Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 160: On Living in a Chaotic World

The Three Pure Ones remained silent, and Wukong took this opportunity to sort out his thoughts. From Laozi’s words, he learned that the Three Pure Ones were at odds with the Jade Emperor, and this was due to the Jade Emperor colluding with outsiders.
Taoism has the Three Pure Ones and the Six Imperial Deities—such basic knowledge—Laozi certainly wouldn’t deceive himself about. It was also clear that the Three Pure Ones ranked above the Six Imperial Deities. Thus, in Taoism, the Three Pure Ones hold the highest status. In other words, the Jade Emperor holds imperial power, while the Three Pure Ones hold divine power; one is a political leader, the other a religious founder.
Logically, the two should be clearly distinct and easy to differentiate—meaning the Jade Emperor rules in heaven, while the Three Pure Ones hold sway in Taoism. But in reality, neither side remains passive. From Laozi’s words, it seemed the Three Pure Ones were entrusted to assist the Jade Emperor, and if not for respect toward him, they would likely have distanced themselves from heaven.
Even now, the Three Pure Ones implicitly consider themselves to be of supreme status. With countless great masters under their banner and immense influence in heaven, who could oppose them?
The Jade Emperor is called the ruler of all heavens, but in terms of actual power, he falls short of this title. Whether it’s the Monkey King causing chaos in heaven in “Journey to the West” or the battles to suppress Huaguo Mountain in modern times, most of heaven’s generals feigned effort without genuine commitment. They gave face to the Jade Emperor outwardly but secretly resisted him. There are likely many in heaven who do not submit to him.
Ultimately, it all comes down to strength. If the Jade Emperor possessed the cultivation and power of the Three Pure Ones, who would dare not obey his command?
At this moment, Laozi said, “Let’s ignore past lives and focus on the present. Though Taoism seems prosperous now, hidden turmoil rages within—it is seriously ill and needs treatment.”
Wukong asked, “What exactly is that fate the old man mentioned earlier? Why does the Jade Emperor want it? What is the illness, and how can it be cured?”
Hearing Wukong ask three questions in one go, Laozi laughed and said, “You’re even more anxious than I am.”
Then, in a solemn and authoritative tone, he expounded on the theory of creation:
“The affairs of the three realms have been wrong from the very beginning. Yet how can worldly matters be judged so casually as right or wrong? Fortune and misfortune, praise and blame—depend not on human judgment but on the heart. When the heart is resolved, how can there be any useless effort?”

“You have also been to that realm of good and evil among the three realms. Though this realm was not fully established, it was the result of my years of cultivation. At first, this place was nothing but barren land with no distinction between nations. I brought countless creatures here from other places, then used yin and yang as boundaries to gather the good together, though the evil were not separated. I thought that in this way, laws would be clear and people would live in harmony—after all, things tend to gather together according to their nature. Yet unexpectedly, good could nurture evil, and evil could give rise to good; within just a hundred years, good and evil became once again indistinguishable.”

“I refused to believe this. I exerted great power to separate the good from the evil, but it happened again soon after. It turned out that many evil people suddenly realized the value of goodness, while many good people also strayed from the right path.”

“You should know that I am also a stubborn person. I always believed that good and evil had roots that remained unchanged throughout one’s life. So, following the pattern of the Eight Trigrams, I divided the yin and yang realms into sixty-four nations and placed people there according to their nature. In this way, when children were born in these nations, they naturally had few distractions, as everything they heard and saw was related to their own nation. Under such influence, how could they possibly have other thoughts?”

“Yet the result shocked me greatly. Half of the children born in good nations turned out to be evil when they grew up, while half of those born in evil nations turned out to be good. Only then did I realize that human good and evil cannot be cultivated—they are gifts from heaven. And these heavenly gifts of good and evil are not fixed; they can even reverse, with no definite form.”

“I experimented with good and evil, but I also realized that the principles governing all things are interconnected—just as truth and falsehood, high and low, beauty and ugliness… all follow the same logic!”

“After that, I finally understood the principle that ‘the earth follows the heaven, heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows nature.’ True nature is something that arises naturally, without any inherent cause—this is the essence of nature. Creation is something that happens naturally, without any creator—this is the origin of creation. Human effort is ultimately limited; how can we defy heaven?”

Wukong was completely confused. After all this talk by the Old Lord, what did it have to do with fate?

