The central tenet of the Doctrine of the Mean can be summarized in a word: Nature, which is understood in terms both of physical and human nature. Thus it is necessary to have a clear view of nature. Nature comes originally and directly from the Mandate of Heaven which consists of two essential characteristics: naturalness and innateness. This work will not seek simply to explain their meaning, but will look for their genesis, especially from a philosophical perspective.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NATURAL AND THE INNATE
The very first question is, how this naturalness and innateness come to be? A simple explanation of these phenomena will not provide a satisfactory answer. We must instead trace their genesis back to the Mandate of Heaven (Heaven-Mandate) which is shared commonly in the Chinese tradition. Mencius for example used both terms in the same context:
It is due to our nature that our mouths desire sweet tastes, that our eyes desire beautiful colors, that our ears desire pleasant sounds, that our noses desire fragrant odors and that our four limbs desire ease and comfort. But there is also fate. The superior man does not say they are man's nature. The virtue of humanity in the relationship between father and son, the virtue of righteousness in the relationship between ruler and ministers, the virtue of propriety between guest and host, the virtue of wisdom in the worthy, and the sage in regard to the Way of Heaven--these are endowed in people in various degrees according to fate. But there is also man's nature. The superior man does not refrain from practicing them and say they are the matters of fate.(1)
In the Book of History and the Annalects the terms of Heaven-Mandate and Fate clearly express the fate determined Heaven or T'ien. But to be more precise, these two terms are not identical. Though Mencius himself uses these two terms in the same sense, still he acknowledges their difference in their very original meaning. He has in his mind two different conceptions: the small substance (hsiao-ti) which is concerned with physical elements and the great substance (ta-ti) which deals with the human heart and mind. The small substance is completely determined or created, and it belongs to the category of fate, while the great substance belongs to what we call human nature and can win over blind fate.
Accordingly, human morals have been constructed on human nature, i.e., the human heart and mind. Mencius regards morals in different forms such as benevolence (Jen), righteousness (Yi), fittingness (Li) and wisdom (Chi):
What belongs by his nature to the superior man are benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. . . . These are rooted in his heart; their growth and manifestation are mild harmony appearing in the countenance or rich fullness in the back, and the character imparted to the four limbs. Those limbs understand to arrange themselves without being told.(2)
In the Doctrine of the Mean, human nature is known not by its essence, but by its praxis (or acts manifest in nature). But this distinction does not contradict the view that they all belong to human nature. A careful study of the history of metaphysics leads to the same conclusion. For example, Western metaphysics seems to put more emphasis on the question of Being (in its essence) while the Chinese counterpart tends toward a metaphysics of natural change. Such distinction is artificial, because praxis and theory, existence and essence, change and being cannot be discarded. Only by means of act (change) does Being come into its presence (sheng). That is to say, in its most original form, the act of coming into presence (sheng), i.e. existence, requires a movement beforehand. In another expression, the nature of our existence is a dynamic presence. Analogously, one could also say that the nature of Being could be seen from its immobility or its essence. In the Doctrine of the Mean man's nature is precisely understood in this dynamic perspective.
Movement, change, dynamos . . . all express living human life. Any discussion about human nature is identified with a discussion about our life. Hence, it can also be said that we can understand our life only if we first grasp our human nature. It is no wonder then that for Confucius and Mencius, all moral codes which are purposely constructed to regulate our life must be built on the basis of human nature. The following passage in the Doctrine of the Mean clearly indicates that: "The Ordinance of Heaven is what we call the law of nature. To fulfill the law of nature is what we call the way. To cultivate the way is what we call education" (chap. 1).
Accordingly, living in accordance with human nature is called Cheng or sincerity. In the Book of the Great Learning this is exalted as the most pristine virtue. In this way, all morals are constructed upon human nature as goodness itself, i.e., the basic virtue. Thus, we can state that human nature is not only goodness itself, on which all morals are based, but is most evident which needs no clarification or verification. A neo-confucianist, Wang Yang-ming calls it moral conscience (liang-chih). Moral conscience is innate, a priori in the sense of what Mencius describes as `unlearned knowledge' or knowledge acquired not from learning, or innate idea; the foundation of morals, moral conscience must be the common consciousness of all men: an unconscious moral conscience would be rather a non-sense. However, that does not mean that all men are equally good. Man often lapses into ignorance for one or another reason, which is precisely why man needs self-enlightenment in order to restore moral conscience. This self-restoring enlightenment is expressed in the Great Learning as `Let the virtue be self manifesting' or `refurbishing pristine virtue', and in the Doctrine of the Mean as sincerity (chap. 20): "Sincerity is the Way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of men".(3)
On the other hand, there is also what we call physical or biological nature implicit in matter and which man needs to transform or to harmonize into goodness. By means of his own effort man can attain or acquire the goodness for his life. With a full knowledge of human nature man no longer clings to self-interest but voluntarily follows the natural way and as such becomes Chun-tzu or the noble man. In the Doctrine of the Mean, there is a passage:
Sincerity in its original enlightened state is called nature; when manifested, it is called education. Where there is sincerity, there is manifestation; where there is manifestation, there is sincerity (Chap. 21).
