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The term first described the original state of everything, which is profound and mysterious. Laozi used it to describe dao and virtue as being in a profound and mysterious state, calling dao “a mystery within a mystery,” and advocating “inconspicuous virtue.” Ancient Chinese thinkers like Yang Xiong (53 BC-AD 18) and Ge Hong (281?-341) went a step further, describing xuan (玄) as being the supreme original source or the primal ontological existence of all things in heaven and on earth. In this sense xuan is a kind of absolute existence, formless and imageless, which transcends all concrete things. Later on, xuanxue (玄学), or learning of the mystery, developed, referring to the quest into the original source or ontological existence of the world.
This term refers to moral conduct that is discreet and unobtrusive. The Daoists believe this is the highest manifestation of morality in a ruler. Dao is the source of all beings and things, and is manifested through wuwei (无为) or non-action. By being discreet and unobtrusive in his moral conduct, the ruler thus emulates Dao. Xuande (玄德) requires the ruler to exercise restraint in his use of authority to avoid interfering with the natural state of his people, which he should comply with and maintain.
This term was first used by Laozi as a way to understand dao. He believed that one cannot understand dao by calmly observing everything unless one abandons all distracting thoughts and biases, and keeps one’s mind as clear as a mirror. Later literary critics believed that the state of mind as required for xuanlan has similarities with the state of mind required for literary writing and appreciation, thus they made it an important term to mean one’s state of mind must transcend all desires and personal gains in literary writing and appreciation.
This term refers to a poetic style that chiefly explicated Laozi, Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC), Buddhism, and The Book of Changes. Metaphysical poetry emerged at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty and flourished during the subsequent Eastern Jin Dynasty. Represented by Sun Chuo (314-371), Xu Xun (314-361), Yu Liang (289-340), and Huan Wen (312-373), this genre featured the expounding of abstruse and metaphysical thinking in poetry. During the turbulent years of the Wei and Jin dynasties, scholars stayed away from politics and focused on the study of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Buddhism to explore abstruse and philosophical ideas unrelated to current social developments. By the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, this rarefied discourse found its way into writing, creating the metaphysical style of poetry, which later merged with landscape poetry.
In its original meaning, dao (道) is the way or path taken by people. It has three extended meanings: 1) the general laws followed by things in different spheres, e.g. the natural order by which the sun, moon and stars move is called the way of heaven; the rules that govern human activities are the way of man; 2) the universal patterns followed by all things and beings; and 3) the original source or ontological existence of things, which transcends form and constitutes the basis for the birth and existence of all things, and for the activities of human beings. In their respective discussions of Dao, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism imbue it with very different connotations. While benevolence, righteousness, social norms, and music education form the basic content of the Confucian Dao, the Buddhist and Daoist Dao tends to emphasize kong (空 emptiness) and wu (无 void).
The term has two different meanings. One is an individual’s fine moral character, or his proper conduct in society. At first de (德) was only related to an individual’s behavior, referring to his external moral conduct. Later, it also referred to something that combined external behavior with internal emotions and moral consciousness. The other meaning of de refers to the special laws and features obtained from Dao, or the physical manifestation of the hidden and formless Dao, as well as the internal basis for the origination and existence of all things.
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