chinese philosophy and symbolic reference

Chinese Philosophy and Symbolic ReferenceAuthor(s): Chung-ying ChengSource: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jul., 1977), pp. 307-322Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398001 .

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Chung-ying Cheng Chinese philosophy and symbolic reference

I. WHITEHEAD'S DOCTRINE OF SYMBOLIC REFERENCE

Whitehead's speculative philosophy does not exactly coincide or square with Chinese Philosophical systems in all regards or in all important respects. In fact there remains important differences, for example, between Whitehead's categories of creativity and Chinese categories of creativity. But one thing no one should deny is that Whitehead's speculative system provides many conceptual tools and methodological cues which can be used to illuminate and explore the content and implications of Chinese philosophy. One such conceptual tool and methodological cue is his doctrine of symbolic reference.

In the following, I shall briefly explain Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference and then apply this doctrine to explain and illuminate some important but often ignored features of thinking in the I Chinga and the Tao Te Chingb.

Symbolic reference for Whitehead is the way in which language or any system of symbolism works to clarify obscure meanings or ideas. The purpose of symbolic reference is threefold. Besides referring to objective facts and clarification of meanings and ideas of them, symbolic reference serves to bring into focus the present moment of subjective feelings and experiences associated with one's ideas and meanings or memories of objects and events. These appear to be common points for any theory of symbolic reference. But what should be noticed in Whitehead's account is the philosophical breadth and depth and importance which he attaches to this theory and the elaboration of its ground. He points out that what we refer to symbolically are objects and events we are aware of in some way and which affect our life in some way. Next, he points out what we use as symbols for reference to objects and things need not be arbitrary conventions but could be our own ideas, impressions, or experiences.

According to Whitehead, we perceive things in two different modes of perception. We perceive causal process or the relation of cause and effect such as we perceive the lighting of a match by striking the match and by the eyestrain due to sudden lighting up in the dark. In this sense of perception we perceive in the sense of being affected and in the sense of experiencing the process of objective change. Whitehead calls this "perception in the mode of causal efficacy." On the other hand, as human beings we also perceive qualities of things as objects of our immediate consciousness. We see qualities such as colors, shapes, and sizes and so on, as if they are directly presented. According to Whitehead, perception in this sense is called "perception in the mode of presentational immediacy." Perceptions in the perceptual mode of causal efficacy are often indeterminate, indistinct, uncertain, temporally localized, whereas perceptions in the perceptual mode of presentational immediacy are

Chung-ying Cheng is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iawaii. NOTE: Portions of this article were presented at the Conference on Chinese Philosophy and Whitehead, April 7-10, 1976, Denver, Colorado. Philosophy East and West 27, no. 3, July 1977. ? by The University Press of Hawaii. All rights reserved.



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clear, certain, determinate, distinct, and atemporal. Whitehead points out that

perception in the mode of causal efficacy is more primitive and universal among living species than perception in the mode of presentational immediacy, the

presence of which basically characterizes higher species including man. Now the most important point in Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference is that in symbolic reference we unify the two modes of perception by using percepta in the perceptual mode of presentational immediacy as symbols of

percepta in the perceptual mode of causal efficacy. Whitehead explains this process of symbolic reference as follows:

Symbolic reference between the two perceptive modes affords the main example of the principle which governs symbolism. The requisites for symbolism are that there be two species of percepta; and that a perceptum of one species has some 'ground' in common with a perceptum of another species, so that a correlation between the pairs of percepta is established.'

The requirement of a common ground in the process of symbolic reference is

very important. For without a common ground there is no natural relevance of one perceptual mode for the other. Of course I see no reason why Whitehead would deny that a common ground could be artificially instituted simply in virtue of acceptance of conventions. Then of course previously agreed on conventions could be common ground for symbolic reference. Whitehead did not specifically speak of symbolic reference of this sort. He is here involved with symbolic reference in perception and meaning in perception. His doctrine

explains how we come to have objective knowledge of objects and events and their relations are based on our immediate perception. The common ground for the two perceptual modes mentioned is the specious present or presented locus of our perception in both modes as well as in the identical datum present in both perceptions. Whitehead says:

Thus symbolic reference, though in complex human experience it works both ways, is chiefly to be thought of as the elucidation of percepta in the mode of causal efficacy by the fluctuating interventions of percepta in the mode of presentational immediacy.2

Clarification of perception and elucidation of one perception by another in the symbolic reference is made possible by the common ground they share as well as by the difference between the two. Symbolic reference therefore will

precipitate the feelings and experiences associated with one perception on to another perception so that the latter becomes more intensified and more enriched. In Whitehead's words:

