Chapter Six: Bi -- The Obscuration and Distortion of Cognition

Section 1: The Fundamental Meaning of "Bi"

The character bi, composed of elements signifying grass and covering, originally means to cover, to obscure. Dense vegetation obscures the line of sight -- this is the primordial image of bi.

In Master Xun's cognitive theory, bi refers to the various factors that obscure and interfere with the mind's cognitive function, preventing it from perceiving things clearly and accurately.

The "Jiebi" chapter begins with an extensive enumeration of instances of bi. While Master Xun offered a comprehensive analysis of the obscurations of the various philosophical schools, in the passage under study here he focused on several specific types of bi:

I. Environmental obscuration -- "Darkness obscures clarity"

"One who walks in darkness sees a crouching stone and takes it for a crouching tiger, sees an upright tree and takes it for a standing person -- the darkness obscures his clarity."

Darkness obscures the clarity of vision, causing one to mistake a stone for a tiger and a tree for a person. This is the external environment's disruption of sensory function.

II. Physiological obscuration -- "Wine disorders the spirit"

"A drunkard leaps over a ditch a hundred paces wide, thinking it a tiny channel one step across; he stoops to exit a city gate, thinking it a small doorway -- the wine has disordered his spirit."

Alcohol disrupts the mind, causing a drunken person's judgment of distance and size to become completely distorted. This is a physiological factor's disruption of cognitive function.

III. External-force obscuration -- "Force disrupts the organs"

"One who presses his eyes sees one thing as two; one who covers his ears hears silence as clamor -- force has disrupted his organs."

Pressing the eyes causes double vision; blocking the ears causes auditory hallucination. External force (shi) directly interferes with the normal function of the sense organs.

IV. Distance obscuration -- "Distance obscures magnitude"; "Height obscures length"

"Looking at cattle from atop a mountain, they appear to be sheep -- yet no one seeking sheep descends to lead them away: distance obscures their magnitude. Looking at trees from the base of a mountain, a tree ten ren tall appears to be a chopstick -- yet no one seeking chopsticks climbs up to break one off: height obscures their length."

Distance makes the large appear small -- cattle in the distance look like sheep; height makes the tall appear short -- a great tree in the distance looks like a chopstick. This is the distortion of visual judgment by spatial distance.

V. Motion obscuration -- "The water's movement is deceptive"

"When water moves and reflections waver, one cannot thereby determine beauty or ugliness -- the water's movement is deceptive."

When the water surface stirs, reflections waver, and one cannot judge the beauty or ugliness of a face. The motion of the water distorts the reflected image.

VI. Capacity obscuration -- "Exhausted faculties produce confusion"

"A blind man looks up and cannot see the stars, but one does not thereby determine that stars do not exist -- exhausted faculties produce confusion."

A blind man cannot see the stars, but this does not prove that stars do not exist. The absence of sensory capacity does not entail the nonexistence of the object.

Section 2: The Root Cause of "Bi"

The six types of bi enumerated above involve environment, physiology, external force, distance, motion, and capacity -- a diversity of factors. But at a deeper level, they share a common root cause: the incompleteness of cognitive conditions.

When cognitive conditions are incomplete -- whether because of insufficient light, the interference of alcohol, damage to the senses, or excessive distance -- the mind cannot obtain accurate information and consequently makes erroneous judgments.

But Master Xun's profundity lies in his attention not only to the incompleteness of external conditions but even more to the incompleteness of internal conditions -- the mind's own bi.

"Whenever one observes something with doubt, and the mind within is unsettled, then external things appear unclear. When my thinking is unclear, I cannot determine what is so and what is not."

When doubt dwells in the mind and it cannot settle ("the mind within is unsettled"), perception of external things becomes blurred ("external things appear unclear"). The crucial point here is that the cause of "external things appearing unclear" lies not in the external things themselves but in the "unsettled mind within."

The same external things, in the eyes of one whose mind is settled, are clearly discernible; in the eyes of one whose mind is unsettled, they are blurred. The difference lies not in the things but in the mind.

This is precisely why Master Xun put forward "xu, yi, and jing" -- not merely as a general method of cognition but as the fundamental discipline for eliminating the mind's own internal obscurations.

Section 3: "Deciding Doubts with Doubts" -- The Vicious Cycle of Cognitive Error

Master Xun identified a pattern of vicious cognitive cycling:

"If there is someone who determines things in this state, he is the fool of the age. The fool's way of determining things is to decide doubts with doubts; his decisions are bound to be wrong. If they are wrong, how can he avoid error$5"

To make judgments when cognitive conditions are incomplete ("determining things in this state") is foolish. And this foolishness manifests more deeply as "deciding doubts with doubts" (yi yi jue yi) -- using questionable premises to resolve questionable conclusions.

"Deciding doubts with doubts" is a profoundly important concept. It describes the following predicament: when the mind itself is in a state of confusion, the standards it uses to judge things are themselves unreliable; and judgments made on unreliable standards in turn become new unreliable standards -- thus the cycle continues, and errors accumulate.

How to break this vicious cycle$6 The only way is to return to the foundation of cognition -- xu, yi, and jing. Only when the mind itself has reached a state of clarity can its judgments be reliable; only on the basis of reliable judgments can further correct inferences be drawn.

Here we see a fundamental position of Master Xun's cognitive theory: the reliability of cognition ultimately depends on the state of the cognitive subject (the mind), not merely on the nature of the cognitive object (the thing). Even the best cognitive object, if the cognitive subject is in a state of bi, cannot be correctly known; even the most complex cognitive object, if the cognitive subject is in a state of "clarity," can be accurately grasped.

Section 4: "Bi" and "Huo" (Confusion) in Pre-Qin Thought

In pre-Qin texts, an important concept related to bi is huo (confusion).

