Tranquility, Carefree Wandering, and Mysterious Virtue: On the Aesthetic Sentiments of Daoist Religion

【Author】Pan Xianyi 【Author Bio】Pan Xianyi, Associate Professor at Sichuan Union University. Address: Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Postal Code: 610064 Xiaoyao (carefree wandering) is the aesthetic psychological state of ultimate beauty proposed by Zhuangzi, which is completely independent of both the inner mind and external things. Daoism also pursues the state of Xiaoyao as the immortal realm of boundless joy after attaining the Dao. However, how did Daoism transform the Daoist Xiaoyao, which in philosophy and aesthetics tends toward completely different directions, into its own religious goal? And how did it transform this rather mystical state of ultimate joy into an aesthetic taste that can be used to educate the masses? This is precisely another point of convergence and support that shows why Daoist aesthetic thought and traditional aesthetic thought, though starting from different paths, arrive at the same destination. I. The State of Mind in Empty Stillness and Cultivating the Dao Empty stillness (Xujing), as a purely aesthetic state of mind that is non-utilitarian and transcends utility, was first proposed by Laozi, who said, "Attain the utmost emptiness, maintain the utmost stillness." He used the destination or original state of life as a metaphor for this stillness: "All things flourish, and each returns to its root. Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called restoring destiny" (Note 1). From the perspective of aesthetic psychology, Laozi's concept of stillness clearly has a fundamental nature, so he also used and explained it in many other chapters. For example, he said that the opposite of a calm mind is agitation and restlessness: "The heavy is the root of the light; stillness is the master of agitation" (Note 2). Therefore, one must control one's emotions and maintain a state of mind free from desire and action in order to achieve "Stillness overcomes agitation, cold overcomes heat; purity and stillness bring correctness to the world" (Note 3). Again, Laozi believed that both governing the state and cultivating the self should be based on stillness: "Do not desire to act; through stillness, the world will correct itself" (Note 4). Why? He illustrated this with a vivid metaphor: "The female constantly overcomes the male through stillness; because she is still, she is fit to take the lower position" (Note 5). What kind of aesthetic state of mind is this stillness of "returning to the root" and "restoring destiny"? Laozi further proposed: "Can you hold the soul and embrace the One without departing from it? Can you concentrate your vital energy and attain softness like an infant? Can you cleanse your mysterious mirror and leave no blemish?" (Note 6). In particular, the metaphor of "cleansing the mysterious mirror" profoundly and vividly reveals the nature of this absolutely pure aesthetic state of mind, which, like a mysterious mirror, is free from even the slightest dust. Zhuangzi inherited and developed Laozi's thought of empty stillness and proposed the famous state of mind of the "fasting of the heart" (Xinzhai). He said, "Vital energy is emptiness and waits upon things. Only the Dao gathers in emptiness. Emptiness is the fasting of the heart." This "fasting of the heart" refers to a purely pure aesthetic state of mind. Only in this state can one preserve one's nature fully, achieve clear insight, keep the will in absolute freedom, and eliminate interference from external things and internal emotions. At this time, when one "gazes into the empty space, the empty chamber gives birth to brightness, and good fortune comes to rest" (Note 7), one feels that all four walls are empty, seeing what is present as if it were absent, and can contemplate the Great Dao and ultimate beauty. Zhuangzi and his later followers spoke of both emptiness and stillness, elaborating on this thought many times in the Inner, Outer, and Miscellaneous Chapters. In particular, his statement "Correctness leads to stillness; stillness leads to clarity; clarity leads to emptiness; emptiness leads to non-action and yet nothing is left undone" (Note 8) centrally explains the importance of maintaining a still aesthetic attitude for seeking and cultivating the Dao, and can serve as a key to understanding his thought on Dao and beauty. Daoism's requirements and methods for cultivating the Dao and refining one's nature developed from the basis of Laozi's and Zhuangzi's concept of purity and stillness toward popularization and practical operability. The *Taiping Jing* (Scripture of Great Peace) uses the past to illustrate the present, saying, "In ancient times, people all studied purity and stillness, deeply understood the ultimate nature of Heaven and Earth, and therefore all learned the true Dao, and only then obtained the mind of Heaven and the intent of Earth" (Note 9). Taking purity and stillness as the "ultimate nature of Heaven