Hold with Reason
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The phrase requires that an assertion rest on stated grounds rather than on the speaker's confidence. It is the classical Chinese counterpart of the demand for warranted assertion, and it pairs with the further requirement that the grounds also suffice, since a claim can cite sources and still be unsupported. Its core claim is that credibility is transferred from evidence to conclusion, so the strength of an argument cannot exceed the strength of its grounds. The qualification is that citation is not proof: an argument can be well sourced and still invalid if the evidence does not bear on the conclusion.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Inventory the grounds: list the facts, data, and sources behind the claim before stating it. - Trace the inference: check that each step follows from the grounds rather than from confidence. - Mark the gaps: name what evidence would be needed to close the weakest link.
Anchor fast decisions
An assertion travels only as far as the grounds that support it, so credibility is inherited rather than asserted. Naming sources makes the inference inspectable, which lets others test each step instead of accepting or rejecting the whole. It also disciplines the speaker, because writing down the grounds exposes where a step is carried by conviction rather than evidence. The mechanism fails when the practice degenerates into decoration: sources cited but not used leave the inferential chain as weak as before.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%8D%80%E5%AD%90/%E9%9D%9E%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E5%AD%90%E7%AF%87verified
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