1995 graduated from Chinese Department of Zhejiang Normal University. 1998 graduated from Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University. 200 1 received a doctorate in literature from the Chinese Department of Nanjing University. Now he is a teacher of Chinese Department of Nanjing University and the head teacher of writer class. Mainly engaged in the study of the history of China ancient aesthetic thoughts and Zhuang studies, and also engaged in the study of cultural and social thoughts. He teaches literary theory, the history of China's classical aesthetics and the aesthetics of popular culture. Wide range of interests.
There is an old saying in China that the heart is higher than the sky and the life is thinner than paper. This is to describe a woman, saying that her life is poor but her heart is high. In other words, people should know their own destiny to alleviate the pressure of survival. It is not easy to do this. Confucius said that at the age of 50, you know your destiny. Confucius divided fate into three levels. The first level is what can be achieved through personal efforts; The second level cannot be achieved through hard work; The third level is that you know you can't achieve it but you still have to do it, that is, you know you can't do it. This is the Confucian understanding of fate. Generally speaking, there are positive things and rebellious things in Confucianism. Taoism believes that fate is predestined, so Taoism emphasizes fate. This is the different understanding of fate between Confucianism and Taoism.
Confucius is open-minded, and we can't see anxiety, resentment and other emotions in The Analects. Qu Yuan was furious and finally committed suicide by jumping into the river. Some people may think that among the three people, Qu Yuan should suffer more from life, as if the suffering of life made him unbearable, so the string of life was broken, but it was not. From my personal reading experience, there is not much difference between them in understanding the pain of life or bearing the pressure of life. Many people in history think that Zhuangzi's pain is deeper than Qu Yuan's. There was a scholar in Qing Dynasty who thought that Qu Yuan's pain was nothing more than his patriotism had not been realized, and his pain still had a place. Zhuangzi's pain is the whole life, which transcends the specific time and space, not limited to personal gains and losses, but transcends personal life. Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the river not because he was too painful, but because he didn't have a clear understanding of his own destiny.
Comparing the understanding of fate between Confucius and Zhuangzi, I personally think that Confucius is a little older than Zhuangzi in life, because Zhuangzi is a little negative, and he indulges in the negative attitude that he can't fight against fate through his personal efforts. Confucius, on the other hand, took the initiative to undertake, and even if he could not do it, he tended to "do it", which was different from what we usually said. Confucius knew the result, but he did it anyway. In fact, Confucius' fate is very bumpy. According to historical records, he lost his mother at the age of three and his father at the age of seventeen. At the age of fifty, he led his disciples to travel around the world and spread his ideas. In fact, he knew it wouldn't work. In his words, "there is no long way in the world", but he still has to push and do it with a solemn and stirring heart. The Analects of Confucius said that he was "worried like a dog." Sometimes he doesn't eat for days, but he never complains. His only son, Kong Li, died at the age of 69. He suffered so many blows, but he never showed many psychological problems. He can identify with his own destiny, his pursuit of Tao, and he has gained a kind of value enlightenment. He reached a settlement with his own destiny, and even if he was incompetent, he could do his own thing well. In his view, personal gains and losses are nothing. He regards personal gains and losses as a part of his destiny, and he examines personal gains and losses in a broader destiny, so he transcends personal gains and losses.
This is the thought of Confucius, and it is also an inspiration to us. If you have a better understanding of your destiny, I think there will be two benefits. First of all, we should admit our smallness and humility. Sometimes we can't get through many places because we value personal things too much. If we obey the power of fate and admit our own insignificance and humbleness, just like Confucius' understanding of his own destiny, there are some things that you can't achieve after doing, but he admits that they are an inseparable part of life, instead of excluding them from his own life. The other is that when we encounter something that can't be solved, we should look at it in a broader context. Like Confucius, we should put many of our specific behaviors into our lives to investigate, so that we can get reconciliation.
This is Confucius, Zhuangzi and Qu Yuan's different understanding of fate and different treatment of life. Fate is a kind of power to reconcile their lives, and it is a way for ancient people to solve the pressure of survival. So I think destiny is very important in ancient China. After the May 4th Movement, we reversed some ancient things in China.
