In ancient China there were two lines of thought that thus tried to inter-pret the structure and origin of the universe. One is found in the writings of the Yin-Yang school, while the other is found in some of the "Appendices" added by anonymous Confucianists to the original text of the Book of Changes. These two lines of thought seem to have developed independently. In the "Grand Norm" and "Monthly Commands, which we will examine be-low, there is stress on the Five Elements but no mention of the Yin and Yang; in the Appendices of the Book of Changes, on the contrary, much is said about the Yin and Yang, but nothing about the Five Elements. Later, however, these two lines of thought became intermingled. This was already the case by the time of Ssu—ma T an (died IIO B.C.), so that in the Histori-cal Records he lumps them together as the Yin-Yang school.
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The Five Elements as Described in the Grand Norm
The term Wu Hsing is usually translated as the Five Elements. We should not think of them as static, however, but ratjier as five dynamic and interact-ing forces. The Chinese word hsing means to act or to do, so that the term Wu Hsing, literally translated, would mean the Five Activities, or Five Agents. They are also known as the Wu Te, which means Five Powers.
The term Wu Hsing appears in a text traditionally said lo antedate the twentieth century B.C. (See the Book of History; Part 111, Book II, eh. I, 3.) The authenticity of this text cannot be proved, however, and even if it were proved, we cannot be sure whether the term Wu Hsing means the same thing in it as it does in other texts whose date is better fixed. The first really au-thentic account of the Wu Hsing, therefore, is to be found in another section of the Book of History (Part V, Book 4), known as the Hung Fan or "Great Plan" or "Grand Norm." Traditionally, the "Grand Norm" is said to be the record of a speech delivered to King Wu of the Chou dynasty by the Viscount of Chi, a prince of the Shang dynasty which King Wu conquered at the end of the twelfth century B.C. In this speech, the Viscount of Chi in turn attributes his ideas to Yli, traditional founder of the Hsia Dynasty who is said to have lived in the twenty-second century B.C. These traditions are mentioned as ex-amples of the way the writer of this treatise tried to give importance to the Wu Hsing theory. As to the actual date of the "Grand Norm," modern scholarship inclines to place it within the fourth or third centuries B.C.
In the "Grand INorm" we are given a list of "Nine Categories." "First [among the categories]," we read, "is that of the Wu Hsing. The first [of these] is named Water; the second, Fire; the third, Wood; the fourth, Metal; the fifth, Soil. LThe nature of] Water is to moisten and descend; of Fire, to flame and ascend; of Wood, to be crooked and straighten; of Metal, to yield and to be modified; of Soil, to provide for sowing and reaping. '
Next comes the category of the Five Functions. "Second," we read, "is that of the Five Functions. The first !_of these] is personal appearance; the second, speech; the third, vision; the fourth, hearing; the fifth, thought. Per-sonal appearance should be decorous; speech should follow order; vision should be clear; hearing, distinct; thought, profound. Decorum produces solemnity; following order, regularity; clearness, intelligence; distinctness, deliberation; profundity, wisdom.
Skipping now lo the eighth of the Nine Categories, we come to what the "Grand Norm" calls the various indications: "The eighth is that of various indications. These are rain, sunshine, heat, cold, wind, and seasonableness. When these five come fully and in their regular order, I he various plants will be rich and luxuriant. If there is extreme excess in any of them, disaster fol-
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lows. The following are the favorable indications: the solemnity of the sovereign will be followed by seasonable rain; his regularity, by seasonable sunshine; his intelligence, by seasonable heat; his deliberation, by season-able cold; his wisdom, by seasonable wind. The following are the unfavorable indications: the madness of the sovereign will be followed by steady rain; his insolence, by steady sunshine; his idleness, by steady heat; his haste, by steady cold; his ignorance, by steady wind.
In the "Grand Norm" we find that the idea of the Wu Using is still crude. In speaking of them, its author is still thinking in terms of the actual sub-stances, water, fire, etc., instead of abstract forces bearing these names, as the Wu Hsing came to be regarded later on. The author also tells us that the human and natural worlds are interlinked; bad conduct on the part of the sovereign results in the appearance of abnormal phenomena in the world of nature. This theory, which was greatly developed by the Yin—Yang school in later times, is known as that of the mutual influence between nature and man."
