diagrams, created by the sage, represent the phenomena in heaven and earth.

However, the phenomena are not static; rather, they are dynamic, changing and processing. Xiang and xing, as symbols of phenomena, are recorded as hexagrams in the Yi Jing to simulate the phenomena of the world in order to reveal the future.

Hence, hexagrams replicate the transformation of phenomena, which includes the double connotations of change (yi ). Change is the transformation of phenomena as well as the outcome of prognostications. It is the constant change that makes time more obvious; if the phenomenal world is stationary, then it is indiscernible or even lifeless, without human beings existing to perceive time.

In the Yi Jing, the interaction of cosmos and humans forms a dynamic picture.

Like the layers of meanings of xiang and xing, the world as a whole has two dimensions, the cosmic and the human world. These layers are bridged by the sages, who understand phenomena as meaningful temporal events for humans. In other words, phenomena are imitated as diagrams representing variable circumstances, implying that shi exists in both the cosmic context and the human-contrived social-political context.

We have discussed xiang, xing and bian as phenomena in the world. How, then, is the last puzzle, hua, to complete the dynamic picture of the world?

Hall and Ames contend that for Confucius, culture (wen ) refers not just to a pattern but also to a vigorous process of development (hua ) (1987:323). Therefore, culture becomes wen hua , a vigorous pattern of development. In the same vein,

32 change (bian ) in the Yi Jing does not simply mean changing, but a vital emerging transformation (hua ).

Hence, change is bian hua . To explain the ideas of change (bian ) and transformation (hua ) in the Xici Zhuan, we must return to the Xici Zhuan, which features bian and hua as a compound term, bianhua (). It defines bianhua as the displacement between the yang and yin lines in hexagrams, and the lines resemble the dynamic change. The Xici Zhuan states:

The sages set down the hexagrams and observed the images. They appended

phrases to the lines in order to clarify whether they signify good fortune or

misfortune and let the hard and soft lines displace each other so that change and

transformation could appear.26

The hard and soft lines are the yang and yin lines. Bianhua is the displacement between the yang and yin lines in hexagrams. Furthermore, bianhua also refers to cosmic change.

Bianhua is the meaning of the cosmological dimension of heng. Heng denotes the immutable, a dynamic process of change. In this eternal process of change, the myriad things thrive and decay, and these natural cycles are elements of seasonal changes. These seasonal changes are a part of immutable natural phenomena. In this respect, these changes are constant. Therefore, constancy is the changes of the seasons, or more broadly, the cosmological process in general. This is evident in the hexagram

26(trans. Lynn, 1994:49) 33 of heng:

The sun and the moon have found their places in Heaven and so can shine

forever. The four seasons change one into the other and so can occur forever.

The sage stays forever within the course of the Dao and so brings about the

perfection of the entire world. If we observe how things manage to persevere, the

innate tendencies [qing]27 of Heaven and Earth and all the myriad things can be

seen.28

In comparison, the other interpretation of bian in Shuo Wen Jie Zi is equated to geng

.29 Geng can be further explained to mean “follow” or “continue” (ji ), as proposed by Duan Yucai ().30 Accordingly, yin follows yang, and yang continues to yin, in continual change, bian (). Yin and yang are the two basic sources that generate the myriad things. This is the macro world. This is reported in the Xugua Zhuan:

Only after there were Heaven [Qian, Pure Yang, Hexagram 1] and Earth [Kun,

Pure Yin, Hexagram 2] were the myriad things produced from them.31

27 The translator’s square brackets. 28 (trans. Lynn, 1994:336) 29(Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 30(Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 31(trans. Lynn 1994:103) 34

In Chinese philosophy, tian and humans are closely bound together. Thus, in a sense, tian can be a model for us to learn from. Hua, the latter half of the compound word BianHua, is defined in Shuo Wen Jie Zi as instructing and walking toward a direction (jiaoxing ), which implies a transformation originating from a higher position. The Shuogua Zhuan explains it thus:

In the distant past, the way the sage made the Changes is as follows: … He

observed the changes between yin and yang and so established the trigrams. As

the trigrams are begun and dispersed through the movement of the hard and soft

lines, he initiated the use of such lines.32

The sage observed the yin-yang changes in the cosmos, created the hexagrams accordingly, and then set up a method of divination according to this line-based system. In other words, the changing yin-yang hexagrams in the Yi Jing represent the process of transformation under the sky. This forms the foundation of the Yi Jing philosophy.

Time in the Yi Jing

The process within a changing yin-yang based world is how the Yi Jing approaches the dynamic changes in the cosmos, and time is a key feature in the

32 (trans. Lynn, 1994:119) 35 movements of heaven and earth. Change is necessary in relation to time, since it forms detectable transformation for humans to conceive as distinct events. This ideology is perspicuously indicated in the Xici Zhuan: “The strong and the weak (lines) displace each other, and produce the changes and transformations (in the figures).”33

The strong and weak lines symbolize yin and yang, the foundations of the cosmos, for this process shapes the cosmological scheme of the Yi Jing. Time is in the scheme of the cosmological processes being understood by humanity as meaningful events.

In the Yi Jing, the perspective of time points to a conceptualization of it as numerous event-clusters (shi ) or temporalities, which include ten thousand things

(wanwu ). This idea of time is described in the Tuan Zhuan of the hexagram

‘radical change’ (ge ):

Just as Heaven and Earth make use of Radical Change so that the four

seasons [shi ] come to pass, so did Tang and Wu bring about Radical

Change in the mandate to rule in compliance with the will of Heaven and in

accordance with the wishes of mankind. A time of Radical Change is indeed

great!34

Time as the four seasons contextualizes the changing world. It passes through events as changes of dynasties. These events are what wanwu participate in. This is why

Wonsuk Chang proposes a revision of the understanding of the cosmological ideas, ji,

33(trans. Legge, 1971:378) 34 (trans. Lynn, 1994:445) 36 tian, yin-yang, and correlative thinking, relating this understanding to the Yi Jing by arguing the figure of temporality and process of Chinese tradition (W. Chang,

2009:216). His study reveals that time in the Yi Jing is different from our common understanding of time as an abstract physical quality. Rather, time structures events

(shi )—which the ten thousand things (wanwu ) participate in—as temporality, and this in turn shapes the cosmos that we perceive.

To summarize, time in the Yi Jing is not just an abstract quality; time also reveals a dimension of the temporality of humans situated in the living world.

2.2.2 The Micro level of shi (timeliness)

Time is not just symbols of phenomena in the cosmos in the hexagrams, but it is understood as timeliness in the human realm. Richard Smith’s comment captures what the Yi Jing supports, which is a specific idea of time in Chinese Philosophy:

From a philosophical standpoint, the Changes exerted enormous influence. It

established, for instance, the conceptual underpinnings for much traditional

Chinese cosmology, as well as the point of departure for most philosophical

discussions of space and time. (R. Smith, 1998:395)

While time is situated in changing events, timeliness involves the actions that humans take in order to deal with encountered situations. To put it more simply, humans respond to time.

However, that is not the whole story. Humans imitate the cosmological order, 37 but humans also project their social-political structure onto the cosmos. Human societies are the correspondents and extensions of their father, tian, so feudal rulers are called “son of tian” (tianzi ) (Hall and Ames, 1987:207). This forms a dynamic picture of interaction between the cosmos and humans. This is why Fung argued the Yi Zhuan “according to the contemporary social model of women and men of their status and relationships extended to the relationship of Qian and Kun.”35

In this regard, hexagrams, believed to have originated from recording cosmic change, also reflect human circumstances.

The meaning of time in the hexagrams reflects human circumstances. This is the micro, human-level meaning of time. Liu makes a pertinent observation regarding this kind of time in the micro, human level:

The element of the time is prevalent in all hexagrams. Yi Jing often talks about

‘the demands of the time’. ‘The time’ in this book means more specifically the

variables in situations. (2007:180)

Thus, in the Yi Jing, time can mean ‘the demands of the time’. In other words, timeliness is an important topic in the Yi Jing.

According to the diagram system of the Yi Jing, a major aspect of time is in the lines of the hexagrams. The lines indicate variable circumstances, and these variable circumstances demand the requisite responsiveness, what "timeliness" involves. The sixty-four hexagrams and the lines in each hexagram, to borrow Liu’s description,

35(trans. Mine, Fung, 1990:474) 38

“exhaust all possible situations in the natural world” (2007:171). Thus, the Yi Jing is able to capture all possible situations in its yin-yang lines, and each line possesses a distinct circumstance. In Chinese, variables can mean changes (bian ), as explicitly stated in the Yi Jing: “The Yao [that is, the Duke of Chou’s explanations] speak of the changes (taking place in the several lines).”36 A line in the Yi Jing indicates a distinct circumstance, or a variable circumstance.

Time is not only a concept belonging to the natural realm; it is also a human-oriented concept that requires responsiveness.

I believe there can be two ways of interpreting how responsiveness can be fulfilled. First of all, human responsiveness can be understood as humans harmonizing with the cosmos. The cosmological view of time in Chinese philosophy is one of continual waxing and waning yin-yang processes. Thus, it is human responsiveness which aims to direct the reconfiguration of the human heart/mind () with every encountered situation, so as to fulfill one's life journey in “vast and complex spatial and temporal relations.” (Grange, 2011:374) We can find in the Wen

Yan Zhuan that it describes how an enlightened sage harmonizes with the cosmos:

“The great man is he who is in harmony, in his attributes, with heaven and earth.”37

The enlightened sage, who lives in accordance with the way of the cosmos, harmonizes the natural world with a human perspective. Humans perceive time as countless pivotal moments during which they respond to encountered occurrences, since the constantly changing cosmos gives rise to endless scenarios where the right moment for doing the right thing shifts constantly.

36(trans. Legge, 1971:379-380) 37(trans. Legge, 1971:425) 39

On the other hand, there is a second meaning of responsiveness: Timeliness is an important notion for humans for interacting with changing circumstances in everyday interactions. Hence, timeliness is a kind of responsiveness for humans to cope with perilous situations. In the Yi Jing, timeliness is manifest when maintaining vigilance toward circumstances, and also when preparing for upcoming dangers. In the Yi

Zhuan, there is a vivid example that demonstrates timeliness in the Yi Jing:

The Master said: “to get into danger is a matter of thinking one’s position

secure; to become ruined is a matter of thinking one’s continuance

protected; to fall into disorder is a matter of thinking one’s order enduring.

Therefore the noble man when secure does not forget danger, when

enjoying continuance does not forget ruin, when maintain order does not

forget disorder. This is the way his person is kept secure and his state

remains protected. The Changes say: ‘this might be lost, this might be lost,

so tie it to a healthy, flourishing mulberry.’” (trans. Lynn, 1994:83)

It is interesting that the whole passage does not contain a single word referring to time, but the scenarios clearly require that readers not feel secure; rather, they should always be cautious. The passage clearly requires readers to maintain vigilance about their circumstances because the ever-changing time influences the outcome of lives.

Fu Pei-Jung explains, “Changes give rise to a context wherein the locus of good timing varies constantly. Hence proper timing is especially important, as an outcome

40 can be altered through timing”38 (trans. Mine). Human responsiveness to daily circumstances is a lucid example of timeliness in the Yi Jing.

On a similar note, Eric S. Nelson states that “The Yi Jing is not about abstract time but the dynamic temporality of the living moment (shi )” (2011:387). That is to say, time, denoted by the Chinese character shi (), expresses a human-oriented perspective towards interpreting time. In this regard, abstract time should be realized as shi, a subjective circumstance in a particular moment. Thus, how one fathoms shi and then makes appropriate judgments is encapsulated in the wisdom of the Yi Jing.

This subjective time is placed in the eyes of humans as shi in the Yi Jing, awaiting responsiveness. Therefore, shi as timeliness encourages readers to observe and analyse encountered situations so as to respond in a timely fashion.

Timeliness is manifest in the practice of divination in the Yi Jing. The aim of the

Yi Jing is to instruct humans in divination in order to live in a changing world. To be more specific, divination is a method through which humans may decide what actions to take in order to respond in a timely manner. Notably, while divination can be an indirect method for decision-making, it can also be a method for subordinates to safely propose ideas to their superiors. Divination can also be a way of asking rulers to justify their orders (Hall and Ames, 1987:202; K. Smith, 1989:422). That is to say, divination can even be utilized as a positive response to accomplish our social-political needs and as an aid in our decision-making.

Divination is a method that can indicate possible future outcomes of a certain decision. Thus, divination is an example of timeliness, wherein humans make use of

38 (Fu, 2011:712) 41 the prognostications as an aid for analyzing information prior to acting. The Xici

Zhuan explains the reason why a wise man contemplates divination:

Therefore the superior man…when initiating any movement, he contemplates

the changes (that are made in divining), and studies the prognostications from

them. Thus is help extended to him from Heaven; there will be good fortune,

and advantage in every movement.'39

However, Benjamin I. Schwartz (1985) doubts the importance of divination in

Confucianism. The reason he proposes is that mundane fortune is not the concern of the Analects or other major Confucians; moral practice is. Furthermore, Schwartz reasons that the moral requirement in each distinct circumstance addressed in the Yi

Zhuan is superfluous, since these appropriate actions are just what a Confucian ought to do without any conditions:

On the contrary, the Analects, Mencius, and even Hsun-tzu emphatically reject

concern with worldly success or failure. … In the Confucian reading, however,

as in the case of Tung Chung-Shu’s linkage of his correlative cosmology with

Confucian values, what we find is the constant stress on the notion that the sage

and noble man is interested only in the proper moral posture required in each

situation. (Schwartz, 1985:397)

39(trans. Legge, 1971:379) 42

I would concede Schwartz’s assertion that Confucianism generally urges followers to practice ritual propriety. However, he neglects the fact that doing morally proper acts generally prevents harm from social-political misconduct. Therefore, moral requirements are in accord with the concerns of ordinary people; they are beneficial and fortuitous. Next, I will explain my argument in detail.

