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#Guiguzi #Seven Techniques of the Yin Tally #Substantiating Intent, Modeled on the Flying Serpent #Pre-Qin Philosophy #Inner Cultivation (Neiye) Practice #The Flying Serpent (Tengshe)
Substantiating Intent, Modeled on the Flying Serpent: A Reading of the Third of the Seven Techniques in the *Guiguzi*'s 'Original Canon on the Yin Tally'
A line-by-line exegesis of 'Substantiating Intent, Modeled on the Flying Serpent,' the third technique of the Seven Techniques of the Yin Tally in the Original Canon of the *Guiguzi*. Beginning from the definition 'substantiated intent is the deliberation of qi,' it traces the pathology of a hollow intent, the cultivation sequence from calming the five viscera to contemplating the Great Void, the cognitive attainment of 'knowing all under Heaven without leaving one's door,' and clarifies the image of the flying serpent through three pieces of pre-Qin evidence drawn from the *Xunzi*, *Shenzi*, and the *Great Treatise*.
Appendix: Catalogue of Pre-Qin Texts Cited
| Text | Chapters Cited | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Guiguzi | Seven Techniques of the Yin Tally in the Original Canon (Abounding Spirit, Nurturing the Will, Substantiating Intent, Dividing Authority), Bond and Release, Response, Grinding | The base text and internal corroboration |
| Laozi | Chapters 10, 16, 39, 47, 48 | Embracing the One, attaining emptiness, knowing all under Heaven without leaving one's door |
| Zhuangzi | In the World of Men, The Great and Venerable Teacher, The Way of Heaven, Mastering Life, Ingrained Ideas, Gengsang Chu, Knowledge Wandered North, On the Equality of Things, The Old Fisherman | The fasting of the heart-mind, condensing with the spirit, the clarity of stillness, the Great Void |
| Guanzi | Inward Training, The Technique of the Heart-Mind I | Essential qi, the lodging of the spirit, concentrating qi, the technique of the heart-mind |
| Xunzi | Encouraging Learning, Undoing Fixation | The flying serpent flying though footless, emptiness-unity-stillness, the parable of the basin of water |
| Mencius | Gongsun Chou I | The distinction between the will and qi |
| Zhouyi, "Great Treatise" | Parts One and Two | Stillness and response, the numinous having no fixed direction, the pivot and trigger, the hibernation of dragon and serpent |
| Han Feizi | Criticizing the Doctrine of Circumstantial Power (citing the Shenzi), Explaining Laozi, Illustrations of Laozi | The soaring serpent traveling the mist, the numinous spirit not departing from its own substance |
| Zuo Tradition | Duke Zhao, Year 7 | The hun and po souls and the numinous spirit |
| Book of Songs | Xiaoya, Da Tian; Daya, Huang Yi | The alternate sense of the character teng; neither conscious nor knowing |
| Jade Inscription on Circulating Qi | Warring States-era engraved text | Evidence of an actual pre-Qin practice of circulating qi |