Thus there is 'symbolic reference' between the two species when the perception of a member of one species evokes as correlate the fusion of feelings, emotions, and derivative actions, which belong to either of the pairs of correlates, and which are also enhanced by this correlation.3



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In other words, symbolic reference will induce a unity of feeling between the

symbolizing perception and the symbolized perception. The fusion and unity of feeling clearly are not a one-way process just as the symbolic reference regarding the two modes of perception need not be considered a one-way process or one-direction process. Though normally because of natural tendencies toward simplicity we use data of immediate presentation to symbolize objects of causal efficacy, there is no reason the latter may not symbolize the former. This is clearly recognized by Whitehead:

There is no inherent distinction between the sort of percepta which are symbols, and the sort of percepta which are meanings. When two species are correlated by a 'ground' of relatedness, it depends upon the experiential process, constituting the percipient subject, as to which species is the group of symbols and which species is the group of meanings. Also it equally depends upon the percipient as to whether there is any symbolic reference at all.4

Though the decision of the direction of symbolic reference lies with the percipient, there is no reason why the process of symbolic reference cannot be considered or stipulated as involving two-way direction. In a two-way symbolic reference, two systems of perception are symbolic referents of each other and mutually or reciprocally interact to form a unity of feeling which will illuminate and elucidate one another in regard to the meaning of each. In this two-way symbolic reference an organic unity (whole) is formed in terms of which symbols, and what is symbolized are mirrors to each other and contribute to our deeper understanding of each in the whole.

The ultimate significance of Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference derives from the underlying insight that man can form a correlation or unity of two systems of perception so that each system can be better understood in light of the other and the whole. The paradigms of generalized symbolic reference can be diagrammed as follows:

Reciprocity of reference

System A < > System B \^ ~common ground

Unity of feeling

A and B are two systems of perception. The correlation of the two generates a focus of insight into meaning of the deeper reality, which cannot be seen by only one system alone.

Whitehead makes one final point about his doctrine of symbolic reference. How do we justify our symbolism? or how do we know which system of symbolic reference is correct? Whitehead's answer is simple. We can only justify our symbolism by considering how "fortunate" or how effective the conse-



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quence of observing or adopting it turns out to be in time. This is to say that whether our symbolism is correct or incorrect is determinable on the basis of pragmatic considerations. Whitehead uses the words "fortunate," and "unfortunate" to describe the consequences of adopting our symbolism. Fortunate consequence justifies our continuous trust in the symbolism. Unfortunate consequence, on the other hand, entitles us to drop the symbolism for our own good. This may take time to tell. But Whitehead also presents an alternative test. Good symbolism tends to generate a confluence and unity of feeling, whereas bad symbolism tends to generate conflict and depression of feelings between the symbols and the symbolized. For any symbolism we need therefore a comprehensive reflection to reach the final verdict on its value.

In the following I shall apply Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference to the explanation and elucidation of certain important features of Chinese

philosophy embodied in the I Ching and Tao Te Ching. Specifically I shall

interpret the two classical texts as presenting a system of mutual or reciprocal symbolic reference. I shall discuss these two texts with regard to the Principle of Common Ground, the Principle of Mutual Illumination and Unity of Feeling, as well as the Principle of Pragmatic Justification in the doctrine of symbolic reference.

II. I Ching AS A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLIC REFERENCE

Even though the old texts of the I Ching do not contain any systematic inter- pretation of symbolism representing situation, form, and structure of changes, that the texts were developed for the double purposes of understanding reality and guiding human action is beyond any reasonable doubt. When the Com- mentaries on the I Ching were added in later times, the philosophical significance of the I Ching as a symbolic system becomes rather manifest. But still we lack a cogent explanation of the meaning and structure of experience embodied in the I Ching. Perhaps we should first affirm that the I Ching was founded on some primary experience of change and creativity of cosmos, which both the

hexagramic symbolism and the philosophical Commentaries are intended to articulate and illuminate.

Considering the relation between the initial experiences of change and the symbolism, as well as the relation between the symbolism and the Commen- taries, there exist apparently two major systems of symbolic reference in the present text of the I Ching. There is in the first place the system of symbolic reference in the hexagramic symbols to the primary experience of change. The hexagramic symbolism presents a clear image of the structure of change we experience in the mode of causal efficacy. What these hexagramic symbols represent are interlinking relations of transformation, influence, confrontation, dominance, harmonization, reconciliation, opposition, and so on in human affairs as well as in natural events. Human experiences of return, reversion, open-texturedness, fulfillment disorder, order, and so on, similarly receive a



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place in the representation of hexagramic systems and structure. The system of symbols with its cogent organic interrelatedness and hierarchal ordering brings to light a structure underlying our experiences and enhances our perception of various qualities of change and transformation. It seems quite clear that there is a common ground between the perception of symbols with their interrelatedness and the experience of change. The shapes, position, and direc- tions of lines in hexagrams are indicative of a manifest manifold of our experience of change.

