One of

Master Hsiao's colligmphy for the Chinese word " Buddha."

This egmwy O pMqra'pW in H

q
uj @&m,lhChi*
, Shan d M
,

ky b a r n 19,I MT&,

Gazebo of Twenty Characters

photographed by Lawrence Ivy in Huang Shan, 1 997

One of Master's Hsiuo's

calligraphy for the Chinese word " Buddha."

S r n B
By Hsiao, Chang Ming

Translated by
Chung Hing Sin (New York)
Marv Goldberg Wew York)
Jim Hollander (Texas)

Chinese Proofread by
Yu Biu Yuen (Sidney, Australia)
Cover Designed by
Ranee Chung (New York)

COMPASS OF LIFE
Copyright O 1999 by Religion and Philosophy Research Society
Published by Religion Research Society, New Hyde Park, NY,11040, U.S.A

First edition. Printed in Hong Kong

All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any means without written pennissiw of the publisher.
ISBN 0-96708 12-0-3

Contents

. . . . . ...........................
. . . . . . . ..
..
.
1
AUTHOR ...................... .................................................
I1
...........................................................
jy ....................
.
rv
PREFACE ...................... .
.
.
...... ........................... V
Chapter 1 .!!.(ZHONG) ...............................................
1
Chapter 2 8 (SHU) ....................................................... 3
Chapter 3
....................
. . . ........................... 6
Chapter 4
(MNG)................. .
.
......................... 8
Chapter5 @ (DE) ......................................................
13
Chapter 6 E (ZHENG) ................................................. 17
Chapter 7
(YI) ....................... .
.
........................... 21
....................25
Chapter 8 @ (XrN) ......................
.
.
.
.............. 28
Chapter 9 g. (YEN') ......................
........
Chapter 10 fi (GONG)................................................ 33
Chapter 1 1 f$$ (B0)
..................................... . . .. . .39
Chapter 12
W O ) .......................
.
45
....................
Chapter 13 C
........................... .
.
..................6 3
Chapter 14 $& (CI)......................
.
.
...................... 71
Chapter 15 @ (JUE)........................................................
73
Chapter 16
(JTE) ..................... .
.
............................. 81
Chapter 17 @ (JIAN)..............................................
86
Chapter 18
( Z W .............................................. 92
.....
.........................97
Chapter 19 ii@ (LI) ..................
.
.
.
Chapter 20
(I-3..............................................
0)
105

Author:

Master Hsiao, Chang Wing

The Founder of Tien De Religion

Master Hsiao, Chang Ming
M W Hsiao, Chang Ming was the Founder of Tien De Religion. He was born in 1895 and died in
1943 at age of forty nine.

Master Hsiao was a native of Hsiao Bay, Hing Lung Market, Log Chi Village of Szchun Province in

China. His first wife bore them two sons and three daughters. Duxing the Sino-Japanesewar, the Master's
first w i f e was killed in Wopei Province in an amck by Japan- warplanes.Because af his mother's old age
and his small children, Master Hsiao obeyed his mother'swish that he re-marry.
The life of the Founder is replete with legendary episodes. He actually died at age of six in an illness;
miraculously however, he returned to life after three horn of death. Furthermore, not only did his behavior
become diffaent so that his actions no longer were those of a c a d , but also the Founder began to
frequently speak with pmfoundly philosophic wisdom. Later on, Master Hsiao felt in his heart the urgent
need of salvation on the part of all the people. No longer having time to delay, he finally, m e quiet night,
knoeied down and bowed his head in h n t of his parents' mom to pay respect and thereupon left his home
to preach to the people.

From the beginning, Master Hsiao used 'Spiritual Healing' to cure people's illnesses to relieve their
bodily pain. At the same time, Master Hsiao preached "ZHONG (Layalty), XIAO (Filial Piety), REN
(Benevolence), CI (Mercifulness)" four characm to cultivate people so that the remedy of "Curing Soul as
well as Curing Illness" could be carried out and indeed achieve the goal of saving people and saving the
world.

Later on, Master Hsiao expanded his message beyond the "ZHONG,XIAO, REN, CI"four characters
to "ZHONG, XIAO, REN, CI, DE {Magnanimity), LL4N (Integrity), YEN (Forbemce), GONG

(hprtrtiality), JUE (Comprehension], RANG (Tolerance)," and "JIE (Temperance), XtAO, REN, CI,
DUAN (Dignity), DE (Magnanimity), QTN (Diligence), LIAN (Integrity), CHY (Sense of Shame), JMG
(Respect)" two sets of Characters for either his male or female disciples to follow accordingIy. He
propounded as Grand Hmuny theory the amalgamationof five major religions so that all the religions can
be in harmony.His aim was that the world would then be more at peace and that people would help each
other and have compassion for each other. En this way, we can live nearly approximate a paradise on earth.
Owing to his healing of so many infirm people in China, and his giving many lectures on the sutras, as

well as nummus sermons and exhorting all people to virtue, Master Hsiao gained wide respect, Many
became his disciples to follow the path faithfully. As the number of disciples steadily increased, Master
Hsiao and his followers established numerous religious centers scattered all over China and strengthened
their effort directed toward the salvation of all people. Later on in 1927, the name of Tien De Religion (In
English, Heavenly V i m ) came ta be used. At the same time, the characters were expanded once again to
today's twenty characters:

ZHoNG (Loyaltr),
MING (Straightforwardness),

SHU (~ltruism),
DE (Magnanimity),

LlAN (Integrity),
ZHaJG (Uprightness),

YI (Righteousness),
GONG (Impartiality),
REN (Benevolence),
JIE (Tempemce),
L1 (Propriety), and

XTN (Trustworthiness),
BO (Univasal Brotherhood),
CI (Mercifulness),
JJAN ~ F w d i t f l ,
HO (Hmony).

YEN (Forbearance),
XIAO (Filial Piety),
JUE (Comprehension),
ZHEN (Genuineness),

In all, these twenty charactas are comprised in Master Hsiao's Doctrine of Twenty Characters, also
known as the Doctrine of Recitation Characters or Twenty C h c t e r s Philosophy.
In the Spring of 1937,foreseeing a catastrophe coming to the world, Master Hsiao estabiiahed a temple
on the Mountain of Huang (Huang Shm) in M u i Province and there endeavored in the midst of its spirit
of nature to train more people to spread the Twenty Characters Doctrine and to pray for a world in peace.
Perhaps once again, trained disciples will resume their effort to bring this saving message to all people.

In the Winter of 1942, Master Hsiao passed away while meditating.

Master Hsiao lived through the late C . h g Dynasty into the early period of Nationalist China, untiI the

upheaval of the Sino-Japanese war. His life spent in the salvation of p p l e will be everlasting in its
importance. Within his second life span of but forty two years, besides saving my number of people and
working sacred miracles, Master Hsiao set up charitable farms and businesses. Master Hsiao was without
any doubt a unique model for dl succeeding generations.

Due to his most markable life in and transcending this world, a life that featured untold efforts and
contributians for us all, he is to this day thus honored as "Master Hsim"and "Masterof Yi QI."

Here follows a work of translation into mdem-day English of Master Hsiao's D o h e of Twenty
Characters h m its original Chinese.

Information provided by Mt. Hsiao, Chih

Son of Master Hsiao in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, December 1998

PREFACE
Tao i s the path, indeed the boulevard, by which mankind has marched to civilization, and the right
track along which the Universe is traversing and evolving. It was this Tao that formed the Universe, and if
the Universe is ever going to be destroyed, it is also this Tao that will destroy it. By fallowing this Tao or
Way,Heaven and Earth will be in their Fight positions; all matters and creatures will live and grow; the four
seasons will be in their proper orders and all departments of government wilI function successfully. If,
however; this Tao is disregarded, the result will be just the opposite. Therefore, the destinies of dl things,
from the biggest heavenly bodies to the smallest particles, and from the wisest sage to the most ignorant
dupe, are all governed hy this Tao.
However, most m o d s have ofim been too foolish and ignorant to understand the tnah of this Tm,
and in giving vent to their lusts and selfish desires they head against this Tao. They kgan with plotting and

conspiring and ended with killing and massacre, all just for worldly power. In the midst of this medley of
sins and crimes, there occasionally came a sage who, with untiring efforts and fmth!Tul to his high ideals,
established tenets that would provide for the most urgent needs of the time, and by propagating them,
succeeded in bringing back the world to order. This he cdied his ReIigion. These sages made their
appearance whenever confusion md war prevailed. For instance, Confucius, who wote his famous
chronicle "Spring and Autumn", and Lao-he, who founded the Taoist Religion, made their appearances in
troubled times; Buddha emerged at the time when religious contentions prevailed in India; Jesus appeared
when the R o m Empire was in turmoil; and Mohammed rose to prominence when his country was
invaded by her enemies. What they all said and did in their respective time, they said and did with one and
only one aim, namely, that of saving and refuming their people. That this was so, is because the Tao is but
the truth, and the truth, irrespective of time, place, race or language, is the same all over the world.
Now that the world is again in chaos, that men and women give vent to their lusts and selfish desires,
and that there seems no end of this sinful torrent, it i s once again a time when sages propagate their
religions and theologians strive to save our times. But, alas, bigow gets the better of open-mindednessand
apostles of the various creeds and religions forget that their fundamental mission is to save and reform the
world with the result that they attack one another in a desperate struggle to gain supremacy for their own
creeds and religions. Could there be anything more lamentable than that?
Prampted by my resolution to remedy this deplorable situation, I set to work to assemble the best tenets

from the various religions and crystallized them into a creed a rule of conduct which I called "Doctrineof
Twenty Characters" which are as follows:

ZHONG myalty1,
I.JAN (Integrity),
DE (Magnanimity),
YI (Righteciwnessj,
YEN (Forbearance),
BO (Universal Brotherhod),
REN (Benevolence),
JUE (Comprehension),

SHU (Altruism),
MWG (Straightfomdness),
ZHENG (Uprightness),
XIN (Trustworthiness),
GONG (Impartiality),
XIAO (Filial Piety),
CI (Mercifulness),
JIE (Temperance),

JMN ( F d i t y ) ,
LI ChMetY),

ZHEN (Genuineness),
and HO (Harmony).

1 have decided to put this Doctrine of ours into execution with my followers, hoping to convert bigotry
into cooperation and to turn contentions and attacks against one another into saving others. Then, there will
be no sufferings and no sins in this world, and a paradise on earth and universal happiness will be in store
far every one ofus. What can I wish more?

Written by Hsiao Chang Ming

in the Religion and Philosophy Research Society of Hunan Province
in 1932 Winter

Tmnslated by Dr. V e d e r Y.Cbiu

in the Religion and Philosophy Research Society of Hong Kong
Edited by J
h Hollander Texas, USA

Chapter 1 - WONO

The Chinese characters 'center' and ' h ~ "combined together form the character
ZHONG Coyalty or Fdthfuhess). Thereby, Z H m G means 'To do your utmost to keep
your heart uabiased' upon making a decision.
N&': W i u t any knowledge of anatmy, the ancient Chinese considered the heart to
b@the center of thought, as welt as emotion.

During the period of monarchy, ~ n who

e spoke out h t l y against one's ruler's mischief,
and who admonished the ruler for them, was a ZHONG and right-minded aficial; one
who did not hesitate to sacrifice in a time of national calamity was a ZM:ONG and
indomitable official.

They, who acted in tbe best interest of the country, a d disregapdtd their own personal
gain or risk, did it either to maintain general well being in the land or to protect the
integrity ofthe country's governmental system.

Our Tien De Religion uses ZHONG as the first-c

of our d d e , and in its aspect

LOYALTY,hmce &d
must be ZHONG to countq, famiky, friends md all mortters
in order to be worthy hmm beings.

Behold herbs and plants are ZHONG to the four seasons; m d s are mONG to their
breeding. As vast as the sky and ear& am,they are m 0 N G to tha weather, As bright as
the sun and moon are, they are mOWG to the day and night. Except mankind, which is
extremely cunning and full of guile, m o t but seldom put its h a into the utmost
unbiased pasition in assmiations with fiends and in m y d a y life.

Alas, mankind, which is certainly beyond comparison to the sky, earth, sun and maon,
why sametimes is hardly more than inferior to herbs, plants and animals?

In the old Chinese saying, 'A good horse is comparable to a gmtlman d a cow is
amparable w a responsible man,' These analogies desmk that the horse and cow are
ZHONG to m d d .

Moreover, since we inherit the rigBtmw spirit af Heaven and Earth, shouldn't our words,
speech, g~8-S md dedS ~Wlplywith Z m G first?

- m T w

-fa#

ww

When one person does his utmost to live ZHONG, there will be millions of people
following his example. Such unity ofwill can be an impregnabIe stronghoId.

Act accordingly to your honest h& and keqing your feet h l y on the ground, and
there should be nothig you can't accomplish.

a!se-*
Besides, ZHONG, which is a spirit of fortitude in i
h univer~,can m s h my abject.
There is no clefagainst it.

Urn it to heal your heart and your heart will be righteous; use it to heal your f d I y and
your f d l y will be in o&r; use it ta heal your countq and your counw will be sta'ble.

!!imMm
mqm ISmE
pTm m z B s

'mmmm@&-a

It is to be hoped that all people, working together and neutralizing each other's
imprfoctions, we 2HONG as their fmt tenet. ZHONG is thus the first step an the
to living the TWENTY CHARACTERS DOCTRINE.

The character SHU (Altmism or Forgiveness) encompasses hvo other chamkm, one
meaning 'resemblance' and the other 'heart.' So SHU implies that what yaw heart likes
or dislikes, 0th people's hearts probably aIso like or dislike,
These are the explanation of SHU: One should FORGIVE others for something as easily
as one FORGIVES bjmseIf; further, it applies to all circumstances.

Confucius said, "Donot do to others what you wouM not wish done to yourself."
The book of Great Learning said, "Do not do to your subordinate what you would not
wish your superior to do to you; do not do to your superior what you would not wish your
s u b o r d i i to do to you...."
Thae few words are exemplification of the spirit of SHU, teaching us to be considerate
towards others.

It is o m o n l y said, " h r h g the First part of the night, the time of rest, our mirids are
clear and we should think of ousselws and be introspective, h r h g the rest of the night,
as we become calmer and our mind becomes even clearer, we should thinlr of others. In
this way, we hopefully can fargive their faultsd"It is also said, "Whenwe deal with others,
we need to regard their h e m (feek~gs,
desires, needs) as if they were our own."

Hence, people's hearts resemble each other md possess like reasoning. For instance, my
desire for money is mirrored in ohm people's desire. Or,as 1 do not wish to be insulted,
they,too, have the same wish. Once you understand that your feelings, desires, and needs
are the same as others', you will understand the meaning of SHU.

Cmllpws of Life

MglF$

Nowadays, if a father doesn't forgive his son, &use could result.

If a son doesn't forgive his father, a disobedient mnfmntation could result.
If an elder brotba d o a t forgive bia yoM e r , bmthmly love could vanish.
If a younger bruther duesnftforgive his elder brother, a fight could enme.
When friends don't forgive each other, the enmity could spread ta their relatives, When
mn-forgiveness is between t o m , it will w
a
d a t to the whole w own^,
Won-fo@vw1ess can lead people to take advantage of others with the strong preying on
the weak If so, how can we not have a chaotic sitoatioil!? !

Now I iatmduce this TAWwzty of life) with tb two initial chamders of ZEIONG and
SHU.As people today m v q difftcult to tach, nweWas, I forgive them and guide
them from wrongdoing h r n the: bonm of my heart. There shall come a day for their
enlightenment
t.

Even though they may not be introspective and retab their faults, there is n o w we can
blame mi each other because, a k r all, they are still what they are and I am still what i a.
This is also a way of SHU.

For example, Lf one of my fillowem is a teacher, who doesn't forgive a student and
c o n d a m him for n d meeting the expwtatiotn~~
the kachmts path of TAO could be
m o w d , If sr s t d e n t doesn't forgive his teaches, it js a case of ingratitude, which cauld
cause the &&fit to mbs the path of TAO.

Therefore, the. forgiveness of a teacher could awaken a student to enable him to realize
tha truth,Likewise, the foqiven~ssof a student could bring delightment to the teacher.

I hap that dl teachers, hth a forgiving heart, disabuse students'disrespectful manners so

to change them to respect. Students with a forgiving heart would aUow the teacher's
knowledge to be pass?dd ~ w tQ
n #em is i@
_qtjrety.

Regardless, teacher or student, everyone has to change their non-forgiving heart to a

forgiving one. To say it more simply, SHU means being impartial to yourself or someone
else, More deeply, it seeks to eliminate the idea ofbeing 'self or 'otherq,to a state of Nunobjectivity' which means not letting a person or object have such influence an you that
you am 'absorbed' by that person or object.

Qur R e i i g h ~
c ~ l l and
e distilling
~
the essence krn various religions, uses SHU to
forgive its believers' past wrongdoing in the hope that h m now an they will be righteous.
Then, the way of SHU is successful,

I hope that hereafkr people will all have a forgiving heart and apply the forgiveness from
small to large matters, and apply it to all witbout my exce@ua.

Under the nourishment af nature, manirind are distinctive intelligent behgs. If mankind,
which represents all living things, acts in the spirit of forgiveness, all else will thus be
influenced to hIlow the same attitude.
Thus, the world can beeom cleaner and brqghter. Within this purified atmosphere, this
disorderly world would be altered so h i it is peaceful and orderly, with disasters
eliminated for all!

The character of LIAN has two memhgs. The first has to do with purchasing goods that
the price is low, which has the ~lkeaningof INEXPENSIVE.The second bas to do with
receiving money, which should be honestly obtained. This is INTEGRITY.

LIAN is the source of baing f w d . Without LIAN, there is exhavagmce,

leadig to the loss ofthe virtue of h g d i t y
LTAN is the s u w ofm h t i o n . Without LIAN, there is greed,
.
lading to the disappearance of mode~aEion. . ,IJ *I
WAN is the some ofrighteousaess.Without L W , there is disorder,
leading to the mining of the good intentions in the hestrt,
LlAN is the source of impartiality. Without L I M , there is bias,
Ieading to the c m p h o n of impartialjustice.
,111

Yang Chen o b w e d the precept of 'Four howingsl'. Ye wun2 was oautious about
taking even a small mount of money, Their actions were the result of having LIAN in
their hearts.
~ o t e ' Yang
:
Chen, who was a government official, was tempted by his fried to accept a
bribe. His friend tried to persuade Chen and said that nobody wouM know what they were
doing. Chen spumed the a f f e r and said, Heaven knows and Earth knows; you know and I
know, So, how could you say that nobody would know71'

~ote':Ye Wun was one of the g r d e s t government administrators in C h h e Hlstory.

Therefore, the intentions that &d

bears in its heart must be based on LLQN. The
afTajrs that mankind deal with must be mted in LIAM.
E L M is not observed, mwkmkion, frugality, hpdality d rightmimess v d .

Life today is no h g e r the same as the ancients' thrifty d simple time; m d & & s hem
is degenemthg everyday. L M - l e s s and shameless actions m seen e v e m e r e ; not
wen one oat d a h m d d people obsemes LIEN atad discem i q d d y .

This is a reason why the Tien De Religion is established with this c k a c k r LLAN as one
oftheknets.

I hope that BU who beIieve this religion exert thmIves, to correct and guide w h a h r ,
If everyone in the world takes LIAN as a guide, the triumphs ta have the well being of the
world a d goad govmmx of eaeh of its e o m k will be within our grasp.

wa EWYYm m m~mm1;2
~
MING (Straightforwardness); wfiioh is the ehimse sign for Grcat-RespWliW,
Brightness, E
nd U n d d i n & is w h C d c h meant by "The
knowledge that you p r r s s e d from birth, not &a$ which you have learned."

As him ages fwm youth to adult to elder, his Brigbtnm ah0 changes to darkness. Owing
to quidtion of more worldbss, he ovamthiates his wbdom; as this hqms, in k
t
,
his M N G &cremes and tends towards darkness.

ma

ASWkZ@

Why? In infancy, rnotn is beyond limktiun and igrmmw, during which, he as no

~ ~ ~ f ~ m w ~ ~ $ M S M S o r ' ~ % h ~ ~ w w h ~ ~
the genuine essence of a b d y th& coiltab n

aor form, it is idqxmht

d ~ d . I & d ~ o m ~ , a t W p o i n g i n ~ i s k ~ o f ~

As He is growing up,Man, & E M by the bad side of envimment d comrpted by the

'fam snares' &;Samt Color, Money and Air), daily gets cbser to the dadmss! Peopk,
liYII3ghthis world, inardertuavoidthese forrrsmresmustbe righteous.

Liquor was- used by mcIent people for ritual ceremonies or as a mid beverage. Even
now, manlcind can't Eve without it.
T&fs people who aae addicted to liquor rtis~fderthe e s n c e oftheir minds. However,
few recogzkize k t the nature of OW minds is inherent to Raven Perturbing the essence

Compass ofLife

M m

of the mind is disturbing Heaven.

