Zhuangzi was named Zhou, and the Tang people put forward the word. Keiko is his friend and has been poor all his life. Besides, it is almost impossible for us to get any exact information about him. When were you born? Where is it? None of them can be tested. As for life experience, it is even more difficult for disciples to get any information from their ancestors and friends (except Keiko, but it seems that there is only Keiko). There are always different opinions about the year of his birth and death, but it is generally from 375 BC to 275 BC. A popular view is that Zhuangzi was born in 369 BC and died in 286 BC, and this time was spent on junior and senior high school textbooks and many books about Zhuangzi. Where was he born? It seems certain, because it is clearly written in Historical Records that "Zhuangzi is a fool". However, the ownership of Mongolia is controversial. Scholars in the Han Dynasty believed that Mongolia belonged to the Song State (now Shangqiu), and this view is still the mainstream. However, many people raised objections. Some people think it's Chu, others think it's Qi and Lu. There is also a saying in the historical records that "Zhou Taste is an official of Mongolian lacquer garden". What is a "paint garden official"? This has caused controversy again. Many predecessors thought that the lacquer garden was the name of the city and the lacquer garden official was the chief executive. Neighbors questioned that Yang Kuan thought that the lacquer garden was the garden of lacquer trees, and the lacquer garden official was a small official in the official forest farm, which was similar to the poor people. Some scholars think that lacquer garden officials refer to officials who used to manage lacquer tree planting and lacquer ware making in Zhuangzi, and so on.
Zhuangzi has no distinction between internal and external impurities. According to Hanshu, there are 52 original Zhuangzi, but only 33 Zhuangzi today. It is generally believed that this version of Zhuangzi was edited by Xiang Jinguo, which is divided into internal and external miscellaneous works, but some people think that it was written by Liu Xiang, so I won't discuss it here. Ever since Su Shi, scholars have been questioning the authenticity of Zhuangzi. At present, most people think that the inner chapter was written by Zhuangzi, the outer chapter was written by Zhuangzi and his disciples, and the miscellaneous articles were written by later scholars. As for stealing feet and saying swords, they think it has nothing to do with Zhuangzi and his thoughts.
Background of philosophers:
Born in Zhuangzi decades ago, he died in Mozi; Two years before Zhuangzi was born, Andy died. He was one of the most influential figures in Taoism, and his theory once occupied half the world. As for Zhuangzi's era, famous artists came forth in large numbers, such as Keiko (one year older than the famous founder Zhuangzi, who proposed a different agreement and advocated unity, and once led troops to break through the Hangu Pass), Gongsun Long (Zhuangzi Jr., 49 years old, another famous representative, who advocated breaking away from hard work and was good at sophistry, and was famous for being "a white horse is not a horse") and Mencius (three years older than Zhuangzi, who traveled around the world after Confucius). When frustrated, it is said that people are masters with "five virtues", treat them with courtesy and do their best, so it is called "talking about heaven and beauty". In addition, Sun Juan, Zhang Qin, Tian Dan, Shen Dao, Shang Yang Qu Yuan and Meng Chang Plain (both spring and Xin were later than Zhuangzi) were all born in this period.
