On Confucian Quite-sitting as a Self-cultivation

Quite-sitting/meditation has already been adopted by Neo-Confucian scholars as an integral part of self-cultivation since the Northern Song Dynasty. But how to understand the role it has played in the theory and practice of Confucian tradition or evaluate quite-sitting as a way to pursue Confucian sagehood or ideal personality, not only a way for longevity? Especially, what is the uniqueness of Confucian quite-sitting compared with quit-sitting in other religious and spiritual traditions in the world such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Abrahamic tradition including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? Focusing on these two related while not well touched issues, this article tries to make a comprehensive and in-depth study of Confucian quite-sitting. First, it argues that quite-sitting has not been regarded as a fundamental way of self-cultivation in Confucian tradition and why. Secondly, it points out the characteristic or uniqueness of Confucian quite-sitting as a self-cultivation and why a Confucian quiet-sitting has this kind of characteristic or uniqueness by contrast to that of quite-sitting in Buddhism, Daoism, and Abrahamic tradition.