Therefore, alcoholics often ruin their essentiaI works. With their senses c d t t s e d and
their spirits ksw, haw can they be enlightened a d r e a f i their e m c e of mind?
So, the less liquor drunk, the better.

Cola (mpmmtedby Chimse sign SIC)' is a pleasure to the eyes; e

v
e
r
y
m is inbmted
iait.Ewq&hg&atcanbe -has
acolm~~ ~ d s t o ~ majoy
S I ofClu&

which is misleading.
lkwayofti.fe a f h w W d w i f ~ W h b ~ a f & ~ W ~ l ~ s
shouldn't be vishted, must be defended by o h m k g p p r k t k s and be m a b t e d by the
TAU.
Joyful but not btfbl, b e i righteous but mt adwhw, thus the TAU of a wen-behaved
person is attained.
Note1:To the Chinew way of W i , aH tha wrw's existing phenomena am w h ,
rather than things which have culor. Cubr repmenbd by M i sign SIC is also
mmly wed to mesln 'wf*

!w
S4WZE R8&BAfifiE%AtHrlA$ftE?EA
%H*~Z%~XRrn&~3%&~Z+fiM
2 rtt@FtSE+$a#%M2SaM

# $ ~ A * ~ E * # % S f i f i ~ r n E Q ~ ~ ~ ~ B Z ~ ~
. FMsEw%EJxBma'FB IFET3GTBW

1.

MZ WE:A%~*~

mm'u

~m

emsme

'Money is a swrce of nourbhmnt of E.

Mwey not only can assist people, it can
mislead peaple. It benefits people d ruins people.
Hence, money should be a circulating material. If ~
~ or parents had
t
saved all
s
their lives for their progeny, their progeny might become idlers, d o h no decent work.
They might wen h o m e dissipated, spending the money an f5volous ateriahimat.
People are better off witbout excessive mounts of money.
On the other hand, money can be given to the poor, or generously donated to help charity.
These acts can become a good quality in our murals and reflect credit on our lives as a
whole.
Passing on these good d d s of life is preferable to leaving bequest of money to your
Pwe*Y.
In conclusion, money can support life. We can't live without it. But we cannot he greedy

and must not hurt others

to get it. We must behave

owselves and obtain money

impartially and r@hkously.

Air is the source of all living things; Mankind also can't live withut it.
Howevet; air can be either pure or m y . Pure zrir is a righteous air which channels
upward to the great void; flthy air is a vicious air which channels dawnward to the hazy
nether world
All our tempers (in Chinese, temp& is an inner body fiery air) are nameless metaphoricd
fires, When such fires are burning, it affects our spirit a$versely,
Therefore, ~encills' said, 'Wwhm the imperishable noble air which is vast and
adamantine."
NO&': Mencius wm a fotlwer of C o r n u s and a prominent mure for such philosophy.
I

,,

.. ,

..

.M

:
U.

7A.

I -

*mw

'
The above bur dawiptidesoripti~lsof the TOUT
'snaresr attempt to teach people to go &om
k k m s s to MING. MING is a purified state which is crystallized and n a t d l y
comphmive. Being a Saint, Sage, Deity or Buddha is nothing but having this MNG.

T looked at today's people. They all indulge tbs 'Four Snares,' so that inside their minds,
they are confused with goodnew or badness; on the outside, they are preoccupied by the
sense of their p m n a l gain or risk. It is so pitiful that they can't realize their problem after

dl.

There are some who, in practicing TAO, have deserted their parents or abandoned their
wives in order to seek enlightmat. Since these
show neither benevolence nor filial

pi*, these seekers could never k m e a Deiv ar Birddha.

I did remarch and couldn't find m y mcient books that claim that someone who didn't
o h e the Twenty Characters Doctrine could become a Derity, Bud@ Saint or Sage.
As ~ E as
U I h o w , Buddha also had parents and wives, as did Saints and Sages, but they
never abandoned them.
T h e is an old saying;, "HeavenWI be touched by one who has immense filial piety."
Heaven, which doesn't really have a tangible substance to feel is us. How can we be like
the Heaven? It is because our hearts, the so=
of the essence of our minds, are
its heart, it is the same as not

ind is the small heaven."

This is because the sky has a 3 65 -day cycle and mankind also has 365 acupuncture points.
The sky has four seasons and eight solar terms'; mankind bas 'four limbs' and 'eight body
of a day. As the sky has a daily
N*':

,F .
NO&:

7)2&/Beginning of Spring, 2)BfiKpring Equinox,

S]$~IBsginning of Summer, 4 ) ~ / S u m m e Solststice,
r
5)3@/Beginning of Autumn, B)@e/Autumnal Equinox,
?)3%Beginning of Winter, 8)%3MinterSalstioe.
1)EMead, 2)@lAMornen,3)slLegs, 4)&lHips, 5)EfEam,
6) H E W , 7)+1Hands,
8)tllMouth.

Thh paragraph's analogy is quite a r b i r y , bvt by this the author tries to emphasize
t "Mankind is comparable to heaven."

sky

can

n (right eye) and a moon (left: eye).

be brightened but mankind can't. This is because mankind's is being

dby wanton thoughts.

Qkured 4 clouds, the sky would be d i m m e obscured by wanton d~ougbts,the essence
of m minds would not be MING.

If today's people want to get rid of their wartton ~~1~~ Inorder .to meal their MING,
py must forbid ourselves Liquor, Color, Money and Air,

The character DE (Magnanimity) in the old form was written with a combination of the
words stmght and heart.

Straight-heartedpeople, in general, are valued for their e q u h i t y , and their centered and
hannmious conscience, which wm be set forth as a righteous spirit, a channel to Haven
an$ Earth.

This spirit is what is written in 14hingi, 'It can be the same DE (Magnanimity) as the
Heaven's a d W s ! '
~ o t e ' :IGhing is the first written Chinese sutra w h i d attempts to explain all natural
phenomena.

&mmks;ab
ilEwM

mmw

&.@Ex%
wmm r n % X W &

H e a m exists because of its DE of loving life. Earth exists because of its DE of mating
lives.
The essence of Man can last furever, when He practices DE to attempt to equal that of the
Heaven and the Earth, and becomes one of them!
J

Ba#m%

mwfiem,%R

~ i - 4 R M AHW!P%i f i B # B i i k ~ $ Zh~tJF2i
~
BA2@ E M S

.mz* r n M @

*%%ST a@H%xjh

T R * ~ * * ~ ~ ~ 7 F - B ~ ~ ~ R J ~ x m ~ # E ~ ~
*%msm~~#BmBc2~B&~mk%s~
In recent times, morality is in ohaos. Tbe 'Classic Four subjects1'and 'Six DisiplimsZ'
are a0 longer emphasized.

I), altb~ugba mere villager without much education, have sensed that the trend of the
world is degenmthg, People's hearts am no longer the m e as the ancients'. The virtues
ofthe Sage we forgotten. The coming disaster is as close as our eyelashes.
I hope that there are ambitious honorable people can behave DE to restore the confidence
ofthe he& of Heaven.
But I have waited with mtieipatiun, more than ten years, and no sage is commg into sigh.
I have reached to the point that I cannot seclude m p l f but must actively promute this
ien De Religion.

I hqx that hanest peers will disclose the a s s a m of the 'beaty Characters to w e m e this
trend and rescue people &om their GMC
worfd Tt would br: fortunate fw evetyme!
~ote':The C W c Four Subjacts and tRca Six DWpHnes m part of Confuchm
educational topics.
The Classic Fcxup Subjects am:
4) M a d Behavior W 2) Language

mq

3) P o I i i /&S 4) literature

Note*: The Six D i l i n e s am;

3) Arehew&
1) PrapW4@ 2) Mus4) Home Ridittgm 5) Cprlligr@y@f

0) M~~

Me3:T b &or, Wter b i a o , Chang Mng, founder of T'im De k h g h , was born In

1884 and diad in 1842. W m g tivd through World Wart I and died during World War 11 In

C h @ ~ k ~ ~ ~ w ~ ~ c h e e o t t G ~ i n t h a w o r t r l a t # a t ~
h o p s d t o p r o m o b ~ R ~ m ~ T w n ~ C ~ ~ t o ~ ~ w
restore the contidwca of the heart of Heaven so &at &aster could be foreshakd.

Hence, DE is a condensed name for aIl virtues. Thus, a female has Three Duties of
Assistancei and Four D E ~a;male has Five Cdhd Constant Human Rel;mtionshrps3and
Eight DES".
~ o t e ' :Three W
E
iO
fwMam a m
To assist har father whsn pung her husbnd when M e d ; and her son A m
widowed.

Me2:Fwr DEs am:

F m W s uirhm, speech, d

~and domestic
~
ski&. ,

Note3:F i Cardinal Constant Human Relationships are :

X F ~ ~ A o betwen
v e
father and son,
gE@wrigMeousness m
n r u k and o f k i d ,
mwnae of dmHemnceMwm couples,
E m B i r a n k betwen swings,

j#BG@hstbetween friends.
~ote': Eight DEs are :
filial piety, brotherly low, loyalty, Xrwrffulnehw, propriety, righteousness,- i
conscience.

and

PC&* 4m38
fitla;=
W v e r has a sin@ viaate has one DE;having one hundred virtues, he would b e one
hundred DEs. So, one who Eves hparhally has the impartid DE; one who lives
benevolently has the hnevolmt DE.
I I

DE has no set:place, but DE comes with each vhm.

Ba!krnd J&%*% *-A

SArnrnS*&

I have head that DE i s the principle of TAO. Without immense DE,immense TAO will
not exist. Therefore, one who m t s to practice TAQ cannot go without DE.Even Heaven
and Earth, Deities, plants and the four seasons have DEs_to g g l d d , Thus, manlrind
not take those DEs for granted-

A S X M i k X S X M S GXf&BaRUWTE A&#X
B ERHR &%CJBEHf&S&BB# %Sl!l%&@!2s&
H r B t l S*%@lhta
CAWi;t;W/HtQ

Why? Mankind is created and nourished by the Heaven snd Elrth. If tho Heaven and the
Gsrth are not in order, the cold and hot temperatures do not come in a timely manner and
surely will have more disasters.
The Deities have their own functions all year round. They are mpomible to deliver
prosperity or accident, fortune or misfortune to mankind and push away the fog or the
mist. These consequences are all derived fiom their immense DEs.
The four seasons have power to control the weather. The pIants are a beneficid f&m to
cs:t eve without them.

H a m BrnR

*&

"fhm&ar Mes (the heaven and earth, W m , plants and four masons) are not easily
*uched unless:mankind has DE. If memkmd does not comport itself with DE, the world
will be in turmoil; wztr will be declared hquently; the faur seasons will occur in a reverse
order, time's unfolding is not smooth; ghostly cries will E>e heard at night; epidemic
dbmes come often. These axe a11 due to hek of DE.

kWLXEZ ~ P J E f i 8+ ~ ~ A W B * U S %
B B m S % S%~L4RRffBBJXiLhBl@%B~L*WW
HUWBZ@@S
Nowadays, the principle of the w d d is so lost that people who are merciful are fkw;
people who provoke violence are m a y . As a part of the hmain entities in this world
(Heaven, Earth and Mankind), if Man practices DE, he not only can guide the Heawn
and calm the Earth, but d m please deities in tbe middle of th!c wmId md wlti~llateIy
benefit all lit-kg things.

er than Himself, because when our hearts haven't emptied

down; when our hearts are fully-supplied with DE,the earth

3378% S#BicJ kkm!!

rnm

The hearts of w l e who live in ITE are calm d have an doubtq just as the ancient
Sages live in DE, the state of mind of such people are neither containing to 'self nor

'other".

M d d should cherish its DE as greedily as money, as passionately as color'. Mankind

should let: DE occupy Its heart i m t d offidkg fw fame and c o m p h t s all the time. In
thisway, its DE is obtained.
Once one DE is there,
will foliow. Then, hufpdwds or h w m d s of DE can come
om aRex the other!

w': To the Chi-

way d thinking, dl hworld's exstfng phenomenaam cotor, rather

than things which haw cohr,

My Tien De Relmses the chmwkr DE as the W i p I e . Take heed, because whea

DE is regarded as a small virtue, myme is able to achieve when DE is regarded as an
inmeme virtuet even Sa& cam& hMH it tbmughly.

The Bwk of Sutm mentioned, "Theheart of ank kin dl is dangerous; the heart of T A is~
endangerd. To save the heart of TAO, it must be crystallized a d pure. Tbis is certainly
the ultimate principle of TAO."
The Book of Zhong Yong said, 'Won-bias is Zhmg universal truth is Yong. The
hulwltrd of Zhong Ymg*which is the source of all religions, is attainable by Saints or
ordinary peopb."May all aspiring, we11-behaved people e r n b this teaching and enter
through the door afDE.
Note': The heart of Idankind is a m m e d with the material circumlstaw.
MOM*:The heart of TAO lies o w e of material drcumtanm.

ss),

which is cornprkd of tbe ;sigras oneness and

attahment,mean.storeachast&teofwenessdtomai&ainit.

~ B @ M ~ B A W M R ~ A ~ * B A ~ % & H X % ~ R
T

t8jiriLXl~ctl

The Book of Grest Laming mentioned, "Being a ruler, one must attain h t v o i m c q
Wing a guvemmmt oficial, one must attairn paying respect; k i i a child, one must attain
filial piety; being a paren< one must attain mercifuhess; being associated with otfiers, one
"reach a state of m e g s " so that they are each

3EM-E

*M-+ -a
Uthm say, "If a heart is fiUd with E S & U I ~ ~fright,
,
prejudice or anxiety, ZHENG is
Iost," Hence, resentment, ~ g b t prejudice
,
and anxiety can cause the oneness t~ be lost
from the heart, thus ZHENG is unreachable.

~~ E@UZ$l!@ E

W B g EBBUiEi@E~EiiE%ET%FE$i!

Thtmfore, a ruler must attain ZHENG personally in order for ZHENG to abound in the
govmment; ZHENG must abound in the g o v ~ n int order that ZHENG permeates
the hwdmds of government oacials; and Z W G must be the way of the hundreds of
to the millions of citizens. When all citizens
ZHENG, the world will be ZHENG.

#m!m.

your morals, put your family in order,

is derived from the honesty and the heart of
ZHENG (uprightness). The honesty and the heart of ZHENG mean that a person has
neither selfish motives, nor wicked intentions, A person should not see, speak, heas or act
evil. Furthermore, one should dress uprightly, with a personal bearing that deserves

For example, when Confucius lived in his village, he would not sit on an un-ZWENG mat;
he would not eat ifthe food was cut un-ZHENG.
If one ofPak Yw's friends didn't put his hat in a ZHENG position, he would &ply walk
away from his kiendl.These people have reached ZHENG and its upright way!
~ o t e ' :Them is a saying that bird of a feather flodrs together. If a person cannot even
dress properly, there is a obvious chance that this pemn is not PHENG. Thus, you don't
want to be influerd.

Some say that people who are ZHENG are inevitably bullied and libled by wicked
people. In these dangerous times, all kinds of matures (Four types of B i d s and Six
Realms of ~ransmigration')are reincarnated into human beings. These creatures, crooked
in h e i r bearts and ill-nabred, cause h a m to the people of IXENG.
However, mankind, whose natural essence is at pew and full of ZEENG, always possess
a spirit of ZHENG with which no h e r creatures can compare in this world.
As the Analects of Csnfucius dlkmed, immorality is always defeated by ZHENG.
Note1:Four typs of Births H&:

REviviparous(born of oneb kmd)

$~viparous(hatchingfrom an egg)
#(fta&B#%jK&)/(wrm
born out of ooze)
k(@jW&R,
M#U3fi5lz)l(b~m only from Karma)

Six Realms ofTransmigrdon

XMeaven
mankind

RQ@/Asura

M$Wlell

@j&+lungry Ghast

S&IAnimal.

-icB:

Within the last couple of hundred years, mankind aad those creatures which have been
reincarnated as humans have mingled together and cawed the TAO of ZHENG ta fade,
Neverheless, as huge as is this world, does it redly have no ;SHENG people?
Amid the vast scattering around of devils, people of ZHENG fe1ucbntiy seclude
themselves from this world that has no place for them, in order to preserve theh ambitions
and lives.

Chapter 6 ZWWG

This is why the spirit of ZHENG hw Wed from view; the evil ahnosphere expands
b d l y and becomes uncontrollabl~,

If we want to revive the spirit of ZHENG kdq, we must start with ourselves a
d spread
it to others to develop a spirit of essential ZHENG h m the spirit of purified ZHWG; to
develop a spirit of indestructible ZHENG firom the spirit of essential ZEENG.
As soon as the spirit of indestmctiile ZHENG starts growing, the wicked spirit starts
shrinking*Thus,the disastrous fate of mankind is averted.

The past Sages said, "A harmonious atmosphere brings the spirit of fortune; a wicked
atmosphere brings the spirit of evil." If mankind can comport itself stedh~tlyuntil we
wind and raia will come and d d s will be

&t~@@J&#g
-&=A#&

kjam,kz+q#@

When mdhd're heart Isms h m .Wickedness to ZEENG and the world mnds to

: prosperity instead of degeneratioq what confidence of the hart of Heaven cannot be

restored and which human affairs carmot be transformed?

if om a m aftah ZHENG meself, bring othm DlENCf, a d then apply it to

gll matters, the spirit of ZEENG cirouhks. This spirit can come h m our bodies and
@amel with the spirit of the Heaven and the Earth, to the spirit of the Great Void. When
these spirits merp harmonicrusly with each other, fhe universe will 'respond' to what we
Zk&nnwe,

If this could come to p s , each man w d d become a deity; a deity which is the
voidhiverse, The void is the TAO. Tf ev-ing
remains separate, there is nothing but
bumemble pieces. Uniting them makes Oneness,

C m n p s of Life

Without meditative reflection, this concept is difficuk to understand, just like my method
of haling which doesn't require any medicine, This is the process of 'fel d response'.

The book of Zuo ~ h u a n 'mentioned, "A deity is intelligent, ZHENG, and completely
facused."
blotel: Zuo Zhuan or the Records of H h r y is the fint and moat revered Chinese history
book.

1 can be ZHBNG, therefore I partake in he essence of a deity. When my heart matches

the thoughts of a deity, and the intention of the deity also matches the heart of Heaven,
the 'respame' h r n the universe surely echoes resoundingly.

However, for the 'healing' ta be effective depends upon the h d m who is either ZHENG
as not-ZHENG.

When the healer is ZHENO,a deity is touched and the !haling' becomas effective. m
e
n
not, the deity Is annoyed; how can them,the illness be haled? La dl learned audiences
carefully consider this concept.

Nowadays, preachers are everywhere. PeopIe say that some preachers are ZHENG
(orthodox), and o m are not Z E N G (heterodox). They don't imow that TAO (way of
life) has neither wicked nor ZHENG, right nor won& It is that the person's heart is
ZHENG. Don't you think so?

Scholar hul said, 'W (Righteousness) is the heart's discipline and the matter of
obliitioa"
~ o t e ' :Scholar Chu was a prominent idealist philosopher of Confucianism in the Song
Dynasty (AD 960-1279).
*.I

'

Han YU'said, "Acting suitably is YI."

~ o t e ' :Hsn Yu was a pmminent idealist philoeopher of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty
(AD 618-907).

.ma
Y*

Since the TAO of YI is a nature af Heaven, peopb who have immense YI are therefore
mmprabla to Heaven.

h p b who are extremely Righteous would sacrifice themselves like Kwan YU's'
sacrificing himself for YI; w have ultimate impartiality like Zhou ~ o n g ' s ' p h i q YI
&ve his family loyalty.
Me': Kwan Yu who was a famous general had a sworn bmthe? Lau Bei. Lau h i was
part of the family of royal emperur of the Han Dynasty (BC 208-AD 2301,which was
overthrown. The land of China at that t h e was controlled separably by three lords and
Lau g ~ ai portion of it. Lau BeI wanted to ~ t a b l l s hthe emperor, and Kwan Yu
supported Lau because of his sworn brother's imperial family background. Kwan
steadfastly pursued this dimfion until he was killed by his opponents.

NW':Zhau Gang was an administrator in the Zhou Dynasty (BC770-221) and abo had
the responsibility of bringing up the little prince to be an emperor. However, Zhou Gong's
brother, insewre under these circumstances, wanted to ovarthraw the l i mpror.
Chow Kun felt that he had no choice but to kill his own brother to protect the integrity d
the Zhou Dynasty.
Me3:Friends sworn togetbr to sky and earth that they would help each 0 t h are as
close as if h e y were the same Mood brother.

The moment the choice h made between YI and personal gain begins the path towards
k ~ m i n ag saint or impetuous fool.

rn

CompassofLife

A&BH

m3=
RkrfTstrnas

9 s I?&-@

6+z w3 B&

Mencius mid, "YI is a road that -one

should walk on."
Scholar shacl said, 'TI is a matter of 'shouldt.Doing things that one should do is YI."
~ o t e ' Scholar
:
Shac was a prominent idealist philosopher of CoruFucianism in the Song
Dynasty (AD 980-1279).

m&%w
mm='m2m %#&kaz
FmY=
For instance, a child dying for fiilial piety, and government officials dying fw loyalty an
examples of people that have immense N.Thus,it is not only friendship that requires M.