and Earth" and as the motivation and starting point for learning the Dao shows that the *Taiping Jing* also placed considerable importance on inner cultivation, making the beautification of the mind and emotions a prerequisite for learning and attaining the Dao. As for why it does not explicitly follow Laozi's and Zhuangzi's views on empty stillness, it is probably because it is a religious text of the common people and the masses, rather than a scholarly work. Among the transmitted Daoist scriptures, those that maintain the basic appearance of scholarly works often display a more orthodox Daoist style and therefore quote and develop this Daoist thought more extensively, making emptiness and stillness a psychological state associated with the Dao in its original sense. Daoism has always advocated this pure aesthetic state of mind as a standard of inner cultivation for purifying the mind and calming the body. The *Qingjing Jing* (Scripture of Purity and Stillness) says, "Purity is the source of turbidity; movement is the foundation of stillness. If one can always be pure and still, Heaven and Earth will all return to him." It also says, "If one can always expel desires, the mind will naturally become still; if one clarifies the mind, the spirit will naturally become pure" (Note 10). In this scripture, expelling desires and clarifying the mind are equally important. Expelling desires mainly concerns moral cultivation—without desire there is no worry, and the mind can naturally become still—while clarifying the mind mainly concerns psychological training—a calm and peaceful mind can make the spirit fresh and clear, taking joy in the existence of life itself, which is again about aesthetic psychology. The Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school seems to place even greater emphasis on the pure and still mind. For example, Wang Chongyang, the founder of this school, said, "You gentlemen do not understand the root source; you all study minor arts and heterodox methods. These are only methods for accumulating merit and nourishing the body, and have nothing to do with cultivating the nature and destiny. If you err slightly in matters of the Dao, you turn away from the human path. You gentlemen, if you wish to cultivate, eat when hungry and sleep when tired. Do not sit in meditation, do not study the Dao. Just set aside all worldly affairs, and use only the two words 'purity and stillness' in your mind. Everything else is not cultivation" (Note 11). If one did not know who said this, one might mistake it for the Zen admonitions of an old Chan Buddhist master. Purity and stillness are almost exactly the "fundamental pure mind" of Buddhism (Note 12). Ma Danyang, the Realized One Who Embraces the One, also took purity and stillness as the foundational practice of cultivation. He said, "The Dao takes the mind without a center as its substance, wordlessness as its function, gentleness as its foundation, and purity and stillness as its basis. Moderate eating and drinking, cut off brooding, sit quietly to regulate the breath, sleep peacefully to nourish the vital energy. If the mind does not race, the nature is settled; if the body is not overworked, the essence is complete; if the spirit is not disturbed, the elixir is formed. Then extinguish emotions in emptiness, settle the spirit in the ultimate, and without leaving the courtyard, the wondrous Dao is attained" (Note 13). In a word, cultivating the Dao requires wholehearted devotion, eliminating all worldly distractions, and using the entire mind to feel and experience the wonder and beauty of the Dao. If we combine this with Wang Chongyang's above-mentioned view that only purity and stillness constitute the Dao, we can see the orthodox transmission of Ma Danyang's Dao-mind and Dao-theory, as well as his further development of cultivation theory. As a relatively mature religion, Daoism also used precepts or quasi-precepts to safeguard the dignity of its teachings, promoting good while simultaneously threatening punishment for evil, using both approaches to demonstrate the necessity and importance of purity, stillness, and clarifying the mind. The *Taishang Laojun Neiguan Jing* (Scripture of Inner Observation of the Most High Lord Lao) says, "If one is pure and still, then ten thousand calamities will not arise. The reason one drifts in birth and death and sinks into evil paths is all due to the mind. Forgetfulness, thoughts, love and hate, taking and giving, coming and going, attachment and accumulation, gradually entangle oneself, binding more and more, unable to free oneself, and thus one perishes." Conversely, "If one truly cultivates the Dao, observing one's own body inwardly and clarifying the mind, and if one can always still the mind, then the Dao will naturally come to dwell. When the Dao comes to dwell, the spirits and deities will preserve the body. When the spirits and deities preserve the body, life will not perish" (Note 14). This kind of thought developed into precepts or cultivation