XVI. The Revolving of Sun and Moon: Brightness Is Not Occupation, but Coming and Going

"The sun and moon revolve, one cold season and one hot season follow." The sun and moon most clearly display the constancy of the Way of Heaven, and also most clearly display the ceaselessness of change. One rises with the sun and rests with its setting; the moon has its new moon and its full moon, its light waxing and waning. They revolve without ever staying fixed, and yet never lose their proper measure. From them, a person fixes day and night, records the calendar month, and gauges the turning of the year. If Heaven and Earth are the great substance of the Yi, then the revolving of sun and moon is the most direct manifestation of the Way of change: coming and going, and yet having constancy; changing, and yet trustworthy.

Brightness here does not mean permanently filling the sky. The sun sets, the moon wanes; precisely because of this yielding and this coming and going, the myriad things are able to rest, and the other luminous body is able to appear. If there were only daytime and no night, the rhythm of activity and rest would fall into disorder; if there were only high summer and no winter storing, the strength of the land could not recover. From this one can know that brightness need not dazzle at every moment, and advance need not always seek further advance. The noble person, knowing when to advance, when to withdraw, when to survive, and when to perish, without losing his correctness, is precisely grasping the meaning of timeliness through the waxing and waning of sun and moon.

The Most High said, "When the work is accomplished and the task complete, the people all say, 'We did it ourselves,'" and also, "Accomplishing the work, yet not dwelling upon it." Sun and moon shine down without contending for the credit; the four seasons form the year without speaking of themselves. If a person, having achieved even a small merit, claims it as his own possession and demands that the multitude praise him day after day, he turns his achievement into self-aggrandizement. The Way of Qian moves vigorously, and yet this is not the same as possessing the myriad things; it initiates their beginning, and then lets Kun bring them to completion. Only one who can initiate without claiming possession, who can shine without dazzling, possesses the virtue of true revolving.

The brightness of sun and moon also inspires the clarity of the human heart's own discernment. Brightness does not mean illuminating only others while leaving oneself in the dark. If one who occupies a high position examines only the small faults of his subordinates and not his own great failings, this is a one-sided illumination; if a scholar is skilled only at discoursing on past and present and never examines his own daily words and deeds, this is bright without and dark within. Master Zeng's daily threefold self-examination is a way of keeping sun and moon within his own heart; Master Meng's "turning back to examine oneself and finding sincerity" is a way of bringing outward judgment back to its root in oneself. Only when brightness can turn back upon itself does it avoid degenerating into mere harsh scrutiny of others.

Revolving also means never abandoning one's constant office. The sun and moon do not stop simply because clouds obscure them for a time, and the noble person does not abandon virtue simply because he goes unrecognized for a time. The Master, in dire straits, still played the zither and taught, his commitment never determined by outward gain or loss. The endurance of the worthy will be discussed further below; the revolving of sun and moon has already given its image in advance. To endure is not to rigidly hold one single posture, but to sustain one's Way across every kind of circumstance, just as the sun and moon, though occupying different positions, never cease their constant revolving.

Clarity in governance must likewise accord with the passage of time. Political achievement cannot be judged by a single season's momentum alone. Over-cultivation of land may increase the harvest in the first year, yet after several years the land's strength declines; excessive taxation may fill the treasury for a time, yet over the long run the people flee and their occupations fall into ruin. The sun and moon make this clear through their cycles: every action enters into time, and its consequences may only appear later on. One who understands revolving does not sacrifice long-term benefit for immediate achievement, nor cover over accumulated resentment with momentary calm. The worthy person, in planning for the state, always aims at what can endure, not merely at what can be seen at once.