Cosmology

Cosmology refers to discourse on or theories concerning the structure and underlying principles of the cosmos.

Historically speaking, there are various Daoist cosmologies. The foundational Daoist cosmology incorporates “traditional Chinese cosmology,” which centers of correlative cosmology and systematic correspondences. This system emphasizes yin 陰-yang 陽 interaction, qi 氣, and the Five Phases (a.k.a. Five Elements; wuxing 五行). Correlative cosmology is associated with the Cosmologist School (yinyang jia 陰陽家) of the Warring States period (480-222 BCE) and was systematized by Zou Yan 鄒衍 (Tsou Yen; 305-240 BCE). It was eventually incorporated into both Chinese medical traditions and classical Daoism.

Etymologically speaking, yin 陰 depicts a hill (fu 阜) overed by shadows (yin 侌), while yang 陽 depicts a hill (fu 阜) covered by sunlight (yang 昜) ). At the root-meaning level, yin and yang are ways of speaking about the same place at different times/moments of the day. Yin and yang are not "polar opposites" or antagonistic substances; they are, in fact, complementary principles, aspects, or forces. As the characters suggest, yin and yang are used to represent different dimensions of the same phenomenon or situation. By extension, there are various associations: yin/female/earth/dark/heavy/turbidity/rest and yang/male/heavens/light/ light/clarity/activity. At times, “yin” is also used to designate negative or harmful aspects of life more generally (immorality, ugliness, disease, etc.), while “yang” becomes related to positive or beneficial aspects of life (morality, beauty, health, etc.). What must be emphasized is that these are relative associations, not absolute characteristics. Just because women are considered “yin” in one respect or in one context, it does not follow that they are also “immoral” or “turbid.” There are also varying degrees of yin and yang in every phenomenon, in each moment or experience, and in every being. Because the universe is understood as a transformative process (zaohua 造化), this also means that any negative or harmful pattern or manifestation may be transformed into a positive or beneficial pattern or manifestation.

Daoist cosmology also employs, emphasizes, and systematizes Five Phase (wuxing 五行) cosmology. Conventionally rendered as “Five Elements,” wuxing literally means something like “five activities” or “five movements.” This dynamic and process-orientated aspect becomes more satisfactorily rendered in the designation of “Five Phases.” The Five Phases are Wood (mu 木), Fire (huo 火), Earth (tu 土), Metal (jin 金), and Water (shui 水). While these five do, in fact, relate to actual substances as well as related phenomena and energetic qualities of the “phases,” the system is much more complex and dynamic than “elements” would lead one to believe. The Five Phases are the centerpiece of the so-called “system of correspondences” or “systematic correspondence.” This system of correspondences consists of the following associations (phase/season/emblem/ direction/life-stage/orientation/climate/orbs/spiritual dimension/color/flavor/ odor/ sound/beneficial emotion/injurious emotion/ sense organ/grain/planet/tissue):

(1) Wood: spring: Azure Dragon: east: birth: outward: wind: liver/gall bladder: ethereal soul (hun 魂): azure: sour: rancid: shouting: kindness (ren 仁): anger (nu 怒): eyes: wheat: Jupiter: ligaments.

(2) Fire: summer: Vermillion Bird: south: adolescence: upward: heat: heart/small intestine: spirit (shen 神): red: bitter: scorched: laughing: respect (li 禮): excessive joy (xi 喜): tongue: beans: Mars: arteries;

(3) Earth: late summer: —: center: adulthood: centering: dampness: spleen/stomach: intention (yi 意): : yellow: sweet: fragrant: singing: honesty (xin 信): worry (si 思): mouth: rice: Saturn: muscles;

(4) Metal: autumn: White Tiger: west: maturation: inward: dryness: lungs/large intestine: corporeal soul (po 魄): white: pungent: rotten: weeping: discernment (yi 義): grief (ku 苦): nose: oats: Venus: skin and hair;

(5) Water: winter: Mysterious Warrior: north: old age: downward: cold: kidneys/bladder: vital essence (jing 精): black: salty: putrid: groaning: wisdom (zhi 志): fear (kong 恐): ears: millet: Mercury: bones.

The Five Phases, including their various associations, are, in turn, understood to relate to each other in patterns of dynamic interaction. The so-called "production cycle" is as follows: Wood>Fire>Earth>Metal> Water>Wood>. Then there is the "destruction cycle": Wood>Water> Metal>Earth>Fire>Wood>. Finally, there is the "control cycle": Wood>Earth>Water>Fire>Metal>Wood>. These sequences may be represented as a circle (the production cycle) with a pentagram inside (the control cycle).

Correlative cosmology may be understood as a way of mapping the energetic qualities of different phenomena and experiences. The foundational Daoist worldview emphasizes qi 氣, subtle breath or “energy.” Etymologically speaking, the character depicts qi 气 (“steam”) over mi 米 (“rice”); qi is analogous to steam produced from the cooking of rice. In the context of traditional Chinese cosmology and the standard Daoist cosmology, qi is viewed as a subtle vapor that animates every sentient being and that circulates within and between all that exists. If one thinks of conventional dichotomies or dualities between “material things” and “divine things,” it is qi that bridges the apparent gap. Everything may be understood along a spectrum of qi, from the most substantial (rocks, for example) to the most subtle or rarified (gods and immortals, for example). In Daoist self-cultivation traditions and in Chinese medicine, a distinction is often made between various types of qi, including yuanqi 元氣 (“original qi”), xiantian qi (“pre-natal qi”), houtian qi (“post-natal qi”), tianqi 天氣 (“celestial qi”), diqi 地氣 (“terrestrial qi”), zhenqi 真氣 (“perfect qi”), weiqi 衛氣 (“protective qi”), yingqi 營氣 (“nutritive qi”), and so forth.

Further Reading: Yuan Dao/D.C. Lau and Roger Ames; Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought/John Major; as well as reliable translations of classical Daoist texts.