Varieties of Yin and Yang in the Han: Implicit Mode and Substance Divisions in Heshanggong's Commentary on the Daodejing

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At first glance, the yin-yang conception at the heart of Heshanggong's Commentary on the Daodejing appears contradictory: it propounds the superiority of yin, grounded in Daodejing ideals, while simultaneously exalting yang, commonly favored during the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce).¹ However, a concerted investigation of contemporary milieux and historical antecedents yields a different revelation. Beneath Heshanggong's seemingly paradoxical exterior, its integrated vision of yin-yang – and by extension the cosmos – represents a rich worldview built on sophisticated internal reasoning.

The Heshanggong is a product of its period. It teaches us much about Han Daoism and its particularly complex value system.² We will argue that said system implies a subdivision of yin and yang into “mode” and “substance.” Here “mode” refers to behavior and states of existence: yang modes involve movement, outward intent, intensity, visibility, rigidity, aggression, and violence; yin modes reflect stillness, inward focus, moderation, obscurity, adaptability, gentleness, and peacefulness. Substance indicates the full range of “matter” and “spirit” that comprises Heshanggong's world: yang is refined and united as with qi, spirit, and Heaven, while yin is dense and divided as with flesh, emotion, and Earth.

This cohesive and creative structure that underlies Heshanggong's philosophy resulted from its synthesis of antecedent yin-yang theories’ divergent values and must be understood by examining a multiplicity of yin-yang and proto-yin-yang conceptions from the Han. Resultantly, we find the two major strains of Han yin-yang thought that Heshanggong incorporates into his system. The result is an ideal where the yin mode that encompasses the values of the Daodejing (emptiness, softness, weakness, obscurity) generates the yang substances prized in the Han (Heaven, spirit, and original qi). For clarity in comparison and contrast, Lisa Raphals’ theoretical yin-yang parameters will serve as the interpretive framework for models sourced from Mawangdui texts, the work of Dong Zhongshu, the Huainanzi, and Heshanggong itself. This analysis seeks to resolve the “paradox” of Heshanggong's worldview, and in so doing complexify our understanding of yin and yang, Chinese holism, Han thought, and the historical continuity of Daoism.

1. Variations of yin and yang

Heshanggong uses yin and yang to construct its cosmology, but its notion of these two is a departure from the ahistorical,...