| Ganying | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 感應 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 感应 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | stimulus [and] response | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | cảm ứng | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | 感應 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 감응 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 感應 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | かんのう | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kyūjitai | 感應 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shinjitai | 感応 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gǎnyìng oryìng is aChinese cultural keyword meaning a "correlative resonance" pulsating throughout the purported force field ofqi that infuses the cosmos. When the idea ofganying first appeared inChinese classics from the lateWarring States period (475-221 BCE), it referred to acosmological principle of "stimulus and response" between things of the same kind, analogous with vibratorysympathetic resonance. Early schools ofChinese philosophy adaptedganying into different folk theories ofcausality, such as universal resonance influencing all interrelated things inDaoism, and ethical resonance between Heaven and humans inConfucianism.
Ganying resonance was later used to mean miraculous "moral retribution" inChinese folk religion, and the resonance between the power of the Buddha and the individual practitioner inChinese Buddhism, especially inPure Land Buddhism. InJapanese Buddhism, the termkannō 感應 was used for the same idea.[1]
In themodern period, Chineseganying "stimulus and response" was used to translate some Western scientificloanwords (such asdiàncí gǎnyìng 電磁感應 "electromagnetic induction").
TheChinesecollocationgǎnyìng combinesgǎn感 "feel, sense; move, touch; (traditional Chinese medicine) be affected (by cold)" andyìng traditional應 or simplified应 "respond; consent, comply; adapt to; cope/deal with; apply, applied", which is also pronouncedyīng "promise/agree (to do something); answer; respond; (auxiliary) should; ought to".[2]
Several early texts (below) use an interchangeable synonym ofying <Old Chinese*[q](r)əәŋ 應 "respond; resonate" :dòng < *[Cəә-m-]tˤoŋʔ 動 "move; shake; set in motion".Dong can meanganying, for instance,gǎndòng 感動 "move; touch (somebody)" anddòngrén 動人 "arouse interest/feelings". Sharf says interpreting the Chinese philosophical termgan "stimulus; affect; etc." is rendered problematic by the modern distinction betweenontology andepistemology.[3] The ontological range of meanings, insofar as togan someone is to effect the mind of another person, as evident in the (c. 121 CE)Shuowen jiezi dictionary definition ofgan as 動人心也 "to move a person's mind", suggesting English translation equivalents such as "incite," "agitate," "rouse," and "stimulate". The epistemological range ofgan meanings, insofar as it implies an inner experience or cognition that may or may not correlate with an event in the external world, is translatable as to "feel," "experience," "sense," or "become aware of."
Both thelogographsgǎn 感 andyìng 應 are classified asradical-phonetic characters written with the "heart-mind radical" 心 (typically used to write words for feelings and thoughts) and phonetic indicators ofxián 咸 "all; Hexagram 31" andyīng 鷹 "hawk; eagle" minus the "bird radical" 鳥.[4]
Bilingual Chinese-English dictionaries give a variety of translation equivalents forModern Standard Chineseganying.
The most commonly given (and copied) meanings are "respond; response" and "electromagnetic induction".
The history ofganying spans over two millennia, going from an ancient cosmological theory to modernscientific terminology.
Ancient texts usestring resonance orsympathetic vibration between pairedChinese musical instruments as the most common analogy for(gan)ying "cosmic resonance". TheZhuangzi,Lüshi chunqiu (twice),Huainanzi (twice), andChuci all mention plucking the classicalpentatonicgong 宮 andjue 角 notes on these 瑟 "a 25-string zither"; but theChunqiu fanlu mentions thegong andshang 商 notes on either these orqin 琴 "a 7-string zither".Joseph Needham notes both these instruments are commonly mistranslated as "lutes", but are actually "zithers", describing theqin as "ahalf-tube zither" and these (which only survives in the descendentzheng 箏) as "a horizontalpsaltery".[14] In modern terms of thesolmization stave,gong,shang, andjue correspond todo,re, andmi. Clickhere to hear thegong "Original Tuning",shang "Sharpened Re Tuning", andjue "Lowered Third-string Tuning" on the Chinese zither.
The earliest records ofganying are inChinese classics from the lateWarring States period (475-221 BCE), when the "Hundred Schools of Thought" developed competing philosophical doctrines, including correlative resonance.
In the (c. 4th-3rd century BCE)Yijing "Classic of Changes", the "Commentary on the Decision" forHexagram 31
Xian 咸 "Influence (Wooing)" usesganying 感應 to explain theOld Chinese phonetic connection between *[g]ˤr[əә]m 咸 "all; everywhere" and *kˤ[əә]mʔ 感 "move emotionally".
INFLUENCE [咸] means stimulation [感]. The weak is above, the strong below. The forces of the two stimulate and respond [感應] to each other, so that they unite. Keeping Still and joyousness. The masculine subordinates itself to the feminine. Hence it is said: "Success. Perseverance furthers. To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune." Heaven and earth stimulate each other, and all things take shape and come into being. The holy man stimulates the hearts of men, and the world attains peace and rest. If we contemplate the outgoing stimulating influences, we can know the nature of heaven and earth and all beings.[15]
Le Blanc says the roots for the "key notion" of resonance can be traced back to the older strata of theYijing, citing an early saying preserved inHexagram 1Qian 乾's line interpretation.[16]
Nine in the fifth place means: "Flying dragon in the heavens. It furthers one to see the great man." What does this signify? The Master said: Things that accord in tone vibrate together [同聲相應, repeated inZhuangzi below]. Things that have affinity in their inmost natures seek one another [同氣相求]. Water flows to what is wet, fire turns to what is dry. Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger. Thus the sage rises, and all creatures follow him with their eyes. What is born of heaven feels related to what is above. What is born of earth feels related to what is below. Each follows it kind.[17]
The (c. 400 BCE)Xiaojing "Classic of Filial Piety" has a section namedGanying 感應, translated as "The Influence of Filial Piety and the Response to It" (Legge)[18] or "Feeling and Responding by the Sprits" (Feng). It begins with an explanation of how the gods and spirits respond to human activities,
The Master said, "Anciently, the intelligent kings served their fathers with filial piety, and therefore they served Heaven with intelligence. They served their mothers with filial piety, and therefore they served Earth with discrimination. They pursued the right course with reference to their (own) seniors and juniors, and therefore they secured the regulation of the relations between superiors and inferiors (throughout the kingdom). When Heaven and Earth were served with intelligence and discrimination, the spiritual intelligences displayed (their retributive power)." (16)[19]
The (3rd century BCE) Confucian classicXunzi repeats the aboveYijing folk-etymology that thexian < *[g]ˤr[əә]m hexagram is the phonetic in the character forgan 感 < *kˤ[əә]mʔ "stimulate' influence".
