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Chapter 10 Zhuangzi's Theory of Homogeneity Is Not an Goal


The second part of the book of Zhuangzi that has been handed down in modern times is Qi The first article is a getaway, which talks about looking at problems from a higher height and realm, especially looking at life and world affairs.

Only when we stand on a higher realm, on the height of the Tao, can we wander freely in life.

So how can we look at problems from a higher level, especially at the events of life?

Because it is generally easier said than done, it does not mean that you stand on a higher height and a higher realm.

It's that we have to have a method, we have to improve our own realm, and we have to raise our cognitive height.

What if you can improve your life realm and cognitive height?

The second part of the book is telling us how to improve our realm and raise our cognitive height.

Zhuangzi's theory of homogeneity is not an end, but a way to improve our realm and cognition, and to expand our horizons.

I have read many books that interpret Zhuangzi, and they all think that Zhuangzi's theory of all things refers to all things and horses in one day, and what do they say "Qi I", "Qi Wu", "Qi Meng", "Qi Tong", etc., and completely regard Zhuangzi's Theory of Qi Wu as the end of it, and the Qi Theory of All Things is the purpose of Zhuangzi.

Thus characterizing Zhuangzi's philosophical thought as negative.

If you think so during the Warring States period, in the period of the hundred schools of thought, it would not be strange.

Because during the period of the hundred schools of thought, it was normal for various doctrines to attack and slander each other.

In order to highlight one's own doctrinal viewpoint, he deliberately misinterprets the doctrines of others.

And in later generations, it is the same, there are also people who deliberately misinterpret Taoist doctrine.

And in modern society, freedom of speech, academic freedom.

If someone else says that Zhuangzi's philosophy is negative, it is incomprehensible.

If modern scholars still think that Zhuangzi's philosophical thought is negative and copy the interpretation of their predecessors, then they will not use their brains to read Zhuangzi at all.

Zhuangzi's theory of homogeneity is not an end, but a way to improve our cognition.

The theory of all things in the second part of the inner chapter of Zhuangzi, which has been handed down in later generations, is the same as the first part of the inner chapter, which was not written down by Zhuangzi in one breath, but edited and sorted out the articles of Zhuangzi according to the doctrine and thought of Zhuangzi in later generations.

From this article on the Theory of Things, we can see how fierce the doctrinal debate between Confucianism and Mohism was during the Zhuangzi period.

There is also the debate between Zhuangzi and Hui Shi, which should also be frequent.

In the Getaway chapter, there is a debate between Zhuangzi and Hui Shi.

In this treatise on all things, we see the name of Hui Shi and the topics and propositions that Hui Shi often debates.

There are also several passages that are the subject of the debate between Zhuangzi and Hui Shi.

It's just that it is not marked as the content of the debate between the two.

It is precisely because the debate of that period was fierce that this treatise on all things is based on the debate between Confucianism and Mohism.

The opening chapter does not directly write about the debate between Confucianism and Mohists, but writes about how Nan Guozi cultivates, and writes about the highest state of cultivation that Nan Guozi thinks.

Then I wrote about the sounds of heaven and earth and the sounds of people.

And then I wrote that whether it was the sounds of heaven and earth or the sounds of people, it was just a sound.

And then from this, the debate between Confucianism and Mohists is derived, in front of the Tao, in heaven and earth, it is just a voice.

The debate between Confucianism and Mohism is like a bird singing in nature, the bird does not know that Confucianism and Mohism are debating, and thinks that it is a sound, a human voice.

If you say this directly, many people may not understand and wonder why the debate between Confucianism and Mohists has become the same sound as a bird, the same as the sound of heaven and earth, just a sound.

So Zhuangzi gave an explanation for this, so that we can understand it, and take the debate between Confucianism and Mohism as a kind of voice.

If we accept this view, and treat the controversy between Confucianism and Mohism as a sound, just like the song of a bird, it is just a sound, the voice of man - the words of man.

Then the debate between Confucianism and Mohism is unnecessary and meaningless.

