Xunzi's 'Jie Bi' (Unveiling Concealment): On the Wholeness of the Dao, Cognitive Limitation, and the Fortune of Being Unobstructed
This paper offers an in-depth interpretation of the 'Jie Bi' chapter in Xunzi, investigating the epistemological origins of the 'calamity of obstruction' described by the Pre-Qin philosophers. By analyzing the concept that 'the Dao is constant in its entirety yet utterly transformative,' the essay reveals the dilemma of human cognition being fixated on 'a single corner' and elucidates the transcendental value of Confucius's 'benevolence and wisdom unhindered,' aiming to understand how to escape cognitive bias.
Section 4: The Original Function of Language in the Ancient View of Speech
From the perspective of ancient culture, what was the original function of language$21
The most primitive function of language is "naming things" (Ming Wu, 名物)—assigning names to things. The I Ching, Xi Ci Xia, records that one of the goals Fuxi set for creating the Eight Trigrams was "to classify the emotions of all things" (Yi Lei Wan Wu Zhi Qing, 以类万物之情)—to categorize and represent the characteristics of all things using a symbolic system. This is the most basic function of language (in the broad sense, including symbolic systems): enabling humans to cognize and communicate information about things.
Legend says that when Cangjie created characters, "Heaven rained millet, and ghosts cried in the night." The power of characters, according to this view, stemmed from their accurate correspondence to reality. If language detaches from "Reality" and becomes a mere game of concepts, it not only fails to advance human cognition but also becomes a tool for confusing right and wrong.
In ancient sacrificial traditions, language (prayers, invocations) held a sacred status. The words of an invocation must be sincere—because the object of sacrifice is a spirit that can perceive the mind; false words will not only fail to move the spirits but may also invite punishment. The Analects, "Ba Yi" (八佾), states: "When making sacrifices, act as if they are present; when making offerings to spirits, act as if the spirits are present." This demands that the speaker's words come from sincerity, without the slightest pretense or artifice.
This ancient linguistic view—that language must be sincere and correspond to reality—forms a sharp contrast with Master Hui Shi’s practice of language. Master Hui Shi turned language into a game divorced from reality, which, from the ancient perspective, was a grave profanation of language’s sacred function.
Master Laozi’s Chapter 81 states: "Faithful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not faithful. The good do not dispute; those who dispute are not good. The knowing are not learned; the learned do not know." Master Laozi’s words serve as the most profound critique of Master Hui Shi’s "obstruction by rhetoric": "The good do not dispute"—those truly skilled in recognizing the Dao do not need clever debate; "those who dispute are not good"—those skilled in clever debate are actually not skilled in recognizing the Dao. Master Hui Shi was the world's foremost debater, yet precisely because he was too immersed in debate, he lost his grasp on "Reality"—this is the epitome of "those who dispute are not good."