Chinese lesson: zhi

Zhi

CHINESE LESSON

Sandra Hill

Acupuncturist & Author: London

In certain lists and tables of five phase correspondences, we find five virtues – and the virtue associated with water, winter and the kidneys is wisdom (zhi 智). According to Suwen chapter 2, which gives us the resonances of the qi through the four seasons:

‘The three months of winter are called closing and storing. Water freezes, earth cracks; there is no more influence from the yang… exerting the will (zhi 志) as if buried, as if hidden within oneself, intent is focused within.’

Winter is the time of retreat within, of storage, of the seed buried in the earth, containing all the information for new growth in the spring. It is the time of darkness and obscurity, associated with the emotion fear (kong 恐). Fear follows the movement of winter – it causes the qi to descend. The qi goes within, plumbs the depths – but it can also be lost if it is not stored, and excess fear causes a loss of essences. But according to the resonances within the five phases, it is by confronting and overcoming our fears that we gain wisdom. By going to the depths we emerge with new strength and understanding.

This section of Suwen 2 ends by telling us that to go against this inward movement would be to go against the production of life, and according to Lingshu chapter 8, wisdom (zhi 智) is nothing other than knowing how to nourish our lives (yang sheng 養 生). This kind of wisdom is very practical. It is a kind of ‘knowing how to do’ – a ‘savoir faire’. And the will (zhi 志) associated with the kidneys is not so much a mental attribute, but the power to fully engage with life and to live it powerfully.

There are two Chinese characters that we find translated as knowledge, wisdom, intelligence – and it can become quite confusing as both have the romanisation zhi. The simpler character (知) is defined in the dictionary as to know, to perceive, to understand. It is made with an arrow hitting the target on the left (矢) and a mouth, or utterance from the mouth on the right (口). With the addition of the sun (日) below (智) there is the suggestion of clarity and brightness – illumination. Similarly, the character ming (明), also used for wisdom but often translated as illumination or enlightenment, is made up with the sun (日) and the moon (月). The classical dictionary defines zhi (智) as wisdom, knowledge, sentience – and in Buddhist texts it is this character that is used for the Sanksrit term jnana – the way to liberation through knowledge.

But the first line of chapter 19 of the Laozi suggests that we, ‘Drop wisdom (zhi 智), abandon cleverness (zhi 知)’ – suggesting that both are human artifice and that we need to return to our natural simplicity. Similarly, the Zhuangzi reminds us that we cannot approach the unknown with knowledge. Both texts refer to the unknowable mysterious nature of the dao, which can be experienced by knowing how to live, but not gained through intellectual endeavour.