Chinese Thought Midterm
1. Meaning of the words
Transformation of Things (物化)  because everything has no ego, there is a perfect
condition for
Wu-Wei / No action (無爲)
Mystery (玄)
Ti 體 Yung 用  phenomenal realm and noumenal realm
The Piping of Man/Earth/Heaven (人籟, 地籟, 天籟)
Constant Way (常道)
Name / Nameless (有名/無名)
Timeliness (時中)
No – Words
No intention (無心)
Sage (子)
Teaching with no-words (不言之敎)
Nature (自然)
Ruling of no-ruling
Emptiness –
Water (水)
Highest goodness is like water (上善若水)
Ruthless (不仁)
Negative mode of speech
Spirit (神)
柔弱勝剛剛
No – Ego (無我)
No-knowing (無知)
Tai Chi and Wu chi
The way  道 / we cannot thingify the Tao / it is unsayable because it is not a thing / IT = TAO =/ the 1 st =/
cause =/ the Absolutes =/ unmoved mover / images the forefather of God  why forefather?  because Tao
cannot be used as death or birth, it is rather transcendental / when something has form of substance, it
should be drained out one day, but Tao is not because it is empty, and so it is endless / no beginning and no
ending  No such things like Genesis, just keep going on and on / Western philosophy – linear, Oriental
philosophy – circle (beginning, end no such things)
he spirit of valley  valley? – lowest part of the mountain / dimly visible, it seems as if it were there 
“indecisive statement” / 神 – idea which cannot be identified (literal meaning)
Tao is womb of everything and Taoism is the thought of femineity / 柔弱勝剛强 – weak and fragile thing
can win over strong character
Nature (自然)  the beginning, endless, keep circulating (常 – consistency, change consistently, influx) / this
world is already arbitrary and have an artificial manner so, nothing is real / affirmative statement =
discrimination (A is A – great violence) / everything is consistently influx and never grasp a true identity of
things  so, the everything is an illusion and it means “momentariness” / When this concept applied to
every nature  ugliness and beauty does not different from each other and no difference on everything /
spontaneously, not purposefully designed / bee and flower  two-in-one  mutually interconnected / You
cannot survive without surrounding environment / otherness / Even if I do not pose any arbitrary deeds,
myriad things just come up with spontaneously / Desire – compare each other, miserable / nature has no
desire so no comparison  already perfect itself / Under the nature everything is equal (democratic philosophy)
/ the greatest life mentor
Taoism – similar with wave – incessantly moving
The nameless was the beginning(始) of heaven and earth  體 ti
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures  用 yung
Mystery – 玄: abstract, mysteries, beyond our cognition / The meaning of Chinese character is black, but it does
not present the color, but something unmeasurable like a deep sea and unfathomable concept like abyss / so it is
not a certain concept or reference and that is why Laozi says “mystery over mystery” because we cannot
verbalize it.
