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Chapter 7 of 25
皇极经世
Observing spring 🌱, one knows where the principles of the Yi (Book of Changes) reside; observing summer 🔥, one knows where the principles of the Shu (Book of Documents) reside; observing autumn 🍂, one knows where the principles of the Shi (Book of Odes) reside; observing winter ❄️, one knows where the principles of the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals) reside. (Note by Zhou Wenjian: this argument is far-fetched.)
Yi-of-Yi speaks of "birth upon birth"; Yi-of-Shi speaks of "birth then growth"; Yi-of-Shu speaks of "birth then harvest"; Yi-of-Chunqiu speaks of "birth then storage."
Shu-of-Yi speaks of "growth then birth"; Shu-of-Shu speaks of "growth upon growth"; Shu-of-Shi speaks of "growth then harvest"; Shu-of-Chunqiu speaks of "growth then storage."
Shi-of-Yi speaks of "harvest then birth"; Shi-of-Shi speaks of "harvest then growth"; Shi-of-Shu speaks of "harvest upon harvest"; Shi-of-Chunqiu speaks of "harvest then storage."
Chunqiu-of-Yi speaks of "storage then birth"; Chunqiu-of-Shi speaks of "storage then growth"; Chunqiu-of-Shu speaks of "storage then harvest"; Chunqiu-of-Chunqiu speaks of "storage upon storage."
"Birth upon birth" governs the cultivation of intent; "birth then growth" governs the cultivation of speech; "birth then harvest" governs the cultivation of image; "birth then storage" governs the cultivation of number.
"Growth then birth" governs the cultivation of benevolence; "growth upon growth" governs the cultivation of ritual propriety; "growth then harvest" governs the cultivation of righteousness; "growth then storage" governs the cultivation of wisdom.
"Harvest then birth" governs the cultivation of nature; "harvest then growth" governs the cultivation of emotion; "harvest upon harvest" governs the cultivation of form; "harvest then storage" governs the cultivation of substance.
"Storage then birth" governs the cultivation of sageliness; "storage then growth" governs the cultivation of worthiness; "storage then harvest" governs the cultivation of talent; "storage then storage" governs the cultivation of art.
Those who cultivate intent refer to the Three Sovereigns; those who cultivate speech refer to the Five Emperors; those who cultivate image refer to the Three Kings; those who cultivate number refer to the Five Hegemons.
Those who cultivate benevolence refer to Youyu (Shun); those who cultivate ritual propriety refer to Xia; those who cultivate righteousness refer to Shang; those who cultivate wisdom refer to Zhou.
Those who cultivate nature refer to King Wen; those who cultivate emotion refer to King Wu; those who cultivate form refer to the Duke of Zhou; those who cultivate substance refer to the Duke of Shao.
Those who cultivate sageliness refer to Duke Mu of Qin; those who cultivate worthiness refer to Duke Wen of Jin; those who cultivate talent refer to Duke Huan of Qi; those who cultivate art refer to King Zhuang of Chu.
Sovereigns, Emperors, Kings, and Hegemons constitute the substance of the Yi; Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou constitute the substance of the Shu; Wen, Wu, Zhou, and Shao constitute the substance of the Shi; Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu constitute the substance of the Chunqiu.
Intent, speech, image, and number constitute the function of the Yi; benevolence, ritual propriety, righteousness, and wisdom constitute the function of the Shu; nature, emotion, form, and substance constitute the function of the Shi; sageliness, worthiness, talent, and art constitute the function of the Chunqiu.
Function is the mind; substance is the trace; between mind and trace there exists adaptive discretion (quanbian), which is a matter only the sage can grasp.
The Three Sovereigns shared the same intent but differed in transformation; the Five Emperors shared the same speech but differed in instruction; the Three Kings shared the same image but differed in encouragement; the Five Hegemons shared the same art but differed in leadership.
Those who share the same intent but differ in transformation must act by the Way (dao), transforming the people through the Way, and the people will likewise return to them through the Way — thus they honor naturalness (ziran). What is called naturalness means "non-action and non-possession." Non-action does not mean saying nothing, but rather not being stubbornly attached to acting — and therefore one can be vast; non-possession does not mean having nothing, but rather not being stubbornly attached to possessing — and therefore one can be great. To be vast and great in comprehensiveness without stubborn attachment to acting or possessing — is this not achievable only by the Three Sovereigns? Therefore one knows that whoever can transform all under heaven through the Way will have all under heaven return to him through the Way. Thus the sage has said: "I practice non-action, and the people transform themselves; I am tranquil, and the people rectify themselves; I have no desires, and the people become simple." Does this not speak precisely of this situation?
