Ch'üan

Chu Hsi's views on ch'üan merit closer examination, for ch'üan lies at the heart of the problem of moral action past and present, public and private. How to adhere to timeless values while living and acting in an imperfect and changing world was a central and perennial Confucian concern, one to which Chu Hsi gave much thought.^[70] Indeed, one of the great strengths of his thought and an enduring source of his appeal was his sensitivity to alternatives and his ability to encompass the polarities of various issues and maintain a balanced position, to combine the firm certitude of a man whose morals are his metaphysics with remarkable flexibility in dealing with specific issues in scholarship, politics, and life.

The essence of the philosophical problem is that ultimately there are no

[68] YL 136, no. 59 (Peking ed. vol. 8, p. 3247; Taipei ed. vol. 8, pp. 5213-14). Miura Kunio has pointed out that Ssu-ma Kuang's T'ung-chien employs Empress Wu's reign title while the Kang-mu uses Chung-tsung's nien-hao . Cf. Yoshikawa Kojiro and Miura Kunio, eds., Shushi ji (Tokyo: Asahi shinbun-sha, 1976), p. 488. Here the Kang-mu follows the views of Hu Yin rather than those of Chu Hsi. It would be interesting to know how frequently this happened.

[69] Yü-lei , ch. 37.

[70] Charles Fu has gone so far as to write: "It seems to me that the greatest contribution of Chu Hsi's own philosophy does not, as he claims, lie in metaphysics or theory of mind/nature but rather lies in his ability to tackle to [sic ] Confucian problem of 'situational weighing' of the constant moral standard or principle." See Wing-tsit Chan, Chu Hsi , p. 399. Fu does not provide a reference for his claim about Chu Hsi's "claim" concerning his own contribution to philosophy.

rules or principles for the application of rules or principles, and that the search for such metarules or principles can only lead to an infinite regression. In this respect deductive and analogical reasoning are alike,^[71] and it matters not whether lessons are drawn from classics or history (or fiction): there is no way to avoid personal judgment. Therefore, there is a need for a profound person or a sage, with a mind like a mirror or a balance.

Ch'üan in Chu Hsi's thought is comparable to (but not identical with) Aristotle's phronesis : "practical wisdom" or "prudence, "the virtue of practical reasoning," which enables a man to decide on each particular occasion what would be the right thing to do.^[72] Paul Schuchman in a recent book on the subject writes, "The concern of phronesis is nothing more than the deepest concern of man himself—his own being human."^[73] Although Chu Hsi emphasized "the investigation of things," whereas Aristotle saw phronesis as the fruit of experience, the attainment of this kind of wisdom took a lifetime in both traditions.^[74]

With its root meaning of "steelyard, balance, to weigh," ch'üan is usually contrasted to ching , "the standard." Variously rendered as "expediency" (Chan), "exigency" (Legge, Cua, Langlois), "moral discretion," and "appropriate to the purpose at hand" (both D. C. Lau), "overriding conditions" (Dobson), "situational weighing" (Fu), "taking irregular action in accordance with exigencies" (Langlois), ch'üan comes into play when, for one reason or another, standard moral behavior (ching ) is impossible or inapplicable, and it becomes necessary, after weighing all the factors, to resort to something unusual or even ordinarily inadmissible. It does sometimes have the negative connotation of "expedient" in the sense of "self-serving," but when contrasted to ching in Confucian discourse it is used positively.

Chu Hsi discussed the difference between ch'üan and ching in considerable depth, and his ideas on this subject were frequently echoed by later writers.^[75] A locus classicus for Confucian ch'üan is Analects IX:30, where

[71] For a recent discussion of the logic involved in analogical reasoning, see Jean-Paul Reding, "Analogical Reasoning in Early Chinese Philosophy," Asiatische Studien (Etudes Asiatiques ) 40, no. 1 (1986): 40-56.

[72] J. L. Ackrill, Aristotle the Philosopher (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 138.

[73] Paul Schuchman, Aristotle and the Problem of Moral Discernment (Bern: Peter D. Lang, 1980), p. 26. See p. 11, n. 1, for a select bibliography on phronesis in Aristotle. Among contemporary philosophers Gadamer has paid it particular attention.

[74] A young man can become an excellent mathematician, but "prudence involves a detailed knowledge, which comes only from practical experience, and practical experience is what the young man lacks—it comes only after many years." J. A. K. Thomson, The Ethics of Aristotle: The Nicomachean Ethics Translated (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1953).

