What are the Threefold Union and Interpenetration in Taoism? 什么是三合相通
Paul PengWhat are the Threefold Union and Interpenetration in Taoism?
A theory of harmony proposed in the Scripture of Great Peace, an early classic of Taoism.
It takes the Three Ones as the cosmic system model and regards the “Three” as a universal pattern for categorizing phenomena.
What are the Threefold Union and Interpenetration in Taoism?
What are the Threefold Union and Interpenetration in Taoism?
Abstract of the Scripture of Great Peace, Part B states:
“Qi has three names: Great Yin, Great Yang, Great Harmony.
Forms have three names: Heaven, Earth, Humanity.
Heaven has three names: Sun, Moon, Stars, with the North Star as the center.
…Governance has three names: Ruler, Minister, People.”
The three rely on one another for existence and achieve fulfillment only through mutual attainment.
“Thus with Yang but no Yin, one cannot give birth alone, and governance perishes.
With Yin but no Yang, one cannot give birth alone, and governance perishes.
With Yin and Yang but no Harmony, one cannot propagate the species, and it perishes.”
Precisely because all things under heaven can be divided into three,
and as a unified whole, the three exist in a relationship of “depending on one another”,
they must therefore interconnect, accord with one another, and unite their efforts as one —
this is called the Three Uniting and Interconnecting.
Scripture of Great Peace, Chapter 48 clearly states:
“The law of Heaven’s mandate:
all animate beings ought to unite the three and interconnect,
join strength and unite mind,
so as to govern together in one affair,
complete together as one family,
and become together as one body.”
The thought of the Three Uniting and Interconnecting aims at harmony,
emphasizing the mutual dependence and integration among the inner elements of all things.