First, we can find a strong connection in the Analects. Confucius frequently encourages disciples to regulate themselves by means of conforming to ritual propriety (li ), which is the indispensible process of moral cultivation. The result of self-discipline is to set up a model for others to emulate, and through emulation, the living model will not stop propagating itself until all of society is governed by ritual propriety. For example, a paragraph in the Analects clearly shows this self-regulation teaching from the master:

Yan Hui inquired about authoritative conduct (ren ). The Master replied,

“Through self-discipline and observing ritual propriety (li ) one becomes

authoritative in one’s conduct. If for the space of a day one were able to

accomplish this, the whole empire would defer to this authoritative model.40

Thus, the conflicts between interpersonal interactions in society no longer exist, since everyone in the society conducts themselves well. This is why the Analects reveals that “Achieving harmony (he ) is the most valuable function of observing ritual

40 (12:1 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:152) 43 propriety (li ).”41 The function of ritual propriety is to produce a peaceful society.

Secondly, I would say that the Analects prioritizes moral education. However,

Confucius is still concerned with personal safety and even success, at least for his niece’s future happiness:

The Master remarked, “As for Nanrong, when the way (dao ) prevails in the

land, he does not go unemployed, but when it does not prevail, he avoids

punishment and execution.” He then gave him his niece in marriage.42

Thus, Confucius cares about timeliness and success. He marries his niece to Nanrong, a man who knows to avoid dangers and pursue success when the time is right.

On the other hand, divination also demonstrates a holistic integration of the human realm and the natural realm. Cheng explains clearly that:

One must see the organization of the hexagrams and their judgments as

motivated and directed by a single vision of reality that gives meaning to the

divinatory practice and which makes divination a method for understanding

human ends and desires in a world of contingent changes. (2011:343)

Human ends are contained in the contingent changes of the cosmos. This means that the human realm is a part of the cosmos, and it also implies that humans and the

41 (1:12 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:74) 42 (5:2 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:95) 44 cosmos as a whole are a part of the yin-yang flux. The activity of divination is given a purpose that includes human destinies and intentions, and this in turn derives from the worldview embedded in the content of the Yi Jing.

2.2.3 Conclusion

To conclude, in the Yi Jing, time, intertwined in the ceaseless cosmological yin-yang flow, manifests in human affairs as shi. Divination hints at possible paths that can be taken to respond to temporality in a timely fashion. Responsiveness is therefore how humans, situated in a world consisting of heaven, earth and mankind, make sense of time. The value of divination lies in its potential to anticipate or even alter destiny.

2.3 Position and Situatedness

This section continues to argue how heng can be interpreted as human’s responsiveness to circumstances. The focus of the section is that by means of understanding a pair of interrelated concepts, namely, position (wei ) and situatedness, responsiveness is understood as the practice of heng. Position prevails in the Yi Jing, as a position of a line in certain hexagrams, or indicating positions of heaven, earth and the myriad things in the cosmic triadic structure. It further implies the positions where human beings prosper in the cosmos or in the social-political interactions in the society.

However, wei in the Yi Jing refers not just to static positions. It also refers to

45 human beings being situated in positions. Consequently, wei connotes both position and situatedness. These two layers of meaning, position and situatedness, are inseparable when we interpret wei in the Yi Jing. They are also the key to interpreting responsiveness.

In other words, the dynamic human responsiveness takes place when human beings are situated in proper positions. The way humans interpret the world illuminates how humans respond to circumstances by adjusting their positions within the contexts wherein they are situated. People appear in contexts where they are situated in social-political positions and also in the broader structure of the living world. Position and situatedness together explain how observing environs and then situating oneself in human-scheme positions fulfills the kind of responsiveness in the

Yi Jing. This is how this study interprets the idea that, in the Yi Jing, the changing world requires humans constantly to respond to their environs.

This section is structured into two levels, the macro and the micro. The beginning is an analysis of two levels of situatedness, from the macro to the micro level, from how humans perceive the big changing world to societies. On the micro level, two differing connotations of situatedness can be distinguished. The first part concerns the importance of place; that is, where individuals are situated in each social stratum. The second part focuses on contextual social interactions.

2.3.1 The Macro Level and the Confucian Scheme of the World

In this section, I explore the greater perspective—what I call the ‘macro’ level—in the Yi Jing. This ‘macro’ level perspective is a context, within which all 46 beings and entities are situated. By the ‘macro’ level, I mean heaven, earth and the myriad things, including human beings.

The question of where to locate and understand an individual’s own position in the process of change is a recurrent topic in the Yi Jing. Confucians regard heng as a means of opposing the changing world. The Confucian perspective of the Yi Jing holds that human beings and the ten thousand things (wanwu ) are situated in their respective temporalities. The Xici Zhuan suggests:

Those with regular tendencies gather according to kind, and things divide up

according to group; so it is that good fortune and misfortune occur. In Heaven

this [process] creates images, and on Earth it creates physical forms; this is how

change and transformation manifest themselves.43

The process of change manifests as the phenomena of the world, and as the way humans perceive it as patterned fortunate or unfortunate events. This suggests that space is not independent of any event experienced by observers. According to the

Chinese intellectual tradition introduced by the Yi Jing, space is not separate from time, given that they are all part of cosmological processes experienced by humans as concrete events (Cheng, 1974:156). This is supported in the Yi Jing. The pure yang

(Qian ) hexagram symbolizes the creation of the world. In it, time and space are in the process of creating the ten thousand things and becoming the context of events experienced by humans. The Tuan Zhuan of qian describes how the world was

43 (trans. Lynn, 1994:47) 47 created and how to understand the time-space context:

How great is the fundamental nature of Qian! The myriad things are provided

their beginnings by it, and as such, it controls Heaven. It allows clouds to scud

and rain to fall and things in all their different categories to flow into forms.

Manifestly evident from beginning to end, the positions of six lines form, each at

its proper moment.44

Hence, instead of being an abstract concept, space should be understood as a time-space-context where humans and events are situated within the cosmos.

Chinese philosophy demonstrates that it is the temporal context within which individuals and events are situated. This perspective is supported by contemporary studies, as Ames and Rosemont show:

Metaphysically astigmatic, perhaps, the early Chinese thinkers never seem

to have perceived any substances that remained the same through time; rather in

our interpretation they saw “things” relationally, and related differently, at

different periods of time. Dao, the totality of things (wanwu ), is a process

that requires the language of both “change (bian )” and “persistence (tong

)” to capture its dynamic disposition. (1998:26)

Unlike Western philosophy’s tendency of essentialism, Chinese philosophy holds that

44 (trans. Lynn, 1994:129) 48 the world consists of transformative interrelated events. Humans are situated in this changing process, and they seek persistence in the world. It is the Yi Jing that helps humans by pointing to an advantageous way of persistence.

How does the Yi Jing describe the cosmos? Although the Yi Jing appears to depict a rudimentary worldview, a scheme of yin-yang ceaselessly proceeding, as

Cheng suggests, creating a cosmology is not the origin, nor is it the end from a

Confucian view (1996:154). In contrast, Sze-Kwang Lao proposes that hexagrams symbolize possible scenarios for divination, so they represent both the cosmological process and the process of life, which reveals a traditional belief of a correlation between the cosmological and life processes (Lao, 2004:81).

I agree with Lao’s view of a correlation between cosmological and life processes because, for pre-Qin Confucians, the cosmos is in fact a macro human society. In the

Yi Jing, the cosmological description often ends in human societies. It is hard to find a clear boundary between nature and humans. It is important to note that the word

“cosmos” originally referred to an appropriate order in a state (Munro, 1969:34).

Confucius’s followers focus on the social structure in which humans are situated, which they see as connected to the cosmos. In the end, the cosmic positions build the scheme, which enables flexible responsiveness to the social environments.

Position (Wei )

As mentioned above, human awareness of timely adjustment for social affairs is an important philosophical concern in the Yi Jing. In fact, the Tuan Zhuan of the restraint (gen ) hexagram describes how humans refrain from acting when required.

‘Let Restraint operate where restraint should take place, that is, let the restraining be done in its proper place.’45 A famous commentator in Chinese history, Wang Bi (

226-249 C.E.), expresses a similar view:

The constraint appropriate to one moment of time can undergo a reversal and

turn into an occasion to exert oneself, but the good fortune of one moment of

time can also undergo a reversal and turn into misfortune. Thus hexagrams form

pairs by opposites, and the lines involved also all change accordingly. This is

why there is no constant way with which application can comply, and there is no

fixed track for affairs to follow. (trans. Lynn, 1994:29)

As W. Chang comments, timely adjustments for personal or social events is a critical philosophical topic in the Chinese philosophical tradition (W. Chang, 2009:217). The

Yi Jing clearly reveals the focus on timeliness.

The key concept of position (wei ) is where human beings are situated in the cosmos. Thus, humans must understand wei in order to comprehend our place in the cosmos (Cheng, 1996:149). According to the ancient classical dictionary, Shuo Wen

Jie Zi (), wei refers to the positions where government officials stand on both (left and right) sides of the court.46 As the Qing Dynasty scholar Duan Yucai understood, the definition of wei in Shuo Wen Jie Zi could be further expanded to comprise all the positions in which people are situated.

45(trans. Lynn, 1994:467) 46(Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 50

In the Yi Jing, the Xici Zhuan defines that wei refers to the sage being situated in the highest position in the living world,47 the world where living beings may prosper.

A passage in the Xici Zhuan supports this Confucian ideology:

The Master [Confucius] said “The Changes, how perfect it is! It was by means of

the Changes that the sages exalted their virtues and broadened their undertakings.

Wisdom made them exalted, and ritual made them humble. Exalted, they

emulate Heaven, and, humble, they model themselves on Earth.”48

Hence, based on the imbedded clause, the sages then complete the nature of man

(xing ) in line with the virtues of benevolence (ren ) and righteousness (yi ), patterns of heaven and earth. This is specified in the Shuogua Zhuan:

In the distant past, the way the sages made the Changes was as follows: It

was to be used as a means to stay in accord with the principles of nature and

of fate. It was for this reason that they determined what the Dao of Heaven

was, which they defined in terms of yin and yang, what the Dao of Earth was,

which they defined in terms of hard and soft, and what the Dao of Man was,

which they defined in terms of benevolence and righteousness.49

47(Fu, 2005:548) 48 (trans. Lynn, 1994:56) 49 (trans. Lynn, 1994:120) 51

The idea of wei in the Xici Zhuan provides the scheme for humans to take action in response to the world we live in. The Xici Zhuan points out:

…With Heaven and Earth having their positions thus fixed, change

operates in their midst. As it allows things to fulfill their natures and keep

on existing, this means that change is the gateway through which the

fitness of the Dao operates.50

Thus, according to the Yi Jing, the sages realize the potential of positions for heaven and earth (tiandi ). As the Xici Zhuan attests, “Heaven and Earth established the positions of things, and the sages fully realized the potential inherent in them.”51

The Confucian sages aim to secure an organized society for people thriving in it.

For the sages, positions are the places where space-time events continually occur and change, and it is within this context that humans are to accomplish their moral journey.

As Cheng suggests, in the phenomenal world consisting of ceaselessly changing yin-yang forces, humans, as participants in the world, should position themselves in such a way that they are able to harmonise with the cosmos by means of practicing morals (1996:157). The Xu Gua Zhuan expresses this idea thus: “Only after there were superiors and subordinates did propriety and righteousness have a medium in which to operate.”52 Practicing morals is the way the sages organize society.

In Confucian thought, morals serve as socially-oriented practices contributing to

50(trans. Lynn, 1994:56) 51(trans. Lynn, 1994:94) 52(trans. Lynn, 1994:106) 52 a harmonious society. The relationship between the cosmos and human society is intricately connected in Confucian thought. On the one hand, a harmonious society is in line with a harmonious cosmos, so it means society is resonant with the cosmos. On the other hand, heaven and earth are the ultimate paradigm for humans to emulate.

Hence, society is a micro version of the cosmos.

In sum, the idea of incorporating humans within the time-space cosmological structure makes the anticipation of and responsiveness to circumstances imperative.

The incorporation of humanity into the cosmological structure urges humans to fulfill their nature, morals, and socially-oriented practices.

Situatedness

Ancient Confucians pictured humans in a correlative relationship with the cosmos. Since both human society and the cosmos shared the same governing rules, they reasoned that human societies corresponded to the cosmos. In the ancient world of China, there was a tendency to interpret the cosmic order as human social norms.

The most famous example is the concept of correlative cosmology in the Han dynasty.

According to this theory, the whole world, including tian and humanity, belongs to certain sets of categories, and things are correlated in a distinct pattern within the same category. It means that, in correlative cosmology, norms in societies can be found in corresponding patterns in tian (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002:142). Donald J.

Munro also concurred, writing:

In other words, the early Confucians first read into nature certain principles

found in the customary norms, as well as the social virtues that are realized

through obedience to those norms. (1969:32)

In this regard, what makes humans parallel to the cosmos is the principle of normative social conventions, which is compatible with constancy in nature. In the Yi

Jing, as the Xici Zhuan declares:

As a book, the Changes is something which is broad and great, complete in

every way. There is the Dao of Heaven in it, the Dao of Man in it, and the Dao of

Earth in it. It brings these three powers together and then doubles them.53

In the Xici Zhuan, this macro level situatedness is manifest in the cosmic triad of the world, called the three powers (sancai ). The three powers can be found in both the Xici Zhuan and the Shuo Gua Zhuan. Sancai means the position where human agents fulfill their roles, in response to heaven’s command (tianming ). In the Yi

Jing, a careful reader can still find passages supporting a tacit relation despite the lack of any explicit connection of sancai and tianming,

To use a great sacrificial beast means good fortunes,” and “it is fitting to set out

to do something,” for one here obeys Heaven’s commands. Observe how

gathering takes place here, for in such gathering the innate tendencies of the

53 (trans. Lynn, 1994:92) 54

myriad things can be seen.54

There are innate tendencies of the myriad things. In the case of humans, the innate tendency is gathering, or forming societies situated between heaven and earth, and receiving commands from heaven to respond to the surroundings. The idea of sancai holds that the world contains three origins, namely heaven, earth and humans, thus forming the triadic cosmic structure. Sancai is also the location where human agents are situated, in the larger scheme of heaven and earth, as understood by the authors of the Yi Jing.