Confucianism and Mohism are no longer arguing, arguing is boring, so where is the difference between right and wrong in the world, right and wrong, and so on How does Zhuangzi explain it?

Nan Guozi believes that cultivation should achieve the goal of making oneself the same as all things, just one thing.

It is a state that treats itself as a thing, as a thing in nature, as one thing as anything else, just one thing.

Nan Guozi, a fictional character of Zhuangzi.

What kind of realm is this?

This state is to forget yourself, not to think of yourself as yourself, not to think of yourself as a human being.

Consider yourself as one thing, like the rest of the heavens and the earth.

There are many species in heaven and earth, there are people, beasts, mountains, water, air, soil, and so on.

The highest state of cultivation is not to regard oneself as a human being, but to treat oneself as a thing, just like other species, just one thing.

The people here refer to the civilized human beings, the human beings who have a conscious mind.

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We don't think of ourselves as human beings, but as one thing, like everything else in nature.

In fact, this can give people a misunderstanding, and it is also a time when other schools of thought take the opportunity to misinterpret Taoism.

They believe that Taoism, or Zhuangzi, is making people go back to ancient times, to the age of ignorance, to the age of animals, or to the age of plants.

Only then can we treat ourselves as objects, aren't we In fact, this is a misunderstanding and someone is deliberately misinterpreting.

Neither Zhuangzi nor Lao Tzu meant this, and as wise men of the pre-Qin era, it was impossible to be ignorant to this extent.

Both society and humanity are constantly progressing, and it is impossible to go back to the past.

What Zhuangzi means is that we have to reach this state of cognition, where we see ourselves as one thing, just like other things in nature.

If we reach this level of awareness, then we will have a different view of problems, especially of life.

Our outlook on life, worldview, and cosmology will be completely changed.

Why does Zhuangzi want us to treat ourselves as one thing, just like other things in nature?

To understand this, we must have a foundation, a foundation of Taoist doctrine.

We must first understand what the Tao is.

Again, to learn Taoist philosophy, you must first understand what the Tao is, and if you don't understand what the Tao is, you can't understand the Taoist doctrine and thought.

The Tao is the origin of all things, the origin of the universe, and everything comes from the Tao.

If so, many people may not understand.

To put it more in layman's terms, the Tao is change and evolution.

Taoists believe that the current cosmic world, including the sun, moon, stars, earth, and everything on the earth, has evolved.

It is all evolved from a certain Dongdong over countless years, and a certain Dongdong is the Tao.

Taoists believe that man and everything have evolved, and the earth has also evolved.

So there is the idea that man and all things are equal.

Man and all things are one thing between heaven and earth, and with the change and operation of heaven and earth, human beings and all things have evolved.

Therefore, man is one with all things, with the earth, with the sun, moon and stars.

People and all things, the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars, etc., are all part of a certain large environment or large objects.

If we still don't understand it, then in Zhuangzi's treatise on all things, we have made an explanation.

Zhuangzi took the five organs in the human body as an analogy, the five internal organs in our body, the lungs and other organs, can they say that they are independent individuals, they dare not say, in fact, they are all part of the human body.

In the same way, can we say that human beings are independent individuals, can we human beings live independently without relying on nature and the earth?

Therefore, man, like all things, is only an integral part of heaven and earth, not independent.

If we have this understanding, can we regard ourselves as a thing in heaven and earth, and can our cultivation reach this height, as high as Nan Guozi, to forget ourselves, to forget all the troubles in the world, to forget our conscious thinking, and to treat ourselves as a thing When our cultivation realm, that is, the height of cognition, reaches this level, and if we regard ourselves as a thing in nature, then it is not difficult for me to understand that the heavens and the earth are beautiful.

The sound of people is the sound of people.

The controversy between Confucianism and Mohism is nothing more than a human voice in the face of that realm.

The sound that people make, in front of that realm, is like a bird singing, it is just a sound.

When we reach this cognitive state, what do we have to argue with others?