formulas, strengthening aesthetic and psychological requirements such as purity and stillness into more coercive norms of thought and behavior that must be followed. For example, the *Xuandu Lüwen* (Statutes of the Mysterious Capital) stipulates: "First, abandoning the form and forgetting the body, fearful and detached, as if dead—this is called emptiness. Second, diminishing the mind and discarding intention, abolishing falsity and removing desire—this is called non-being. Third, concentrating the essence and accumulating the spirit, not gathering things—this is called purity. Fourth, returning the spirit and absorbing the vital breath, peaceful and unmoving—this is called stillness. Fifth, dwelling deep and resting in seclusion, not manifesting merit and fame—this is called subtlety. Sixth, leaving wife and children, wandering alone with the Dao—this is called solitude. Seventh, breathing harmoniously, smooth and subtle—this is called gentleness. Eighth, relaxing the body and letting go of the limbs, serving all things—this is called weakness. Ninth, detesting honor and glory, content with poverty and disgrace—this is called humility. Tenth, fleeing fullness and avoiding excess, wearing coarse clothes and eating simply—this is called frugality. Eleventh, contending in yin and yang, responding to changes and repelling evil—this is called timeliness. Twelfth, not hungry or thirsty, not cold or hot, not joyful or angry, not sorrowful or happy, not slow or hasty—this is called harmony. Thirteenth, loving to see, love to hear, love to speak, love to think, not wasting the spirit, harmonizing with the world—this is called thrift" (Note 15). These thirteen cultivation formulas—emptiness, non-being, purity, stillness, subtlety, solitude, gentleness, weakness, humility, frugality, timeliness, harmony, and thrift—are mostly formulated from the perspective of cultivating the mind. In particular, the six formulas of emptiness, non-being, purity, stillness, humility, and harmony directly address the aesthetic psychological issue of transcending utility. In fact, only by treating life and the external world with this kind of aesthetic vision and state of mind can one possibly attain great beauty and ultimate joy. II. The Flavor of Attaining the Dao in Xiaoyao Zhuangzi, in the very first chapter of his work, clearly sets forth the aesthetic realm of Xiaoyao (carefree wandering), which shows that this philosopher placed great importance on aesthetic issues. Xiaoyao is also an aesthetic pleasure of ultimate beauty and ultimate joy experienced by the aesthetic subject—a great happiness that is free, leisurely, and transcends utility and material desire. He spoke of the peng bird's migration to the Southern Darkness: "It beats the water for three thousand li, and rides the whirlwind up to ninety thousand li, resting after six months." Even Liezi riding the wind was still "dependent on something." But true Xiaoyao is "riding the correctness of Heaven and Earth, and driving the changes of the six vital energies, to wander in the infinite"—it is not dependent on anything. Why is it not dependent? Because one has already become one with the Dao, as he said in another chapter: "I wander my mind in the beginning of things. To attain this is to attain ultimate beauty and ultimate joy. To attain ultimate beauty and wander in ultimate joy is called the ultimate person" (Note 16). Zhuangzi also used the butcher Ding cutting up an ox as a metaphor to explain this realm of attaining ultimate beauty and wandering in ultimate joy. When the butcher Ding cut up an ox for Lord Wenhui, "Wherever his hand touched, wherever his shoulder leaned, wherever his foot stepped, wherever his knee pressed, the sounds of slicing and cutting resounded, and the knife moved with a rhythm that matched the dance of the Mulberry Grove and the beats of the Jingshou. His knife had been in use for nineteen years, and had cut up several thousand oxen, yet its edge was as sharp as if it had just come from the whetstone."If the blade were newly sharpened from the whetstone, this cook effortlessly dissected the ox as if a musician had successfully performed a piece of music, or a painter had completed a masterpiece. Standing with the knife in hand, looking around, filled with satisfaction (17), he clearly felt a creative freedom that transcended technique, entered a non-utilitarian aesthetic realm, and obtained a spiritual enjoyment beyond material concerns. This carefree aesthetic taste, developing toward artistic aesthetics, directly inspired the theory of artistic thinking expressed in Lu Ji's "Wen Fu" — namely, to withdraw vision and reverse hearing, to contemplate deeply and seek widely, with the spirit soaring to the eight extremes and the mind wandering ten thousand fathoms, observing past and present in an instant and caressing the four seas in a blink (note 18), revealing the highly inspired nature of artistic creative thinking. Developing toward religious immortality and inner alchemy theory, it