Chapter 29 Z!" Xi and Daoism: Investigation of Inner-Meditative Alchemy in Z!" Xi’s Theory and Method for the Attainment of Sagehood
James D. Sellmann
1 Introduction
In a sense Z"# Xi’s philosophy would not be possible without Daoist cosmology and self-cultivation practices. Daoism provides the beginning and end of Z"# Xi’s philosophy in that his philosophy begins with the Diagram of the Great Polarity or Taijitu , and it ends with his later life interest in Daoist self-cultivation and breathing techniques. This is a bold claim. This chapter will explicate why Daoism plays such an important role in his philosophy. In this chapter, I present a critical interpretation of the Diagram of the Great Polarity or the Taijitu , The Seal of the Unity of the Three in the Zhou Book of Changes or the Zhouyi Cantongqi , and The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of the Secret Talisman or the Huangdi Yinfujing to show that Z"# Xi was in$uenced by Daoist inner-meditative alchemy (neidan dao ). In particular, I argue that Z"# Xi’s approach toward the cultivation of sagehood requires an investigation and application of inner-meditative alchemical (neidan) practices. Although Julia Ching has presented a comprehensive study of Z"# Xi’s spiritual interests in Daoism (Ching 2000: 152–70), Judith Berling showed the intricate relations of Daoism and Neo-Confucianism (Berling 1979: 123–47), and C"%& Wing-tsit exposed Z"# Xi’s indirect in$uence from Daoism (Chan 1975: 131–44), someone might want to dismiss Z"# Xi’s interaction and in$uence from the (so- called religious) Daoist practices of neidan inner-meditative alchemy. However, the skeptic should not dismiss Z"# Xi’s investigation of neidan too quickly, because neidan thought plays an important part in his philosophy of self- cultivation and the attainment of sagehood. I suggest that we deploy a phenomeno-
J. D. Sellmann ( ) College of Liberal Arts and Social Science, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam, USA e-mail: [email protected]
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 649 K.-c. Ng, Y. Huang (eds.), Dao Companion to ZHU Xi’s Philosophy, Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy 13, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29175-4_29 650 J. D. Sellmann logical epoch