Fanyin
Creators: name: Lo, YK
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2022

description: The Fan yin 反淫 (“Against Excesses”) belongs to a collection of Han-dynasty bamboo-slip manuscripts donated by an anonymous alumnus to Peking University in 2009 (Beijing daxue chutu wenxian yanjiusuo 2011: 49); its provenance is unknown. Experts at the university dated it to the period between the reigns of Emperor Wu 武 (r. 141-87 BCE) and Emperor Xuan 宣 (r. 74-49/48 BCE) [Beijing daxue chutu wenxian yanjiusuo 2011: 50]. The editors of the Fan yin think it was composed in the early Western Han period (which began in 206 BCE) based on its literary diction and calligraphic style. The Fan yin contains 1,225 graphs on fifty-nine slips with thirty-five of them intact without damage. On the back of its first slip (inventory number 2589) were written two graphs— “fan yin”—which do not appear together in the text itself; they are thus taken to be its original title. Written in the form of rhymed rhapsody (fu 賦), the Fan yin presents an imaginary conversation between Hun魂 (“ethereal soul”) who plays the physician and an ailing Pozi 魄子 (“corporeal soul”) in need of treatment, apparently due to his excessive indulgences, a condition indicated by the word yin (excesses) in the text’s title. In early China, it was widely believed that human beings were each endowed with a dual soul comprised of hun and po. This was probably the result of a fusion of soul beliefs in North and South China in the sixth century BCE. While po functions as the life principle of human beings which determines the life and death of a person, “hun is the seat of human emotions, feelings and sentiments as well as the center for willing—it is, in effect, an aggregate of psychological attributes in man. Such conception continued into the Han dynasty (Lo 2008: 26, 33). Yet, it was probably unprecedented when hun and po were turned into fictional characters in an imaginary dialogue some four hundred years later. In the Huainanzi 淮南子, a text of eclectic philosophy attributed to Prince Huainan (179 BCE-122 BCE), there was an exchange between the two souls on how to attain the Dao 道, where Po seeks counsel from Hun who has embodied it (He 1989: 1101-1102). Given its similar literary device, it is possible that the Fan yin might be written around the same time as well. As the opening of the text is missing, it is not clear if Pozi initially seeks treatment for his malady from Hun but after eleven ineffective attempts to lure Pozi with the extraordinary sensual pleasures of various sorts, Hun recommends him to invite friends and people who admire his “lofty aspirations” (高義) to play games and have fun together in his expansive and luxurious quarters. To this, Pozi is willing enough to oblige. But seeing his positive response, Hun goes one step further to entice him with a proposed gathering with learned men from all under Heaven such as esteemed statesmen (Su Qin 蘇秦 and Zhang Yi 張儀), respected philosophers (Mencius 孟子, Mozi 墨子, Yang Zhu 楊朱) and accomplished poets (Song Yu 宋玉, Qu Yuan 屈原and Jing Cuo 景差) from Warring States times which ended in 221 BCE. The purpose is to “examine with them the successes and failures of declining ages, discuss the subtleties of all under Heaven, and putting in order the this and that of the myriad things” (巧【=考】諸衰世之成敗，論天下之精微， 理萬物之是非) with Confucius and Laozi as arbitrators in the audience (孔老監聽). Pozi’s interest is piqued indeed, yet an anti-climax is introduced when Hun decides on a still better therapy of roaming in the higher realm of “utmost purity” (至清), casting off the filthy bodily shell (蟬說【=蛻】濁薉【=穢】) in the process of spiritual transformation while “dwelling in the palace of leisure and quietude and attending court with the leather cap” (處閒靜之宮，冠弁以聽朝). The precondition for Pozi to attain such liberation is to remain “empty-minded, tranquil, serene, and relaxed” (虛靜恬愉). To do so, he must practice what Hun calls “engaging in the affairs of non-action and performing the teaching without words” (處無為之事，行不言之教) —a direct quotation from the Laozi. No sooner has Pozi heard the suggestion than he perspires profusely and recovers from his illness. Despite its obvious Daoist flavor, the philosophical and medical underpinnings of the Fan yin are rich, and meticulous analysis will reveal the interplay of Warring States thought and medicine in early Han times. More ostensibly, the Fan yin shows a striking resemblance to the Seven Stimuli (Qi fa 七發), a famous and influential rhymed rhapsody attributed to the scholar-official cum poet Mei Sheng 枚乘 (d. ca. 141 BCE) [Fu 2015: 144-150; Knechtges 2010: 665]. The Qi fa, structured in the format of a dialogue in which a persuader volunteers to offer advice to heal Prince of Chu who becomes bedridden with sensual excesses. He adopts a strategy similar to Hun’s in the Fan yin, trying to seduce the ailing prince, step by step, with further indulgence in rapturous music, lavish food and drink, sumptuous banquets, exciting hunting, and delightful wave-watching. Likewise he fails. It is only when he proposes to the prince to have an audience with fangshi 方士 magicians to “discuss the subtleties of all under Heaven, and putting in order the this and that of the myriad things” does he finally succeed. Upon hearing his suggestion, the prince sweats copiously and recuperates himself without actually listening to the “essential words and wonderful teachings” (要言妙道) promised with said meeting. Not only is the proposed activity identical to what Hun recommends to Pozi, but so is its immediate effect on the prince as well. The relationship between the Fan Yin and Qi fa deserves critical investigation and will shed light on the early history of rhymed rhapsody. Fu Gang 傅剛 argues that the Fan yin was an earlier work by Mei Sheng which functioned as a draft for the eventual product of Qi fa (Fu 2015: 171) but this is far from being conclusive.