Gao Yang asks Li Hei:
    “With Heaven and Earth assuming separate forms, humans came into being. But they do not follow the way of Heaven. They are trying to subdue and dominate each other. I am very much worried. What can we do to stop it? ”

      LI Hei answers:
    “Do not worry. Heaven would not change its way for anything. Once Heaven and Earth unfold themselves, all kinds of living things are shown to be scuffling with each other. The aggressive ones are actually courting disasters, but the meek ones would not bring about success either. Those complying with the Heaven’s way will prosper while those incompliant perish. So long as we do not go against it, we will not lose what we have held so far.

    “With Heaven and Earth assuming separate forms, humans came into being. They are born into specific kinship groups not chosen by themselves, and conflicts of interest are inevitable between such different groups. Without regulations, there would be no order and peace. And law and morality are the means for regulation.

    “Law and morality are like the sun and the moon, overlooking from the above in complement to each other. If they do not work in concert, they will see disasters everywhere. Heavenly virtue shines bright but would not penetrate people’s hearts without the law punishing the vicious; the Heavenly law strikes awe into the vicious but will not overwhelm without conscious cultivation of virtue. When law and morality promote one another, the morally positive and the negative will be clearly distinguished and properly handled.

    “The law has Yin attributes while morality Yang ones: the judgment of crimes and measurement of penalty are done behind the closed doors while the propagation of moral virtue must openly involve everybody; the former requires subtle distinctions between people’s behaviors of varying nature and between varying degrees of criminality while the latter accentuates an open and clear-cut stand for the morally positive and against the negative. Therefore, the enforcement of the law must be open to the public whereas the deliberation on punishment be meticulous.

    “With a clear understanding of the relationship between legal enforcement and moral cultivation from the apparent to the subtle, one can discern and grasp the best moment for action when it comes. When one follows the way of Heaven, he will gain the initiative. If he stands by until the proper moment comes and does not hesitate to take action when it does, Heaven and Earth will help him accomplish his goal. If one fails to stand by when he should but keep on fighting, the country would not have peace. If he does not take action when the opportunity comes, he loses the initiative lent by the way of Heaven in motion. Heaven and Earth help those who chose restraint or action at proper times and fail those who do not.

    “In the way of Heaven and Earth, cold and heat, and dryness and moisture cannot exist side by side; firmness and flexibility, and Yin and Yang do not run parallel. The two sides of each pair contain and complement each other. When one is not asserting himself, he should have the law to go by; when he is acting, his performance should be consistent with his status: this makes things easier to achieve while personal relationships are changing all the time. If we go beyond the proper limit or behave inconsistently, promotion of morality would be out of the question and punitive actions would not be proper and effective. If there is no law for people to go by when inactive or no institutions to guarantee the consistency between people’s actions and their individual statuses, the country will surely suffer punishment by Heaven.”