Study of Inner Cultivation

Copyright (C) 2011 by Bruce Linnell
Note that an accompanying PDF file correctly displays the English and Chinese characters.
Guanzi, Number 49 : Study of Inner Cultivation Translated by Bruce R. Linnell, PhD (2011)
Background ————— The Nei Ye or Nei Yeh , variously translated as Inner Enterprise , Inner Training , Inner Cultivation , or Inner Development (and Inward may be substituted for Inner in any of the previous), is generally considered to have been written around 350-300 BC (after Confucius, but before the Dao De Jing). Its influence can be seen in many aspects of Daoism (including the Dao De Jing itself) and in traditional Chinese medicine. It is a brief work (only 1/5 as long as the Dao De Jing), written in short, often rhymed, verses. It has been preserved in the Guanzi , a collection of diverse writings that was compiled during the third century BC. There is no name given for the author.
While available for millennia, the Nei Ye has just started to receive serious scholarly attention in the last few decades. It describes how to build up and store various spiritual forces such as Qi and essence (there is no indication that essence refers to reproductive fluids, which appeared later in Chinese thought), and how to control one's heart/mind. It shows no influence of any school of Chinese religious or philosophical thought, other than using a few basic Confucian terms. It does have a few concepts in common with the work by Mencius, but as they were probably both written about the same time it is impossible to tell who influenced who (or if they were both influenced by something else).
While the Nei Ye has many similarities, including writing style, with the Dao De Jing, it also differs significantly in its perspective. For instance, there is no social commentary, no political or military advice, nor any explanation of how the universe was created or how it works. There is no mention of yin and yang, non-action or non-being , nor does it advocate a feminine/receptive attitude. It does not criticize Confucianism, nor does it present the sage as a person with some kind of better understanding of reality. Even the terms Dao and De apparently don't mean the same thing in the Nei Ye as they do in the Dao De Jing - for example, both Dao and De are described in some passages as being able to arrive and settle in a person.