THE THEISTIC IMPORT OF THE SUNG PHILOSOPHY 119 



•development of Spring. Love seeks expression. It cannot 

 stop at the subjective, it must find its continuance in objec- 

 tive manifestation. 



The third of the Ultimata is Li (^'J), the Principle of 

 Utility. The use of the word Utility to express that ultimate 

 principle in the Moral Order which answeres to Eighteousness 

 in man is at least arresting, if not startling. But a little 

 reflection will show its peculiar appropriateness. At the very 

 root of the idea of Eighteouness is that of Order. But order 

 in the philosophical sense implies not only regularity, but, 

 what is another name for the same thing, adaptation or 

 useful collocation also. A phrase which has been much used 

 in connection with the doctrine of Evolution is "the survival 

 of the fittest." The Sung philosophy sees something deeper, 

 namely, mutual service. All things are made to serve. 

 Everything has stamped upon it as the law of its being the 

 creative purpose that it should be of service to its neighbour. 

 "Oh, we live ! Oh, we live ! 

 And this life which we conceive, 

 Is a great thing and a grave, 

 Which for others' use we have." 

 The Principle of Utility is manifested in the Autumn season. 

 The Vital Impulse which is born in the Spring, and of which 

 the Summer is the growth and development, finds its con- 

 summation and full fruition in Autumn, the harvest or fruib 

 season. Fruit in contrast to the leaf is self-giving. In 

 fruiting the tree expends its life for the enrichment of others. 

 The fulfilment of such service for all is what constitutes 

 Order in the Universe and Eighteousness in the individual. 

 "Benefiting all creatures he is able to exhibit the harmony 

 of all that is right." * 



The last of the Four Ultimata is Cheng (R), the 

 Principle of Potentiality. Its physical manifestation is in 

 the Winter season. In man it becomes Wisdom. Like the 

 word for the Principle of Beauty Cheng has a double inter- 

 pretation. Legge translates it "correct and firm." Its 

 meaning is "strong to do and to do rightly." In the gloss 

 given in the Fourth Appendix it is defined as the "faculty 

 of action" and is said to confer on the noble man ability to 

 "manage all affairs." f It is, however, a reserve faculty, 

 which is the special characteristic of Wisdom, a reserve of 

 knowledge and ability adequate to all emergencies. But 

 this sense of reserve is not the characteristic of man alone, 

 it is everywhere, in all the phenomena of the universe. Its 

 typical manifestation is in the season of Winter, when life's 



Sacred Boohs of the East, Vol. XVI, p. 408. t Ibid. 



