The Quest for Essence and Laws: Dao

The first important concept for consideration of the issue of origin and laws is Dao.

Dao can be found in such early writings as Book of Documents and Book of Change, in which it means "way." Since the late Western Zhou Dynasty, with the development of astrology or astronomy, the word tiandao, or the Heavenly Way, became widely used. In The 9'h year of the Reign of Duke Xiang, Zuo Zhuan, Shi Ruo replies to the Marquis of Jin's question about the Heavenly Way:

Ebo, Tao Tang Shi s Official of Fire, lived in Shangqiu and offered sacrifices to Great Fire (Antares) and devised a calendar based on its movement. He was succeeded by Xiangtu, who carried on this practice. As a result, it became the main god worshipped by the Shang Dynasty.

believed that the collapse of the dynasty was bound to start with some calamity related to fire.

During the same period there appeared the concept of Dao that directly refers to the laws of the movement of heavenly bodies:

In the movement of the sun and the moon, the ecliptic crosses the equator at the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox, and goes beyond the equator at the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice.

Here fen refers to the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox, zhi refers to the Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice, and dao refers to the ecliptic and the equator.

Lao Tzu was the first philosopher to regard Dao as the highest philosophical category and make a systematic study of it. It is noteworthy that his concept of Dao is closely related to the view on the Heavenly Way and cosmological knowledge.

First of all, let us consider Dao in the sense of the view on the Heavenly Way. Lao Tzu said,

In Heaven there is Dao, and Dao endures long; and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16)

How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! (Chapter 25)

Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns, (ditto)

The movement of the Dao

By contraries proceeds. (Chapter 40)

The concept of Dao in these quotations was actually directly derived from the idea of the Heavenly Way that existed from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. To be more exact, the intellectual source or background of this idea was astrology or astronomy, which developed rapidly to an advanced level during the Spring and Autumn Period. From this perspective, "In Heaven there is Dao, and Dao endures long" means that all heavenly bodies move according to their laws, one of the basic features of which is periodical and circulatory movement. "Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns" and "The movement of the Dao/By contraries proceeds" also describe the circulatory repetition of the movement of heavenly bodies. At that time, knowledge about such movement included the Twelve Stars, the Twenty-eight Constellations, the tropical year of the sun, and the cycles of the five planets. Here we can see a clear logical process from the intellectual background of the Heavenly Way to Lao Tzu's concept of Dao.

Next, let us consider Dao in the cosmological sense, which generally unfolded in two ways. One was guess about the structure or appearance of the universe. Lao Tzu said,

We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One. Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure. Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless, and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable. We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see its Back. (Chapter 14)

Who can of Dao the nature tell?

Our sight it flies, our touch as well.

Eluding sight, eluding touch,

The forms of things all in it crouch;

Eluding touch, eluding sight,

There are their semblances, all right.

Profound it is, dark and obscure;

Things' essences all there endure.

Those essences the truth enfold

Of what, when seen, shall then be told. (Chapter 21)

It should be noted that, due to limited knowledge, the quest of the state or appearance of the depths of the universe could only lead to a hazy impression - "eluding touch, eluding sight" and "profound it is, dark and obscure." Furthermore, such an impression was bound to involve the issue of language. The most typical and most often quoted words are:

The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. (Chapter 1)

I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Dao (the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it The Great. (Chapter 25)

This is because the structure or appearance of the universe was beyond the scope of experience, or "transcendental," and as such was very difficult to speak of.

The other way was guess about the origin and evolution of the universe. Lao Tzu said,

(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things. (Chapter 1)

There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. (Chapter 25)

AJI things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named); that existence sprang from It as non- existent (and not named). (Chapter 40)

The Dao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. (Chapter 42)

Here the idea is that the universe has developed from nothingness to existence, from less to more, and from "one" to "myriad."

More importantly, however, Lao Tzu's concept of Dao obviously transcends the view on the Heavenly Way and cosmology as well as astronomical knowledge. Lao Tzu elevated the view on the Heavenly Way and cosmology and found what lie beyond them - Dao, which has a more "universal" significance in terms of law and origin.

