Research On Chuang-tzu’s View On Life And Death

This article makes a superficial study of Chuang-tzu’s view on life and death. Life and death is the tremendous change in our life and can affect our feelings badly. How Chuang-tzu views life and death? In the first chapter we conclude the three stages of ancient people’s view on this question. In the first stage, things are not being separated. People neither know a thing, nor do they know there is a difference between things and between life and death. In the second stage, people already distinguish between things, but they regard life as a loss and death a return. In the third stage, from Non-being to Being to things, and next there being life and death, but life and death is still an organic whole. These three stages are closely connected with people’s understanding of Taoism and Qi and spirits, therefore we will hackle Chuang-tzu’s view on those questions in the following. Briefly speaking, things come from Taoism, thus they have no difference and are the same. Things are also formed by Qi, and the whole world is made up of Qi. From this perspective, there is no difference between life and death, because they are only an accumulation or dissipation of Qi. People’s spirits comes from Tian, when people are alive, spirits support body, and when people are dead, spirits return to Tian. From the point of spirits, it is long-lasting either in people or in Tian. Of all these notions, Chuang-tzu’s view on Taoism is extremely important, because people’s life and death are depended on Taoism. To understand the reason of life, we need to know more about Taoism, so in the first chapter we use a large length to trace how Chuang-tzu acquire his understanding of Taoism.The first chapter mainly researches from the point of reason, carefully analyzing the involved notions such as Taoism and Qi and spirits and so on. But apart from reason, there are also emotions. The difference between ancient people and Chuang-tzu’s contemporary lies in that his contemporary can’t treat life and death as the same but are subject to their prejudices and delusive emotions, so they cling to life and fear death. So how to treat people’s natural emotions? Chuang-tzu is fully aware of people’s fear and disgust on death and admit that they are true and natural. However, we can’t be affected by things too much, or we will leave Tian too long. The integration of Tian and Ren and the integration of emotions and reason are complicated processes, so in the second chapter, we revolve around Dazongshi and represent the process from conflict to mergence delicately. Proceed from human being’s natural emotions, we can start our reflection and comprehension about Tian and Taoism over and over again, and during the endless circulation we can truly understand the balance between Tian and Ren.