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THERE are some other points that still need going into before we can say we have fully explained the royal function in the Far-Eastern tradition. In fact even to speak of ‘royal function’ is itself a misnomer that is only too likely to mislead: for although the Wang is effectively the King in the true sense of the word, he is also something else besides.

To see why and how this is the case, we have only to look at the character wang itself (figure 17). It is made up of three horizontal strokes that correspond to Heaven, Man and Earth, just as in the case of the trigrams we studied earlier. Also, uniting the three strokes at their centres is a vertical stroke, for—as the etymologists explain—‘the function of the King is to unite’. The positioning of the vertical stroke indicates that by ‘union’ here we are primarily meant to understand the uniting of Heaven and Earth.

Figure 17

From this we see that the character as a whole is a symbol of Man: Man as the median term of the Great Triad, and specifically Man in his role as ‘mediator’. So as to be even more precise, it is worth adding that the character is a symbol not just of ‘primordial man’, but of ‘Universal Man’. The vertical stroke stands for the axis effectively uniting every state of existence; but the centre where ‘primordial man’ is situated—marked by the point of intersection of the vertical stroke and the horizontal stroke—corresponds to only one state: the individual human state.^[1] Fur- thermore, the part of the character that strictly refers to Man is—remembering that the top and bottom horizontal strokes correspond to Heaven and Earth—the vertical stroke plus the central horizontal stroke; and these two strokes form a cross, which is the supreme symbol of ‘Universal Man’.^[2] This identification of Wang with ‘Universal Man’ is confirmed yet again by texts such as this excerpt from Lao Tzu: ‘The Way is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the King also is great. In the middle there are four great things, but of these only the King is visible’.^[3]

Because the Wang is essentially ‘Universal Man’, it follows that whoever is his representative and fulfils his function must at least in principle be a ‘transcendent man’—that is, someone who has realised the final goal of the ‘greater mysteries’. For the reasons we gave earlier, this means he is capable of identifying himself effectively with the ‘Central Way’ or ‘Middle Way’ (Chung Tao). In other words he can identify himself with the axis itself—whether that axis is represented by the chariot pole, the central pillar of the Ming T’ang, or any other equivalent symbol. Because he has developed all his possibilities in both a vertical and a horizontal sense, he can fittingly be described as ‘Lord of the Three Worlds’^[4]—each world corresponding to one of the three horizontal strokes of the character wang.^[5] Viewed specifically in his relationship to the world of men, he is also the ‘One and only Man’ who is the synthesis and integral expression of Humanity, as Humanity in turn is the synthesis of the ‘ten thousand beings’—in other words of the totality of the beings in this world;^[6] we refer here to Humanity as a specific nature from the cosmic point of view, and as the human collectivity from the social point of view. This is why such a man is the ‘regulator’ of both the cosmic order and the social order, as we mentioned earlier.^[7] When he fulfils the function of ‘mediator’, really it is all men who fulfil it in his person. This is the reason why in China only the Wang or Emperor was allowed to perform the public rites associated with this function. Chief among these rites—in fact the one on which all the others were patterned—was the sacrificial offering to Heaven, because here more than anywhere else the function of ‘mediator’ is affirmed most clearly.^[8]

To the extent that the vertical axis can be equated with the Wang himself, one of its names is the ‘Royal Way’ (Wang Tao). On the other hand it is also the ‘Way of Heaven’ (T’ien Tao), as can be seen from figure 7 where the vertical stands for Heaven, and the horizontal for Earth. It follows from this that the ‘Royal Way’ and the ‘Way of Heaven’ are one and the same;^[9] and in fact the role of Wang can only be conferred on someone who has been granted the ‘mandate of Heaven’ (T’ien ming),^[10] which in practical terms means that he is recognised as the legitimate Son of Heaven (T’ien Tzu).^[11] There is of course only one way that this mandate can be received: down the vertical axis. This—the one and only and invariable direction of the ‘Activity of Heaven’—is both opposite and complementary to the direction in which the ‘mediatory’ function itself operates. To be the recipient of this descending influence presupposes at the very least the capacity of ‘true man’, if not of ‘transcendent man’, effectively established in the ‘Invariable Middle’: for there is no other point of intersection between the axis and the human domain apart from this central point.^[12]

