{"id":3431,"date":"2013-09-12T12:37:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T17:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.froginawell.net\/china\/?p=3431"},"modified":"2014-08-30T13:32:11","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T13:32:11","slug":"mixing-water-with-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/2013\/09\/mixing-water-with-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixing water with water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a dialogue (from the Zuozhuan<\/em>) I used in class this week.<\/p>\n

The Duke declares \u201cIt is Ju alone who is in harmony with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yanzi replied, “Ju is in fact the same [as you]. How can he attain to harmony?” The ruler said, “Are harmony and identity different?”<\/p>\n

Yanzi said, ‘They are different. Harmony is like a stew. Water, fire, jerky, mincemeat, salt, and plum [vinegar] are used to cook fish and meat; they are cooked over firewood; the master chef harmonizes them, bringing them into equality with seasonings, compensating for what is insufficient and diminishing what is too strong. The gentleman eats it and thus calms his heart. With ruler and subject it is the same. When there is something unacceptable about what the ruler considers acceptable, the subject reports the unacceptable to perfect the acceptability. When there is something acceptable about what the ruler considers unacceptable, the subject reports the acceptable in order to eliminate the unacceptable. In this way administration is calm and without interference, and the people lack the desire to struggle. Thus the Shi says:<\/p>\n

There is a harmonious stew.<\/p>\n

We are careful and calm.<\/p>\n

We advance silently;<\/p>\n

There is no struggling.’<\/p>\n

The former kings adjusting of the five flavors and harmonizing of the five tones was for the calming of hearts and the completion of administration. Sounds are just like flavors. The single breath, the two forms, the three genres, the four materials, the five tones, the six pitches, the seven notes, the eight airs, the nine songs: these are used to complete one another. The clear and the muddy, the small and the large, the short and the long, the presto and the adagio, the somber and the joyous, the hard and the soft, the delayed and the immediate, the high and the low, the going out and coming in, the united and separate: these are used complement one another. The gentleman listens to it and thus calms his heart. “When the heart is calm, the virtue is in harmony. Thus the Shi says:<\/p>\n

The sound of his virtue is unblemished.’<\/p>\n

“Now Ju is not like this. What you, the ruler, consider acceptable, Ju also says is acceptable. What you consider unacceptable, Ju also says is unacceptable. If you were to complement water with water, who could eat it? If the zithers and dulcimers were to hold to a single sound, who could listen to it? This is how identity is unacceptable1<\/a><\/sup>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I like this quote a lot, because it gives you a nice introduction to the world of classical Chinese thought. It is in the form of a dialogue between a ruler and a philosopher. The ostensible point is that a virtuous advisor, Yanzi, is putting down a toadying suck-up (Ju). More importantly it goes well with the common idea of resonance; that the patterns that govern the natural world are the same as those that govern the human world. Thus the sage is like a great cook or a great conductor, (or a doctor) harmonizing everything and thus bringing about tranquillity. Tranquillity of course being the goal. We have quotes from the Book of Songs<\/em><\/em>, a contrast between the small man and the gentleman, the former kings, a list of examples with numbers\u00a0 This is one that I like well enough that I actually print it out and give it to them.<\/p>\n