時中 – timeliness / identify in difference, but difference in identity / truth is always different  identified
tentatively / truth is always “in-time”
Interdependency (always coexist, mutual)  Something and Nothing produces each other
Language is the empty sign and it has no reference  “this, that” has no reference / so, the true reality is the
silence / language =/ reality, language is context-bounded / say “fire”  no reference with real fire
Indeterminacy  we will never understand the ultimate meaning of language, because it has no ultimate
meaning
No-words: words make distinction arbitrarily  everything is organically interconnected = oneness
不言之敎  teaching with no words / highest form of teaching – no instruction nor language / nature can do
this (ex: ocean, mountain, vast sky)
Language is just a empty signifier and nothing to do with real concept, so it is not a reference  men are
constructing the world on their own so human being cannot be free from this world
Gateway (門)  in and out through the gate myriad thing appear and disappear though the gate. Then where? It
is within our mind, so the essence of myriad things is illusion because they are doomed to disappear
Transformation  no ego entitiy – only existed within your deluded thought
No Action / Wu-Wei (無爲) – downstream effort, feel the flow of the nature / encourage people to challenge
(you-wei perspective)  if you do upstream effort like this, your life will be miserable
Harming the environment = Hurting Yourselves and karma will come for you
“Not to honor men of worth will keep the people from contention  “advertisement” – criticism toward
current society – it always stirs and stimulates people’s desire
“Innocent of knowledge” = no calculating mind / calculating mind  meaningless, making distinction out of
nothingness / Nature – instinct & Artificiality – mind
“order” = “of itself so”  there will be no mistake if we do not have calculating mind / nature = no particular
design and order will naturally prevail
 no intention (無心) – there are always trouble and conflict because there should be intention / JUST
TRUST THE NATURE
Maybe the most important concept of Laozi is the nature
If there is just one concept in society  tragedy, totalitarianism, fascism  “diverse ideas should be
guaranteed” / greatest leader – person who has firm understanding of merit of each individual and patch them
into their best part / “ruling of no-ruling”
concept of utopia  diverse things merge into great “oneness” / utopia is within the present  so do not
waste your time with unknown future and bygone fast and just focus on present
Paradox – the more you change, the more similar you become and merge into oneness (ultimate destination)
because we are already manifestation of ultimate destination / So, individuality and diversity is not opposite
concept but mutually connected concept
“Emptiness” – emptiness is deep, which is unfathomable / it blunts the sharpness, untangle the knots, soften the
glare  keeping balance and opposite from excess / full of potential / metaphor: flute – inside is empty but
can make beautiful sound, human body too / Not like “nothingness” (Western translation) it is “emptiness”
The great genius is a great fool – if water is too clear (showing off cleverness), nothing can live within it  so,
we have to be humble  water is directing to downward
I, We, Ego – bubble, momentariness, dew, phantom-like / manifestation of cosmic oneness
上善若水 – highest goodness is like water / water exists without contending (no conflict)  wanting to
dominate others (correct and incorrectness)  why others want to win over other? Because they have ego! /
settles where none would like to be (lowest place) / clean and humbleness / benefits the myriad creature /
why water is important? How it manifests the content of the Tao  timeliness (時中) – always truth-in-time,
consistently changing, different / There is no transcendental truth
Nature is ruthless (不仁) – nothing to do with negativity, but transcendent  no preference, inclination,
neither merciful nor cruel / not biased
Straw dogs  substitutes for scapegoat when they do not have sacrifices  metaphor for neither useful nor
useless because it is burnt after the ritual / We always want to be “useful” and not to be “useless” – but Laozi
think both are not.  It does not depend upon things, but it has authority upon user / You are not the mean, but
the end itself
Root of language (speech) is silence / Speech contains silence so it is not an opposite concept / If music do not
have any silence, it is just a noise
“Sage puts his person last and it comes first”  humbleness / they should not think themselves as sage
“Treats it as extraneous to himself and it is preserved”  own my mind, body?  impossible because I cannot
possess my body / so, suicide is anti-nature because it is not yours / then, human is part of the nature? No, we
are the nature  we are cosmic existing
“Ego” – illusioned by deluded thought
無我 no-ego-entity / 大我 cosmic existence – we can know what truly we are / extremely difficult process
Taoism = ultimate emancipation because we are trapped within biased ego, so please be free! / no such things
that like moral retribution (勸善懲惡) / we cannot harm each other because we are “oneness” / Look up at
