2 The Structure and Foreshadowing of the Whole Essay

2.1 Names Established First, Then Put to Use

2.1.1 The Ten Names of the Second Section

The second section of the Rectification of Names fixes ten names in a single breath: nature, emotion, deliberation, artifice, business, conduct, knowledge, ability, illness, and fate. Read straight through, it looks like a glossary—dry and dense—and many readers skim past it, retaining only "the distinction between nature and artifice." But to read it merely as a glossary is to miss Master Xun's intent.

Consider first the arrangement of these ten names. Nature (xing) is "that by which what is born is as it is"—the innate ground. Emotion (qing) is "the liking, disliking, joy, anger, sorrow, and delight of nature"—the manifestation of nature. Deliberation (lü) is "the mind making a choice regarding the emotions once they have arisen"—the mind's selection among the emotions. Artifice (wei) is "the mind deliberating and the capacity acting on it"—the human artifice put into action after the selection is made. Business (shi) is "acting to secure benefit"; conduct (xing) is "acting to secure righteousness"—these are two orientations of artifice. Knowledge (zhi, the faculty) is "that by which one is able to know, residing in the person"; wisdom (zhi, the achievement) is "knowledge that has found its match with the actuality." Ability (neng, the faculty) is "that by which one is able to act, residing in the person"; ability (in its second sense, the achievement) is "capacity that has found its match." These are the person's cognition and talent, and the state in which they match the actuality. Illness (bing) is "injury to one's nature"; fate (ming) is "the encounters allotted to one."

This sequence is not arranged at random. It proceeds from innate nature, through emotion, deliberation, and artifice, onward to business and conduct, then supplements this with knowledge and ability—the person's two endowments—and finally closes with illness and fate. It is a path running from Heaven to man, from inner to outer. And the turning point in the middle of this path is "the mind making a choice." Nature and emotion are given by Heaven; deliberation and artifice are done by the mind. The mind is the boundary line between Heaven and man.

2.1.2 The Three Statements of the Fifteenth Section

Look at the opening of the fifteenth section: "Nature is what Heaven brings to completion; emotion is the substance of nature; desire is the response of emotion."

These three statements are the direct application of the glossary in the second section. Nature is what Heaven brings to completion—this corresponds to "that by which what is born is as it is, is called nature." Emotion is the substance of nature—this corresponds to "the liking, disliking, joy, anger, sorrow, and delight of nature are called emotion." Desire is the response of emotion—this attaches "desire," left unstated in the second section, beneath emotion. What the second section calls "the mind making a choice regarding the emotions once they have arisen is called deliberation" becomes, by the fourteenth section, "that desire need not wait upon the possibility of attainment is what is received from Heaven; that the seeking follows what is approved is what is received from the mind"—again, the same boundary line between Heaven and mind.

That is to say, Master Xun sharpens his tools in the second section, and only takes them up for use in the fourteenth and fifteenth sections. In between lie more than ten sections discussing names and disputation, during which the tools sit unused. But they are not idle, because the sections discussing names are themselves a demonstration: once a name is fixed, it must be strictly held to. The second section fixes nature, emotion, deliberation, and artifice, and the text that follows speaks strictly according to these definitions, without a single word out of place. This very consistency is itself "the rectification of names."

2.1.3 An Essay's Self-Demonstration

So the Rectification of Names has a hidden structure: it is an essay about rectifying names, and at the same time an actual operation of rectifying names. It first "institutes names," then "uses names," and in between tells the reader the principles of instituting names and the rules of using them. The essay as a whole is a demonstration of "once names are fixed, actualities are distinguished; once the Way is carried out, intentions are communicated."

This point can be compared with Master Xun's other chapters. The "Human Nature Is Bad" (Xing E) chapter discusses the distinction between nature and artifice, and it too uses definitions such as "that which cannot be learned and cannot be achieved through effort, yet resides in the person, is called nature; that which can be learned so as to become capable, and achieved through effort so as to be completed, residing in the person, is called artifice." But "Human Nature Is Bad" defines first and argues afterward—the definitions serve the argument. The Rectification of Names is different. Its definitions are themselves part of the argument, because what it sets out to prove is precisely this: once a name is fixed, the actuality is thereby distinguished, and the Way thereby carried out. It proves its own thesis through its own manner of writing.

