Chapter 1 – Sentence 4

(The) heavens (refers to) Yin (and) Yang, cold (and) hot, (and the) season(al) flow.

(The) heavens (refers to) night (and) day, cold (and) hot, (and the) season(al) flow.

(The) heavens (encompasses those aspects of nature that are controlled by the heavens, those aspects of nature that are subject to constant change on their own, outside of human control, such as the natural alternating flow between) night (and) day, (the more random fluctuation between) cold (and) hot, (and the natural) flow (through the) seasons.

The heavens encompasses those aspects of nature that are controlled by the heavens, those aspects of nature that are subject to constant change on their own, outside of human control, such as the natural alternating flow between night and day, the more random fluctuation between cold and hot, and the natural flow through the seasons.

Comments:

1. The unity of the Dao subdivides into 2. These 2 are known as Yang and Yin, and are often symbolized as the heavens and earth. There was awareness of both at the same time, since each can only have meaning in the context of the other. (Day has no meaning except in relationship to night, etc.) Of these, Yang, the heavens, symbolizes those aspects of nature that mankind was aware of 1^st.

2. I prefer the plural form heavens rather than the singular form heaven, since in modern usage heaven is commonly associated with the Western spiritual notion of a place, a single, idealized place, not on the earth whose existence is beyond direct awareness by the human senses. Instead, the plural form heavens, often used in astronomy to refer to whatever lies above and outside the earth, seems to have implications that carry less cultural baggage and that are much more in line with the Chinese understanding.

3. Mankind was 1^st aware of forces beyond human control. Such forces were considered to be under control of the heavens, and not to be of the earth. The word heavens refers to those aspects of nature that are controlled by the heavens; in other words, those aspects of nature that are in a constant state of change, where such change is completely outside of human control. These include such as the cycle of nature that alternates between night and day, the random fluctuation between cold and hot, and the cyclic flow through the seasons. The notion of the heavens is often thought of as the ‘will’ of the heavens, or those forces of nature that lie beyond human control and that can be related to only according to the Dao.

4. The notion of the heavens relates to everything in the world 1) that is located or that exists above mankind, 2) that mankind does have the ability to sense, and 3) that mankind has no ability to interact with directly or to influence in any way.

5. Like other translators, I translated Yin and Yang as night and day. Sunzi cannot really mean Yin and Yang, in my opinion, since the very nature of the heavens itself symbolizes Yang as opposed to Yin. Instead, this seems to be the simplest 2 character way to indicate one of the most representative of the dichotomies of Yin and Yang, the dichotomy between night and day.

6. Since there is unity within Yang, all examples of the heavens are interrelated. Whether it is night or day influences whether it is cold or hot. The flow through the seasons influences night and day and cold and hot; for example night grows longer relative to day from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, and day grows longer relative to night from the winter solstice to the solstice summer.