the sky: there are no such heaven or hell, it is just emptiness
If everything is the same, it will be no fun  if everyone walks the same road, it will lead to everyone’s
stupidity – I did not even realize who I am but just follow the route, Laozi will say this is the tragedy –
embracing diversity  Do not prohibit certain colors – unless it is just fascism / “equality” – sameness in
difference and difference in sameness / so the balance and the harmony is important / sage men – who are able
to “harmoniously blend” of good and evil
No Possession of Tao
“To retire when the task is accomplished is the way of heaven” – example of timeliness
反面敎師 – If three men walks, one of them is the teacher
Balance, Harmony vs Excess, Extremity / we cannot possess anything in this world, cycle / 空手來空手去
Oneness  one mind / no-knowing – if you want to learn something, you become more forget knowing, effort
 which will lead to your all-knowing
Perplexed bodily soul – ultimate level of small elements (혼백) / supple as a babe = weakness / “mysterious
mirror” – all-knowing because it is transparent as itself / “role of female” – humbleness / “discernment
penetrates the four quarter” – all knowing, prerequisite is “no-knowing”
耳順 – person like ocean / no discrimination or nor prejudice / accommodation and passionate
“Thirty spokes” – why thirty?  maybe month ex: Sep. 20th / Sep is nothingness and 20th is something /
nothingness (encompassing things) – something is interdependency / universality = individuality – closely
interconnected / non-duality =/ momism =/ duality  negation of both
“Five colors, notes, tastes impairs human mind”  in what sense?  You do not see what things are, just see
what you want to see / opposite from tranquility, just distraction, cheated mind / criticism of capitalist economic
stance / “Hence sage is for the belly – symbol of nature, not for the eye” / there are no civilization without
barbarism / what we see is not the ultimate true – most concreate is most evasive / colors does not percept us,
the man(sage) can see the color – sage will change the direction of the sight and sage knows that true
essence of colors  happens simultaneously
Laozi’s definition of knowledge – “In the pursuit of Tao, one does less every day, One does less and less
until one does nothing at all” – no knowing / “not meddling the empire – virtue of great ruler”
Political Philosophy – Acquisition of knowledge must parallel with your attitude of your mind
Heidegger – famous for praising Tao-de-Qing
1. Tao de Qing
Laozi’s definition of knowledge – “In the pursuit of Tao, one does less every day, One does less
and less until one does nothing at all” – no knowing / “not meddling the empire – virtue of great
ruler”
Political Philosophy – Acquisition of knowledge must parallel with your attitude of your mind
Heidegger – famous for praising Tao-de-Qing
If everyone heads for same thing, it will be tragedy. One didn’t even know who he is, but just
following the society’s rule.  so, no meddling / embracing diversity and no exclusion / Don’t
prohibit any certain colors
80. “Reduce the size and population of the state” – characterize the concept of utopia – opposed to
metropolitan society (alienated, isolated)
“no light matter” – wu wei zi ran : my body is nature
“They will be reluctant to move to distant places, ships and carts and they will have no use for them,
they will have no occasion to make a show of them”  if we keep moving  want to understand what
you are and keep making comparison  so, no-moving, do not make a comparison, which only to
make sufferings so just satisfies with your current position
“Bring it about ~ knotted rope” – very discernable criticism: civilization makes mistakes, but the
nature does not  criticizing language / Will be content in their abode and happy in the way they live
 no comparison and accept current circumstances
“Without having had any dealings with those of another”  no comparison
 UTOPIA – “knowable society”  communicability is important and no one get alienated
81. “Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful”  beautiful words need
camouflage and decoration, which is not truthful
“Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good  good words – do not want any
argument, so if words are sincere, they don’t need to persuade anyone /
“The sage does not hoard”  listens to words and just forget it, they don’t keep it – do not linger on
what other people said, lacks remembrance
“Having bestowed all he has on others, he has yet more”  the more you share your knowledge, they
more knowledge you will get / assets also!
“The WAY of sage is bountiful and does not contend”  no conflict, because there is no sense of ego
+ humbleness / if you have an ego, it will make another fight
豫 – future/ Chinese character consists of “I + image” – image of now myself is the future
Imagine there is the clean and transparent pond, and the bird flies above it  the image of bird in
pond will go away and it will disappear / sage – do not grasp the past, which is just phantom-like
object / when one keep thinking about tomorrow (future), it will be miserable, so just focus on the
present and here and now!