The hexagramXian, "All", of theChanges shows the relation of husband to wife. The Way of relations between husband and wife cannot be allowed to be incorrect, for it is the root source for the relations between lord and minister, father and son. The hexagramXian [咸] means "influence" [感]. It uses the high to descend to the low, the male to descend to the female. It is weak and pliant above and strong and hard below." (27.38)[20]
TheXunzi usesganying "joint resonance" to explain the harmonious connection between a person'sxing 性 "inborn nature" andjing 精 "essence; senses".
These are the common names that apply to man. That which is as it is from the time of birth is called the nature of man [性]. That which is harmonious from birth, which is capable of perceiving through the senses and of responding to stimulus spontaneously [精合感應] and without effort, is also called nature [性]. The likes and dislikes, delights and angers, griefs and joys of the nature are called emotions [情]. When the emotions are aroused and the mind makes a choice from among them, this is called thought [慮]. (22)[21]
The (c. 3rd-2nd centuries BCE) Daoist classicZhuangzi contains an early version of the zither string resonance analogy, which Sharf describes as undoubtedly "the single most persuasive demonstration of the principle of resonance".[22]
Zhuangzi tells the story to his friendHuizi in order to explain that the five predominant schools of philosophy,Confucianism,Mohism,Yangism,School of Names, and "Pingism" [uncertain]), merely debate like the five notes of thepentatonic scale, whileDaoism contains and transcends them like an untuned note that resonates all 25 strings of these 瑟 zither.
"Well, then," said Master Chuang, "there are the four schools of the Confucians, the Mohists, the Yangists, and the Pingists. Adding yours, master, it makes five. Which of you is actually right? Or may it be someone like Hasty Ninny [Lu Ju 魯遽]? His disciple said to him, 'I have attained your way, master. In winter I can light a cooking fire under a three-legged vessel and in summer I can make ice'. 'That's merely to attract [召] yang with yang and yin with yin'; said Hasty Ninny. 'It's not what I mean by the Way. I will show you my Way.' Thereupon he tuned two zithers. He placed one of them in the hall and the other in an inner chamber. When he plucked the notedo [宮] on one,do resonated [動] on the other, and when he plucked the notemi [角] on one,mi resonated [動] on the other. It's because their harmonies were the same. If he had retuned one of the strings so it didn't match any note in the pentatonic scale, and had then plucked it, all twenty-five strings on the other zither would have resonated [動], not because there was any fundamental difference in the sound, but because it was the note that dominated all the rest. May it be that you thinkers are all like this?" (23)[23]
OneZhuangzi context usesgan withying: "The sage walks with heaven in life and evolves with things in death. In stillness, he shares the same integrity as yin; in movement, he shares the same current as yang. He is not the founder of fortune, nor is he the initiator of misfortune. He responds [應] when affected [感], moves when pressed, and arises only when he has no other choice. He rids himself of knowledge and precedent, conforming to the principle of heaven." (15)[24]
Two others useying to describe acoustic resonance: "Similar categories follow each other [同類相從] and similar sounds respond to each other [同聲相應]. Indeed, this is the principle of heaven." (31)[25] "To one who does not dwell in himself, the forms of things will manifest themselves. His movement is like water, his stillness is like a mirror. His response is like an echo [其應若響], indistinct as though it were absent, quiet as though it were pure." (33)[26]
Two chapters ofLü Buwei's (c. 240 BCE) wide-rangingLüshi chunqiu "The Annals of Lu Buwei" repeat theying 應 "acoustic resonance" zither-string analogy, and explain how phenomena that are of the samelei 類 "kind; category" mutuallyzhao 召 "resonate; attract" one another.
