Name and Mind: A Study of Xunzi's "Rectification of Names"
A complete study of the *Zhengming* (Rectification of Names) chapter of the *Xunzi*. It takes up the Master's chain—"if names are not rectified, speech does not flow"—and opens onto the distinction between names having no fixed appropriateness and names having a fixed goodness; it traces in detail the boundary of convention-becoming-custom, the Heavenly Faculties' sorting of categories and the mind's verifying cognition, the three delusions and the inevitability of disputation, the three grades of speech, how order and disorder lie in what the mind approves, the Way as the true balance across past and present, and ends with "the self enslaved to things" and "valuing the self and putting things to service." It takes Confucian and Daoist principle as its foundation, drawing on the *Analects*, *Mencius*, *Doctrine of the Mean*, *Laozi*, *Zhuangzi*, *Zuo Tradition*, and the *Book of Songs*.
7 Three Grades of Speech and Three Poems
7.1 The Sage's Disputation
7.1.1 Having the Discernment of Listening to All, Without the Bearing of Boastful Vigor
The latter half of the eleventh section portrays the sage's disputation: "Using the correct Way to dispute the heterodox is like drawing a taut cord to determine what is crooked and what is straight. Hence heterodox claims cannot throw him into confusion, and none of the hundred schools have anywhere to hide. He has the discernment of listening to all, without the bearing of boastful vigor; he has the generosity of covering all, without the countenance of parading his virtue. When his explanation is adopted, the realm is set right; when it is not adopted, he makes the Way plain and withdraws into obscurity and hardship. This is the disputation of the sage."
The first characteristic of the sage's disputation is "drawing a taut cord to determine what is crooked and what is straight." The cord is the carpenter's inked line, used to measure whether a piece of wood is crooked or straight. When the sage disputes, he does not overpower others with eloquence—he takes the correct Way as his inked line, lays the heterodox claim beside it, and the crooked and the straight become self-evident. The force of his disputation comes not from the disputant, but from the Way.
The second characteristic is "listening to all" and "covering all." Listening to all means listening to everything; covering all means tolerating everything. The sage listens broadly and tolerates widely, and so "heterodox claims cannot throw him into confusion, and none of the hundred schools have anywhere to hide." The hundred schools have nowhere to hide, not because the sage has hunted them all down and destroyed them, but because the sage has already heard them all and seen through them all—there is no corner the sage does not know.
The third characteristic is "without the bearing of boastful vigor" and "without the countenance of parading his virtue." He listens broadly without pride; he tolerates widely without self-praise. This is the hardest point of all. The more a person knows, the more easily a look of self-satisfaction shows on his face; the more widely he tolerates, the more easily a look of conferring favor shows on his face. The sage has neither expression.
7.1.2 Dignified and Lofty, Like Jade Tablets
Master Xun quotes the "Juan A" ode from the "Greater Odes" of the Book of Songs to close his discussion of the sage's disputation.
The verse describes one who is dignified and stately, lofty in bearing, pure as a jade tablet, possessed of fine repute and fine presence, a genial and approachable noble person who serves as the guiding standard for all quarters of the realm.
The correspondence between this ode and the sage's disputation is remarkably precise. The dignified, stately bearing corresponds to "without the bearing of boastful vigor": solemn without ostentation. The purity like jade corresponds to "using the correct Way to dispute the heterodox": clean as jade, without a trace of self-interest. Serving as the guiding standard for all quarters corresponds to "when the explanation is adopted, the realm is set right": once the sage's disputation is accepted, it becomes the guiding standard of the realm.
Master Xun's quotation of the ode is no mere decoration. This poem gives the spirit of the sage's disputation a concrete image: the sage disputes with his entire character as his warrant, not with his tongue.
7.1.3 Drawing a Taut Cord to Determine What Is Crooked and What Is Straight
The metaphor of "drawing a taut cord to determine what is crooked and what is straight" deserves a further word. A carpenter measuring wood with an inked cord has no need to argue with the wood. Once the cord is pulled taut, whether the wood is crooked or straight is plain to see. The sage, measuring heterodox claims against the correct Way, likewise has no need to argue with them. Once the correct Way is laid out, whether the claim is heterodox or not is plain to see.
