The term “Taihe” originates from the “Book of Changes,” and many might be familiar with it due to the Taihe Hall in the Forbidden City. As previously mentioned, the names of various halls in the Forbidden City, including the Taihe Hall, Zhonghe Hall, Baohe Hall, Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Hall, and Kunning Palace, all have connections to the “Book of Changes.” It is noteworthy that within these six names lies the core value of the “Book of Changes,” which is harmony.
These six names not only convey the core value of “harmony” but also delineate the path to harmony, which is communication. Between the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace lies the Jiaotai Hall, signifying that true harmony is established on the foundation of “the harmony between heaven and earth.” Without communication, there is no harmony; superficial harmony is merely pseudo-harmony.
I would like to highlight the four sentences of the Song Dynasty philosopher Zhang Zai. He said: “When there is likeness, there is opposition; opposition leads to transformation. When there is transformation, there is enmity; enmity must be reconciled.” The fourth sentence is crucial as it speaks to a worldview. This worldview embodies a “Taihe” perspective, not advocating the absence of contradictions or oppositions, but rather acknowledging that all tensions lead to harmony. Embracing opposition, differences, and conflicts ultimately culminates in harmony.
Some worldviews advocate “enmity until the end,” persisting in perpetual conflict. Living a lifetime in hatred is never conducive to happiness. In such a worldview, the world becomes a dog-eat-dog arena. However, in the worldview of the “Taihe” from the Book of Changes, it is a world where kites soar and fish leap, with no hindrance to each other.
The Book of Changes provides two important principles: positioning and fluidity, when dealing with many relationships. Positioning refers to a certain fixed order, where a ruler is a ruler, and a subject is a subject, and so on. However, one should not just stay within this fixed order. Fluidity is the looseness within this order. Although a ruler is a ruler and a subject is a subject, it is not necessary for the subject to kneel before the ruler every day. If the world’s order only has positioning but lacks fluidity, people will face a fundamental upheaval, where the established order may be completely altered, as described in the Book of Songs, “High banks turn into valleys, deep valleys into hills.” The vast sea can turn into mulberry fields.