Monarch background:
Before Zhuangzi was born, the State of Chu was very powerful, suppressed the governors and became king. Zhuangzi experienced three generations of Chu kings: Xuan Wang, Wang Wei and Wang Huai. Chu's hegemonic position near his parents was not stable, and Wei and Qi came from behind. The two countries respect each other as kings. When Zhuangzi was born, Wei Huiwang (Keiko) was the prime minister of Liang Huiwang for many years, but later he left because of disagreement with Zhang Yi. After the death of King Huizi, Keiko returned to Wei and acceded to the throne a year later. Six years later, he moved the capital to Kaifeng, calling Liang "defeated by Qi in the east, Qin in the west and Chu in the south". Zhuangzi 13 years old, Qi Weiwang acceded to the throne. He is a monarch who "made a blockbuster without saying anything" and used Sun Bin, Tian Ji, Zou Ji and others to govern the country. His successor, Qi Xuanwang, was greedy for money. He almost destroyed Wei during the civil strife in Yan State, which led to the revenge of "taking the seven treasures and burning the temples" 30 years later (when the prince was proclaimed king). Since then, Qi has been devastated. Zhuangzi acceded to the throne at the age of 20 (yes, Zhao dared not be king at this time). Zhao, a generation of heroes, is under siege and is at the mercy of others. When King Wuling of Zhao ascended the throne, it was said that Zhongshan also dared to harass Zhao, so King Wuling of Zhao "rode in a rage and shot", and his national strength suddenly increased greatly. Unfortunately, a hero was starved to death in the chaos of the sand dunes. Since then, Zhao experienced the reign of King Huiwen and filial piety, and 24 years after the death of Zhuangzi (filial piety became king), the battle of Changping broke out and the main force of Zhao was wiped out. Since then, the state of Zhao has been dying, and the situation in the six countries has also gone from bad to worse. During the reign of Zhuangzi, Qin experienced two generations of monarchs: Qin Xiaogong (with Shang Yang) and Qin Wanghui (with Zhang Yi). South Korea and Yan are extremely weak, so I won't mention it. However, Yan Zhaowang should be introduced. He acceded to the throne at the age of 57 in Zhuangzi, and listened to Guo Kun's suggestion of "buying a horse's bones with a thousand dollars", taking this as a teacher, building Huang Jintai, taking special care of the wise men in the world, and especially recruiting Le Yi. Later, under the leadership of Le Yi, a very weak country (just like today's Mongolia wants to fight Russia) defeated the arrogant "East Emperor" (everyone is a king, so it is natural to give himself a higher title, which shows that Qi is powerful)-King Qi Min.
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(In this article, Zhuangzi's date of birth and birth and place of birth adopted a popular view. )
Zhuangzi was born in 369 BC, which is a bloody and cruel era with moral decay. At this time, the theme of this era is only two words-"merit" and "benefit". Everyone wants to be the boss of the monarch. Which of the Seven Heroes is not a country with a story? Think of the great martial arts of our ancestors and compare ourselves with mediocrity. Can we not be ashamed? What are we doing? Fighting! So "fight for land and kill wild; Fighting for the city, killing people and benefiting the city ",the place where people were born has become a ruin. The dialogue between Zhuangzi in Joy and Skeleton reflects the tragic situation of "bones exposed in the wild" caused by the war. What about those scholars Su Dai said, "Integrity is not enough, and righteousness is not born. People who are righteous are self-explanatory and do not think about making progress. " This thought represented the common concept of scholars at that time, and it was the last word to care about one's own courtesy, integrity and shame, and let oneself be proud of the spring breeze. Yi cheung Su Qin did it, and treachery is as simple as drinking cold water; So is Pang Juan. In order to keep his position, framing his classmate Sun Bin and digging out his kneecap is nothing. Zou Ji did so without hesitation. As long as he can keep his position as prime minister, don't speak ill of Tian Ji, even if it is despicable. What about ordinary people? Su Qin said that the king of Qin had failed, exhausted a hundred taels of gold, and returned depressed. "Wife can't sew, sister-in-law can't cook, and parents can't talk." Su Qin was ashamed; Later, it was said that Zhao Wang succeeded. She was deeply impressed and had a splendid white jade. When she used it, "parents heard that the Qing Palace was cleared, Zhang Le set up wine, and the suburbs would be three miles away. The wife looked askance and listened; Su Qin asked her sister-in-law why her attitude changed so much. She said, "Respect the position of the season and get more gold." Su Qin sighed, "Poor parents have no children, and rich relatives are afraid. "It can be seen that people in the whole society have become impatient, eager for quick success and instant benefit, and the ugly faces in the cold world are disgusting.
Zhuangzi clearly realized this, and he tried to maintain his independent personality in this dirty troubled times. Although he flaunts quiet, he has a strong love-hate relationship in his heart. Guiguzi once taught his disciples: If the world can be saved, try to save it; If the world can't be saved, destroy it completely so that it can be reborn. Confucius, Mencius and Mozi all believe that the world can be saved, so they either flaunt benevolence and righteousness, or advocate universal love, or look up to the sky and sigh, trying to repair the crumbling house. Zhuangzi thinks that the world has fallen to the extreme, and it can't be saved by a few people running around. He can't tear down the broken house, but that doesn't prevent him from telling people that the house is uninhabitable. In "Zhuangzi", on the one hand, he tries to build his own perfect world and perfect personality, on the other hand, he satirizes the social customs and the villain's face.
