形上學(xué)

道 Dao

“道”字由兩個部分組成：“辶”意為行走；“首”是指包括頭發(fā)和眼睛在內(nèi)的頭部，也有最前方之意。“道”字通常通“導(dǎo)”（與“道”同語根）。“導(dǎo)”意為“領(lǐng)導(dǎo)”。“道”字是一個具有動詞性、過程性和動態(tài)性的重要詞語。它最早見于《尚書》開鑿溝渠，“疏導(dǎo)”河水，以防決堤的敘述之中。“首”這個元素的存在賦予“道”字“領(lǐng)導(dǎo)”，或“引導(dǎo)”之意。

The character has two elements: chuo辶“to pass over, ” “to go over,” “to lead through” (on foot), and show 首， itself a compound literally meaning “head”—hair and eye together—and therefore “foremost.”Dao is used often as a loan character for its cognate, dao 導(dǎo)， “to lead.” Thus the character is significantly verbal, processional, and dynamic. The earliest appearance of dao in the Book of Documents is in the context of cutting a channel and “l(fā)eading” a river to prevent the overflowing of its banks. Even the shou “head” component has the suggestion of“to lead,” or “to give a heading.”

如果我們將“道”首先理解為動詞的話，它的其他幾個引申意義就會自然浮現(xiàn)出來：傳導(dǎo)；道路、方法、技術(shù)、辦法；解釋、說、道理。但是，就其本質(zhì)而言，“道”似乎是指修整道路的工程規(guī)劃；略作引申，即是修葺平整的通途大路。也正是這一引申，使得“道”常常在翻譯中被名詞化為“路”，但是，

Taking the verbal dao as primary, its several derived meanings emerge rather naturally: to lead through, and hence, road, path, way, method, art, teachings; to explain, to tell, doctrines. At its most fundamental level, dao seems to denote the active project of “road building,” and by extension, to connote a road that has been made, and hence can be traveled. It is by this connotation that我們必須將簡單地在道路上旅行和開拓自己的路徑這二者明確地區(qū)分開來。按照我們的理解，實(shí)現(xiàn)“道”的過程，就是用源自某個文化先驅(qū)的特定方式去體驗(yàn)、詮釋和影響世界，并且同時將這種處世之道發(fā)揚(yáng)光大。上述處世之道恰恰可以為文化承繼者們指點(diǎn)迷津。dao is so often nominalized in translation (“the Way”), but we must distinguish between simply traveling on a road, and making the journey one's own. In our interpretation, to realize the dao is to experience, to interpret, and to influence the world in such a way as to reinforce and extend the way of life inherited from one's cultural predecessors. This way of living in the world then provides a road map and direction for one's cultural successors.

孔子認(rèn)為，“道”的最基本的含義是人道，即“為人之道”。誠如《論語》第十五篇第二十九章所言：“人能弘道，非道弘人。”

（《<論語>的哲學(xué)詮釋》，第45—46頁）

For Confucius, dao is primarily rendao人道, that is, “a way of becoming consummately and authoritatively human.” As 15.29 tells us: “It is the person who is able to broaden the way, not the way that broadens the person.”

(The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation, pp. 45-46)

在“僅僅在路上旅行”以及“開辟自己的旅程”之間，我們必須做出區(qū)分。實(shí)現(xiàn)“道”就是去經(jīng)驗(yàn)、去詮釋、去影響我們所在的世界，所采取的方式是強(qiáng)化并拓展從我們的文化先驅(qū)那里繼承而來的生活方式。“道”必然要求對那些來者呈現(xiàn)出真實(shí)，以能夠被那些來者所信任的方式生活在這個世界之中，在這種意義上，“道”是“真理”。正是由于這個原因，我們通常將“道”翻譯為“the proper way”。

We must distinguish between simply traveling on a road, and making the journey one's own. To realize dao is to experience, to interpret, and to influence the world in such a way as to reinforce and extend a way of life inherited from one's cultural precursors. Dao is “truth” in the sense that it entails being true to those who have come before, and living in the world in a way that can be trusted by those yet to come. It is for this reason that we translate dao usually as “the proper way.”

