Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, The Painful Mind and the Internalization of the Idealized World

The period of Ruan Ji 阮籍 and Ji Kang 嵇康, the two idealized yet painful philosophers in the early Medieval China, witnessed the initial consolidation of the centralized power on the Northern China that embodied with the preliminary restoration of the relations with the transforming aristocracy class. But tragically the subsequent imposition of the highly suffocating and oppressive political environment from the de-facto ruling of Sima family inflicted the profound internal despairs and depressions to the aristocracy intellectuals, and particularly to the group of intellectuals that devotedly aligned and embraced themselves to the forming ideological and philosophical system of metaphysical pure and original natural order.

Therefore, for the group of aristocracy intellectual that exemplified by the Ruan Ji 阮籍 and the Ji Kang 嵇康, in their intellectual and spiritual realm, utterly resisted to accept and involve into the miserable condition of suppressing political authority. And accordingly with their imposed intensively painful mind, to further radically advance their pursuits and devotions for wholly assimilating the self, the spirit and the identity, to be the integral and eternal part of the pure natural order.

However, in the tragic irony, such system of oppression could not be truly escaped, and the brutal reality of such inescapability forced the aristocracy intellectuals to interact and compromise with the growing suppressing political authority in the considerable extents. The inevitable struggles and tensions between the two worlds, the external world of coercion and oppression, and the internal world of pure idealism, became the fundamental and irreconcilable source of intellectual and spiritual torment, and consequently led to the ultimate tragedy of the fate for the two eminent intellectuals but with the enduring preservation of their spiritual freedom and intellectual mind of idealized world that essentially transcend the boundary of any particular historical era and civilizational sphere.

The aristocracy class had consolidated the initial formation during the extended Han period by being transformed to be the centralized scholar-elites from the diverse origins and by meanwhile strengthening the regional powers and authorities through the centralization progress. The confrontation of the severe oppressions from the centralized imperial authority and relevantly the divisions inside the aristocracy class on the fervent conflicts between the pursuit of Confucian moral idealism and the escalating corrupted power abuse, compelled the communities of aristocracy scholar-elites who firmly upheld the Confucian idealism to retreat from the active political sphere. The retreat greatly deepened the self-conception of pride and dignity of the idealized aristocracy communities, and their independent and distinct identity as the aristocracy class. The complete and disastrous collapse of the Han empire further contributed to the reinforcement of the independent power and identity of the aristocracy class. The relation between the aristocracy class and state was reconfirmed and reestablished through the systematic development of the philosophical system under the time of incomplete but functional political restoration, which the philosophical system metaphysically conceptualized the ultimate natural order that defines the fundamental principles and mechanism of governing the all things in the practical world, and thus completely mandates the tranquility and harmony of all conduct of actions in full compliance with the ultimate natural order.

For the Ruan Ji 阮籍, prior to the period of Sima’s political oppression, he made attempts to theorize the completion of the utmost idealized world at the most ancient age, which the attempt was on basis of the newly established philosophical system of ultimate natural order and essentially the broader cultural framework behind it.

庖犧氏當天地一終，值人物憔悴，利用不存，法制夷昧，神明之德不通，萬古之情不類；於是始作八卦。 引而伸之，觸類而長之，分陰陽，序剛柔，積山澤，連水火，雜而一之，變而通之...是以天地象而萬物形，吉凶着而悔吝生，事用有取，變化有成。

When Fu-xi dwelt at the waning of Heaven and Earth’s primal unity, he beheld mankind in decline: vigor exhausted, resources perished, law and ordinance obscured, the virtues of spirit no longer in communion, and the affections of the ages estranged. Thereupon he first devised the Eight Trigrams. He drew them forth and extended them, touched categories and enlarged them, divided Yin and Yang, ordered the firm and the yielding, heaped up mountain and marsh, joined together water and fire; blending them into one, transforming and interpenetrating... Thus Heaven and Earth found their images and the myriad beings their forms; fortune and misfortune were made manifest, repentance and remorse were born; affairs obtained their guidance, and transformations reached their fulfillment.

黃帝、堯、舜應時當務，各有攸取，窮神知化，述則天序。 庖犧氏布演六十四卦之變；後世聖人觀而因之，象而用之。 禹、湯之經皆在，而上古之文不存；至乎文王，故系其辭，於是歸藏氏逝而周典經興。 上下無常，剛柔相易，不可爲典要，惟變所適...以天地爲根本，依據陰陽，推演盛衰，從幽微處發出而達到明白顯著。

Thereafter the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun, each in accord with their times and duties, took what was fitting, fathomed the spirits and knew transformation, and expounded the order of Heaven. Fu-xi displayed the changes of the sixty-four hexagrams; the sages of later ages observed them and followed them, took their images and applied them. The canons of Yu and Tang endure, though the writings of high antiquity are lost. When it came to King Wen, therefore he attached words to the signs; thence the Gui-zang lineage passed away, and the Zhou Canon and Classic arose. Above and below hold no constancy; the firm and the yielding shift one into the other; no fixed canon may be made—only change gives direction...Taking Heaven and Earth as the root and foundation, relying upon Yin and Yang, it unfolds the course of waxing and waning, issuing from what is hidden and subtle until it reaches what is manifest and clear.

Under the Ruan Ji’s early thought, the whole world order had been already perfectly completed and determined from the original ancient sage. The following ancient kings were capable of fully comprehending the principles and realities of that predetermined world order with their full consciousness. Then such full comprehension started to be lost and the successive legend kings would need to rely on the establishment of the written classics to sufficiently understand and maintain the world order. But the written text alone would not suffice the complete understanding of the constantly changing aspects that under the fundamental unchanged world order, and the integration of the self to the whole world with the reflective consciousness continued to stand as the core necessity.

Ruan Ji contemplated the balance between the idealized ancient world and with the followed progressing realities. The idealized world in the original ancient age cannot be fully approached anymore due to the inevitable decline of the perception and mind over the age, but the enlightened mind status on the sufficient understanding of the true idealized world would be remained fully possible with the rightful establishment and execution of the knowledge and order structure.

However, the following occurrence and formation of the culture of severe political oppression, accompanied with the boundless self-depression, resulted in the complete destruction of Ruan Ji’s aspiration on the legitimacy of the practical power structure and cultural traditions to be adhered with the pure idealized world.

