Healing through Desire: Reflections on the Manuscript “Fan yin” 反淫

In this presentation, I investigate the main philosophical themes of the newly discovered manuscript “Fan yin.” Particularly, I am interested in the relationship between the “ethereal soul” (hun 魂) and the “corporeal soul” (po 魄). The text is structured as a dialogue between these two souls. Hun is depicted as a master, having knowledge of the Way (dao 道), while po is portrayed as occupying an inferior position and, moreover, suffering from an illness of unspecified nature. The portrayed encounter is, therefore, an instance of instruction and, also, of medical treatment. After several unsuccessful attempts to improve po’s condition by presenting vivid depictions of enticing scenes and activities, hun delivers a poetic representation of the Way, using language reminiscent of the Zhuangzi and Huainanzi. Only then is po able to fully recover. In my discussion, I first look into the different stages (13 in total) of po’s path to convalescence, and compare them to similar passages in the received literature; following that, I investigate the ostensible curative function of the highest philosophical principles; then I examine the significance of the strict hierarchy between hun and po in the context of the mind-body relationship and the alleged mind-body holism in Chinese philosophy. Last but not least, the “Fan yin” is one of the earliest representatives of rhapsodies (fu 賦); thus, I investigate how the manuscript, with its lavish depictions of the Way, corresponds to theories of the fu’s curative function and mimetic representation.