Chinese lesson: wu li
Around that time, it was Gary Zukov’s popular take on modern physics, The Dancing Wu Li Masters – along with Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics – that led many of us to explore these connections, and encouraged me to study acupuncture.
The character li 理 is the enigmatic term which in classical Chinese describes the patterning of things – the internal structure which in nature is often made visible by markings on the surface, as the patterning of wood shows its process of growth. Its etymology refers to the veins in a piece of jade which reveal its inner structure.
Later, li came to represent principles of organisation – including those principles which determine the way things come into being. In Buddhism, it is the cosmic order.
Wu 物 is simply a thing or a being. On the right – 勿 – the phonetic of the character shows a banner waving in the breeze – it is seen in the character for yang 陽 and also the change – yi 易 – of the Book of Changes. In both of these characters it suggests an ability to change and adapt. An early meaning of the character yi was of a chameleon.
The most ancient meaning for wu 物 is that of a sacred animal decorated with multicoloured pieces of cloth to take part in a ritual sacrifice – and on the left side is the character for an ox 牛. In classical Chinese it came to mean all, everything, as in the popular term wan wu 萬 物 the ten thousand things – which refers to all beings and things that exist in the natural world.
Wu 物 later came to mean the colour, form and appearance of things. Also, what may distinguish one thing from another, and therefore the study of the attributes of things.
Together, wu li weave an interesting pattern of meaning. Li is the internal working of things, wu their external appearance – wu suggests colour, form, aspect, li that which is hidden from sight, but which informs what is seen at the surface. Both suggest a process of examination and observation. If wu describes external form – but also the way that forms can change – li describes internal function but also its evolution.
So wu li is the study of the way things work, the way things come into being – the internal patterning of things and the visible manifestation of that inner patterning. It is an observation of the way the world works.
The term wu li may act as a reminder that as we embrace modern science, ancient Chinese ideas have much to offer and much to contribute to the exploration of life. And the language of quantum physics and systems theory has much to offer us as we struggle to explain our medicine to the western scientific community.