對孔子而言，在傳統(tǒng)的早期，“道”基本上即“人道”，也就是“成為一個圓滿而有權(quán)威的人的方法”（成人之道）。《中庸》多次提到《論語》，將其作為經(jīng)典的權(quán)威，也多次提到孔子本人，將其作為一個值得效法的典范。通過這種方式，《中庸》闡明了這種儒家的成人之道。不過，或許是受到道家的影響，當(dāng)然肯定還受到孟子的影響，《中庸》強(qiáng)調(diào)圣人對于其周遭世界的深遠(yuǎn)的轉(zhuǎn)化效果。

For Confucius, early on in the tradition, dao is primarily rendao人道， that is, “a way of becoming consummately and authoritatively human.” The Zhongyong elaborates upon this Confucian way of becoming authoritatively human with many allusions to the Analects as canonical authority and to Confucius himself as a model worthy of emulation. But, perhaps influenced by Daoistic and certainly Mencian sensibilities, the Zhongyong emphasizes the profoundly transformative effect that consummate human beings have on the world around them.

通過創(chuàng)造性地參與轉(zhuǎn)化和滋養(yǎng)世界的各種活動，諸如孔子那樣的圣人獲得了一種真正的宇宙性的地位，成為天地完全的伙伴。界定繁榮社群的那些既經(jīng)修養(yǎng)了的道德的、審美的和宗教的感受性，受到自然環(huán)境韻律的啟發(fā)并有機(jī)地整合到自然環(huán)境的韻律之中。那些感受性具有一種升華靈性的效果，那種升華靈性的效果給世界增添了意義和價值。

Sages such as Confucius, through their creative participation in the transforming and nourishing activities of the world, achieve a truly cosmic stature, becoming full partners with heaven and earth. The cultivated moral, aesthetic, and religious sensibilities that define the flourishing community, inspired by and fully integrated into the rhythms of the natural environment, have an elevating spiritual effect that adds significance and value to the world.

如同許多經(jīng)典文獻(xiàn)一樣，《中庸》一書，對“天之道”和“人之道”進(jìn)行了區(qū)分。這兩個范疇遠(yuǎn)不是將自身融化到那種排斥性的“自然/培養(yǎng)”（nature/nurture）的兩分法之中，而是共生（symbiotic）和彼此蘊(yùn)涵的（mutually entailing），并且富有成果地聚合在“君子之道”之中并最終匯聚在“圣人之道”之中。這樣一來，這種匯聚的工程就不是將本來彼此獨(dú)立的我們的生活經(jīng)驗(yàn)的兩個方面整合到一起，而是使他們彼此關(guān)聯(lián)和相互依賴的各種可能性達(dá)到最優(yōu)化的狀態(tài)。

（《切中倫常：<中庸>的新詮與新譯》，第82-83頁）

In the Zhongyong, as in much of the classical corpus, a distinction is made between“the way of tian ( tian zhi dao天之道)”and“the proper way of human beings (ren zhi dao人之道).”These categories, far from resolving themselves into an exclusive “nature/nurture” dichotomy, are symbiotic and mutually entailing, converging most productively in“the proper way of the exemplary person (junzi zhi dao君子之道), ”and ultimately,“the proper way of the sage (sheng ren zhi dao聖人之道).” The project, then, is not to integrate two aspects of our experience that are originally independent of each other, but rather to optimize the possibilities of their correlativity and interdependence.

(Focusing the Familiar: A Translation and Philosophical Interpretation of the Zhongyong, pp. 63-64)

簡言之，孔子確信，文化——作為社會的精華，其首要的發(fā)展是鼓勵和表達(dá)固有的道德感情——是積累和常規(guī)的進(jìn)步。上古之人雖然有能力發(fā)展他們的道德天性，然而他們亦缺乏為增強(qiáng)這一能力所必需的文化制度和規(guī)范性指導(dǎo)。堯舜雖說能夠以其個人行為和治國業(yè)績?yōu)榭砼囵B(yǎng)這一道德本性，雖然能夠?qū)χ袊缙谖拿髯鞒霆?dú)一無二的持久貢獻(xiàn)，但是他們之所以能夠做到這一切，主要并非是有適宜的環(huán)境，而更多的是歸功于他們個人的杰出才能。然而，在西周時期，中國文化的發(fā)展就社會交往形式而言已達(dá)到了相當(dāng)成熟的水平——富裕的生活環(huán)境有益于體認(rèn)人類的道德本性。由古代有道之圣人建立起來的文化制度和習(xí)俗與社會結(jié)構(gòu)相適應(yīng)，并且引導(dǎo)當(dāng)時人們向著較高的人文水準(zhǔn)邁進(jìn)。對孔子來說，西周早期實(shí)是代表了中國社會進(jìn)化所達(dá)到的一個高峰。然而遺憾的是，這一高峰好景不長。西周早期建設(shè)了一個黃金時代后，隨著政治斗爭的滋長，人們逐漸偏離了“道”。到了西周末年，政治制度已名存實(shí)亡，周天子成為野心勃勃的封建諸侯所操縱的傀儡。在這一沒落的過程中，建立在道德內(nèi)容之上的西周文化的聲望一落千丈，只有名稱和禮儀的空殼被完整地保留下來。與此螺旋式的衰退過程相回應(yīng)，孔子鼓吹返歸周的道統(tǒng)，復(fù)興培育了這一黃金時代的豐富而充實(shí)的文化。

