Answer: These expressions and (the Buddhist doctrine) sound similar but are different, just like the difference between seedlings and weed, or between vermilion and purple, and the student should clearly distinguish them. What is meant by the precariousness of the human mind is the budding of human selfish desires, and what is meant by the subtlety of the moral mind is the all-embracing depth of the Principle of Heaven (Nature).57 The mind is one; it is called differently depending on whether or not it is rectified. The meaning of the saying, “Have absolute refinement and singleness (of mind)” is to abide by what is right and discern what is wrong, as well as to discard the wrong and restore the right. If we can do this, we shall indeed “hold fast the Mean,”58 and avoid the partiality of too much or too little. The saying does not mean that the moral mind is one mind, the human mind another, and then still a third one to make them absolutely refined and single. By “holding it fast and preserving it” is not meant that one mind holds fast to another and so preserves it. Neither does “letting it go and losing it” mean that one mind lets go another and so loses it. It merely means that if the mind holds fast to itself, what might be lost will be saved, and if the mind does not hold fast but lets itself go, then what is preserved will be lost. “Holding it fast” is another way of saying that we should not allow our conduct during the day to fetter and destroy our innate mind characterized by humanity and righteousness.59 It does not mean that we should sit in a rigid position to preserve the obviously idle consciousness and declare that “This is holding it fast and preserving it!” As to the exerting of the mind to the utmost, it is to investigate things and study their principles to the utmost, to arrive at broad penetration, and thus to be able fully to realize the principle (li) embodied in the mind. By preserving the mind is meant “seriousness (ching) to straighten the internal life and righteousness to square the external life,”60 a way of cultivation similar to what has just been called absolute refinement, singleness, holding fast, and preserving. Therefore one who has fully developed his mind can know his nature and know Heaven,61 because the substance of the mind is unbeclouded and he is equipped to search into principle in its natural state, and one who has preserved the mind can nourish his nature and serve Heaven,62 because the substance of the mind is not lost and he is equipped to follow principle in its natural state. Is this the same as using one mind fully to develop another, or one mind to preserve another, like two things holding on to each other and refusing to let go?
The expressions “in front of him” and “attached to the yoke” are intended to teach loyalty, faithfulness, earnestness, and seriousness,63 as if saying that if these moral qualities are always borne in mind, we will see them no matter where we may go. But it does not mean that we observe the mind. Furthermore, suppose the body is here while the mind is in the front beholding it, and the body is in the carriage while the mind is attached to its yoke. Is that not absurd? Generally speaking, the doctrine of the sage is to base one’s mind on investigating principle to the utmost and to respond to things by following it. It is like the body using the arm and the arm using the finger. The road will be level and open, the abiding place will be broad and easy, and the principle concrete and its operation natural.
According to the doctrine of the Buddhists, one seeks the mind with the mind, one employs the mind with the mind, like the mouth gnawing the mouth or the eye seeing the eye. Such an operation is precarious and oppressive, the road dangerous and obstructed, and the principle empty and running against its own course. If their doctrine seems to have something similar (to the Confucian), in reality it is different like this. But unless one is a superior man who thinks accurately and sifts clearly, how can he avoid being deluded in this matter? (Chu Tzu wen-chi, 67:18b-20a).
B.--THE COMPLETE WORKS OF CHU HSI
1. Moral Cultivation
a. How to Study
1. Question: Does what is called the fundamental task consist only in preserving the mind, nourishing the nature, and cultivating and controlling them?
Answer: Both the effort of preserving and nourishing and that of the investigation of principle to the utmost must be thorough. However, the effort of investigating principle to the utmost is already found within that of preserving and nourishing, and the effort of preserving and nourishing is already found within that of the investigation of principle to the utmost. To investigate principle to the utmost is the same as investigating to the utmost what is preserved, and to preserve and nourish is the same as nourishing what has been investigated. (1:18b-19a)
2. Now there is nothing for the student to do except to examine all principles with his mind. Principle is what is possessed by the mind. Always preserve this mind to examine all principles. These are the only things to do. (1:19a)
3. Although literature cannot be abolished, nevertheless the cultivation of the essential and the examination of the difference between the Principle of Nature (T’ien-li, Principle of Heaven) and human selfish desires are things that must not be interrupted for a single movement in the course of our daily activities and movement and rest. If one understands this point clearly, he will naturally not get to the point where he will drift into the popular ways of success and profit and expedient schemes. I myself did not really see the point until recently. Although my past defect of emphasizing fragmentary and isolated details showed different symptoms from these ways of life, yet the faults of forgetting the self, chasing after material things, leaving the internal empty, and greedily desiring the external remain the same. Master Ch’eng said, “One must not allow the myriad things in the world to disturb him. When the self is established, one will naturally understand the myriad things in the world.”64 When one does not even know where to anchor his body and mind, he talks about the kingly way and the despotic way, and discusses and studies the task of putting the world in order as if it were a trick. Is that not mistaken? (1:30a-b)
