What are the Metaphysical and the Physical in Taoism? 什么是形而上与形而下

The metaphysical refers to that which is formless or unshaped; the physical refers to that which is formed or concrete. The distinction between the metaphysical and the physical first appeared in The Great Appendix of the I Ching: That which is metaphysical is called the Dao; that which is physical is called the concrete vessel.

What are the Metaphysical and the Physical in Taoism?

From the Han to the Sui and Tang dynasties, there were few discussions on this distinction. It only became an important tenet of traditional Chinese philosophy in the Song Dynasty, spawning numerous theories and fierce debates, and its discourse became intertwined with that of the relationship between the Dao and the concrete vessel.

Li Dingzuo of the Tang Dynasty quoted Cui Jing of the same dynasty in his Collected Explanations of the I Ching, interpreting the metaphysical and the physical through the lens of essence and function: the metaphysical is function and the The Dao, while the physical is form and substance, essence and the concrete vessel. All things in heaven and earth possess form and substance, within which essence and function coexist—the metaphysical cannot exist independently of the physical.

Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty explained the metaphysical and the physical through the concepts of non-being and being: cosmic phenomena are divided into two categories, the formless and the tangible, much like non-being and being. Form arises from the Dao, with the Dao preceding form, just as being emerges from non-being. The Dao is the metaphysical, and all things generated by the Dao are the physical. The physical, namely the tangible and substantial, pertains to the concrete vessel rather than the Dao.

After the Song Dynasty, scholars invariably discussed the metaphysical and the physical in relation to the Principle and Qi. Zhang Zai stated that the metaphysical is the traceless, and the physical is the tangible. The traceless is the Dao, such as the profound virtue that nurtures all creation; the tangible is the concrete vessel, manifested in worldly realities such as rituals and righteousness—endowing the metaphysical and the physical with ethical connotations.

Zhu Xi integrated this distinction into the discourse on the Principle and Qi: Yin and Yang are Qi, belonging to the physical; the changes of Yin and Yang and their underlying basis are the Principle, namely the metaphysical. The metaphysical Dao is the Principle, the noumenon of all tangible existences (i.e., the physical), and the two are essentially distinct and cannot be conflated.

Dai Zhen of the Qing Dynasty incorporated the concept of time into his interpretation of the metaphysical and the physical: "form" refers to that which has taken shape and substance; the metaphysical refers to that which precedes form, and the physical to that which follows form. Yin and Yang are Qi, unshaped and insubstantial, hence what is called the metaphysical. Yin and Yang interact and transform to generate all things, which take shape and substance, and thus are the physical.