by Guan Zi
The concept of a “Genuine Person” is analogous to the common understanding of a “real man,” though with some more specific qualifications. While the terms Genuine Person (also translated as “True Man”) and ‘real man’ both suggest courage and confidence, the Genuine Person is courageous without being violent, courageously themselves yet respectful of others, self-expressive but peaceful, self-assured yet humble, natural and spontaneous but not inappropriate. It is because they hold to the level and smooth path of Dao that they can move in any direction without going off course. [202] It also goes without saying that the Genuine Person need not be male, but simply genuine.
To fully understand the implications of the terms Genuine Person and Sage, we may look again to the Huang Di Nei Jing , Su Wen , chapter one:
Huang Di said: I have heard that in high antiquity there were Genuine Persons who would hold onto the leading hand of Heaven and Earth, and the hand of yin and yang, exhale and inhale qi essence, stand for themselves and guard their spirit. Their muscles and flesh were as one. Thereby, they could enjoy a lifespan undetermined by Heaven and Earth for they had no specific time to come to an end. This was their way of living in the Dao.
In middle antiquity were the Perfected Persons, who by their natural Virtue could accord fully with Dao… They can also be counted as Genuine Persons.
Next were the Sages who dwelled in the harmony of Heaven and Earth and accorded with the principles of the eight winds. Their cravings and desires were suited to the era and local customs, and they had no hatred or anger in their hearts. In their activities they had no desire to avoid the world. In their dress and manner, they had no desire to be elevated and admired by popular people. Externally, they did not over-exert their bodies with endeavours; internally, they did not worry and speculate in their thoughts. They considered enjoying tranquility to be the highest application of oneself, and self-realization to be achievement. Physically, they did not deteriorate, and their spiritual vitality did not dissipate. (As with the Genuine Persons), they too could live for 100 years. [203]
These early discourses on health preservation indicate that the key to not only preventing illness, but realizing our human spiritual potential, is found in protecting our spiritual vitality from the contamination of contrivances to our essential nature. This free expression enlivens our vitality, as evidenced by the preceding context of Huang Di’s description of Genuine Persons, which was an inquiry into how a man of advanced years can continue to be fertile. This background of preserving naturalness and spontaneity helps to bring out the underlying thread of such guidance as it weaves throughout the practices found in the Nei Ye .
Lines 1-22 of the Nei Ye contain a slightly different description of the beginnings of life than in the Huang Di Nei Jing, Ling Shu Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine, Classic of the Spiritual Hinge) , likely written or compiled a century or two after the Nei Ye . The early development of these ideas in the Nei Ye are nonetheless faintly detectable in chapter eight of the Ling Shu Jing :
Qi Bo replied:
That which Heaven gives an individual is De (intrinsic virtue). That which Earth gives an individual is qi (energy-breath). When De and qi intermingle, there is life. From life, what then comes into existence is called jing (essence). When the two jing (of Heaven and Earth) combine and grasp each other, we have what is called shen (spirit). What follows the departures and arrivals of shen is called hun (yang spirits). What stays with the departures and arrivals of jing is called po (yin spirits). That which relies on things is called the heart-mind (xin). What the heart-mind recalls is called intention (yi, focus, idea). When the intention remains in a particular place, this is called will (zhi). What comes from the will as it processes and transforms is called thought (si). When thought travels a great distance (as though in search of its) beloved, this is called contemplation (lu). When contemplation arrives at its location, this is called wisdom (zhi).
Thus, wisdom nurtures life, for one must submit to the four seasons, make alterations according to cold and heat, harmonize euphoria and anger so that they abide peacefully, and moderate yin and yang to balance hard and soft. In this way, excessive imbalances will not arrive, and an extensive lifespan will be continually observed. [204]
In their commentary on chapter eight of the Ling Shu Jing , Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée point out that, like chapter 50 of the Dao De Jing , the Ling Shu Jing also delineates 13 facets of life which develop in the process of forming a human life, the same facets which degenerate in the process of death. [205] Lao Zi states in chapter 50,
To depart from life is to enter death
The companions of life are thirteen
The companions of death are thirteen
In their way of living, people approach death-traps
By way of (these) thirteen
Why is this so?
Because they seek a life of excess
These 13 facets in the Ling Shu Jing are: Virtue (from Heaven), qi (from Earth), life (生 ), jing (essence), shen (spirit), hun, po, the heart-mind, intention, will, thought, contemplation, and wisdom (competence, 智 ).
