(Translated by Sherwin Lu)
The Yellow Emperor asks Li Hei:
“As I am the sole person in charge of all the affairs under heaven, some sly people may stir up chaos by sophistry and dark schemes. I am afraid we may not be able to stop them. Can you tell me if there is an established law under heaven by which to regulate the people?”
Li Hei answers:
“Yes. Since heaven and earth were distinguished from each other, humans have also been differentiated into the higher and the lower in their positions. As everything between heaven and earth was given a name and each name made to match each form, people’s different statuses should also match each person’s performance and vice versa, so as not to violate the one single law governing all under heaven. This law is rooted in heaven and prevails everywhere under it. As I know, this established law for all under heaven is simple – no more than one statement, that is, all the names and all the forms should be at one with each other. Then, nobody can break the rules without getting punished.”
The Yellow Emperor continues to ask:
“Is there really one all-encompassing law for everything under heaven?”
Li Hei replies:
“Yes. Once the Heavenly Emperor sent a messenger down to the earth to reveal the Tao to all in just one statement. The Five Emperors* in the past used it to regulate everything between heaven and earth, to handle all affairs in all places, to appease the people, and to enlighten whole generations of scholars. Then, wicked people were removed from important positions and virtuous ones promoted. All evils retreated and fallacious rhetoric stopped. All the names and forms were at one and nobody can break the rules without getting punished.”
“Does the one all-encompassing law consist in the one statement only?” queries the Yellow Emperor, “Can’t it be expanded?”
“The one statement is the fundamental of the principle of the Tao,” Li Hei responds. “Of course the Tao is embodied in an ever expandable variety of forms. All the failures people experience originate in their deviations from this fundamental law. The Tao’s unfolding can be observed in everything and its principle applied to everywhere between heaven and earth. How do we know this is the ultimate law, which works everywhere, far and near? We know it just because it never fails anywhere. From the one unfolds all; from the basic we get to know more. Looking up the heaven, down to earth, and around into all corners of the world, we can see that things in all directions embrace one another each in its own way. Tens of thousands of statements can be made, and yet there is always one that is basic, that is essential, that generalizes. Myriads and myriads of things can be distinguished, and yet there is always one invisible law that can be perceived behind all of them.
“But who can perceive this basic law and manage the myriads of things in accordance with it except those with an upright mind? Only those sagely people can hold on to the upright principle and rectify all deviations, can grasp the essential and comprehend all, can eliminate what is harmful and safeguard what is beneficial to the people. By embracing the one supreme law, by following the way of heaven and earth, one will know where lies good or bad fortune for people living between heaven an earth.”
* The “Five Emperors”, often mentioned together with the “Three Sovereigns” (“The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors”, 三皇五帝 ), were legendary, morally perfect sage-kings of China during the period from c. 2852 BC to 2205 BC, which is the time preceding the Xia Dynasty (夏朝). Names of the five sage-kings are not the same in different historical records. |
