Heaven is my Father - Earth is my Mother...
Sep 17, 2021
Heaven is my Father,
Earth is my Mother….
That which fills the Universe,
I regard as my Body…
That which directs the Universe,
I consider as my Naure…
All people are my Brothers and Sisters…
All things are my Companions...
~ Zhang Zai - 張載
'Western Inscription'
* Zhāng Zài; - 張載 - was a Chinese philosopher, essayist, politician, writer, and cosmologist who lived during the years of 1020–1077 in the Song Dynasty. He initially explored both Buddhism and Taoism - but he felt the 'Great Way' could not be found there, and focused on Confucianism. He is most known for laying out four ontological goals for intellectuals: To build up the manifestations of Heaven and Earth's spirit, to build up good life for the populace, to develop past sages' endangered scholarship, and to open up Eternal Peace.
In Zhang Zhai's metaphysics, he views that all things of the world are composed of a primordial Substance or Energy - that which is called Qi.
For Zhang, Qi Energy includes all matter and the forces that govern interactions between matter, that which is called Yin Yang. In its dispersed, rarefied state, Qi Energy is invisible and insubstantial, but when it condenses it becomes a solid or liquid and takes on new properties. All material things are composed of condensed Qi Energy: rocks, trees, even people.
There is nothing that is not this Qi Energy.
Thus, in a real sense, everything has the same essence,
an idea which has important ethical implications....
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-- from the Immortal Arts Team --
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