Wang ch‘ung lun-hêng philosophical essays Traduits et annotés par Alfred forke

This is by no means the method of the ancients or conformable to the intentions of the sages. When the sages undertook something, they first based it on justice, and, after the moral side of the question had been settled, they determined it by divination to prove that it was not of their own invention, and showed that ghosts and spirits were of the same opinion, and concurred with their view. They wished to prevail upon all the subjects to trust in the usefulness of divination and not to doubt. Therefore the Shuking speaks of the seven kinds of divination by shells ¹ and the Yiking of the eight diagrams. Yet those who make use of them, are not necessarily happy, or those who neglect them, unhappy.

Happy and unhappy events are determined by time, the moments of birth and death, by destiny. Human destiny depends on Heaven, luck and misfortune lie hidden in the lap of time. If their allotted span be short, people’s conduct may be ever so virtuous, Heaven cannot lengthen their span, and, if this span be long, Heaven cannot snatch it away from them, though their doings be evil.

Heaven is the master of the hundred spirits. Religion, virtue, kindness, and justice are the principles of Heaven, trembling and fear, heavenly emotions ². The destruction of religion and the subversion of virtue are attacks upon the principles of Heaven ; menaces and angry looks are antagonistic to the mind of Heaven.

_p1.527 Among the irreligious and wicked none were worse than Chieh and Chou, and among the lawless and unprincipled of the world none were worse than Yu and Li ³. Yet Chieh and Chou did not die early, and Yu and Li  were not cut off in their prime. Ergo it is evident that happiness and joy do not depend on the choice of a lucky day and the avoidance of an unpropitious time, and that sufferings and hardships are not the result of a collision with a bad year or an infelicitous month.

Confucius has said,

« Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honour depend on Heaven ⁴.

In case, however, that certain times and days are to be observed, and that there are really noxious influences, wherefore did the sage hesitate to say so, or why was he afraid to mention it ? According to the ancient writings scholars have been enjoying peace or been in jeopardy, thousands of princes and ten thousands of officials have either obtained or lost luck or mishap, their offices have been high or low, their emoluments have increased or diminished, and in all this there have been many degrees and differences. Taking care of their property, some people have become rich, others poor, they have made profits, or suffered losses, their lives have been long or short, in brief, some have got on, while others remained behind. The exalted and noble have not selected lucky days in all their doings, nor have the mean and ignoble chosen an unlucky time.

From this we learn that happiness and unhappiness as well as life and death do not depend on the lucky auguries which people encounter, or on the time of ill omen or dread, with which they fall in. While alive, men are nurtured by their vital fluid, and, when they expire, their life is cut off. During their lives people do not meet with a special luck or joy, nor can it be said that at their deaths they fall in with an ominous time of dread. Taking Confucius as a witness and basing our arguments on life and death, we come to the conclusion that the manifold misfortunes and calamities are not brought about by human actions.

Very few of the human diseases have not been caused by wind, moisture, eating or drinking. Having exposed themselves to a draught, or slept in a damp place, people spend their cash to learn, which evil influence has been at play. When they have overeaten themselves, they rid their vital essence from this calamity by abstinence, but, in case the malady cannot be cured, they believe that the noxious influence has not been detected, and, if their life comes to a close of itself, they maintain that the divining straws have not been well explained. This is the wisdom of common people.

Among the three hundred and sixty naked animals ² man ranks first ; he is a creature, among the ten thousand creatures the most intelligent. He obtains his life from Heaven and his fluid from the primordial vapours in exactly the same manner as other creatures. Birds have their nests and eyries, beasts their dens and burrows, reptiles, fish, and scaly creatures their holes, just as man has cottages and houses, high-storied buildings and towers.

Those moving creatures die and suffer injuries, fall ill and become worn out, and the big and the small ones prey upon one another, or man hunts and seizes them as a welcome game for his mouth and belly. They do not miss the proper time in building their nests and burrowing their hollows, or fall in with unlucky days in rambling east and west. Man has birth and death, and so other creatures have a beginning and an end. He is active, and so other creatures have their work likewise. Their arteries, heads, feet, ears, eyes, noses, and mouths are not different from the human, only their likes and dislikes are not the same as the human, hence man does not know their sounds, nor understand their meaning. They associate with their kindred and consort with their flock, and know, when they can come near, and when they must keep away just like man. They have the same heaven, the same earth, and they look equally up at the sun and the moon. _p1.529 Therefore one does not see the reason, why the misfortune caused by demons and spirits should fall upon man alone, and not on the other creatures. In man the mind of Heaven and Earth reach their highest development. Why do the heavenly disasters strike the noblest creature and not the mean ones ? How is it that their natures are so similar, and their fates so different ?