Seen in this way, in its `very nature' sincerity is transparent and spontaneous. Blinded by the strong desire to amass interests, man is in need of self-correction in order simply to return to his nature. Such is the purpose of education.
Regarding the question of nature, we find in the Doctrine of the Mean three main ideas: 1. human nature as Heaven-Mandate, 2. human nature as goodness, and 3. human nature as the moral codes of human life. In a word, one can obtain the Tao only by means of educating one's human nature.
SINCERITY
To attain the Tao, sincerity is the first requisite. The second half of the Doctrine of the Mean is devoted to this question of sincerity, Cheng. This is implicit in all human activities guiding our praxis into conformity to human nature. Human nature may be regarded as the model or the standard with which man must act in accord. We regard it as the standard because of its universality and necessity. Another function of sincerity is its role in making nature moving and transforming:
Where there is sincerity, there is form. Where there is form, there is evidence. Where there is evidence, there is manifestation. Where there is manifestation, there is activity. Where there is activity, there is change. Where there is change, there is transformation. In the world, only he who possesses sincerity can transform (chap. 23).
In commenting on this passage, Chu-Hsi notes on the concepts of change and transformation as follows: change is always oriented toward Chi (the material force), and transformation toward the divinity. Thus he explains the difference of the attitude of a sage from that of ordinary people: "Only the mover can move all things and only the transformer can transform" (Chu-Hsi). However, if we take a careful look into the Doctrine of the Mean, it is clear that we cannot rely on the influence of the ordinary man to explain change and transformation. We can do that only by means of first grasping human nature (chap. 22) and, more important, the "silent dynamic nature" (Ching Hsing). Consequently, our activities should be regulated by the morals based on human nature. By doing so, one can reach the stage of the sage. Needless to say, goodness is born in and from our sincerity and from our acts conforming to nature. Conversely, one can say also that our nature is in developing through moral acts. In the Doctrine of the Mean, goodness is identified with moral goodness:
When the passions, such as joy, anger, grief and pleasure, have not awaken, that is our true self or being. When these passions awaken and each and all attain due measure and degree, that is the moral order (chap. 3, 4).
One important thing hidden in this passage that we need to mention is the key-term `harmony'. Harmony expresses how human beings whenever and wherever--in any state of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness--always try to act in accordance with the laws of nature. In a word, goodness means exactly the final stage of acting and developing as well as of following nature.
One point however, needs to be clarified here. In the Doctrine of the Mean, hsing, i.e. nature, can be understood not from its static appearance, but from its dynamic hidden aspect. That is to say, by means of a constant developing sincerity human nature manifests itself. In I-King, we find such an idea: `Only through yin and yang does Tao manifest itself; only through practical acts does goodness reveal itself and only in sincerity does human nature emerge' (I-King, chap. 5). In another expression, the autonomous transformation of yin and yang produces the nature of material and physical nature, and even these continue to further this self-transformation. Mencius thus regards human nature as goodness; as such, man has no other choice but out of sincerity to conserve and develop his nature. But to develop one's nature, one cannot look elsewhere for other ways; one must develop one's own nature in the natural way. Mencius explains:
There are few in the world who can resist the temptation of helping their rice plants grow. Some leave them unattended, because they think that to help the plants is all to no avail; there are people who do not even bother to weed. Others help the plants grow by pulling at them; not only do they fail to help but they do harm.(4)
We can state it this way: like a seed which grows, human nature also consists in growing. Mencius means by seed what he has in his mind: bene-volence, righteousness, fittingness and wisdom. These four cardinal virtues form the kernel of morality, namely goodness. One can say that these four virtues are regarded by Mencius not only as moral goodness but, more than that, the spiritual life itself, because spiritual life is meant for humankind. It is the great substance (ta-ti). However, in order to make them visible one should cultivate one's life. The moral act, i.e., the act of benevolence, righteousness, fittingness and wisdom, is rooted deeply in our spiritual life, or more precisely, in our human nature.
