Table Of ContentON THE EPISTEMOLOGY
OF THE SENSES IN
EARLY CHINESE THOUGHT
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MONOGRAPH NO. 19
SOCIETY FOR ASIAN AND COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
ON THE EPISTEMOLOGY
OF THE SENSES IN
EARLY CHINESE
THOUGHT
Jane Geaney
UNIVERSITY OFHAWAI'IPRESS, HONOLULU
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Contents
Acknowledgments VII
Introduction I
Chapter 1: An Overview ofSense Discrimination 16
Chapter2: Hearing and Seeing 50
Chapter 3: The Heartmind's Relation to the Senses 84
Chapter 4: Names and Their "Filling" 109
Chapter 5: Conclusion 136
Notes 175
References 251
Index 261
v
Acknowledgments
My study ofthe early Chinese view ofsense discrimination
began with dissertation research at the University of Chicago. The
early stages of the work profited greatly from careful critical
readings by Anthony Yu, Chad Hansen, and Paul Griffiths. The
work also profited immensely from the advice and encouragement
of Henry Rosemont Jr. I have benefited more from these
colleagues' insights than I can adequately acknowledge.
I am thankful to a variety ofpeople who generously helped
with the completion of the final draft, especially Lam Ling Hon,
for his painstaking attention to the Chinese quotations, Sharon
Brinkman for her careful copy editing, George Hardy for
repeatedly adjusting the workings of my computer, and Keith
Leber for kind and efficient editorial advice. In addition, I would
like to thank the anonymous readers from the University of
Hawai'i Press. I am also grateful to Dan Robins and Chris Fraser for
many fruitful discussions on questions of translation and
interpretation. Although I tried to incorporate improvements
suggested by these people, the mistakes that remain are soley my
responsibility.
Unless otherwise noted, the translations contained herein
are my own. Nevertheless, I am inevitably indebted to the
following translations, which are doubtlessly reflected in my own:
A. C. Graham's Ch'uang-tzu: the Inner Chapters (London: George
Allen & Unwin, 1981); James Legge's The Works ofMencius
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895. Reprint, New York: Dover
Publications, 1970); W. K. Liao's The Complete Works ofHan Fei
Tzu (London: A. Probsthain, 1935-59); John Knoblock's Xunzi:A
Translation and Study ofthe Complete Works (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1994); Burton Watson's Hsun-tzu:Basic Writings
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1963); YP. Mei's The
Ethical and Political Works ofMo Tse (London: A. Probsthain.
1929); D. C. Lau's Mencius (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1970) and
vii
viii On the EpistemologyoftheSenses
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books,
1963); and Robert Henricks' Lao-Tzu Te-Tao Ching: A New
Translation Based on the Recently DiscoveredMa-Wang-tui Texts
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1989). (I use the Mawangdui
edition of the Laozi, following Henricks in providing the reader
with the more familiar Wang Bi chapter numbers. Occasionally, in
cases where software incapacities or matters ofinterest make the
WangBi edition more appropriate, 1 use that edition and note the
change.)
1 am thankful to the University of Richmond for its
generous support in the preparation and publication ofthis book.
Introduction
This monograph is about sense discrimination in the
classical period of Chinese thought.! It focuses on the ordinary
functions ofthe human senses, as presented in philosophical texts
ofthe Warring States era (roughly dating from the fifth to third
century B.C.E.). As the title suggests, the main senses under
consideration are hearing and sight, particularly in relation to the
function of the heartmind.2 A culture's understanding of the
physical senses may reveal implicit features ofits world view. With
that in mind, this work attempts to identify the views on sense
discrimination in these texts and subsequently tries to detennine
what such views imply about the construction ofreality in Warring
States thought.
This work may have significance for a controversial topic.
The results of this analysis seem to corroborate a particular
interpretation of early Chinese cosmology--one that views it as
distinctive and as having great value.3 Many features of early
Chinese cosmology have been used to argue for its distinctiveness.
In this Introduction, I will focus on two ofthem: its holism and its
appreciation ofchange. The distinctiveness ofthese features may
be highlighted by means of a contrast to the history of western
metaphysics.4 I will outline that contrast in order to explain how
my analysis may' be used to advance the argument for the
distinctiveness of early Chinese cosmology. Then I will describe
how the view of sense discrimination in Warring States China
supports th~ contention that early Chinese cosmology is indeed
holistic and rooted in change.
Warring States China
A briefhistorical overview may help situate the texts used in this
study. This work is based on the classics of Chinese philosophy,
written during what is known as the Warring States period (480-
1
