Yan Hui Fasts His Mind

Y an Hui went to see Confucius and asked to leave. Where to? To Wei, he said. The King of Wei was young and reckless — spending the country like pocket change, sending men to die by the thousands, the dead filling the marshes as thick as fallen rushes, the people with nowhere to turn. Yan Hui had heard his teacher say: flee the well-governed state, go to the troubled one — a doctor's door is busiest where people are sick. He wanted to put what he had learned to use, and maybe do the kingdom some good. Yan Hui went to see Zhong Ni and asked permission to depart. 'Where?' asked the master. 'To Wei,' said Yan Hui. 'The ruler of Wei is young in years, rash in conduct; he spends his state carelessly and cannot see his own faults; he sends the people to their deaths carelessly — the dead fill the marshes as thick as fallen rushes, and the people have nowhere to turn. I once heard the master say: leave the well-governed state, go to the chaotic one — a physician's door is busiest with the sick. I wish to think through what I have heard and find a way forward — perhaps the state may yet be healed.'

Confucius told him he'd be executed. The way doesn't want mixture; mix it and you get too much; too much and you get disorder; disorder and you get grief; grief and you can't save anyone. The sages of old first secured what was in themselves before they turned to others. And Yan Hui, did he know where virtue comes apart and where knowledge comes from? Virtue comes apart in the pursuit of fame. Knowledge comes out of argument. Fame is what people use to grind each other down. Knowledge is the weapon they reach for. Both are dangerous instruments. Zhong Ni said: 'Hmph! You'll simply go and be executed. The way does not want mixture; mix it and there is too much; too much and there is confusion; confusion breeds grief; with grief, nothing can be saved. The sages of old first secured what was in themselves, then turned to others. If what is in you is not yet settled, what leisure have you to attend to a violent man's conduct? Moreover, do you know where virtue becomes dissipated and where knowledge issues forth? Virtue is dissipated in the pursuit of fame; knowledge issues from contention. Fame is what people use to crush one another; knowledge is the weapon of contention. Both are dangerous instruments and cannot be relied on to the full. Though your virtue be solid and your trustworthiness firm, you have not yet reached that man's spirit; though your reputation be unstained and you do not contend, you have not yet entered that man's heart. And then to force the words of benevolence and rightness and rules upon a violent man's face — this is to use another's failings to display your own excellence. He will call it harm. He who harms others, others will surely harm in return. You will most likely be harmed by that man.'

On top of that: if you go in simply praising virtue and condemning vice — what does that actually achieve? You'll give no direct orders, so the prince will take you as raw material to pit his cleverness against. Your eyes will be dazzled by him; your expression will soften toward him; your mouth will start accommodating him; your manner will start shaping itself around him; your heart will end up completing him. Using fire to fight fire, water to fight water — the problem only multiplies. What about history? Jie killed Guan Longfeng. Zhou killed Prince Bigan. Both men had cultivated themselves and tried to comfort the people below while opposing the ruler above. Their rulers used their very virtue as the pretext for getting rid of them. They wanted the name of good men. And Yao attacked minor kingdoms; Yu attacked the clan of You Hu — their wars never ended, their hunger for achievement had no bottom. Name, reputation, substance: these are things even sages cannot bear. How was Yan Hui going to handle them? Furthermore: if you simply praise virtue and condemn wickedness, how are you different from others? With no direction from you, the prince will use you to sharpen his own agility — your eyes will be dazzled, your expression made compliant, your mouth made compliant, your manner shaped to his, your heart completed by his. This is to put out fire with fire, to stop water with water — what is named 'multiplying harm,' following his lead without end. If you go in with unconfirmed, weighty words, you will surely die at a violent man's hands. Moreover, Jie killed Guan Longfeng and Zhou killed Prince Bigan — both had cultivated their persons and bent down to stroke the people below while opposing their ruler above; their rulers destroyed them precisely on account of their cultivation. They were lovers of a good name. Of old, Yao attacked Cong Zhi and Xu Ao; Yu attacked You Hu — their states were made desolate, their persons put to death; their warfare would not cease, their seeking of achievement had no end. These too were seekers of name and substance. And have you not heard: name and substance are even more than sages can bear — how much less you?'

“You hear first with your ears, then with your mind, then with your qi. That third thing — that's where it lives.”

