Cultivating (xiu修) Body (shen身) and Self (ji己) in Early Chinese Texts

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of self-cultivation in early Chinese texts. Early Chinese texts describe many paths of self-development, but in this essay the focus falls specifically on the term xiu修, which is translated as ＂cultivation＂ or ＂development.＂ Here various texts are explored: works such as the Analects論語, the Zhuangzi莊子, the Mencius孟子, the Xunzi,荀子, the Guanzi管子, and the Mawangdui馬王堆corpus of texts on healing. This essay considers several questions.First, what exactly is it that is cultivated? The physical body? The question of the cultivation of the body must be further refined, for the body has many different valences in early texts. One must ask which aspect of the body is cultivated: the form (xing形), the living body or self (shen身), the corporal body (ti體), the public ritualized body (gong 躬), or the mortal coil (qu驅)? Or is it something less corporal that is cultivated, for example, something such as the more abstract self (ji己), which is the self that stands opposed to the ＂other＂? Or is it the mind-heart (xin心)? How do various texts discuss these phenomena in the context of cultivation?Second, how are body, self, and mind-heart cultivated? Are they subject to different kinds of cultivation? How are body, self, and mind-heart related? What practices does one follow in order to cultivate oneself? What behaviors or actions facilitate cultivation? What kinds of behaviors constitute obstacles to cultivation? How does the cultivation of the self affect one's relationships with others? How are these subjects discussed differently in various texts?Third, what are the goals of cultivation? If one follows cultivation practices, what qualities might one ideally develop? What happens if one does not attempt to cultivate oneself? How does one know one is actually practicing? What criteria determine whether one is achieving the goals of that practice? Are there any familial or social consequences of self-cultivation or of the lack of cultivation?