Appreciation of Zhuangzi’s famous quotes
1. “The human heart is in danger in the mountains and rivers” – Zhuangzi had this saying more than 2,000 years ago. No wonder the Chinese only think about exploring. People have no time to explore the natural mountains and rivers.
2. "Those who steal (thieves) hooks (hooks) will be punished, and those who steal the country are princes. How can benevolence and righteousness exist in the gates of princes" - Chinese people have no sense of truth and can only be loyal to The emperor's sense of "righteousness" and his sense of power, which can monopolize truth.
3. “Explore the original beauty of heaven and earth, and reach (clarify) the principles of all things” –––––––––In fact, the Chinese are only interested in “the original beauty of heaven and earth”, not human beings There is no interest in principles outside this world.
4. “Wandering beyond the dust (worldliness), carefree in idle pursuits” – Intellectuals like Zhuangzi are separated from productive labor, and what they study is also Tai Qingxu is passive and negative. Although his personal achievements are great, they are a tragedy for the nation.
5. “Only (alone) communicate with the spirit of heaven and earth, and do not be arrogant (arrogant and contemptuous) to all things” – Chinese people only have a spiritual communication relationship with the universe and nature. No desire to conquer and explore.
6. "Working at sunrise, resting at sundown, and enjoying life between heaven and earth" - a picture of small-scale peasant economy.
7. “If you don’t enjoy longevity, you won’t mourn your death, you won’t be prosperous and prosperous, you won’t be ugly and poor.” Zhuangzi means not taking pleasure in longevity and not taking pleasure in dying young. To be sad, not to be proud of being knowledgeable, not to be ashamed of being poor. The Chinese people have lost their enterprising spirit by being content with the situation and knowing their destiny.
8. "Beside (rely on) the sun and the moon, hold (hold) the universe, and swim beyond the dirt (worldliness)" - the idea of ??retreating into the world makes Chinese people often lack the "I have The courage to join the world, the courage to bear all the pain and joy of the lower world."
9. "Heaven and earth coexist with me, and all things are one with me." The idea of ??the unity of man and nature cannot produce the concept of exploring nature, nor can it produce modern science.
10. “You won’t be discouraged if you’re praised by the whole world, and you won’t be discouraged if you’re criticized by the whole world.” (You won’t feel proud if you’re praised by the whole world, and you won’t feel depressed if you’re criticized by the whole world) –––––––Chinese Everything has been averaged, standardized, and moderated, and there are very few independent and unique people like Zhuangzi.
11. “The perfect person has no self, the god has no achievements, and the saint has no name.” (The person with the highest realm does not feel his own existence, the god does not pursue meritorious service, and the saint does not seek fame) ––––– – Chinese people attach great importance to fame and fortune, so some people stand up against fame and fortune.
12. "The wren nests in the deep forest, but it only takes up one branch; the mole drinks from the river, but its belly is full." (The wren builds its nest in the deep forest, but it only occupies the space of one branch. Why should it own the whole forest? ? The mole drinks water by the river, but only when it is full. Why does it need to occupy the entire river? ) Contentment is the common thought of Confucianism and Taoism, and it is also a reflection of agricultural society.
13. "On the mountain of Miaogushe, there is a god and man living there. His skin is like ice and snow, and he is as graceful as a virgin. He does not eat grains, but breathes wind and drinks dew. He rides on the clouds, rides on flying dragons, and swims across the four seas. "Outside" (In the distant Gushe Mountain, there is a god-man living. His skin is as white as ice and snow, and his grace is as graceful as a virgin. He does not eat the grains of the world, but eats the wind and drinks the dew. He soars in the clouds and rides on the mist, drives the sun and the moon, and runs and swims outside the universe. ) –––––––Chinese society is too dark, so there are common people who are complicit in evil, and there are also pure hermits, but there are no warriors who dare to join the world, challenge society, and fight.
14. “The solid body (body) can be as solid as a dead tree (dead wood), and the solid heart can be as solid as dead ashes.” –––––Retreating from the world to the point of being as dead as a dead tree (dead wood), is like the nirvana of becoming a Buddha in Buddhism. , this is probably the pessimism of Eastern people, right?
15. “Don’t be sad if you work all your life and don’t see your success, and you are exhausted and don’t know where you are going!” Zhuangzi is against working hard for fame and wealth, but is it okay for people to not be tired of working hard to make ends meet?
16. "This is also that, and that is also true. That is also right and wrong, and this is also right and wrong." (This is that, and that is this, there is no difference between right and wrong, and there is no difference between right and wrong. Difference) ––––––: Chinese people do not have much concept of right and wrong and awareness of truth. Various schools of thought teach people to confuse right and wrong, not distinguish between good and evil, or regard evil as good (for example, Confucianism regards restraining people’s evil virtues as Good virtue, Legalism regards violence and trickery as good deeds).
