Posted by Show-Hong on January 31, 1999 at 22:07:27:
In Reply to: Re: Valor? posted by Louis on January 25, 1999 at 16:17:36:
Hi louis, I did wonder if I should continue on this discussion since evidently you know more about Chinese literature than I do. But you have provided good fodder for my thought so I felt it was only fare to share it with you. I had no particular training in the Chinese classics, so don't take it too seriously.
>> Always fascinated by your posts! You have presented examples of behavior
that you hold may reflect "hao ran zhi qi". What I find interesting is that
these examples all reflect what might be called "valor" - i.e., strength of
mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness --
and this is in fact how some translators have interpreted Mengzi's "hao ran
zhi qi", as "valor". Is this what Mengzi meant? I'm not entirely convinced.
No. Not valor. Just to be sure, I looked it up in the dictionary. Valor is much too glamorous, too heroic. The other, more commonly used, term for "hao ran zhi qi" is "Zheng qi" or qi of righteousness. Manifestation of zheng qi is "da yong" or grand courage, which is to be distinguished from xiau yong or pi fu zhi yong - bravery based more on individual's innate ability of being fearless rather than conscious decision/moral choice. Courage comes much closer. Now I think it is simply plain moral courage, something people nowadays don't talk about any more.
>> In reflecting on our original question about whether "qi is energy", I offer the following:
Sarah Allan, in her recent book, _The Way of Water and Sprouts of Virtue_
(1997, SUNY), devotes a section of the work to "Breath," "Vapor," "Vital
Energy" (Qi), beginning on p. 87. In keeping with the theme of her book -
water and natural imagery as root metaphors of early Chinese philosophy -
she states, "The primary model for the concept of qi is water in the form
of vapor, but water vapor may disperse, liquefy as water, or solidify as
ice. Thus qi encompasses not simply vapor but all the various forms that
vapor may take including the liquid and the solid."
She continues:
"Qi is one of the most important - and one of the most difficult - of all
early Chinese concepts to understand. In the West, the idea of qi has been
introduced through the technique of qi gong in martial arts - the ability
to control and use one's breath or inner vitality (qi) to obtain great
force or power - and in Chinese medical techniques, such as acupuncture,
which is based on the idea of channels of qi moving through the body.
I am not so sure if qi is at all that important. As far as I know it has never been a subject of serious study other than in Chinese medicine and martial arts.
>> "According to A. C. Graham, 'qi . . . has the place in Chinese cosmology
occupied by matter in ours. The basic metaphor behind the word matter is of
timber (Latin materia), inert, and cut up and to be assembled by a
carpenter; qi, on the other hand, is in the first place the breath,
alternating between motion and stillness, extended in space but
insubstantial, although vaporizing to become visible on a frosty day. The
qi is conceived as becoming solider the more slowly it moves, with the more
tenuous circulating within and energizing the inert, for example, as the
jing 'quintessence,' the vitalizing fluid in the living body. In its
ultimate degree of fineness we could think of it in Western terms as pure
energy.' " (Allan, pp. 87-88)
These ideas of chi from western culture's point of view have stimulated me to ponder what chi really means. Following is my thought to share with you.
The comparison of chi and matter is quite neat and provide me with an excellent vintage point to see and reflect on what chi is.
1) Western, perhaps Greek based, philosophy can be said human centered, tend to focus on tangible things humans have control over. Those factors that human cannot do a thing about are attributed to god(s). So men do men's thing and have no need to take on/think about what are supposed to be gods' responsibilities.
2) Chinese thought is more universe centered in the sense that they recognize human is only part of the universe (ranked behind "Tien (heaven)" and "Di (earth)"). Chinese do not have gods equivalent to the western religion where gods create/run/control the universe. Chinese religion is based on the fear of ghosts, including their ancestors'. Therefore, Chinese philosophy covers how the nature works. And where there is observation order can be seen as if supported by invisible forces/elements.
3) Chi does not mean the same in different usage/contexts. The commonality among the chi in all contexts is that it is important within the specific context, it is invisible, it may be sensed (so we know it is there) yet it is unknown/unknowable, analogous to the chi (breath) that people are most familiar with. Few Chinese would think that the "hao ran zhi chi" has much to do with the "chi" in Chinese medicine or kung-fu. Few Chinese martial artists know much about what Mengzi was talking about either. It is when learned people got involved in expounding on this issue by plucking whatever they know in their literary knowledge that Mengzi's passage become linked to the other chi.
