Appreciation of Wu Huan's Prose Qian Mu on Life

In Three Directions of Life, Qian Mu said that life is outward and inward. Life can be gradually enriched and expanded, but it also has its limitations. "The supporting point of life self is not within life itself, but outside life itself, which has caused this fatal injury to life." The inward life is to turn to the inside of life. "Strange to say, if you want to outward, there will be infinite outward things spread in front of you. If you want to go inward, there will be endless inward expansion in front of you. " Externality and immanence are infinite and have no end. But this is only one aspect of the problem. On the other hand, everyone has his limitations. "If you live outside, you must use kung fu on things outside. In an introverted life, you just want to use kung fu in your heart. However, there is also a basic difficulty here. If you get rid of everything outside and abandon everything outside, you won't find your heart. " Outward limitations may be subject to foreign objects, and inward limitations may not find souls. In other words, there are forwards and backwards in life. Most of the external life is forward, and most of the internal life is backward. But there are also commitments to the present, to reality and to the present. "Confucianism says that sex is not biased, and it is not biased. They also said that eating is the same. Eat drink man woman, a person's great wish exists. They have no objection to people's pursuit of love and wealth. But they don't want to put the support point of life outside. " This kind of life is to reconcile the inside and the outside, blend the mind and things, and do our best. This kind of life is blessed, and a blessed life only needs to be down-to-earth and make steady progress.

From another point of view, in the trilogy of life, Qian Mu thinks that the first step of life is life, including food, clothing, housing and transportation, and its significance and value are used to maintain and maintain human life. "Until today, science is developed and material civilization is changing with each passing day. Our food, clothing, housing and transportation are absolutely different from those in ancient history. But in fact, according to our standpoint in life, clothes are still clothes, food is still food, and it is ok to be alive or alive. Although there are differences in life forms from ancient times to modern times, the meaning and value of life are still limited to the first stage. Even if there is some progress in life, it is still limited to the means of maintaining and maintaining life, and it is still similar. " This is an aspect of human life that is closer to nature, that is, Mencius said that people are different from animals. However, life is not only manifested in life, but also in other aspects. "We live in this world, not to eat, to wear, to live, to travel. We should not only have food, clothing, housing and transportation, but also have our life behavior and career, which is the main part of life. Therefore, we require the satisfaction of life, food, clothing, housing and transportation, as long as it is minimal, which can maintain our lives. This is our behavior, the second step in life. But this part should not only be satisfied with the minimum, but should have its infinite development expectations. " The development of life should not only have a career, but also be manifested in a career. For the ancients, this is an act of self-cultivation and governing the country. The third step is to have a home in life. "China people say that the destination of life lies in human nature. The essence of fate. " In a word, it is nature. In life, we must do our best. "So we should first talk about life, that is, material civilization. The second is to talk about behavior and career, and self-cultivation is the humanistic spirit. The third highest philosophy of life should pay attention to moral life. Virtue life is personal, but also shared by a large group of human beings in ancient and modern times. Everything in life should belong here. "

In Purpose and Freedom of Life, Qian Mu said that people have other purposes besides the purpose of survival, and people are meaningful because they have many purposes. "A purposeful and meaningful life, we will call it a humanistic life, or a cultural life, to show that it is different from natural life, that is, a life with survival as its sole purpose." Natural life aims at survival, birth and death, etc. , is a natural arrangement. As opposed to natural life, there is also humanistic or cultural life. "Cultural life should be a kind of freedom liberated by human beings from natural life. In human life, people can have other purposes besides survival, and they can have the freedom to choose such purposes. These are two characteristics of human life, and they can also be said to be two essences of human life. " Cultural life is a kind of freedom liberated by human beings from natural life. And literature and art mostly show this kind of life and freedom. Qian Mu said in "Literature in China Cultural Tradition": "The ancients in China made language literate and literature humanized. Everything is based on the true feelings of life, which is the cultural spirit of China. " History is people-oriented, so is literature. "China people's life is like a poem in literature, which is sung over and over again, but it is these words and this heart". This heart is a synthesis of culture and life. In How to Place Our Hearts, Qian Mu said that the human heart can be expanded, and it can be moved from one's own heart to other hearts, thus achieving heart communication. This heart can also be linked to the past and the present, so the present heart is also the heart of history and culture. The placement of the heart should be placed in the Tao or in benevolence and righteousness. In this way, the human heart becomes the heart of Tao, that is, the heart of morality or the heart of benevolence and righteousness.