| As an important representative of Daoism Chongxuan school in Sui and Tang dynasties,Cheng Xuanying’s philosophy of life integrated the thought resources of Lao Zhuang Daoism,Wei and Jin metaphysics,Daoism in the Six Dynasties and Buddhism,and countered the traditional Daoism’s "Physical immortality" theory,and advocated spiritual transcendence and liberation,reflecting the trend of returning to Lao Zhuang Daoism before Qin Dynasty.Because of his high theoretical literacy and wealth knowledge of the three religions,He could,on the one hand,stick to the standpoint of Daoism,on the other hand,absorb the essence of Buddhism more harmoniously in the process of interpretering Lao Zhuang.Compared with the predecessor of Daoist scholars,his philosophy of life is richer in ideological connotation and more exquisite in theory,which is enough to bring a lot of inspiration to real life.Cheng Xuanying believes that life is generated by Dao(道),and achieved by De(德).Dao(道)is the origin and existence basis of life.De(德)is the concrete development of Dao(道)in real life.Qi(气)is the material that constitutes real life,and the structure of life is the unity of the body and spirit.In essence,life is a state of oneness with the Dao,and Life and Dao are both the same and different.Therefore,life also has the hollowness and naturalness of Dao.The value of life from it’s own is to preserve its natural nature and realize longevity,and externally it is to benefit the group,that is,the unity of self-interest and altruism.The development of life is manifested from life to death,and a cycle of You(有)and Wu(无).The realistic dilemma of life is not only due to external factors such as fate,but also inherent factors that are fascinated by vulgar knowledge and desire because of their own indulgence.The fundamental way of getting out of the predicament lies in recovering the natural nature undeliberately through the methods such as Shuangqian(双遣)Jianwang(兼忘).The ideal state of life is the oneness of the subject and object,returning to the realm of Chongxuan(重玄) and realizing spiritual transcendence and liberation.Such people are real person(真人)and saints(圣人).The term of real person(真人)emphasizes that the cultivation of life preserves one’s trueness and integrity,while the saint(圣人)is based on his self-cultivation,achieving the unification of internal cultivation and external accomplishment.Cheng Xuanying’s philosophy of life stress on theoretical construction,advocates spiritual transcendence and eternity,and inherits the fine tradition of Lao Zhuang Daoism,focusing on both body and spirit.It is an intermediary in the transition from early immortal Daoism(神仙道教)to Neidan Daoism(内丹道教).In the history of Chinese philosophy,Cheng Xuanying is the first thinker who integrated the essence of Lao Zhuang Daoism,Wei and Jin metaphysics,Daoism in the Six Dynasties and Buddhism to build a complete philosophy of life.His philosophy of life has a typical Daoist color and Chinese color,which is enough to provide a deeper source of local Chinese thought for the construction of contemporary life philosophy. |
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