The Master spoke of huo several times in the Lunyu:

"The wise are not confused; the humane are not anxious; the brave are not afraid." (Lunyu, "Zihan")

"At forty, I was no longer confused." (Lunyu, "Wei Zheng")

Huo is cognitive disorientation and bewilderment. "Not confused" (bu huo) is cognitive clarity and certainty. The Master considered "not confused" the hallmark of the wise -- this is consistent with Master Xun's identification of "great clarity and luminosity" as the highest state of cognition.

The Master also said:

"To love someone and wish him to live, to hate someone and wish him to die -- to wish him both to live and to die: this is confusion." (Lunyu, "Yan Yuan")

Liking a person and wanting him to live, disliking a person and wanting him to die -- wanting the same person both to live and to die: this is huo. The huo here arises precisely from the er (division) of emotions -- two contrary emotions acting simultaneously -- producing cognitive chaos. Master Xun's statement that "division leads to doubt and confusion" conveys exactly this meaning.

The Most High (Laozi) also addressed cognitive disorientation:

"The five colors blind the eye; the five tones deafen the ear; the five flavors dull the palate; racing and hunting madden the mind; rare goods make a person's conduct go awry. Therefore the sage acts for the belly, not for the eye -- hence he rejects that and adopts this." (Daodejing, Chapter 12)

The five colors, five tones, five flavors, racing and hunting, rare goods -- these external sensory stimuli and material temptations cause the senses and mind to lose their normal function. This is the concrete manifestation of bi at the sensory level. The sage "acts for the belly, not for the eye" -- attending to inner fulfillment rather than external stimulation -- and this is a strategy for "dispelling obscuration."

Section 5: The Moral Implications of "Bi"

Master Xun's theory of bi has not only epistemological significance but also profound moral implications.

In Master Xun's view, cognitive bi frequently leads to moral deviation. A person who is obscured cannot see the whole picture; his judgments are one-sided; and actions based on one-sided judgments are inevitably skewed.

This is most apparent in his analysis of the obscurations of the various philosophical schools. None of the obscured thinkers was deliberately doing wrong; rather, cognitive limitation led to theoretical deviation, which could in turn lead to practical deviation.

Therefore, "dispelling obscuration" is not merely a cognitive problem but a moral one. Only by removing cognitive obscuration can one make comprehensive, correct judgments and consequently take reasonable, proper action.

The Daxue offered an incisive discussion:

"When there is anger in the person, the mind cannot attain its proper state. When there is fear, the mind cannot attain its proper state. When there is fondness, the mind cannot attain its proper state. When there is anxiety, the mind cannot attain its proper state. When the mind is not present, one looks but does not see, listens but does not hear, eats but does not taste. This is what is meant by: cultivating the person lies in rectifying the mind."

Anger, fear, fondness, anxiety -- these four emotions cause the mind to deviate from its normal state, resulting in the cognitive impairment of "looking but not seeing, listening but not hearing." This is fully consistent with Master Xun's theory of bi -- the inner emotional state directly affects outward cognitive capacity.

Section 6: The Cultural Imagery of "Bi" in High Antiquity

The imagery of bi has rich expression in the culture of high antiquity.

The most direct image is "the blocking of sunlight." When the sun is covered by clouds, heaven and earth fall into darkness -- this was the ancient ancestors' most intuitive experience of bi.

In the myths of high antiquity, there are many records and explanations of solar eclipses. Eclipses were regarded as inauspicious omens because the sun -- the source of light and life -- was temporarily obscured.

The Shijing, "Xiao Ya," "Shi Yue Zhi Jiao," says:

"At the conjunction of the tenth month, on the xinmao day of the new moon, the sun was eclipsed -- how greatly displeasing."

The eclipse was considered "displeasing" (chou) -- ugly, bad. This fear and revulsion toward eclipses reflects the ancient ancestors' deep psychological response to bi -- the obscuration of light.

Transferring this imagery to the realm of the mind: the mind is inherently luminous (shenming), but when obscured by various factors, it is like the sun hidden behind clouds. "Dispelling obscuration" is like parting the clouds to let the mind's light shine forth again.

Master Xun spoke of "great clarity and luminosity"; the ming in this phrase is directly related to light and sunlight. When the mind achieves "great clarity and luminosity," it is as if the sun hangs high at the zenith, ten thousand miles without a cloud -- light shines upon everything, and all things are clearly visible.

"Its brightness rivals the sun and moon; its vastness fills the eight extremities."

The mind's brightness can stand alongside the sun and moon; the mind's vastness can fill the farthest reaches in every direction. What a magnificent image!

Section 7: How to "Dispel Obscuration"

The remedy Master Xun prescribed for "dispelling obscuration" centers on "xu, yi, and jing." But he also provided more specific practical guidance:

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

"Guide it with principle" -- use reason to guide the mind. This is the primary method of "dispelling obscuration." When the mind is filled with correct principles, mistaken conceptions cannot gain a foothold. Principle is the standard for judging right and wrong -- with a standard, one is not easily led astray.

"Nourish it with clarity" -- cultivate the mind with purity. This is not the work of a single morning or evening but a long-term cultivation practice. Purity is the prerequisite of stillness -- when the mind is pure, it is still; when still, it is luminous.

"Let nothing tip it over" -- allow no external thing to upset the mind's equilibrium. This requires tremendous steadfastness. The temptations and disturbances of external things are everywhere; to achieve "letting nothing tip it over," one must ceaselessly cultivate and test oneself in daily life.

These three methods encompass the three dimensions of knowledge (principle), emotion (clarity), and will (not being tipped over), constituting a complete program of mind-and-character cultivation.