A brief history of Beiji (Northern Culmen), with an excursus on the origin of the character di.

• Author: Pankenier, David W.

Chinese preoccupation with astronomical orientation has a very long history. Archaeological evidence from the fifth millennium B.C. Neolithic cultures of North China shows that burials and dwellings were already being oriented with particular attention to the diurnal and seasonal variations in the sun's position. (1) With the beginning of the Bronze Age in the early second millennium B.C. and the inception of early state formation, such concepts had progressed to the point where ritually and politically important structures were uniformly quadrilateral in shape and cardinally oriented, with the longitudinal axis aligned with varying precision in a north-south direction. (2) Palatial structures and royal tombs from the earliest dynastic states in the second millennium B.C., that is, Xia, Shang, and Zhou, consistently display such orientation (3) (figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). From the layout of the best preserved of these city walls and palatial foundations, it is clear that the principal access was normally via a main gate in the south facade, with the inner sanctum located far from the entrance towards the rear or north wall. This ritually and cosmologically significant architectural arrangement remained consistent throughout the entire history of China, most especially in edifices connected with the imperial prestige and power, as exemplified by the Forbidden City in Beijing. This much is already well known and has been thoroughly documented by Paul Wheatley. (4)

What has been less well explored is the possible astral-terrestrial correspondence between the archaic kingship in the Bronze Age and the north-pole (beiji [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) or "Northern Culmen," whose unique characteristics and powerful associations as the pivot of the heavens led to its becoming the celestial archetype of the cosmically empowered Chinese monarch. Already by the late Warring States period, well before the founding of the empire, Confucius famously drew on the metaphorical potency of the pole to exemplify the charismatic virtue (de [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) of the sagely ruler:

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Lunyu 2:1, The Master said: To conduct government by virtue may be compared to the Northern Asterism: it occupies its place, while the myriad stars revolve around it. (6) [FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

TAIYI AND NORTHERN CULMEN

Recent studies of the cultic practices, ceremonial, and conceptual background of the supreme numinous power Taiyi, "Supreme One," during the Warring States through Han periods draw on abundant textual and archaeological materials and underscore the identification of Taiyi with the celestial pole. Let me cite here just a few examples:

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Shiji, "Treatise on the Heavenly Offices": "The brightest star of the Pole Star asterism in the Central Palace is the constant abode of the Supreme One." (7) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Huainanzi, "Heaven's Patterns": "The Taiwei is the court of the Supreme One; the Zigong is the abode of the Supreme One." (8) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Heguanzi, "Great Flood": "The center is the place of the Supreme One, the one hundred spirits look up to it and are controlled by it." (9) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Liji, "Evolution of the Rites": "Now the rites necessarily have their origin in the Supreme One, which divides to become Heaven and Earth, revolves to become yin and yang, and changes to become the four seasons." (10) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Lushi chunqiu, "Great Music": "From the Supreme One emanate the Two Exemplars, the Two Exemplars give forth yin and yang; yin and yang change and transform, one arising one descending, they combine to form shapes. Confused and obscure in their separateness they recombine, once combined they separate again; this is Heaven's constant rule. Heaven and Earth turn about like the wheel of a cart, ending then beginning anew; reaching their extremes they turn back again, and nothing is ever out of place. The sun, moon, stars and asterisms, some speed along, some move slowly; the sun and the moon differ, and thereby complete their movements. The four seasons arise in succession, now warm, now cold, now short, now long, now mild, now harsh. At the source from which all things emanate, they are initiated by the Supreme One, and transformed by yin and yang." (11) [FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

According to the team of scholars in charge of restoring the Guodian [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Chu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] manuscripts, in the text "Taiyi sheng shui" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "The Supreme One Produces Water": "'Supreme One' is here an alternative appellation for the 'Dao' ... 'Taiyi' in the texts is what is referred to as the 'Dao' in the pre-Qin period." (12)

