ShuiHuo 水火 : The Contradiction of Water and Fire

GuZhe, chapter 2

Previously, from chapter 1

…”I was born shortly after the years of the Great Chinese Famine, and grew up with starvation. We lived in a time of fear, violence, and general disharmony. Even though my life is much more stable today, I still see wars between nations, violence among neighbors, disastrous storms, horrifying wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other destructive events are happening all over the world. Could you please tell me the reason for this? Are you still fighting with the Fire God for Di 帝, imperial power?”

Thunder God: “There are no simple answers to your questions. You might be able to discover your answers by studying the Dao 道 and looking at your own life experiences.”

“Yes, I understand that it is not easy to figure out the answers.” I responded, “I have been studying about the Dao for many years, I learned that all things in existence are related to the Dao, or DaYi 大一, the Great One. The Great One existed before the birth of the universe - she created the universe and has continuously generated all phenomena, matter, sentient beings, events, etc, since creation.  I have felt that you also have a role in the creation of all things. Could you please tell me about the relationship between you and the Great One?”

“Yes,” Thunder God answered, “In the beginning of the universe, the Great One presented herself as HunYuan 混元 — Primordial Chaos, or TaiXu 太虛 — the Great Void, which was a great mass of Qi 炁. This mass of Qi held two kinds of fundamental particles— Yin 陰 and Yang 陽. My twin sister and I were born through the collision and friction between Yin and Yang.”

As I listened to the Thunder God, I suddenly had a new inspiration. “I learned the Great One first used water to create the earth. Was the creation of earth part of your job, seeing as though you were once the Water God?”

Thunder God continued his story: “After my sister and I were born, the collision of and friction between Yin and Yang grew stronger and stronger, and lightning and thunderstorms became prevalent. The Great One gave me the LeiGong 雷公 (Thunder Father) position in order to control the rhythm of the thunder and asked my sister to be DianMu 電母 (Lightning Mother), to take charge of the lightning. In this way the two of us worked together to generate mass quantities of water with which to shape the earth and to generate and to support all the beings on earth.”

Fig. 1 - LeiGong

Fig 2 - DianMu

“So, were you and your twin sister the original God of the Water and Goddess of the Fire?” I questioned.

Thunder God replied, “Yes, we created water and fire through our thunder and lightning. We have used water and fire as basic elements to create new elements, and then to create the whole world and all the beings in it. We can also use water and fire to cause disasters if my sister and I aren’t getting along well with each other. This inherent contradiction in the relationship between water and fire has been carried through to all objects, events, and living beings since creation.”

“Now, it makes more sense to me that the Chinese character Ren 人, for person or human being, is made of two simple strokes, interpreting them as Yin 陰 and Yang 陽 energies, or Water and Fire,” I said. “As with nature, we as individuals each carry both De 德/virtue (beneficial) and Nu 怒/anger (harmful) qualities.”¹

Thunder God, “You’ve got it! Every time you seek an answer, remember to always act as GuZhe 瞽者, a blind man, and look within, meditate, resonate with the situation, and check your life path. This is how you will find your answer.”

Huuuuunng-Looooong-Loooonnng, a loud thunder shook my dream-like state and the Thunder God suddenly disappeared from my inner screen. I emerged from my meditation state. Oh yes, I could start seeking the answers through my own life experiences. This advice resonates deeply with me. Since I was born, my mother has always called me QiMi (“Blind Man” in home town dialect)!

1.   For details on this topic, please read my article : De 德 / Virtue and Nu 怒 / Anger - part 1