On the other hand, it is also clear that the background experiences that man has gone through illuminate the system of symbolism in the I Ching, for it brings out a host of possible orderly interpretations of the symbolic system. Thus, though the symbolism illuminates human experience of a certain time, our continual experiences also tend to enrich an understanding of the symbolism. The important thing to remember is that what is symbolized can be independently understood and could be used to interpret the symbolism already given. Thus both experience and symbolism become interdependable. One might say that they represent two processes in the texts of the I Ching which are mutually defining, mutually supportive, and mutually illuminating. That this twofold process of symbolic reference has been most fortunate or prac- tically working makes it possible for us to attach great importance to the I Ching as a book of philosophical insights.

Whereas the system of hexagrams as symbolism referring to our experience of ic (change)5 clarifies and illuminates the structure of our experience of i, there are two parallel subsystems of thought and perception in the I Ching, which are intended to articulate and illuminate the meanings of the system of symbolism as well as the meanings of the original experience of i. One system of thought I shall refer to as philosophy of cosmos (or nature), and the other as philosophy of man (or human nature). These two systems of thought are equally important and are developed in the Commentaries of the I Ching (Hsi Tzu Ta Chuand, Shuo Kua Chuane, Hsu Kua Chuanf) side by side. Unfor- tunately scholars and thinkers from the past to the present fail to notice this parallelism in the understanding of meanings of both the experience of i and the symbolism of i. It is, however, only natural to expect that, in light of Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference, two or more systems of thought could develop with regard to one matrix of experience or one set of forms (images) of symbols of perception which constitute the common ground of reference and which make possible their mutual relevance. That more than one system of thought develops in a blessing under certain circumstances, for it demonstrates the variety of manifestations of a reality of basic experience and lead to a rich end-result representation of that reality by way of White- headian unification of feeling. The process no doubt will enrich our understanding of the original experience of i. This is what makes author of the I Ching (a) profound thinker(s).



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The system of cosmos explains the cosmic experience in terms of the formation of heaven and earth, low and high, soft and hard, male and female. It describes the process of becoming in concrete naturalistic concepts and in the terms of

principles of change. Thus it is said that

Heaven is high, the earth is low; thus the creative and the receptive are deter- mined. In correspondence with this difference between low and high, inferior and superior places are established. Movement and rest have their definite laws: according to these, firm and yielding lines are differentiated. Events follow definite trends, each according to its nature. Things are distinguished from one another in definite classes. In this way good fortune and misfortune come about. In the heavens phenomena take form; on earth shapes take form. In this way change and transformation (p'ien-huag) become manifest.6

The system of cosmos also defines basic terms to be used to characterize the reality of change and its meaning:

One yinh and one yangi is called taoj (the way). What we inherit from (the Tao) is good. What forms things is nature (hsingk) ... Being full of being is the great deed; Being fresh and novel everyday is called luxiant virtue. To produce life is called change. To form forms (hsiang') is called Ch'ienm (the creative principle). To follow up [the Ch'ien] is called K'unn (the receptive principle). To exhaust numbers in order to know the future is called derivation. To comprehend change is called conducting an affair. The unpredictability of the changes (due to the interchange of yin and yang) is called the divine.7

Thus the closing the door is called K'un; opening the door is called Ch'ien. One closing and one opening is called change (p'ien0); going and coming in an infinite sequence is called penetration; to be seen is called form; to be formed is called an utensil. To be instituted for use is called law; what is useful (to life) for going and coming and people all use is called the divine. Thus i has the great ultimate, which generates the two norms. Two norms generate four forms. Four forms generate eight tri-grams.8

From these it can be clearly seen that the philosophy of cosmos exists relative to our experience of change and our understanding of the symbolism of change. The reference to the sequence of generation from the great ultimate to the

eight trigrams illustrates how a cosmological principle applies equally to reality and to the symbolism of reality. Even the term i is logically capable of useful

ambiguity. In light of the doctrine of symbolic reference, the cosmological principle of change (i) is embodied in both reality and in the symbolism and texts, so that "i" refers to both symbolism and the reality which by reciprocal reference form a "unity of feeling." ... This, of course, is possible simply because both understanding of reality and understanding of texts share the same perception of change or principle of change, which is their common

ground of reference. In Shuo Kua, the unity of feeling for understanding the meaning of the

creative and the receptive and related attributes of the change as universal

principles extend over many areas of human experience. The creative is strong. The receptive is yielding. The arousing is dangerous. The clinging means



