| Zhuangzi ( C.369 ?286 B.C. ) was zhuang by family name and Zhou by personal name, with the courtesy name Zixiu. He was a scholar in the region of meng in the state of Song ( now somewhere near shangqiu, Henon province) during the period of Warring States. Situated in the converging area of the central-plain culture and the Southern-Chu culture, the state of Song was under the rule of the tyrant Prince Yan. This historical background hod a deep impact upon Zhuangzi抯 career and ideology.Zhuangzi, also known as The Holy Canon of Nanhua, is a Taoist classic written by the Warring States period philosopher Zhuangzi and his student. The book is composed of 33 chapters including 7 Inner Chapters, 15 Outer Chapters, and 11 Miscellaneous Chapters.As a chief representative of the Taoist Scholars before the Qin Dynasty. In this book, Zhuangzi inherited and developed Laozis viewpoint of ?the ways of Tao being conditioned by the self-so.?Taking Tao as the origin of the world, he held that Too is self-sufficient and eternal whereas the difference between things is relative. To correspond with this world outlook on life of non-action in face of nature,?Which recommended maintaining personal freedom of body and mind, and of attaining a spiritual plane of complete liberty and of harmony between man and nature.Zhuangzi was so indifferent to worldly troubles that he was worthy of a perfect man although he lived an impoverished life and sometimes had to live on loans. Zhuangzi lived in the mundane world and enjoyed a free spiritual life. He taught his disciples with his upright character and profound knowledge. His prolific writtings constitute a precious heritage to the posterity.Zhuangzis profound philosophy can be summarized in four phrases:Tao as the source of the world ??uniformity of things? non-action in face of nature 揳nd 揳bsolute freedom ?Tao as the Origin of th. world Zhuangzi took Tao as the origin of the world, inheriting Laozi抯 views of from Tao comes oneness; From oneness comes the duality of yin and yang; from duality comes the equilibrium of yin and yang; from equilibrium comes all things under heaven.?According to Zhuangzi抯 Philosophy, ?Tao ?also indicates the rules and laws for the2development of the universe, the nltimate human cognizance, Tao ?was absolute truths which transcend right and wrong, or true and false. The ontology held by Zhuangzi grew out of Laozi and outgrew that held by Laozi. The concept of ?Tao 搘as brought to perfection, which marked a milestone in the development of world philosophy.Uniformity of Things Zhuangzi thinks that uniformity of things is the only natural law to follow by the perfect men who makes no arguments and conforms himself to nature. Zhaungzi抯 view on the uniformity of things contains an element of simple spontaneous dialectics.Non-action in Face of Nature For Zhuongzi, the?heaven?means the natural State of things before mankind came into existence or before human civilization did harm on nature. Zhuangzi held that everything is predestined and that human efforts will come to no avail. 搕o be content with whatever happens at the right time and to follow the natural course means 搕o be content with fate and to do nothing? He was content with fate could he be free and easy and take no action at all because he sought after nothing and wanted to do nothing, by taking no action, it does not means that Zhuangzi did nothing at all, but that he had shaken off the bondage of the mundane world and was enjoying the beauty of nature in his spiritual world.Wandering In Absolute Freedom Zhuangzi aspired for a free life and hoped that he would reath absolute freedom. By?absolute freedom ? Zhuangzi meant not only an unrestrained, rampant life ? but also spiritual freedom without any bondage u According to Zhuangzi, the process to become well versed in Tao is a process to purge the mind. The first stage is ?the fasting of the mind ? The second stage is ?sitting and forgetting ? En other words the man will forget t... |
PDF Full Text Request