Whom Does 鄙薄貪懦 Strike? The Contact Membrane of the Hardened 局 and Mutual Constitution

獨行篇 (Dokhaeng-pyeon) × 壽世保元 (Suse Bowon) · the 局·面·局回 cycle · Part Two 〔面 — Where They Touch〕

Introduction

Part One looked at the hardened 局 from within. 鄙薄貪懦 (bibaktamna—the four names of moral self-abandonment: the mean [鄙], the shallow [薄], the greedy [貪], the cowardly [懦]) proved to be not a separate species of wrongdoer but one who has himself discarded (棄, gi) even the virtue he was born least endowed with; its essence lay not in the magnitude of desire but in an epistemic sealing-off (闇辨, eumbyeon—the darkening of discernment), the inability to see one’s own mind-will clearly. And Part One closed leaving a single sentence open: the hardened 局 does not live alone. So long as the very definition of 鄙薄貪懦 is a relational term (關係語)—棄禮·棄義·棄智·棄仁, the discarding of propriety, rightness, wisdom, benevolence—the moment a 局 stands, it necessarily touches another.

This second part looks at that place of touching: the 面 (myeon—the contact membrane where two 局 meet). In the 局/場/面 (guk/jang/myeon) fluid ontology, 局 is the configuration each person already stands in as a force before any encounter, 場 the relational space generated when two 局 collide, and 面 the membrane where their surfaces actually meet. Of these, 場 and the seeing within it (察; 眼孔, the “eye-aperture”) were treated in two earlier papers (Choi Jang-hyeok, “Jang-yeok Baejeong”; Choi Jang-hyeok, “Angong”); this series sets 場 aside as a non-axis and treats only 局 and the 面 it produces. If Part One was the inside of 局, Part Two is its outer face.

We need not draw the membrane from conjecture, for the Dokhaeng-pyeon (獨行篇, the earliest-composed text of the Gyeokchigo [格致藁, Yi Je-ma’s foundational philosophical work]) is itself the text of the 面. It does not merely depict the inner life of a single 鄙薄貪懦 person but records, almost as under a microscope of the membrane, what he does upon meeting another 局: whom he resents (怒), what mind rises in him (凌·傾·賊), by what technique he strikes whom (術). Part Two reads this record of the membrane in the language of the fluid ontology.

The thesis of this part stands in a single line. 面 is by nature the place of 相 (sang—mutual becoming, the constituting of two parties through each other); yet in the hardened 局 the 相 is lacking—more precisely, 相 itself becomes impossible—and that impossibility converts (轉化) directly into encroachment (凌·傾·賊). The membrane of the hardened 局 is not a bad relation but the collapse of relation as such; every citation below is the unfolding of this one proposition.

1. 互爲 — Two Faces of One 局 in Opposition

The first key to reading the membrane is the pairing. The Dokhaeng-pyeon never leaves 鄙薄貪懦 alone but always sets 忠信廉解 (chungsin-yeomhae—loyalty [忠], trust [信], integrity [廉], discernment [解]) opposite them.

忠者之行 鄙者必怒之者 以其直尺之小誼而自多而簡他也 信者之行 薄者必怒之者 以其彌縫之小諒而貴己而賤人也 廉者之行 貪者必怒之者 以其要名之小讓而必欲幷呑廣居也 解者之行 懦者必怒之者 以其誘人之小慧而必欲據取大位也 The conduct of the loyal—the mean man will surely resent it, [reading] in its small propriety of the straight ruler a self-magnifying that slights others. The conduct of the trustworthy—the shallow man will resent it. The conduct of the upright—the greedy man will resent it. The conduct of the discerning—the cowardly man will resent it.

The conduct of the loyal (忠者) the mean man necessarily resents (怒); the trustworthy (信者) the shallow man, the upright (廉者) the greedy man, the discerning (解者) the cowardly man. The pairing is exact—忠↔鄙, 信↔薄, 廉↔貪, 解↔懦. Lay over it the constitutional assignment from Part One (鄙 = 太陽人 Taeyang, 薄 = 少陽人 Soyang, 貪 = 太陰人 Taeum, 懦 = 少陰人 Soeum), and 忠 becomes the other face of the Taeyang, 信 of the Soyang, 廉 of the Taeum, 解 of the Soeum. That is: 忠信廉解 and 鄙薄貪懦 are not separate persons but two states of one 局—loosened and flowing, 忠信廉解; hardened and halted, 鄙薄貪懦. The same Taeyang, keeping propriety alive and flowing, is the loyal man; discarding propriety and hardening, the mean man.