Yan Hui tried another approach. What if he were inwardly straight and outwardly accommodating, and grounded his words in ancient precedents? Confucius dismissed the idea: too many rules, too reliant on governing by technique, still just following your own heart as teacher. Yan Hui admitted he had nothing left. He asked plainly: what is the method? Confucius said: Fast. Then I'll tell you. But doing something while still treating doing-something as easy — bright heaven won't approve that. Yan Hui took this for fasting in the ordinary sense. He explained that his family was poor, that he hadn't drunk wine or eaten meat for months. Was that fasting enough? Confucius told him that was ritual fasting before a ceremony. Not heart-fasting. So Yan Hui asked: what is heart-fasting? Yan Hui said: 'What if I am inwardly upright and outwardly compliant, and ground my words in the precedents of the ancients?' 'No,' said Confucius. 'Too many rules and strategies, without being smooth. Though blameless, still no offence — but that is all it comes to. How can it reach transformation? You still take your own heart as teacher.' Yan Hui said: 'I have nothing more to offer. May I ask the method?' Zhong Ni said: 'Fast — then I will tell you. Is it easy to act while still relying on your own contriving? He for whom it is easy is not approved by bright Heaven.' Yan Hui said: 'My family is poor; I have not drunk wine or eaten meat for some months now. Does that count as fasting?' 'That,' said the master, 'is the fasting of ritual sacrifice, not heart-fasting.' Hui said: 'May I ask what heart-fasting is?'

Confucius said: Unify your will. Don't listen with your ears — listen with your mind. Don't listen with your mind — listen with your qi. Listening stops at the ears; the mind stops at the matching of symbols. Qi is the thing that is empty and waits for whatever comes. Only the way gathers in emptiness. Emptiness — that is heart-fasting. Zhong Ni said: 'Unify your will. Do not listen with your ears but with your mind; do not listen with your mind but with your qi. Listening stops at the ears; the mind stops at correspondence with what is received. As for qi — it is empty and waits upon things. Only the way collects in emptiness. Emptiness: that is heart-fasting.'

Yan Hui said: before I had this, I was solidly Yan Hui. With it — there has never been a Yan Hui at all. Does that count as empty? Confucius said: that's it exactly. Let me say this now: if you can go in and move around in his enclosure without letting his reputation affect you — give voice when there is a response, stay quiet when there isn't; no fixed gate, no fixed position, making your home in whatever-you-cannot-avoid — then you're close. It's easy to cover your tracks. The hard thing is to walk without touching the ground at all. When you work for people, it's easy to put on a show. When you work for heaven, it is difficult to pretend. You've heard of flying with wings. You haven't heard of flying without them. You've heard of knowing through knowledge. You haven't heard of knowing without it. Yan Hui said: 'Before I had this instruction, I was truly and solidly Yan Hui. With this instruction — there has never yet been a Yan Hui. Can this be called empty?' The master said: 'That is the whole of it. Let me speak further. If you can enter and move in his enclosure without being affected by his reputation — enter and give voice when there is a response, do not when there is not; have no fixed gate and no fixed stance; dwell in the one dwelling and take lodging in the unavoidable — you will be close to it. To cut off your footprints is easy; to walk leaving no trace on the ground at all is difficult. When serving people, it is easy to put on a pretense; when serving Heaven, it is difficult to pretend. You have heard of flying with wings; you have not heard of flying without wings. You have heard of knowing through having knowledge; you have not heard of knowing through having no knowledge.'

Look at a gap in the wall. An empty room — white light gathers there. Good fortune settles where things stop. But when nothing stops — that is what you call galloping while sitting still. Use your ears and your eyes to work inward and keep the mind's knowledge out of it. Ghosts and spirits will then come to dwell there — how much more so a person. This is the transformation of the ten thousand things, the knot that tied Yao and Shun together, the path that Fuxi and Ji Qu walked their whole lives. How much more should ordinary men follow it? Look at that empty space — an empty room generates white light; good fortune rests where things come to rest. And if things do not rest — that is called galloping while seated still. Use your ears and eyes to direct inward and cut off the knowledge of the heart-mind; then ghosts and spirits will come to dwell there, how much more so human beings. This is the transformation of the ten thousand things — it was the knot that tied Yao and Shun together; it was what Fuxi and Ji Qu practiced to the end of their lives. How much more should ordinary men do the same?'

心齋 The original Chinese · honored as an artifact

顏回見仲尼，請行。曰：「奚之？」曰：「將之衛。」

Opening lines, classical Chinese · Zhuangzi 莊子 · Zhuang Zhou