Something which is eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent do exist in most philosophical concepts in Chinese thought, whether it is Daoism, Confucianism, Moism or others. However, this something is not thought of as “God” by any Chinese philosophy. It is not the Creator of the Universe or an infinitely good being who governs and regulates the cosmos. It was the Universe itself. It was also called Nature (自然) or “Reality as it is”. The creator of Heaven (Tian 天) and Earth (Di 地) was a god called “Pan Gu” (盘古开天辟地). Of course, Pan Gu was a fractional part of Nature and he didn’t enjoy impunity. Instead, as punishment by the Laws of Nature, he died creating Heaven and Earth. In other words, the “creator” of the world has died long long ago. Obviously, he can’t keep track of our good/bad deeds or reward/punish us for those deeds. Pan Gu created Heaven and Earth not because he was benevolent or malevolent, and he wasn’t eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent. He just did what he did spontaneously or acted out of his impulsiveness. Similarly, Nature isn’t benevolent or malevolent. Nature doesn’t act out of impulse, therefore, it can be eternal (不易), unchanging, and omnipotent (天若有情天亦老). Nature is emotionless. It just does what it does. There are changes within the eternity of Nature (不易中有易); and there are eternity within the changes (易中有不易). For example, the existence of the Four Seasons means there are changes. However, the fact that every year has Four Seasons (not three or five) means this pattern is unchanging eternally. We must see reality as it is instead of wishing reality to be what we want to see. Reality will not change according to our wishes or prayers (不以人的意志为转移).
The creation of Heaven and Earth produces humans, animals, plants, as well as gods and ghosts. There are benevolent gods and malevolent gods. Chinese in the Shang Dynasty (which ended in 1046 BC) and earlier did pray to various gods. The purposes of the prayers were to seek help from benevolent gods to protect people from the natural effects of Nature and also hostilities of malevolent gods. They also offered human/animal sacrifices to the malevolent gods as pacifiers so that the malevolent gods were not too hostile to people. The group of benevolent gods was seen as infinitely good beings who governs and regulates the world. They are collectively called “Tian Dao” (天道) or simply “Tian” or “Dao”. This “Tian” is not the same “Tian” of Heaven in terms of the concepts. It is not uncommon in Chinese language to have the same word which means different things under different contexts. When Chinese pray to “Tian” (天), they are referring to the “government in the Heaven”, i.e. the group of benevolent gods. This “Tian” is not eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent; the “government in the Heaven” has to keep fighting with the malevolent gods and protect the people on Earth.
After the Shang Dynasty was replaced by the Zhou Dynasty, the people stopped human sacrifices to the malevolent gods. It was a declaration that Chinese don’t accept being held hostage by malevolent and hostility (中国人不吃这一套, 鬼神没有资格居高临下同中国人说话). The Zhou people only prayed to “Tian” or the “government in the Heaven”. The “government” was prayed for simply because it is benevolent and the world was not peaceful. In other words, the “government” will not be needed and will not be prayed for if (1) it is malevolent or (2) the world is peaceful. The second condition was seen as the ideal condition by both the Zhou government and the people; i.e. the great harmony (大同) or the greatest benevolence (上德不德，是以有德；下德不失德，是以无德。 上德无为而无以为；下德为之而有以为) which means requiring no more benevolence from anyone since everyone is self-sufficient and there is no external threats. Of course, this utopia is quite difficult to attain if not impossible. The King of Zhou declared that humans were the superior beings of all beings (《尚书·泰誓上》:“惟天地万物父母,惟人万物之灵。”). Humans shall never again be sacrificed as offering to malevolent gods, and human life shall receive the highest respect. To Confucius, the defender of Zhou culture, even burning of human effigies or straw men were seen as cruelty. Humans (such as wives and concubines) were not to be sacrificed and buried in the funeral of a dead noble. Unfortunately, some people continued to practice the superstitious rites.
The infinitely good beings who governs and regulates the world are not eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent. The Nature which is eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent is emotionless, neither benevolent nor malevolent, doesn’t governs and regulates the world. Chinese see Nature or Reality as it is instead of wishing it to be what we want to see. We wish only to understand Nature, and apply our knowledge to mitigate or lessen the damages caused by natural disasters. We believe we must help ourselves in order to get the sympathy of “Tian” to help us (自助才能得天助). We wish only to understand Nature, of which humans are also a fractional part of it, and apply our knowledge to mitigate or lessen the damages caused by humans’ greed, hatred and delusion. We believe we must learn to be resilient like “Tian”, and never give up in the face of hardship (天行健，君子以自强不息；地势坤，君子以厚德载物). We believe we must be benevolent like Earth supporting all beings.
If there is a “God” who is eternal, unchanging, omnipotent and is also an infinitely good being who governs and regulates the cosmos, there will not be any natural or man-made disasters. People will not see the need to pray to “God” since no benevolence is needed.
有物混成 先天地生 萧呵 寥呵 独立而不改 可以为天地母 吾未知其名 字之曰道
强为之名曰大 大曰逝 逝曰远 远曰反
There was a mixture of things before the formation of Heaven and Earth. So quiet and so sparse. It is independent and does not change much, and it is the mother of Heaven and Earth. I don’t know its name. I simply call it Dao, or subjectively designate it as Great. It is so great and has no end. It has no end therefore has a far reaching extent. In this far reaching extent, there are repetitions, reverberations, or cycles of flip-sides.
道大 天大 地大人亦大
国中有四大 而人居其一焉
人法地 地法天 天法道 道法自然
Dao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and humans are also great. The Universe has four great things, and humans are one of them. The lives of humans (physical and spiritual) are closely related to the Earth. The conditions of the Earth (wet, dry, grassland, forest, etc.) are closely related to Heaven. The conditions of Heaven (weather, seasons, rain, wind, etc.) are closely related to Dao. Dao is closely related to Nature (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc.).
Although the infinitely good “Tian Dao” who governs and regulates the world are not eternal, unchanging, and omnipotent, it nevertheless shows us through “leadership by example” that being benevolent is the way to happiness and harmony. People should learn from “Tian Dao”. Going against “Tian Dao” will lead to suffering.
RESILIENT KID 