The vertical axis can also be described in different terms. According to one particular form of symbolism common to most traditions, it is the ‘bridge’ connecting Earth to Heaven (as in the case we have just been discussing); or connecting the human state of existence with other, supra-individual states; or linking the sensory world to the world beyond the senses. Each of these possibilities is just a different expression of the same, fundamental idea of the ‘World Axis’: sometimes viewed as a whole, sometimes—depending on the universality of the application—limited to a section of it of varying extent. What emerges clearly is that the ‘bridge’ must be understood as being essentially vertical^[13]—a point of considerable significance which we will perhaps expand on in a later study. We can now understand why the Wang is, precisely, the Pontifex in the strictly etymological sense of the word.^[14] To be even more specific, the fact that he is identified with the axis means that he is not only the builder of the bridge but the bridge itself. Taking this one step further, it could also be said that this bridge—making possible as it does communication with the higher states and, through them, with the Principle itself—can only be established by someone who is effectively identified with it. Hence our insistence on using the expression ‘King-Pontiff’ as the only adequate translation of the word Wang, for the simple reason that it is the only one which fully describes the function implied by the term. From this it will be seen that the function has a double aspect: it is both a priestly and a royal function at the same time.^[15]

The reason for this double aspect is quite easy to understand. Whether or not a particular Wang is actually a ‘transcendent man’ (as in principle he should be), or just a ‘true man’ who has completed the ‘lesser mysteries’, he will in either case have already attained that ‘central’ position which is beyond any distinction between spiritual and temporal power. Speaking in terms of ‘cyclical’ symbolism, he could be described as being ‘prior’ to this distinction through his reintegration in the ‘primordial state’. On the one hand this state precedes the differentiation of specific functions; on the other hand it contains in itself the possibilities of every conceivable function, because it represents the integral fullness of the human state.^[16] In every case, and even when he is ‘One and only Man’ in just a symbolic sense, by virtue of the ‘mandate of Heaven’^[17] he represents the very source or common principle of the two differentiated powers. From this one principle, spiritual authority and the priestly function derive by a direct line of descent, while temporal power and the royal function derive from it indirectly via the spiritual and the priestly. This principle can with every justification be called ‘celestial’. From it, through the priestly and the royal functions, the spiritual influences descend gradually along the axis, first into the ‘intermediary world’ and then into the terrestrial world itself.^[18]

As we have explained, the Wang receives the ‘mandate of Heaven’ either directly or indirectly. If he receives it directly, this means he identifies with the axis in its ascensional aspect actually and through himself; we have already mentioned the rites corresponding to this ascension, so there is no need to discuss them again. If on the other hand he only receives the mandate indirectly, he also identifies himself with the axis in the same ascensional direction, but only virtually and as a result of carrying out his function; in this case it is obvious, for example, that rites such as the sacrifice to Heaven are ‘ascensional’ in their action. Whichever the case, the Wang becomes as it were the ‘channel’ through which the influences descend from Heaven to Earth.^[19] This mode of action of the spiritual influences shows a clear double or alternating movement, ascending and descending in turn. At the lower level of psychic or subtle influences we have a correspondence to this double movement in the dual current of cosmic force that we discussed in an earlier chapter. In the case of the spiritual influences, the movement occurs along the axis itself, which is the ‘Middle Way’; for as the _I Ching_ says, ‘the Way of Heaven is _yin_ together with _yang_’. This means that the two complementary aspects are inseparably united along this same ‘central’ channel. On the other hand, the psychic realm is further removed from the principal domain, and for this reason the differentiation of _yang_ and _yin_ gives rise to two distinct and separate currents. We have already mentioned several of the symbols applied to these currents; for our purposes here it is enough simply to state that they can be viewed as being respectively on the ‘right’ and ‘left’ of the ‘Middle Way’.^[20]

It is worth comparing as well the Tantric distinction—which we mentioned earlier when discussing the _vajra_—between the right-hand and left-hand ‘ways’. But the fact that these two ways are depicted simply by tilting the axial symbol in either one direction or the other suggests that they are actually only secondary variations of the ‘Middle Way’ itself.