Two theories have been advanced to explain the reasons for this interac-tion. One is teleological. It maintains that wrong conduct on the part of the sovereign causes Heaven to become angry. That anger results in abnormal natural phenomena, which represent warnings given by Heaven to the sovereign. The other theory is mechanistic. It maintains that the sovereign s bad conduct automatically results in a disturbance of nature and thus me-chanically produces abnormal phenomena. The whole universe is a mecha-nism. When one part of it becomes out of order, the other part must be me-chanically affected. This theory represents the scientific spirit of the Yin-Yang school, while the other reflects its occult origin.
The "Monthly Commands
The next important document of the Yin-Yang school is the Yiieh Ling or "Monthly Commands," which is first found in the Lii-xhih Ch'un-ch'in, a work of the late third century B.C., and later was also embodied in the Li Chi {Book of Rites). The Monthly Commands gains ils name from ihe fact that it is a small almanac which tells the ruler and men generally what they should do month by month in order to retain harmony wilh ihe forces of na-ture. In it, the structure of the universe is described in terms of the Yin-Yang school. This structure is spacio—temporal, that is, il relates both to space and to time. The ancient Chinese, being situated in the northern hemisphere, quite naturally regarded the south as the direction of heat and the north as that of cold. Hence the Yin-Yang school correlated the four seasons with the four compass points. Summer was correlated with the south; winter with the north; spring with the east, because it is the direction of sun-
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rise; and autumn with the west, because this is the direction of sunset. The school also regarded the changes of day and night as representing, on a minialure scale, ihe changes of the four seasons of the year. Thus morning is a miniature representation of spring; noon, of summer; evening, of autumn; and night, of winter.
South and summer are hot, because south is the direction and summer the time in which the Power or Element of Fire is dominant. North and winter are cold, because north is the direction and winter the time in which the Power of Water is dominant, and water is associated vvilh ice and snow, which are cold. Likewise, the Power of Wood is dominant in the east and in spring, because spring is the time when plants (symbolized by wood ) begin to grow and the east is correlated with spring. The Power of Metal is domi-nant in the west and in autumn, because metal was regarded as something hard and harsh, and autumn is the bleak time when growing plants reach their end, while the west is correlated with autumn. Thus four of the five Powers are accounted for, leaving only the Power of Soil without a fixed place and season. According to the "Monthly Commands," however, Soil is the central of the Five Powers, and so occupies a place at the center of the four compass points. Its lime of domination is said to be a brief interim peri-od coming between summer and autumn.
With such a cosmological theory, the Yin—Yang school tried to explain nat-ural phenomena both in terms of time and space, and furthermore maintained that these phenomena are closely interrelated with human conduct. Hence, as stated above, the "Monthly Commands" sets forth regulations as to what the sovereign should do month by month, which is the reason for its name.
Thus we are told: "In the first month of spring the east wind resolves the cold. Creatures that have been torpid during the winter begin to move....It is in this month that the vapors of heaven descend and those of earth ascend. Heaven and earth are in harmonious co-operation. All plants bud and grow. ' (Bonk of Rites, ch. 4.)
Because man's conduct should be in harmony with the way of nature, we are told that in this month, "lie [the sovereign] charges his assistants to disseminate [lessons of] virtue and harmonize governmental orders, so as to give effect to the expressions of his satisfaction and to bestow his favors to the millions of the people....Prohibitions arc issued against cutting down trees. Nests should not be thrown down...In this month no warlike operations should be undertaken; the undertaking of such is sure to be followed by calamities from Heaven. This avoidance of warlike operations means that they are not to be commenced on our side.
