Zhang Zai’s Neo-Confucian Guiding Principle and the Positioning ofHis Material Force Theory

Lin Lechang

Abstract： Academic studies of Zhang Zais material force theory once tended to put the theory at the top of his series of concepts， as the topmost category of his Neo-Confucian philosophy. Thus， Zhangs philosophy was characterized by material force as the substance or as a theory pertaining to materialism. This represents a qualitative perspective in the study of his philosophy. Nowadays it is necessary to explore Zhangs philosophy from a new perspective oriented to his guiding principle. This paper examines various understandings of Zhangs Neo-Confucian guiding principle on the basis of corroborating documents， provides a holistic interpretation of the significance of his guiding principle， and finally proposes， from the guiding principle-oriented perspective， a new positioning of Zhangs material force theory.

Keywords： Zhang Zai， positioning of the material force theory， material force as the substance， qualitative perspective， guiding principle-oriented perspective

Introduction： Early Positioning of Zhangs Material Force Theory and Its Research Perspective [Refer to page 28 for Chinese. Similarly hereinafter]

Since the 1950s， studies of Zhang Zais 張載 （1020–1077） philosophy have highlighted the positioning of his material force （qi 氣） theory， representing a particular methodology in Chinese academia. Scholars tended to put Zhangs concept of material force at the top of his series of philosophical concepts， or to regard it as the topmost category of his philosophy. Such a positioning purported to characterize Zhangs philosophy. In this way， Zhangs philosophy was defined as one relying on material force， a theory based on material force， or a theory pertaining to materialism， and this almost became the basic presupposition for studies in this area. Later， although researchers of Zhangs philosophy avoided labeling it as a materialist theory， there have been many scholars who characterize Zhangs philosophy as a theory whose substance is material force.

This phenomenon resulted from the practice of applying a qualitative perspective to studying the philosophy of Zhang Zai. Actually， the formation of such a qualitative perspective had to do directly with the “definition of the history of philosophy” put forth by Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov （1896–1948）， who acted as Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1948. In the period from 1949 to 1956， Zhdanovs definition of the history of philosophy was accepted by Chinese academia as highest principle. Under this highest principle， just as all other sub-fields of Chinese philosophy studies did， the studies of Zhang Zais philosophy set for themselves the major task of imposing characteristics on it， and consequently ignored the relevant facts， which should have been treated as their starting point and basis.

It is worth noting that Friedrich Engels （1820–1883） once criticized harshly the so called “principle” preached by the philosophy of Karl Eugen Dühring （1833–1921）. According to Dühring， principles are “formal tenets derived from thought and not from the external world， which are to be applied to nature and the realm of man，” while Engels held that what constitutes the starting point of research are the objective facts of nature and the history. In light of Engelss opinion， the starting point for studying the philosophy of Zhang Zai should not be any subjective principle but rather the relevant objective facts. There are three aspects of facts relevant to studying Zhangs philosophy： （1） the literature of Zhangs Neo-Confucian ideas and relevant Confucian classics， （2） the guiding principles of Zhangs Neo-Confucianism which are extracted from that literature and Confucian classics and confirmed thereby， and （3） relevant academic historical facts. In these three aspects， Zhangs Neo-Confucian literature， particularly those newly discovered and relevant Confucian classics， can provide solid evidence for confirming his Neo-Confucian guiding principle; his Neo-Confucian guiding principle can serve as a pivotal fact in studying the positioning of his material force theory; the relevant academic historical facts provide us with conditions for situating the thesis of the case study in the horizon of comprehensive studies， and are thus conducive to our analysis of the relationship between Zhangs Neo-Confucianism on the one side and the pre-Qin theory of yin， yang， and the five elements，i and the material force theory held by the Confucians of the Han dynasty （206 BCE–220 CE） on the other. In a word， to conduct a new study of the material force theory of Zhang Zai， we must first of all turn to these facts themselves.