Things belonging to the same category naturally attract each other [類同相召]; things that share the same ethers [qi 氣] naturally join together; and notes that are comparable naturally resonate [應] to one another. Strike the notegong [宮] on one instrument and other strings tuned to thegong note will vibrate [應]; strike the notejue [角] and other strings tuned to thejue note will vibrate [應]. Water flowing across leveled earth will flow to the damp places; light evenly stacked firewood, and the fire will catch where it is driest. Clouds above a mountain look like shrubs; above water they resemble fish scales; above an arid landscape they look like leaping fire; above a flood they resemble rolling waves. Without exception, everything manifests signs that show men it shares the same category with that which creates it. Thus, "use the dragon to bring rain, and use a form to pursue a shadow. Wherever an army has camped, brambles and briars are sure to grow." The natural occurrence of fortune and misfortune is considered by the masses to be a matter of destiny, but how could they know its true source? (13.2)[27]
Things belonging to the same category naturally attract each other [類同相召]; things that share the same ethers naturally join together; and musical notes that are close naturally resonate with one another [應]. Thus, strike the notegong [宮] on one instrument, and other strings tuned to the notegong will respond [應], or strike the notejue [角], and the other strings tuned to the notejue will vibrate [動]. Use the dragon to bring rain, Use a form to pursue a shadow. The natural occurrence of fortune and misfortune is considered by the masses to be a matter of destiny; but how could they know its true source? Hence, when a state is in disorder, it does not merely remain in disorder but attracts bandits. Were it only to remain disordered, it would not necessarily perish; but since it attracts bandits, there is no means by which it could survive. (2.40)[28]
Xinzhong Yao's encyclopedia of Confucianism[29] definesganying as "a mutual resonance or mutual sympathy between two or more phenomena", and says that in theLüshi chunqiu, "the actions of the ruler elicit certain responses from Heaven, which are manifested through omens. In this system of resonances, the depth of the sovereign's moral cultivation is directly proportional to the prosperity of the realm." The ancient Chinese view that anomalies in the heavens, disturbances on earth, earthquakes, avalanches, sightings of unusual animals, and other such "wonders" (怪) were omens of the king's behavior has been termed "phenomenalism" by Western sinologists.[30]
During theHan dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), scholars and philosophers adapted the notion ofganying into different fields. For Han cosmologists,ganying was important in both human-cosmos and state-cosmos correspondences. During the Han era, Henderson says both imperial ideology and political criticism rested on a world view shaped by correlative cosmology, which facilitated the wide dissemination of correlative modes of thinking among members of the politically engaged Han elite.[31]
The (c. 3rd century BCE-2nd century CE)Chuci "Songs ofChu" poem "Reckless Remonstrance" gives examples of cosmic resonance in acoustics, biology, andmythology.
Like sounds harmonize together [同音者相]; Creatures mate with their own kind. The flying bird cries out to the flock; The deer calls, searching for his friends. If you strikegong, thengong responds [應]; If you hitjue, thenjue vibrates. The tiger roars, and the wind of the valley comes; The dragon soars, and the radiant clouds come flying.[32]
Compare theYijing (above) saying, "Things that accord in tone vibrate together [同聲相應] ... Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger."
TheChunqiu Fanlu "Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals", which is attributed to the ConfucianistDong Zhongshu (179-104 BCE) but compiled later, describes how humans are in a system of relationships with the cosmos, and elevates the notion of resonance to "a full-fledged cosmological theory".[33] This concept was calledtian-ren ganying 天人感應 "resonance between Heaven and humans", a phrase that first appears in the (3rd-century CE)Book of Wei history of EmperorCao Pi (r. 220–226), and was later used as the title of another text attributed to Dong Zhongshu: "Interactions Between Heaven and Mankind". Dong Zhongshu is sometimes credited with having formalized the doctrine ofganying and giving it classical expression.[34]
Chapter 57Tunglei xiangdong 同類相動 "Mutual Activation of Like Categories" also uses the zither string resonance analogy.
If water is poured on level ground it will avoid the parts which are dry and move towards those that are wet. If (two) identical pieces of firewood are exposed to fire, the latter will avoid the damp and ignite the dry one. All things reject what is different (to themselves) and follow what is akin. Thus it is that if (two) [qi] are similar, they will coalesce; if notes correspond, they resonate [應]. The experimental proof [驗] of this is extraordinarily clear. Try tuning musical instruments. Thekung [宮] note or theshang [商] note struck upon one lute will be answered by [應] thekung or theshang notes from other stringed instruments. They sound by themselves. This is nothing miraculous [神], but the Five Notes being in relation; they are what they are according to the numbers [數] (whereby the world is constructed). (Similarly) lovely things summon others among the class of lovely things; repulsive things summon others among the class of repulsive things. This arises from the complementary way in which a thing of the same class responds [類之相應而起也] as for instance if a horse whinnies another horse whinnies in answer [應], and if a cow lows, another cow lows in response [應]. When a great ruler is about to arise auspicious omens first appear; when a ruler is about to be destroyed, there are baleful ones beforehand. Things indeed summon each other, like to like, a dragon bringing rain, a fan driving away heat, the place where an army has been being thick with thorns. Things, whether lovely or repulsive, all have an origin. (If) they are taken to constitute destiny (it is because) no man knows where that origin is. . . It is not only the two [qi] of the Yin and the Yang which advance and retreat [進退] according to their categories. Even the origins of the varied fortunes, good and bad, of men, behave in the same way. There is no happening that does not depend for its beginning upon something prior, to which it responds because (it belongs to the same) category, and so moves [而物以類應之而動者也] ... (As I said) when the notekung is struck forth from a lute, otherkung strings (nearby) reverberate of themselves in complementary (resonance) [應]; a case of comparable things being affected according to the classes to which they belong [此物之以類動者也]. They are moved by a sound which has no visible form, and when men can see no form accompanying motion and action, they describe the phenomenon as a 'spontaneous sounding' [自鳴]. And wherever there is a mutual reaction [相動] without anything visible (to account for it) they describe the phenomenon as 'spontaneously so' [自然]. But in truth there is no (such thing as) 'spontaneously so' (in this sense). (I.e. everything in the universe is attuned to certain other things, and changes as they change.) That there are (circumstances which) cause a man to become what in fact he is, we know. So also things do have a real causative (power), invisible though this may be. (1)[35]