This is why the sage's disputation can be "without the bearing of boastful vigor." Boastful vigor is the attitude of contending to win, and one contends to win because the outcome is undecided. The sage does not contend to win, because once the cord is drawn, crooked and straight are already determined, and there is no contest left to win. The sage's confidence comes not from himself, but from the Way. So he needs neither pride nor self-praise.
The "Wei Ling Gong" chapter of the Analects records the Master saying: "The noble person is dignified but does not contend; he is sociable but does not form factions." Dignity here is solemnity, not pride. The noble person is solemn but does not contend. What Master Xun calls "the bearing of boastful vigor," with the two characters combined, refers to the high-strung expression of one who is contending—this does not contradict the Master's "dignified but does not contend." The sage has the dignity of solemnity, but not the boastful vigor of contention.
7.2 The Disputation of the Scholar-Noble Person
7.2.1 Speaking with a Benevolent Mind, Listening with a Learning Mind, Disputing with an Impartial Mind
The twelfth section discusses the disputation of the scholar-noble person (shi junzi): "The proprieties of deference and yielding are attained; the principles governing elder and younger are followed in order; taboo words are not uttered, and monstrous expressions do not issue forth. He speaks with a benevolent mind, listens with a learning mind, disputes with an impartial mind. He is not moved by the crowd's censure or praise, does not cater to the ears and eyes of onlookers, does not curry favor with the power and authority of the honored, and does not seek advantage from the words of those who twist and distort. Hence he is able to dwell in the Way without wavering, to be rebuked without abandoning his position, to be tempted by profit without drifting from his principles, valuing impartial correctness and despising base contention. This is the disputation of the scholar-noble person."
The core of this section is three statements: speaking with a benevolent mind, listening with a learning mind, disputing with an impartial mind.
To speak with a benevolent mind is to hold benevolence in one's heart while speaking, to speak for the other person's good, not in order to overpower them. To listen with a learning mind is to hold learning in one's heart while listening, to receive the other person's words as something one might learn from, not as something one must refute. To dispute with an impartial mind is to hold impartiality in one's heart while disputing, seeking an impartial conclusion, not one's own victory.
These three statements turn disputation from a contest to be won into a matter of self-cultivation. Speech calls for benevolence; listening calls for learning; disputation calls for impartiality. Of the three, "listening with a learning mind" is especially rare. When ordinary people dispute, they listen to the other party's words only while waiting for them to finish so they can refute them. To listen with a learning mind is to truly wish to learn something from the other person's words. This requires great humility, and it also requires great confidence. Humility is acknowledging that the other person may be right; confidence is not fearing that one will lose if the other person turns out to be right.
7.2.2 Not Being Moved by the Crowd's Censure or Praise
The second characteristic of the scholar-noble person's disputation is a set of four negations: not moved by the crowd's censure or praise, not catering to the ears and eyes of onlookers, not currying favor with the power of the honored, not seeking advantage from the words of those who twist and distort.
Not being shaken by the crowd's praise or blame; not going out of one's way to please the ears and eyes of onlookers; not fawning upon the power and authority of the honored; not exploiting the convenient words of the deviant. These four negations describe four temptations that a disputant faces: the crowd's approval, the audience's applause, the favor of the powerful, and the convenience of heterodox claims. The scholar-noble person's heart is unmoved by all four.
This is the same spirit as the Master's "Is it not the mark of the noble person that others do not know him, and yet he feels no resentment$23" (Analects, "Xue Er"). If others do not understand me, I feel no resentment. The scholar-noble person does not dispute in order to be understood or praised by others, and so the praise or blame of others cannot shake him. The "Li Ren" chapter of the Analects also says: "Do not worry that others do not know you; seek instead to be worth knowing." Do not worry that no one understands you; seek only to have something in yourself worth understanding.
