Journal Article

THE CLASSICAL DAOIST CONCEPT OF LI 理 (PATTERN) AND EARLY CHINESE COSMOLOGY

Roth, Harold D.

2012

Overview

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 veis 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，空虚所有的意念，聖人才能達到\"無爲而無不爲\"的 目標。因之\"理\"的概念作爲白然準則，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。

• Publisher: Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
• Subject: Cosmological philosophy / Human nature / Humans / Normativity / Philosophical Taoism / Rituals / Soul / Tao Te Ching / Taoism / Wisdom