Xunzi's 'Jiebi' (Dispelling Obscuration): On the Wholeness of the Dao, Cognitive Limitation, and the Blessing of Unobscured Vision
This article offers an in-depth reading of the 'Jiebi' chapter of the Xunzi, exploring the cognitive roots of the 'calamity of obscuration' among the pre-Qin thinkers. Through an analysis of 'the Dao embodies constancy and encompasses all change,' it reveals the predicament of human cognition clinging to 'a single corner,' and elucidates the transcendent value of Confucius's 'benevolence and wisdom, unobscured,' with the aim of understanding how to overcome cognitive bias.
Chapter Fourteen: Deeper Questions
Was Master Xun Himself "Obscured"$37
Perhaps. His positions on human nature ("nature is bad"), on heaven ("the distinction between heaven and the human"), and on ritual have their own limitations. But his awareness that he might be obscured — and his consequent striving rather than complacency — is itself the first step in "dispelling obscuration."
Can "Obscuration" Be Completely Eliminated$38
Master Zhuang posed the challenge: "My life has a limit, but knowledge has none. To pursue the limitless with the limited — this is perilous!" (Zhuangzi, Yang Sheng Zhu). Master Xun would likely respond: "unobscured vision" is not omniscience but "non-partisan knowing" — not knowing everything but not biasing toward any single viewpoint.
Can Different Schools' Obscurations Correct One Another$39
In theory, yes — but in practice, "taking it to be sufficient and embellishing it" prevents those who are obscured from recognizing their own obscuration. Only the prior achievement of "emptiness" — acknowledging one's own incompleteness — makes learning from others possible. The Master said: "When I walk with two others, they invariably serve as my teachers" (Analects, Shu Er).