The ancients 'understanding of the universe was that changes in all things were like the movement of waves. Although waves rose and fell, the amount of water in the sea did not decrease. The universal sea was like the movement of qi. Birth was the condensation of qi, while death was its dissipation.
因此人們理解的宇宙是「萬物改變如波浪起伏」，波浪雖變，海水卻並未減少，宇宙海就像氣的運動，生，是氣的凝聚，滅，則是氣的解散，永恆、終極的氣無增無減的存於其中，因此天、地、人一體，朝生暮死的蜉蝣與永恆的山水不分。