The way people began to think after it was determined by
Western astronomers that the earth was not the center of
the Universe but only a part of a sun-centered system, forced
a change in orientation about self, deity, and the natural
world they lived in.

As much as the philosophers and theologins reckoned the reasons for life and how it should be lived along moral lines and laws created to make people conform, all of this changed after we entered into Age of Enlightenment. This forced people to see there was even a greater connection between all things, and these things were following a more fixed pattern. A very humbling experience, no?

Yet none of this really changed much the views on yin and yang. In fact, the natural sciences only enhanced the theory, as well as validated the most essential points that were first put forth by Fuxi in his ba gua line diagrams. Modern theoretical physicist Fritjof Capra proclaimed that the miniscule world of particles (hadrons in the S-Matrix) operated in a manner anagolous to the Fu Xi I Ching, which gives rise to structures
and symmetric patterns that are dynamic in nature, constantly undergoing change and transformation:

"As in the world of particles, the structures generated by the
changes can be arranged in various symmetric patterns, such
as the octagonal pattern formed by the eight trigrams [FuXi's
arrangement) in which the opposite trigrams have yin and yang
lines interchanged. The pattern is even vaguely similar to the
meson octet in which particles and antiparticles occupy opposite places. The important point, however, is not this accidental similarity, bu the fact that both modern physics and ancient Chinese thought consider change and transformation as the primary aspect of nature, and see the structures and symmetries generated by the changes as secondary" (from the Tao of Physics, 1974; pp 272-273).

The new theories of the universe and its greater laws of motion and gravity entered into China by way of the Portuguese missionaries called Jesuits. With them came the basic introduction of the new astronomy, geography, mathematics and technology. Books on the topics of philosophy and logic were also translated into Chinese during this time (1644-1911 Qing Dynasty). The new thinking created much more pragmatic ideas and with this more rational way of thinking more criticism against the Neo-Confucianists began to mount.

When this more rational view was applied by the philosopher Yen Yuan (1635-1704) and his disciple Li Kung (1659-1746) to the I Ching and other Classics they saw that they had been corrupted by both Buddhist and Religious Taoists ideals. Yen said it was necessary to return to the past way of thinking about yin and yang and to find out how to use it in practical applications in the modern world.

Another philosopher named Fang Yi-chih (1611-1671) followed in Yen's line of thinking. Basing most of his theories upon the natural sciences Fang reasoned that all things were products of nature which was caused by the union of yin/yang which created all motion and change. For Fang, neither God nor Tao fit into his cosmological views.

Ku Yen-wu (1613-1682) was another scholar who saw only
futility in the Neo Confucian ways. He chided the modern
scholars for empty talk and abstract theories and said that the
ancient sages and scholars acquired knowledge from actual practice and experience in the real world, not the world of books.

Qing skeptic Wang Fu Zhi (1619-1692) was another who expounded the need to study nature and the laws of motion in the universe to help perfect human nature. Wang explained the cause of motion as the interaction between yin/yang. Interaction he thought resulted in various phenomena such as inhalation (yin) and exhalation (yang), expansion and contraction, rising and falling, union and separation, etc. Everything
in the world contained conflicting forces such as strength/weakness, heat/cold, growth/decay, etc., which are irrefutable and antagonistic to each other. The result of these opposing and complimentary comes PEACE -even if it is just temporary.

In addition, Wang said that the cosmos was inconsistent and irregular in actual application. It is funny that Wang refused to believe that the earth was round!

Another Qing astronomer was Wang Xi chan (1628-1682) who after using a telescope found the patterns of the heavens to be different from the earth which made him rebel against fixed correlative systems. He determined that the movement of the sun was the most important factor in interpreting cyclical change.

All these names are but a few. Many many more exist in China's history such as Tai Zhen (1723-1777) and Zhiao Xun (1763-1820) who saw through the flaws in the revised texts. after 20 years of studying the I Ching Zhiao wrote a 14 volume text called the Yi Tong Shi (The I CHing Fully Explained) revealking that the central purpose of the I CHing was designed to teach people about the Universal Principles
and to impart ethical precepts - that divination was only a part
of its over-all function. Zhiao believe this was FuXi's intent from the very start and this knowledge was imparted in the original eight graphs.

One (actually two) other names are important to remember from this time frame in history (now we are in the Atomic Age) as they did much to show how the ancient concept of yin/yang was operating in the modern world and that the I Ching served as their foundation of thought. The first is K'ang Yu-wei (1858-1927) a rebel pacifist and scholar who began the Reform Movement in Peking in the late 1800's after Japan invaded Manchuria.

K'ang attempted to begin a global utopian society based largely on Confucial ideals with uniform and consistent laws, measures, equality of sexes, a one world religion and one world government led by a people's world assembly elected through universal sufferage. Vegetarianism and non-violence were two features of this syncretic philosophy.

Kang used the term "electricity" to explain his Great Unity plan and called it the unifier of heaven and earth. He tried to downplay the term yin/yang to gain more universal appeal and attract more people to his movement. At one point K'ang had nearly 1200 scholars in his movement which threatened the Manchu government. All of his ideas were based on the philosophical principles set forth in the I Ching. As this movement began to grow (like One Peaceful World
in US), the Manchus took action against the group and after
K'ang's life was threatened he ran away. This is kind of funny because his dream was so big but he was not willing to die for it. Instead, after he ran, his disciple T'an Suu-t'ung (1865-1898) took over as the leader of this movement and revealed that the Great Unity plan was based on the
six lines of the T'ien (Heaven) hexagram of the I Ching. The bottom two lines correlated with the age of order and peace and the middle two lines with disorder and war and the top two stood for future peace.

T'an was dedicated to this dream and had no fear to pursue it in the open. But once the Manchu army got their hands on T'an they executed him. He did not run away and became, like Christ a hero of the Chinese peace movement. T'an was 33 years old at the time of his death - same age as Jesus.

In Japan around the same time that Chinese Reform Movement was still alive, another group using the yin/yang idea and vegetarian-based diet began to form. It was called Shoku-Yo-Kai. The leader was aretired military general named Sagen Ishizuka (1851-1910). Around
the same time, another vegetarian thinker/scientist, named Charles Darwin (1809-1882) came up with strange notion that human beings evolved from a common anthropoid ancestor….

We live in a great world...

End of Pt 3.

I look forward to your responses to this lesson.

In peace, Roy