In addition, the triadic structure is made for securing human prosperity.

Correspondingly, the human social structure is arranged like the triadic structure to make it prosperous. This is vividly described in the Tuan Zhuan of the obstruction (pi

) hexagram:

That is, as Heaven and Earth are estranged, the myriad things do not interact, and

as those above and those below are estranged, there is no true polity in the

world.55

Without heaven and earth providing proper positions for humans to interact with, there is no society. In the same vein, without proper positions for social interactions, there is no polity.

54 (trans. Lynn, 1994:418) 55(trans. Lynn, 1994:212) 55

Controversially, scholars like Y. P. Mei claims to comprehend the notion of sancai as an embodiment of the emphasis on the importance of man in Chinese tradition (1967:324). However, I am not convinced. Mei has a tendency to polarize sancai as a kind of anthropocentrism. In my view, the Yi Jing does not tend to delineate a narrow, human-focused worldview. It is not unusual that Chinese thinkers talk about human beings as a part of their emphasis. Especially, the social norms for ancient Confucians were so natural that they were generalized to cosmic phenomena

(Munro, 1969:39). However, this does not mean they think human beings dominate the world. It is critical to note that the Yi Jing does not advocate anthropocentrism. On the contrary, humans depend on heaven and earth for places to live and participate with the myriad things in the changing phenomena. Ultimately, humans are merely situated in the cosmos; humans do not dominate the cosmos.

It is possible for the Yi Jing, which was originally a divination manual, to direct human responsiveness. In this way, the social customs for individuals in society are the practical manifestation of the way of heaven, earth, and humans, and social customs often arise out of practical responsiveness towards interpersonal relationships.

This idea is supported in the section of the Tuan Zhuan that explains the Family (jia ren ) hexagram:

That man and woman occupy their correct places is the great

righteousness shown (in the relation and positions of) heaven and earth.56

56(trans. Legge, 1971:195) 56

The correspondence of Heaven, earth and humanity is how Confucians believed and relentlessly attempted to maintain the way of Heaven. The Shuo Gua Zhuan concurs:

It was for this reason that they (sages) determined what the Dao of Heaven was,

which they defined in terms of yin and yang, what the Dao of Earth was, which

they defined in terms of hard and soft, and what the Dao of Man was, which they

defined in terms of benevolence and righteousness. They brought these three

powers together and doubled them….57

The path (dao ) is realized by enlightened sages, who follow and emulate the naturally displayed heaven-earth pattern. The path must be followed because it is the way of nature. That is to say, human beings situated in the cosmic triad relationship have a moral responsibility, or in JeeLoo Liu’s terminology, a moral commandment

[moral imperative] (Liu, 2007:171). By following the way of nature, human beings fulfill their moral responsibility.

Given that the phrase “moral commandment” may cause concerns that the term insinuates a moral commandment from gods, it needs further clarification. Borrowing from Jewish tradition, “moral commandment” is not a preferable interpretation in this context, since there is no transcendental being in the Yi Jing to issue any moral commandments.

57 (trans. Lynn, 1994:120) 57

In contrast, I think that the Yi Jing is a book that aims at practical ends. It requires that humans identify themselves in relation to heaven and earth through the moral requirement, "heaven’s mandate". It is also humans who define and establish their relative positions in the grand scheme of the cosmos. Thus, it is humans who complete the journey of life corresponding to cosmic processes. This kind of thinking is prominent in the Yi Jing. The viewing hexagram (guangua ), a hexagram literally describing observation, is an example of human responsiveness to the cosmos:

Viewing the numinous Dao of Heaven, one finds that the four seasons never

deviate, and so the sage establishes his teachings on the basis of this numinous

Dao, and all under Heaven submit to him!58

In other words, in order to cope with life, humans observe the world to find out who they are, and they designate themselves in society.

It is important to note that the Yi Jing does not specify humans. Instead, it discusses the sages (shenren ). The sages are the representatives of human culture, and they lead humans into the next generation (Ames and Rosemont,

1998:64). Humans are followers of the sages. In this respect, these sages are humanity in general. In addition, I would tend to say “heaven’s mandate” is the highest goal.

This goal is not a target for commoners, since it is hard for an individual to modulate the whole of society in the way Confucius pictures—a society of li. The responsibility

58(trans. Lynn, 1994:260) 58 of sage kings is to bring social structures in accord with the cosmic scheme, and by doing so to become part of the cosmic triad (Munro, 1969:40). Therefore, human societies and the cosmos both belong to the realm of sage kings in the changing universe.

2.3.2 Micro level of Situatedness

In the micro level of situatedness, position refers to where individuals are situated in societies, investigating circumstances and being vigilant about approaching danger. In my view, responsiveness in the Yi Jing is concerned with managing one’s real life practically. In the Yi Jing, anticipating and preparing for the future is achieved by means of the concept of incipient movement (ji ). The Xici Zhuan describes ji as incipient movement of events that allows potentials to be actualized:

“‘They made apparent the minutest springs of (things):’ - therefore they could bring to a completion all undertakings under the sky.”59 Before entering into the discussion of ji, it is helpful to first clarify the origin of the word and the way it functions as an important concept for manifesting heng and human responsiveness.

The importance of place — Incipient movement (ji )

In its most basic sense, ji refers to the minutest things. This leads to another sense of “danger”, possibly because this kind of “danger” arises from minute changes going unnoticed. The Shuo Wen Jie Zi () states, “Ji is the minutest things;

59 (trans. Legge, 1971:392) 59 danger.”60 As Duan Yucai suggests, “ji is the minutest things. The Xici Zhuan writes:

‘Those springs [ji] are the slight beginnings of movement, and the earliest indications of good fortune (or ill)’ (trans. Legge, 1971:407)”61 Notably, in real life, people face variable circumstances every day, and those circumstances are what people need to cope with. The Yi Jing provides instructions to avoid such dangers.

What distinguishes the Yi Jing ’s instructions from action-guiding strategies by means of prognostication, such as astrology, is that it relies on social rituals to deal with upcoming interpersonal situations. Wang Bi comments that the words (the words in the basic text) and even the images (hexagrams) are the sources for divination, which help users to understand the ideas (Lynn, 1994:31). He writes: “Images are the means to express ideas. Words are the means to explain the images.”62 The ideas are from the enlightened sages who perceived the wisdom. This wisdom would now be called social conventions based on generations of accumulated social experiences.

This means that the methodology of the Yi Jing is akin to the inductive method. I am not claiming that the Yi Jing is a strict social scientific divinatory essay—collecting data, analyzing data, and then making a conclusion—like a modern statistical analysis.

Divination is unlikely to fit in the paradigm of the modern scientific framework

(Schöter, 2011:418), or even the paradigm of social science. Nevertheless, I think that ji indicates an ancient Chinese traditional wisdom, namely a method of prognostication. This method implies that social conventions can illuminate a

60 (Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 61 (Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 62 (trans. Lynn, 1994:31) 60 well-ordered social mechanism.

This method required keen awareness of the correlation of social events. An example of the divinatory process, described by Kidder Smith in his Zhou Yi divination case study in the Zhozhuan (), consisted of two stages. In the first stage, the divination officials performed stalkcasting and thus acquired a prognostication for the request. The second stage took place when the prognostication was too vague for the lords who posed the question, so a further explanation was needed (K. Smith, 1989:429). In the whole process, the interpretation of the prognostication was crucial. The interpreter had to conform the omen of milfoils to the current circumstances and make an appropriate inference. The appropriate inference needed to be politically correct, morally acceptable, and culturally supportive (K. Smith, 1989:429).

In the Yi Jing, ji is crucial when it comes to the activity of divination.

Understanding ji allows human agents to respond accordingly. An example inspired by Shaughnessy’s study is enquiries about diseases (1995:236). A person may wonder whether he will catch an epidemic plague, so he consults the Yi Jing by performing divination. The result states, “My enemy has an illness, it can not approach me; auspicious.”63 It is conceivable that the authors of the Yi Jing experienced similar circumstances and recorded them, and the record became accumulated wisdom. The person who consults the Yi Jing sees the line and compares it to his own circumstances; after scrutinizing it, he may avoid the infected. The important point is that the person has to be aware of his precarious circumstances and take action before

63(Shaughnessy, 1995:236) 61 a potential ominous outcome—in this case, catching a plague. This further implies the capacity of human agents to be aware of ji, as well as their potential to adjust according to ji. As the “subtle beginning of action (dong zhi wei )”, ji is the crucial point to make the decision (R. Smith, 2013:153). This is what the Yi Jing describes, “A person who understands what a maximum point is and fulfills it can take part in the incipiency of the moment.”64 The reality of the world is built upon continual change, meaning that there are no fixed patterns to be followed; this lack of a pattern obstructs those who want to complete their undertakings in the world. I tend to think that one of the major goals of the Yi Jing is to instruct people in how to lead fulfilling lives in societies where every person is situated in distinct positions, and in how to act correspondingly. At least, in this way, people may avoid the dangers of violating social taboos in the social-political relationships. Wang Bi states,

Thus once one’s rank is established as either high or low, one must not act

contrary to his position, and once one encounters occasions where one should be

anxious about remorse and great, even small matters must not be treated slightly.

(trans. Lynn, 1994:31)

This admonition from Wang Bi to be aware of trivial matters suggests the importance of vigilance and anticipation. By observing incipient movement (ji ), the sage can predict the future to accomplish events. A society is a nest of living

64 (trans. Lynn, 1994:135) 62 relations wherein humans perceive their own positions, so that they may meaningfully participate in the processes of the cosmos. The present is always changing, being shaped by the actions that people have taken and the situations they are involved in.

Wang Bi’s exegesis expresses:

The hexagrams deal with moments of time, and the lines are concerned with the

states of change that are appropriate to those times. Moments of time entail

either obstruction or facility, thus the application [of a given hexagram] is either

a matter of action or of withdrawal. (trans. Lynn, 1994:29)

The Yi Jing states that the sages (shengren ) take part in ji, incipient movements, in order to anticipate potential results: “He forthwith knows of what kind will be the coming result.”65 How can sages “know” the future? This is crucial in understanding how ji works. As I mentioned above, divination in the Yi Jing relies on social rituals to respond to social interactions. Accordingly, there are conventional patterns for each scenario, and these patterns enable sages to see the beginning of a pattern and act immediately upon it. Sages recorded these experiences into divinatory tools, and that is how the Yi Jing was created. In other words, people who already understand a concept do not need to perform a divination. Therefore, the Xici Zhuan states:

65 (trans. Legge, 1971:392) 63

The Master said: “The sages established images in order to express their ideas

exhaustively. They established the hexagrams in order to treat exhaustively the

true innate tendency of things and their countertendencies to spuriousness. They

attached phrases to the hexagrams in order to exhaust what they had to say…”66

To elaborate further, ji is the key to responding to coming events in a timely and flexible manner. The Xici Zhuan states, “The superior man sees them (ji), and acts accordingly without waiting for (the delay of) a single day.”67 Cheng clarifies:

It takes the wisdom of a person to notice the ji (incipient movement) of a

movement so that he can be prepared for, or can participate in, the movement.

(1996:167)

Every hexagram represents a possible scenario that demands human agents to move in accordance with the situation. In other words, they require humans to position themselves in a situation with flexibility. The disposition that the Yi Jing instructs us to adopt is one towards wisdom, which allows us to adapt to the complexity of the social events that we create and participate in.

Contextual social interactions — zhong (the middle [the Mean] )

In human society, an individual stands not only in a situational position but also

66 (trans. Lynn, 1994:67) 67(trans. Legge, 1971:407) 64 in relation to other human beings. A society is like an enormous webbed network, and at any one time, an individual is situated in a position that connects him or her to numerous relationships. These interpersonal relationships are diverse; Confucian philosophy commonly refers to a parental relationship, a sibling relationship, an emperor-official relationship, and a friendship. An individual can be connected to multiple relationships at the same time, since an individual can be a father and an emperor concurrently. These relationships are what the users of the Yi Jing experience in their everyday lives. Establishing the manner with which one may respond to these complex social affairs is the goal of divination. Throughout the prognostications of every hexagram, we can observe instructions aimed at managing interpersonal relationships. In the Yi Jing, one particular concept is especially relevant when it comes to this aspect of situatedness; that concept is the notion of the middle, the mean

(zhong ).

Zhong is a foundational concept that connotes appropriateness. In the Shuo Wen

Jie Zi, zhong means inside.68 Duan Yucai further explains that it can also refer to appropriateness. 69 In the Yi Jing, a hexagram symbolizes a situation which individuals may face, and the lines (yao ) in the hexagrams can be seen as a particular position in interpersonal relationships. Zhong mostly appears in the middle lines of lower/upper trigrams, which represents both the middle positions of a hexagram and being in the midst of social relationships (Cheng, 1996:164). The

(Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/

[Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) (Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016])

65 middle position could have two interpretations. First, it symbolizes the political power of the ruling classes in the center position (Chan, 2012:136). However, zhong must have another meaning, for the idea of ruling classes itself contains a premise of a mutual social-political relationship between rulers and the people being ruled. Zhong, as an attitude of appropriateness, is required in a mutual relationship between two parties responding to each other. It is easy to imagine a scenario where an appropriate attitude is important for interacting with people of different social-political status. For example, in the hexagram for increase (yi ), the line statement in the fourth yin line says:

If one treads the path of the Mean and so reports to the duke, he shall have his

way. It is fitting to rely on such behavior to seek support to move the capital of

the state.70

The mean (zhong ) can indicate appropriateness. In the context of this line statement, zhong refers to an appropriate way to interact with the duke, who is a superior. It is strongly suggested that it is crucial to act appropriately so as to prevent danger arising from interpersonal failures. The ways in which one can respond to an encountered situation are deeply related to one's contextual position. Although the context constantly changes, zhong, which concerns timing and flexibility in a relationship, is the constant path.