Zhuangzi hates monarchs of all countries. He thinks that the root of all disasters is the insatiable ambition of monarchs. In Zeyang, he listed the crimes of emperors, such as "hiding for things and being ignorant, being too embarrassed to commit crimes, blaming them heavily but not punishing them, and punishing them far away", and thought that unhealthy trends in society were also caused by this. "People know that they are tired, and then they are vain; The sunrise is more fake, and the foot soldiers are not fake. " For the monarch who regards human life as dirt, Zhuangzi's heart is full of grief and indignation. He compared the battle for land to the battle for the snail horn in Dai's import-"Those who have a country on the left of the snail horn are called Tushi's, and those who have a country on the right of the snail horn are called Man's. They compete for land, bury tens of thousands of corpses, drive north, and then fight for five days." The victorious monarch is nothing but a sad and ridiculous clown in Zhuangzi's eyes. Zhuangzi doesn't think there is anything to argue about just a piece of land. The land of "the company of five emperors, the struggle of three kings, the worries of benevolent people, and the efforts of teachers" is as small as a grain of rice in big warehouse at home.
Zhuangzi also hates licentious and incompetent monarchs. Zhuangzi once went to see Wang Wei in patched linen and broken shoes. Wang Wei said, "Why does Mr. Wang look sloppy and depressed?" Zhuangzi used the simile of an ape. The ape is in the middle of tall trees and dense forests, and even Hou can't help it grow. Once he enters the thorns and bushes, he will be frightened and unable to exert his skills. Then Zhuangzi went on to say, "Now he is in a daze, but he has to be diligent. Can he get it? " (Faint refers to Wei Huiwang, and chaotic refers to Yi Cheung)
Han Yu said that "Lao Tzu's benevolence and righteousness are small", but Zhuangzi went further-he hated benevolence and righteousness. His words about "benevolence and righteousness" were so fierce that he even called them "evil beasts" (more vicious than scorpion's tail and fiercer than wild animals). Renyi is very good. Why does Zhuangzi hate benevolence and righteousness? In fact, the first paragraph has made it very clear. Is there still benevolence and righteousness in the world at this time? It's gone "Whoever steals the hook is punished, and whoever steals the country is a minister", "Huan Gong Xiaobai killed his brother and became a sister-in-law, and Guan Zhong was a minister; Tian Chengzi killed the king and stole the country, and Confucius received the money. How can there be benevolence and righteousness in this world? But at this time, although there is no benevolence and righteousness, everyone calls it benevolence and righteousness, and they are all doing things in the name of benevolence and righteousness for their benefit. Zhuangzi went on to say, "Love is beyond righteousness, few people donate righteousness, and many people benefit", "The trip to righteousness is only for hypocrisy, and the false husband is greedy for birds", "If you are thirsty for righteousness, you will lose righteousness if you are hot". Few people really pursue righteousness, but most people just feel that they are seeking benefits, so that righteousness has become a tool for greedy animals. Once there is no need for meaning, these people will. Zhuangzi told a story in Tian Zi Fang: When Zhuangzi visited, Ai Gong told him that people in Lu wore Confucian clothes, so Lu was full of Confucian scholars. Zhuangzi went on to say: "A gentleman has his way, but not necessarily his service; Those who take it may not know its way. "Let ai gong ordered, don't know this way and wear their clothes, shoot. In the end, only one person was still wearing Confucian clothes. This story clearly shows Zhuangzi's point of view. Few people really do justice, and most people just pretend to cheat.
