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The Classical Daoist Concept of LI 理 (Pattern) and Early Chinese Cosmology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2014

Harold D. Roth 羅浩
Harold D. Roth 羅浩*
Affiliation:
Department of Religious Studies, Brown University, Box 1927, Providence RI 02912, USA, Harold.Roth@Brown.edu
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Abstract

This study traces the origins and development of the concept of Li 理 (Pattern) in early Chinese Cosmology, locating its foundation in the root metaphor derived from the natural lines or veins along which a block of jade can be split by a skilled artisan. From this relatively concrete image, li comes to eventually represent in Daoist cosmology the more abstract quality of the natural patterns or structures within the universe along which all phenomena move and interact with one another without the interference of human beings. After examining how early Confucian works emphasize the more abstract and derivative qualities of order and structure, we see that the likely Yangist authors in the Lüshi chunqiu return to the original metaphor of veins in jade but, instead, apply this to the veins through which the qi circulates through the human body.

We then see how this metaphor is expanded beyond the human body in the classical Daoist texts to come to represent the natural guidelines both within all phenomena and those that guide their movements within the cosmos. Within phenomena these include such varied things as the structures for the generation and expression of emotions within human beings as well as the natural lines along which the butcher's chopper passes in order to cleave oxen. In Daoist inner cultivation literature it is these patterns with which sages accord so that their spontaneous actions are completely in harmony with the greater forces of the cosmos. Only after long practice of the apophatic contemplative methods that include concentrating on one breathing and emptying out the normal contents of consciousness can the sage be able to accomplish this goal of “taking no action yet leaving nothing undone.” Thus the concept of li as these natural guidelines comes to serve as an explanation for why this classical Daoist dictum is effective in the world.

Finally, the Huainanzi contains the most sophisticated and sustained usages of the concept of li as the natural patterns and guidelines in the cosmos arguing that complying with them is the key to a genuinely contented life.

本研究追溯了古代中國宇宙觀中 “理” 概念的起源和發展，基於玉可為 巧匠按其自然脈絡而雕琢爲本喻。源起於這個相對具體的形象，在道 家的宇宙觀中，“理” 最終體現了宇宙自然模式和結構中更為抽象的本 質。一切現象都沿著它運轉，並且互相之間發生關係，而並無人類的 干預。對於秩序和結構，早期儒家著作關注的是其較抽象的、衍生性 的特質。考察了儒家的方式之後，我們注意到，《呂氏春秋》中可能 屬于楊朱學派的學者，回到玉之紋理的本喻，將之引申到人體中“氣” 之循環的脈絡上。

接著我們可以看到，在古典道家文獻中，理的喻意是如何擴展到人 體之外，成爲自然的準則，存在於一切現象之中，並引導著它們在宇 宙中的一切運動。在現象中，這些準則包括各種形式，比如人類情感 的產生和表達模式，比如庖丁解牛時所循的脈絡。在道家內修的文獻 中，聖人正是遵循了這些模式，所以他們率性而行，而與宇宙中的大 能完全和諧。惟有經過長時間難以言傳的冥想式的修煉，包括全神貫 注於自己的呼吸，空虛所有的意念，聖人才能達到 “無爲而無不爲” 的 目標。因之 “理” 的概念作爲自然準則，能夠解釋爲什麽古典道家的 “ 無為” 格言在世上能夠行之有效。

最終，《淮南子》將 “理” 的概念作為自然模式和準則，收錄了對其 最為精密和持久的使用方法，聲稱對它們的遵循是真正自得生活的關 鍵。

Type
Articles
Information
Early China , Volume 35: Dedicated to LI Xueqin on the occasion of his eightieth birthday , 2013 , pp. 157 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Study of Early China 2013

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References

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2. An excellent example of this can be found in the writings of Yi, Cheng (1033–1107) in Bary, Wm. Theodore de and Bloom, Irene, Sources of Chinese Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 1: 689–91Google Scholar.

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8. Modified from Bloom, Mencius, 126. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are by the author.

9. Mengzi 14.19 (Jinxin xia 盡心下) (CHANT).

10. Xunzi 23 (Xing e pian 性惡篇), para. 1 (CHANT).

11. Guanzi, juan 18.2 (九守, pian 55), para. 9 (CHANT). The received text of the Guanzi follows a distinctive arrangement in which 76 pian are arranged in 24 juan. I have provided paragraph numbers for the CHANT editions here and elsewhere to facilitate the location of specific passages in this electronic database that contains no numbered pages.

12. Lüshi chunqiu, juan 3.3 (Xianji 先己), para. 1 (CHANT).

13. Cou li 腠理 are the lines in the inner layer of connective tissue that cover muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints. ( Grand Dictionnaire Ricci de la Langue Chinoise. Paris: Association Ricci, 2001, entry 11436, vol. VI, p. 131.Google Scholar) Vital energy circulates through this system of veins and animates these structures and the skin above them. This is a term found in the Chinese medical traditions.

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15. Lüshi chunqiu, juan 5.4 (Shiyin 適音), para. 2 (CHANT).

16. Translation is the author's. See Knoblock, and Riegel, , Annals, 143 Google Scholar for a different interpretation.

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19. Roth, “Psychology” and “Redaction Criticism.”

