Probing the Nuances of Xian: A Philosophical Examination of the Way of Husband and Wife and the Foundation of Human Relationships in the Zhou Yi's Xian Hexagram

Chapter 7: "Xian is Gan (Feeling)" – The Metaphysics of Affective Communication

Section 1: The Original Meaning of "Gan" (Feeling) and Pre-Qin Usage

The character Gan (感), composed of "Heart" (心) and Xian (咸), means the heart is touched or moved by something.

The usage of the character Gan in pre-Qin texts is extensive and can be categorized as follows:

I. Physical Feeling: Interaction between physical objects.

The Xi Ci Zhuan states:

"When Heaven and Earth are fully blended and vaporized, the ten thousand things transform into abundance. When male and female combine their essence, the ten thousand things transform and generate." (天地絪缊，万物化醇。男女构精，万物化生。)

The mutual blending and vaporizing of Heaven and Earth’s qi ("Yin Yun," the intermingling of vapor) results in the transformation and generation of all things. This is the great feeling/communication at the cosmic level.

And further:

"Kindred things naturally summon each other; qi of the same type gathers together; sounds in resonance respond to each other. Beat the Gong drum and the Gong sounds; beat the horn and the horn sounds." (类固相召，气同则合，声比则应。鼓宫而宫动，鼓角而角动。)

Kindred things feel each other, and qi of the same kind responds—this is physical feeling.

II. Psychological Feeling: Response between the mind and things.

The Li Ji, Yue Ji (Record of Music) states:

"The origin of all sounds arises from the human heart. The movement of the human heart is caused by external things. Being moved by external things, one acts, and thus it takes form in sound." (凡音之起，由人心生也。人心之动，物使之然也。感于物而动，故形于声。)

The heart feels external things and then acts, which then takes form in sound. This is psychological feeling—the mind being stimulated by external objects and reacting.

III. Moral Feeling: Influence between people.

The Analects, Wei Zheng:

"The Master said: 'To govern by means of virtue is like the North Star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn toward it.'" (为政以德，譬如北辰，居其所而众星共之。)

To move people through virtue is like the North Star remaining in its position while all other stars turn toward it. This is moral feeling/influence.

IV. Cosmic Feeling: Interaction between Heaven, Earth, Yin, and Yang.

This is what the Xian hexagram refers to: "When Heaven and Earth feel each other, the ten thousand things transform and generate." This feeling between Heaven and Earth is the foundation of all feeling.

Section 2: The Philosophical Structure of "Gan" (Feeling)

Philosophically analyzing "Gan" (feeling), its structure includes the following elements:

I. The Subject of Feeling: Who feels$19 In the Xian hexagram, the subjects of feeling are the young male and young female, mountain and water, firm and yielding. More broadly, all relative existences of Yin and Yang in the cosmos are subjects of feeling.

II. The Object of Feeling: What is felt$20 The male feels the female, the female feels the male; the firm feels the yielding, the yielding feels the firm; the high feels the low, the low feels the high. The object of feeling is always complementary to the subject of feeling.

III. The Medium of Feeling: By what is one felt$21 The Xian hexagram speaks of "the two qi respond to each other"—feeling through qi. Qi is the essence of Yin and Yang, the root of all things. Heaven and Earth interact through qi, and humans interact through qi (spirit, emotion, will).

IV. The Manner of Feeling: How is one felt$22 The Xian hexagram speaks of "by the high descending to the low, by the male descending to the female"—feeling through the manner of humble descent. Not by forceful coercion, but by humility to move the other. This is the righteous way of affective communication.

V. The Result of Feeling: What happens after communication$23 "Transformation and generation of ten thousand things," "Peace in the world"—the result of affective communication is creation and harmony.

Section 3: "Unintentional Feeling" vs. "Intentional Feeling"

We discussed earlier that "Xian" without the "Heart" component suggests the meaning of "unintentional feeling." We now explore this more deeply.

"Unintentional feeling" (Wuxin zhi Gan) has three implications:

First, it is not deliberate. The highest state of affective communication is spontaneous, not the result of deliberate pursuit. Like the interaction of Heaven and Earth: spring warmth brings forth flowers, autumn coolness causes leaves to fall—this is not intentional on the part of Heaven and Earth, but the natural tendency.

Zhuangzi, Qi Wu Lun (Discussion on Making Things Equal), states:

"Heaven and Earth were born together with me, and the ten thousand things are one with me." (天地与我并生，而万物与我为一。)

Heaven, Earth, and all things are inherently one with us, so feeling/communication is natural and requires no deliberation.