A shared tradition behind DDJ50 and LSJ8 may be evidenced by the fact that DDJ50 is followed by DDJ51’s description of De, a description which supports the Ling Shu Jing ’s role for De in the creation of life. Chapter 51 of the Dao De Jing states:
Dao actuates them
Virtue takes care of them
Power completes them ( 勢成 之 )
…
Dao actuates them
Virtue takes care of them, extends their lifespans
Teaches them, completes them
Tests them, raises them
And brings them back (to their pure natures)
Actuates them but does not possess them
Sets them in motion but does not expect of them
Extends their lives without ruling and controlling
This is called Fathomless Virtue
As Heshang Gong comments on DDJ51, De equates to Oneness, which may be understood as the aligning and balancing power of Dao, [206] described in chapter 22 of the Dao De Jing:
That which is flexible is preserved
That which is bent is straightened
That which is empty is filled
That which is broken is repaired
That which is lacking acquires
That which is excessive becomes confused
Therefore, the Sage embraces Oneness
So as to bring the world into alignment
And in DDJ39:
In the beginning was the attainment of Oneness
Heaven attained Oneness and became clear
Earth attained Oneness and became serene
Gods attained Oneness and became spiritually powerful
Valleys attained Oneness and became full
The myriad things attained Oneness and were born
Lords and kings attained Oneness and all under Heaven became loyal
A full picture of jing-qi-shen transformation in the Guan Zi texts could be drawn by combining the descriptions of jing and qi transformation in NY1-20 with the description of jing to shen transformation in XSS90-97:
What people occupy themselves with today is jing-essence.
Getting rid of desires should be the priority.
From this follows quiet stillness;
Quiet stillness brings about jing-essence;
From jing essence, singularity is established.
Singularity brings about illumination;
Illumination brings about spirit;
As for spirit, this is reaching the treasure.
The Xin Shu Shang refers here to jing-essence as it appears in the body. Chapter 21 of the Dao De Jing offers additional perspective on the jing-essence referred to in the beginning of the Nei Ye – that of a universal essence which, similar to the earthly jing-essence in the body, is described as the most basic nourishment of life energy. Refining this basic nourishment into
its more pure original substance is at the foundation of Daoist internal alchemy (Nei Dan). As shown in the Guan Zi texts, and in the Dao De Jing , this transformation takes place through what might be called a distillation of the heart-mind. This distillation purifies worldly contrivances in the heart-mind and brings about the “pure essence.”
DDJ21:
Openness is Virtue’s form
With your attention on Dao alone
This will arrive
Dao acts on all things spontaneously and suddenly
Sudden! Spontaneous! Within, there is image
Spontaneous! Sudden! Within, there is being
Obscure! Dark! Within, there is essence
This essence of utmost reality
Within it is sincerity
It is ancient and it is modern
Its attributes do not leave
By it, we can examine how the multitudes began
How am I able to know that the multitudes
Began according to this nature of beginnings?
By this
23 凡心之 刑 ,
Invariably, the heart-mind’s decisions [207]
24 自充自 盈 ,
Naturally occupy it, naturally fill it.
25 自生自成 。
They spontaneously arise, and spontaneously ripen.
26 其所以失 之 ,
They can become wayward
27 必以憂樂喜怒欲利 。
As a result of sorrow, pleasure, euphoria, [208] anger, desire, and avarice.
28 能去憂樂喜怒欲 利 ,
If you can abandon sorrow, pleasure, euphoria, anger, desire, and avarice,
29 心乃反濟 。
The heart will return back to the shore (of calm and stability) [209]
30 彼心之 情 ,
It is the nature of the heart and mind
31 利安以 寧 ,
To benefit from tranquility and relaxation.
32 勿煩勿 亂 ,
Do not agitate it, do not disturb it,
33 和乃自成 。
And harmony will naturally perfect it.
34 折折乎如在於 側 , [210]
At rest! As though right at your side;
35 忽忽乎如將不 得 ,
Fleeting! Trying to snatch it, it is not obtained;
36 渺渺乎如窮無極 。
Vast and Distant! It is void of all limits.
37 此稽不 遠 ,
This investigation does not take place far off
38 日用其德 。
But in the daily application of this Virtue.
Lines 23-38, above, may be well illustrated by a popular Zen parable:
A learned scholar named Huike approached Boddhidharma and said, “My mind is disturbed, please pacify it for me.” Boddhidharma responded, “Bring me your mind and I will pacify it for you.” Upon reflection, Huike responded “Having sought it, I can no longer find it,” to which Boddhidharma said “There you go then, I have pacified it.”
In mindfulness practice, students learn to observe inner and outer reality without judgement, grasping, or expectation. This alone can calm the mind as influences, such as emotions and thoughts, when observed, often dissolve like snowflakes caught in the hand.
NY23-25 provide an important ancient Chinese psychological insight, which is that the mind works spontaneously. Thoughts do not arise out of effort, but responsively . This is why when Huike sought for his mind he could no longer find it. Concentration and study may give rise to thoughts and ideas, but those thoughts arise “of themselves.” [211] The mind does not construct these thoughts, but simply follows them along their respective paths as they rise up and garner the attention of the mind. Thus, clearing the mind does not consist of actively clearing the mind of thoughts, but of learning to stop following them along their journey. To do this, one must first become aware of the thoughts that carry them along, and eventually learn to just observe them. Simply observing them and letting them dissipate, one eventually finds they are no longer in the company of so many thoughts, and can thus relax in the openness that appears in their absence.