formed the view that Daoist immortals, having attained supernatural powers, could roam freely and carefree. The carefree roaming of immortals is by no means ordinary sightseeing or playing with life, but a miraculous immortal journey. For example, Wu Yun wrote in a poem: "I cast my body into the great rosy clouds, drifting faintly in the void. The eight majestic ones lead the way, the five elders roam with me. The numinous scenery is so radiant, the auspicious wind is just gentle. Shouting songs shake the long sky, the lingering sound is clear and soft. Roaming and playing without traces, all glances are true companions. Without haste yet swift, ten thousand heavens are already traversed" (note 19) — precisely referring to this wonderful realm of having attained the Dao and become an immortal. The "Tongxuan Zhenjing" (True Scripture of Mysterious Penetration) also defines this carefree roaming of immortals, saying: As for the sage's roaming, it moves in utmost emptiness, roams the mind in great nothingness, does not race beyond the mundane, walks without a gate, listens without sound, sees without form, not constrained by the world, not tied to custom. Thus leisurely and carefree is the sage — one of the Daoist immortals, not the Confucian so-called sage. The scripture also describes the carefree roaming of the Perfected One: The Perfected One is one whose nature accords with the Dao. Therefore, having is like not having, fullness is like emptiness. He governs the inner, not the outer, is clear and plain, non-active, and returns to simplicity, embodying the root. Embracing spirit, he roams at the root of heaven and earth, wandering aimlessly beyond dust and grime, carefree in the enterprise of non-action. Guarding the simplicity of great chaos, abiding in utmost essence, he sleeps without dreams, his wisdom does not sprout. His movement is formless, his stillness is bodiless. Existing yet as if vanished, alive yet as if dead, entering and leaving without gap, commanding ghosts and spirits — this is the ability of spirit to ascend to the Dao. The transformed return to the formless; the untransformed are born together with heaven and earth. Therefore, what gives life has never lived, and what it gives life to is life; what transforms has never transformed, and what it transforms is transformation. This is the roaming of the Perfected One, the pure Dao (note 20). If this is still somewhat philosophical and abstract, then Ge Hong's description of the carefree state of becoming an immortal is quite specific. He said: Those who attain immortality either ascend to the Great Clarity, soar to the Purple Firmament, reach Mysterious Isle, or perch on Bantong, listening to the music of heaven and enjoying the delicacies of the nine mushrooms. Going out, they accompany Song and Xian beyond the inverted shadow; entering, they feast in the jade chambers of Changyang. Why should they be companions of foxes and raccoons or mates of monkeys? This is what is called acting without understanding. The Dao roams among rainbows, soars on crimson clouds, and the six voids of Hongya are wherever the mind wishes (note 21). This description, full of artistic imagination, set the tone for later Daoist depictions of attaining the Dao, becoming immortal, and eternally enjoying carefree and happy life. This description and imagination are themselves a kind of beauty — a mythological beauty built on the study of immortality and adorned with artistic beauty. Where does the immortals' carefree ease and omnipotent great supernatural power come from? It comes from having attained the supremely beautiful and wondrous Dao. Those who attain the Dao's honor can assist the world; those who attain the Dao's solitude can establish themselves. Knowing that the Dao is not constrained by time, one can make a day a hundred years, or a hundred years a day. Knowing that the Dao is not obstructed by place, one can make a mile a hundred miles, or a hundred miles a mile. Knowing that the Dao, which is without qi, can move what has qi, one can summon wind and rain. Knowing that the Dao, which is formless, can transform what has form, one can change birds and beasts. Those who attain the Dao's purity — nothing can burden them, their bodies are light, and they can ride phoenixes and cranes. Those who attain the Dao's turbidity — nothing can weaken them, their bodies are profound, and they can sit on flood dragons and whales. Having is nothing, nothing is having — knowing this Dao, one can control ghosts and spirits. Fullness is emptiness, emptiness is fullness — knowing this Dao, one can enter metal and stone. Above is below, below is above — knowing this Dao, one can await the stars. Ancient is present, present is ancient — knowing this Dao, one can divine with tortoise and yarrow. Others are self, self is others — knowing this Dao, one can peer into another's liver and lungs. Things are self, self is things — knowing this Dao, one can form the dragon and tiger within the belly. Knowing that the mind changes