4. I have heard the sayings of Master Ch’eng I, “Self-cultivation requires seriousness. The pursuit of learning depends on the extension of knowledge.”65 These two sayings are really the essentials for the student to advance in establishing himself in life. And the two efforts have never failed to develop each other. However, when Master Ch’eng taught people to hold fast to seriousness, he meant nothing more than the primary importance of being orderly in clothing and appearance, and by the extension of knowledge he meant no more than to find out, in reading books and history and in dealing with things, where their principles are. The teachings are nothing like the absurd, wild, and unreasonable theories of recent times. (1:37b-38a)
b. Preserving the Mind and Nourishing the Nature
5. If one can in his daily life and at leisurely moments decidedly collect his mind right here, that is the equilibrium before the feelings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are aroused, and is the undifferentiated Principle of Nature. As things and affairs approach, the mind can clearly see which is right and which is wrong accordingly. What is right is the Principle of Nature, and what is wrong is in violation of the Principle of Nature. If one can always collect the mind like this, it would be as if he holds the scale and balance to measure things. (2:2a)
6. The mind embraces all principles and all principles are complete in this single entity, the mind. If one is not able to preserve the mind, he will be unable to investigate principle to the utmost. If he is unable to investigate principle to the utmost, he will be unable to exert his mind to the utmost. (2:4b)
7. Someone asked: How about guarding against depravity and concentrating on one thing? Answer: Concentrating on one thing is similar to “holding the will firm,” and guarding against depravity is similar to “never doing violence to the vital force.”66 To guard against depravity merely means to prevent depraved forces from entering [the mind], whereas in concentrating on one thing one protects it from the inside. Neither should be unbalanced in any way. This is the way the internal and the external mutually cultivate each other. (2:8b)
c. Holding Fast to Serious
ness (Ching)
8. The task of seriousness is the first principle of the Confucian School. From the beginning to the end, it must not be interrupted for a single moment. (2:21b)
9. Seriousness merely means the mind being its own master. (2:22a)
10. If one succeeds in preserving seriousness, his mind will be tranquil and the Principle of Nature will be perfectly clear to him. At no point is the slightest effort exerted, and at no point is the slightest effort not exerted. (2:22a)
11. To be serious does not mean to sit still like a blockhead, with the ear hearing nothing, the eye seeing nothing, and the mind thinking of nothing, and only then it can be called seriousness. It is merely to be apprehensive and careful and dare not give free rein to oneself. In this way both body and mind will be collected and concentrated as if one is apprehensive of something. If one can always be like this, his dispositions will naturally be changed. Only when one has succeeded in preserving this mind can he engage in study. (2:22a)
12. It is not necessary to talk much about the doctrine of holding fast to seriousness. One has only to brood over thoroughly these sayings [of Ch’eng I], “Be orderly and dignified,”67 “Be grave and austere,”68 “Be correct in movement and appearance and be orderly in thoughts and deliberations,”69 and “Be correct in your dress and dignified in your gaze,”70 and make real effort. Then what [Ch’eng] called straightening the internal life and concentrating on one thing will naturally need no manipulation, one’s body and mind will be serious, and the internal and external will be unified. (2:22a-b)
Comment. Like Ch’eng I, Chu Hsi struck the balance between seriousness and the investigation of things in moral cultivation. He said that seriousness is the one important word transmitted in the Confucian School, that it is the foundation in Ch’eng I’s teachings, and that it is Ch’eng’s greatest contribution to later students.71 His own contribution in this regard is to have steered the doctrine away from the subjective emphasis evident in Ch’eng Hao toward a unity of internal and external life.
d. Tranquillity
13. In the human body there is only a [combination of] activity and tranquillity. Tranquillity nourishes the root of activity and activity is to put tranquillity into action. There is tranquillity in activity. For example, when the feelings are aroused and all attain due measure and degree, that is tranquillity in activity. (2:38a)
14. About response to things. Things and the principle [inherent] in my mind are fundamentally one. Neither is deficient in any degree. What is necessary is for me to respond to things. Things and the mind share the same principle. To be calm is to be tranquil. To respond is to be active. (2:38b)
15. Ch’eng I sometimes also taught people sitting in meditation. But from Confucius and Mencius upward, there was no such doctrine. We must search and investigate on a higher plane and see that sitting in meditation and the examination of principle do not interfere with each other, and then it will be correct. (2:44a-b)
e. The Examination of the Self and Things
16. There is dead seriousness and there is living seriousness. If one merely adheres to seriousness in concentrating on one thing and, when things happen, does not support it with righteousness to distinguish between right and wrong, it will not be living seriousness. When one becomes at home with it, then wherever there is seriousness, there is righteousness, and wherever there is righteousness, there is seriousness. When tranquil, one examines himself as to whether one is serious or not, and when active, one examines himself as to whether he is righteous or not. Take, for example, the cases of “going abroad and behaving to everyone as if you were receiving a guest and employing the people as if you were assisting at a great sacrifice.”72 What would happen if you were not serious? Or the cases of “sitting as if one is impersonating an ancestor, and standing as if one is sacrificing.”73 What would happen if you were not serious? Righteousness and seriousness must support each other, one following the other without beginning or end, and then both internal and external life will be thoroughly penetrated by them. (3:1b-2a)
17. If the Principle of Nature exists in the human mind, human selfish desires will not, but if human selfish desires win, the Principle of Nature will be destroyed. There has never been a case where both the Principle of Nature and human selfish desires are interwoven and mixed. This is where the student must realize and examine for himself. (3:3a)
