Introducing The Yang Zhu

The Yang Zhu is an ancient text attributed to the obscure Chinese philosopher Yang-zhu (alternatively Yang Chu). The difference in the spellings is historical. Old school spelling of Chinese used the Wade-Giles system and Han-yu pinyin is a system developed in the People's Republic era.

The Yang Zhu was one of the many texts lost during the tyrannous rein of the so-called first Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE – 210 BCE). The movie Hero is a beautiful depiction of his despotic majesty. Those with a yin for history and kung-fu will be delighted to know that it features Jet Li and the directorship of one of China's best, Zhang Yi-mou (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou).


Probably the most important text lost during this period was the classic of music Yue Jing. Music is one of the most splendid of experiences. It's not particularly confined to humans, as one knows who has listened to the song of a cricket, songbird or a brook. I imagine the Yue Jing to be a very powerful book on par with the Yi Jing (I-ching, wade-giles). Maybe this treasure is hidden somewhere in the caves of Dun Huang, but for the past 2,000 years no one's saying.

Anyway, the loss of the Yue Jing is a much bigger deal than the loss of the Yang Zhu when you look at it in perspective because the Yue Jing is one of the ancient Six Classics (Yi Jing, Book of Changes; Shi Jing, Classic of Odes; Li Jing, Classic of Ceremony; Shu Jing, History Classic; and the Chun Qiu, The Spring and Autumn Annals). The classics took a real hit during Qin Shi-huang, having to be reconstructed from memory after his passing.

In case there's any wonder, the classics are a big deal not because Bill Bennett says so, but because Confucius said so. Confucius is a really big deal though I doubt that Bill Bennett ever got around to actually reading the classics that have had a shelf life beyond 500 years. It is such a shame for one so concerned about the perils of moral and cultural relativism.

At least it's fair to say that Bill and I would both agree that book burning by the state apparatus is barbaric by any standards, especially when water-boarding is much more effective. As it is, our opinions yea or nay will hardly change what's already happened... or at least that's the rumor, so we best cut Qin some slack.

It might be good to know, however, that Qin was a maniac who hailed from the rough and ready western part of China where they ride horses and eat a lot of meat. He may have been a maniac but he was no moron to unify a series of feudally entrenched states. It's also a pretty good idea to note that Hitler was a vegetarian, so it's unlikely that Qin's dietary preferences is a satisfactory basis upon which to judge him further. The book burning issue is basis enough for us to feel thoroughly vindicated in our judgments of Qin.

A bit more about Confucius, more precisely Confucians. They're not too fond of Yang-zhu. It's a self-expression thing that they do not seem to be inclined to understand.

Insouciant. That's the word that came to mind when queried on the nature of the updated edition of The Yang Zhu. Not a prancing insouciance, unless of course prancing is called for.

The Yang Zhu is natural reflections on being and the meanings we give to it. It's got a lot of advantages that it didn't have in the Warring States, like flushing toilets, Velcro, immunizations, shag carpet, and... YouTube, to name but a few.
Fertile Ground's My Space Page.



Beyond technological innovation, there have emerged and declined philosophical and expressive universes that may say more about the particular ways we give expression to the human experience than to reflect any bona fide change in its overall makeup.

One of the consistencies between the lost version of the Yang Zhu and its latest incarnation is a firm belief in self-truth, being truthful with oneself, one's being. This is an idea as anathema to God-n-Country Christians as it is to Confucians. I bet they didn't know they shared so much in common. And of course blanket recriminations against Christians is as foolish as invocations of Christ for purposes of imperialist wars.

The point is there are some very serious issues out there and we need to take a stand. In the coming weeks The Yang Zhu will be giving its official endorsement for president... That's a lie... The Yang Zhu is not politically affiliated, though it does have lots of fun exploring the political aspects of good causes.

This is yet another consistency between the old and new The Yang Zhu: there isn't much shying from controversy. This is because The Yang Zhu has an inexorable urge to be self-expressed, especially as it relates to penetrating awareness, which stands in contrast to passive, osmotic thought--aka that which we've been told.

The Yang Zhu holds that the truths of Confucius, the NIH, rational-materialists, wiccans, gaians, Rosicrucians, and NPR are not self-evident. Instead of holding a hypnotic admiration for the whatever imperial raiment, a perspective resembling Lear's fool becomes necessarily more befitting (to think, there wasn't even English let alone Shakespeare at the first publication, of The Yang Zhu that is).