Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

The Han Dynasty, 206 BCE–220 CE 137ruined states and that the ruler should restrain himself and act accordingto the universal yin and yang.Yin - yang theorists believed they had discovered a universal system thatexplained how all things worked and provided a blueprint for the bestactions of the individual and the state. Following this blueprint would leadto balance, harmony, and success; working against it would lead to illness,famine, social chaos, and the loss of civilization.The yin - yang theory has some serious problems, of course. First itassumes that “ like moves like ” and so the reason we feel sleepy on arainy day is that the yin in the rain evokes the yin in us. It is true thatwe often feel sleepy on a rainy day, but it is not because of the yin inthe weather evoking yin feelings of sleepiness in us; going to war in thesummer takes farmers away from their work and tramples crops and so itmay be unsuccessful, quite aside from anything to do with the workingsof yin and yang. Second, many of the pairs of opposites in the yin - yangsystem do not work in the same way that yin as winter and yang assummer work. So, for example, a government minister does not increaseto his height and then decline in relation to a ruler who also increasesand declines. Many of the pairs of opposites are not opposites in the samecyclical way that summer and winter are. Third, as you can see from thelist there is a preference for yang, something the yin - yang texts openlyadmit. Things that are more affirmative or appreciated have ended up inthe yang column: broad - minded, noble, active, and birth for example.Finally, assigning gender in the way that the yin - yang texts do is problematic.Male is yang: “ Spring [plays the role of] father and gives birthto things; summer [plays the role of] son and nurtures them. ” 11 In theyin - yang system, if nowhere else, the statement “ yang is male and givesbirth ” makes sense. Yang is heaven, heaven gives birth to things in theyang seasons; yang grows in spring and reaches its height in summer, cropsgrow in spring and reach their height in summer. 12QiThe yin - yang texts talk a great deal about “ qi , ” saying things like, it is theyang qi that grows in the spring. There is no good English equivalent forthe Chinese word qi . It has been translated in many ways, as “ air, ” “ vitalspirit, ” “ energy, ” “ ether, ” and so on. You will find today many Westernersusing the word, often incorrectly, with no clear idea of what it means. 13Early in Chinese texts, qi was used to describe a person ’ s character, todescribe emotions, or to describe the atmosphere of a place, and it is stillused that way in words in modern Chinese. Later theories about qi becamemore elaborate. It was argued that qi makes up all things and comes in