The difficult point of raising a problem and solving it in some reasonable manner usually lies in how to find a new perspective， different from the past ones， and to use it to examine and solve the problem. This is an important experience gained through summarizing the history of human thought. With regard to the studies of Zhang Zais material force theory， what we have found is a perspective oriented to his guiding principle， which is different from the aforementioned qualitative perspective. By using different research perspectives， we will adopt different ways of addressing how to position Zhangs material force theory and reach different research results. In the following sections， first of all， different understandings of Zhangs Neo-Confucian guiding principle are identified and confirmed in a literature-based way， then a holistic and thorough interpretation of the significance of those guiding lines is given， and finally from the perspective of those guiding lines， a new positioning of Zhang material force theory is proposed.

Identification of Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian Guiding Principle

Based on the Literature [29]

Confirming Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian Guiding Principle [29]

In the chapter “Great Harmony” [太和] of his Correcting Youthful Ignorance [正蒙]， Zhang Zai proposed a famous argument as follows：

From the Great Vacuity （taixu 太虛）， there is Heaven （tian 天）. From the transformation of material force， there is the Way （dao 道）. In the unity of the Great Vacuity and material force， there is the nature （xing 性） [of human and things]. And in the unity of the nature and consciousness， there is the mind （xin 心）.

This argument is traditionally referred to as the Four Sentences of the “Great Harmony.” Here， Zhang defines Heaven， the Way， the nature， and the mind as his four major concepts. If they are divided into two groups in their sequence， with two concepts in each， then the first group and the second group can constitute respectively the bases for his theory of Heaven and the Way and his theory of the nature and mind. Furthermore， from Heaven to the mind， they embrace the basic framework of his Heaven–humanity doctrine. In this sense， we can see his Four Sentences as his Neo-Confucian guiding principle.

Scholars had various understandings of Zhangs Neo-Confucian guiding principle. As said by Mou Zongsan 牟宗三 （1909–1995）， “that which was in the Great Harmony and able to create the order of the cosmos is called the Way.” From there he went on to say， “the first paragraph of ‘Great Harmony is the general outline of the entire chapter， which is also the general outline of Zhang Zais Correcting Youthful Ignorance in regard to existence and the thought of joining in the creating and transforming process.” In my opinion， the guiding principle of any theory or doctrine should have its framing structure by which the purpose of the entire or partial content of its ideological system can be summarized. In other words， the guiding principle of a theory or doctrine should be expressed by a series of concepts or a combination of words. However， Mous so called “general guiding principle” is supported only by the single concept of the Way， which lacks the complete form of the frame structure， thus failing to reflect the entirety of Zhangs Neo-Confucianism. By contrast， the Four Sentences， which Zhang took pains to conceive and formulate late in life， presents the four concepts of Heaven， the Way， the nature， and the mind in a clear order， and clarifies them neatly and defines them clearly within a complete frame work， which can display fully the overall system of Zhangs Heaven–humanity doctrine. If we accept it as the guiding principle， its advantage is obvious to see.

Literature Supporting Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian Guiding Principle [30]

Many years ago， I proposed on several occasions that Zhangs Four Sentences be accepted as his Neo-Confucian guiding principle， but I could by no means provide any literary evidence for that judgment. Fortunately， with the finding of new literature on Zhangs Neo-Confucianism and further study of it， now the problem has been resolved. It can be known from the “Remarks on the Book of Rites” [禮記說]， which was not included in the Collected Works of Zhang Zai [張載集] published by Zhonghua Book Company， that the Four Sentences was originally an explanation of the first three sentences in the first chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean. This is literary evidence of critical significance.

Zhu Xi 朱熹 （1130–1200） once noticed the correspondence between the first three sentences in the beginning chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean and Zhangs Four Sentences. He noted，

The two sentences of “from the Great Vacuity， there is Heaven” and “in the unity of the Great Vacuity and material force， there is the nature” pertain to “what Heaven imparts to humankind is called human nature.” The sentence “from the transformation of material force， there is the Way” pertains to “to follow our nature is called the Way.” The sentence “in the unity of the nature and consciousness， there is the mind” pertains again to “what Heaven imparts to humankind is called human nature.”

