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“The equality of things”is a very unintelligible proposition in Chuang-tzu's thought. In brief,the so-called“equality of things”means that all things are nondistinctive,which is obviously irreconcilable with common sense at first glance. In order to explain why all things are nondistinctive,the contemporary scholars interpret“the equality of things”from different angles. However,most of their interpretations are not satisfactory. Firstly,I analyse“the connotation of Chuang-tzu's thought of‘the equality of things'”. In the inner chapters of Chuang-tzu,especially in the article of The Equality of Things and Opinions,there is such a sort of connotation of“the equality of things”that all things are nondistinctive in the sense of the real look,but the false differences between things are mistaken for truths by people because of the effect of people's prejudices. The connotation is incomplete because it doesn't explain why all things are nondistinctive in the sense of the real look and what people's prejudices are. By analysing the“nothing”which is closely related to“the equality of things”,we can understand that Chuang-tzu's“equality of things”is in essence a sort of realm of mind which is similar to Buddhism's realm of mind that everything is void. Under the premise that the texts don't provide more information,we may as well complete the connotation of Chuang-tzu's“the equality of things”by means of Buddhism's principles. The complete connotation is that the differences between things are just illusions and aren't constant and substantive,so all things are nondis tinctive in the sense of the real look; however,people always comprehend differences in the substantive way of thinking which is Chuang-tzu's so-called prejudices or Buddhism's so-called“attachment to selfhood”and“attachment to dharmas”and consequently take originally false differences as real and constant beings;only when substantive thinking is removed by means of the cultivation of Gongfu of“fasting of the mind” or“sitting and forgetting”similar to Buddhism's Samatha-Vipassana,can people recognize the unreality of differences and clearly understand the truth of the world that all things are nondistinctive originally—in other words,everything is void. Secondly,I put Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things”in the background of the whole trend of thoughts of“the equality of things”during the Warring States Period to study its individualities and the universality and relationship between it and other thoughts of“the equality of things”. Compared with Hui Shi's theory of“all things are nondistinctive”and Shen Dao et al.'s thought of“the equality of things”,the individualities of Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things” are that Chuang-tzu believed all things are nondistinctive originally and advocated to break the mindset to distinguish things stiffly by non-rational“fasting of the mind”or“sitting and forgetting”,while Hui Shi and Shen Dao et al.equalized things in a rational and analytical way under the premise of admitting that in reality all things are distinct from each other; moreover,the purpose of Chuang-tzu's“equality of things”was just to reveal the truth of the world that all things are nondistinctive and in other words,Chuangtzu equalized things in order to equalize things,while Hui Shi and Shen Dao et al.all equalized things in order to express some political appeal. The universality between Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things”and other thoughts of“the equality of things”is that although the purpose of Chuang-tzu's“equality of things”wasn't to express some political appeal,just like Hui Shi and Shen Dao et al.'s“equality of things”,it also reflects the negative orientation toward some existing order more or less. Moreover,the reason why Chuangtzu rejected existing order was that he wanted to restore the true colors of life and the purpose that Hui Shi and Shen Dao et al.negated existing order was that they wanted to replace the order with another order; it looks like that the two aren't correlative,but in fact they both have some inheritance relationships with Lao-tzu's original thought of“the equality of things”. Thirdly,I sort out“Chuang-tzu's disciples' interpretations of Chuang-tzu's thought of‘the equality of things'”. There are totally three ways of thinking of equalizing things in the outer and miscellaneous chapters of Chuang-tzu.In the first place,in reality all things are distinct from each other but as long as they can suit their natures,they will be nondistinctive in the sense of being according to their natures. This way of thinking is embodied in Webbed Toes,Heaven and Earth,The