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HUANGZI (ca.369-286 B.C.), orChuang-tzu, was an influentialTaoist thinker from State Song(encompassing parts of today’sShandong and Henan provinces) during the Warring States Period (475-221B.C.). He made his living weaving strawsandals before becoming a low-rankingofficial. Though in economic distress formuch of his life, the great philosopherwas convinced that people should be resigned to the natural order of things andstay free of worldly concerns.
Zhuangzi is credited with writing themasterpiece named after him: Zhuangzi,which, with its luscious, figurative language and pithy, inspiring tales ladenwith wider connotations, has been one ofthe most loved philosophical treatises inChinese history. Zhuangzi employs every resource of rhetoric in his writing topersuade people to free themselves fromsocietal bondage, which is exactly the opposite position taken by Confucianism. Atrue Confneian is obliged to get activelyinvolved in world affairs, but Zhuangziencouraged people to stay aloof frompolities and earthly obsessions, which hesaw as shackles to a free and noble mind.He therefore urged people to understand human limitations and "wander"through their lives.
Carefree Wandering
Zhnangzi was aware that people actually have no way of escaping social intercourse or power structures or of transcending all interests and agendas. Hissolution to the dilemma was "no-self,"or no sense of self. In the first chapterof his book Free and Easy Wandering,Zhuangzi says that a care free existencerequires goal-free "wandering," and thatis the focal point of his philosophy.
Zhuangzi recommends people takean easy stroll, metaphorically of course,throughout life and remain above common concepts of life and death. He argued that a human life is a transformative process and a recycling of naturalqi; and in this respect we are just like allother life forms in the universe, such asgrass and trees. This philosophy holdswe are ourselves greater than our immediate concerns in life and should not beoverly driven by them.
When Zhuangzi’s wife died, his goodfriend Hui Shi went to express his condolences, only to find Zhuangzi drumminga clay pot and singing. Hui Shi askedZhuangzi how he could be so heartless.Zhuangzi said that he was sad at firstwhen his wife died, but soon realizedthat she came into the world as the resultof intangible qi becoming tangible. Whenshe sighed her last breath, she merelymelted back into qi. The whole processof life seemed to him a cycle of being andnon-being not much different from thetransitions of the four seasons. Zhuangzihence suggests that human beings gowith the flow of these natural rhythmssince mankind is also part of nature.
There are a good number of renownedhermits in Chinese history, but manyactually retreated into reclusion onlyto bide their time until conditions wereright for them to get back to affairs of state in a more advantageous positionand they closely surveyed the politicallandscape from the protection of theirtemporary retirement. Zhuangzi was notone of these.
Zhuangzi was fishing when King Weiof State Chu sent him two envoys with aload of gifts, and the offer to make himprime minister. But Zhuangzi held hisfishing pole steady and, without turninghis head, asked: "I have heard that theking keeps in his ancestral temple theshell of a sacred and ancient tortoise.Which way do you think the tortoisewould feel happier, dead and beingworshiped or alive and dragging its tailin the muddy water?" For one such asZhuangzi, it is proper to resist the temptations of power, for worldly power isnothing compared to a carefree life andunfettered mind.
Equality and Human Relationshipwith the World
Zhuangzi believed that all beings areequal and all happenings essentiallyindistinct. The perceived variety anddisparities among them are merely relative, for they are tied to one’s perspective. Hence, being and non-being, trneand false are all determinedby subjective judgment.Zhuangzi concluded, "Heavenand earth co-exist with meand everything between them,including me, is alike."
Zhuangzi also recognizedhowever the respective natures of different lives. Hemakes the point that sparrows can’t understand whyeagles bother to fly so far andso high. It is in fact the contrasts and nuances of our inner natures that distinguisheseach of us from the other, andgives the world its richnessand complexity. On thesegrounds, Zhuangzi felt thatpeople should respect thesedistinctions, celebrate a lack of uniformity and refrain from forcing their viewson others.
There is a widely cited story of howZhuangzi saw the relevance of mankindto other beings, which is also a famouspolemic. One day Zhuangzi and HuiShi were walking on a bridge across theHaohe River when Zhuangzi marveled:"See the fish swimming, the joy of thiscreature." His companion asked: You arenot fish, so how do you know the happiness of fish?" Zhuangzi replied: "Youare not me, so how do you know that Idon’t know the happiness of fish?" HuiShi retorted: "I am not you, so of courseI don’t know what you know. But youare certainly not a fish, so you definitelydon’t know if the fish is happy." Thephilosopher finally confronted his friendwith, "Now let’s get back to the start ofour conversation. First, I talked of the joyof fish. When you asked me how I knew,you actually had already admitted that Iknew the fish were happy. I know this onthe bridge over the Haohe River." In thisargument, Zhuangzi stresses there canbe empathy and communication betweenpeople, and between people and otherbeings.
