Page 503 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

GUO XIANG

powerless. Self-being and self-transformation are the very creator (zaohua
zhe ffi1tTf, lit., "what informs and transforms [the world]"; see *zaohua),
and beings "spontaneously obtain" (zide 1'1 f~) their true nature in a continu-
ous and obscure process. This spontaneity, however, is not the action of the
individual, and exists prior to the individual: one comes to existence without
doing anything, and similarly dies without being able to prevent it. Spontane-
ity is a name for the Dao and vice versa: because we do not know the cause
or the prime mover of existence, we call it dao, *ziran, zide, or wu, words that
simply aim to negate the notion that there is something or someone prior to
all things that makes them what they are.
The process of creation is universal and works everywhere and nowhere. It
pervades everything and is the common denominator of the beings, making
them all one as they "spontaneously obtain" the same Original Pneuma
(*yuanqi). Thus all beings merge in this vital Unity.

The individual and the sage. Beings, however, are both plural and singular. Each
has its destiny (ming 15"~; see *xing and ming), which for Cuo Xiang is its fen )t,
an allotment of time, wealth and capacity. It is their limit, as unavoidable as
are natural laws, and is something like the negative face of their spontaneous
nature (xing '11; see *xing and ming). The differences among beings and their
allotments-i.e., the plurality and the individuality of beings-are due to the
multiplicity of forms (*xing) and transformations (*bianhua) taken by the One
Pneuma. The notion of transformation also explains the infinite and eternal
renewal of life; it is a huge power that moves the world, a "daily renewal"
that gives the present a high value, an eternal present always new. The natural
order that governs those transformations and the relations among the various
beings pervades everything. Cuo Xiang's view is pantheist: the world is the
Totality of the reality, existing eternally without a master, without anything
exterior to it, naturally regulated by itself.
Each individual being must reach his or her limits to be complete, coincide
with them, and follow the natural order without interfering. Cuo Xiang's sage
has a true Taoist flavor. He must practice non-action (*wuwei), and when he
is involved in governing he must, in a way somehow similar to the views of
the *Huang-Lao school, delegate his power to his officers, whose charges are
"spontaneously obtained." But although Cuo Xiang deals with political and
social issues, and holds that society and rites (li f'&) are an expression of the
natural and spontaneous order, he focuses on the acceptance of death as well
as life, and on conforming to one's true nature. He sees the Confucian virtues
from a Taoist point of view as the "traces" (ji J!lE), the "operation" (*yong) of
the harmony with the world that one has acquired. One must transcend them
and entrust oneself to the extreme of one's limits.
The sages are diverse and multiple, and are the "traces" of the unique Truth,