（《中國古代的統(tǒng)治藝術(shù)：<淮南子·主術(shù)>研究》，第21-22頁）

In short, Confucius believes that culture—the social refinements developed primarily to encourage and articulate proper moral feelings—is cumulative and generally progressive. Whereas people living in high antiquity had the capacity for developing their moral nature, they were lacking in the cultural institutions and formal guidance necessary to maximize this capacity. That Yao and Shun were able to nurture this moral nature in their conduct and administration and, in doing so, were able to make a signal and lasting contribution to China's emerging civilization, was due more to their own personal excellence than to the congeniality of their environment. By the early Chou period, however, the development of Chinese culture had culminated in a sophisticated pattern for social intercourse—fertile ground indeed in which to encourage human kind's moral nature. The cultural institutions and conventions established by the earlier sages who themselves had “l(fā)ived”the Way were adapted to structure society and guide contemporaries toward a comparable level of humanity. For Confucius, the early Western Chou period marks a high point in the evolution of Chinese society. Unfortunately, however, this high point was short-lived. Having achieved the golden age of early Chou, people were gradually deflected from the Way by growing political strife. By the end of Western Chou, the political institutions had been drained of substance and the Chou kings had become puppets manipulated by ambitious feudal lords. In the process of degeneration, the glory that had been the early Chou culture was divested of its underlying moral content; only the name and the ceremonial shell remained intact. In response to this process of spiraling decline, Confucius advocated a return to the Way of Chou and a revival of the fertile and substantial culture which had fostered this golden age.

(The Art of Rulership: A Study of Ancient Chinese Political Thought, pp. 5-6)

雖然一些學(xué)者在分析《老子》中“道”的意思時，已經(jīng)指出了這個詞具有許多層含義，不過我自己在這里只討論它的三種含義：常道、天之道和至人之道。

Although scholars have identified many levels of this term in analyzing its place in the Lao Tzu , I shall limit myself to a discussion of only three: the constant tao , the natural tao , and the tao of the consummate person.

“常道”是道家對全部實(shí)在的總稱。它被描述為終極的形上學(xué)實(shí)在，是絕對的、無條件的、無差別的、神圣的、自存的、無所不在的和不可言說的。它是一個發(fā)生的過程：作為某種意識，它是現(xiàn)象世界的“根源”，然而與其說它是超越的，不如說它是內(nèi)在的；與其說它是過程的，不如說它是本體的。說“道”是超越的，是就它超越了任何個別而言；然而它又并不是超越的，因?yàn)樗皇且粋€孤立的實(shí)在。說它是變化的，是由于它是所有現(xiàn)象變化的發(fā)動處；然而又是寂然不變的，因此在這個意義上它既不會增加，也不會減少。這個永恒的“道”是超象與現(xiàn)象的對立面的統(tǒng)一。“道”的超象方面是從它作為一個無限的和無差別的存在之總體來理解的。《老子》中的許多地方都將“道”描述為空虛、無形、不可名狀、恒常等，以強(qiáng)調(diào)它的有機(jī)的普遍性。“道”無所不在。“道”的現(xiàn)象方面即指其具備了現(xiàn)象界的特殊性、復(fù)雜性、多樣性和事實(shí)性或“客觀實(shí)在性”。這一方面又往往有關(guān)于“德”、充盈、萬物、形、名以及變化之類的描述，具有強(qiáng)調(diào)現(xiàn)象界之實(shí)在的意義。為了說明“道”具有現(xiàn)象的含義，就必須從整體中區(qū)分出個別，而且也必須依據(jù)整體對這同一個個別作出完整的理解，因此就產(chǎn)生了有關(guān)“始”“返”“動”等思想，以及“樸”和“常名”等概念。基于“常道”具有超象與現(xiàn)象這兩個對立的方面，所有相關(guān)的反義詞都可以用來描述它（如恒常與變動，大與小，無形與有形，絕對與相對，等等）。

