A PERSON IN “PRECARIOUS TIME”
NGO THI NHAM – A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE
CONCEPTION OF “TIME” OF THE YIJING AND CONFUCIUS[1]
Tran Thi Thuy Ngoc (*)
The sixteenth and eighteenth centuries were the most tumultuous period in history of feudalism in Vietnam. This was the time in which all the downsides of the feudal imperialism were presented in a comprehensive way. In that “precarious time”, there was a person who was present in all major events of history, with many different roles, yet excellent in every role. His life left behind many controversies because of his many opposing roles, contradictory political views, many different thoughts. That person is Ngo Thi Nham. This paper is intended to provide an overview of the solutions for the complex roles and contradictory political behaviors of Ngo Thi Nham from his conception of “Time”through his ideal model Confucious and the classic Yijing’s “Time” conception.
1. On the term of “Time” in the Yijing (易經) and Confucius
The concept of “Time” is a content of humanistic philosophy. The concept of “Time” has attracted a lot of reflection in Eastern philosophy. Due to its close connection with human affairs, “Time” has become a key concept in the life and political philosophy in China as well as in Vietnam. It is common to see human-political concepts couple with the word “Time” in the way of thinking, in the culture and thought of China and Vietnam, such as: the current time (thoi the), the time of luck (thoi van), the precarious time (thoi bien), the time of opportunity (thoi co), time-dependent (tuy thoi), suits the time (phung thoi), be awake to the time (thuc thoi), missing the right time (that thoi), etc. In the culture of these two countries, the concept of “Time” is considered as one of the measures of social-political awareness of a thinker. It can be seen that the concept of “time” is manifested clearly through the Yijing and the thought of Confucius.[2](*)
The Yijing is considered to be the “classic of the classics,” the most highly regarded book of all scriptures and the source of inspiration for many schools of Chinese philosophy in history. The Yijing also contributed to the formation of basic Chinese thought and was China’s first work focused on the word “Time”. hexagram 17th Sui (隨) (following) 
, in the Yijing, it said: “随時之義 大矣哉.” (Meaning: There is a great significance in acting in accordance with time)(1). Acting in accordance with time does not mean to follow mindlessly or to go along passively, but to move by the dictates of intrinsic inevitable laws. Only that can guarantee efficiency, not to spend too much energy and risk.
Looking at the structure, we can see that this hexagram up to the two requirements. Lower line: one Yang appears under two Yins. Upper line: The Yang grows and takes the leading position but still obeys the Yin. That means Yang obeys Yin. Yang represents strength, but it obeys Yin, which represents softness and flexibility. This means to obey, but not to obey forcefully, passively but to obey actively, with a clear stance. Therefore, to behave according to each event is a sophisticated and skillful “taking a down road”. For Confucius, this is often thought to be similar with his conception of being in harmony with the contemporary time. In history, when the Confucian scholars wanted to confess the virtue of Confucius, they could not find a title better than the “The Sage who knows the Time”. Thus, Confucius, in his integrity and perfection in political and moral opinion, was able to serve his time, including the shrewd and manipulative emperors. He himself said that there is nothing that can be done, but nothing is impossible (無可，無不可)(2); that there is nothing that definitely suits or does not suit him. By obeying and believing in yourself, he is able to grasp the chance, even the smallest, to actualize his ideal.
Next, the Yijing emphasizes the change and the non – extremeness. According to the Yijing, there is no hexagram, which is absolutely bad or absolutely good. They always change between Yin and Yang to create the properties of the hexagram. The bad always have a small part of good and vice versa. Therefore, we can consider the Yijing is the first book about dialectics of Chinese people.
Hexagram K’uei/ Opposition （睽） 
(hexagram 38) in the Yijing represents separation, stands next to hexagram Jia Ren / The Family (家人) 
(hexagram 37) which represents union. In hexagram 37, line from 1 to 5 are all about good condition, but in hexagram 38 is the opposite, line from 2 to 5 are not good. In terms of symbolism, the wind blows 
make fire 
rises to the top very quick. This shows that the two tendencies could be totally different, even each is the opposite of each other, but they could still go together. The Yijing 彖詞writes: 天地睽而其事同也，男女睽而其志通也，萬物睽而其事類也. “Heaven and Earth are one on the higher, one on the lower, which is different, and divided apart, yet, everything is their making, female is Yin and male is Yang – they are different, yet sympathize with each other, everything is different, but they obey the same law”.
There will be no link between the two extremes, or the relationship between the sexes or the connection of things if there is no time for separation. If there is no separation, there is just a mixture, and there will never be a consolidation. Thus, it also demonstrates the possibility that following the negative and positive will follow. Here, it is necessary to understand the principle of alteration, the supplementary nature of the opposites.
