If there is reincarnation, I think Zhuangzi in this world must be a thin tree, living by our side, with leaves as his eyes and petals as his lips. In winter, he closed his eyes, fell asleep and had one distressing dream after another. In spring, he woke up from the dream of flying a white horse and looked at the world, looked at the world. He wanted to talk, but there was no wind or sound.
There are too many misunderstandings about "the master of health preservation" in the world, and Zhuangzi is regarded as a very negative idealist. In fact, he has given up the world.
Zhuangzi's decision was reflected in "Happy Travel" as early as: the length of life is incomparable between two things. Different missions, different values of life, and different appellations between them. The life span of the fungus of the ephemera and the cicada of unknown spring and autumn is called "off-year", and the life span of the 500-year-old Gui Ling and the 8,000-year-old Toona sinensis is called "off-year". "Xiao nian" can't understand the distress faced by "Da nian", so the comparison between them is meaningless. Zhuangzi thought reflects the rejection of this comparison, not the neglect of their existence value.
No matter "big year" or "small year", they are closely related and constitute the world. So Zhuangzi put forward the theory of "keeping in good health". The so-called health preservation, simply put, is to let life continue well and exercise the duties of the world in full spirit. In order to "preserve one's health, keep one's life, support one's loved ones and do one's best", Zhuangzi put forward the way of "absolute".
The first is the rejection of endless desires. Zhuangzi said, "My life is limited, but so is my knowledge. With restrictions, there will be no restrictions, and it is almost over; " It is almost enough to know what you have learned! "In many translations, the translation of this sentence is: human life is limited, but knowledge is infinite. How can we pursue infinite knowledge with limited life without embarrassment? If you are already embarrassed, it is dangerous to continue to pursue knowledge! When I first read this article, I was puzzled by Zhuangzi's words. After reading several versions of the translation, I am even more confused. I have always believed that Zhuangzi would not passively advise others not to seek knowledge, and it is wrong to understand him all the time. So, I tried to re-understand this original text. " "Knowledge" in ancient Chinese means knowledge and wisdom. From this perspective, the translation of the original text seems understandable, but is this really Zhuangzi's intention? If "knowledge" means that smart people should be respected, can "knowledge" be understood as success or popularity? In this way, this sentence should be understood as: human life is limited, while fame (fame) is infinite. How can we not be embarrassed by pursuing infinite fame with limited life? At first glance, this translation is ok, at least it is not negative, but it is still inappropriate when you think about it carefully.
I have been thinking about the meaning of the opening sentence, and I have thought about countless explanations, all of which have been overthrown by myself. I should be more cautious, because a good explanation is not only to rehabilitate Zhuangzi, but also to teach modern people a truly valuable lesson. The core of a health care master is "conforming to nature", so does this "learning" refer to people's blind spots? That is, the part where talent is congenitally deficient but hard to pursue? In this way, this sentence can be understood as: people use limited life to pursue unlimited talents that individuals lack. After careful analysis, it is still wrong.
After two years, I don't know how many times I reread the opening of Master of Health, and finally I have a more appropriate explanation. "Knowledge" still refers to knowledge and intelligence here, but this "knowledge" has been extended in translation. Not knowledge itself, but people's desire for knowledge.
Therefore, the most accurate understanding of the first sentence of the "health master" should be: human life is limited, and human desire is infinite. How can we not be embarrassed to pursue infinite desires with limited life? If you are already embarrassed, it is quite dangerous to continue to indulge. It is precisely because of "desire" that human behavior begins to get out of control, and desire is the root of resentment. Zhuangzi quickly sounded the alarm: "Good has no near name, and evil has no near punishment." Du Yuan believes that classics can protect one's health, nurture one's life, support one's relatives and last all the years. "If you don't pay attention to control your own desires, you will covet appreciation if you do good, and you will certainly face punishment if you do bad things. People should keep a distance from their desires, be cautious, make no mistakes according to personal principles, defend themselves, preserve their nature, support their parents, and finally enjoy life.
Zhuangzi, who had a long-term vision, put forward the rejection of the evil in the world after rejecting his own desires. Sometimes you don't make mistakes, but it's inevitable to encounter natural disasters and man-made disasters, so take precautions before they happen. Fable writer Zhuangzi told a story about an expert who knows cows.
The allusion of "knowing a cow by skillful hands" has been widely circulated by later generations. However, due to people's misunderstanding of Zhuangzi Thought and neglect of its philosophical value, its significance still stays in a very popular explanation. More people see the meaning of "practice makes perfect", but if you only know this meaning, it's all wet! The real "knowing a cow by hand" is like this: a good cook has to change a knife every year in order to cut the meat off the cow; In order to separate the flesh and blood of cattle, ordinary chefs cut the bones desperately and changed their knives in January; There is also a chef named Ding. His knife has been used for 19 years and killed thousands of cows, but it is still as sharp as if it had just been sharpened on a grindstone. The knife is well protected, because he can take advantage of loopholes, and his knife falls in the gap of the joint, so as to avoid confrontation with the cow bone as little as possible.
It can be seen that the life span of the same knife in the hands of different chefs is different. My understanding of cows is not to tell us how to operate a thing skillfully, but to point out a truth: people are like knives in society, those social rights and wrongs, those intrigues that deliberately hurt you are all cow bones, and your cool head is the chef who holds the knife.
Zhuangzi's estimation of the evil in the world is accurate. The so-called "never ask you to be an ostrich" means asking you to play games with people around you flexibly. Don't confront the enemy head-on, but learn to avoid and attack the enemy appropriately.
Zhuangzi's final rejection is a rejection of the gains and losses of life and a rejection of life and death.
I believe that there will be the best things to give in life, and there must be some in life. There is no need to force it in life. Right Normal University, which has only one foot since childhood, is not inferior or pathetic. He calmly said to Wen Wenxuan, "This was given to me by God, and I don't blame others." Accept the gifts from heaven, no matter how good or bad, beautiful or ugly, be grateful. What Zhuangzi wrote here is the pleasure of acceptance.
It is happy to accept the gift from heaven. In the face of God's instinct and nature, you should enjoy it. Cherish the present and live hard, far better than doing nothing and complaining, daydreaming. Don't be too sorry for what you have lost, it is of no value to those who continue to live. Right Normal University will not expect God to send him a new foot, nor will it worry about the empty foot that has been lost before it appears. Zhuangzi used this example very accurately. If a person who once had perfect feet now has only one foot, then Zhuangzi's rejection of gain and loss is untenable. Zhuangzi wanted to write "loss" as a complete "loss", which never happened from the beginning.
Losing something is nothing. In order to push the rejection to the other extreme, Zhuangzi talked about the rejection of the dead. A dead person is like a lost love. Once sweet lovers have no feelings now, they will not be happy for each other, nor will they be sad for each other. So don't cry for the dead.
From this point of view, it is not difficult to find that Zhuangzi's health preserving thought is different from Laozi's. Laozi asked for longevity, and Zhuangzi asked for forgetting death. Laozi lived by the vitality of Valley God, and Zhuangzi was born by nature. In Zhuangzi's eyes, death should be included in the process of life and is the last journey of life; Birth, old age, illness and death, all of which are just given by God, constitute a great life.
Therefore, when we look at the world around us in our twilight years, we always have nostalgia, many things we want to do, and many unfulfilled wishes. We are so sad and pitiful. However, think about the trees around us, because we have never seen them, so we have empty desires and never give up. Those shining green trees have never felt the love and joy in the world, so they are so quiet and silent in the face of death.
In the afterlife of spiritual evolution, I would like to be a self-conscious tree.