70 (trans. Lynn, 1994:400) 66

2.3.3 Conclusion

In summary, timeliness, situatedness, positions and flexibility together form the basis for heng. They characterize constant responsiveness toward situations. This is the major theme in the Yi Jing. As Richard John Lynn comments, regarding the issues with which the Yi Jing is concerned:

The interrelatedness of personal character and destiny; how position defines

scope of action; how position and circumstances define appropriate modes of

behavior; how the individual is always tied to others in a web of interconnected

causes and effects; how one set of circumstance inevitably changes into another;

and how change itself is the great constant—and flexible response to it the only

key to happiness and success. (1994:9)

The Yi Jing teaches us that the great constancy is change. Furthermore, the Yi Jing teaches that in the world, yin and yang change positions. This in turn places great importance on knowing the position of the self, knowing the circumstances of a situation, and acting in a proper way (Li, 2006:587). This is part of the wisdom of

Chinese philosophy.

Chapter Three Constancy in the Analects

3.1 Introduction

Heng is an important concept in the Yi Jing and the Yi Zhuan. It is also crucial in the Analects. As Qingjie Wang suggests, heng is an important virtue of an exemplary person in the Analects (2001:57). Continuing the previous chapter, this chapter focuses on the analysis of the characteristics of heng in the Analects. The Analects consists of dialogues between the master Confucius and his disciples. This group of people interchanges their ideas around specific themes. These themes are in the context of daily practices. In this chapter, heng as Confucian practices is analyzed according to two selective themes in the Analects.

The most well-known concept in the Analects is “ren” (), which can be translated into English as benevolence, humaneness, love, humanity, human-heartedness, or the authoritative person. It is the idea most frequently asked about by Confucius’ disciples, and Confucius defines it in different ways for different students under variable circumstances (Analects, 6:22, 12:1, 12:2, 12:3, 12:22, 13:19,

17:6). Therefore, it is evident that ren is a core theme in the Analects.

Interestingly, ren seldom appears in the texts written before the Spring and

Autumn period. During the Western Zhou period (Xizhou Shidai , 1046–

771 B.C.E), the meaning differs from that of the Confucian ren. In the Book of Poetry, the phrase meiqieren appears twice. Schwartz translates both occurrences to

“handsome and ren”, and suggests that in both cases ren refers to the manly or virile characteristic of noble men in the context of hunting (Schwartz, 1985:75). Thus, ren denoted positive qualities for generations. 68

It is evident that Confucians view ren as a unique moral quality, and they have put it in the central position of Confucian thinking. What does ren mean in the

Analects? How does it relate to heng? These questions are answered in the first section, which is on the constancy of ren.

The other important idea in this chapter is trustworthiness (xin ). Among ideas central to the Analects, xin is unquestionably on the list. Xin appears in the text thirty eight times. Although xin is not as well-known as benevolence (ren ) or ritual propriety (li ) among scholars, it is undeniably one of the acknowledged ideas. Furthermore, it is often termed with other crucial Confucian concepts. Sincerity

(cheng ) and righteousness (yi ) are two prominent examples. The combination of xin and other Confucian concepts maps a conceptual web of Confucianism in the

Analects. Moreover, the Analects holds that xin is significant in Confucian education

The Analects indicates, “The Master taught under four categories: culture (wen ), proper conduct (xing ), doing one’s utmost (zhong ), and making good on one’s word (xin ).”71 As David L. Hall and Roger T. Ames indicate, xin is one of four of

Confucius’ teachings (1987:60).

This chapter focuses on the analysis of constancy (heng ) in the Analects.

Heng can be understood as human responsiveness within two characteristics: benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness (xin ). First, ren has three connotations as exemplifications of heng. A person with ren (renzhe ) is reliable both in principled judgment and in the characteristic of acting with ren consistently in every circumstance. Timeliness and flexibility are crucial for renzhe to be reliable. Second,

71(7:25 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:116) 69 xin connotes reliability in words and deeds. In particular, xin is not an inflexible moral requirement, for it is needed to respond to social-political situations.

3.2 Constancy of Ren

Constancy in the Analects connotes one of the most important moral concepts; i.e., ren (). Ren is, as Olberding expresses, “moral achievement of the highest order ”

(2013:67). By arguing that ren contains constancy, I propose three connotations of ren, which I explain below.

First of all, ren is a lifelong moral achievement. In the Analects, this is revealed in the following questions: “Where they take authoritative conduct (ren ) as their charge, is it not a heavy one? And where their way ends only in death, is it not indeed long?”72 Thus, constancy is the commitment to fulfill ren (Slingerland, 2001:114). In this regard, constancy is a desirable achievement, as Slingerland suggests, one that progresses through self-cultivation until a person’s demise (2001:114). It means constancy is the characteristic to sustain oneself to achieve ren.

Second, the Analects discloses that no one but a person with ren (renzhe ) has a sense of discrimination. Constancy in this context refers to stability of one’s values. A sense of discrimination is based on the constancy of ren. Weighing (quan

) refers to judging things according to their importance.

The ability to know others (zhiren ) is an example of a sense of discrimination. Zhiren refers to the selection of virtuous officials for government.

72 (8:7 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:122) 70

Renzhe possess a sense of discrimination to make principled judgments. Thus, from

Confucius onwards, ren took on a normative sense.

Finally, ren is a characteristic of a person with ren (renzhe ). Renzhe are reliable regardless of circumstances. In addition, in order to be reliable, renzhe need to be flexible in their conduct. That is to say, flexibility of conduct is necessary for reliability. Right or righteousness (yi ) refers to doing what is appropriate in each circumstance. Renzhe needs yi to apply appropriate conduct in specific circumstances.

Thus, renzhe has to be flexible based on yi. Renzhe are thus reliable, but pragmatic.

This section is separated into two parts. The etymological study of ren provides a preliminary idea of the concept. Next, the three connotations of ren support the constancy of ren in the Analects.

3.2.1 Ren: an etymological enquiry

A suitable starting point is an etymological investigation of the character. In the

Shuo Wen Jie Zi, ren denotes intimacy (qin, ).73 On the other hand, Hall and Ames suggest that ren be interpreted as a verb meaning, “Extending affection to those close at hand.” (1987:119) When a person extends her affection to people close to her, this kind of behavior forms different unique social relationships. For example, familial relationships, friendships, or teacher-student relationships are layers of relationships generated by intimate inter-personal relationships. Consequently, ren is also the embodiment of intimate relationships. This is why, in the Analects, one of Confucius’

73(Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]) 71 disciples points out that the foundation of ren is filial piety (xiao, ), the closest human kinship from childhood. In the Analects, it says:

The philosopher You said, "They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond

of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to

offend against their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. The

superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all

practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission! - are

they not the root of all benevolent actions?"74

In the Kangxi Zidian (), ren lists an ancient form of the character “ren

”. This form is composed from the word for “thousand” (qian, ) on the top and the word for “heart-mind” (xin, ) on the bottom. Duan Yucai interprets qian to function as the phonetic radical.75 A phonetic radical represents the pronunciation of a word. However, ren includes qian, meaning drawing close to people. I think the qian component denotes thousands of people, as this would correspond to the Shuo

Wen Jie Zi’s definition.

The heart-mind (xin ) component is the radical of ren. In the previous discussion of heng, it is pointed out that xin, with its heart-mind radical, implies that agents must cultivate their minds until they attain a state of regularity in character.

74 (1:2 trans. Legge, 1971:138) 75(Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016])

This heart-mind radical indicates that ren is a process of cultivation, one of becoming an exemplary model for thousands of people.

In one of the Confucian classics, the Mencius (Mengzi, ), ren means the characteristic of “people”. In the Mencius, Mencius describes ren as the way of people: “‘Benevolence’ means ‘man’. When these two are conjoined, the result is ‘the way.’”76 Ren and ren are cognate words, and the word ren consists of the characters for people and the number two (Lau, 2004:160). Then, what kind of qualitative implications distinguish these two terms? It is a certain degree of being a person that makes a distinguishable qualitative difference (Hall and Ames,

1987:114). The Mencius (Li Lou I) reveals ren as the quality of benevolence of a true king:

…The people turn to the benevolent as water flows downwards or as animals

head for the wilds. Thus the otter drives the fish to the deep; thus the hawk drives

birds to the bushes; and thus Chieh and Tchou drove the people to T‘ang and

King Wu. Now if a ruler in the Empire is drawn to benevolence, all the feudal

lords will drive the people to him. He cannot but be a true king.77

In the passage, ren is ascribed to the exemplified sage rulers. They are the models of

76(trans. Lau, 2004:160) 77 (trans. Lau, 2004:81) 73 their social-political communities. In other words, ren is the quality of an authoritative person.

In summary, ren is understood as the process of a person becoming a true model of interpersonal relationships in their social-political communities. In other words, ren is, as Hall and Ames state, “a process term denoting qualitative transformation of the person and achievement of authoritative humanity” (Hall and Ames, 1987:114). An authoritative person embodies the responsiveness in the social-political circumstances so that such a person is in the process of becoming an exemplary person.

3.2.2 Ren: Lifelong Commitment

In the introduction and methodology, I mentioned that ren has three connotations.

Each of these three relates to a meaning of constancy. In this part, I provide passages from the Analects to support my ideas.

Ren is a lifelong moral commitment, and heng is the virtue to achieve it. Heng is a virtue that allows people to persevere on the right track. This is the first connotation of ren.

Edward Slingerland’s study of the Analects is an illustration of this connotation of ren.78 Ren for him is the goal of Confucian self-cultivation. He describes ren as the ultimate aim, the telos:

Unlike more limited practices such as the martial arts or artisan crafts, the

Confucian practices described and advocated in the Analects —ritual

78 His study is based on MacIntyre’s virtue ethics. See MacIntyre, 1981. 74

training, study, the enjoyment of music—share a very lofty telos: the

production of a gentleman, one who possesses the overarching Confucian virtue

of ren (2001:112).

To achieve ren, the Analects holds, Confucian followers need to master a course of cultural training. The learning is based on the study of antiquity (Waley, 2007:191).

In Olberding’s terminology, Confucius proposes a set of cultural refinements (2014:6).

This training tells us methods to achieve ren, but the execution of the whole course of training demands support. What kind of support helps people to overcome obstacles during training?

It is heng that supports people to endure till the end of the cultivation process.

Heng is a virtue of perseverance to achieve ren. Although Confucius does not emphasize heng as a desirable personal trait in the Analects, heng is necessary for self-cultivation. As Slingerland suggests, “Although not recognized as a specific, named virtue in the Analects, such constancy is clearly valued as a character trait.”

(2001:113) Thus, we may find passages that suggest heng, but heng does not directly appear in those passages.

A reason that ren requires perseverance is because ren is a lifelong process of cultivation. In order to fulfill the virtue of heng, lifelong commitment is required, as referred to twice in the Analects (Analects, 7:26, 13:22) (Lo, 2014:60).

One of Confucius’ disciples, Zengzi, lamented that the journey to achieve ren is just too long:

Scholar-apprentices (shi ) cannot but be strong and resolved, for they bear a

heavy charge and their way (dao ) long. Where they take authoritative

conduct (ren ) as their charge, is it not a heavy one? And where their way

ends only in death, is it not indeed long?79

For Zengzi, only death can release the responsibility to sustain ren. This means that perseverance is required, for as long as you are alive, the goal is not yet completed.

In addition, the Analects also requires a person to maintain ren because of one’s commitment to moral standards, regardless of circumstances. In order to endure difficulties, perseverance is critical. Here, perseverance means maintaining one’s commitment to moral standards. In the Analects, the best disciple of Confucius can last three months without departing from ren (6:7 trans. Ames and Rosemont,

1998:105). For instance, poverty is a common obstacle in real life, and being poor is likely to turn people’s attention to material needs. Confucius explains how a person should preserve ren when facing poverty:

…Wherein does the exemplary person (junzi ) who would abandon their

authoritative conduct (ren ) warrant that name? Exemplary persons do not

take leave of their authoritative conduct even for the space of meal. When they

are troubled, they certainly turn to it, as they do in facing difficulties.80

79 (8:7 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:122) 80 (4:5 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:90) 76

Confucius realizes the deleterious effect of poverty on a person’s ability to concentrate on moral requirements, but he urges his followers to face challenges.

Moral standards cannot be compromised, since only a person with ren (renzhe ) can last till the end (Analect, 4:2). Heng is the commitment of people to lifelong cultivation.

When facing difficulties, a person with ren is untroubled. In fact, Confucius claims that without the virtue of ren, people could not endure in a state of worldly success or loss. He remarks:

Those persons who are not authoritative (ren ) are neither able to endure

hardship for long, nor to enjoy happy circumstances for any period of time.

Authoritative persons are content in being authoritative; wise persons (zhi )

flourish in it.81

Confucius believes that renzhe are comfortable with both positive and negative material circumstances. It seems that renzhe focus on moral standards instead of worldly pursuits. These worldly circumstances are not obstructions to being a virtuous person, as Confucius says:

To eat coarse food, drink plain water, and pillow oneself on a bent arm— there

is pleasure to be found in these things. But wealth and position gained through

81 (4:2 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:89) 77

inappropriate (buyi ) means—these are to me like floating clouds.82

People with ren persevere ren, and this perseverance in return makes them remain resolute in the face of worldly situations.