[75] See Wing-tsit Chan's entry on "ch'üan " in Chung-kuo che-hsüen tze-tien ta-ch'üan and his Neo-Confucian Terms Explained (The Pei-hsi tzu-i) by Ch'en Ch'un, 1159-1223 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), pp. 129-34, which includes a number of historical examples, among them Chu Hsi's views on Chung-ts'ung. Also see Wei Cheng-t'ung, "Chu Hsi on the Standard and the Expedient," in Chan, Chu Hsi , pp. 255-72, or in Chinese, in Wei's Ju-chia yü hsien-tai Chung-kuo (Confucianism and contemporary China) (Taipei: Tung-ta t'u-shu kung-ssu, 1984), pp. 75-93. For another extensive philosophical analysis, see Yamane Mitsuyoshi, Shushi rinri shisokenkyu (A study of Chu Hsi's moral thought) (Hokkaido University Press, 1983). Chapter 6 is on ch'üan . See also Tillman, pp. 28-29. Also helpful, although it does not concern Chu Hsi specifically, is Anthony S. Cua, "Paradigmatic Individuals in Confucius," sec. 2, Arne Naess and Alastair Hamnay, eds., Invitation to Chinese Philosophy (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1972), pp. 49-53

Confucius sets up a progression beginning with men with whom one can study, proceeding to those with whom one can pursue the Way, then citing those with whom one can take a stand, and finally culminating in those with whom one can ch'üan . "Weighing" is also an important theme of the Doctrine of the Mean (Chung yung ), where we are told that "the profound person achieves the Mean according to the situation at the time (shih chung ; shih = time)." Chu Hsi in his commentary (Chung-yung chang-chü ) explains:

The reason the profound person achieves the Mean is that he has the virtue of a profound person and can accord with the times so as to abide in Centrality. . . . After all, Centrality has no set substance but lies in according with the times. That is a constant principle.

Chu Hsi also frequently refers to Mencius IVA:18 concerning a man who rescues his sister-in-law from drowning even though he is violating propriety by touching her. Mencius explains that this action is ch'üan .

During the Northern Sung, Ch'eng I had given a good deal of thought to this issue and concluded that ch'üan was the application of the "standard" in time and place. Indeed, taking issue with the view of Han commentators that ch'üan was counter to ching , Ch'eng held that ching was equivalent to ch'üan .^[76] Since Chu Hsi accepted so much of Ch'eng I's philosophy, it is always instructive to consider points of disagreement. Chu Hsi shared Ch'eng I's positive evaluation of ch'üan as well as his predecessor's concern that the term had been misunderstood and abused. (Ch'üan from very early times figured in Legalist writings and such compounds as ch'üan-mou and ch'üan-shu [political maneuvering] have a Legalist ring.)^[77] He thought Ch'eng I feared that people would use it as a disguise, and he once com-

[76] Ch'eng I's views are discussed in Kusumoto Masatsugu, So Minjidai jugakushiso no kenkyu (Kashiwa shi: Hiroike gakuen, 1961), p. 124, and lshikawa Yasuji, Teii Ikawa tetsugaku no kenkyu (Tokyo: Tokyo University Press, 1964), pp. 143-48. Chu Hsi's response to these views is analyzed in Wei Cheng-t'ung, "Chu Hsi."

[77] Cf. John D. Langlois, Jr., "Law, Statecraft and The Spring and Autumn Annals in Yuan Political Thought," in Hok-lam Chan and Wm. Theodore de Bary, eds., Yuan Thought: Chinese Thought and Religion under the Mongols (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982), pp. 131-35. Also, ch'üan (Japanese "ken") in Hihara Toshikuni et al., Chugokushiso jiten (Dictionary of Chinese thought) (Tokyo: Kyubun shupan, 1983). For ch'üan-mou and shu in Chu Hsi, see, for instance, YL 83, nos. 127, 128 (VI, 3447-48), and 120, no. 110 (VII, 4655).

plained to Chang Shih, "What the world calls ch'üan is merely going along with common practices and becoming used to evil." Chu Hsi objected to Ch'eng's formulation as denying an important distinction.

For Chu Hsi, the "standard" is associated with the constant (ch'ang ) and is always valid, but there are times when it cannot be carried out, and it is in such "variant" (pien ) circumstances that one must resort to what is merely "expedient."

The standard are the constant principles to be acted on in all ages; the expedient are the principles that penetrate change (t'ung-pien ) and are applied when the constant principles cannot be enacted and there is no other way out. They certainly do not differ from the standard in achieving the Mean, but in the end must be temporary not constant.^[78]

In another formulation Chu Hsi characterizes ch'üan as complying with the Way. Clearly it must accord with morality, and Chu Hsi faults Wang T'ung for separating ch'üan and i (duty). In this respect there is no distinction between ch'üan and ching , and Chu Hsi can speak of "ch'üan as not really separate from ching " and say, "When one accords with ch'üan, ching is present in this."^[79] Chu Hsi did not work out a final formulation of the relationship between the two,^[80] but he certainly was not a relativist: ch'üan is not arbitrary. The vicissitudes of life and history necessitate adjustments in human behavior, but these must suit what is called for at a particular time; "[the superior man] can maintain the Mean at any time."^[81]Ch'üan is timely, correct, grounded in the Way, which runs through and stands above the constant and the variant.