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Zhuangzi, "All Under Heaven": "Of the ancient traditions of the Way there is this: Guan Yin and Lao Dan heard about it and found pleasure in it. They established it on the constancy of nothing and based it on the Supreme One. They took weakness and submissiveness as its external manifestation, and emptiness and non-destructiveness to all things as its inner reality." (13) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "'How is it that the daimonic descends and clear-seeing emerges?' There is that from which sageliness springs and of which kingliness is constituted: both have their source in the One." (14) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Zhaungzi, "Lie Yukou": "The form of the Supreme One is emptiness." (15) [FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

According to Li Ling [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "In the 'Nine Songs' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in the Chuci [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] it is the 'August Supreme One of the East' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] which is revered. The 'Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in Shiji and the 'Monograph on the Suburban Sacrifices' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in Hanshu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] record that in Han times the Supreme One was worshipped as the most revered. The abode of the Supreme One is the pole of the Dipper about which the myriad stars revolve. The opening passage in the 'Treatise on the Heavenly Offices' in Shiji talks about just this, and the Taiyi method associated with the use of the diviner's board also takes the Supreme One as central. All of these can serve to illustrate its importance." (16)

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

According to Li Jianmin [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "The Supreme One dwells in the center, which is also the position of the Son of Heaven. There is a parallel between the position of the ruler among people and that of the Supreme One among the heavenly bodies.... Heguanzi speaks of 'using the One' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], Laozi talks about 'embracing the One' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (chapter 22), and Mawangdui silk manuscript 'Yao' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] talks about 'through the One', [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 'obtain the One' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and so on, so it appears as if abstract metaphysical thinking may indeed be the same as the study of formulas and methods in this respect." (17)

According to Jiang Xiangnan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]: "What spirit is the daimon of the Supreme One? The Answer: the Lord-on-High [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. How is it that the Lord-on-High is the spirit of the Northern Dipper? The answer: it is a fixed star. The very center of the sky is said to be the Purple Tenuity Enclosure [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. The very center of the Purple Tenuity Enclosure is said to be the North Pole asterism. The fifth star of the North Pole asterism is called 'Celestial Pivot' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and the place nearby which lacks stars is called the Vermilion Pole [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Directly above the Vermilion Pole is the very center of the Revered Mover of Heaven [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Beneath the revered Mover of Heaven is the world of forms, above it is the formless [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], the formless being the heavenly realm of the Lord-on-High itself. The Lord-on-High is invisible, and so it is known by the center of the Revered Mover of Heaven. The center of the Revered Mover of Heaven cannot be determined, but the second star of the North Pole asterism is big, red, and bright. It controls the sun and rulers, so for this reason astrologers take it to be the seat of the Supreme Lord. When the Shiji, 'Treatise on the Heavenly Offices,' says: 'The brightest star of the Pole Star asterism in the Central Palace is the constant abode of the Supreme One,' it is referring to the second star of the North Pole asterism." (18)

From these and other similar sources we may conclude: (i) Taiyi, "Supreme One" is the supreme spiritual power residing at the center of the Palace of Purple Tenuity at the pole and is identifiable with the Tao. (ii) All other numinous influences are subordinate to Taiyi; it is the ultimate source of all phenomena, imperceptibly animating and regulating the universe [fig. 7]. (iii) An important attribute of Taiyi is its protean nature; there is a recognition that its nominal association at this time with the bright star Kochab [beta] UMi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) is an expedient; similar to the rationale for placing the heavenly pivot of Han diviner's board in the handle of the Dipper. (19) (iv) As an inspirational focus, based on the testimony of Shiji, Zhuangzi, and others, Taiyi/Beiji has a history that reaches into the distant past. (20)

THE VIRTUE OF NOTHING

The mysterious efficacy of charismatic virtue to which Confucius referred in the passage above, in the alternative, Taoist vision becomes the efficacy of non-action, or wu-wei [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], the ultimate achievement of one who is in harmony with the invisible force of Tao (Taiyi)...