Lines 23-38 also help to clarify DDJ47 when contrasted with its images of seeking externally what can only be attained within oneself:
Without going out the door
Know all under Heaven
Without glancing out the window
See Heaven’s Way
The further out one goes
The less they know
Therefore, the Sage does not move
Yet he knows
He describes and names (things)
Without seeing (them)
He brings about perfection
Without acting
39 夫道者所以充形 也 ,
It is Dao which fills the body,
40 而人不能固 。
Yet people are unable to secure it.
41 其往不 復 ,
It leaves without returning;
42 其來不舍 。
It arrives without remaining;
43 謀乎莫聞其 音 ,
Strategic! No one hears its voice;
44 卒乎乃在於 心 ,
Suddden! Right away it is within your heart-mind;
45 冥冥乎不見其 形 ,
Dark and obscured! Its form cannot be seen;
46 淫淫乎與我俱生 。
Immense and overflowing! It rises within all of us.
47 不見其 形 ,
We do not see its form
48 不聞其 聲 ,
We do not hear its voice
49 而序其 成 ,
Yet its sequence of development
50 謂之道 。
We call “Dao”
Dao might be interpreted as the state of balance and harmony. Just as one is rarely aware of health until they lose it, or rarely aware of their emotional balance until they become perturbed, Dao’s presence may actually make us less aware of it, while we can only but imagine it when it is absent.
Perhaps the most revealing word in lines 39-50 is also one of the most often edited in translations of the Nei Ye . Line 43, “ Strategic! No one hears its voice ” is usually found, today, with “mou 謀 , strategic,” replaced with “mo 漠 , desert; indifferent,” and translated as “silent.” However, 謀 strategic also fits here in the sense that strategy implies something undisclosed and deceptive. As DDJ36, which describes the effectiveness of unforeseen strategies, states: “The state’s sharp instruments should not be revealed.”
NY86-87 also use “ 謀 strategies” in the sense of something hidden and underlying: “Pleasure, anger, obtaining, and giving are the underlying motivations (謀 ) o f humanity.”
The description of Dao as strategic compliments lines 49-50, “ Yet its sequence of development, we call ‘Dao,’ ” a statement supported by Heshang Gong’s commentary on DDJ21:
“How am I able to know that the multitudes began according to this nature of beginnings?”
(In other words) “How can I know that the myriad things followed Dao to be infused with energy-breath?”
“By this”
“This” refers to “the present.” In this very moment, the myriad things all receive the Dao’s vital energy-breath in order to live, to move, to stand up, and to rise to their places. If not by a Path (Dao), this could not have happened.
Without giving undue weight to this line, it could be noted that, whereas the Dao De Jing can be read as concealing a great deal of subtle government strategy, the Nei Ye can be read as concealing a similar portion of subtle martial strategy. In either case, many insights into Dao and the heart-mind of human beings appear to have come from contemplating the path towards a peaceful society.
51 凡道無 所 ,
At all times, the Dao is without a single location.
52 善心安 愛 ,
(Yet) in a heart of goodness, where tranquility is cherished, [212]
53 心靜氣 理 ,
In a peaceful
heart, where the energy-breath is balanced,
54 道乃可止 。
Dao may linger.
55 彼道不 遠 ,
For Dao is not far away.
56 民得以產 。
When the people attain it, they are fruitful;
57 彼道不 離 ,
When Dao does not leave,
58 民因以知 。
The people become knowledgeable.
59 是故卒乎其如可與索 。
Thus, it is sudden! As though capturing;
60 眇眇乎其如窮無所 。
Minute! As though devoid of any location.
61 被道之 情 ,
The nature of Dao
62 惡音與聲 。
Is averse to clamorous noise.
63 脩心靜 音 ,
By bringing the heart to a tranquil resonance (intent), [213]
64 道乃可得 。
Dao may be obtained.
Lines 51-54 show how Dao may be attained, and maintained, even by people who have never heard of Dao. Holding onto a natural simplicity and tranquility becomes a rather obvious priority for anyone trying to recover their health. The proto-Daoists, however, taught that doing so was not just a matter of health, but also of success, luck, and destiny (lines 55-58, and 69-73). In the same way that this inner harmony nourishes and repairs the body, [214] bringing the organs and circulations to an ideal balance, it will also bring an individual into balance with their exterior world, effecting a harmonious, organic, relationship between external elements and between those elements and the individual. [215] This is evident in the Nei Ye (lines 55-58, and 69-73), and in DDJ37: