Text of Confucianism Part 02

SR No.: 007676
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: James Legge
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1882
Total Pages: 2405
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 43 MB

Page 454

CHAP. 6.
APPENDIX v.
427
Chapter VI. 1o. When we speak of Spirit we mean the subtle (presence and operation of God) with all things. For putting all things in motion there is nothing more vehement than thunder; for scattering them there is nothing more effective than wind; for drying them up there is nothing more parching than fire; for giving them pleasure and satisfaction there is nothing more grateful than a lake or marsh; for moistening them there is nothing more enriching than water; for bringing them to an end and making them begin again there is nothing more fully adapted than Kăn. Thus water and fire contribute together to the one object; thunder and wind do not act contrary to each other; mountains and collections of water interchange their influences. It is in this way, that they are able to change and transform, and to give completion to all things.
explained by Kăng Khang-khăng (our second century) as equivalent to 'newness,' referring to the brightness of all things in the light of spring and summer. On all things receive from the earth their fullest nourishment' the same Yang, quoted above, says :"The earth performs the part of a mother. All things are its children. What a mother has to do for her children is simply to nourish them.'
Chapter VI is the sequel of the preceding. There ought to have been some mention of Shân or Spirit' in chapter 5. It is the first character in this chapter, and the two characters that follow show that it is here resumed for the purpose of being explained. As it does not occur in chapter 5, we must suppose that the author of it here brings forward and explains the idea of it that was in his mind. Many of the commentators recognise this,-e.g. Liang Yin, as quoted in the Introduction, p. 33.
Two other peculiarities in the style of the chapter are pointed out and explained (after a fashion) by Zhui King (earlier, probably, than the Sung dynasty):— The action of six of the trigrams is described, but no mention is made of Khien or Khwăn. But
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