through images, and observing the mind thus, one can become a female infant. Knowing that qi is born from the mind, and absorbing spirit thus, one can become a furnace. Using this to overcome things, tigers and leopards can be subdued; using this to unite with things, one can enter water and fire. Only those who possess the Dao can do this, and can also do it without doing it (note 22). After attaining the Dao, one is so carefree and omnipotent, neither burdened by external things nor by one's own body and mind, enjoying great happiness and great joy that transcend time and space, matter, utility, and ability. Later Daoist-themed literature and art's depictions of immortals' supernatural powers or abilities have basically not exceeded the imagination and longing of Wenshi Zhenren or Tongxuan Zhenren for the joy of attaining the Dao and roaming freely. III. The Graceful Beauty of Mysterious Virtue (Xuande) The initial use of "Mysterious Virtue" (Xuande) in Chapter 10 of the "Daodejing" may be merely a philosophical abstraction. It uses "virtue" to express the concrete manifestation of the Dao, which has ontological and normative significance, in all things. Especially for living humans or things, if their state or behavior accords with the Dao, they can be called having the Dao or having virtue. In Chapter 10 of the "Daodejing," the concept of Mysterious Virtue first appears: "Give birth to it, nourish it; give birth but do not possess, act but do not rely, grow but do not control — this is called Mysterious Virtue." Heshang Gong interprets these lines: The Dao gives birth to all things and nourishes them. The Dao gives birth to all things without taking possession. What the Dao does, it does not expect reward. The Dao grows and nourishes all things without cutting them to make tools. This says that virtue is mysterious and dark, invisible, wishing people to know the Dao (23). Such an interpretation of the mystery of virtue from the perspective of life-form beauty, that is, the beauty of the Dao, is naturally because Heshang Gong is based on Huang-Lao Daoist thought. Interpreting the "mysterious" of Mysterious Virtue as dark and obscure is also based on the original meaning of the character "xuan" — a color term for black with red, and the noun "xuantian" (dark heaven), which is higher and farther than the blue sky, and the extended meanings of remote, profound, mysterious, and wonderful, all as adjectives. Thus, in Heshang Gong's view, the "mysterious" of Mysterious Virtue in the "Daodejing" is not yet the "double mystery" (chongxuan) noun and religious-philosophical category of later Daoist scholars like Cheng Xuanying, but remains close to the meanings of remote, profound, mysterious, and wonderful — and this meaning clearly has a positive aesthetic tendency. Comparing Wang Bi's annotation also reveals this transitional feature from philosophy to religion. Wang Bi annotated: Do not block its source. Do not forbid its nature. If its source is not blocked, things arise of themselves — what merit is there? If its nature is not forbidden, things sustain themselves — what reliance is there in acting? Things grow of themselves, sufficient without my control; having virtue without a master — is this not mysterious? Whenever Mysterious Virtue is spoken of, it means having virtue without knowing its master, emerging from the dark (note 24). In other words, Mysterious Virtue is a kind of latent Dao-beauty that has virtue without a master, hidden and unmanifest. The second appearance of Mysterious Virtue is in Chapter 51 of the "Daodejing," with text almost identical to Chapter 10 quoted above; Wang Bi's annotation is also largely similar, while Heshang Gong's annotation of Mysterious Virtue differs slightly: The virtue practiced by the Dao is dark and obscure, invisible (note 25). This still refers to an invisible supreme beauty, that is, Dao-beauty. The third appearance of Mysterious Virtue is in Chapter 65 of the "Daodejing": "Constantly knowing the model (kai, in Wang Bi's edition ji) — this is called Mysterious Virtue. Mysterious Virtue is deep, is far, is opposite to things, and thus reaches great conformity." Heshang Gong annotates from the perspective of the person of Mysterious Virtue, while Wang Bi annotates from the ontological perspective of virtue as the Dao, but both emphasize its deep and far, lofty and great beauty as an aesthetic feature. In fact, the phrase "opposite to things" (yu wu fan yi) is also quite thought-provoking. This is also the key to understanding the mysterious beauty of Mysterious Virtue from an aesthetic perspective. Wang Bi analyzes from the height of virtue's essence, saying "fan" means returning to the true, that is, requiring people to fully understand and grasp the true beauty of the Dao embodied in virtue, its characteristic of returning to the true. Heshang Gong, from the personal beauty of the person of Mysterious Virtue, positively explains the meaning of "fan": The person of Mysterious Virtue is opposite to all