
The () was an ancient Chinese ceremonial utensil that automatically overturned and spilled its contents once it reached capacity, thus symbolizing moderation and caution. Both
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
and
Daoist
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
Chinese classics
The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...
include a famous anecdote about the first time
Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
saw a tilting vessel. In the Confucian tradition (e.g., ) it was also named , with three positions, the vessel tilts to one side when empty, stands upright when filled halfway, and overturns when filled to the brim—illustrating the philosophical value of the
golden mean. In the Daoist tradition, the tilting vessel was named , with two positions, staying upright when empty and overturning when full—illustrating the
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...
value of
emptiness
Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation, nihilism, and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression (mood), depression, loneliness, anhedonia,
wiktionary:despair, despair, or o ...
, and later associated with the
Zhuangzian rhetorical device
In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, ...
.
Terminology
"
Phonetic loan characters", using an existing character to be read as a substitution for another of similar or identical pronunciation, have complicated interpreting several "tilting vessel" names. Prior to the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
(221–206 BCE) when the process of standardizing Chinese characters began, scribes would use a current Chinese word and character to write another (near-)
homophonous
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...
word without a standard written form, which often subsequently resulted in the creation of a new character to write the original word and meaning. For example, from
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
( was borrowed to write from "important; want" and the original "waist" sense was later written semantically clarified with the addition of the
"flesh" radical.
The word , is a recurrent linguistic element in Chinese names and descriptions for tilting vessels. What became the most common tipping-vessel name is a linguistic
compound
Compound may refer to:
Architecture and built environments
* Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall
** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
with , which was a phonetic loan character for , Both these
logographs are classified as
radical-phonetic characters, combining the same phonetic component with two different semantic components or
radicals
Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century
*Radical politics ...
, called the
"lack" radical () and
"branch" radical ().
Another name with ("utensil"), , is written as () in the and , () in the , or () in the . The first word was a phonetic loan character for , , or .
Bernhard Karlgren
Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (; 15 October 1889 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods. In the early 20th century, Karlgren conduct ...
's classic dictionary glosses as "to be large-minded; to pardon; remit taxes; aid, encourage; mitigate" and as "assist; encourage to drink; forgive". The second word is written with the related
textual variants and . The has a final name, using .
is a "tilting vessel" name with instead of , written with the loan character () or clarification (). Modern scholars such as
D. C. Lau
D. C. Lau (; 8 March 192126 April 2010) was a Chinese sinologist and author of the widely read translations of ''Tao Te Ching'', Mencius and ''The Analects'' and contributed to the Proper Cantonese pronunciation movement.
D. C. Lau studied Chi ...
have connected this Daoist tilting goblet name with the rhetorical tactic found in the .
Textual versions
Six received texts in the Chinese classics mention tilting vessels, four Confucianist (, , , and ) and two Daoist ( and ). Five of these six, excluding the , contain an anecdote about
Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
(551–479 BCE) visiting an ancestral and being surprised to see an ancient tilting vessel. Since multiple pre-Han and Han texts incorporated this story, it must have been "very famous" and "widely known" during the
Warring States period
The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...
(475–221 BCE). Since none of these early texts gives any disclaimer regarding the tilting-vessel anecdote's
historicity
Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...
, we may safely assume that people two-thousand years ago believed that Confucius’ temple visit had taken place as described.
In brief, Confucius and his disciples visit a temple with a ritual tilting vessel, Confucius asks the caretaker about its name, says what he has heard about the vessel having three positions, which is confirmed when they pour water into it, then the disciple
Zilu (in the four Confucian versions or
Zigong
Zigong ( zh, s=自贡 , ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, Southwestern China.
Demo ...
in a Daoist version) asks a question about how to keep the tilting vessel full, to which Confucius replies with a list of four to six (depending on the text) positive attributes that should be by means of its negative attribute, e.g., "Keen intelligence and sagely wisdom should be guarded by feigning stupidity".
Kramers notes this story has a "great affinity" to Daoist ideas and says that in general, the and are closely parallel, the and present a slightly different version, while the and resemble each other in yet another version. To illustrate the types of differences in wording, all five versions begin with with three variations of the temple name. The and say
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...
(, c. 1046–256 BCE), the and specify
Duke Huan of Lu
Duke Huan of Lu (, died 14 April 694 BC), personal name Ji Yun or Ji Gui, was a ruler of the Lu state, reigning from 711 to 694 BC.
