Ch’eng
Ch’eng
Honesty; sincerity; absence of fault; actuality.
Reverence; seriousness.
Being one’s true self; absolute true self; truth, in the sense of “fulfillment of the self,” which “is the beginning and end of material existence,” and “without which there is no material existence.” “Being true to oneself (or sincerity) is the law of Heaven. To try to be true to oneself is the law of man.” “Only those who are their absolute true selves in the world can fulfill their own nature,” “the nature of others,” “the nature of things,” “help Nature in growing and sustaining,” and “become equals of Heaven and Earth.” (Early Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism.)
Being true to the nature of being (of man and things), which is “the character of the sage,” “the basis of the five cardinal moral principles and the source of the moral life.” It is “the state of tranquillity without movement.” (Chou Lien-hsi, 1017-1073.) “Sincerity (ch’eng) is the way of Heaven, whereas seriousness (ching) is the essence of human affairs. When there is seriousness, there is sincerity.” “Sincerity means ‘to have no depraved thought’.” (Ch’eng I-ch’uan, 1033-1107 and Ch’eng Ming-tao, 1032-1086.) “It may also be expressed as the principle of reality.” (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200.) — W.T.C.