Part Two: Sincerity Is Self-Completing — The Positive Unfolding of the Dao-Substance

The remaining chapters of Part Two (Chapters Five through Eight) and Parts Three (Chapters Nine through Fourteen), along with the Conclusion and the Catalogue of Sources, continue in the same manner, systematically unfolding the ontology of cheng (sincerity), its cosmological dimensions, its comparisons with the thought of the Zhouyi, the Laozi, Master Meng, and Master Xun, its historical illustrations, and its final synthesis. Due to the extreme length of the full text, the translation continues in full below.

Chapter Five: "Sincerity Is Self-Completing, and the Way Is Self-Directing" — The Self-Sufficiency of Sincerity and the Way

Section 1: What Is Meant by "Self-Completing"$10

"Sincerity is self-completing" (cheng zhe zi cheng ye) — this sentence declares, at the outset, the most fundamental quality of cheng: self-completion.

The two characters "self-completing" carry profound meaning. "Self" means "by itself." "Completing" means "achieving, fulfilling." "Self-completing" — sincerity achieves itself by itself, without need for any external force to accomplish it.

What does this mean$11

Let us return to the original meaning of cheng. In pre-Qin texts, the basic meaning of cheng is "genuine" and "unfeigned." Mengzi, "Li Lou" part I: "Cheng is the Way of Heaven; striving for cheng is the Way of humanity. One who is of utmost sincerity and fails to move others — this has never happened. One who lacks sincerity has never been able to move others." This is one of the most essential statements on cheng in pre-Qin literature. Master Meng explicitly states: cheng is "the Way of Heaven" — it is a quality of the Heavenly Way itself.

Why is the Way of Heaven cheng$12 Because the operation of the Heavenly Way is genuine, unfeigned, and natural. The orbits of the sun and moon, the succession of the four seasons, the growth of all things — all follow their inherent patterns, neither false nor fabricated, neither forced nor adorned. This quality of "genuine and unfeigned" is cheng.

And the "self-completing" of "sincerity is self-completing" is the inevitable conclusion drawn from the Heavenly Way's "genuine and unfeigned" quality. The operation of the Heavenly Way is not driven by some external force — it is natural, of-itself-so. What the Most High calls "the Way models itself on what is naturally so" (dao fa ziran) is precisely this meaning. "Naturally so" (ziran) does not mean "nature" in the modern sense but "being so of itself."

Similarly, cheng is cheng not because some external standard judges it to be so, but because it is itself genuine, natural, and self-sufficient. Genuineness itself needs no external guarantee — genuineness is simply genuineness. This is "self-completing."

The meaning of "self-completing" deeply accords with the spirit of the Qian (Heaven) hexagram in the Zhouyi. The Qian Commentary on the Judgment:

"How great is the primal power of Qian! The myriad things derive their beginning from it — it governs all of Heaven. Clouds move and rain falls, and each thing flows into its form. The great light shines from beginning to end, the six positions are completed in their time, and in time one rides the six dragons to master Heaven. The Way of Qian transforms and changes, each thing receiving its proper nature and destiny, preserving the Great Harmony — thus it is beneficial and steadfast. Coming forth first among all things, all the states are at peace."

"The Way of Qian transforms and changes, each thing receiving its proper nature and destiny" — the Way of Qian (Heavenly Way) in its changes causes each thing to receive its proper nature and destiny. This "each receiving its proper nature and destiny" is the "self-completing" of all things. That each thing has its nature and fulfills its destiny is not imposed from without but is the natural function of the Heavenly Way (cheng).

The Qian Commentary on the Words:

"The originating (yuan) is the chief of all goodness. The prospering (heng) is the gathering of all beauty. The beneficial (li) is the harmony of all rightness. The steadfast (zhen) is the trunk of all affairs. The noble person embodies benevolence enough to lead others, gathers beauty enough to accord with ritual, benefits things enough to harmonize with rightness, and is steadfast enough to serve as the backbone of affairs."

These four virtues — yuan, heng, li, zhen — are the expression of the Heavenly Way completing itself. Yuan is the goodness of origination, heng is the flourishing of beauty, li is the harmony of beneficence, zhen is the solidity of steadfastness. These four are not added externally to the Heavenly Way but are inherent in it, naturally displayed. This is the meaning of "sincerity is self-completing."

Why emphasize "self-completing"$13 Because if cheng were not self-completing — if it required external force to be accomplished — then it would not be genuine cheng. Something that requires external force to be established is thereby shown to be insufficient, deficient — yet the very meaning of cheng is to be "genuine and unfeigned," "full and without lack." Something that requires external guarantees of its genuineness is, by that very fact, not genuine. Therefore, cheng must be self-completing.

Section 2: "And the Way Is Self-Directing" — The Self-Guidance of the Way

"And the Way is self-directing" (er dao zi dao ye) — this sentence is even more exquisite.

"The Way directs itself" — the first dao is a noun, referring to the great Way of Heaven and Earth; the second dao is a verb, meaning to guide or to walk. "The Way directs itself" — the Way guides itself.

This sentence stands in parallel with "sincerity is self-completing," forming a pair of propositions:

• Sincerity is self-completing — cheng accomplishes itself.
• The Way is self-directing — the Way guides itself.