Early life
Duke Huan was the son of Duke Hui of Lu and his main wife Zhong Zi (仲子), daughter of Duke Wu of ...
(, r. 711–694 BCE), and the simply says the ancestral temple of Duke Huan (), presumably of Confucius' home state
Lu, rather than
Duke Huan of Zheng
Duke Huan of Zheng (), personal name Ji You, was the founding duke of the Zheng state, a dynastic vassal state of the Zhou dynasty. According to the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', he was a son of King Li of Zhou.
In 806 BC, he was besto ...
(, r. 806–771 BCE) or
Duke Huan of Qi
Duke Huan of Qi (), personal name Lü Xiaobai, was a duke of the Qi state, ruling from 685 BC to 643 BC.
Duke Huan and his long-time advisor Guan Zhong managed to transform Qi into China's most powerful polity. Duke Huan is commonly listed amo ...
(, r. 685–643 BCE).
Tilting-vessel accounts in the four Confucian texts are very similar, such as using the
hapax legomenon
In corpus linguistics, a ''hapax legomenon'' ( also or ; ''hapax legomena''; sometimes abbreviated to ''hapax'', plural ''hapaxes'') is a word or an Fixed expression, expression that occurs only once within a context: either in the written re ...
that is only recorded in these contexts. Note that the 1st century BCE is omitted from the following discussion because no published English translation is available.
''Xunzi''
The ("
ritings of Master Xun"), a collection of philosophical treatises attributed to
Xun Kuang
Xunzi (荀子, ''Xúnzǐ'', ; ), born Xun Kuang, was a Chinese philosopher of Confucianism during the late Warring States period. After his predecessors Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi is often ranked as the third great Confucian philosopher of a ...
(c. 310 – c. 235 BCE), has a section titled , and its version of the tilting vessel anecdote uses the terms and .
Confucius looked into the ancestral shrine of Duke Huan of Lu, and there was a tipping-vessel there, and Confucius asked of the shrine steward, "What is this vessel?" The steward answered, "This is a 'Vessel to Assist the Throne.'" Confucius said, "I have heard that 'Vessels to Assist the Throne' slant when they are empty, stand upright when half-full, and tip over when full. " Confucius looked at it and said to his disciples, "Pour water into it." So his disciples brought water and poured it in: it stood upright when half-full, tipped over when full, and then slanted when empty. Confucius heaved a long sigh, and said, "Oh! How could there be that which is full and does not tip over?" Zilu said, "May I ask, is there a Way of maintaining fullness? " Confucius said, "Perceptiveness and sagely knowledge is to be kept by foolishness, a worldwide achievement is to be kept by yielding, bravery in protecting the world is to be kept by cowardice, the prosperity of the globe is to be kept by modesty, and this is what is called the "Way of Bringing through Losing." . (24)
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initia ...
translates, "This is the Advisory Vessel which stands at the right hand side of the throne", and describes this "famous
hydrostatic
Hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and "the pressure in a fluid or exerted by a fluid on an immersed body". The word "hydrostatics" is sometimes used to refer specifically to water and o ...
'trick' vessel" as a remarkable application of knowledge about centers of gravity. Another translation of this passage renders the names as "a vessel that inclined to one side" and "a warning vessel".
''Kongzi jiayu''
The ("The School Sayings of Confucius") is a collection of ancient pre-Han traditions about Confucius, yet the received text contains some spurious passages apparently interpolated by
Wang Su (195–256 CE). Although later scholars dismissed the as a forgery, archeological discoveries in the 1970s revealed fragmentary copies of the book written on
bamboo strips
Bamboo and wooden strips ( zh, s=简牍, t=簡牘, first=t, p=jiǎndú) are long, narrow strips of wood or bamboo, each typically holding a single column of several dozen brush-written characters. They were the main media for writing documents ...
in Western Han tombs dating from 165 and 55 BCE.
This version of the story uses and .
