Zhuangzi, Daoism, Taoism

Chunag-tzu (or Zhuang-zi) is a collection of workswritten by Taoist philosopher Chuang Chou (or Zhuang Zhou) during the pre-Han period of China. The extant version of this book has been abridged by Guo Xiang (252-312). Before the full version was lost, some of its texts had been quoted in other books. Those texts are known as "lost Chuang-tzu passages" (莊子佚文) today. This draft is a collection of lost Chuang-tzu passages. It is based on the similar collections compiled by Ma Xulun (馬敘倫) (1930) and Wang Shumin (王叔岷) (1989).

學術界一向把老子之自然哲學視作形上學和形容道為「形上實存」。「形上實存」指存在於時間空間以外，英文稱作transcendent。現代科學表明，實在不局限於經驗界，但科學之超經驗層級存在於時空以內。現代科學哲學中之科學實在論稱「感察不到但實存於時空以內」作unobservable。老子之道正符合unobservable之理解，而不屬於違反現代科學精神之transcendent。廣義上，把老子之自然哲學視作形上學並無不可，但有欠精準，因為道指涉unobservable，而unobservable乃科學哲學之專門概念，而非形上學之一般概念。「形而上」一詞出自《易傳‧系辭上》「形而上者謂之道」這一句。日本學者井上哲次郎按這一句把歐美哲學中之metaphysics譯作形而上學。其實，〈系辭上〉「形而上」的意義是承老子而指涉unobservable，井上以「形而上」這詞來翻譯metaphysics卻把它理解為指涉transcendent，故他這一譯並不符合〈系辭上〉的原來意義。本文就以上作出詳細分析，而為給老子之自然哲學作出充份說明，本文除討論老子外，還把他跟莊子之氣概念、《易傳》及古希臘之相關學說作出比較。

This essay analyses the second chapter of the Zhuangzi 莊子, the “Qiwulun 齊物 論.” After a brief examination of its main ideas, it will be argued that the “Qiwulun” needs to be considered not as an equalization that makes everything indistinguishable but as a discourse on corresponding things. A more attentive analysis of this correspondence among the myriad things will lead to the consideration of their mutual transformation. The conclusion is that, contrary to the ontotheological nature of Western metaphysics that imposes a single logic for its hierarchical structure Being-beings, the correspondence of myriad things allows the differentiation and assimilation of values in a comprehensive and harmonious fashion. Thus, the essay offers an ethical reading of the “Qiwulun” and considers its significance in the contemporary world.

Among the many themes that can be subjected to philosophical investigation, language, in particular, poses a unique challenge, as it constitutes the core medium by which ideas are communicated and, in some views, formed. In order to undertake an unbiased examination of language, therefore, one has to become aware of one's own words, a task which cannot be taken lightly; doubting the validity of words, a standpoint which is commonly associated with Daoist philosophy, is even more challenging, as it forces the thinker to face the problem of self-reference: to paraphrase Bai Juyi's satirical criticism of the Laozi, how can one say that those who know do not speak, and still be regarded as one of the knowers? 1 In the following pages I will examine the treatment of language in the Zhuangzi, a text which was perhaps more fearless than any other work that came before it (and many that followed) when facing the challenges posed by this complicated issue, and which consequently demonstrated a fascinating tension: a masterpiece of words that according to some could have earned its fame due to its literary brilliance alone (Mair 2000: 30, Ivanhoe 1993: 639], which, at the same time, in Graham's words, "professes a boundless scepticism as to the possibility of ever saying anything" [1989a: 25].

In their disputes on names (concepts) and actualities (mingshi 名實), the classical scholars of the pre-Qin and Han era still viewed reality as being composed of tangible external objects and their objective forms. In the Xuanxue 玄學 discourses of the Wei-Jin period, however, we encounter a different, deeper, and much more complex, theoretically elaborated understanding of reality. For most leading scholars of this period, reality was no longer reduced to the existence of objective things and their external forms but was understood as something that simultaneously includes our perception and understanding of these objects and their forms respectively.
Based on such an onto-epistemological agenda, their investigations were focused upon the inherent constitution of meaning. In this context, meaning was no longer something directly and one-dimensionally connected with things or something, forming a part of them. The present chapter aims to illustrate this process, which has led the prevailing currents of traditional Chinese theory of perception from a realist assessment of reality to a more complex philosophy of human
understanding.

This paper explores the compatibility between the Daoist art of emptying one's heart-mind (which is the key element of the identity of a Daoist sage) and the art of creating close relationships. The fact that a Daoist sage is characterized by an empty heart-mind makes him somewhat different from an average human being: since a full heart-mind is characteristic of the human condition, the sage transcends what makes us human. This could alienate him from others and make him incapable of developing close relationships. The research goal of this paper is to investigate whether – in spite of being an unusual human being – a Daoist sage has the abilities necessary for creating close bonds with others.

The Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that enjoyed considerable prestige in the centuries following its creation, over two-thousand years ago. When questions regarding its authenticity arose, the text was branded a forgery and consigned to near oblivion. The discovery of an age-old Wenzi manuscript, inked on strips of bamboo, refueled interest in the text. In this combined study of the bamboo manuscript and the received text, Van Els argues that they belong to two distinct text traditions as he studies the date, authorship, and philosophy of each tradition, as well as the reception history of the received text. This study sheds light on text production and reception in Chinese history, with its changing views on authorship, originality, authenticity, and forgery, both past and present.