2. Analogical way of thinking
태극 (太極) – Tai-ji
Yin – even numbers (- - yielding line) / Yang – odd numbers (-------- firm line)
 always yin and yang co-exist, it just the matter of which concept is dominant and which is not
Ex) four seasons – summer: yang stronger / winter: yin stronger
Root of yin is yang and root of yang is yin, so oneness is yin-yang
5, 10 are empty numbers, they don’t have meaning, but if we don’t have them, the concept will not be
concrete
팔괘 (8 trigrams)  represents of basic elements
Analogical way of thinking
오행 – 5 stage of cosmic changes – related to concept of time, space, human affairs, ethics
1. water (水): winter, north, death, wisdom / (1,6)
2. fire (火): summer, south, prosperity, propriety / (2,7)
3. tree (木): spring, east, growth, benevolence / (3,8)
4. metal (金): autumn, west, decay, righteousness / (4,9)
5. earth (土): transitional period, center, X, faith / (5,10)
 faith is most important because it connects with human each other
1, 2, 3, 4  essential number (生數) / 6,7,8,9  complete number (成數)
 which is bigger between 6 and 8? – don’t surprise because 6 is bigger / 6 and 8 are both yin
numbers and 6 is called 老-yin and 8 is called 小-yin so in terms of yin, the smaller the bigger
 which is bigger between 7 and 9?  it is 9. 7 and 9 are both yang numbers and 9 is called 老-yang
and 7 is called 小-yang
Old / small yin-yang has meaning
 old-yin: not indicate concept, it is process and not static / 6 is old yin because it is on the verge of
transition yin to yang / ex) full moon begins to wane  it is the concept of old-yang
Yin – function of contraction (inhale, bending) / Yang – function of expansion (exhale, stretching)
 separated concept and functions but it is done spontaneously because these are all interconnected
Then, why 1,6 is winter?  1: yang – heaven force  essential number / 6: yin-earth force 
complete number / so the water born from the sky and disappear into ground earth /
 water
 fire
3. Free and easy wandering (逍遙遊)
“In the northern darkness, there is a fish and his name is K’un”  the meaning of northern
darkness: northern sea  death! / first living creature: he insists that is the fish /
“He changes and becomes a bird whose name is Peng”  化 – the very essence of life
“The bird sets off for the southern darkness” – noumenal world to phenomenal world and
emptiness to something
“When the bird looks down, all he sees is blue, too”
 Essence 體 : northern darkness (物自體) / Attribute 相: fish / Influence 用: bird 
mutually interconnected / thing-in-itself: without a priori, we don’t know the rules of it
 Essence: cup (cup-in-itself) / Attribute: shape of cup / Influence: drinking
Small things dependent on small, and deep things dependent on deep things  we are
dependent existence between essence and attribute
Blue: Zhuangzi did not mean its real color, blue  what is the real color of the sky? –
NOBODY knows and it is not even productive question / the sky  has no absolute color of
its own = concept of emptiness / then why he mentioned that all he sees is blue too?  when
you look down the sky from the 90,000 li above, the world looks the same / earth becomes
the sky / everything changed in the different people’s perspective
Heaven – O round circle: indecisiveness / Earth – □ square: concrete
“Little understanding cannot come up to great understanding; the short-lived cannot come up
to the long-lived”  no distinction / time is contingent on our reaction and dependent
from our perception
“A man of Sung who sold ceremonial hats ~ had no use for such things”  hats: value-free
things / everything is different from people’s perspective
“He was dazed and had forgotten his kingdom there”  able to recognize tremendously
original enlightenment  the original work become trivial so he had forgotten his kingdom
 ‘KAIROS’ – sudden enlightenment
“wildcat and weasel”  always chasing somebody and chasing after value, profit, goal / but
it is trivial and not essential
“yak”  someone who can live focus restoring primal innocence which given by heaven, but
he is not able to catch even mice  “uselessness but always BE yourself” / primal innocence
– interconnected with the cosmos
“Why don’t you plant it in or the field of Broad and Boundlessness, relax and do nothing by
its side, or lie down for a free and easy sleep under it?”  escape from artificial jail that I
made  tree can live longer because this tree is useless  no distinction so, nobody can
discriminate
“use of something”  uselessness is the very concept that Zhaungzi advocates  who
decides the usefulness of something?  your existence is not something that you can decide
but you will be evaluated by others like a puppet / ex) nature – under nature, everything is
equally useful / usefulness  totally artificial and man-made concept / uselessness  you
become what you are / you live in accordance with your innate nature (=wu-wei, non action)
 via uselessness can achieve great-use
4. Discussions of Making all things equal (齊物論)
齊物論 – two translation / 1. 제/물론  there were 9 philosophical schools within China and
with this passage, Zhuang zi tried to annihiliate other schools  persuasive theory / 제-물론’
은 노자나 은자와 같은 도가인물의 사상은 물론, 유가나 묵가 담론을 그 주된 대상으로 하며,
이들 간에 형성된 일방적이고 절대적인 담론 체계를 공격한다.