Confucius inspected the ancestral temple of Duke Huan of Lu. There was a slanting vessel in it. Confucius asked the temple-warden: "What vessel is this?" He answered, saying: "This must be the seat-companion vessel". Confucius said: "I have heard that the seat-companion vessel slants when empty, stands straight when half filled and overturns when full to the brim. The enlightened rulers considered it a serious warning and therefore they constantly placed it beside their seats". Looking back he said to a disciple: "Try and pour water into it". So they poured water into it: when half filled it stood straight, when full to the brim it overturned . The Master sighed deeply and said: "Alas! Would there be anything which would not overturn when full to the brim?" Tzu-lu came forward and said: "May I ask if there is a way to keep it filled to the brim? []" The Master said: "Intelligence penetrating wisdom is restrained by stupidity. Meritorious deeds covering the whole world are restrained by the giving way. Courage and force shaking the age are restrained by fear. Riches the possession of all within the four seas are restrained by modesty. This is what is called the way of "decreasing and again decreasing ".
''Han shi waizhuan''
The c. 150 BCE ("Han School Commentary to the ''
Classic of Poetry
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
''", named after Han Ying , c. 200 – c. 120 BCE), version of the tilting vessel anecdote uses the names and , and adds a quote from the ''Classic of Poetry'' (304). The commentary by Yang Liang (, fl. 818) glosses as , meaning "a ruler should put it to the right of his seat as a warning", while others gloss it as .
Confucius paid a visit to the ancestral temple of Chou, where they had a vessel that leaned at an angle. Confucius asked the caretaker of the temple, "What vessel is that?" The caretaker replied, "Why that, I believe, is a Warning Vessel." Confucius said, "I have heard that a Warning Vessel, when full, turns over, when empty it leans at an angle, and when half full it stands straight. Is this true?" "It is." Confucius had Tzŭ-lu bring water to try it. Full, it turned over; half full, it stood straight; empty, it leaned at an angle . Confucius heaved a sigh and said, "Ah, does it ever happen that those who are full do not turn over!" Tzŭ-lu said, "I should like to ask whether there is a method for controlling fullness? " Confucius said, "The method of controlling fullness is to repress and diminish it ." Tzŭ-lu said, "Is there a method for diminishing it?" Confucius said, "Let those whose virtuous conduct is ample preserve it by being reverent. Let those whose territory is extensive preserve it by economy. Let those whose pay is rich and whose rank is elevated preserve them by humility. Let those whose people are many and whose weapons are strong preserve them by fear. Let those possessed of intelligence and knowledge preserve them through n air ofstupidity. Let those with great learning and strong memories preserve them through shallowness. Now this is what I mean by repressing and diminishing ." The Ode
An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...
says, T'ang was not born too late, and his wisdom and virtue daily advanced".
Legge translates this passage with "vessel unevenly " and imprecisely "vessel of the festive board", which refers to the
Masonic lodge
A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry.
It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
"
festive board" formal dinner involving toasting and singing.
This passage was the source for the and versions with graphic variants not found in other texts, while the copied with only minor variations.
''Huainanzi''
The c. 139 BCE (" the
Huainan
Huainan () is a prefecture-level city with 3,033,528 inhabitants as of the 2020 census in north-central Anhui province, China. It is named for the Han-era Principality of Huainan. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south, Lu' ...
Masters") is a collection of essays by scholars in the court of
Liu An
Liú Ān (, c. 179–122 BC) was a Chinese cartographer, monarch, and philosopher. A Han dynasty Chinese prince, ruling the Huainan Kingdom, and an advisor to his nephew, Emperor Wu of Han (武帝). He is best known for editing the (139 BC) ''Hu ...
,
Prince of Huainan
Huainan Kingdom was a kingdom of China's Han dynasty, located in what is now parts of Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces.
History
The title "King (or Prince) of Huainan" was first created in 202BC by Liu Bang, King of Han, for Ying Bu, the for ...
. It quotes from many
pre-Han schools of thought, including
Huang–Lao
''Huang–Lao'' () was the most influential Chinese school of thought in the early Han dynasty, having its origins in a broader political-philosophical drive looking for solutions to strengthen the feudal order as depicted in Zhou politics. Not s ...
Daoism, Confucianism, and
Legalism.
This Daoist version of the anecdote differs from the Confucian ones in several respects.
While the Confucian texts give the three-position vessel description twice, when it is first seen and after the water pouring experiment, the only gives the two-position description it in the second context.
The questioning disciple is identified as
Zigong
Zigong ( zh, s=自贡 , ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, Southwestern China.