Needham explains the importance of pattern and organism in Dong Zhongshu's philosophy: "The symbolic correlations or correspondences all formed part of one colossal pattern. Things behaved in particular ways not necessarily because of prior actions or impulsions of other things, but because their position in the ever-moving cyclical universe was such that they were endowed with intrinsic natures which made that behaviour inevitable for them. ... They were thus parts in existential dependence upon the whole world-organism. And they reacted upon one another not so much by mechanical impulsion or causation as by a kind of mysterious resonance."[36]
Liu An's (c. 139 BCE)Huainanzi "Masters of Huainan" is second only to the writings ofDong Zhongshu (seeChunqiu fanlu below) as a source for sympathetic-resonance theory in the Han period.[37] According to Charles Le Blanc, theHuainanzi significantly advanced Chinese cosmological theory, largely due to the use of resonance as a catalyst that blended together ideas from theSchool of Yin-Yang (such asganying) with ideas fromDaoism (such aswuwei).[38]
While all 21 chapters in theHuainanzi incorporate aspects of cosmological resonance, and chapter 6Lanming 覽冥, translated as "Peering into the Obscure" or "Surveying Obscurities", is entirely focused on elaborating resonance, the wordganying does not appear once in the text. ThisHuainanzi usesying 應 151 times, frequently to denoteganying, and usesgan 感 39 times. TheHuainanzi translators John S. Major et al. explain thatgan means "an influence; to influence; a stimulus; to stimulate; to evoke a response" and appears twice in chapter 6; andying means "to respond; a response" and appears 7 times.[39] The wordsgan andying onlyco-occur a few times, but these instances conform exactly to the meaning of resonance that one expects from the concept ofganying; for example, "when stimulated they respond" (gan er ying 感而應, 7.7), and "the stimulus impels a response externally" (gan dong ying yu wai 感動應於外, 10.27). These scholars conclude that when theHuainanzi was written in the mid-2nd century BCE,ganying "resonance" itself had not yet stabilized as a technical term for the phenomenon.[39]Huainanzi chapter 12Daoying 道應 "Responses of the Way" explains "the ruler must choose the appropriate response (ying) grounded in the Way that is evoked (gan) by the circumstances of the moment".[40]
Huainanzi translators proposed two hypotheses for the origins ofganying philosophy. Charles Le Blanc asserts that the idea originated from musical resonance.[41] John S. Major believes the ideas ofZou Yan (305-240 BCE), founder of the School of Yin-Yang, had a pervading influence on theHuainanzi, and suggests that the doctrine ofqi andganying resonance could perhaps be regarded as a genuine creation of the Zuo Yan school.
The question is, how do these effects come about in the absence of mathematical or mechanical links among the things in a single category? The answer, supplied by Tsou Yen and his school, is that things in a category "vibrate" resonantly together, as two identically-tuned lute strings will vibrate together, and do so through the medium ofch'i, an invisible, aethereal, vibrant substance that permeates the universe.[42]
TheHuainanzi has two versions of the earlierZhuangzi zither string resonance analogy. Both Chapter 6 and Chapter 11 omit the reference to Lu Ju and his disciple who attractedyang to light a fire andyin to make ice, and each account adds a different interpretation. The shorter version refers to theDao's mysterious ineffability.
Now, one who makes [something] true uses the level; one who makes something straight uses the marking cord. Making true or straight without being in the line or on the level is an art that cannot be shared. When one strikes the [note]gong,gong responds [應]; pluck thejue [string], and [another]jue [string] moves [動]. This is the mutual response of identical tones [同音之相應]. What does not correspond to any of the five tones, but to which all twenty-five strings respond [應], is the Way, which cannot be transmitted. Thus, solitude is the lord of form [形之君]; silence is the ruler of tone [音之主]. (11.14)[43]
The longer version adds a mystical "Great Penetration" associated with a DaoistZhenren "True/Perfected Person".
Now when a person who tunes ase plays [the note]gong, [another]gong [string] responds [應]; when he plucks ajue [string], [another]jue responds [動]. This is the harmony of notes that are the same. But if [he] tunes one string eccentrically, so that it does not accord with [any] of the five notes and then strikes it, and all twenty-five strings [of these] respond [應], this is [a case of] the sounds not yet having begun to differentiate but the ruler of [all] notes having already achieved its form [音之君已形]. Thus one who penetrates to Supreme Harmony [太和] is as confused as [a person who] is stupified by drink, who wanders about in a sweet daze without knowing where he has come from or where he is going. Simple and mild, he [descends] the vortex; simple and stupified, he [reaches] his end. He is like one who has not yet begun to emerge from the Ancestor. This is called the Great Penetration [大通]. (6.4)[44]
Like the indiscernible "sounds not yet having begun to differentiate", the True Person "who has not yet begun to emerge" resounds harmoniously with all things. According to Le Blanc, this story's meaning revolves around a distinction between "relative resonance" when notes of the same pitch, such as the strings of two zithers tuned to thegong note, cause each other to vibrate in unison, and "total resonance".[45] when an untuned note causes all 25 strings of a zither to resound simultaneously. The phenomenon of relative resonance, which is based on Yin-Yang theory, is experimentally verifiable; but the hypothesis (or "super-experiment") of total resonance is not verifiable, and used as a simile pointing to a realm beyond Yin-Yang. Total resonance differs in kind, not in degree, from relative resonance. "There is a difference of level. The author starts from a solid but meaningful empirical fact that displays resonance and, from there, analogizes to a metaphorical or metaphysical level where resonance is all-encompassing".[46]
To illustrate how categorically identical things mutually resonate and influence each other, theHuainanzi (3.2 and 6.2) uses "sun and moon mirrors" to exemplify things belonging to the yang and yin categories. Theyángsuì 陽燧 "burning-mirror (which concentrates sunlight to ignite tinder)" is yang, round, and sun-like; thefāngzhū 方諸 "moon-mirror (used to collect dew by condensation)" is yin, square, and moon-like.