S*8

mcztfts

Mencius's Seven Chapters dl talk about benevolence and YI.

There were fables relating to ihe YI b m dog etnd humans an8 between homes and
humans. Since a n i d s can die for I?,huw inmdulow ifmnkhd is unable to do so.

M A ~ & F S

@W

The fiendship of C h md lei', Quan md'~ao'were made of YI.The 'Thee fkiendships

of the Peach 0rchard2 w a e cemented with YI. The friendships of 'Burn till dawn" were
con^ with YI.
These arc ancient legends that will never fit& away. These people, so dimcult to imitate,
became Saints or S a g a because they behaved with YT.
~ote':Chan 8 Lei who were in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) had a very close
friendship. At one time, h i was a e k W as an hanorable county scholar, Lei
r6commmded lo the county the honw also be given to his M d Chm, but Chan was
rejected. At that point, Lei secluded himmlf and nwer meWd the honor. Quan &
Hved m the unstable "Wnqand Autumn P e w (BC 770476y. Even though Eao w w
rlch and Quan was poar, they m m wv c l w friends,Bao knew that Quan was a sage+
and at om We, he recommended Quan to a feudal bamn as an advisor. After Quan was
hired, t
h feudal baron was ahlo, to esW1'iR d i d and @mimnt foundatkns for hi
khgdom within the 'Warring Period (BC 475-221)" Chinese HMwy-

lobe': Ths Three friendship of the Peach Orchard' was Vie o m ~ br&&wd
l
of Lau
Bei, Kwan Yu and Cheng Fei that brought us Chimany accounts of loyaw and W.

~otej:In fhe 'Bum ti11 d a m ' narrative, Xu pmvince had just been lost in combat Lau Bei,
:who was the lord ofXu province, M cantad with his mmping family. Fortunately, Kwan
Yu, who was a general and a sworn brptherr of Lau, was there to protect Lau's family.
Eymbally, Kwm and ail tau's f m U y wera captured by their ~pponenta.K w n and Lau's
were pu@aiely kepi in the game house. To sliminate any questions of impropriety,
W n would not go ia deep at night and let the candles bum until dawn.

As I h m maldkhed this Tien De Religion, being busy rushing all over places and
having no w m ~fmy o w e l f are also an act of YI.

-1

People who live YI will not hesitate to give up their lives.

Therefore. Memius said, "Life is my desire and so is Yi.If only one caa be chosen,YZ
should be taken and lifk should be disregarded."
T b gretrt Y I is a difficult W e n to carry.

Bowever, ordinary peopIe can live YI. When we Me, within our clan, our race, our
village or our party, poor people that don't have enough monq to get married or buried,
we should provide help within our ability. When we see victim of misfortune, who don't
have enough food or clothing, we should make donations generously.
When we see someone who helplessly faces a wrong accusation and suffers oppression,
we should bend our efforts to help with the matter, and demand a fair judgment to obviate
grudge.
Fhermore, being civic-minded and helping people in your community is also YI.

,ma,.
Conhius said, "Confkonting a matter of YI but not doing it is an act of cowardice."
This saying is a mighty analect of a sage.

In today's world, some people, who put their names on a ritual paper in pledge of
bmtbwhod a d swear to live and die togthe=, claim that they are bound by YI.
Many have pledged today, who will attempt to assassinate each other tomorrow. Ask
those people, "Where is your YI?"

In h h r y t there were people who sacrificed themselves to honor YI, so that their minds
cauld be h e of re@

B~BBB

awl*

They were riot famed or decdved intoYI.

rnn~~a~m

%4aR&

A h , ifYr is impaired, Heaven is in part betrayed,

M i y all aspiring, upright people bravely contend with matters of YT. Using your human
powers, you can do the largest thing or the smallest thing; you can make the YI last
forever.

Wen Tim Xianglsaid, " M e Cardinal principles2 tie up our life; YI of Tm is a root of
life."
The application of YI to ~latimshipsis not simple.
N-':
Wen was a government offtcial under helast emperor of Soulhem Song Dynasty
(AD 1127-127Q When the dynasty was overthrown, Wen was imprisoned. Since Wen
was a weH-known scholar, same triad to persuade and bribe him to serve the new
kingdom. But his righteousness in not serving the enemy never wavered. The new ruler
hew that Wen's mind would never be swayed and eventually had Wen executed.

Note2:The three Cardinal principles are the mlafionship of: Ruler and Subject, Parent
and ChiM, and Husband and Wife.

XN (r*mdfbhw]
is f&efwa*
ofa cowfry and the principle of mankind. Owhg to
'W, CDoAxeius said, "If a countrfs govanmnt is not Tr~stworthy,its citizens can not
, ~ l on
y it," He also said, "If a person is not Tmstwo~~hy,
how can that person esabllish

himself in

The character of XIN, which comprises the words "mankind"and

each person's word must be truthful; not a lie or deceit.

"word", implies that

A person who is lying and deceiving has words that don't match his deeds and deeds that
h"tm h his words. His fpitnds will not rely on hirn and his neighbors will pay him na

mw.

L a ernd deceiving words always fall on deaf eats. Why?

TIplW time a person shows untrustwortbe~s,people start to be suspicious; The second
h e , it provokes hatred. Such hatred moves his Mends to betrayal, his relatives stay awa;y,
md w ~ o n else
e shuns him.
Sbch a pitiful person is selfdestructive and regretfully M y a human being!

RtibRB ~ A B U ~ J
w=B# W B ~ S S
I

have researched that the TAO of Heaven and Earth is XlN itself.
'Bustworthy the sunrise and sunset: are, so people use them as guides;
Trustworthy the cycle of new moon and full moon are, and people use them as rules.

The planets have such XIN that they revolve in their orbits without straying. Four seasons
have their XIN so that the time of blossoming and withering does not deviate h m
regularity. Therefore, the Sages made such trustworthy natural cycles a model for their
goverumental system1.
~ o t e ' In
: ancient China, the government woukl normally reward ite oficials or citizens in
the Springtime, to coinctde with the seasonal beginning of li. On the ather hand, the
government would mandate that all prisoners under a sentence of death be sxewted in
the Fall to coincide with the time of withering.

I f mankind emulates the XlN of Heaven's and E d ' s , we are not inferior, but indeed
form a coordinate being part of the Thtea Main Entities of this world (Heaven, Earth,
Maakind).

1-Chinsq coumded, "When XN is steadfastly keph we can come to the entrance of

morality and justice,"

To comport with this TAO, we begin with XIN. Once XIN is established, this TAO will
natudy be.
~ o t e ' :I-Ching is the first written Chinese sutra which attempts to explain all natural
phenomena. Furthermore, some people use it to p d i d the, future.

An old saying reminds us: an extremely treachm~usperson acts loyal; a devious swindler
seems MN.

XlN and swirzdl'mg differ so profoundly that if a person cunningly pretends to b v e XIN,
people are deceived and suffer damage utrawares. Such scandal is aiways uncovered
evmtu*.

Scholar LU' said, "One who is swindled su&rs a physical deprivation, but one who
swindles sllffersa deprivdon in one's heart. The deepest somw is to have your heart
mined, not your body."
~ o t e 'Scholar
:
Lu was an idealist philosopher of Confucianism in Song Dynasty (AD WQ1239).

mmm

m W $

se words from Scholar &u i l h w W a person who k not trustworthy ruins his
heart, hia essence of being a person. Such &age incalculably exceeds in gravity any
harm to the physical body.

most serious matte?" enjoin all people ta keep their word to avoid grievous damage in
t b u hearts.
If nothing else, the heart is Heawn. Betraying the heart betrays Heaven.
If people want ta preserve both heart md Haven, they must deeply meditate on XIN
[Mlness).
Mote1:Gwai Bou, who was a general of Chu in the Han Dynasty (BC TVO.2211, was well
known for keeping his promises. T h e was r proverb, describing a promise from Gwal
Was wartb mom than a thousand pounds of gold.

kbP:
Hou Yin accepted service under the nobleman Wei in .the Warring States period
IE3C 475-PI)when he was seventy. He hJped the nobleman W%itactically plan a military
mpediion to relieve another region-state which had been attacked by Qin. After the
mjhry plaflning was complete, Hou spoke to the nobleman Wel. Hou expressed his
sense of duty to go to the front with the force, but said he couldn't because of his old age.
H m , fwpromised Wei that he would sacrifice himself to pay back the service that he
could not accomplish. As the two armies engaged, Hou carried through on his promise
and 1~1c~WchlIy
pehhed.

Chiaw Ghamam, Sages made the character YEN F

(,Patience)
with components of 'knife'and %emf. Mause at a time of &hation, pwple feel pain as
if a knife cuts through their heart. Nothing can be done except to be YEN to Ohe pah.

In c*

T h y , people do not understand the meaning of YEN. YEN is mismt-ted

as an
attitude of not being practical or of cowardice.
When cruehy and animosity wme to the surface, they break out with a sudden display of
anger. This can w r a short period of bitterness; or escalate to an ahnglment witb a
lifetime of misfortune. Furthermom, family fortunes can be lost and family members can
be agorid. The damages are incabulablel

Confucius said, "Being unable to YEN a tiny irritation brjngs a catastrophe to any
strategy." In Buddhism's Six paramitas', YEN is the number one. Lao ~ z e taught
'
people
how to YEN l~llkarablematters.
These Saints of the three teachings dl recommended that YEN be a way to behave and a
m&d to deal with reality. This proves that the character YEN should not be
disregarded.
~ o t e 'Six
: Paramks (method af gaining salvation)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

#@/Almsgiving and affering

BWSteadfastlykeeping the holy precepts

g@Forbeararrce

supreme Diligence

@jZRen and Alledition

Pms#om

~otd:
Lao Tze, who was a Taoist mote Tao Te Ching.

I
I

Shao Hang Jie said, "An exemplary person exhibits YEN in circumstances where most
people would fmd it difficult."
Wo Wen Ding said, "Steadfastnessin YEN puts people's mind at peace."
Shi Zy said, "There is a symbolic knife within a heart for the character YEN. If a person
be not YEN,misfortune is surely produced."
Living with nine generations within a family, Zhang Gong Yi was asked how he managed
by Tang Gao zongl. Zhang replied with a hundred words of YEN.
The zen2 master Yun Gu called himself a monk of hundred-YEN.
Da Jue, a Taoist, called himself a hermit of YEN.
Zhen De Shu wrote the character YEN on the walls of his room.Whenever he felt agony,
he would pace around that room.
Qii You Wang framed the character YEN all over the walls so that whenever he was
treated unreasonably, he could look at the walls and forget his unhappiness.
Deng Xiao Lian wore the character YEN all the time to honor its virtue.
Lu Chu Shi engraved the character YEN as a motto to display its merit.
Yuen Zi Shi was YEN in relation to his anger, and his rancour was dissolved.
A son from the Mo family was YEN to the insults fiom the villains, and the danger
subsided.
The Prefect of Chang Sha region used the character YEN to educate the residents;
lawsuits between the people ceased.
k g family from Lake Pu passed down the character YEN to their descendants, who all
took it as a precept.
~ o t e ' :Tang Gao Zong was one of the Tang Dynasty emperors. (AD618-907)
~ o t eZen
~ : is one of the Buddhist disciplines.

m e a l WEi#%z

rn

From the above, you can see that the words and deeds of sages of different times coincide.
Behold, the merits of YEN are so strong that we should not live a split second without it.

According to the Nirvana Sutra, &re was a person spaking in paise of Buddha for
having the qpamwe of bliss and virtue.
Another person asked, "Fmmwhat would you conclude that?"
The answer: "Buddhafeel no hatred f ~ being
r
attacked and feel no mger at insults. These
give him the appearance oftfie greatest bliss and virtue."

People. today have no idea f h t being YEN is regarded as having the qpemnce of bliss
and virtue. They awciate being insulted with a feeling of s h e ; thv associate
e c e with being hu&ed at by others. This is haw e heart ofhaired is mated.
We must wdemtand tZlat ta kdt or net is undw the control af 0 t h ~ accepting
~~;
that
insult is under our own control.

Om who feels good when he h a m & t h y is f l a t t d One who h l s angry when he

hem insults is insulted.
As long as our
don't accept flattery or insult, mere k t m h g does not hurt us any
more than an isolated fire or the wind blowing on the ground does any ham.

When we am attacked or yelled at, we should think that the attack affords an opportunity
to achieve the appearance of blbs and virtue.
Then our spirit of resentment will vanish and our lenienv surface unwittingly. We
advance to a happy and harmonious state filled with breeq weather of Spring.

lf we mabe that attending to leniency wins us pme and happiness, ow lives will benefd
endlessly.

& w e w y m are all disciplines

R e g d i g Buddha, their concepts show themselves even more advanced. How?

Long ago, Tathagata Buddha was dismembered alive by a king in India.
During that h e , the Buddha already had attained a state of containing neither "Other"
(an object to patience), "Self' (a subject to patience),"Other ways of being" (praise or
insult), nor "people of longevity" (rash desire to cause an everlasting h a ) images so
that the Buddha was fiee of hatred and resentment.

iiV%8E%2S34flh@~%W%-&

**%a *wm2m

ar&en people insult me, fhen I am YEN about it, Under this circu~smca,I stiil

m
a of myself a d attrer, md a sense of praise and insult,
kmr, Buddha have neither "Other", "Self' nor 'Raise or insult", nor do they even
b e to use the word 'YEN''.
Ifwean comport ourselves to m h w h realms, we become the Buddha of the present.

ore, whenever tasks are considered to be difficult, but yet we are not afraid of
live yet another meaning of YEN.

sms =*%%@@B
rnZrn~LZ&*&X%FBZiCPF&
Cmently, establishing this Religion, I have to endure the tiring effort of gohg from place
ce to rescue people. What Meneius said, "entfiuaiasm with the ~baractmisticof
,"mpkkes that it is not an easy mission.

Thus, being YEN is being soft, Likewise, being YEN is being weak.
Lao Tze said, "Weaknessovercomes strength; softness overcomes hardness1."
Me1:Lao Tze ahways demonstrated the TAO with natural phenomena. For instance, A
corpse is hard but a living body is soft. So, the hardness reptesents only a dead end for
living things. Water is weak; stone is strow but which one is eroded?

Camps of Life

M#m

From this, everything in this world is accomplished by k i n g YEN and fails by not being

EN.

Alas, our world is degeneratin8. We are inured to the behavior of arrogant and cruel
people. We hardly b o w or practice the vixha of YEN,giving, h m t y , and harmony.

We either let our mood daminate, or are driven by our temper.

Not only among neighbors, clans, villages or Mom, people resort to tactics of power
and retribution upon very little provocation.

Even though they be bonded as parents, brothers, husband and wife, they are estranged
from each o ~ ejust
r h a u s e of a mere argument. Do those people even still have feelhgs
towards each other?

Therefore, I purposely make known this character YEN to serve as a motto to people.
People who live this TAO may not be able to reach the realm of "neitherself nor othertr
like Buddha. But they can still comport thmselves following the examples of the people I
have described, who made outstanding contribution to society. And in so livhg this TAO,
comes a prospect of the patest good fwhme far all ofus.

(GONG)
-

'MMZ$+&
GONG (hpmklity)means that one values other pasun no differently tban oneself,

Only when people are selfless, they are GONG, not biased.
Oaly when people are selfish, they am biased, not GONG.
So, GONG is the opposite of bias, as 'other'is the opposite of 'self.

I
I

.!&shoriurable people care for themselves only. They recogniPe value in their awn
existence, a d not those of others.
dagw treat the world impartially. Their concern tmw to others, not to themselves.
Thw, bias is causal by such extreme concm with oneself.

?he concept of the character GONG is "neither other nor self' which means keeping no
distance between others and our own self.

gcholar LU' said, "Havingno distance between others leads to kindness; distance leads to
hardness of heart."
Wben no distance is put between others and your own self, everything unites into a
wholeness. Thus, kindness is inevitable. Distancing leads us to excessive self concern,
making hardness ~f h a r t unavoidable.
Therefare, the two words, GONG and selfisfiness, also represent the difference between
kinha and inner hardness.
blotel: Scholar Lu was a philosopher of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty (AD 960? 279)' '

11 I

I have always thought that g E s k is warped lov~;hurting the loved one is nothing but
being seKsh.
..

a!bkPF@-M

Kw'&
- RBmm

tBS=

Far instance, wayone l ~ v e his

s own body. Because of this, we are inclined toward our
own self in the area of olotbing, me&, housing and living in order to pmtect OW bodies,
But ifwe ~ontinwllyincline toward them, trouble ensues.

No one doesn't love his descendants.

Because of this, we bequeath our assets to them, but not necessarily in aa a q d hhion.
. ..
When we d m m m ate against one another, crises are inevitable.

Qin Shy I3uang1 built the Great Wall to guard against the H U ~ ,so that his dynasty would
last for thousands of years. His bias towards his descendants was meticulous. However,
Heaven gave his bias no kvor. Once his crown passed to his son, his dynasty was
ove*wn.
~ o t e "Qin Shy Huang conquered the land of China in BC 221-207 and named his
dynasty QIN. Hoping to establish d
m p w e r forever, he took all metals away from
peopb to prevent any weapons frcm being produced. He burned all books and killed the
literate people to eliminate any knowledge of revolution. HE building of the Great Wall
was another strategy to protect his kingdom.

Me2:The Hu were an ancient race from northem China, whose Yoroes the Qin Emperor
feitmd.

3in Huan Shu' assassinated dl his brother's offspring and gave the kingdom to his own
line. Since his fiworitisrn towards his own descendants was so exinme, destiny turned
against his descendants who were all u l ~ t e l killed.
y

~ o t e ' :Jin Huan Shu was a brother of the royal family of Jin which was one of h e fm
dominating powers in the Chinese Spring and Autumn Period (BC 370-4761. Jin H u n
Shu killed all his brother's offspring, as soon as his brother, the warlord of Jin, had died.

&La:

*rn@

! waSBs2

T h e stories m evidence that selfdmess ends up hurting even me's own loved ones.

Lao Trte said (Tao Te Ching, chapter 7), ''Saga think of themselves last, but they are
afways accorded respect. They put their own needs aside, but they are always benefited.
Because of their unseEshness, they, in contrary,make thenaselves complete."

Thus, ume1fishess, which is GONG, helps bring about even a~complishmentsin our
own self-interest.

When we look at all the Sages in history, their immensely accoqfished lives were full of
GONG. They harbored no selfish thought for their families, until their prospects were
d i z d and their virtues were established. Then their c h and their descendants could
enjoy the h i t s of their labors. This reflection illustrates the way sages achieved their
prsonal interests.

Money today is a uuivesally circulating d m and if I apply money to good works and
charity, my money will last and have endless good effects. People, now and in the future,
will &Irm and remember me as a person with impartiality.

&I the Other hand, if I hoard my money, using it only for myself, or giving it only to my

&spring, the money will not last.

Thus, people who are selfish will sooner or later not be able to escape the natural law of
RING. However, people, who are GONG,are abIe to achieve even their self-interest.

The book of Zuo Zhuan said, "Heaven shows no favoritism to anyone under it, nor does

earth to anyone upan it. The sun and moon do not light for one F a ; nur do the h s t
and d m deposit themselves on only one glace."
lkw andogies show that as mighty as Heaven and Earth are, they have no other way but
GONG.

The Heaven is so GONG that it creates evmything but itself,

The Earth k so GONG that it nourishes eve-g
but itself,

However, even fhough both the Heaven and Earth don't c&
and nourish themselves,
once a being under Heaven dies, the: essence of its body will return back to the Heaven
and Earth.

This is how Heaven and Eartb keep creating and nourishing others, while,
notwitManding, they s
d themselves and nourish themselves.

%rn*JQ;* Q E nTU

-I!@
$rnMrn;s-%
*ESX%S

If Heaven and Earth were not GONG a d only m d fm themselves, they would comprise
no tapas&y of oneness. Heaven and Earth m I d became M i n g objects, not worthy of
being d e d "Heavm"md "Earthn.

Sages who follow the v h s of Hewen and Earth possess immense GONG and
selflessness. They view the world as one family and a country as one person, because they
keep no distance between haziness and brightness, and between object and self.

Because there is no distance between haziness and brightness, deities and &d
am
without difference. Because there is no distance between 'object' and 'self, you and I are
without difkmm,

When i h m is no diffemme betwm others and ~-1we am hthm with

waything h the world: Thus, whereyer we go in this world, we m i a t e with GONG!

Scholar Lu said, "In ancient times, there were many conquerors. Those who succeeded,
did so because of their GONG.Those who failed, did so because of their lack of GONG."

Hong an' teaches, 'An emperor's path will unfold clearly if he shows no bias or
favoritism towards any faction. lf he re&
hparbd,he will govern fairly.'
Note': Hsng Fan is a chapter name m fhe book of Shang S h u ( m ) which contain^ many
arbldes of ancient philosophy from differrent classic M r s . Thb book was edited by
C0nhrCi~8.

