Chapter Four 
                                                
                                      THE CATEGORY SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS DIALECTICS

The categories in systems dialectics are the thinking forms that reflect the essential relationships of the systematic material world, and they are the fundamental concepts in each sphere of knowledge. Each specific discipline has its own category system, which is the scientific result generalized on the basis of practice, and which, in turn, becomes a guide for further practice and cognition of the world. There are different categories in the different systems, and the different systems have their own specific contents. But in the following basic aspects they have common intrinsic characteristics: They are all the general and intrinsic reflections of the systematic material world; all the categories are in the relationship of discrepancy and synergism; they are all developed on the basis of practice, as cognition is, and then in turn guide cognition and practice.

All the categories are closely related to, rather than independent of, each other. In systems dialectical thinking, a category is not independent, but functions together with a series of such fundamental laws as the law of the optimization of wholeness, the law of qualitative change in structure, the law of level transformation and the law of discrepancy and synergism. Category is a supplement to, the expression of and development from the laws. These two aspects make up the whole system of systems dialectics. This system is formed on the basis of all the laws and categories of materialist dialectics. It has resulted from the new achievements of the theories of modern science and technology. These categories are not only applicable to a certain level or sphere of the systematic material world, but also have universality and objectivity in the natural world, human societies and human thinking. The process of gradual abstraction is not simple "introducing" or "copying"; nor is it a "leap" to a higher level after only a few examples. It is really the product of scientifically abstracting the system's dialectical qualities of objective reality itself.

The category system of systems dialectics differs from the traditional category system that is in the form of pairs. It is a category system in the form of pairs, non-pairs, chains or others. It has the characteristics of diversity, extensiveness, mobility and universality. This new category system is the result of the rapid development of science and technology, and the constant deepening of human cognition. It also stems from the need for development in modern society. It will provoke people to transform their "two-pole thinking" into "multi-pole thinking'' and "whole-system thinking" that are closer to the intrinsic relationship of the systematic material world. It will also prevent people, as they often do, from getting into the subjective, one-sided and ossified way of cognizing the systematic material world. It will further reveal the organizable, systematized and integrated nature of the universal relationships of the systematic material world.

The category system of systems dialectics is a historical product of the development of human cognition. It signifies that human cognition of the objective world has developed to the level of systematic thinking. At present, this category system is still in the preliminary stage. It has just been framed and is far from perfect, but it is sure to be gradually enriched and perfected with the development of human social practice and scientific research.

Since much study has already been done on paired categories this book will mainly discuss non-paired categories, especially the categories in the form of category chains.


                                                      Section One

                                    THE CATEGORY OF EXISTENCE (LINKS)

I. System-Structure Element

Systems and elements make up the systematic material world, with structure as inter-connection, which is the intrinsic quality of and existence form of system. Without structural linking between system and elements there would be no system, and elements would not be proper elements. Without this connection the interrelation and interaction of system and element would not exist and thus would be unthinkable. So systems dialectics combines system -structure -element into a category chain, revealing that the systematic material world is an organic whole, and revealing its laws of system and such diversities of system as causality relation, coupling relation, level structure relation, function relation, origin relation, and so on. It also reveals the concrete process of motion and development of the material system. This category chain supplies modern science with important principles, and it enriches modern scientific methods. To grasp this category chain is of great significance both in theory and practice.

(i) Denotations of System , Structure and Element
(a) Denotation of System
System is the organic whole consisting of certain interlinking and interacting elements through the medium of structure. This definition implies that system consists of three aspects: element, structure and function, none of which may be omitted.

System is an organic whole. Entirety is the fundamental characteristic of the system.

In a system the systematic whole does not equal the sum of all the independent elements. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole can neither be deduced as the sum of the characteristics and functions of the elements making up the whole, nor can they be inferred from the concerned component elements. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole are things that do not exist in each independent component element. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole can only come into being when they exist as a whole. But, when the whole is decomposed into independent elements, the characteristics and ructions of the systematic whole will disappear. In the same way, the characteristics and functions of the systematic whole will not exist if both the whole and structure and elements and structure are decomposed into independent parts. The component element and the interlinking structure are only meaningful when they are in the systematic whole. When they are separated from the systematic whole they lose the sense of component element and structure. For example, life is a complex molecular system, and not just a simple sum of such chemical macromolecules as nucleic acid and protein. Only when the interaction of the genetic system relying on nucleic acid and metabolic systems based on protein takes place does the new relationship between information, transformation, control, adjustment and interlinking structure start within the multimolecular system, and the living characteristics such as metabolism, self-reproduction, growth, development, heredity and variation arise. When nucleic acid and protein leave this complete framework of life and exist independently from each other without the linking network structure they lose the effect and function of life as a whole. It is thus clear that system, element and structure are related to each other and to organic quality as a whole. When the elements and the whole are determined, the interlinking structure becomes the determining condition, only with whose existence can organizability of the whole be maintained.

(b) Denotation of Element
Element is the component unit making up a system. Element is the base and practical carrier of system. Separated from elements, the system would be sourceless water or a rootless tree. The component units of system have the characteristic of divisibility into different levels; the more complex a system is, the more levels its components have. In a given system the elements are independent of, extrinsic to and discrepant from each other; elements interrelate, interact and form a certain structure at a certain Irate. And the same element has different characteristics, posit ions and functions in different material systems.

In a system which can be divided into several sub-systems, elements are dualistic. The elements have, besides their own qualities, the positions and properties of the sub-systems.

(c) Denotation of Structure
Structure is the intermediate connections between system and elements, such as connection in causal structure, in level structure, in functional structure, in source structure, etc. Structure here no longer means the same as its original concept; it is the medium that a system uses to link elements. Its characteristics are as follows: In the category chain of system and elements structure is relationship and reaction. It is an objective and universal existence instead of being symmetrical; it always exists in the forms of matter, energy, information and many others.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship of the Category Chain of System--Structure--Element
(a) System and Element Are Interrelated and Interact Through Structure
System, element and structure rely on each other and take each other as conditions. There would be no elements or structure without the system, no system or structure without elements, and no system or elements without structure. There would be no method or passageway to relate them without the mutual reliance and reaction of the three. In the systematic material world, system--structure--elements always come into being together, develop together and die out together. None of them can do this independently.

When a system is in a condition of balance and stability the whole system is controlled by a structure which decides the positional order, quality and extent of the reaction. Also, it governs the characteristics and functions of each element and coordinates the proportions between all the elements.

What is more, the dependence of system on elements is possible only through the connection of system, under the condition of structural linking elements also determining the system. This means elements connect and interact through structure, and generally and dialectically decide the characteristics, functions and laws of system. The multi-sequence, multi-dimension, multi-level and non-linear relationship of all the structural connections of elements decide the diversity of function in the system as a whole.

(b) Through Structure System and Element Interchange in Given Conditions
The differences between the quality and position of system --structure--element are relative. They interchange in given conditions. On the one hand, when a system, through the interaction of structure and surrounding environment, forms a higher system in a given relationship the original system will be transformed into component elements of the higher system. On the other hand, the component elements of any system, through the interaction of structure, will also form a lower system in a given relationship. At this time, the elements themselves in the original system will change into a lower system. For example, when two atoms, through a given interaction, combine into a molecule then nucleus and electrons--the component elements of the atom--can further change into a new nucleus system and electron system in a given structure. It is only because of the change of position and quality of system--structure--element that the grades and levels are formed in nature.

The interchanging relationship of a complex system and its elements, with the reaction and connection of structure, is more complex. For example, the human body is subdivided into relatively independent specific units of function, such as the nervous system, the digestive system, the circulatory system, and the muscular system. They share the function of the living whole. This situation can be considered as the limited and partial transformation of a systematic whole function, through different human structures, into elements. It can also be considered as a subdivision of the whole function, through structure, into the function of elements. The structure in this situation is made up of energy and information supplied by the whole, so that the transformation can happen. And the transformation of the partial function of elements into the function of the systematic whole can only be realized through structural linkage. For example, disturbance or damage to the human internal system, through the connecting structure of nerves and brain, causes disorder and imbalance in the whole human biological function. The structure in this situation is causal structure. Partial function is transformed into the function of the systematic whole through this relationship.

(iii) Significance of the Category Chain of System--Structure--Element
The appearance of the category chain of system--structure --element is the product of a tortuous, long and complex cognition of history and modern science and technological development. Since the 1940s science and technology have tended to develop toward integrity. All the disciplines infiltrate each other, forming a united whole. General subjects such as the formed system have become the natural tendency for modern scientific cognition. Natural dialectics has abstracted the category pair of system and element, and systems dialectics has further abstracted the systematic category chain of system --structure--element. This is of great theoretical significance for enriching and developing Marxist philosophy, and of great practical significance in attempts to understand and remold the world.

(a) The Category Chain of Systems--Structure--Element Reflects and Deepens the Dialectical Materialist Principle of the Universal Relationship of Objects

Systems dialectics believes not only that the world is a material one; the material world is made up of systems; systems are made up of elemental units; and elemental units are connected with structure to become systems. It also interprets the way elements connect at different levels. Systems structure--element form the organic systems whole. This world outlook reflects and deepens the dialectical materialist principle of the universal relationship between objects.

Engels said, "The whole nature we are facing forms one setup, i.e. the whole of all kinds of interrelated objects" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, P. 5). About this, systems dialectics has the following comments: First, Engels has the same trend of systems thought, but it is not complete yet, not systematic. Second, "setup" means system, "all kinds of objects" means elements, "interrelated" is not explained in a specific way here. Third, Engels did not raise the scientific concepts of "system" and "element," or the ways and means of their linking, namely "structure." The category chain of system--structure--element is not clearly mentioned either. These subjects can only be taken up today. Therefore, it cannot be said that this is not the further development of the dialectical materialist principle of the universal relationship of objects.