Let me talk about Taoist inaction. Taoism is more complicated, and Laozi and Zhuangzi are very different. Generally speaking, the Taoist way is to reduce desire. Because we are too persistent, life has a lot of pain, so Taoism advocates reducing desire. The first is to lower expectations, that is, to lower expectations of things. For example, if a person likes a girl, he has unrequited love and is very painful. If the girl refuses him rudely, he will sink in and get out. In this case, Taoism advocates lowering expectations of things. When you were young, you were madly in love. Looking back at this matter in a few decades, you will feel childish and ridiculous. Why is this happening? Because your expectations at this time are different from those when you were young, you adjusted your expectations in the process. Therefore, Taoism looks down on those who pursue utility and beauty, because Taoism thinks these things are worthless, so it crosses from this level. Another level is to see the uncertainty and irregularity of things. For example, when we encounter difficulties, we always come to a dead end. If you can't get out, you will be paranoid and stubborn. Taoism believes that everything in the universe will give us a lot of inspiration. When we look at a thing, we see what we see, not the thing itself. Therefore, Lao Tzu said in Tao Te Ching: We often look at the wonders without looking at them, but look at them. It means that we always see one side of things, but never see the infinite possible side of things, which improves the realm and way of looking at things.
Taoism believes that we see things with our eyes. Taoism emphasizes that we look at things in a consistent way. This is the way that Taoism teaches us. Taoism is the way to activate us to deal with problems and the way we do things. In other words, when you encounter difficulties, you must change your way and don't always walk into a dead end. This is a survival mechanism of Taoism. Let me give you an example. Tao Yuanming had a rough life. He has five children and can't be an official. He retired at forty and went begging at sixty. If you put him in today's society, he is a laid-off worker, but he has written many beautiful poems, and his poetic realm is the same as his spiritual realm. He broke many desires in life and made life artistic. This is Taoism breaking self-persistence, that is, transforming utilitarianism and desire into an aesthetic thing and reducing desire.
Another way of Taoism is to adapt to things, the environment, fate and learn to wait. Taoism believes that the operation of "Tao" is regular, which is manifested in one's fate and life. Since it is regular, it has time, position and power. When we are in it, it cannot be solved, so we need to wait. In the words of Zhuangzi, keep pace with the times. Everything has its own rules. If you keep staring at something and it is moving, you always don't move, don't let go, and don't follow the movement of things, you will be very painful. Learn to wait, that is, to seek nature, not to force it. China's artistic spirit is nature. In China's paintings, meticulous painting is poor, while freehand brushwork is the highest artistic level. Freehand brushwork pursues vividness, while meticulous painting is too obsessed with man-made and too pursuing man-made. So, look at those Taoist masters. They all look casual on the surface. He followed the whole process, and it didn't look obvious. In fact, this person is very smart. This is a kind of life wisdom given to us by Taoism. Taoism believes that if you have a thorough understanding of the whole life or the whole universe and return to the Tao, the Tao will take you to move, so you should not spend too much effort to live.
Some people think that life is very hard, and Taoism thinks that if you find the way, you will be very comfortable to follow. Just like a fish living in water, it doesn't know. It regards water as a part of itself, so it is very comfortable. When dealing with specific things in life, we should actively participate, rather than hold back. Su Dongpo, for example, had a rough life, but lived a very open-minded life. He was exiled to Hainan in his later years, but why did he live well? He himself said that he was deeply influenced by Taoism and Buddhism. He said something, which means: you should deal with everything with a positive and enterprising attitude, but you can't be influenced by everything. Once controlled, it will be very anxious. This is another aspect of Taoist inaction, which is to conform to the fate of the whole thing and the individual. I think this is also very positive, conforming to the fate and situation of the individual.
Taoists talk about inaction, which means that everything has its own law of development and its own way, such as the way of society, the way of destiny and the way of culture. The key is not to resist it, but to adapt to it, understand it and use it. In this case, in the eyes of the ancient people in China, you just got the Tao, and after you got it, you will live a very natural and unrestrained life. Just as Zhuangzi said in "Happy Travel", people who get the Tao can suck the wind and drink the dew, ……, and surpass everything. This is the inaction of Taoism.
