Lie Zi - 1.1 - Self-Creator & Self-Evolver | Daoist Wisdom on Universe, Life, and Spirituality

Li Yizhou lived on a vegetable plot in the Zheng State for forty years without anyone recognizing him. The state's ruler, the nobles, and the grandees all looked upon him as one of the peasants. During a famine, he was preparing to migrate to Wei State without a return date. His disciples said, If you go with no prospect of returning, how will we ask questions? And how will you teach? Are there no words from your teacher, Huchuzhu Lin, that you can impart to us? Li Yizhou laughed and said, What does Huchuzhu Lin have to say? However, I'll try to repeat what my teacher said to my fellow disciple. There is that which is created, and that which is uncreated. There is that which changes, and that which is unchanging. The uncreated can create the created. The unchanging is able to effect change. That which is produced cannot but continue producing. That which is evolved cannot but continue evolving. Hence, there is constant production, and constant evolution. The law of constant production and of constant evolution at no time ceases to operate. That which is once involved in the destiny of living things can never be annihilated. So is it with the yin and the yang, and so is it with the four seasons. The yin and the yang are the positive and negative principles of nature, alternately predominating in day and night. The uncreated we may surmise to be alone in itself. The unchanging goes to and fro, and its range is illimitable. We may surmise that it stands alone, and that its ways are inexhaustible. The Book of the Yellow Emperor says, The valley spirit does not die. It may be called the mysterious feminine. The issuing point of the mysterious feminine is said to be the root of the universe. Subsisting to all eternity, it uses its force without effort. That then, which engenders all things, is itself unengendered. That by which all things are evolved, is itself untouched by evolution. Self-engendered and self-evolved, it has in itself the elements of substance, appearance, wisdom, strength, dispersion and cessation. Yet, it would be a mistake to call it by any one of these names. Many commentators believe Hu Jiu Tzu Lin is a fictitious character, and the above teaching is directly from Li Yizhou himself. Valley spirit is a metaphor for Tao, implying that Tao is as empty as a valley, and as mysterious as a spirit. The mysterious feminine is also a metaphor for Tao. The Book of the Yellow Emperor is a Taoist book, written in China's Warring States period, expounding Lao Tzu's philosophy. Unfortunately, the book no longer exists, but the passage used above is now incorporated in the Tao Te Ching, and attributed to Lao Tzu. Li Yizhou's idea of the creation and evolution of the universe can be seen as a continuation of Lao Tzu's idea of Tao, and the concept of changes, from Yi Jing, the Book of Changes. However, the idea of God does not appear in these three ancient texts, including Li Yizhou, Lao Tzu, and Yi Jing.