Ch'üan , "weighing," always involves individual human judgment. In sentencing a criminal, both the hard-natured judge who would execute him and the tenderhearted official who would show him mercy are wrong. What is required is a judicious weighing. Objectively, there is only one correct outcome, but that can be achieved only by the subjective wisdom of the judge.^[82]

The man rescuing his sister-in-law is the classical example of such an action. Others run the gamut from the trivial to the momentous issues determining imperial succession already noted. Some, as is discussed by

[78] YL 37, no. 46 (Peking ed. vol. 3, pp. 990-91; Taiwan ed. vol. 3, pp. 1579-80); also see no. 42.

[79] YL 37, no. 44 (Peking ed. vol. 3, p. 990; Taiwan ed. vol. 3, p. 1578); YL 137, no. 50 (Peking ed. vol. 8, p. 3269; Taiwan ed. vol. 8, p. 5251); YL 37, nos. 49 and 45 and 46 (Peking ed. vol. 3, pp. 990-92; Taiwan ed. vol. 3, pp. 1580-82).

[80] Wei (p. 80) differentiates between ching as contrasted to ch'üan and ching as equivalent to Tao and therefore on a higher level, while Yamane (pp. 123-24) suggests that in a sense ch'üan is contained in ching .

[81] The Doctrine of the Mean : 2, trans. Chan, Source Book , p. 90.

[82] Cf. Yamane, p. 115. Yamane stresses the subjectivity of ch'üan .

Wei Cheng-t'ung, involve such difficult value conflicts as that between filial piety and religious belief. But Chu Hsi also cites the need to adjust one's normal habits to accommodate to unseasonable weather, such as responding to a winter heat wave by cooling oneself with breeze from a fan rather than dressing up and facing a fire as usual, or drinking hot rather than cold water. Perhaps he is suggesting that although everyone has some sense of judgment, it takes a sage to respond to the storms of history.

Ch'üan had long figured in interpretation of the Spring and Autumn Annals , from the Kung-yang commentary to Ch'eng I. In making his own judgments Chu Hsi does not propose any readily accessible touchstones. Departures from the norm were certainly not sanctioned because they succeeded or because they had beneficial results. Thus Chu Hsi clearly and consistently condemned T'ang T'ai-tsung for his fratricide. A vital difference between him and the Duke of Chou was in motivation: Chou Kung had no choice but to execute his evil and treacherous brother, whereas T'ai-tsung was contending for empire. Chu Hsi quotes Mencius on I Yin: "It [banishing a sovereign] is permissible only if he had the motive of an I Yin; otherwise it would be usurpation," and explains, "In the case of I Yin we can consider it appropriate, but not so in the case of others."^[83]

Given the absence of objective external criteria, only a sage or a worthy has the moral purity and wisdom required in really serious departures from standard norms: "If someone other than a great sage or a worthy employs ch'üan , he will in a little while suit his convenience and transgress."^[84] This was not only Chu Hsi's private view, which he shared with his disciples, but also what he told the emperor in an 1194 memorial:

Your humble servant has heard that there are constant and variant matters in the world and that there are "standard" and "expedient" methods to deal with them. The constant status of sovereign and minister, father and son, are norms that do not change. That the ruler commands and the minister enacts, that the father transmits and the son carries on are the standards of the Way. If there is misfortune and it reaches a point where we are unable completely to act as is normal, it is called variant. And when the methods to deal with this cannot be completely standard, it is called "expedient." When things are normal even sages and worthies do not go beyond maintaining the standard, and ordinary men can do it too. But when it comes to dealing with the variant by means of the "expedient," only a great sage or a great worthy can manage it without going wrong. That is not within the reach of ordinary men.^[85]

[83] YL 37, no. 47 (Peking ed. vol. 3, p. 991; Taiwan ed. vol. 3, p. 1581). Mencius VIIA:31 as trans. by D. C. Lau, Mencius (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970), p. 189.

[84] YL 37, no. 52 (Peking ed. vol. 3, p. 994; Taiwan ed. vol, 3, p. 1586). Also no. 28, pp. 986, 1573; no. 43, pp. 989, 1578.

[85] "Chia-yin hsing-kung pien-tien tsou-cha 1," Wen-chi 14, p. 203.

By insisting that only a perfect man can deal with historical emergencies, Chu Hsi is reaffirming the ultimate priority of self-cultivation for bringing order to his own "variant" world. It is consistent with his repeated and well-known admonitions for the emperor to rectify himself and make his heart sincere so as to set in motion the salvation of the world as taught in the Great Learning . The link in Chu Hsi's thought between self-cultivation and ordering the world is basic and crucial. Failure to achieve the former has made it impossible to accomplish the latter.