Then the Old Lord continued, “At first, I only knew ‘one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.’ After experiencing the reversal of good and evil, I realized that ‘before the Taiji was divided, the Dao contained yin and yang; after the Taiji was divided, yin and yang contained the Dao. The Dao is the foundation of yin and yang, while yin and yang are the manifestations of the Dao! As the saying goes, the Taiji divides into yin and yang, and yin and yang combine to form the Taiji—one becomes two, and two becomes one.’ Hahaha…”

After saying this, the Old Lord laughed heartily, clearly very pleased with himself. Wukong had also heard the concept of “one becomes two, and two becomes one” for the first time and understood it only half-heartedly.

Wukong thought for a while. Laojun surely wouldn’t boast for no reason; there must be a reason behind his words. After some consideration, he guessed and asked, “By Laojun’s words, ‘one becomes two’ refers to the initial separation of chaos. Then, ‘two become one’ means the union of heaven and earth?” He asked carefully, but Laojun remained silent. After a while, laughter was heard from the two of them—it was the Celestial Vessel Lord and the Primordial Heavenly Lord. After laughing, the Celestial Vessel Lord said, “You’ve pondered these principles for thousands of years, yet Wukong got it right in just one sentence—hahaha!”
Laojun replied angrily, “What’s there to laugh about!” But he too couldn’t help laughing a few times and said, “Wukong is right, but you only see one side and not the other. The mechanism of creation requires both existence and restraint. The cycle of generation and destruction continues endlessly, and thus the way of heaven and earth is boundless.”
Wukong asked, “That’s not right. If it’s boundless according to this logic, then where is there any such thing as the union of heaven and earth? It’s all nonsense!”
Laojun said, “Exactly, exactly. The theory of infinity—and ‘two becoming one’—is also correct.”
Wukong said, “If that’s the case, isn’t it self-contradictory?”
Laojun replied, “Just as there’s no clear distinction between good and evil, isn’t there also no fixed form for truth and falsehood?” Wukong pondered for a long time but still couldn’t understand this difference.
Laojun sighed and said, “The saying ‘the onlooker is confused’ applies to you!”
“Me? What does that have to do with me?” Wukong asked in confusion.
Laojun said, “Haven’t you heard that when heaven and earth were created, yin and yang were separated? The World-Chaoting Divine Ape stirred up yin and yang, and through stillness and movement, all things came into being.”
Wukong said, “I naturally know that.”
Laojun continued, “All things were created by the World-Chaoting Divine Ape, and they should also perish because of it—that’s how cause and effect are fulfilled. Still don’t you understand?”
Wukong’s body trembled. Wasn’t this exactly the theory of the “World-Destroying Divine Ape” mentioned by Dayu? Dayu had said it was a rumor spread by villains. How could Laojun also say such a thing? So he retorted, “This is just a rumor. Has Laojun also believed the slander of villains?”
Laojun said, “At first, of course I didn’t believe it. This creature caused chaos and bloodshed in the world; it was extremely vicious. But after years of discussion among the three of us, although the rumor can’t be believed, this fundamental truth of heaven and earth forces us to believe it!” His words made it clear that the rumor of the “World-Destroying Divine Ape” actually aligned with the fundamental truths of heaven and earth!
Wukong was displeased and fell into deep thought. He never expected that after all these twists and turns, Laojun would lead to this conclusion. Though his reasoning seemed sound, Wukong had no way to refute Laojun. According to his logic, since “one becomes two, and two becomes one,” and the divine ape brings forth all things, it must also bring them to destruction—a logic that was utterly unreasonable.

Wukong recalled the incident when immortals and demons across the world besieged the Divine Ape, and he couldn’t help but feel indignation. He said coldly, “By this logic, must the Divine Ape be killed to the last bone, driven from existence, before they will stop?”
Hearing this, Laojun was momentarily stunned, then laughed heartily and said, “Wukong, you’ve misunderstood. I said that all things perish because of the Divine Ape, but I wouldn’t dare claim that you are guilty.”
The more Wukong listened, the more confused he became. He asked, “Laojun, just speak plainly. This circular talk is giving me a headache.”
Laojun replied, “You must understand that if there is no creation, there can be no development. If creation is uncontrolled, it will become excessive and harmful. According to my reasoning, although there is more and more creation in the three realms, it is becoming increasingly chaotic and murky—this is the sign of lack of control. Therefore, the three realms will perish in 200 years, not because of the efforts of us three, but because the immortals and demons within them have brought about their own destruction and can no longer survive.”