Chuang-tzu’s View On Freedom

Chuang-tzu is the first person who realized that the people are as a special life style andhave the right to pursue being a free man, according to the history of Chinese philosophy. Hediscovered the true state of life and presented what the human’s ideal state of existence is. Theliteral meaning the word“freedom”is simple and easy to understand, but as a matter of fact, itis very difficult to be truly understood by people. Chuang-tzu’s thought of freedom is fromdissatisfaction with reality, so his fundamental tendency is in the domain of the philosophy ofthe realistic life.He insisted on explaining the false of the“kernel”,“justice”, and“ritual”when pursuing freedom. Hence, it can be said that he desired true life. The state ofbeing not free is one way showing that the human is constrained by time and space and isconsidered as“destiny”as well.“Destiny”to Chuang-tzu is inevitable, but he distinguishedthe objective life and subjective spirit and made both of them liberate. It means that humancan still maintain the intrinsic spiritual pleasure even the reality is oppressed, thus realize thespiritual transcendence and freedom.“Freedom”is with human’s existence and developmentand also makes human bewildered and confused.“Freedom”is the nature of human existenceand the final goal as well. Human are changing the world in accordance with their idealstoward freedom, at the same time developing the practical freedom and also the spiritualfreedom.“Chuang-tzu”includes thought of freedom that used to be the spirit of home for thepeople at his time. Peripateticism says that even if you cannot obtain freedom in the materialworld, you can realize and achieve an absolute freedom in the spiritual field.Chuang-tzu’s thought of freedom makes today’s human aware of the essence of freedomand the highest value of life. We are pursuing material wealth. We should calm down to thinkabout what the real meaning of life is. Understanding of Chuang-tzu’s consciousness offreedom makes us liberate with our hearts and realize the truth of life. What“Chuang-tzu”reveals is a special significance for keeping the heart pure free.In general, Chuang-tzu’s thought of freedom not only reflects the problems of human life, but also is a realisticproblem.