This category chain deepens the viewpoints on relationship. Systems dialectics takes relationship as something to interact, to connect, through the structure of intermediary linkage between system and elements, elements and elements, between levels within a system, and system and external environment. This makes relationship a network and network structure, and makes the systems material world stereoscopic because the material world is a stereoscopic network structure after all.

(b) The Category Chain of System--Structure--Element Reflects an Important Principle of Modern Scientific Epistemology
System transforms the subject of cognition from "object-centered theory" to "system-centered theory," and develops the way of thinking from two-dimensional to three-dimensional or multi-dimensional thinking. This transformation symbolizes a reform of the cognitive structure. To some extent, it changes the principles on which people observe and understand the world; system--structure--element--structure--levels--structure--regressive system--structure--external environment...On the one hand, people start from a systems wholeness, through elements and levels, and return to a systems whole, which agrees with the principle of cognition of the systems world: that systems wholeness is both the start and the destination of people's understanding. On the other hand, structure turns its relationship and function into the real existence of system from emptiness, and so structure is the medium through which people know the objective world.

The systems world contains quite a number of items: the integrity, complexity and organic property of the system; the structural relationship and functions between system and elements, elements and element system and environment; the regularity of systems motion, change and development; and the optimization of systems structure, function and motion process. The world outlook of systems dialectics is able to make some principles of materialist dialectics quantified and precise, so that the theory of materialistic dialectics is upgraded to a higher stage of development--the systems dialectics stage. It can more effectively solve practical problems as well.

The category chain of system--structure--element supplies scientific understanding with interrelative principles and the principles of integrity, sequence, mobility and optimization. If we apply these principles in modern science and technology, and all the other areas, this is the scientific systems method.

(c) The Category Chain of System--Structure--Element Enriches and Deepens the Scientific Methods of Analysis and Synthesis

According to analysis and generalization, and their way of thinking, the logical conclusion is usually derived from the view that good partial functions will make a good whole function, and bad partial functions will make a bad whole function. In the complex systems material world, such a conclusion is usually not perfectly accurate.

The category chain of system--structure--element, in the way of methods, vests traditional analysis and generalization with new contents and meaning, enriches and deepens dialectical logical analysis to produce a generalization. It stresses starting with the whole, after the preliminary generalization of the whole structure and function, through the medium of structure, then analyzing the elements in a concrete way to set llp a necessary mold and them returning to the whole general-
ization. The way of thinking is as follows: Firstly, generalization is treated as both a starting point and a destination, and takes as purpose the thorough understanding of matter's complexity. It compares analysis and generalization through a medium, then connects them closely with each other. Analysis and generalization accompany each other on the basis of structure. What should be noticed is that the category chain of generalization-comparison-analysis is three-dimensional or multidimensional thinking instead of two-dimensional thinking, and it takes generalization as a guide in analysis, and not as postlude. In the same way, generalization is made through necessary analysis, but is not separated from analysis. Here, a comparison exists through all the processes of generalizing and analyzing. It is of greater significance to make a study of a complex system by the means of generalization--comparison--analysis.


                                       II. Structure--Fluctuation Function

Structure--fluctuation function form a category chain which is the intrinsic property of the systems material world, the nuclear category of systems dialectical categories.

(i) Denotations of Structure, Fluctuation and Function
(a) Denotation of Structure
Structure is the means of the interrelationships and the interactions of all component elements in the systems material world. It is the total sum of connections and interrelationships between elements. The means of interaction is the exact form of certain permutations and combinations of elements in space, and it is the form of concrete linkage and function between elements.

The systematic material world is always existing, moving and changing in a certain structural form. In the natural world matter and structure can never be separated. For non-living things, general star systems, star system clusters, star systems, stars, planets, macro objects, molecules, atoms, nuclei and elementary particles are all in structure. For living things, cells, organs, systems, individuals, colonies, etc., have structures of their own, too. For human society, science and technology, productive forces, relations of production, superstructures and others constitute the whole social structure, and industry, agriculture, commerce, communi cation, transportation and construction constitute the active economic structure. Also, family, factory, shop, school, association, party and class are all wholes with structures. Human ability also has structures, for example, observation, attention, comprehension, imagination, thinking and working ability constitute the structures of people's cognition and thinking. So structures are universal and objective in the systematic material world, and are in motion and change too.

Different structural forms of systematic elements give different materials having different properties and functions. When the concrete connecting forms between elements are different after fluctuation, the order, distance and position (direction) of elements are different in space, they produce different structural forms, and they make systematic matter with different properties and functions. Structure has three aspects: the kinds of elements taken into the structure, the number of elements in the composition, and the way elements combine and their degree of organization in structure. The three aspects of structure are the substantial basic elements of structure. The means of combination and the degree of organization are the substantial and nuclear elements of structure.

The way structures combine and their degree of organization rely on the structuring force. Structuring force has four basic interacting forces: gravitational force, electromagnetic force, strong force and weak force. This is the essential basis of structural existence. It makes all the elements in a structure interrelate and interact. Structuring force helps elements to adjust to each other, refine each other and coordinate with each other.

Since structuring force makes elements an organic system, it has entirety, hierarchy, centricity, sequence, stability and variability. Except for centricity, all these properties are explained in this book, therefore no further explanation is given here. The centricity of systematic structure means that when elements combine in a system they are seldom completely and evenly distributed in time and space, but always have differences in :density and complexity. At any stage of development elements may be denser and more complex, but at another stage of development they may be relatively sparse or simple. Where they are dense and complex this is structural core. Structural core exists universally. For example, the galaxy has its galactic core, the solar system has its solar core, the earth has its core, an atom has a nucleus, and to does a cell. tn addition, the brain is the core of the human body, and the capital or wherever the central government is located is Ihe political core of a state. The structural core is the nucleus which determines the whole structure. Therefore, the reform of the structural core must precede the reform of the structure. The key point in forming a new structure is the creation of a new structural core.

(b) Denotation of Function
Function is the behavior, ability and effect of the systematic material whole. There are two kinds of functions--external and internal functions.

External function is the action, ability, behavior and effect that the systematic material whole must have to suit and change the internal environment as it interacts with the external environment. It is the external expression of system in organizational structure.

Internal function is the reaction, ability, behavior and effect of the systematic whole on elements. For example, the internal function of the human brain is to coordinate the two hemispheres and all the other areas, and to store, process and arrange the obtained information.

The external function of the human brain is to control, adjust and restrict the organ to respond to external stimuli.

Function is the intrinsic generalization of the common properties of the systematic material world. Function, whether simple or complex, is varied and arranged in hierarchies.

(c) Denotation of Fluctuation
Fluctuation, in the category chain of structure--fluctuation--function, refers to the way that structure and function relate in a system. Systematic elemenlts, through the structuring force, combine elements to bring structure into existence. The mode of structure determines the function of structure. The appearance of function relies on the reaction and relationship of internal and external environments and systems, and the reactions and relationships are results of the fluctuation of the function of systematic structure; conversely, it is in fluctuation that the function of structure emerges. So, fluctuation is the method of interlinking of the interrelation and interaction between structure and function; it is objective reality and the effects of structure and function combined. Structure and function can, through fluctuation, connect each other, restrict each other and postulate each other (see figure). Fluctuation is the change of a structure's up and down movement and the function's increase and decrease. It can be seen clearly from the figure that structure postulates and guides function through fluctuation; function, in turn, affects and changes structure through fluctuation. During the development of the systematic material world structure and function, through fluctuation, form the structure which postulates function, which in turn changes the infinite motional order of structure.

(ii) Dialectical Relationship Between Structure--Fluctuation-Function
(a) Structure--Fluctuation--Function Interdepend and Inter-restrict
The interrelationship of structure and function through fluctuation is complex and various. There are three kinds of common relationships: First, same structure and same function. A systematic structure has its own corresponding function through fluctuation. The same structures function just the same in fluctuation. For example, urea, whether it is natural or synthetic, has the same structure, and after relating to agriculture, fluctuation arises and urea's function is carried out to help crops grow better. If urea does not relate to agriculture, and fluctuation does not arise, the function of urea cannot be carried out. Second, same structure but different function or one structure but many functions. The disappearance of a function from the structure does not mean that there exists pure structure without function. As a matter of fact, there still exist some other forms of function, and a structural system still has its function. The function of this structure again shows that fluctuation comes into being, develops and dies out together with structure and function. Third, different structure but same function. Different structures can have the same function. For example, a plastic bottle and a glass bottle are different in structure, but they both can, through relationship with fluctuation, show the function of being filled with oil, water or other liquids.

Structure and function restrict each other through fluctuation. On the one hand, structure determines function. The structure of a system will show its corresponding function. The stable structure of system stipulates and restricts the quality and level of system function; it also restricts the size and extent of system function. For example, in mechanics, if three sticks of the same kind are nailed together respectively in the shapes "N," "H" and "A, "their stabilities are quite different. This explains that it is with the effect of fluctuation that the structural function of sticks appears. On the other hand, functions are relatively independent of each other and counteract structure, which must, of course, be through the fluctuation of function and structure. Function is a relatively active element, and structure is relatively conservative. Function, under the effect of all external elements and fluctuations, keeps changing, which in turn influences structure. There are two kinds of effects that function has on structure: One is that functional optimization and evolution influence the orderly evolution of structure. For example, a cow chews a large quantity of plants. The long-term best "functional exercise" causes the growth of molars and the palate, and certain changes in its head structure. Another is that degeneration of function leads to the degeneration or disappearance of structure. For example, a tapeworm may be lodged in the cow's intestines, and has long been used to eating "ready food," so it does not have to take "functional exercise." So the structure of its digestive organs has disappeared, and the structure of its nervous system is also variated degeneratively, reactions that are both suitable So and different from each other. Structure controls the size, extent, quality and level of function, and function is variated under the effect of environment and then, in turn, affects structure. Function may cause changes of structure and even break the restraints of the original structure.