In fact, most of the objects of Zhuangzi's refutation of benevolence and righteousness were monarchs and scholars at that time. Because people often use "Wang Zhidao first" and "sage's words" to cover up their shameless behavior. So Zhuangzi criticized the former king and refuted the Confucian scholars (Confucius once said that his theory should be based on benevolence and righteousness), or he mercilessly took off the fig leaf of those people. Zhuangzi said that "the root of chaos must be born between Yao and Shun" and that "since the Tang and Wu Dynasties, all peoples have been in chaos", which makes the rhetoric of "Yao cutting pocket, Shun cutting three seedlings, Yu cutting * * * workers, Tang cutting summer, cutting worship and cutting Zhou" nowhere to be placed; Zhuangzi mercilessly mocked the benevolent people advertised by Confucianism: Boyi Shu Qi starved to death, Jiexiu was burned to death, his tail was drowned, Shen Tudi drowned himself in the water, and Baojiao died clinging to a tree. These people are no different from dismembered dogs and dead pigs swollen and rotted in water, which makes those who want to seek fame and fortune through benevolence feel uneasy; Zhuangzi also directly reprimanded Confucius (Kong Qiu and Mo Zhai had a very high reputation in Zhuangzi, but sadly, except for Monk and Xun Qing, most people only learned Confucius' skills for the sake of fame and fortune), saying that "clothes are light, but the truth is heavy, and if you want to be rich, you will confuse the master of the world" and "eat without plowing, weave without clothes, and shake your tongue to make trouble".
Zhuangzi thinks that official career is very sinister. In "The World on Earth", he shouted out his heart through the crazy connection between Chu and Yu, "Feng Feng, why did morality decline?" We can't wait for the afterlife, and we can't chase after it. There is a saying in the world, and a saint becomes a man; There is no road in the world; What a sacred life! At this time, I am just exempt from punishment! Happiness is dry and unknown; The disaster is more serious than the ground, and I don't know how to avoid it. "In Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi showed such feelings many times: In Autumn Water, in the face of the appointment of the king of Chu, Zhuangzi ignored the pole and would rather drag his tail; In Sheng Da, the high official Houlu is compared to a knife that pigs enjoy before they die. In Lie Yu Kou, facing a man who was lucky enough to get Wang Song's love and show off in front of him, Zhuangzi compared Wang Song to a sleeping cruel black dragon. The glory gained by this man is compared to a stolen dragon ball. Once the black dragon wakes up, everything will be reduced to ashes. This view is based on reality: Keiko was loyal to Wei, but was dismissed; Zhang Yi has made great contributions to the State of Qin, but he was almost betrayed by the King of Qin. Le Yi avenged the prince's death, but he was expelled. Seeing all this, how could Zhuangzi feel nothing? Zhuangzi has repeatedly emphasized the theory of uselessness. In Zhuangzi, there are many examples where a tree is just incompetent and not cut down. Based on this idea, Zhuangzi further put forward his way of life through a story in Mountain Forest: useless trees are not cut down, and geese are not good at singing. In the face of disciple's questions, Zhuangzi said that he would be between incompetent and incompetent. In fact, this is also very understandable. If you are really incompetent, it is difficult for an ordinary person to survive in troubled times.
As I said before, at this time, the society is very utilitarian, and Zhuangzi hates this social custom. In the Song Dynasty, there was an emissary named Cao Shang, who went to the State of Qin to get a hundred chariots and horses presented by the King of Qin. He ran to Zhuangzi to show off and laughed at Zhuangzi for "living in a poor lane, embarrassed to knit shoes and embarrassed to have fun" (living in a poor lane, with straw sandals, sallow and emaciated). Zhuangzi showed no weakness, and the sharpness of his words was staggering. He said that the king of Qin was ill and asked someone to treat him. He gave the sore sucker a lift, and the hemorrhoid licker a lift five times. The lower he licks, the more he gives. Finally, he sneered: "How can you get more cars if you treat hemorrhoids?" I don't know what that person's last expression was. Zhuangzi certainly doesn't like people who are obsessed with interests, but he doesn't like famous people either. Zhuangzi is also dismissive of those who "play the fool, cultivate one's morality and be honest, and make it clear that they are like exposing the sun and the moon". Zhuangzi used to scold Confucius under the pretext of the dialogue between the old man in the vegetable garden and Zigong, but in fact he was scolding the people who are seeking fame in the world-"Learning to be excellent is an official, and solo is famous in the world" (trying to learn and imitate saints everywhere, boasting Christmas over everyone and sighing songs in the world to show off his fame) In Zhuangzi's concept, "virtue is famous, and knowledge is beyond doubt." The famous are also rolling; Those who know, argue ","good has no near name, evil has no near punishment ","no name for corpse, no politics, no service, no knowledge of the Lord "are the correct ways.