-*-

#
@
$
&
&

ony of Yin Yang' helps nut ody one object; the lord of nature does not incline
to only one p e m .
~ote':Yin and Yang are the two opming principles in nature. Yin represents darkness
and nqetkness. Yang represents brightness and posifiwness.

Bo Cam' asked how to administer the land of Lu.

I
I

Zhou Gmg replied, 'Benefit others, not yourself.'

Note': Bo Cam was a son of Zhou Gang who was a famous administrator in the Ulou
Dymy(BC 770-221). Zhou Gong
the hnd of Lu as a reward from the emperor
af Zhw and he gave it to his son to administer.

A petson from Sing lost a bow and diQlftwant to look for it.
He eqIained, "A J i g p m n loses it and a Jing person k d s it. Why should I look for
it!*'

& W t l s heard this and said, "Dropping thie word "Jhg"fim the statement is better!"
Lao Tze b e d it and said, "Also dropping the word 'person' h m the statement is better
9
1
"

SM%XTfB2m@&A&

' immaz3a

F m the view of Confucius, any person can frnd and get the lost bow. It doesn't have to

be the Jing person.

Lao Tze meant: Anything in this world can find and get the lost bow. It doesn't have b be
a person.
Therefore, Lao Tze has the superior GONG.

Hwven and Earth are so vast that they do not indulge what they have created. They do
not care about taking credit for what they have done.
Thus, evegets its nourishment and mtenanw but doesn't know the source.
Behold the GONG of Heaven and Earth and the reason why they endure.

mBm

;g;h,$WlClE " . . . - .
People today do not know the meaning of GONG. They not only indulge themselves with
riches, elegance, fam and honor, but also follow their selfish lusts and d e s k .

T h w who plot conspiracy and scandal care not if they hurt others, and indeed eagerly
plunder each other for the sake of their own interek

UlhakIy, the vast net of Heaven, though it be pierced with holes, allows no one &ugh
without justice.

Though p p l e m y save a fortunq somehow the money vanishes in a couple ofyears.

Though they may reach exalted positions, soon they secure the nature which makes them
fall back to the ground.
It can came rn end of offspring and even family line, or cripple or blind people,

Since the tragedies from hck ofGONG m n&er insignificmt nor uncommon, I present
this character GONG as an admonition to dl.

M miMm lim@
l@#smk

00 is Vastness, Broadness. 80 also mems vast mercirlness and profound massive

spiritual feeling.

Zy ~ i said,
' "Thethickness of BO is as thick as the earth." And, "The broadness of BO is
as vast as the sky."
These analogies suggest how enormous and broad is a Saint's TAO which is like the
cover of the sky above and the upholding support of the earth beneath that is without

bounds.
I

I
I
I

N-':
Zy Si was a grandson of Confucius. When Zy Si was politically imprisoned, he
preserved his grandfather's philosophy by writing a book called Zhang Yong, Zhong means
Mon-bias: Yong means Universal truth.

wma bXSS13B
J e w preached with the objective of the BO of love.

I
I

He desires to bring the BO of love to dl peoples, all nations, so that maakind m y love
others asthey love themselves, without Miction.

This is Jesus' will.

11

I
I

JWW wt out to fulfill his divine mission, his travels brought him from countxy to country
where he taught the people principles of salvation.

On closer examhati011 of his precepts, no diswdhle differences exist between bis trutb
md the precepts of Saints and Sages of other cultures and religions. They are similar to
the concepts of the Three Cardinal ~uidesland the Five Cardinal Constant Human

h~imhi~s'.

~ o t e ' :The Thrw Cardinal Guides am: Ruler guides Subject, Parent guides Chlld,
Husband guides W e .
N&: The Five Cardinel Constant Human Relationships are: Parent and Child, Ruler and
Subject, Husband and wife, Brothem, and friends.

Since the time of Jesus, his followers have exercised their qualities of goodness to the
utmost, to inspire the p p b . This is the reason why Jesus' religion is so popular.

*a *--dmasrlfi# 4&#*. .

#EP.@*W*l

Pmpk today conceal their skills, fearing that sharing their knowIdge widely puts them at
a disadvantage.

mmw%BfBI-@sBmBE
Certain teachers do not give completely of their abilities, fearing that their students will
became better than they.

Some founders of religions are misers of their knowledge of life, and never pass it down
to people. When questioned, they say that heavenly messages are not for dl to h o w ; or
the heavenly TAO is only for the chosen.
T h y don't recognize that: the heavenly TAO is impartial that humans rely on it to grow;
plats rely on it for nourishment; and minds rely on it to feed.

From the very beghbg, there were meant to be no dierenoes between people,
Alas, those who hold such excuses do not undmtand the m d g ofBO.

From ancient times, Saints have lived within the compass of the Twenty Characters
Doctrine a d &eir minds c o m w n & d its entirety.

% W Z + t~ S H E C H * r n 3 ! 3

fm-+rn$&

The phrase 'within-thm~30f-Twenty-Ch~m-Dode'

signifies that Saints
have lived at least one of those Twenty C b t m which figured in their lives
prominently.

The phrase 'comprehended-ty-of-Twenty-Char~ctem~e'

means that Saints

have maskmd those chatacters as a whole and ahereby have further expanded and
@OM
in their essence. Such essence spreads out h r n one human self towards all living
things and from one time to eternity, until essence reaches a state wherein it is vast in
power, yet delicate in balance; ultimately superlative in excellence but modest in

apmsive character, (Zhong Yo@.

scholar shaol said, "Existingabove the cyole of tnrth and untruth2;attains a state beyond
any sense or huge of the universe."
Scholar ching3said, "Inexpanse, it encompasses six directions.""
These are perceptions of BO and nothing extends beyond the above broadness.
Note': Scholar Shao (am)was a philosopher of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty
(AC 960-1279}. He was also an I-Ching specialst. He liked study and never attempted to
m e in any governmental office.
I

~ o t e Truth
~:
and untruth, from Taoism's point of view, comprises a cycle without
beginning and ending like a tink.

"Wing above the cycie" means transcending the cycb to constitute the state of nonobjectivity.

(@m

was a master of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty (AC $801279). He emphasized that study be sincere and to search through reasoning.

M e 3 :Scholar Ching

M e 4 :The expression is implied in the TAO of Zhong Yong that it acorn everywhere as
many as six directions, from up, down, east, west, north and south.

=wwww
L

hprding the definition of BO,Mencius said,

'The principle of BAW is hawing how to disseminate."

A w r d h g to M~en~ius,
this is the essence of gavanmce:
'Countries are the foundation of the world; families are fhe foundation of a -try;
individuals are tho foundation of a family.'

The book of

Great Leaalso recommends that the essence of peamefully

adminisbring a region or county is the cultivation of individual m o d character.

Thus,the individual is the source of ev-

If an individual starts behaving correctly and carries that forward to family and country,
such an atmosphere will gradually spread and disseminate itom humanity to the universe;
the universe will feel it and respond to it.

Especially, the matter of truth can be discovered by sincerity. The sorrow of the universe
can be changed by mankind.

Thus, robbery and killing will no longer be h d of;disaster will not be seen.
No more c h i n & will prey upon us and no more disastrous floods and droughts will
afflict us, darkness b m e s brightness. IsnY b t splendid!

Memius said: "Because of disseminating kindness, we will have enough to protect the
whole world; if we don't, we will have nothing to protect out families."

7!iZmfrAm*

@$&&?

Ancient peoples always had greater perception thaxl ordinary p p f e of today, because
they knew haw to disseminate their best behavior.

B2-% F*R#

mHm

The meaning of BO is dissemination. Bebg able to d i s ~ m h t is

e BO.

S2B&
Th-fore,

filling the vault of Heaven with Righteowess is the 80 of Righteousness,

h fact, the msults from scientific research r e m b b aessence of Yh-Ymg and tbe
everlasting Five Elements theory'. Religious (TAO) study, too, has profound conelates in
the muh of scimtiilc study.

ole': The Five Elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth, which are held by the
ancients to cornprime the physical universe and are later used in trad'rtional Chinese
medicine to explain vatbus physiological and pathological phenomena.

Has2
One who doesn't open the door will never know what is behind it. I hope ambitious,

honorable people will do research in both scientific and religious fields as one endeavor.

If su, H a v w and maakind will have the same goals1,Yin-Yang will have the same
meaning, Thus, h e scientists can have a clear conscience and be co-idered 'Broadness
Scholars!'
~ o t e ' :W
ih TAO to maintain moral standards and sdence to improve living conditions,
both can benefi mankind.

chapter 12-mo

am--Flac

mw-B***

(FiIial Piety) writen in ancient times, expounds the way of the

al Castant of Human ~elationshi~s~".
Fundamentally, as long as the Cardinal
Constant of Human Relationships is maintained, the conscience of Heaven wiU not be
I

r~ote':The Cardinal Constant of Human Relationships has five orders. They are: Father
.ndSon, R v l i and Subject, Husband and W t , Brothers, and among Friends.

R4lfZaRm.-

"

in the Cardinell Constant of Human Relatiodips, which comprises the conscience

&Heaven and Earth, inheres the spiritual comportment ofHaven and Earth.
-

Relationships, Father and Son

is the fust st. Accordingly, ancient people traditionally regadd XIAO (Filial Piety) as
the firstpriority of all comportment,

ne-

Today%people are ignorant of filial duty.

w,t of the problem is that they don't
recognize the meaning ofparental kindness.
a,ifthey do, they only perceive it superficially, not thoroughgoingly.
rl

mm

mw@ki
. .

.~~~~~~

"

..

Even if the people haw XIAO in their harts, heir greed, or influences by their spouse
md child&, mey obscure XIAO within. Moreover, they lack anyone giving than righr
Thus, the essence of XIAO is contravened by giving vent to desire, which, at its
rout, makes people behave without XIAD.

&ice.

ofi,you.
S
Y a few wogPd % b ~ ~ _ f ~ & ~ ? ~g~ t d . htohall
~$
s

cbapkF12-XIAO

YAAaa

Camp oflife )&#@j&

-:HA-

W MW

-#!
$m!wi l s E r n M

,-*'-

Let us ?YI to recall before we had our bodies, who gave birth to us?
Afier we had our bodies, who b m d t us up?

When we were h-,

who fkd us?
When we were cold, who provided us with clothes?
When we cried, who carried us?
When we got dirtyIwho cleaned us?
When we felt sick who catled doctoe for us?
When we learned eafhg and spaking, who taught us?
If we reflect cmfidfy, we will realize how Ml of care and wring deeds our parents were
to us!

Y M & > $ l&\%*RW&rn ifiiB*Mrn

@+Hm=ws
fiwB%F%%**

#~*~Km%

P m t s exert ~ e i er n h effurt for their children in order to feel they have accomplished
something worthwhile.
So, during nine months of pregnancy and the fmtthree y m of infancy, parents confront
uricountable dBIcuIties and bear the burdens of much worry md fear.

When p m t s and baby sleep together and the baby gets wet, parents swap the baby to
their dry side and they sleep on the wet side. Thw parents disregard themselves but give
to their child.
Pmnts are concerned for their children, looking out far hem whenever water, fire, hot
water or sharp objects are near by.
When children smile, parents are happy in their hearts.
When children cry, parents are patient m i d the annoyance.
Parents protect their children h m swing before c o n c d n g fhemsehm with their own
meals.
Parents prepre their children's beds before wafiying about theit awn slsep.
Parats aIways try to p q m their children's food on time and are &aid of providing
unsuitable clothes for different types of weather.

chapter 12-m.0

sxm m3-i-

W h i r children get sick, parents do not complain, say, that the weakness of the children
wusd the difEculty of upbringing. They blame themselves for neglecting to atre for the
cMdren better. They obtain medicine, call for a doctor, pray to the gods, or seek out
forhint teecs for help. Inwardly, they wish they thweives were the s i ~ kones, not the

children,

gf@&$g*b&@ fi

.*

w*--9

eir cUldren go for a longmtr@,

parents not only may ai~dthink continually of them,
b
t &u Iong to h o w when the children will come home. Even though they know that
their children leave home early and would corns home Iate, parents still desire for them to
a m hnme sooner.

T ~ ware the parental kindness: giving me birth, bringing me up, loving me, teaching me,
md investing me with privilege and anticipation. As human kings, we shouldn't let a day

ga by without remembering these kindness.

h a their children have gram up more, parents tare concerned with providing than the
best education, and helping them to look for the k t mate for marriage, even though the
process be time consuming and expensive.
Parents may even spend their life savings kg buy b ~ q sf ,~~aek
r ~ffsg&gw fhai their
.
children can have homes at a later time.

72&>1
- 1 1

inning to end, the parents' time is used to plan for &e children, and wholly
given in their parental love fm their children.
I I I I I

the life tnergy of p m a is expended for their children. As children grow up and
their parents get old, it is best that we repay our parents kindness, lest we fsnd the time
r

Compass oflife

)&#Mi

There is an old saying, " W w children for your old age; save up rice for the t h e of
famine."
Parents, who struggle against difllcuhiw to bring up their children, have mihhg for
t h ~ l v e but
s the anticipation that their children will be able to establish themselves and
succeed so that the parents in their elder y e m can rely upon their children now grown.

However, people today tend to ignore &eir parents*intentions and kindness. Indeed, they
even sametimes just think that their parents were merely suppod to be the means of
reproduction that produd their awn selves. They presumptuously assume thst their
upbringing, education and marriage ought to be provided to them. Apparently, no such
thing as kindness or repaying gratitude occurs to them.

Fm consider that goats will h e e l to feed milk to their pmnts, and even crows as well
regularly feed their parents.
Tho@ even animals will repay their parents, many people forget the kindness of their
parents and are blind to the way of XIAO. Are we inferior to mere etnimds?

When a baby is born, it always warlts to be near its parents.

Until the baby is between six months and one year, and begins recognizing people, the
haby is happiest when in its parents' a r m . The baby may wen cry when it is held by
others.
From three, four years old to fourteenIthe child will ask its parents for food when hungry

and for clothes when cold.

Up to this age, everyone has peat affection for their parents,

&if when a pawn has &ed

and

is added to one's rife conjugal love with one's

a sigt&t~ increment is add& to the: distance hem one*sparents and the

m-

W then prrben t
k person has children and thus is added to one's We mother intimate
IT'

wm

on's spouse and children be kind and filial obedient, they will
nonetheless be a fortunate family.

k t ifthe pmm has an unkind spouse a d disobedient children, the person's spouse will
find f d t with the in-laws' behavior, and the pmmn's &iIdren will camplain h u t their
p d p m t s ' unfhess.
h r h g these $riwam in miad, the person begins ta mistakenly believe that mething

g with W e r parents,
As t h e goes by under thme circumstances, the person p w s closer to hider *use and
&if4 Mer away from hidher parents. The pepson showers M e r spouse with privilege
hitreats M e r parents with indifference.

is m

Thus,the person's mind primarily is concerned with hidher spouse and little, if any at all,
with hidher parents.
When the person's spouse or children feel cold, the person does everything in order to
wmn them. On the other hand, if the person's parents be cold, the person pretends not to
know it.
If the person's spouse or children get ill, the person bends every effort and finds ways to
cure them. But if the person's parents suffer with sickness, the person carelessly gives up
on their plight.
New cIothes and good meals are given to one's spouse or children first, before hidher
parents.
When problems or trouble happen, the person forgives hidher spouse or children, but not
hisher parents.

Alas, let's think about the t h e before: a person was fourteen yeam old. Where was hidher
spouse then?
were hidher children?
Or when a person was two and three years old, in what matters didn't the person rely on
hisher father? What necessity was not provided by hidher mother?

*m= lXik
There is an old saying, "We always &ink about the wellspring of water when we drink! "
If it weren't for my parents, I would not exist! And, if I didn't exist, I wouldn't have a
spouse!

As water has its origin and wood has its own source, when 1 carefully think about it, my
origin and my some ate my parents. Bringing me up was my parents' doing; educating
me was my parents' doing and helping me to get married was my parents' doing.

My parents were not horws or cows, but t h q worked hard for me all their lives. Parents
are not slaves or savants, but they plan for me and do all to aid me during their entire
lives.

My parents have given me the c a p i t y for p a t virtue and gratitude. But when I
proclaim that parents we= only mere means of reproduction to produce my ungrateful
self, who, I take it for grantedJme suppossd to raise me,educate me,and provide for me,
then I speak as if these acts are really U y more than those done by animals.

T have seen today's people who behave without XIAO.

If their parents need anything from them, they respond with the heart of a miser. These
people don't realize that their very bodies were given at birth by their parents and that
they should not be so stingy with the things that we outside their bodies.

1,

If their parents tell them to do something, they tq to shift the responsibility. Such people
d d t tealize that, in the period of feudaiism, if a nZ1.w wanted to execute an officer, tbr:
officer had to submit; if a father n d e d his child to die, the child had no choice but to be
d c o d . If people in feudal times could be obedient in the face of death, how on earth
can the irrespomible people of today dare to avoid doing easy things for their parents?

?F3S!XT+%ZA
XBS%-SB~-@H4R]L%ZB2WBBESEXWX~H
EB!W%ZA BTl3~L+Zl@F+M~%3
1.have obsmsd today's people who behove wihout ICLAO.
If their g m t a yell at them or punish them, they feel hatrud and anger toward their
parents. Even more oulragmus, some of these people lash out with their & against their
parents and torment them into a state of utter degradation. Ironically, when working for
m g a n t and authoritarian bosses, these people meekly bear insults and scolding without a
saund.

Alas, if these people would even turn around and adopt toward their parents the very
defmnce they accord meant and authoritah bosses, their temper would be tamed and
calmed. Thus, in their hearts, XU0 could then he awakened.

R Z & r n &T m X B 2 B m
However, such a type of deference is still not XAO itself, but only a way to avoid
@rmtmg onetsparents.

I **=aam WmaA *mess

When my parents reprove or punish me, it is nothing but mrmtion in the hope tbrmt 1 can
be well prepared for a suc~essfullife in society in the future. There is no b d intention.
I

a m $F

ftF%;&a#m iFiliwmR4i.

mxT#T=mx~s
Even though parents m y be old and mrnphh imtiondly, I, as their child, should still
amqt their behavior willingly, without mmtmmt lor hatred, because in &is world
parents must never be assumed intentionally m n g toward their own child.

chapter 12-mo

Or, if parents might be w r o q their child should not engage in accusations as if to judge
them.

I also have observed some othm people who behave without XWO.
They treat their spouse pleasantly and kindly, but treat their parents impudently and
roughly. They bond wih their own children, but they deal with their sibling as if no
bwiness between them existed.

These people scarcely understand that their parents come first and their s p s e must come
second. If a spouse is lost, one can always remarry; if p m t s are lost, they are
heplaceable.

Tbae people don't understand that siblings come first and children erne after*If a child
is lost, moOher child can be begotten; If siblings are lost, they are implaceable.

Scholar Sha said, "If human beings could love Eheir parents as much as they do their
spouses, there would be no people who behave without XLAO. If human beings could
love their siblings as much as they do their children, them k u l d be no siblings who hate
eaoh other."
Exhibiting both XMO and brotherly love correctly paforms the duty of a person.

For instance, Scholar $unlonce perfmed his fiIial duty in this way: one time his wife
didn't stem a p a r properly for his mother, and so he deserted his wife.
~ d e lScholar
:
Jun, a student of Confudus, had supreme Filial Piety hut an impulsive
personality. He e x p i a i M as the reason why he deserted his wife that it didn't matter if his
wife did not listen to him about the pear; it did matter that the not-well-cooked par might
choke his old mother to death.

Cheng Fmls (AD 220-265 Wei Dynasty] son and nephew were both kidnapped Cheng
iipproached the kidnappers to redeem tbe boys, but the kidnappers would only allow one
ofthe boys to be released. Faced with tbis condition, Cheng redeemed his nephew instead
of bis son. The kidnappers were deeply affected by Chmg's righteousness and released

From the above, we see no comparison in i m m c e qg.bev+#nparents and spouse, xlor

as between siblings and one's ofT@rbg.

M m v e r , the meaning of the character XIAO, c o n s i d d in its broadest sense, begins

with the way one behaves oneself d extends therefrom to love accorded to everyone
a d wery object, XU0 is most certainly not wily lived in, i#s fullest sense by ordinary
PPI~.

But h m a less demanding pint of view, the character XIAO commits each one to attend
to one's parents' bodies and to reassure their hearts. Thest two ways of living XlAO are
simplified enough for any ofipring to perform them.

4-

&mEam*m.am
!BwHmEw
What dm '"attendto one's parents' bodies"m a ?
Our awn M i e s came from our parents' bodies. If we only take care of our own bodies
and tda no concern with our parents' bodies, we attend to trifles, while neglecting

eswntials.

[mever, aen&g to parents' M e s can also be divided ixlt~four categories.

1) Diet

Everyone who attends to his parents attempts t~ provide as splendid a menu of

delicacies as possible to them In a wealthy M y , such w
i
a
l food is w t d d y
provided without dimculty. But even in a poor family, mereIy having rice soup to
serve can be a joyous -ion
of XIAU.