18. “Thinking alone can check passionate desires.”74 What do you think of the saying? Answer: Thinking is the same as examining. It means that when one is angry, if one can directly forget his anger and examine the right and wrong according to principle, then right and wrong will be clearly seen and desires will naturally be unable to persist. (3:3b)
19. To say that one must examine at the point where the feelings are about to be aroused means to be careful when thoughts and deliberations are just beginning, and to say that one must examine after the feelings have been aroused means that one must examine one’s words and actions after they have taken place.75 One must of course be careful about thoughts and deliberations when they begin, but one must not fail to examine his words and action after they have taken place. (3:7a)
f. Knowledge and Action
20. Knowledge and action always require each other. It is like a person who cannot walk without legs although he has eyes, and who cannot see without eyes although he has legs. With respect to order, knowledge comes first, and with respect to importance, action is more important. (3:8a)
21. The efforts of both knowledge and action must be exerted to the utmost. As one knows more clearly, he acts more earnestly, and as he acts more earnestly, he knows more clearly. Neither of the two should be unbalanced or discarded. It is like a person’s two legs. If they take turn to walk, one will be able gradually to arrive at the destination. If one leg is weak and soft, then not even one forward step can be taken. However, we must first know before we can act. This is why the Great Learning first talks about the extension of knowledge,76 the Doctrine of the Mean puts wisdom ahead of humanity and courage,77 and Confucius first of all spoke of knowledge being sufficient to attain its objective.78 But none of extensive study, accurate inquiry, careful thinking, clear sifting, and vigorous practice79 can be omitted. (3:8b)
22. When one knows something but has not yet acted on it, his knowledge is still shallow. After he has experienced it, his knowledge will be increasingly clear, and its character will be different from what it was before. (3:12b)
23. Generally speaking, in any matter there is only one right or wrong. When the right or wrong is determined, one should choose the right and keep acting on it. How can one expect that by wavering he can win approval from everyone? Whether a thing is right or wrong will eventually become definite of itself. For the moment what is important is that one is satisfied within himself, so that looking up, he has no occasion for shame, and looking down, he has no occasion to blush.80 Never mind whether other people say they like it or not. (3:12b-13a)
24. Throughout a person’s handling of affairs and dealing with things, there is no point at which moral principles are not present. Although one cannot know all of them, in all likelihood he has heard the great essentials. The important point is to put into action vigorously what he has already known and make efforts to go beyond it. In this way he can go from the near to the far and from the coarse to the refined, methodically and in an orderly manner, and observable effect can be achieved everyday. (3:22b-23a)
g. The Extension of Knowledge
25. What sages and worthies call extensive learning means to study everything. From the most essential and most fundamental about oneself to every single thing or affair in the world, even the meaning of one word or half a word, everything should be investigated to the utmost, and none of it is unworthy of attention. Although we cannot investigate all, still we have to keep on devoting our attention to them in accordance with our intelligence and ability, and in time there will necessarily be some accomplishment. Is this not better than not to pay attenti
on at all? If we absolutely pay no attention, even ignoring things passing before us whose names are unknown to us, is that the way to investigate things to the utmost? (3:26a)
26. Ch’i-yüan81 asked: In investigating the principles of things and affairs to the utmost, should one investigate exhaustively the point where all principles converge? What do you think? Answer: There is no need to talk about the converging point. All that is before our eyes is things and affairs. Just investigate one item after another somehow until the utmost is reached. As more and more is done, one will naturally achieve a far and wide penetration. That which serves as the converging point is the mind. (3:26a-b)
27. Moral principles are quite inexhaustible. No matter what past scholars have said, they have not necessarily exhausted the subject. We must examine them this way and that way ourselves. The more deeply we go into them, the more we shall discover. (3:27a)
28. Pay no attention to names. We must investigate into the reason things are as they are. (3:27b)
29. There is no other way to investigate principle to the utmost than to pay attention to everything in our daily reading of books and handling of affairs. Although there may not seem to be substantial progress, nevertheless after a long period of accumulation, without knowing it one will be saturated [with principle] and achieve an extensive harmony and penetration. Truly, one cannot succeed if one wants to hurry. (3:33b)
30. To investigate principle to the utmost means to seek to know the reason for which things and affairs are as they are and the reason according to which they should be, that is all. If we know why they are as they are, our will will not be perplexed, and if we know what they should be, our action will not be wrong. It does not mean to take the principle of something and put it in another. (3:34a)
Comment. The philosophical basis for all these sayings on the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge is that principle is universal. The mind can investigate things because both share the same principle. Furthermore, since all things have the same principle, investigation can therefore exhaust all things. One major difference between Ch’eng I and Chu Hsi is that while Ch’eng largely confined investigation to the mundane world, Chu Hsi extended it to cover the entire universe. This is stated in his commentary on the Great Learning, which is not only a clear summary of his doctrine but also the most important statement on the investigation of things in the history of Chinese thought.82
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