That things in their [various] categories [類] are mutually responsive [相應] is [something] dark, mysterious, deep, and subtle. Knowledge is not capable of assessing it; argument is not capable of explaining it. Thus, when the east wind arrives, wine turns clear and overflows [its vessels]; when silkworms secrete fragmented silk, theshang string [of a stringed instrument] snaps. Something has stimulated [感] them. When a picture is traced out with the ashes of reeds, the moon's halo has a [corresponding] gap. When the leviathan dies, comets appear. Something has moved them. Thus, when a sage occupies the throne, he embraces the Way and does not speak, and his nurturance reaches to the myriad people. But when ruler and ministers [harbor] distrust in their hearts, back-to-back arcs appear in the sky. The mutual responses [相應] of spiritqi [神氣] are subtle indeed! Thus, mountain clouds are like grassy hummocks; river clouds are like fish scales; dryland clouds are like smoky fire; cataract clouds are like billowing water. All resemble their forms and evoke responses [感] according to their class. The burning mirror takes fire from the sun; the square receptacle takes dew from the moon. Of [all the things] between Heaven and Earth, even a skilled astrologer cannot master all their techniques. [Even] a hand [that can hold] minutely tiny and indistinct things cannot grasp a beam of light. However, from what is within the palm of one's hand, one can trace [correlative] categories [類] to beyond the extreme end point [of the cosmos]. [Thus] that one can set up [these implements] and produce water and fire is [a function of] the mutually [responsive] movement [相動] of yin and yang of the sameqi. (6.2)[47]
Another Chapter 6 passage illustrates how resonance is in harmony with the Dao, and admits that even someone with "enlightened understanding" cannot explain the mysterious forces ofmagnetism,optics,enzymes, andheliotropism.
Now if one were to accept [that] fire can burn wood and use it to melt metal, that would [follow] the movement of the Way. But if one were to accept [that] lodestone can attract iron and use it to attract tile, that would certainly be difficult. Things certainly cannot be assessed according to their weight [alone]. Now, the burning mirror can draw fire [from the sun]; lodestone can draw iron; crabs spoil lacquer; and sunflowers incline to the sun – [but] even if one has enlightened understanding, it is not possible to [explain why] these things are so. Thus investigations by ear and eye are not adequate to discern the principles of things; discussions employing the mind and its conceptions are not adequate to distinguish true and false. Thus he who uses knowledge as the basis for government will have a hard time holding on to his state. Only he who penetrates to Supreme Harmony [太和] and who grasps the responses of the natural will be able to possess it [i.e., his state]. (6.3)[48]
The obscure relation between crabs andlacquer refers to the Chinese medical treatment ofurushiol-induced contact dermatitis with crushed shellfish, which supposedly prevents lacquer from drying properly. In Daoist cosmology,Taihe 太和 "Great/Supreme Harmony" is the beginning state beforeHundun "primordialchaos".
Chapter six contrasts two pairs of mythological charioteers (the minimum crew of aChinese chariot included a driver and an archer). Although Wang Liang 王良 andZaofu 造父 were famously skillful equestrians, Qian Qie 鉗且 and Da Bing 大丙 controlled their horses through mutual resonance – a simile for how a sage ruler should be attuned to his people.[49]
In ancient times, when Wang Liang and Zaofu went driving, [as soon as] they mounted their chariots and took hold of the reins, the horses set themselves in order and wanted to work together. They obediently paced in step with one another; [whether] pulling hard or easing off, they were as one. Their hearts were in tune and theirqi harmonious; their bodies [became] more and more light and coordinated. They were content to work hard and happy to go forward; they galloped away as if they would vanish. They went right and left like [the waving of] a whip; they circled around like a jade bracelet. All people of that era considered [Wang Liang and Zaofu] to be superlative [charioteers], but that was because they had not yet seen any [truly] worthy ones. Now consider the charioteering of Qian Qie and Da Bing. They considered reins and bits superfluous, got rid of whips and cast aside goads. Before the chariot began to move, it was starting on its own. Before the horses were given the signal, they were walking on their own. They paced [like the] sun and moved [like the] moon. They flashed [like the] stars and advanced [like the] dark. They raced [like] lightning and leaped [like] ghosts. Advancing or withdrawing, gathering strength or stretching out, they did not see the slightest barrier. Thus, with no gesturing or pointing, with no cursing or scolding, they overtook the wild geese flying to Piled Stone Mountain, passed the jungle fowl [flying to] Guyu Mountain. Their galloping was like flying; their bursts of speed like thread snapping. [It was] like riding an arrow or mounting the wind, like following a cyclone and returning in an instant. At dawn they started from Fusang and set with the sun at Luotang. This was taking something unused and obtaining its usefulness: it was not done by examining things through reason or thought or through the exercise of manual skill. Whenever urgent desires took form in the breasts [of Qian Qie and Da Bing], their quintessential spirits were [already] communicated to the six horses. This was a case of using non-driving to go driving. (6.6)[50]
TheHuainanzi developed the idea of politically orientedganying philosophy. The most perfect form of government is that ofwuwei "non-action", for it operates through theziran "natural"ganying "resonance" of all things. The perfect ruler is thezhenren True Person who, being one with Dao, is in a state of mutual resonance with all things.[51] "What I call non-action [means] ... the undertakings of government will succeed, but [you] personally will not be glorified. [Your] accomplishments will be established, but your reputation will not obtain. [Non-action] does not mean that a stimulus [感] will not produce a response [應] or that a push will not move [something]." (19.2).[52] The Daoist idea ofwuwei is interpreted formally in the sense ofganying, "non-interference means to respond spontaneously and harmoniously to stimulus".[53]
In conclusion,Huainanzi scholars delineate the meaning ofganying.
