The Quest for Essence and Laws: Li

"Li" is the second important concept. It is connected with Dao to some degree.

The concept of Li appeared as early as in the pre-Qin period. For the very beginning, it was used to refer to the laws of things or nature. For instance,

Guan Zi said, "If someone goes against the Heavenly Way above and the Earthly Principle (li) below ..." (Guan Zi, Explaining Situations)

Chuang Tzu said, "As things were completed, there were produced the distinguishing lines (li) of each, which we call the bodily shape." (Chuang Tzu, Heaven and Earth)

Han Fei said, "Li means distinction between the square and the round, the short and the long, the coarse and the fine, and the hard and the fragile." (Han Fei Zi, Explaining Lao Tzu)

During the development of the concept of Li, the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-581), the Southern and Northern Dynasties (581-907), and the Sui and Tang Dynasties should be regarded as an important period because of its wide application in science. For instance,

In astronomy, Du Yu said, "Days accumulate into months, months into years. During this process of the old giving way to the new, minute errors may occur, as dictated by the law (//) of nature." (Book of Jin, Record of Calendars II)

In mathematics, Zhao Shuang said, "Squares are regular, but circles are full of variations, making it necessary to devise methods for dealing with them (li zhi)" (Commentaries on the Zhoubi Arithmetic Classic)

In biology, Guo Pu said, "All things change, each following a different principle (qi li wu fang)." (Comments on the Illustrated Edition ofEr Ya, Clam)

In geography, Li Daoyuan said, "All things must change (wu wu bu hua zhi li)." (Commentaries on the Water Classic, the Luo River)

In medicine, Huangfu Mi said, "Diseases may worsen or abate, and acupuncture must vary in depth accordingly (ge zhi qi li) and never exceed the proper limit." (ABC Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion)

In the theory on tides, Lu Zhao said, "That the sun sets into the sea must be a fixed law (bi ran zhi //)." (Ode on Sea Tide)

The term Li in all these quotations contain the meaning of "law." In later times, Liu Yuxi refined the concept in philosophical terms:

When a boat travels in the Wei River, the Zi, the Yi or the Luo, its speed and anchorage are controlled by the boatmen. A howling gale cannot raise billows, and the swirls of the stream cannot rise like mountains. Whether the boat goes fast and smoothly, or capsizes, or is stranded in the shallows, it would be the result of human action. Whatever happens, nobody in the boat would speak about the heaven, because they know the reason (li).

When a boat travels in the Yangtze, the Yellow River, the Huai, or the Hai, no one can tell how fast it would go, or exactly where it could anchor. A wind that whistles through the boughs of trees could raise sun-eclipsing waves, and a small cloud the size of a carriage awning could produce curious events. Whether the boat sails safe and sound, or has the misfortune of sinking, or meets with danger but manages a narrow escape, it would be the result of the heaven's will. Whatever happens, nobody in the boat would speak about human action, because they do no know the reason (li). (Treatise on Heaven II)

Here Liu Yuxi not only discussed the relationship between heaven and human, but also that between heaven and human on the one hand and Li on the other. In particular, he thought very deeply about laws. This would become a tradition carried on by many thinkers of the Song Dynasty and later times. For instance, Zhang Zai also regarded Li as law, saying, "There is Li in everything." (Quotations from Zhang Zi IT)

It is noteworthy here that there was a progress from Dao to Li since the Qin and Han Dynasties. The main reason was that, though both Dao and Li contain the meaning of laws or rules, they are different as far as intellectual background is concerned. The concept of Dao mainly resulted from the development of astrology or astronomy during the pre-Qin period and derived from the view on the Heavenly Way established on the basis of such development. Unlike Dao, the concept of Li was related to generality since the very beginning. Moreover, with the extensive development of knowledge since the Qin and Han Dynasties, Li was obviously more "fit for survival."

Finally, in the neo-Confucianism of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi, especially for Zhu Xi, Li became a central concept of Chinese philosophy of the late dynastic era. Take Zhu Xi's view for example. For him, Li mainly has the following meanings:

1) Origin or noumenon, as derived from the concept of Dao;

2) Laws or rules, also derived from Dao;

3) Ethics or morality, undoubtedly a Confucian tradition, which can be traced back to the demarcation between "heavenly principle" and "human desire" in Record on the Subject of Music in Book of Rites.

The first meaning is particularly important because it concerns a major debate over the issue of Li vs. Qi12. The Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi held clear opinions on this: in terms of sequence, Li precedes Qi; in terms of importance, Li is primary and Qi is secondary. Zhu Xi said,

What existed before heaven and earth was, after all, nothing but Li. Thanks to the existence of Li, there are heaven and earth; if Li did not exist, there would be no heaven or earth, and no humans or everything else. Li gives rise to Qi, the circulation of which brings into existence everything in the world. (Words of Zhu Zi, vol.1)

Li is the metaphysical Dao, the origin of living things; Qi is a physical entity, responsible for the concrete forms of living things. (Works of Zhu Wen Gong, vol. 58, Reply to Huang Daofu)

It should be observed that Zhu Xi's consideration of the relationship between Li and Qi touches upon a fundamental issue in philosophy - the relationship between the general and the specific. In his opinion, it is impossible to keep tracing back specific things, which must originate from something not specific; conversely, generality would never depend upon specific things only and must have a reason for common existence. It should be conceded that Zhu Xi was thinking about -and quite deeply at that - one of the most fundamental issues in philosophy. However, by isolating the general from the specific in the belief that the former could exist apart from the latter and even have an original and ontological status, he was bound to put his theory into a predicament. And this is why Zhu Xi's philosophy is usually identified as objective idealism.