Is the Yijing teaching us how to behave when the Way of the universe (道Dao) is closed and the time belongs to the opposite?. Instead of going forward in a determined manner and therefore risking being coercive, it is better to persevere to wait for the situation to renew itself. It is not because we do not dare to move forward, but because we know to wait for the elements to express themselves fully, and then self – modify to innovate. It is also possible to prove this through the hexagram Chien / Obstruction （蹇）(Hexagram 39 
)(3), with the symbol of the split, the four lines in the middle are positive, but the two lines at the two ends are negative, showing a soft attitude, no rigid attack, the necessary to stop in front of resistance (The three higher lines are in hexagram 坎卦, which symbolizes the danger; the three lower lines are in hexagram 艮卦 
, which symbolizes the stop. A general stops when facing the river 坎 and in the back is the mountain 艮; it’s dangerous to go both ahead or back, as the name 蹇 suggests. Moving forward or backward are obstacles, therefore, the general waits). Line 1 and line 6 is Yin, soft and flexible in the beginning and the end, so that the four lines realy in between themselves, changing themselves. Here, the behaviors suggest that “patience is good”, “depending on the moment is important” (using your time flexible) is the way that the Yijing comes to pass when encountering obstacles.
Thus, the concept of the time of the Yijing emphasizes the opportunism of the time, grasp the right opportunity at the right time means one needs not to work hard to reach a goal. With the difficult situation, the Yijing emphasizes the transformation, the dynamic movement of phenomena, and one should not use the will to intervene, or resist rigidly. The new state of phenomena will itself overcome obstacles. Understanding the spirit of Time in the Yijing and in Confucius’s conception is the basis for understanding the spirit of Time in the perspective of Ngo Thi Nham.
Confucius said: “Give me a few more years of life, fifty years to study the Yijing, and I could become without major faults” (The Analects) (加我数年，五十以学易，可以无大过矣《論語·述而》) (4). Confucius had studied hard so many times that he broke the string of the book. However, he still wanted more time to study thoroughly. This desire shows the great influence of the Yijing on Confucius as how he expresses the “suiting – time” spirit of the Yijing to be considered a Sage who knows time.
Confucius distinguishes three types of Sages in the treatise （論語。微子). They all leave a rich and successful life to go in hiding, but they have very different behaviors. The first type such as Bo Yi, Shu Qi （伯夷,叔齐） are those who “would not surrender their wills or humiliate themselves” （不降其志,不辱其身,伯夷、叔齐与？）; they cannot be blamed at all. The second type are like Liuxia Hui and Shao Lian （柳下惠,少连）, are inferior compared with the above, they “surrendered their wills and humiliated themselves; nonetheless, their words were based on solid principles and they thought before acting” （“降志辱身矣,言中伦, 行中虑,其斯而已矣”）. The third type, such as Yu Zhong and Yiyi （虞仲，夷逸）, “left society, and in their seclusion cast off speech, they were pure in their personal activities, and their abandonment of official position was adjusted according to the circumstances” （“隐居放言,身中清,废中权”）. After declaring the three types of Sages Confucius writes: “I am different than this. I have no “shoulds” or “should nots.” （ “我则异於是，无可无不可”）- that is, nothing is appropriate or inappropriate for Confucius.
Of the three types mentioned above, the first and second types are two extremes, the third one is in the middle. Confucius does not belong to the first category, nor to the second or the third. He may be the other kind, which always act in accordance with the situation. Confucius is not an obstinate person, nor is he insolent. Because he can be as stubborn as the most obstinate, refusing all concessions and can be completely compromised, as long as his actions are useful for life. A wise person is a “person who does not have definite qualities” in the sense of having no attributes that are “inherent” or “immutable”; he or she will express some qualities at some time, and others at other time.
Mencius once remarked that “Confucius was a timely sage” （“孔子，聖之時者也“ 《孟子。 萬章下》）. He is the model of a Sage who knows the time sufficiently to eliminate the distinction of morality, “good” or “bad”, since everything is according to time. Confucius cannot tolerate the most obstinate when needed, but can be the most tolerant person if necessary. “When you need to give up, give up; when you need to handle, handle…”. Confucius has eliminated himself from all other groups – the stubborn, or the conciliators, or even those who retired to seclusion so as to satisfy the demands of the times: “I am different with all”, because “There is nothing we cannot do or we can do”. Confucius is always ready, not rigid, modify himself into any position, and limits himself to any classification, even in terms of virtue. According to him, it is the stability of virtue that reveals the shortcomings that make us lose the ability to develop comprehensively, is also the ability to adapt to the demands of the moment.
An ideal model such as Confucius appeared in the time of chaos as the Spring – Autumn (春秋時期) inevitably influenced the political choices of Ngo Thi Nham in the context of the chaotic 18th century Vietnam.