Kan-ying may be defined, in the final analysis, as the power of things to affect and to be affected in such a way as to bring about harmony. This power is based on the persistent affinity and attraction of things that were originally one, but that became scattered when the world began. Through the True Mankan-ying recreates the original unity. As a dynamic patternkan-ying expresses the full cycle of cosmological, social and psychological integration. Its natural and universal character makes it binding for the cosmos as a whole and also for each and every one of the Ten Thousand Things issuing from Tao. In Chapter Six the foregoing pattern is applied mainly to the realm of human society and, more specifically, to the relations between the perfect ruler – the True Man - and the people. The argument there propounded, that these relations should be based on non-action (wu-wei) understood as resonance (kan-ying), draws its ultimate strength from the cosmological scheme outlined above. We may thus conclude thatkan-ying not only forms a logically coherent and philosophically meaningful idea but also provides the focal point around which theHuai-nan Tzu cosmology is structured.[54]
"Resonance" is a central operative principle of the cosmos as conceived by theHuainanzi. The phrase itself means "stimulus" (gan 感) and "response" (ying 應), which is how we have translated it when theHuainanzi refers specifically to the discrete component processes that the term denotes. Fundamentally, "resonance" is a process of dynamic interaction that transcends the limits of time, space, and ordinary linear causality. Through the mechanism of resonance, an event in one location (the "stimulus") produces simultaneous effects in another location (the "response"), even though the two phenomena have no direct spatial or mechanical contact. They may indeed be separated by vast gulfs of space. For example, connections between celestial events (eclipses, planetary motions) and events in the human community were understood as examples of "resonance." For the authors of theHuainanzi, such connections were not coincidence or mere correspondence but dynamic influences exchanged through the energetic medium ofqi. All phenomena are both composed of and impelled byqi, and since all currently differentiatedqi emerged from an originally undifferentiated Grand One, allqi remains mutually resonantly linked. The pathways of resonance are not random, however. Objects are most sensitive to resonant influences emanating from other objects that share the same constituent form ofqi.[55]
Wang Chong's (c. 80 CE)Lunheng "Discourse Balance" usesganying once to criticize prognostications from theFengjia 風家 "School of Wind".
In regard to the Six Passions [六情: cheerfulness, anger, grief, joy, love, and hatred] the expositors of the wind theory maintain that, when the wind blows, robbers and thieves set to work under its influence [感應], but the nature of robbers and thieves cannot move Heaven to send the wind. When the wind blows, it has a strange influence on perverted minds so, that robbers and thieves do their deeds. How can we prove that? Robbers and thieves seeing something, take it away, and beholding an enemy, kill him. This is an off-hand business, and the work of a moment, and not premeditated day and night. When the heavenly afflatus passes, the time of greedy scoundrels and stealthy thieves has come. (43)[56]
Wang Chong first used the wordganlei 感類 as a chapter title "Sympathetic Emotions",[57] and later Chinese literature often usedganlei "sympathy between things of like kind" to describe sympathetic resonance among things of the same category.[37]
When theYin and theYang are at variance, calamitous changes supervene. Either they arise from the unexpiated guilt of former generations, or it is the spontaneous action of the fluids. Worthies and sages feel an emotion by sympathy [感類], and, in their agitation, think out for themselves the reason for the calamity, implying some wickedness, having happened. They incriminate themselves, and from fear that they themselves are culpable take every precaution. (55)[58]
According to Forke, "Sages have many affinities with Heaven which manifests itself by them. Therefore Heaven being agitated, they are agitated too."
Ying Shao's (c. 195 CE)Fengsu Tongyi usesganying twice. The first usage is in a narrative aboutCrown Prince Dan from thestate of Yan (d. 226 BCE) and the future EmperorQin Shi Huang when he was King of thestate of Qin. After Dan escaped from being held hostage by Qin, he sentJing Ke to assassinate the King, but Heaven miraculously usedganying to save him from death.[59] The second quotes theShujing "Canon of Shun",[18]Emperor Shun appointedKui to be Minister of Music, and Kui said, "I smite the (sounding-) stone, I gently strike it, and the various animals lead on one another to dance"; and asks, "if the various animals resonated, (quoting theYijing) 'How much more must it be so with (the operations of) men! How much more also with the spiritual agency!'."[60]
Post-Han Daoism expanded the notion ofganying far beyond the basicHuainanzi (above) ideas that historical events result from mutual resonance between different parts of the universe, and that human beings are agents of mutual resonance who participate fully in the creative transformations of Dao.[61]
Chongxuan 重玄 "Twofold Mystery" Daoism emphasized the phenomena of sympathetic resonance. TheDaodejing commentary of Cheng Xuanying 成玄英 (fl. 631–650), an important Twofold Mystery author, differentiated between two kinds of response:tongying 通應 "universal response" andbieying 别應 "differential response". Universal response is that of heaven, which responds out of compassion to all without distinction; differential response, is geared tobiekan 别感 "specific stimuli", such as whenLaozi gave theDaodejing toYinxi.[62]
The (7th century) Buddhist-influenced textDaojiao yishu 道教義樞 "Pivotal Meaning of Daoist Teachings" has a section titledGanying yi 感應義 "The Meaning of Stimulus Response", which depicts the sage as one who spontaneously and appropriatelyganying responds to stimuli, and enumerates six categories of stimulus and six of response. The six categories of stimulus are grouped into three pairs: "principal" (正) and "proximate" (附), whether the stimulus is initiated by a self-aware mind or an insentient object, "universal" (普) and specific "preferential" (偏), and "manifest" (顯) and "hidden" (陰) stimuli. The six categories of response are: through "pneuma" (氣), specifically the "primal pneuma" (元氣), a response through "forms" (形), response through "language" (文), "sages" (聖), "worthies" (賢), and "transmitted" response (袭). Furthermore, theDaojiao yishu distinguishes four categories ofganying according to whether the agent and recipient of the stimulus are sentient or insentient, for example, the bell sounding at the collapse of the bronze mountain is in the third category of an insentient object stimulating a response in an insentient object.[63]
Since Chinese philosophers and authors invoked the principle ofganying to explain topics such as seasonal and astronomical cycles, celestial portents, moral retribution, and political upheaval, it is to be expected that the principle would similarly influence the Chinese understanding of Buddhist cosmology, philosophy, and monastic practice.[64] As an example of how the Chinese notion of sympathetic resonance was both powerful enough and malleable enough to lend itself to a variety of Buddhist hermeneutical tasks, Sharf saysGuifeng Zongmi employed it in his account ofChan patriarchal succession:
Bodhidharma came from the west only in order to transmit the mind dharma. Thus he himself said: "My dharma is transmitted from mind to mind and does not depend on words or letters." This mind is the pure and original awakening of all sentient beings. It is also known as buddha-nature or numinous awakening 靈覺 ... If you wish to see the Way of the Buddhas, you must awaken to this mind. Therefore, the generations of patriarchs in this lineage transmit only this. If there is a sympathetic resonance and reciprocal tallying [between master and disciple] 感應相契, then although a single flame may be transmitted to a hundred thousand lamps, there will be no difference between them.[65]
Although the Chinese wordganying 感應 was not employed in translating any specific Sanskrit term, it frequently occurs in Chinese Buddhist discussions elucidating the workings of ritual invocation and "jiachi" 加持 "empowerment; assistance" (adhiṣṭhāna).Ganying is the principle underlying the interaction between practitioner and Buddha, the supplicant is said togan "stimulate; affect" the Buddha, which elicits the Buddha's compassionateying "response". For example, the expressionsganfo 感佛 "affect the Buddha" organ rulai 感如來 "stimulate thetathagata".[3] The Buddhist monkLokaksema's (179 CE) ChineseBanzhou sanmei jing 般舟三昧經 translation of thePratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra uses the indigenous notion ofganying "sympathetic resonance" to explain the interaction between the practitioner or supplicant and the grace of buddha or bodhisattva being invoked.[66]
Huiyuan (332-416), the first patriarch of thePure Land School of Buddhism, used a legend about a bronze bell resonating at the collapse of a distant bronze mountain as an explanation ofganying for the scholar Yin Zhongkan 殷仲堪 (d. 399). The (early 5th century)Shishuo Xinyu "A New Account of the Tales of the World" says,
Yin Chung-k'an once asked the monk Hui-yuan, "What is the substance of theBook of Changes?" Hui-yuan replied, "Stimulus-response [gan 感] is the substance of theChanges." Yin continued, "When the bronze mountain collapsed in the west and the magic bell responded [ying 應] in the east, wasthat theBook of changes?" Hui-yuan smiled without answering.[67]
The (5th century)Hou Hanshu biography of Fan Ying 樊英[68] likewise records that during the reign ofEmperor Shun of Han (r. 126-144 CE), there was a disaster at theMin Mountains inShu (modernSichuan). "A bell below the emperor's hall sounded of itself. Fan Ying explained: 'Min Mountain in Shu (Szechwan) has collapsed. Mountains are mothers in relation to bronze. When the mother collapses, the child cries. In due time Shu reported that indeed a mountain had collapsed, and the time of the collapse matched precisely the time the bell had sounded." Sharf explainsganying resonance as the mechanism through which categorically related but spatially distant phenomena interact, as a mode of seemingly spontaneous response (although not in the sense of "uncaused") natural in a holistic universe of pattern and interdependent order.
Sengyou'sChu sanzang jiji 出三藏記集 preserves a statement byZhi Dun (314-366).
The principle is different from [the world of] change, and change is different from principle. The teachings are different from the essence [of wisdom, the inner mind of the sage], and the essence is different from the teachings. Therefore, the thousand changes and myriad transformations all take place outside the [realm of] principle, for how could there be any movement in the spirit [of the sage]? Precisely because it does not move, it can endlessly respond to change. The endless change does not denote the presence of the sage in things, nor is the change of things itself the sage. The myriad sounds cause the bell to reverberate—a reverberation that, although single, encompasses [all the myriad sounds]. A myriad things stimulate 感 the sage, and the sage also responds 應 out of stillness. Therefore, the [myriad] sounds are not the same as the [single] reverberation, and the words [of the teachings] are not the same as the wisdom of the sage.[69]
Scholars in theChengshi zong 成實宗 orTattvasiddhi School were engaged in a controversy over the nature of stimulus-response. For example, theDasheng Xuanlun 大乘玄論 "Treatise on the Mystery of the Mahāyāna" by Zhizang 智藏 (458-522) explainsganying,
Stimulus-response is the great tenet of the buddha-dharma, the essential teaching of the many sutras. To "stimulate" means to bring or summon forth, and to "respond" means to go forth and meet in welcome. As all sentient beings possess [the seeds of] goodness, they may induce the Buddhas to descend and take shape in front of them, and [the Buddhas] will meet them in welcome. The principle [is such that they] neither deviate nor overshoot [the mark]. This is called stimulus and response. The common person stimulates but does not respond; the Buddhas respond but do not stimulate; and bodhisattvas both respond and stimulate.[70]
Buddhist scholars in theTiantai School further developed the doctrine ofganying.Zhiyi (538–597) analyzed theLotus Sutra in terms of thirtymiao 妙 "wonders", coming from the sutra's Chinese title ofMiaofa lieahua jing 妙法蓮花經 "Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma", including theganying miao 感應妙 "wonder of stimulus-response".[71]
According to the Mahayana Buddhist doctrine ofTrikāya (translated assanshen 三身) "three bodies", a single Buddha has three coexisting buddha-bodies: thedharmakāya (fashen 法身) "truth body" that is identical with transcendent reality and realization of true enlightenment,sambhogakāya (baoshen 報身) "delight/reward body" for the enjoyment of the merits attained as a bodhisattva, andnirmāṇakāya (yingshen 應身) "response body" manifested in response to the need to save all sentient beings. In addition to Chineseyingshen 應身 "response body; resonant body", some schools translate Sanskritnirmāṇakāya ashuashen 化身 "transformation body" orhuayingshen 化應身 "transformation response body".