17. “Heaven and earth are one finger, and all things are one horse” (Heaven and earth have only one element, and all things are of the same kind) – In response to the famous scholar’s ??argument that a white horse is not a horse, Zhuangzi “equalizes all things” ”, believing that all things are one horse. Under the guidance of this kind of chaosism and relativism, it is certainly impossible for China to produce Plato's soul-body dualism, Aristotle's plant classification, and physical exploration.
18. "Beyond the Liuhe, the sage remains and does not care; within the Liuhe, the sage discusses but does not discuss it." , the sage states it but does not judge subjectively) - Chinese people have no desire to explore things beyond the Liuhe, the world, and metaphysics. Therefore, science and technology cannot be separated from the immediate practicality, and philosophy can only be secular. Thought.
19. “In the past, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamed of a butterfly, and it was a lifelike butterfly. I didn’t know that Zhou’s dream was a butterfly, and the butterfly’s dream was Zhou You.” (In the past, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamed of a butterfly, and it was a lifelike flying butterfly. The butterfly... But after I woke up, I couldn’t figure out whether I, Zhuang Zhou, had dreamed of the butterfly, or whether the butterfly had dreamed of me, Zhuang Zhou) – The thoughts of Chinese philosophers are also as vague as dreams, and misty. He was confused and had no rigorous thinking.
20. "My life also has a limit, but my knowledge has no limit. If I have a limit, I will follow the limitless, which is dangerous." (Our life is limited, but our knowledge is infinite. If we use the limited to deal with the infinite, we will inevitably fall into trouble) –– ––––––Zhuangzi also advocated “not learning”, maintaining the truth and nourishing the mind to cope with the boundlessness of knowledge. Probably for the interpersonal relationships that the Chinese discuss, knowledge is of little use, only experience is enough. Westerners focus on exploring the natural world, and only then can the usefulness of knowledge be demonstrated. Therefore, the West famously says: Knowledge is power.
21. "There is no reputation for good deeds, and there is no punishment for evil deeds. The predestined governor believes that this sutra can protect your body, your whole life, your relatives, and your years." (Don't be famous for doing good deeds. Don't violate the criminal law by doing bad things. Live by following the rules and tricks. In this way, you can stay healthy, save your life, take care of your loved ones, and enjoy your life to the fullest.) Zhuangzi is against the use of strategies, and at the same time he also He is a great strategist, and can also be said to be a philistine, who is good at making a living. Perhaps, his idea of ??surviving by tricks was forced by reality.
22. “Everyone knows the uses of useful things (the uses of useful things), but no one knows the uses of useless things (the uses of useless things)” – Zhuangzi discovered the uses of useless things , that is, staying away from officialdom, fame and fortune, lofty self-esteem, and at the same time giving up social responsibilities and allowing tyranny to run rampant.
23. "Death and death, poverty and poverty, virtuous and dishonest, reputation and reputation, hunger, thirst, cold and heat, changes of events are the fate of fate" - whether it is Confucianism or Taoism , all have a strong belief in fate. Therefore, in the spirit of Ah Q, they identify with the ruler's tyranny and corruption and their own poverty and abuse.
24. “Don’t hurt your body internally with your likes and dislikes, always follow nature” – Taking Heaven as your teacher, follow nature, and protect yourself and live long. This is a typical Chinese thought. Zhuangzi also fell into the secular world.
25. "The ancient real person sleeps without dreaming, wakes up without worries, eats with dissatisfaction (does not indulge in taste when eating), and breathes deeply" –––––––Zhuangzi asked to forget the self (“no self”), forget misfortune, and shrink into a turtle shell.
26. "The real people in ancient times did not know how to enjoy life (not to be happy to be alive), nor to hate death (not to worry about death)" – In troubled times, life is not guaranteed, so we have to follow Ah Q’s spirit and not care about life and death. .
27. “One who does not use his heart to contribute to the Tao (does not use subjectivity to change objectivity), does not use people to help Heaven (does not use people to hinder nature), this is what is called a true person” ––––––Being in harmony with Heaven A disciple can become a real person without changing nature, but he cannot become a great man who changes nature.
28. "The sage's use of troops is to subjugate the country without losing the hearts of the people." - Winning the hearts of the people by fighting, and subduing the troops without fighting. This is the highest state of China's military use.
29. "It is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes than to moisten each other with saliva; instead of praising Yao instead of Jie, it is better to forget both and change their ways." (Instead of moistening each other with saliva and struggling to survive, it is better for fish to forget each other and swim In the nature of the rivers and lakes; instead of praising the wise kings of Yao and Shun and criticizing the tyrants of Jie and Zhou, it is better to forget right and wrong and return to the way of nature) - Forgetting right and wrong is the same as good and evil. It is very beneficial to the cultivation of realm, but it is very harmful to social progress. .