The Three Sovereigns shared the same benevolence but differed in transformation; the Five Emperors shared the same ritual propriety but differed in instruction; the Three Kings shared the same righteousness but differed in encouragement; the Five Hegemons shared the same wisdom but differed in leadership.
Those who share the same ritual propriety but differ in instruction must act by virtue (de), instructing the people through virtue, and the people will likewise return to them through virtue — thus they honor yielding (rang). What is called yielding means "putting others before oneself." To yield all under heaven to another without feeling it heavy, as though one never possessed it; to receive all under heaven from another without feeling it weighty, as though one always possessed it. As for "never possessed" and "always possessed," this speaks of not being attached to "one's own lack" or "one's own possession." If one is attached to one's own lack or possession, then even taking a single hair to give to another or taking from another would give rise to greed and stinginess — how much more so with all under heaven? Who can know that "all under heaven is the world's all under heaven" and not "one's own all under heaven"? Is this not achievable only by the Five Emperors? Therefore one knows that whoever can instruct all under heaven through virtue will have all under heaven return to him through virtue. Thus the sage has said: "Let the robes hang down, and all under heaven is governed — this is taken from Qian and Kun." Does this not speak precisely of this situation?
The Three Sovereigns shared the same nature but differed in transformation; the Five Emperors shared the same emotion but differed in instruction; the Three Kings shared the same form but differed in encouragement; the Five Hegemons shared the same substance but differed in leadership.
Those who share the same form but differ in encouragement must act by achievement (gong), encouraging the people through achievement, and the people will likewise return to them through achievement — thus they honor governance (zheng). What is called governance means "rectification" — using the upright to correct the not-upright. Nothing under heaven is more upright than benefiting the people; nothing under heaven is more not-upright than harming the people. Those who can benefit the people are upright and are called kings; those who harm the people are not upright and are called bandits. When benefit is used to eliminate harm, how could there be reason to abandon the king? When the king is used to eliminate the bandit, how could there be reason to assassinate a sovereign? Therefore one knows that the king is the upright — whoever can correct what is not upright under heaven through achievement will have all under heaven return to him through achievement. Thus the sage has said: "When heaven and earth undergo revolution, the four seasons are completed; Tang and Wu's revolutions were in accordance with heaven and responsive to the people." Does this not speak precisely of this situation?
The Three Sovereigns shared the same sageliness but differed in transformation; the Five Emperors shared the same worthiness but differed in instruction; the Three Kings shared the same talent but differed in encouragement; the Five Hegemons shared the same art but differed in leadership.
Those who share the same art but differ in leadership must act by force (li), leading the people through force, and the people will likewise return to them through force — thus they honor contention (zheng). What is called contention means contending for profit. When one seizes with profit and not with righteousness, then it is called contention. Minor contention engages with words as weapons; major contention engages with weapons as instruments, contending over the distinction of strength and weakness, while still borrowing titular designations (mingfen) to adorn it, calling it "right and wrong." Name (ming) is the designation that names things and rectifies principles; profit (li) is the instrument that nourishes people and completes things. If the name is not upheld by benevolence, one cannot preserve one's achievements; if the profit is not grounded in righteousness, one cannot occupy the position of merit. If profit occupies a position without achievement, and name is preserved without merit, then chaos ensues, and the people will inevitably contend. The Five Hegemons are those who borrowed empty names to contend for real profit. When the way of emperors proves insufficient, one descends to the way of kings; when the way of kings proves insufficient, one descends to the way of hegemons; and when the way of hegemons proves insufficient, one degenerates into barbarism. Yet the Five Hegemons did not lack merit for the Central States; though one cannot say they reached the standard of "king," compared with falling into barbarism, they are vastly superior. After the Eastern Migration of the Zhou house, the merit and virtue of Kings Wen and Wu were thereby exhausted! Yet they still sustained twenty-four rulers; the royal bloodline continued like a thread; Qin and Chu dared not ravage the Central Plains — this was due to the power of the Five Hegemons borrowing titular designations. Therefore one knows that whoever can lead all under heaven through force will have all under heaven return to him through force. Thus the sage has said: "Dim-sighted yet able to see, lame yet able to walk, treading on the tiger's tail, the tiger bites — misfortune; the warrior acts on behalf of the great ruler."