Different Chinese Buddhist schools and texts give sometimes conflicting interpretations ofyingshen andhuashen. TheNorthern Wei (386-534) dynastyShe dasheng lun 攝大乘論 translation of theMahāyāna-samgraha directly usesyingshen to translatenirmāṇakāya.[72] TheJinguang mingjing 金光明經Golden Light Sutra (Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra) distinguishes thehuashen "transformation body" (nirmāṇakāya) that can be seen by all beings in whatever form best suits their needs from theyingshen "resonant body" (functionally thesaṃbhogakāya), possessing the32 major signs and80 minor marks of a Buddha, that is only manifest to buddhas and bodhisattvas.[73] TheDasheng qixin lun 大乘起信論 orAwakening of Faith in the Mahayana makes no distinction between the two, with theyingshen "response body" being the Buddha of the 32 signs who revealed himself to the earthly disciples.
Sharf explains that the Chinese understanding ofyingshen "resonant/response [buddha-]body" incorporates the Buddhist notion ofnirmāṇakāya a corporeal (or seemingly corporeal) body manifest in response to the needs of suffering beings and the Chinese cosmological principles that explain the power to produce such bodies in terms ofwuwei nonaction andganying sympathetic resonance.[74] "The sage, bodhisattva, or buddha, through the principle of nonaction, becomes at one with the universe, acquires the attributes of stillness and harmonious balance, and, without any premeditation or will of his own, spontaneously responds to the stimuli of the world around him, manifesting bodies wherever and whenever the need arises."
Paralleling the use ofganying 感應 in Chinese Buddhism,Japanese Buddhism borrowed theSino-Japanese loanwordkannō 感應. For example,Kannō-ji is aBuddhist temple onMount Kabutoyama inNishinomiya,Hyōgo.
During theSong dynasty (960-1276), the cosmological writings of theNeo-Confucianists, especially theCheng-Zhu school, gaveganying its "perfect expression".[38]
The British sinologistAngus Charles Graham says the Chinese "correlative cosmology" concepts ofgan andying occupy the same place in Song philosophy as causation in the West.
If it is assumed that things consist of inert matter, it is natural to think in terms of "effect" which passively allow themselves to be pushed by "causes". But if inert matter is only the essentially active etherch'i in an impure state, this kind of action will only be of minor importance; in the purer ether, when A acts on B, B will not only be moved by it, but will respond actively.[75]
Noting that Chineseganying has no exact English equivalent, the Philippine scholar in Chinese philosophyAntonio Cua translates it as "influence and response" or "responding to influence", and proposes a Neo-Confucian conception of the world in which natural events or states of affairs are viewed as an open set of influences that call for some sort of human responses or actions. This conception of a practical rather than a theoretical causation is a model or "an imaginative schema for guiding actions toward the Confucian vision of central harmony".[76]
TheJishanji 霽山集 "Clear Mountain Collection" by the Song authorLin Jingxi 林景熙 (1242-1310) praised psychological resonance.
Scholars of old time said that the mind is originally empty, and only because of this can it respond to natural things [yingwu 應物] without prejudices (lit. traces, [ji 迹]) left behind to influence later vision). Only the empty mind [xuxin 虚心] can respond to the things of Nature. Though everything resonates with the mind, the mind should be as if it had never resonated, and things should not remain in it. But once the mind has received (impressions of) natural things, they tend to remain and not to disappear, thus leaving traces in the mind. (These affect later seeing and thinking, so that the mind is not truly 'empty' and unbiased.) It should be like a river gorge with swans flying overhead; the river has no desire to retain the swan, yet the swan's passage is traced out by its shadow without any omission.[77]
Not only was the notion ofganying resonance situated in the cultural domains of Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, but also inChinese folk religion, with a meaning of "divine retribution; moral retribution". The related termbaoying 报應 "moral retribution" originated from Buddhist doctrines of karma and reincarnation, and became a fundamental principle of Chinese popular religious belief and practice.
Ganying "moral retribution" was central to the genre of popular religious texts known asshànshū 善書 (lit. "good book") "moral-instruction book; moral tract". It specifically referred to the principle of "tit-for-tat moral retribution", based upon the belief that one's good and evil deeds will result in corresponding rewards and punishments, typically manifest as the lengthening or shortening of one's life.[78]
The (c. 12th century) anonymous Song dynasty compilationTaishang ganying pian 太上感應篇 "Folios of the Most High on Retribution" was the classic in theshanshu genre, and one of the most widely circulated Daoist works in late imperial China.[79] "Cloud Capped Mountain" story exemplifiesTaishang ganying pian content.[80]
Fang Shih-k'o, a native of Hsing-an, had been very sickly from a child. Afterwards he began to enquire into the mysteries of Taoism, with a view of procuring the secret of immortality. Arrived one day at the Cloud-capped Monntain, he met a person of strange appearance, who said, "With such a face as yours, how can you expect to get the blessings that you seek? It is impossible—unless you first plant a root of goodness." Then Shih-k'o went home; and although he was a poor man he found means to print off an edition of the Book of Recompenses and distribute copies among his friends. By the time he had printed ten pages, his sickness was half-cured; when the work was completed, he found himself entirely recovered; and from that time forward he became robust in body, and quite different from what he had been before in appearance.[81]
Beginning with theQing dynasty (1644-1912), the Chinese language borrowed manyscientific terms asloanwords from Western languages.
Examples ofgǎnyìng scientifically meaning "cause-effect; stimulus-response" include.
Footnotes