The Worldview of the “Classical Books” and the Philosophy of the School of Naturalists (Yin-Yang Jia)

In the history of ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty (12th—7th centuries BCE), philosophical ideas and categories emerged that later formed the foundation of traditional Chinese philosophical schools. These fundamental concepts are expressed in the so-called "classical books" of Chinese literature: The Book of Songs (Shi Jing), The Book of History (Shu Jing), and The Book of Changes (I Ching). From a historical-philosophical perspective, these texts laid the groundwork for ancient Chinese natural philosophy—not only as a study of nature but also as a naturalistic mode of thought, explaining human and societal phenomena through natural factors.

Let us first examine the worldview ideas contained in Shi Jing and Shu Jing. While the Shi Jing was compiled during the Zhou period, its final content emerged during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BCE—2nd century CE) as part of the Mao Shi (Mao’s Anthology of Songs). Han scholars, particularly Confucian philologists, offered interpretations of how Shi Jing originated. At the court of Zhou rulers, there was a position of an official song collector. These officials gathered folk songs and presented them to rulers for insights into the life, moods, and morals of the populace—a reflection of a real practice in governance. Historian Ban Gu (1st century CE) in his Han Shu (History of Han) even mentions a philosophical school of storytellers that originated from lower-ranking officials who collected street conversations, rumors, and travelers' tales, providing insight into public opinion.

Now, regarding Shu Jing, this text holds great significance not only for historians, as it illuminates early stages of Chinese history, but also for historians of philosophy. One section of Shu Jing, titled "The Great Plan" (Hong Fan), is an important historical-philosophical source, outlining key ideas that marked the beginning of ancient Chinese philosophical thought.

Both Shi Jing and Shu Jing reflect a central idea of ancient Chinese philosophy: the concept of Heaven (Tian) as a divine force that governs human life and society. This idea arose from ancient mythological beliefs in the heavenly deity Shang Di, a spirit of the ancestors. Heaven was regarded as the progenitor of the Chinese people, and figures like Hou Ji (the ancestor of the Zhou people) were seen as intermediaries between Heaven and humanity. For instance, during a drought, prayers were offered to Hou Ji: “But the Lord of Grain cannot help in our need, / Nor does the Heavenly King descend to us.” Similarly, real rulers were considered "sons of Heaven" (Tian Zi), mediating between Heaven and the people. This granted rulers a cosmic significance, as their qualities and actions had profound implications for both society and the natural world.

In various mythologies, divine figures are seen as cultural heroes who provide for humanity’s needs. Shi Jing states: “Heaven gave birth to the human race, / It gave them rules for living. / People cherish these eternal laws, / They love and value the noble virtues of the soul.” This idea also appears in Shu Jing, where it is said that Heaven silently established laws to help the common people achieve a peaceful life.

However, Heaven not only sustains life but also governs it, overseeing the moral order and responding to human actions with blessings or punishments. Heaven’s influence was expressed through the concept of the "Mandate of Heaven" (Tian Ming), a moral regulator. This mandate was considered to reflect the virtues (De) of a ruler, first emerging during the Zhou period. The ethical behavior of the ruler was crucial; if the ruler governed wisely, the country would prosper, but if they failed, Heaven would punish them with natural disasters or societal unrest.

The philosophical doctrine of the five elements (Wu Xing)—water, fire, wood, metal, and earth—also first appeared in Shu Jing. Each element was associated with a specific characteristic: water flows downward, fire burns upward, wood bends and straightens, metal changes under pressure, and earth yields crops. This early naturalist worldview influenced how ancient Chinese philosophers perceived the interconnectedness of nature and society.

In conclusion, the ancient Chinese worldview as expressed in these classical texts reveals a deep integration of human life with natural processes. The universe was seen as a natural-social system where the state of one part automatically influenced the other, reflecting an early form of naturalism or geographical determinism. This worldview evolved into the foundational ideas of ancient Chinese natural philosophy, where Heaven was not merely a divine will but a set of physical and natural phenomena that governed both human and cosmic order.

Numerology is a theoretical system in which the elements consist of mathematical or mathematically analogous entities, such as numerical complexes and geometric structures. Classical numerological schemes are founded on three fundamental numbers: two, three, and their sum, five. These numbers, through operations such as addition, multiplication, and exponentiation, give rise to the full diversity of number sets. In ancient China, numerology held the role of logic, serving as a tool for structuring knowledge. For Chinese philosophers, to calculate and present something in an appropriate form was to achieve the final and complete understanding of that matter.

