The Works of Liezi

The Works of Liezi

Liezi (about 450 B.C. - 375 B.C.), also known as Yu Kou, also known as Kou, also known as the prison Kou. The representative of Taoism in the early Warring States period. He was born in Putian (now Zhengzhou, Henan Province) of Zheng State, after the ancient emperor Lieshan. About the same time as Zheng Gong. He is one of the ten great masters in the world before Qin Dynasty, including Taoist, thinker, philosopher, litterateur and educator.

Liezi is an important inheritor of Taoist school between Laozi and Zhuangzi. He is another representative of Taoist school besides Laozi and Zhuangzi. His learning originated from Laozi, the Yellow Emperor, and advocated quiet and inaction, which belongs to Laozi and Zhuangzi. He founded the Guixu School of pre Qin philosophy, which has a profound influence on philosophy, aesthetics, literature, science and technology, health preservation, music and religion.

There are eight volumes of Liezi recorded in the Taoist part of Hanshu Yiwenzhi written by Ban Gu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The eight volumes of Liezi may be compiled by later generations according to ancient materials in terms of ideological content and language use. There are 134 folk stories, fables, myths and legends in the book, with a wide range of subjects, some of which are full of educational significance.

Life of the characters

Liezi, surnamed lie and named yukou, was born in Putian (now Zhengzhou, Henan Province) of Zheng state during the Warring States period. He studied under Guan Yinzi, Hu Qiuzi, Lao Shang and Zhi bogaozi. He lived in seclusion in Zheng State for 40 years. He did not seek fame and wealth, but was quiet and practiced Taoism. Later, he was honored as "Chongxu immortal".

Liezi's active period should be about the early and middle period of the Warring States period, at the same time as Zhenggong, later than Confucius and earlier than Zhuangzi. Lieh Tzu gathered together to give lectures, and there were many disciples. Once, when Lieh Tzu visited Nanguo Tzu, he chose "forty disciples to go with him", which shows that Lieh Tzu learned a lot.

Liezi has written 20 books, more than 100000 words.

According to Chuang Tzu's xiaoyaoyou, Lieh Tzu can "walk against the wind, cool but good", and seems to have developed a remarkable lightness skill. Because Zhuangzi's books often make up some fictitious characters, such as "no celebrity" and "Tiangen", some people suspect that Liezi is also a "dummy". However, Liezi is also mentioned in many documents, such as the Warring States policy, the corpse, the spring and Autumn Annals of Lu family, so Liezi should be a real person.

The names of Liezi's disciples include bofengzi, Baifeng and Shiji.

Main impact

Ideological theory

Liezi is an important inheritor of Taoism between Laozi and Zhuangzi. Taoism in pre Qin period was founded in Laozi, developed in Liezi, and developed in Zhuangzi. His ideas exist in Liezi. Liezi was the first to put forward the idea of the four stages of the formation of the universe; the theories of "celestial movement", "earth movement" and "infinite universe" in Liezi were far earlier than those of the same kind in the West; and the pre Qin prose style of combining allegory and philosophy was created.

cosmogony

The core concept of Liezi is "Hua". It has multiple meanings, but it can be divided into three levels: biochemistry in the universe generating system, materialization in epistemology and realm, and Enlightenment in political and social theory. The "transformation" in the generative system of the universe has two main angles of origin and everything; the "transformation" in the epistemology level is the basis of the "transformation" in the realm level; and the "transformation" in the political theory level has distinctive characteristics.

Yiwei says that "change into one, change into seven..." In the four stages of Taiyi, Taichu, Taishi and Taisu, the system of Liezi theory was adopted.

Critical thinking

Liezi really mocks the unfairness of society, the danger of people's heart and the existence of things. First of all, "Yang Zhu" explicitly negates the principles of monarch and minister, and the doctrines of propriety and justice. It clearly points out that the way of monarch and minister should be stopped, and that etiquette and righteousness are false names, but a fig leaf for personal glory and profit. By means of allegory, this paper first puts forward that "good taste, good clothes, lust and sound" are the premise of citizen protection, and calls it "the taste of life". Then it attacks the behavior of marquis and kings as longevity, fame, position and goods, and advocates that the relationship between people should be "the body of the public world, the object of the public world". The author thinks that the correct attitude towards life should be "not against nature". Only by adopting this attitude towards life and dealing with interpersonal relationships in this way can we maintain human nature and achieve the ideal state of being a human being. He also points out that the reputation is hypocritical and satirizes the present with the past. He is disgusted with the ugly reality that Zichan is going to give his younger brother a salary in private, which is extremely critical. "Today's fame means honor, and death means disgrace", which is a sharp revelation and criticism of social injustice and sinister people. This is to ask the Confucian marquis to give up fame and wealth and all kinds of selfish desires and return to simplicity.