If, in each month, the sovereign fails to act in the manner befitting that month, but instead follows the conduct appropriate to another month, abnor-mal natural phenomena will result. If in the first month of spring, the gov—
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ernmental proceedings proper to summer are carried out, rain will fall un-seasonably, plants and trees will decay prematurely, and the state will be kept in continual fear. If the proceedings proper to aulumn are carried out, there will be great pestilence among the people, boisterous winds will work their violence, and rain will descend in torrents....If the proceedings proper to winter are carried out, pools of water will produce destructive effects, and snow and frost will prove very injurious....
Tsou Yen
A major figure of the Yin-Yang school in the third century B.C. was Tsou Yen. According to Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Shin Chi oi-Historical Records, Tsou Yen was a native of the State of Ch i in the central part of present Shantung province, and lived shortly after Mencius. He wrote essays totaling more than a hundred thousand words, but all have since been lost. In the His-torical Records itself, however, Ssu—ma Ch ien gives a fairly detailed ac-count of Tsou Yen s theories.
According to this work (eh. 74), Tsou Yen's method was "first to examine small objects, and to extend this to large ones until he reached what was without limit." His interests seem to have been centered on geography and history.
As regards geography, Ssu-ma Ch'ien writes: "He began by classifying China s notable mountains, great rivers and connecting valleys; its birds and beasts; the productions of its waters and soils, and its rare products; and from this he extended his survey to what is beyond the seas, and which men are unable to see....He maintained that what scholars call the Middle King-dom [i.e., China I holds a place in the whole world of but one part in eighty-one. He named China the Spiritual Continent of the Red Region.... Besides China [there are other continents] similar to the Spiritual Continent of the Red Region, making [with China] a total of nine continents....Around each of these is a small encircling sea, so that men and beasts cannot pass from one to another. These [nine continentsJ form one division. There are nine divisions like this. Around their outer edge is a vast ocean which en-compasses them at the point where heaven and earth meet.
As regards Tsou Yen s historical concepts, Ssu—ma Ch ien writes: He first spoke about modern times, and from this went back to the time of Huang Ti [the legendary Yellow Emperor], all of which has been recorded by scholars. Moreover, he followed the great events in the rise and fall of ages, recorded their omens and institutions, and extended his survey back-ward to the time when heaven and earth had not yet been born, to what was profound and abstruse and not to be examined....Starting from the time of the separation of heaven and earth and coming down, he made citations of the
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revolutions and transformations of the Five Powers, anrl the [ different ways of] government and different omens appropriate to eaeh of the Powers."
A Philosophy of History
The last few lines of the quotation show that Tsou Yen developed a new philosophy of history, according to which historical changes are interpreted in accordance with the revolutions and transformations of the Five Powers. The details of this theory are not reported by Ssu —ma Ch inn, but il is treated in one section of the Lit -shift Ch' un -ch' iu, even though in this section Tsou Yen s name is not explicitly mentioned. Thus this work stales (XIII, 2.):
Whenever an Emperor or King is about to arise, Heaven must first mani-fest some favorable omen to the common people. In the time of the Yellow Emperor, Heaven first made huge earthworms and mole crickets appear. The Yellow Emperor said: The force of Soil is in ascendancy. Therefore he as-sumed yellow as his color, and took Soil as ihe pattern for his affairs.
"in the time of Yil [founder of the Hsia dynasty] Heaven first made grass and trees appear which did not die in the autumn and winter. Yii said: The force of Wood is in ascendancy.' Therefore he assumed green as his color and took Wood as the pattern for his affairs.
In the time of T ang [ founder ol the Shang dynasty J Heaven made some knife blades appear in the water. T ang said: The force of Metal is in as-cendancy. He therefore assumed white as his color and took Metal as the pattern for his affairs.
"In the time of King Wen [founder of the Chou dynasty] Heaven made a flame appear, while a red bird, holding a red book in its mouth, alighted on the altar of soil of the House of Chou. King Wen said: 'The force of Fire is in ascendancy. Therefore he assumed red as his color, and took Fire as I he pattern of his affairs."
Water will inevitably be the next force that will succeed Fire. Heaven will first make the ascendancy of Water manifest. The force of Water being in ascendancy, black will be assumed as its color, and Water will be taken as the pattern for affairs....When the cycle is complete, the operation will re-vert once more to Soil.