The utility of the world wind will inevitably lead to the hypocrisy of the people. Zhuangzi clearly saw that "the heart of mortals is more dangerous than mountains and rivers, and it is difficult to know the sky. There is also a period of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and people are affectionate. " In Foreign Objects, Zhuangzi mercilessly exposed the hypocrisy of the little Confucianism-"Confucianism built a tomb with poetry". Confucian scholars engaged in grave robbery, and when they pried open the pearls contained in the dead population, they also quoted the classics-"green wheat gives birth to jade and evil spirits." If you don't give, why die? " Legend has it that Zhuangzi once went to Jianhe Hou's house to borrow food because he was poor. Jianhe Hou readily promised, but he said that he would lend Zhuangzi 300 gold directly after receiving the city gold. I drew such a big cake for Zhuangzi. Obviously, I don't want to borrow it. If it is someone else, it must be a mystery, otherwise it will make everyone very bored. But Zhuangzi is different. He hates this hypocrisy. He said angrily, "When I came, I heard a carp calling my name. It turned out that Chen Bo, who was in Donghai, China, was trapped on land and lacked water, and prayed to me for water to survive. I patted my chest and said,' Yes, but wait until I persuade King Wu Yue to bring water from Xijiang to see you.' The carp was very angry and said to me, "all I want is some domestic water." You might as well go to the fish market early to see me become a dried fish.' "
Zhuangzi hated false benevolence and admired true virtue. Benevolence and righteousness are external exposure, while morality is internal cultivation. Zhuangzi highly praised morality, saying that "the most virtuous people are not heated by fire, drowned by water, harmed by cold and heat, or stolen by animals". Zhuangzi thinks that a person's appearance is not important, but the enrichment of virtue is the foundation of being a man. Humpback, exposed spine, shoulders above the head, face hidden under the umbilicus, reaching out to the road; "Don't teach, sit and discuss" and teach without words, but disciples are like Confucius, Wang Qian, a monk (with his feet cut off); Shentu Jia (not Shentu Jia who followed Liu Bang to farmland, this is a fictional character of Zhuangzi), but also Uyghur and Zi Chan (Zheng, who cast the tripod of punishment, changed the legal system, and "Zi Chan never dies" is immortal). Although the face is ugly, but "the husband and the place, thinking but not going." When the woman saw it, she asked her parents to say,' It's better to be a wife than a mistress' and kept counting. "Zhuangzi repeatedly emphasized the importance of virtue through this series of extreme examples. Zhuangzi also told a story: A group of piglets were sucking the milk of a sow who had just died. Suddenly, when they found the sow dead, they all panicked and fled everywhere. The reason why the pig loves his mother is not that he loves his body, but what keeps his body alive. This "thing that makes its body alive" is a virtue when pushed to the human body, so virtue is powerful and ugliness will be forgotten.