夫大人者，乃與造物同體，天地並生，逍遙浮世，與道俱成，變化散聚，不常其形。天地制域於內，而浮明開達於外。天地之永，固非世俗之所及也。吾將為汝言之。往者天嘗在下，地嘗在上，反覆顛倒，未之安固。焉得不失度式而常之？天因地動，山陷川起，雲散震壞，六合失理，汝又焉得擇地而行，趨步商羽？往者群氣爭存，萬物死慮，支體不從，身為泥土，根拔枝殊，咸失其所，汝又焉得束身修行，磬折抱鼓？... 進求利而喪身，營爵賞而家滅，汝又焉得挾金玉萬億，祇奉君上，而全妻子乎？

The Great Man is one in body with Creation itself, born together with Heaven and Earth, wandering free through the floating world, perfected together with the Dao. In change he scatters and gathers, his form never constant. Within, Heaven and Earth set their bounds; without, a floating brightness opens and extends. The eternity of Heaven and Earth is assuredly beyond the reach of worldly custom. I shall now speak of it to you. In ages past, Heaven was once below and Earth once above; often reversed and overturned, never yet fixed and firm. How then could there be rule and measure that might endure? Heaven stirred because of Earth’s motion: mountains sank and rivers rose, clouds scattered and thunder rent, the Six Directions lost their order. How then could you choose a land for your steps, and tread with measured pace to the notes of Shang and Yu? In ages past, the vital breaths strove one with another; the myriad beings faced the peril of death; limbs disobeyed, the body became as clods of earth, roots were torn and branches sundered, all lost their places. How then could you bind yourself in discipline, bending reverently with drum clasped to breast?… Men pressed forward seeking profit and thereby lost their lives; they pursued rank and reward, and their households were destroyed. How then could you clutch gold and jade by the myriad, only to serve your lord above, and yet preserve your wife and children whole?

The original idealized world, under the Ruan Ji’s painful reflection and reexamination at the new age of political oppression, became absolutely inadmissible to the collective people who were driven principally by the utilitarian economic gains and political reputations, and in the more critical sense, to the group of scholar-elites who continued to choose to unconditionally submit to and collaborate with the current system of political oppression.

且汝獨不見夫蝨之處於褌中，逃乎深縫，匿乎壞絮，自以為吉宅也。行不敢離縫際，動不敢出褌襠，自以為得繩墨也。饑則齧人，自以為無窮食也。然炎丘火流，焦邑滅都，群蝨死於褌中而不能出。汝君子之處區內，亦何異夫蝨之處褌中乎？悲夫！而乃自以為遠禍近福，堅無窮也。亦觀夫陽烏遊於塵外，而鷦鷯戲於蓬艾，小大固不相及，汝又何以為若君子聞於余乎？

And do you not behold the louse dwelling in the folds of a girdle? It flees to the deep seams, it hides in the rotten wadding, deeming it a blessed abode. In its going it dares not leave the edge of the seam; in its moving it dares not emerge beyond the garment’s crotch, thinking itself thereby in perfect rule and measure. Hungry, it bites at men, deeming itself supplied with endless food. Yet when the fires of Flame-hill stream forth, when cities are scorched and capitals destroyed, the whole brood of lice perish in the girdle, unable to escape. Thus the dwelling of the gentleman within his narrow domain—how differs it from the louse within the girdle? Alas! And yet he deems himself far from misfortune and near to blessing, secure for eternity! Consider also the Sun-bird that roams beyond the dust, and the wren that sports among mugwort and thistles. Great and small are indeed beyond each other’s reach—how then can you, such a “gentleman,” claim to have been convinced by me?

Ruan Ji’s critics onto the utilitarian-minded scholar-elites were extremely harsh and remarkably with the intense emotional agitation and painfulness. The cultural and moral values of these utilitarian-minded scholar elites were entirely negated, and so as the whole system of oppression they were subjected and submitted to.

今汝造音以亂聲，作色以詭形，外易其貌，內隱其情。懷欲以求多，詐偽以要名；君立而虐興，臣設而賊生。坐制禮法，束縛下民。欺愚誑拙，藏智自神。強者睽視而凌暴，弱者憔悴而事人。假廉而成貪，內險而外仁，罪至不悔過，幸遇則自矜。馳此以奏除，故循滯而不振。

Now you devise sounds to confound harmony, and fashion colors to pervert form; outwardly you alter appearance, inwardly you conceal intention. Harboring desire, you seek abundance; through fraud and falsehood, you pursue a name. When lords arise, cruelty follows; when ministers are set, treachery is born. Seated, they contrive rites and laws, to bind and fetter the common folk. They deceive the foolish, delude the simple, and hoard wisdom as though it were divine. The strong glare askance and oppress with violence; the weak grow haggard and serve in subjection. Feigned integrity becomes greed; within lurks peril while without appears benevolence. When guilt arrives, they repent not; when fortune comes, they vaunt themselves. Thus they hasten in this course to gain advancement and discharge, and so they revolve in stagnation, without renewal or uplift.

今汝尊賢以相高，競能以相尚，爭勢以相君，寵貴以相加，趨天下以趣之，此所以上下相殘也。竭天地萬物之至，以奉聲色無窮之慾，此非所以養百姓也。於是懼民之知其然，故重賞以喜之，嚴刑以威之。財匱而賞不供，刑盡而罰不行，乃始有亡國、戮君、潰敗之禍。此非汝君子之為乎？汝君子之禮法，誠天下殘賊、亂危、死亡之術耳！而乃目以為美行不易之道，不亦過乎！

Now you exalt the worthy only to contend in height, compete in talent only to outshine one another, strive for power only to set yourselves as lords, heap favor and rank upon each other, and rush through the world in pursuit of gain—thereby do the high and the low destroy one another. You exhaust the utmost treasures of Heaven and Earth to serve the endless desires of sound and color; this is not the way to nourish the people. Therefore, fearing that the people may perceive the truth, you gladden them with lavish rewards and awe them with severe punishments. Yet when wealth is spent and rewards can no longer be supplied, when punishments are exhausted and penalties no longer enforced, then arise the calamities of lost states, slain rulers, and broken realms. Is this not the work of you, the so-called gentlemen? Your rites and laws are indeed but the arts of destruction and plunder, of disorder, peril, and death—yet you behold them as virtuous conduct and the immutable Way. Is this not a grave delusion?

The construction and continuity of the system of oppression could only lead to to the ultimate disintegration and ruins of the true and idealized world order. In truth, Ruan Ji did not merely refer to the current system of political oppression by the Sima’s ruling, his painful mind awaken himself to universally realize the eventual consequence of every structure of power and order is the total miserable collapse of the true and authentic values and the idealized world surrounding them.

When the true and pure ideas are being developed into the structural system, they are inexorably being distorted and abused. The inherently corrupted ideas that being fully formalized and systematized inside the structure consequently replace the original pure ideas as the new perverted but predominant moral and cultural standard.

Particularly for the scholar elites inside the system, which notably represented by the current system of oppression but principally would be applied to the universal system of power and order, their actions and minds were thoroughly disciplined in full compliance with the system wholly distorted value standards. The internal sense of being disciplined eventually rooted into their deepest consciousness and thus permanently alienating themselves from the perceptualization of the true and pure values. The complete distortions and corruptions of the pure ideas in the course of systematization is constantly correspond with the complete deprivation and destruction of the true and authentic self.

