Effortless Action: Wu-wei As Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Early China

365 Pages·2007·0.66 MB·English

by  Edward Slingerland

EFFORTLESS ACTIO N
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Effortless Actio n
Wu-wei as Conceptual Metaphor and
Spiritual Ideal in Early China
Edward Slingerland
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2003
OXJORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford Ne w York
Auckland Bangko k Bueno s Aires Cap e Town Chenna i
Dar es Salaam Delh i Hon g Kong Istanbu l Karach i Kolkat a
Kuala Lumpur Madri d Melbourn e Mexic o City Mumba i Nairob i
Sao Paulo Shangha i Taipe i Toky o Toront o
Copyright © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Slingerland, Edward G. (Edward Oilman)
Effortless action : Wu-wei as conceptual metaphor and spiritual ideal in early China /
Edward Slingerland.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-531487-5
1. Philosophy, Chinese—to 221 B.C. 2. Nothing (Philosophy). 1 . Title.
B126.S«4S2003
ISl'.ll —dc21 200207151 8
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For
Nana Person,
who taught me how to fish like a Daoist,
and
Pop Person,
who continues to teach me the joys of being a Confucian
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Preface
This book attempts to accomplish two primary tasks, one related to subject matter
and the other methodological in nature. With regard to subject matter, the goal is
to present a systematic account of the role of the personal spiritual ideal of wu-
wei or "effortless action" in Warring States Chinese thought , showing how it
serves as a common ideal for both Daoists and Confucians, and also contains
within itself a conceptual tensio n that motivates the development o f Warring
States thought. Methodologically, this book represents a preliminary attempt to
apply the contemporary theory of conceptual metaphor to the study of early Chi-
nese thought. Although this book focuses on Warring States China, both the sub-
ject matter and methodology have implications that go beyond the study of early
China. The subject of wu-wei, it will be argued, is relevant to anyone interested in
later East Asian religious thought or the so-called virtue-ethic s tradition in the
West, while the technique of conceptual metaphor analysis—along with the prin-
ciple of "embodied realism" upon which it is based—provides an exciting new
theoretical framewor k and methodological too l for th e study of comparativ e
thought, and even the humanities in general. Part of the purpose of this work is
thus to help introduce scholars in the humanities and social sciences to this meth-
odology, and provide an example of how it may be applied to a particular spe-
cialty such as religious thought.
Because of the broader implications of this project, I have attempted to make
it accessible to scholars beyond the narrow field of Chinese thought by including
background material that sinologists may find unnecessary, but that will hope-
fully allow scholars from a broad range of humanities disciplines to follow the
discussion. I have also attempted to keep to a minimum technical discussion s
concerning textual issues or debates in my particular subfield, and whenever such
material has proved necessary I have tried to relegate it to appendices. Specialists
in the field of Chinese thought will find more in-depth discussion of technical
matters in the dissertation upon which this book is based (Slingerland 1998). It is
never easy to address adequately the interests and needs of a broad academic
audience, an d I can only hope that I will be able to hold the interest of my
intended target audience without completely alienating any particular subgroup.
Wu-wei as spiritual ideal was the subject of my Ph.D. dissertation, which
represents approximately half of this current work. I would like to acknowledge
again the help of my dissertation committe e member s Le e Yearley and Carl
Bielefeldt, and most of all my committee chair, Philip J. Ivanhoe, who mentored
me throughout graduate school an d beyond, and withou t whos e painstaking
attention and carefully considered comments the dissertation and this book would
never have come into being. The methodological approach is entirely new, and
my dissertation advisors at Stanford are in no way to be held responsible for any
viii Preface
errors introduce d o r other scholarl y crimes committed durin g the extensive
rewrite process. The field of contemporary metaphor theory is quite young, and
as a relative neophyte I have been very grateful for the guidance and feedback
provided by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, as well as the other participants in
the workshop on metaphor theory and the humanities held at the University of
Southern California in October 2000 under the aegis of The Ahmanson Initiative.
During the rewrite process I have benefited greatly from the comments and criti-
cisms of Philip J. Ivanhoe, Joel Sahleen, Mark Johnson, and George Lakoff. Most
of all, I would like to thank Eric Hutton—an academic Bodhisattva, ever gener-
ous with his time and energy—who heroically agreed to review in detail the
entire manuscript, helped me to correct some of the more egregious faults, and
did his best to get me to make this work more palatable to philosophers. The fact
that he was probably not entirely successful is attributable to my own stubborn-
ness rather than to any lack of effort or sensitivity on his part, and I apologize to
him in advance. Thanks are due to Cynthia Read at OUP for her basic faith in this
project and the patient extensions granted to me as the rewrite grew in magnitude,
to Theo Calderara, and to Bob Milks and his OUP editorial team. Finally, the
monumental and brutal task of converting this manuscript into FrameMaker,
typesetting it, and inputting copyedits was undertaken by Mary Behshid—friend,
FrameMaker Goddess, and general all-around wonderful person—who somehow
managed to pull it off with unfailing good cheer and grace. My heartfelt thanks to
her, as well as my apologies to Farshid, Aram, Iman, and Rosemary for taking up
so much of her time.
Contents
Conventions x i
Introduction 3
Wu-wei as Conceptual Metaphor 2 1
At Ease in Virtue: Wu-wei in the Analects 4 3
So-of-Itself: Wu-we i in the Laozi 7 7
New Technologies of the Self: Wu-wei in the "Inner Training"
and the Mohist Rejection of Wu-wei 11 9
Cultivating the Sprouts: Wu-wei in the Mencius 13 1
The Tenuous Self: Wu-wei in the Zhuangzi 17 5
Straightening the Warped Wood: Wu-wei in the Xunzi 21 7
Conclusion 26 5
Appendix 1: The "Many-Dao Theory" 27 5
Appendix 2: Textual Issues Concerning the Analects 111
Appendix 3: Textual Issues Concerning the Laozi 27 9
Appendix 4: Textual Issues Concerning the Zhuangzi 28 5
Notes 28 7
Bibliography 33 3
Index 34 7