by Guan Zi
260 內困外薄 。
Internally, one is overwhelmed, and externally one is frail.
261 不蚤 [263] 為 圖 ,
If one does not make premature determinations,
262 生將巽 [264] 舍 。
The life-force will later re-establish itself.
263 食莫若無 飽 。
Eat, but not as though you cannot be filled.
264 思莫若勿致 。
Think, but not as though there is no objective.
265 節適之 齊 ,
Regulate these things accordingly,
266 彼將自至 。
And they will eventually do so of themselves.
NY254-258 could be read as a cause and effect progression from over thinking through to death, explaining the general Daoist attitude towards superfluous knowledge. Thus, “thinking and searching lead to knowledge,” beginning this downward spiral. This may also be hinted at in NY238-240:
Can you, without divining by yarrow stalks,
Know what is fortunate and what is perilous?
Can you stop (peril from arriving)? Can you make it cease?
Reading NY254-258, it can be understood that thinking and searching give rise to knowledge which leads to inaction, or “ sluggishness and idleness ” which give rise to anxiety . This anxiety then leads to fear-based aggression and arrogance , the consequences of which bring a great deal of anger into one’s environment. This environment of conflict leads to deeper anxiety, constrained qi, and thus illness , which leads to death . How does one reverse this escalation of illness? “ If one does not make premature determinations, the life-force will later re-establish itself ” (lines 261-262). This caution is corroborated by Classical Chinese medical theories of knotted qi, brought about by over-thinking, and the constraint (yu, 鬱 ) of qi that this knotting will produce. Constrained qi, according to the famed Chinese physician Zhu Danxi (1281-1358), is the root of all pathological changes. [265] This understanding was also illustrated in Zhuang Zi, chapter 15:
It is the nature of water that when free from other substances, it is clear, and when it is calm, it is level; but if it is collected (鬱 ), obstructed (閉 ), and not allowed to flow, it cannot maintain its clarity. It is a reflection of Heaven’s virtue.
Thus it is said: To be pure, genuine, and uncontaminated; to be calm, unified, and stable; to be content and not impositioning; to move according to the phases of Heaven: this is the way to nourish the spirit. [266]
A helpful strategy to avoid over-thinking, and the consequent knotting and constraint of qi, can be found in the Tibetan Buddhist teaching, “Tilopa’s Six Nails”:
Don’t recall. (Let go of what has passed.)
Don’t imagine. (Let go of what may come.)
Don’t think. (Let go of what is happening now.)
Don’t examine. (Don’t try to figure anything out.)
Don’t control. (Don’t try to make anything happen.)
Rest. (Relax, right now, and rest.) [267]
Though an over-reliance on thinking allows the mind, rather than the spirit, to control one’s life, this divergence from the path can be corrected by bringing the heart-mind back into peaceful alignment, as shown in the following lines. Doing so encourages the thoughts to yield to inner silence.
267 凡人之生 也 ,
In regards to the lives of all people:
268 天出其 精 ,
Heaven produces their pure and vital essence;
269 地出其形 。
Earth produces their form.
270 合此以為 人 ;
This combination (of essence and form) is used in the creation of human beings.
271 和乃 生 ,
When (form and essence) are in harmony, they create life;
272 不和不生 。
If they are not in harmony, they do not create life.
273 察和之 道 ,
Investigating the Dao of harmony.
274 其精不 見 ,
Its essence cannot be seen;
275 其徵不醜 。
Its evidence is indistinct.
276 平正擅 匈 ,
When balance and alignment claim the breast, [268]
277 論治在 心 ,
And inner debates and dialogue are brought to order,
278 此以長壽 。
This lengthens the lifespan.
279 忿怒之失 度 ,
If you lose your temper to fury [269] and anger,
280 乃為之圖 。
Enact the following plan:
281 節其五 欲 ,
Seal the desires of the five senses,
282 去其二凶 。
And banish the two calamities. [270]
283 不喜不 怒 ,
(Accepting) neither euphoria, nor anger,
284 平正擅匈 。
Balance and alignment will reclaim the breast.