Second, it is not selfish. Feeling without intention is not motivated by one's own selfish desires, but based on natural disposition. Mencius, Li Lou Xia, states:

"All men possess the heart that cannot bear to see others suffer." (人皆有不忍人之心。)

The heart of the infant is pure and selfless—this is the optimal state for affective communication.

Third, it is not artificial. Feeling without intention is not achieved through external decoration or pretense, but a direct communication of one’s essential nature.

Laozi, Chapter 38, states:

"The highest virtue does not claim virtue, thus it possesses virtue. The lowest virtue does not let go of virtue, thus it is without virtue. The highest virtue acts without intentional action, and has nothing it intends to do. The lowest virtue acts without intentional action, but has something it intends to do." (上德不德，是以有德。下德不失德，是以无德。上德无为而无以为，下德无为而有以为。)

The highest virtue acts without intending action—it is a natural outflow, not the result of deliberate effort. This aligns with the meaning of "feeling without an intentional heart."

However, "feeling without an intentional heart" does not negate all conscious action. In the practice of human relations, the Sages must also cultivate sincerity (Cheng) and rectitude of mind to achieve the state of "feeling without an intentional heart."

The Great Learning states:

"What is meant by 'Making the will sincere' is not deceiving oneself. As if detesting a bad smell, as if loving a beautiful person—this is called self-satisfaction. Therefore, the superior man must be cautious when he is alone." (所谓诚其意者，毋自欺也。如恶恶臭，如好好色，此之谓自谦。故君子必慎其独也。)

Sincerity means not deceiving oneself. Detesting a bad smell naturally, loving beauty naturally—this is the state of sincerity. When sincerity reaches its extreme, it becomes "feeling without an intentional heart"—communication arises from utmost sincerity, without artificiality.

And further:

"When utmost sincerity is achieved, one can foresee. When a state is about to flourish, there will certainly be auspicious signs; when a state is about to perish, there will certainly be monstrous omens. They are manifested in divination sticks and tortoise shells, and move the four limbs. When misfortune or fortune is about to arrive, one will certainly know it beforehand if it is good, and certainly know it beforehand if it is bad. Thus, utmost sincerity is like a spirit." (至诚之道，可以前知。国家将兴，必有祯祥；国家将亡，必有妖孽。见乎蓍龟，动乎四体。祸福将至，善必先知之，不善必先知之。故至诚如神。)

"Utmost sincerity is like a spirit"—utmost sincerity allows one to commune with the future and foresee fortune and misfortune. While this borders on mysticism, its core principle—sincerity as the basis of feeling—is completely consistent with the meaning of the Xian hexagram.

Section 4: The Dialectic of "Feeling" (Gan) and "Responding" (Ying)

Affective communication is not unidirectional; it is bidirectional—where there is feeling, there is response; only with response is there connection.

The Xi Ci Zhuan states:

"Thus the Changes have the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji), which gives rise to the Two Modes (Liangyi); the Two Modes give rise to the Four Images (Sixiang); the Four Images give rise to the Eight Trigrams." (是故易有太极，是生两仪，两仪生四象，四象生八卦。)

Taiji gives rise to the Two Modes—Yin and Yang are distinguished and opposed. Opposition leads to mutual feeling, mutual feeling leads to mutual response, and mutual response leads to transformation and generation.

And further:

"The Changes possess four Ways of the Sages: in speech, they value the statements; in movement, they value the transformation; in making implements, they value the images; in divination, they value the prognostication." (子曰：‘书不尽言，言不尽意。’然则圣人之意其不可见乎？子曰：‘圣人立象以尽意，设卦以尽情伪，系辞焉以尽其言。变而通之以尽利，鼓之舞之以尽神。’)

The Sages use images, hexagrams, and statements to express their meaning—this is the Sages’ "feeling" (Gan); later generations understand the Changes and grasp the Dao—this is the response (Ying). Between feeling and response, meaning is transmitted, and wisdom is passed down.

In the Xian hexagram, the dialectic of feeling and response is expressed as follows:

Male feels the female → Female responds to the male (male-female interaction) High descends to the low → The low responds to the high (upper and lower interaction) Firm descends to the yielding → The yielding responds to the firm (firm and yielding complement each other) Heaven feels Earth → Earth responds to Heaven (Heaven and Earth interact harmoniously) Sages feel the hearts of men → Hearts of men respond to the Sages (political peace)

All these are concrete unfoldings of feeling and response.