20. Komjathy, Louis, The Daoist Tradition: An Introduction, chapter 2 (London: Continuum, 2013)Google Scholar provides a spirited defense of this terminology.

21. These phrases are found, respectively in Guanzi, juan 13.1 (Xinshu, shang 心術 上, pian 36), para. 2; Laozi, zhang 10; Zhuangzi, juan 4 (Renjianshi 人間世) para. 5, and juan 6 (Dazongshi 大宗師), para. 18) (CHANT).

22. For details on these states, see Roth, Harold D., “Evidence for Stages of Meditation in Early Taoism,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 60:2 (06 1997 295–314 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23. For this latter phrase, see Zhuangzi, juan 6 (Dazongshi 大宗師), para. 18 (CHANT).

24. For details, see Roth, Harold D., “ Lao Tzu in the Context of Early Taoist Mystical Praxis” in Essays on Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Lao Tzu, ed. Csikszentmihalyi, Mark and Ivanhoe, P. J.. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999), 59–96 Google Scholar.

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26. Laozi, zhang 65 (CHANT).

27. Laozi zhuzi soyin 老子逐字索引 Chinese University of Hong Kong Institute of Chinese Studies Ancient Chinese Texts Concordance Series number 24. Supervising eds., D. C. Lau and and Chen Fong Ching. Chinese University Press, 1996. chapter 65, line 20, page 140. The CHANT Database does not include the commentaries of Wang Bi 王弼 and Heshanggong 河上公.

28. Zhuangzi, juan 3 (Yangshengzhu 養生主), para. 3 (CHANT).

29. Zhuangzi, juan 15 (Keyi dishiwu 刻意), para.2 (CHANT).

30. For this dating, see Roth, , Original Tao, 23–27 Google Scholar.

31. Guanzi, juan 16.1 (pian 49, Neiye 內業), para. 3 (CHANT).

32. Roth, , Original Tao, 54 Google Scholar. Verse numbers are taken from this source.

33. Guanzi, juan 16.1 (pian 49, Neiye 內業), para. 18 (CHANT).

34. See note 13.

35. Roth, , Original Tao, 96 Google Scholar.

36. Guanzi, juan 16.1 (pian 49, Neiye 內業), para. 5 (CHANT).

37. Roth, , Original Tao, 62 Google Scholar. The “Patterns of the One” are the various natural guidelines through which the Way penetrates the universe. They serve to structure the natural development of all phenomena and form a normative substructure for their interactions with one another.

38. For tentative dating, see Roth, , Original Tao, 23–37 Google Scholar. Textual emendations are all taken from Weiyü, Xu 許維遹, Yiduo, Wen 聞一多, and Moruo, Guo 郭沫若, Guanzi jijiao 管子集校 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1955), 633–49Google Scholar.

39. Guanzi, juan 13.1 (pian 36, Xinshu, shang 心術上), para. 1 (CHANT).

40. The division of Xinshu, shang into verses is my own; the later commentary to each verse occurs within the undivided original text, but is obvious with careful analysis. These translations are from my unpublished manuscript translation of all four “Techniques of the Mind” chapters from the Guanzi: “The Resonant Way: Daoist Texts from the Guanzi.”

41. Deleting guyue 故曰 (therefore it says) at the start of the sentence, following many scholars.

42. Moving this sentence here from a position in the comment section (just before the final line) to which it was erroneously displaced, following Guo Moruo, Guanzi jijiao.

43. Guanzi, juan 13.1 (pian 36, Xinshu, shang 心術上), para. 12 (CHANT).

44. Guanzi, juan 13.1 (pian 36, Xinshu, shang 心術上), para. 5 (CHANT).

45. Emending zhi 執 (grasp) to shi 勢 (condition), the reading in other major editions (Guo Moruo, Guanzi jijiao).

46. Huainanzi, juan 21 (Yaolue 要略), para. 21 (CHANT).

47. Major, John S., Queen, Sarah, Meyer, Andrew S., and Roth, Harold D.. The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China, by Liu An, King of Huainan (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), 860 Google Scholar.

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50. Huainanzi, juan 14 (Quanyan xun 詮言訓), para. 8 (CHANT).

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52. Huainanzi, juan 11 (Qisu xun 齊俗訓), para. 13 (CHANT).

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54. Huainanzi, juan 11 (Qisu xun 齊俗訓), para. 16 (CHANT).

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56. Huainanzi, juan 14 (Quanyan xun 詮言訓), para. 18 (CHANT).

57. Major, et al., The Huainanzi, 547 Google Scholar (modified).

58. Huainanzi, juan 1 (Yuandao xun 原道訓), para. 7–8 (CHANT).

59. Major, et al., The Huainanzi, 55 Google Scholar.

60. Huainanzi, juan 9 (Zhushu xun 主術訓), para. 14 (CHANT).

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64. Huainanzi, juan 14 (Quanyan xun 詮言訓), para. 20 (CHANT).

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67. Huainanzi, juan 1 (Yuandao xun 原道訓), para. 26 (CHANT).

68. Major, et al., The Huainanzi, 71 Google Scholar.