Here the first sense of 互爲 (howi—mutual constitution) appears. The two 局 become themselves only through each other. Flowing becomes flowing against the ground of hardening, and hardening becomes hardening against the ground of flowing. So when the two meet at the membrane, the hardened 局, encountering the flowing one, comes for the first time to resent—without seeing it—what it has itself discarded.

The structure of the resentment says as much. Why the mean man resents the loyal, the Dokhaeng-pyeon gives as “because, in the small propriety of the straight ruler (直尺之小誼), [he] magnifies himself and slights others (自多而簡他).” But the self-magnifying and the slighting are not the loyal man’s fault; they are the image cast in the mean man’s eye. To a 局 hardened by the discarding of propriety, another’s propriety appears as an insult aimed at himself. The first thing the hardened 局 does at the membrane is to misread (誤讀) the flowing 局’s virtue as an injury. The 闇辨 of Part One—failing to see one’s own mind-will—extends at the membrane into failing to see the other’s virtue. The sealing does not end within; it leaks out at the contact membrane as resentment toward the other.

One distinction may be marked in advance. The 互爲 so far has been the ontological stratum in which two states of one 局 become themselves through each other. The 互爲 met again later (§5)—the advance-and-retreat (進退) and precedence-and-succession (先後) of position—is this same 互爲 unfolded into the social field: another scale, not another concept. We read one 互爲 at two scales.

2. The Hardened 局 Cannot Form 相 (Mutual Relation)

Of what is the membrane by nature the place? Of mutual becoming (相). The Dokhaeng-pyeon records that a person cannot stand alone but is necessarily made through one another, in four pairs—mutual completion, mutual planning, mutual reliance, mutual gain (相成·相謀·相依·相得). And all four are blocked in 鄙薄貪懦.

鄙者之不肖 一身元無資身之策 則與之於相成者 本無可謀者也 貪者之不肖 萬念全爲肥己之圖 則與之於相謀者 自無可成者也 薄者之不肖 一心元無兼人之義 則與之於相依者 本無可得者也 懦者之不肖 萬行全爲役人之計 則與之於相得者 自無可依者也 The unworthiness of the mean man: having from the first no plan even to provide for his own person, with him in mutual completion there is fundamentally nothing to be planned. The greedy man, his every thought a scheme to fatten himself—in mutual planning nothing to be completed. The shallow man, having no rightness that embraces others—in mutual reliance nothing to be gained. The cowardly man, his every act a calculation to make others labor—in mutual gain nothing to be relied on.

The mean man, lacking even a plan to provide for his own person, offers nothing to plan with to one who would complete-with-him (相成); the greedy man, his every thought a scheme to fatten himself, offers nothing to complete to one who would plan-with-him (相謀); the shallow man, having no rightness that embraces others, offers nothing to gain to one who would rely-on-him (相依); the cowardly man, his every act a calculation to make others labor, offers nothing to rely on to one who would gain-with-him (相得).

The crux is the position of the negation. What is blocked is not the partner but the hardened 局 itself—as the text says again and again, 本無·自無, fundamentally-without, of-itself-without: the relation has not gone bad; the inside from which to relate is from the first absent. The 相成·相謀·相依·相得 are relational terms in which two 局 give to each other, and the hardened 局, its inside empty (資身之策·兼人之義—a plan for oneself, a rightness that embraces others), cannot fill its end of the relation. This is exactly what 坤箴 (Gonjam, a section of the Gyeokchigo) records of how capacity alone cannot make a person stand.

雖有强力若無忠心 雖有才能若無敬心 雖有權衡若無恭心 雖有識見若無信心 Though one has strong force, if without a loyal mind; though one has talent, if without a reverent mind; though one has discernment, if without a respectful mind; though one has insight, if without a faithful mind.

Though one have strong force, if without a loyal mind; though one have talent, if without a reverent mind—that force and talent form no relation. Herein the tragedy of 鄙薄貪懦: the 局 cannot stand alone by nature, yet the hardened 局 has itself closed even the road of standing-together (相). And the closed place does not remain empty. The membrane that cannot be 相, the hardened 局 fills with encroachment. The next section is the mind of that encroachment.

3. The Minds That Rise at the Point of Contact — 凌·傾·賊·掩

When the hardened and the flowing 局 touch at the membrane, the mind that rises within the hardened one the Dokhaeng-pyeon records in a sharp parallel.