天地解兮六和開，星辰霄兮日月隤，我騰而上將何懷？衣弗襲而服美，佩弗飾而自章，上下徘徊兮誰識吾常？遂去而遐浮，肆雲轝，興氣蓋，徜徉迴翔兮漭瀁之外。建長星以為旗兮，擊雷霆之康蓋。開不周而出車兮，出九野之夷泰。坐中州而一顧兮，望崇山而迴邁。端余節而飛旃兮，縱心慮乎荒裔，釋前者而弗修兮，馳蒙間而遠逌。棄世務之眾為兮，何細事之足賴？虛形體而輕舉兮，精微妙而神豐。命夷羿使寬日兮，召忻來使緩風。攀扶桑之長枝兮，登扶搖之隆崇。躍潛飄之冥昧兮，洗光曜之昭明。遺衣裳而弗服兮，服雲氣而遂行。朝造駕乎湯谷兮，夕息馬乎長泉。時崦嵫而易氣兮，揮若華以照冥。左朱陽以舉麾兮，右玄陰以建旗，變容飾而改度，遂騰竊以修征。陰陽更而代邁，四時奔而相逌，惟仙化之倏忽兮，心不樂乎久留。驚風奮而遺樂兮，雖雲起而忘憂，忽電消而神逌兮，歷寥廓而遐遊。佩日月以舒光兮，登徜徉而上浮，壓前進於彼逌道兮，將步足乎虛州。掃紫宮而陳席兮，坐帝室而忽會酬。萃眾音而奏樂兮，聲驚渺而悠悠。五帝舞而再屬兮，六神歌而代週。樂啾啾肅肅，洞心達神，超遙茫茫，心往而忘返，慮大而志矜。粵大人微而弗復兮，揚雲氣而上陳。召大幽之玉女兮，接上王之美人。體雲氣之逌暢兮，服太清之淑貞。合歡情而微授兮，先豔溢其若神。華茲燁以俱發兮，采色煥其並振。傾玄麾而垂鬢兮，曜紅顏而自新。時曖靆而將逝兮，風飄颻而振衣。雲氣解而霧離兮，靄奔散而永歸。心惝惘而遙思兮，眇迴目而弗晞。揚清風以為旟兮，翼旋軫而反衍。騰炎陽而出疆兮，命祝融而使遣。驅玄冥以攝堅兮，蓐收秉而先戈。勾芒奉轂，浮驚朝霞，寥廓茫茫而靡都兮，邈無儔而獨立。倚瑤廂而一顧兮，哀下土之憔悴。分是非以為行兮，又何足與比類？霓旌飄兮雲旂藹，樂遊兮出天外。

Heaven and Earth are unbound, the Six Directions opened wide; the stars and constellations glimmer in the skies, and sun and moon descend in turn. I soar aloft—what longing should I bear? My robe is unadorned, yet it is fair; my girdle untrimmed, yet it shines of itself. I wander between above and below—who shall discern my constancy? Then I depart, drifting far abroad, riding upon clouds, raising the canopy of vital breath. I roam and wheel beyond the boundless vast. I set the Long Star as my banner, and strike the thunders for my sounding drums. I open the Gate of Unreached Perfection, and pass through the Nine Fields, tranquil and wide. Seated in the Central Realm, I turn my gaze—toward lofty mountains I move again. I lift my emblem and unfurl my pennon, releasing my heart’s thought to the utmost wastes. I let go what was before and tend it not, rushing through the misty void to remote distances. I cast aside the affairs of the world’s many matters— what petty thing is worth reliance? My form grows light and empty; I ascend with ease, subtle and profound, my spirit abundant and free. I command Yi the Archer to broaden the sun, summon Xin-lai to gentle the wind. I climb the long branches of the Fusang tree, and mount the high spiral of the whirling gale. I leap and drift through the dim obscurities, to cleanse myself in the brilliance of the shining light. I cast off garments and do not wear them, but clothe myself in cloud-breath and go forth. At dawn I drive my chariot to the Hot Valley; at dusk I rest my steeds beside the Long Spring. When the sun declines beyond Mount Yan-zhi, I change my breath; I wave the blossoming flower to illumine the dark. To the left, the Vermilion Sun lifts my banner; to the right, the Dark Shade sets my flag. I alter my form and change my measure, then rise swift and pure upon the journey. Yin and Yang take turns in their passing; the Four Seasons race and meet each other. The transformations of the Immortal are but a moment’s flash— the heart finds no joy in long abiding. The startled wind stirs and leaves music behind; though clouds arise, my sorrow is forgotten. Sudden as lightning fading, my spirit expands, passing through the vastness, wandering afar. I wear the sun and moon as my pendants, spreading forth their light; I ascend and drift above in freedom. Advancing onward along the distant Way, I shall plant my steps in the Land of Void. I sweep the Purple Palace and set forth mats, and in the Hall of the Emperor we meet in sudden communion. Gathering the myriad tones, I sound the music— its echo is distant, its resonance unending. The Five Emperors dance in twin succession; the Six Spirits sing in their appointed rounds. The music rustles, pure and solemn; it pierces the heart and reaches the divine. Far and vast, beyond reckoning, the mind goes forth and forgets to return— thoughts expand, and the will exults. Now the Great Man, subtle and unseen, rises again, spreading cloud-breath above in display. He summons the Jade Maid of the Deep Gloom, and greets the Beautiful One of the Upper King. They clothe themselves in the ease of cloud-vapors, and wear the pure chastity of the Great Clarity. With hearts joined in secret joy, they move in divine grace; before beauty overflows, it already seems celestial. Their splendors bloom together, their hues shine and glow in mutual radiance. They tilt the dark banners and let down their tresses, their rosy faces gleam anew. When the time grows dim and they are about to part, the wind stirs and their robes flutter in motion. The vapors disperse, the mists withdraw; the haze rushes apart and returns to eternity. My heart is wistful and my thoughts roam afar, my gaze drifts into the distance and does not clear. I raise the pure wind as my pennon, wheel my chariot on airy wings and turn back in flight. I rise with the blazing sun beyond all bounds, and command Zhu Rong to lead the way. I drive the Dark God to guard the firm, and make Ru Shou bear the vanguard spear. Gou Mang attends the axle, floating through morning glow. Vast and boundless, without dwelling or city, remote and peerless, I stand alone. Leaning upon the jade balustrade, I look once more, and grieve for the waning of the world below. Dividing right and wrong for the path’s sake— what worth have such distinctions? Rainbow banners wave, cloud pennons gather; I delight in roaming beyond the sky.

By perceiving the entire practical world was fallen into the complete corruption and distortion, the only viable path that Ruan Ji could envision was to entirely harmonize the self into the aesthetically idealized world of pure nature.

Such idealized world was envisioned with the monumental and magnificent depiction of the nature with the great enrichment of the mythical landscapes and scenery, and also with the great inclusions of the emblematic mythical figures and legends from the very ancient age, which was the period the idealized world originated from.

The co-existence of the spiritual self with the vibrant and illuminous representations of the mythical landscapes and legends became the transcendent experience that surpassing the empirical perception and real-world boundaries. The realization of the inevitable decay of the real-world into the the total corruption, which the practice and knowledge fully integrated in the established institutional structure are predetermined to totally betray their original true meanings, such realization ensures the authentic understanding of the idealized world and the pure ideas surrounding it that with their root in the originalness of the true nature is exclusively approachable through the internalized transcendent consciousness.

