refers to something akin to “fate,” as in the expression
mingyun de tian (“Heaven-determined destiny”).
As with the anthropomorphic conception of tian, the
naturalistic interpretation was given its most authoritative
expression in the Yi jing. There, tian is symbolized by the tri-
gram qian, and is thus another term for the positive, male,
creative principle or force (yang). Its complement is di, or
earth, symbolized by the trigram kun, representing the nega-
tive, female, receptive principle or force (yin). The ceaseless,
ever-changing interactions and permutations of these com-
plementary principles or forces produce the universe and all
beings, and are responsible for their birth, growth, decay, and
death.
Although impersonal, the “naturalistic” tian has a close
functional relationship with man. The classical philosophers
see this relationship in a variety of not necessarily reconcil-
able ways:
- Human life or life span depends upon tian (renzhim-
ing zai tian). - Man is a microcosm of the universe, his feet being
“square,” as earth is, and his head round, as Heaven is. - Man’s nature (xing) is conferred at birth by tian.
- Man should model himself upon tian (fatian).
- Since tian is impersonal, it is man who acts as the mind
(or heart) of tian. - Man and tian constantly interact in mutual stimulus
and response (a view denied, as we have seen, by Xunzi). - The function of tian is to create, while the function
of man is to nurture and bring to perfection those created
things. - Tian serves as the moral example for man, who can
only attain his complete human development through the
discipline of moral steadfastness (cheng).
Here again, the concept of tian is ambiguous: while
moral perfection would seem to be possible only for a person,
yet the unfailing regularity, benevolence, and impartiality of
tian could also be interpreted in moral terms.
In the neo-Confucian movement, which began during
the Tang dynasty (618–907) and came to maturity during
the Song period (960–1279), philosophers again utilized the
term tian in various new ways. The neo-Confucian goal may
be stated in religious terms as an ultimate self-transformation
for the attainment of sainthood or sageliness (shengren). Most
important was a concept called the tianli (“principle of tian”
or “heavenly principle”), which was interpreted in a number
of ways. It stood for the sum of the anciently enunciated vir-
tues of the Confucian tradition; it was a name for the meta-
physical substance or embodiment of the dao (xingshang
daoti); it was identified as mind; it was identified as con-
science, which produced the innate knowledge of good and
evil, right and wrong (liangxi or liangzhi); it was moral per-
fection, the very opposite of human desires (renyu), a propo-
sition rejected by certain later neo-Confucians; or it designat-
ed the totality of all principles, being cosmic Principle. These
were some of the concepts the neo-Confucians used in con-
structing a metaphysics that had been lacking in the ancient
Confucian system. They attempted, in this way, to arrive at
an understanding of the nature of ultimate reality or the Ab-
solute. In their philosophies, the term tian was used for this
ultimate reality and also identified with other terms that had
the same meaning—dao, li, taiji, and (in Wang Yangming’s
thought) xin (“heart-and-mind”). Although the tian of the
neo-Confucians was an impersonal metaphysical principle,
even in this usage theistic implications were not entirely
absent.SEE ALSO Dao and De; Li; Shangdi; Taiji; Yuhuang.BIBLIOGRAPHY
There is no monographic treatment of tian in English, and the
only one in a Western language, Anton Lübke’s Der Himmel
der Chinesen (Leipzig, 1931), is not easily available in many
North American libraries. A good overall discussion is found
in Alfred Forke’s The World-Conception of the Chinese (1925;
reprint, New York, 1975). On Tian as the god of the Zhou
people, see Herrlee G. Creel’s “The Origin of the Deity
T’ien,” in volume 1, appendix C of his The Origins of State-
craft in China (Chicago, 1970). On the concept of Tian (i.
e., Shangdi) as the supreme deity, see James Legge’s The No-
tions of the Chinese concerning God and Spirits (1852; reprint,
Taibei, 1971). A suggestive recent interpretation is Ha Tai
Kim’s “Transcendence Without and Within: The Concept
of T’ien in Confucianism,” International Journal for Philoso-
phy of Religion 3 (Fall 1972): 146–160.
For the role of tian in political and social traditions, the definitive
treatment is Yang Ch’ing-k’un’s Religion in Chinese Society
(Berkeley, 1961); see the index references s.v. Heaven. Prov-
erbs showing generally held notions of tian are sampled in
Clifford H. Plopper’s Chinese Religion Seen through the Prov-
erb (1926; reprint, New York, 1969), pp. 23–29, 59–76.
Various concepts of tian are discussed in H. G. Lamont’s
“An Early Ninth Century Debate on Heaven,” Asia Major
18 (1973): 181–208 and 19 (1974): 37–85, although this ar-
ticle is technical and contains considerable extraneous mate-
rial. An important discussion is found in J. J. M. de Groot’s
Les fêtes annuellement célébrées à Émoui (Amoy), vol. 1 (1886;
reprint, Taibei, 1977), pp. 35–83.
LAURENCE G. THOMPSON (1987)TIANTAI. The Tiantai tradition of Chinese Ma ̄ha ̄yana
Buddhism is a lineage centered around the writings of the
monk Zhiyi (538–597) and his successors. This tradition is
characterized by the emphasis it places on the practice of
meditation, its exegetical method, and the centrality it ac-
cords the teachings of the Saddharmapun:d:ar ̄ıka Su ̄tra
(Chin., Miaofa lianhua jing su; abbreviated title, Fahua jing;
the Lotus Sutra) and the Da ban niepan jing (Skt.,
Maha ̄ya ̄na-parinirva ̄n:a Su ̄tra). The Tiantai tradition forms,
together with the Huayan tradition, one of the two majorTIANTAI 9173