2. 제물/론  discussion of making all things equal
Deconstruction of the concepts of right & wrong  right and wrong is interdependent each
other like the concept of yin and yang / we cannot understand one concept without
understanding opposite meaning  who draws a line between the concept of right and wrong?
 for example: tiger is evil and deer is the good? NO!  under the nature there is no
between right and wrong, good or bad, these kinds of boundaries
 punishing criminals – different issues / getting derailed from social norm and it should be
punished…but actually the concept of crimes are varied time to time, actually always
culturally and timely bounded concept // Battle and war – in the name of justice? Terrible
idea because who decides the justice? Thinking him as impeccable being is the worst idea 
very arbitrary idea
Phenomenal world – yung / Noumenal realm – ti (for example: the person who is going
library – yung / my decision to go library – ti)  these concept is inseparable and
interconnected  equality and emptiness / No binarism (this/that, right/wrong)
What is the “nature” – not only forest and primitive life is not a nature // Empire state
building and bird’s nest are both nature – Nature means flowing the current flow of time and
live naturally like a water streaming downward (concept of wu-wei) – if someone have ego
entity, there are lack of flexibility and they will make upstream effort which is anti-nature 
so, someone who live in a cave while outside is a metropolitan cities is actually anti-nature 
concurrence!  EMPTINESS!
Piping of the man  the sound of flutes and instruments // Piping of the earth – wind that the
sound from hollow holes // Piping of Heaven  similar with Tao / unsayable, unthingify! 
Moving and no-moving, then who is meditating between these two?  unsayable but it is
really important! We can live because there are numerous things there are unsayable, noknowing is the fundamental basis of human life
When thinking about the analogical way of thinking and you draw a 4 ways direction, the
center, it’s a similar concept with Piping of Heaven – we cannot say what exactly it is, but
there are the center, north, east, west, south can exist!
Another example  when someone eat sugar, and when sugar contacts the tongue, we feel
sweetness. Then we cannot say whether sweetness is on my tongue or sugar  but when they
meet, there happens sweetness!
All of our emotions – “Let it be, Let it be!, It is enough that morning and evening we have
them, and they are the means by which we live, Without them we would not exist, without us
they would have nothing to take hold of”  It is relationship between God and human, mind
and body is interconnected and mind can express via concrete concepts of body / Kant: “God
only exists because there is a man”
“The hundred joints, the nine opening…But which part should I feel closest to / Whether I
succeed in discovering his identity or not, it neither adds to nor detracts from his Truth” 
the true-self is emptiness / after, it will merge into entire cosmos, “self” are rooted in vast
cosmos, which should not be treated as nihilistic, it is saying the ultimate truth is not in my
mind! Truth is no reduction of human self!