things — all things wish to benefit themselves, but the person of Mysterious Virtue wishes to give to others. The person of Mysterious Virtue is opposite to all things, and therefore can reach great conformity, conforming to heavenly principle. Thus, whether it is Wang Bi's philosophical explanation or Heshang Gong's quasi-religious guidance, both take "opposite to things" as the cause and root of the deep and far beauty of Mysterious Virtue. This is another dialectical aesthetic proposition. Also, Chapter 16's "turbid, still it gradually clears; calm, heavy, it gradually comes to life" are displays of the useless use and non-active action of Dao-beauty or Mysterious Virtue-beauty, powerful proof of the beauty without beauty and the hidden, nameless Dao, embodying the dialectical thought of "reversal is the movement of the Dao" (note 26) in the "Daodejing" and the specific expression of the aesthetic taste of Daoist emptiness, stillness, and carefree roaming described above. This concept of Mysterious Virtue-beauty was personified by Zhuangzi in figures like Ai Tai Tuo, the hunchback with no lips, and the man with a huge goiter — images of ugly and strange beauty. The beauty of these people's inner character and inner personality power is the deep and far beauty of returning to the true, which Laozi proposed as Mysterious Virtue-beauty. This concept of Mysterious Virtue-beauty, including Zhuangzi's ugly-strange beauty concept, had a very great influence on later aesthetic thought, including artistic aesthetic thought. For example, the ugly-strange figure paintings of the Five Dynasties figure painter, Zen Master Gui Yue (Guanxiu) — contemporary art historians recognizeFor his famous work, the sixteen ink-wash arhats have strange and extraordinary bone structures that previous generations could not have conceived of (note 27). The ugly and strange figure painting initiated by Guan Xiu has been argued by contemporary aesthetic historians that this kind of artistic creation that seeks beauty in ugliness, as well as the style of playful cynicism, is related in its aesthetic ideological origins to Zhuangzi's aesthetics, because in the history of Chinese aesthetics, the affirmation of ugly and strange beauty is unique to Zhuangzi's aesthetics, and the Zen thought represented by the painter Guan Xiu is closely connected with Daoism (note 28). This characteristic of mysterious beauty that reverses the true, in later Daoist thought, on the one hand transformed into a requirement for the inner beauty and moral beauty of practitioners, requiring a return to simplicity and truth, disliking what the multitude likes, despising what the multitude values, opposing what the multitude desires, and acting contrary to the common people of the world, as well as requiring a heart of giving to others as proposed by He Shang Gong long ago, which is also a purely religious sincerity of saving oneself and saving others that Daoism later emphasized. For example, the most famous popular moral exhortation book, *Taishang Ganying Pian*, strongly emphasizes this complex of loving to give to others and extends it to specific and detailed moral requirements and standards such as loyalty, filial piety, friendship, brotherly love, rectifying oneself to transform others, pitying orphans and widows, respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, not harming insects, plants, or trees, sympathizing with others' misfortunes, rejoicing in others' goodness, helping others in urgent need, rescuing others in danger, seeing others' gains as one's own gains, seeing others' losses as one's own losses, giving kindness without expecting reward, giving without regret, putting others before oneself, finding joy in helping others, and acting bravely for justice (note 29). On the other hand, the principle of reversing the true, marked by mysterious beauty, is summarized in Daoist cultivation theory as the specific operational methods of inner alchemy's theory of reverse counting, returning, reversal, or repetition. Daoist inner alchemy theory holds that the basic model of inner alchemy cultivation is to reverse the growth process of life and the universe within oneself, that is, yin and yang oppose and complement each other, and the inner alchemy practice of taking Kan to fill Li all adopts reverse counting; following the order gives birth to humans, reversing it becomes immortality. For example, the *Huangdi Yinfu Jing* expresses this process in unique language, saying: "When Heaven sends forth the mechanism of killing, the stars shift and the constellations change; when Earth sends forth the mechanism of killing, dragons and snakes rise from the land; when humans send forth the mechanism of killing, Heaven and Earth reverse. When Heaven and humans jointly send forth, all transformations are fixed in mechanism" (note 30). Zhang Boduan's *Wuzhen Pian* explains this reverse process in poetry, saying: "One must make the gate of death the gate of life; do not hold the gate of life as the gate of