The complete and permanent alienation of the individual mind and consciousness through their complete subordination and submission to the institutional structure means the making of the idealized and pure community in the empirical material world will never be possible to be actualized, and neither the progress of mind toward the ultimate reality that under the representation of the pure idealism in the nature will be truly awakened. Instead, the cultivation of the internalized self with the free-minded imagination of the idealized world for the creation of the non-experiential transcendent consciousness, and on basis of that internalized self to further foster the advancement toward the ultimate reality.

In Ruan Ji’s idealism, the self identity as the aristocracy was completely transformed and integrated into the internalized ideal nature. But the brutal and miserable reality of oppression was constantly present there that posted insoluble and painful dilemma on the fundamental incongruity between the internalized ideal world and the outside continuously decaying conditions.

走獸交橫馳，飛鳥相隨翔... 羈旅無儔匹，俛仰懷哀傷。小人計其功，君子道其常。豈惜終憔悴，詠言著斯章。

The beasts of the field run crisscross in swift pursuit, and the birds of the air follow one another in flight. I, a wanderer bound by care, have no companion nor equal; I bow and raise my head, filled with grief and sorrow. The petty man measures by his gain, while the gentleman follows the constant Way. Though I waste away in the end, I do not regret— for in these sung words my heart is set forth.

外厲貞素談，戶內滅芬芳...委曲周旋儀，姿態愁我腸。

Outwardly, he utters words of purest calm; Within inside, his secret fragrance hidden in silence. His bending grace and circling courtesies; and his gentle turns and measured bearing. Their very grace does pierce my heart with pain.

The outside world was surrounded by the corrupted scholar-elites that essentially lost their true self and their pursuit of the true morality and nature. These corrupted scholar-elites did keep the decent and respectable appearance but with the entire lacking of authenticity inside. The forced cohabitation and the unavoidable interactions with them would only bring the endless sorrows to the heart.

容色改平常，精神自飄淪。臨觴多哀楚，思我故時人。對酒不能言，悽愴懷酸辛。願耕東皋陽，誰與守其真。愁苦在一時，高行傷微身。曲直何所爲，龍蛇爲我鄰。

My countenance has changed from what it was, my spirit drifts and sinks away. Before the cup I feel deep grief and pain, remembering the friends of former days. I face the wine but cannot speak — my heart is pierced with silent sorrow. I would till the eastern slope in sunlight, yet who will share with me the guarding of what is true? My anguish dwells within this passing age; lofty conduct only harms the fragile self. What worth is there in straight or crooked ways? The dragon and the serpent are now my neighbors.

The forcible self-presence into such corrupted state and with the sincere and firm persistence on securing the true inner self inevitably brought the immense mindful struggles. But the spiritual compromise and concession toward such state of corruption would never be accepted, the true values would be preserved regardless of the endurance of the numerous inflicted pains.

膏火自煎熬，多財爲患害。布衣可終身，寵祿豈足賴。

The lamp’s own oil consumes itself in burning; great wealth becomes the source of harm. A coarse robe may suffice for life entire — what trust is there in favor and in rank?

如何當路子，磬折忘所歸。豈爲誇譽名，憔悴使心悲。寧與燕雀翔，不隨黃鵠飛。黃鵠遊四海，中路將安歸。

How shall one tread the path before him, when bowed in reverence he forgets where to return? Is it for vaunted praise and name that weariness and sorrow waste the heart? Better to soar with swallows and sparrows, than to follow the wild swan in its flight. The yellow swan may roam the four seas— but midway, where shall it find its home?

鴻鵠相隨飛，飛飛適荒裔... 抗身青雲中，網羅孰能制。豈與鄉曲士，攜手共言誓。

Wild swans and lofty geese soar together in flight, wing upon wing they journey to the distant wilds. They lift their bodies amid the azure clouds— what snare or net could ever bind them? How could they join with the petty men of the village, to clasp hands and make vain oaths of faith?

色容豔姿美，光華耀傾城。豈爲明哲士，妖蠱諂媚生。輕薄在一時，安知百世名...焉見冥靈木，悠悠竟無形。

Her beauty glows, her charm is rare, her splendor could overwhelm the whole city. from such allure, enchantment and deceit are born. Frivolity may shine for but a fleeting time; who can tell what name shall last a hundred ages? Where now is that numinous tree of the darkling realm? Vast and remote — it fades away, without a trace.

The utilitarian pursuit at the external world would never be substantial and essentially was completely unworthy of the pursuit. The inherent decadence of the external world would eventually eliminate any meaningful permanence of the materialistic ambitions. The people who mindlessly made the dedications to the unauthentic external world would only find them be forever astray from the true value through their chosen self-alienation. In opposite, the pursuit of the true value in the idealist nature, by principle, should not restrained by the external corrupted and forcible powers. The idealist pursuit was intended to be remained unseen to reflect its nature of transcendence, and the people who faithfully committed to the idealist pursuit were destined to be distanced and separated from those perpetually entangled into the external world.

西方有佳人，皎若白日光。被服纖羅衣，左右佩雙璜。修容耀姿美，順風振微芳。登高眺所思，舉袂當朝陽。寄顏雲霄閒，揮袖凌虛翔。飄颻恍惚中，流眄顧我傍。悅懌未交接，晤言用感傷。

In the western realm there dwells a maiden fair, radiant as the shining of the noonday sun. She is robed in garments fine and light as mist, and at her side twin jades softly gleam. Her grace refined, her beauty bright, the wind that follows spreads her gentle scent. She climbs the height and gazes toward her thought, raising her sleeve to meet the morning sun. Her visage drifts amidst the clouds of Heaven,

her waving sleeve ascends through the empty air. In floating trance she moves between the real and dream, and casting a lingering glance, she turns toward me.

Before we meet, delight already stirs—yet when our eyes converse, a sorrow touches heart.

誰言不可見，青鳥明我心。

Who says that she cannot be seen? The azure bird has brightened and made my heart known.

The internalized transcendent experience into the idealist nature, the metaphysical and aesthetic beauty and sensation would be seen not by the external world but the inner embodiment of the idealism that generated in the progress of the making of transcendent consciousness.

翩翩從風飛，悠悠去故居。離麾玉山下，遺棄毀與譽。

Drifting with the wind I go, wandering far from my old dwelling. I lift my hand in farewell beneath the Jade Hill. Leaving behind both fame and decay.

天網彌四野，六翮掩不舒。隨波紛綸客，泛泛若浮鳧。生命無期度，朝夕有不虞。列仙停修齡，養志在沖虛。飄颻雲日間，邈與世路殊... 採藥無旋返，神仙志不符。逼此良可惑，令我久躊躇。

Heaven’s net spreads vast across the plain; my six wings fold and cannot open. I drift like the travelers borne upon the waves, floating lightly, as a wild duck upon the stream. Life has no fixed measure or span; at morn or eve, peril may arise unlooked for. The ranks of immortals cease to count their years, their will is nourished in pure emptiness. They drift between the clouds and sun, remote and far from the roads of men. Yet I who gather herbs return not home— my heart is not in tune with the immortal way. Pressed by such thoughts, confusion grips me; long have I lingered in doubt and hesitation.