Plato once said that "extreme freedom can only produce extreme slavery". In fact, this sentence is also correct in turn-extreme slavery will inevitably produce free thoughts. It was that era when rites and music bound human nature and the monarch enslaved the people that created Zhuangzi's thought of freedom and equality. Zhuangzi's view of freedom is the double freedom of body and mind, while Zhuangzi's view of equality is the great equality between people and between people and everything. Zhuangzi yearns for the carefree realm: natural and unrestrained as Dapeng, with a water hammer of three thousand miles; Leisurely as a butterfly, I forget both. He believes that self, merit and fame are all fetters of freedom, as the saying goes, "God is useless to those who have no self, and saints are nameless." "No self" is not to turn yourself into an idiot, but to get rid of your excessive desire and listen to your inner voice. "People who are capable know when they are working that people who are not capable have nothing to ask for." Many people waste their lives and finally sigh, "I haven't had this body for a long time." When can I forget the camp? " That's why I locked myself up, worked hard and lost my freedom. "Reactive power" means not being fettered by the secular world, doing whatever you want and acting freely. The ancient Sheshan god did not eat grains, sucked in wind and drank dew, and rode clouds to subdue dragons. Yao Shun, who "harms others and does not benefit himself", lost his mind after seeing it. "Nameless" does not mean that saints have no names, but that saints have no names, that is, saints don't care about names, so it can also be understood as follows-go your own way and let others talk. Just as Song "was praised by the whole world without advice, but not by the whole world", he was not tired of fame and fortune, nor would he be criticized by others and change his practice. Zhuangzi is such a person. He goes his own way and doesn't care about "the monarch and his subjects can't". Thousands of years later, Tang Bohu got a true story from Zhuangzi-"People laugh at me crazy, but I laugh at people who can't see through". Freedom is based on equality. Imagine where freedom comes from in a hierarchical social environment. So in Zhuangzi's concept, equality is also an important part. Confucius advocated "benevolence", but "love has equal difference" His love is noble and honorable, and the so-called love is just the pity of superiors to subordinates. Zhuangzi is different. Zhuangzi doesn't think who is more noble than who. He is contemptuous of power and originality. In his view, monarchs are not nobler than civilians, and wise men are not smarter than fools. This is Zhuangzi's fierce resistance to the unhealthy world trend of oppressing people with power and deceiving fools with wisdom at that time, and it is also the basis of Zhuangzi's concept of equality. Based on this, he put forward the theory that everything is unified-"Heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me". Since everything is created by chunks, heaven and earth should be equal.
It is human nature to like life and hate death. Ordinary people are afraid of death, but Zhuangzi has an open-minded view of life and death-"a big piece carries me in shape, makes me live, makes me old and makes me die". Life between heaven and earth is suddenly like a passer-by. Life is a journey, and life and death are as ordinary as leaving sorrow, so relax. Zhuangzi's wife died. When Keiko, a friend, mourned, he saw Zhuangzi sitting around, singing with a drum. Keiko roared, "People have been with you all your life, so it's too much for you to hold earthenware without crying or singing!" Zhuangzi said, "How can I not be sad from the beginning? Later, I thought that she was born in nature, and now she has returned to nature. Just like the change of seasons, I am not difficult to live. " When Zhuangzi was dying, his disciples wanted to give him a heavy burial. Zhuangzi said to his disciples, "I am accompanied by everything in the world, the sun, the moon and the stars. What kind of funerary objects do I want? " The disciples were afraid that the eagle would eat Zhuangzi's body. Zhuangzi smiled and said, "It's too eccentric to be eaten by the eagle above and the insect ant below."
Poverty and loneliness have accompanied the philosopher for more than 80 years. Except Keiko, the whole world is boundless and no one can enter his heart. When Zhuangzi passed Keiko's tomb in his later years, his grief came from his heart and he couldn't help saying to his followers, "There was a man in the State of Chu who had a piece of mud on his nose the size of a fly's wing and asked a craftsman to cut it off with an axe. The craftsman picked up the axe and ran away like a gust of wind, but the Chu people were still calm. Finally, the white clay was cleanly cut off, but the Truman's nose was not injured. " After the death of the Chu people, the craftsman's unique skills were never shown to people again. "After the story is finished, Zhuangzi sighed." Since the death of the master, I have nothing to think about and nothing to say. "Maybe you will think of" looking for junior high school for three days and three nights "in Keiko's Looking at the Beam, but it is impossible from Keiko's own point of view or from Liang's political point of view. This little story is more like an old friend's joke.
About 30 years after Keiko's death, Zhuangzi also died. Fifty-five years after Zhuangzi's death, Ying Zheng, king of Qin, unified the six countries, and hundreds of years of wars and wars finally stopped, which was timely and universal. Did Ren Guo's son appear in Zhuangzi's eyes?
Note: Ren Guozi used 50 bulls as bait and used huge ropes to fish in the East China Sea. A year later, he found nothing, and then he caught a big fish. White waves are like mountains, shaking hundreds of miles and sounding like ghosts and gods. People in eastern Zhejiang and western Cangwu eat this kind of fish.