"Guixu"

Empty, there is no (empty) all forget, ten thousand different Ming one, so it is called empty. In Guanzi · mental skill, it is said that "a gentleman's place is like ignorance", and his words are empty; "his objects are like even ones", and his words are appropriate in time, like the image of the shadow, and like the echo. Therefore, when things arrive, they should, and when they pass, they will give up. If you give up, you will be able to talk again and again Wenzi · Jingcheng: "if you are a sage, you will move to the point of emptiness, wander to the point of no mind, gallop to the outside, walk in the place of no door, listen to the silence, see the invisible, not stick to the world, not to the common." The word "Gui" was not taken by Liezi himself, but a summary of Liezi's theory by scholars in the Warring States period. Lieh Tzu thinks that there is nothing precious to speak of, a word precious is already there, not nothing. The real nothingness needs to be forgotten, and the difference is ablated, which is the meaning of emptiness. Once the emptiness is complete, there is no such concept as whether the noble or the humble has emptiness.

Based on Tao

Lieh Tzu's idea of "valuing emptiness" is close to Lao Tzu's and Zhuang Tzu's thought, which is related to the spiritual realm and belongs to the knowledge of health preservation. Emptiness is Tao, which means the nature of emptiness. It is not only the origin of the universe, that is, the basis for the existence and change of all things, but also the fundamental principle of health preservation. The fundamental spirit of Chong Xu Jing is to dispel all kinds of persistence, achieve nihility, realize the freedom of mind and perfect the existence of life. This fundamental spirit, which takes "valuing emptiness" as the gist, generally includes the following aspects: Taking Tao as the foundation, unifying things as one, practicing Tao and seeking truth, being in a state of no intention, and being in a state of peace and order.

How can Tao be the origin of the universe? According to Chong Xu Jing, this needs to be seen from the physical properties of both sides. It is in the process of eternal circulation and change, and belongs to the limited existence. Therefore, it can not be the basis for the formation and change of all things in the universe. The physical nature of Tao is "to and fro, the boundary can not end; doubt alone, the Tao can not be poor". In fact, Tao doesn't matter "reciprocating". The concrete things change repeatedly. Tao runs through all things, and biochemistry is related to the "reciprocation" of all things, so it is also called "reciprocation". Tao is the basis of all things' biochemistry without the restriction of one form and one image. Secondly, every concrete thing has its specific function. For example, heaven can "generate and cover", earth can "shape and carry", and sages can "educate". However, as soon as it has a specific function, it has its limitations, "it can't go out of its place as it is appropriate." If heaven can't "shape", earth can't "civilize", and sages can't "disobey their proper position.". Therefore, all concrete things can only be controlled. Different from specific things, Tao is neither Yin nor Yang, neither soft nor rigid, and has no specific function. Just because it has no specific function, it can become "the living", "the shape", "the sound", "the color" and "the taste" instead, and become the noumenon of all things, transforming all things and having infinite magical functions. Tao is eternal and has infinite functions, which is the reason why it can be the basis of all things.

However, if we only understand Tao as the origin of the universe, we have not fully understood it. "Chong Xu Jing Tian Rui Pian" quoted the Yellow Emperor's words: "the grain God does not die, it is called Xuan female. The gate of the mysterious female is the root of heaven and earth. If you keep it, you don't use it frequently. " "Valley God" and "Xuan female" are metaphors of Tao, which means "Chong Xu". It is also said that those who rush to emptiness have no attachment or action. It shows that Tao is not a real object or entity, but a kind of meaning and the reason why everything is generated and changed.

Therefore, Chong Xu Jing further explains the nature of Tao with "nature". The so-called "self generation, self transformation, self shape, self color, self intelligence, self support, self elimination and self rest" shows the meaning of nature. The generation and change of all things are in themselves, and they are all natural. This is Tao. This shows that there is no master above all things. Therefore, it is wrong to think that there is a purposeful and willful entity as the source of all things.

Chong Xu Jing defines the nature of Tao with Chong Xu nature, and takes Tao as the origin of the universe of all things, which determines a basis for the existence of human life. It is intended to show that Tao is not only the principle of the existence of heaven and earth, but also the principle of human life. The way and goal of life is to achieve the unity of Tao and body, to achieve the state of emptiness of nature, to make the existence of life obtain infinite significance and to realize the freedom of mind.

All things are one

How to reach the ideal state and get the freedom of mind, Chongxu Jing is attributed to the change of cognition. Life is a world full of contradictions and differences. People tend to cling to these contradictions and differences, taking this as right and the other as wrong. Therefore, they are content with this but not with the other. This is the root of the pain of life. According to Chong Xu Jing, there is no difference in the essence of things. Therefore, it is meaningless to stick to the distinction between the internal and external. As long as all things are one, people can be free from pain.

Chong Xu Jing, King Mu of Zhou, demonstrates the unity of all things from the unity of truth and illusion and the unity of feeling and dream

Chinese PinYin : Lie Zi