To avoid misunderstanding, we need to note here the difference between Western and Chinese metaphysics on this question. The Western metaphysicians discuss Being in terms of the principles of identity and of contradiction, while their Chinese counterparts understand being in its act of coming-into-presence in terms of moral virtues, i.e. the four cardinal virtues.
Let us return to Mencius's arguments. Our nature grows in the same way as a seed which, after being buried under the earth, grows up and again is planted in the rice-pad. The seed will become what it is supposed to be. According to this natural phenomenon, one may assert that the nature of a seed is to be such, i.e. following the principle implicit in the seed enables the seed itself to grow. The harvest self-expresses the total reason of this principle of "sheng" (genesis, creation . . .). Similarly, the principle implicit in nature can be explained in what I propose to call "ching-hsing", or the "silent, dynamic nature".
In the Doctrine of the Mean human nature must be understood as this "silent dynamic nature". At the very first beginning of human life, one notices the presence of a certain principle implicit in man (that we call li). Such a principle is known in the acts of benevolence, righteousness, fittingness and wisdom. Accepting li as the root requires that we develop our human nature by means of moral practice to the requirements of li. Li is most visible in the life of Chun-tzu, the holy man or sage, who possesses these cardinal virtues:
In the world, only he who possesses pervasive sincerity is able to fulfil his nature completely. He who is able to fulfill his own nature completely will be able to fulfill completely the nature of all men. He who is able to fulfill completely the nature of all men will be able to fulfill completely the nature of all things. He who is able to fulfill completely the nature of all things will be able to assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth. Able to assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth, he may form a trinity with them (Chap. XXII).
The silent dynamic nature in the Doctrine of the Mean is manifested in four degrees: dynamic individuality, dynamic human nature, dynamic material force and dynamic transformation. These four degrees or steps are sometimes placed in time-sequence and sometimes occur at the same time. Generally speaking, in order to attain the fullness of human nature, it is necessary to proceed in order step by step, from the first to the second, from the second to the third and so on to the final step. A clarification about the time-sequence must be made here: at the very moment of reaching the first step, one reaches all four steps at one glance. Chu Hsi tends to a second interpretation, namely, claiming that one becomes a sage when he possesses sincerity (Chu Hsi).
In fact, the comment of Chu-Hsi is derived from his understanding of traditional morality based on Tao, and of the relationship between sincerity and human nature. Consequently, he claims that one can grasp completely one's own nature as well as the nature of universe, and that man should rely only on his nature as guide to acting. Chu-Hsi accepts the silent dynamic nature in the Doctrine of the Mean as a metaphysical essence in which one develops human nature to its most perfect form.
Following this interpretation, Wang Pan-shan continues to insist that the more the nature grows the more fate diminishes, because human nature is constructed on the unity of yin and yang. Yin-yang moves, transforms and constructs everything; it explains how human nature manifests itself. In this context, man and thing originally share the same nature: all depend on the Heaven-Mandate which is unchanging. Thus we can understand why the Doctrine of the Mean explains hsing (nature) and li (principle) in different terms. This idea strengthens our interpretation that the principle of HeavenMandate is unchangeable while our human nature is developing. Chu-Hsi has distinguished the principle (li) from material force (chi). He argues that if nature is principle then this principle is unchangeable. But by taking nature as chi (material force), nature is seen to consist in developing. In the same sense, he baptized as individual nature the characteristics of each individual man. By taking chi as the most fundamental principle of nature, he claims that one attains the full knowledge of goodness and evil, i.e., one develops himself. Thus, this principle also is called the eternal principle of Heaven and Earth. However, Chu-Hsi notes that the nature of chi and of the Heaven and the Earth are different in terms of manifestation. The nature of Heaven and Earth is abstract while that of chi is concrete.