鄙者之力粗有一長於忠者 則凌心必生也 故以忠而制鄙者 不可不益修力也 薄者之交粗有一長於信者 則傾心必生也 故以信而制薄者 不可不益修交也 貪者之局粗有一長於濟者 則賊心必生也 故以濟而制貪者 不可不益修局也 懦者之猷粗有一長於幹者 則掩心必生也 故以幹而制懦者 不可不益修猷也 If the mean man’s force has even a slight advantage over the loyal, a mind of domination (凌心) necessarily arises; therefore to restrain the mean by loyalty, one must all the more cultivate one’s force. If the shallow man’s connections have even a slight advantage over the trustworthy, a mind of toppling (傾心) necessarily arises; therefore to restrain the shallow by trust, one must cultivate one’s connections. If the greedy man’s 局 has even a slight advantage over the relieving man’s, a mind of predation (賊心) necessarily arises; therefore to restrain the greedy by the relieving virtue, one must cultivate one’s 局. If the cowardly man’s plans have even a slight advantage over the capable, a mind of eclipsing (掩心) necessarily arises; therefore to restrain the cowardly by capability, one must all the more cultivate one’s plans.

If the mean man’s force is even slightly above the loyal man’s, a mind of domination (凌心) necessarily arises; if the shallow man’s connections above the trustworthy, a mind of toppling (傾心); if the greedy man’s 局 above the relieving man’s (濟者, that is, 廉者), a mind of predation (賊心); if the cowardly man’s plans above the capable man’s (幹者, that is, 解者), a mind of eclipsing (掩心). 凌·傾·賊·掩 are the encroaching minds that surge up in the hardened 局 at the membrane, and their trigger is one thing only—“even a slight advantage” (粗有一長). The instant a disparity appears, the membrane tilts toward encroachment.

Here the Dokhaeng-pyeon records the flowing 局’s response alongside. To restrain (制) the mean, use loyalty—but one must all the more cultivate one’s force (益修力); to restrain the shallow, use trust—but cultivate one’s connections (益修交); to restrain the greedy, use the relieving virtue—but cultivate one’s 局 (益修局); to restrain the cowardly, use capability—but cultivate one’s plans (益修猷). The decisive term is 益修 (iksu—to cultivate all the more), ceaseless further cultivation. The flowing 局 does not restrain the hardened one by standing still. Let cultivation cease, and the disparity tilts back toward the hardened side, and the flowing 局 itself begins to harden. This is the membrane-version of Part One’s proposition—the 局 has not closed; the sealing is a state, not a nature. That the flowing 局 remains flowing is likewise not fate but a state of ceaseless 益修. At the membrane, no one can stand still.

坤箴 raises this mechanism from the single case to a general law. When capacity (强力·才能·權衡·識見—force, talent, discernment, insight) stands, others attach themselves toward it (趁·就·倚·歸—approaching, coming, leaning, returning). If at that membrane a sincere mind (誠心: 忠·敬·恭·信) does not support it, the attached other becomes at once the object of encroachment.

人旣趁我我必行奪 人旣就我我必行傲 人旣倚我我必行凌 人旣歸我我必行欺 Once others approach me, I will surely seize; once they come to me, I will surely grow arrogant; once they lean on me, I will surely dominate; once they return to me, I will surely deceive.

Once others attach to me I necessarily seize (奪); once they come, I grow arrogant (傲); once they lean, I dominate (凌); once they return, I deceive (欺). Approaching, coming, leaning, returning are by nature the signals of 相. But to a hardened 局 emptied within, those signals read only as occasions for 奪·傲·凌·欺. That the 凌心 of the Dokhaeng-pyeon and the 凌 of 坤箴 meet in the same character is no accident—when capacity stands at the membrane without virtue, what happens converges to one thing.

4. The Techniques of Encroachment — 術·陰賊·予奪

The encroachment of the membrane does not stop at impulse. The hardened 局 hones it into technique (術, sul). The Dokhaeng-pyeon gives each way 鄙薄貪懦 strike 忠信廉解 a name.

