The Dialectical Outlook: Opposition

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the original form of opposite thinking was mainly the same in almost all nations, and in the early philosophy, opposite thinking was acknowledged by all philosophers in different nations. However, opposite thinking reached full development in China or Chinese civilization rather than other nations or civilizations. This demonstrated that opposite thinking could not formed and matured in all nations or civilizations. In fact, the development of opposite thinking in China could not be simply viewed as the result of the understanding of opposite things. It would not make sense in opposite thinking by only increasing the number of opposite things. To reach new stage, there must be supplemental factors for opposite thinking: the abstracted or generalized form of opposition. I have discussed the role picture and sign have played in the abstraction and generalization of opposition. I will discuss the idea Opposition as follows.

Words with opposite meanings (antonym) appeared as early as in Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-256 BC). According to the rough statistics, there were such words in Book of Documents (Shang Shu) and Book of Change: left/right, early/late, up/down, big/small, hard/soft, fortune/light/heavy, even/slope, bliss/disaster, gentlemen/petty person, advance/retreat, exit/enter, heaven/earth, beginning/end, harm/benefit, presence/absence, self/other, etc. In late Spring and Autumn Period, there were more such words. In The Art of War, there were: death/life, live/die, Yin/Yang, winter/summer, far/near, difficult/easy, wide/narrow, reward/punish, win/lose, work/rest, many/few, advantage/disadvantage, big/small, strong/weak, go forward/go backward, up/down, other/self, attack/defend, sufficient/deficient, heaven/earth, odd/even, false/ true, peace/disturbance, brave/timid, safety/danger, dynamic/static, round/square, stop/move, hunger/ satiety, more/less, front/back, short/long, day/night, depart/meet, go/come, light/heavy, superior/inferior, hard/soft, contraction/expansion, etc. In Lao Tzu, there were: presence/absence, big/small, up/down, early/late, long/short, light/heavy, host/guest, here/there, life/death, obverse/ reverse, even/odd, good/bad, beautiful/ ugly, disaster/bliss, superior/inferior, honor/shame, difficult/ easy, advance/retreat, quiet/noisy, disadvantage/advantage, perfect/incomplete, wax/wane, success/ failure, give/take, new/old, rise/fall, peace/disturbance, benefit/harm, open/close, breathe/inhale, start/end, bright/dark, curve/straight, hard/soft, strong/weak, wise/stupid, smart/clumsy, talkative/ taciturn, past/present, full/empty, Yin/Yang, etc. In Commentaries on Book of Change, there were: Yin!Yang, hard/soft, full/empty, go/come, winter/summer, inner/outer, increase/decrease, superior/ inferior, up/down, noble/humble, advance/retreat, heaven/earth, QianlKun, motion/quiescence,man/woman, husband/wife, gentleman/petty person, fortune/misfortune, day/night, water/fire, start/ end, death/life, safety/danger, rise/fall, live/die, gain/lose, odd/even, little/few, depart/meet, easy/ difficult, contraction/expansion, harm/benefit, static/dynamic, eternal/changing, sufficient/deficient, bliss/disaster, increase/decrease, done/doing, etc. The idea Opposition also affected science, especially in medicine. In The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, there were: Yin/Yang, heaven/ earth, man/woman, heaven/human, up/down, left/right, for/against, hard/ tender, clear/dirty, motion/ quiescence, root/branch, slow/quick, phenomenon/nature, thick/thin, come/go, front/back, heat/ cold, water/fire, dry/wet, warm/cool, life/death, rise/fall, slow/urgent, empty/full, exit/enter, many/ few, here/there, absorb/ excrete, success/failure, good/bad, start/end, joy/anger, profit/justice, deep/ shallow, thick/thin, greet/leave, fortune/ misfortune, skew/straight, dynamic/static, etc.

It was notable that the idea Opposition served as a sign of opposite thinking and presented it in the form of opposite concepts. Meanwhile, the wide range and use of opposite concepts established solid foundation for the development of opposite thinking. In Spring and Autumn Period, the highly abstracted ideas "Liang" and "Er" (Both means "two") appeared: "Everything has two sides... The body has the left and right. The superior corresponds to the inferior. King to duke, vassal to official. All present in the form of two." (Zuo Zhuan, The 32nd Year of the Reign of Duke Zhao) We must notice the use and meaning of the idea Yin-Yang:

Everything has Yin and Yang sides. (Lao Tzu, Chapter 42)

Tao means Yin and Yang. (Commentaries on Book of Change, Xi Ci I)

Divinity means the mystery of Yin and Yang. (Commentaries on Book of Change, Xi Ci I)

The wide use of the idea Yin-Yang facilitated the expression and communication of thoughts. Besides, we can discover Han Feizi's thought embodies what we now call "contradiction" (Mao Dun): "It is impossible that a shield can resist all spears and a spear can penetrate all shields." (Han Fei Zi, Difficulty in Unification) These thoughts in Pre-Qin time laid foundation for the development of the idea Opposition:

Things cannot exist without their contradictories. (Zhang Zai, Correcting the Unenlightened, Animal)

Things appear in couples. Yin must with Yang, Yang must with Yin. (Zhu Xi, Words of Zhu Zi, Vol. 95)

To conclude, the idea Opposition has been a clue in the history of Chinese philosophy.