In summary, ren, being a lifelong commitment, requires perseverance. Heng, constancy, is the virtue of perseverance to ren. Through a lifelong journey of cultivation, heng is required to keep moral standards regardless of circumstances.

People with ren persevere in worldly situations. When it comes to self-cultivation, other things become irrelevant.

3.2.3 Ren: A Sense of Discrimination

As mentioned in the introduction and methodology, ren has three connotations.

In this part, I focus on the second connotation of ren, which is using proper discrimination.

Ren is a culminated personal quality in the Analects. It is the main ethical ideal emphasized in the text (Shun, 2002:53). In the Analects, people embody this ethical ideal, and this is what contributes to the way of Confucianism. As Confucius says, “It is the person who is able to broaden the way (dao ), not the way that broadens the person”83 It is necessary to include manifestations of ren in a person, since people who possess ren practice conduct of ren in their everyday lives. Without social

82 (7:16 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:114) 83 (15:29 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:190) 78 practices, ren is obscure and abstract. Thus, the study of a person with ren discloses embodiments of ren.

The Analects reveals that only a person with ren possesses a sense of proper discrimination. This sense of discrimination helps renzhe to make better judgments than others. A renzhe is a person of the highest ethical quality. Such a person can see other people’s moral qualities and others’ weaknesses of personality. This is because only people with consummate character can track down every deviation from

Confucian moral standards. The ability of renzhe makes them qualified observers of people’s moral quality. For instance, Confucius indicates that the renzhe have an ability to discriminate a good person from a bad one: “The authoritative person (ren

) alone has the wherewithal to properly discriminate the good person from the bad.”84 Renzhe observe people and categorize them into good and bad. This is to say, renzhe have an ability to discern a person’s character, and they can further categorize other people’s moral imperfections.

A sense of discrimination helps renzhe to make balanced judgments. In the

Analects, weighing (quan ) refers to judging things according to their importance.

In the Kangxi dictionary (kangxizidian ), quan is explained as the sliding weights of a steelyard. Quan is used for measuring an object’s weight. Similarly, quan is used by renzhe for knowing the heaviness of everything. Quan relies on the stability of one’s values to decide which thing is more important. This constancy of one’s values is the reason why renzhe possess a sense of discrimination. Renzhe build on the stability of ren. They possess a sense of discrimination based on the constancy

84(4:3 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:89) 79 of their values.

In the Analects, Confucius explains the difficulty of people having the same standard of quan:

The Master said, “You can study with some, and yet not necessarily walk the

same path (dao ); you can walk the same path as some, and yet not

necessarily take your stand with them; you can take your stand with them,

and yet not necessarily weigh things up in the same way.”85

In a Confucian community, students set the goal of learning Confucian doctrine.

Ideally, these students will possess a mature, ethical character, and they will make social-political judgments based on a sense of discrimination. However, it is hard to become one of the renzhe. Quan is not unanimous, because it is hard for people to constantly possess ren. People need to build on stability of one’s values in order to practice quan.

Knowing others (zhiren ) is one practice of a sense of discrimination. A person with ren (renzhe ) has the ability to know others. The Analects advocates that people should know others. Confucius says, “I will not be afflicted at men’s not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men.”86 A passage from the

Analects explains the idea of zhiren. In a dialogue, Confucius and his disciples talk about zhiren:

85 (9:30 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:133) 86(1:16 trans. Legge, 1971:145) 80

Fan Chi inquired about authoritative conduct (ren ), and the Master said,

"Love others." He inquired about realizing (zhi ), and the Master said,

"Realize others (zhiren)." Fan Chi did not understand and so the Master

explained, "If you promote the true into positions above the crooked you can

make the crooked true." Fan Chi withdrew, and on being received by Zixia, he

asked, "Recently I was received by the Master and asked him about realizing. He

replied, 'If you promote the true into positions above the crooked you can make

the crooked true.' What does he mean?" "Rich indeed are the Master's words!"

said Zixia. "When Shun ruled the land, he selected Gao Yao from among the

multitude and promoted him, and the perverse gave them a wide berth. When

Tang ruled the land, he selected Yi Yin from among the multitude and

promoted him, and the perverse gave them a wide berth."87

It is clear that Confucius suggests zhiren is an ability to know people well, so that, for example, one would be able to appoint excellent ministers to governmental positions.

In other words, discernment may be shown in, but it is not limited to, government appointment.

The ability to know others can benefit practices in social-political relationships by means of governing effectively (zheng ). In a mature community, there will be government officials to run the government. For instance, the Analects reports that

87 (12:22 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:160) 81 even the legendary sage king Shun () had five able men to support him, and his empire was well-governed (the Analects, 8:20). Selecting eligible officials is an important task for rulers, for rulers need ministers to help them run a government. To know others is to know who is an eligible minister.

It was often the case that rulers who inherited the throne, not being sages themselves, sustained their thrones with the help of excellent ministers. In a time when rulership was inherited, one could not expect one’s king to be a sage. The responsibility of governing would more or less become the job of ministers. As Wm.

Theodore de Bary suggests, Mencius indicates the realistic need for ministers to follow Confucian ideals in advising contemporary rulers (1996:15). Sometimes the ministers were excellent. They could run the government and mitigate the harm caused by less gifted rulers. An example from the Analects, a man feels uncomfortable about the fact that an immoral ruler can keep his power. Confucius explains that it is because he has ministers to cover his inadequacy:

The Master said of Duke Ling of Wey that he had lost the way (dao ).

Kangzi asked, “If this was so, why did he not come to ruin?” The Master

replied, “He had Zhongshu Yu to take care of visiting envoys and court guests,

the priest Tuo to conduct the affairs of the ancestral temple, and Wangsun Jia to

command the armies. This being so, why would he come to ruin? ”88

88 (14:19 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:176) 82

It is clear that excellent ministers are important. Thus, a sense of discrimination has a broad and profound effect on society. Zhiren is to discriminate excellent ministers from others.

In the Analects, the qualification to be a good official is to be virtuous.

Confucius explains how to govern subordinates:

…Governing effectively (zheng ) is doing what is proper (zheng ). If

you, sir, lead by doing what is proper, who would dare do otherwise?89

Virtuous officials inspire others to imitate them. In addition, as Confucius believes, people with superior virtue will attract others to be their neighbors (the Analects,

4:25). These are the reasons that virtuous people are good ministers.

The ability of zhiren is to select virtuous ministers. It is consistent that renzhe recognize people who are like themselves. Renzhe can see other people’s moral qualities. They can distinguish a true virtuous person from a “village worthy”

(Xiangyuan ). Confucius condemns these pretentious people who make others believe and model them as exemplars: “The ‘village worthy’ is excellence (de ) under false pretense.”90 These village worthies are regarded as models, but they are hypocrites without possessing real virtue. They have negative influence on the society because other people misjudge them, seeing them as exemplars (Ames and Rosemont,

1998:266). Renzhe possess a sense of discrimination to find virtuous people to be

(12:17 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:157) 90 (17:13 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:207) 83 ministers.

In summary, renzhe possess a sense of discrimination to help them make judgments. Renzhe are people with a cultivated quality, and this quality makes them a qualified observer of people’s moral quality. Quan refers to weighing things according to their importance. It relies on the stability of one’s values to decide which thing is more important. This constancy of one’s commitment to one’s values is the reason why renzhe possess a sense of discrimination. Zhiren is one practice of a sense of discrimination. Zhiren means to distinguish good people from bad, for example, in order to select eligible ministers.

3.2.4 Ren: Reliability

Previously, I mentioned that ren is a lifelong achievement. I also mentioned that renzhe have a sense of discrimination to make reliable judgments. This part is the last connotation of ren. Reliability is a quality of renzhe in the Analects.

Reliability is one characteristic of a person with ren (renzhe ). Ren is a consummate virtue in the Analects. A consummate virtue requires circumstantial consistency to practice in everyday life. In addition, one premise of being

“consummate” is consistency. Different versions of the English translations of ren support that reliability is a characteristic of renzhe. For example, James Legge translates ren as “perfect virtue” (1971:251). One premise of perfection is consistency.

D.C. Lau translates ren as “benevolence,” and explains ren as “the most important moral quality a man can possess” (1983:xii). By definition, a benevolent person practices benevolent conduct constantly in different circumstances. Thus, a 84 benevolent person needs to be reliable. Waley translates ren as “goodness” and renzhe as “the good man”(2007:39). Again, it is contradictory to have an unreliable man as a good man. A good man is consistently good by definition; thus, a good man is reliable.

Reliability is a necessary quality of renzhe.

A different voice holds that ren is a communal disposition rather than an individual disposition. That is to say, ren does not belong to a particular person; it can only refer to a member in a ren community. Thus, ren belongs to a whole community of ren rather than to a single renzhe. Alexus McLeod argues:

The considerations in this section are meant to show that a number of other

passages show us that the most plausible reading of ren is as a moral property

that is fixed to particular communities, such that it is not realized outside a

particular communal context. It is, in other words, a communal property

primarily, which individuals can possess insofar as they are members of ren

communities, but not outside ren communities, similar to the way a person’s

performance in a jazz quartet can be part of a good performance, and one can

have certain properties as a member of a quartet that is performing well, while

one’s individual performance does not have certain properties taken alone.

(McLeod, 2012:512)

It is important that McLeod points out that renzhe must live in a community. In fact, he admits that most scholars embrace ren in the context of society (McLeod,

2012:506). The difference is that he rejects the possibility that a renzhe can preserve

85 ren upon leaving the ren community. In this respect, reliability is not a quality of renzhe. Renzhe have to be members of a particular ren community. They alone do not possess a quality of ren outside their ren community. Thus, McLeod supposes that a single renzhe depends on the whole group of renzhe to sustain ren. A sole renzhe cannot practice ren consistently regardless of circumstances.

I find McLeod’s idea difficult to sustain for several reasons.91 First of all, passages in the Analects suggest renzhe possess ren with or without society. For instance, in one passage, Confucius provides three models of renzhe who live in the same non-ren society. Secondly, these people are renzhe because they do not participate in their community, which is without ren. They are either leaving their original official circle or dead. Confucius says:

The Viscount of Wei left him, the Viscount of Chi became a slave on account

of him and Pi Kan lost his life for remonstrating with him. Confucius

commented, ‘There were three benevolent men in the Yin.’92

In the last period of the Yin dynasty (Yichao , 1600-1046 B.C.E.), it was a time of turmoil. These three men served the same tyrant. They ended up leaving, being

91 I did not address all the reasons in the thesis for the sake of consistency. I think there is another important reason why McLeod’s idea may be unsubstantiated. McLeod presents a picture of equal participation of members in a ren community. On the contrary, most people in Confucius’ time were uneducated ordinary people. The difference between the two classes of people, a mass of ordinary people (min ) and a small number of educated people (jen ), is the reason why his idea does not apply. Min did not have political influence, and they were subordinate to social-political elites. Thus, the model of a ren community does not match the context of the Analects. For more discussion of min and ren, see Hall and Ames, 1987:139. 92 (18:1 trans. Lau, 1983:183) 86 killed, and being enslaved. These renzhe do not live in a ren society, nor do they contribute to the society as members. Ideally, renzhe live in a community so that they can help other people develop their ren. In reality, renzhe have to cope with different obstacles. They do what situations require and consistently do the right thing. If the focus is on communities rather than renzhe, we limit renzhe to a ren community.

Based on McLeod’s idea, renzhe are not able to adapt themselves to changing situations.

Some readers may be concerned at my selection of a passage from the less authentic part of the text. Some scholars, such as E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko

Brooks, believe chapter eighteen is from the newest layer in the composition of the

Analects (2002:183). However, there is other evidence throughout the other chapters, as well. Confucius lived in a negative environment. The time of Confucius was one of social and political turbulence (Olberding, 2014:5). Despite these difficult times, it turned out that he still became an exemplar. Based on the evidence above, renzhe practice ren consistently, even in negative conditions. Hence, renzhe require reliability to practice ren.

Thirdly, evidence reveals that a person can change a society into a better place.

In other words, the point is not that a place shapes a person’s personality, but that a person can transform a place into a good one. In the Analects, on one occasion,

Confucius was tempted to move to a barbarian community. He claimed that a superior man could change a barbarian place into a civilized one. The passage records the scenario:

The Master wanted to go and live amongst the nine clans of Eastern Yi

Barbarians. Someone said to him, “What would you do about their crudeness?”

The Master replied, “Were an exemplary person (junzi ) to live among

them, what crudeness could there be?”93

In the passage, the interlocutor of Confucius has a similar position to that of McLeod, who believes exemplary people belong to a civilized community. However,

Confucius rejects such a claim. Exemplary people, i.e., renzhe, do not change their character because of an environment. In other words, renzhe are reliable.

To sum up the arguments against McLeod, renzhe are reliable regardless of circumstances. I would suggest that being ren means demonstrating appropriate conduct according to context. Sometimes renzhe do nothing and leave, like the example of the Viscount of Wei (Analects, 18:1). On another occasion, though circumstances are undesirable, Confucius transforms his environment (Analects, 9:14).

Confucius does not admit to being ren (Analects, 7:34), but his disciples clearly think he is an exemplar of ren (Analects, 14:28). The Analects portrays Confucius in different contexts and the ways he responds appropriately. Confucius is treated as an exemplar of ren in the Analects. Olberding further concludes, “ren is Confucius himself.” (2013:74) She suggests that the Analects provides Confucius for readers to understand ren (2013:75). Confucius is consistent to his character, but sometimes situations require him to respond differently. Thus, a character of reliability is flexible in conduct.

93 (9:14 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:129) 88

The key to being reliable is to do what is appropriate in each circumstance.

