Aesthetic and Moral Appreciation of Nature in Philosophical Traditions of China - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 40

According to Chang Tsai, the vacuity and things are interdependent rather
than mutually exclusive. Things are not self-contained but can be infl uenced by the
vacuity because things have emptiness within them.
Second, by creativity, I mean that ch'i is always in an unceasing process of
movement that produces and reproduces life. The creative power in ch'i is due to the
yin-yang principle. This feature of ch'i can be seen in the following passages:
As the Great Vacuity, material force is extensive and vague. Yet it ascends and descends and
moves in all ways without every ceasing. (Chan 1963 , p. 503)
Material force moves and fl ows in all directions and in all manners. Its two elements
unite and give rise to the concrete. Thus the multiplicity of things and human beings is
produced. In their ceaseless successions the two elements of yin and yang constitute the
great principle of the universe. (Chan 1963 , p. 505)
Because ch'i has inexhaustible power within it, it is always in an unceasing
process of movement. The moving power of ch'i is due to the yin-yang principle
intrinsic to ch'i rather than caused by external intelligence. Yin and yang are neither
material things nor the principles of our mind, but are the opposing modes that are
intrinsic to ch'i . The combination of yin-yang explains why ch'i is creative. By yin
alone or by yang alone, creative power in ch'i ceases to exist so that things will not
be produced and reproduced. The combination of yin and yang takes many forms
that are beyond human comprehension.
In Chinese philosophy, the self-generating movement and transformation of ch'i
manifests Tao, which is the combination of truth, goodness, and beauty. Confucianism
and Daoism have different interpretations of Tao. Chan discussed the difference in
one of his comments on The Doctrine of the Mean :
In no other Confucian work is the Way (Tao) given such a central position. This self-
directing Way seems to be the same Tao in Taoism. But the difference is great. As Ch'ien
Mu has pointed out, when the Taoists talk about Tao as being natural, it means that Tao is
void and empty, whereas when Confucianists talk about Tao as being natural, they describe
it as sincerity. (Chan 1963 , p. 109)
Tao, as the manifestation of the movement and transformation of ch'I , is the
same in Confucianism and Daoism. The question is: why does Taoism describe Tao
as emptiness while Confucianism characterizes Tao as sincerity? My answer is that
Confucianism focuses on the creative feature in ch'i , while Taoism stresses the
emptiness feature in ch'i . Sincerity is the translation for the Chinese character cheng .
The word cheng frequently appears in The Doctrine of the Mean . It is regarded as
the Way (Tao) of heaven (nature). Cheng is often described as “ceaseless.” The
Neo-Confucian scholar Chang Tsai explained cheng as “the way according to which
heaven can last forever and is unceasing.” Obviously, Cheng is seen as process.
What kind of process is it? The answer can be found in this passage:
The Way of Heaven and Earth may be completely described in one sentence: They are
without any doubleness and so they produce things in an unfathomable way. (Chan 1963 ,
p. 109)
The Chinese characters for “without any doubleness” in this passage are bu er
which means “sincerity.” From here, we can fi nd the answer that cheng is a