Demo ...
instead of Zilu. This textual version adds two quotes not found in the other versions. It quotes Confucius that "Things prosper then decline ..." referring to the sun and moon, and quotes Laozi ( 15).
Master Kong was paying a visit to the temple of Duke Huan when he happened to catch sight of a vessel called a Warning Vessel. "How wonderful to have caught sight of such a vessel!" "Master Kong exclaimed in delight. He turned his head around toward his disciples and called out: "Disciples, fetch some water!" When they brought the water, Master Kong poured it into the vessel. When the vessel was half full, it remained upright, but when Master Kong filled it completely, it toppled over on its side . Suddenly Master Kong's expression changed, and he exclaimed: "How splendid to grasp the significance of fullness ." Standing at the master's side, Zigong said: "Please, what does it mean 'to grasp the significance of fullness'? "What increases will decrease," replied Master Kong. "What does that mean?" asked Zigong. Master Kong replied: "Things prosper then decline. Joy reaches its utmost then becomes sorrow. The sun reaches its apogee then shifts. The moon reaches its fullness then begins to wane. This is why the perceptive and wise preserve themselves with stupidity; the learned and eloquent preserve themselves with restraint; the martial and courageous preserve themselves with timidity; the wealthy and powerful preserve themselves with frugality; and those whose Potency operates throughout the world preserve themselves with docility. These five things are the means by which the former kings defended their empires without losing them. If you oppose these five things, you will always be endangered." Therefore the Laozi says: "If you submit to the Way, you will not want to be full. It is because he is not full that he can be worn and yet newly made" (12.55).
''Wenzi''
The pre-2nd century BCE (" Master Wen") version of the tilting-vessel story uses the unique terms and . Instead of associating tilting vessels with Duke Huan of Lu, this version instead names the
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
According to Chinese mythology and traditional Chinese historiography, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors () were a series of sage Chinese emperors, and the first Emperors of China. Today, they are considered culture heroes, but they wer ...
, a collective name for legendary Chinese sage-rulers,
The tilting vessel context discusses the importance of within the Daoist , with examples of the sun and moon increasing and decreasing. "The ancient monarchs had a warning-vessel, called an 'urging goblet.' This righted itself when poured out, and turned over when filled ."
History
Chinese histories record that the tipping-vessel was an exclusively elite object that finally disappeared during the turbulent
end of the Han dynasty
The end of the (Eastern) Han dynasty was the period of History of China, Chinese history from 189 to 220 CE, roughly coinciding with the tumultuous reign of the Han dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian of Han, Emperor Xian. It was followed by the ...
(189–220). Details about the last authentic Zhou dynasty tipping vessel are found in the ''
Book of Jin
The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...
'' biography of general
Du Yu
Du Yu (223 – January or February 285), courtesy name Yuankai, was a Chinese classicist, military general, and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty.
Life
Du Yu was from Duling County ...
, which recounts that around 260 CE he attempted to reconstruct a but had difficulties: "The tipping-vessel of the Zhou ancestral shrine was still by the throne when the Han came to the
Eastern Capital. In the chaos at the end of the Han, it was kept no longer, and form and construction were lost." The records that the mathematician
Liu Hui
Liu Hui () was a Chinese mathematician who published a commentary in 263 CE on ''Jiu Zhang Suan Shu ( The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art).'' He was a descendant of the Marquis of Zixiang of the Eastern Han dynasty and lived in the state ...
(c. 225 – c. 295) wrote a . Later dynastic histories similarly record attempts to recreate the ancient vessels. According to the ''
History of the Southern Dynasties
The ''History of the Southern Dynasties'' is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. It contain 80 volumes and covers the period from 420 to 589, the histories of the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, ...
'', the mathematician and inventor
Zu Chongzhi
Zu Chongzhi (; 429 – 500), courtesy name Wenyuan (), was a Chinese astronomer, inventor, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties. He was most notable for calculating pi as between 3.1415926 and 3.1415 ...
successfully reconstructed a vessel during the reign-period of
Yongming (483–493). The astronomer and mathematician
Zu Chongzhi
Zu Chongzhi (; 429 – 500), courtesy name Wenyuan (), was a Chinese astronomer, inventor, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties. He was most notable for calculating pi as between 3.1415926 and 3.1415 ...
(429–500) made more tilting vessels. Xue Cheng () made elaborate ones in 538, and the engineer Geng Xun () also made them in 605. Around 790 Li Gao (, 733–792), the Tang Prince of
Cao
Cao or CAO may refer to:
Mythology
*Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology
Companies or organizations
* Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO
* CA Oradea, Romanian football club
* CA Osasuna, Spanish football club
* Canadian ...
, produced numerous
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Before ...
tipping vessels. The latest tipping-vessel example is when the
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China ...
had one manufactured 1889, and that artifact is now at the
Palace Museum
The Palace Museum (), also known as the Beijing Palace Museum, is a large national museum complex housed in the Forbidden City at the core of Beijing, China. With , the museum inherited the imperial royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynast ...
in Beijing.
During the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...
, tilting vessels "aroused the keen interest" of Persian scholars, who "greatly developed their possibilities", as seen in
Banu Musa
Banu or BANU may refer to:
* Banu (name)
* Banu (Arabic), Arabic word for "the sons of" or "children of"
* Banu (makeup artist), an Indian makeup artist
* Banu Chichek, a character in the ''Book of Dede Korkut''
* Bulgarian Agrarian National Union ...
's 850 ''
Book of Ingenious Devices
The ''Book of Ingenious Devices'' (, ) is a large illustrated work on mechanical devices, including automata, published in 850 by the three brothers of Persian descent, the Banū Mūsā brothers (Ahmad, Muhammad and Hasan ibn Musa ibn Shakir) ...
'', which described many types of
automata
An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
, such as valves that open and close by themselves.

The Chinese was adapted for a technologically sophisticated
Korean water clock during the
Joseon
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
dynasty (1392–1897). King
Sejong the Great
Sejong (; 15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as the greatest ruler in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangu ...
(r. 1418–1450) ordered the inventor
Jang Yeong-sil
Jang Yeong-sil (; ; ? – after 1442) was a Korean mechanical engineer, scientist, and inventor during the Joseon dynasty. He was born to a mother who was a government-registered courtesan () and a father of Yuan dynasty descent. Although Jang ...
to develop two
automated water clocks. The 1434 () was the national
standard clock in the
Gyeongbokgung Palace. The 1438 () was an
astronomical clock
An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.
Definition ...
that displayed the movements of celestial bodies and changes of seasons with both visual and audible time signals. It had an overflow tube that transferred surplus water to a miniature waterfall, pond, and tilting vessel.
Modern interpretations
The sinologist and translator
D. C. Lau
D. C. Lau (; 8 March 192126 April 2010) was a Chinese sinologist and author of the widely read translations of ''Tao Te Ching'', Mencius and ''The Analects'' and contributed to the Proper Cantonese pronunciation movement.
D. C. Lau studied Chi ...
analyzed all six versions of the tilting-vessel story, and found that the descriptions of whether the container had two or three positions provided a historical key for the direction of borrowing. Five texts describe a position, but the graphic variant of with the
"water radical" provides a better interpretation.
Three Confucian texts record that the vessel had three positions, , , and . The and say: "Full, it turned over; half full, it stood straight; empty, it tilted" (), while the reversed the order to describe filling the vessel: "Empty, it tilted; half full, it stood straight; full, it turned over" (). The other three texts record two positions. The Confucian text says: "Half full, it stood straight; full, it turned over" (). Both Daoist textual versions also record two, but add the pronoun and use the synonym for . There was a
naming taboo
A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...
on writing the given name Ying of
Emperor Hui of Han
Emperor Hui of Han (; 210 BC – 26 September 188 BC), born Liu Ying (), was the second emperor of the Han dynasty. He was the second son of Emperor Gaozu, the first Han emperor, and the only son of Empress Lü from the powerful Lü clan. Em ...
(r. 195–188 BCE). The says: "When it was half full, it remained upright; when it was full, it turned over" (). The variant changes our understanding: "When it was empty, it remained upright, when it was full, it turned over" (). Thus, instead of literally reading the position as "half full", it can be read as a phonetic loan character for .
Lau differentiates the Daoist and Confucian versions of the tilting-vessel anecdote. In the simpler Daoist two-position version, the legendary vessel is upright when "empty" ( or ) and overturns when "full" ( or ). This was "ingeniously changed" in the Confucian three-position version that takes , which was a loan for , in its literal sense and changes the meaning of the passage "When empty, it was upright, when full, it overturned" to "When half full (), it was upright; when full (), it overturned", allowing the insertion of a third sentence "when empty (), it tilted", using the in . In this way, not only was the Daoist ideal of emptiness transformed into the Confucian advocacy of moderation, but the added statement further reduced emptiness from being the supreme Daoist virtue to being merely one of two extremes.
Additional evidence for Lau's hypothesis comes from commentaries about
goblet words that describe a goblet as a
wine vessel that tilts over when full and rights itself when empty, presumably referring to a . The commentary of
Guo Xiang
Guo Xiang (; 252–312) is credited with the first and most important revision of the text known as the '' Zhuangzi'' which, along with the ''Tao Te Ching'', forms the textual and philosophical basis of the Taoist school of thought. He was als ...
(252–312 CE) says, "A (wine cup), when full, overturns, and when empty, faces upwards" ().
Lu Deming
Lu Deming (; 556(?)–630) was Tang dynasty Chinese scholar, author of the Jingdian Shiwen
The ''Jingdian Shiwen'', often simply referred to as the ''Shiwen'' by Chinese philologists, was a Chinese dictionary compiled by the scholar Lu Demin ...
(c. 556–630), author of the , comments "A vessel, when full, overturns and, when empty, faces upwards. It adapts itself to things and is not something which holds rigidly to one thing and abides by what happened in the past." The first part of Guo's commentary is almost identical with the version, and Lau notes two points. Both sources describe a vessel with only two positions: it overturns when full and faces upwards when empty. Guo Xiang unambiguously describes it with the word , which, unlike , is not open to "deliberate misinterpretation". Lau's "important" article convincingly shows that Guo Xiang used the Daoist version of the tipping vessel story.
In Lau's interpretation, the Daoist version of the story neither mentions a third half-fuIl position of the vessel, nor mentions the word either. This accounts for the fact that it is only in the Confucian version that the vessel is known as the , while the simply calls it and the calls it . Having inserted the sentence "when it was empty it tilted", the Confucian editor clinched the matter by calling it the "tilting vessel". In the Daoist version, the vessel is upright when empty and overturns when full, thus illustrating the value of emptiness. In the Confucian version, this was changed so that the vessel is upright when half full, overturns when full, and tilts when empty, thus illustrating the value of the mean. The Daoist version called the tilting-vessel and this was changed to in the Confucian one.
The uses the word while the four Confucian texts use in accordance with the imperial naming taboo. In the Daoist version, the term meant "to fill by holding", e.g., the describes "to grasp the significance of fullness". For the Confucians, their own term ) meant "to maintain a state of fullness", the describes a "method for controlling fullness" (). The meaning of is explained in the Daoist version by the sentence (). This was changed into , which describes the way to attain in the Confucian sense. The and write with instead of , "Way of Bringing through Losing". The expression is further explained in the Daoist version by the passage in which the general principle is stated that things when they reach the highest point of development will decline. This was changed by the substitution of a passage which states the principle derived from the ''Book of Changes'' that fullness can be maintained by guarding a positive attribute by means of its negative attribute. Lau concludes that the tilting vessel anecdote is an insightful example of how "a story which belonged originally to a particular school can come to be adopted, with modifications, by another".
Daniel Fried, professor of Chinese and comparative literature at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
, combined Chinese textual and archeological evidence to propose a "speculative history" of the Zhuangzian "goblet"
trope
Trope or tropes may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept
* Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device
* Trope (music), any of a variety of different things in medi ...
, associating it with the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...
(c. 1046–256 BCE) designed to tilt and empty when filled to capacity, and ultimately with a
Yangshao culture
The Yangshao culture ( zh, c=仰韶文化, p=Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The Yangshao culture saw social and ...
(c. 5000 – c. 4000 BCE)
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
vessel that would tip over automatically. The
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
scholar Paul van Els describes Fried's paper as "an insightful discussion of the vessel's various uses, with illustrations of the object". This hypothesis has three diachronic stages: agricultural-"", tipping-, and jade-.
The first agricultural-"" period began when ancient farmers in late
Neolithic China
This is a list of Neolithic cultures of China that have been unearthed by archaeologists. They are sorted in chronological order from earliest to latest and are followed by a schematic visualization of these cultures.
It would seem that the defi ...
developed an irrigation tool (the prehistoric name of this device is unknown, and Fried extends "" emblematically) that used ropes and ceramic
amphora
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
with handles below the center of gravity. It facilitated evenly irrigating large fields, and proved so useful that it continued to be used for thousands of years. In the 1950s, Chinese archeologists excavating the
Banpo
Banpo is a Neolithic archaeological site located in the Yellow River valley, east of present-day Xi'an, China. Discovered in 1953 by Shi Xingbang, the site represents the first phase of the Yangshao culture () and features the remains of sever ...
site in
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
discovered narrow-mouthed, narrow-bottomed
amphora
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
jugs dating from the Yangshao culture (c. 5000 – c. 3000 BCE). Zhang Ling first identified this particular shape of narrow-bottomed jug as the referent in both the passage on the and the Guo Xiang commentary on the . Huang Chongyue () and Sun Xiao (), researchers at the
Banpo Museum
The Banpo Museum () is a museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. The museum houses artifacts from the archaeological site of Banpo. The museum gives access to the excavated buildings, has a collection of artifacts from the site, and also has several re ...
, published a series of articles based on experiments with the amphoras. Their unusually high center of gravity relative to the handles will cause the jars to display the properties of the tipping-vessel as described in the , namely, that it "slants when empty, stands upright when half-full, and tips over when full". The use of the vessel in irrigation "was driven by its ability to deliver a constant, low-flow stream of water, without the attention of the farmer, who held strings attached to the handles while the jugs tipped over of themselves". Fried speculates that advances in
agricultural technology
Agricultural technology or agrotechnology (abbreviated agtech, agritech, AgriTech, or agrotech) is the use of technology in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture with the aim of improving yield, efficiency, and profitability. Agricultural tec ...
, such as the introduction of the water-raising
well-sweep into China around the 5th century BCE, may have caused farmers to discontinue using the ceramic tipping-vessels for irrigation.
In the second hypothetical stage of the tipping- or is substantiated by early Chinese texts. Rulers adopted the intriguing irrigation device for its symbolic meaning that warned against excess. By the late Warring States period (c. 475–221 BCE), this seemingly "automated" tilting vessel was credited with enough cultural significance, or at least "value as a curiosity", to be displayed in the ancestral shrine of
Duke Huan of Lu
Duke Huan of Lu (, died 14 April 694 BC), personal name Ji Yun or Ji Gui, was a ruler of the Lu state, reigning from 711 to 694 BC.
Early life
Duke Huan was the son of Duke Hui of Lu and his main wife Zhong Zi (仲子), daughter of Duke Wu of ...
(d. 694 BCE), which seemed plausible to the redactors of both Daoist and Confucian classics. Although Confucius (d. 479 BCE) had previously heard of the tipping-, he had never seen one until visiting Huan's shrine, which implies that they had not been in common use for centuries during the
Eastern Zhou
The Eastern Zhou (256 BCE) is a period in Chinese history comprising the latter two-thirds of the Zhou dynasty. The period follows the Western Zhou era and is named due to the Zhou royal court relocating the capital eastward from Fenghao ...
period. This point is confirmed by the that the version describes as a possession of the mythological kings, indicating that Duke Huan was not considered ancient enough to be associated with the uncommon tipping-. Around the time when popular usage of the tipping- was dying out, Zhuangzi (d. c. 286) metaphorically described his own style of speech with signifying both instability and timelessness.
Fried's third stage of jade- was first recorded in late
Western Han
The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...
texts that described valuable .
Sima Qian
Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...
's c. 91 BCE ''
Records of the Grand Historian
The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...
'' usually mentioned them in contexts of highly formal occasions, often in conjunction with toasts for longevity or ritual dedications. For instance, the history of
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu (), born Xiang Ji, was a Chinese warlord who founded and led the short-lived ancient Chinese states, kingdom-state of Western Chu during the interregnum period between the Qin dynasty, Qin and Han dynasty, Han dynasties of China, d ...
