Discussion: styles of knowing

Summary

How do styles of knowing interrelate with ways of learning? The question with which we began cannot be answered conclusively, but the data presented throw some light on the issue. Concepts become ‘socialised’. If learnt in different social contexts, they tend to be understood in different ways – they have different meanings, uses, and ‘performative significances’ in social interaction. Modes of (verbal) reasoning and styles of (non-verbal) knowing have been shown to vary in different social contexts of learning Chinese therapeutics.

Secret knowing

Qigong was veiled in secrecy. It was attributed great powers and often supposed to have immediate effects. Access to these powers was fraught with danger, and the disciple needed guidance. A master would accept a person as a disciple only if this person had extraordinary moral qualities, loyalty to the master and his family, the ‘predestined fate’ (yuanfen) ‘just to remember’, and perseverance and patience, which, in light of the necessary self-castigation, could only be achieved with composure. A Daoist was to be ‘cheerful’ (kailang).

Verbal reasoning in qigong was not elaborate. Words were powerful, verses simple and short. Verses were often recited without knowing their meaning; to be effective, they need not be understood, but correctly pronounced. Knowing qigong was marked by an ostensive secrecy. In Qiu's case secrecy was not only an attribute that enhanced his and his family's prestige but also, in the secret society to which he belonged, a weapon of the weak and a form of protection.