Punishments are not inflicted upon high officials, and wise emperors are lenient towards the nobility. Wise emperors punish the plebeians, but not the patricians, and the spirits visit the noblest creature with calamities and spare the mean ones ? This would not tally with a passage in the Yiking to the effect that a great man shares the luck and mishap of demons and spirits ¹.

When I have committed some offence and fallen into the clutches of the law, or become liable to a capital punishment, they do not say that it has been my own fault, but that in my house some duty has been neglected. When I have not taken the necessary precautions for my personal accommodation, or when I have been immoderate in eating or drinking, they do not say that I have been careless, but discover some unpardonable disregard of an unlucky time. In case several persons die shortly one after the other, so that there are up to ten coffins awaiting burial, they do not speak of a contagion through contaminated air, but urge that the day chosen for one interment has been unlucky. If some activity has been displayed, they will talk about the non-observance of lucky or unlucky days, and, if nothing has been done, they have recourse to one’s habitation. Our house or lodging being in a state of decay or delapidation, flying goblins and floating spectres assemble in our residence, they say. They also pray to their ancestors for help against misfortunes and delivery from evil. In case of sickness, they do not ask a doctor and, when they are in difficulties, they do not reform their conduct. They ascribe everything to misfortune and call it offences or mistakes. Such is the type of the ordinary run ; their knowledge is shallow, and they never get at the bottom of a thing.

When delinquents are employed by the Minister of Works for hard labour, it does not follow that the day, when they appeared before the judge, was inauspicious, or that the time, when they were condemned to penal servitude, was one of ill omen. If a murderer selects an auspicious day to go out and meet the judge, who inflicts his punishment, and if he chooses a good time for _p1.530 entering the prison, will the judgment then be reversed, and his pardon arrive ?

A man is not punished, unless he has met with mishap, nor thrown into jail, if not punished. Should one day a decree arrive, in consequence of which he could walk out released from his fetters, it would not follow that he had got rid of evil influences.

There are thousands of jails in the world, and in these jails are ten thousands of prisoners, but they cannot all have neglected the precarious time of dread. Those who hold office and have their revenues, perhaps from special towns and districts, which have been given them in perpetual fief, number thousands and tens of thousands, but the days, when they change their residences, are not always lucky.

The city of Li-yang ¹ was flooded during one night and became a lake. Its inhabitants cannot all have been guilty of a disregard of the year and the months. When Kao Tsu rose, Fêng and P‘ei ² were recovered, yet their inhabitants cannot be said to have been particularly cautious with reference to times and days. When Hsiang Yü stormed Hsiang-an, no living soul was left in it ³. This does not prove, however, that its people have not prayed or worshipped. The army of Chao was buried alive by Ch‘in below Ch‘ang p‘ing. 400,000 men died at the same time together ⁴. When they left home, they had surely not omitted to choose a propitious time.

On a shên day one must not cry, for crying entails deep sorrow. When some one dies on a wu or a chi day, other deaths will follow, yet in case an entire family dies out, the first death did not of necessity take place on a shên, wu, or chi ⁵ day. On a day, when blood-shed is forbidden, one must not kill animals, yet the abattoirs are not scenes of more misfortunes than other places. On the first day of the moon, people should not crowd together, yet shops are not especially visited with disasters. When skeletons become visible on the surface of the soil, they have not necessarily come out on a Wang-wang day, and a dead man, whose coffin is standing in a house, must not just have returned on a Kuei-chi day ⁶. Consequently _p1.531 those who interpret evil influences cannot be trusted, for if they are, they do not find the truth.

Now, let us suppose that ten persons living and eating together in the same house do not move a hoe or a hammer, nor change their residence, that in sacrificing and marrying they select but lucky days, and that from Spring to Winter they never come into collision with any inauspicious time. Would these ten persons not die, when they have attained a hundred years ?

The geomancers will certainly reply that their house would either be in good repair or commence to decay, and that, on the Sui p‘o or Chih-fu days they would not think of leaving it. In that case they might every now and then ask the soothsayers about the state of their house and remain in it, as long as it is in good repair, but leave it, when it begins to delapidate, and, on the Sui p‘o and Chih-fu ¹ days, the whole family might move. But would they not die then at the age of a hundred years ?

