Zhuangzi is an intellectual who comes from a decadent aristocratic family. He used to be a small official in charge of paint garden in his hometown, and sometimes he made a living by playing straw sandals and lived in poverty. But he is knowledgeable, has a wide range of friends and has a great reputation.

Zhuangzi (about 369 BC-286 BC) was born in Song Guomeng (now the northeast of Shangqiu County, Henan Province) during the Warring States Period. He accepted and developed Laozi's theory, and founded a set of theories that emphasized the same and respected nature.

On one occasion, Chu Weiwang specially sent officials to his home to ask him to be the prime minister of Chu with his daughter's salary. But he said to the messenger, "a salary of one thousand dollars is very high value;" "The status of a country is noble. But sir, have you ever seen a sacrificial cow for sacrifice? It is a great honor to dress it up with bright flowers and tied silk ribbons when the sacrificial people want to drag it for sacrifice. But when it is going to enter the temple and knows that it is going to be slaughtered, it is impossible to become a committed pig without enjoying this glory. What's the difference between taking a thousand dollars to make me prime minister and wearing a splendid ribbon to make me a sacrificial cow? It is said that there is a tortoise in the state of Chu, which has been dead for 3000 years. The monarch still regarded it as a sacred object, wrapped it in brocade, carefully placed it in a wooden box and enshrined it in the temple. Excuse me, sir, is this turtle willing to be respected as a dead bone, or is it willing to live and crawl freely in the mud pond? Let's go! Don't defile me again. I would rather be a loach swinging freely in the mud than a sacrificial cow. "

"Zhuangzi Lieyu Kou" contains two stories, which skillfully shows the realm that Zhuangzi regards money as dirt.

There was a man named Cao Shang in the State of Song. He sent an envoy to the State of Qin to see the King of Song. When I went, the King of Song sent several cars; When he came back, the king of Qin sent a hundred cars. Back in Guo Song, Lu Yu and Zhuangzi laughed at Zhuangzi: "As for the poor alley, I have to weave Ma Xie for a living, with a thin neck and a full face of dishes. This is what my husband is good at and what Cao Shang lacks; But when I saw the Lord of all horsemen and got a hundred horsemen, it was also my Cao Shang's strength. Zhuangzi said quietly, "I heard that the King of Qin was ill and asked for a doctor. Anyone who breaks acne and squeezes pus gets one ride, and those who lick hemorrhoids get five rides. The sicker they are, the more cars they will have. Are you licking his hemorrhoids? Why are there so many cars? Get out of here! "

There is also a story about a man who visited King Xiang of Song and was rewarded with ten rides to show off in front of Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi said to him, "There is a family by the river, so poor that they make a living by weaving reed mats. Their son jumped into the abyss and got a golden ball. His father met. Hurriedly said,' hit it with a stone! I think the pearl with a thousand dollars must be under the chin of the black dragon in the nine abyss. You can get it, it must happen that the black dragon is sleeping. If the black dragon wakes up, I'm afraid your life will be in danger. Today, the depth of the Song State is not only a nine-fold abyss; The fierceness of King Song is not just a fierce black dragon. If you can get a car, you must have met him while sleeping; If King Song wakes up, you will be shattered. "

Based on this ambition, Zhuangzi never became a big official all his life, and always maintained a poor life for civilians. Zhuangzi's knowledge is closely related to Laozi's knowledge. If Laozi is the originator of Taoism, then Zhuangzi is the second generation master of Taoism. Taoism, which appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, respected Laozi as the godfather and gave Laozi many titles in the later period. The most popular is "Too Old Gentleman on the Top", and Zhuangzi has received generous treatment for it. In the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong named him a South China real person, and his book Zhuangzi was also listed as a classic, known as the South China True Classics.

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The first part: the theory of strange things.

This is Zhuangzi's epistemology.

Zhuangzi believes that everything in the world, with different surfaces and different situations, is essentially the same, the same and the same. Zhuangzi came to this conclusion because Zhuangzi looked at things differently. Ordinary people stand on the earth to see the world, so they magnify things and the differences between things; Zhuangzi looked at the world from the source of the universe, so he narrowed things down and erased the differences between things.

