Resolving Doubts

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

2.0

Word count: 1.3K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, honor, peace and happiness, and numerous descendants. A creature with a hundred legs moves as one body—how could it fail? There is no way of immortality; it is only the curious who practice it. Marquis of Quyang Wang Gen received the fangshi Ximen Junhui and studied from him the arts of nurturing one's nature and prolonging old age.

Editor's review

Though brief, Discernment and Doubt puts the word "discern" into practice: it first sets out the doctrine of the Five Blessings, then uses "a creature with a hundred legs moves as one body" to explain how combined strength supports one another, then bluntly states the judgment that "there is no way of immortality; it is only the curious who practice it," and finally closes with the record of Marquis of Quyang Wang Gen receiving the fangshi Ximen Junhui to study the arts of nurturing one's nature. The book's value lies in presenting a soberly skeptical stance—keeping a distance from the popular tales of immortals and esoteric arts of the time, and using facts and common sense to discern confusion. The prose is spare and archaic, the narration restrained, with no elaboration or embellishment, yet it lets readers glimpse something of the Han elite's fashion for seeking immortality and cultivating nature, as well as the reserved attitude of people then toward it. This Bashu Publishing House edition works well as a light reader for understanding ancient esoteric culture and critical thinking. While reading, note how the author uses one judgment plus one example to accomplish "discerning confusion"; this style of mixing narrative and comment is itself worth pondering.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in ancient esoteric arts and the culture of immortal beliefs
History enthusiasts hoping to understand Han dynasty social customs
Readers who enjoy short classical Chinese texts and value critical thinking
Readers who want to train critical thinking through ancient examples

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic history of Daoism or a monograph on esoteric arts
Literary readers who prefer complete stories and character portrayal
Beginners who need extensive annotations and vernacular translations

Reading tips

Read the sentence "There is no way of immortality; it is only the curious who practice it" first, then look back at the earlier examples with that judgment in mind.
Read the doctrine of the Five Blessings separately from the "creature with a hundred legs" passage, and compare the two ways of arguing.
Look up the background of Marquis of Quyang Wang Gen and Ximen Junhui to understand the weight of the example.
After reading, write a short note discerning similar phenomena of "the curious practicing it" around you.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
辨惑第十三

FAQ

What does "There is no way of immortality; it is only the curious who practice it" mean?

Literally, the sentence means: there is no way to become an immortal in this world; it is merely that curious people pursue it. The author uses this to express a skeptical attitude toward the arts of immortals, holding that the so-called way of immortality is mostly the result of curious people's strained interpretations and pursuits rather than something that truly exists. It echoes the practical argument earlier in the text, "a creature with a hundred legs moves as one body," and embodies a stance of discerning confusion through common sense.

What is the purpose of mentioning Wang Gen and Ximen Junhui in the book?

According to the available materials, Marquis of Quyang Wang Gen received the fangshi Ximen Junhui and learned from him the arts of nurturing one's nature and prolonging old age. By recording this, the author uses the personal participation of a powerful man of the time in esoteric activities as an example to show that the fashion of "the curious practicing it" did indeed exist in elite society. This example gives the preceding judgment a concrete footing and strengthens the persuasiveness of discerning confusion.

What is the relationship between the doctrine of the Five Blessings and the book's main theme?

The Five Blessings refer to longevity, wealth, honor, peace and happiness, and numerous descendants—a summary in traditional thought of a complete life. By placing this at the beginning of the text, the author first sets out the goals people generally pursue and then introduces the discernment of the fashion for seeking immortality and cultivating nature. This arrangement gives the later skepticism and judgment a clear target: people seek longevity and happiness, but whether the methods are reliable is precisely what needs to be discerned.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.