Chapter Four: Jing -- Do Not Let Dreams and Agitation Disorder Cognition

Section 1: The Dialectic of "Movement" and "Stillness"

Master Xun's discussion of jing (stillness) follows the same rhetorical structure of "acknowledging the reality, then posing the requirement":

"The mind has never not been in motion; yet there is what is called jing (stillness)."

The mind is never at rest. It is always in motion -- thinking when awake, dreaming when asleep, running automatically even when relaxed. This is the mind's natural state. Yet, having acknowledged that "the mind has never not been in motion," Master Xun put forward the requirement of jing.

"When the mind rests, it dreams; when at ease, it moves of its own accord; when deployed, it plans. Therefore the mind has never not been in motion; yet there is what is called jing: not letting dreams and agitation disorder cognition -- this is called jing."

Parsing layer by layer:

First layer: "When the mind rests, it dreams" -- when a person sleeps, the mind is dreaming. Even in sleep, the mind has not entirely ceased its activity.

Second layer: "When at ease, it moves of its own accord" -- when a person relaxes, the mind runs automatically. Tou means idle, relaxed. Even when you are not deliberately using the mind to think, it is running on its own, generating various thoughts and associations.

Third layer: "When deployed, it plans" -- when you mobilize the mind to think, it engages in planning. This is the active employment of the mind.

Fourth layer: "Therefore the mind has never not been in motion" -- the mind is never still. Whether in dreams, relaxation, or active deliberation, the mind is always in motion.

Fifth layer: "Yet there is what is called jing" -- yet the mind still requires jing.

Sixth layer: "Not letting dreams and agitation disorder cognition -- this is called jing" -- not allowing dreamlike phantasms and turbulent thoughts to disrupt genuine cognition: this is jing.

Here, jing is not "motionlessness" but "motion without disorder." The mind is ceaselessly active, but its activity is ordered and clear, undisturbed by chaotic thoughts -- this is jing.

Section 2: The Harm of "Dreams and Agitation": Why Do Stray Thoughts Disrupt Cognition$28

"Dreams and agitation" (meng ju): meng refers to dreamlike, illusory thoughts; ju refers to confused, turbulent mental activity. Together, meng ju denotes the mind's illusory and chaotic psychological operations.

Why do these illusory and chaotic psychological operations "disorder cognition"$29

This touches a fundamental issue: the mind's operational capacity is finite. Though the mind can carry on multiple activities simultaneously ("never not in motion"), when some of these activities become too intense or chaotic, they consume the mind's energy and prevent it from carrying out clear cognitive judgment.

A person who has had a nightmare often wakes shaken, dazed and disoriented, unable to enter a state of clear thinking immediately -- this is the direct experience of "dreams disordering cognition."

A person whose mind is flooded with stray thoughts tries to concentrate on a problem but is constantly interrupted by those stray thoughts -- this is the everyday experience of "agitation disordering cognition."

A metaphor that Master Xun offered later in the text reveals the mechanism of "dreams and agitation disordering cognition" with exceptional brilliance:

"The human mind may be likened to water in a basin. Set it level and do not stir it: the turbid sediment sinks to the bottom and the clear brightness rises to the surface -- enough to reflect one's brows and discern fine textures. But if a slight breeze passes over it, the sediment stirs below and the clarity above is disordered -- then not even the rough shape of things can be truly seen. The mind is just like this."

The human mind is like water in a basin. Placed level and left undisturbed, the muddy sediment settles to the bottom and the clear, bright water rises to the top -- enough to reflect one's eyebrows and discern the textures of one's face. But if a faint breeze blows across it, the sediment below is stirred up, the clear water above becomes turbid, and one cannot even make out the general contours of a face.

The mind works the same way. In a state of jing, the mind is like still, clear water, capable of reflecting external things with clarity. But under the agitation of "dreams and agitation," the mind is like water that has been stirred into turbidity, losing its capacity for clear reflection.