4) Therefore, Chi is essentially the unknown entities that support/reflect nature's order. It then takes on specific attribute particular to the context. A parallel in the West is the word "entropy" before it was identified substantively. It is of interest to know that there is another word "Yuen", originated from Buddhism, which is about the order/relationship/causality of humans (perhaps things also included), which is also essential, invisible, unknown and beyond our control. For example, Chinese would say that it is yuen that you and I get to talk to each other on this subject. Yuen implies that this is not by chance, imaging the impossibility of our meeting each other considering the fact that we probably come from opposite sides of the earth, followed completely different path of life, and all other apparent difference between us. Einstein was probably right after all. For things, yuen is what makes a carriage a carriage instead of merely a bunch of parts.
>> Allan notes a very early appearance of an early form of the character for
qi on an inscribed jade inscription from the Warring States Period known as
the "Moving Qi" (Xing Qi) jade. She translates the inscription (pp. 88-89),
but I won't quote in full. Significantly, the last two lines are, "If one
follows along, one lives. / If one goes against, one dies."
Same is thought true by Chinese for "tien dao" (tao/way/order of heaven).
>> Allen comments, "Here, then, qi is both human breath and the cycle of water
that nourishes all life, the ultimate life force." (p. 89)
She was trying too hard. The approach of letting the truth be revealed to us instead of hot pursuit after it is probably more appropriate. Since issues/matters of this nature is like the secret to wheel making in one of Zhuangzi's story, the essence cannot be passed along by fathers to their sons and sons cannot learn from their fathers. In my schooling, hao ran zhi qi was never explained in the way of definition and its significance in the way of borrowing from metaphor. Chinese learn the meaning of hao ran zhi qi through examples, righteous deeds of righteous people (e.g., "song of zheng qi" by Wen Tien Shiang). If they are lucky they may understand why those righteous people did what they did and if they are truly blessed they may be able to do it too. 'hao ran zhi qi' is important/significant in its own right particularly since it is considered to be more important than life ("cheng ren (die for humanity)" for Confucius and "Chu i (choose righteousness even if it means death)" for Mengzi), there is no need to borrow any metaphor. Allan was way off on this, in my opinion, but new agers like metaphors (which can be molded to fit their liking) so they don't have to know substantively (which often implies absolute right/wrong). Excuse me for getting off the subject.
>> Further on, Allan quotes some passages from Mengzi regarding qi:
"The will (zhi) is the governor of qi. Qi is what fills the limbs. Wherein
the will arrives is wherein the qi lodges. Thus it is said, 'Hold fast to
your will and do not violate your qi.' " (IIA.2, Allan, trans., p. 91)
Here Mengzi is assigning attributes to chi, which he did not know substantively, in an apparent attempt to make chi and how it works understandable to the audience. What is said here is more like a model or imagery (as you used in the post on ball-holding) since qi is not and perhaps cannot be defined specifically.
>> And, Mengzi, clarifying what 'hao ran zhi qi' means:
"It is difficult to explain. This is qi which is supremely large and
supremely firm. If it is nurtured with straightness and unharmed, then it
will fill up the space between heaven and earth. This is qi which matches
rightness with the way. Without these, it will starve. It is that which
accumulated rightness generates. It is not that right [acts] are done again
and again and one takes [the principle] from that. If there is no
gratification in the heart from one's actions, it will starve." (IIA.2,
ibid.)
Boy, doesn't this sound like evangelical Christian theology. Thank you Louis, this made my day.
>> It seems to me, then, that while valor is an indication of 'hao ran zhi
qi', what Mengzi speaks of is something more fundamental. It is an
identification, an alignment of one's self with what is naturally right and
good. This is his objective in self-cultivation.
The philosophy of Confucius and Mengzi is totally humanistic, therefore, whatever is right and good must be righteous. 'hao ran' means big, grand and does not impart any substantial meaning to chi. Moral courage or courage of righteousness is substantially correct translation but "air of righteousness" may be closer in its feel. Mengzi never did spell out the how-to's of self-cultivation. Upon reflection/recollection, it seems that Chinese sages in general spoke only about what is right/good and what is wrong/bad and not much about how to get there except some general directions, in stark contrast to the practical disciplines of medicine and martial arts where systems of training have been established by generations of masters (well, Taichi kind of fell through the crack perhaps because it is laden with philosophy and the essence of Taichi is just like the secret to wheel making - cannot be readily passed on from one person to another). For Christians, the identification and alignment of one's self (in other words, giving up oneself, sounds familiar?) means submit oneself to God's law and will, which is taken to be what is naturally right and good. When a Christian's faith become strong (cultivation through Jesus Christ, since self-cultivation is (next to) impossible) the air of righteousness will show as it occurred on the priests in my story.
Regards,
Show-Hong