Thus, although it is quite acceptable to offer a simple meal, make sure that the f d is
mild to the taste, neither rrare nor overcooked, and attractive.
Any delicious food must be served to parents first. If we can give our parents a day of
happiness, we perfom a day of a son's XAO.

When parents are old, and their stomachs become weak, the meals served must be good to
the smell, taste good, be soft, well-done and easy to digest,
If the f o d is cold, sticky, hard, or d=wlt to digest, don't serve it to your parents because
they might get sick on it.

Accordingly, their diets must be attended to carefully.

I--)

urn

m*i?sBZi

s ~ ~ ~ m ~ a ~ w ~ w m m
2 ) Clothing
Fw a wealthy family, the finest clothes are easy to obtozin.
In case of an indigent family, even common clothing is acceptable. However, make sure
that the clothes are suitable, considering the weather at m y given time. Change and wash
pmnts' clothes frequently. A11 these m w m s reassure md comfort paren&,

In oIdw times, some peaple h-d

brick, wrapped them in ~10tha d placed them

beneath their parents' feet. Or else they used tin pots with hot water to wann their parents'
blankets. This was rightly done because old people have poor blood circulation, and their
children saw the need to use material aids to keep their parents warm. These acts of

s of

M@B

&spring also convey a message of filial piety h m offspring to parents.

E M4&M82@2#
'In the Hm ~ynasty@C 206 to AD 228), whm Wmg Hm was nine years old, he used a
fan to Ean his parents' bed during the summer; and used his body heat to warm his parents'
The prefect Lau Wu praised him and exclaimed that since Wong cauld perform XIAO at
mch a yaung age, his accmphby.egt would, & @q%urabfe when he becape old,

Hem thw have k n described m n s why pmnts' clothing must be attended carefully

B
3) Daily Living
As ospring of our parents, we must always be concerned fbr our parents. Tf conditions
are risky, or dangerous, or there is rain, snow, or hst, or it is too early in the morning w
f-n la& at atght, we should not let our parents go out.

if circumstances r e q e vangements for mourning suing f ~justice,

r
or dealing with any
other matter that can cause parents worry or exhaust their minds and energies, we must
not let our parents burden themselves with such things.

4m-z

If a joyau& p w ~ f u and
I ccrmfoftable occasion comes, we must encourage our parents to
participate.
If parents art interested at religion, zen, fwting with fr-iends, or light travel, we sbuld
encourage them to enjoy such activity more often.

a rnAF*L*sa

Parents' tray& lodgin& md rest or sleep must be qw wncern and ber arranged so that
how offspring do their

they can pass their time comfortably and happily. Consider thus
utmost in ~ a f eand piety toward their parents.

chapter 12 XIAO

We must a h arrange the interior of our parents' house for them to Eve and provide
attractive possessions for them to we.
For things that our parents like,we make our effort to get: it for them. For things that our
parents dislike, we keep it for 01~~sekes.

Here thus hme been descried why parent's daily life must be attended to cmfuliy.

4) Sickness
Wen parents are old and become we& they can get sick easily. We must care for them
and comfort them and not kave them alone even momentarily. Wben serving meals or
medicine to parents, we must do it o ~ l v e and
s not rely on sewants.

Long ago, Wen De was an amperor of Elm Dyaasty. When his mother was ill, Wen De
always Wed soup or herb medicine to d e sure that it was suitable for his mather to
drink. How much are we, mere common people, as compared to an emperor!

If p m t s are sick and cannot help but make their bed and blanket dirty, then rts offsprin,
we should change the bed often fm them without any feekga ofresentment or &gust.
Let us at such difficult times r e d 1 when we o m h e s were embraced in our pareni
arms, they never entertained any feeling of revulsion at our awn defecation.

A long time ago, lived a person m e d Kim Lm who tasted his sick fathds stool1 and
everyme applauded this act as an act of XLAO. Thus, the changing of our parents' clothes
or blankets is real@ an easy thing to do.
N&': Tasting stool is an ancient Chinese medical method to debmine how setiwdy ill a
person is with diarrhea. If the stool tastes bitter, the sickness is kms serious; if meet,
diarrhea indicates quite W u s Blnws,

pi^^^
-SFl%WRFWW
In olden times, when parents were sick, their offspring slept fully clothed lest their
parents needed them and also lost their stmm of taste when

Consider this mfulIy: those people were someone's offspring; we are also someone's
rrfQrhg.If they could do XIAO, why have we the least reason that we cannot?

I - ~ Rthw have been described the reasons why parents' sickness must be attended with
U h m s f cm.

Summarixing the reasons for our duties to the above four categories, we give attention to

parents' diet by reason of repayhg our pareats' kindness for nursing us.
We give attention to parents' clothing by reason of repaying our parents' kindness in
ciathing us in our own infancy.

they cared for our sicknesses.

I
I

We give attention to parents' daily living by reason of repaying our parents' kindness in
all ways af our upbringing.
We give attention to parents' sickness by reason of repaying our parents' kindness when

Parents have sown the seeds early and they reap the fruit law, offspring have received
the kindness earlier and v y in gratitude la&*
Even in a common friendship, we return a p l m if someone has given us a w
b
;
mreuver, our parents are so much more to us than my friend.
AII of what has been said only approximates what 'attend'ing to our parents' bodiep!"

What is in the hearts of parents? In general parents want their children to be kind and do
graceful things. The parents' greatest hope and desire is that their c M b be prominent
and bring honor to their clan. At the very I w t , they hope their children will conduct
themsekes and find fdfdlment in their roles and occupations.

S#Tmas

F fi&RmFm
X
~

If children break the law, cause'misforhme, Iose their livelihood, or dissipa& their time
and dishonor their clan, the parents are certain to be distressed and bwtrme anxious.

Macius said, "There are five kinds of commonly recognized un-XIAO behaviors."

Laziness, which caws people to b v e no intation of taking care of their parents, is the
fmt kind of un-XIAO.
Gambling and dhkmg, which cause people to have no intention of &g care of their
parents, is $hesecond kind ofun-XUO,
Greed far money and favoritism to spouse, whi~hcause people 'to have no intention of
t d k g care of parents, is the third kind of un-XLAO.
Indulging in the desires of e m and eyes, which a w e s insult to parents, is the fourth kind
of ua-mo.
Rashness and vice which endangers the parents is the f
& kind dun-XWO.

These five kh& of un-XIAQ heap distress upon one's parents,

cantiamition of the

and ejo~

T
of-

mm laEEL%

Yong, quoting fmn the book dPtxdryI dEms, "When a coup11 live
iesmmtsl, d the brothers a d
*incss is athSt42d,"
most c a t m y e w -

Xhs&hq~ &e a b e I if a q l e is not in award, the paw&' harts b m m ~ s yIf .

h d a md
~
mend in harmony, ~
t
scam&' be but~ disturbed.
i n ~ t o o u r o m ~ ~ ~ d ~ c o m p a i t m e n t , ~ o f ~ d s
worldly matters: when WE conduct t h w u n w d d y i
the very shadow of
"TwentyCharacters", it dismnmts and brings dhornf'artto our pamts. This is mything

I
wmwl than; if they am

w-J
d o m n h a r m ~ w W s o r ~ o u r ~ n t sshould
, w e avoid doing

pmnts, we s h d
mkavor to pwme such thlngs energetically.

9imm!%@ZSllimsmm%R

compass of Life

m@/

Even if our parents are dece&

we should d
Iby to live I& of prupriety tfie way that
OW parents wouldwant, md we must in no went do dishonop to their wishes.
As to the pqwieties of burial, memorial cemmmy, mcdral temp1e observance and
pa*
m s p m at the grave site, we must be diligent in undertaking mi bring ti,
CO~P~&
dlQS W~ h ~ # E l B ~ .

Basically, whatever we may do with cur lives, if we can feel no qualms upon selfexamination, we have complied with our parents' wishes.
I f so, then it also means that the way we are living is in b o n y with the hearts of
Heavers and Earth.

2.m

U @ = J.-& f &

Father is the Heaven and motker is the Earth. Mankind thus has really the Heaven and
Earth in, twin!

*&I=These, basically, are the synopsis of how to assurance our parents' hearts.

Recently, an argument has been proposed that parents are merciful to their children, their
children will cancomitmtly behave in the manner of XIAO; and if the parents are: nut,
their children will convme1y behave with un-XIAO. Furthermom, it is now supposed,if
the parents a c c d b i r Merent children different ways of parental treatment, their
children will necessarily behave with m-XLAQ.
Alas, these wicked theories in all their variations profoundly deceive dl too many people.

The stepmother, foster-mother or mother of concubines are all mothers of their own
children as well. They m y undemtatsdably love their crwn children with motherly h.
However, if we are otherwise-than-biological children of them, we still have the
obligation to show respect to them with utmost shcerity in order for them to come to
recognize through their o m canscience.

B ~ s & ~ w W a s ~ ~ ~ r t t R w
A Poag, t h e ago, Gu Sau loved tris wand wife's ssn, D a m , and c~~

desired to

kill his fvst wife's son, soen'. Howeve; Soen th~oughgoinglytreated his pruents with
utmost respect. Eventdy, Gu Sau o m to love Soen dearly. This was a shining
~ ~ l e .
Smn was a f a n u s emprwor in C h i w history. His governance wt a high
standard for all Chinese dynasties.

N&':

Andher example was Man ~ z e - ~ i who

n ' wao motherless when young. His stepmother
hated Man and gave him
c W e s to wear in the coM of winter. Meanwhile, by
contrast, the sons ofthe sttprna~whwseifwere dmsd in long pttdded cotton robes.
W s father discovered the discrhimtion and tried to expel his wife. However, Man
cried to his father and begged, "Ifshe ramins, I am the only one to suffer the cold; if she
goes, y m thm sans will be exposed to the w e r e weather!"
Man's fder ww reIuctantly p e r s u e d by his advice. The step-M&W, indeed, also h d
the heartfelt words, and she was thmma. dmply moved and repented of her M e s s af

heart toward Ma.

I
I

This example provides further clear evidence of the i m p o m ofXIAO.

N-':
Man, who was a studat af Canfudm,was famw for his oubEandhgIy exemplary
mom! conduct.
.-. .a

Considering the above two m t i v e s , one depicts a father's mercifulness and the other
om telb of an arbitrarily unkind mother. But, somehow, both of these parents were
deeply b c h e d in their headts and re&d the m r of their ways.
In the end, these two cMdrm both were lauded by Co2lfucius b l f a s sons of XIAO,

Scholar

am' wrote these words, "One who merely basks in his father's mercifulness does

nut have XAO; one who merely enjoys his lord's hvoritism to himself is not to be

thought loyal by that alone."

The principle behind the words is that the action of FEELING comes after not-&ling;
the condition of LIKING comes after dk-liking. If our barks always dwell on how much
..
we feel and like, true XIAO and loyalty will never predominate in us.
Note1:Scholar Tarn was a famous Taoist in Tang Dynasty (AD 6f&90?).
I

1 .

mwtE8 TRTIarnWB
Carefully contemplating those words, we realize that whe'her parents should be merciful

to us depends m10Ey upon our parents; whether we respect our parents with XL40
depends solely upon us. We cannot use XIAO as n bargaining chip as if& buy parents'
mercuess,

kholar Ching said, "Parents may not be merciful, but their offspring m@ not be un-

mo."

These words we truly those of a person who has attainad to the state of XIAO.

1bave heard that a person who has achieved XIAO as a singular virtue has such inward
power ofpasonal being as to iduence the Heaven and Eirth and Deities themselves.

My analysis altogether expounds a most-reasoned reasoning, How?

Heaven and Earth resemble parents, Deities, who are the executants of the very
functioning of Heaven and Earth, are the lords of cresrtmg and noumhg evewithin the universe.
If we use XTAO to erqgender mutual solidary f ~ k and
g affection between us and
Heaven, Earth and Deities, our feelings surely find, in turn, a sesponse f h n them like
resounding echoes.

A long time ago,Wong Chenl was XIAO. In the wintetthne, when his stepmother was ill,
she needed to eat live fish. Wong went to a nearby h z e n ice pond. Xd. vain, he took off
all his clotbes and tried to use his body heat to melt the ice, hoping to catch f d through
the ice hole his body might make. Suddenly, the ice broke into a hale elsewhere by itself
and two fish jumped out to him. He then brought the fish how for his stepmother.
Another time, his *mother
craved to have birds for a meal. Once againJnature was
touched, and a cauple of dozen birds astonishingly flew into the h o w b be caught by
Wong.
N&': Wong Chen, who was an imperial scholar and a royal family teacher in Jin Oynasty
(BC 265420), was extremely XWO. When he was young, his stepmother always

slandered him and mused his father to distance away from him. However, Wong always
respected his petmts.

The fish and the birds,having no mse of their own, yet came to Wong md Wong's
house by themselves in fulfdlmat af Wong's way of being XWO. Weren't those
instances a comspondmce from Heaven a d Earth and an assisbce fiom Deities?

fn the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-16441,a person named Yong Fu sought the famow monk
named Boundless, to help him in his sorrow, even though Yong had never seen
Boundless before. One day,while traveling to look for Boundless, he met a monk who
t ~ l dYong, "Looking for the monk Boundless is less excellent than finding the 'living
Buddha'."
Y m g asked, "Where is the 'living Buddha'?"The monk then replied, "Go back to where
you have come h m .The pason who is covered with a blanket and w m a pair of
slippers in reverse is the one."
Ymg returned- He atrived home at night and knocked at his door, When his mother heard
that it waz her long gone son, she jumped out of her bed eagerly and simply grasped a
blanket: to cover her head down to her back. She was so bppy that in her hwte she
happened to put on her slippers in reverse and ran to the door. As soon as Yong saw his
mother, he h a m e enlightened and fKrm then on, he did his utmost to camport himself
witb X3AQ t s w d his parents.

Today, people aften travel far to seek Buddha'. However, they don't realize that the
'Buddhatis in their very own homes.

best efforts fix XIAO and continua& be mindful to do so, the

Buddha' is essentially and truly living in our hearts.
And mt only is the 'Buddha', but even dl Heaven, Earth and Deities are there witbin our
hsarts.
lt we can exart our

To you people who, in grave mor, think that parents

are mere human reproductive

mtities, and who blindly neglect to support the nee& of your patents' bodies and assuage
the anguish aftheir heWs a would comport with XIAD: I most strongly abjure you, each
of you, to ponder this character X A O most cmfully.

cam mm
The Tao of REN is Benevolence.

Within the universe of dl that is, there are many l ~ i n gt b g s , and their continual
propagation is due to the virtue of Heaven.

Because Heaven possesses this v h e , a + h e of fondness for life, Heaven provides the
cycle of the seasons to cultha& all living things.
The sprouting in spring, p w t b in summer, reaping in f d , storing up in winter, the
mwishmnent from rain and dew, and the altmtmting of cold and hot weather; are not t h e
all derived from the REN of Heaven?

Sages, who comprehend a d emulate the motive essence of Heaven, love ohem as
themselves. Indeed, they direct this love to all things animate and inanimate. When they
become one with all objects, their REN becomes the same as that Heaven.

m-

CMmk

Mencius said, "A person of REN loves dl things."

The abiliby d every living thing to grow i s f primary Q ~ M

REM.
GThus,
, the
W s pi& in Chinese, is &o d e d a RB?, s u ~ ha a a
s REN w m b o n d ' s REP3.
They all me W of E~XB
and intense!energy.
If sl fruit b no REN @yking d m ) ,it catmot pmpgak-

I b e mdhted on the word ''Fruiti', which is used by Tmists in cumdon with b i r

principal m&ud ofh h v h acmrdhg to tb saying: Sagely within and Kin& dthout."

E&wEmz%m%m
!!wiw@Lx!%#=
e&=& 49i;B

mw*

The maon is that the 'Fruit"in every sense bears seeds and organic life within; thus it
repmats its FEN.
The fruit's outer surface with its fadful shape and h o n i o u s gestutu: represents its
intelligence.
At the carre~ttime, the REN af the hit spmuts buds and then grows leaves, blossoms
with flowers and then fruit. The h i t s produce KEN (seeds) witbin, all over again. This
endless cycle ofpropagation repr~sexltsits bravery.

All these three things intelligence, REN and bravery underhe the commonly recognized
wittues of this worM. Indeed, actitlg on them with sincerity molds them together as one.
Thus, the Taoists use this analow as the basis of their principal practice.

are collected, don't be mgmt;

Wha the Fruits ofcombat are collected, don't be boastful;
are collected, don't be conceited;
o the Fruits of combat are collected, don't flaunt your superiority."

the Taoists practice tirelessly to achieve the state of "Sagely within and Kingly
subdue their shining light and, merghg
elves into the world like a revolving Taiji (the symbol of Yh-Yrang), they emulate

are enlightened, they t~ IO accomplish things of merit in the world, As soon a~

succeeded, they withdraw thanselves from action without my hwitatioa Their
emulates the bravery of a fruit in its OW cycle.

With these three things, we should be principled with REN, practice our lives with
intelligence and achieve with bravery.
In ht,none of them becomes realized except as they are an emulation of the natural
course of the Heavenly TAO.

Heaven has the virtue of fondness for life so that it nourishes at1 living things. But when
living things grow aver-luxwbt, they care only for their own advantage in living and
even do h a m to other living thhgs. In this state of affairs, Heaven resists their
domination and destroys them
Indeed, it is not really Heaven that kills them at all, they kill theamkves.

The m n of things is that all living things, which are created by Heaven, also inherit the
W e of fondness far life which is RIB. Having REN meatrs capacity of living.
Thus, Confucius wid, "A person of REN lives n long We,"

Ultimately, living things grow into the end of their maturiv when their life-force has been
expended toward their outside, and thus their concealed REM is exhmskd. Once the REN
is gone, so also is their inherent m t m c d , When the inherent essence is gone, death
ensues.

Confircius said, "One who has no REN has no per~epticmof living."

Lao Tze said (Taa Te Ching, &ptm 30), "Everythingthat reaches the full bloom of
maturity begins to weaken as it heads against the headwind of TAO. W g s that head
against the TAO die before long."

s m c w
In general, their words declared that things in so losing REN,come M

y to death.

Furthermore, the fondness for life fru>m Heaven is primarily meant for nourishing every
living thing and not merely oneself.
Thus, one who has the heart to love life is catah@ blessed by Heaven. One whose heart
desires to kill life b cerhjdy clisfavord by Heaven.

The reason is that life and death are the province of the Heaven's authority. Lmmed
arbiters who follow the Tao of Haven and reward or punish people with absolute
impartiality, partake of the function of Heaven.
Some people do not comport themselves with impartiality, They kill people for their own
benefit, injure others for their own advmtage.
Thus, people who are blessed by Heaven could h Zrilled without any reason.
How can Heaven not be profoundly displeased?

Today's peuple have convinced themselves that Heaven can neither hear nor speak, that
Heaven can neither reward nor punish. However, though Heaven does not speak aloud, it
dispenses invisible m a r d s and punishments.
As Lao Tze said ( Tao Te Ching, Chapter 7'31,"The vast net of Heaven, though it be
p i e d with hales, allows no am through ~ith0Utjustice."

The essential Tao of Heaven permeates the course of na-.

When natural karma events
to people, they dl are the doing of Hmveh, Bware, if we have done a thing
without REN, we are quite grwtly in danger.

Compass of Life

A%m

Sq dl mankind's life has the inherent virtue of REN. However, such E N may become
either constrained by the vi&ous side of p t s d i t y or obscured by greedy desire, and
&us h o m e s c m c d g d within us.
Wwdheless, the essence of REN has never vanished.
For example, when we see a child fall into a well, we dl qwimce a feeling of

commiseratio~i,This feeling ~ v e d REN

s within us,

If we can magnify our REN to the utmost and thereby inspire other people and even other
living things, we join the rhythm of Heaven and Earth to help bring cultiv&ion and
nourishment to others.

I have been taught that no other animal is as kind as kirenl, which not only does not walk
the road of viciousness but also does not trample the grass, nor step on the tiniest ants lest
they be hurt. Thus, ancient Chinese regarded Kiren as an animal of REN.
When people behave viciously and fmd satisfaction in k i l h g others, they arc starkly
inkrim to the h.
How can such people even be called human?
~ d e 'Wren
:
are one of the ancient Chinese imaginary animals, such as the dragon.

For d ~
Sun Suk-oh
,
(Spring and Autumn period BC 770476)had such REN virtue
of burying a snake1 that he evqttually was prominmtly appointed as a prime minister.
ate': When Suk-oh was a young child, he saw a two-headed snake on a d.
He had
heard that w b w r saw this snake would thereupon soon die. He then killed and buried
the snake to prevent other people from seeing it. Because of his benevolent motives, he
ultimately was made a prominent governmental official.