Some examples of such fivefold formations include: the five divisions of time—year, moon, sun, stars, and calendar; the five human attributes likened to the five elements of nature—behavior, speech, vision, hearing, and thought; and the five sources of happiness—longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and fulfillment of the will of heaven. Additionally, the five constants—humanity, justice, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—illustrate the core virtues governing human relations. Thus, the concept of "five origins," both in physical and numerical terms, had methodological significance, structuring the understanding of various aspects of nature and human life.

A significant impetus in the development of ancient Chinese natural philosophy came from the divinatory book I Ching (The Book of Changes). The connection between divination and natural philosophy stemmed from the belief that weather patterns influenced the fate of the state, creating a need to understand and predict such changes, which were considered manifestations of the will of heaven. For instance, the ancient Chinese practiced divination by interpreting cracks on a tortoise shell, which appeared after burning near previously made holes. According to the ancient text Shu Jing, such cracks could predict rain, clear skies, cloudy weather, or fog.

The I Ching was not only based on tortoise shell divination but also on manipulating stalks of yarrow, a practice involving specific movements of the stalks to generate divinatory signs. The core text of the I Ching is composed, firstly, of symbolically represented—graphically encoded—life situations, where a chosen symbol represents a particular situation through yarrow divination. There are 64 such symbols, which are combinations of continuous and broken lines. Each combination consists of six lines and is referred to as a hexagram (from the Greek hexa meaning six, and gramma meaning line). For example, Hexagram 31, called "Influence" (Xian), describes interaction.

Secondly, the text includes verbal explanations of these hexagrams, providing their names and aphorisms that characterize the situations they depict. For example, Hexagram 6 is called "Conflict" (Song), and its commentary reads: "For the one who holds the truth, obstacles lie ahead. Hold fast to the middle path—happiness lies within! Extremes lead to misfortune." These aphorisms highlight that the hexagrams were tied to everyday human events and had no intrinsic natural philosophical content. The interpretation of the hexagrams' worldly significance was noted by ancient commentators: "The wise ones... attached aphorisms to the lines to determine 'good fortune or misfortune.'"

The attempt to connect the predicted events with natural phenomena, rooted in the naturalistic thinking of ancient China, eventually gave rise to genuinely natural philosophical commentaries on the core text of the I Ching. According to the scholar Yu K. Shchutskii, until the 7th century BCE, the I Ching was used primarily as a divinatory text. During the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, while retaining its divinatory significance, it began to be reinterpreted as a philosophical text. The decline of purely divinatory thought led to the replacement of divination by judgment and reflection.

A key example of this philosophical reinterpretation is the commentary Shuo Gua Zhuan (Explanation of the Trigrams), which provides a natural philosophical explanation of the eight trigrams (gua). These trigrams, which predate the hexagrams, are composed of the same continuous and broken lines, arranged in threes. For instance, the trigram Zhen symbolizes thunder. In this commentary, the trigrams are seen as representing fundamental aspects of the universe, such as heaven, lakes, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountains, and earth. They were also used to classify objects and qualities, as seen in Trigram 1 (Qian), which symbolizes not only heaven but also power, horses, roundness, rulers, fathers, and jade.

The most influential commentary on the I Ching is the Xici Zhuan (Commentary on the Aphorisms), regarded as the first philosophical text in ancient China. This commentary views the symbols of the I Ching—the trigrams and hexagrams—as representations of the constant changes occurring in nature, human life, and the universe. The lines of the hexagrams are said to mirror the movements of the cosmos and serve as tools for understanding the world.

According to Xici Zhuan, change is governed by the Great Ultimate (Taiji), which generates two cosmic forces—yin and yang. These forces, representing opposites such as hard and soft, light and dark, are the fundamental drivers of all transformations in the universe. Yang is associated with activity, warmth, brightness, and masculinity, while yin is linked to passivity, coldness, darkness, and femininity. These dualities, seen as archetypal representations of father and mother, govern the natural world, and their interaction is the source of all existence and transformation.

The interaction of yin and yang also has a numerical dimension: yang symbols correspond to odd numbers, while yin symbols correspond to even numbers. Their interplay generates the myriad phenomena of the universe and the ongoing process of change. This constant alternation between opposites—day and night, cold and warmth—illustrates the cyclical nature of existence, which follows the path of the Tao (the Way). All things have their Tao, from the cycles of the seasons to the moral paths of human beings.

The unity of heaven, earth, and humanity forms the core of Chinese cosmology, with each possessing its own Tao, its own path of change and transformation. Through understanding and aligning oneself with these cosmic rhythms, one can achieve harmony with the world.