Intent exhausts the nature of all things; speech exhausts the emotion of all things; image exhausts the form of all things; number exhausts the substance of all things.
Benevolence exhausts the sageliness of humans; ritual propriety exhausts the worthiness of humans; righteousness exhausts the talent of humans; wisdom exhausts the art of humans.
That which exhausts the nature of all things is called the Way; that which exhausts the emotion of all things is called virtue; that which exhausts the form of all things is called achievement; that which exhausts the substance of all things is called force.
That which exhausts the sageliness of humans is called transformation; that which exhausts the worthiness of humans is called instruction; that which exhausts the talent of humans is called encouragement; that which exhausts the art of humans is called leadership.
Way, virtue, achievement, and force reside within substance; transformation, instruction, encouragement, and leadership reside within function; between substance and function there exists change (bian), which is the enterprise of the sage.
What is called change is the meaning of the vast heavens giving life to the myriad things; what is called adaptive discretion (quan) is the meaning of the sage giving life to the myriad people. If one does not give life to things or give life to the people, can one still be called "adaptive discretion"?
This chapter is a concentrated demonstration of Shao Yong's integrated system of cosmology—history—human nature. The core arguments can be summarized as:
Four Classics Matched to Four Seasons: The Yi, Shu, Shi, and Chunqiu correspond respectively to the four stages of spring, summer, autumn, and winter — birth, growth, harvest, and storage — establishing a correspondence between the classical canon and natural rhythms.
Sixteen-Fold Grid Structure: Using "Yi, Shu, Shi, Chunqiu" as both vertical and horizontal axes, sixteen states emerge (birth-birth, birth-growth, birth-harvest, birth-storage… storage-storage), each corresponding to an object of cultivation (intent, speech, image, number, benevolence, ritual propriety, righteousness, wisdom, nature, emotion, form, substance, sageliness, worthiness, talent, and art).
Historical Figures Correspondence: The Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, Three Kings, Five Hegemons, Yu-Xia-Shang-Zhou, Wen-Wu-Zhou-Shao, and Qin-Jin-Qi-Chu are mapped onto this sixteen-fold grid, forming a periodization of history.
Substance-Function, Mind-Trace, and Adaptive Discretion: A distinction is drawn between substance (ti — historical trajectory, external manifestation) and function (yong — inner mind-method, governing principle), with the proposal that "between mind and trace there exists adaptive discretion" — the true sage's task lies in grasping the adaptive discretion between substance and function.
Four-Tier Descending View of History: The Three Sovereigns act by the Way (non-action and naturalness) → the Five Emperors by virtue (ritual yielding and humility) → the Three Kings by achievement (governance and correction) → the Five Hegemons by force (borrowing names to contend for profit) — presenting a descending sequence from "Way" to "force."
In this chapter, Shao Yong attempts to construct a holographic model of civilization, whose mode of thinking resonates deeply with contemporary systems theory and complexity science:
The Universality of Seasonal Metaphor: Birth, growth, harvest, and storage are four stages that any living being and any civilization must undergo. Modern organizational management also has similar life-cycle theories — inception (birth), growth (growth), maturity (harvest), and transformation or decline (storage). Shao Yong uses this framework to simultaneously explain the classical canon, historical periodization, and personal cultivation, reflecting the features of fractal thinking.
A Structuralist Binary of Substance and Function: Understanding "substance" as institutional existence (trace) and "function" as spiritual essence (mind), the tension between them constitutes the dynamic of history. This parallels the relationship between "formal institutions" and "informal constraints" in modern institutional economics.
The Descending Historical View of Way, Virtue, Achievement, and Force: Shao Yong is not simplistically "favoring the ancient over the modern." His evaluation of the Five Hegemons is profoundly historically dialectical — recognizing that although the hegemon's way falls short of the king's way, under specific historical conditions (after the Eastern Migration of Zhou), it still possessed positive value and practical necessity, reflecting contextualized historical judgment.