Another interesting story in Zhuangziis about a chef butchering cattle carcasses. The king of State Wei was amazedby the slaughtering proficiency of a chefsurnamed Ding, who could reduce the animal into a flat chunk in minutes withhide, meat and bone all precisely separated. The chef claimed he had used thesame knife for his job for nearly 19 years,and it was still as sharp as a new one.The secret was to know the structure ofcattle’s body well, including every jointbetween the tendons, muscles and bones.He therefore could run the thin edge ofhis knife in the carcass as if in a vacuum.The implication of this story is that themundane world is like the complex bodyof a cattle, and a human being can gothrough it like the finest and sharpestedge that slices with the least effort. Similarly, one has to regard oneself as nonexistent if one hopes to wander free andeasy through social obstructions. This inessence is the no-self theory.
Zhuangzi also advocated a middleway between usefulness and uselessness. He noticed that trees of the bestshape are the first to be felled. Thosethat don’t look so good are more likelyto be overlooked by the lumbermen, andtherefore live a long, natural life. On theother hand, there is the case of the wildgoose; the ones that don’t make pleasanthonking sounds are slaughtered for theirmeat.
Sit and Forget
For Zhuangzi, real freedom is "no reliance" (wu dai), i.e., totally dependingon oneself and nothing else and therebyfreeing oneself from the restrictions andobligations of the outer world. The wayto realize "no reliance" isto close oneself off from allworldly concerns or in thephilosopher’s words "sit andforget" (zuo wang). This is astate of nothingness, in whichpeople empty their mind oftheir physical existence andhanded-down knowledge,after which universal truthsand greater wisdom are within reach.
In Zhuangzi’s opinion,the world was in continuoustransformation, so all demarcation between one state/form and another, or soliddistinctions between self andother, were false. He elaborates on this belief in the wellknown parable of the Butterfly Dream.One day Zhuangzi dreamt he had becomeone of these gay, fluttering insects. Butwhen he woke up, he wondered whetherhe was Zhuangzi who dreamed of beinga butterfly, or a butterfly who drealnedof being Zhuangzi. Here the philosophertries to illustrate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality, as wellas that between "me" and another’s existence. He hence suggests that to copewith the vicissitudes of life and to understand the intricate external world, onecannot see them in black and white or ina static, rigid manner.
Though shunning politics, Zhuangzidid coach the rulers of his time in wu wei,in non-action or acting without effort.He called for those in power to respectthe nature of mankind, and to let naturefollow its course. Change, he advised,should be gradually absorbed by people,and in silence, instead of being broughtabout by coercion. Heady and arbitraryinterference did more harm than good, hecounseled. As plants will flourish if raisedin natural conditions, so a nation willachieve order and peace if it is let be.
Zhuangzi is credited with writing themasterpiece named after him: Zhuangzi,which, with its luscious, figurative language and pithy, inspiring tales ladenwith wider connotations, has been one ofthe most loved philosophical treatises inChinese history. Zhuangzi employs every resource of rhetoric in his writing topersuade people to free themselves fromsocietal bondage, which is exactly the opposite position taken by Confucianism. Atrue Confneian is obliged to get activelyinvolved in world affairs, but Zhuangziencouraged people to stay aloof frompolities and earthly obsessions, which hesaw as shackles to a free and noble mind.He therefore urged people to understand human limitations and "wander"through their lives.
Carefree Wandering
Zhnangzi was aware that people actually have no way of escaping social intercourse or power structures or of transcending all interests and agendas. Hissolution to the dilemma was "no-self,"or no sense of self. In the first chapterof his book Free and Easy Wandering,Zhuangzi says that a care free existencerequires goal-free "wandering," and thatis the focal point of his philosophy.
Zhuangzi recommends people takean easy stroll, metaphorically of course,throughout life and remain above common concepts of life and death. He argued that a human life is a transformative process and a recycling of naturalqi; and in this respect we are just like allother life forms in the universe, such asgrass and trees. This philosophy holdswe are ourselves greater than our immediate concerns in life and should not beoverly driven by them.
When Zhuangzi’s wife died, his goodfriend Hui Shi went to express his condolences, only to find Zhuangzi drumminga clay pot and singing. Hui Shi askedZhuangzi how he could be so heartless.Zhuangzi said that he was sad at firstwhen his wife died, but soon realizedthat she came into the world as the resultof intangible qi becoming tangible. Whenshe sighed her last breath, she merelymelted back into qi. The whole processof life seemed to him a cycle of being andnon-being not much different from thetransitions of the four seasons. Zhuangzihence suggests that human beings gowith the flow of these natural rhythmssince mankind is also part of nature.
There are a good number of renownedhermits in Chinese history, but manyactually retreated into reclusion onlyto bide their time until conditions wereright for them to get back to affairs of state in a more advantageous positionand they closely surveyed the politicallandscape from the protection of theirtemporary retirement. Zhuangzi was notone of these.
