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On the Taiyi Shengshui (2) |
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Carine
Defoort, Leuven Paper (2) A Branch of Daoism? A suggestion raised by some Chinese scholars at the Dartmouth conference was to check whether this particular evolution of Daoism--or perhaps Laoism to put it more strictly--could be distinguished from similar strands of thought. Most remarkable about this text is the early occurrence of Taiyi and its close association with water. Water prevails most dominantly in Guanzi, 39 (shuidi), but there is no mention of Taiyi, nor any particular stress on "unity" or the "one." Nor is the Guanzi's discussion of water reminiscent of Laozi's view on it: its strength despite of its yielding nature, and its featureless chaos and potentiality. Taiyi begins to appear in several late Zhou texts and even more explicitly in Han texts: some later Zhuangzi chapters, the Chuci, the Xunzi , the Lüshi chunqiu, the Heguanzi, the Huainanzi, Wenzi, the Shiji, the Liji , the Da Dai Liji, the Han shu, the Huangdi neijing, the Han apocrypha,... In this respect, two points deserve to be made about the Taiyi sheng shui: its early mention of Taiyi (at the latest around -300) and its very explicit promotion of water above heaven and earth. In the Zhongguo wenwu bao of April 8th, 1998, Li Xueqin has suggested that the combination of Taiyi and water can be identified as one particular branch of Daoism, associated with Guanyin, the "Keeper of the Pass." The most explicit association of Taiyi with water aside from the Taiyi sheng shui can be found in the last chapter of the Zhuangzi, 33 (Tianxia), in which Guanyin, as Laozi's counterpart, is identified with "movement like water" and "ruling them with Taiyi." Other early sources mentioning Guanyin are not cosmological at all. But it could be that the author of the Taiyi sheng shui was interested in cosmology and also inspired by texts related to Guanyin, who valued Taiyi as well as water. The cosmological touch could be his own. Considering the scanty information, any conclusion on a Daoist sub-lineages or Guanyin tradition is premature. The association between Taiyi and water, although perhaps less explicit, also occurs in other texts. In Zhuangzi, 32 (Lie Yukou), "the utmost man returns his quintessential spirit to the beginningless... He flows like water from the shapeless and gushes forth from Taiqing (Grand Purity)," which is associated with Taiyi in this passage. Weaker associations are even more common in the sense that the primordial beginning is often associated with "one" or "Grand One" and that its various names, through the water radical, often suggest some watery substance or fluid chaos: [ ], [ ], [ ], [ ], and perhaps [ ] this text, if we follow Harper's reading. The cluster of concepts gathering around Taiyi and water remains nevertheless interesting. Taiyi and Water 'Taiyi' as well as 'water' have several meanings and broad associations. Speculation on them lead to the interpretation of the text, its textual or historical background, and perhaps the reasons for its inclusion in this tomb. The interpretations suggested at the Dartmouth conference were philosophical, religious, astrological, military and political. Some Chinese scholars, such as Li Xueqin and Xu Kangsheng, expressed the view that Taiyi sheng shui can be identified as one of the various philosophical attempts to explain Laozi, 42, which, rather enigmatically, claims that "Dao generated one, one generated two, two generated three, and three generated the myriad kinds of things," a line from the received Laozi which does not belong to any of the three Guodian Laozi bundles. This view is based on the conviction prevalent among Chinese scholars that a 5000 character Laozi, similar to the received edition, existed before the Guodian texts, which would then contain selections of it. It also assumes that the rather abstract view expressed in Laozi, 42 predates the more concrete, cosmological lists meant as attempts to explain it. Hence, Li Xueqin's clear preference for the philosophical sophistication of the Laozi as opposed to this cosmological commentary in the tradition of his student, Guanyin. An alternative reading calls attention to the religious nature of Taiyi. Taiyi was an important deity in the Han, namely under Wudi (r. 140-87). The earliest mention of imperial rites for Taiyi, at two different altars, are under his reign. Archeological evidence indicates that the worship of Taiyi predates the Han: in a tomb called Baoshan, nr.1, from a burial site very close to Guodian in time (probably 323-316) and space (about 2 km?), Taiyi is the chief spirit named in the divination text. The first of the nine "Nine Songs" of the "Elegies of of Chu" is for Donghuang Taiyi, which also indicates a popular veneration of Taiyi in Chu. The cosmological sequencing starting from Taiyi may have been an intellectual justification of existing rites. Isabelle Robinet insisted, however, that in the Taiyi sheng shui the presentation of Taiyi as omnipresent and hiding in water rather suggests the possibility of fusing with it, and therefore suggests a mysticism rather than a religious rite or worship of a particular god with a specific position, name, rite and competence. A third angle to read this text is on the background of astrological interest, suggested by the major figure of this text, namely Taiyi. Although Chinese sources do not agree which star exactly was Taiyi, they all locate it close to the north pole, and associate it with the pivot of the celestial dome. One cause of the disagreement may be the fact that the star Taiyi was at least several degrees away from the celestial north pole, and hence, slowly changed its location