A Dialectical Analysis of the Tripartite Qualities of 'Dao' in the Guanzi: Intricacy, Expansion, and Solidity

Chapter 9: The Six Questions: Six Fundamental Inquiries of Dao Cultivation

I. The Full Passage

Can you grasp it$48 Can you unify it$49 Can you know good fortune and calamity without divination$50 Can you cease$51 Can you conclude$52 Can you obtain it from yourself without seeking it from others$53

These six questions are the most startling passage in the entire Neiye. They pose six fundamental challenges to the Dao cultivator in the form of rhetorical questions.

II. Analysis of Each Question

First Question: "Can you grasp it$54" (能抟乎？) This is the most basic question to the Dao cultivator: Can you gather and condense your scattered mind-Qi$55

The ordinary state of mind-Qi is scattered—sometimes thinking about this, sometimes about that; sometimes happy, sometimes sorrowful; sometimes here, sometimes there. When mind-Qi is scattered, one's spirit is dispersed, and life energy is consumed in vain.

"Can you grasp it$56" means, can you gather this scattered mind-Qi into one, kneading it into a whole like dough$57

This question corresponds to the realm of "Grasping Qi as if it were Shen" (抟氣如神) mentioned earlier—only by grasping Qi can one be like Shen; without grasping Qi, all cultivation is impossible.

Second Question: "Can you unify it$58" (能一乎？) "Unify" (一, yī) goes a step further than "grasp" (抟). "Grasping" is to gather scattered Qi; "unifying" is to make the gathered Qi completely unified and free of impurities.

Laozi, Chapter Thirty-Nine, states: "Those who obtained the One in antiquity: Heaven obtained the One and became pure; Earth obtained the One and became tranquil; Spirits obtained the One and became numinous; Valleys obtained the One and became full; The myriad things obtained the One and were born; Lords and Kings obtained the One and became the root of all under Heaven." Heaven, Earth, spirits, valleys, myriad things, and lords and kings each achieved their essence by "obtaining the One."

"One" is the core attribute of the Dao. Laozi, Chapter Forty-Two: "The Dao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to the myriad things." One is the first manifestation of the Dao, the root of all things. For a cultivator to "unify it" means to return to this root state.

However, the question "Can you unify it$59" implies that being able to unify is extremely difficult. Ordinary people are always entangled in duality (opposition), trinity (change), and multiplicity (complexity), finding it hard to return to the state of "One."

The Book of Documents, "The Great Plan," states "Be diligent and unified" (惟精惟一). "Jing" (精) means subtle, and "Yi" (一) means unified. Only by being subtle and unified can one "sincerely hold to the center."

Third Question: "Can you know good fortune and calamity without divination$60" (能無卜筮而知吉凶乎？) This question is profoundly significant. Since antiquity, people have relied on divination (turtle shells and yarrow stalks) to foretell good fortune and calamity. The I Ching itself is a book of divination methods. The Book of Documents, "Great Plan," lists "Investigating Doubts" (稽疑) among the Nine Categories: "If you have great doubts, consult your mind, consult your ministers, consult the common people, consult divination."

Divination is an external tool—information is obtained through the cracks in turtle shells or the arrangement of yarrow stalks. However, Neiye asks: Can you know good fortune and calamity directly through internal mind-Qi cultivation, without relying on these external tools$61

This question implies a major shift in thought: from external divine oracles to internal intuition, from reliance on tools to reliance on oneself. This is precisely the crucial juncture where pre-Qin thought transitioned from the ancient shamanic tradition to rational philosophy.

Ancient shamans communicated with spirits through rituals and tools; pre-Qin Daoists advocated direct cognition through internal cultivation—without tools, without rituals, reaching the same cognitive results as shamans through "the acme of vital energy."