Zhuangzi was fishing when King Weiof State Chu sent him two envoys with aload of gifts, and the offer to make himprime minister. But Zhuangzi held hisfishing pole steady and, without turninghis head, asked: "I have heard that theking keeps in his ancestral temple theshell of a sacred and ancient tortoise.Which way do you think the tortoisewould feel happier, dead and beingworshiped or alive and dragging its tailin the muddy water?" For one such asZhuangzi, it is proper to resist the temptations of power, for worldly power isnothing compared to a carefree life andunfettered mind.
Equality and Human Relationshipwith the World
Zhuangzi believed that all beings areequal and all happenings essentiallyindistinct. The perceived variety anddisparities among them are merely relative, for they are tied to one’s perspective. Hence, being and non-being, trneand false are all determinedby subjective judgment.Zhuangzi concluded, "Heavenand earth co-exist with meand everything between them,including me, is alike."
Zhuangzi also recognizedhowever the respective natures of different lives. Hemakes the point that sparrows can’t understand whyeagles bother to fly so far andso high. It is in fact the contrasts and nuances of our inner natures that distinguisheseach of us from the other, andgives the world its richnessand complexity. On thesegrounds, Zhuangzi felt thatpeople should respect thesedistinctions, celebrate a lack of uniformity and refrain from forcing their viewson others.
There is a widely cited story of howZhuangzi saw the relevance of mankindto other beings, which is also a famouspolemic. One day Zhuangzi and HuiShi were walking on a bridge across theHaohe River when Zhuangzi marveled:"See the fish swimming, the joy of thiscreature." His companion asked: You arenot fish, so how do you know the happiness of fish?" Zhuangzi replied: "Youare not me, so how do you know that Idon’t know the happiness of fish?" HuiShi retorted: "I am not you, so of courseI don’t know what you know. But youare certainly not a fish, so you definitelydon’t know if the fish is happy." Thephilosopher finally confronted his friendwith, "Now let’s get back to the start ofour conversation. First, I talked of the joyof fish. When you asked me how I knew,you actually had already admitted that Iknew the fish were happy. I know this onthe bridge over the Haohe River." In thisargument, Zhuangzi stresses there canbe empathy and communication betweenpeople, and between people and otherbeings.
Another interesting story in Zhuangziis about a chef butchering cattle carcasses. The king of State Wei was amazedby the slaughtering proficiency of a chefsurnamed Ding, who could reduce the animal into a flat chunk in minutes withhide, meat and bone all precisely separated. The chef claimed he had used thesame knife for his job for nearly 19 years,and it was still as sharp as a new one.The secret was to know the structure ofcattle’s body well, including every jointbetween the tendons, muscles and bones.He therefore could run the thin edge ofhis knife in the carcass as if in a vacuum.The implication of this story is that themundane world is like the complex bodyof a cattle, and a human being can gothrough it like the finest and sharpestedge that slices with the least effort. Similarly, one has to regard oneself as nonexistent if one hopes to wander free andeasy through social obstructions. This inessence is the no-self theory.
Zhuangzi also advocated a middleway between usefulness and uselessness. He noticed that trees of the bestshape are the first to be felled. Thosethat don’t look so good are more likelyto be overlooked by the lumbermen, andtherefore live a long, natural life. On theother hand, there is the case of the wildgoose; the ones that don’t make pleasanthonking sounds are slaughtered for theirmeat.
Sit and Forget
For Zhuangzi, real freedom is "no reliance" (wu dai), i.e., totally dependingon oneself and nothing else and therebyfreeing oneself from the restrictions andobligations of the outer world. The wayto realize "no reliance" isto close oneself off from allworldly concerns or in thephilosopher’s words "sit andforget" (zuo wang). This is astate of nothingness, in whichpeople empty their mind oftheir physical existence andhanded-down knowledge,after which universal truthsand greater wisdom are within reach.
In Zhuangzi’s opinion,the world was in continuoustransformation, so all demarcation between one state/form and another, or soliddistinctions between self andother, were false. He elaborates on this belief in the wellknown parable of the Butterfly Dream.One day Zhuangzi dreamt he had becomeone of these gay, fluttering insects. Butwhen he woke up, he wondered whetherhe was Zhuangzi who dreamed of beinga butterfly, or a butterfly who drealnedof being Zhuangzi. Here the philosophertries to illustrate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality, as wellas that between "me" and another’s existence. He hence suggests that to copewith the vicissitudes of life and to understand the intricate external world, onecannot see them in black and white or ina static, rigid manner.
Though shunning politics, Zhuangzidid coach the rulers of his time in wu wei,in non-action or acting without effort.He called for those in power to respectthe nature of mankind, and to let naturefollow its course. Change, he advised,should be gradually absorbed by people,and in silence, instead of being broughtabout by coercion. Heady and arbitraryinterference did more harm than good, hecounseled. As plants will flourish if raisedin natural conditions, so a nation willachieve order and peace if it is let be.