The third way to eliminate the pressure of survival is to make life artistic. Nowadays, many people like to decorate at home as soon as they have money, which is equivalent to artistic life. The ancients believed that the artistry of life was everywhere, and the ancients in China had a better understanding of life. To achieve the artistry of daily life, first of all, one should be psychologically far away from the object, and one should be freed from daily life. In Tao Yuanming's words, it is "from a distance." If a person is indifferent and quiet, it will be easier to get out. For example, when traveling, sitting on the deck, I found that the whole ship was shrouded in fog. Some people would be afraid, while others would find it beautiful.
Distance means isolating yourself from a very utilitarian society. For example, we hang curtains at home and play some music when reading, which help us get rid of the noisy world outside through external objects. Why did ancient man-made gardens build so many cloisters, ponds and pavilions? It is because of these things that people enter another world. Why should a painting be framed? The touch of the soul is achieved through the interval of external objects. So we also need an atmosphere when we speak. The ancients' artistry of life is nothing more than that when a person is anxious, he can restore his harmonious relationship with the world through the mediation of external things.
Let me give an example of the ancients: drinking and traveling. The ancients in China liked drinking very much. Drinking can really make us forget things, and in a sense, it can really relieve our stress of survival or life anxiety. In fact, I personally think this is very negative and a way of self-abuse. Ancient writers drank with masochism, so they had many psychological problems. Ruan Ji, one of the seven sages of bamboo forest, likes drinking very much. Once, he played chess with a man. He was told that his mother was going to die, but he said he would continue to play chess. He drank it three times until he vomited blood. His mother died, others cried, but he didn't cry, looking drunk. He felt that he needed to get drunk to escape the problems imposed on him by society. I don't think drinking is a good idea. Can make you forget the problems of life, forget yourself and me, but the problem has not been solved.
I think it is better to travel. In fact, it was very hard for the ancients to travel. We fly from Nanjing to Beijing for two hours today, and the ancients have to walk for two months. Therefore, we are very cautious when we look at the ancients traveling, because they are likely to die on the road, and the hardships of their lives are beyond our understanding. Why do they like traveling? From the perspective of life distance, this is of great significance. Externally, it plays an isolation role, which can give yourself a signal that you are going to travel, get rid of the living space now, and psychologically, you can leave a lot of life anxiety behind. Because you keep walking, it provides many possibilities of life, stimulates the possibility of life, and may encounter many things at any time, so the ancients like to write travel notes.
Every time the ancients visited a scenic spot, they would provide him with three meanings: living and traveling; Feasible and promising; Also, in addition to watching, there is a feeling of knowing a smile. For example, when Wang Bo went to see the Wang Teng Pavilion, he felt a lot. He might give himself a chance to reflect on his life when traveling. I have a friend who can't figure out one thing. Later, he traveled, climbed the highest peak of a mountain, and suddenly had an epiphany. There are many things to reflect on during the trip, such as human landscape. If you go to see Confucius, you will find that his life is very rough, but he is so open-minded. You can give yourself a chance to reflect through dialogue with history. And the natural landscape. Maybe a person can't commit suicide easily, but when he sees the beautiful scenery and feels the meaning of life, he won't commit suicide. Introspection is an opportunity to realize through the transformation of psychological environment and external environment.
To sum up, the three mechanisms I mentioned are the understanding and conviction of fate, the inaction of Taoism and the artistry of daily life. The ancients used them intentionally or unintentionally to alleviate and face the embarrassment and anxiety of life. My conclusion is, first, I look at the ancients with today's eyes. The education we received from childhood is to emphasize success through our own struggle. Today's society emphasizes pleasure, and the ancient people's sense of identity with fate has faded in modern people. Our whole society is emphasizing personal ability and personal struggle, and we should get it through personal ability, but we don't pay enough attention to personal smallness and humility. We have lost the ancient people's sense of destiny, which is a problem in our modern society. Second, we live in reinforced concrete and lose the chance to get in touch with nature. When faced with the pressure of survival, the ancients can get a kind of inspiration from nature and a kind of power to alleviate the pressure of survival. Today, we live in reinforced concrete and in the gap between people. We can only seek liberation through self-abuse. The energy of life should be released outward, but when we get here, it is released inward