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dependence. Keeping still means standstill. The joyous means pleasure. The creative acts in the horse, the receptive acts in the cow, the arousing acts in the dragon, the gentle in the cock, the absymal in the pig, the clinging in the pheasant, keeping still in the dog, the joyous in the sheep. The creative manifests itself in the head, the receptive in the belly, the arousing in the foot, the gentle in the thighs, the absymal in the ear, the clinging (brightness) in the eye, keeping still in the hand, the joyous in the mouth.

The Creative is heaven. It is round, it is the prince, the father, jade, metal, cold, ice. It is deep red, a good horse, an old horse, a lean horse, a wild horse, tree fruit. The Receptive is the earth, the mother, it is cloth, a kettle, frugality, it is level, it is a cow with a calf, a large wagon from, the multitude, a shaft. Among the various kinds of soil, it is the black.9

We do not have to speculate how these heterogenous things are unified in central feelings toward cosmological categories of ch'ien, k'un, and related experiences. It suffices to say that articulation of their consonance attests to the existence of such a unity of feeling in Whitehead's scheme.

In the Hsu Kua the meaning of the symbolism of i is indicated in terms of transformations of situations, with these transformations dictated by the in- trinsic natural tendencies inherent in these situations. The philosophy of cosmos fully justifies and indeed is responsible for conceiving hexagramic situations as stages of changes which have the potential for organically inter- acting between one another in the course of time. This no doubt introduces a dynamical dimension into the symbolism of i and leads to a powerful unity of enriched feeling not only among all units of the symbolism but throughout our life experiences of change which lie behind the system of the i-system. The following is an example of the Hsu Kua discourse:

When one has the trust of creatures: one sets them in motion; hence there follows the hexagram of Preponderance of the Small. He who stands above things brings them to completion. Hence there follows there hexagram of After Completion. Things cannot exhaust themselves. Hence there follows, at the end, the hexagram of Before Completion.10

We now come to the philosophy of man in the I Ching. Parallel to the philosophy of the cosmos, the philosophy of man clearly assumes that man can fully comprehend the world of change and through this understanding can cultivate and transform himself into a perfection as well as contribute to the actualization of perfection of other people and the world at large. In this sense, man is considered to embody fundamental principles of change and therefore possess the utmost capacity to participate in the creative advance of life. In this regard the Hsi Tzu agrees with Chung YungP (the Doctrine of the

Mean) in considering man as forming a unity with heaven and earth, as well as constituting a vehicle for the realization of the potential values in the ultimate reality of heaven and earth. Thus it is said in Hsi Tzu:



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Looking upward, we contemplate with its help to signs in the heaven; looking downward we examine the lines of the earth. Thus we come to know the circumstances of the dark and the light. Going back to the beginning of things and pursuing them to the end, we come to know the lessons of birth and of death. The unison of seed and power produces all things; the escape of the soul brings about change. Through this we can come to know the conditions of outgoing and returning spirits.

Since in this way man comes to resemble heaven and earth, he is not in conflict with them. His wisdom embraces all things and his tao brings order into the whole world; therefore he does not err. He is active everywhere but does not let himself be carried away. He rejoices in heaven and has knowledge of fate. Therefore he is free of care. He is content with his circumstances and genuine in his kindness, therefore he can practice love."

Because man can penetrate into and participate in the creative activities of the tao and i, man can articulate the ultimate truth of change and make correct judgments of action. The very creation of the symbolism of i and its practice as presented in the ancient text is the outcome of the wisdom of the sages-the men who have perfected themselves. Thus the representation of universal truths of i in the I Ching already reflected the cosmic participation of heaven and earth. Hsi Tzu describes the formation of the I Ching in the following way:

Heaven and Earth determine the scene, and the changes take effect within it. The perfected nature of man, sustaining itself and enduring, is the category of the tao and of justice.12 The sages were able to survey all the confused diversities under heaven. They observed forms and phenomena and representations of things and their attributes. These are called images (symbolic images).13 The sages instituted the hexagram, so that phenomena might be perceived therein. They apprehended the judgments in order to indicate good fortune and misfortune.14 Since the sagely wisdom of man concretizes in the I Ching, the I Ching is a mirror image of the truth of heaven and thus that of change itself. The Book of Changes contains the measure of Heaven and Earth; therefore it enables us to comprehend the tao of heaven and its order. 5

In light of man making the symbol which symbolizes himself, the philosophy of man illustrates the meaning of the i-symbolism and brings to it a deep sense of ontological understanding and a deep feeling of truthful satisfaction.

In light of the nature of the philosophy of the cosmos and the nature of the philosophy of man in the I Ching, it is also clear that these two systems of thought are mutually illuminating and mutually supportive. They reciprocate with each other as two systems of symbolization, while they respectively receive and endow illumination of meanings from the hexagramic symbols. When two systems mutually support and illuminate, we have a case of reciprocity of symbolic reference. This is a new aspect of symbolic reference, which Whitehead has not pointed out but which is well-illustrated in the understanding of



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symbolism and experience of i in the two systems of i as explained earlier. The two systems of thought reciprocate in symbolic reference with each other and at the same time reciprocate in symbolic reference with the experience and symbolism of i. Thus an enriched unity of enriched feeling among the four is effectively realized.

We can represent what we have said about the philosophy of i and its structures of symbolic reference in the following summary diagram:

I as experience Unity of feeling Reciprocity of

f reference symbolism of I

Philosophy of cosmos Philosophy of man

III. TAO TE CHING AS A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLIC REFERENCE

We turn now to the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu as a system of symbolic reference. I shall be brief and merely indicate how the meaning of tao in Early Taoism becomes profoundly enriched when the structure of symbolic reference in the Tao Te Ching is made clear. Tao Te Ching speaks about the tao as the ultimate reality. What is the tao? Tao Te Ching says: "Tao can be spoken about, but it is not the ordinary tao (way). (Its) name can be spoken about, but it is not the ordinary name," Thus tao is not an ordinary concept and cannot be concep- tually understood. Though the Tao Te Ching has many passages attempting to show and indicate what tao is, how it functions, how it is related to man and things as well as how it applies to government, the central burden of understanding tao falls on our experience and perception of tao in our ordinary life, which requires our intense concentration and subtle insight. Lao Tzu as the author of Tao Te Ching may be said to have acquired this concentration and insight, and moreover knew how to articulate and illuminate his experience and perception of tao in terms of concrete images and qualities of things. These concrete images and qualities of experience serve a twofold purpose: the purpose of identifying and showing the tao as universal, ultimate, and yet concrete and penetrating reality; and the purpose of inducing development of systems of thought which apply to various areas of human learning and interest on a common ground. This twofold purpose is important and necessary, for tao is intended as something unperceivable, indeterminate, and nondes- cribable in language.

Lao Tzu used the term wuq (void) to refer to tao. He says of tao:

Its upper side is not bright, its under side not dim. Continual the unameable moves on. Until it returns beyond the realm of things. We call it the formless form, the imageless image. We call it indefinable and unimaginable.16



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Ten thousand things are generated from Being and Being is generated from the void.17

Wu of course need not be simply nothingness. It is something which is indeterminate and formless and yet gives rise to the formation and determination of things. It is something such that whereas it is empty of being, it is the inexhaustible source of being. It is also the becoming and transformation of things. For it is not simply tranquility nor immutability.

That Tao is becoming and the source of becoming is clearly indicated by the statement: "Tao generates one, one generates two, two generates three, three generates the ten thousand things."'1 Tao is conceived not to involve any specific activity to perform any specific project, but it is nevertheless said to accomplish everything. In fact the whole universe is conceived to be a work of tao precisely because it does nothing. It is thus said: "The tao always does nothing, and yet nothing remains undone."19 Among the many qualities of the tao, tao is strongly characterized not only as being the beginning of things but also as the end of things as well as the process of becoming of things. The becoming of things is a return to the origin after being originated and developed in the tao. "Tao therefore is the movement of reversion."20 Thus one can observe the return or reversion of tao if one has grasped the emptiness and tranquility of tao. It is said:

Attain to utmost void, cling simple-heartedly to interior peace. While all things are stirring together, I only comtemplate the return. For flourishing as they do, each of them will return to its root.21

Given all these characteristics of tao, how do we identify images of the tao? Specifically, how do we identify an image of tao, which is imageless? Namely, how does in image of tao represent the tao in terms of subtle power to change, move, and reverse things, not in reference to static configurations? Lao Tzu has indeed focused and developed a cluster of imageless and yet concrete images of tao in terms of which not only the nature of tao and our experience of it becomes perceptively clear, but paradigms and models for applying tao to life and society, method, and conception of reality become easy to define and develop with reference to these images of tao. These images of tao form an organic unity of structure and feeling and provide a ground for the differen- tiation and integration of parallel systems of thought based in them. These systems of thought, which can be called respectively aesthetics of tao, metaphysics of tao, dialectics of tao, and politics of tao, are parallel structures derived from the unity of feeling between the images of tao and the general experience of tao, which leads to achievement of a higher level of unity of feeling, by way of symbolic reference between these images and these systems of thought.