This metaphor has wide resonance in pre-Qin thought.

Section 3: The Intellectual Lineage and Resonances of the "Basin of Water" Metaphor

Master Xun's "basin of water" metaphor was not without precedent in pre-Qin texts.

The Most High (Laozi) said:

"Who can make the turbid clear by stilling it gradually$30" (Daodejing, Chapter 15)

Who can let turbid water, through stillness, gradually become clear$31 This rhetorical question directly corresponds to the core meaning of Master Xun's basin metaphor -- jing can turn muddy water clear, just as jing can restore the mind from confusion to clarity.

And again:

"Clarity and stillness are the standard of the realm." (Daodejing, Chapter 45)

Clarity and stillness constitute the standard of the realm. When the mind achieves clarity and stillness, it becomes a reliable standard for judging right from wrong and knowing things truly.

The Zhuangzi, in the "Tiandao" (The Way of Heaven) chapter, contains a similar discussion:

"When water is still, it clearly mirrors the eyebrows and whiskers; its level surface is so precise that the master carpenter takes it as his standard. If water at rest is so bright, how much more so the human spirit! The sage's mind is still -- it is the mirror of heaven and earth, the looking-glass of all things."

Water at rest can clearly reflect eyebrows and whiskers; its level surface can serve as a standard for the master carpenter. If even still water is so luminous, how much more so the human spirit! The sage's mind is still, and therefore it is the mirror of heaven and earth, the looking-glass of all things.

"The mirror of heaven and earth, the looking-glass of all things" -- this harmonizes beautifully with Master Xun's "sitting in one's chamber yet seeing to the four seas, dwelling in the present yet discoursing on the remote." The mind in a state of jing reaches the apex of its cognitive power, capable of reflecting heaven, earth, and all things.

Master Zhuang further said:

"Emptiness leads to stillness, stillness to appropriate movement, appropriate movement to attainment." (Zhuangzi, "Tiandao")

Xu leads to jing; jing generates the right kind of movement; the right movement leads to attainment. This sequence of xu -- jing -- movement -- attainment shares a deep structural resonance with Master Xun's "xu, yi, and jing."

Section 4: The Dialectical Relationship Between "Jing" and "Movement"

The most profound dimension of Master Xun's concept of jing is this: jing does not exclude movement; indeed, jing exists for the sake of better movement.

"When deployed, it plans" -- when the mind is mobilized for thought, it engages in planning. This purposeful, directed "planning" (mou) is the positive form of movement.

The question is not whether the mind is active but whether its activity is ordered. Disordered activity (dreams and agitation) is what must be excluded; ordered activity (planning) is what must be preserved and deployed. The function of jing is precisely to exclude disordered activity, creating the conditions for ordered activity.

The Yijing says:

"Heaven moves with vigor; the gentleman thereby strives ceaselessly." (Yijing, Hexagram Qian, "Xiang")

"The disposition of the earth is receptive; the gentleman thereby supports all things with generous virtue." (Yijing, Hexagram Kun, "Xiang")

The movement of heaven is vigorous and ceaseless -- this is the most fundamental "movement." The character of earth is thick and still -- this is the most fundamental "stillness." Heaven moves and earth is still; movement and stillness complement each other, and all things are thereby nurtured. Likewise, the jing of the mind does not aim to extinguish its movement but to make its movement more vigorous, clear, and orderly.

In pre-Qin thought there is a profoundly important idea: the highest form of movement arises from the deepest stillness.

The Most High (Laozi) said:

"The heavy is the root of the light; the still is the master of the restless." (Daodejing, Chapter 26)

Stillness is the master of restlessness. Only the person who is inwardly still can make correct judgments and take right action in the face of a complex external world.

And again:

"Stillness overcomes restlessness; cold overcomes heat. Clarity and stillness are the standard of the realm." (Daodejing, Chapter 45)

Stillness overcomes restlessness -- not because the force of stillness suppresses the force of restlessness, but because stillness provides a stable foundation from which all action can proceed with composure, precision, and effectiveness.

