王敔為《莊子解》增註之時，曾申明「其神凝」是「一部南華大旨」，亦即揭示「凝神」在船山莊學中，具有舉足輕重的意義。誠然，筆者以為王敔所論，已契入船山莊學之精要。不過，美中不足之處，乃是王敔並無詳加闡釋，因此未能透顯「凝神」的飽滿義涵。何謂飽滿？要言之，「凝神」實是兼攝境界與活動二義，此即本文所欲釐清的問題。然而，如何論証？筆者分就兩個階段探究之：首先是「論凝神之凝」，吾人在契入「凝神」這個主題之前，必須先廓清「凝」的義涵，因為「凝」的解讀，直接左右「凝神」之義。何謂「凝」？筆者嘗試以「執」、「持」、「欲」及「存」，與「凝」對勘參照，進而豁顯「凝」只是體証或歸復「神」之本然狀態，亦即不使其有所蕩失而勿守之義。其次是「論凝神與應世」，闡釋焦點擺放在「凝神」為何與「應世」產生聯結？此聯結是否為必然的？倘若屬於必然聯結，則此聯結是先後承遞，抑或是共顯具發？此處則以「遊」及「體用結構」為闡釋主軸，詳加論証「凝神」與「應世」之不可割裂性。藉由對「凝」、「遊」及「體用」之探究剖析，即可大致體証船山莊學所示之「凝神」，其飽滿義涵應是落在境界與活動之不二。換言之，真正的「凝神」義涵，應是架構在「凝神」與「應世」的不可割裂。

When Wang-yu annotated Zhaung-zi’s works in his book “Annotation of Zhaung-zi”, he said ““qi shen ning implied lots of meanings inside it”. It means “ning-shen” plays a very crucial role in Quanshan’s study of Zhaung-zi. Wang-yu’s argument hits the mark but it’s a pity that he didn’t elaborate on it. So we can’t figure out the enrichment of ning-shen’s meaning. What does “enrichment” mean? To make it simple, ning-shen involves “jing jie” and “huo dong” and that’s what this paper tries to investigate. But how do we prove it? This paper explores it from two phases. One is about “ning” of “ning-shen”. We should understand what “ning” means before we start to discuss the topic “ning-shen”. Because the meaning of “ning” directly affects the meaning of “ning-shen”. What is “ning”? This paper tries to compare “ning” with “zhi”, “chi”, “yu” and “cun” and reveals that “ning” is nothing but verifying and returning to the original status of “shen”, i.e. not losing one’s own self and not holding it at the same time. The other is when we discuss “ning-shen and ying-shi”, we have to focus on why “ning-shen” has connections with “ying-shi”. Are those connections inevitable? If those connections are inevitable, their connections are of priority or equality? We take “yo” and “structure of ti-yong” as the main axis and elaborate on the indivisibility of “ning-shen” and “ying-shi”. Then we can understand the enrichment of meaning of “ning-shen” in Quanshan’s study of Zhaung-zi. In other words, the real meaning of “ning-shen” should be based on the indivisibility of “ning-shen” and “ying-shi”.