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Capítulo 2 de 25
皇极经世
Among all things, none are greater than Heaven and Earth, but even Heaven and Earth have their limits.
The vastness of Heaven is exhausted by Yin and Yang; the vastness of Earth is exhausted by Gang and Rou (the Firm and the Yielding). When Yin and Yang are pushed to their extreme, they form the Four Seasons; when the Firm and the Yielding are pushed to their extreme, they form the Four Dimensions. What are called the Four Seasons and the Four Dimensions are the manifestations of Heaven and Earth reaching their "utmost greatness"; whenever one speaks of "greatness," nothing can surpass them. Yet Heaven and Earth do not boast of their greatness because of this, and therefore they are able to accomplish their greatness—is this not the greatest of the great?
Heaven is born from movement, Earth is born from stillness; when movement and stillness interact alternately, the fundamental principle of Heaven and Earth is completely contained.
The initial stage of movement produces Yang; when movement reaches its extreme, it produces Yin; when Yin and Yang unite alternately, the function of Heaven is exhausted. The initial stage of stillness produces the Yielding (Rou); when stillness reaches its extreme, it produces the Firm (Gang); when the Yielding and the Firm unite alternately, the function of Earth is exhausted.
What is great within movement is called Great Yang; what is small within movement is called Lesser Yang; what is great within stillness is called Great Yin; what is small within stillness is called Lesser Yin. Great Yang is the Sun ☀️, Great Yin is the Moon 🌙, Lesser Yang is the Stars ⭐, Lesser Yin is the Celestial Bodies 🌌; when Sun, Moon, Stars, and Celestial Bodies unite alternately, the substance of Heaven is exhausted.
What is great within stillness is called Great Yielding; what is small within stillness is called Lesser Yielding; what is great within movement is called Great Firmness; what is small within movement is called Lesser Firmness. Great Yielding is Water 💧, Great Firmness is Fire 🔥, Lesser Yielding is Earth ⛰️, Lesser Firmness is Stone 🪨; when Water, Fire, Earth, and Stone unite alternately, the substance of Earth is exhausted.
The Sun manifests as heat, the Moon manifests as cold, the Stars manifest as day, the Celestial Bodies manifest as night; when heat, cold, day, and night unite alternately, the transformations of Heaven are exhausted. Water manifests as rain, Fire manifests as wind, Earth manifests as dew, Stone manifests as thunder; when rain, wind, dew, and thunder unite alternately, the transformations of Earth are exhausted.
Heat can transform the nature of living beings, cold can transform their emotions, day can transform their form, night can transform their substance; when nature, emotion, form, and substance unite alternately, the perceptions of animals and plants are exhausted. Rain can nourish quadrupeds, wind can nourish birds, dew can nourish grasses, thunder can nourish trees; when quadrupeds, birds, grasses, and trees unite alternately, the responses of animals and plants are exhausted.
What quadrupeds perceive through heat and transform is the nature of quadrupeds; what they perceive through cold and transform is the emotion of quadrupeds; what they perceive through day and transform is the form of quadrupeds; what they perceive through night and transform is the substance of quadrupeds. Birds, grasses, and trees follow the same pattern.
What responds to rain and transforms by nature is the nature of quadrupeds; what responds to wind and transforms is the nature of birds; what responds to dew and transforms is the nature of grasses; what responds to thunder and transforms is the nature of trees. Emotion, form, and substance follow the same pattern. [Translator's note: In the original text, "形应雨而化者，走之行也" — the character "行" should be "形" (form), corrected according to the surrounding text.]
The nature of quadrupeds excels in manifesting color, their emotion excels in manifesting sound, their form excels in manifesting qi (vital energy), their substance excels in manifesting taste. Birds, grasses, and trees follow the same pattern.
The nature of quadrupeds excels through the ear, the nature of birds excels through the eye, the nature of grasses excels through the mouth, the nature of trees excels through the nose. [Translator's note: In the original text, "飞之性善木" — the character "木" should be "目" (eye), corrected according to the later text "飞之情善目".] The emotion of quadrupeds excels through the ear, the emotion of birds excels through the eye, the emotion of grasses excels through the mouth, the emotion of trees excels through the nose. The form of quadrupeds excels through the ear, the form of birds excels through the eye, the form of grasses excels through the mouth, the form of trees excels through the nose. The substance of quadrupeds excels through the ear, the substance of birds excels through the eye, the substance of grasses excels through the mouth, the substance of trees excels through the nose.
