**2.** *Cheng***'s Early Form and Implications**

Scholars have sighed from being unable to trace the origin of the character *cheng*2 because it is not seen in either the oracle bone or bronze inscriptions, and it also seldom appears in pre-Warring States texts. However, as with many Chinese characters

whose categorical constituents—such as *yan* 䀰 (word), *xin* ᗳ (heart, mind), *shui* ≤ (water), *mu* ᵘ (wood), and so on—were later additions, the original graph of *cheng*2 was *cheng*1 without a *yan*-word constituent. This etymology is clearly seen in the *Zhongyong* ѝᓨ (Doctrine of the Mean): "Sincerity means self-completion. . . . Sincerity does not merely complete oneself but also completes things" 䃐㘵, 㠚ᡀҏ ... 䃐㘵, 䶎㠚ᡀᐡ㘼ᐢҏ, ᡰԕᡀ⢙ҏ (Zheng and Kong 2000, 53.1694a). In the early classics, these two characters were commonly used interchangeably. For example, in a poem from the *Shijing* 䂙㏃ (Classic of Poetry, no. 188), we read, "If it is true (*cheng*1) you are not influenced by her riches, you still are so by the difference" ᡀ нԕᇼ, Ӗ⽷ԕ⮠. 4 Then, when the *Analects* (12.10) cites these lines, *cheng*1 (true) is written as *cheng*2. In other early texts, such as the *Mozi* ໘ᆀ (Master Mo Di), *Hanfeizi* 七䶎ᆀ (Master Han Fei), and *Huainanzi* ␞ইᆀ (Master Huainan), we see the same interchange between the two characters (Sun 2001, 12.441; Chen 2000, 8. 552, 554; He 1998, 3.262). Furthermore, according to modern scholars' reconstruction of old Chinese, both characters share the same initial consonant and final vowel. For example, Zheng Zhang Shangfang has reconstructed both as \*djeN (Zheng Zhang 2003, p. 288), while William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart have reconstructed them as \*[d]eN (Baxter and Sagart 2014, pp. 12–13). Because *cheng*1 is both the phonetic and semantic, it should be the etymon for *cheng*2 as well as its early form.

In the OBI, *cheng*1 comprises *xu* ᠼ (a kind of axe-weapon) and *gun* ј (stick; Guo 1979–1983, p. 4905, no. 39503; Xu 1998, pp. 1552–53). Many scholars have indicated that in ancient times, huge axe-weapons such as *xu*, *wu* ᠺ, *qi* ᡊ, or *yue* ᠹ might have been used as clan insignias, command symbols, or ritual weapons (Ding 1956, pp. 93–99; Tang 1977, July 14; Qiu 1978, pp. 165–66; Boltz 1994, p. 48). These weapons were used in rituals to symbolize the sanctioned triple power of religion, polity, and military. For example, the jade axes from the Liangzhu 㢟⑊ culture (ca. 3300–2000 BCE) were carved with spirit face motifs (Su 1994, p. 249), while the bronze *yue*-axes excavated from the Shang-dynasty tomb in Yidu ⳺䜭, Shandong province, present similar motifs (Shandong Province Museum ኡᶡⴱঊ⢙佘 1972, pp. 17–30). King Wu of Zhou (r. ca. 1046–1043) held a yellow *yue*-axe at the ritual of reporting to heaven and the ancestors his victory of conquering the Shang (Huang 1995, pp. 447–53). In the Zhou-dynasty dance performance of sacrificial rituals, "the sovereign holds shield and axe standing on his dance position" (Zheng and Kong 2000, 49.1577a). *Xu* is also used interchangeably with *cheng*1 or *cheng*2, such as in a record in the *Huainanzi*, "*Xu* is *cheng*1" ᠼ⡢ᡀ (He 1998, 3.262), or a record in the *Yupian* ⦹ㇷ (Jade Volume), "*Xu* is *cheng*2" ᠼ, 䃐ҏ (Hu 1989, 30. 5883–84). Xu Shen interpreted *cheng*1s component of *gun* ј as meaning "to connect the high and the low" кл䙊ҏ (Xu 1963, p. 33a). The high refers to heaven and divinities, and the low refers to earth and humans. If Xu Shen's interpretation can be trusted, *cheng*1s early meaning may have been the connection and communication between humans and spirits in shamanistic-religious rituals. However, even if we do not adopt Xu Shen's interpretation, as a ritual weapon *cheng*1 was still connected to rituals aimed at communicating with spirits.

