Interpreting and Investigating the Chapter: 'The Sage Perceived the Profundities of the World' — The Primordial Code of *Xiang* and *Yao*

Chapter 1: Zé — The Hidden Texture of the World

I. Lexical Analysis and Semantic Field of Zé (赜)

Zé (zé), conspicuously, is not included in the Shuowen Jiezi (Explanations of Simple and Compound Characters). This fact alone warrants attention. Xu Shen, when compiling the Shuowen, searched exhaustively through Pre-Qin texts; why was this character omitted$9 One possibility is that zé was not a commonly used character in the Pre-Qin period, appearing primarily within the Yi commentary system, and repeatedly in the Xici Zhuan:

"The Sage perceived the profundities (zé) of the world." (Xici Shang, Chapter 8) "Uttering the utmost profundities (zé) of the world, yet one cannot find fault with it." (Xici Shang, Chapter 8, later passage) "Exploring the profundities (zé) and seeking the hidden, hooking the deep and reaching the far." (Xici Shang, Chapter 10)

The character is composed of "red" (赤) and "head/page" (页), or alternatively "red" (赤) and "shell/money" (贝), depending on the version. Ma Rong commented: "Zé means confusion/disorderly." Yu Fan commented: "Zé means deep." Han Kangbo commented: "Zé refers to the subtle and deep principles that are hidden and difficult to see." Kong Yingda's Zhengyi explains: "Zé refers to the ultimate principles that are subtle, deep, and remote."

These various explanations, while seemingly disparate, can be integrated. That which is "confused/disorderly" suggests that the myriad things in the world are numerous and complex; superficially, there is an abundance of phenomena without fixed order, like tangled threads or dense stars. That which is "subtle/deep" suggests that beneath this complex surface exists a profound order that is not easily captured by the senses. Considered together, the complete semantic meaning of zé should be: the intricate, subtle, and complex inner texture of the myriad things in the world.

This understanding is crucial. Zé is not mere "complexity," nor is it mere "secrecy"—it is secrecy embedded within complexity, and order embedded within the hidden. Because order can be sought, the Sage can "perceive" it; because this order is concealed, the Sage is needed to "perceive" it.

II. Why "Perceive" (Jiàn) Instead of "Know" (Zhī)$10

The scripture states, "The Sage perceived (jiàn) the profundities of the world," using jiàn instead of zhī. This choice of character is far from accidental.

In early Classical Chinese, the most fundamental meaning of jiàn is "that which the eye can see" (Shuowen): "Jiàn, to see. Composed of person (儿) and eye (目)." It points toward a direct, immediate, and embodied cognition, rather than the result of abstract reasoning.

Contrast this with the other character—zhī ("to know"). Zhī, composed of "arrow" (矢) and "mouth" (口), fundamentally relates to speech and judgment, extending to rational cognition and conceptual grasp. In the Analects, Confucius says, "To know what you know and to know what you do not know—this is knowledge" (Analects 2.17). This zhī leans toward rational judgment.

However, the Xici Zhuan, by using jiàn here, emphasizes that the Sage's grasp of the world's zé is, first and foremost, a process of "direct intuition" rather than logical deduction. This "perception" was later developed in Wei-Jin Neo-Daoism as "experiential realization" (tǐ rèn) or "mystical apprehension" (míng huì), and in Chan Buddhism as "seeing one's nature" (jiàn xìng). But in the primordial context of the Pre-Qin era, it aligns more closely with an acutely sensitive faculty of observation—the Sage surveyed the celestial phenomena, examined the geography, took things from nearby and distant sources, and through deep contemplation of the myriad manifestations of nature, "perceived" the order hidden beneath the complexity.

The following narrative in the Xici Xia Zhuan provides the classic illustration of this process:

"In antiquity, when Pao Xi ruled the world, he looked upward to observe the images (xiang, 象) in Heaven, and looked downward to observe the models (fa, 法) on Earth. He observed the patterns of birds and beasts and the suitability of the Earth. He took things from nearby, and things from afar. From this, he first created the Eight Trigrams, to connect with the sublime virtue of the spirits, and to categorize the emotions (qíng, 情) of the myriad things."

This passage serves as the best footnote to "The Sage perceived the profundities of the world." What Fuxi did was "look upward and downward," which is "perception" (jiàn). What he "perceived" was the world's zé—that deep texture hidden within the celestial images, the earth, the birds, beasts, grass, and trees.

III. Antiquity’s "Perception": A Visual Culture from Oracle Bones to Bronze Inscriptions

If we push our perspective further back into high antiquity, the meaning of jiàn becomes even richer.

The oracle bone script for jiàn depicts a human figure with a greatly enlarged eye, emphasizing sight. This character shape itself informs us that the early inhabitants of antiquity imbued the act of "seeing" with exceptionally special significance. In the animistic mindset of early antiquity, "seeing" was not merely a physical process but a spiritual encounter—when you "saw" something, it meant you had established a connection with that thing.

The character jiàn appears frequently in oracle bone divinations, such as "The King saw a great star" (wáng jiàn dà xīng) or "Saw a rainbow from the north" (jiàn hóng zì běi), all recording phenomena deemed to carry mysterious portents. In this context, jiàn inherently carries the meaning of "receiving the mandate of Heaven."

Therefore, when the Xici Zhuan says, "The Sage perceived the profundities of the world," the word jiàn on the semantic level of high antiquity implies not just "seeing," but also "comprehending," or "encountering the hidden order of Heaven and Earth." This encounter required a special qualification—which is why the subject is the "Sage," not the common person.

IV. The Significance of "Yǒu Yǐ" (有以)

"Yǒu yǐ" is a common Pre-Qin phrase meaning "to possess the method" or "to have the basis." In Zhuangzi (Chapter 3), "What I love is the Dao, which goes beyond mere technique." The reason Butcher Ding could slice an ox using "spirit to meet rather than eye to see" was precisely because he "had the means" (yǒu yǐ)—he possessed a unique method and cultivation.

"The Sage yǒu yǐ perceived the profundities of the world"—the Sage possesses a method; it is not baseless conjecture or arbitrary speculation, but rather a complete path of observation and thought. This method is what is later called "looking upward and downward" and "taking from near and far." More profoundly, yǒu yǐ implies a level of cultivation—only by reaching the Sage's state can one "have the means" to see what others cannot.

This reminds us of the first line of the Tao Te Ching:

"Constantly without desire, one can observe its mystery (*miào, 妙); constantly with desire, one can observe its manifestations (*jiǎo, 徼)."

Laozi’s "observation" (guān) is fundamentally connected to the Xici Zhuan's "perception" (jiàn): both point to a deep intuition that transcends ordinary sensory perception. Laozi emphasizes observing from a state of "non-being" to see the "mystery" (the subtle origin of all things); the Xici Zhuan emphasizes that only the "Sage" yǒu yǐ can perceive the zé (the hidden texture of the world). Both point to the same epistemological proposition: The deepest reality requires the highest level of cognition to access.