(b) Structure and Function Interchange in the Condition of Fluctuation
Structure and function are able to interchange in the condition of fluctuation. On the one hand, the category chain of structure--fluctuation--function is connected and is able to interchange. Structure itself can be a system, so a structural system has functions of its own. In the same way, function itself is able to form a system, and the functional system has a structure of its own. Structure contains function through system, and function, too, contains structure through system. On the other hand, the causal relationship of structure--fluctuation-function interchanges. Structural change causes functional change. Function changes,when structure does, and then old objects turn into new ones. Conversely, functional change causes structural change. Structure and function are cause and effect to each other. Functional change is caused by structural change. Conversely, functional change is the cause of structural change. This is a reversible, non-linear two-way process. The process of heredity and variation in the evolution of living things is a good example of structure and function being non-linearly causal to each other through fluctuation in given natural conditions.

(iii) Significance of the Category Chain of Structure--Fluctuation-Function
(a) The Structure Method is an Important and Universal Method to Cognize and Study the Laws of the Systems Material World

The structural method is the method of turning the theory of structural category into scientific cognitive method and scientific research method. Thistheory supplies both natural and social sciences with understanding and research methods. The category chain of structure fluctuation function promulgated by systems dialectics enriches and develops the structural method. When structure and function are studied the subject must be studied in fluctuation, which makes it of greater practical and theoretical significance.

The structural method may guide and help natural scientific research. This is significant in two aspects. First, the study of the internal structure of system means the study of the laws of system. The reason is that the internal law of system is a generalization and summary of the internal structure of system, which is expressed by the structure of system. The mastery of law and achievement of freedom are inevitably expressed in cognition of the internal structure of the systems material world. The category chain of structure--fluctuation--function is, in nature, the method of promulgating the internal law of system from the interacting ultimate cause. Second, the study of the structural form of system solves the problem of same structure but different elements. The problem of same structure but different elements is that, in certain situations, systems are similar in structural form, even though their contents are different. For example, spheroids of all kinds are called "globular." The study of structure reveals a relationship between the volume and the diameter of a spheroid. What has to be done is to work out the formula for spheroid volume, then the volume of any kind of spheroid can be worked out through the formula.

(b) The dialectical Relationship Between Structure, Fluctuation and Function Offers Important Principles and Methods for the Cognition and Remaking of the World.

Following the principle that structure determines function and function reflects structure and reacts to structure, it is possible to work out function from the known structure, or work out structure from the funcction of the known subject.

Following the principle of same structure and same function, human beings can make up synthetics that have the same structures and same functions as natural objects. In 1965, based on the fact that natural bovine insulin has the same structure as natural insulin, China synthesized bovine insulin for the first time in the world. The synthetic bovine insulin has the same biochemical energy as natural insulin.

The basic principle of the systems dialectical relationship of structure--fluctuation--function is to set up the theoretical base and instructive principle of the simulation of modern function. Using this principle, a new way was found to seek scientific design in the living world.

For example, a fly's eye is made up of over 4,000 small eyes with very high resolution. By simulating the function of a fly, a fly-eye type camera was made, of which the lens is made up of 1,329 small lenses. It can take 1,329 photographs at a time with the resolution of 4,000 lines per centimeter. This high-resolution camera has the same resolution as a fly's eye.

(c) The Systems Dialectical Relationship Between Structure, Fluctuation and Function Offers Principles and Methods for Changing Society

At present, social changes are taking place everywhere in the world. Social change actually takes place under the guidance of certain types of social thinking and values to create artificial social objects. The reformation of economic structure will eliminate an ineffective economic structure, and its function is to establish a more scientific economic structure that can stimulate the growth of the productive forces. The value of social change is to promote new functions in the reformed area. And the making of a new function has to start with reforming its structural core, that is, the government structure. For example, in order to fully raise a government department's guidance function, service function, synergism function, supervision function and control function, its setup or structure must be adjusted. Function can only be performed through setup, so function would lose its effectiveness without adjustment or reformation of the setup that hinders the function from being performed. It is clear now that the issue of structure and function is considered in the present social reform as the essential one.

The category chain of structure fluctuation function is extracted and distilled on the basis of present-day science and practice. It is a necessity of Marxist philosophical development.


                                           III. State--Process--Change

(i) Denotations of State, Process and Change
The systems material world can be divided into several levels. In systems there universally exists the phenomenon that the lower level may change in methods or forms while qualitative change does not take place at the higher level.

(a) Denotation of State
State is the condition the characterizing systematic matter is in. State is the existing way or form of expression of systematic matter in a certain period of time while the quality has not changed. The existing way or form of expression is a process.

The state of systematic matter and the systematic matter itself are different in quality. State can never exist without system, and any systematic matter is always in a certain state. State as a property of systematic matter is the existing way or form of expression of systematic matter. Systematic matter is categorized as a higher level, while state is categorized as a lower one. When systematic matter does not change in quality, the change of its state can only be a kind of quantitative change of the systematic matter. For example, an atom is at a higher level, and the state of the orbital energy level in an electron's transition is at a lower level. For atomic layers, the transition of the energy level state is a kind of quantitative change.

In the systematic material world, state is objectively universal and diverse. The appearance of a specific state has its quantitative and qualitative linnits and has a certain nodal extent. Within this certain nodal extent state may change to some degree, but this change is only a matter of quantity, not quality. For example, while the chemical property of the water molecule stays unchanged, under given pressure water may have one of three physical states--solid, liquid or gas. The three states all have their own tempera ture limits. When temperature changes within a certain limit the three states stay unchanged. In this period the temperature change of water is only a quantitative change as far as the physical state of the water is concerned.

(b) Denotation of Change
Change characterizes a certa in change of systematic matter at the state level. Change is actually the transformation or alternation of states. The transformation or alternation may take place between two states; it may also take place between multiple states. The change referred to here is different in quality from the property change of systematic matter. The property change of systematic matter is categorized as a higher level. Once this change takes place systematic matter will change into another type of systematic matter. Change is categorized as a lower level and is subordinate to the change of systematic matter. Change is a transitional form of systematic matter, i.e. physical change. For the material system to which the state is subordinate, change of state is quantitative change. For the changed state itself, change of state is qualitative change. While changing, the transformation from one qualitative state into another is just the replacement of an old state with a new one. For example, when the property of an atom is unchanged its electrons are transmited from one orbital energy level to another, the change taking place between the states of energy level. For atom layers this is a quantitative change not a qualitative one. However, as for the state of electron energy level, the transmission of electron energy level is the change of one state of energy level into another, so it is categorized as a qualitative change.

In the relationship between state, change and the systematic matter of a higher level, state transformation is a subordinate one. State is subordinate to systematic matter, and change is a special form subordinate to the change of systematic matter. When no qualitative change takes place in systematic matter of a higher level, then change of state is a quantitative change of the higher level. But change of state is a qualitative change for the state of the lower level.

(c) Denotation of Process
Process is two forms of state and change of a material system. The relationship of change between them may be taken as the interchange between one state and the other. As for the way of a material system's own existence, the original state can be regarded as a relatively stable one, and the process of change of one state into another is regarded as the medium of the two forms of state and transformation, regarded as dynamic state. The dynamic state of a changing process changes into a new and relatively stable state. The change of one state into another as a whole process consists of two stages, that is, the change from a relatively stable state into a dynamic state, and the change from a dynamic state into a stable state. If there is a sub-stable state in a dynamic state, the change from the stable state into the dynamic state is clearer.

In the North China mountains, where there are dark conifer forests, between poplar birches and conifers there is a hybrid state of poplar. This is a changing process or sub-stable state.

Any material system, while its property remains unchanged, can only express the stability of its state in a relative way, with the change element included. When the change element grows to a certain limit the material system changes into a new state from the old one. The series of changes expresses the process, which is the medium of state changes.

(ii) Dialectical Relationship Between State--Process --Change
State and change have different properties and characteristics. Systematic matter, checked at a given level and within a given extent, has a fixed limit for its state and change. But these two, in any given condition, rely on each other and interchange. They have what can be called integrity.

State and change interrelate. State is the basis and grounds for change. There would be no change without state; no change will take place when it is separated from state. Change is a kind of trend and expression of state. Without changes, state would not be able to exist at the same level in many relationships, such as causality. There is the inseparable relationship of process between state and change. In the final analysis they come from the relationship of system and motion at a higher level. The reason is that state is the means of existence or form of expression of systematic matter. And change is the means of existence or transformation and alternation of forms. State must undergo the changing process to change from the material system of the old state to the material system of the new one. So, from the fact that matter is inseparable from motion is derived the conclusion that state process--change are inseparable.

The situation in which change of state takes place is quite complicated. At the same level one state may change in many ways if this happens through different processes. Take a balanced state of chemical reaction, for example. When the concentration of reactants is increased the balanced state may move toward a positive reaction. Conversely, when the concentration of reactants is decreased the balanced state may move toward a regressive reaction. Changes of state are categorized into two types: accumulation and sudden change. In the former, one state changes into another through the accumulation of new qualitative elements and the gradual disappearance of old qualitative elements. In the latter, the old state changes quickly into a new state as soon as the condition for the change appears. Level transition between ecosystems in different stable states is an accumulation type of change. In certain conditions the sublimation of sulphur from solid to gas is a sudden type of change. But the opposite also takes place. A similar change may come about from a different state. In normal conditions solid iodine sublimates into gaseous iodine. In the same way, if conditions permit, liquid iodine can also evaporate into gaseous iodine. The interdependent relationship between state and change helps us to understand the state of material systems as well as change of state, and then state is determined. At the same time it also becomes clear that when the state of any systematic matter is transformed there needs to be a changing process. If the existence of a state-changing process is neglected it is impossible for a state to change.

