Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 27.djvu/421

 This separated and became heaven and earth. It revolved and became the dual force (in nature). with the being here called the Supreme One, there can be no doubt that the reference in the whole passage is to the Almighty One who rules over all things" (Dissertation on the Theology of the Chinese, p. 85). He goes on to say that "the Critical Commentary makes this still more plain by saying that this Supreme One is the source of all others, and that he existed before the powers of nature were divided, and before the myriad things were produced, the one only being. The operations ascribed to him of dividing heaven and earth, of revolving light and darkness, of changing the four seasons, and of appointing the various Kwei Shins to their several offices, are all indicative of that omnipotent power which must be ascribed to him alone." But the operations referred to in this last sentence are mentioned in the text, not as performed by the Supreme One, but as undergone by the Grand Unity. And, moreover, "the Critical Commentary" yields a testimony different from what Dr. Medhurst supposed. Khung Ying-tâ says:—"The name Thâi Yî means the original vapoury matter of chaos, before the separation of heaven and earth (太一謂天地未分, 混沌支元氣);" and there is nothing in any of the other commentators contrary to this. But the concluding sentence of the paragraph, that "The law and authority (of all the lessons in the rules of ceremony) is in Heaven," seems to me to imply "a recognition (indistinct it may be) of a Power or Being anterior to and independent of the Grand Unity." Wû Khǎng says:—"The character Thien (Heaven) is used to cover the five things—the Grand Unity, heaven and earth, the (dual force of) Yin and Yang, the four seasons, and the Kwei Shǎn." The attempt, apparent in the whole treatise, to give Tâoistic views a place in the old philosophy of the nation, is prominent here. Medhurst is not correct in saying that the Tî (帝) in paragraph 2 is the same as the Thâi Yî in this paragraph, but It, or rather He, is the same as the Thien (天) with which it concludes. The earliest Chinese adopted Thien or Heaven as the name for the supreme Power, which arose in their minds on the contemplation of the order of nature, and the principles of love and righteousness developed in the constitution of man and the course of providence, and