Lines 267-284 speak to the effect of inner balance and harmony in fostering life and health. Western medicine differentiates between physical health and mental and emotional health, prescribing various doctors for physiological or psychological issues. Chinese medicine, however, unifies the health of the body and the mind, both because of their mutual influence, and because they both determine any single individual’s experience of health and vitality. Excessive anger, sadness, euphoria, fear, and worry can easily destabilize a person’s life and deny them the basic enjoyment of life and vitality. Thus, a person’s mental-emotional experience is treated as an important indicator of the overall balance of their system, much like imbalances may also be revealed through the skin, hair, or fingernails. According to Chinese medicine, emotional imbalances can signal potential imbalances in specific internal organs that those emotions affect or arise from. For example, excessive anger may indicate “fullness” of liver, and excessive fear may indicate “emptiness” of the liver. [271] Though the intricacies of the mind-body system in Chinese medicine were likely developed somewhat later than the Nei Ye , the Nei Ye provides a glimpse into early discussions of the importance of emotional balance for guarding the vitality of mind, body, and spirit. We can see how understandings of the emotions’ impact on health developed over about two hundred years by comparing the Nei Ye ’s teachings on emotional balance with The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine (Huang Di Nei Jing, Su Wen), [272] chapter five:
Heaven has four seasons and five elemental phases. (The former) brings about birth, growth, gathering, and storing. (The later) brings about cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and wind. People have five storehouses (organs) which transform the five qi, [273] giving rise to euphoria, anger, thought (rumination), [274] sorrow, and fear. Thus, euphoria and anger harm the qi, while cold and heat harm the body. Violent anger harms the yin, while violent euphoria harms the yang. Weakened qi moves upwards; filling the vessels, it leaves the body. If euphoria and anger are unrestrained, and cold and heat are excessive, life lacks solidity. [275]
As the Nei Ye shows in lines 267-284, a harmonious balance of Heavenly and Earthly essences brings about life, [276] and the inner balance of emotions preserves it. The result is that one becomes peaceful and zheng (correctly aligned and balanced) in their breast. Referring to “the breast,” the Nei Ye makes a number of indications, the breast being the place where (yuan) jing collects and develops a Sage (see NY 1-8), also the place of the heart which governs the inner kingdom, and the lungs which “hold the office of the grand tutor; they bring forth order and moderation.” [277] As such, we could also infer zheng qi – the properly aligned and balanced qi that prevents “thieving winds” from harming the body.
While NY267-284 teach the ancient Chinese art of the heart-mind, they also show how to reclaim what became known in the late 1990s as emotional intelligence (EQ). Emotional intelligence refers to one’s capacity to recognize their own emotions and mitigate the negative effect of these emotions in their lives. Such negative effects might include limitations on impulse control, on one’s
ability to differentiate sense and reality, and on self-actualization. An interpersonal component of emotional intelligence also exists, which involves empathy and recognizing how and why others are experiencing emotions. Reference to the interpersonal and empathetic side of EQ can be found in NY192-207:
When people can align and quiet themselves
…
In the great clarity, they are reflected
With the great illumination, they observe
Being respectful and careful, they are without error
Daily refreshing their virtue
They know every place under Heaven
Wherever there is deficiency in the four directions
They reverently supply
This is called “internal attainment.”
For returning from a state of emotional turmoil, the Nei Ye counsels limiting sense stimulation and refraining from euphoria and anger until the emotions are again balanced and “upright (aligned)” (see lines 276–284). “Balanced and aligned” illustrates a state of peacefulness, presence, and awareness: a state of calm preparedness, uninfluenced by the erratic tendencies of anger and euphoria.
Correlations to EQ in the Nei Ye begin, especially, in lines 216-228, which demonstrate the effective consequences of not being aware of one’s own emotions when interacting with other people.
Though the heart-mind remains within
It cannot be hidden and concealed
The harmony of the body reveals it
It is seen in the skin’s colour
Welcoming others with an energy-breath of goodness
Is like embracing them with the affection of brothers and sisters;
Welcoming others with an energy-breath of wickedness
Is like injuring them with a soldier’s spear.
It’s wordless tone
Strikes like thunder
The manifestations of the heart-mind’s energy-breath
Illuminate like the sun and moon
And are perceived as though by one’s own mother and father
In summary, knowing one’s own emotions, and finding inner peace, one can develop empathy and not let their emotions get in the way of a harmonious inter-being.
285 凡人之生 也 ,
Invariably, people’s lives
286 必以平正 。
Require balance and alignment.
287 所以失 之 ,
What causes them to lose this
288 必以喜怒憂 患 ,
Is surely euphoria, anger, sadness, and worry.
289 是故止怒莫若 詩 ,
To put an end to anger, nothing compares to poetry;
290 去憂莫若 樂 ,
To dispel sadness, nothing compares to music; [278]
291 節樂莫若 禮 ,
To moderate music, nothing compares to courtesy;
292 守禮莫若 敬 ,
To maintain courtesy, nothing compares to respect;
293 守敬莫若靜 。
To maintain respect, nothing compares to silence.
294 內靜外 敬 ,
Internally silent, and externally respectful,
295 能反其性 。
One can return to their pure nature.
296 性將大定 。
Pure nature is thereby greatly established.
NY285-296 may show an early example of medical treatments of the emotions based on five elemental phase theories later found in the Huang Di Nei Jing. The five elemental phases are influenced by each other according to creative, destructive, and dominating relationships. For example, the generating cycle entails that:
wood is the origin of fire
fire is the origin of earth (ash)
earth is the origin of metal
metal is the origin of water
water is the origin of wood
The reverse of this cycle is destructive:
wood depletes water
water depletes metal
metal depletes earth
earth puts out fire
fire depletes wood.