However, "Can you know good fortune and calamity without divination$1" is posed as a question—implying that it is extremely difficult. Do you truly know if you can achieve it$2

Fourth Question: "Can you cease$3" (能止乎？) "Zhi" (止) means to stop or to dwell. The Great Learning, quoting the Book of Odes, discusses "knowing where to stop" (知止): "The yellow bird sings on the branch. If it knows where to stop, can a person be inferior to a bird$4"

"Can you cease$5" asks: Can you stop your constantly racing mind$6

The human mind is like a wild horse, constantly running—jumping from one thought to another, from one desire to another. Guanzi, Xinshu Shang, states: "If the mind is at peace, the state is at peace; if the mind is orderly, the state is orderly. It is the mind that brings order, it is the mind that brings peace." Only when the mind can stop can it be at peace; only when the mind is at peace can it govern.

Laozi, Chapter Sixteen: "Attain the utmost emptiness, hold fast to stillness." Attaining the utmost emptiness means emptying the mind to the extreme; holding fast to stillness means holding onto tranquility to the deepest point—this is the practice of "ceasing."

Fifth Question: "Can you conclude$7" (能已乎？) What is the difference between "Zhi" (止) and "Yi" (已)$8 "Zhi" is to stop (temporarily); "Yi" is to terminate (permanently).

"Can you conclude$9" asks: Can you permanently terminate those improper thoughts, desires, and actions$10 Not temporarily stopping and then reverting to the original state, but completely and irreversibly terminating them$11

This is a higher requirement than "Can you cease$12". Many Dao cultivators can "cease" but not "conclude"—they can temporarily stop aberrant thoughts, but after a while, the thoughts return. "Can you conclude$13" demands fundamental eradication, not temporary suppression.

However, another interpretation exists: "Yi" (已) also means satisfaction or contentment. "Can you conclude$14" then means "Can you be content$15 Can you be satisfied with everything you have at the moment$16" Laozi, Chapter Forty-Six, states: "There is no greater calamity than not knowing contentment; there is no greater fault than desiring to obtain. Therefore, the contentment of knowing contentment is always contentment." "Can you conclude$17" means "Can you be content$18"

Both interpretations are valid and can coexist.

Sixth Question: "Can you obtain it from yourself without seeking it from others$19" (能勿求諸人而得之己乎？) This is the most fundamental question among the six. The first five questions concern the practice itself; the sixth question concerns the direction: Is your path of Dao cultivation outward or inward$20

"Seeking it from others" (求諸人) means seeking from others—seeking from teachers, seeking from authorities, seeking from external objects. "Obtaining it from oneself" (得之己) means obtaining it within oneself—obtaining the Dao within one's own mind, Qi, or body.

Guanzi, Xinshu Shang, states: "Everyone desires knowledge but does not seek it. What they know is 'them'; what they use to know is 'this.' If you do not cultivate 'this,' how can you know 'them'$21" 'This' refers to oneself; 'them' refers to external things. Everyone wants to know the principles of external things but does not cultivate themselves—this is putting the cart before the horse.

Laozi, Chapter Forty-Seven, reiterates this point: "Without leaving the door, one knows the world. Without peeking through the window, one sees the Dao of Heaven." The Dao is not elsewhere; it is within oneself. Seeking externally leads one further astray; returning internally leads to immediate attainment.

These six questions form the complete sequence of Dao cultivation practice:

1. Grasp (抟)—Gathering mind-Qi (fundamental practice)
2. Unify (一)—Unifying mind-Qi (advanced practice)
3. Know without divination—Direct cognition beyond tools (cognitive realm)
4. Cease (止)—Stopping the errant mind (mind training)
5. Conclude (已)—Completely eradicating the errant mind (mind purification)
6. Obtain from oneself without seeking from others—Returning to the root for self-attainment (ultimate direction)

III. Comparison of the Six Questions with Laozi's Three Questions

The three questions in Laozi, Chapter Ten, are:

Holding the vital spirit and embracing unity, can you avoid separation$22 Concentrating Qi to achieve softness, can you be like an infant$23 Cleansing the profound mirror, can you be without blemish$24

Comparison:

The common points are: both use rhetorical questions to pose fundamental challenges of Dao cultivation, both point towards the possibility of internal cultivation, and both imply the difficulty of Dao cultivation.

The differences are: Laozi focuses more on "returning to simplicity and authenticity"—returning to an infant-like soft, unblemished state; Neiye focuses more on "self-completion"—achieving a state of self-sufficiency and non-reliance on externals through cultivation.