Seon Kung-Dmey (Song Dynasty AD 960-1279) was so full of kindness that he rescued
ants1. He was eventually selected as the number one scholar in the government's highest
imperial examhation.
NO&': Once a fortune teller predicted to Kung-Dzaey that his future accomplishments
would be quite good but not better than thme ofh
is younger brother. T a years later, the
same fortune teller met with Kung-Dmey again and thi time was intrigued by his altered
fadal profile, his visrage. Kung-hey suggmted that the change in his visage was
because he -cued a colony of ants during an inundation. The fortune teller affirmed the
merit ofKung-Dmy's act of kindness and predtcbd now that his Mure accomplishments
would bs better than those of his younger brother. The next year Kung-Dzwy was
selected as the number one a
r and his younger brother was second.

In the Later Han Dynasty (AD 947-9501, Yong Bo extended his kindnessto rescue a birdi.
A descendent of his in ewh of his next four geeeratiom was appointed to the nobility.
I

~ o b e ?When Bo was nine years old, he saw a yellow bird that had hen attacked by a
larger bird and had fallen on the ground. Then, the injured yellow bird had been further
attacked by ants. Bo rescued the y d l w bird and brought it home to nume it back to k i t h .
After three months, one night, when the yellow bird was h&y
enough to fly away, Bo
dreamed about a person with yellow clothes. The yellow4&es dream-prson thankad
Bo with great gratitude end promised to w a y his kindnes.

O b r instances ate recorded in history wherein people who bestawed REN on others.
were repaid with the h i t s of kindness, Those occurrences differ from one to mother but!
nevertheless all sufficiently demonstrate that the reward fiom Heaven to the people:
manifesting REN is most benevolent.
..

I
I

Nowadays, people's center of interest all too often is designed to upstage others for
'personal gah &ad
of exhibiting REN. Tbek ways gradually tend to create a elhate of
eiciousness and even trigger periodic crises. Life bemrna mare dficult and reaches
e m e s of desperation.

Tien De Religion endeavors to forestall such &amity and most especially to show the
salutay effect of the character REN on all people.
Basically, REN is derived h r n the essence of the mind. The righteousness motive is
generated from a sense of reasoning awareness.
The essence of the mind is completed with the: sense of reasoning awareness. Thus,
righteousness is governed by REN.
.

I
I
I

I
I

.-

&f-W,
EJamB

. .
a-

.,

I hope that all people who believe in his Religion can bear REN in their hearts in order
with propriety to ac-lize Heaven and Earth's virtue of fondness for life. All people
should comport themselves with REN in dealing with life's issues to conform to the
salvation motive of Saints and Sages.

In the midst of drowning and stmation, we mnsider omelves as one with ali who suffer
without any difference between races or between people of d i f F m t customs.
Without discriminating whether others be good or bad, we must always bear them
affection, b o n y and kindness.

Thw, the extent ofoverwb~lminglynoble spirit will occupy all the empty spaces b e e n
Heaven and Earth and banish thi: wicked spirits fkam the universe. When e v q o n e has
the same noble orientation af mind and heart, and the m e ambition to live the way of
REN, the ancient: flourishhg governments of the empmrs of Ym,Soen, Jy, Tong, Mm
and MOU' waft be diEcult to f3nd ia our time. What could be more wonderful and
splendid!
?dote1:All those were pmfoundly noMe Chinese empemn and their governance set a high
standard thruugh hletory for all Chinese dynasties.

CI @k&fulness), which Buddhism holds

to

be the true essence of the mind, is

u n c b t o d as the most profound compassion in Confucianism.

uiving charity to needy people geherausly md bdghjg M o l d benefits to society

should be everyane's aspiration, whether they be prominent personages or mere h m a n
beings.
As the cammon saying goes, "The feeling of compassion is some part of wayme's
character."

The chader of CI represents the motive of the kind thought. Why? It is h a u s & thought
is an inohation ofthe heart and mind
Affak can be differentiated inta 'the either good or bad, but p a thought itself has
neither quality.
But when a thought leads to a manner ofkind behavior, it is a kind thought when it leads
to manner of vicious behavior, it is a vicious thought.
y

#If3 fE!!l!!H*rn m
3ximE
I The Book of Zhou tells us, "Ewnrt sage who loses his kina thought becomes amgang
I even people of m~gancewho overcome their vicious thought become sages."

Being a sage and being arrogant are differentiated by but a thought. When a thought
arises within us, we must judge its character carefully down to its Mest constituent.

If people will extirpste vicious thought from within themselves, but retab khd thought,
71

and if they will extirpate any at~~ogmm

fiom witbin but retain the thought of the sages,
then those people not only in "me Buddha, two Buddha, three, fiw, and five Buddha's
lads have rooted ahasetves with kindness, h t indeed in innumerable Ian& of Buddha,
they have already rooted thernseIvee wi& kindness.'"
When such efforts as these expand to the extent ofall things, it is equivalent to the same
virhle of fondness for the We of Heaven and Earth.

ate': These phrases are quoted from Buddhism's Diernond Sutra, chapter six. One land
of Buddha can be v
m as one IC.

Moreover, the ultimate hope of aLl sages from all the different religions is also founded
upon such thought.

T have distilled five major religious philosophies into one teaching cornprisine the virtue
of Heaven, in the hope that people who hold to this teaching will meditate on the
character of CI, to think the thoughts of Sages and to sense the motive of Heaven and
Earth, to live with charitable hearts, to confer benefits to society and conduct themselves
with virtue.

If one person has CI,the C1 in that m e person cm stimulate millions of puple ta live CI.
In tum,the CI of dl the people reaches out to the multitude of all living things, and they,
in their turn as well, will dl have CT.
Thus, an atmosphere of CI will expand to the full extent of all the six directions and the
universe everywhere, and the kindness of CI will touch everyone and everything
effortlessly.
As a result, no place will remain for a climate of viciousness to grow and an otherwise
disashus fate will at last be forestalled.

The character JUE in its meaning encompasses enlightenment and awareness.

Comprehending, after an incident has occurred, is awareness.
Comprehending, before: an incident occurs, is JUE.
Dewloping acuteness of awareness is not easy,and to acquire the acute inner capacity of
JWE is even more difficult.

The Baak of Zhong-Yong said,

"Peoplewho live a surpassingly authentic way of life possess an ability to foreknow'. If a
muntry flourish, some auspicious sign must have been manife&& if a country fall, evil.
omens must have existed Such s i p are d k m m d by profound premonitory mews or
intuition of our M i e s . Whetbet impending misfadme or good forhme, people who have
JUE can foresee it no matter if its nature be good or ill."
~ o t e ' :Every phenomenon in the u n b e is all authentic in nature. Thus, people who are
authentic can naturally possess the ability to foreknow bemuse they are very dose to the
nature of the universe.

This capitcity which is c d d fordmowledge or foresight is a reraarkable ability inherent

inJUE. However, witbout 1eh-ter
of swpghgly authentic Mi,such a b i i
is inaccessible,
The Book of Zhong-Yo= fudw said, "Autbegticity guides people to c o ~ ~ i o n ;
~
h evolves to ~ ha; action
i l d <to ~t n m f d o n ; ~
~
0
1
w h h h in s l a b W ~ n . " '
The capabilities of eompdwwion, Mion, trensfomtitiorn and sublimation all come h m ~
the tremmbm power ofJUE,
he h m i t b ~p~ lr m cmprbsing authenticity, compmbshn, tmnsform&bn
and sublimation is rrrebpky~ical.CatPtpae B u d d ~ w
' ~ T o h ' s wisdom thal
h b l h k~rewalabk
~
and ahtainabfe through a m i d of Non-athchment.

~ ' : ~ I u r ~ w w ~ j n ~ G ~ \ I R I " B C m n[W

s 435-221) w
~
t
a
~
T
&
H
r
%
~
m
~
~
~

a ~ w r
Lao Tza, the Twlsrn ~~, as IAO-bm.

U f l d n g on these wo*, you m n realize that people cannot be JUE (awakened) from
tbek d r a m s if they have convind thmselvw that life and death exist in ultimate
~

h a m e of the pmmw of m& dalwiorz, illusive h g a of 'ohr people', 'mplf',

'different living thh& d 'people & longevity" W m e insidiously W
distinctions.
Because of the d d e q r d zimeptauw of such ilIudons, the fsur perplexities of a v a
&MWI@
a d
2 $ ~ WX
kW bbeing.
The more w p l e am &Wand beset wi4h the perplexities, tbe m m they live in b
h
tiream*

The mare p p i e hdnige in Wse dmmq the more dif~cult it is to he WE. The m m
dficdt it is to k SUE, the mom yau 1- yumtlf in the suflkrhg sea af mdlw
rekarmation h m whh& there is no escape. How ac?mglypitifd this p p e c t is!

chap& 15 -SUE
f

ej!Jm&l)

l
r
n
w of oher people (A@, ,@@g,
means that we have minds
of hatred, fondnets$, diffe&ation and comparison toward other people.
Image af ?nyW
rL\mGe2#)meam that tt have mlnds of stubborn =Ifcmtemd wmption of our own W,
Image of dmrent lMng things @&$El, &+
~ ~ ~ means
2 &
lhat our
! minds
) are
influend easily by any wo
means that our minds am
~ ~ ~ p e o ~ ~ o f l o n
full of rash d d m that muw an everfsMhg k a m for our own d.

N&':

a@,

on t h f'acile
~
teaching of M e d death Winpished,
and find that humans themelves have neither so-called life nur death,
Life md death are merely the two Mitdand q w a t e dual-air of in-yang1. .A .
~ o t e 'CarefuHy
:
consider Yin-Yang: Wn-Yang has two sides of separate and u n W air. In
I have from t h e to time medi-d

Chinese metaphysics, everything conbins Yin-Yang.

The "unitedwduai-air underlies what same call life; tbe 'separate" dud-air underlies what
sane call death. The corning and go&

of the soul in poplar conception accords with the

"united"aad "wparate"dual-air.

When the soul comes, the dual-air manifest their aspect of unity md become cast into a
body. The body, h m then on,starts to grow md is referred to as having "life".

wnea the soul goes, the dual-air d e s t their aspect of separation and come out of a
physical bcdy. The body decays and is referred to as being in "death".

M m t B %SS%BZWm
5
E R*Rm
The'soul' ismyinwardperwnbuud,mdtb4body'
iaa%wuse'inwbichIliva Jugtask
my mundane routine of coming and going to attend to my house af abode, the "laouse"
of
11
..
my M y features processes both of formtion and decay.
-*L
>pr:ti;.m,.
I,

Ill

Thus, 'life' is not really 'life" but a body is fuming a f k a soul has came;'Wis not
redly 'death' but a body is decaying as soon as a soul has gotre.

However, the pow= of the coming and the going of my soul does not belong to me.It
abides, instead,upw the twa "united" and "qarate" dual-air of Y i n - Y q .
Thus, my body whch is only a part ofthe universe+d h r all, should nut be so obsessed by
its own particular selE

If these wards be true, then all my body, life and progeny are no longer 'mine'. Neither
'mineqindeed, m the objects that are outside of my body, not implements for farming,
nut the cemented or wooden consb-uctions, nor any animals, fishes, gold, jade, treasure;,
rice, clothes, money, goods.
They am all produced and nowished by Heaven and Earkh, and we cannot claim that they
are our belongings any mme.

Scholar it' said, "wqtkigwithin this universe is one substance. Whoever claims that
things can belong to them is c o n f w d in their mde-g."
We': Scholar tit was also born in the ChiWgm'rrg Stabs pemd (0C 435-221). A
prominent Taoist, he was a codmporary of Scholar Dron.

rb -8f.B
Consider well, for these are all words of JUE.

ofLife &&#fi

amp

M3mmh

Tao Te C b g (chapter SO) said, " h ewho knows how to preserve md nourish one's life
not only gives the fierce r h k o m s ' horn no place to impale him, but also the dangerow
tiger's claws no p h e to strike him HOW
can this b?Bmuse the person has no deadspot."

Lao Tze mid, (Tm Te Chhg,Chapter 13) "Since we discomem omelves, about what
kind of disaster we will wwry?"
Confucius spoke of, "Sacrificingour Mies for the a c ~of bmevoIence,"

Awk Fai' and Kwan Y U both

~ wr$csd themselves fmtheir countries.
Me': Awk Fai was a famous general hr the Sowthem Song Llynasty (AD 1127-127Q) r
which was invaded by the northern tribes of 3in. At that time, half of the land of China
b w m e occupied by the Jin, and Awk Fai fought Bo redaim the land. During Awk fal's "'
genedship, Jin always k t in battle against him. Howew. the Jh cunnim wmpW a IT-.^:
Southern Song impaial administrator who eventually accuswd Awk Fai unj*,
and
r,

'

h h to death,

~ o t e Kwan
~ : Yu - see chapter 7.W

Jesus sacrificed his body for the sah.atEw1of all.'

. I

I ~ ' I I ~ : I P J > I ~ I I ~ > . T I , - ~ ~ ~ I

%--!, ,-IT
T l r . l , ~ - : ' ?' b~otl 0- I

Campass of Life ,I&#%

Tathqata Buddha was dismembered alive by a king in India. (see chapter 9 . m

The above mod& illustrate how Saints preserve and nourish their essence of minds,

A physical body rn & but tht$essence of mind is imperishable. Because a body is a

firm and physid ody, it is subject to d 4 . Thus, life a d death are present, as
mpr&ciaUyunderstmi.
The essence of the mind, neither being physical nor having form, is not subject to death.
Thus, it has neither physical growth nor extinction.

h b m w l v e s from their pmcm@on with their short-lived,

cormptib1e bodies, yet p m e r md nourish the everlasting essence of their minds, they
could be veritable deities of greatest JUB.

If people would b

But inst& p q l e are craving and greedy and go to places of frivolous enmtahmmt
and in mnXoId ways forfeit their access to the ability of NE. Although the essence of
their minds is inherently bright, nonetheless it is obscured by their worldly desires.

For inme,a
a f h I f b mationless. When the wind blows, the tree is sta&
Water of itself is clear. When mixed with mud, the water is dirtied.
Mankind of ibelf bas JUE, When tempted with desii, marikind's .TIE is obscured,
.I I I

When our bodies are Ml of desires, it is like a tree that has caterpillars.
A tree living with caterpillars on its branches will be consumed.
When our bodies are consumed with desires, they become mined.
When caterpillars are mawlixlg all over the tree, the tree does not letst long; when desire is
burning everlywhere within our bodies, lives are cut short.

*
%mm

zpMmarI'W~
I

I'

In d m to preserve our lives, we must restmh OW d e s k *

En order to restrain our desires, ye must be mindfUl that our 'Five Gates of Desire'' be
i.

.'.

pushdcbd.
The "Five Gates of Desire" are the doas to &ires, and a province of sensual pleasure.
N&': The Five Gates of Dmire am #e d e s m of eyes, ears, mouth, nose and body.
II
' I

If we can close the Gates and extirpate our desire, we then will neither focus on omelves
inwardly nor W g u i s h ourselves from other things o ~ m d l y Thus,
.
the essence of
minds are enlightened.
-

Once enlightened, that which will happen in even a future of a hundred thousand years
can be seen as if in h a t of our eyes; and the events tbat happen even a hundred thousand
miles away can be observed as if they are happening close by.
I

wss lfflm* rn@@*at@

F w e live the above precepts to practice WE, we are un~nsciuusof living JUE. The
unconsciousness of having JUE is the supreme JUE.

Nevertheless, achieving WE is hardly without d=culty. From tkre past to the present,
people who have created for themselves some or all of the 'Ten Evil h m w " are either
defded by the 'Six Evil Dusts" or captured by their physid, verbal and mental sins.
They p r q a d m t l y fall into the trap without even comprehending the meaning of WE.
~ o t e 'Ten
: Evil K a m s ere
resutt of the following wrongdoing:
1) @$& Killing
2)
Stealing
3) %@ Lust
4) SR Words of Arrogance
5)
llndermidng others 0)
Words of Sleaziness
7 ) $$% Satacious Words
8)
Avarice
10) @B Vicious Thoughts
9) #!?.if4Hatred

F.

LY
:

1-:4 1 1

I J I U I ~ ~LL$n
W I

M e 2 : Six EM1 Dusts are Form, Sound, SmJl, Taste, Touch and Mind which can all
pollute our essence of minds like dust.

Thus, iniquities from hidden conspiracies or overt plotting are accumulated daily. These
people head against the TAO and betray the truth. They surrender themselves to
vicioumess and disc& their r i ~ ~ e sIns life,
, they will eventually be pwkhled.
After life, they will be f d m punished and conked in the 'Three Evil paths''.
Even if they desperately cry out for rescue then, alas, they cry too late.
~ofe':ThmeEvil Paths are :
. ,.,. I I
1) Path of Flre :a phw In blMte;
2) Path of Blood :a plam which belongs tu animals that eat each other;
3) Path of Blades : a place for hungry ghosts that are punished by knk,sword, stick, etc.

Our Tim De Religion especially emphasizes this character JUE, in order to awaken
people to the hope that all can desist h t h e from immersing themselves in worldly
shore of TAU.
illusions, so that they can quickly r t e b to the
Then let it be hoped that their sense of JUE will grow and ever blossom.

Nevertheless, all the above is neither expecting everyone to abandon their worldly
practices nor showing off supercilious wisdom,

In our living, we can only hope that, when we d d with peaple, we observe the Twenty
Characters Doctrine to w m t our mngdabg and a p p x h a t e the ideal of kindness.
Then, we crrn nourish the essence of our minds and improve our real selves.
We can coma to &e
tfiat we might be lost but have not a long distance o go back, and
can behave in our today's b&m than our past.

Inherent in such right conduct is ax~oihermanifestation of JUE. So dso are Heaven and
hell diEerentiated.
.-

Siace the k p t t a n c e of it is paramount, I explicate this TAO to awaken the pmple.

Mankind k JIE (Strength of Chata~W,Temperance) as bamboo has its nodes (node is

the same word as JIE in Chinese).
Because it has .TIE, the bamboo can therefore hold its stem high. By v&w of having JIE,
m&d
consequentIy can be strong-minded.
-

In ancient times, the atthments of loyal imperial officials, righteous citizens, dutiful
children and upright widows were dl fundamentally achieved us@ JIE,

Since J
E amcmtra~dl the righteous spirit of W e n and Esuth, p p l e of JIE are full
of mettle and perseverance even though they be confronted with sword or fm. " ' " " I

''

mm

T3R

Wen ~irn-Xim&'
s d , qtTurbulemdmes manifest people's NE,"
~lote':Wen has been noted in the Chapbr 7 "YI".

Basically, hrbulent times am unfortunate for everyone, yet they are, in a way, fortunate to
h o n o d l e people.

The reason is: without facing strong wid, $he strongest bhde of grass r e d m
disc overed; without living in the times & chamI the loyal hqmhl official goes

m m .

'#W>rnmwda
.--,-1 a crisis, honorable person's JIE is distinctively revealed.

Campwsof Life A2kHPi3

Mowert JIE, to which honorable people aspire, is also h n i d y a chmctetistic that

they mluctantly accept.

~ ~ w ~ e ~ ~ w x ~ ~ * @ a s + ~
I I

When ttre whole world is in a &spate &ath, who lends a hand to s t a n the raging
tide? The honorahb people! Thus, hmombIe -1e
yearn for JIE.

However, being as h e and forceful as Yau' or as persuasive as TsiZ,is less excellent

t?mWui's3vision fbr world peace and well-being of life.
Indeed, conditions presenting no cause requiring bravery or diplomacy are best of alL
M e ' : Yau (dl PP{&fj q7.B BB),a student of Confucius, was enamored of farce and
wished to use power to pacify the world.

m),

TFW
a student of Confucius, favored the art of persuasion
~ o t eTsi
~ : @j
and wished to use diplomatic skill to pacify the world.
Me3:Wui (El @@ElP7-M Sam,a student of Confucius, held high the ideal of
l i Itself, even in less than p&cf canditions, and apposed the theories of Yau and Tsi,
promotha better gwemmant instead.

*Ei

#wB+

%*2F*g*

Thus, some have said that honorable people do not actually yearn for JIE, but they have
no a l t e d v e when circwtaaces are forced upon thgq

W h p q l e face no alternative, they still do their duv which may cost them their lives.
But if" not because of this heavenly endowed characterisiic, what else can underlie their
sWaSmess?

Consider these things: a medical pill can be groufld up but its color doesn't vanish.; an
orchid can be dried up but its flagranee can't he suppressed, j& can be bmka but its
purity can't be sullied; gold can be burned but its strength can't be diminished.

4HE-#w
M3T-S
a*ss
Everything has its own n-a1

essence which c m a t be altered by force.

The same h m c t a i s t i c applies to homrable people when they embrace virtue and never
waver.

Long ago, there lived Chui M a n - h i whose body was dessribed as mote delicate than his
clsthes and whose words always found diilkulty to come out h m his mouth.
However, at the Unifrcati~n meting of countties held in
city of Song', he,
overcoming his handicaps, talked and laughed amid the hostile armed throng. He was
coafident, wmpowd and never ~howedsign of wavering.
N&': Chui lived in the "Springand Autumn Periodn(8C 77M76)and was an imperial
ficial of the Country of Jin. At one time, the Countriers of Jin and Tsoi W d to unite and
held a m a i n g in the city af Song. However, Tsai had no intentton of unity but had
planned this meeting as an opportunity to kidnap all the qmsentatives of Jin. Chui
calmly ~ t m d
up for his muntry in the mid& of the M d o n and tumult of the m w n g , and
hcause of this, the kidnap scheme was abo-.