Original text<\/p>\n

\u5341\u4e8c\u6708\uff0c\u9f4a\u4faf\u7530\u4e8e\u6c9b\uff0c\u62db\u865e\u4eba\u4ee5\u5f13\uff0c\u4e0d\u9032\uff0c\u516c\u4f7f\u57f7\u4e4b\uff0c\u8fad\u66f0\uff0c\u6614\u6211\u5148\u541b\u4e4b\u7530\u4e5f\uff0c\u65c3\u4ee5\u62db\u5927\u592b\uff0c\u5f13\u4ee5\u62db\u58eb\uff0c \u76ae\u51a0\u4ee5\u62db\u865e\u4eba\uff0c\u81e3\u4e0d\u898b\u76ae\u51a0\uff0c\u6545\u4e0d\u6562\u9032\uff0c\u4e43\u820d\u4e4b\u4ef2\u5c3c\u66f0\uff0c\u5b88\u9053\u4e0d\u5982\u5b88\u5b98\uff0c\u541b\u5b50\u540c\u4e4b\uff0c\u9f4a\u4faf\u81f3\u81ea\u7530\uff0c\u664f\u5b50\u4f8d\u4e8e\u9044\u81fa\uff0c\u5b50\u7336\u99b3\u800c\u9020\u7109\uff0c\u516c\u66f0\uff0c\u552f\u64da\u8207\u6211\u548c\u592b\uff0c\u664f\u5b50\u5c0d\u66f0\uff0c \u64da\u4ea6\u540c\u4e5f\uff0c\u7109\u5f97\u70ba\u548c\uff0c\u516c\u66f0\uff0c\u548c\u8207\u540c\u7570\u4e4e\uff0c\u5c0d\u66f0\u7570\uff0c\u548c\u5982\u7fb9\u7109\uff0c\u6c34\u706b\u91af\u91a2\u9e7d\u6885\uff0c\u4ee5\u70f9\u9b5a\u8089\uff0c\u71c0\u4e4b\u4ee5\u85aa\uff0c\u5bb0\u592b\u548c\u4e4b\uff0c\u9f4a\u4e4b\u4ee5\u5473\uff0c\u6fdf\u5176\u4e0d\u53ca\uff0c\u4ee5\u6d29\u5176\u904e\uff0c\u541b\u5b50\u98df\u4e4b\uff0c\u4ee5\u5e73 \u5176\u5fc3\uff0c\u541b\u81e3\u4ea6\u7136\uff0c\u541b\u6240\u8b02\u53ef\uff0c\u800c\u6709\u5426\u7109\uff0c\u81e3\u737b\u5176\u5426\uff0c\u4ee5\u6210\u5176\u53ef\uff0c\u541b\u6240\u8b02\u5426\uff0c\u800c\u6709\u53ef\u7109\uff0c\u81e3\u737b\u5176\u53ef\uff0c\u4ee5\u53bb\u5176\u5426\uff0c\u662f\u4ee5\u653f\u5e73\u800c\u4e0d\u5e72\u6c11\u7121\u722d\u5fc3\uff0c\u6545\u8a69\u66f0\uff0c\u4ea6\u6709\u548c\u7fb9\uff0c\u65e2\u6212\u65e2 \u5e73\uff0c\u9b37\u5047\u7121\u8a00\uff0c\u6642\u9761\u6709\u722d\uff0c\u5148\u738b\u4e4b\u6fdf\u4e94\u5473\uff0c\u548c\u4e94\u8072\u4e5f\uff0c\u4ee5\u5e73\u5176\u5fc3\uff0c\u6210\u5176\u653f\u4e5f\uff0c\u8072\u4ea6\u5982\u5473\uff0c\u4e00\u6c23\uff0c\u4e8c\u9ad4\uff0c\u4e09\u985e\uff0c\u56db\u7269\uff0c\u4e94\u8072\uff0c\u516d\u5f8b\uff0c\u4e03\u97f3\uff0c\u516b\u98a8\uff0c\u4e5d\u6b4c\uff0c\u4ee5\u76f8\u6210\u4e5f\uff0c\u6e05 \u6fc1\u5927\u5c0f\uff0c\u9577\u77ed\u75be\u5f90\uff0c\u54c0\u6a02\u525b\u67d4\uff0c\u9072\u901f\u9ad8\u4e0b\uff0c\u51fa\u5165\u5468\u758f\uff0c\u4ee5\u76f8\u6fdf\u4e5f\uff0c\u541b\u5b50\u807d\u4e4b\uff0c\u4ee5\u5e73\u5176\u5fc3\uff0c\u5fc3\u5e73\u5fb7\u548c\uff0c\u6545\u8a69\u66f0\uff0c\u5fb7\u97f3\u4e0d\u7455\uff0c\u4eca\u64da\u4e0d\u7136\uff0c\u541b\u6240\u8b02\u53ef\uff0c\u64da\u4ea6\u66f0\u53ef\uff0c\u541b\u6240\u8b02 \u5426\uff0c\u64da\u4ea6\u66f0\u5426\uff0c\u82e5\u4ee5\u6c34\u6fdf\u6c34\uff0c\u8ab0\u80fd\u98df\u4e4b\uff0c\u82e5\u7434\u745f\u4e4b\u5c08\u58f9\uff0c\u8ab0\u80fd\u807d\u4e4b\uff0c\u540c\u4e4b\u4e0d\u53ef\u4e5f\u5982\u662f Original here<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

  1. Schaberg, David. A Patterned Past: Form and Thought in Early Chinese Historiography. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Asia Center, 2001. p.231 (from Zuo<\/em> ↩<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Here is a dialogue (from the Zuozhuan) I used in class this week. The Duke declares \u201cIt is Ju alone who is in harmony with me.\u201d Yanzi replied, “Ju is in fact the same [as you]. How can he attain to harmony?” The ruler said, “Are harmony and identity different?” Yanzi said, ‘They are different….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,165,134,150,163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anecdotes","category-china","category-intellectual","category-pre-han","category-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9yoH3-Tl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4476,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431\/revisions\/4476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/froginawell.net\/frog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}