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

IV. Examination from an Ancient Perspective: The Transmission of Shamanism, Historiography, and the Dao

If we extend our perspective further back to antiquity, we must ask: What are the origins of this set of cultivation practices described in Neiye$25

During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, those who mastered the arts of communicating with Heaven, Earth, spirits, and ghosts were the shamans (巫觋, wūxí) and historiographers (史官, shǐguān). Guoyu, in the "Conversations of Chu" (楚語下), records a passage where Guan Shefu explains to King Zhao of Chu: "In ancient times, people and spirits were not mixed. Those whose spirits were not scattered or divided, and who could be solemn, reverent, and sincere, whose wisdom could ascend and descend and be in accord, whose sagacity could illuminate widely and clearly, whose clarity could shine brightly, and whose hearing could penetrate deeply—if so, then the bright spirits would descend upon them. For men, they were called xi; for women, they were called wu."

Guan Shefu's description of the shamans' qualities—"spirits not scattered or divided," "solemn, reverent, and sincere," "wisdom could ascend and descend and be in accord," "sagacity could illuminate widely and clearly," "clarity could shine brightly," "hearing could penetrate deeply"—how similar are these to the cultivation state described in Neiye! "Keeping the whole mind within" corresponds to "spirits not scattered or divided"; "Once the four limbs are proper and the blood-Qi is tranquil" corresponds to "solemn, reverent, and sincere"; "The form of the mind-Qi is brighter than the sun and moon" corresponds to "clarity could shine brightly"; "The sound of non-utterance is swifter than thunderous drums" corresponds to "hearing could penetrate deeply."

This raises a significant question: Does the cultivation tradition of Neiye inherit from ancient shamanism$26

Based on textual evidence, the answer is likely affirmative. A crucial origin of pre- Qin Daoist thought is the rationalization and philosophization of the ancient shamanic tradition. As religious reforms such as "severing the connection between earth and heaven" (絕地天通, juédì tiāntōng) occurred from the Zhou dynasty onwards (as mentioned in Book of Documents, "The Edict of Lü" (呂刑): "Then he commanded Chong and Li to sever the connection between earth and heaven, so that there would be no more descending transmissions"), shamans no longer held exclusive rights to communicate with spirits. The cultivation techniques originally belonging to shamans gradually entered the populace and were absorbed and transformed by various schools of thought. Neiye is an outstanding crystallization of this transformative process—it transmutes shamanic techniques for communicating with spirits into practices for self-cultivation and mind management for Dao cultivators; it reinterprets the religious experience of "spirits descending" into a naturalistic explanation of "the acme of vital energy."