death. If one understands the mechanism of killing and clearly comprehends reversal, only then will one know that within harm arises grace," and also says, "Looking up, one observes the wonder of creation's work; the sun returns to the west mountains, the moon returns to the east. Heaven is Earth, Earth is Heaven; reversing yin and yang accords with nature. Recognizing the reversal of the five elements, in due time one ascends to the grotto heaven" (note 31). Another Daoist scripture explains in detail: "Returning from below to above is called returning; returning from the end to the root is called returning. That is, the way of returning and reversing is called inversion. Therefore it is said: the sage flows against the current, the common person flows with it; the one who reverses becomes an immortal, the one who follows becomes a thing" (note 32). Since Dao, virtue, life, goodness, and immortality are the ultimate beauty and joy, then the ways and means to achieve these religious goals, although contrary to ordinary people and ordinary matters, should also be the creation of beauty, the path of beauty, and beauty itself. This is a completely religious interpretation and development of the characteristic of mysterious virtue reversing the true, and it is the most significant proof that Daoist aesthetic thought differs from Daoist philosophy. In short, the Daoist carefree wandering sentiment is a spiritual realm of ultimate beauty and joy achieved by attaining the Dao and becoming immortal, and it can be achieved through self-cultivation. But it requires a pure and tranquil aesthetic state of mind as the foundation and basic personality requirement. And this purity and tranquility itself is both an aesthetic judgment criterion and a sentiment of attaining the Dao. From Laozi's theory of mysterious virtue's character and demeanor to the Daoist practice of achieving Daoist beauty, that is, immortal cultivation operations through reversal and return, there is indeed a considerable theoretical distance. But from an aesthetic perspective, it is not difficult to unify, because the carefree freedom of immortals is an eternally attractive religious romanticism. Notes: 1234562426 *Daode Zhenjing*, see *Daojiao Sanjing Hebi*, chapters 16, 26, 45, 37, 61, 10, 10, 40, Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1991. 7 *Nanhua Zhenjing: Renjian Shi*, see *Daojiao Sanjing Hebi*, Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1991. 8 *Nanhua Zhenjing: Gengsang Chu*, same as 7. 9 *Taiping Jing: Ji Xue Zhen Fa*, see facsimile edition of *Daozang*, p. 222, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. 10 *Taishang Laojun Shuo Chang Qingjing Jing*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 17, p. 141. 11 *Sanzhou Wuhui Huayuan Bang*, see *Chongyang Jiaohua Ji*, vol. 3, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 25, p. 770. 12 For example, Kukai's *Yiqiejing Kai Ti* says that practitioners must understand the origin; the so-called origin is the pure mind of self-nature, which originally has no arising or ceasing; arising and ceasing are the deluded mind. 13 *Danyang Zhenren Yulu*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 23, p. 703. 14 *Taishang Laojun Neiguan Jing*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 11, p. 396. 15 *Xuandu Lüwen: Xuwu Shanye Lü*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 6, p. 456. 16 *Nanhua Zhenjing: Tian Zifang*, same as 7. 17 *Nanhua Zhenjing: Yangsheng Zhu*, same as 7. 18 Lu Ji's *Wen Fu*, see facsimile edition of *Wen Xuan*, Beijing Zhonghua Book Company. 19 *Zongxuan Xiansheng Wenji*, Youxian Shi, poem 23, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 23, p. 660. 20 *Tongxuan Zhenjing: Jingcheng*, *Tongxuan Zhenjing: Jiushou*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 16, pp. 681, 689. 21 Wang Ming, *Baopuzi Neipian Jiaoshi: Mingben*, p. 189, Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, 1985. 22 *Wenshi Zhenjing*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 11, p. 513; see also *Wenshi Zhenjing Zhu*, *Daozang*, vol. 14, p. 603. 23 *Laozi Daodejing Heshang Gong Zhangju*, chapter 21, p. 86, Beijing Zhonghua Book Company, 1993. 25 Chapter 51, see respectively Heshang edition p. 197, Wang Bi edition p. 34; below, chapter 65, see respectively Heshang edition p. 255, Wang Bi edition pp. 42-43. 27 Teng Gu, *Tang Song Huihua Shi*, p. 62, Beijing People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1962. 28 Li Zehou and Liu Gangji, *Zhongguo Meixue Shi*, vol. 1, p. 258, Beijing China Social Sciences Press, 1987. 29 *Taishang Ganying Pian*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 27, pp. 1, 141. This quotes its general meaning. 30 *Huangdi Yinfu Jing*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 2, pp. 716, 746. 31 *Ziyang Zhenren Wuzhen Pian Zhushu*, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 2, pp. 910, 967. 32 *Xuanzong Zhizhi Wanfa Tonggui*, vol. 3, Shanghai Bookstore edition of *Daozang*, vol. 23, p. 929.