Scholar A m stood less than six f e d tall. When he was meeting with Tsoey and Hin$,a
hmk was placed around his neck and a sword held to his chest; but he did not waver.
Me': It is an ancient Chinese six feet which b about fnre feet in nowadays measurement.
~ o dScholar
:
Aun was an imperial administrator of Countrj of Qim)m the "Spdng and
Autumn Period. At one time, Tsoey and Hing, both imprial officials of Qi, killed Qi's
warlord. &fore attempting to consolidate their power with other royal family memhr ofQI,
they tried to fom Scholar Aun to ackrrmiedge their status as legitimate; but Aun never
betrayed his country.

We come to know that the strongest af things is constituted

the m b t :of things h

this world.

People may appear soft hcause the time has not come to be strong, Thus their righteous
character is not tempered and they .seem to be cowards, until the time comes and
rightmumess is needful. Then even though crisis w i r e them to die nine times, those
people do not W.Or, bribed with rnillio~those people do not waver.
AU these behaviors must be cultivated day by day so that at any moment, should crisis
befall, their character will not be deprived of ultimate JIE.

Nowadays, the Three C a d i d Principles doctrine has fallen and the Nine Peaceful
Methods to Gavm a Coubry' are in ruin. People who have lost their JIE: abound among
US.

~ o t e ' :Nine Methods fa Govern a Country (hE &eM@

from the h k "Propriety of Zhou",

$$#3?i%z%)
minated

T h e ~ o f t t r e ~ " ~ r l d i s b l & a n d t h e h o p e o f t futureiseh!

he
, .*.
Suppose we ask if there be any government oficiaI would die fur by&. The answer
would be "nowd
Suppase we
if there rn any offspring who would die for aid piety. The answer
would be "riot'.
Suppose we ask if there be &y-widow wha Wduld die for JIE or any friend who would
die: for righteousness. The answer would be "nu".

Stories of comption of public morals are heard intemhbIy. Incidents of impropriety or

taw-breaking are continually see&

Thw*~ uTien
r
De Religion promotes ahis character JIE to warn all those people who em.
All those who follow this TAO must better their reputation of heir JIE. To better our
:putation of JIE, we must care about ourselves right down to the most trifling persod
atters.

a r e about' eveii 'hiflingpersonal mzatters means that nut even one word or one gesture
c k e d out carelessly.

Once we comport oumlves daily in this manner, then . w bwe_m in crisis, our
righteous~s
will,then @ow automatically.
I
.

and

In olden times, the upright widow never married twice; the loyal government officials
lever served other dynasties.
rhis is because of JIE, which strengthens one's m o d principles and stabilizes one's
sonduct.

I
I
I

b e wild goose never changes its mate for lfk md the swan can bear to live alone.
Thus, even birds do not lose their JIE. Then why doesn't mankind know how to observe
JIE, complete JIE and end with J1E.

~fuciussaid, " M y when the year has become cold, we then h o w that the pine and
cypress trees are the last to lose their leaves."

1mmFmig
t,

we can exert amelves to behave with JIE!

emu
JIAN (Frugality) is the opposite of extrovagan*.

M w g m t people look for action but people of JIAN look for qukt enjoyment;
Extmvapnt people loak for difflcdty but people of JIAN look. for economy of motion;
b v a g a n t people look for complexity but people of JIAN I& for shgficity.
Extravagant people look for glamorous pleasure but people of JLW look for simple
tranquillity.
These 4 wurse, am chamctaktics of truth itself.

T h y ' s people, who are fond of extravagance, half of than justify themselves by reason
of worldly mannem.

Thus, Schoh am' d d ,

Worldly awnnew emphasize excessive exuberance but JMN pebpie do not;
Worldly m a r s emphasize overly elaborate arrangements but JIAN people do not;
Worldly m-rs
m p h a s b expensive hair pin or band but SLAM people are not ashand
of plain ones; Worldly manners emphasize a flashy lifestyle but JMN people are not
ashamed of a quiet life."
~ o t e ' Scholar
:
Tam was a famaw radst in Tang Dynagty (AD 618907).

Fortune, to already-w&y people, m&m them feel no happier. Fame,to dready-bws

people, makes them feel no more eminent.
For gold and jade are mmly common valuables to the rich; indeed, the positions of
imperial officials or nobility are merely common valwbles of eminence.

Chapter 17-JIAN

Water is never as sweet as to one thirsty, nor is food as tasty as when you are hunjpy.

Only by behaving with JIAN, can we come to know how wrong are greedy, wanton
thoughts and extravagances.
Thus, we see that JIAN is a foundation of virtue, md extravagance is the root of vice.

People who see another eating elephant meat feel Wontent with beef at their own table;
Rpple who see anotherwearing a crown fmd dimntent with the hat an their own bead.
At mot of discontent is an ewr of not living simply; at root, not-Living-simply begins
h m mdlm desires.
".
- -::
p ,,.I

r 3

m y those p p l e who calm their mind and cast out their d e s k , can be properly
composed to tdce on tbe character of W.
-

Scholars of the ages have said:

"ApplyingJTAN in hearing nurtures the soul;
Applying JIAN in seeing nurtures the spirit;
Applying JIAN in speaking husbands our energy;
Applying JIAN to physical action nurtures the essence of ow bodies;
Applying J M to selfishness protects our fortune;
Applying JIAN in impartiality maintains our nobilie,
Applying JIAN as regards the h t door and &ace fails the thief;
Applying JIAN as isregards security measures for~tslllsmuthy;
Appbing JIAN to administration m t s out corrupt a%ci&
as to ~oncubinespresewes our life;
&plying
Applying JIAN to think can even b d c us h e from the cycle of life and death."

nus,we know that using JIAN tmmfoms we-g

we do,

Chapter 17 JUH

We hear: every ruler is convinced of but one way t~ rule his country, but none knows the

'ONE".
Why? Because every way of guvemce has its o m ONE.
Consider for instance:
Benevolence has its own ONE lave;
Righteousness dm has its own ONE obligation;
Propriety a h has its o m ONE - R S ~ ,
h k b a ~ e b S hS
O m - kllo~l-;
Trustfuhess also has its own ONE the symbol of authority.
Only ITAN liball the above five doctrines, and merges them togetha into the ONE way
to govern the world.
N&': ONE, in Taoism, is us& very offen because, R is mid, Tao Is born from 4he figure

ONE.

xsm H ~ B M Zmmz Tfli;ae*2.

The way of JIM is simple beawe it emphasizes simplicrty. This wisdom is
metaphysical and its meaning is not easily explained.

Nonetheless, when talking about h e way of observing ONE, there is nothmg better than

M.
Under the discipline ofJIAN,
the act of benevolence does not subsequently accede to *I
the act of righteousness does not subsequently accede to mmkaht;
the act of propriety does not subsequently accsde to extravagance;
the act of intelligence does not subsequently a w e to cunnine;;
the act oftmsthhess does not subsequently accede to perplexity;

When people in power have their minds disciplined by JIAN and employ the principle of
JWN, the citizens endure little bardship at the hand of a govenrment on which they rely
and in a land in which they thrive.

rn*BYEW .B-@HjHE~ U E W h !E&B!rn%.E

=BE %
L
x
M
am45 M Z M SMB?
Thus, when a ruler governs with W,his government ministers are relatively content.

When govmmetnt mimistem live with JUN, civil seware ~

~ wntent,l When y
civil sewma live with M,citbm are relatively content. When the citizens live with
M,the whole world is content.
If the world were content in this way, neittnm greed for money or h e , nor Wit wr
OW& would plague us,

Indeed, the climate of our ancient simpler .times would be an= again attained. The
Governing of m e Emperors' wmld lx at hand and the world would flourish.
M e ' : The Three Emperors were the ancient Chinese pm-h-ry empetam: They were
Sui-Ren ($$$A)who taught people how to use fire to burn bod;Fu-XI (&#&Iwho taught
people how to hunt fmh and animab; and Shen-Nun T&@) who taught people how to
farm.

Some ancient honorable people could use a single tool for their entire lives without
breaking that tool. Indeed, some could wear but a single coat far their entire lives without
wearing hat garment out.

They did not do so because they were miserly, but because they treasured their f-e
and reputation as well as their viaue.

Nowadqs, people who are dld 'miserly' would feel terribly insulted. However, they
Jso fail to realize that absolute frugality is the way ofJIAN.
from others, they take n d g . I farm food
For themselves, they of JIAN give no
for my own consumption; I breed silkworm for my own c1oWn.g.
Wig this, no one should cumplain a d no deity does pun& Thew k no reason why this
m o t be the universal way of living.

a-*m
Thus, when o m pasun lives SZAPJ, me f w d y b m e s rid;
his whole land becomes rich.
Thus, ,the impact of JIAN is tremmduus1y encompassing,

ad

m livm for JIM,

C@W I7 JIAN

In our days, as soon as a so-4le.d "~iviiservant" attains an impartant position, he feeds

on the people's very flesh and blood to enrich himself.
Some of these leech- are even worse, invading people's properties and looting peopMs
treasures to lavish on their wives m d mistresses, and to support the expense of their own
private &ages, I d o w wardrobes, and palacia1 homes.
Or, they dissipate the people's money in reckless gambling, without the least sense of
whose tramre they have s q u z ) n M .
1

,= - 4

3.'

- . -

L .

Alas, fm those iniquitous people, they disgrace their own m m b and diminish their own
fortune.

Schoh Tam has said:

"Applying JIAN in lieu of government towers and pavilions, c i t i n s will have ample
energy;'
applying JIAN to government treasures and goods, citizens will have suiXcient money;
applying SLAN to warfare, citizens will have leisure time."

- ~ote': W

n govemmmt uxbdakea mnshction p r o m , citizens have been

requisitionedto mndatorily contribute f b i r manpower.

JIGN seems like not giving, but it is giving; JYLN s e a m like not taking, but it is taking.
JIAN is as it is said "Fishmight get lost were they not always in the water; hmes might
get lost: were they not always on land."

When government omcids take this doctrine to heart in their public policy, there will be
no w q of citizens living p r l y and not enough money for g o v ~ t as; towards
government oEcials, @re will be no chance fm them to mala my m i s t a b s to end up
ruining one's morals or depriving one of one's fortwe.

W m people who behave themselves take t

h doctrine to heart, they not only receive
things honestly aad distritrute newsswim bmevolently to &r pmple, but zdm b v e the
skill to seetrch their own hearts and moderate their own desks. Ts this not magniiicentl

Thus, it is said:
"Peopleof JIAN are those who can be close to the citizens.
People of JIAN are those who can be hinisirators of food and necessary supply.
People of JIAN are those who can have authority."
All that is said above precisely approximates tbe TAO of peace and quiet!

T h principal tea& of Islam are purity and ZHEN (Genuineness).

Mty is the opposifeof foulness; ZHEN is ths opposite of illusion.
Every physical frmn in the world is foulness. All foulness is an illusioni.
If mankind can dispense with its foulness and maintain its purity, the way of genuine
practice is a t k h d .
ThusI what is the practice of ZHEN;what is it really about?
~ o t e ' :By illusion is meant things fh& are ever-changing in form and lack essential
meaning.

People in this world all have a p @ o n of their own selves,

In truth, the self of our "self' em he a self of ZHEN aud a self of illusion.

m* mmma
*as

WB35

WP*

*2mB *sMmt!h
B

m RrRzms*m~
**F& 35+wW#

S& **-a

Ir tlea!!sBbZW

*s~Bsf.&zTE**M

t&im#wlpiBltm&*Qs

Fm=

The self of illusion is this fleshly physical body.

Because of not being fully enlightened before this life, I could not control myself anQ was
cast into a hody of "fourcomponentsll"in this dusty and daqtive dream-land of life.
Thus, I live here and have my trams here.
My body, which is illusory at best, lasts no longer than one hundred yeam and eventually
ends with decay.

Having it brings no glory and losing it brings no shame.

If ow own M y can be viewed in this way, how illusory axe all those things &at are
outside of the body, such as riches, honor, h e , glory, hushdl wife, son and dsurghter.
Those images we chimeras as cloud d wind meting in the sky, or as a meet & e m in
spring-he, Having them is not required to make us happy*and losing them need not
makeus ad.
people's w~rldlycravings all have the t m s i t ~ fsymptoms
y
of existing, vmhhhg,
living and dying.
PeopIe who perceive incidents h u g b the lens of their own personal prefmnces and
allow any c~umstancesto p r h b their minds are as those who wcgrt a thief as their
offspring.
They fail to realize that the "self' of illusion is a deceptive component.
~ o t e ' The
:
"Four componentsnof the body are wrth, water, fin and wind. The hardest
part of a body Is the earth component. The wet part is the warn; the warm part is fire and

I
I

'I

the motion of our body is wind.

The self of ZIEN, which is the wen= of ow inids a d un~hmgtablethmughaut dl

y ~ ~ ~ ~ t h e ~ m 0 f ~ e U n i . v ~ .
I f w e can dose the gstesofourdeshl in a d e r t ~ ~ t i c e o u r b b ~simmlywith
ior
fmwd miud and temps ow lamedm
-c
can
evaporab and QW
innate positive prinoipal s p i d can msnifest itself in 111 strength.
When such positive principal spirit: is in fd sgength, our 'self of
wbich has
qmrhmity to manifest itseK thea can be pmsmt with d e s or d i q p a r . Tt om
suer small or large within 0m1ws. It can supam life or death and evm e s w p from eEre
cycb of reincmpion.
Everyrhing in fhis world has its o m h & e of dewy, but we dan't. E v q h h g h this
world Im i&Mk or d e d but we dunk
This is due m the positive ~c~
spirit which is tho suprernevoid and nothingod.
The ukinwk wid is Pllso bu h a t solidity;
~
t& ukhmte mmmt of nathingnw 1s &O
the ultimate awment of w e 4 .
WS, I a n generate emything in this WOTMbut fhc world cannot generate me5.
Thh is the mlf of m;
and it is &e genuine joy.
NO&': a t e s of m
iream the wim of eyes,e m , mouth, nose and w.
mag at^^. n e positive
w2:
~d
M two principal spirits w h are~ paitive

~~

I
rn

Compass of lift &k#&$!

principal spirit naturally buoys upward and the negative spirits sink ever downward.
bide3:The void, which has no form or physical image, ihus can never decay. If it never
decays, it Is ultimate form of solidity. In Taoist doctrine, Nothingnews is the source of
everything because everything must begin with the state of nothing.
W e ' : The concepts of wid versus solidtiy w nothingness versus everything can be
cwnpared to a person who Me$ to make space for himsel#. !f he builds a small house, it
means a small suliary boundary ia formed and relatively a small space-void is c m a for
himseH. If ha buikis an urnmate huge house, it means an ultimate solidary boundary is
formed and mlatiiely an uttlmate spam-void is mated for himself. That is whaf we call
relativity today,

The subjed "I"refers to a person who has attained the state of nothingnessso that
he can generate evewhing.

Nowadays, people who give vent to their desires without at13 wtlstmhi: don't know how
to take g o d care of their positive principal spirit and nurture their inherent nature. They
regard kindness as om enemy, so that they never know the genuine joy that emmates &in
the self of ZHEN.
The sages are the me exception. They disregwd all perceptiuns of difXcu1ty or we, gain
or loss, right or wrong, advantage or disadvantage, luck or unluck, dmger or fortune, life
or death, glory or insult. Instead, they nurture their inner essence, their genuine vWur1
and their positive principal spirit.
The sages then become part of the Universe and feel ita b o u n d l e ~ they
~ ; btxorne part
of nature and enjoy its vastness. By then, they have no concern h i the self of ZHEN is
the reality of themselvw. Why would they even wask an instant to question whether the
self of illusion is a falsehood?
~ o t e ' :In Taoism, innate air called "genuinevapouF ineide our body nurtures our positive
principal spirit.

of us who are m m adiwwy mW, the so-obvious self of ZHEN is

mknowledged to be illusion; the so-obvious self of illusion is acknowledged to be d.

Fur

Co-

of Life

m m

The glamorous life, greed,wealth and fame should be treated with as M e attantion as we
give the clouds running across the sky. But, confusing illusion with ZHEN, we
continually think that we are entitled to those iIIusory things.
Moreoverf we even fail to r e d h that we can't possess our bodies forever, how can we
possess material things outside of our bodies?
The essence of our mind and spirit should be treated as priceless .treasures that we must
honor and cannot Iet leave our body at any time. But, confusing ZHEN with illusion, we
compromise these treasures and even give them up willingly.
Moreover, we fail to realize that those treasures am our intrinsic sources of life to which
nothing else is comparable.

Thus, once ZHEN has left, hundreds of We motiv&ions mingle w

e our inward

interactions, and everyone amang us is filled widb motives of hypacmisy. Evm our close
relatives would behave with deceit, not to 'inentionthose more distant.
A self-deceived person also deceives ofhers; a self-destructive person also destroys his
country.
Thus, the heart of mankind degenerates dl m m d us, and the 4 t y of the world
becomes lower every day.

I adjure all ambitious and honorable people to: use ZHEW to conduct their livelihood and
he mindless of cunning and pretense; use ZHEN to deal with daiiy business and be
mindless of slacking off; use ZFEN to practice the TAO so as not to be restrained by
l m e d behavior nor be obscured by desires.

Once a particle of ZHEN is manifested in our behavior, every other sign of the ZHEN in
our behviour can foilow.

Thus, we can rqmy the kindness of the n m t w i q of Heaven and Earth, the tam of
the sages and the lessons from our parents to maintain our lively and mconwalable self
of Z m N .

How surpassingly magnificent that is!

Compass oflife

rn e m ~ m ~ 2 w
x*su*am

XR

W (Propriety, Rites] is instituted by &use sages who inherit the authority of Hettvm
Heaven has not given my set of LI ta $ages, but anticipates that they formulate LI based
upon conscience, social trends and the c ~ s t i c ofs each current era to establish a
structure affording rrmkind a body of enduring precepts to former abjure mankind from
transgressing their boundaries.

Confucius said, "When a country is immune with TAO, the institution of LI, the music,
and the right decisions about war are detmnined by Son of~ e a v e n."
'
~ d e ''Son
:
of Heavent is a Chiappellation for a ruler who embodies virtw and
authority, and exerts his presence at the right time.

~ y - ~said,
i ' m e who i.not rz 'Son of Heaven' is with& capacity to suggest LI. "
He also said, Those who have authority but not virtue fail to compose LI and music; nor
can those who have virtue but not authority promLI and mutic."
Thus, LI c m o t be established by one who is no sage or who is a sage without authority.
MOTE': Zy-Si was a grandson of Confucius. See the 1Ith character BO for mom detail.

In Chinese histmy, LI

the periods ~f 'Five Rulers and Three ~ r n ~ r swas

* ' not

handed down uniformly.

However, considering the succession from Xia to Shmg and Zhou Dynasties2, and
although prosperity during each of the dynasties v a r i d the human principles and ethics
were basically maintained in each dynasty.
This is how the LZ within these three dynasties could contain the same foundation.

Cmpws of Life

&k@m

ConfUoius m e r e d a question for ~ y x h e n &by replying: "Through this analysis, LI,

fimthe Zhou Dyl.iasty on, even going through one hundred dynasties, would bbasidy be
carried on."
~ o t e ' :The Five Rulers and fhrw Emperors were the &lest
History.

Chinese rulers in Chinese

NO&: The Xi, Shang and Zhou were the earliest dynasfies in Chi-

hitory.

~ o dzy~heng
:
was one of ~onlucius~
students. ~t one time, tm wanted to know how to
predict the Mure. Confucim, thus, taught him how to a n a m thpl past to foreknow the
future using the t r a n s h a i changing of U.

Cohcius lived during the Zhou Dynasty. How could he be convinced that LI hundred
dynasties later, would be the same as Zhou Dynasty had?

Scholar ~ a explainedl
l
"The 'Tbme Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Prin~i~les'~
comprise the fundamental stfuE2ure; of LI. Basically, h e dynasty can be changed, but tfie
'lhx Cardinal Guides and Fiw Constant Primiples' cannot be- changed. Since they are
umbqe~tbb,the fundammtd stwtwe of LI is umhmgeetb20:as well, This is the mason
why Codwius @oddforesee the future ofLZ 8 hundred dynasties later."
N&': Scholar Ma l i in the Eustem Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). He was so full of
knowledge that he made many annotrvtions to famous Chihew bwks.
me2:The Thm Cardinal Guidea are: Rubr guides Subject, Frtther guides Son,
Husband g u b WRe.
The five Constant Principles are: Ruler and Subject, Father and Son,
Husband and W i i , A m n g Brothers and Among FFriends.

Scholar chul explained the character LI as denoting a system of conscientious conduct

rand proper procedure in h m a n dfkirs.
~lote':Scholar Chu was noted in the chapter 7 Y1.