Appropriate conduct in every circumstance means doing what is right. In the Analects, right or righteousness (yi ) expresses this idea. Lau explains the relation between ren and yi:

Let us contrast it [righteousness] with benevolence, for instance. Of course

an act as well as an agent can be described as benevolent, but benevolence is

basically a character of agents and its application to acts is only derivative. A

benevolent act is the act of a benevolent man. As a character of moral agents,

benevolence has more to do with disposition and motive than the objective of

acts and its application to agents is derivative. A man is righteous only in so far

as he consistently does what is right. The rightness of acts depends on their being

morally fitting in the circumstances and has little to do with disposition or

motive of the agent. (Lau, 1983:xxiii)

Reliability is a characteristic of renzhe. Renzhe are motivated to act according to ren.

Nevertheless, a good intention does not guarantee a correct outcome. When facing a situation, there are multiple possibilities to respond to it. Yi is an appropriate conduct in different contexts. Renzhe needs yi to apply appropriate conduct in disparate circumstances.

One particular example can help to explain the reason why renzhe need yi. In a situation in the Analects, a disciple proposes to remove the offering of a sheep from a ritual. Presumably, this disciple intends to save the sheep from being killed, so the

89 disciple’s intention is positive. However, Confucius does not approve of this proposal.

This scenario is recorded in the Analects:

Zigong wanted to dispense with the sacrifice of a live sheep at the

Declaration of the New Moon ceremony. The Master said: “Zigong! You

grudge the sheep—I, ritual propriety (li ).”94

The sacrifice is part of the ritual. Hence, a good intention alone is not enough. People who only have good intentions are not qualified as renzhe. It is necessary to apply a good motive to the proper conduct based on circumstances. In this situation, performing the ritual sacrifice correctly is part of correct conduct, so the sheep must die.

In order to be reliable, renzhe need to be flexible in their conduct. In some cases, an expedient action is the right thing to do. Such an action is not arbitrary; it is based on the principle of yi (Lu, 2012:252). An example comes from Confucius’ answer to his disciple, Sima Niu’s, question about ren:

Sima Niu inquired about authoritative conduct (ren ). The Master replied,

“An authoritative person is slow to speak (ren ).” “Does just being slow to

speak make one authoritative?” he asked. The Master replied, “When

something is difficult to accomplish, how can one but slow to speak?”95

94 (3:17 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:86) 95 90

In the example, Confucius gives an incomplete definition of ren out of expediency.

Although renzhe are careful of what they speak, they are more than that. Ren requires that one not be slow to speak. Confucius gives the above explanation for a practical reason. It is likely that Sima Niu is a person who talks a lot. Confucius would want to teach his student a lesson. The appropriate answer in this circumstance is to give a wrong answer to benefit the student. Confucius has good intentions for his student, and he conveys his lesson in a flexible way. Thus, Confucius is reliable based on yi.

In summary, renzhe have a characteristic of reliability in that they practice ren consistently in all circumstances. In order to be reliable, renzhe have to be flexible in their conduct. As renzhe, they require both a character of reliability and appropriate conduct in each situation. Yi is doing the right thing. Renzhe fulfill their good motivation by doing what is right. Yi is flexible, depending on circumstances. Renzhe have a characteristic of reliability by being flexible in conduct in order to do what is right.

3.3 Constancy of Xin

Xin is translated as “trust,” “trustworthiness” or “sincerity.” In particular, xin is believed to be expressed as trustworthiness in “explicit verbal commitment” (Wee,

2011:517). Translations of xin in the Analects are in agreement with such a view. For example, D. C. Lau translates xin as “trustworthiness in what he [one] said” (1983:3).

Hall and Ames’ translation is “making good on one’s word” (1987:54). Thus, the

(12:3 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:153) 91 practice of xin is considered as “be[ing] reliable in [one’s] word” (Lau, 1983:xxi).

This section suggests xin is the practice of heng. It manifests characteristics of heng. In the previous section, three connotations of ren contain constancy. These connotations are long-term commitment, a sense of discrimination, and reliability.

Similarly, xin is another exemplification of heng. Ren and xin both manifest heng in three aspects: flexibility, responsiveness, and timeliness.

Ren and xin have similarities in terms of heng, for they both manifest human responsiveness. First, xin connotes reliability in words and deeds. That is to say, one possessing xin has a commitment to self-cultivation. This is in accordance with ren as a lifelong commitment. The view of xin as reliability is examined in section 3.3.3 below. Second, xin as reliability connotes flexibility and timeliness. Renzhe also have the characteristic of reliability, and to be reliable is to be flexible in conduct. That is to say, renzhe are reliable regardless of the circumstances. In order to be reliable, renzhe need yi () to apply appropriate conduct within their circumstances. Yi is the flexibility to do things according to circumstances. The same position holds in xin. In order to be xin, one needs to be flexible and timely. Third, the wisdom of zhiren is the key to practicing trustworthiness (xin ) in social interactions. Full trustworthiness relies on a person’s wisdom to build a relationship based on trust.

This section consists of two parts. The first part begins with an etymological study of the character in relation to the Analects. The second part analyzes the two connotations of xin. These connotations exemplify heng in two ways.

3.3.1 Xin: an Etymological Enquiry

The etymological components of the character xin support that xin is related to reliability in words. The structure of the character xin consists of two components,

“person” (ren ) and “word” (yan ). Xin is more than keeping promises in the verbal sense in the Analects. The practice of xin “applies to all one’s words” (Lau,

1983:xxi). It means that all future conduct and words are parts of one’s commitment.

To be xin is to assure that one’s words and deeds will be fulfilled. Thus, xin is reliability in words and deeds.

In the Shuo Wen Jie Zi, xin refers to sincerity (cheng ).96 In the Analects, cheng expresses that a saying is true:

The Master said, “‘If truly efficacious people (shanren ) were put in

charge of governing for a hundred years, they would be able to overcome

violence and dispense with killing altogether.’ These words could not be more

true!”97 (13:11 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:164-165)

In this passage, cheng is consistent with the statement of Confucius. Cheng consists of two components, “word” (yan ) and “to complete” (cheng ). Thus, cheng is the completion of one’s words. For example, the Analects holds that one ought to be cautious in what one says, since it is shameful if one does not keep one’s word (the

Analects, 4:22; 14:27). As Hall and Ames propose,

96 97(Ames and Rosemont, 1998:164) 93

Its meaning, then, is “to realize that which is spoken.” Thus, it would be

expected that cheng, like chih [], would refer to an accurate, self-fulfilling

forecasting (1987:58).

Cheng suggests a process of honoring one’s commitments. This is in accordance with

Confucian self-cultivation. Confucian self-cultivation is a process of honoring one’s commitment to be an exemplary person. Thus, Cheng means that one ought to keep one’s word. This is in accordance with the remark in the Analects that an exemplary person first keeps his word, and then says it (the Analects, 2:13; 4:24). This conforms to the interpretation of xin by a prominent Chinese scholar Zhu Xi (; 1130-1200

A.D.). In his annotation of the Analects, Zhu Xi explains xin as words that contain practical facts.98 This means what one claims must be put into one’s practices. In this regard, cheng is linked to Confucian self-cultivation.

Similarly, xin is the practice of promise keeping. Xin and cheng both refer to keeping one’s word. In particular, cheng adds a component suggesting Confucian self-cultivation. In the Shuo Wen Jie Zi, cheng also refers to xin.99 This means that xin and cheng are interchangeable. In the Analects, xin is described as a part of the self-cultivation process. This is indicated in the Analects:

The Master said, "As a younger brother and son, be filial (xiao ) at home and

98(CADAL. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/06079357.cn [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016])

99 94

deferential (di ) in the community; be cautious in what you say and then make

good on your word (xin ); love the multitude broadly and be intimate with

those who are authoritative in their conduct (ren ). If in so behaving you still

have energy left, use it to improve yourself through study."100

In the passage, Confucius urges his young disciples to practice self-cultivation in everyday social interactions. Xin is one of the basic teachings. Studying is not included in this basic everyday self-cultivation. Xin is necessary for Confucian self-cultivation to become an exemplary person, but it is probably not enough (the

Analects, 13:20). As Hui Chieh Loy indicates, xin is no more than a “secondary virtue”

(2014:141). Thus, xin, as reliability in words and deeds, is linked to a part of fundamental Confucian self-cultivation. That is a reason why xin is one of the four teachings (the Analects, 7:25).

In summary, xin is reliability in words and deeds. Cheng, as a synonym of xin, conveys the idea of Confucian self-cultivation.

3.3.2 Xin: Reliability

Xin is reliability in words and deeds. Xin, as a synonym of cheng, explains

Confucian self-cultivation. This means that xin also refers to a relentless self-cultivation process toward sagehood. Thus, xin is the effort of becoming a

Confucian moral sage. It is also a crucial foundation of moral cultivation. The next

100 (1:6 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:72) 95 section focuses on why xin is not sufficient for Confucian exemplary people, and how xin can be improved.

First, to be xin is necessary for one to be an exemplary person, but it is not sufficient. Previously, I mentioned that xin is a part of Confucian teachings (the

Analects, 1:6; 7:25). However, becoming an exemplary person requires more than xin.

As Cecilia Wee emphasizes, “a person of xin is not necessary moral, but has the appropriate foundation for moral development” (2011:529). Xin is described as a trait that still needs to be developed.

In the Analects, Confucius notes six qualities that are commonly regarded as positive. These are qualities one ought to pursue. Xin is one of them. However, wisdom is required for good qualities to flourish. This is attested in the Analects:

The Master said, “Zilu, have you heard of the six flaws that can accompany

the six desirable qualities of character?” “No, I have not,” replied Zilu. “Sit

down,” said the Master, “and I’ll tell you about them. The flaw in being fond

of acting authoritatively (ren ) without equal regard for learning is that you

will be easily duped; the flaw in being fond of acting wisely (zhi ) without

equal regard for learning is that it leads to self-indulgence; the flaw in being fond

of making good on one’s word (xin ) without equal regard for learning is that

it leads one into harm’s way; the flaw in being fond of candor without equal

regard for learning is that it leads to rudeness; the flaw in being fond of boldness

without equal regard for learning is that it leads to unruliness; the flaw in being

fond of firmness without equal regard for learning is that it leads to rashness.”101

Being fond of xin is not sufficient to make a person reliable. A person who pursues the quality of xin but lacks wisdom is rigid. Such a person does not know when or how to be xin in an appropriate manner. The wisdom of Confucianism resides in learning how to be xin. As Olberding indicates, “It is, however, where we couple

Confucius’ injunctions regarding xin with his emphasis on being sparing in speech and on not being rigidly trustworthy that I think a more telling pattern emerges”

(2013:184). Thus, one needs not only to be fond of xin; one needs to learn the proper way to be honest in word and deed without violating the moral standards of one’s social-political context.

Second, xin requires learning (xue ) to be appropriate in one’s context. A sage is able to respond to situations in accordance with Confucian moral standards. In the

Analects, Confucius is proud of his love of learning. In Confucius’ view, his love of learning is rarer than people possessing xin and ‘doing one’s best as oneself’(zhong

) (the Analects, 5:28). As Waley explains, learning is not reading books. It is a kind of self-improvement (2007:63). Learning guides one to properly respond to social-political situations. Xin is important for one to realize that one is bound to a moral journey. As Hall and Ames suggest, Confucian personhood requires xin

(1987:60). Xin is the commitment to learn to be an exemplary person.

The Analects holds that learning is required for one to be xin. In the Analects,

101 (17:8 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:205) 97

Confucius concludes that xin and xue are components of lifelong self-cultivation:

“Make an earnest commitment [xin] to the love of learning (haoxue ) and be steadfast to the death in service to the efficacious way (shandao ).”102 Xin entails actualizing the moral commitment. The promise is made to oneself to sustain the effort of moral cultivation until one’s life ceases.

Learning can be consolidated with learners ‘doing one’s best as oneself’(zhong

) (Hall and Ames, 1987:61). The combination of zhong and xin (zhongxin ) indicates one fulfills one’s own moral commitment. Hall and Ames offer a clear explanation:

Hsin [xin] rather entails as a necessary condition to being able to carry out what

one says and thus being able to make it true or real. The fact that many

occurrences of hsin in the Analects are coupled with “doing one’s best as oneself”

(chung ) would suggest that hsin is fundamentally performative. Hsin is

the doing of what one says with earnestness. (1987:61)

Xin requires learning for it to be enriched. Meanwhile, learning also requires learners to realize the purpose of learning, which is self-cultivation to become a sage. In the

Analects, Confucius laments that people in his time did not learn to improve themselves, but to seek praise. This reminds us of the importance of acting for themselves: “In ancient times, men learned with a view to their own improvement.

102 (8:13 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:123) 98

Now-a-days, men learn with a view to the approbation of others.”103 Thus, the responsibility of self-improvement is crucial for sustaining learning. This is why the

Analects highlights the idea of zhong, doing one’s best of oneself.

Noticeably, zhong is frequently paired with xin in the Analects as zhongxin (

), and this is no coincidence. Xin is not just keeping one’s promise to others; rather, it includes the presumption that one has the ability to fulfill one’s promises and that one must fulfill one’s promises to cultivate oneself as a sage. Hence, when a disciple asked how to improve one’s virtue, Confucius says, “To take doing one’s utmost

(zhong ), making good on one’s word (xin ), and seeking out what is appropriate (yi ) as one’s main concerns, is to accumulate excellence.”104 The combination of xin and zhong, committing oneself to do one’s best sincerely, is the basis for starting the journey of self-cultivation.

