Making good use of fables is a very important artistic feature of Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi declared "Fable 19" when describing the characteristics of his writings in Fable, and Sima Qian wrote in Historical Records? "Biography of Zhuangzi" Shen Han also pointed out that he "wrote hundreds of words, which are generally cited as fables". It can be said that Zhuangzi was the first writer who consciously created fables, and a lot of fables were used in the whole article of Happy Travel to pin the thought of "inaction" on vivid images.
At the beginning of the text, Zhuangzi created a magnificent and profound realm with a Dapeng who will "migrate to Nanming". In the boundless and roaring North Sea, in an instant, the giant Kun "doesn't know its thousands of miles" became the giant Peng "doesn't know its thousands of miles". When taking off, "the water hammer is three thousand Li, and the soaring person is nine Wan Li", which is spectacular. Then turn to the description of the high-altitude landscape in Wan Li, and see the "wild horse" galloping and floating with dust, and it is difficult to distinguish its color in the vast sky. What a lofty and lonely realm it is. The description of Dapeng in this fable shows that Zhuangzi's heart is all-inclusive and despises everything, and shows Zhuangzi's philosophical thinking on the life of the universe. In contrast, there are two fables about Mi, imitating pigeons and repelling Mi. Just as people were fascinated by the strange realm of Kun Peng's spreading wings, Zhuangzi compared Peng bird with cicada, grey finch and bird repellent by anthropomorphic method, which showed Zhuangzi's aesthetic value orientation of "knowing less is better than knowing big, and being young is better than being big", thus satirizing those complacent people who "know and do effectively as officials, do better than the countryside, combine morality with monarch, and levy the country"
Zhuangzi's prose is full of literariness, and the use of fables makes boring philosophical thoughts interesting.
Second, it is very imaginative.
Fables are also used in the essays of other philosophers in the pre-Qin period, but their fables are mostly enlarged metaphors, and the materials are generally familiar and familiar rumors in people's daily life. Zhuangzi's fables are good at exerting amazing imagination, inventing amazing stories and creating colorful and jaw-dropping images.
In Happy Travel, Zhuangzi sketched a poetic space with fantastic imagination. In this space, the absolute freedom of spirit can be extended by the extremely free space of objects. "There are fish in the north, called Kun, and I don't know how big it is thousands of miles away." Kun, in the old adage, it is either a newly hatched fish or a fish. Then, in the author's pen, Kun "turned into a bird and was named Peng." Peng's back is thousands of miles away. Fly away angrily, its wings are like clouds hanging in the sky. "Imagination is amazing. When Peng moved south, he hit three thousand Li and nine Wan Li. At this time, Dapeng spread its wings in Wan Li, soaring in the sky, and the restrictions of physical space were reduced or even cancelled, and the poet's imagination broke free from the shackles of any space.
Rich imagination makes the article Wang Yang unrestrained, forming a peculiar, unpredictable and unique style of Wang Yang unrestrained, full of romanticism.
Third, be good at using metaphors.
The metaphors in this article are endless and powerful. For example, the author uses a series of metaphors to illustrate the difference between "what to wait for" and "what to wait for", the difference between small and big, and the disparity between small and big in ideological realm and knowledge. First, take the water boat as a metaphor. "If the husband's water is not thick, the boat will be weak; Cover the depression with a glass of water, and the mustard will sail. If you put a cup on it, it will be glue. The water is shallow and the boat is big. The wind is not thick, and its negative wing is weak. "Here, compare water with style, compare the ship to Dapeng, and a few words of a glass of water is the comparison. For example, criticizing Kun and Xueyu for not understanding Peng's long-distance flight behavior, taking food preparation for travel as a metaphor: "Those who are suitable for the wild and have three meals are particularly sure of their stomachs; "The survival of the fittest leaves grain in a hundred miles; The fittest is a thousand miles away, and food is gathered in March. " Then, through the metaphors of fungus, flies, ghosts and trees, as well as the metaphors of Peng Zu and Shouxing, the truth that "small years are not as good as big ones" is explained.
A large number of metaphors contain philosophy in bizarre imagination and vivid description, which are vivid and fascinating.
Through the above analysis, we can see the unique style of Zhuangzi's prose: rich in imagination and unpredictable in fantasy, which makes people feel that Wang Yang is unrestrained, magnificent and full of romance. Judging from his literary achievements, Zhuangzi is the most outstanding among hundred schools of thought. Because of this, Mr. Lu Xun said, "His style of writing is Wang Yang's, and he has a graceful manner. The works of the late Zhou philosophers should not be the first. "