Chapter 13 · Cultivating Body and Mind: The Way of Health Cultivation and Self-Cultivation for "Full Yet Not Overflowing"

I. Health Cultivation in Summer: "Let the Will Know No Anger" and the Way of "Nurturing Growth"

Health cultivation during the Xiaoman season must accord with the season's natural trend, in which Fire virtue is approaching flourishing and yang qi is full and abundant.

The "Great Treatise on Regulating the Spirit in Accordance with the Four Seasons" (Si Qi Tiao Shen Da Lun), in the "Basic Questions" (Suwen) of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon (Huangdi Neijing, whose thought largely descends from the pre-Qin schools of yin-yang and Daoism), discusses summer health cultivation thus: "The three months of summer are called flourishing and blooming. The qi of Heaven and Earth intermingle, and all things flower and bear fruit. One should retire late and rise early, without wearying of the long days; let the will know no anger, let the spirit bloom splendidly like a flower, let the qi find release, as though one's affections lay all outward-facing—this is the response fitting to summer's qi, the way of 'nurturing growth'" (夏三月，此谓蕃秀，天地气交，万物华实，夜卧早起，无厌于日，使志无怒，使华英成秀，使气得泄，若所爱在外，此夏气之应，养长之道也).

The three months of summer are called "flourishing and blooming"—plants and trees grow luxuriant, flowers and fruit both abundant. The qi of Heaven and Earth intermingle, and all things flower and bear fruit. At this time one should retire late and rise early, not weary of the long daylight hours, let one's disposition avoid brooding anger, let one's spirit bloom splendidly like a flower, let the yang qi find its release, as though placing everything one cherishes out in the open—this is the method of according with summer's qi, of "nurturing growth."

Note the four characters "let the will know no anger" (使志无怒). In summer, Fire virtue holds sway, and Fire qi most easily ignites a person's "fire of anger." During the Xiaoman season, yang qi is full and abundant, and people, too, easily become restless and short-tempered. Yet the essence of health cultivation lies precisely in "letting the will know no anger"—at the very season when yang qi is at its most flourishing, most easily excited, one must instead keep one's heart and will calm and even, not letting "Fire qi" (anger) grow excessive.

This wisdom of health cultivation, "letting the will know no anger," is precisely the embodiment, at the level of body and mind, of the philosophy of "full yet not overflowing." Though Fire virtue (yang qi) is flourishing, the human heart must not follow it into "overreaching" (anger); though yang qi is full, one's disposition must maintain a measure of "restraint" (no anger). At the very season when one is most prone to "inflammation," most prone to "fullness" (excitability), one must instead cultivate a calm that is "not overflowing"—this is precisely "Xiaoman" in the version of body and mind.

II. "Diminish Rich Flavors, Moderate Cravings and Desires": Restraint at the Moment of Fullness and Flourishing

The "Monthly Ordinances" of the Book of Rites requires that the Son of Heaven, in the first month of summer, "diminish rich flavors, avoid excessive seasoning, moderate cravings and desires, settle the heart and qi, keep the hundred officials tranquil, refrain from carrying out punishments in governance, so as to settle the course by which the shaded yin is to come to completion" (薄滋味，毋致和，节嗜欲，定心气，百官静，事毋刑，以定晏阴之所成).

Diminish the richness of one's food and drink, do not over-season the five flavors, moderate one's cravings and desires, settle the qi of one's heart and mind, let the hundred officials remain tranquil, do not carry out punishments in matters of governance—so as to settle the trend by which the yin qi, soon to be born, will come to completion.

Why, in the first month of summer, when yang qi is at its most flourishing, should one instead "diminish rich flavors and moderate cravings and desires"$4 This seems contradictory, yet is in fact profound. Precisely because, in summer, yang qi is full and abundant and Fire virtue holds sway, a person's desires, cravings, and disposition all too easily swell along with it (fullness, brimming). Were one, at this time, to further indulge one's appetites and cravings, this would be "adding oil to the fire"—making the already full and flourishing yang qi still more excessive, inevitably leading to illness. Hence the way of health cultivation runs precisely counter to this trend at the moment of yang qi's fullness and flourishing, using "diminishment," "moderation," and "settling" to restrain that trend toward fullness and flourishing.

"Diminish rich flavors, moderate cravings and desires" is precisely the practice, in health cultivation, of "to hold a vessel and fill it to the brim is not as good as stopping in time." The yang qi of Heaven and Earth has already become "full" (summer); were a person to further indulge their desires and "hold the vessel and fill it to the brim" (adding oil to the fire), they would inevitably "overflow" (fall ill). The wise course is "to stop"—to moderate and draw inward, keeping one's body and mind in the state of "small fullness" rather than "great fullness."