Based on the theory of strange things, Zhuangzi denied the objective standard of cognition, and thought that objective things were relative and people's cognitive ability was relative. So the so-called concepts of right and wrong are all caused by people's "prejudice". He said that people who sleep in wet places will get rheumatism, backache and backache. Is it the same with loach? When people climb to the top of the tree, they will be timid and afraid. Is the monkey like this? So, people, loaches and monkeys, who knows the "right place" of the world? Zhuangzi found it hard to say. Another example is that people eat vegetables, elk eat grass, centipedes eat snakes, and owls eat mice. Who knows the "positive taste" of four people? Zhuangzi found it hard to say. For another example, Qiang Mao and Li Ji (legendary beauties) are both considered as beauties, but the fish fled to the deep water when they saw them, the birds flew high in fear when they saw them, and the elk ran away when they saw them. Who is the "positive color" of four people? It's hard to say yet.

Even, Zhuangzi directly denied the necessity and possibility of cognition. Autumn Water records a famous conversation between Zhuangzi and his good friend Hui Shihaoliang. Zhuangzi said: "White fish swim freely!" Hui Shi said, "If you are not a fish, how do you know that fish is happy?" Zhuangzi said, "If you are not me, how do you know that I don't know that fish are happy?" Hui Shi said: "I am not you, of course I don't know you;" You are not a fish, of course, you don't know whether a fish is happy or not. "The conclusion of this passage is that people can't know the happiness of fish, things are unknown, and finally come to the conclusion of agnosticism. Since things are unknowable, there is no need for people to ask for trouble and spend their energy on the pursuit of knowledge. So he said, "My life is limited and my knowledge is limited. With the limit, it's almost there. "That is to say, my life is limited and my knowledge is infinite. It is dangerous to pursue infinite knowledge with limited life. If you must pursue infinite knowledge, you will inevitably fall into endless troubles.

It is not difficult to see that Zhuangzi saw the limitations of people's understanding, but he unilaterally exaggerated this limitation.

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Part I: Wandering around.

"Wandering freely" means traveling freely without any constraints or conditions. Happy Travel is an article in Zhuangzi. This article uses many famous fables to illustrate the realm of life advocated by Zhuangzi.

The first fable is Kun Peng's change. It is said that there is a big fish named Kun in the northern ghost, which is so big that I don't know how many miles it is. It turned into a bird, named Peng. Peng's back doesn't know how big it is. Peng Teng flies with wings hanging down from the sky like clouds. When the sea was shaking, it flew to the South China Sea. It first beat the sea with its wings, stirring up waves three thousand miles wide and setting off a whirlwind. Then it circled high in Wan Li for six months, and finally reached the South China Sea and fell. But Xiao que laughed at Dapeng and said, "Why did it fly so far?" I flew up only a few feet before I fell down, and I was very happy flying among wormwood. This has reached the peak of flying, but where will it fly? "In Zhuangzi's view, it is ridiculous and pitiful for birds to laugh at Dapeng, but their flight is only the difference in size and distance, which is actually limited by space. Therefore, their freedom is limited, and they are "waiting for something". "

Later, Zhuangzi talked about a man named Song, saying that he had his own clear views on his own internal and external affairs, and his own standards for honor and shame. Zhuangzi thinks that such a person is rare in the world, but he still hasn't reached the highest level.

There is also a Liezi, who can fly in the wind, light and wonderful, and came back after flying for fifteen days. Zhuangzi thinks that few people can be as happy and free as he is. But although he doesn't have to walk with his feet, he still depends on the wind, and he still has something to do.

Zhuangzi believes that only those who conform to the nature of nature, can control the changes of Yin and Yang, wind, rain, Yin and Ming between heaven and earth, and can roam freely without time and space restrictions are "leisure". "Inequality" is the highest state of Zhuangzi's ideal, that is, the state of absolute freedom-carefree travel.

