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Chapter 2 of 25
皇极经世
Among all things, none are greater than Heaven and Earth, yet even Heaven and Earth have their limits.
The vastness of Heaven is exhausted by Yin and Yang; the vastness of Earth is exhausted by Rigidity and Flexibility. When Yin and Yang are pushed to their extremes, they form the Four Seasons; when Rigidity and Flexibility are pushed to their extremes, they form the Four Dimensions. The so-called Four Seasons and Four Dimensions are the manifestations of Heaven and Earth achieving their "utmost greatness"—whenever one speaks of "greatness," nothing surpasses them. Yet Heaven and Earth do not boast of their greatness because of this, and thus they are able to fulfill their greatness. Is this not the most supreme, most supreme of all?
Heaven is born from movement, and Earth is born from stillness; when movement and stillness interact with each other, the fundamental principles of Heaven and Earth are completely encompassed.
The initial stage of movement produces Yang; when movement reaches its extreme, it produces Yin; when Yin and Yang unite, the functioning of Heaven is exhausted. The initial stage of stillness produces Flexibility; when stillness reaches its extreme, it produces Rigidity; when Flexibility and Rigidity unite, the functioning of Earth is exhausted.
Within movement, that which is great is called Great Yang, and that which is small within movement is called Lesser Yang; within stillness, that which is great is called Great Yin, and that which is small within stillness is called Lesser Yin. Great Yang is the Sun ☀️, Great Yin is the Moon 🌙, Lesser Yang is the Star ⭐, and Lesser Yin is the Celestial Bodies 🌌; when the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Celestial Bodies unite, the substance of Heaven is exhausted.
Within stillness, that which is great is called Great Flexibility, and that which is small within stillness is called Lesser Flexibility; within movement, that which is great is called Great Rigidity, and that which is small within movement is called Lesser Rigidity. Great Flexibility is Water 💧, Great Rigidity is Fire 🔥, Lesser Flexibility is Earth ⛰️, and Lesser Rigidity is Stone 🪨; when Water, Fire, Earth, and Stone unite, the substance of Earth is exhausted.
The Sun manifests as Heat, the Moon manifests as Cold, the Stars manifest as Day, and the Celestial Bodies manifest as Night; when Heat, Cold, Day, and Night unite, the transformations of Heaven are exhausted. Water manifests as Rain, Fire manifests as Wind, Earth manifests as Dew, and Stone manifests as Thunder; when Rain, Wind, Dew, and Thunder unite, the transformative workings of Earth are exhausted.
Heat can transform the nature of living beings, Cold can transform the disposition of living beings, Day can transform the form of living beings, and Night can transform the substance of living beings; when nature, disposition, form, and substance unite, the sensory perceptions of animals and plants are exhausted. Rain can nurture quadrupeds, Wind can nurture flying creatures, Dew can nurture grasses, and Thunder can nurture trees; when quadrupeds, flying creatures, grasses, and trees unite, the responsive correspondences of animals and plants are exhausted.
What quadrupeds receive from Heat and are transformed by constitutes the nature of quadrupeds; what they receive from Cold and are transformed by constitutes the disposition of quadrupeds; what they receive from Day and are transformed by constitutes the form of quadrupeds; what they receive from Night and are transformed by constitutes the substance of quadrupeds. Flying creatures, grasses, and trees follow the same pattern.
What nature responds to Rain and is transformed by constitutes the nature of quadrupeds; what nature responds to Wind and is transformed by constitutes the nature of flying creatures; what nature responds to Dew and is transformed by constitutes the nature of grasses; what nature responds to Thunder and is transformed by constitutes the nature of trees. Disposition, form, and substance follow the same pattern. [Translator's note: The character "行" in the original phrase "形应雨而化者，走之行也" should be "形" (form), corrected according to context.]
The nature of quadrupeds excels in manifesting color, their disposition excels in manifesting sound, their form excels in manifesting vital energy, and their substance excels in manifesting flavor. Flying creatures, grasses, and trees follow the same pattern.
The nature of quadrupeds is most perceptive through the ear; the nature of flying creatures is most perceptive through the eye; the nature of grasses is most perceptive through the mouth; the nature of trees is most perceptive through the nose. [Translator's note: The character "木" in the original "飞之性善木" should be "目" (eye), corrected according to the later passage "飞之情善目."] The disposition of quadrupeds is most perceptive through the ear; the disposition of flying creatures is most perceptive through the eye; the disposition of grasses is most perceptive through the mouth; the disposition of trees is most perceptive through the nose. The form of quadrupeds is most perceptive through the ear; the form of flying creatures is most perceptive through the eye; the form of grasses is most perceptive through the mouth; the form of trees is most perceptive through the nose. The substance of quadrupeds is most perceptive through the ear; the substance of flying creatures is most perceptive through the eye; the substance of grasses is most perceptive through the mouth; the substance of trees is most perceptive through the nose.