Worth pondering is the phrase "so as to settle the course by which the shaded yin is to come to completion"—at the very moment yang qi is at its most flourishing, in the first month of summer, health cultivation must, of all things, focus on "settling that yin qi soon to be born." This resonates precisely with the principle of "yang at its extreme, yin being born"—the wise, at the very moment yang flourishes, are already preparing for that inevitable "birth of yin" (the coming turning point). This deeply accords with the spirit of "Xiaoman"—flourishing, yet knowing to guard against excess; full, yet contemplating emptiness.

III. The "Emptiness" of the Heart: Cultivating a Heart of "Xiaoman"

Moving from health cultivation to the cultivation of the heart-mind, the wisdom of "full yet not overflowing" ultimately points toward a heart that is "empty" yet capable of "holding."

We have already cited Master Zhuang's "the empty chamber gives birth to brightness," which makes clear that only an "empty" heart can "give birth to brightness" (give birth to wisdom). A heart that is self-satisfied (great fullness) is closed off, stagnant, incapable of receiving anything further; only a modest, humble heart (small fullness, seeming hollowness) can continually learn, continually grow, continually "give birth to brightness."

Confucius said: "The noble person is composed, yet not arrogant; the small person is arrogant, yet not composed" (君子泰而不骄，小人骄而不泰; Analects, "Zi Lu"). The noble person is at ease and composed, yet not arrogant; the small person is arrogant, yet not at ease and composed. "Arrogance" (骄) is a form of "fullness"—a psychological fullness of self-righteousness and disdain for all else. The noble person is "composed" (at ease and unhurried) precisely because they are "not arrogant" (not self-satisfied); the small person is "not composed" (cramped and uneasy) precisely because they are "arrogant" (self-satisfied). A person who is psychologically "greatly full" (arrogant) is, in fact, uneasy and precarious; only a person who is psychologically at "small fullness" (modest yet composed) is truly unhurried and secure.

Confucius further describes himself: "In learning, never satisfied; in teaching others, never wearied" (学而不厌，诲人不倦; Analects, "Shu Er")—never satisfied in learning, never wearied in teaching others. Even a sage such as Confucius was "never satisfied in learning" (never self-satisfied with the knowledge already possessed)—how much more should this apply to ordinary people$5 This spirit of "never satisfied in learning" is precisely the foundation of cultivating a heart of "Xiaoman"—forever feeling that one is "not yet full enough," and so forever learning, growing, filling. The moment one considers oneself "greatly full" (learning already sufficient) is the beginning of stagnation and decline.

Thus, the essence of cultivating the heart-mind lies in forever preserving a heart of "Xiaoman"—both substantial (not empty or lacking in confidence) and never self-satisfied (not arrogant, brimming, or stagnant). Such a heart is like the wheat ear at Xiaoman—already plump (possessing substance, accumulated depth), yet modestly bowing its head (the Caigentan says, "modesty is like the wheat ear—the fuller it grows, the lower it bows"), forever growing toward a still higher ripeness. A heart of "Xiaoman" is the most beautiful state of mind sought by the Chinese wisdom of self-cultivation.

IV. "Preserving Fullness, Guarding Peace": The Way of Protection at the Moment of Fullness

Chinese culture holds an extremely important proposition of self-cultivation—"preserving fullness, guarding peace" (持盈保泰). "Preserving fullness" (持盈) means protecting a fullness already attained; "guarding peace" (保泰) means safeguarding a peace and prosperity already attained. These four characters address, specifically, a profound question: once a person (or a family, or a state) has already reached a state of "fullness and peace," how is it to be protected, and made to last$6

The answer is, precisely, the wisdom of "Xiaoman"—full yet not overflowing, flourishing yet knowing to guard against excess.

In the Book of Changes, hexagram Tai (泰, Peace) is immediately followed by hexagram Pi (否, Stagnation)—"peace at its extreme gives way to stagnation" (泰极否来). How is "peace at its extreme giving way to stagnation" to be avoided$7 Precisely by never letting "peace" (fullness and prosperity) advance to its "extreme" (great fullness) while it is still "peace," but instead maintaining, at all times, modesty, restraint, and vigilance, keeping it in a stable state resembling "small fullness."

This is precisely the true meaning of "preserving fullness, guarding peace." At the moment of fullness and peace, the greatest danger comes not from without, but from the "self-satisfaction" within—once self-satisfaction sets in (great fullness), laziness, arrogance, and indulgence follow, and so "peace at its extreme gives way to stagnation," flourishing at its utmost turning to decline. Only by maintaining, even at the moment of fullness, the sober clarity of "Xiaoman"—thinking of danger while at peace, knowing to guard against excess while flourishing, contemplating emptiness while full—can one "preserve fullness and guard peace," making fullness and peace endure.

From this we can see that "Xiaoman" is not merely a solar term, but a fundamental wisdom running through personal cultivation, family continuity, and even the governance of a state. It tells everyone who has attained "fullness": what you most ought to guard against is precisely this "fullness" itself; and the only way to protect fullness is never to let it become "great fullness."