The dominating cycle entails that each elemental phase dominates the one after the one which follows it in the creative cycle – the “grandchild.” So:
Wood is dominated by metal
Metal is dominated by fire
Fire is dominated by water
Water is dominated by earth
Earth is dominated by wood
In NY285-296 we find :
Invariably, people’s lives
Require balance and alignment.
What causes them to lose this
Is surely euphoria, anger, sadness, and worry.
To put an end to anger, nothing compares to poetry;
[Early poetry usually described sentimental longing (sadness). Sadness is associated with the lungs and metal. Anger is associated with the liver and wood. Metal dominates wood.]
To dispel sadness, nothing compares to music;
[Music is associated with pleasure, fire, and the heart. Fire dominates metal.]
To moderate music, nothing compares to courtesy;
[Courtesy requires adapting to others, and may entail fear, which are both associated with water and the kidneys. Water dominates fire.]
To maintain courtesy, nothing compares to respect;
[Respect requires calm, presence, thoughtfulness, and the unity of considering all as one, associated with earth and the spleen. Earth dominates water.]
To maintain respect (earth), nothing compares to silence.
[Silence may again be associated with earth. These lines sought the way to dispel anger (associated with wood), and so do not finish with a wood-based solution, not wishing to dominate earth. Further, earth generates metal which was the original solution for anger. The dominating cycle is used to bring order, from which a positive generating cycle can resume, where wood maintains the yang spirits (hun), fire maintains the shen-spirit, earth maintains the intention (yi), metal maintains the yin spirits (po), and water maintains the will (zhi) .]
Internally silent, and externally respectful,
One can return to their pure nature.
Pure nature is thereby greatly established.
Lines 285-296 also carry what appears to be a Confucian influence; however, the practice and teaching of poetry, music, courtesy, and respect were long a part of the Zhou-influenced education that Confucius received prior to becoming a teacher, himself, and making such education vastly more accessible. The principles of music are known to have existed in China for centuries before Confucius’ teachings, with one of the surviving bronze bells, played by ensembles to make harmony and melody, dating [279] to approximately 900 BC. As we can see in the Book of Music ( Yue Ji ), found in the Book of Rites ( Li Ji ), much of the early Chinese arts were developed to teach a sort of minimalism that allowed one to appreciate beauty, without stimulating desire in such a way that satisfaction would be elusive. This aesthetic is also highly evident in the traditional Chinese methods of tea ceremony (gong fu cha) where tea is brewed lightly and appreciated with cups that hold only three savoured sips. Minimalist calligraphy scrolls, earthen teaware, and the spacious sounds of a guqin radiate a beauty that can only be found in the meeting of simplicity and harmony. Practicing the arts in this way, a balance of sense, emotion, and rectitude is preserved:
… In the ceremonies of the great sacrifices, the dark-coloured liquor took precedence, and on the stands were uncooked fish, while the grand soup had no condiments: there was much flavour left undeveloped. Thus we see that the ancient kings, in their institution of ceremonies and music, did not seek how fully they could satisfy the desires of the appetite and of the ears and eyes; but they intended to teach the people to regulate their likings and dislikings, and to bring them back to the normal course of humanity ( 反人道之 正 ).
It belongs to the nature of man, as from Heaven, to be still at his birth. His activity shows itself as he is acted on by external things, and develops the desires incident to his natur
e. Things come to him more and more, and his knowledge is increased. Then arise the manifestations of liking and disliking. When these are not regulated by anything within, and growing knowledge leads more astray without, he cannot come back to himself, and his Heavenly principle is extinguished.
Now there is no end of the things by which man is affected; and when his likings and dislikings are not subject to regulation (from within), he is changed into the nature of things as they come before him; that is, he stifles the voice of Heavenly principle within, and gives the utmost indulgence to the desires by which men may be possessed. On this we have the rebellious and deceitful heart, with licentious and violent disorder. The strong press upon the weak; the many are cruel to the few; the knowing impose upon the dull; the bold make it bitter for the timid; the diseased are not nursed; the old and young, orphans and solitaries are neglected – such is the great disorder that ensues.
Therefore the ancient kings, when they instituted their ceremonies and music, regulated them by consideration of the requirements of humanity. [280]
From the Confucian point of view, music is a model of the necessary qualities of good character and the ideal art to bring them about. Participation in musical ensembles makes immediately apparent the necessity for courtesy and respect. If a member of the ensemble takes it upon themselves to indulge their whims and dismiss their role in subordination to the greater cause, the quality of music will quickly deteriorate and bring shame to all involved. Listening to and respecting the other musicians as equals, allowing them their space, and contributing the appropriate amount of one’s own input, all determine the quality of music, and potential for a cooperative group of people to benefit from their interaction. This also teaches the benefits of humility – as Lao Zi states in DDJ81 “having helped others, oneself gains more.” Interacting with others through this collective harmony and cooperation will surely enrich all involved, and help return them to the simplicity of their pure nature, as the Nei Ye points out in lines 292-296.