30. "The earth carries my body, makes me work hard, makes me live happily, and makes me old." In the end, death allowed me to rest) – Zhuangzi had a deep sense of sadness here, which is rare among Chinese people.
31. “Be born as a burden and die as a wart, and die as a wart and carbuncle” (Life is a burden, death is liberation) – Living in China is too painful.
32. “Fish forget each other in rivers and lakes, people forget each other in Taoism” (fish forget their feelings in rivers and lakes, people forget their feelings in the way of freedom) – Chinese people can only forget worldly pain , entering into imaginary freedom without being able to strive for and win real freedom.
33. "Lost limbs, deprived of intelligence, separated from the form to know, the same as the great road, this is called sitting and forgetfulness" (not running around and working hard, getting rid of intelligence, forgetting the body, abandoning knowledge, to achieve the unity of nature and man) The state of forgetfulness, which is called sitting and forgetting) - the word "forgetting" is a unique trick for Chinese people to deal with crises in life.
34. "Riding on a bird of uncertainty, one can go beyond the six extremes and travel to a land where there is nothing, in order to live in the vast wilderness." (Wandering in the realm of nothingness, wandering in the infinite wilderness) – This is imaginary freedom, spiritual freedom, which is different from modern Western liberalism – social freedom, political freedom Freedom, real freedom.
35. "The heart of a perfect person is like a mirror. He does not meet or greet, responds without hiding, so he can conquer things without hurting them." , do not give in, do not flatter, do not hide feelings, so he can despise foreign objects, and do not hurt his heart) - Spiritually detached, do not wrong himself, and be superior to foreign objects, this is the easiest thing for Chinese people to do Arrived.
36. “The benevolent people in this world are worried about the troubles of the world.” Unfortunately, the result of his worries is not resistance, but escape.
37. “Unkind people, greedy (greedy for) wealth and honor at the expense of life and life (referring to indulgence of desires)” – gluttony for wealth and honor in troubled times, this kind of people only care about immediate enjoyment and do not care about the future. Short-term behavior of life and death is the most common among Chinese people.
38. "Everyone in the world uses things (foreign objects) to change (change) their nature (nature). The villain sacrifices his life for small gains, and the scholar (knowledgeable person) The husband sacrifices his life for the family, and the saint sacrifices his life for the world. Therefore, those who have several sons have different careers and different reputations. They sacrifice themselves for harming their nature (hurting their nature). "Sacrifice one's body (human body), one thing" - Zhuang Zhou has a keen eye, sees through villains and saints, and advocates preserving human nature. However, in reality, vulgar people who are obsessed with fame and fortune are like crucian carp crossing the river. It is too early for the Chinese people to oppose alienation. If material civilization is not yet developed, anti-material civilization will only lead to poverty and backwardness.
39. "They live together with the beasts, and their clans are with all things. It is evil to know that a gentleman is a villain, and it is the same as ignorance. Their virtues are inseparable, and they are the same as having no desires. This is called simplicity, simplicity and the people's nature." "(Survive with the beasts, grow with the creatures of all things. Regardless of the gentleman or the villain, everyone is ignorant; the true humanity can be maintained, and everyone has no desires. This is called returning to nature. Returning to nature, then the people can survive Nature) ––––––––Returning to one’s original nature should be personal and psychological, and should not be in the wilderness.
40. "If the sage abandons wisdom, the big thieves will stop; if you pick the pearls and destroy the jade, the petty thieves will not be able to afford it; if you burn the talisman and break the seal, the people will be simple and humble; if they fight and break the balance, the people will not fight" (Abandoned) Only with the knowledge of benevolence and sage will thieves of the country not appear; if pearls and jade are destroyed, petty theft will not occur; if contracts are burned and jade seals are smashed, the people will naturally be simple and have no desires; if containers are broken and scales are broken, the people will naturally not fight.) –––––––Anti-knowledge, anti-civilization, and anti-competition, this is the origin of Chinese culture.
41. “If you have many men (boys), you will have many fears (worries); if you are rich, you will have many troubles; if you have longevity (longevity), you will have many humiliations” – Zhuangzi is quite reasonable, he looks at people from the negative side Worldly behavior, Ah Q? Zhuangzi is Ah Q’s spiritual mentor.
42. "Forgetting things and heaven is called forgetting oneself (forgetting oneself). People who forget themselves are said to have entered heaven (unity of man and nature)" ––– –––Chinese people forget themselves, have no self, and forget themselves, while Westerners emphasize human subjectivity, personality, and self.