2. An intepretation of Ngo Thi Nham as a person of the “precarious time”
After years of peace in an independent and unified feudal state, Vietnam entered a period of civil war and dissolution that lasted nearly three centuries, beginning in 1527 with the event Mac Dang Dung robbed the Le’s Dynasty. The South-North war broke out shortly thereafter and lasted for more than a hundred years while simultaneously seeding a division arising from the conflict between the two groups, Trinh and Nguyen, within the Le Trung Dynasty inspiration. The social conflicts and political turmoil that arose from power struggles among the feudal factions of this period confronts the contemporary Vietnamese Confucian – Intellectuals in both their perceptions and activities; and the process of solving those problems has transformed ability and norm of political conduct. The turmoil of the country after the coup of Mac Dang Dung dragged the educated class out of the dream of “ideological peace” as the struggle for power among the feudal factions set before them many new issues about the future of the country and its destiny. These problems challenged their talents, and put all their knowledge and political ethics into a historical test. There was a need to have a master strategist capable of solving major problems in the realities of contemporary politics; this is an indispensable requirement of history and of the people’s aspirations. In fact, at this stage there appeared a character who met those requirements, he was Nguyen Binh Khiem – who was above all political factions at the time and did not associate his interests with any group.
With Nguyen Binh Khiem, Confucian Vietnamese intellectuals have reached a more flexible and realistic level of political thought and behavior compared with the previous period. The distinction of the traditional culture and the legitimate dynasty in their minds had become more apparent, this has help them to become a class that reflected not only the interests and the future of the country, but also the aspirations of the people. In other words, the Vietnamese Confucian was much freer in political thinking than in the previous period.
With Nguyen Binh Khiem as an official of the Mac “counterfeited dynasty”, Vietnamese intellectuals shown that they were fully capable of inheriting traditions and performing talents without necessarily associate themselves with any imperial dynasty.
In the eighteenth century, there emerged Ngo Thi Nham, a character who left his hallmark in every major event of this period. In many aspects, his capacity is excellent. He was the Confucian official not only serving the Le-Trinh dynasty but also serving the Tay Son Dynasty; he was also a political, economic, and military activist and above all, he is a thinker. His work covers a wide range of issues, from every specific problem of agrarian life, war, turmoil, natural disasters, famine; or national affairs such as the military, the state delegates to the highly esoteric issues of reasoning about the Reason 理 (Ly), 慾Desire (Duc), and 心Heart/Mind (Tam). In terms of practicality, he is the Hy Doan 稀尹Confucian, following the iconic Y Doan 伊尹- the character who helped the Shang 商(Thuong) Dynasty to make a revolution with the Xia 夏(Ha); when retreating in hiding, he was Hai Luong Zen master海量禪師, the fourth member of Truc Lam Zen school 竹林禪派.
However, Ngo Thi Nham’s life is full of scandals, from the story of “killing four fathers to get the Hall” to follow the Tay Son clan to destroy the Le-Trinh clan; these are the first steps in his political life. Too much contradiction, many active faces, many conflicting political views, different ideologies embodied in the same person. To make sense of his case, perhaps the only way is to considering the famous counterpart: “In the time of the Warring States, in the time of the Spring and Autumn, as the time come, one must follow” when he confronted with Dang Tran Thuong.
Here, Ngo Thi Nham drawn an parallel that his life is similar to the Spring and Autumn Warring States. In our view, if only we considered the Warring-States-like chaos of Vietnam at the time, after the totalitarian regime in Vietnam reached the peak in the King Le Thanh Tong’s time (when Confucianism establishing the ideology through examination), perhaps the public opinion would not have been so harsh and so critical of Ngo Thi Nham. In fact, after hundreds of years in power, through the Confucian scholarship in Le Dynasty and the Trinh, a kind of “loyalty – centric” Confucian ideology has ingrained into the consciousness of intellectuals; for this kind of ideology, the goal is to serve the royal authority, not for the liberation of thought. The “loyaly – centric” are both rigid and simple “once benefited from someone, worship that person” has caused the class of “the pseudo-intellectuals” divided five groups of seven ruling circles: some idolize the Le, some follow the Trinh, some go with the Nguyen, even Le Chieu Thong asked the Qing in China for troops to go against the Tay Son or Nguyen Anh went to the Siamese army to regain his power. The folklore mockery still remains about this irony: “Bring the elephant (the symbol of the Siamese) to trample on ancestors’ grave”. The “loyalty- centric “mind of the pseudo – intellectuals in this century not only did not contribute to any progress in the history of the nation, even dragged it back to the level of “loyal to the king” but “betrayed nation”.
In a time like that, a tyrannical ideology could not solve the problem thoroughly. The ability to handle situations requires the intellectual maturity, which requires the ability to overcome the constraints of any narrow mindset to see the great winds of history, to grasp the word “Time”. And, as far as we have researched, we think that Ngo Thi Nham has done it.