One also needs to learn xin in everyday social interactions. That is to say, xin is not only for learning to be a sage. It has another interpretation. It is a basic level of whether to trust others in daily life. In the Analects, Confucius expresses that he learned not to trust people only by their words:

Zaiwo was still sleeping during the daytime. The Master said, “You cannot carve

rotten wood, and cannot trowel over a wall of manure. As for Zaiwo, what is the

point in upbraiding him?” The Master said further, “There was a time when, in

103 (14:24 trans. Legge: 1971:285)

104 (12:10 trans. Ames and

Rosemont, 1998:156) 99

my dealings with others, on hearing what they had to say, I believed [xin] they

would live up to it. Nowadays in my dealings with others, on hearing what they

have to say, I then watch what they do. It is Zaiwo that has taught me so

much.”105

In this passage, Confucius finds out his disciple does not behave as promised. In this case, Confucius learns that he should trust people according to both their words and their deeds (Loy, 2014:140). Thus, xin is a daily social practice that needs to be cultivated.

In summary, xin is a necessary foundation of lifelong self-cultivation, but it still requires learning (xue ) to be expressed in an appropriate way. The result of learning can be consolidated by one ‘doing one’s best as oneself’(zhong ). In addition, xin has another interpretation, which is whether to trust others in daily life.

One learns to trust others based on both words and deeds.

3.3.3 Xin: Flexibility and Timeliness

In addition to implying lifetime cultivation, xin can also be interpreted as the conduct of an exemplary person (junzi ). In other words, xin means an exemplary person “sincerely embodying the way of heaven”. Ideally, conscientious

Confucians cultivate themselves to be junzi. Junzi, a term which originated as political noble, was redefined by Confucius as a superior status in personal cultivation

105 (5:10 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998: 97-98) 100

(Hall and Ames, 1987:183). In the Analects, xin is described as the way junzi accomplish their duties, and it is a requirement for one to be considered as a model of

Confucian morality:

The Master said, ‘The superior man in everything considers righteousness to be

essential. He performs it according to the rules of propriety. He brings it forth in

humility. He completes it with sincerity. This is indeed a superior man.’106

(15:17 trans. Legge, 1971:299-300)

Thus, xin refers to an exemplary person, carrying out social-political conduct in an attitude of sincerity and trustworthiness.107

Responsiveness, Timeliness and Flexibility

Xin, trustworthiness, is not referring to unconditional trust; rather, it is a perpetual self-examination and responsiveness to each distinct social-political circumstance. Flexibility is required to moderate the rigidity of the moral requirement of being trustworthy.

For one with xin, vigilance is required to prevent one from making mistakes. Xin expresses the junzi’s perfection of self-cultivation, but no junzi is immune to making mistakes or falling back into old undesirable habits. That is to say, a junzi still needs to pay attention to what circumstances require. In Confucianism, the ideal is that

106 (Ames and Rosemont, 1998:188) 107 (Fu, 2008:254) 101 one’s rank in the social-political system correlates with one’s self-cultivation (Hall and Ames, 1998:156). In other words, the more virtuous one is, the higher social-political rank one should acquire. However, the reality does not always match the Confucian scheme. Although the Analects holds that one should prepare oneself for political service (the Analects, 17:1; 17:5; 17:7), in the case of serving a lustful ruler, avoiding one’s political duty is a valid response (the Analects, 17:4). The

Confucian responsiveness is that one responds to situations in a timely manner, so one retreats when one’s services are no longer required (the Analects, 7:11), or in an extreme case, abandons one’s position when a state is in anarchy (the Analects, 8:13).

Thus, a junzi must be aware of changing social-political situations and respond accordingly.

The Analects holds that even an exemplary person has to be vigilant in order to be responsive. For example, in the Analects, the best disciple of Confucius, Yanhui

(), could do everything in accordance with the highest moral standards for no longer than three months. For ordinary people, the time of staying on the right path would be even shorter:

The Master said, ‘Such was Hui that for three months there would be nothing in

his mind contrary to perfect virtue. The others may attain to this on some days or

in some months, but nothing more.’108

Responsiveness is important in the complexity of the human world, for making a

108 (7:5 trans. Legge: 1971:186) 102 proper moral decision is difficult in society, which is highly complex. All kinds of social-political circumstances are possible, and every action entails potential perilous consequences. This is why in the Analects, Zengzi felt relieved before his imminent demise. His death would spare him the uneasiness of wrong doing:

The philosopher Tsang being ill, he called to him the disciples of his school, and

said, ‘Uncover my feet, uncover my hands. It is said in the Book of Poetry, “We

should be apprehensive and cautious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, as if

treading on thin ice,” and so have I been. Now and hereafter, I know my escape

from all injury to my person. O ye, my little children.’109

The injury is a symbol of moral deficiency in two ways. First, as a son, any physical injuries will cause his parents grief, which violates filial piety (xiao ). Second, the bodily damage could imply that one has committed a crime (Fu, 2008:283). Actions against laws and actions against moral standards are the dangers that reside in social interactions. Thus, one needs to remain vigilant and then respond to situations properly.

The reason is that xin, if inflexible, can result in failures to meet the demands of the time. Lau states:

But to say that trustworthiness in word [xin] is close to being moral is to say

that the two are not identical. There are bound to be cases where inflexible

109 (8:3 trans. Legge, 1971:208-209) 103

adherence to the principle of trustworthiness in word will lead to action that is

not moral. (1983:xxii)

One must be circumspect and responsive to circumstances, and act according to timeliness. For instance, Zilu, a disciple of Confucius, was known for never delaying his promises (the Analects, 12:12). However, Zilu also had a reckless personality that allowed Confucius to foresee his tragic fate (the Analects, 11:13). Zilu was faithful, but without circumspection to circumstances, he met his unfortunate fate. Thus, timeliness is a part of xin that it makes xin flexible. This means that whether one should be bound by one’s word depends on the situation rather than the principle of trustworthiness. This timely requirement of xin explains why an exemplary person must sustain vigilance and responsiveness. In this respect, exemplary people can sustain their integrity without always keeping their promises. An exemplary person possesses xin in a timely fashion.

In contrast, one who rigidly abides by one’s word is not one whom Confucius considers as an exemplary person. In the Analects, for example, a dialogue between

Confucius and his disciple reveals that people who possess inflexible xin are considered petty people (xiaoren ). Those xiaoren are narrow-minded ordinary people. They are far from exemplary people. The Analects, assessing the ranking of an educated-scholar-official (shi ), indicates that an uncompromising person is ranked just barely above those petty officers in Confucius’ time:

Tsze-kung asked, saying, ‘What qualities must a man possess to entitle him to be

104

called an officer?’ The Master said, ‘He who in his conduct of himself maintains

a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince's

commission, deserves to be called an officer.’ Tsze-kung pursued, ‘I venture to

ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?’ and he was told, ‘He whom the

circle of his relatives pronounce to be filial, whom his fellow villagers and

neighbours pronounce to be fraternal.’ Again the disciple asked, "I venture to ask

about the class still next in order.’ The Master said, ‘They are determined to be

sincere [xin] in what they say, and to carry out what they do. They are obstinate

little men. Yet perhaps they may make the next class.’ Tsze-kung finally inquired,

‘Of what sort are those of the present day, who engage in government?’ The

Master said "Pooh! they are so many pecks and hampers, not worth being taken

into account.’110

Accordingly, those “obstinate little men” are people who lack the flexibility to adjust to circumstances (Wee, 2011:520). Those xiaoren are not considered cultivated people with trustworthiness. As A. S. Cua suggests:

Different ways of life and social structures are possible within an active

concern for an ideal theme. In Confucius’ conception of Chun-tze (superior

man) [junzi], there is implicit a conception of flexibility of agency in coping

with the problem of moral change. (1980: 8-9)

110 (13:20 trans. Legge: 1971:271) 105

Xin in junzi is flexible. Thus, xin includes sustaining vigilance and adapting to situations.

The Analects holds that Confucian moral requirements are flexible, depending on context. For example, in the Analects, Confucius expresses his loathing of obstinacy

(gu ). Gu is the opposite of flexibility. One with gu fails to adjust to circumstances.

A passage in the Analects lists four intolerable dispositions, and gu is one of them:

There were four things from which the Master was entirely free. He had no

foregone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no

egoism.111

Gu is an obstacle to practical purposes. For Confucianism, the purpose of self-cultivation is social-political. For instance, a passage of the Analects discloses the necessity of self-cultivation being practical:

The Master said, ‘Though a man may be able to recite the three hundred odes,

yet if, when entrusted with a governmental charge, he knows not how to act, or if,

when sent to any quarter on a mission, he cannot give his replies unassisted,

notwithstanding the extent of his learning, of what practical use is it?’112

111 (9:4 trans. Legge: 1971:217) 112 (13:5 trans. Legge:265) 106

In this passage, Confucius comments that even if one has learned the Odes (shi ), a lack of ability to use it on political affairs makes learning them in vain, after all.

But how does flexibility function to distinguish little men from junzi, and how does timeliness as a flexible mechanism fit into the Confucian scheme?

Appropriateness

Appropriateness or righteous (yi ) is the underlying principle of timeliness.

Timeliness, as mentioned above, is the flexibility to moderate the moral requirements of trustworthiness. A junzi adjusts his conduct with situational appropriateness, and appropriateness means what is proper for the context.

The definition of right, proper, appropriate, suitable, or fitting (yi ) for contexts is often applied as the definition of yi () (Hall and Ames, 1987:96). In addition, the comparison of fitting (yi ) and appropriateness (yi ) points to the idea of personalized self-cultivation in Confucianism. For example, in A. C.

Graham’s view, yi () is one’s conduct “fitting to one’s role or status” (2003:11).

Hall and Ames suggest that the meaning of appropriateness (yi ), compared to fitting (yi ), is relatively focused on individuals engaging in “integrating self with circumstances” proactively (1987:96). As Jiyuan Yu indicates:

Appropriateness adjusts the generality of social rites and brings them to bear

on particular circumstances. A virtuous agent should be flexible and always

seek what is appropriate in a particular circumstance by taking into account the

salient features of particular situations. (2006:343)

107

I think their ideas strengthen the statement that situational appropriateness is what determines moral judgments. I also believe that appropriateness corresponds to the idea that one has to sustain vigilance about one’s moral decisions. Timeliness is important for Confucian self-cultivation.

The textual evidence supports that a junzi can disregard xin in order to act appropriately in a specific context. Appropriateness (yi ) is the foundation of the flexibility of xin. For example, the Analects discloses:

The Master said, “Having a sense of appropriate conduct (yi ) as one’s basic

disposition (zhi ), developing it in observing ritual propriety (li ),

expressing it with modesty, and consummating it in making good on one’s words

(xin ): this then is an exemplary person (junzi ).”113

The Analects reveals that appropriateness is the criteria of when and how to apply xin.

The importance of appropriateness lies in its social-political purpose. I believe that one of the reasons why appropriateness is so important is that words and deeds should be practical in real life. Thus, in the Analects, Confucius criticizes people who engage in conversations without yi () :

The Master said, ‘When a number of people are together, for a whole day,

without their conversation turning on righteousness, and when they are fond of

113 (15:18 trans. Ames and Rosemont, 1998:188) 108

carrying out the suggestions of a small shrewdness; – theirs is

indeed a hard case."114

If one’s words are irrelevant to social-political purposes, then it is hard to educate one to be a junzi because a junzi cares about social affairs (Kelen, 1971:91).

As a result, appropriateness for circumstances is one thing to be considered before actualizing words in reality.

In summary, xin is not unconditional trust. To be xin requires one to be vigilant and responsive to social-political situations. Timeliness is important for xin to be flexible. Flexibility is supported by the underling principle of appropriateness (yi ).

Timeliness is the way that exemplary people adjust their conduct based on appropriateness.

114 (15:17 trans. Legge: 1971:299) 109

Conclusion

The idea of constancy (heng ) is understood as human responsiveness in the

Confucian-oriented Yi Jing. An important focus in the Yi Jing is how human beings respond to the changing world; it is in fact one of the major themes. The Yi Jing guides its users in adapting to changing events through divination. Two important characteristics of human responsiveness are flexibility and timeliness. Confucianism teaches responses to social-political circumstances, and in society, human responsiveness is practiced by means of flexibility and timeliness.

In this thesis, the Yi Jing is analyzed according to the characteristics of heng. In chapter two, heng, interpreted as human responsiveness, is explained with two levels of time (shi ).

The first level, the macro level of shi, is the context of the changing phenomenal world, the world in which humans participate and to which they respond. Human beings are situated in a cosmic triadic structure with ten thousand things (wanwu

), and shi is the context that structures the phenomenal world. It is within this world where one is situated in a position (wei ).

The second level, the micro level of shi, expresses that Confucian human responsiveness allows one to adapt to changing social-political wei in a flexible manner. The Yi Jing manifests human responsiveness in divinatory practices.

Divination is the method used to teach the users of the Yi Jing how to act in appropriate ways, which is an example of timeliness. Divination must be used to observe circumstances and to be vigilant of approaching danger by means of incipient movement (ji ). Meanwhile, humans participate in, adapt to, and position

110 themselves within social-political events with flexibility and timeliness. The mean

(zhong ) is understood as appropriateness, and it is important in interpersonal relationships with regard to one’s contextual wei.

In this thesis, the Analects is referenced for the analysis of heng in the Yi Jing. In chapter three, heng is described as human responsiveness, and this concept is explained with two ideas, benevolence (ren ) and trustworthiness/reliability (xin

The former, ren, has three connotations that support the characteristics of heng being flexibility, timeliness, and responsiveness. First, ren is a lifelong moral commitment, and one requires the virtue of heng to achieve it. In this regard, heng is the virtue of perseverance to pursue ren. Second, a person with ren (renzhe ) possesses a sense of proper discrimination. This ability enables the renzhe to make balanced judgments. Knowing others (zhiren ) is the application of that sense of discrimination in appointing able ministers to government positions. Third, a renzhe has the characteristic of reliability, practicing ren consistently in all circumstances.

Flexibility is necessary for renzhe to be reliable in different contexts.

