弘明集 9.84

9.84

[Cao Siwen] objected: The form is not identical to the spirit; the spirit is not identical to the form. They combine to produce function, but combining is not being identical. In life, they combine to produce function; in death, the form remains while the spirit departs. How do we know this? In ancient times, Zhao Jianzi was ill for five days and did not recognize people; Duke Mu of Qin awakened only after seven days. In both cases, their spirits roamed in the realm of the Lord on High, and the Lord bestowed upon them the vast music of the Jun Heaven. Was this not their forms remaining while their spirits roamed? If, as your treatise states, the spirit is extinguished when the form is extinguished, then form and spirit should inevitably accompany each other like form and shadow. However, when the form was ill, the spirit should also have been ill; why was the form unaware of people while the spirit alone roamed with the Lord on High, rejoicing in the vast music of the Jun Heaven? When one sleeps, the soul interacts [with dreams]; thus [Zhuangzi's] spirit roamed as a butterfly—this is the form and the spirit separating. When he awoke, the form opened up, and abruptly he was Zhou—this is the form and the spirit uniting. The spirit and the form have separation and union: when united, they form a single body; when separated, the form dies and the spirit departs. Therefore, when Yanling lost his son, he said, 'The flesh and bones return to the earth, but the soul and qi go everywhere.' This means that the form stops while the spirit does not stop. Thus the clear evidence of the classics and histories is brilliant and manifest! Being like this, how could it be that when the form stops, the spirit is extinguished?