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The Heaven-Earth Cosmic Faith 53

Heaven and Earth are great furnaces, and their function is that of the Creator,
where can we go that is not right for us” (“the Most Honoured Master” in Zhuangzi,
《庄子 · 大宗师》)? He further stated, “Heaven and Earth are father and mother of
all creatures and things” (“the Full Understanding of Life” in Zhuangzi,《庄子 · 达
生》). A similar reference was found among the silk texts in one of The Four Classics
of the Yellow Emperor (《黄帝四经》), unearthed at the Mawangdui archaeological
excavation (马王堆汉墓) which is dated to the second century B.C.E. It reads, “The
Yellow Emperor says, ‘The Heaven being father, and Earth, mother of all people;
the former is the source of life and the latter sustenance’” (“Guo Tong” in The Ten
Great Classics,《十大经 · 果童》). And, “The noble virtue of father and mother is
that of Heaven and Earth” (“On Correct Rulership” in The Constancy of Laws,《经
法 · 君正》).
The notion of Heaven and Earth being “father and mother” of humanity and all
living things, is held highly by the School of Confucianism, perhaps more highly
than in any other Chinese schools of thought. As stated in Commentary on The Book
of Changes (《易传》), “Qian (乾) represents Heaven, hence its appellation of father;
Kun (坤) represents Earth, hence that of mother” (“The Explanation of the Tri-
grams” in Commentary on The Book of Changes,《易传 · 说卦》). “Heaven and Earth
exert their influences, and thereby ensue the transformation and production of all
things” (“The Xian Trigram: Commentary on the Judgment” in Commentary on The
Book of Changes, 《易传 · 咸卦 · 彖传》). “In the intermingling of Heaven and Earth,
transformation in all forms rises. In the interaction of male and female, all types of
growth germinate” (“The Commentary on the Appended Phrases II” in Commen-
tary on The Book of Changes,《易传 · 系辞下》). “After Heaven and Earth, all things
came into being, after which came male and female, husband and wife, father and
son, sovereign and his ministers, then hierarchy and the order of propriety and
rectitude” (“The Sequence of the Hexagrams” in Commentary on The Book of
Changes,《易传 · 序卦》). Thus, a synthesis of the natural way of Heaven and the
ethical way of humanity was offered by Commentary on The Book of Changes,
creating a unified cosmos—a virtuous oneness of Heaven and Man; the natural
world and human society.
Commentary on The Book of Changes has many comments on the giving of life
and sustenance to humanity, for example:

The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is the giving and maintaining life. (“The Commentary on
the Appended Phrases II,” Commentary on The Book of Changes)

Vast is the great and originating power of Qian (Heaven)! All things owe to it their beginning:
It contains all the meaning of Heaven. Complete is the great and originating power of Kun
(Earth)! All things owe to it their birth; it receives obediently the influences of Heaven. Kun,in