乘雲馭飛龍，噓歙嘰瓊華。可聞不可見，慷慨嘆諮嗟。自傷非儔類，愁苦來相加。下學而上達，忽忽將如何。

Riding the clouds, I drive the flying dragon, breathing and inhaling the breath of jasper light. I hear it, yet I cannot see it —with fervent sighs I utter my lament. I grieve that I am not of its kind, and sorrow upon sorrow fills my heart. To learn below and rise above —but in this swift confusion, what fate is mine?

But meanwhile the idealist pursuit of the true and transcendent nature seemed to be the impossible task under the constant struggles with the external world. The pure intention to abandon all the utilitarian desires failed to articulate the practical approach under the deplorable situation of entrapment into the system of oppression. And accordingly the full-focused immersion could not be achieved, which was mainly caused by the continuous disruptions and turmoils in the mind and emotion that rooted from the suffering in the external system.

平生少年時，輕薄好絃歌... 娛樂未終極，白日忽蹉跎... 黃金百鎰盡，資用常苦多。北臨太行道，失路將如何。

In youth, throughout my early days, I was frivolous and fond of song and lute. In pleasures unrestrained I sought delight— yet, ere their end, the white sun slipped away. A hundred taels of gold are gone; my means are ever meager and in want. Now I face the northern road by Mount Taihang— lost upon the path, what course remains for me?

念我平居時，鬱然思妖姬。

I muse upon the peace of former days, dreaming of the beauty of enchanting one with the deep sorrow.

念我平常時，悔恨從此生。

When I recall my former days, and from that thought my sorrow and regret arise.

The enormous depressions in the current state prompted the deep and critical reflections onto the past, where the idealism had been originally formed and developed. The exceptional advantage of having the unbroken preservation of the mind of freedom before the severe entanglement into the system of oppression was only being realized after the unfolding of the immense mind and emotional struggles.

林中有奇鳥，自言是鳳凰。清朝飲醴泉，日夕棲山岡。高鳴徹九州，延頸望八荒。適逢商風起，羽翼自摧藏。一去崑崙西，何時復回翔。但恨處非位，愴恨使心傷。

Within the forest dwelt a wondrous bird, that called itself the phoenix. At dawn it drank the sweet spring’s dew, at dusk it perched upon the mountain heights. Its lofty cry resounded through the nine provinces, its lifted neck beheld the eight distant wilds. But when the wind of decay and solemn death arose, its wings were broken and folded from the sky. It flew away beyond the Holy Mount of Kunlun in the Western Heaven. when shall it return to soar again? I grieve that it abides not in its rightful place; this sorrow and regret consume my heart.

The fateful idealism was forced to be deprived as the inherent consequence by the nature of the system of oppression. The true self could not identify the proper and rightful place in the external world, despite the faithful preservation of the pureness of the inner idealized world. The total disjunction between the inner idealism and the external reality, which the nature of oppression at the external reality essentially made the harmony impossible, had to be the source of endless inner pains and sufferings.

夜中不能寐，起坐彈鳴琴。薄帷鑑明月，清風吹我襟。孤鴻號外野，翔鳥鳴北林。徘徊將何見？憂思獨傷心。

In the deep of night I cannot sleep; I rise and sit, and pluck my sounding lute. Through the thin curtain shines the lucid moon, a pure breeze stirs and brushes at my robe. A lone wild goose cries beyond the plain: the virtuous man, forlorn and cast aside. while flitting birds call in the northern grove: the ministers of power, free in their flight. I wander to and fro — what may I behold? Grief and thought alone wound my heart.

一日復一夕，一夕復一朝。顏色改平常，精神自損消。胸中懷湯火，變化故相招。萬事無窮極，知謀苦不饒。但恐須臾間，魂氣隨風飄。終身履薄冰，誰知我心焦。

Day follows day, and night follows night; each evening returns to dawn again. My countenance has changed from what it was, my spirit wastes and withers of itself. Within my breast I harbor boiling flame, and change forever calls to change again. All things are endless, without bound; wisdom and striving only bring me pain. I fear but this — that in a fleeting breath my soul and vital spirit drift away like wind.All my life I tread upon thin ice —who knows the fever burning in my heart?

The fundamental struggles and conflicts on the inherent predicaments of the internalized ideal world, and with the inherently corrupted system of oppression and the decayed and distorted external world behind it, generated the persistent mindful distress and disability. And most tragically there was no realistic cure could be attained and the endurance of such inherent predicament and the immense internal pains with it would destined to be permanent.

Ruan Ji’s life ended shortly after being forced to produce the essay on persuasion for de facto Sima ruler to claim the position of King, who was also the actual creator of the current systen of oppression. For the Sima ruler, the ascension to the king’s position was merely one small step away from the real emperorship. And for the Ruan Ji, that activity was the final blow to his lasting painfulness.

For the Ji Kang 嵇康, to the certain extent, he was less painful than the Ruan Ji as he tended to be more of a idealist by nature for the pursuit of the philosophical life of seclusion.

鳥盡良弓藏。謀極身必危... 安得反初服。抱玉寶六奇。逍遙遊太清。攜手長相隨。

When the birds are gone, the fine bow is put away; when one’s schemes are exhausted, the self falls into peril. How might I return to my plain robe of old, to hold my jade and cherish the six rare treasures? Freely I would wander in the Great Clarity, hand in hand, forever side by side.

流俗難悟，逐物不還。至人遠鑑，歸之自然。萬物爲一，四海同宅。與彼共之，予何所惜。生若浮寄，暫見忽終。世故紛紜，棄之八戎。澤雉雖飢，不願園林。安能服御，勞形苦心。身貴名賤，榮辱何在。貴得肆志，縱心無悔。

The common world is dull and cannot comprehend; they chase after things and never return. But the Perfect Man gazes from afar and finds his home in what is natural. All beings are one; the four seas form a single dwelling. To share in this with all — what, then, have I to begrudge? Life is but a floating lodging, a fleeting glimpse soon lost to end. The affairs of the world are tangled and confused — I cast them aside to the distant wilds. Though the marsh pheasant starves, it will not feed within the garden’s cage. How could I submit to lords and masters, to weary the body and vex the mind? The body may be noble, the name despised — what matter honor or disgrace? The true worth lies in following one’s will, in setting the heart free, and feeling no regret.

修夜寂無爲。獨步光庭側。仰首看天衢。流光曜八極。撫心悼季世。遙念大道逼。 飄飄當路士。悠悠進自棘。得失自己來。榮辱相蠶食。朱紫雖玄黃。太素貴無色。 淵淡體至道。色化同消息。

In the deep of night, all is still and without striving; alone I walk beside the radiant court. Lifting my head, I gaze upon Heaven’s broad way— the flowing light shines to the eight far reaches. I touch my heart and mourn this latter age, thinking from afar how the Great Way is pressed and near to loss. Drifting and aimless are the men upon the road; they move through thorns in ceaseless pursuit. Gain and loss arise from themselves, while honor and disgrace consume each other. Though scarlet and purple clothe the high and low, the Great Purity esteems what has no hue. Deep and clear is the substance of the Perfect Way—where color and form dissolve, and all returns to stillness.

From the beginning of the Ji Kang’s formative thoughts, he did not seek the building of the relationships and engagements with the external realities that particularly with the political world. The full dedication was given to merge the self-spirit to the oneness and universality of the world of metaphysical nature.

The single-minded immersion and devotion to the idealized metaphysical nature, for the Ji Kang, did not come directly from the experience of struggles with the political oppression. In truth, the philosophical construction of the idealized metaphysical nature without the explicit empirical interaction could be viewed as the more pure form of the inner idealism. Certainly the general cultural pattern on the strong propensity toward the independent mind state of the aristocracy class played the crucial role. Under the broader cultural context, Ji Kang developed and arrived at his own world of idealist nature chiefly through the pure reasoning, the transcendent experience beyond the empirical world that directly from the deep consciousness from the inherent nature. That philosophical progress had made him a pure secluded idealist as the progress on the pure ideas of metaphysical nature was initially without the struggles with the external system in general.

Thus under the coming of the age of political oppression, from his idealist pureness, Ji Kang actually displayed the remarkable indignation and resistance more than the inner pains.

夫管、蔡皆服教殉義，忠誠自然... 而管、蔡服教，不達聖權；卒遇大變，不能自通。忠於乃心，思在王室。遂乃抗言率眾，欲除國患；翼存天子，甘心毁旦。斯乃愚誠憤發所以徼禍也。成王大悟周公顯，復一化齊俗，義以斷恩。雖內信如心，外體不立。稱兵叛亂，所惑者廣。是以隱忍授刑，流涕行誅... 推此言則管、蔡懷疑，未為不賢。而忠賢可不達權，三聖未為用惡，而周公不得不誅。若此，三聖所用信良，周公之誅得宜，管、蔡之心見理，爾乃大義得通，內外兼敍，無相伐負者，則時論亦得釋然而大解也。

Truly, Guan and Cai both obeyed the royal teaching and died for righteousness, their loyalty and sincerity were of their very nature... Now Guan and Cai received the king’s teaching, yet failed to comprehend the full reach of the sage’s design. When the great upheaval came, they could not find their own way through it. Loyal to the intent within their hearts, their thoughts were ever fixed upon the royal house. Thus they raised their voices and gathered their followers, seeking to remove the troubles of the realm, to uphold the Son of Heaven, and were content to perish for their cause. This was the outbreak of their sincere but misguided zeal, by which they brought calamity upon themselves. Then King Cheng awoke to understanding, and the virtue of the Duke of Zhou was made manifest. Once more he united the customs of the land and set right what had been divided, severing affection by righteousness, and though inwardly he trusted as his own heart, yet outwardly he could not but impose the law. Those who took up arms and rebelled had already been widely deluded, so that the Duke endured in silence and accepted the burden of punishment, shedding tears even as he carried out their execution. Pursuing this argument, it may be said that Guan and Cai, though doubtful and mistaken, were not without worth. That the loyal and the wise may fail to grasp the higher principle. That the Three Sages did not employ evil means, and that the Duke of Zhou, though righteous, could not refrain from punishment. In this way, the trust of the Three Sages was indeed genuine. The punishment of the Duke of Zhou was just, and the hearts of Guan and Cai were clear in reason. Thus great righteousness was made complete, inner and outer order were both preserved, none stood in mutual reproach, and the judgments of the time were set at peace and wholly reconciled.

Ji Kang draw from ancient historical source on the founding era of the Zhou Dynasty, which the core ideas of Confucianism rooted from. In the traditional historical judgement, the rebellions of two lords after the death of the founding king were consensusly denounced as the total betrayal of the royal and moral virtues. The Ji Kang, however, purposefully sympathized the two rebelled lords by recognizing their genuine intentions on protecting the state in the period of potential political instability, but only committing the wrong practice due to the misunderstanding of the Sage’s meanings. Their morality remained intact and pure, and so as the regent ruler at that time who suppressed the rebellion and executed the two lords. Both sides fulfilled their missions and fate that purely based on their sincere intentions and minds.

The mentioned lord rebellions at the ancient time indeed stood as the metaphorical reference to the failed but significant local military revolt against the actual ruling of the Sima family. Ji Kang fully recognized their moral integrity that based on his fundamental belief that the authentic morality could only derive from the true inner nature not the outside secular judgement. Also at that time, Ji Kang recognized the legitimacy of suppression from the Sima ruler as well, which was also on basis of the belief their actions did come from the authentic conscience.

洪荒之世，大樸未虧。君無文於上，民無競於下。物全理順，莫不自得。飽則安寢，飢則求食。怡然鼓腹，不知爲至德之世也。若此，則安知仁義之端，禮律之文？及至人不存，大道陵遲，乃始作文墨以傳其意；區別羣物，使有類族；造立仁義，以嬰其心；製爲名分，以檢其外；勤學講文，以神其教。故六經紛錯，百家繁熾，開榮利之途，故奔騖而不覺。是以貪生之禽，食園池之樑菽；求安之士，乃詭志以從俗。操筆執觚，足容蘇息；積學明經，以代稼穡。是以困而後學，學以致榮；計而後習，好而習成。有似自然，故令吾子謂之自然耳。推其原也，六經以抑引爲主，人性以從容爲歡。抑引則違其願，從欲則得自然。然則自然之得，不由抑引之六經；全性之本，不須犯情之禮律。故知仁義務於理僞，非養真之要術；廉讓生於爭奪，非自然之所出也。由是言之：則鳥不毀以求馴，獸不羣而求畜。則人之真性無爲，正當自然耽此禮學矣。

