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Articles

Zhuangzi’s discourse on ‘contented acceptance of fate’ and its relation to catastrophe

Pages 1388-1399 | Received 30 Aug 2019, Accepted 10 Mar 2020, Published online: 15 Apr 2020
 

Abstract

Based on the analysis of Zhuangzi (especially the inner chapters), this paper attempts to illustrate the positive aspects of Zhuangzi’s idea concerning contented acceptance of fate (anming 安命), which is completely different from a fatalistic viewpoint. Through probing into the meaning of some important ideas and their interrelationships, such as the Dao, virtue, nature, and fate, this paper indicates the essentials of anming: first, the prerequisite that makes anming toward life possible is what Zhuangzi calls ‘clarity (ming 命)’. Second, the passive aspect that anming expresses is ‘bearing/suffering’, referring to a facticity that one must accept according to internal and external limits. Third, the positive aspect of anming, referring to the concept of enabling man with his own limits to be at peace with worldly things, is what Zhuangzi calls ‘following along (Shun 順)’. Anming reveals its true positivity by willingly ‘following along’ the nature of all things, just like Cook Ting’s knife, seemingly passive yet active, playing with ease in spaces according to the natural makeup of oxen. This positivity will definitely shed light on education toward catastrophes or disasters, helping people contentedly accept the natures and limits of their own and of things, and finding with flexibility the best way in dealing with misfortune in life.

Acknowledgment

The author is indebted to many people for their feedback, including (but not limited to) blind-reviewers, who have helped the author to refine the arguments and elaborations on this topic. My thanks especially to Matthew Lenehan, who helped proofread the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The translation in this paper is mainly based on Burton Watson’s The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. A. C. Graham’s translation is also consulted if needed. But to be noted: the translation has sometimes slightly modified according to the author’s understanding of the original Chinese texts.

2 Oneness refers to the state still rendering the wholeness of the Dao before it diversifies into many ontic beings. ‘Oneness as the pre-emergent sate of ontic being cannot permit any form of classification other than the united wholeness of itself’ (Chai, Citation2019, p. 24).

3 ‘Clarity (ming 明)’ translated by Watson is replaced by Graham with ‘Illumination’.

4 Watson’s translation that ‘[the sage] regulates all to the constant (yuzhuyong 寓諸庸)’, is translated by Graham as ‘[the sage] finds for things lodging-places in the usual’ (Graham, Citation1981, p. 55). In my opinion, both translations do not completely capture the meaning of yuzhuyong (寓諸庸). Zhuangzi clearly said, ‘the constant is the useful (yongzhe, yongye庸者, 用也)’ (Watson, Citation1968, p. 41). Yuzhuyong therefore refers to a situation in which the sage lets things to be themselves according to their usage, namely, to their nature and function.

5 In this paper I only use ‘right or wrong’ to translate the Chinese concept of shifei是非 from the original texts. But in fact the concept is much richer than this translation. ‘The meaning of shi and fei in these texts appears to be similar to that of a range of dichotomies in Western languages such as true/false, right/wrong, correct/incorrect and good/bad’ (Ma & van Brakel, Citation2019, p. xxi).

6 The translation of this quotation is slightly altered by the author according to the original Chinese texts.

7 For instance, based on Zhuangzi’s statement that ‘Good fortune [fu 福/bliss] is light as a feather, but nobody knows how to hold it up. Misfortune [huo 禍] is heavy as the earth, but nobody knows how to stay out of its way’ (Watson, Citation1968, p. 66), Shi (Citation2010) firmly claimed that inconsistence between virtue and bliss is held by Zhuangzi.

Additional information

Funding

This work is sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Project number: MOST 108-2410-H-030-030-MY2.

Notes on contributors

Katia Lenehan

Katia Lenehan is a scholar and the author of several publications: Beauty and Goodness in Jacques Maritain’s Theory of Art and The Education of Man: On the Liberal Education of Jacques Maritain, articles in English (such as ‘Theory of Non-Emotion in the Zhuangzi and Its Connection to Wei-Jin Poetry’ (A&HCI), ‘The Human Being as a Unity in Aesthetic Perception and its Possible Meaning for Aesthetic Education in the Global Age’ (A&HCI), ‘The Human Being with Dignity in a Global Age: An Aesthetic Approach’…etc.) and other articles in Chinese.

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