Zhuangzi, named Zhou and Zixiu, was a famous philosopher during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the founder of the Pre-Qin Zhuangzi School. He inherited and developed Laozi's philosophical thoughts, advocated the political views of "unity of nature and man" and "governing by inaction", and left many works that enlightened the wisdom of future generations, such as "Equality of Things", "The Great Master" and "Xiaoyao". "Travel" etc.

Zhuangzi insisted on himself throughout his life, acted spontaneously, and examined the world from an artistic and aesthetic perspective. His philosophical thoughts had a great influence on later generations.

Zhuangzi's fable of "The Yellow Emperor Asks for the Mysterious Pearl"

There is a fable in "Zhuangzi" called "The Yellow Emperor Asks for the Mysterious Pearl": The Yellow Emperor swam in Chishui, climbed up the Kunlun Mountains and looked south. When I was traveling, I accidentally lost my Xuan Bead. He sent the wise Zhihuo, the good-sighted Li Zhuhui and the debating Li Chicun to search for him, but none of them were found. In the end, he had no choice but to send Xiang Wang, who had no intention of doing anything, to look for him, but unexpectedly he found him.

Why can't people with wisdom and talent be found, but people who have no intention of doing anything are finally found? Huang Di was very puzzled by this. In fact, this story reflects Zhuangzi's straightforward worldview of "doing nothing but doing everything".

Xuanzhu is a symbol of "Tao". The Yellow Emperor came to rule the world and governed the country, hoping to educate the people and make a difference. But this kind of "doing something" is contrary to Zhuangzi's "governing by doing nothing". From this, Zhuangzi believed that Huangdi had lost his way. The description of the process of finding the Tao further reflects the frankness of Zhuangzi's personality. Huang Di asked three men who were wise, discerning, and good at debating to search for it separately, but none of them found it. Later, I asked Xiang Wang, who had no intention, no desire, and no desire, to look for it, but found it.

Zhuangzi believes that natural inaction is the existence form of all things in the universe, and advocates following the laws of nature and doing nothing. Moreover, he believed that all rituals, music, and education were like shackles to people, painful and useless. The beauty of the heaven and the earth is not mentioned, the laws of the four seasons are clear but not discussed, the principles of all things are not mentioned, and the world cannot compete with its beauty. Zhuangzi believes that only by following the laws of nature, can human beings be like everything in the world. Like all living things, they have original beauty, and anything that goes against nature will eventually lead to injustice in the world.

The political views of Zhuangzi and Laozi

The “governing by inaction” advocated by Zhuangzi is very similar to the political views of Laozi. Later generations will refer to Laozi and Zhuangzi as "Laozi and Zhuangzi", which shows how close their relationship is. Many people think that since they all advocate "inaction", their philosophy should be the same.

In fact, there is a big difference between Zhuangzi's "inaction" and Laozi's "inaction". Compared with Lao Tzu, a politician who actively engages in the world, Zhuangzi is more like a poet who is free and unconstrained.

The Story of Bole Xiangma

Many people know the story of Bole Xiangma, and they all think that Bole did a favor to the horse by making the horse stand out from the ordinary horses. But Zhuangzi didn't think so. He believed that Bole Xiangma was actually harming the horse, and his actions brought endless disasters to Qianlima. For a horse, it is his nature to eat grass when he is hungry, drink water when he is thirsty, run with his hooves when he is happy, and kick when he is unhappy. But since the arrival of Bole, who is good at managing horses, horses can no longer live according to their nature.

Bole’s method of managing horses is actually nothing more than shearing, burning, cutting hoofs, and branding horses? His process of raising and training horses is like the most cruel punishment, full of blood. After these "tortures", the horse has indeed become a talented and useful horse to humans. The consequences of this are of course good for the horse owner, but it is a disaster for the horse itself. Ma paid a heavy price for a so-called talent that was meaningless to him.

Zhuangzi believed that governing a country is similar to taming a horse, and those who govern a country often make mistakes similar to those who tame horses. The natural state of man is like an untamed wild horse. Many monarchs think that they are good at governing the country, but their methods of governing the country are just changes in human nature.

The reason why Zhuangzi escaped from the world

Originally, people plowed fields and weaved cloth, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, carefree and free. At this time, people have no desires, only the simplest and most primitive part of their nature. Later, monarchs and saints appeared. They put forward a bunch of rules and morals for people to abide by, and advocated various codes of conduct. They hoped to extend their ideas to the common people in the world, and use their own likes and dislikes, and their own views of right and wrong to judge people. Standards of right and wrong.

Under such circumstances, people abandon their original nature and gradually begin to doubt and think about all the right and wrong, good and bad in the world. After that, they become more and more complex and better at exhausting their efforts. Use your intelligence and wisdom to benefit yourself.

Zhuangzi hated this method of governing the country that went against human nature. There was no "governance" in his political outlook. He advocated following the laws of nature and obeying human nature. Therefore, whether it is taming horses or governing a country, it goes against his straightforward world view. Transforming people and the world is what all rulers and saints are most passionate about, so it is normal for his views not to be adopted.

In Zhuangzi’s view, rulers and saints all have good intentions and hope to transform the world into a better place.

But what they did and the consequences of their actions were evil. Perhaps the reason why Zhuangzi retreated from the world was because he could not bear and was unable to change this reality.

Summary

I have an ideal "Utopia" in my heart, and I have drawn a blueprint for this ideal "Utopia". Therefore, although he was frustrated everywhere, he still had the world in mind and was always ready to fight to save the world. However, Zhuangzi's willfulness determined that he was unable to integrate into the society at that time, and he was unable to influence the society at that time with his thoughts.

So he had no choice but to withdraw into his own world, close himself up, and no longer pay attention to the world. Instead, he began to focus only on his own inner cultivation and his own nature, and began to pursue a kind of freedom of wandering around the world. His retreat and indifference are not actually due to indifference or indifference to reality, but more of a sense of dissatisfaction with reality and a sense of despair that he is unable to save everything.