"O Soul, Come Back!" A Study in The Changing Conceptions of The ...
"O Soul, Come Back!" A Study in The Changing Conceptions of The ... "O Soul, Come Back!" A Study in The Changing Conceptions of The ...
SOUL AND AFTERLIFE 381THE AFTERWORLD:SEPARATE ABODES FOR THE HUN AND THE P'OFinally, to answer the question of where the soul goes after itsseparation from the body we must take a closer look at the conceptionof the afterworld. Before we proceed, however, we must correcta deep-rooted misconception about the origin of the Chinese beliefin an afterworld. Early in the seventeenth century, Ku Yen-wu &,fA,A, based on a preliminary historical investigation, came to the conclusionthat the Chinese did not have a clear notion of an afterworlduntil the end of the Han dynasty when Buddhism arrived on thescene.42 In modern times, this thesis has received further supportfrom Hu Shih's study of the history of Chinese Buddhism. He emphaticallymaintained that it was Buddhism which gave the Chinesethe idea of tens of heavens and many hells.43 More recently, JosephNeedham, taking issue with the distinction between "this-worldly"and "other-worldly" hsien f{ immortality I proposed two decadesago, has said:If one bears in mind the conceptions of different peoples (Indo-Iranian, Christian,Islamic, etc.) there was no such thing as an "other world" in ancient Chinesethought at all-no heaven or hell, no creator God, and no expected end of theuniverse once it had emerged from primeval chaos. All was natural, and withinNature. Of course, after the permeation of Buddhism, "the case was altered."44Indeed, it is true that in ancient Chinese thought the contrast between"'this world" and "'other world " was not as sharp as in othercultures. One may also legitimately argue that, put in a comparativeperspective, the early Chinese idea of an "other world" ap-42 Ku Yen-wu .t1, Jih-chih lu H OR, (Wan-yu wen-k'u X4Z). edition, Taipei, 1965),vol. 10, pp. 28-29.4' Hu Shih, "The Indianization of China: A Case Study in Cultural Borrowing," in Independence,Convergence and Borrowing in Institutions, Thought, and Art, Harvard TercentenaryPublications (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1937), pp. 224-25. However, itmust be mentioned that in his later years Hu Shih apparently modified this extreme view considerablyand came to realize that there was also an indigenous Chinese origin of the idea of-hell. See Hu Shih shou-kao fA, eighth collection (Taipei: Hu Shih chi-nien-kuan, 1970),vol. 1, where a vast amount of early materials relating to the idea of the underworld in ancientChina may conveniently be found.44 Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, 5.2 (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1974), p. 98 (note C).
382 YING-SHIH YUpears to be "refreshing" because it is rather differently conceived.But to say that there was no such thing as an "other world" and noheaven or hell at all is obviously an exaggeration and a position thatis contradicted by known historical and archaeological facts.We have noted that as early as the Shang period there hadalready arisen the idea of a "heavenly court" which, however, mayhave been reserved only for the long-lasting, if not immortal, soulsof the kings and lords as a depository of social authority.45 Fromabout the eighth century B.C. on, the term Yellow Springs (huangch'uian X7%) began to be used in historical and literary writings todenote the home of the dead. The Yellow Springs was imagined tobe located beneath the earth, a place conceived of as dark andmiserable. But the idea is on the whole a vague one and very littledetail about it exists in the written record.46 As we have seen, inthe "Summons of the Soul, " one of the Elegies of Ch 'u, the soul is advised"not to climb heaven above" or "go not down to the Land ofDarkness" (yu-tu Nm). Thus, for the first time, we encounter both"heaven" and "hell" in the same poem. However, Chinese imaginationof the afterlife did not become fully developed until theHan period. With the tremendous progress of Han archaeology inrecent decades, we are now able to reconstruct in its general formthe early Chinese conception of afterlife, including the relatedbeliefs of heaven and hell.As noted earlier, the two T-shaped silk paintings from Ma-wangtuiclearly reveal the belief that at death the hun-souls immediately"return to heaven," just as the above-quoted Li-chi passage says.Although we are in no position, given our present state ofknowledge, to identify each and every one of the mythologicalelements in these paintings, the two paintings do provide us withconcrete evidence that by the second century B.C. the Chinesealready had a vivid conception of a heavenly world above and anunderworld below.The notion of a government in heaven overseeing human activitieswas developed later in Han popular culture. In the earliestTaoist canon T'ai-p'ing ching &1+!, datable to the second century45 Jacques Choron, Death and Western Thought (New York, 1963), p. 24.6Needham, Science, pp. 84-85.