In the Doctrine of the Mean we find both the concrete and abstract natures. To be more precise, note the main features of nature: the first is individual, the second is concrete nature, while the third concerns the nature of matter. Needless to say, the Doctrine of the Mean tends toward the second, concrete nature. In a word, we believe that Chinese metaphysics starts not from pure being but being in its concrete life and development. We would go a step further to say that it is through the movement of life (life in act) and by means of the concreteness of life that we can understand human nature. The evidence in our life: human growth from infancy to adulthood, from adulthood to the final stage of life, suggests continuous development. But how explain the diminution of human physical strength in old age? In fact we are talking of development in terms of spiritual development. The human spirit always develops, even at the later stage of our life, and to such a degree that one can obtain then the state of silent dynamic nature and become the sage.
HUMAN NATURE AND THE NATURE OF THING
The last question regarding the silent dynamic nature in the Doctrine of the Mean is the nature of thing which, as Chu-Hsi insists, can be seen in our human nature. As a matter of fact, some explanations of human nature and the nature of thing have been made in terms of individual nature. But the reality is that whatever we name, either individual nature or human nature, either the nature of thing or simple nature, all belong to the same unique nature. A danger may occur in such an understanding of nature, namely, one may identify human nature with animal nature, whereas the simple fact that man is not a beast demonstrates that human nature is not animal nature. In order to avoid this embarrassing problem, Chu-Hsi takes the view of Changtsai and Chang-chin on li. This explains all things in Heaven and Earth, but not on chi (material force) and on concrete praxis which are different in different species.(5)
Actually, Chu-Hsi holds that there are different stages of chi, from the innumerable to the seriousness, and from the seriousness (as the psychological prerequisite for true knowledge) to chi. On the other hand, he claims that the principle or li lies in actualizing, its degree of actualization depending on the seriousness of chi. More clearly, a man who possesses chi has the seriousness with which he knows how to let the self-manifesting take place. Chu-Hsi later reaffirms this position by reiterating that man can be understood from his total possession of the principle of all things (li), while material things or animals can be grasped partly because they lack this li. In a word, the li found in the united and harmonious universe can be the principle of life, namely the principle of sheng or biological, genetic principle.
In I-King, similar ideas are found. Tao is the genetic activity which is implicit in the universe and expresses life. It contains in itself the movement of yin and yang. By taking sheng (genesis) as principle, or, more precisely, by taking life as principle, it is evident that the principle of life is identified with the principle of Heaven-Earth, that the most concrete principle must be the principle of chi, and finally, that the principle of life is in harmony with chi itself. From a reverse order, one may formulate it so: if chi stands in opposition to life, then the principle (li) will not become present, and logically, no life can be expected. Hence, only by means of the seriousness of chi does life emerge. According to Chu-Hsi then the more the seriousness of chi develops, the more life ascends toward its most developed form, i.e., human life. One may say also, with man chi is in its highest seriousness and therefore life manifests itself in the most perfect form, namely, spiritual life whose essential characteristics are benevolence, righteousness, fittingness and wisdom. In Chu-Hsi's own words, that is the united principle in its manifestation.
However, in our daily life, the four cardinal virtues of benevolence, righteousness, fittingness and wisdom are often clouded by improper events. The duty of self control and correction is thus the first condition for arriving at the silent dynamic nature, and then attaining the full developing personality. A man's personality is known in spiritual life, which consists of human life, as well as in cosmic life. Thus, Mencius affirms: "All things are there in us" (Ching-hsing, l). The silent, dynamic nature, now regarded as the great ultimate force, involves both human nature and the nature of things. In I-King, this hsing or nature is considered as the principle of life coming from Heaven and Earth: "The Virtues of Heaven and Earth are implicit in sheng (genesis), i.e., our original life can be found in the love of the heavenly spirit" (T'ien Hsin). Similarly, Chu-Hsi insists on the spiritual force as the basis of Heaven and Earth. Once man possesses spiritual force, he is fully developed.(6) One can also express this as once man arrives at the stage of quietness of heart (and mind), he can express (from his life) the benevolence existing in Heaven and Earth. Mencius speaks thus of benevolence: "he is benevolent towards the people, but is merely sparing with things".(7) As such, one has all the virtues existing in the harmony of Heaven and Earth; as a logical matter one absolves himself from all conflicts in the universe. In the Yi-chuan, the same idea is expressed as follows: "A great man possesses the virtues implicit in Heaven and on Earth".(8)
To conclude, we cite from the Doctrine of the Mean a passage which expresses the above idea: "Oh, how great the Way of the sage is! Vast and full, it gives birth and life to all created things" (chap. 27.1).
Fujen Catholic University
Taipei