This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
The Taiwanese Chinese-character expert Zhang Fuzhang explains the characters 静 and 情 as follows:
The character 静 (jìng, “still, quiet”) is 青 plus 争. In oracle bone script 青 (qīng) means producing the elixir (丹), and 争 (zhēng) means guiding energy so that it rises. The meaning of 静 is to guide energy to the dantian to produce the elixir. In ancient times every walk of life practised sitting meditation, and modern medicine has also found that sitting meditation is the best form of therapy.
Modern people cannot become still, and they live very hard lives. People seek fame, profit and wealth; whatever they seek, it cannot be separated from the character 情 (qíng, “feeling, emotion”). 情 is a combination of 心 (heart) and 青. Because people spend their energy on too many concerns of the heart, they have too many desires, and the more concerns they have, the more troubled they are. Only by becoming 静 (still) can energy and wisdom emerge.