What are Lao Tzu's images of tao? The following images are developed in the Tao Te Ching, which warrants our notice, and on which I shall briefly



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comment in reference to their potentiality for illuminating the tao and artic-

ulating systems of thought and their use to life.

(1) Water as the image of tao. It is clear that water is soft, flexible in form, and embracing in scope, has extreme power for self-transformation and transformation of its resistant opponents. It reflects tao and presents an example for the goodness, beauty, and vast powerfulness of humility, softness, and submissiveness in attitude toward life and reality. Lao Tzu says:

The highest form of goodness is the water, water knows how to benefit all things without striving with them. It stays in places loathed by all men. Therefore it becomes near the tao.22

Nothing in the world is softer and meeker than water; But, for attacking the hard and the strong there is nothing like it. For nothing can take its place.23

Together with the image of tao as water, tao is likened to river, ocean, sea, and flood which are related to water. Thus Lao Tzu says:

The tao is to the world what a great river or ocean is to the streams and brooks.24

The great tao is universal like a flood ... How can it be turned to the right or to the left? All creatures depend upon it, and it denies nothing to anyone. It does its work, but it makes no claim on itself.25

How does the sea become the king of all streams? Because it lies lower than they. Hence it is the king of all streams.26

(2) A child as the image of tao. A child, like water, is soft and nonoffensive. But a child more than water is full of potentiality of life and ability to learn, grow, and create. Because the child is pure, simple, and unpolluted by partial knowledge, bad habit, and evil thought, the child can do nothing and everything is possible for the child as he forms no block to the happening of things. He is therefore a seed of creativity and an occasion (or beginning) of novelty and a model of harmony. He is defenseless and therefore invites no harm and

competition. Lao Tzu has this to say:

In keeping the spirit and the vital soul together, are you able to maintain their perfect harmony? In gathering your vital energy to attain suppleness, have you reached the state of a new born babe?27

One who is steeped in virtue is akin to the new-born babe. Wasps and poisonous serpents do not sting it, nor fierce beasts seize it. Nor birds or prey maul it. Its bones are tender, its sinew soft, but its grip is firm. It has not known the union of the male and the female, growing in its wholeness and keeping its vitality in its perfect integrity. It howls and scream all day long without getting hoarse, because it embodies perfect harmony.28

(3) The mother as the image of tao. The mother is the beginning of being. She is the source and reservoir of life. She provides nourishment and support for her children, and she is always ready to cherish and make things possible for her children. She is therefore not only the origin of life but the preserver of



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life. Since there is no natural obstacle between the mother and the children, to know the children leads us to know the mother; and to know the mother leads us to know the children.

The mother is self-effacing and unselfish toward her children. She is forever tender and soft and pays attention to minutest details of her family. She always understands and silently bears all the burdens of activities of life. Although Lao Tzu does not say too much about the virtue of the mother, it is clear that he intends that what we understand about a mother applies to the tao through a process of symbolic reference and a unification of feeling. He has these ex-

plicit statements to say about the mother.

There was something undefined and yet incomplete in itself, born before Heaven and Earth, silent and boundless, standing along without change, yet pervading all without fail, it may be regarded as the mother of the world.29

All-under-Heaven have a common beginning. This beginning is the mother of the world. Having known the mother, we may proceed to know the children. Having known the children, we should go back and hold on to the mother. In so doing you will incur no risk even though your body be annihilated.30

The following statements contain an implicit reference to the mother image of Lao Tzu.

The spirit of the fountain dies not. It is called the mysterious feminine. The doorway of the mysterious feminine is called the root of heaven and earth. Lingering like a grossamer, it has only a hint of existence. And yet when you draw upon it, it is inexhaustible.31 A great country is like the lowland toward which all streams flow. It is the reservoir of all under heaven, the feminine of the world.32