The latter, xin, or reliability, is a necessary foundation of Confucian self-cultivation. Learning (xue ) directs one to trust others in an appropriate way.

Doing one’s best as oneself (zhong ) consolidates xin. More importantly, xin is not a rigid moral requirement; it is flexibly responsive to social-political circumstances.

This thesis focuses on Confucian context-oriented practices in two selected

Confucian texts. Heng, in the Yi Jing and the Analects, is concerned with the features of Confucian practices in response to circumstances. Over all, heng is regarded as

111 human responsiveness in both the Yi Jing and the Analects. The characteristics of human responsiveness, namely, flexibility and timeliness, are consistently the major themes in the two texts. The overlapping features of heng in the two texts are discussed separately.

The Yi Jing guides humans in responding to the changing world within which they are situated. Constancy means the ever-changing world that humans live in and adapt to. In this respect, human responsiveness is within the scheme of the Yi Jing.

The first important theme in the chapter on the Yi Jing is Shi, which captures two aspects of human responsiveness. On the one hand, shi is the context of the changing world. Shi shows the importance of context. Every moment, social-political circumstances change, which is why one needs to be vigilant to one’s context. This is how human responsiveness comes into the Yi Jing. One needs to respond to one’s situation. Shi in this context can be understood as timeliness, for this means one responds to every moment.

The second important theme in the chapter of the Yi Jing is wei. In society,

Confucian practices aim to guide one in responding appropriately according to one’s social-political position. Thus, Confucian practices are applied by one assessing one’s wei, where one is situated, and then responding accordingly by situating oneself in a proper wei. Flexibility is a component of this human responsiveness because one needs to be flexible to act appropriately. The Yi Jing, as a book of divination, aims to illuminate future paths to allow users to respond appropriately. Heng describes a context of the changing world, and it also indicates the process of humans responding to their contexts.

112

The teachings of the Analects guide one’s responses to the social-political circumstances wherein one is situated. In this respect, constancy is the continuing effort of one cultivating oneself in order to respond to one’s context. In addition, heng is also the consistency of an exemplary person in response to every circumstance. The

Yi Jing focuses on the conceptual context of human responsiveness. Unlike heng in the Yi Jing, heng in the Analects focuses on everyday practices in society.

Nevertheless, the Yi Jing and the Analects both aim to guide humans to respond to their contexts, especially in social-political circumstances. Human responsiveness is one of the major features of Confucianism.

Chapter Three, on constancy in the Analects, introduces two ideas to reveal the characteristics of heng. The first idea, ren, is interpreted as the lifelong achievement and qualities of a renzhe. In particular, a renzhe is one who manifests Confucian practices consistently and appropriately. In other words, a renzhe demonstrates how human responsiveness is practiced in daily life, whereas the Yi Jing offers a conceptual framework for Confucian context-oriented practices. The Yi Jing explains the conceptual framework of human responsiveness by introducing shi and wei.

Unlike the Yi Jing, the Analects provides concrete events and the ways a renzhe responds to them with flexibility and timeliness. Thus, the Analects extends the Yi

Jing’s abstract conceptual framework by providing concrete examples.

The second important idea in Chapter Three is xin. In particular, xin is a moral requirement not to be rigid. Xin is an example of flexibility being a crucial feature of

Confucian practices. The appropriate xin requires that one judge one’s own wei and act accordingly. The practice of xin provides a moral situation in which timeliness and

113 flexibility are crucial in Confucianism. In summary, the Yi Jing and the Analects both focus on the features of heng, namely, responsiveness, timeliness, and flexibility.

Moreover, the Analects extends the fundamental framework built by the Yi Jing. It offers concrete everyday practices. The Yi Jing and the Analects are complementary components of the theory of Confucian context-oriented practices. The analysis of heng in these two texts discloses the nature of Confucian ethical commitment and practices. These findings may influence further research on Confucianism and

Chinese philosophy.

This thesis provides a new interpretation of heng that could broaden the future study of the concept. Below are three aspects that merit further study: the selection of texts, the possibilities for comparative studies of different philosophical systems, and the great potential of the idea of heng.

First, this thesis focuses on the characteristics of heng in the Confucian-oriented

Yi Jing and the Analects. This means that only two Confucian texts have been analyzed, and other early Confucian texts, such as the Mencius and the Xunzi, await the efforts of future researchers. These early Confucian texts are influenced by pre-Qin Confucian thinking. They are important, and they share the same wisdom of

Confucian practices with the Yi Jing and the Analects.

Second, this thesis focuses only on Confucian texts, and in Confucian practices, the connotation of heng is distinctive. Therefore, other pre-Qin schools are not included. Other Chinese schools of philosophy, Daoism in particular, have different interpretations of heng for scholars to disclose. For example, the study of heng can potentially combine previous studies of heng based on Daoist-oriented texts, such as

114

Heng Xian and Daodejing. These texts regard heng as one of the most important concepts. Accordingly, the inclusion of these texts may strengthen the significance of heng in Chinese studies, both philosophically and philologically. Thus, future studies can provide comparisons of the current study and other Chinese schools.

Finally, in this thesis, heng is a multifaceted idea in that it relates to time, perseverance, and Confucian human responsiveness. Hence, it can be related to multiple dimensions. For example, shi as one of the aspects of heng is possibly related to the concept shi . The current study is but a starting point in the study of heng.

Constancy is an intriguing idea in the Yi Jing and Confucianism. It is a Chinese character, the opposite of change, and a core concept of Confucian responsiveness.

This thesis provides an interpretation of the characteristics of heng, and it encourages related research contributions to the field.

115

Bibliography

Ames, R. and Rosemont, H. (1998). The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical

Translation. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group.

Brooks B. E. & Brooks T. A. (2002). Word Philology and Text Philology in Analects

9:1. In Van Norden B.W. (Ed.), Confucius and the Analects (pp.163-215). New

York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Carr, M. (1992). Shamanic Heng 'Constancy', Ren Wen Yan Jiu , 83,

93-159.

Chan, S. (2012). Zhong and Ideal Rulership in the Baoxun (Instructions for

Preservation) Text of the Tsinghua Collection of Bamboo Slip Manuscripts. Dao,

11(2), 129-145.

Chang, W. (2009). Reflections on time and related ideas in the Yijing. Philosophy

East and West, 59(2), 216-229.

Cheng, C. Y. (1974). Greek and Chinese Views on Time and the Timeless.

Philosophy East and West, 155-159.

Cheng, C. Y. (1996). Zhouyi and philosophy of wei (positions). Extrême-Orient

Extrême-Occident, 149-176.

Cheng, C. Y. (2008). The Yi-Jing and Yin-Yang way of thinking. Routledge. History

of world philosophies, 71.

Cheng, C. Y. (2011). Interpreting Paradigm of Change in Chinese Philosophy.

Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 38(3), 339-367.

116

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). Confucius and the Analects in the Han. In Van Norden

B.W. (Ed.), Confucius and the Analects (pp.134-162). New York, NY: Oxford

University Press.

Cua, A. S. (1980). Chinese Moral Vision, Responsive Agency, and Factual Beliefs.

Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 7(1), 3-26.

De Bary, W. T. (2009). The trouble with Confucianism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.

Fu, Pei-Rong (2008). Ren Neng Hong Dao: Fu Pei Rong Tan Lun Yu

. Taipei: Tian Xia Yuan Jian.

Fu, Pei-Rong (2011). Le Tain Zhi Ming: Fu Pei Rong Tan Yi Jing

. Taipei: Tian Xia Yuan Jian.

Fung, Yu-Lan (1990). Zhong Guo Zhe Xue Shi revised vol.1

. Taipei: Tai Wan Shang Wu Yin Shu Guan.

Graham, A. C. (2003). Disputers of the Tao. La Salle, IL: Open Court.

Grange, J. (2011). The Yijing and the American soul. Journal of Chinese

Philosophy, 38(3), 368-376.

Gu, Ming-Dong (2005). The" Zhouyi"(Book of Changes) as an Open Classic: A

Semiotic Analysis of Its System of Representation. Philosophy East and West,

55(2), 257-282.

Hall, D. and Ames, R. (1987). Thinking through Confucius. Albany: State University

of New York Press.

Hansen, C. (1992). A Daoist theory of Chinese thought: A philosophical

interpretation. Oxford University Press.

117

Hon, T. K. (2003). Human agency and change: A reading of Wang Bi's Yijing

commentary. Journal of Chinese philosophy, 30(2), 223-242.

Hon, T. K. (2008). A Precarious Balance: Divination And Moral Philosophy In

Zhouyi Zhuanyi Daquan. Journal of Chinese philosophy, 35(2), 253-271.

Kelen, B. (1971). Confucius: In Life and Legend. London: Sheldon Press.

Klein, E. S. (2013). Constancy and the Changes: A Comparative Reading of Heng

Xian. Dao, 12(2), 207-224.

Lao, Si-Gaung (2004). Xin Bian Zhong Guo Zhe Xue Shi Vol.1

(3rd ed.). Taipei: San Min Shu Jü.

Lai, K. L. (2008). An introduction to Chinese philosophy. New York: Cambridge

University Press.

Lao, Si-Gaung (2004). Xin Bian Zhong Guo Zhe Xue Shi Vol.1

(3rd ed.). Taipei: San Min Shu Jü.

Lau, D. C. (1983). trans. Confucius: The Analects. Trans. of Lun Yü. Shatin, HK: The

Chinese University Press.

Lau, D. C. (2004). trans. Mencius. New York, NY: Penguin Classics.

Legge, J. (1971). Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the

Mean. New York: Dover Publications Reprint.

Leys, S. (2014). The Analects: the Simon Leys Translation, Interpretations. Norton

critical edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Li, Chenyang (2006). The Confucian ideal of harmony. Philosophy East and West,

56(4), 583-603.

Liu, JeeLoo (2007). Confucian moral realism. Asian Philosophy, 17(2), 167-184.

118

Lo, Y. K. (2014). Confucius and His Community. In Olberding (Ed.) Dao Companion

to the Analects (pp. 55-79). Springer Netherlands.

Loy, H. C. (2014). Language and Ethics in the Analects. In Dao Companion to the

Analects (pp. 137-158). Springer Netherlands.

Lu, Youcai (2012). Survey of Confucius’s Approach to Expediency. Frontiers of

Philosophy in China, 7(2), 244-254.

Lynn, R. J. (1994). The Classic of Changes. New York: Columbia University Press.

MacIntyre, A. C. (1981). After virtue: A study in moral theory. University of Notre

Dame Press. Notre Dame.

McLeod, A. (2012). Ren as a Communal Property in the Analects. Philosophy East

and West, 62(4), 505-528.

Mei, Y. P. (1967). The status of the individual in Chinese social thought and

practice In C.A. Moore, C. A. (Ed.) The Chinese mind: Essentials of Chinese

philosophy and culture (pp.323-339) Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii

Press.

Munro, D. (2001). The concept of Man in Early China. Ann Arbor: The University of

Michigan

Nelson, E. S. (2011). The Yijing and Philosophy: From Leibniz to Derrida. Journal of

Chinese Philosophy, 38(3), 377-396.

Olberding, A. (2013). Moral Exemplars in the Analects: The Good Person is That

(Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory). Taylor and Francis. Kindle

Edition.

119

Olberding, A. (2014). Introduction. In Dao Companion to the Analects (pp. 1-17).

Springer Netherlands.

Rutt, R. (2002). The book of changes (Zhouyi): a Bronze Age document (No. 1).

Psychology Press.

Schöter, A. (2011). The Yijing: metaphysics and physics. Journal of Chinese

Philosophy, 38(3), 412-426.

Schwartz, B. I. (1985). The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge: Harvard

university press.

Shaughnessy, E. L. (1995). The origin of an Yijing line statement. Early China, 20,

223-240.

Shaughnessy, E. L. (2014). Unearthing the Changes: Recently Discovered

Manuscripts of the Yi Jing (I Ching) and Related Texts. New York: Columbia

University Press.

Shun, K. L. (2002). Ren and Li in the Analects. In Van Norden B.W. (Ed.), Confucius

and the Analects (pp.53-72). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Slingerland, E. (2001). Virtue ethics, the Analects, and the problem of

commensurability. Journal of Religious Ethics, 29(1), 97-125.

Smith, K. (1989). Zhouyi Interpretation from accounts in the Zuozhuan. Harvard

Journal of Asiatic Studies, 49(2), 421-463.

Smith, K. (1993). The difficulty of the Yijing. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles,

Reviews, 1-15.

Smith, R. J. (1998). The place of the Yijing in world culture: Some historical and

contemporary perspectives. Journal of Chinese philosophy, 25(4), 391-422.

120

Smith, R. J. (2008). Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World: The Yijing (I

ching, or Classic of Changes) and its evolution in China. Charlottesville:

University of Virginia Press.

Smith, R. J. (2013). Fathoming the Changes: The Evolution of some Technical Terms

and Interpretive Strategies in Yijing Exegesis. Journal of Chinese Philosophy,

40(S1), 146-170.

Tsien, Tsuen-Hsuin (1962). Written on bamboo and silk. The University of Chicago

Press.

Wang, Q. J. (2000). Heng Dao and Appropriation of Nature: a hermeneutical

interpretation of Laozi. Asian Philosophy, 10(2), 149-163.

Wang, Q. J. (2001). Heng and temporality of Dao: Laozi and Heidegger.

Dao,1 (1), 55-71.

Waley, A. (2007). The analects of Confucius. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching

and Research Press.

Wee, C. (2011). Xin, Trust, and Confucius' Ethics. Philosophy East and West, 61(3),

516-533.

Web Sources Chinese Text Project. Retrieved from http://ctext.org/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015] Han Dian . Retrieved from http://www.zdic.net/ [Accessed on 15/May/2015] The China-US Million Book Digital Library Project (CADAL). Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/cadal&tab=collection [Accessed on 12/Sep/2016]

121