Heaven Fire Tongren: Confucian-Daoist Dialogue and the Investigation of Ancient Spiritual Origins from a Pre-Qin Perspective

Section 4: "Only the Noble Man Can Fully Connect the Will of All Under Heaven"—The Zenith of the Way of Tóng Rén

"Only the noble man can fully connect the will of all under Heaven." (唯君子为能通天下之志。)

This final sentence of the Tuanzhuan is the most inspiring declaration of the entire Tóng Rén hexagram. "To connect the will of all under Heaven" (tōng tiān xià zhī zhì)—what a magnificent proposition!

Why is it said that "Only the noble man can" achieve this$2 Why can ordinary people not "connect the will of all under Heaven"$3

To answer this, we must ask: What is the "will of all under Heaven"$4 The "will of all under Heaven" is not the specific desire of every individual—some wish to get rich, some wish to be officials, some wish to live in seclusion—these specific desires are myriad and cannot be unified. The "will of all under Heaven" refers to the common pursuit that transcends these specific differences—the yearning for goodness, the desire for a beautiful life, and the expectation of justice and order.

Mencius provided profound insight into this:

"The mouth has tastes common to all; the ear has sounds common to all; the eye has beauty common to all. If it comes to the heart, can it be that there is nothing common$5 What the heart commonly affirms is principle (lǐ) and righteousness (yì). The sage merely discovered this common affirmation before ordinary people." (Mencius, Gaozi II)

"What the heart commonly affirms is principle and righteousness"—there are common things in the hearts of all under Heaven, namely the recognition of Lǐ and Yì. The sage merely discovered this common affirmation earlier than others.

"Connecting the will of all under Heaven" is precisely discovering and unifying this "common affirmation of the heart." And this can only be done by the jūnzǐ. Why$6

First, discovering the "common affirmation of the heart" requires deep introspection and broad knowledge. Confucius said:

"Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." (Analects, Weizheng)

By studying and thinking concurrently, one can both understand the actual conditions of the people under Heaven and see through the surface to grasp the underlying commonality.

Second, connecting the "will of all under Heaven" requires a vast heart and an impartial character. How can someone whose heart is filled only with self-interest possibly understand the will of all under Heaven$7 Laozi states:

"The sage has no constant heart; he takes the heart of the people as his heart. Good men, I will treat them as good; and those who are not good too, I will treat them as good, thus making them good. Trustworthy men, I will treat them as trustworthy; and those who are not trustworthy too, I will treat them as trustworthy, thus making them trustworthy." (Laozi, Chapter 49)

"Taking the heart of the people as his heart"—the sage has no fixed ego; his heart becomes the heart of the people. Whether good or not good, trustworthy or not trustworthy, the sage treats them with goodness and trustworthiness—this unconditional embrace and acceptance is the prerequisite for "connecting the will of all under Heaven."

Third, "connecting the will of all under Heaven" is not just intellectual unification but actualization—making the common aspirations of the people truly achievable. This requires immense capability and unremitting effort.

The Xi Ci Zhuan (Part I) states:

"All under Heaven return to the same goal by different paths; they have one aim but a hundred conflicting thoughts. What need is there for all under Heaven to think or worry$8" (天下同归而殊途，一致而百虑。天下何思何虑？)

"All under Heaven return to the same goal by different paths"—the final destination for all people is the same, only the paths differ. "One aim but a hundred conflicting thoughts"—the ultimate state to be reached is consistent, but the methods of deliberation vary. This profoundly reveals the dialectic between "Accord" (Tóng) and "Difference" (Yì): at the deepest level, all people are "the same," but in specific manifestations, they are "different." To "connect the will of all under Heaven" is to see the common "return" through countless "different paths," and to grasp the unified "aim" through countless "conflicting thoughts."