The Huainanzi by An Liu

Author:An Liu [Liu, An]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/Asia/Central Asia
ISBN: 9780231520850
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

12.44

Penumbra asked Shadow:158 “Is the brilliance of the sunlight spirit illumination?”

“No, it is not,” replied Shadow.

“How do you know that?” queried Penumbra.

Shadow replied: “When the Fusang Tree falls into darkness,159 the sun illuminates the universe, the radiance of its light illuminating [all within] the Four Seas. But if you shut your doors and close your windows, it has no means to enter your home. If it were spirit illumination,

it would flow to the four [directions] as far as they reach,

and there would be nowhere to which it did not extend;

above, delimiting Heaven,

below, encircling Earth.

It would transform and nourish the myriad things, and yet it could not be construed as having any particular appearance. In the twinkling of an eye, it would embrace all that lies beyond the Four Seas. How could ‘the brilliance of the sunlight’ be sufficient to denote spirit illumination?”

Therefore the Laozi says:

“The softest thing in the world

rides roughshod over the hardest thing in the world.”160 [12/117/1–4]

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