A Study On Wang Bi's Idea Of "Sage Ti Wu"

Ideal personality is one of the most basic propositions in discussing Chinese philosophy.The internal meaning reflects the relationship between heaven and human beings,which has been discussed in Chinese philosophy,and reflects people's attitudes towards the world essence.The main task of this paper is to investigate the thoughts of “sage” historically and analyze Wang Bi's thought of "Nothing" in a logical and inductive manner philosophically,in order to grasp Wang Bi's understanding of ideal personality and world essence during the collapsed and rebuilt period of Wei and Jin dynasties better.The structure of the paper consists of four chapters: introduction,metaphysical basis,“Gong Fu”,realm.It is in such a structural arrangement that the in-depth grasp of the thought of "Sage Ti Wu" can be realized.Since the Creation Myth,the "sage" has existed as an ideal personality,homogeneous and homologous to the world,which indicates that people and the world have the most primitive and universal connection,and they are in the "one" of chaos.Since then,common people began to seek that what is this "one" with a finite body,trying to return to the "one" experience.Therefore,the various factions of the pre-Qin to Wei and Jin dynasties established their own ideal personality,carrying their different ideas about "one",and the approach and realm of experiencing "one".Based on the thoughts of the Confucian Scholars,Wang Bi believed that the supreme ideal personality is the sage of "inner holy and outer king".This "One" is "Nothing","Sage Ti Wu" is to achieve "Nothing" at both the inner holy and outer king.Wang Bi transformed Lao Tzu's "Tao and Thing" relationship into "Nothing and No-nothing" relationship,thinking that "Nothing" is characterized by intangibility and namelessness,it is the essence of the world,the being of the beings;Thinking that "No-nothing" is characterized by tangibility and name,it is the “end” of the world and the beings of the world.In the relationship of "Nothing and No-nothing","Nothing" has absolute universality and inevitability,all “No-nothing” is "based on Nothing." As a pair of basic categories of "Nothing",the relation between "Nothing and No-nothing" is also the relation of Origin and End,Substance and Function,One and Many,Static and Dynamic.Moreover,because the chaos of "Nothing" itself leads to the existence of ambiguity and multilayer in theNothing and No-nothing,Origin and End,Substance and Function,One and Many,Static and Dynamic.Therefore,the grasp of the "Nothing" of the world essence must be multi-dimensional.In the approach of grasping "Nothing",the thinking of tangibility and name is the most basic logic starting point of thinking.Through this thinking,the concept of "Nothing" is derived,and then the relevant category of "Nothing" is used to grasp "Nothing".However,in the thinking of tangibility and name,due to the limitation of naming,it is impossible to fully grasp the chaos of "Nothing",which requires the use of elephant thinking(or metaphorical thinking)peculiar to Chinese philosophy.Elephant thinking(or metaphorical thinking)has the unique feature of connecting the world essence,the beings and me directly.The main idea and carrier of thinking are displayed together in the artistic world of the subject of thinking through metaphorical thinking,presenting the state of harmony between heaven and man.Whether it is the thinking of tangibility and name or elephant thinking,both are tools to grasp "Nothing" and cannot become the purpose itself.Therefore,we must transcend on the basis of these two thinking tools.This requires that the subject of thinking has the consciousness of "enlightenment",transcends one's limited body,and infinitely approaches the world essence: "Nothing".It is in this process that the ideal personality has realized his grasp of the world's essence of "Nothing",thus achieving "TI WU" in spirit and practice.In the realm of the spirit,the sage is with the Tao,his heart is full of “Nothing”,and return to life as it is;In the place of practice,do nothing and everything is done,contact with beings but not trapped in them,and transform the individual spiritual realm into the field of practice and realize the truth of "Nothing".The perfect presentation of "Nothing" in spirit and practice is the " inner holy and outer king " respected by Wang Bi,which provides the way to settle down and get on pursuit for one's in a troubled times.In short,the analysis on the thought of "Sage Ti Wu" by Wang Bi shows that ideal personality and the world essence are the two major themes of the development of Chinese philosophy.The thought of "Sage Ti Wu" by Wang Bi also shows the special performance of these two themes in the special period of Wei and Jin dynasties.