[鄙者] …益合從爲足恃 此所以奸擯忠之術也 薄者之釣時世者 以善儀表而媚交結爲先着 此所以桀傾堯之術也 貪者之爭地局者 以據樞要而樹黨援爲緊務 此所以頑制廉之術也 懦者之掩材力者 以設香餌而收遊土爲妙策 此所以不肖勝賢之術也 [The mean man] taking the building of alliances as his security—this is the technique of the crafty expelling the loyal. The shallow man, angling for the times, putting a fine appearance and flattering connections first—the technique of the tyrant toppling the sage. The greedy man, contending for the 地局, seizing the pivotal positions and planting partisans—the technique of the obstinate suppressing the upright. The cowardly man, concealing his lack of ability, setting out bait to gather idlers—the technique of the unworthy prevailing over the worthy.

The technique of the crafty expelling the loyal (奸擯忠), of the tyrant toppling the sage (桀傾堯), of the obstinate suppressing the upright (頑制廉), of the unworthy prevailing over the worthy (不肖勝賢)—the hardened 局 mobilizes alliance, flattery, partisanship, and bait (合從·媚交·樹黨·香餌) to strike the flowing 局 systematically. The encroachment of the membrane is not passive deficiency but active attack.

That attack is also covert, and it changes posture by power. The Dokhaeng-pyeon records the two faces the hardened 局 shows at the membrane.

鄙者之能恣橫肆毒於尊顯者 而反隱忍含垢於卑賤者 予奪之權也 貪者之能恣橫肆毒於卑賤者 而反隱忍含垢於尊顯者 强弱之形也 薄者之能恣橫肆毒於慣熟者 而反隱忍含垢於生疎者 畏侮之勢也 懦者之能恣橫肆毒於生疎者 而反隱忍含垢於慣熟者 攻守之策也 The mean man can loose his venom willfully upon the honored and eminent yet swallow insult before the low and base—the power of granting-and-seizing. The greedy man, the reverse—the configuration of strong-and-weak. The shallow man, willful before the familiar yet swallowing insult before the strange—the force of fearing-and-despising. The cowardly man, the reverse—the strategy of attack-and-defense.

The same hardened 局 looses venom willfully on one side (恣橫肆毒) and swallows insult submissively on the other (隱忍含垢). The mean man is fierce toward the honored and eminent and bends before the low and base (予奪之權); the greedy man does the reverse (强弱之形). At the membrane the hardened 局’s posture flips with the other’s power. Encroachment toward the weak, submission toward the strong—the membrane is apportioned not by virtue but by the asymmetry of force. This is why the Dokhaeng-pyeon records the hardened 局 as “covertly harming” (陰賊): the mean man covertly harms the upright-and-firm (陰賊耿介者), the greedy the straight-and-righteous (陰賊直義者), the shallow the kind-and-faithful (陰賊惠愛者), the cowardly the able (陰賊行能者), each without showing it.

How, then, does the flowing 局 endure the membrane? The Dokhaeng-pyeon records the way to manage the hardened mind, together with a limit that cannot be cut off.

鄙者之慾心無厭也 可鎭而不可瀆也 薄者之私心無窮也 可遠而不可遜也 貪者之放心無極也 可停而不可邇也 懦者之佚心無歇也 可備而不可與也 The mean man’s desiring mind knows no satiety—it can be suppressed but not indulged. The shallow man’s private mind no end—kept distant but not yielded to. The greedy man’s dissolute mind no limit—halted but not approached. The cowardly man’s idle mind no rest—guarded against but not joined.

The mean man’s desire, without satiety, can be suppressed (鎭) but not indulged (瀆); the shallow man’s private mind, without end, can be kept distant (遠) but not yielded to (遜); the greedy man’s dissolution, without limit, can be halted (停) but not approached (邇); the cowardly man’s idleness, without rest, can be guarded against (備) but not joined (與). What the flowing 局 can do at the membrane is the restraint of suppressing, distancing, halting, and guarding—not the making of the hardened 局 loosen and flow again. To make the hardened 局 flow belongs not to the membrane but to the inside of that 局 itself—the place of 明而辨之 (clear discernment) seen in Part One.

5. The Social Web of 互爲 — 地局 and 處勢

Thus far the membrane has appeared as the one-to-one contact of two 局. But the Dokhaeng-pyeon widens it into a social web, mediated by 地局 and 處勢.

地局者 大家一身處地 一方萬家恒産 萬務同出 廉者廣濟 貪者擅利 成就入民 蕃殖財力之局也 處勢者 上下人類同聚之處 材力不等 賢愚殊品 人爵之處勢 The 地局 (the configuration of land and resource): the upright relieve broadly, the greedy monopolize gain—the 局 of wealth and force. The 處勢 (the configuration of standing-position): where high and low gather together, ability unequal and the worthy and the foolish of different grade—the configuration of human rank.