"Hence he is able to dwell in the Way without wavering, to be rebuked without abandoning his position, to be tempted by profit without drifting from his principles"—hence the scholar-noble person can hold to the Way without wavering, be reproached without giving up his stance, be lured by profit without losing his principles.
7.2.3 Why Should He Trouble Himself Over What Others Say$24
The ode Master Xun quotes here does not survive in the received text of the Book of Songs—it is a lost poem. In it, the speaker, through a long night, reflects at length on his own faults; he does not dare to be careless of the ancient Way, nor to fall short in ritual propriety and righteousness—and so, being thus, why should he trouble himself over what others say$25
The correspondence between this ode and the scholar-noble person's disputation is likewise precise. The long reflection on one's own faults corresponds to "listening with a learning mind": constantly examining one's own shortcomings. Not daring to be careless of the ancient Way, not daring to fall short in ritual propriety and righteousness, corresponds to "dwelling in the Way without wavering": holding fast to the Way, holding fast to ritual propriety and righteousness. Not troubling himself over others' words corresponds to "not moved by the crowd's censure or praise": paying no heed to others' discussion of him.
The ode for the sage's disputation is "Juan A," which speaks of "serving as the guiding standard for all quarters." The ode for the scholar-noble person's disputation is this lost poem, which speaks of paying no heed to others' words. One is accepted by the realm and becomes its guiding standard; the other is not understood, and yet holds to itself. The distinction between the sage and the scholar-noble person lies exactly in the distinction between these two odes. The sage's disputation can transform the realm; the scholar-noble person's disputation can only transform himself. But the scholar-noble person's disputation is the preparation for the sage's disputation. Without the fortitude of "why should he trouble himself over what others say," there would be no achievement of "serving as the guiding standard for all quarters."
7.3 The Speech of the Noble Person and the Speech of the Fool
7.3.1 Penetrating Yet Precise, Modest Yet Well-Ordered, Varied Yet Uniform
The thirteenth section discusses the speech of the noble person: "The noble person's speech is penetrating yet precise, modest yet well-ordered by kind, varied yet uniform. He rectifies his names and makes his statements apt, striving above all to make his intent and meaning clear. Names and statements are the emissaries of intent and meaning; once they suffice to achieve mutual understanding, he sets them aside. To cling to them beyond that is deceit. Hence, once a name suffices to point to the actuality, and a statement suffices to make the ultimate point clear, he sets them aside."
The noble person's speech is penetrating and precise, humble and well-ordered by kind, varied yet uniform. In speaking, the noble person does only one thing: he rectifies his names, makes his statements apt, and strives to make his own intent and meaning clear.
"The emissaries of intent and meaning"—names and statements are the emissaries of intent and meaning. An emissary's task is to convey his master's meaning; once it has been conveyed, the emissary may withdraw. "Once they suffice for mutual understanding, he sets them aside"—once mutual understanding is sufficiently achieved, one lets go of them. Names and statements are not the end in themselves; intent and meaning are the end. Names and statements need only be adequate—there is no need for more of them, no need for cleverness. "To cling to them beyond that is deceit"—to strive for victory through cleverness with names and statements beyond what is needed is deceit.
These lines are of a piece with the thinking of the "Great Treatise" of the Book of Changes: "Writing does not exhaust speech; speech does not exhaust meaning." Writing cannot fully express speech, and speech cannot fully express meaning. Given this, writing and speech are merely tools, and conveying meaning is the goal. The "Great Treatise" goes on to say, "the sages established images in order to exhaust meaning"—images were established in order to exhaust meaning, not for the sake of the images themselves. Master Xun says, "once a name suffices to point to the actuality, and a statement suffices to make the ultimate point clear, he sets them aside"—once names and statements suffice to point to actuality and make the ultimate point clear, one lets go of them. The two say the very same thing.
Master Zhuang, in the "External Things" (Waiwu) chapter, states it even more thoroughly: "Words exist for the sake of meaning; once one has grasped the meaning, one forgets the words." Words exist in order to convey meaning; once meaning is grasped, one forgets the words. Master Xun's "setting aside" and Master Zhuang's "forgetting the words" share the same attitude: words are a bridge, and once one has crossed the bridge, there is no need to linger on it. Confucianism and Daoism march together again on this point.
7.3.2 The Speech of the Fool
"Whatever exceeds this is called mere verbosity—it is what the noble person discards, and what the fool picks up and treasures as his own. Hence the fool's speech is muddled and coarse, clamorous and disordered by kind, chattering on as though boiling over. He seduces with names and dazzles with statements, yet has no depth of intent or meaning. Hence he exhausts his resources without limit, labors greatly without accomplishment, and is covetous yet earns no reputation."
Speech that exceeds "sufficing for mutual understanding" is called mere verbosity—something the noble person discards, and something the fool picks up and treasures. The fool's speech is muddled and coarse, clamorous and disordered by kind, chattering on endlessly like water at a boil. He seduces with names and dazzles with statements, yet has no depth of intent or meaning behind them. Hence his words go on without end, laboring greatly yet accomplishing nothing, being covetous yet earning no good name.
This passage stands in exact opposition to the noble person's speech. The noble person is "penetrating yet precise"; the fool is "muddled and coarse." The noble person is "modest yet well-ordered by kind"; the fool is "clamorous and disordered by kind." The noble person is "varied yet uniform"; the fool is "chattering on as though boiling over." The noble person treats names and statements as emissaries of intent and meaning; the fool treats them as instruments of self-display. The noble person stops once meaning is conveyed; the fool "exhausts his resources without limit."
The four characters "labors greatly without accomplishment" ring a warning bell for anyone who makes a profession of disputation or a display of clever phrasing. Cleverness with names and statements, if it does not point toward intent and meaning, is simply spinning in place. However fast the spinning, it produces nothing.
7.3.3 Being Like a Demon or a Water-Spirit
Master Xun quotes the "He Ren Si" ode from the "Lesser Odes" of the Book of Songs. In it, the poet says: were you a demon or a river-spirit, you could not be seen at all—but you have a human face, and yet look upon others without any fixed constancy; I compose this fine song in order to lay bare, to their utmost, your fickle and duplicitous ways.
The correspondence between this ode and the fool's speech is the sharpest of the three odes quoted. Being like a demon or a water-spirit corresponds to "muddled and coarse": indistinct and unfixed, impossible to see clearly. Looking upon others without fixed constancy corresponds to "chattering on as though boiling over": fickle and inconsistent, without any settled standard. Laying bare to the utmost his fickleness corresponds to "test it by... and one is able to prohibit it": exposing his inconsistency to its fullest extent.
Three grades of speech, three odes. The sage's disputation is paired with "Juan A," which speaks of serving as the guiding standard for all quarters; the scholar-noble person's disputation is paired with the lost ode, which speaks of paying no heed to others' words; the noble person's speech and the fool's speech are paired with "He Ren Si," which speaks of being like a demon or a water-spirit. The three odes descend, step by step, from the sage at the summit, to the self-possessed scholar-noble person, to the fickle fool. Master Xun's quotations of these odes are not chosen at random—they are carefully selected according to the grade of speech in question. Taken together, the three odes form a map of the hierarchy of speech.
The significance of this map is that disputation is not merely a technique—it is a manifestation of character. The sage's disputation manifests the sage's character; the fool's speech manifests the fool's character. Master Xun says, "the words of the wise are easily understood upon reflection, easily carried out in practice, and easily maintained once held to"—the words of the wise person are easy to understand, easy to put into practice, easy to hold fast to. These three "easy"s are the result of speech and character becoming one. Words are easy to understand because the mind behind them is clear; they are easy to carry out because they were meant for action from the start; they are easy to hold to because they accord with one's own intent and meaning. The fool is the opposite: his words dazzle, but are unsettling to act on, and impossible to hold to, because his words are severed from his intent and meaning. The rank of speech is, in the end, the rank of the person.