State and change are locked into an interchanging process. Treated at the same level, the two may interchange in position and function. State, in certain situations, may be transformed into change. Conversely, the changing thing, under certain conditions or relationships, may also become state. Any state is the product of certain conditions and processes. The state at any given stage is both the destination of the past state of change and the start of change at the next stage. Changes take place in all states when the internal discrepancy and external conditions develop to a certain degree. State--change (motion state)--process--new state--process--new change (motion state), cycle and recycle, is the basic developmental process and trend of systematic matter's existing form of expression.


(iii) The Significance of the Category of State Process Change
The philosophically important significance of the category of state--process--change is that it enriches and develops the law of qualitative change and quantitative change, and supplements and perfects the principle of structural quantitative change.

The law of qualitative change and quantitative change reveals partial qualitative change in the process of total quantative change of objects at the same level, and it reveals the diversity and complexity in quantitative change of objects at the same level. These principles have important guiding significance for understanding the law of the change of process of material motion in the natural world. The categories of state and process further enrich and develop some of the principles of the law of qualitative change and quantitative change.

First, it further observes and studies, on the basis of the relationship between quantitative change and qualitative change in a system level, and the relation between quantitative change and qualitative change at bo th high and low levels. It also reveals that on two levels there are two forms of quantitative change and qualitative change taking place at the lower level under certain conditions, which take place under the condition that no qualitative change takes place in the material system at the higher level. There is a changing process in the transformation of the two forms.

Second, the two forms and processes of quantitative change and qualitative change at the lower level, in turn, reveal the complexity, and possible trends of quantitative change in systematic matter at the higher level, which reveals that quantitative change in human society and the natural world takes place in the non-linear way of multi-elements, instead of the simple increase or decrease of quantity.

Third, it reveals the diversity of quantitative and qualitative changes at the lower level, and the law of their relationship and the changing process.

The category of state--process--change also raises a new topic of the relationship between higher and lower levels from a perspective of the relation between matter and motion. For each,natural science it is not enough only to make a study of the concrete laws of motion, change and development at the main material levels related only to this topic, it is also necessary to study the law of the relationship between material levels, to study the law of motional change and development within the lower level when the interchange takes place at the higher level, to study the special laws of motion, change and development within the lower level under the guidance of the law of the higher level, and to study the special laws of lower-level motion forms under the control of the law of higher-level motion forms.

The category of state--process--change offers methodology to natural science in its further formalized research. So long as no property change takes place at the higher level of systematic matter, any process of motion and change at the lower level may be taken as a series of changes within a state. Because the expressive state of systematic matter is relatively stable any fixed existence of a state can make the state formalized, fixed in quantity and preciseness, allowing us to formulate the rules for characterizing a state. In the same way, since the change between two states is only a change in form, the property of the object itself does not change. So this change can also be formalized, allowing us to formulate the rules of change. The category of state--process--change is of important significance in guiding mankind in its understanding and practice. With the development of human cognition the description of the material system of state process--change and the description of the relationship of the material system of state--process--change will gradually become perfect. And as the category becomes more precise and richer day by day, human cognition of the objective world is continuously deepening and developing.


                                                       Section Two 

                           THE CATEGORY OF DEVELOPMENT

                                  I. Gradual Change--State Variance--Sudden Change

Gradual change and sudden change are very common phenomena in the motional change and transforming process of systematic matter. Generalizing these phenomena leads to the formation of the category chain of gradual change--state variance-sudden change.

(i) Basic Denotation of Gradual Change, State Variance and Sudden Change
Gradual change is the unnoticeable, slow process of change that is completed within a longer period of time. Its basic characteristic is that, compared with the sudden change process at the same systematic structural level, gradual change takes a longer span of time, develops at a slower speed, is smaller in amount, changes more weakly and is usually expressed as a continuously changing curve. Gradual change exists universally .in the motion of the material world. It is especially obvious in living things. The origin and development of life, most formations of species, the growth of the embryo and many others are all slow, gradual and continuous processes of change.

Sudden change is the obvious, rapid process of change that is completed in a short period of time. It is, at a certain material structural level, a drastic motion form that happens suddenly and rapidly. Its basic characteristic is that, compared with the gradual change process at the same level, a sudden change lasts a shorter span of time, is more rapid and severe in intensity, is greater in amount, and is generally expressed as an interruption. Volcanoes, earthquakes, explosions of supernova, severe collisions of objects, unusual explosions in the sun, floods, atomic fusion and fission are all exarlaples of this.

Gradual change and sudden change are two states of object development, as are quantitative change and qualitative change. Quantitative change is a gradual and unnoticeable change, i.e. gradual change. Qualitative change is the change of essential properties. It is the sudden change of an object from one form of quality to another. Quantitative change and qualitative change and gradual change and sudden change are the same. Their interchanges are the universal law of systematic
object development. The medium of interchange for quantitative change and qualitative change is the demarcation point. The medium of interchange of gradual change and sudden change is state variance.

The concept of state variance is a new denotation that systems dialectics gives to the category chain of gradual change --state variance--sudden change after it has absorbed the theory of sudden change, the latest theoretical achievement of modern times. Some systematic objects do not change (relatively speaking). Some change gradually, others change suddenly. Why is this? The theory of sudden change, after studying state variance, answers this question in a general way. Control of variance and state variance are two basic concepts in the theory of sudden change. Control variance is the continuous changing of elements as the cause of sudden change; state variance is the quantity that may cause sudden change. When control variance remains unchanged, state variance is in a stable state. When control variance changes, state variance changes with it, and it is usually in a gradual state of change; when control variance reaches a certain point the original stability in state variance disappears and sudden change takes place. For example, in the physical change of water, control variance is temperature and pressure. They change continuously all the time; state variance is the density of water. Under normal atmospheric conditions water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, and turns from liquid to gas. Under zero degrees Celsius water turns from a liquid to a solid--ice. This is a typical example of sudden change. R. Tom, the creator of the theory of sudden change, after exact inference, proved that when state variance is less than 2 and continuous change elements are less than 4 the variety of sudden changes in the world can be expressed in seven basic mathematical models. They are: multi-folded model, sharp-pointed model, swallowtail model, butterfly model, double-curve model, ellipseshaped model and parabola model. These models supply the further understanding of quality state change with a scientific foundation. Its sudden change mode shows that qualitative change can be realized by the sudden method as well as the gradual method. It also gives the demarcation point and condition for the realization models of the two qualitative changes. Therefore, a new method of examination is supplied to observe and study the sudden or gradual changes of a process. Under strictly controlled conditions, if the medium state of a qualitative change is not stable it will be a sudden process. If the medium state is stable it will be a process of gradual change. This explains that, in certain situations, a mere change of controlled conditions may turn a sudden process into a gradual one, and vice versa. This supplies a new method for correctly understanding, utilizing and reforming the objective world.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Within the Category Chain of Gradual Change--State Variance--Sudden Change
The transformation from gradual change to sudden change takes place when a system reaches an extreme state, which is
characterized by things developing in the opposite direction when they become extreme, so systems turn into opposites when they reach a peak. "The whiter a thing is the more easily it gets dirty, and the taller a thing is the more easily it falls." A seemingly perfect and stable system, through some random element and after some disturbance or fluctuation, may change all of a sudden, just like an avalanche. The transformation from sudden change to gradual change is different from that of gradual change to sudden change. The transformation from sudden change to gradual change often takes place after the sudden change takes place in a system and arrives at a new steady changing state by the stipulation of a new quality. When sudden change is completed in a system and severe change ends, a new change cycle starts. At this time tiny disturbances and fluctuations have no noticeable effect on the system.

Gradual change and sudden change in a system are opposite to and united with each other. Opposite means that gradual change and sudden change represent the difference of two qualities in systematic material motion forms either in space and time or in intensity and manner, and that they have their own different requirements. At the same level of the changing systems material structure sudden change is sudden change, and gradual change is gradual change. There is a strict limit between the two, so gradual change and sudden change are groups of opposite concepts.

But, besides being opposite to each other, gradual change and sudden change are also united. The unity is mainly expressed in the following three aspects:

First, just as the daily concepts of fast and slow, big and small, up and down are relative, gradual change and sudden change are also relative. Actually, it is not easy to identify the state of a certain quality in a systematic object, or to vary the absolute limit of the two different concepts. This is because the system always keeps continuity of its own, and there are always intermediate transitional links or intermediate levels between the objective contents reflected in all the different concepts. This is what is called medium. This is significant in that all the differences are relative. In the evolving process of the earth, sudden change is even more relative. For example, the Himalayas are still rising at a rate of 2 centimeters per year, which geologists think is a very severe orogeny. But, compared with the speed at which everyday objects move, it is obviously an extremely slow, gradual change. In the same way, an earthquake or an eruption of a volcano is a sudden change in a local area both in scale and in the amount of energy discharged. But as regards the earth as a whole, and as regards all the energy stored inside it, it is a very small, gradual change because one earthquake or volcanic eruption can cause no obvious change to the earth's total structure or all the energy inside it.

Gradual change and sudden change are relative and have no absolute limits either in space, time or speed, either in structure and form or in degree of energy change. The absolute property of gradual change and sudden change can only exist in relativity.