地局 (jiguk) is the 局 where wealth gathers and divides (the upright relieve broadly, the greedy monopolize gain); 處勢 (cheose) is the position where human rank divides (the worthy and the foolish differ in grade). The collision of the membrane does not occur in an empty field. It occurs always upon social positions—host and guest, near and far, ruler and ruled, leader and follower (主客·親疎·統屬·首從).

主客有揖讓之道而忠奸有進退之機 親疎有應接之道而堯桀有先後之權 統屬有公治之道而廉貪有內外之區 首從有必行之道而賢不肖有上下之勢 In host-and-guest there is a way of yielding, and loyal-and-treacherous have their moment of advance-and-retreat; in near-and-far a way of meeting, and Yao-and-Jie their turn of precedence-and-succession; in ruler-and-ruled a way of common governance, and upright-and-greedy their division of inner-and-outer; in leader-and-follower a way of necessary action, and worthy-and-unworthy their force of above-and-below.

And in those positions the opposing 局 contend for place through each other.

富貴爲公之所出而忠奸互爲進退 黨與交遊之所合而堯桀互爲先後 資局營私之所立而廉貪互爲進退 Wealth and honor issue from the public, and loyal-and-treacherous mutually constitute (互爲) advance-and-retreat; faction issues from association, and Yao-and-Jie mutually constitute precedence-and-succession; the resource-base is established through private management, and upright-and-greedy mutually constitute advance-and-retreat.

Loyal-and-treacherous mutually constitute (互爲) advance-and-retreat, Yao-and-Jie precedence-and-succession, upright-and-greedy inner-and-outer. Here 互爲 is no longer a metaphor but the name of a social dynamics—as one 局 advances the opposing 局 retreats, as one wins place the opposing loses it. The membrane is not the skin of two persons but a web in which 局 ceaselessly trade positions over place.

The Seongmyeong-ron (性命論) records the ground of this web.

天時大同也 事務各立也 世會大同也 交遇各立也 人倫大同也 黨與各立也 地方大同也 居處各立也 Heaven’s seasons are a great sameness, affairs each stand apart; the world’s gatherings a great sameness, encounters each stand apart; human relations a great sameness, factions each stand apart; the regions a great sameness, dwellings each stand apart.

The great field is a great sameness (大同) in which all share, yet within it each stands apart (各立). The membrane is just every point of contact where 局 standing-apart touch in the field of great-sameness. The hardened 局 fills this standing-apart with encroachment; the flowing 局, with 益修. On the same web the two 局 trade places through each other without end.

In Closing — The Place of Restraint, the Seed of 局回

Is the membrane only the place where the hardened 局 tramples the flowing one one-sidedly? No. The Dokhaeng-pyeon does not forget restraint (制)—restrain the mean by loyalty, the shallow by trust, the greedy by the relieving virtue. The membrane is the place of restraint as much as of encroachment. So long as the flowing 局 endures the hardened one’s 凌·傾·賊 by 益修, the membrane does not close to one side.

This meets Part One’s last proposition. The 局 has hardened, yet in the end has not closed. What within was the possibility of 希聖 (aspiring to sagehood) is, at the membrane, the possibility of restraint. The hardened 局 cannot fill the membrane wholly with encroachment, because a flowing 局 that cultivates (益修) stands opposite, and their 互爲 never permits the completion of either side. The collision of the membrane is not evidence of closing but evidence of not-closing.

Yet not-closing is not peace. The membrane on which 凌·傾·賊 accumulate and 予奪·攻守 repeat does not pile its asymmetry in one direction only. So long as 互爲 is the alternation of advance-and-retreat and precedence-and-succession, the asymmetry piled to one side will at some point give rise to the conditions of reversal. When that reversal turns into intended requital, the membrane tilts toward a full revolution—though how that revolution turns is not the membrane’s question but the question of the next part, 〔局回〕. When the trading of places between two 局 touching at the membrane at last draws a full revolution (回), we arrive at 局回.

Part Three 〔局回〕 looks at that single revolution: how the encroachment given and taken at the membrane turns a full circle through order and disorder, and how that revolution, never closing, opens onto the place of turning back toward oneself (反誠, banseong—the turning-back toward sincerity). There the proposition Part One left open, “the 局 has not closed,” is at last redeemed. The membrane was the place just before that redemption, where 局 collides most violently with the other.

References

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