Zhuangzi was a philosopher in the Warring States Period. A representative figure of the Taoist school. He denied the existence of the creator of heaven and earth and believed that everything originated from Tao. At that time of Zhuangzi, on the one hand, the society was experiencing violent turmoil and frequent wars, on the other hand, it was in the golden age of a hundred schools of thought contending, and culture became a strong need, so a large number of people from this class appeared. This social and cultural situation plays an important role in the formation of Zhuangzi Thought. Zhuangzi, his work, has a far-reaching influence in the history of China's academic thought and occupies an important position in the history of ancient literature.

Zhuangzi should have been written in the pre-Qin period. There are 52 Zhuangzi in the Han Dynasty, which were edited by Guo Xiang in the Western Jin Dynasty and have been handed down to this day. This edition of Zhuangzi has seven inner chapters, fifteen outer chapters and eleven miscellaneous articles. Chapter 1 "Happy Travel". "Debate of size" is an important clue that runs through "Happy Travel", and "Debate of size" has always been a topic of discussion. This paper talks about my own learning experience on the debate of size in Xiaoyao Tour.

The first is the "big and small dispute" of "restraining the small and expanding the big"

Zhuangzi's "Happy Travel" describes mysterious and amazing things for people at the beginning. Zhuangzi, with his unique prose, has brought people into an unusually broad field of vision. He described that there is a kind of fish called Kun in the North Sea, which is very huge and can reach thousands of miles. Later, Kun became a bird named Peng, whose back was too big to know. But for this bird, it has to wait for the sea breeze to blow, so that it can fly high with the help of the sea breeze until it flies to the South China Sea to rest. After showing Kun Peng, Zhuangzi showed people the vision of small things. Seeing Peng Wanli, he flew in the sea breeze and didn't stop until he flew. Kun and Snow Pigeon scoffed at Dapeng and said, We just need to take off quickly and fly as high as elm and sandalwood. Sometimes we can't even fly that high and just land on the ground, so we also enjoy flying. Why do we have to fly to Wan Li and then go to the South China Sea? In this regard, Zhuangzi pointed out in one sentence that "a little knowledge is not as great as a little knowledge, and a small year is not as good as a big year". Xiao Zhi doesn't know great wisdom, and short-lived people don't know long life. Some people have a high starting point, their natural horizons will be broader and their pursuit will be higher. However, some people are born with a low starting point. How can he possibly understand that kind of high realm and high pursuit?

However, is Zhuangzi's original intention really to suppress the small and raise the big? If the metaphor of Dapeng and Fenbi is misleading, another example is clear: the discussion about time. Zhuangzi compares the auricularia auricula in Ephemera, Yi Hui in the Spring and Autumn Period and even Peng Zu with hundreds of ancient trees such as ghosts and gods and Toona sinensis, and draws the conclusion that there is no absolute "big year and small year". Peng Zu, who lived 800 years, lived almost long enough to stay in the sky; However, in front of ghosts and trees, even those who compare them should feel sympathy. "Size" itself is still so difficult to measure. People often feel sad if they are limited to the admiration of "big". People who are confined by their own limitations can't even judge which is bigger or smaller in Zhuangzi's context, and it is impossible to talk about "advocating the big and restraining the small".

(To be continued)