Second, gradual change and sudden change have a hierarchy. Their hierarchy is the evolution of structures that are formed by the change methods of different properties during the course of development of the system. For the change method of a con crete object, the closely related gradual form of change and sudden form of change will establish a level. For example, the sudden change in a gene, for a gene that has been stable for thousands of years, is a sudden change. The sudden change and the steady, slow and tiny change of gene form a level. At the same level sudden change and gradual change are both absolute. But, because of the positive sudden change of a gene, after a very long accumulation within natural selection, the old species gradually changes its quality to form a new species, reaching a second level. At this second level the first sudden change of a gene is only taken as a very tiny gradual change in the whole gradual process of change related to forming a new species. And it is the tiny sudden changes at the first level that form the long, gradual change process at the second level. That is to say, the gradual change at the second level is transformed from the sudden change at the first level, and contains the sudden change at the first level. At different levels, gradual change and sudden change do not display absolute division, but the two are relative. After the new species comes into being it is, for thousands of or even millions of years, in a slow, continuous gradual process of change that is not possible for human beings to notice. But, when the environment that some species inhabit changes severely, or when a species is in a position of inferiority in an existing struggle, or when a large-scale disaster happens on the earth, a species, or a large number of species will become extinct. Thus the gradual evolutionary process of some species is ended.

Global disasters may cause the extinction of many species or even cause a fault in the history of species evolution--temporary degeneration. The sudden change in the species, partial or large-scale extinction, is obviously a sudden change different from the genetic suddden change taking place in the evolutionary process. It is on the same level as the slow evolutionary process of a whole species. This kind of sudden change can be categorized as macro sudden change.

For the same reason, the above macro sudden change can be also taken as a gradual change on the second level. As far as the motion of matter on a higher level is concerned it is only a ripple in a gradual process of change. For example, no matter how large the scale of a sudden change that takes place on the earth, it is, for the solar system, for the galaxy, for the whole universe, only a ripple in its long evolutionary process, and can cause no qualitative change in the solar system, the galaxy or the whole universe.

It can be seen, from the levels of gradual change and sudden change, that the unity of the two is that the gradual change at the higher level (the level more advanced in order) encompasses sudden changes at the lower level. Sudden changes at the lower level make up the gradual change at the higher level. There is a distinct division between gradual change and sudden change at the same level, but there is no distinct division between gradual change and sudden change at different levels. There can be no gradual change at the higher level without sudden change at the lower level, and there can be no sudden change at the lower level without gradual change at the higher level. So it is a metaphysical point of view to regard gradual change and sudden change as being independent. Gradual change and sudden change not only interchange, they also depend on, infiltrate and unite with each other.

Third, the unity of gradual change and sudden change is also expressed in the interchange of the two. Under certain conditions gradual change can turn into sudden change, and vice versa. And also, because the interchange of gradual change and sudden change presupposes certain conditions, therefore in many situations gradual change does not necessarily turn into sudden change, nor does sudden change into gradual change. For example, the vaporization of sea water can be said to be a gradual process of change all the time, that is, vaporizing gradually. So far as we know, there is no kind of force on earth that can turn the vaporization of sea water into a sudden change. Another example, when a positive electron and a negative electron collide and are annihilated they are turned into two photons. This kind of change can not possibly come about as a result of gradual change. What is more, not all of the sudden changes are caused by gradual change. It is true that the sudden change caused by an accident does not have gradual process of change as its cause. For example, in everyday accidental events there is no gradual process of change beforehand as the direct cause of this sudden change. The interchange of gradual change and sudden change is intricate and complex; it is precisely this complexity that makes the diversity in the forms of system develop and change.

(iii) Significance of Gradual Change, State Variance and Sudden Change
The category of gradual change--state variance--sudden change is a new theory based on the theory of sudden change. It is applied in many areas, in the fields of both natural science and social science. Though there are, at present, many controversies about its applications in social science, it still has an attractive future. Some foreign scholars apply the theory of sudden change in the study of the collapse of a stock market and the outbreak of local war or hostilities, using the "cost of war" and "intimidation" to explain a country's choice between war and peace, using a prisoner's "nervous feeling" and "lone-liness'' to explain the outbreak of revolt or appearance of peace, and even using "economic benefit" and "population density" to explain the rise and decline of some ancient cities. Some people also use the theory of sudden change to study the human brain, city development models, and so on. In the matter of how to use this theory to control sudden changes in a society, the key is to master the "demarcation point" from quantitative change to qualitative change, that is, the "state variance" from gradual change to sudden change. This is a problem that sociologists worldwide are studying.

Scientific research into gradual change and sudden change shows that it is not sufficient to take gradual change as the basic theory or to take sudden change as the basic theory. Practice proves that the theory of gradual change and the theory of sudden change ("sudden change" can also be translated as "disaster change" or "drastic change") reflect respectively one aspect of an object's development and change, and both have rational elements. The theory of sudden change raised by--Tom is a product of combining the two. Though he continued to use the term "sudden change" used by Cuvier, his basic idea differs completely from Cuvier's theory of disaster change. He gives deep and complete theoretical explanations of all the complexities in the sudden change caused by gradual change. Some scholars call the creation of the theory of sudden change "another intelligent revolution," "a breakthrough in describing with the tool of delicate mathematics, complicated phenomena of living things and social science. So, it is of great significance to correctly cognize gradual change--state variance--sudden change, the process of expression and form of system motion, for further understanding the law of development and evolution of human society and the natural world.


                                     II. Equilibrium-Fixed Value--Disequilibrium

The various types of systematic matter in the universe are all in both a state of equilibrium and a state of disequilibrium, in which any systematic matter, its objective self, is in discrepancy with and in synergism with the motion of equilibrium and disequilibrium. It also goes through the development process and the motion cycle from equilibrium to disequilibrium and then to new equilibrium. There exists, everywhere in the universe, a systems dialectical relationship between equilibrium and disequilibrium, their interrelation and interchange.

(i) Denotations of Equilibrium, Fixed Value and Disequilibrium
Equilibrium fixed value--disequilibirum is the category showing the discrepancies and synergism of objects. There are different elements within all objects, and the elements always form a certain ratio and relationship among themselves. When the elements of a natural object arrive at and keep a certain fixed ratio, the elements will come into a relationship of synergism, harmony, identity, suitability and balance. At this time we say that the systematic matter is in a state of equilibrium. Conversely, if the elements of a natural object are not in fixed ratios and the elements are out of synergism, harmony, identity, suitability or balance we say that the systematic matter is in a state of disequilibrium. The important concept of "fixed value" between the interchanges of equilibrium and disequilibrium is the medium of the category. "Fixed value" is a general concept. According to the specific characteristics of an object, it can be described as "proportional quantity," "synergism promotion," "negative entropy," etc. For a specific equilibrium state, the relation of its synergism ratio is relatively unchanged rather than absolutely unchanged. The proportional quantity (fixed value) may change in various ways in relationship to the synergism ratio. Only if its ratio value remains unchanged is the material system still in equilibrium. So equilibrium can be a mobile equilibrium. The same principle exists in the disequilibrium state. There exist limitless multi-polar material system levels in the disequilibrium, among which each pole' s stable material system level is a general kind of system in a state of equilibrium. Any system with stable qualities is in disequilibrium.

But there exists a discrepancy and synergism process in any material system's self-motion, which follows a periodic cycle from equilibrium to disequilibrium and then to a new equilibrium. There is no single equilibrium process from beginning to end, nor is there a single disequilibrium process from beginning to end. For example, there is always the alternation of severe motion and relative standstill on earth. Individual motion tends toward equilibrium, but the whole motion breaks the individual equilibrium. It is in the alternation and cycle of equilibrium and disequilibrium that the earth has gone through the development history of palaeozoic era, mesozoic era and genozoic era. Life evolves from rudimentary level to advanced optimization.

Equilibrium states can be divided into three types:
The first type is contradistinction equilibrium. This type is the relative standstill of the different factors within the material system, which takes place in the state of counteraction, neutralization and equalization of the qualities of two opposites, or when the algebraic sum of all the factors is nil, keeping the ratio between all the factors generally ill a stable, balanced and equalized state, and the systematic matter in relative equilibrium. Contradistinction equilibrium call be expressed as either standstill equilibrium or dynamic equilibrium.

The second type is transformational equilibrium. In this type of equilibrium all the factors and aspects in a material system interchange with each other in certain conditions. This occurs when the ratio of all factors and aspects reaches a certain fixed value in quantity while interchanging, with the relationship between all factors and all aspects in a state of evenness, equilibrium or identity. At this time, the material system is ill the transforming equilibrium. This type of equilibrium includes, besides positive and negative aspects and positive and negative factors, many factors and various aspects, its characteristic is that the systematic matter's macro equilibrium only appears after the change takes place.

The third type is synergetic equilibrium. This type is the synergetic, harmonious and compatible relationship between all the factors and all the aspects at a certain ratio during the complicated interaction of different elements and all aspects in the systematic matter, and the interaction of system and environment. So the whole system comes into a stable state in the ordered structure. In synergetic equilibrium there are some factors of contradistinction equilibrium and transformation equilibrium, but it is different from either. Synergetic equilibrium exists more often in complicated and advanced motion forms.