Section 5: The Cultivation and Practice of "Jing"

Master Xun said:

"Those who have not yet attained the Way but seek it are told: xu, yi, and jing. Put this into practice: ... those about to contemplate the Way who achieve jing will be perspicacious."

Those who are about to contemplate the great Way, if they can achieve jing, will become perspicacious -- cha (perspicacity) is the highest fruit of cognitive activity. Jing is the necessary condition for attaining cha.

How is the cultivation of jing to be practiced$32 Master Xun provided a general direction:

"Therefore, guide it with principle (li), nourish it with clarity (qing), and let nothing tip it over -- then it will suffice to determine right and wrong and resolve doubts."

First, "guide it with principle" -- use reason to guide the mind. When the mind is filled with sound principles, it is not easily led astray by stray thoughts.

Second, "nourish it with clarity" -- cultivate the mind with purity. Qing (purity) is the prerequisite and foundation of jing.

Third, "let nothing tip it over" -- allow no external thing to upset the mind's equilibrium. The character qing ("tip over") is critically important here -- it implies that the mind's stability is like the balance of a vessel; once tipped by external force, equilibrium is lost.

Having accomplished these three, the mind "suffices to determine right and wrong and resolve doubts" -- it can judge right from wrong and decide difficult cases.

Conversely:

"If a trifling thing draws it away, its uprightness shifts outward, its interior tips over, and it no longer suffices even to determine rough principles."

If drawn aside by some trifling external thing, the mind's uprightness shifts outward and its interior loses balance; then it cannot even judge crude and obvious truths, let alone subtle ones.

"A trifling thing draws it away" -- this is the greatest threat to jing. Not great events or great upheavals, but those seemingly inconsequential "trifling things" -- a tiny desire, a passing thought, a bit of irrelevant business -- suffice to disrupt the mind's stillness and strip it of its capacity for judgment.

The Guanzi, "Neiye" chapter also offered a brilliant discussion of this:

"The life of all human beings: Heaven contributes its vital essence, Earth contributes its form; these combine to make the person. When they are harmonized, life arises; when they are not harmonized, life does not arise. Examine the way of harmony: its essence cannot be seen, its signs cannot be perceived. Balance, uprightness, and composure -- governance lies in the mind. Thereby one achieves long life. When anger and resentment lose their measure, make a plan for them. Regulate the five desires, expel the two evils. Neither delighting nor raging -- balance, uprightness, and composure."

Human life arises from the harmonious union of Heaven's vital essence and Earth's form. To maintain this vital harmony, the key lies in the mind's "balance and uprightness" -- being impartial, composed, and serene. Emotions such as anger, the five desires, delight, and rage, if unregulated, destroy the mind's equilibrium and thereby destroy life's harmony.

And further:

"The Way has no root, no stem, no leaf, no blossom. All things live by it; all things are completed by it. It is named the Way. ... Being able to be upright and still, one can then be settled. When the mind is settled within, the ears and eyes are keen, the four limbs are strong -- such a one can become the dwelling-place of vital essence."

The ability to achieve "uprightness" (zheng) and "stillness" (jing) leads to "settledness" (ding). When the mind is settled within, the ears and eyes are keen and the four limbs are strong -- this is the dwelling-place of vital essence. The cultivation sequence of zheng -- jing -- ding corresponds structurally to Master Xun's "xu, yi, and jing."

Section 6: "Jing" and the Ancient Tradition of Sacrifice

The concept of jing has deep roots in the culture of high antiquity, particularly in its close association with the tradition of sacrifice.

When the ancient ancestors performed sacrifices, they observed a series of requirements for "purification and abstinence" (zhaijie). The Liji (Book of Rites), in the "Jiyi" (Meaning of Sacrifice) section, says:

"Inner purification is concentrated within; outer purification is dispersed without. During the days of purification, one contemplates the person's dwelling-place, contemplates his laughter and speech, contemplates his aims, contemplates his pleasures, contemplates his preferences. After three days of purification, one sees the one for whom one purifies."