The constant tao is the Taoist epithet for the sum total of reality. It can be described as the ultimate metaphysical reality, the absolute, the unconditioned, the undifferentiated and holistic, the uncreated, the all-pervading, the ineffable. It is the process of becoming. It is the “source” of the phenomenal world in an immanent rather than transcendent sense and in an ontological rather than chronological sense. The tao is transcendent in that it“goes beyond” any particular; yet it is not transcendent in that it is not a separate reality. It is changing in that it is the locus of all phenomenal change; yet it is unchanging in the sense that it suffers neither increase nor diminution. There are two polar aspects of the constant tao : the metaphenomenal and the phenomenal. The metaphenomenal tao is the tao apprehended in its indeterminate and undifferentiated totality as existence. It is described variously in the text as vacuous, empty, formless, the nameless, the constant, and so on as a means of underscoring its organismic pervasiveness. There is nothing which is not tao . Its phenomenal aspect is the tao apprehended as the phenomenal world in its particularity, plurality, diversity, and facticity or “thingness.” It is described variously as te, fullness, the myriad things, form, the named, the changing, and so on as a means of emphasizing the reality of the phenomenal world. In order to apprehend the tao as phenomena it is necessary to differentiate the particular from the whole and yet fully understand the same particular with reference to the whole—hence the generative idea of “origin,” of “returning,” of“mother,” the notion of the “uncarved block”and “the dispensation of names.” These two polar aspects of the constant tao, the metaphenomenal and the phenomenal, are the basis on which all dichotomous predications used to describe it can be reconciled (constant/changing, big/small, formless/formal, absolute/relative, and so on).

“道”的觀念之成立，基于兩個先決的思想條件，它們并非總是為人們所認(rèn)識。這第一個思想主題是關(guān)于某種有機(jī)的和神圣的實(shí)在概念，它構(gòu)成了道家相對主義的基礎(chǔ)，并解釋了“道”的現(xiàn)象與超象這兩個方面的關(guān)系。這種有機(jī)主義的學(xué)說反對從根本上消除差異，堅持認(rèn)為，事物處于各種關(guān)系的中心，而這些關(guān)系則表明了它在整體中的前后聯(lián)系。這個事物某種意義上是個別的和相對的，因此它可以從整體中被區(qū)分出來；但是它又與每一個其他的事物相“同一”，并且某種意義上是絕對的，因此可以完全推論或確定：任何條件下的個別（這就是說，所有符合于它的條件）就是無條件的整體。這種有機(jī)的學(xué)說肯定合個別與整體、現(xiàn)象與超象的本體實(shí)在，但否定任何實(shí)在意義上的終極的自主性、孤立性或非連續(xù)性。它堅持認(rèn)為，個別是相互確定、相互限定和互為條件的，而且正因?yàn)槿绱耍恳粋€個別都是一個觀察整體的窗戶。完整地理解了個別，也就是理解了整體。

（《中國古代的統(tǒng)治藝術(shù)：<淮南子·主術(shù)>研究》，第63-65頁）

There are two presuppositions underlying this notion of tao which are not always taken into consideration. The first is an organismic and holistic conception of reality which forms the basis for Taoist relativism and explains the relationship between the phenomenal and metaphenomenal aspects of the tao. This doctrine of organism denies the essentialistic finality of distinctions, insisting that a thing is a focus of relationships determined by its context in the whole. The thing is particular and relative in the sense that it can be differentiated from the whole, but it is “identical'' with every other thing and absolute in the sense that the full consequence or definition of any conditioned particular (that is, the full set of its conditions) is the unconditioned whole. This doctrine of organism affirms the ontological reality of both the particular and the whole, the phenomenal and the metaphenomenal, but denies any notion of final autonomy, discreteness, or discontinuity in reality. It insists that particulars are mutually determining, mutually defining, and mutually conditioned—and, as such, each particular is a window on the whole. To understand any particular in its fullness is to understand the whole.