During 6 years of hiding in the Trinh Dynasty, Ngo Thi Nham had been mulling over Spring – Autumn. He had compared and contrasted, and must have drawn so many similarities with what he was facing. Research, criticism, comment, Ngo Thi Nham created a rare and excellent work for scholarly study: A View on the Spring – Autumn (Xuan Thu quan kien). In his mind, upon receiving Spring – Autumn, Ngo Thi Nham was able to break away with the tangle of the Le-Trinh period. He could choose freely any political group without the fear of being called a traitor, an unjust person like what Confucius had done.
Ngo Thi Nham had compared his own time as the time of the Spring and Autumn Warring States, when all factions fought to gain domination, even fought with the Zhou Emperor, in this time, all rituals were destroyed. Those who have the knowledge and advocacy to preserve the old cultures such as Confucius was not respected. That time made Confucius wandering around all different places, trYing to “sell” his religion. Where there were the kings who obeyed and respected him, he would stayed, where he was treated with disregards, he would leave. Confucius left the Lu, abandoned in Qi state, expelled in the Song and the Wei, was in danger in the middle of Chen country and Thai country, eventually returned to the Lu. It is difficult to imagine the “sage of the sages” such as Confucius had to endured such vicissitudes of life, going from the most honored to nearly starve to death.
Confucius was aware that he wass pursuing the ideal that is no longer suitable for the times. He repeatedly questioned his Way, but he resolutely did not compromise his Way for an easy life(5). On the other hand, to apply his Way, Confucius was not picky about places or people, he was willing to go to work for both the people who were regarded as a traitor like the Cong Son Phat Nuu or Phat Bat; he never gave up his chance to practice his Way. He was not picky about the situation or any model of a good King; whenever people sincerely asked for him, he was willing to share his heart. “If they use me, will I make their land to be East Zhou?” He used to be like a gourd, not to be watch, but must be used to eat so as to be valuable, students were very anxious to see him eager to help both contentious sides: “The truly hard will not worn down even with the hardest grinding; the truly white could not turn black. Am I not like the gourd, why only hang up, why not eat?”(6).
Therefore, no one judges Confucius is unfaithful or unreasonable. Because, “unfaithful” or “unrighteous” are not the concepts formed during the period the Confucius lived. There was not a totalitarian group, until the later in Mencius period, so there are still revolutionary thoughts like “The king treats me as a dog, so I just treat him like a passerby”. In the context of such liberal thinking, Confucius, in terms of political behavior, had never been constrained by a “loyalty – centric” ideology. Ngo Thi Nham reconsidered the Spring – Autumn book, perhaps to be reassured once more, referring back to historical choices for his bold political decisions.
“As the time come, one must follow” shows Ngo Thi Nham’s resolute and inevitable choice, which is based on the right time. He also did not arbitrarily follow the leader of farmers or arbitrarily went against the Le – Trinh. As a learned scholar as he knew what the notoriety it would bring, (he used to be called the “four – farther killer” during the Le – Trinh period, as he followed the Tay Son, his charge would be much heavier), but like Confucius, he chose, accepted the loss of being called “loyal and pious” to reinforce the great ideals he had pursued.
Over time, the maturation of flexible political choices based on the concept of “time” has gradually been affirmed, contributing to the creation of a political democratic tradition among Vietnamese intellectuals in that period and later. That tradition has given to the Vietnamese history many outstanding people like Ngo Thi Nham, Phan Huy Ich of the Tay Son Dynasty in the late 18th century; Cao Ba Quat with under the Vu Thang in the North of 1851; the Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Nguyen Huu Huan, Ho Hien Nghiep under the slogan of saving the country “do not listen to the Son of Heaven” in South after the Peace Treaty in 1862… It can be said, the person of the “precarious time”, Ngo Thi Nham with his political choices, nuanced thoughts is not the subjective product of the individual Ngo Thi Nham, but originated from the maturity of the political consciousness of Vietnamese feudal intellectuals, as well as the elastic application of the quintessence of the word “Time” of Confucianism in particular and traditional Eastern thinking in general. ❒
NOTES
() See: Phan Boi Chau (2010), Quoc Van chu dich dien giai, The Literature Publishing House, Hoi An.
(2) See: Nguyen Hien Le (1989), The Analects, The Literature Publishing House, Ha Noi.
(3) See: Phan Boi Chau (2010), Ibid., pp.420 – 421.
(4) Ly Minh Tuan (2010), Tu thu binh giai, The Religious Publishing House , Hoi An, p.166.
(5) Tu Cong has advised him to lower the Way down a little, so the people can keep up. Confucius has scolded Zi that his will could not go far, because he did not cultivate the root of his moral. See Tu Ma Thien. Cited book., p.220.
(6) Tu Ma Thien (2003), Su Ky, The Literature Publishing House, Hanoi, p.230.