In addition， Zhu emphasized that， “When reading a book， what a learner should do first is， as it were， to take a net by its head rope. For example， the first three sentences serve as a head rope if the Doctrine of the Mean is likened to a fishing net.” Thus， we know that Zhu saw the Four Sentences Zhang composed while explaining the key ideas of the Doctrine of the Mean as Zhangs Neo-Confucian guiding principle.

Thus， the “Remarks on the Book of Rites” as new literature bearing on Zhang Zais Neo-Confucianism not only lets us know the context in which his Four Sentences was situated， but also provides us with literary evidence of critical significance， thus confirming the positioning of his Four Sentences as his Neo-Confucian guiding principle.

A Holistic Interpretation of Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian

Guiding Principle [31]

When we try interpreting the meaning of Zhangs Four Sentences as his Neo-Confucian guiding principle， we should take into consideration the interaction between the whole and the part of the text it belongs to and do it in a holistic and interpenetrating way. The four major concepts defined in it， that is， Heaven， the Way， the nature， and the mind， represent four types of existence between heaven and earth. The relationship among these four types of existence is interpenetrating， inter-communicative， inter-connective， or homogeneous. We should not neglect the interrelationship underlying the four concepts and analyze them by separating one from the others.

“From the Great Vacuity， there is Heaven.” The first three sentences in the beginning chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean read， “What Heaven imparts to humankind is called human nature. To follow our nature is called the Way. Cultivating the Way is called education （jiao 教）.” Scholars past and present have paid more attention to the series of the three concepts， that is， human nature， the Way， and education. Zhang Zai differs from them in that he put the first concept “Heaven” in the first sentence of the first chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean into his own series of concepts as the first of them. Thus， he extended the original series of three concepts as a new series of four. The purpose of Zhang when explaining the concept of Heaven by drawing on the Daoist concept of Great Vacuity was to do away with the “great veil” （大蔽） of the Confucians since the Qin （221–206 BCE） and Han dynasties who “knew humankind but not Heaven，” in an attempt to rebuild the Confucian view of Heaven. In his opinion， the Confucians after Qin and Han turned the metaphysical and transcendent Heaven into something physical， tangible， and experiential. He asserted against this trend， “what is meant by ‘the sun and moon realize Heaven in themselves is realizing the principle over nature， rather than the concrete vast and high heaven.” At the same time， he warned other scholars， “The vast and high heaven is visible to the eye， and the sun， the moon， and the stars are the most salient of all the heavenly images， but what should be sought by the mind is the vacuity of Heaven.” To him， the Daoist concept of the Great Vacuity possessed such merits as being infinite， transcendent， and metaphysical， and it could be borrowed to rebuild the concept of Heaven that had been rendered physical and experiential by the Han dynasty Confucians， thus bringing Heaven in the Confucian sense back to the “vacuity of Heaven，” that is， to substance.

“From the transformation of material force， there is the Way.” Many scholars， past and present， held that everything meant by “the Way” in this sentence can be boiled completely down to material force or the transformation of material force. It is true that， while giving his definition of the Way， Zhang Zai drew on the concept of material force or the transformation of material force from the theories of Daoism and the Yin–Yang School， indeed， but who was the subject of borrowing that material force or the transformation of material force？ This subject should be seen as the “Heaven” mentioned in the sentence before this one. As said in the twentieth chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean， “sincerity （cheng 誠） is the Way of Heaven，” which means that the Way is attributable to Heaven. Interpreting this， Zhu Xi said， “though the Way is mingled with the transformation of material force， actually it never departs from the Great Vacuity.” This indicates that the Way is the unity of the Great Vacuity and material force. In addition， the opinion that Heaven is above the Way comes from traditional Confucian theory of Heaven and the Way. In the series of the four concepts stated in the Four Sentences， Heaven is above the Way and at the same time penetrates the Way.