As mentioned above, the most important ceremony among the sacrificial rituals involved seducing the spirits to descend to enjoy the offerings and bestow blessings. This ceremony was closely connected to the concept of *cheng*1. For example, among the manuscripts excavated from the tombs of the Chu state in the Warring States era, some records involve *cheng*1 as follows:


In these records, the term "cheng1" has been interpreted as "completion of sacrifice and supplication" ⾝ᆼ⮒ by Yu (1999, p. 167), as "completion of removing the ghosts" ᆼᡀ〫⾏ by Shen (2007, p. 433), and as "the ancestral spirits having enjoyed the sacrifices and offerings" ⾎⾆ⅶӛަ⽰ and the supplications and wishes having been granted by Li (1993, p. 441). According to these interpretations, *cheng*1 refers to the completion of the sacrificial-divinatory ceremonies by which the ancestral spirits, heavenly gods, or terrestrial deities were invoked to descend and enjoy the offerings, the wishes of the supplication and divination were granted, and the human-spirit communication was completed (*cheng*1). The first record describes the sacrifice to deceased ancestral spirits; the second to the Great One, Earth Deity, Fortune God, Disaster God, Flood Deity, Two Gods of Heaven's Son, and Spirit of Mount Wei; the third to the dominant spirit in the ancestral temple; and the fourth to the Gate Deity. The sixth does not define the specific spirit, while the fifth and seventh describe divinatory ceremonies. In addition, the implication of "cheng1" in the fifth and seventh records is the same as in some records of the excavated day books (*rishu* ᰕᴨ), which are folk divinatory texts (Li 2006b, pp. 318–29).

Transmitted texts also hold many records that support *cheng*1s connection with the invocation ceremony. For example, the first stanza of the poem "Wild-Ducks and Gulls" ("Fu Yi" 北吆) from the *Classic of Poetry* (no. 248) reads:

The wild-ducks and gulls are on the stream;

The impersonator of the ancestral spirit feasts peacefully.

Your wines are clear;

Your viands are fragrant.

The impersonator of the ancestral spirit feasts and drinks; 

Blessings are made complete.

北吆൘⎷, ޜቨֶ⠅ֶሗ. ⡮䞂ᰒ, ⡮⇭ᰒ俘. ޜቨ⠅伢, ⾿⾯ֶᡀ.

This stanza describes the invocation ceremony held by the Zhou king for hosting a feast for the impersonator, a descendant who served in the place of the ancestral spirit. The ancestral spirit descends into the impersonator and enjoys the feast, finally completing (*cheng*1) its blessings to the king. In the *Classic of Ritual*, when the impersonator completes a sacrificial feast, it is usually accompanied by the line, "The supplicant announces [to the host] that the feast ritual is auspiciously completed" ⾍ ࡙ᡀ (Zheng and Jia 2000a, 42.936a, 46.1023a; 48.1073a). The *Zhouli* ઘ (Ritual of Zhou), which records a sacrificial music called the "Grand Blending Music" (Daheyue བྷਸ′), with nine sections for invoking different gods and spirits, states such: "If playing the music to the sixth section, all the heavenly gods will descend and can be approached, and the sacrificial ritual can be held for them; . . . If playing the music to the eighth section, all the terrestrial deities will come out and can be approached, and the sacrificial ritual can be held for them; . . . If playing the music to the ninth section, then human spirits can be approached and the sacrificial ritual can be held for them" 㤕′ޝ䆺, ཙ⾎Ⲷ䱽, ਟᗇ㘼⸓.... 㤕′ޛ䆺, ൠ⽪Ⲷࠪ, ਟᗇ㘼⸓. ... 㤕′ҍ䆺, Ӫ公ਟᗇ㘼⸓ (Zheng and Jia 2000b, 22. 679a-b, 689b-690a). The annotator Kong Yingda ᆄま䚄 explained that when one section was completed, the music must be changed; therefore, the *Ritual of Zhou* names a musical section as *bian* 䆺 (change), while the *Shangshu* ቊᴨ (Book of Documents) names it as *cheng*1 (completion; Kong and Kong 2000, 5.152, 154). This informs us that using *cheng*1 to name a

musical section might have originally referred to gods and spirits (or their impersonators) appearing at the end of each section and thus completing each ceremony.