The geomancers would again object that while changing their residence they would hit upon an unlucky time, or that their moving to and fro might be unpropitious. Then we would advise them to consult the seers and not to move, unless they can safely go, nor revert, unless their coming is without danger. But would they remain alive then after having reached a hundred years ?

The geomancers would not fail to reply that life stops and that age has a limit. Ergo human life and death solely depend on destiny ; they are not affected by unlucky years and months, or influenced by a disregard of fatal days of dread.

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CHAPTER XLIV

On Exorcism

75. XXV, II. Chieh-chu

Moreover, what shape do people ascribe to ghosts and spirits ? If they believe them to have a shape, this shape must be like that of living men. Living men in a passion would certainly make an attempt upon the lives of their adversaries. If they have no shape, they would be like mist and clouds. The expulsion of clouds and mist, however, would prove ineffectual.

As we cannot know their shapes, we can neither guess their feelings. For what purpose would ghosts and spirits gather in human dwellings ? In case they earnestly wish to kill people, they would avoid their aggressors, when they drive them out, and abscond, but, as soon as the expulsion ceases, they would return, and re-occupy their former places. Should they have no murderous intentions, and only like to dwell in human houses, they would cause no injury, even if they were not expelled.

When grandees go out, thousands of people assemble to have a look at them, thronging the streets and filling the alleys, and striving for the places in front. It is not before the soldiers repel them, that they go away, but no sooner have the soldiers turned their back, than they return to their places. Unless the soldiers kept watch the whole day without leaving their post, they could not restrain them, because they are bent on having a look and _p1.533 would not go home on account of having been driven back once. Provided that ghosts and spirits resemble living men, they would feel attracted to their homes in the same way as those thousands are determined on sight seeing. If the soldiers repelling them do not keep watch for a long while, the lookers-on do not disperse, and unless expelled during a whole year, the ghosts would not leave. Now, being expelled, after they have finished their meal, they would retire, but having retired, come back again, for what could prevent them ?

When grain is being dried in a court-yard, and fowls and sparrows pick it up, they escape, when the master drives them off, but return, when he relaxes his vigilance. He is unable to keep the fowls and sparrows at bay, unless he watches the whole day. If the ghosts be spirits, an expulsion would not induce them to retreat, and if they be not spirits, they would be like fowls and sparrows, and nothing but a constant repulse could frighten them away.

When tigers and wolves enter into a territory, they are pursued with bows and cross-bows, but even their deaths do not do away with the cause of those terrible visits. When brigands and insurgents assault a city, the imperial troops may beat them, but notwithstanding this rebuff, the cause of their frightful incursions is not removed thereby. The arrival of tigers and wolves corresponds to a disorganised government, that of rebels and bandits, to a general disorder. Thus the gathering of ghosts and spirits is indicative of the sudden end of life. By destroying tigers and wolves and by defeating insurgents and bandits one cannot bring about a reform of the government or re-establish order, neither is it possible to remove misfortune or prolong life by ever so much exorcising or expelling ghosts and spirits.

Sick people see ghosts appear, when their disease has reached its climax. Those who are of a strong and violent character will grasp the sword or the cudgel and fight with the ghosts. They will have one or two rounds, until at last, having missed a thrust, they are forced to surrender, for, unless they surrender, the duel will not come to a close. The ghosts expelled by exorcism are not different from those perceived by sick people, nor is there any difference between expelling and fighting. As the ghosts will not withdraw though assailed by sick people, the conjurations of the master of the house will not prevail upon the ghosts and spirits to leave. Consequently of what use would be such conjurations for the house ? Therefore we cannot accept the belief that evil influences might thus be neutralised.

_p1.534 Furthermore, the ghosts which are expelled from the house live there as guests. The hosts are the Twelve Spirits of the house, such as the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger, and the other spirits occupying the Twelve Cardinal Points ¹. The Dragon and the Tiger are fierce spirits and the chief ghosts of heaven ². Flying corpses and floating goblins would not venture to gather against their will, as, when a host is fierce and bold, mischievous guests would not dare to intrude upon him. Now the Twelve Spirits have admitted the others into the house, and the master drives them away. That would be nothing less than throwing out the guests of the Twelve Spirits. Could such a hatred against the Twelve Spirits secure happiness ? If there are no Twelve Spirits, there are no flying corpses or goblins either, and without spirits and goblins exorcism would be of no avail, and the expulsion have no sense.