Engels said, "In the living organism we see continual motion of all the smallest particles as well as of the larger organs, resulting in the continual equilibrium of the total organism during the normal period of life, which yet always remains in motion, the living unity of motion and equilibrium" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 224). The equilibrium inside the organism is the result of the motion of all the component parts inside the organism. The motions of these component parts are not counteracted or neutralized by each other. They are coordinated. harmonious and compatible with each other. The equilibrium in the organic whole is obtained in the synergetic motion of the relatively independent parts. For example, in a biotic system, such factors of living things as animal community, plant community and micro organism, and such factors of non-living things as earth, air. light and sound waves, temperature, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, wind, snow and electricity also interact and restrict each other in very complicated ways. They form an open system, and matter and energy can flow into and out of this system. Between them, transformational compensation and interchange continuously take place. When the input and output of energy and matter are equal and the matter stored in the system is relatively stable a certain ratio is kept among all the elements, and they coordinate and fit each other. A stable and ordered state appears between living things and the environment, and a coordinated and ordered state appears between the structure and function of the food chain, and relations of rational proportion and coordination in the communities of living species appear. The stable and ordered ecosystem is a synergetic equilibrium.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Equilibrium, Fixed Value and Disequilibrium
Equilibrium and Disequilibrium rely on each other, and condition each other's existence. The ratio of different elements within any systematic matter will not stay unchanged for ever. That is, when all the factors are kept in a certain ratio and are coordinated and identical in a state of equilibrium some factor is likely to increase or decrease in quantity and diverge somewhat from the former ratio. Then some changes in quality, quantity and sequence take place. This is disequilibrium ill equilibrium. For example, in a general ecosystem that is generally in equilibrium there are always disequilibrium factors, such as eruption of volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. This disequilibrium affects, in turn, the general equilibrium.

Conversely, when factors cannot keep within a certain ratio and break the synergism to put systematic matter into general disequilibrium, a small number of factors may form a temporarily coordinated relationship in a local area and, under certain conditions, may create a relatively temporary equilibrium in the local area. For example, in the general ecosystem of disequilibrium caused by a long drought there may be relative and temporary equilibrium in a local area as the result of a naturally adjusted climate due to luxuriant forests and artificial rainfall. Thus, in the development process of naturally systematic matter there certainly exists mutual dependence and the interaction of equilibrium and disequilibrium. There is no absolute equilibrium separated from disequilibrium, nor is there absolute disequilibrium separated from equilibrium. Tile equilibrium or disequilibrium of systematic matter can only be decided according to the ratio of all the factors in the dominant position. Because the system in equilibrium contains disequilibrium factors, and the system in disequilibrium contains equilibrium factors, equilibrium and disequilibrium may interchange. When a factor is added to or taken from the equilibrium system, or the strength and structure of a factor is changed to a certain value, the former coordinated and suitable ratio might be broken so that equilibrium changes into disequilibrium. Conversely, by changing the quantity and quality of one or several factors in a disequilibrium system, the former unbalanced ratio will be again changed into a synergetic ratio and change the former disequilibrium into equilibrium. For example, an excess of forest and grassland destruction may make the input of matter and energy unequal to the output, and the former synergetic and appropriate ratio between factors is broken. The serious consequences of this are the imbalance of climate, floods and droughts, soil erosion and desertification. And the balance of nature is turned into an imbalance of nature. Conversely, if forests and grasslands are exploited and made use of scientifically, the existing forests and grasslands are protected actively and the new ones are developed actively, the new coordinated ratio can be set up on a new foundation. Thus disequilibrium is changed into equilibrium. In the dialectical relation of equilibrium and disequilibrium the most important aspect is that they are in both relative and absolute systems dialectical relationships. Engels said, "All rest, all equilibrium, is only relative, only has meaning in relation to one or other definite forms of motion" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 99). Again, "All equilibrium is only relative and temporary" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 224). Their main expressions are: equilibrium conies from transformation in certain conditions, and always exists in correspondance with disequilibrium, so it has resemblance, similarity, and incompletion; equilibrium is the partial and special expression of disequilibrium. Relative rest is a special state of motion: equilibrium requires certain conditions and any equilibrium must be set up within certain conditions. For example, the equilibrium of thermodynamics can only appear in critical conditions of temperature and pressure. When these conditions disappear, the equilibrium of the system is broken, and the system is transformed from equilibrium to disequilibrium.

In the modern history of philosophy, the theory of absolute equilibrium turns up now and then. For example, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Eugen Duhring and others took the law of balance in mechanics as absolute, and insisted that balance is the natural state, while disequilibrium motion is only a temporary, abnormal state, in biology, some people still maintain the theory of mechanical balance, and deny the steady and orderly dynamic equilibrium and coordinated equilibrium that exist in the synergetic evolution of living things and the environment. Therefore, while studying the relationship between equilibrium and disequilibrium the theory of absolute equilibrium and the theory of absolute disequilibrium should also be disputed, for they sever the dialectical relationship of the two.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Equilibrium --Fixed Value--Disequilibrium
The law of the cyclical development of equilibrium disequilibrium-new equilibrium provides man with the objective basis for cognizing and reforming the world. That the factors' ratio is synergetic and identical within any systematic matter is always temporary and relative, as there always exist disequilibrium factors. When the strength and quality of disequilibrium factors in a system change to a certain extent, or a factor is added or subtracted, the former synergetic and identical ratio relation is sure to be broken, the original equilibrium is destroyed and disequilibrium appears. Disequilibrium propels the systematic matter to develop further, and all the factors can attain new unity and synergism under new conditions and enter a new state of equilibrium. This shows that equilibriunl and disequilibrium are inevitable stages and important link in systematic matter development. Equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium is a universal law of systems motion and development. The equilibrium and disequilibrium appearing in the development of objective things are generally dualistic. They both can either promote and accelerate the system or destroy and retard it. Therefore, we should not make subjective and random judgment about what is good, what is bad, what is active or what is passive. The concrete situation must be taken into consideration in objectively analyzing and scientifically expounding on a system, so that an effective method and measure can be attained.

The law of dynamic equilibrium supplies man with important tools for comprehending and changing the world. People use different methods in dealing with equilibrium: One is to continue to maintain the quantity and proportional relationship of the former elements, structure and levels both within and outside the equilibrium system, so that the equilibrium will be still in the old equilibrium state; another is to change the quantity and proportional relationship of the elements, structure and levels, and certain conditions both within and outside the equilibrium system, so that the old equilibrium state is transformed into a new one. The change of an equilibrium system may take place in different directions: one enhances the quality and proportional quantity, relationship and conditions of all the factors both within and outside the system, so as to establish a more advanced or active equilibrium; another decreases the quality and proportional quantity, relationship and condition of all the factors both within and outside the system, so as to establish a lower-grade or passive equilibrium. But no matter which method or which direction is taken, it should be taken as the norm both to follow the objective laws and benefit mankind. Take the production of synthetic ammonia for example. At ordinary pressure, the equilibrium constant is small, so the output is small. As the pressure is raised, the equilibrium constant grows larger, as does the output of ammonia. At a certain temperature and pressure, different proportions of nitrogen and hydrogen affect the amount of output. When nN2: mH2 = 1:3 the equilibrium constant is large, and the output of ammonia is the largest. The output is small without a catalyzer, but is greatly raised with a ferrous catalyzer and at the temperature of 500 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the above laws of chemical dynamic equilibrium can be converted into scientific methods, and the various conditions and factors can be generalized so as to establish a dynamic equilibrium of the whole optimization while making efforts to save labor, materials and time, in order to attain the best material products, and to achieve the lofty human goal of' understanding and changing the world. Synergetic evolution is an important principle for mankind in its attempts to understand and change the world. In any equilibrium state beneficial to mankind the ratio of its internal factors is always suitable and proper. But it should also be noticed that the propositional relationship of synergism, harmony and suitability is not absolutely unchanged or solitary, it is changeable and multiple, in order to understand and master the equilibrium beneficial to mankind we should follow the above principles, pay attention to the important proportional relationship at each stage of material motion, control conscientiously the proper increase and decrease of all the factors in quantity, and keep the synergetic, harmonious and suitable proportional relations unchanged and strengthened between all the factors, so that the systematic whole may develop in the direction of becoming more and more beneficial to mankind.

In this century, with the development of science, especially with the development of the theory of disequilibrium of self-organization, people's understanding went from equilibrium state to near-equilibrium state and then further to farequilibrium state. Prigogine's theory of dissipative structure reveals the process of development of system from equilibrium state to near-equilibrium state and then further to far-equilibrium state. Hu Chuanji, a Chinese economic researcher, using this theory, put forward the economics of the disequilibrium system. This economics of the disequilibrium states that the national economic system is an enornlous "dissipative-structure economic" system. On the one hand it needs all kinds of raw materials and energy to be continuously supplied by the outside world; on the other it needs to export all kinds of products. In this way, both the inside and outside can form a convection of matter, energy and information, and the whole national economy can become alive and remain in a state of order and stability. In order to attain this state, an "inward open system" and an "outward open system" should be gradually established in the whole national economic system, and the two should be combined to form a "living," vital, two-way recycling "dissipative-structure economic system." The economics of disequilibrium also proposes a kind of coordinate "synergism-promoting force" among the elements within the national economic system. When tile "synergism-promoting force" is positive it stimulates the degree of synergism of all the elements within the system to increase, and to assist the formation and development of the "dissipative-structural economy." When the "synergism-promoting force" is negative it decreases the degree of synergism of all the elements within the system, or even destroys the synergism function, and causes disorder in the whole economic system. In the national economic system there is the motion of people besides the motion of objects. At the same time, the motion of people goes in the direction of, at the speed of, and ill the manner decreed by its own laws. Disequilibrium systematic economics has not attained the status of a complete theory, but if we can grasp this theory and perfect it gradually it can be of great theoretical and practical significance in promoting tile development of the national economy.


                                     III. Attraction-Energy-Repulsion

(i) The Denotations of Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
Attraction--energy--repulsion is all old philosophical category. In both the Chinese and foreign histories of philosophy, the question o1' attraction and repulsion was raised a long time ago. Many ancient Greek materialists believed that all the things on earth are made up of certain fundamental substances (water, fire, air, etc.), and all things can be reduced to some fundamental substances through "separation." Liu Zongyuan, a Tang Dynasty (618-907) philosopher, said, "Heaven and earth are boundless. Yin and yang (feminine and masculine, or negative and positive, the two opposing principles in nature) are infinite. In these, infinity and boundlessness are interlocked, either joining or separating, inhali-ng or exhaling, recycling and dominating" (Liu Zongyuan, Selected Works of Liu Hedong, pp. 748-749). "Joining" and "separating, ""inhaling" and "exhaling" are all the specific expressions of attraction and repulsion. So it is clear that attraction and repulsion are a very old category of two opposite factors.