In the age of primordial chaos, the Great Simplicity was yet unspoiled. The ruler above governed without ornament, and the people below contended not among themselves. All things were whole, their principles in harmony, each being fulfilled in its own nature. When full, they rested in peace; when hungry, they sought food. With tranquil hearts and swelling bellies they lived at ease, unaware that this was the age of Perfect Virtue. In such a time, who would have known of the beginnings of benevolence and righteousness, or of the patterned forms of ritual and law? But when the Perfect Man was no more, and the Great Way declined, then men began to write words and carve symbols to transmit their thoughts. They distinguished and divided the myriad things, assigning them names and kinds; they established benevolence and righteousness to bind the heart, and framed ranks and titles to restrain the body. They labored in study and discoursed upon the written word, to make mysterious their teaching. Thus the Six Classics became entangled, and the Hundred Schools multiplied in excess. The path of glory and profit was opened wide, and men rushed along it without awareness. Therefore the birds that love life feed upon the beans of the garden and the pool, and the men who seek ease bend their wills to follow the world. They grasp the brush and hold the tablet, and thus find rest for their feet; they pile up learning and expound the Classics, taking this as a substitute for tilling the soil. Hence they suffer hardship before learning, and learn only to gain distinction; they calculate before they practice, and what they love by habit becomes artifice. It seems like Nature, and so the wise among you call it “natural.” But tracing it to its root, the Six Classics are founded on restraint and suppression, while human nature delights in freedom and ease. Restraint opposes desire; to follow desire is to attain what is natural. Therefore, what is truly natural is not born of the restraints of the Six Classics; and the preservation of one’s genuine nature needs not the violation of feeling through rites and law. Thus I know that benevolence and righteousness belong to the realm of contrivance, not of nurturing truth; and that modesty and yielding arise from contention and grasping, not from the fountain of Nature. Hence it may be said: birds need not be broken to be tamed, nor beasts gathered in herds to be kept. So too, the true nature of man lies in non-action, and only when he loses it does he drown himself in the false refinement of ritual and learning.

...立六經以爲準，仰仁義以爲主，以規矩爲軒駕，以講誨爲哺乳。由其途則通，乖其路則滯；遊心極視，不睹其外；終年馳聘，思不出位。聚族獻議，唯學爲貴。執書擿句，俯仰諮嗟；使服膺其言，以爲榮華...謂六經爲太陽，不學爲長夜耳。今若以明堂爲丙舍，以誦諷爲鬼語，以六經爲蕪穢，以仁義爲臭腐，睹文籍則目瞧，修揖讓則變傴，襲章服則轉筋，譚禮典則齒齲。於是兼而棄之，與萬物爲更始，則吾子雖好學不倦，猶將闕焉。則向之不學，未必爲長夜，六經未必爲太陽也。

They have set up the Six Classics as their standard, looked up to benevolence and righteousness as their guiding principles, taken rules and measures for their chariots and steeds, and instruction and discourse as their nourishment. If one follows their path, he is said to reach enlightenment; if he strays from their way, he is deemed obstructed. They roam in thought and gaze to their utmost, yet see nothing beyond these bounds. All their lives they gallop and race within that pen, their minds never venturing from the prescribed track. Gathered in clans, they offer opinions— for them, learning alone is held as noble. They clutch the books and parse the sentences, bending and raising their heads with sighs and admiration, pressing the words to their bosoms as ornaments of glory and success. They said: “The Six Classics are the sun itself; to be without study is but eternal night.” But if one were now to take the Hall of Enlightenment as a burning house, recitation as the speech of ghosts, the Six Classics as weeds and brambles, and benevolence and righteousness as rotting carrion— then, at the sight of written scrolls, his eyes would turn askance; at gestures of ceremony and bowing, his frame would grow contorted; in donning the robes of office, his muscles would twist; and at the mention of rites and statutes, his teeth would ache. Should he then cast all these aside together, and make a new beginning with the ten thousand things, even though he be tireless in his love of learning, he would still fall short of the mark. Thus it may be said: what was once called ignorance is not necessarily endless night, and what is called the Six Classics is not necessarily the sun.

The belief onto the Sima’s ruling proved to be short-lived. As the Sima’s ruling proceeded to be more established, Ji Kang clearly demonstrated his stance of anger and defiance toward the current harsh situation of political oppression. The aggressive critics and denouncement on the Confucian classics was presented openly and blatantly. It is not unexpected for Ji Kang to completely negate the superficial and hypocritical values of the Confucianism-in-practice. His understanding of the true values and freedom was exclusively and purely from the original nature that essentially transcending any practical experience. The establishment of the Confucian classics that contrivedly centralized and integrated all the universal moral values would only cause itself to completely lose the universality and authenticity, and correspondingly forced the people inside that established system to be completely deprived the true self without even being conscious. And thus the total Confucian system in its reality stood as the total betrayal of the true nature. Ji Kang’s unconcealed harsh statement onto the Confucian classics was the truthful representation of his intense angers toward the continuously deteriorating system of oppression.

下逮德衰，大道沈淪。智惠日用，漸私其親。懼物乖離，攘臂立仁。利巧愈競，繁禮屢陳。刑教爭施，犬性喪真。季世陵遲，繼體承資。憑尊恃勢，不友不師。宰割天下，以奉其私。故君位益侈，臣路生心。竭智謀國，不吝灰沈。賞罰雖存，莫勸莫禁。若乃驕盈肆志，阻兵擅權。矜威縱虐，禍蒙丘山。刑本懲暴，今以脅賢。昔爲天下，今爲一身。下疾其上，君猜其臣。喪亂弘多，國乃隕顛。...是以亡國繼踵，古今相承。醜彼摧滅，而襲其亡徵。初安若山，後敗如崩。臨刃振鋒，悔何所增！

When virtue declined and the Great Way sank into oblivion, wisdom and cunning came into daily use, and men turned their affections inward, caring only for their kin. Fearing that things would fall apart, they raised their arms and proclaimed benevolence. The more they strove for gain and craft, the more elaborate their rites became. Punishment and moral teaching contended for mastery, and the nature of man and beast alike lost its truth. As the ages waned and the later generations inherited the realm, they relied on rank and trusted in power, no longer taking friend or teacher as guide. They carved and divided the world to serve their private ends. Thus the thrones grew ever more extravagant, and the ministers more self-seeking. They spent their cunning to govern the state, yet spared no thought when all was turned to ashes. Though reward and punishment still remained, none were moved to loyalty, none restrained from crime. The proud and unbridled followed their own desires, hoarding armies, usurping power. They gloried in might and indulged in cruelty— and the calamities that followed were as mountains piled. The law, once made to chastise the violent, now was used to threaten the worthy. What once was done for the world is now done for the self alone. The lower ranks hate their superiors, and the ruler suspects his ministers. Disorder and ruin grow vast, and kingdoms fall in ruin upon ruin. The fallen states succeed one another, ruin follows ruin through ancient and modern times. They scorn the crushed and perished, yet repeat the very signs of their destruction. At first they stand as firm as mountains; in the end they collapse as swiftly as crumbling walls. When the blade is at their throat and the edge already bright, what use then is their repentance?

Ji Kang further proceeded to bluntly criticize and warn the high possibility of the total collapse of the state if the current atmosphere and condition of political oppression continued to be degenerated, and thus forced the people inside keep morally and mindfully alienating themselves from the true self and true nature that would only eventually lead to the complete destruction of the self that along with the state.