Afterwards, Chuang Tzu carried on Lao Tzu's line of thinking, saying, "The Dao ... has Its root and ground (of existence) in Itself. Before there were heaven and earth, from of old, there It was, securely existing. From It came the mysterious existences of spirits, from It the mysterious existence of God. It produced heaven; It produced earth. (The Great and Most Honored Master, Chuang Tzu) However, he noted that there is no distinction between Dao and "matter," for Dao exists in matter or, in his words, "That which makes things what they are has not the limit which belongs to things" (Knowledge Rambling in the North) This is where he differed from Lao Tzu.

Still later, Commentaries on Book of Change also treated Dao as the highest category:

Therefore in (the system of) the Yi there is the Grand Terminus, which produced the two elementary Forms. Those two Forms produced the Four emblematic Symbols, which again produced the eight Trigrams. The eight trigrams served to determine the good and evil (issues of events), and from this determination was produced the (successful prosecution of the) great business (of life). (Xi Ci I)

Here "the Great Terminus" (Taiji) means the same as Dao, which is the origin of everything in the universe. Another remark goes,

Hence that which is antecedent to the material form exists, we say, as an ideal method (Dao), and that which is subsequent to the material form exists, we say, as a definite thing (Qi). (ditto)

That is to say, the universe, which was originally formless, is called Dao, whereas everything in it, which has forms, is called Qi. Thus Dao and Qi also form a pair of categories, with regard to which philosophers of later times such as Zhu Xi and Wang Fuzhi would express their opinions despite their different positions. Additionally, The Annals of Lii Buwei uses the word yuandao (circular Dao) to describe the circulatory nature of law:

The alternation between day and night follows the Circular Way; the moon, which moves across the Twenty-eight Constellations, such as Zhen and Jiao, also follows the Circular Way. (The Circular Way)

The Wei and Jin Dynasties marked the last stage in the development of the theory of Dao.

During this period, the philosopher Wang Bi gave a new explanation of Dao, mainly in two aspects. Firstly, in terms of the theory of Dao, previous philosophers had mainly been interested in how the universe came into being, or the origin of the universe. In other words, they considered the relationship between Dao and matter in terms of sequence. Unlike them, Wang Bi showed an interest in ontological issues. That is to say, he considered the relationship in terms of what is fundamental and primary. He said,

Lao Tzu's book can almost be generalized into one phrase - to uphold the fundamental and lay to rest the incidental. (A Brief Introduction to Lao Tzu)

Wang Bi also proposed many important categories, such as:

1) Mother and children: "Mother is essential while children are incidental." (Commentaries on Lao Tzu, Chapter 52)

2) Essence and function: "Even those who have become very wealthy and come into possession of myriad things by dint of their outstanding virtue can only be virtuous in a separate sense, for though they may be commendable in choosing 'nothingness' as their function, they cannot do away with 'nothingness' in their essence." (Chapter 38)

3) Movement and stillness: "Though all things are moving, they will eventually return to void stillness, for that is the ultimate and genuine state of everything." (Chapter 16)

4) One and many: "The scarce are appreciated among the abundant; the minority is honored by the multitude." (Brief Interpretations of Book of Change, Elucidating Tuan)

Among these opposite categories, "mother," "essence," "one" and "stillness" are primary while "children," "function," "many" and "movement" are secondary.

Secondly, this led to a change in central concept. For Lao Tzu, Dao is the most basic concept, and "nothingness" is only an attribute of Dao. This was an inevitable result from thought about origin. However, the opposite became true for Wang Bi, with "nothingness" being the more fundamental concept. He said,

Dao is the name of nothingness. That which nothing can obstruct or bypass, we call it Dao. (Clarifying Doubts about the Analects)

The survey of Wang Bi's thought above shows his superb analytical ability and outstanding skills of theoretical thinking, with which he brought Dao to a new ontological height. It is also true, however, that he began to show a more distinct tendency toward idealism.