In the modern history of philosophy there are also many people who studied attraction and repulsion. Immanuel Kant employed the interaction of attraction and repulsion to explain his nebular hypothesis. He thougtht that nebulae developed in the solar system by the force of attraction and repulsion. He said of attraction and repulsion: "The two forces are the same in reality, the same in simplicity, They are also elementary and universal in the same way." (Kant, Introduction to the Development of the Universe, pp. 24-25).

In the history of philosophy it was Hegel who made a systematic study of the categories of attraction and repulsion. He thought, "Repulsion is the self-differentiating of the one, at first into many," "In attraction ... the many ones turn into one." (Hegel, The Science of Logic, pp. 177-178) He also said, "The essence of matter is attraction and repulsion, the two are the unity of opposites and interchange under certain conditions." (Hegel, Small Logic, pp. 213-217). But restricted by the stage of development of science at that time, it was impossible for him to supply enough scientific evidence for the old two-pole opposites of attraction and repulsion. Generally speaking, it was still at the stage of thinking, guessing and supposition.

Since the 19th century natural science has developed greatly. Engels generalized and summarized the achievements of natural science, and in the chapter "Basic Forms of Motion" and the related notes in Dialectics of Natttre, Engels expounded on the dialectical relationship between attraction and repulsion, turning the old two-pole opposites of attraction and repulsion into an important category in the dialectics of nature. He concluded that the basic forms of motion in the non-living world are attraction and repulsion. Engels also emphasized that attraction and repulsion should not be thought of as "attraction force" and "repulsion force," but should be taken as simple forms of motion.

The development of modern science not only proves that the category of attraction and repulsion is the elementary form of motion in the inorganic world, but also further proves that it is a form of material motion in the organic world. This is a point that Engels did not raise then because there was no molecular biology at that time, and this was a limitation of the times. Today, with the development of science, molecular biology has fully proved that the elementary properties of life are assimilation and dissimilation, heredity and variation and metabolism and self-reproduction. A living body is actually a complicated open-system. During the course of metabolism the system will continuously exchange substances, energy and information, so as to adjust itself and the relationship between the environment and itself. A living body takes in substances from the environment and turns them into part of itself. This is the process of assimilation. Assimilation is just the expression of attraction; at the same time, it continuously decomposes its own substances, and discharges its waste into the environment. This is the process of dissimilation. Dissimilation is just the expression of repulsion. So it can be said that assimilation and dissimilation of a biotic body is a more advanced form of attraction and repulsion.

The assimilation and dissimilation process of a living body is carried out with the help of enzymes and through a series of biochemical reactions. That is, it is carried out through a series of complicated reactions of combination and decomposition. And the combination and decomposition are the specific expressions of attraction and repulsion in chemical reactions. As for heredity and variation, modern genetics has revealed that heredity and variation take place on the basis of a chromosome pair's separation and recoupling, and on the basis of the DNA doublechain's separation and sell-reproductive recoupling. In the process, the separation of chromosome pairs and of the DNA double-chain is a repulsive motion, and the recoupling of chromosome pairs following separation and the respective self-reproductive re-coupling of the DNA double-chain following separation is a motion of attraction. Thus, heredity and variation are also carried out on the basis of attraction and repulsion. The category of attraction and repulsion, as a category of systems dialectics, is of still wider significance. It not only contains the basic forms of systematic material motion at all the levels in the natural world, organic and inorganic alike, but also matches the systematic material motion in all areas in human society. So, in a generalized way, attraction is the motion trend and tendency while systems associate; repulsion is the motion trend and tendency while systematic objects vary and separate. Both attraction and repulsion take place with the help of energy. So while studying the motion of attraction and repulsion, attention should also be paid to the medium--energy, which causes their interaction. As mentioned above, the assimilation and dissimilation process of a living body takes place with the help of enzymes. Undoubtedly, "enzymes" are the medium of interaction of assimilation and dissimilation. There would be no attraction and repulsion motion without the help of the medium. In research into attraction and repulsion, special attention to the study of amount and hierarchy of energy will help people to grasp the strength of diversity between attraction and repulsion, to grasp the systems dialectical relationship between attraction and repulsion.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
Attraction and repulsion premise and interact with each other. The motion of matter is the entirety of attraction and repulsion. In this entirety, attraction and repulsion premise each other, and neither can be dispensed with. There would be no separation of objects without their first approaching. There would be no decomposition without combination, and no fission without fusion. There would be no DNA self-reproduction and recoupling without DNA double-chain separation. Without peace in human society war would not be known. The attraction and repulsion in all the systems material motions premise each other. The attraction and repulsion not only premise each other, but also interact with and supplement each other. They exist coordinately in discrepancy. Engels said, "Where there is attraction, it must be complemented by repulsion'' (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 222). And vice versa. The reason is that only the interaction of attraction and repulsion can cause motion, otherwise motion would cease. For example, planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits. This is the result of the .joint action of attraction and repulsion. Without attraction, planets would fly away from the sun; without repulsion, they would fall into the sun. Only the relatively balanced state between them can keep the solar system in motion. So Engels said, "The motion of the heavenly bodies is due to 'the approximate equilibrium .of attraction and repulsion in motion" (Ibid., p. 225) Marx also once said, "When an object both keeps falling onto and keeps getting away from another object, it is a contradiction. And ellipse is one of the motion forms in which the contradiction gets started and solved. The contradiction here is not the simple unity of opposites, but the discrepancy and synergism of multifactors."

Attraction and repulsion can interchange under certain conditions. Modern astronomy reveals that the evolution of a star usually goes through such stages as the gravity contraction stage, the main-sequence star stage, the red giant stage and the compact star stage. At the gravity contraction stage the star keeps contracting due to self-attraction. At this stage the evolution of the star is in a contraction process, that is, at the attraction-dominating stage. With the self-contraction of the star large amounts of gravitational potential energy are transformed into thermal energy, and the temperature of the star gets higher and higher. When the temperature within the star gets to seven million degrees Celsius in the center of the star it starts a process of thermonuclear reaction in which fusion takes place, first from two hydrogen nuclei into one deuteron, and then into helium nuclei. The thermonuclear reaction gives off large amounts of thermal radiation. When the thermonuclear reaction develops to a given extent the force of repulsion that is caused by the thermal radiation given off by the reaction offsets its own force of attraction, and t hen the star no longer contracts but stays in a relatively balanced stage of attraction and repulsion. This is the main-sequence star stage in star evolution. After a star has reached the stage of a main-sequence star, with the development of evolution, the hydrogen nuclei in the center are gradually consumed, so the reaction which transforms hydrogen into helium moves away from the center to the outer part. At this time the temperature keeps going up within the star. When the internal temperature gets to 100 million degrees Celsius in the center of the star it starts a new thermonuclear reaction in which a fusion takes place from helium into beryllium, carbon and others. Then the star gives off even greater thermal radiation and produces still greater repulsive force. When the repulsive force becomes greater than the attractive force the star expands rapidly, until the evolution of the star reaches the stage of red giant. At this moment, as judged from the discrepancy of contraction amd expansion the evolution of the star is at the expansion-dominating stage or repulsion-dominating stage. At the red giant stage the star's internal energy is gradually consumed. When the energy of the red giant is getting close to the end its internal force of repulsion is overwhelmed by the force of attraction, then the star gets to the stage of contraction again, which is the attraction-dominating stage of a compact star. For a state of specific substance or specific environment, attraction or repulsion may be dominant one over the other, but "All attractions and all repulsions in the universe must mutually balance one another." "The sum of all attractions in the universe is equal to the sum of all repulsions" (Ibid., p. 55D. In the universe the principle of the conservation of the balanced motion of total attraction and repulsion resembles the law of the conservation of energy. Here, energy is the measurement of motion of matter and is very closely related to attraction and repulsion. So. as above, energy is the intermedium of attraction and repulsion. Energy, the natural science term, can be borrowed to describe the category of attraction and repulsion. The practical expression is attraction--energy--repulsion.

Attraction and repulsion have diversity and entirety in their forms. Modern natural science reveals fundamentally four interactions of attraction and repulsion. They are strong interaction, weak interaction electromagnetic interaction and gravitational interaction. Among these four kinds of interactions, both sides of attraction and repulsion of strong and weak interactions are approximately symmetrical, and those of electrical and magnetical interactions are symmetrical, too. But, up to now, no magnetic monopole has been found, so there is some symmetrical breakage to a certain extent. And in the interaction of gravitational forces there is only universal gravitation, but no universal repulsion, which is a severe breakage in symmetry. There is a very fundamental reason for the fact that the symmetry of attraction and repulsion in strong and weak interactions goes through a symmetrical breakage of some kind in the attraction and repulsion of electromagnetic interaction, to the severe breakage of symmetry in the attraction and repulsion of gravitational interaction. So we know that the universe is a structure of symmetrical breakage, which is the final cause and elementary motive of evolution. The category of attraction and repulsion is clearly defined from the philosophical point of view. The two must not be taken as an equivalent to a form of interaction: neither can they be simplified as a kind of "force." Attraction and repulsion are dialectic and inseparable, and at the same time they are variable and coordinates in discrepancy.