Exorcism is an imitation of the old ceremony of the expulsion of sickness. In ancient times Chuan Hsü had three sons, who vanished, when they had grown up. One took up his abode in the water of the Yangtse and became the Ghost of Fever, one lived in the Jo River and became a Water Spirit, and one in damp and wet corners as the arbiter of sickness ¹. At the end of the year, when all business had been finished, sick people used to drive out the Spirit of Sickness, and believed that by seeing off the old year and going to meet the new one they would obtain luck. The world followed this example, whence originated exorcism. But even the ceremony of driving out sickness is out of place.

When Yao and Shun practised their virtue, the empire enjoyed perfect peace, the manifold calamities vanished, and, though the diseases were not driven out, the Spirit of Sickness did not make its appearance. When Chieh and Chou did their deeds, everything within the seas was thrown into confusion, all the misfortunes happened simultaneously, and although the diseases were expelled day by day, the Spirit of Sickness still came back. Declining ages have faith in ghosts, and the unintelligent will pray for happiness. When the Chou were going to ruin, the people believed in ghosts, and prepared sacrifices with the object of imploring happiness and the divine help. Narrow-minded rulers fell an easy prey to _p1.535 imposture, and took no heed of their own actions, but they accomplished nothing creditable, and their administration remained unsettled.

All depends upon man, and not or ghosts, on their virtue, and not on sacrifices. The end of a State is far or near, and human life is long or short. If by offerings, happiness could be obtained, or if misfortune could be removed by exorcism, kings might use up all the treasures of the world for the celebration of sacrifices to procrastinate the end of their reign, and old men and women of rich families might pray for the happiness to be gained by conjurations with the purpose of obtaining an age surpassing the usual span.

Long and short life, wealth and honour of all the mortals are determined by fortune and destiny, and as for their actions, whether they prove successful or otherwise, there are times of prosperity and decline. Sacrifices do not procure happiness, for happiness does not depend on oblations. But the world believes in ghosts and spirits, and therefore is partial to sacrifices. Since there are no ghosts and spirits to receive these sacrifices, the knowing do not concern themselves about them.

Sacrifices are meant as a kindness done to the ghosts and spirits, and yet they do not bring about luck and happiness. Now fancy that these spirits are expelled by brute force. Could that bring any profit ?

The sacrificial rites and the methods of exorcism are very numerous. We will prove their uselessness by one example, for from a small sacrifice one may draw a conclusion to the great ones, and from one ghost learn to know the hundred spirits.

When people have finished the building of a house or a cottage, excavated the ground, or dug up the earth, they propitiate the Spirit of Earth, after the whole work has been completed, and call this appeasing the earth. They make an earthen figure to resemble a ghost. The wizards chant their prayers to reconcile the Spirit of Earth, and, when the sacrifice is over, they become gay and cheerful, and pretend that the ghosts and spirits have been propitiated, and misfortunes and disasters removed. But if we get to the bottom of it, we find that all this is illusive.

Why ? Because the material earth is like the human body. Everything under heaven forms one body, whose head and feet are tens of thousands of Li apart. Mankind lives upon earth as fleas and lice stick to the human body. Fleas and lice feed upon man, and torment his skin, as men dig up the earth, and torment _p1.536 its body. Should some among the fleas and lice, being aware of this, wish to appease man’s heart, and for that purpose assemble to propitiate him near the flesh, which they have eaten, would man know about it ? Man cannot comprehend what fleas and lice say, as Earth does not understand the speech of man.

The Hu and the Yüeh have the same ears and mouths, and are animated by similar feelings, but even if they speak mouth to mouth, and ear to ear, they cannot understand each other. And there should be a communication between the ears and the mouth of Earth and man, who does not resemble her ?

Moreover, who is it that hears what man says ? Should it be Earth, her ears are too far away to hear, and if it be the earth of one special house, this earth is like an atom of human flesh, how could it understand anything ? If the spirit of the house be the hearer, one ought to speak of appeasing the house, but not of appeasing Earth.

The Rites prescribe that entering into the ancestral hall one must not find a master there ¹. One has made the device of cutting a wooden tablet, one foot and two inches long, and calling it the master, and serves it in the spirit, but does not make a human likeness. Now at the propitiatory sacrifices to Earth, they make an earthen human figure resembling the shape of a ghost. How could that have a propitiatory effect ? Spirits are diffuse, vague, and incorporeal ; entering and departing they need no aperture, whence their name of spirits. Now to make a bodily image is not only in opposition to the Rites, but also reveals a misapprehension of the nature of spirits. We know that they have no likeness, therefore, when the mats are spread for sacrifice, no figures of ghosts are put up.