Sima Qian: Secret

 

Sima Qian wrote [50m] that after the Lord of the West returned to his home state, he “secretly cultivated his virtue and practiced good.”  Practicing virtue secretly (as in within oneself) does not make sense, because as explained by Kao-yao [33m], virtue consisted of nine virtues, and these nine virtues depended on social relationships.  How would one “show” any of these virtues in secret – for example, “liberal but strict,” or “gentle but firm,” without them being on display in relationships?  Thus, it seems to me that the Lord of the West was doing something else other than practicing virtue for the sake of being virtuous and good, and Sima Qian was hinting at that with his use of the character for “secret.”  He used 陰 (yin), which has other meanings including that which is negative, hidden, shady, sinister.  Contrast this yin with the other character for secret when he "signed secretly" and got jailed for it.  Qie, used in the second case, has a more neutral meaning.  The Lord of the West was quietly cultivating the virtues of good relationships with other feudal lords (and they knew it) in order to establish his power base.  As the other lords began rebelling against the Emperor Chow, the Lord of the West’s influence did indeed grow as the Emperor gradually lost power. 

     This reading of “secret” as having a negative connotation makes sense, and is important in how Sima Qian narrated the end of Yin Dynasty, and the establishment of the Chou Dynasty.  Heaven terminated Yin’s mandate [51t] because Emperor Chow severed the relationship himself with his licentiousness and tyranny.  The Lord of the West’s son, King Wu of Chou, defeated Emperor Chow and became the Son of Heaven [52t].  One can argue that the mandate was already withdrawn during the Lord of the West’s lifetime, for Sima Qian noted that the Lord of the West proclaimed himself king when he received “the mandate” [59t], which would appear to have happened sometime after he started secretly cultivating virtue.  It is also worth noting that King Wu 武 (Martial) entitled his father posthumously as King Wen 文 (Culture) of Chou, the founder of the dynasty. 

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