“Even an idiot has its teacher, but to fail to abide by this mind and still insist upon your rights
and wrongs – this is like saying that you set off for Yueh today and got there yesterday” 
Suppose there is a room and it is filled with furniture and it blocks the light, if the room is
empty then the light could come in. Like this, empty your mind and cast the discrimination
off! Then the wisdom reversely can come to your empty mind. This is similar to fill a cup
with dirty water, you should discard them first, and fill the clean water
“But if we want to right their wrongs and wrong their rights, then the best thing is to use is
clarity”  “clarity” – we are not attached to anything / right and left is all man-made
concept. So, in the middle we are not in neither area, and not attached to anything // this is
similar with concept of Buddhist “moderation” (中道) / another example  wave – true
identity of world, which is keep moving and cannot pinpoint the ultimate truth (Tao is the
ultimate truth but it is unsayable)
“Everything has its “that” everything has its “this”…where there is birth there must be dead;
where there is death there must be birth…Therefore the sage does not proceed in such way,
but illuminates all in the light of Heaven”  like a two sides of coin / if there is no one, there
are no the other / synchronicity and simultaneously  so, “A is ~” already a discrimination
 negative mode of speech  neti-neti // He is standing at center, no identity its own,
abstract concept // Looking at yin-yang, yin is called rascality and yang is the healthy nature
but both are already in your mind so both are you!  So if someone say, I became a good
person, NO! Both you are you.
“A state in this “this” and “that” no longer find their opposites is called the “hinge” of the
Way”  hinge: so it acts like center, the door can exists because there is a hinge / opening the
door  phenomenal world / hinge  noumenal world
“To use an attribute to show that attributes are not attributes is not as good as using a nonattribute to show that attributes are not attributes…horses / What is acceptable we call
acceptable, what is unacceptable we call unacceptable”  name is meaningless! It is about
neither being or non-being (non-duality)  inevitability, no abiding, no attachment
“Only the man of far-reaching vision knows how to make them into one, So he has no use, but
relegates all to the constant” – constant: common place things, inevitability  the great
oneness
“He relies upon this alone; relies upon it and does not know he is doing so. This is called the
Way”  simply follow what other are doing – advantages – we can keep distance and never
get addicted to what we are doing  can be done on most effective way (no preoccupation) //
everything is dream-like. So, no attachment and just calm, peaceful, tranquility
“parable of acorns and monkey”  acorns are noumenal words and 3, 4 just like numbers are
phenomenal words, this is not to criticize stupid monkey but to say just let them want to do
 “Sage harmonizes with both right and wrong and rests in Heaven the Equalizer”, this is
called walking two roads (兩行)”
“The torch of chaos and doubt – this is what the stage steers by”  chaos, doubt is described
as having positive meaning, for example, cloud in the sky all have different shapes and some
of are really irregular and disoriented for eyes of some people, but they are as beautiful as
they are! // this is connected with the concept of “primal innocence”
“There is nothing in the world bigger than the tip of an autumn hair, and Mount Tai is little.
No one has lived longer than a dead child, and P’eng-tsu died young”  everything is
relativistic (idea of Taoism) / mayfly and the turtle  cannot compare their lives because we
will never know  the length of time is relativistic and it is always contingent upon in our
mind  very epistemological concept
“Who can understand discriminations that are not spoken, the Way that is not way”  In
terms of understanding, we cannot say whether right or wrong
“Of these three creatures (loach, man, monkey), then which one knows the proper place to
live?’  beauty, taste, residence – they do not have any specific meaning, so it is relativistic
idea  no absolute answer
‘The sage leans on the sun and moon, tuple the universe under his arm, merges himself with
things, leaves the confusion and muddles as it is, and looks on slave as exalted. Ordinary
men strain and struggle; the sage is stupid and blockish. He takes part in ten thousand ages
and achieves simplicity in oneness”
 the sage engages in all worldly things, but in out of inevitability. In that, he does that to
achieve anything but he ‘just’ does it. It can lead to detachment. If someone want to improve
himself, he is already identical with improved person. So, the process equals consequences.