2.2 The Promise and Fulfillment of Three Matters

2.2.1 The Promise of the Third Section

The end of the third section lists three matters that "must not go unexamined": why there are names, what one relies on to determine sameness and difference, and the essential pivots for instituting names. This is a promise. Master Xun says these three matters must be examined, and what follows examines them one by one.

The fourth section, from its opening—"different forms leave the minds of those who name them to communicate with one another"—to its closing—"this is why there are names"—delivers on the first matter: why there ought to be names. The fifth section, from its opening—"On what, then, does one rely to determine sameness and difference$10 One relies on the Heavenly Faculties"—to its closing—"this is what one relies on to determine sameness and difference"—delivers on the second matter: on what basis sameness and difference are distinguished. The sixth, seventh, and eighth sections discuss the method of naming, general names and particular names, and convention becoming custom; the ninth section discusses same form in different places, different forms in the same place, transformation and singular actuality, and closes by saying "this is the essential pivot for instituting names"—delivering on the third matter: the pivotal points of instituting names.

Three promises, three fulfillments, each section closing with a "this is... " statement serving as a receipt of delivery. This tight correspondence shows that Master Xun had a very clear awareness of the structure of his essay.

2.2.2 The Three Measuring Rods of the Tenth Section

The tenth section is the part of the whole essay that reads most like formal logic. It lists three kinds of "delusion": using names to throw names into disorder, using actualities to throw names into disorder, and using names to throw actualities into disorder. But what is truly fine about this section is not the classification of the three delusions—it is the line that follows each delusion: "test it by... and one is then able to prohibit it."

The first delusion is tested "by why there are names." The second is tested "by there being nothing to rely on for sameness and difference." The third is tested "by the conventions of names." These three measuring rods are exactly the three matters promised in the third section and delivered in sections four through nine. "Why there are names" is section four; "what one relies on for sameness and difference" is section five; "the conventions of names" are the core of sections six through nine. Here Master Xun does something quite elegant: he takes the three principles established earlier and turns them around into three measuring rods with which to gauge three kinds of heterodox claims.

Using names to throw names into disorder—for example, the claim "being insulted is not disgraceful"—forcibly stuffs two different actualities into a single name. To test it, one asks: what are names for$11 Names are for "pointing to actualities," for "making clear the noble and the base, distinguishing the same from the different." To mix different actualities under a single name violates the very purpose of having names. Using actualities to throw names into disorder—for example, the claim "the emotions desire little"—takes some special actuality and uses it to alter the ordinary meaning of a name. To test it, one asks: on what basis is sameness and difference distinguished$12 On the basis of the Heavenly Faculties. What the Heavenly Faculties perceive is the same for everyone; whether people's desires are many or few can be tested at once by "relying on the Heavenly Faculties." Using names to throw actualities into disorder—for example, the claim "there being ox-and-horse is not the same as there being a horse"—takes the combining and separating of names and uses it to deny the existence of an actuality. To test it, one asks: how was the name conventionally agreed upon$13 Since it has been agreed that "ox-and-horse" is a combined name for both ox and horse, one cannot then use this combined name to deny the horse.

The structure of the tenth section shines a light back over the whole span from the third section to the ninth. This is not repetition—it is the transformation of principle into method.

2.2.3 The Foreshadowing of "The Emotions Desire Little"

Among the three delusions listed in the tenth section, one deserves particular attention: "the emotions desire little." It is classified under "delusion arising from using actualities to throw names into disorder," and the method of testing it is "test it by there being nothing to rely on for sameness and difference, and observe which position is in harmony with the facts."

But here Master Xun only names the claim, without refuting it in detail. Where is the detailed refutation$14 In the fourteenth section: "In every case where one discusses governance while waiting for people to have few desires, this is to be without means of moderating desire, and to be troubled by having too many desires oneself." "Whether desires are many or few is a matter of different categories, a quantity belonging to the emotions—it has nothing to do with order or disorder." This is the direct response to "the emotions desire little."

