Chapter Nineteen: In-Depth Discrimination of Key Concepts

I. "Qi," "Vital Essence," and "Spirit"

In the intellectual system of the Neiye, the three concepts "qi," "vital essence" (jing), and "spirit" (shen) form a progressive sequence:

Qi -- the fundamental constituent of all things, filling the space between Heaven and Earth. The Guanzi "Neiye": "The vital essence of all things -- this is what brings them to life. Below it gives birth to the five grains; above it forms the arrayed stars. Flowing between Heaven and Earth, it is called spirits and gods. Stored within the breast, it makes a person a sage. Therefore this qi -- how luminous, as if ascending to Heaven! How obscure, as if entering the abyss! How fluid, as if resting in the sea! How sudden, as if present within oneself!" Qi is everywhere, infinitely transformative.

Vital essence (jing) -- the most refined, most pure form of qi. "The vital essence is the most refined form of qi." Vital essence is the quintessence within qi, the root of life.

Spirit (shen) -- the unfathomable state that appears when vital essence has been cultivated to its pinnacle. "Concentrate qi as though spirit-like" -- qi condensed to the uttermost becomes spirit-like in its unfathomable transformations.

The relationship among the three: qi is the foundation; vital essence is the refinement of qi; spirit is the ultimate expression of vital essence. From qi to vital essence to spirit, there is a process of ever-greater refinement and sublimation.

II. "Heart-Mind," "Intent," and "Will"

"Heart-mind" (xin) is one of the most central concepts in pre-Qin thought. In the Neiye:

Heart-mind -- the sovereign of the body, the subject of cognition, the core of cultivation. "The heart's position within the body is that of the ruler." (Guanzi, "Xinshu Shang")

Intent (yi) -- the direction, the activity of the heart-mind. "Qi-intent aligned," "heart-intent settled" -- qi and intent, heart-mind and intent, operate at different levels but must reach unity.

Will (zhi) -- the long-range direction of the heart-mind. Another passage of the Guanzi "Neiye": "Align the body, gather Virtue, and the benevolence of Heaven and the righteousness of Earth shall naturally arrive in full, and the pinnacle of spirit-radiance shall illuminate the knowledge of all things." Will is sustained direction; intent is present activity.

The relationship among the three: the heart-mind is the subject; intent is its present activity; will is its long-range direction. The goal of cultivation is to unify heart-mind, intent, and will: "intent unified and heart concentrated" is the unification of intent and heart-mind; "heart-intent settled" is the heart-mind and intent reaching a stable state.

III. "Dao" and "Virtue"

"Once you have understood the ultimate, return to the Dao and its Virtue." Here "Dao and Virtue" (daode) is a compound of Dao and De.

Dao -- the ultimate ground of all that is so about all things. "In general, the Dao must be thorough and dense, broad and expansive, firm and steadfast." The Dao is objective, universal, and constant.

Virtue (De) -- the concrete manifestation of the Dao in the individual. "What one has obtained (de) from the Dao is called one's Virtue (de)." (This is the accepted pre-Qin meaning.) Virtue is subjective, particular, and cultivable.

The relationship between Dao and De is like that between the sun and its light -- the sun is the source of light (Dao); light is the manifestation of the sun (De). Every person carries a manifestation of the Dao (De), but because of various obscurations, this De may be incomplete or dimmed. The purpose of cultivation is to let De manifest fully -- "returning to the Dao and its Virtue" is returning to a state where De is fully manifest.