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SOUL AND AFTERLIFE 381THE AFTERWORLD:SEPARATE ABODES FOR THE HUN AND THE P'OF<strong>in</strong>ally, to answer the question <strong>of</strong> where the soul goes after itsseparation from the body we must take a closer look at the conception<strong>of</strong> the afterworld. Before we proceed, however, we must correcta deep-rooted misconception about the orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese belief<strong>in</strong> an afterworld. Early <strong>in</strong> the seventeenth century, Ku Yen-wu &,fA,A, based on a prelim<strong>in</strong>ary historical <strong>in</strong>vestigation, came to the conclusionthat the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese did not have a clear notion <strong>of</strong> an afterworlduntil the end <strong>of</strong> the Han dynasty when Buddhism arrived on thescene.42 In modern times, this thesis has received further supportfrom Hu Shih's study <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese Buddhism. He emphaticallyma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed that it was Buddhism which gave the Ch<strong>in</strong>esethe idea <strong>of</strong> tens <strong>of</strong> heavens and many hells.43 More recently, JosephNeedham, tak<strong>in</strong>g issue with the dist<strong>in</strong>ction between "this-worldly"and "other-worldly" hsien f{ immortality I proposed two decadesago, has said:If one bears <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d the conceptions <strong>of</strong> different peoples (Indo-Iranian, Christian,Islamic, etc.) there was no such th<strong>in</strong>g as an "other world" <strong>in</strong> ancient Ch<strong>in</strong>esethought at all-no heaven or hell, no creator God, and no expected end <strong>of</strong> theuniverse once it had emerged from primeval chaos. All was natural, and with<strong>in</strong>Nature. Of course, after the permeation <strong>of</strong> Buddhism, "the case was altered."44Indeed, it is true that <strong>in</strong> ancient Ch<strong>in</strong>ese thought the contrast between"'this world" and "'other world " was not as sharp as <strong>in</strong> othercultures. One may also legitimately argue that, put <strong>in</strong> a comparativeperspective, the early Ch<strong>in</strong>ese idea <strong>of</strong> an "other world" ap-42 Ku Yen-wu .t1, Jih-chih lu H OR, (Wan-yu wen-k'u X4Z). edition, Taipei, 1965),vol. 10, pp. 28-29.4' Hu Shih, "<strong>The</strong> Indianization <strong>of</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a: A Case <strong>Study</strong> <strong>in</strong> Cultural Borrow<strong>in</strong>g," <strong>in</strong> Independence,Convergence and Borrow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Institutions, Thought, and Art, Harvard TercentenaryPublications (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1937), pp. 224-25. However, itmust be mentioned that <strong>in</strong> his later years Hu Shih apparently modified this extreme view considerablyand came to realize that there was also an <strong>in</strong>digenous Ch<strong>in</strong>ese orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> the idea <strong>of</strong>-hell. See Hu Shih shou-kao fA, eighth collection (Taipei: Hu Shih chi-nien-kuan, 1970),vol. 1, where a vast amount <strong>of</strong> early materials relat<strong>in</strong>g to the idea <strong>of</strong> the underworld <strong>in</strong> ancientCh<strong>in</strong>a may conveniently be found.44 Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, 5.2 (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1974), p. 98 (note C).
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