(iii) The Significance of Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
The category of attraction and repulsion further replenishes the law of discrepancy and synergism from the development of systems outlook and world outlook. Much has been previously explained about the discrepancy and synergism of attraction and repulsion. The expression of the interchange of quality and quantity in the process of the transformation of attraction and repulsion is a process of one side's increase and the other side's decrease. When the increase and decrease attain a given level, i.e. a linking point, transformation takes place in attraction and repulsion. And the transformation of attraction and repulsion is sure to cause a level-transforming process of attraction--repulsion--attraction or repulsion--attraction repulsion. This offers an important foundation for the general laws for revealing the motion of matter in the universe as a whole.

The category of attraction and repulsion further deepens the general principles of dialectical materialism from the relationship of the conservation of motion. It is of important methodological significance to correctly understand attraction and repulsion and their dialectical transformation, and to master their diversity and entirety. Once again, a star can be taken as an example. The theory of celestial evolution postulates that when all the nuclear fuel burns up gravitation contraction will play a dominant role. When the mass of a star is less than 1.3 times that of the sun it will become a white dwarf. When its mass is between 1.3 and three times that of the sun it will become a neutron star. When its mass is larger than three times that of the sun it will evolve into a "black hole." It was believed that a "black hole" was a celestial body that had only attraction but no repulsion, and it seemed like a bottomless cave that only sucked in but never ejected. But in recent years many astronomers and physicists have come to believe that a black hole is not a celestial body having only attraction but no repulsion. Due to quantum mechanics and other reasons it can also continuously radiate particles, i.e. it also has repulsion. Someone called this phenomenon the "self-vaporization" of a black hole. Scientists say that the smaller the mass of a black hole, the faster it radiates particles. They also think that there are black holes in the universe that have the same amount of mass as the sun. Though these black holes "self-vaporize" at faster speeds than those that are three times greater than the sun in mass, the speed is still very slow, and it takes them 1066 years to vaporize completely. But a "proto-black hole," with a mass of only 100 million tons, vaporizes quite rapidly, and it can "vaporize" completely within 10.23 seconds. Actually, this kind of black hole is no longer called a black hole, but turns into a "white hole" that keeps radiating substances. So we say that black holes and ,white holes are two extreme expressions of attraction and repulsion. And the two are interlinked. This shows that attraction and repulsion have both the diversity and synergism of multi-discrepancy.


                                                    Section Three

                                           THE CATEGORY OF PROCESS

                                   I. Order--Degree of Orderliness--Disorder

Order-degree of orderliness--disorder is a category chain to describe the relationship between objective matter and the internal elements of objects.

(i) Denotations of Order, Degree of Orderliness and Disorder
The category of order indicates the order property of structure and the order property of motion. The order of structure means that a material system presents itself regularly in a certain fixed structure of proper sequence, and the order of motion means that each unit of a system stays in a fixed regular state of motion. Disorder means that the structure of a material system and the structure of a motion state are not fixed or regular. In short, the order property of a material system is the determining degree at which the amount of each unit's properties, namely, structure property and motion property in a system choose value by certain laws and in certain directions. If all the chosen values of all the units can be determined by given laws or in vectors the ideal order is revealed. On the other hand, if the fixed value is not properly determined that is the worst order. Between the two, the higher the determining degree of the chosen value is, the higher the degree of the other property. For example, in a library all the books are placed regularly in fixed positions, which is called the best order. If readers place the books irregularly, the order property is reduced. The higher the determining degree of the irregularity, the worse the disorder is. Another example: In group callisthenics, if everyone performs the determined actions in a fixed routine it is the best order; if everyone moves as he wishes, the order property is reduced, and the more arbitrary it becomes the worse the order is.

From the above we know that there are two aspects of quantity and quality in order and disorder. The determining degree of a property's chosen value decides what kind of property the order property quantity is. That is, if the state determined by the chosen value is regular and is in a determined direction (or position) it is the quality aspect of the order property. Order and disorder are two comparative aspects and they are relative. Any object or process is a dialectical unity of order and disorder in different degrees. The different degrees of unity form a certain sequence of an object or state, which is called "ordered degree" or "degree of order." "Degree of order" is the general term for degrees of order and disorder. In different disciplines different measures are used to measure the order or the degree of order of their subjects. For example, in thermodynamics, "entropy, "a physical measure, is often used to express the degree of disorder in a material system, and negative entropy is used to express the degree of order. The theory of phase transformation and the theory of synergism use order parameters. And the theories of systems, informatics and cybernetics use the amount of information to measure the sequences in a system. In a system the greater the entropy the lower the degree of order, and the greater the amount of order parameter information the higher the degree of order. In the area of society, fixed amount or semi-fixed amount are used to try to describe the order of society. For example, the rate of increase of the economy, the average national income per capita, population growth, employment rate, vegetation rate, crime rate and other indices are often used to describe the state of a social system degree of order.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Within the Category Chain of Order, Degree of Orderliness and Disorder
Order and disorder are relative. No system can be in absolute order or in absolute disorder. In a system of order there are always factors which destroy its regular permutation or motion of order, such as fluctuation, disturbance, undulation, noise and displacement. For example, the micro-structure permutation of metal is very regular, but there is misplacement; the phase, frequency and direction of lasers are all in good order, but there are some other scattered rays in other directions; the original magnet permutation of ferromagnetics is in good order, but is not all identical. If its directions are all the same the macro-magnetic strength is four degrees of magnitude greater than that of ordinary ferromagnetics. The third law of thermodynamics tells that absolute zero degree is impossible to attain. That means the entropy of a system cannot be zero--a system cannot have absolute order. In the same way, no system of absolute disorder exists. For example, macrocosmically, a certain regularity and sequence can be seen in the thermal motion of atoms and molecules, such as the temperature and pressure of gas. To simplify, just like long and short or heavy and light, order is something relative to disorder, and disorder is something relative to order. For example, a piece of natural crystal, compared with a sculptured crystal handicraft, is in relative disorder, but compared with fragments of broken crystal it is in relative order. The systematic matter concerned in the discussion of order and disorder is actually not a single system but a large number of systems under the same conditions (i.e. order cluster). A single system or independent element, at its corresponding level, is not affected by order or disorder. The comparison of order and disorder can be done not only among systematic matter of the same kind, but also in systematic matter of different kinds. In this instance the amount of entropy is the measuring standard. That is putting aside the difference of contents of order property and extracting the quantitative property of order property for comparison. Because the value of systematic entropy changes with the angle from which the study is made, the comparison itself is somewhat relative.

Order and disorder can interchange under certain conditions. The two are more connected than separated. For example, the scattered, disordered nebulae may change into a solar system of order; disordered natural light may change into a laser. These are the transformation process of order and disorder. In practical systematic matters the transformation of state may be carried out either from order to disorder or from disorder to order, accompanied by an energy exchange of matter with the outside world. For example, a heat engine transforms the thermal motion of relative disorder into a mechanical movement of relative order. There are a large number of examples of disorder developing into order in the production system in which human beings participate.

The order and disorder of a system are of various kinds. If divided according to time and space, there are the order of space and the order of time and space, which are called the order of structure. They are the symbols of regularity and order of systematic structure. Corresponding to the order of structure, a system has the order of function. No system functions in chaos, but with a certain order and regularity. "This is the function order of the system. People's diets should be adjusted according to time and season; left and right legs should take turns to move while walking; going upstairs should be floor by floor; while operating computers, the first and last codes should be put in according to the program. No result or only a wrong result will be achieved if the program is violated.

The category of order and disorder has some internal relationships with such philosophical categories as regularity, causality, chance and necessity. When motion and change of system are in the state of order it is easy to see the causal relationship. But, in the structure of disorder and in developing and transforming series of disorder it is difficult to grasp the causality chain.

In this situation the only tool that can be used is average statistics, namely, exploring the law of statistics from the overall necessity. Law is the internal and intrinsic linking, of a system. This linking is somewhat in order. So it can be said that it is only with order that there is regularity. And it is very difficult to find regularity in a completely chaotic system or state. Order and symmetry also have internal relations. The chaotic state of complete disorder (or highest order) has the most symmetry. With time increase of order accompanied by the breakage of symmetry, a variety of structures and states is formed, and rich and colorful natural phenomena appear. For example, in the disordered phase of an alloy the seats of two kinds of atoms are of the same value and symmetry; but in the phase of order the symmetry is lost. Because the symmetry of the order phase is always lower than that of disorder, accompanying the phase change there is the breakage of symmetry. So the scale of symmetry is usually taken as the measure of degree of order.

There are many required conditions in the category of order and disorder. We should master the dialectical relationship between the two, as well as these conditions, so that the category is better employed in the objective practice of understanding and changing the world.

(iii) The Significance of the Categories of Order Degree of Orderliness--Disorder
The history of the development of both the natural world and human society is the history of evolution and development from order to disorder and from disorder to order. Any systematic matter, whether a celestial body or the earth, non-living thing or living thing, undergoes the process of coming into being, developing and dying out. Coming into being and developing is a process from disorder to order. Dying out and declining is a process from order to disorder. As mentioned above, elementary particles of disorder form the atoms and molecules of order; the nebula of disorder forms the galaxy and the solar system of order. During the course of the earth's cooling down, mountains and valleys, rivers and seas of order were formed from chaos. All the processes from microorganisms to fishes, to reptiles, to apes, to man are developments from disorder to order. But the dying process of an individual living thing, the extinction of some species in the evolution of living things, the weathering of rocks, soil erosion, and even the dying process of the solar system and other stars are processes from order to disorder. But the two kinds of processes cannot actually be separated. At the same time, in the same subject, there are both growing and developing factors and dying factors. The two kinds of factors, as two sides of discrepancy, contradict each other, change into each other and coordinate with each other. This is of great significance in our study of the evolution of the natural world and the development of human society.

The study of order and disorder and their dialectical transformation is of great theoretical and practical significance. Before the 1960s