Abstract
In traditional Japan, the word shizen, also pronounced jinen, meant naturalness, or the mode of being which is natural. It did not, however, signify “nature”, at least not as that word has been commonly understood in modern times, i.e., as the objective, material world existing alongside of — often outside of, or in opposition to — the more subjective realms of humanity, art, and culture. Most literally, the meaning of shizen is “from itself (shi/ji) thus it does (zen/nen)”. The first component of shizen (shi/ji) is often read onozukara and refers to what is “spontaneously or naturally so”. Etymologically, shizen is traceable to the ancient Chinese word ziran, which was used in various religio-philosophical texts, especially the Daoist classics, to refer to the spontaneous way of birth, growth, and transformation. The Zhuangzi, for example, promotes an ethic of “following natural spontaneity (ziran)” (ch. 5), and of “complying with the natural spontaneity of things” (ch. 7). More formulaically, the Daodejing situates ziran at the most fundamental level of the Chinese “great chain of being”, stating, “Humanity is based on earth; earth is based on heaven; heaven is based on the Way (dao); and the Way is based on what emerges naturally (ziran)” (ch. 25). If nature is understood simply in terms of naturalness and spontaneity, the word ziran captures those nuances well.
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Tucker, J.A. (2003). Japanese Views of Nature and the Environment. In: Selin, H. (eds) Nature Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0149-5_9
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