According to Zhu Xi, the investigation of things (gewu 格物) may enable us to understand the pattern or principle (li 理) in them (the reason they are as they are). There is one pattern or principle in all things, but it may have many manifestations. Li is inseparable from qi (氣, "vital energy," "material force," or "psychophysical stuff"). Without qi, there would be nothing in which li could settle or dwell in order for it to govern the myriad things in the universe. Thus, the diverse manifestations of li are due to differences in the manner in which the myriad things are endowed with qi.
Qi may accumulate to form matter, but li is neither form nor matter.1 Whenever qi accumulates or dissipates, expands or contracts, integrates or disintegrates, its transformations are governed by li. Li also governs the interrelationships between yin and yang (the two opposing but complementary forces of qi that must be balanced in order for there to be cosmic harmony) and the Five Phases or Agents (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) that lead to an orderly evolution of the universe.
Differences in the qi that human beings are endowed with may be due to whether it is bright or dark, clear or turbid, blocked or unblocked. Li or human nature is the same in every human being, but each individual has their own distinctive endowment of qi, which may account for individual differences in moral character. For those individuals whose qi is not clear and bright or who have imbalances in the Five Phases, learning and moral cultivation may enable them to transform their dark or cloudy qi into bright and clear qi so that it no longer obscures the goodness of their human nature, and so that it harmonizes with their natural virtues of goodness (ren 仁), righteousness (yi 義), propriety (li 禮), and wisdom (zhi 智). These cardinal virtues are all manifestations of li.
If li loses its brightness due to the cloudiness or turbidity of qi, then we may also need to concentrate on it until it becomes brighter (for example, by regulating unruly desires and emotions), just as when a mirror becomes dull or cloudy, we may need to polish it until it regains its brightness and clarity.
Zhu Xi teaches that learning and moral self-cultivation may be promoted by studying the Four Books (the Analects, Mencius, Great Learning, and the Mean) and the Five Classics (the Documents, Odes, Spring and Autumn Annals, the Rites, and the Book of Changes). They may also be promoted by reverential attentiveness (jing 敬),2 investigation of the principle in things, and investigation of an individual's own heart-mind.
The heart-mind (xin 心) is principle, and it extends to all the myriad things in the universe. Thus, the natures of all human beings and all the myriad things are the same. Their individual differences are merely due to differences in their individual endowments of qi. Yin and yang and the Five Phases of qi can interact in a myriad of ways. The moral nature of li is such that it can transform qi from turbid to clear, and from dark to bright. Thus, by investigating the principle in things, we can also investigate the principle in the heart-mind.
However, the principle of the heart-mind is never separated from qi, and indeed qi is the locus of the heart-mind's activity or consciousness. Li and qi interpenetrate, just as the principle and the consciousness of the heart-mind interpenetrate. Thus, the principle in the heart-mind can become an object of consciousness,3 just as consciousness can become a locus for the principle of the heart-mind.
In order to fully investigate the principle in things, we must have an open heart-mind. If we investigate things to their limits, then we will find that they are all interconnected, and that they all converge in the heart-mind.4 In order to fully investigate the principle of the heart-mind, we must therefore clear away all obscurations of the fundamental goodness of human nature.
Since human nature is the principle contained in the human heart-mind,5 we may also extend our knowledge of the nature of things by extending our knowledge of human nature. We may better understand the diverse manifestations of principle in the myriad things by better understanding the diverse manifestations of principle in the human heart-mind.
Zhu Xi distinguishes between substance (ti 體) and function (yong 用) by saying that substance corresponds to the principle of things (e.g. that eyes see things), while function corresponds to their operation (e.g. eyes may open or close to see or not see things). Relationships between ruler and minister, father and son, and elder brother and younger brother are examples of substances, while virtues such as benevolence, respect, filiality, and trustworthiness are examples of functions. The heart-mind is a substance, while its desires, emotions, and other activities are functions.
Alertness and self-control may help us to overcome selfish desires that may obscure the goodness of our heart-minds. If selfish desires are avoided, then principle will not be blocked and will flow freely.6
According to Zhu Xi, the heart-mind of heaven and earth has four moral qualities (origination, flourishing, advantage, and firmness), which in their function are comparable to the four seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter). Thus, the human heart-mind (renxin 人心) also has four moral qualities (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom), which in their function constitute the sense of compassion, the sense of shame, the sense of respect, and the sense of right and wrong.
The Great Ultimate is the principle of heaven and earth, as well as the principle of all human beings and all the myriad things.7 Through tranquility it generates yin, and through activity it generates yang. It is the principle of the highest good, and it can be found in all human beings and all things.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Zhu Xi about the proper way to promote moral self-cultivation may partly depend on whether or not one agrees that reading the Confucian Classics should be the starting point of moral instruction. It may also depend on whether one agrees that knowledge of the principle in external things is necessary before we can know the principle in our own heart-minds. When asked which comes first, the extension of knowledge (of external objects) or the nurturing of the self, Zhu Xi replies that extension of knowledge must come first.8 While he recognizes both an inner moral cultivation (attained through reading, reflection, and reverential attentiveness to the heart-mind) and an outer cultivation (attained through the investigation of external objects), he seems to favor the outer route as the foundation of moral self-cultivation. If we recognize the principle in things, then we will also recognize the principle in our own heart-minds. Thus, he seems to favor an externalist over an internalist theory of knowledge. To grasp principle, we can look anywhere--at a tree, a bamboo grove, or a father-son relationship.9 The ways in which principle may be manifested in the world are manifold and infinite.
FOOTNOTES
1Zhu XI: Basic Teachings, translated by Daniel K. Gardner (New York: Columbia University Press, 2022), p. 5.
2Ibid., p. 118.
3Ibid., p. 51.
4Ibid., p. 83.
5Ibid., p. 52.
6Ibid., p. 60
7Chu Hsi, "The Great Ultimate," in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-tsit Chan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 638.
8Zhu Xi: Basic Teachings, translated by Daniel K. Gardner, p. 81.
9Ibid., p. 87.
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