(232–202 BCE) says, "The Earl of Xiang went in to see the Duke of Pei. The Duke of Pei raised a goblet of wine to his health, and proposed a marriage ." Or, the history of
Emperor Gaozu (r. 202–195 BCE) says, "When the
Weiyang Palace
The Weiyang Palace () was the main imperial palace complex of the Han dynasty and numerous other Chinese dynasties, located in the city of Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an). It was built in 200 BC at the request of the Emperor Gaozu of Han, under the s ...
was completed, Emperor Gaozu assembled the nobles and ministers, and had wine set out in the Anterior Hall of the Weiyang Palace. Then Gaozu raised a jade goblet, and toasted the health of the
Taishang Huang
In Chinese history, a Taishang Huang or Taishang Huangdi is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, there are ins ...
(his father
Liu Taigong
Liu Taigong (), personal name Liu Tuan (), was the father of Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han).
Biography
Not much is recorded about Taigong historically. He was born and likely lived his early life in Feng town (豐邑) of Pei County, in present-d ...
)." In later
Chinese literature
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202  ...
, the word continued to have a decorous, high-class connotation, regularly in connection with toasts for long life. For example, the
Tang poet
Zhang Ji wrote, "I place a jade goblet full of wine and, bowing, wish you immortality".
[Tr. .]
In the context of Du Yu's frustrating attempt to reconstruct a tipping vessel without a working model, the ''Book of Jin'' says the last surviving one was lost by the end of the Han in 220 CE, and it was exclusively a royal regalia by that point. If it had been regularly used, "its form would have been common knowledge, and hence not susceptible to sudden loss". After the 's original
cultural memory
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these gro ...
was forgotten, the only physical objects still known as were jade goblets, and readers from this point on could only think of such valuable cups when reading the . The biggest problem with this upper-class connotation of jade- goblets frequently used in toasts for longevity is that it appears incompatible with the description of . "Goblet words come forth daily," but the jade- of the mainstream tradition is not a container for daily use, it is a special goblet for elite usage on ceremonial occasions.
Fried does not cite Lau who studied all known versions of the anecdote about the tipping vessel in Duke Huan's shrine, and dichotomized between earlier Daoist two-position versions and later Confucian three-position versions. Focusing on the and anecdotes, Fried briefly refers to the , but mentions neither the nor versions. He presumes that both Guo Xiang and the redactor changed the original formulation describing a three-position vessel (upright, inclining, or flipped) and edited it to describe a two-position one (self-righting or self-tipping). For the "most difficult to understand" phrase in the description, , Guo simply eliminated it from his commentary, and the redactor assumed a loan-character substitution, meaning that the vessel . Fried describes this as the sort of editing that one would make when no more such vessels are known through experience, and the interpreter is "attempting to deal with a received formulation".
Van Els disagrees with Lau's hypothesis that the Daoist version (e.g. ) was the original anecdote, which was borrowed into Confucian writings (e.g. ) and transformed to suit their teachings. Lau sees a significant inconsistency in the Confucian versions that promote techniques for maintaining complete fullness, whereas the vessel's overflowing serves to illustrate that fullness cannot be maintained. Van Els sees it differently. The version of the anecdote mentions only two stages of the vessel (half full and full). Since logically speaking, filling a vessel involves three stages (empty, full, and anything in between), one would therefore reasonably expect the story to include the empty stage. He argues that the text, which lauds the Daoist philosophical concept of , is inconsistent by praising the extraordinary object but failing to mention its essential characteristic, namely that it leans to the side when empty. In the , Confucius suggests that complete fullness leads to overturning, and when asked if there is a way to maintain complete fullness, says yes and explains how. Van Els judges this version as consistent, and finds it more likely that the story circulated in a Confucian context and was later adapted and modified in the .
See also
*
Pythagorean cup
A Pythagorean cup (also known as a Pythagoras cup, greedy cup, cup of justice, anti greedy goblet or Tantalus cup) is a practical joke device in a form of a Drinkware, drinking cup, credited to Pythagoras, Pythagoras of Samos. When it is filled b ...
References
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Footnotes
Further reading
* Karlgren, Bernhard (1968), ''Loan Characters in Pre-Han Texts'', Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
* Kirby, Christopher (2019),
Goblet Words and Moral Knack: Non-Cognitive Moral Realism in the {{Transliteration, zh, Zhuangzi?, in Colin Marshall, ed., ''Comparative Metaethics: Neglected Perspectives on the Foundations of Morality'', Routledge, 159–178.
Chinese iconography
Chinese inventions
Chinese pottery
History of ceramics