So far we have continually been using the terms ‘true man’ and ‘transcendent man’, and it is now time to be more specific in our understanding of these terms. The first point to be made is that some writers have taken to ascribing the title ‘transcendent man’ to someone who in fact is only a ‘true man’ (_chen jen_). This practice is of course incorrect: while ‘true man’ is simply someone who has attained to the fullness of the human state, the word ‘transcendent’ can only be applied to what is beyond that state. Hence the need to reserve the title ‘transcendent man’ for the very special case of ‘divine man’ or ‘spiritual man’ (_chün jen_), as he is sometimes called. ‘Transcendent man’, ‘divine man’, or ‘spiritual man’ are alternative names for someone who has achieved total realisation and attained the ‘Supreme Identity’. Strictly speaking he is no longer a man in an individual sense, because he has risen above humanity and is totally liberated not only from its specific conditions^[1] but also from all other limiting conditions associated with manifested existence.^[2] He is therefore, literally, ‘Universal Man’, whereas ‘true man’—who has only reached the stage of identification with ‘primordial man’—is not. But even so, it can be said that ‘true man’ is already ‘Universal Man’, at least in a virtual sense. There are no longer any other states that he needs to traverse in a differentiated fashion, because he has passed from the circumference to the centre.^[3] Consequently, the human state will be for him the central state of the total being, even though it is not yet so effectively.^[4]

‘Transcendent man’, as final goal of the ‘greater mysteries’, and ‘true man’ as goal of the ‘lesser mysteries’ are the two highest grades in the Taoist hierarchy, which also contains three lower grades.^[5] These lower grades of course represent different stages of the ‘lesser mysteries’:^[6] the highest is ‘man of the Way’ (Tao jen, i.e. the man who has entered the Way), the next down is ‘man of talent’ (ch’u jen), and the lowest is ‘wise man’ (cheng jen). The wisdom in question in this last grade is certainly something more than just ‘learning’, but it is still of an external order; and in fact this lowest of the grades in the Taoist hierarchy is identical to the highest grade in the Confucian hierarchy. It is the connecting link providing the continuity between Taoism and Confucianism—and in just the way one would expect, considering that Taoism is the esoteric and Confucianism the exoteric part of one and the same tradition. Here we see that Taoism begins where Confucianism ends.

The Confucian hierarchy consists of three grades in all. Beginning at the bottom, we have the ‘man of letters’ (chu),^[7] followed by the ‘learned man’ (hsien) and finally the ‘wise man’ (cheng). We find it stated that ‘The chu looks to [i.e. takes as his model] the hsien, the hsien looks to the cheng and the cheng looks to Heaven’. In the perspective of the ‘wise’ man, situated at the boundary-point between the domain of the exoteric and the realm of the esoteric, everything above him is indistinguishable from Heaven itself.

This last point is particularly important here, because it provides a valuable clue to the cause of the frequent failure to distinguish between the roles of ‘transcendent man’ and ‘true man’. This confusion is not just due to the fact that ‘true man’ is virtually what ‘transcendent man’ is actually. Nor, for that matter, can it be explained by the fact of a correspondence between the ‘lesser’ and ‘greater mysteries’—a correspondence which is mirrored in Hermetic symbolism by the analogy between the stages of ‘whitening’ and ‘reddening’. There is yet another factor involved. Stated simply, this is that the only point on the axis which is situated in the domain of the human state is the very centre of that state. Consequently the axis itself cannot be perceived directly by anyone who has not attained this centre: it can only be perceived through the point which is its ‘trace’ on the plane representing that domain. This of course is just another way of stating our earlier point that direct communication with the higher states of the being takes place along the axis and so is only possible from that centre. As far as the rest of the human realm is concerned, the most that is possible is an indirect communication produced by a sort of refraction emanating from the centre. What this means is that the being who is established at the centre can effectively play the same role of ‘mediator’ in relation to the human state that ‘Universal Man’ plays in relation to the totality of the states; and this does not necessarily require that that being should be identified with the axis. On the other hand, the being who has transcended the human state by rising up the axis to the higher states is, so to speak, ‘lost to view’ to everyone remaining in that state who has not yet reached its centre (and this includes everyone who is an initiate, but at a lower grade of initiation than the grade of ‘true man’). For all such people there is no possible way of distinguishing between ‘true man’ and ‘transcendent man’. From the human state, ‘transcendent man’ can only be seen by his ‘trace’,^[8] and this trace is identical to the figure of ‘true man’: from this perspective the one is indistinguishable from the other.