Revolution of Heaven,Perfect Enjoyment,The Full Understanding of Life of the outer chapters and Lie Yu-kou of the miscellaneous chapters. In the second place,seeing the world from a large field of view,people can realize that the natures of things can't be determined in the absolute sense and under the circumstances,there aren't absolute differences among things,which means all things are nondistinctive. This way of thinking is embodied in The Floods of Autumn of the outer chapters. In the third place,all things are composed of qi and therefore they are nondistinctive in the aspect of constitute material. This way of thinking is embodied in Knowledge Rambling in the North of the outer chapters. The above three are very different from the way of thinking of equalizing things in the inner chapters of Chuang-tzu.In other words,all of them aren't realms of mind by means of special cultivation such as“fasting of the mind”or“sitting and forgetting”,but rather perceptions just by means of the transformation of attitude or angle of view. Fourthly,I elaborate“Xiang Xiu,Guo Xiang and Cheng Xua nying et al.'s reinterpretation of Chuang-tzu's thought of‘the equality of things'”. Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang inherited and completed Chuang-tzu's disciples' interpretation of“the equality of things”. In the eyes of them,“the equality of things”is that under the premise that in reality all things' natures are distinct from each other,all things can be nondistinctive in the aspect of“being free and unfettered”if they can suit their natures. Obviously,this sort of concept of“the equality of things”by“suiting things' natures”just slightly transformed the above first way of thinking of equalizing things in the outer and miscellaneous chapters of Chuang-tzu and equated being according to things' natures with“being free and unfettered”. Guo Xiang not only interpreted the texts of“the equality of things”in the outer and miscellaneous chapters in the way of thinking,but also interpreted the texts of“the equality of things”in the inner chapters,especially in The Equality of Things and Opinions in the way of thinking. Although Cheng Xuanying's Rectification of Chuang-tzu wasn't limited by Guo Xiang's Annotation for Chuang-tzu in the aspect of elucidating philosophical connotations,he still imitated Guo Xiang in the aspect of interpreting“the equality of things”. The interpretation of Chuang-tzu's thought of‘the equality of things'”in Guo Xiang's Annotation for Chuang-tzu and Cheng Xuanying's Rectification of Chuang-tzu had profound influence on later generations. So many contemporary scholars incorrectly relay an erroneous information to confuse“the equality of things”in the outer and miscellaneous chapters with“the equality of things”in the inner chapters. Finally,I expatiate“Zhi Dun,Shi Deqing and Zhang Taiyan et al.'s refutation of Guo Xiang's interpretation of‘the equality of things'”. In the eyes of Zhi Dun,Chuang-tzu's“equality of things”doesn't mean all things are nondistinctive in the aspect of“being free and unfettered”,but refers to perfect men's realm of mind. As a Buddhist,Zhi Dun's so-called perfect men refer in particular to Buddhas.Buddhas' realm of mind is the one that they have already real ized everything is void thoroughly. In this realm of mind,people are nondistinctive and sentient beings are nondistinctive and all things are nondistinctive and differences are just illusions,which is“equality of things”. At one time Zhi Dun's interpretation of“the equality of things”perhaps replaced Guo Xiang and Xiang Xiu's interpretation completely,and since then many interpreters such as Shi Deqing and Zhang Taiyan continued to develop Zhi Dun's interpretation,but the interpretation's influence on present academic circles is very little. It should be pointed out that Zhi Dun et al.'s way of interpretation is highly consistent with the way of thinking of equalizing things in the inner chapters of Chuang-tzu and can make up for latter insufficiencies. From this point of view,this way of interpretation should be attached importance to. Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things”is the quintessence of Chuang-tzu's thought,and the thoughts of“the equality of things”are throughout the entire Chuang-tzu.Therefore,the understanding of Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things”concerns the understanding of the entire Chuang-tzu and the clarification on Chuang-tzu's thought of“the equality of things” will certainly contribute to the in-depth research on Chuang-tzu.Key Words: Chuang-tzu; The Equality of Things; The Equality of Things and Opinions; Webbed Toes; To Suit Things'Natures; Sunyata(AI翻译)
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