Thus, Zhuangzi constructed a perfect character image. He said that there lived a god-like man on the ancient snake hill in the temple. Her skin is as white as ice and snow and her figure is as beautiful as a virgin. She doesn't eat whole grains and drinks dew. She roamed the four seas in a flying dragon. Her spirit is concentrated and single-minded, which can protect everything from diseases and reap a bumper harvest every year. She is integrated with everything, and nothing can hurt her.

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Part I: Useless and Useful

To understand Zhuangzi's philosophical meaning about usefulness and uselessness, we must first read a story:

Zhuangzi and his disciples came to the foot of a mountain, and saw a big tree, flourishing, standing beside the stream, which was particularly conspicuous. But see this tree: 100 feet thick, thousands of feet high, pointing to the sky; Its crown is as wide as a giant umbrella and can cover more than ten acres of land. Zhuangzi couldn't help asking the lumberjack, "Excuse me, master, why isn't anyone cutting such a big piece of wood?" Even for thousands of years. The woodcutter seemed to disdain the tree and said, "What's so strange about this? This tree is useless wood. Used as a ship, submerged in water; Used as a coffin, it will rot quickly; When the vessel is used, it is easy to be damaged; If used as doors and windows, grease will not dry; When used as a pillar, it is easily eroded by insects. Wood that is not made of materials is useless, so it can have such a long life. "

Hearing this, Zhuangzi said to his disciples, "This tree is useless because it is not made of materials. Is it useless to do nothing but do something for yourself? " In other words, this tree can continue to grow for so many years because it is useless. Isn't this useless? Disciple suddenly realized and nodded. Zhuangzi also said: "The tree is useless, it does not seek merit, and it is free from axe chopping; Cows with white foreheads, pigs with kangman, and people with hemorrhoids are considered ominous by wizards, and the river god will not throw them into the river; When recruiting, disabled people will not be recruited, so that they can live their own lives. If you are physically disabled, you can still stay healthy and save lives, not to mention those who are physically disabled. If a tree doesn't grow well, it will avoid disaster; People can't be talented, but they can also protect themselves. " Zhuang Zi became more and more excited. He concluded: "Mountain wood is self-defeating; Fry yourself on fire. Guangxi is edible, so cut it; Paint can be used, so cut it. Everyone who is useful knows that everyone who is useless doesn't know. "

Master and apprentice went out of the mountain and stayed at an old friend's house in Zhuangzi. The master was very happy and ordered his son to kill the goose for entertainment. The son asked, "geese can sing, but geese can't." Which one should I kill? " The master said, "Of course not." The next day, I didn't go far from my friend's house, so I couldn't help asking: "The wood in the mountain died yesterday because it wasn't made of materials;" Today, the owner's goose was killed because of incompetence. Disciple is very confused. Excuse me: Where will Mr. Wang be? "Zhuangzi said with a smile," I, Zhuangzi, will be somewhere between material and immaterial. Between material and immaterial, specious, tired or inevitable ... "Zhuangzi hesitated, and his disciples were anxious to read the following:" What about life? There is no material, there is no material, and what should we do between materials? "

Zhuangzi pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "If you float with virtue, it's different: a dragon and a snake, who keep pace with the times and refuse to specialize. Up and down, with harmony as the quantity, floating at the beginning of everything, things are not in things, then what is there to be bored with? This is the law of Shennong Huangdi. As for the nature of things and human feelings, it is not the case: success will ruin, sharpness will frustrate, respect will discuss, success will lose, virtue will be thick, and unscrupulous will bully. How can you avoid fatigue? Disciples remember that only the hometown of morality is free and unfettered! "

Disciple said: "People can only wander in the hometown of morality;" In today's troubled times, how can people rest in peace? " Zhuangzi said, "Do you know how quail and birds eat and live?"

Disciple said: "Sir, you mean that people should live like quails, take the four seas as their home, live in impermanence and be happy with everything;" Eat less: don't be choosy, don't be choosy, and support yourself when you are full; Walking like a bird: carefree, leaving no trace? " Zhuangzi nodded with a smile.