This should explain why in the eyes of ordinary men—and even in the eyes of initiates who have not yet completed the ‘lesser mysteries’—not only ‘transcendent man’ but also ‘true man’ appears as a ‘proxy’ or representative of Heaven. Heaven is as it were made manifest to them through him. Because his action, or rather his influence, is ‘central’,^[9] it imitates—and from the point of view of the world of humanity it also ‘incarnates’—the ‘Activity of Heaven’. This influence is ‘actionless’, which means that it does not involve any external activity. The ‘One and only Man’ exercises his role as ‘unmoved mover’ from his position at the centre. He controls everything without intervening in anything, just as the Emperor maintains order in all the regions of the Empire and regulates the course of the annual cycle without ever leaving the _Ming T’ang_. In the words of Chuang Tzu, ‘To be concentrated in non-action—that is the Way of Heaven’.^[10]

The rulers of old abstained from any action of their own, and allowed Heaven to govern everything through them. At the pinnacle of the universe, the Principle exerts its influence over Heaven and Earth, which then act as transmitters of this influence to every being. In the world of men this influence becomes sound government, which brings all talents and abilities to fruition. Inversely, all prosperity derives from sound government just as sound government derives its effectiveness from the Principle through the intermediary of Heaven and Earth. Accordingly, the rulers of old wanted nothing and the world was filled with abundance;^[11] they did not act, and everything was modified in accordance with the norm;^[12] they remained sunk deep in meditation, and the people kept themselves in perfect order. As the ancient saying sums it up: Everything prospers for whoever unites himself to Unity, and even the genii submit to whoever has no self-interest.^[13] In short, from the human perspective there is no apparent distinction between ‘transcendent man’ and ‘true man’—in spite of the fact that in reality there is no common measure between them, any more than there is between the axis and one of its points. This is because what differentiates them lies beyond the confines of the human state. In practice this means that if ‘transcendent man’ manifests himself in this state—or, more accurately, manifests himself in relation to it, because obviously there can be no question of this manifestation involving a ‘return’ to the limiting conditions of human individuality—he can only do so by appearing as a ‘true man’.^[14] It must be emphasised that the total and unconditioned state of ‘transcendent man’, or ‘Universal Man’, and the highest possible conditioned state—whether individual or supra-individual—are altogether beyond comparison when viewed in terms of what they really are in themselves rather than as they appear from the strictly human perspective.

It is worth mentioning here a general rule that holds good for every possible level in the spiritual hierarchies—which are simply the hierarchies of effective initiation. This is that each grade can only perceive everything that is indistinctly above it and receive its higher influences via the grade immediately above it. Naturally, whoever has attained a certain grade is always capable (if he wishes, and if the need arises) of ‘situating’ himself at any lower level below his own. This apparent descent will not affect him in any way, because _a fortiori_ and so to speak by superaddition he possesses all the corresponding states, which for him are no longer anything more than so many accidental or contingent ‘functions’.^[15]

So it is that in the human world ‘transcendent man’ can perform what strictly speaking is the function of ‘true man’. On the other hand, so far as this same world is concerned ‘true man’ is as it were the representative or ‘substitute’ for ‘transcendent man’.

Footnotes

[1]Granet seems not to have understood the relationship between axis and centre. He states (La Pensée chinoise, p.104) that ‘The concept of the centre is far from primitive; it was simply substituted for the concept of the axis’. But the two symbols have in fact always co-existed; they are in no sense equivalent to each other, and are consequently not interchangeable. This is a good example of the misconceptions that can result from the biased approach of insisting on viewing everything ‘historically’.

[2]Hence our reason for depicting the middle term of the Great Triad in figure 6 in the form of a cross.

[3]Tao Te Ching, chapter 25. It is worth noting in passing that this text alone is enough to refute those orientalists who, because they insist on interpreting everything in a ‘material’ sense, fail to distinguish between the symbol and the thing symbolised and so assume that Heaven and Earth in the Far-Eastern tradition are only the visible heaven and earth.

