Abstract
In philosophical texts from the mid to late Warring States period, the relationship between human beings and nature is often discussed in terms of the relationship between tian 天 (heaven/nature/sky) and ren 天 (human beings). This chapter examines the relationship between heaven and human in the Zhuangzi. If we consider the Zhuangzi as a whole to be a collection of writings by different people with related concerns and assumptions, then one of the main issues they debated was where to draw the line between heaven and human. These varying positions attempt to come to terms with a fundamental philosophical problem – human beings seem to be unique, particularly in their ability to cause trouble for themselves, for others, and for nature, but human beings also seem to arise from natural processes in the same way as other animals. After setting the context by examining Xunzi’s claim that Zhuangzi knew heaven but ignored the human, this chapter shows how the division between heaven and human functions and appears in the Zhuangzi. It then turns to parts of the Zhuangzi that complicate or undermine this division. The final section looks beyond the explicit juxtaposition of heaven and human to consider the broader status of heaven and human in the Inner Chapters.
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Notes
- 1.
On the tension between these two mottoes, see Perkins 2014: 13–17.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
The Zhuangzi as a whole clearly contains diverse materials that overlap and diverge in different ways and to different degrees. In this chapter, I trace out some of these commonalities and divergences, without speculating on the various ways in which these materials might be unified around authorial intentions.
- 5.
For a discussion of parallel’s in other texts, see Cook 2012: 431–439.
- 6.
Ziporyn says of this passage, “the Heavenly definitively means the spontaneous, while the Human means the deliberate and artificial; the two terms have definite contents, and these can be unproblematically known, and ‘the inherent powers’ belong to the Heavenly”: (Ziporyn 2020: 142 n C). Angus C. Graham takes this dialogue as representating “rationalizing tendencies” among the followers of Zhuangzi (Graham 1989: 205).
- 7.
Ziporyn also points out this connection between “Autumn Waters” and chapters 8 and 9, “which also offer a fixed definition of the content of the Heavenly inborn nature” (Ziporyn 2020: 142 n C). Labeling these chapters as representing the view of the “Primitivists” comes from Graham 2003a, who also includes parts of chapter 11 in this group. Liu Xiaogan follows the same grouping but labels them as “Anarchist” (Liu 1995: 134–143).
- 8.
In explaining why the Zhuangzi undermines the distinction between heaven and human, David B. Wong writes, “full detachment from the human is to treat as absolute the dichotomy between the human and Heaven. It is simply to reverse the likes and dislikes, and this is again to be the captive of a narrowing perspective” (Wong 2009, 571).
- 9.
References to the Mengzi are based on the Chinese text in Jiao 1987.
- 10.
- 11.
James Legge follows the same interpretation, translating it: “Only an insect can play the insect, only an insect can show the insect nature” (Legge 1891). In contrast, Burton Watson has: “Only bugs can be bugs because only bugs abide by Heaven” (Watson 1967) That is possible but makes little sense as a claim.
- 12.
Ziporyn emphasizes this adverbial sense in explaining his translation of tian: “Since the term no longer refers to a particular agent but to a quality or aspect of purposeless and agentless process present in all existents, it is here often translated as ‘the Heavenly’ rather than the substantive ‘Heaven’” (Ziporyn 2020: 286). Kim-Chong Chong points out the binomial use of tian, saying that they “express a non-judgmental attitude toward human affairs in general, as opposed to the Confucian and Mohist standards said to be laid down by tian with a moral will” (Chong 2016: 81), and that they “are used in opposition to any artificially fixed conception of things” (Chong 2016: 59).
- 13.
Ziporyn translates the lines: “It is the gusting through all the ten thousand differences that yet causes all of them to come only from themselves. For since every last identity is only what some one of them picks out from it, what identity can there be for their rouser?” (Ziporyn 2020: 12). For a discussion of the lines, see Ziporyn 2020: 23 n E.
- 14.
The meaning of ni is impossible to determine with any certainty. Ziporyn translates the phrase as “Heavenly Transitions” (Ziporyn 2020: 21), Watson 1967 as “Heavenly Equality,” and Chen 1983 as “natural limits.” Graham takes ni as yan 研, meaning “whetstone” (Graham 2003b: 16) but there is little evidence for that reading.
- 15.
This reading is taken by Cheng Xuanying, who takes it as showing that even human actions are ultimately fated and can be attributed to heaven (Guo 1978: 125–26). Chong suggests the same reading by saying that tian and ming describe events that are beyond our control, whether they are natural or caused by other people (Chong 2016: 67). This is another dimension in which the division between heaven and human cannot be taken as absolute.
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Perkins, F. (2022). The Zhuangzi and the Division Between Heaven and Human. In: Chong, Kc. (eds) Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92331-0_5
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