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The first part: the blink of an eye, just suddenly.

This idiom comes from Zhuangzi, which is Zhuangzi's metaphor for the short life. This means that life is like a white horse passing through a small crack in the ground, but it is instantaneous and extremely short.

Zhuangzi expounded his attitude towards life and death in Knowing the North Tour. He said: people live between heaven and earth, just like a fine horse flying through a gap and passing in the blink of an eye. Everything in the world, including people, is not born exuberant, but dies without rustling. Creatures are sad for this, and emotional humans are also sad for this. Instead of this, it is better to untie the shackles caused by nature, rotate with things, and follow the soul wherever it swims. Don't be too persistent. This is the ultimate destination of people and everything. Nevertheless, these are not what rational people pursue. These are all issues that everyone is discussing, but those who reach the most reasonable level do not discuss and those who participate in the discussion do not reach the most reasonable level. As Laozi said, "Tao can be Tao, not surprising; The name can be named. It's very famous. "Avenue is invisible. It is better to seek the Tao in isolation than to seek the Tao by hearing and hearing. Knowing this truth is the greatest gain, and life is complete and meaningful.

In fact, Zhuangzi's argument contains several meanings. Life is short, just as the road changes. The road becomes like a galloping horse and life is like a flying horse; Birth, aging, illness and death are natural processes of road change and biological change. Everyone is like this, no one can avoid it. Everyone has life and death. In view of this, people should be freed from the sadness and grief of death, conform to the natural changes of living things, live without joy, die without sorrow, live and die without moving in their hearts, and always maintain inner peace. In this way, you will reach the truth, return to the avenue, and life will be complete; Those who reach the road of wisdom returning to life do not distinguish between life and non-life, tangible and intangible, regard life and death as a whole, and classify tangible and intangible into one category. Because of this, there is no need for words and arguments.

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The first part: keeping in good health and solving the problem of cattle.

"An expert who knows cows" is a fable told by Zhuangzi. The story says:

I slaughter cattle for Wen, and I am skilled. My movements are like dancing mulberry trees, and my voice is like playing Buddhist scriptures. I am cadenced and beautiful. Wen Hui stood by, lost in thought. He couldn't help but praise: "Can the technology of slaughtering cattle be so superb?" My mechanic put down his knife and replied, "I'm looking for the truth about slaughtering cattle." Truth is better than skill. A good cook changes a knife every year, because he uses it to cut meat, and the knife becomes dull after a long time. An ordinary skilled worker needs to change his knife once a month, because before long, he will cut bones with a knife. My knife has been used for 19 years and solved thousands of cows, but the blade seems to be newly sharpened. You know, there is a gap in the middle of the joints of cattle, but the blade is not thick. It must be feasible to take a blade with no thickness, pierce it between the cracked bones and swim around it. Because of this, 19 years have passed, and my blade is still as new as a mill. " Wen Huijun sighed after listening: "Great! After listening to you, I understand the truth of keeping in good health. "

In this story, Wen said that he knew how to keep healthy, although he was explaining the truth about cows. The reason why I say this is because there is something in common between health preservation and cattle reconciliation, that is, don't do anything harmful to yourself. Keep the blade sharp for a long time and don't touch the hard bones of cattle; If a person's body wants to be eternal, he can't touch those hard things that hurt him. These hard things, in Zhuangzi's view, are name and punishment. Many people either really do good deeds or pretend to do good deeds in order to be famous. If you really do good deeds, you will often forget yourself and try to bring down your body; If you do good deeds, you will be exposed to the world and lose your reputation. Touching punishment means doing bad things, and there must be retribution.

Therefore, in Zhuangzi's view, in life, we should not only do good things but also do good things naturally, never deliberately, not for fame and fortune. Doing bad things and doing good things for the sake of fame is like a blade hitting a cow's bone, which will hurt you. This is Zhuangzi.