over the centuries; another reason may be its predominant symbolic value as the center of an orderly sky, which diminished the importance of its actual astrological location. In the Han cosmograph (shi ¦¡ ) used for divination, Taiyi is indeed associated with the 'pole of heaven and earth' (tiandi zhi ji): the pivot. Moreover, early sources contain cosmological sequences very similar to Taiyi sheng shui, but starting from Taiji 'the Grand Pole.' Another possible association, although not explicitly discussed in the two passages of Taiyi sheng shui, is with military practice (suggested by Robin Yates). This aspect is also confirmed by archeological evidence. A "Weapon to Repel Grand Year (Bingbi Taisui)" was found in Jingmen in a tomb at Cheqiao (in 1960): on it the war spirit is shaped as 'da' and wears a 'Pheasant cap (heguan)', a headdress associated with military office. Mawang dui, tomb 3, contained a "Weapon-Repel Chart (bibing tu)" with another 'da' spirit, explicitly identified as Taiyi and also wearing a 'heguan' in zig-zag lines. The heguan is described in the Hou Hanshu as a cap with "pheasant tail feathers, standing left and right" as a symbol of martial valor. Its close relation to the astronomical meaning of Taiyi can be derived from passages in which an ideal war is described as orderly proceeding around the general like constellations rotating around heaven's pole (tian zhi ji) or around 'Banner waver' (zhaoyao), the star in the Big Dipper which often replaced Taiyi. A final aspect of Taiyi is perhaps political. Concern with order in general was a major stimulus of the intellectual life in the Warring States period, although reflection was not restricted to this topic. The second passage of Taiyi sheng shui, moreover, links up with affairs, naming and the sage having success without getting hurt. The concerns are clearly practical and, although not necessarily very political, this passage reminds one of similar descriptions of Taiyi which include politics more explicitly. One example is the chapter on music in the Lüshi chunqiu 5.2 (dayue) which first honors music with a cosmological ancestry, namely Taiyi, then identifies Taiyi with the 'forced name' of the Way as "the utmost quintessence, which cannot be shaped nor named," and finally ends up with a strong argument for political unity. There is no apparent breach between what we would consider art, ritual, cosmology, philosophy or even mysticism in the beginning of the passage and politics at the end. A passage in the Huangdi neijing makes a similar link. In 'The nine palaces and the eight winds' (Taisu, 28.4) Taiyi moves around through the nine palaces, beginning and ending in the north at the winter solstice. This detailed astronomical section is immediately followed by politics in which the major political agents are indicated as responsible for exceptionally strong winds in Taiyi. Sometimes Taiyi occurs in a context of quietness, equanimity, undifferenciation, and even mysticism; on other occasions it holds on to the ropes and strings of the whole universe like a powerful emperor. Even readers who expect politics lurking behind almost any ancient Chinese 'philosophical' passage may be surprised by this combination. But luckily we have passages which, even more explicitly than the ones quoted above, explicitly combine undifferentiated stillness in the center with orderly movement around it, as two sides of one medal. Ge Zhaoguang has abundantly called attention to this remarkable combination. An example of this is the shortest chapter of the Heguanzi, 3 (yexing) which is divided into two sections. The former, in prose, is a general description of cosmic and political correlations that define the visible, measurable and verifiable world; the latter is poetic and invokes the indefinite, murky, unnamable, and yet powerful source of order. The dual nature of Taiyi confirms the insight that in the sky as well as in politics, order emanates from a powerful center that precedes it. Such reflection, although perhaps political in origin, is not restricted to politics and can hardly be put to any political use. It can at most express a political view in opposition to others: for example the idea that problems ought not to be solved by crude regulations when disorder has already taken shape, but should be handled swiftly and unnoticed at its tender origin before things have taken on a fixed shape. Combined with other aspects of this archeological find, such as the location of the tomb near the capital of Chu, the preference for Taiyi and water could perhaps express a Southern view reacting against a more forceful approach to politics in the central plain. [Conclusion] These interpretations are far from complete and leave many questions unanswered. They hardly explain why this text was buried with this corpse. Nor do they necessarily exclude each other. The difficult interpretation of an ancient Chinese text such as Taiyi sheng shui reminds one that a discussion about philosophical, religious, astrological, military or political interpretations is conducted in our categories, not theirs. Taiyi may have been a god, associated with the celestial center, which is itself invisible and undivided. Therefore, the worship of Taiyi, as opposed to other gods associated with a particular location, may have been of a more mystical nature. But at the same time, it was very practical too. Passages or books mentioning Taiyi, alternatively, stress the importance of the 'One' or unification and the orderly sky as a model in political and military matters; on the other hand, there is a strong awareness of the exceptionally powerful position of the polar axis and a belief in man's power to fuse with it.
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