And the manner of this response is exactly the manner foretold in the tenth section. The tenth section said one must "test it by there being nothing to rely on for sameness and difference"—that is, one must look at whether the Heavenly Faculties' perceptions truly bear this out. The fourteenth section then says, "that men desire life is extreme indeed, that men hate death is extreme indeed"—this is the actual condition of the Heavenly Faculties, verifiable by everyone. The fifteenth section further says, "even a gatekeeper cannot be rid of desire—it is a fixture of his nature; even the Son of Heaven cannot exhaust his desires." From the gatekeeper to the Son of Heaven, desire can neither be removed nor exhausted—this is precisely the judgment of sameness and difference reached by "relying on the Heavenly Faculties."

So between the tenth section and the fourteenth section lie three sections discussing disputation, yet the former is the foreshadowing and the latter is its answering echo. Master Xun buries the three words "the emotions desire little" in the tenth section, and only digs them up again in the fourteenth. The first half and the second half of the whole essay are stitched tightly together by this thread.

2.3 The Character Ji (稽), from Beginning to End

2.3.1 "Verifying Actuality and Fixing Its Number" in the Ninth Section

The end of the ninth section says: "This is how one verifies actuality and fixes its number. This is the essential pivot for instituting names." To verify (ji, 稽) is to check and examine; to fix the number is to determine the count. The pivot of instituting names finally comes to rest on "verifying actuality and fixing its number": whether a name can be checked against the actuality it points to, whether one can count clearly whether it points to one actuality or two.

This character ji is the key to the whole essay. Everything Master Xun says about names points toward one thing: a name must be capable of being checked against actuality. Names have no fixed appropriateness, but once agreed upon they must be checkable; names have general and particular forms, but the general and the particular must be checkable against each other; same form in different places is two actualities, different forms in the same place is one actuality—both distinctions exist so that checking is possible.

2.3.2 "Words Without Verification" in the Twentieth Section

Now look at the very last line of the whole essay: "Words without verification, conduct that has not been seen, and plans that have not been heard of—the noble person is cautious about these." Words without verification are words that cannot be checked. Conduct that has not been seen is conduct no one has witnessed. Plans that have not been heard of are plans no one has heard reported. What the three share in common is this: there is no actuality against which they can be checked.

This is not a maxim tacked on at random at the end. It is the reversal of "verifying actuality" from the ninth section, used to close the whole essay. Earlier it was said that a name must be able to verify actuality; here it is said that words which cannot verify actuality are ones about which the noble person must be cautious. To be cautious is not to reject outright, but not to believe readily, not to use readily. If a statement cannot be checked, the noble person does not take it as the basis for a thesis.

This is of a piece with the Master's own attitude. The "Zilu" chapter of the Analects says: "Regarding what he does not know, the noble person leaves it, as it were, blank." What one does not know, one leaves blank, rather than forcing it in. The "Wei Zheng" chapter of the Analects says: "Hear much, set aside what is doubtful, and speak cautiously of the rest—then one will have few faults; see much, set aside what is dangerous, and act cautiously in the rest—then one will have few regrets." Hear much, leave the doubtful blank, speak cautiously of the rest; see much, leave the dangerous blank, act cautiously in the rest. To "leave blank" is precisely to "be cautious." The "Doctrine of the Mean" in the Book of Rites puts it even more directly: "Without verification, it is not believed; not being believed, the people will not follow." Without evidence that can be verified, it will not be believed; not being believed, the people will not follow it. To verify (zheng, 徵) is ji.

2.3.3 One Character Threading the Whole Essay

And so the beginning and end of the whole essay lock together. The opening discusses the completed names of the later kings, discusses where names come from; the middle discusses how names verify actuality; the ending discusses how words without verification are not to be believed lightly. The discussions in between, concerning desire, mind, balance, and things, are likewise a practice of "verification": taking people's actual desires to test the claim of "desiring little," taking people's actual feelings to test the harm of "the self enslaved to things." Master Xun does not speak in the abstract—every one of his judgments must come to rest on a verifiable actuality.

The threefold structure discussed in this chapter can be summed up in a single sentence: the Rectification of Names begins with name and ends with verification, and in between it uses the very names it has fixed to test the very claims it means to refute. It is an essay written with great deliberateness, and its deliberateness lies not in cleverness of phrasing but in the rigor of its structure. To read it, one must read the twenty sections as a single whole, not as twenty scattered sayings.