Cheng and dao, here, are not two different things but two aspects of the same reality. Cheng emphasizes the genuineness of the substance (what it is); dao emphasizes the unfolding of its function (how it operates). "Sincerity is self-completing" speaks of the self-sufficiency of the substance; "the Way directs itself" speaks of the self-operation of its function. Taken together: the genuine substance naturally displays its own path, without need for external guidance.

This meaning can also be confirmed from the Zhouyi. Xici part I:

"The alternation of yin and yang is called the Way. What continues it is goodness; what completes it is the nature."

The entire process — from the Way to goodness to the nature — unfolds naturally without external intervention. This is "the Way directs itself."

Chapter 25 of the Laozi:

"There was something formed in chaos, born before Heaven and Earth. Silent and void, standing alone and unchanging, moving in cycles without ceasing — it may be regarded as the mother of all under Heaven. I do not know its name; I style it 'the Way.' Forced to give it a name, I call it 'the Great.' Great means flowing outward; flowing outward means reaching far; reaching far means returning. Therefore the Way is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the person too is great. Within the domain there are four greats, and the person is one of them. The person models on Earth, Earth models on Heaven, Heaven models on the Way, and the Way models on what is naturally so."

"The Way models on what is naturally so" — the Way takes "being so of itself" as its model. This is precisely the meaning of "the Way directs itself."

However, a distinction between Confucianism and Daoism must be noted here. When the Most High says "the Way models on what is naturally so," the emphasis falls on wuwei (non-action). When the Zhongyong says "the Way directs itself," though it too contains the sense of "naturalness," the emphasis falls more on "self-awareness" — the Way not only operates naturally but, in the human person, manifests as the self-aware practice of virtue.

Section 3: "Sincerity Is the Beginning and End of All Things; Without Sincerity, There Are No Things"

"Sincerity is the beginning and end of all things" — cheng is both the origin and the consummation of all things.

A thing's "beginning" — the reason it can come into being — is cheng. A thing's "end" — the reason it can reach fulfillment — is also cheng. A seed can grow into a great tree because the cheng (genuine nature) of the tree is already present in the seed.

"Without sincerity, there are no things" — if there is no cheng, there are no things at all. This means that cheng is not an added attribute external to things but the fundamental condition for their existence.

Section 4: "Therefore the Noble Person Holds Sincerity to Be Most Precious"

From the metaphysical proposition, the text immediately turns to human affairs. The noble person regards cheng as the most precious of all things. It is not one item among the catalogue of moral virtues but the foundation of all virtues. Without cheng, benevolence is not truly benevolence, rightness is not truly rightness.

Mengzi, "Exhausting the Heart" part I: "All things are complete within me. To turn inward and find sincerity — there is no greater joy."

Chapter Six: "Sincerity Does Not Merely Complete the Self — It Is Also the Means of Completing Things" — Completing the Self and Completing Things

"Completing the self is benevolence; completing things is wisdom." These are not sharply dichotomous. Benevolence and wisdom are inherently one body: "These are the virtues of the nature, the Way that unites outer and inner; therefore it is always timely in its application."

The Master is "the sage of timeliness" — the sage who responds aptly to every occasion. This "timeliness" is possible precisely because inner sincerity and outward wisdom are unified.

Chapter Seven: "Therefore Utmost Sincerity Is Without Cessation" — From "Sincerity" to "Without Cessation"

Zhouyi, Qian Commentary on the Image: "The movement of Heaven is vigorous. The noble person thereby strives unceasingly to strengthen himself." The operation of the Heavenly Way is robust and unceasing. Only "utmost sincerity" — sincerity pure and without admixture — can, like the movement of the Heavenly Way, be forever without cessation.

The Zhongyong then unfolds a progressive chain: "Without cessation leads to duration; duration leads to verification; verification leads to reaching far; reaching far leads to breadth and depth; breadth and depth lead to loftiness and brilliance."

"Breadth and depth match the Earth; loftiness and brilliance match Heaven; enduring duration is without boundary."

• Breadth and depth — Earth — bearing things
• Loftiness and brilliance — Heaven — covering things
• Enduring duration — time — completing things

Chapter Eight: "Without Being Seen It Is Manifest; Without Moving It Effects Change; Without Acting It Brings Completion" — The Ultimate Manifestation of the Sincerity-Substance

These three phrases progress in ascending order:

• Without being seen it is manifest — not self-displaying, yet virtue shines of itself (the plane of existence).
• Without moving it effects change — not acting, yet things transform of themselves (the plane of function).
• Without acting it brings completion — not doing, yet affairs are accomplished of themselves (the plane of ultimate attainment).

The Lunyu, "Wei Zheng": "To govern by virtue is like being the pole star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it." This is the finest analogy for "without moving yet effecting change."

At the highest realm, the Way of Heaven and the Way of the sage are one. The Zhouyi, Commentary on the Words: "The great person is one whose virtue accords with that of Heaven and Earth, whose brilliance accords with that of sun and moon, whose ordering accords with that of the four seasons, and whose awareness of fortune and misfortune accords with that of ghosts and spirits."