This episode began as a companion to “Xuan: Mystery at the Heart of the Dao.” Where that episode explored xuan as a quality of reality and a contemplative orientation, this one was intended to follow the compound word 幽玄, youxuan, from its earliest appearances in Chinese literature through its long journey to Japan, where it became yugen, one of the most celebrated aesthetic concepts in the world. The meme, it turns out, has deep roots. What happened along the way was something far deeper than I expected. Which is perhaps appropriate for an essay about a concept that names exactly that, the depth that keeps going when you enter it, the center you find by not looking for it.
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