(The Art of Rulership: A Study of Ancient Chinese Political Thought, pp. 34-35)

《老子》理解的“天之道”是指自然變化的秩序與規(guī)律：復(fù)歸原則，自然均衡，內(nèi)在的對立統(tǒng)一，公正無私，等等。因?yàn)椤疤熘馈笔恰俺５馈钡囊粋€方面，所以，這一規(guī)律也可以說是“常道”所特有的，但是，這一規(guī)律又并非是它的特有屬性，因?yàn)槿祟惿嫱黠@背離這一永恒之道，所以它又必須能夠解決人類的這一迷失。這就是說，為了調(diào)節(jié)人類的行為，“常道”與“天之道”的差別是必然的。人類的行為與天之道不相一致，但卻并不脫離常道的范圍。

This natural tao reflects what the Lao Tzu perceives to be the order and regularity of natural change: the reversion principle, natural equilibrium, implicit opposites, impartiality, and so on. Now, this regularity is also characteristic of the constant tao inasmuch as the natural tao is an aspect of it, but it is not characteristic of it inasmuch as the constant tao must also account for the human maverick who is very capable of living at variance with the natural tao. That is to say, the “constant tao” and “natural tao” distinction is necessary in order to accommodate human conduct which is inconsistent with the natural tao but does not go beyond the parameters of the constant tao.

道家學(xué)者主張效法天之道，以此作為達(dá)到與常道齊一的途徑：

人 法 地，地 法 天，天法道，道法自然。（《老子》二十五章）

The Taoist takes as his project the emulation of the natural tao as a vehicle for achieving identity with the constant tao:

The human being emulates earth;

Earth emulates heaven;

Heaven emulates the tao ;

And the tao emulates that which is natural to it.[Lao Tzu 25]

盡管對“達(dá)致與常道齊一可能意味著什么”這樣的問題的思索，已經(jīng)超出了我們這里所討論的范圍，然而《老子》和《莊子》的這幾段話已經(jīng)包含了某種關(guān)于所有的存在物具有統(tǒng)一性，因此自我與他人（他物）也是雖分別卻又統(tǒng)一的認(rèn)識。在這兩部著作中，對于人類的完美境界即達(dá)致同常道的齊一這一點(diǎn)，都說得十分清楚：

圣人抱一為天下式。（《老子》二十二章）

豈唯形骸有聾盲哉？夫知亦有之。……之人也，之德也，將旁（磅）礴萬物以為一。（《莊子·逍遙游》）

故為是舉莛與楹，厲與西施，恢恑憰怪，道通為一。其分也，成也；其成也，毀也。凡物無成與毀，復(fù)通為一。唯達(dá)者知通為一。（《莊子·齊物論》）

Although it is beyond our concerns here to speculate on what it might mean to achieve identity with the constant tao, passages in the Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu suggest that this involves an awareness of the unity of all existence in which the self/other dichotomy is reconciled. That both texts do describe human consummation as consisting in identity with the constant tao is clear:

Therefore the sage embraces the One to become the model of the world. [ Lao Tzu 22]

Do you think blindness and deafness are limited to just the physical body? One's understanding can also suffer from them…. This person and this kind of inner potency will extend things in all directions to make one. [ Chuang Tzu 1.2]

Because of this, while we distinguish between a stalk and a bean, a leper and the classic beauty Hsi Shih, the tao unifies every weird and wonderful, strange and extraordinary thing as one. The discrimination of a thing is its actualization, and its actualization is its destruction. Where things are free of actualization and destruction, they are reunified as one. Only the enlightened person understands this principle of unifying as one. [ Chuang Tzu 2.4]

這向我們揭示了“道”的第三層含義。作為自然的某種例外，人們既可以經(jīng)過奮斗以適應(yīng)環(huán)境，在不斷順應(yīng)自然的根本法則的過程中完善自己，也可能以某種與自然狀況不諧調(diào)的方式去追求生活。總之存在著兩種可能性。至人之道是以天之道為模式并與之相和諧的。下面這段話提到了這個“道”:

