Heaven Is Exalted, Earth Is Lowly — The Positioning of All Transformation
A reading of the first chapter of the Xi Ci Shang (Commentary on the Appended Phrases, Part I). Addressing why 'Heaven exalted, Earth lowly' is not a hierarchy of rank: exalted and lowly denote spatial position, not judgments of worth. Lowliness is where abundant virtue resides. Through the hexagrams Qian (Modesty), Tai and Pi (Peace and Stagnation), and the pairing of Qian and Kun, we see how the pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist traditions envisioned the intercourse of Heaven and Earth — positioning that gives rise to ceaseless generation.
IV. Stirred by Thunder and Lightning, Moistened by Wind and Rain
The coordinates established, the great show begins. In the second passage of this chapter, the prose suddenly takes flight:
Therefore the firm and the yielding rub against each other, the Eight Trigrams set each other in motion. They are stirred by thunder and lightning, moistened by wind and rain. Sun and moon revolve in their courses; now cold, now heat.
The firm and the yielding rub and chafe against each other; the Eight Trigrams agitate and impel one another; thunder and lightning are the drumbeats that rouse them; wind and rain are the nurturing instruments that moisten them; the sun and moon revolve in their cycles; cold and heat alternate in their coming and going. Let the reader recite these lines aloud — truly aloud. Rub, agitate, drum, moisten, revolve, course: another string of verbs, but these are different from the establish, array, place, distinguish of the first passage. The verbs of the first passage set things in place; the verbs of this passage make music. The great stage of Heaven and Earth — once the pillars and foundation stones are set — is immediately alive with percussion: thunder and lightning are the drums; wind and rain are the nurturing woodwinds and strings; sun and moon are the recurring beat; cold and heat are the grand rhythm of the entire composition. The cosmos as the pre-Qin people heard it was one of sound and cadence. The Yueji (Record of Music) says, "Music is the harmony of Heaven and Earth" — this was no metaphor; to their ears, Heaven and Earth were truly making music.
The two occurrences of "each other" (xiang) in "rub against each other" and "set each other in motion" deserve close attention. To rub (mo) is for two things to press together and generate transformation; to agitate (dang) is for two forces to push against each other and create waves. Transformation does not issue from one side alone, but arises in the encounter of two — a single palm cannot clap, a lone string cannot make a melody. This follows directly from the positioning of Qian and Kun discussed above: positioning is not for the sake of separation — it is precisely for the sake of rubbing and agitating against each other. A chessboard is drawn so that two armies may engage; strings are strung so that many tones may harmonize. If "Heaven exalted, Earth lowly" were read as an insuperable barrier between high and low, noble and base, then the eight characters "the firm and the yielding rub against each other, the Eight Trigrams set each other in motion" would have nowhere to stand — things sealed apart cannot rub against each other; things utterly sundered cannot agitate each other. The logic of this chapter runs in a single thread: first positioning, then intercourse; and from intercourse, the grand symphony of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, sun and moon, cold and heat.
There is yet another layer worth drawing out: the Heaven and Earth in this passage are a world in progress, not a world already finished. Thunder drums on, wind and rain moisten, the sun and moon have not paused for a single day, cold and heat have not missed a single year in their alternation — the "manifest" in "transformation becomes manifest" (bian hua jian yi) is an ever-present, ongoing present tense. The Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean) says: "The myriad things grow alongside one another without harming each other; the many ways proceed alongside one another without conflicting." All things grow at once without mutual injury; all ways move at once without mutual contradiction — what a crowded and yet what a gracious performance this is! The ancient Western religious tradition speaks of "creation at the beginning, completed in seven days" — once the making was done, the world was considered finished. But the Heaven and Earth of the Zhouyi are forever creating, forever unfinished. "Ceaseless generation is called yi": creation is not a thing of the remote past but of every day and every night before our eyes. Understanding this, one understands why the two forces of Qian and Kun must remain perpetually present, shoulder to shoulder — the performance is still underway; neither drum nor string can be dispensed with.