Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small being as I finds an intimate place in their midst.

Zhang Zai

My Father, My Mother

Topic: Divine Love & Goodness

Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small being as I finds an intimate place in their midst. Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. All people are my brothers and sisters and all things are my companions.

Zhang Zai

Zhang Zai (Chang Tsai, 1020—1077)

Zhang Zai was born in 1020 and died in 1077. He was an important scholar during the Song dynasty in China and played a key role in developing Neo-Confucianism, specifically a branch known as the "Study of the Way." Coming from a family of scholars, he held various official positions throughout his life, putting his philosophical ideas into practical use within the government.

One of his major contributions to philosophy was a brief essay called the Western Inscription. The essay was named this way because it was written on the west wall of his study. In it, he expressed the idea that Heaven and Earth are like a father and mother to all beings, emphasizing the natural relationship between humans and the universe. He saw every person as his sibling and every thing as his companion, speaking to the core belief of interconnectedness in Neo-Confucian thought.

Through the Western Inscription, Zhang Zai laid the ethical groundwork for Neo-Confucianism. His words became a point of reference for later scholars and continue to be studied today. The core message is simple: we are all connected to each other and to the universe, a notion that has practical implications for how we live and govern.

(1020-1077) Confucianism
The Western Inscription

Wing-tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963 p. 497 [Zhang Zai, The Western Inscription].

Zhang Zai

Theme: Divine Father and Mother

About This Zhang Zai Quotation [Commentary]

Zhang Zai’s statement, “Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small being as I finds an intimate place in their midst,” expresses a view of the human being as held within the living order of the cosmos. By naming Heaven as “father” and Earth as “mother,” Zhang Zai affirms that the human relationship with the universe is both personal and foundational. This is not a distant metaphor, but a recognition that each life, however small, belongs fully within this vast relationship. His phrase “intimate place” underscores that this belonging is not marginal—it is central and inseparable from the nature of things.

He continues, “Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature.” From the relationship of child to Heaven and Earth arises a deeper identification: the body becomes coextensive with the universe, and the ordering force within all things is named as one’s own nature. These are not merely poetic images but ethical orientations. To regard the universe as one’s body demands reverence. To consider its guiding principle as one’s nature requires alignment. Zhang Zai draws these conclusions directly from the truth of his original statement about Heaven and Earth as divine parents.

The final movement of the passage completes the ethical framework: “All people are my brothers and sisters and all things are my companions.” Out of the intimacy between human life and the cosmos comes a natural recognition of shared kinship. Each person belongs to this same family under Heaven and Earth. Each thing is a companion, not separate from the life of the self. Zhang Zai’s sequence is deliberate: parentage, body and nature, kinship and companionship. In speaking of Heaven and Earth as Divine Father and Mother, he points toward a way of being that is grounded, relational, and held in balance with the whole.

Zhang Zai (Chang Tsai, 1020—1077)

Zhang Zai (Chang Tsai, 1020—1077) was one of the pioneers of the Song dynasty philosophical movement called “Study of the Way,” often known as Neo-Confucianism.

The Western Inscription

Zhang Zai in the 11th century wrote a brief essay that is the basis of Neo-Confucian ethics. The Western Inscription (whose name comes from the fact that it was inscribed on the west wall of his study) states that:

“Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small being as I finds an intimate place in their midst. Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. All people are my brothers and sisters and all things are my companions.”

—Wing-tsit Chan [A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963)] p. 497.

Human Nature and Ethics (excerpt)

Overcoming the desires of physical nature, one progresses toward original nature, or the heavenly within, as Zhang also put it. In “Western Inscription” Zhang illustrated this ideal state. Putting aside selfishness, one comes to understand the essential unity of all things. All things are formed from the same qi, and ultimately we all share the same substance. This was to become Zhang’s most famous ethical doctrine, the idea of forming one body with all things. As Zhang wrote in “Western Inscription, “That which fills the universe I regard as my body.” Everyone has Heaven and Earth as their father and mother, and thus everyone are brothers and sisters. Caring for others is like caring for one’s own family. Zhang further wrote, “Even those who are tired, infirm, crippled, or sick; those who have no brothers or children, wives, or husbands, are all my brothers who are in distress and have no one to turn to.” Though there are some precedents for this idea of brotherhood in earlier Confucianism, it sounds much more like the great compassion of Buddhism or the Mohist idea of universal caring—Zhang even uses the same term (jian’ai)… Later thinkers recognized “Western Inscription” as Zhang’s greatest contribution to the Study of the Way.

—David Elstein [State University of New York at New Paltz, U. S. A. (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Zhang Zai (Chang Tsai, 1020—1077)].

References:

—Chan, Wing-tsit. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963. Translates a selection of Zhang’s works, focusing on Correcting Ignorance.
—Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. Reflections on Things at Hand: The Neo-Confucian Anthology Compiled by Chu Hsi and Lü Tsu-chien. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.
(This probably contains the most extensive collection of Zhang’s writings in English. Chan includes a finding list to help the reader find the selections of a particular philosopher.)

Heavenly Society (신사회) and the Development of Hyojeong (孝情) Culture (Excerpts)

If hyojeong [the unity of two traditional ideas, hyo and jeong] is something like filial connection-feeling, then directing it toward Heaven could support generalized or shareable connections with the Source of Life. Whether the Heaven is thought of in personal or impersonal terms, the sense of intimate connection and filial gratitude can still develop. In the Neo-Confucian tradition, Zhang Zai’s “Western Inscription” provides a model of a sense of filial intimacy even though the ontological background of his thought is an impersonalistic theology.

According to Analects 1.2, jae (제, 悌)—the feeling of younger brotherly respect—is closely connected with hyo. The traditional concept of jae may be fruitfully expanded by recognizing the equal claims of all fellow humans as siblings under Heaven. The “earthly” reflection of hyojeong, an intimate connection-feeling with Heaven, could and should spread accordingly to sibling-feeling toward fellow brothers and sisters, providing the relational “glue” to develop social cohesion and integration.

—Thomas Selover [Journal of Unification Studies (Vol. 19, 2018)] pp. 23 – 31.

My Father, My Mother

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