The constantly moving force around the circle is phenomenal realm, but the spot on the circle
is the noumenal realm, so actually it did not change at all. / As you cannot make a gold out of
the stone, so if you want to be a gold, you are already a gold! In the same logic – if you want
to be a Buddha, you are already a Buddha
In this passage, “confusion” has positive connotation  emptiness, wu-wei “negative
capability // Strain and struggle  upstream effort of men, modern world full of upstream
effort
“How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am
not like a man who having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?”  the
problem of life and death: actually confined to the human, animals do not worry about their
death and birth // Death is the reservoir of the new-being like winter is not the death of the
season, but the another start of the spring  exemplary case – Lady Li and her death and go
to the Heaven, she eventually wondered why they ever longed for life // death is like the
‘interval’ between sound and silence, which always with us every moment
“And someday there will be great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream” 
Dream was the philosophical concept that see everything as a concept, then it is still a dream.
For example, if you see the desk and think this is a desk, then you are still in a dream.
However, if you think transcend this thought, then you are awakened.
“If you and I don’t know the answer, the other people are bound to be even more in the dark”
 “knowing” – How do we know that the thing you know is real or false? Who can judge
and decide which concept is correct?  NO ONE! So, the no-knowing could lead to an allknowing. So we should empty our mind and get rid of the prejudice (elimination)
“Right is not right, so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not
right that there would be no need for argument…Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap
into the boundless and make it your home!”
 tentative conclusion of how to make all things equal  distinction is made by my mind so
there should be no distinction! So everything becomes equal // we all do not know what is
true and genuine knowing so why would we make any argument? It is waste of time 
everything will merge into oneness so just flow the course of the nature
“But he did not know if he was Chuang Chou who had dreamt, he was a butterfly, or a
butterfly dreaming he was Chaung Chou. Between Chuang Chou and the butterfly there must
be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things”
 the concept of 物化: for example, there is a water and it continuously changes into ice and
cloud this is because 1. It has no ego entity and they are all empty / 2. Since they are all
empty substances, so it can freely transform into another thing / Mind can also vary time to
time because it has no substance entity (timeliness) // A is not A – all things are equal because
they are empty
 Dependent beings: individuality exists without relying on other things, but it is impossible
and also not true / we are interdependent to each other because we have no ego entity 
organic vision of nature / Indra net  A and non-A is interconnected
A is not A  Emptiness (prerequisite)  and lead to free transformation / so Transformation
of Things is the final stage of true reality of things, which is unsayable
5. Taichi Diagram – Zhou Lian Xi
Taichi is unsayable, to put forcibly into the word form: “the absolute cosmic divinity” 
Taichi is the oneness and it represents as unsayability, there is no split between recipient and
receiver / seen & seer  no split and no division = no perception // 黑白未分: there is no
distinction and two things converges into oneness
Taichi(太極) is also a Wuchi (無極)  If you explain Taichi without Wuchi then, Taichi
becomes oneness, but it becomes a “thing” However, thing cannot be the basis of essence of
myriad thing // Tao (also, Taichi) is the base of myriad thing  origin is the base of myriad
thing, which is not a thing and unsayable // Tao is unsayable and unthingify it. // Therefore,
Wuchi is Taiqi, and nothingness becomes oneness, 0=1, they have to go simultaneously and
we need both // Nothingness means nothing?  No, it is inappropriate, because nothingness
has potential to become everything // Taichi: functional aspect of Tao, Wuchi: ontological
aspect of Tao. When we draw a circle, the dot at the center is the Taichi and line of the circle
is Wuchi
Within Taichi, there are yin (contraction) and yang (expansion). However, yin and yang are
not subjugated to the Taichi or Taichi does not dominate yin and yang. Rather, Taichi equals
Yin-Yang // Taichi belongs to noumenal world and Yin-Yang belongs to phenomenal world
 Yin and Yang is not a separate concept (arm’s stretch/bend and door’s open/close)
Ex) Day and Night  they are phenomenal world // Day can be day because there are the
night and vice versa. (Day is rooted in Night, Night is rooted in Day) So it is not day and
night have own characteristics, they are interdependent and they are empty. In that,
phenomenal world = noumenal world  non-duality
When you look at the picture of Taichi Diagram  yin and yang is all mixed within Taichi,
yin and yang is the phenomenal world but they are all within noumenal world so they are not
separated. In other words, the space is not relevant. Wherever you are, if you understand the
concept of emptiness and Tao, you can instantly be awakened!
