r, given the lack of analysis of the content of the sensory input, we should probably conservatively assume they took the naive realist view that the senses simply make distinctions in the world. We can be sure only that the xin did trigger reactions to discourse-relevant stimuli.
             Reflecting the theory of xin, the implicit theory of language made no distinction between describing and prescribing. Chinese thinkers assumed the core function of language is guiding behavior. Representational features served that prescriptive goal. In executing guidance, we have to identify relevant "things" in context. If the discourse describes some behavior toward one's elder, one needs a way correctly to identify the elder and what counts as the prescribed behavior. Correct action according to a conventional dao must also take into account other descriptions of the situation such as 'urgent', 'normal', etc. These issues lay behind Confucian theories of "rectifying
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