Revista de DIN SUMAR FILOSOFIA RELIGIEI ANGELA BOTEZ, Gânditori români despre filosofia religiei şi teologie GEORGE REl\.1ETE, Evlavie filosofică şi evlavie teologică la Lucian Blaga şi Martin Heidegger GABRJEL NAGÂŢ, Noua abordare filosofică a unor scenarii apocaliptice ÎNSEMNĂRI FILOSOFICE MARIN AIFTINCĂ, Arta şi dezestetizarea artei TEODOR VIDAM, Reflecţii asupra statutului antropologic al fiinţei umane în prezent DUMITRU GRIGORE, Căi de cunoaştere, pattern-uri cognitive REVISTA REVISTELOR VIAŢA ŞTIINŢIFICĂ AUTORII 5 TOMULLIX septembrie -octombrie ~ EDITURA ACADEMIEI ROMÂNE 2012

A paper that was presented at APA Central Division 2018. It was a response to Bradley Douglas Park's "The Resonant Mind: Daoism and Situated-Embodied Cognition." I argue that a complete denial of the container metaphor in Zhaungzi should be qualified because wuwei and Yin Yang suggest that the state of mind that is of the highest efficiency is not permanent. Other evidence includes the heavenly reservoir metaphor and instances of indwelling spirits.

Der Grad der Plausibilität für die Existenz der einzelnen Affixe fällt noch recht unterschiedlich aus und die Verdeutlichung ihrer jeweiligen Funktion, sowie die Isolation weiterer Wurzeln wird zweifellos noch eingehenderer Forschung bedürfen. Nichtsdestoweniger ist auf eine eindrucksvoll elegante Art disparates Material zusammen gebracht und in ein sprachliches System gefügt worden. Die synthetische Leistung ist beachtlich. Meines Erachtens enthält das Buch von Laurent Sagart eine heitere Note; diese kommt vielleicht deswegen zustande, weil es einem in intellektuelle Spannung zu versetzen vermag und immer wieder zum Weiterdenken und -forschen aufmuntert. Sehr zu empfehlen! Wichtiger Hinweis: Aufgrund eines Missgeschicks wurden die Seitenzahlen der beiden Indices fehlerhaft aufgeführt. Der Autor bittet mich, den Leserinnen und Lesern mitzuteilen, dass er ihnen auf Anfrage hin gerne eine Kopie der korri¬ gierten Fassung per Post zusendet. Eine Liste der Errata wird auf der folgenden Website zugänglich sein:

La mayor parte de las interpretaciones del Zhuangzi, 莊子, uno de los dos textos clásicos dentro de la escuela taoísta, se basa en una explicación del texto desde el punto de vista descriptivo. De acuerdo con el contenido y la fecha de producción de la obra, alrededor del siglo IV a.e.c., el autor del Zhuangzi se tuvo que basar en las teorías establecidas en el Libro de los cambios (Zhou Yi 周易), los principios de la dualidad (Yin y Yang), las cinco fases (wuxing 五行), así como en las enseñanzas acuñadas en el Clásico de medicina interna del emperador Amarillo (Huangdi Neijing 黃帝內經), entre otros textos.

En este artículo se presenta la traducción al español del comentario de Cheng Yining 程以甯 sobre las primeras líneas del Zhuangzi. En ella aparece una lectura del pez Kun y el ave Peng que difieren considerablemente de la interpretación tradicional. En esta sección destaca la influencia de la alquimia en el comentario del texto y su importancia para la interpretación del mismo.

LET us now discuss the “discovery” of Taoism by European scholars, most of whom were also missionaries. Their first systematic contact with the Chinese civilization started in the 16th century. Marco Polo, it is true, traveled to China in the 13th century, but he mostly just pioneered tales of adventure.

The Europeans searched for reaffirmation of Christianity, and thus looked for “facts” to support European theology. It didn’t take them long and they were looking for a ‘messiah figure’. They quickly found a “Kong-Fu-Tze” (Kongzi). Following the same logic of Christ -> Christianity, the Europeans designated “new” names for Eastern “religions”; hence Buddha -> Buddhism, Kong Fu Tze -> Konfuzianism, and Lao Tze -> Laoism. This has been a spectacular failure for Confucianism in particular, which was (and still is) known in China as ru or rujia (meaning “literati” or “school of literati”). In fact, Kongzi is only one of many representatives in ruxue. Imagine someone would come along and recast Western philosophy as “Platonism” – because Plato allegedly founded it. How bizarre it would look if we called John Locke, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche “Platonists.” Unfortunately, with “Confucianism” in China, the Europeans got their way.

This thesis recasts the traditional arguments for how to interpret both the Daoist work, the Zhuangzi, as well as Socrates' daemon by using Islamic thinker Henri Corbin's concept of the imaginal. Examining the outward manifestation of masterful skill is used as our method for better understanding states that purport to go beyond discursive reasoning. The significance of the work is in proposing and arguing for a different ontological plane that sages have access to and this in turn, gives them the skillful ability to solve the multitudes of dilemmas that people bring to them.