If you prepare your presentation too hardly, you became too rigid and you could not
communicate with your audience well and flexibly. So you have to understand they are
illusion
 I AM THE EMBODIMENT OF TAICHI – 乾道成男 – yang / 坤道成女 - ying  if and
only if we have two concepts together (amalgam of both masculinity and femineity) we can
secretly cooperate each other
6. The Secret of Caring for Life (養生主)
“If you do good, stay away from fame. If you do evil, then stay away from punishment” 
follow the middle; go by what is constant”
There are two traps: traps of fame and traps of punishment  attachment either trap is
inappropriate so avoid them!  no-abiding / no attachment
“Cook Ting – What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill…now I go at it by spirit
and don’t look with my eye”  he is not skilled, but just follow the spirit, follow the course of
nature and not having calculating mind, which is the attitude of wu-wei and never violate the
virtue of wu-wei
“I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big
openings, and follow things as they are. So, I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon
much less a main joint…Cook Ting: That’s why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is
as good as when it first came from the grindstone”
 what is amazing about Zhuangzi, the cook in this story is actually a butcher, who was
considered as low rank in Chinese society and as vulgar, however Zhuangzi think he is a sage!
This is the amalgam of sanctity and vulgarity
Cow – world / Knife – spirit / Grindstone – tools to sharpen one’s spirit so, like holy books /
Big openings: emptiness – the reason why cook can use his knife for 19 years
What he means by he does not touch any ligament or tendon?  related to the conclusion:
how to care for life?  AVOID the place where many people gathers together, because this
place would be crowded because this is the place where there are profit (this is ligament or
tendon)  when someone only pursues the profit, this is the amalgamated trap of fame and
punishment, so it will chaotic and dangerous and they will just waste energy while earn no
gain // So we need to feel indifference and have no possession and detached mind, free from
conflicts and no-ego entity
“Story of Kung-wen Hsuan and Commander of Right”  Commander of the Right – who
was punished and were cut his one leg, a person who is inclined to one extremity, the trap of
punishment // Kungwen Hsuan – a person who is inclined to another extremity, the trap of
doing good (fame) // Commander of Right was punished and repented so he was reborn and
unshackle from the trap, but Kungwen Hsuan still remain within fame trap. So Commander
reached near to what is called “primal innocence and relatively happier than Kung.
“The swamp peasant has to walk ten paces for one peck and a hundred paces for one drink,
but it does not want to be kept in a cage. Though you treat your body like a king, its spirit
won’t be content”  So don’t fall into the cage of fame or punishment. And spirit is the
important, and that is the secret of living good life  sound mind and sound body
“If you are content with the time and willing to follow along, then grief and joy have no way
to enter in. In the old days, this was called ‘being freed from the bonds of God.’”  dua
Is it possible to prove that “I” do not exist? Explain in Taoist concept  To prove I do not
exist; we should start from the question, do “I” exist. Within Taoist thought, everything is
under the nature and everything is equal because nature has no-ego entity and no distinction.
But people think they have ego and keep trying to prove themselves and try to argue each
other. So, proving I is almost impossible because in the Taoist concept, “I” am like the bubble,
momentariness, dew, phantom-like manifestation of cosmic oneness. In other words, I am
making oneness with the nature. And nature is aligned with the concept of Tao. So, can we
define the Tao? That is impossible because the concept of Tao is unsayable. So in my opinion,
to prove