We are all just things in nature Therefore, the sound of human beings, including the arguments between Confucianism and Mohists, is just like a bird singing, just a sound.

It's like the sound of the wind passing through the branches of a tree.

Like the howl of a wild beast, it is just a sound.

Of course, there are only a few wise people who can reach this cognitive realm.

And for most sentient beings, it is natural that they cannot reach this cognitive height.

For ordinary Taoists, they can't reach this realm of cultivation either.

So how do you make people understand?

There is no need to understand the controversy between Confucianism and Mohism Let's not say that the controversy between Confucianism and Mohism is just a sound, just like the singing of birds, just a sound.

Let's first unpack what Confucianism and Mohism are arguing about All sentient beings cannot reach that high level of cognition, and regard people and all things as a part of heaven and earth.

So can we lower the standard and analyze the problem from a lower level?

That is, we look at the problem from a different angle.

What exactly are Confucians and Mohists arguing about?

Scholars who like to examine evidence may have to cite the arguments of the scriptures and list what Confucianism and Mohists debated back then.

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But for Taoists, for Zhuangzi, it can be summed up in one sentence What Confucianism and Mohists are arguing about is nothing more than saying that their academic ideas are more conducive to human existence.

It's as simple as that It's all about survival Let's not subdivide it, what details did Confucianism and Mohism argue about back thenIn front of Taoism and Zhuangzi, those arguments are just country women quarreling, and they are all inconsequential.

Just like in today's society, our country has its own legal system and governing principles, and foreign countries also have their own legal systems and governing policies.

Can we say that there is something wrong with the legal system and the way the country is governed by the law in other countries?

In a word, no matter which country's legal system and governing the country, they all serve the people, the country, and those in power.

It's as simple as that When it doesn't serve the people, the country will be in chaos.

If you don't serve the country, the country will fall apart, and if you don't serve those in power, there will be no one to be an official or there will be a corrupt official, it's as simple as that.

All in all, they are all in the service of survival.

To put it in layman's terms, they are all in the service of living.

Therefore, Zhuangzi's theory of homogeneity is not an end, but teaches us to look at problems from a different perspective.

If we stand on a higher level, on the higher realm, on the higher realm of the Tao, if we look back at the events of life, will we change our previous concepts, and will we get rid of the whirlpool of the world?

Won't we be able to live more freely because of this?

To repeat, Zhuangzi does not want us to treat ourselves as one thing, not as a person.

Instead, we need to raise our cognitive heights, don't just talk about things, don't talk about what Confucianism and Mohists argued about back then, and also participate in the debate.

Rather, we need to step out of that circle and think about the ultimate purpose of the debate between Confucianism and Mohistism.

When we jumped out of the circle of Confucianism and Mohist controversy, we realized that Confucianism and Mohism were both fighting for survival and believed that their doctrines and propositions were correct.

It's as simple as arguing about such a thing When we jump out of the Confucianism and Mohist controversy and only talk about how to survive, it is good to say that we, like all things, come from the Tao and return to the Tao after death.

Our life is just a life process When we have this understanding and we participate in society, we will change many of the wrong views of the past.

Since life is just a process, those superfluous pursuits in our lives can be removed.

If we don't pursue superfluous things, we just live for the sake of living, will our lives have a lot more time, and live more chic?

Therefore, Zhuangzi's theory of homogeneity is not an end or a negative, but on the contrary, it helps us to face the events of life correctly At this point, we should understand why the controversy between Confucianism and Mohism is just a sound, just like the song of a bird, just a sound, just a human voice.

The little bird did not learn Confucianism or Mohist doctrine, and the little bird survived like a little bird.

The beast did not learn the Confucian and Mohist doctrines, and knew how to live.

Therefore, the controversy between Confucianism and Mohism is nothing more than a sound, just like the song of a bird, just a sound, just a human voice.

At this point in the explanation, there may be some dogma again, understanding that human beings can not learn and do nothing In fact, it's not that Zhuangzi's words have not been finished, and for those fools who can't turn their heads, I can only explain them step by step: