To begin writing dao 道, first you draw two points [‵′],
whose shape, when you hold it away, looks similar to “man”
upside‑down 人. One is on the left, the other is on the right:
they signify yin and yang, masculine and feminine, one yin
one yang, that is Dao.
[Since it is upside‑down], the earth is above the man’s
head, while the sky is under his feet, it is precisely the Tai
hexagram 泰. The upside‑down human shape represents the
backward walk [daoxing nishi 倒行逆施]. We who practice Dao‑
ist asceticism also know that “going against the tide is a fact of
the immortal’s life, following the current is the fact of an ordi‑
nary man’s life.”

Heaven placed beneath Earth signifies concord, the union of Earth and Heaven: “It is prosperity – the small departs and the great arrives.” Further on, the commentary mentions that Tai (11th hexagram)represents the spontaneous (ziran 自然), the perfect harmony (heshun 和顺) of society when yin and yang are well
positioned.

The next, 12th hexagram is its opposite: Heaven above and Earth below:
“The big one goes and the small one arrives; this is stagnation,” the moment
when opposites do not communicate. The commentary explains that when yin and yang come apart, Heaven and Earth obstruct each other.

The One. “In the character dao, under the two points forming an
upside‑down man, there is the horizontal line of the “One” (yi 一) . . .
The One is the beginning of numbers and represents a state of equilib‑
rium, that practiced by the ascetic, who must have a well‑balanced tem‑
perament [pingheng tai 平衡态] and achieve the equilibrium of no desire
[wuyu 无欲].”

The Self. “Under the two points and the horizontal line, there is the
character zi 自, the self. It is the zi of ziji 自己, oneself; this is also the ba‑
sis of the word ziran 自然, the very nature of things.

In Daoism, working on the self should not mean being preoccupied
with the self, but rather forgetting the self (wangwo 忘我).14 But
how does one work on oneself surrounded by other people, wrestling
with the rules and constraints of the community?

Temperament is supposed to be as yin as possible.
The fact remains that even in a noisy environment, and regardless
of whether there is an atmosphere of harmony or disagreement, ascetics
have to be able to find inner peace and practice “self‑perfecting through
refinement” (xiulian 修炼), since this is the essential meaning behind
these lines. The backward walk is nothing but a return (fan 反) toward

the state Before Heaven and the spontaneous nature of things. Returning
to the origins means retracing one’s steps, reintegrating the Ten Thou‑
sand Things into the Three, the Three into the Two, the Two into the One.
Rediscovering this essential unity gives one hope of attaining Dao.

On the most cosmological level, it is a question of returning to what
preceded the separation of the breaths and the creation of the universe. If
this is transposed to the level of one’s own body, the microcosm of the
universe, then it is a question of asceticism: one must return from aged‑
ness to youth, rediscover a previously known state, somewhat like a fe‑
tus before birth.

Mirror and Eye. “If we detail the character zi 自, we see that it is
formed first by a ‘cast’ line [yipie 一撇, meaning a left‑falling stroke]. This
line is like a mirror reflecting light. It is also like the celestial vault cover‑
ing the earth. It is about turning vision back upon the self [huiguang
fanzhao 回光返照], illuminating one’s body [zishen 自身].
“[Under the cast line, there is mu 目, which means ‘eye’]. Immortal‑
ity is the fact of long vision (jiushi 久视). The eyes can see the light of the
radiance. The eyes are the sun and moon. . . whose rays enable an eco‑
logical balance to be preserved on earth. . . The sun and moon of man
play a similar role: they provide energy, this is what makes the two eyes
useful. . . One can see one’s own image (xingxiang 形象), that is the ‘spirit
of the valley’ (gushen 谷神).”
Through asceticism, people no longer only look toward the outside,
but contemplate the inner self with a view to perceiving the light each
person has within, light being closely associated with vision in this con‑
text.15 When one has achieved this state of clairvoyance, one can see what
one really is, one’s own image, but also “the spirit of the valley,” an ex‑
pression from Daode jing 6 designating what is empty and immaterial,

the virtue of Dao. The reasoning underlying this practice is at the heart
of the text: “The Dao sought is not outside but within oneself.”

The expression huiguang fanzhao 回光返照, designating inner practices,
should be understood as directing one’s eyes back onto one’s inner radiance.
Here light signifies vision. It is about keeping vision inside. When the spirit looks after its center, this signifies a return to inner radiance.

Head and Leader. “The shou 首 element, the first, the head, the
leader. Shou is that through which one understands Dao and that from
which one attains Dao: it is the origin, the first or the One, the essential
position; it is also man’s head (renshou 人首), which enables understand‑
ing. It is the most important part of the body. It is commonly said: ‘A
man without a head cannot walk, a bird without a head cannot fly.’ It is
ultimately the ruler, the leader whom thought (yinian 意念) enables to act.
Shou again expresses the idea of the beginning. In the martial practices, it
is important to begin at the beginning, the first step determines the
course the practice will take. If one practices blindly (mangxiu 盲修), one
cannot attain Dao.”
The Slow Walk. “The idea of walking conveyed by the radical zuo
辶 for ‘slow walk’ evokes the agility of the legs: if one only has the head
but not the agility of the legs, one cannot walk. To be complete, man
must have a head and legs. . . The walking key designates movement
(dong 动), the head element designates motionlessness (jing 静). The head
is related to Heaven, while the walk refers to Earth. Shou represents the
inside, zuo represents the outside. If we only have the idea of asceticism,
this is not enough. Practice is needed as well. It is important to simulta‑
neously cultivate the inside and outside, yin and yang, the vital force
and the body—this is what dao means taken as a whole.”