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52 C. Li

pp. 21–22) Ricci’s negation of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi underscored the key in-
congruity between the cultures of China and the Western Christian tradition.

2 Heaven and Earth: As the Parent of All Things

“Heaven” had been the supreme deity in Chinese faith well before the era of the
philosopher Laozi (老子 ca. 600 B.C.E.–ca.500 B.C.E.). “Heaven” represented the
ultimate realm (cf. the Confucian notion that “Heaven alone is great, and King Yao
alone emulated it”); “Heaven and Earth” were thought to be primordial. The notion
of “Pangu creating the world by separating Heaven and Earth” was a legend that
only came about in the Eastern Han era (25–220) following the introduction of
Buddhism (Li, 2013). Laozi first proposed that “there was something undefined and
absolute, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth” (Laozi, Chapter 25),
suggesting the existence of Dao (道)or Qi(气). The Qi of Yin (阴) and Yang (阳) was
the source of Heaven and Earth and hence the fountain of all cosmic beings (cf.
“Nameless, it is the Originator of Heaven and Earth; having a name, it is the Mother
of all things” Laozi, Chapter 1). Still, in the evolution of Laozi’s philosophy and the
history of Chinese thinking, the notion of humanity and all things being produced
by Heaven and Earth prevailed.
According to the philosophy of Laozi, Heaven and Earth, with Dao being
their source, give birth to all humanity, creatures, and things. As Laozi says,
“May not the space between Heaven and Earth be compared to a pair of bellows?
When emptied, it loses not its power; when pressed again, it yields greater
force” (Laozi, Chapter 5). “A violent wind lasts not a whole morning, a sudden
rain not the whole day. Who determines this? Heaven and Earth” (Laozi,
Chapter 23). “Heaven and Earth unite and send down the sweet dew which, of its
own accord, falls upon all, without the command of men” (Laozi, Chapter 32).
All these musings point to the notion of Heaven and Earth working in unison,
giving rise to all cosmic beings. His proposition that “The Dao produced one;
one generates two; two generates three; three produced all things” (Laozi,
Chapter 42) can be interpreted as the force splitting into Yin and Yang to form
Heaven and Earth (one generates two), andthe clashofHeavenand Earthto
give birth to humanity and all creatures and things (two generates three—loss of
equilibrium, hence conflict and multiplicity).
This notion of Heaven and Earth being the father and mother of humanity and
all cosmic beings, had been clearly articulated by the Warring States Period
(475 B.C.E.–221 B.C.E.), and widely accepted by various schools of thought
including Confucian and Taoist among others. Zhuangzi (《庄子》), for example,
referred to “Yin and Yang being akin to Man’s parents … Once we understand that