*4.4. Chengdao* 䃐䚃 *(The Dao of Sincerity)*

Finally, *cheng*2 developed from meaning the completion of human-spirit communication to meaning the unity of heaven's Dao with humans' Dao. As Mencius said, "Sincerity is the Dao of heaven, and the pursuit of sincerity is the Dao of humans" 䃐㘵, ཙѻ䚃ҏ; ᙍ䃐㘵, Ӫѻ䚃ҏ (*Mencius*, 4A12). The *Doctrine of the Mean* similarly states, "Sincerity is the Dao of heaven, and the attainment of sincerity is the Dao of humans" 䃐㘵, ཙѻ䚃ҏ; 䃐ѻ㘵, Ӫѻ䚃ҏ (Zheng and Kong 2000, 53.1689b). Because Cheng Yi 〻乔 and Zhu Xi ᵡ⟩ explicated *cheng*2 as being the "principle of reality" (Zhu 1992, p. 31), many scholars have assumed that classical Confucians regarded *cheng* as the ontological foundation of all existence. Cheng's and Zhu's explication, however, represented only the neo-Confucian reconception of *cheng*2. In fact, during the Warring States period it was a common concept that *cheng*2 represented the movement and virtue of heaven. For example, the *Heguanzi* 咆ߐᆀ (Master of the Pheasant Cap) states such:

Heaven makes sincerity the virtue of the sun: the sun sincerely emerges and sincerely enters. . . . Heaven makes faithfulness the law of the moon: the moon faithfully dies and faithfully grows. ཙ㘵䃐ަᰕᗧҏ, ᰕ䃐ࠪ䃐ޕ.... ཙ㘵ؑަᴸࡁҏ, ᴸؑ↫ؑ⭏. (Huang 2004, pp. 168–69)

The regular, constant circulation of the sun and the moon represents the movement of heaven's course (*dao*) and its virtue of sincerity and faithfulness. A similar statement is also seen in the silk manuscript *Jingfa* ㏃⌅ (The Canon of Law) excavated from Mawangdui (Yates 1997, pp. 80–81). The *Xunzi* reads as follows:

Heaven does not speak, but people infer its height. Earth does not speak, but people infer its thickness. The four seasons do not speak, but people anticipate them. These things have such constancy because they have utmost sincerity. . . . Heaven and Earth are most vast, but without sincerity they could not transform the myriad things. ཙн䀰㘼Ӫ᧘儈✹, ൠн䀰㘼Ӫ᧘ ✹, ഋᱲн䀰㘼Ⲯဃᵏ✹. ཛ↔ᴹᑨ, ԕ㠣ަ䃐㘵ҏ.... ཙൠ⛪བྷ⸓, н䃐н 㜭ॆ㩜⢙. (Wang 1988, 2.46)<sup>6</sup>

Heaven, earth, and the four seasons never speak, but they demonstrate their sincerity through regular, constant movement, which generates and transforms the myriad things. The *Annals of Sire Lü* presents similar ideas:

If heaven's movements were not faithful, the year could not complete. If earth's movements were not faithful, grass and trees could not grow. . . . Great as heaven and earth are, and as transforming as the four seasons are, they still could not complete things by being unfaithful, let alone human affairs. ཙ㹼нؑ, н㜭ᡀ↢; ൠ㹼нؑ, 㥹ᵘнབྷ.... ཙൠѻབྷ, ഋᱲѻॆ, 㘼 ⥦н㜭ԕнؑᡀ⢙, ৸⋱ѾӪһ. (Chen 2001, 19.1311)<sup>7</sup>

This also describes the regular movements of heaven, earth, and the four seasons as representing their virtue of sincerity and faithfulness while setting a model for human affairs. Reading all these statements together with the two passages from the *Mencius* and the *Records of Ritual* cited above, we can see clearly that this was in fact a common natural, cosmological view of the Warring States thinkers, without involving the dimension of an ontological "principle of reality."

Prior to defining sincerity as heaven's Dao, both passages from the *Mencius* and the *Records of Ritual* discuss the significance of sincerity in cultivating one's own good virtues and serving one's parents, friends, superiors, and the people. This shows that the authors' concern still lies in the dimension of ethical and political virtues. With its sincere movements and virtues, heaven generates and transforms the myriad things, including human beings. If humans attain *cheng* (sincerity), *chengren* ᡀӪ (completion of consummate humanity; *Analects*, 14.12), and *chengwu* ᡀ⢙ (completion of things; Zheng and Kong 2000, 53.1694a) through imitating heaven and cultivating themselves, they are assisting heaven in its work of generation and transformation. Thus, the mysterious veil hanging over *cheng* has finally been lifted.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

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**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
