The text we'll be reading for Friday is
clearly related to the philosophical approach of texts traditionally called
Daoist (the Dao de jing and Zhuangzi), and for that reason, it
serves here as the coda of the Daoist section of this course. More than
any other classical Daoist text, it seems to point towards practices of
meditation, breath control, and personal cultivation, though it is far from a
"users manual" for Daoists.
As you read through the text, see whether you can
untangle to some degree the relationship among certain key concepts: qi,
essence, heart (xin, or "heart-mind"), and the Dao. The
relationship among these terms will be our starting point on Friday.