The process of purification consists of excluding external disturbances and concentrating the mind, ultimately attaining the ability to "see" the object of sacrifice. This "seeing" is not physical sight but spiritual communion.

The most essential requirement of purification is jing -- stilling the mind, stilling the body, dwelling in stillness. In a quiet environment, one eliminates all stray thoughts and concentrates the mind upon the object of sacrifice. Only by achieving sufficient jing can one communicate with the spirits.

This experience of jing in sacrificial practice may be regarded as one of the cultural roots of the philosophically significant concept of jing. Through the practice of purification and sacrifice, the ancient ancestors experienced the enhancement of spiritual perceptive power through jing; this experience was gradually refined into a universal cognitive principle -- the mind needs jing to perceive things clearly.

The Yijing, "Xici Shang," says:

"In utter stillness and without movement, through resonance it penetrates all the affairs of the world." (ji ran bu dong, gan er sui tong tianxia zhi gu)

"Utter stillness and without movement" -- this is the state of supreme jing. In supreme stillness, once resonance arises, it can penetrate the principles of all things under heaven. "Utter stillness and without movement" is jing at its zenith; "through resonance it penetrates" is the supreme exercise of the cognitive capacity that jing makes possible.

This passage reveals the deep relationship between jing and knowing: it is not "movement" that produces "knowing" but "stillness" that makes "knowing" possible. In a state of supreme stillness, the mind's perceptive capacity reaches its maximum, and every resonance can be accurately received and understood.

Section 7: "Jing" and "Clarity and Luminosity"

Master Xun designated the combined effect of xu, yi, and jing as "great clarity and luminosity" (da qingming):

"Xu, yi, and jing -- this is called great clarity and luminosity."

Qing -- the purity that remains after all impurities have been removed. Ming -- brilliance, lucidity, penetrating insight. Da qingming -- the ultimate purity and insight.

"Clarity and luminosity" is not merely a description of a cognitive state but a concept bearing rich cultural significance.

In the tradition of high antiquity, ming was closely associated with shen (spirit). The Yijing, "Xici Shang," says:

"What is unfathomable in the interplay of yin and yang is called spirit (shen)."

Shen is a subtle force that transcends ordinary human cognition. And ming is the cognitive capacity that can perceive this subtle force. When the mind attains the state of "great clarity and luminosity," it possesses the power of shenming (spiritual illumination) -- the ability to perceive every subtlety.

Master Xun then described the cognitive capacities attainable in the state of "great clarity and luminosity":

"Among all things, none that has form goes unseen; none that is seen goes undiscussed; none that is discussed loses its proper place. Sitting in one's chamber, one sees to the four seas; dwelling in the present, one discourses on the remote. Surveying all things broadly, one knows their true nature; comparing and examining order and disorder, one comprehends their principles; weaving the warp and weft of heaven and earth, one assigns each thing its proper function; cutting and dividing the great pattern, the entire cosmos is set in order."

This passage depicts an awe-inspiring vision: in the state of "great clarity and luminosity," everything that has form can be seen; everything seen can be discussed; everything discussed finds its proper place. Sitting in one's room, one can comprehend what lies at the four seas; living in the present, one can discourse on the distant past. Surveying all things broadly, one knows their true nature; comparing the experiences of order and disorder, one comprehends the principles of governance; weaving the warp and weft of heaven and earth, one assigns each thing its proper function; carving out the great patterns of reason, the entire cosmos is set in order.

This is nearly a description of omniscience -- yet Master Xun insisted that this was not a supernatural power but a natural capacity of the mind under the conditions of xu, yi, and jing. The mind inherently possesses this cognitive potential; it is merely obstructed by bi (obscuration) in ordinary circumstances, unable to manifest. Once the obscuration is removed, the mind's innate capacity naturally unfolds.