Terminology
Literally speaking, the term Jing zuo simply means 'sitting quietly', but the collocation soon acquired more specific meanings, referring to methods of quiet sitting that were practiced for medical or spiritual purposes. In early sources, such as the philosophical work Hanfeizi (3rd century BCE), Jing zuo seems to have been mainly understood as being of benefit to health, but some centuries later spiritual practices were also referred to using this term. At the outset, it was not limited to Confucianism, but could equally well be used about Buddhist and Daoist practices. The term became widely used in the Song dynasty, and became the preferred term for seated meditation among Neo-Confucians, who tended to avoid more narrowly Buddhist or Daoist terms. In modern Western parlance, it often refers specifically to Neo-Confucian forms of meditation, but it is also used for other religious and non-religious practices
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