The Central Position of "Adaptive Discretion" (quan): Shao Yong elevates "discretion" to a level equal with "change," holding that what makes a sage a sage lies not merely in understanding principles, but in knowing when to "change" and how to exercise "discretion." This is a highly mature form of strategic thinking.
Modern Scenario Application Suggestions:
Organizational Life-Cycle Diagnosis: Apply the four stages of birth, growth, harvest, and storage to enterprise or project assessment. The start-up phase (birth) emphasizes intent — vision and direction; the growth phase emphasizes speech — communication and expression; the maturity phase (harvest) emphasizes image — institutions and brand image; the transformation phase (storage) emphasizes number — data analysis and resource reserves. Based on this, stage-specific strategic checklists can be formulated.
Four-Level Leadership Positioning: Way (visionary leadership) → virtue (values-based leadership) → achievement (performance-based leadership) → force (power-based leadership). Modern managers can assess their own level, judge whether they need to "elevate upward" or "operate at the appropriate level," and understand the conditions for applying each level, avoiding the error of using the wrong leadership style in the wrong context.
Modern Transformation of the "Name-Reality Distinction": Shao Yong's analysis of the Five Hegemons "borrowing empty names to contend for real profit" offers direct insight for contemporary brand building and personal IP creation — if name (brand image) and reality (product quality) remain disconnected over the long term, one will ultimately encounter the predicament that "a name not upheld by benevolence cannot preserve one's achievements." A hypothesis—action—review framework could be: hypothesize the current state of the "name-reality ratio" → take specific actions to enhance "reality" or adjust "name" → periodically review the degree of their alignment.
"Adaptive Discretion" as a Decision-Making Methodology: Under conditions of incomplete information and unclear circumstances, Shao Yong's concept of "adaptive discretion" can be transformed into an actionable guideline — first conduct minimal testing (such as small-scale pilot programs), preserve room for adjustment, and establish a feedback loop between "substance" (structured framework) and "function" (flexible response).
Shao Yong's deeper philosophical concern is: How does order arise and sustain itself?
The Paradox of "Naturalness—Non-Action": The Three Sovereigns' "non-action" does not imply passive inaction, but rather the refusal to impose personal will upon the natural order of all things. "Non-action does not mean saying nothing, but not being stubbornly attached to acting" — this understanding of non-attachment to "frozen actions" transcends the usual simplistic reading of Daoist wuwei, approaching instead a governance philosophy of open systems.
The Property Consciousness of "All Under Heaven Is Not One's Own": The Five Emperors' honoring of "yielding" is not moral performance but stems from an ontological recognition — that all under heaven fundamentally belongs to no individual. This notion echoes distantly with Locke's natural-law theory of property rights: the primacy of commonality precedes private appropriation.
Legitimacy argument for the "unity of kingship and governance": Shao Yong connected "king" (wang 王) with "rectitude" (zheng 正), proposing a definition of the kingly way as "using rectitude to correct what is not rectitude." This in effect put forward a standard of legitimacy—the legitimacy of rule lies not in bloodline or military force, but in whether it "benefits the people." This is consistent with Mencius's idea that "the people are the most important," and also provides metaphysical support for people-centered governance.
The metaphor of "adaptive authority" (quan 权) and "giving life" (sheng 生): Shao Yong said, "Change is what Heaven does in giving life to the myriad things; adaptive authority is what the sage does in giving life to the myriad people." By placing the sage's "adaptive authority" alongside Heaven's "change," he implies that the true sage, like the creative power of the cosmos, continuously "brings forth" new things in new times and spaces. This means that "adaptive authority" is not merely tactical maneuvering, but the manifestation of creativity itself in the human political sphere.
The "non-finality" of history: The four stages (birth → growth → harvest → storage) do not form a linear conclusion, because "storage → birth" remains a valid state within the sixteen-grid scheme ("storage giving birth to life is what the sage cultivates"). This implies that Shao Yong's view of history contains the possibility of cyclical renewal—even in the most "stored" or hidden stage, the potential for new "birth" is already gestating. This is highly consistent with the spirit of "after full decline comes recovery" (bo ji er fu) in the Book of Changes.