[4]See The Lord of the World, chapter 4. For the reader interested in the parallels with other traditions, we will mention that here lies the explanation of Hermes’ title trismegistos, ‘Three-times Greatest’; furthermore, Hermes is also described as both ‘king’ and ‘pontiff’. The title ‘Three-times Greatest’ applied to Hermes can also be compared with the title ‘Three-times Mighty’ which is used in the ‘grades of perfection’ of Scottish Freemasonry and which strictly speaking refers to the delegation of a power that is to be exercised within the Three Worlds.

[5]This requires a change of perspective analogous to the one we described earlier when defining the relationship between the Tribhuvana and the Far-Eastern Triad.

[6]The title ‘Lord of the Three Worlds’ corresponds here to the vertical perspective, while the role of ‘One and only Man’ corresponds to the horizontal.

[7]Etymologically speaking, the Latin word rex, ‘king’, is itself an expression of this ‘regulatory’ function, even though this role of the king is usually only taken to apply at a purely social level.

[8]As a matter of fact the sacrifice to Heaven also features in initiatic organisations; but there the rites are not public and so there can be no question of any ‘usurpation’. When the emperors themselves were initiates they could only adopt one attitude to these sacrifices and that was simply to ignore them, which in fact is what they did. However, it often happened that rulers who were not initiates did what they could to stamp them out—without much success. Their reason for attempting to do so was their failure to understand that others apart from themselves were effectively and ‘personally’ what they themselves only were symbolically, by virtue of exercising the traditional function with which they had been invested.

[9]Regarding the ‘Way of Heaven’ it is worth citing this passage from the I Ching: ‘To establish the Way of Heaven: that is yin plus yang. To establish the Way of Earth: that is soft (jou) plus hard (yo). To establish the Way of Man: that is humanity plus justice (or kindness plus equity)’. Applied to the three terms of the Great Triad, this refers to the neutralising and unifying of the pairs of complementaries which results in the return to the principial indistinction. (It is worth noting that the two complementary terms which refer to Man are identical to the two pillars on either side of the Sephirothic Tree in the Kabbalah: Mercy and Severity.)

[10]The word ming, ‘mandate’, is a homophone for the word meaning ‘light’, as well as for other words signifying ‘name’ and ‘destiny’. ‘The power of the Sovereign derives from the power of the Principle. It is Heaven that chooses who is to be the Sovereign’ (Chuang Tzu, chapter 12).

[11]We refer the reader to our comments earlier in this book on Man as ‘Son of Heaven and Earth’.

[12]It is generally accepted that the ‘mandate of Heaven’ can only be received directly by the founder of a dynasty, who then transfers or transmits it to his successors. However, if as a result of degeneration those successors lose the mandate because of their lack of ‘qualification’, that particular dynasty must automatically come to an end and be replaced by another. In this way every dynasty follows a descending curve in the course of its existence; from its relative point in time and space, this curve corresponds in a certain way to the descending course in the great cycles of terrestrial humanity.

[13]Compare al-Ṣiraṭ al-Mutaqūm in the Islamic tradition (see The Symbolism of the Cross, chapter 25). Another example worth citing is the Chinwat bridge in Mazdeism.

[14]Cf. Autorité spirituelle et pouvoir temporel, chapter 4.

[15]The question could well be asked why we speak of a ‘King-Pontiff’ rather than a ‘Pontiff-King’. ‘Pontiff-King’ would at first sight seem more logical: the ‘pontifical’ or priestly function is by its very nature superior to the regal function, and this would suggest that it would be appropriate to mention it first. However, the expression ‘King-Pontiff’ also has its justification: the regal function is obviously more ‘outward’ than the priestly, and the traditional practice is to refer first to the ‘outward’ and only then to the ‘inward’, as in the case of the expression yin-yang which we discussed earlier. In fact the priesthood is yang relative to royalty, and royalty yin relative to the priesthood, as Ananda K. Coomaraswamy has shown so well in his book Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power in the Indian Theory of Government (New Haven, 1942). The symbolism of the keys also points to the identical conclusion, for the key corresponding to the priesthood is vertical, made of gold, and associated with the Sun, whereas the key representing royalty is horizontal, made of silver, and associated with the Moon.