(4) The female as the image of tao. The last quoted statement from Lao Tzu already refers to the female in the primal sense of a mother. In that sense the female is the principle, not parallel nor complementary to the principle of the male. It is one, not one of the two. As one it gives rise to the two and

everything. Now Lao Tzu also conceives the tao as possessing the virtues and

qualities of the female and its function as opposite and a complement to the male. The female is again soft, quiet, flexible, gentle, and as such can conquer and assimulate the male (harsh, stubborn, offensive, and outstanding) to form a harmony and unity. Since without unity and harmony the actual world and life are not possible, the female can be said to make all actual processes in the world possible. It is hence the creative power for the realization and preserva- tion of individual things. As a creative power it is inseparable from its potential for being a mother and its ability to rear a child. Being soft and yet capable of

conquering the hard, it is similar to water. Thus the image of the female is

always suggestive of the images of the mother and the child, and the water, and there cannot but exist a confluence of feelings associated with these three

images. Lao Tzu has the following to say about the female in the ability to achieve unity, success, and primal innocence and creativity:



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Know the masculine, keep the feminine, and be the brook of the world.33 The feminine always conquers the masculine by her quietness, by lowering herself through her quietness. Hence, if a great country can lower itself before a smaller country, it will win over the small country; and if a small country can lower itself before a great country, it will win over the great country; the one wins by stooping; the other, by remaining low.34

In the opening and shifting of heaven's gate, are you able to play the feminine part?35

(5) The uncarved block as the image of tao. In the Tao Te Ching there are at least six references to the term pur, which means the uncarved block of wood. The term suggests simplicity of style and form and genuineness of quality and substance. Thus very often the term is used in these senses. This is a case where the meaning of a metaphor has been transformed into a literal concept and what it symbolizes becomes what is meant and intended. Clearly simplicity of life is difficult to define, but if we define it as the state of uncarved block of

wood, we achieve a clearer vision of the quality of simplicity. Simplicity is not monotonousness nor crudeness. It is freshness full of fresh possibility. The nature of the uncarved block of wood is precisely an example of freshness with full potentiality for becoming different, useful, and interesting things. It is indeterminate, and yet because of its indeterminateness it can assume many shapes and patterns and can transform into determinate vessels. "When the uncarved block dispersed, it becomes useful vessel."36

What is valuable in pu is its usefulness and its potentiality to become and to achieve ideal goals, and in this regard it has very much the same nature of a child or mother or female or the water. But it is only in the image of the uncarved block the combination of qualities of stability, tranquility, and solid-

arity, indeterminate shape and unity stand out. Hence this image of tao seems to be a favorable one for Lao Tzu to refer to the tao and to ideal character of a man or a people. After denouncing the usefulness of wisdom, benevolence, and skill, Lao Tzu says:

These three are the criss-cross of tao, and are not sufficient in themselves, therefore they should be subordinated to a higher principle. See the simple (sus and embrace [the quality] of the uncarved block (pu), diminish the self and curb the desires.37

For a person desiring to achieve true understanding of the tao, Lao Tzu offers the following admonition:

Know the glorious, keep the lowly, and be the valley of the world. To be the valley of the world is to live the abundant life of nature and to return again to the state of the uncarved block.38

Lao Tzu also explicitly likens pu to the tao, in virtue of the fact that pu is nameless like the tao and is indeterminate and nonoutstanding like the tao. "Tao is always nameless, small as it is in its state of uncarved block. It is inferior



320 Cheng

to nothing in the world."39 When he refers to tao as a method of settling stir and controlling desires of men, he uses the term pu. He says:

It is time to keep them (things) in their place by the aid of the nameless uncarved block. The nameless uncarved block alone can curb the desires of men. When the desires of men are curbed, there will be peace and the world will 'settle down of its own accord.40

To return to the state of the uncarved block is a way to govern the state and to govern oneself. It is the way to achieve everything by doing nothing and a way to attain peace, harmony, and well-being without the disruptive interference and domination of desires.41 Apparently Lao Tzu regards the state of pu as the natural and original state of things in their beginning before knowledge and artifact are developed by men.

In the preceding we have discussed five main images of tao in the Tao Te Ching. Each of these images of tao serves as a symbol for the tao and lead to a unity of feeling between the symbol and the meaning of tao. All these main images of tao are also mutually supportive and mutually illuminating, and this fact of mutual symbolic reference leads to a still greater and stronger and deeper understanding of the tao. The concept of the tao as explained in terms of certain basic characteristics by Lao Tzu, on the other hand, calls forth these images rooted in our experience of the world and life. This shows not only that there exists a common ground between our perception of the tao and our perception of the images of tao, but that tao itself illuminates these images of tao, which illuminates tao. One may even suggest that these images embody the tao itself just as tao presents these images, so that tao and these images shine forth through each other. This is what we call reciprocity of symbolic reference.