“In the unity of the Great Vacuity and material force， there is the nature.” The first sentence of the first chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean reveals the nature originating from Heaven， but it gives no explanation of what the nature is. In the history of Confucianism， Zhang Zai was the first to define what the nature is and said clearly that the nature is a structured concept which integrates vacuity or Heaven as the substance with the physical material force. According to him， the Way and the nature are homogeneous in that both are composed of vacuity and material force. This is the very reason why he emphasized “the nature and the Heavenly Way are in unity” and “the nature is the Heavenly Way.” The Great Vacuity and material force， two different forces of the cosmos， are integrated as one in the real world. Despite the homogeneity of the Way and the nature， they played different roles in the process of the cosmos coming into being， each having its own focus. The Way， mainly acting as the driving power behind the operation of the cosmos with the myriad things therein， manifested the process of the cosmos and the myriad things undergoing changes， and its order， whereas the nature， mainly acting as the origin from which the cosmos and the myriad things were generated， endowed each of them with its own disposition or essence. The “unity” in the discourse system of Zhang Zai refers to “unity of differences” or “there will be no unity unless there is difference.” This means that when two things come into unity， they must be heterogeneous rather than homogeneous， or else “the unity of the Great Vacuity and material force” would become “the unity of material force and material force，” a case of tautology， which is completely without Neo-Confucian significance.

“In the unity of the nature and consciousness， there is the mind.” When interpreting the key ideas of the “Doctrine of the Mean，” Zhang Zai made a point of adding the mind into his Four Sentences and offered his definition of the concept， which represents his innovation while inheriting the Confucian classic. The Confucians and Buddhists in the Song dynasty （960–1279） tended to see consciousness （zhijue 知覺）ii as the mind， but Zhang argued that only when consciousness and nature were integrated as one could they constitute together the mind. It should be said that Zhangs definition of the mind is fairly unusual. When he dwelt on the nature， he adopted two viewpoints， that is， the objective and the subjective. As regards the origin of the occurrence and existence of the cosmos and myriad things， humankind included， the nature generated all of them and endowed each of them with its own essence. This is its prescription on the objective level， and the nature， from this viewpoint， is incapable of consciousness. The nature Zhang Zai used to define the mind is related to consciousness， spoken of with special reference to humankind， and covers both the nature of Heaven and Earth and the physical nature， either of which involves the subjective level. From this viewpoint， the two sides of human nature can play different roles in regard to human consciousness. In the physical nature， Zhang said， “there is that which the superior man denies to be his original nature.” That is because， due to the defect of the physical nature， the role it plays in regard to consciousness is bound to be negative or passive. As noted by Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 （1619–1692）， “without honoring the moral nature， one will do nothing but submit to what he sees and hears.” If the physical nature was denied， what could provide the consciousness with its basis of human nature would be the nature of Heaven and Earth. Since this nature is “the origin of the nature，” which is “supremely good，” in the proposition “in the unity of the nature and consciousness， there is the mind，” the nature should be understood as referring to the nature of Heaven and Earth， that is， the moral nature which is supremely good. Thus， the mind defined by Zhang refers to the moral mind and also the cognitive mind. In this sense， even as the cognitive mind， what dominates its cognitive activity is knowledge obtained from ones moral nature.

To sum up， in the series of Heaven， the Way， the nature， and the mind， the four major concepts which constitute Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian guiding principle， Heaven runs downward and penetrates the other three concepts， and thus， under the Heaven–humanity framework， the four concepts are interrelated into a system. Within Zhangs guiding principle， Heaven is the topmost concept and hence put at the top position of the series， while material force is not seen as a basic concept on the same level as Heaven， the Way， the nature， and the mind. In addition， in the series of the four concepts， Heaven， as the substance of the “Perfect Unity” （zhi yi 至一）， does not contain any structure， while the other three each have their inner structures. Of the three， either the Way or the nature is composed of the Great Vacuity and material in integration and thus they are homogeneous. Zhangs structuring of his three concepts of the Way， the nature， and the mind is a prominent feature which characterizes his Neo-Confucianism and simultaneously represents his theoretical innovation in regard to the key ideas of the Doctrine of the Mean.