[16]Cf. _Autorité spirituelle et pouvoir temporel_, chapter 1 and, on the ‘return’ of the cycle to the ‘primordial state’ in the ‘lesser mysteries’, _Aperçus sur l'Initiation_, chapter 39.

[17]This means he holds the mandate by transmission, as we indicated earlier. This is what allows him when performing his function to assume the role of ‘true man’, or even of ‘transcendent man’, without necessarily having realised these states ‘personally’. We have a comparable situation in the transmission of the spiritual influence or _barakah_ in Islamic initiatic organisations: the fact of transmission permits a _khalifah_ to take the place of the _Shaykh_ and legitimately fulfil his function without actually having attained to the _Shaykh_’s own spiritual state.

[18]Cf. _Autorité spirituelle et pouvoir temporel_, chapter 4.

[19]In using the word ‘channel’ here we are referring to a symbolism found in more than one tradition. It should be sufficient to cite the _nadis_ or ‘channels’ which in the Hindu tradition are the means of circulation of the currents of subtle force in a human being, and also—and even more relevantly—the ‘channels’ of the Sephrothic tree in the Hebrew Kabbalah, through which the spiritual influences spread and communicate from one world to another.

[20]At the microcosmic level, the ‘Middle Way’ corresponds to the ‘subtle’ artery called _sushumna_ in the Hindu tradition. This terminates in the _Brahmarandhra_, which is symbolised by the point where the chariot pole emerges from the canopy, or where the central pillar in the _stūpa_ emerges from the dome. At the macrocosmic level the ‘Middle Way’ corresponds to the ‘solar ray’ which is also called _sushumna_: the ray and the artery are in constant communication. As to the two opposing currents of cosmic force, we have already explained that they correspond to the right- and left-hand _nādīs—idā_ and _pingalā—in_ the human being. See also _Man and his Becoming according to the Vedanta_, chapter ²⁰.

[1]We refer the reader to what we said earlier about the question of species in its relation to the being and the environment (above, chapter 13).

[2]‘Occupying a man’s body, he is no longer a man . . . What makes him still a man is something infinitely small [i.e. the ‘trace’ we will be mentioning shortly]; what makes him one with Heaven is infinitely large’: _Chuang Tzu_, chapter 5.

[3]This is the idea expressed in Buddhism by the term _anagami_, i.e. ‘he who does not return’ to another state of manifestation, see _Aperçus sur l’Initiation_, chapter 39.

[4]See The Symbolism of the Cross, chapter 28.

[5]The clearest enumeration of these grades is to be found in a Taoist text that can be dated to the 4th or 5th century A.D: Wen Tzu 7:18.

[6]It is worth mentioning by way of contrast that the possible stages of attainment in the ‘greater mysteries’ are not distinguished from each other, because in terms of human language they are strictly speaking indescribable.

[7]This grade includes the entire hierarchy of official functions, which therefore only correspond to what is most external in the exoteric order itself.

[8]In the language of the Western tradition this ‘trace’ is what would be called the _vestigium pedis_. We simply mention this point in passing, because it involves an entire symbolism that would require a great deal of explanation if we were to do it full justice.

[9]In this respect the axis is indistinguishable from the centre, which is its ‘trace’.

[10]Chuang Tzu, chapter 11.

[11]In the West we find a fairly close parallel to this in Dante’s conception of the Emperor, according to which the primary vice of all bad government is greed. See especially _Convito_ IV:4.

[12]Similarly in the Hindu tradition the _Chakravarti_ or ‘universal monarch’ is, literally, ‘he who sets the wheel in motion’ without himself participating in its movement.

[13]Chuang Tzu, chapter 12.

[14]This remark can be understood as providing an additional and final explanation of our comments in _Aperçus sur l’Initiation_ (chapter 38) on the Sufis and Rosicrucians.

[15]See _The Multiple States of Being_, chapter 13. In the words of Dionysius the Areopagite, ‘In every hierarchic constitution the higher levels possess the light and faculties of the lower, but the lower levels do not possess the perfection of the higher levels’ (_The Celestial Hierarchy_, chapter 5).

17 | Wang: The King-Pontiff

Footnotes