As for humans, none of Heat, Cold, Day, and Night fails to transform them; none of Rain, Wind, Dew, and Thunder fails to nurture them; none of nature, disposition, form, and substance fails to move them; none of quadrupeds, flying creatures, grasses, and trees fails to correspond with them. Therefore, the eye excels in distinguishing the colors of all things, the ear excels in distinguishing the sounds of all things, the nose excels in distinguishing the odors of all things, and the mouth excels in distinguishing the flavors of all things. Is it not entirely fitting that humans are the most spiritual of all creatures?
Even the Greatest Has Its Limits
Though Heaven and Earth are vast, they can still be exhausted by finite categories such as Yin-Yang and Rigidity-Flexibility. This does not deny the infinitude of Heaven and Earth, but rather says: to understand the infinite, one must proceed through finite structural frameworks.
Movement-Stillness Opens the Way of Heaven and Earth
Heaven is born from movement; Earth is born from stillness; when movement and stillness interact, Yin-Yang and Rigidity-Flexibility arise. Within movement there is both Yin and Yang, and within stillness there is both Flexibility and Rigidity—transcending simple binary opposition.
The Hierarchical Generation of Inherent-Aspect Numerological Symbols
Movement → Great Yang/Lesser Yang → Sun/Star → Heat/Day
Stillness → Great Yin/Lesser Yin → Moon/Celestial Bodies → Cold/Night
Stillness → Great Flexibility/Lesser Flexibility → Water/Earth → Rain/Dew
Movement → Great Rigidity/Lesser Rigidity → Fire/Stone → Wind/Thunder
This is a generative model from substance to phenomenon, from Heaven to Earth, from vital energy to material things.
The Symmetrical Structure of Sensory Response and Categorical Correspondence
Nature—Disposition—Form—Substance and Quadrupeds—Flying Creatures—Grasses—Trees form an interwoven network of sensory response. Each category of living beings uses nature, disposition, form, and substance to sense Heat, Cold, Day, and Night, and in turn uses their classification as quadrupeds, flying creatures, grasses, or trees to correspond with Rain, Wind, Dew, and Thunder.
The Human Being as the Totality of Responsiveness
The human being is not a partially complete animal, but rather one for whom "none of Heat, Cold, Day, and Night fails to transform; none of Rain, Wind, Dew, and Thunder fails to nurture; none of nature, disposition, form, and substance fails to move; none of quadrupeds, flying creatures, grasses, and trees fails to correspond." Thus the human eye excels in color, the ear in sound, the nose in odor, and the mouth in flavor, making humanity the most spiritual of all creatures.
Related Concepts
Inherent-Aspect (Xiantian) Eight Trigrams sequence, Four Images (Great Yang, Great Yin, Lesser Yang, Lesser Yin), Shao Yong's "Yuan Hui Yun Shi" (Epoch, Generation, Revolution, Age) temporal framework, the "observing things through things" principle in the Inner Chapters on Observing Things, differences between Water-Fire-Earth-Stone and the Five Elements, and the classification system of nature, disposition, form, and substance.
Further Reading
Huangji Jingshi Shu: Inner Chapters on Observing Things, Chapters 1–50, which mutually corroborate this chapter; the passage in the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), Great Commentary, Part I, "In change there is the Supreme Ultimate, which generates the Two Modes," which is an important source of Shao Yong's Inherent-Aspect learning; Shao Yong's Dialogue between the Fisherman and the Woodcutter, a philosophical work in dialogue form that aids in understanding his views on movement and stillness.
Modern Scholarship
Feng Youlan's A History of Chinese Philosophy contains a dedicated chapter reviewing Shao Yong's Image-Number learning; Zhu Bokun's Philosophical History of Yijing Studies examines in detail Shao Yong's Inherent-Aspect diagrams and mathematical logic; Yu Dunkang's The Unification of Inner Sageliness and Outer Kingliness: A Modern Interpretation of Northern Song Yijing Studies provides modern philosophical analysis of Shao Yong's school of Yijing learning. All of these serve as academic references for in-depth study of this chapter.