There is a person in the country who is worried that the sky will collapse and fall, so he can't eat or sleep.
Yes, this is the idiom "people worry about the sky", from the book "Liezi", which is often used today to satirize unfounded but unnecessary worries about behaviors and people.
Actually, the story is not over yet.
Next, another person went to explain him: "Heaven, it is the accumulation of qi, and there is no place where there is no qi. You live in qi all day long, so why should you worry about the collapse of qi? ”
The one who worries about the heavens says, "Is naivety really an accumulation of qi? If that's the case, why don't the sun, moon and stars fall? ”
The enlightened person said, "The sun, moon and stars are just the part of the qi that can shine and illuminate, and even if they fall, they will not hurt people." ”
Well, may the days be like this. And what about the land? What if the ground collapses? ”
The earth is made up of pieces of matter, and it is very full, and there is not a single void. You walk and sit on these blocks all day long, how can you feel like it's going to collapse? ”
The work was done, and both of them were very happy.
The story continues. A man named Chang Luzi commented: "Since we know that the heavens are the accumulation of qi and the earth is the accumulation of bodies, how can we say that things in the world are not bad for eternity?" It means that if the enlightened person does not talk about the point, the heavens and the earth will be "broken", and it is reasonable to worry about the sky.
Liezi concluded: "It is absurd to say that heaven and earth will be destroyed; It is also absurd to say that heaven and earth will not be destroyed. Whether the heavens and the earth are destroyed or not is something that I do not understand, and it is impossible for me to understand. Just as people don't know what happens after they die, people don't know what happens to the living when they die, and whether the heavens and the earth are bad or not, don't take it to heart. "It means that if you cancel the problem, you won't have to worry about this and that.
From the complete story, it can be seen that behind the unfounded worries is the thinking of the ancients on nature and the ultimate problems of life. From today's perspective, Chang Luzi is right when he says that the solar system, the Milky Way, the earth, the moon, and everything in the world will be destroyed. Liezi's attitude is not to think about unclear problems. This is like what Zhuangzi said: "My life has an end, and knowledge has no end." With an end, there is no end, and it is gone! "If you want to know everything, you will be dangerous.
The story of worrying about the sky fully reflects Liezi's idea of "nobility and emptiness", and takes care of all things in the world with a nihilistic attitude. This doctrine is very similar to that of Zhuangzi - Liezi appears 22 times in the book "Zhuangzi", but there is no mention of Liezi in books such as "Xunzi Fei Twelve Sons" and "Historical Records", so many people doubt that there is such a person as Liezi in history. This also makes the situation of the book "Liezi" more complicated.
The consensus of the academic community is that Liezi and his person are real, his real name is Lieyukou, and his life is unknown. The 8 chapters of "Liezi" recorded in "Hanshu Art and Literature Chronicles" were sorted out by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin and his son, and they were dispersed early. Today's popular book "Liezi", although it is also 8 articles, including "Tianrui", "Yellow Emperor", "King Mu of Zhou", "Zhongni", "Tang Wen", "Li Ming", "Yang Zhu" and "Shuofu", is no longer the original book, it is compiled by later generations, or according to tradition, it is a forgery.
Zhang Zhan, a scholar who annotated the "Liezi" during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, said that the "Liezi" he annotated was discovered by his grandfather in the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty from the homes of his father-in-law Wang Hong and Wang Hong's younger brother Wang Bi. And the books of Wang Hong and Wang Bi's family are the old collections of Wang Cang, one of the "Seven Sons of Jian'an".
Many scholars do not believe this statement, but suspect that the book is forged by Zhang Zhan, or that the book is a fake book, and Zhang Zhan is just a "victim" who was deceived. Today's readers do not need to bother with these lawsuits, but must understand that even a fake book has its value, at least the material used by the forger cannot be all fabricated, or it has to be based on some historical materials of the time. As one collector once said, there is also a little bit of truth in a fake.
According to the analysis of modern scholar Ma Xulun, the book "Liezi" appeared late and was lost early. Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, there have been good deeds from ancient books such as "Guanzi", "Yanzi", "Analects", "Classic of Mountains and Seas", "Mozi", "Zhuangzi", "Corpse", "Han Fei", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", "Han Poetry Biography" and other ancient books, cut them, and use today's words to "wash the manuscript", and then combine some doctrines of the Wei and Jin dynasties to form a book. This is a judgment that is more in line with objective reality.
In addition to the original materials listed by Ma Xulun, there are also some ancient books that can be seen at that time but later died, such as some chapters of "Tang Wen" and "Shuofu", which are not found in the books of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties that are handed down today, nor are they a reflection of the thoughts of the Wei and Jin people, and it can only be considered that the people who forged the "Liezi" quoted the contents of other ancient books.
Such a "big platter" "Liezi", the level of philosophical thinking is far lower than that of "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi", but it is better in storytelling, interesting, and curious. There are nearly 100 fables in the book, many of which have become idioms and are still in use today, such as Yugong moving mountains, children arguing about the sun, lingering sounds, mountains and flowing water, worrying about the sky, losing sheep on the wrong path, suspicious neighbors stealing axes, and Ji Chang learning to shoot ......Most of the stories are concise and have deep meanings. Writer Wang Meng called "Liezi" "a Taoist joker with incisive rhetoric, a master storyteller with folk humor, and a weaver of Chinese whimsy".
For example, Yugong moves mountains, the story is very strong, and the characters and plot development are readily available. First of all, starting from the two mountains blocking the road, with "seven hundred miles in the square, ten thousand miles high" highlights the difficulty of moving mountains; The activities of the characters and the development of the storyline are carried out against the backdrop of Ershan.
The process of moving mountains is written with twists and turns: first write about his wife's doubts, which contrasts with Yugong's determination, which makes the article suddenly make waves; and then wrote the ridicule of the meander Zhisuo, with a few words, which made the story twists and turns; The best thing is that the details of the neighbor's boy "jumping to help" are inserted in the middle, which adds a bit of childlike fun to the article. As Qing Dynasty scholar Fang Dongshu commented, "the narrative can be narrated in the ups and downs and inserted into leisure, which is extraordinarily far-reaching."
Reading "Liezi" today, I mainly read the ups and downs of its narrative, the waves are overturning, and the ocean is sprinkled. The plants, trees, mountains and rivers in the natural world, and the rumors and anecdotes in the human world, once the author describes and dyes them, they become interesting. It is no wonder that Liu Xizai, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, said that "people rarely read Liezi, and they do not like to read it" -- there are very few people who do not read "Liezi", and there are very few who do not like to read this book.
*: People's ** Overseas Edition).