Humans, with respect to heat, cold, day, and night, transform accordingly without exception; with respect to rain, wind, dew, and thunder, transform accordingly without exception; with respect to nature, emotion, form, and substance, respond accordingly without exception; with respect to quadrupeds, birds, grasses, and trees, respond accordingly without exception. 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, the mouth excels in distinguishing the tastes of all things. Is it not then natural that humans are the most spiritual of all beings?
Even the Utmost Greatness Has Its Limits
Although Heaven and Earth are vast, they can still be exhausted by finite categories such as Yin-Yang and the Firm-Yielding. This does not deny the infinitude of Heaven and Earth, but rather states: to understand the infinite, one must rely on a finite structural framework.
Movement and Stillness Open the Way of Heaven and Earth
Heaven is born from movement, Earth from stillness; when movement and stillness unite, Yin-Yang and the Firm-Yielding are produced. Within movement there is both Yin and Yang; within stillness there is both the Yielding and the Firm—this breaks through simple binary opposition.
The Hierarchical Generation of the Former Heaven Xiangshu (Image-Numbers)
Movement → Great Yang/Lesser Yang → Sun/Stars → Heat/Day
Stillness → Great Yin/Lesser Yin → Moon/Celestial Bodies → Cold/Night
Stillness → Great Yielding/Lesser Yielding → Water/Earth → Rain/Dew
Movement → Great Firmness/Lesser Firmness → Fire/Stone → Wind/Thunder
This is a generative model from substance to phenomenon, from Heaven to Earth, from qi to things.
The Symmetrical Structure of Perception and Response
Nature—Emotion—Form—Substance and Quadrupeds—Birds—Grasses—Trees form an interlocking network of perception and response. Each category of living beings uses nature, emotion, form, and substance to perceive heat, cold, day, and night, and uses quadrupeds, birds, grasses, and trees to respond to rain, wind, dew, and thunder.
Humans as the Totality of Perception and Response
Humans are not a single partial animal but rather: "with heat, cold, day, and night, they transform without exception; with rain, wind, dew, and thunder, they transform without exception; with nature, emotion, form, and substance, they respond without exception; with quadrupeds, birds, grasses, and trees, they respond without exception." Therefore, the human eye excels in color, the ear in sound, the nose in odor, the mouth in taste, making humans the most spiritual of all beings.
Related Concepts
The Order of the Former Heaven Eight Trigrams, the Four Images (Great Yang, Great Yin, Lesser Yang, Lesser Yin), Shao Yong's "Yuan Hui Yun Shi" (Cycle of Time) cosmology, the "observing things through things" (yiwu guanwu) approach in the Guanwu Neipian, the difference between Water, Fire, Earth, Stone and the Five Elements, and the classification system of nature, emotion, form, and substance.
Further Reading
Huangji Jingshi Shu · Guanwu Neipian, Chapters 1–50, which can be cross-referenced with this chapter; the passage in Zhou Yi · Xici Shang Zhuan — "In the Changes there is the Great Ultimate, which generates the Two Modes" — is an important source of Shao Yong's Former Heaven learning; Shao Yong's Yu Qiao Wen Dui (Dialogue between Woodcutter and Fisherman), a philosophical dialogue that can aid in understanding his views on movement and stillness.
Modern Research
Feng Youlan's History of Chinese Philosophy contains a dedicated chapter on Shao Yong's Xiangshu learning; Zhu Bokun's History of Yi Philosophy thoroughly examines Shao Yong's Former Heaven diagrams and mathematical logic; Yu Dunkang's The Penetration of Inner Sagehood and Outer Kingship—A Modern Interpretation of Northern Song Yi Learning provides modern philosophical analysis of Shao Yong's lineage of Yi learning. All of the above can serve as academic references for in-depth study of this passage.