43. "The highest state of governance is not to respect talents and not to use capable people. The king is like a branch and the people are like wild deer." The people are as unrestrained as wild deer) – The era of ignorance was Zhuangzi’s ideal society. Why didn’t he devote himself to building a new free society? Do Chinese people lack creativity?
44. "Those who know the happiness of heaven have no complaints from heaven, no one is wronged, nothing is burdensome, and there is no blame from ghosts." Interference by ghosts and gods) – Chinese people are optimists and non-theistic determinists (not atheists). Some people say that a nation without a sense of tragedy is shallow.
45. “What you read is the dregs of the ancients.” – Books are the essence of human civilization, but Zhuangzi denies the role of books and believes that they cannot record wordless and biographical information. The truth of the heart, intuition, and understanding. Zhuang Zhou had both gains and losses.
46. "The Yellow Emperor ruled the world and made the people's hearts unified (simple). The people have their relatives (relatives) and will not cry until they die." - Be open-minded and optimistic, so he despises death. Unlike Westerners who create an afterlife world—heaven and hell—Chinese people treat death purely secularly, but saints can transcend fear.
47. "Life is like floating, and death is like resting. No thinking, no premeditation" - The leisure and indifference of Chinese intellectuals are always in line with the reality of working people Out of place.
48. "Therefore, the so-called hermit does not mean that he hides his body and cannot be seen, does not mean that he keeps his mouth closed and does not speak out, and does not hide his knowledge. "Not sending out (getting rid of wisdom and not using it)" - Chinese thinking is to linger on the secular world and live in seclusion in the secular world, while Indian thinking is to completely transcend the secular world and escape into religion.
49. “Don’t be arrogant because of your high official status, don’t be arrogant because of your high position, don’t be arrogant because of your poverty and poverty” – so noble A wise man can only be admired but not learned from.
50. “He who holds a white blade in front of him and regards death as if he were still alive is the courage of a martyr; he who knows that there is a destiny for poverty, knows that there is a time for prosperity, and is not afraid in the face of great difficulties, is a saint. "Courage is also" - Su Shi distinguished between the courage of ordinary people and great courage, and Zhuang Zhou distinguished between the courage of martyrs and the courage of saints. China either produces ordinary people, or it produces saints - people who are unattainable, and only one can be born every few hundred years. Such as Liu Ji in the Ming Dynasty and Zeng Guofan in the Qing Dynasty.
51. "Zhuangzi and Huizi were swimming on Haoliang (a small bridge over Haoshui River). Zhuangzi said: Minnows come and go easily, which is the joy of fish."
Huizi said: You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish? Zhuangzi said: You are not me, you know I don’t know the joy of fish! ”––––––Zhuangzi is an intuitionist (divine encounter), and Huizi is a famous logician. Of course, their ways of thinking are different.
52. “The straight tree is cut down first, and the sweet well is exhausted first.” "(The straight wood was cut down first, and the sweet well was exhausted first) - Zhuang Zhou attributed all the disasters to subjective reasons and his own reasons.
53. "Enter the beast and do not chaos. When the birds are in the flock, they will not wander around." (To roost with the wild beasts without disturbing the flock; to roost with the birds without disturbing the flock of birds) - Tao Guang is kept secret, and he makes deep plans without disturbing the flock. Eye-catching, this is typical Chinese wisdom.
54. “If a white horse jumps across the gap between heaven and earth in life, it will just pass by in a flash” ––––––Western. People believe in heaven, Indians believe in rebirth, and Chinese people only believe in this world. Therefore, we often lament that life is short.
55. "The ancient people were externally oriented but inwardly obedient. Independent and uninhibited)”–––––––Zhuang Zhou is one of the very few people with personality in China, but he dare not make public his personality.
56. “You don’t know what you know until you know it, and you don’t know what it is when you ask.” It can have a limit, but it cannot have no limit." (I don't know and then seek knowledge, learning is endless, but there is an end) - Zhuang Zhou advocated that knowledge and learning should be limited and the emphasis should be on the improvement of realm. Chinese thought is Don’t seek knowledge, only seek realm.
57. “It’s sad that the gentlemen of today’s world often endanger their bodies and sacrifice their lives for things.” ––––––––Zhuang Zhou advocated “striving for things without being controlled by things” (controlling external things without being controlled by them). His thoughts transcended the times. Similar ideas existed only in modern times in the West. p>
58. “The saint follows nature and values ??the truth (takes nature as the law and values ??the true nature), and is not bound by the vulgar (not stuck in the world)” ––––––In ancient times, through the imperial examination, even the working people Once their children win the imperial examination and enter the officialdom, they are separated from the life of working people. These people then want to become "saints", return to simplicity, be transcendent, and no longer want to participate in what is considered menial labor.