This article analyzes Zhang Zhan's theory of xin 'mind' and xing 'nature,' and generalizes four points as follows. 1. Zhang Zhan believes that only the purist and truest nature of qi is the nature of all human beings. Nature is valuable and meaningful; to preserve it, one has to cultivate his/her mind into emptiness and tranquility. 2. Mind is constructed with experience, yet its original state is no thoughts. As the first cause of all movements, mind can be obstructed by conceptual consciousness and its derivatives, lust and cunning, and it can also return to its original state through cultivation. 3. No mind, or the empty and tranquil state of forgetting, is mind's original state and the method of cultivation. Only in this state can conceptual consciousness, cunning, and lust be eliminated. 4. State of no mind can be interpreted with shen or shen-ming 'divine understanding.' One who achieves the mind of shen is a saint. It is hard for ordinary people to achieve the state of no mind, but they can approach this state and retrieve their nature if cultivated by saints. In conclusion, Zhang Zhan's theory of mind and nature is a product of Neo-Daoism, but his concept of mind is probably influenced by Buddhism.