To what does "conscimtiouscondub"refer?

For example, children must do aeir utmost to conduct themselves with filial piety. This
p p e r conduct is the human conscience lived out.
Paying attention to every detail of one'sparents' daily life is the coduct of LI.

Confucius told Fm-~si',"When our parents are alive, we take care of them with LI.
When our parents die, we bury them and conduct a memorial ceremony far them with LI.
This is he:condu~
of fdial piety."
NO&': Fan-Tsi was one of Confucius students.

LI has many aspects:

As we use it toward our parents, them is the Ll of Sspec't and care when we sewe them
either during their lives or in their funerals or memorials.
As we use it toward our brothers, there is the LI of harmony and h d t y when we walk
dongside our brothers but behind our elders.
As we use it toward our -friends, there is the LI of association when we s b ~ h l hwith
them.

In other mvironments, like the village clan, the fraternal hall,

ljvithin our

family or

outwardly towards other countries, our body (by word, speech, step and our gesture) must
necessarily behave according to the custom of LI.

Thus, LI is?with good reason, used to determine what is noble or infexior;to discern what
is honorable or dishonorable, to identify who is junim or senior, to distinguish wbat is
proper for male and female, to know what is high and low in rank,and to undmstand how
to behave wording to one's dignity.

S e instituted LI in order to prevent the i&erior fiom humili&g the nobb, to deter the
dishonorable frmn attacking the honorable, to prevent the young h m bnutabhg the
elders. Further, LI distinguishes the difference between the conduct proper to male and
fanale, and establishes the ranks of persons in the family.

Thus, the books 'Zhou Ri&sy1,'Mkmer of Ritesy2and 'Diversity of Ritesy3

have defked
in detail t4e ever-constant relationships between son to father, govmmcmt administrators
to emperor, brothers and fiends and exhaustively emphasize: and treat how to &A, remat,

bow and heel.

~ o t e ' :Zhou Rites, written by Zhou Gong, def~nedin detail the ranking system
government of the 2hou Dynasty.

in the

~ o t e Manner
~:
of Rites, also called the "WSutra," detailed the performance of rites
towards those we respect and towards inferior people, and rites approprfate to events of
good fortune or disaster.
NO&:

Diversity of Rites expuunds numerous rites classifiabk in the fallowing categories:

I)
Ritual of auspicious ceremony,like worship.
2) Ritual of ill luck, like k i n g land or country.
3) Ritual of diplomatic manner.
4) Ritual of soldiery before or alter battle.
5) Ritual of praise out of resped for elderly.

The Sages perceptively knew that the world, now or in the future,can be well governed,
not because of the mere impasition of governance itself but by governing the people to
observe LT.
The world, now or in the future, may be in chaus, not k a m e of the mere occurrence of
disorder itself but because people head against LI.
Thus,the sages had no alternative but to institute LI by defming as many as tbree hundred
kinds of manners and establishing three thousand kinds of rites. This they have done in
order to prevent people from having my impropriety in their h e m and to foresdl any
movement toward impropriety in smiety.

Scholar Lu Dong Loi said, "The attack mounted by our greedy desires is mightier than
that of my army; the defense interposed by LI far exceeds the strength of any fortress."
The might of greedy desire is plain i h m the egregious examples of people who have
betrayed their own righteousness and so departed h m the course of their conscience that
they have revolted against their superiors for h e sake of, and indeed for none other than,
the greed of seIfish desire.
In order to defend against and rid us of such greedy desire, LI must be obsewed f M and
foremost.
Thus, the wise ruler institutes LI so that his citizens are brought public order; Honorable
people themselves observe LI so that they protect their integrity and very personhood.

e 3 a I S t ~ W ~ e g * ~ m ~
Scholar Gum' said, "LI, righteousness (YI), iutegrity &IAN) and sense of shmfdness
are & four fundamental principles of a country. If these four principles do not prevail,
the country collapses."
NOTE': Scholar Guan lived in Chinese Warring period (BC 475-21 1) and was noted in the
chapter 7.YI.

In ancient times, a &ed-away

prinmss, though her parents had even died, could only

send her servant to bring condolence fiom ha to the royal family of her origin. Such is
part 0fLI.
Lu Hum-Gong, a duke ofLU', and his wife, Wen-Jiang the princess of Qi, didn't obsnve
this LI and visited her cawtry of Qi Eventustlly, Lu Hum-Gong was murdered by PendSheng in the country of ~i.'
A sister who has married visits home. She cannot sit together anymore with her brothers.
Such is another part of LI.

Qi Xiang-Gong, a duke of Qi, so outrageously failed to o b m e LI that he iacestuously

engaged in sexual misconduct with his sister Wen-Iiang. Eventually, suffering and death
overtook Qi --Gong
in the "Incidentof the &H-~erson'".
~lote':This historial incident is documented in the book ' m r d s of History.'
When Lu Huan-Gong and his wife, WmJiang, had journeyed back to the country of Qi,
Huan-Gong dkcovemd Wen-Jiang's sexual miscanduct with her brother Qi Xiang-Gong.
After being scolded by her husband, WenJiang remonstrated with Xing-Gong who then
decided to send Psnd-Shmg to murder Huan-Gong. When the country of Lu learned of
Huan-Gong's death and demanded Xiang-Congls explanation, Xiang-Gong executed
Pend-Shng to aHay the anger of Lu.

A couple of yean ,*I

Xiang-Gong went in a carriage to hunt. Suddenly in a forest, he
saw an enomws boar. His servants exclaimd to h i that the boar was reincarnated
from Pend-Sheng, Xiang-Gong becam angry and tried to shoot the boar. Suddenly, the
boar rose up and toppled Xiang-Gong from his carriage, breaking his leg, whereupon the
party made haste to return to his palam. As fate would have it, Xiang-Gong's rivals
learned that his leg was broken so he a u l d not move, whereupon the enemies attacked
his palace and assassinated him.

Other dismaying instances abound between father and so% brothers, husband and wife,
and between fiends. All af them departed from LI and ended in death, collapse of
country, end of omring and even family line, as have been documented numerously in
history.

Alas, dl too many now rqard LI as wortbless and annoying ritualism that justifies n~
adherence, They scarcely know the serious misfortune that comes as a consequence of
such camplamcy !

I have meditated on this c W t e r LI: Comparing it to the h e of seasun, it is like as to

Summer1; Comparing it tr, geography, it is like the southwn China. LI, as regads the
human anatomy, is the he* Among rhe "Five~lemexlts"',LI is comparable to h,

Thus, LI, which cuts as sharp as an ax or ets the btde of the guillotine, yet partakes of the
solerrmiry of the frost sf Autumn, is so aweinspiring that no one can dare t~ violate its
sanctity.
~ o t e ' wry
:
Chinese character in writing can be analogized to one of the Five-Elements
(metal, wood, wter, fire and earth) either by number of brush-strokes of the character or
by the sound of Its articulstion. At I w t in these ways, the character LI is comparable to
the element of fire.

Further, Imd'itlmal Chinese medicine recognizes that FiiEhments nature theory

usefully repwenis the five main human Internd organs. Thus, the lung, I b r , kidmy,
heart and spleen correspond to metal, w n d , water, fire and earth respectively.
By their own nature, each of the Five-Elements has dual manifesktiions that either
subdue or assist other dements. For instance, a chain of the elements, 'm their
manifestation of subduing is: metal subdues wdod, wood subdues earth, earth subdues
water, water subdues fire and fire subdues metal. A chain of elements assisting other

elements is:metal assists water, water assists wood, wood assists fire, fire ass&
and earth assists metal,

earth

Remgnizhg the dual manIfWahns of each element opens a distinctive path far the
C h i n a doctors in -bent
of their patients, For instance, if a person's lung has a
problem, the d-r
would reason that, since fire subdues metal, the hear! may be
abnormally strong or weak to subdue the lung. Or,since metal assists water, the kidney Is
abnormally
or weak to be assisted. Thus, the doctor not only tmb the patient's
lung, but also h a ? sthe parson's heart end kidney, etc.

smimm
If violated, the relationship of male and female does not comply with LI and subsequently
the tie of &age
becomes loosened. So also, when the rehtionship of f'ather and child is
by improvident innovation made equal, such does not comply with LI because there
disappears the difference needed to determine when respect is due.

It is said that certain humam are basts in human form! Is it not a true statement!

The Sutm of the ~ o o ksaid,

' "The order of Heaven is LI."
Thus, the mot of LI originates
Heaven. Even though LI is instituted by Sages, LI is
nevertheless that of Herwen.
Mankind only k n ~ m
not to act against Heaven, but fails to know not to v i o k LI. If this
be so, do they really even how mything of Heaven?
~ o t e ' :Them am f ~ Chinese
e
classic sutras and Sutra of the Book is one of them. The
re& are: the Sutra of Poetry, the Sutra of Changes (1-Ching), the Sutra of Rites and the

Spring and Autumn Annals.

%&LAX@*% rn&%XrnS
Our religion is named Tien De [in English 'Heavenly Virtue.') The m e itself inherently
emphasizes Hemtvenly LL,

The manners ofHeavenly LI are vast and bemendous in import.

For now, Let us just discuss their narrower scope:
At home, when parents sit, we should stand aside and await their bidding; when parents
& we should pay -tion
in conversation.
Walking along with older brother, we should fallow behind.
When an elder in the family has trouble, we should txy to take proper responsibility in h e
situation.
The brother-in-law or sister-in-law should forbear h n frequent interaction in the h i l y
~ftheir marriage.
Mde and female should not give nor receive things of value betwean them.
Pn front of sisters or sic-in-law, we should make no impropriety.
Dealing with cM&
nephew or niece, we should make no nuisance.
Dealing with guests, we show respect, politeness and amiability.
W i n g with servants, we s h ~ w
strictness and uprightness,

So, as to d&g

with worldly matters, we should always bear a heart of sinceriq md

respect.
Even when we reside done or merely have mmemts dane, we do not permit ourselves to
become loose in our behavior.
Thw wre all matters of LI.

Thus, it is not only at the rituals of 'wearing hat", wedding, wake or memorid setvice
that we cannot neglect to comply with LT.
~ote':The W r i n g hat' is an ancient Chinese ritual for a child who is at the suitable age
to be pronounced an adult

Confucius said,
'"ou
shalt not see without complying with LI.
Thou shalt not hear without complying with LI.
Thou shalt not say without complying with LI.
Thou shalt not act without compIying with LI."
Let it be fervently hoped that all the believers of this TAO shall realize this teaching in

mind and deed!

W**-$S
urn**
The Twenty Characters m i n e , a, golden healing remedy, employs the character HO
(Harmony) as its last character, one with a deep meaning.

EBEBB% #@-T@%&Mdrn
HrnF
I:

am@i

I have repeatedly deduced meaning from the character HO. Some Chine= phrases begin
with the character HO and literally read, for instance, 'harmonic smoobess', 'harmonic
equilibrium', 'harmonic togetherness', 'harmonic happiness',

&me, FfO mani'fests smoothness. Without HO,there is not smoothness, but resistance
instead.

mu*-v#WHFrnrn&
HO manifests equilibrium. Without HO,equilibrium disappears, and unbalance takes iQ
place.

mu& *rng+em
HO manif*

togethem-,

Without HO,togethemess vanishes and sqmation pervades

all.

mu*

rnRrlF4Wrn~B

HQ manifests happiness, Without HO, there is not happiness but resentment in its place.

&=&%=
T h i s is a straightforward matter of cause and effect.

r
n
m
*
g
*
*
ax+m

m **m m
m mm

Brn

mm

phases end with the character HO and some examples literally read
"Btherand son harmony', 'brotherhood harmony', "husband and wik hammy', 'friends
harmony', 'patrian:httl clan harmony', 'village goup harmony', and ' f a y in-laws
harmony'.
Q

TQ h s e

H n c e with HQ, the relationships between father and son, brother and brother, husband
and wife, friend and kiend, patriarchal clan, vdhge group, and family in-laws are
constituted and cemenbd

Without HO, the relationship between father and son, brothem, husband and wife, friends,
patriarchal clan, village group, and family in-laws simply do not exist.

@mas
Carefur scrutiny ofthe c h c t e r HO shows it is formed, in tura, of Chinese chmctem
signifying a rice plant a d a mouth.

Behold the rice plant: each grain of a rice plant opens up with a mouth-shape exactly at
mid-day. This time ofday is a period evidencing the most upright spirit between sky and
earth. That spmt is undehted and indomitable.

'a=% 5ema* m m *
Thus goes a saying that when HQ is present, the sky and earth are in their proper pasition
and every living thing grows.

AWUWEZR @XW$HW&V?
H

If mankind becomes able to use upright spirit to order and calm the sky and earth, and
nudm living things, it would be ~ d 'ultimate
s wcornpiishment.

When visiting a harmonious famdy>the distinctively harmonious- atmosphere can be

noticed even by obseming their fm animals,

JINA~~+%RB~*B~
La% ago, the family of Chm Bao, who dwelled in Jimg Zhou in Soutkm Tang Dynasty,
had ten generations, in all more than seven hundred people, living together.

During me&, dd and young were seated in a family mimi$ d m and ate &g&er.

His dogs, numbering somewhat more t b a hundred, also ate together in their d o m *
However* if one dog failed to appear, &e rest of the dogs would not eat. The dogs,
showing in this way how they knew to Ime ?heir kiad, plainly were b f h ~ e n dby the
harmonious atmosphere ofthis wonderful m y who owned them.

Today's people mistakenly suppose that HO merely means conforming themselves to the
behavior of others. The supeficial defmition they implicitly make indeed distorts and
confuses the trutb of HO.

Confucius said, "A properly-behaved person em d l y attain HU without necessarily

conforming hhwlfwith tbe behavior of &em; a misbehaving person can most certainly
act with meti~ulousconfmmity without approaching HO."

Hence, HO and conformity may, at a a m , seem similar; however, one should most
carefully note that their meanings m indeed t o e distinct and even opposite to 4
other.

Suppose that people say that a person is pod, and m 1 follow them and regard that
person as good Or perhaps people say that another person is bad, and I follow them and
r~gardthat person as bad.
Simply adopting the opinions of ohers without investigating whether they are correct or
not is mere conformity, it is most certaiaEy not HO.

person is good, and I

obwwant1y detect badness within his goodness. Or, perhaps people say that another
person is bad, but I correctly perceive some goodness within his badness.
Detecting such true goodness or badness through judicious investigation, h e of bias, is
HO;it is nothing in the nature of conformity.

On the other hand, by contrast, suppose people say that

I, myself; have studied religion for years and hope that any sincere persons more senior
tban I, as well as my peers, will point out my mistakes. Such hope is the intention of HO.

M* H

af rnsf;@$rn@
m m rnMieBM

Why such intention? Though arrr eyes be able to count each of the tiny line8 on a little
b i d s fwthers, we ammot we our very same sharp eyes to see our own eye lashes.
%ugh our strength allow us to lift the weight of nine heavy Chinese a
r
o
in pots, we
cannot use our w e strengh to lift our own weight by ow bwtstrqs.

Human kings e d y detect others' mistakes, but can never see their own mistakes right in
fiont of them,

Shcmly s e e b g and m h g friends to assist or rescue us fhm our own m o w : y acmg

thuq our bbvh wi4 mither i?rrto excess an the om hand nor to want hjr falling short
on the other hand. Is &is not the way ofthe most mdwk HV?

Now, think of a chef cooking a delicacy, The chef is either adding wakr if the broth be
too salty, or adding salt ifthe h t h be too tasteless, The water and salt must be in balance
in order to achieve harmony, and only then can it be called an 'hamoniw' brotb.
As the Sutra of Poetry also says: "Anharmonious broth is unexaggerated and mild."

A musician adjusts music by either lowering the key when the music is too high, or rising
ta a higher key when it is tor, low. The high and low pitches must be in balance in order
to achieve a n y , and only then can they be called harmonious sound.
This is also what the Sutm of Poetry sap: "Music is that which is regarded as being
h o n i o u s sound. Harmonious sound is euphony."

#tBna.t&
sz$@mm
m&+SWas
The love of food is a passion pertaining to the mouth. When food once passes over the

tongue, of but b e e inches in len& the taste af it is forgotten. However, the y-g
harmonious W e itself is ever within us.

mm #&WW
9
-

for
I -

Music brings a pleasure pertaining to the ear, but once the night is over, such pleasure is
forgotten. However, the yearning for hmonious sound itself is aver within us.

Consider these: the heart is the vital center of our body and air' is a necessity for our body.
Shouldn't then the heart and the air be so ordered as to be in s state of HO within our
bodies?
M e ' : The air which is also nded in chapter 4 MlNG u n be a 'Noble Ait or a 'Fiery AY
constituted by our behaviour.

H m ewks

F
W
a
w
*

Mmcius said, "Persistin your ambition, but don't lightly expend your Noble Air."
This is the TAO ofHO.

Of course, HO is not easy to illustrate.

For instance, a painter paints. If the motion of pain* is loo shw, the paint is too thick
a d it is difficult fm the paint to dry. If the motion of painting is too quick, the pint 5
insufieimt and thin.The opposites of sow and quick painting motion must be in balance
so that the paint can be regulated hmwi~wly
and the beauty of it achiwed.

A blacksmith makes a sword. If the sword is too had, it will be easily broken; if it is too
soft, it will be warped. I f it be desired not to be bmken, lend must be added, not to be
warped, metal must be added.

The reason of the matter is that the nature of meld is hard*and the nature of lead is soR.
Once the opposites of softness and hardness are balanced in an harmonious state, the
finest results will be achieved.

m a #wmk
The nature of our heart and soul is malogous to the foregoing examples.

King Xu-Yan had a too-mft-hearted pemnaLity and this caused his country to be
destroyed. Xu-Ym, at i3st as a duke of Zbou Wty, treated his p p l e with
benevolence. Before long, several small states of S o u did with him and, at their urging,
he let them m e him King, The reign@ monarch of Zhou felt such unease about the
developments that he sent ?mopsto &%troy King Xu-Yan's power. However, King XuYan was so soft-hearted that he gave up the fight fnr his states, not wanting his people: to
die in battle.

Qi Jim-gong had a cowardly personality and caused his curmtqr to fall. Qi Jk-gong was
a khg of Qi in the Warring Period of Chinese history. In his government, there was a
tyTannicJ administrator named Chm conbolling Jim-gong's government. Jian-gong had
some chances to regain his power by killing Chen, but he never could summon the
cowage to do so.Eventually, Chen assassinated Jim-gong and dominated the country of
Qi for a period of time.
These tntgdes were due to extreme softness ofpemmlity.

Ymg Chu-Fu, an administrator of the country of Jin in the Spring and Autwnn period
(BC 770476) had such an irascible personality &at ha always used his words to hurt
others, and eventually he himself was killed

Zbeng Zi-ymg, axl administrator of the coun~ryof Zhmg in the Spring and Autumn
period, had such a cruel personality that he refused mercy to my wrongdoer for even a
minor a t i o n . At one b e , a servant ran away h m Zhmg because he accidentally
broke a bow. This servant, who so f e d 2hengts punishmat, organized a rebellion
among the people who resented Zheng, and murdered him.
These outcomes were due to extreme hardness of personality.

9FFmZrn
All those events happened because HU was lost

When Yin-Ymg is in the state of HO,the rain falls on time. When the seasons are in a
state of HO,ail nature hlwswms and procreates. The abw11ceof HO is as when fire and
water lose their natural balance, whereupon catastrophes happen.

Today, the TAQ of the properly-behaved person is at an ebb; the TAO of the improperlybehaved person is at flood tide. Such is the sbte of Yin (darkness) being strong and Yang
iJmghtuess)being weak, and thus a period of catastrophe for Heaven and at1 humanity.

Therefore, precious little HO is present to our eyes today. Disputes and lawsuits abound
because HO is not maintained between people. Wars and conflicts erupt becaw HO is
not maintained between countries.
Every land is full of sorrow, which gradually evolves into ~alzunitieson ever-wider scde.
This sadness I feel so dwply thal it causes me to sigh with gasps of grief.

Hoping ta avert wen more massive disasterTI h o w no other nor better way than ta
promote the Twenty Characters Doctrine to harmonize the atmosphere between Heaven
and Earth.

*-

s 1$###

I fervently hope and urge that you who practice my TAO endeavor and persist in bm@g
harmony to your personality an8 h e r esmce so that your moral character will be
cultivated and purified;

That you harmonize with brothers, wives and children so that your household will be in
order;

-.

WM w
m

That you harmonhe your politics a d your citizenry so that your country will be well
administered;

Chapter 20 HO

aitim&#
#I

.sjE

and that all people harmonize in spirit and in evmy way so that Yin-Yang shall be
regulated and Heaven, Earth and makind be in their proper relation.

And again: Because of harmonious breeze, timely rainfall, everything is and can be full of
Spring's spirit. nus,Heaven's primordial will can be retrieved and mankind's d i m u s
fate can be averted.

Bert yourself, exert yo-lf,

day!

I continually pray and look a

d to seeing this every

Religion and Philosophy Research Sdw'

New Hyde Park, New York, 7 1040,U.S.A.