Opposition and Fellowship

The Circle of Events. The Eight Basic Trigrams of the Book of Changes

If we want to understand the Book of Changes and its philosophy, we must begin with the fact that it was originally a book of oracles that answered "yes" or "no" to certain questions. An unbroken line denoted the "yes" answer, a broken line the "no" answer. But at a very early date Chinese thinking went beyond the mere oracle, and in the course of time developed this very simple method into a method of comprehending the world. While in Europe pure Being is taken as fundamental, the decisive factor in Chinese thought is the recognition of change as the essence. The Chinese position is a middle one between Buddhism and the philosophy of existence. Buddhism, which regards all existence as no more than illusion, and the philosophy of existence, which regards existence as real behind the illusion of becoming, are, so to speak, polar opposites. Chinese thought endeavors a reconciliation by adding the element of time. For when two incompatible conditions meet in time, they become compatible by following each other in time, the one changing into the other. This, then, is essentially the idea of the Book of Changes: opposition and fellowship are produced together by time.

But why is it necessary to assume opposites as a basis? Because practical experience teaches that everything we know moves in opposites. Indeed, the presence of opposites is necessary for experience to take place. There must be contrast between subject and object, for otherwise consciousness, or the knowledge of things, is altogether impossible; contrast between light and dark allows sense impressions to occur. Contrasts must exist for consciousness to be kindled. However, according to the Book of Changes, these opposites must not be regarded as enduring, but should be seen as changing states, which can pass from one into another. And because of this, contrast as such becomes relative. The point is merely to find the proper attitude for the understanding of contrast. By reaching such a position, a person no longer clings to one pole and assigns to the other a negative, opposite position, but, flowing with time, he can experience contrast itself. The stress here is on an inner adaptation to these outer opposites. If one maintains a harmony between the inner self and the surrounding world, the world, in spite of all diversity, can do no harm. This is perhaps Confucius' central contribution to the Book of Changes. Among China's sages, Confucius is described as the most timely. According to one of his statements, man's concern should not be to assume a fixed attitude that is forcefully maintained under any circumstances. An inflexible attitude naturally produces its opposite, perpetuating the battle. Since in accordance with this law of change, the moment of victory is also the moment of the turning point, neither side can achieve a conclusive victory. Rather, man should be in harmony with his surroundings; when prosperous, his conduct should be that of a prosperous man; when poor, his conduct should be that of a poor man; and when among barbarians, his conduct should be that of a man who is among barbarians. In this way every position in life is balanced by creating a harmony between the inner self and the surrounding world.

To create this kind of harmony, it is essential to find the proper position. And this proper position is in the center. Time, it was stated, is the necessary ingredient that enables us to experience opposites; and experience, in fact, is only possible if contrast is encountered. But we see now also the importance of not being borne along by time alone, for time cannot become reality, unless we have a resting point from which to experience it. As long as we are tossed and torn from moment to moment, reproducing a phantasy of our past in the imagination, or anticipating the future with fear and hope, we are merely objects among many such objects. Mechanically propelled by our fate, like all other purely mechanical objects, we are moved here and there by thrusts and counterthrusts. How ever, if we succeed in experiencing time, including its opposite from a central point of view, rather than withdrawing from it, then the circle will begin to close, and we can experience time as perpetuity. This consists precisely in time becoming harmonious. Only in this sense can we understand the statement from the Doctrine of the Mean, "Effect central harmony," a statement which, in fact, expresses the secret of the Confucian doctrine.

In discussing the opposites recorded in the Book of Changes, we must first of all understand that they are wholly abstract. To be sure, individual images contain symbols, but behind each image we perceive an endless mirroring of reflections. I want to give only one example for such an image: the yin symbol. Yin may be the wife, but can also be the son; it can be the minister; and, under certain circumstances, it can be emotional elements as opposed to intellectuality. However, yin may also be the vegetative nature of our being, the anima as opposed to the animus. Inversely, it may be the masculine aspect in the woman, the aspect every woman contains within herself as a derivative. In short, it is always that element which is not primary, but somehow derived. Opposites are formed in this way. Relationships are present everywhere; fixed concepts are of no consequence, but the relationship of concepts — the functioning of concepts within which opposites move. Opposites provoke one another, and for this very reason they can be made to harmonize.

In the Book of Changes, T'ai Chi — is represented as the basis of all existence. T'ai Chi is the Supreme Ultimate, the entrance into the phenomenon, the One, or, in other words, that something from which, as in the West as well, everything else is assumed to proceed. However, the secret that the Book of Changes expresses is that as soon as the One is established, its opposite is also created. Goethe said once that every emphatic statement immediately produces from within itself a contradiction. The case is the same here, for if the One is fixed in space by a line, its opposite appears. Now space is divided into an above and below, or when the line is placed horizontally, a right and left, or front and back. The sixfold extension of space, as it is termed in Chinese, is given with this one line and with its position. The establishment of this line results, furthermore, in the appearance of polar duality, which is the primary positive pole designated by an undivided (yang) line and the secondary negative pole designated by a divided (yin) line. Together with the originally established line, we obtain a triad as the basis of reality. Therefore, we read in the Tao Te Ching: "One produced two; two produced three; three produced the ten thousand things."

The beginning of the phenomenal world is the establishment of these concepts. And no-action [wu-wei], which is important in Taoist thought as well as in Confucianism, is not...