吾寧憤陳誠，讜言帝庭，不屈王公乎？將卑懦委隨，承旨倚靡，為面從乎？寧愷悌弘覆，施而不德乎？將進趣世利，苟容偷合乎？寧隱居行義，推至誠乎？將崇飾矯誣，養虛名乎？寧斥逐凶佞，守正不傾，明臧否乎？將傲倪滑稽，挾智任術，為智囊乎？... 寧隱鱗藏彩，若淵中之龍乎？將舒翼揚聲，若雲間之鴻乎？寧外化其形，內隱其情，屈身隨時，陸沈無名，雖在人間，實處冥冥乎？將激昂為清，銳思為精，行與世異，心與俗並，所在必聞，恆營營乎？寧寥落閒放，無所矜尚，彼我為一，不爭不讓，游心皓素，忽然坐忘，追羲農而不及，行中路而惆悵乎？將慷慨以為壯，感慨以為亮，上干萬乘，下凌將相，尊嚴其容，高自矯抗，常如失職，懷恨怏怏乎？寧聚貨千億，擊鍾鼎食，枕藉芬芳，婉孌美色乎？將苦身竭力，翦除荊棘，山居谷飲，倚岩而息乎？

Shall I rather speak forth in anger, laying bare my sincerity, uttering words of rectitude before the imperial court, refusing to bow to princes and lords? Or shall I abase myself in weakness and compliance, fawning upon command, to become one who flatters with his face and serves with his tongue? Shall I be gentle and broad in kindness, bestowing favor without seeking its return? Or shall I chase after worldly gain, yielding and conniving for hollow accord? Shall I live in seclusion and walk in righteousness, pursuing the utmost sincerity? Or shall I exalt false show and cunning deceit, nourishing a hollow name? Shall I cast out the wicked and flatterer, hold firm to uprightness and never bend, judging clearly what is worthy and what is base? Or shall I act with mocking arrogance and slippery wit, grasping at cleverness and relying on artifice, becoming a mere bag of tricks? Shall I hide my scales and colors, like the dragon concealed in the deep? Or shall I spread my wings and cry aloud, like the swan soaring through the clouds? Shall I transform my form outwardly while concealing my heart within, bending my body to suit the times, sinking nameless beneath the world’s surface— dwelling among men, yet truly abiding in the dark? Or shall I rouse myself in proud clarity, sharpening my thought to brilliance, walk apart from the world yet keep my heart with the crowd, so that wherever I go, my name is known, my days consumed in restless striving? Shall I live spare and free, with nothing to boast or claim, making no distinction of self and others, content in peace, neither contending nor yielding, wandering with a pure and shining mind until I sit in sudden forgetfulness— seeking to follow Fu Xi and Shen Nong, yet falling short, walking the Middle Way, yet sorrowing still? Or shall I stir my heart to valiant feeling, exalting passion as brightness, pressing upward to defy the throne of ten thousand chariots, and downward to challenge the ministers of state, holding my countenance in proud restraint, raising myself high in self-assertion, forever as one who has lost his post, nursing resentment and bitter regret? Shall I amass a thousand millions in treasure, strike the bells and dine from tripods, recline among fragrance and delicate beauty? Or shall I toil and exhaust my strength, clearing away the thorns and briars, dwelling in the mountains, drinking from the valleys, and resting by the cliffs?

Under the severe environment of political oppression, even the mind of the pure idealist as the Ji Kang could not be able to escape the huge inner pains being inflicted to him. Within the deep exploration and inquiry into his idealized inner nature, he asked himself critically on the choice between the submission to the oppressive political authority and persistence of his secluded idealism, and between the acceptance of the self-corruption and self-alienation to be absorbed fully into the utilitarian external world and the preservation of the idealized self in the inner idealized metaphysical world.

These were, actually not the real questions, but his fervent outrages and frustrations toward the ongoing cruel and dark reality.

內不愧心，外不負俗；交不為利，仕不謀祿。鑒乎古今，滌情蕩欲... 方將觀大鵬於南溟，又何憂於人間之委曲！

Inwardly, I feel no shame before my own heart; Outwardly, I fail not the ways of the world. In friendship I do not seek profit; In office I do not pursue reward. Reflecting upon the ages past and present, I cleanse my feelings and wash away desire. Soon shall I behold the Great Roc soaring over the Southern Sea— why should I mourn the twisted paths of humankind?

And the true response was constantly crystal and firm. Ji Kang as the true idealist from the metaphysical inner self, would never make any kind of compromise and submission to the distorted and disordered world.

Such utterly uncompromising mind culminated into the event when Ji Kang was invited to accept the attractive official position under the Sima’s ruling. Ji Kang declined the opportunity, which in fact such invitation could be defined as the moral insult to himself, in the tragically heroic spirit.

又每非湯武而薄周孔，在人間不止，此事會顯，世教所不容，此甚不可一也 剛腸疾惡，輕肆直言，遇事便發，此甚不可二也... 不有外難，當有內病，寧可久處人間邪！

Moreover, I often denounces Tang and Wu, and speaks lightly of Zhou and Confucius. In the world, such words cannot long remain hidden; once made known, they offend the teachings of the age — this is the first of the two things most intolerable. My nature being firm and my heart swift to hate evil, I speak my mind freely and without restraint; when events arise, my words are fierce and sudden —this is the second of the two things most intolerable. ..If outward disaster does not befall him, inward sickness surely will. How, then, could he long remain in the world of men?

In Ji Kang’s open statement of refusal, he fearlessly and candidly presented his denouncement of the Tang Wu, King Wen of Zhou and the Confucius, the three undisputed great sages at the ancient time that under the established Confucian ideology.

The Tang Wu launched the political revolution on establishing the initially well-organized state, the King Wen of Zhou unprecedentedly established the system of moral rituals and orders, and the Confucius built the original form of the Confucianism as the compelling moral and political ideology. The direct confrontation and complete denial of the three sages clearly and fully revealed Ji Kang’s ultimate refusal of the inherently corrupted external reality with his ultimate determination on preserving the inner idealized self and relevantly the freedom of mind, and it was completed in his own distinctively honest and courageous way.

Ji Kang’s direct denouncement toward the Confucian sages eventually led to the imposition of the death to him, which he maintained the mindful tranquility even right before the execution.

The period of political oppression actually ended shortly. Accompained with the consolidation of the political power and the final ascension of the Sima family to the emperorship, the relation-building between the aristocracy class and imperial authority was back onto the trajectory. The distinctive and exclusive status of the aristocracy class, for both their political and social privileges, and the unique identity, were continued to be ensured and strengthened. And reciprocally, the philosophical system on the ultimate natural order evolved to expand the concept of nature with the inclusion of the utilitarian material world into it to conclude the complete unity.

At the mean time, the strong mind of seclusion and freedom from the Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, continued to inspire the aristocracy class in the following generations, which the life and thought style did indeed highly match with their distinctive status. Unfortunately only the superficial forms were being imitated. For the Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, their deep pursuit of the internalized transcendent nature and the idealized spiritual self that constantly attached with it, and correspondingly the intense painfulness and struggles toward the external world with its systematic structure, were hardly being truly understood and sympathized.

The inherent predicament on the internal idealized world and the external alienated world critically goes far beyond any particular period, and it is intensely present to the current moment for anyone with the relevant intellectual consciousness. And the spirit of the Ruan Ji and Ji Kang, their pains and their idealism, persistently stand as the spiritual remedy and echo.