We must know that the root of Lao Zhuang's doctrine lies in the absoluteness of sainthood and wisdom. Of course, this kind of absolute sainthood and abandonment of wisdom is not a "non-holy impossibility" in the Wei and Jin dynasties. "Non-saint impossible" has gone to the other extreme, and it is an alienation of Lao Zhuang's doctrine. This alienation also arose in the political and cultural environment of the time. The ideas and feelings in "Zhuangzi" are absolutely unattainable by Wei and Jin metaphysics. Wei and Jin metaphysics seems to have a fresh experience of the way of Lao Zhuang, and there are many wise people to elaborate it, but they are often expounded only in the skin, but without bone marrow. Here, through the contrast between Yu's and Tai's, the social and the natural are divided. At that time, the Tai were in an almost natural state, and in our current doctrine, they were in a primitive tribal state, a state of ignorance. During the Yu period, it had entered the era of civilization.
Why does Zhuangzi look at it in this way? If our society continues to develop, perhaps we will soon see the wisdom and greatness of Lao Zhuang's theory. You see, the deterioration of our ecological environment, including the various ills that have arisen in the so-called civilized era, is, in the words of Mr. Zhang Taiyan's "Theory of Evolution", that is, "there is no limit to good, and there is no end to evil." Good evolves, and evil evolves." Our current humanitarianism and all that we are doing is indeed developing and evolving, but the dark side of society is also developing and evolving. The First and Second World Wars, then the Cold War, including the wars and terrorism in the Middle East now, are all dark aspects of human society. How did these dark sides come about?
Why do I have to read and recommend books in Chengdu Business Daily? It is because reading is a very important life activity and a cultural phenomenon. What is "Wen"? It is the difference between barbarism and civilization, it is a dividing line; "Transformation" means to transform barbarians into civilized people.
However, the "civilization" we are talking about now, including these books on science and technology and social forms, is probably tens of thousands of new books published in Chinese mainland every year. Books will give us different information, and the bestial side of man will be curbed and purified by good books. Now there are many books that advocate competition and operation, and teach everyone how to do business and how to make money. These books may make you invincible in the mall, but most of them are stimulating your bestiality! Even under the cover of civilization, it is impossible to hide this bestiality and barbarism. Various theories, including those of the West, while emphasizing the survival of the strong and the predation of the weak, have also fully exposed the animal nature of man. Although this bestiality is an aspect of human nature, it stimulates the animalistic genes of humans.
Why did religion arise, religion, Islam and Buddhism? The original intention of the three major religions in the world is to completely improve the animal nature of human beings and return them to human nature. Confucius's Confucianism hardly talks about divinity, but about human nature. This human nature is strictly distinguished from the bestial nature of man. Therefore, in his writings, Mencius often scolded people who did not follow the rules of etiquette as beasts.
Today's deterioration of the natural environment, the rapid expansion of the population, and the frenzied drive of commerce have not taken into account how future generations of human beings on earth should survive and develop. Driven by business, everyone doesn't even think about future generations, let alone forests, grasslands, mountains and rivers, and ecological balance. Not to mention the distance, let's look at the Minjiang River and look at the mother river that we Chengdu people sing about. As long as you go up from Dujiangyan, you can see the tragic appearance of the Minjiang River! From above Guangyuan, you can also see the tragic appearance of the Jialing River! If you go up along the Jialing River from Chongqing, and then go up the Dadu River from the Leshan Giant Buddha, people who have been to the Minjiang River and Dadu River in the fifties and sixties of the 20th century will definitely feel miserable if they go to see it again! Although the local economy may have developed, and a lot of electricity was generated from water resources, and the sediment in the riverbed provided a lot of building materials, the natural environment was horribly harsh.
This article is excerpted from Mr. Feng Xuecheng's "Zen Says Zhuangzi - Emperor Ying".