故失道而后德，失德而后仁，失仁而后義，失義而后禮。（《老子》三十八章）

This leads us to the third level of tao. As an exception to nature one can either strive to be in accord with the environment, achieving realization in a way consonant with the underlying principles of nature, or one can pursue life in a way inconsistent with the natural condition. These are the two possibilities. The tao of the consummate human being is a mode of living patterned on and in concert with the natural tao. This is the tao referred to in the following passage:

Therefore when we neglect the tao,

Then te arises;

When we neglect te,

Then benevolence arises;

When we neglect benevolence,

Then rightness arises;

When we neglect rightness,

Then social norms and rites arise. [ Lao Tzu 38]

只有當(dāng)人與人之間的自然關(guān)系遭到破壞，非自然的行為普遍存在時，才需要統(tǒng)一人類行為的各種準(zhǔn)則。在道家哲學(xué)里，顯然至人的道即天之道，而至人則是常道的化身。……

（《中國古代的統(tǒng)治藝術(shù)：<淮南子·主術(shù)>研究》，第67—69頁）

Only when the natural expression of interpersonal relationships breaks down and unnatural activity becomes commonplace is it necessary to articulate standards for human conduct. In Taoist philosophy, it would appear that the tao of the consummating person is an analog to the natural tao and the consummating person is an analog to the constant tao….

(The Art of Rulership: A Study of Ancient Chinese Political Thought, pp. 37-38)

值得注意的是，“我知道”是一種及物語法，但“道”并不是這種語法的“謂語”，而是包含實(shí)實(shí)在在的“主語”意義。這種情況就像“生活”“歷史”或“經(jīng)驗(yàn)”，不能以二元論意義去對待。“道”表示指導(dǎo)在世間生活的一種質(zhì)量道路（qualitative way），它既包含主觀性，也包含客觀性，是不可分的。“主語”的屬性及其做出的行為形式同樣是不可分的。“道”不承認(rèn)亞里士多德的“范疇”，而是同時與主語、謂語條件保持聯(lián)系性，同時也與“知”的質(zhì)量以及所知世界的條件保持相關(guān)性。“知”既給予其主體“仁”的質(zhì)量，也給予我們其所知之物，既給予我們采取行為的具體情勢，也給予我們采取行為的本身形式。

（《儒家角色倫理學(xué)：一套特色倫理學(xué)詞匯》，第212-213頁）

Importantly, in the transitive “I know the way” (wo zhidao), “the way” (dao) is not the “object” of knowledge as such, but has a real subjective dimension. It is a term like “l(fā)ife” or “history” or “experience” that does not resolve into dualisms. Dao is a qualitative way of conducting one's life in the world that entails both subject and object, and the attributes of the subject as well as the modality of the actions being carried out. Dao defies Aristotle's categories, having as much to do with the conditions of the subject as with the object, and having as much to do with the quality of understanding as it does with the conditions of the world as understood. Knowing tells us as much about the ren quality of the person who “knows”as it does about something known, as much about a particular disposition to act as it does about the modality of acting itself.

( Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary, pp. 192-193)

“道”常被一種宇宙“本原”語言描述為我們所知的這一世界的“本原”。但是我在上面已經(jīng)指出，這個宇宙論意義的“道”，遠(yuǎn)非那個高高在上形而上學(xué)的起始原則，它獨(dú)立于它的造物，實(shí)際上是把它們都包括在內(nèi)持續(xù)不已的生命過程。這種世界本身自生和永遠(yuǎn)偶然性的血脈展開，是我們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)場域。正如我們所見到的，如果秩序真是內(nèi)在和新興的，而不作為獨(dú)立原則存在，那么闡述這個“世界形成”的一切語言，一定是歷史的，臨時的，有時是詩一般的，有時是比喻性語匯，它表述“如我們所知”的這個世界秩序。

（《儒家角色倫理學(xué)：一套特色倫理學(xué)詞匯》，第250頁）

Often dao道is described in the language of a cosmological “source,” the “origins” of the world as we know it. But as I have argued above, this cosmological dao far from being a superordinated metaphysical principle that stands independent of its creatures is in fact the ongoing living processes that include them all. It is the generative and always contingent genealogical unfolding of the world itself as our field of experience. As we have seen, if order is truly inherent and emergent rather than existing as an independent principle, then the language that describes all aspects of this “world-ing” must be historicized as a provisional, sometimes poetic and sometimes metaphorical vocabulary for the world order as we know it.

(Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary, p. 227)