Dong Zhongshu's notion of "resonance or mutual consistency between Heaven and humans" (tian ren xiangfu) represents a rational structure including three levels, namely "humans corresponding to the numerical regularities of Heaven" (ren fu tian shu), "things of the same kind activating one another" (tonglei xiang dong), and "resonance between Heaven and humans" (tian ren ganying). The first one, "humans corresponding to the numerical regularities of Heaven", is the very core of the "mutual consistency between Heaven and humans"; basically, it means that "in what may be numbered, there is numerical correspondence. In what may not be numbered, there is categorical correspondence." The second one, "things of the same kind activating one another", is a further proof of the "mutual consistency between Heaven and humans"; not only does it sublimate empirical knowledge into general laws, but also eliminates the mysterious nature of this law. The third one, "resonance between Heaven and humans", argues on the basis of the former two levels that the "resonance between Heaven and humans" does not correspond to some sort of divine intention. The most fundamental connotation of the "mutual consistency between Heaven and humans" is nothing less than that the emperor, in correspondence with Heaven, should seek to achieve order in the world and eventually to become a sage.