Positioning Zhangs Material Force Theory from the Perspective

of His Neo-Confucian Guiding Principle [34]

Different ways of positioning Zhangs material force theory result from different perspectives adopted in studying it. As indicated by the aforementioned identification and literature-based confirmation of his Neo-Confucian guiding principle， the statement of any theory or doctrine with regard to its guiding principle is far more important than its other general statements， so studies of the theory or doctrine should pay particular attention to its guiding statements.

First， the positioning of Zhangs material force theory from the perspective of the series of four major concepts that constitutes his Neo-Confucian guiding principle. In the mainstream opinion of the studies of Zhang Zais philosophy， his four most fundamental concepts are material force， the Heavenly Way， Heavenly principle， and Heavenly nature， and at the topmost is material force， the other three being the attributes of material force. However， the first three sentences in the first chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean， as the outline of the entire classic， do not mention material force at all， nor do the Four Sentences， as Zhangs Neo-Confucian guiding principle， put material force on the same level as Heaven， the Way， and the nature. In fact， it is Heaven or the Great Vacuity that is the first or topmost concept in the series of his major concepts， while material force is a concept outside the series. If material force is seen as the fundamental concept or topmost category of Zhangs Neo-Confucianism， that will inevitably distort the direction of Confucianism toward Heaven and the Way as its purpose in its development from the “Doctrine of the Mean” to Zhang Zai.

Second， the positioning of Zhangs material force theory in the perspective of his Neo-Confucian theoretical system. This system， which mainly consists of his theory of Heaven and the Way and theory of the mind and nature， is derived and expanded from his Neo-Confucian guiding principle. Material force is not a concept that pertains to the substance of the cosmos in his Neo-Confucian system， nor is it the common origin of heaven， earth， and the myriad things. Actually， his concept of the cosmoss substance is Heaven or the Great Vacuity， while the nature is his concept of the origin from which the cosmos came into being. In the system of his discourse， material force is only an experiential term for the expression of such meanings as the cosmos dynamics， natural element， biological endowment， and vitality of life. With its relative yin–yang distinction and in an uncertain state of fortuitous convergence and dispersion， it is not qualified to serve as the substance of the cosmos. In addition， the material force in isolation is not a basic concept of cosmology， either， for only the Way and nature， which are characterized by their inner structures， can be the basic concepts of cosmology， while material force is only an element or condition required for constituting the Way and nature.

Third， the role played by material force in the birth of the cosmos. Heaven or the Great Vacuity is the force which dominates everything in the birth of the cosmos， while material force， in that process， plays only an assisting role， for it provides the materials， conditions， or elements needed for the creation of the myriad things. Though it takes part in constituting the Way and the nature and thereby in the creation of the cosmos， the role it plays is not dominant but only assisting.

In conclusion， from the perspective of Zhang Zais Neo-Confucian guiding principle， it is not difficult to work out that the early positioning of Zhangs material force theory missed the point by over-assessing material force in Zhangs Neo-Confucian series of concepts， and exaggerating the role it played in the birth of the cosmos.

Bibliography of Cited Translations

Chan， Wing-tsit， trans. and comp. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton， NJ： Princeton University Press， 1963.

Wang， Xiaonong 王曉農(nóng) and Zhao Zengtao 趙增韜， trans. Getting to Know Master Zhu： English Translation of Selections from Zhuzi Yulei [《朱子語類》選譯]. Beijing： China Social Sciences Press， 2018.

Translated by Wang Xiaonong