Now we must remember that the images of tao which illuminates the tao do not just consist of these five. There are many explicit and implicit images of tao throughout Lao Tzu's work. For example, there is the bellows image referring to the emptiness and yet inexhaustibleness of life in the tao; there is the valley image having similar meaningfulness; there is the image of bending a bow referring to the balancing ability of the tao; there are images of the tao in terms of various qualities such as being bent; being curled, being low, being little, having few, having oneness, being utmost soft, being empty, being silent, being weak, and being nonconspicuous, and so on.

When Lao Tzu says:

When a man is living he is soft and weak, when he is dead he becomes hard and rigid. When a plant is living, it is soft and tender, when it is dead, it becomes withered and dry. Hence the hard and rigid belong to the company of the dead, and the soft and supple belong to the company of the living.42

It is clear that he sees not only an analogy but an actual identification of qualities between softness, weakness, and life on the one hand, and between hardness,



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rigidity, and death on the other. The images of tao by the same token constitute not just an analogy but an actual identification of feelings and reality. Tao is one but has many manifestations of which the images of tao are natural tokens.

The whole book of the Tao Te Ching is represented by a cluster of images which function as a system of symbols referring to the ultimate reality of tao, and in doing so dynamically generate a unified field of concrete feelings, which endow effective meanings on the concept of tao. Given perceptive meanings for the concept of tao illuminated in the unity of feeling with images of tao, various systems of thought about the tao can be contextually constructed. In other words, one can explicate the concept of the tao regarding different dis-

ciplines of ideas, for the images of tao and the field of feelings and meanings generated thereby provide a fertile basis and fruitful source of developing these ideas. Specifically, we may mention the possibility of constructing a metaphysics of the tao, the dialectic of the tao, the ethics of the tao, the aesthetics of the tao, and the politics of the tao. To develop these conceptual systems, in light of the

unity of feeling of the images of tao; requires a second article, and we have to satisfy ourselves now by simply pointing out that these systems can be considered or indeed shown to be separate but interrelated symbolisms, which

reciprocate reference to one another and thus reflect and form a further mutually supportive network of unified and enriched feelings and meanings.

We may represent the structure of symbolic reference with its conceptual ramifications in the Tao Te Ching in the following diagram:

Reciprocity of Symbolic Reference

Metaphysics of Tao Dialectics of Tao

Tao <-- Images of Tao <- I Ethics of Tao Aesthetics of Tao Politics of Tao

Unification of Differentiated Feelings

V. CONCLUDING REMARKS

I have explained some central ideas of the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching in the light of Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference. The explanation not

only illustrates the fruitfulness of Whitehead's doctrine of symbolic reference, but at the same time extends the depth and scope of the doctrine by developing the principle of mutual or reciprocal symbolic reference. We have discussed

many aspects of the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching as two structured symbolic systems. We have not particularly discussed the pragmatic justification of the two symbolic systems of the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching. Nevertheless, anyone who is familiar with the history of Chinese philosophy as well as various

spheres of practical thinking and action can testify to the pragmatic efficacy or fortunateness (rightness) of these ideas from the I Ching and the Tao Te

Ching in the best Whiteheadean sense of efficacy and rightness.



322 Cheng

NOTES

1. Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957), p. 274.

2. Ibid., 271. 3. Ibid., 274. 4. Ibid., 276. 5. In traditional commentaries on the I Ching, I (change) has a threefold meaning attributed

to it: change, no-change (patterns of nonchange) tnd ease of change. 6. See Hsi Tzu Ta Chuan (The Great Appendix) in the I Ching, trans. by Richard Wilhelm into

German, and retranslated into English by Cary F. Baynes. 7. Ibid., 297-301. 8. Ibid., 318. 9. Ibid., 275-276.

10. Ibid., 704, 709, 714. 11. Ibid., 294-295. 12. Ibid., 303. 13. Ibid., 304. 14. Ibid., 287. 15. Ibid., 293. 16. See the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu, ?14. 17. Ibid., ?40. 18. Ibid., ?42. 19. Ibid., ?37. 20. Ibid., ?40. 21. Ibid., ?16. 22. Ibid., ?8. 23. Ibid., ?78. 24. Ibid., ?32. 25. Ibid., ?34. 26. Ibid., ?66. 27. Ibid., ?10. 28. Ibid., ?55. 29. Ibid., ?25. 30. Ibid., ?52. 31. Ibid., ?6. 32. Ibid., ?61. 33. Ibid., ?28. 34. Ibid., ?61. 35. Ibid., ?10. 36. Ibid., ?28. 37. Ibid., ?19. 38. Ibid., ?28. 39. Ibid., ?32. 40. Ibid., ?37. 41. Ibid., ?57, ?15. 42. Ibid., ?76.

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