| Zhuangzi was a chief representative of Taoist scholars before the Qin Dynasty. The works of Zhuangzi are philosophically profound and comprehensive which displayed a literary talent unique both in Chinese culture and world culture. This lies in his understanding of the nature and artistic use of language.Among the intelligent scholars ,Zhuangzi achieved the most penetrating understanding of the limitation of language .Not only did he find the cause of the limitation but also pointed out the way to surmount it.The works of Zhuangzi produced incomparable influnce on Chinese history of ideology and culture.However,they are known as a great difficulty in comprehending his profound thought and complicated language.Therefore,till today, many divergences and misunderstandings still exist in the study of Zhuangzi. Undoutedly the study of his language is the key to the understanding of his profound philosophy.This thesis includes three partsrZhuangzi's opinion of the limitation of language,his theoretical achievement in surmounting this limitation ,and the practical strategies employed.Section I Zhuangzi's opinion of the limitation of languageZhuangzi held that Tao can't be spoken out and what can be spoken of is not Tao.Tao is the most important category in Zhuangzi's philosophy.He regarded it as the origin of the world and the essence of things.As an abstraction ,Tao is above all the things.Once it is talked with words it is not Tao at all. Language plays quite a limited role in understanding the essence of Tao,because the use of language is subjective and can only express one's particular experiences.However, everyone is confined to the time and space he lives in and can't get the true knowlege of things.Therefore if the opinioned one who knows little talks endlessly,he will surely miss the essence.The role that language plays in expressing ideas is also quite limited. Zhuangzi held that what accompanies the idea is unspeakable.He made this point clear with the fable "Wheelwright cutting a wheel".Zhuangzi's opinion of the limitation of language is also manifested in the negation of the function of argumentation.He denied the practice of judging what is right and what is wrong subjectively.It is useless to argue within subjective realm,because the winner is not necessarily right and the loser not necessarily wrongjSO he advocated "no arguing".This theory goes against the trend of that time and is of momentous practical and theoretical signifcance .Zhuangzi not only elaborated on the limitation of language but also probed into its roots,that is:the unfathomed depth of Tao,the constantly changing of the object and the limitation of the subject.Section II Zhuangzi's theoritcal achievements insurmounting the limitation of languageFacing with the difficulty in expressing one's ideas and catching the meanings of others, Zhuangzi managed to surmount the limitation of language.His theoretical achievements are mainly manifested in the following three aspects:1 .Taking nature as the most important principle of rhetoricZhuangzi took nature as the feature of Tao and the best manner to achieve it.Speech should conform to the objective law of nature and yield to the nature of the subject.In light of this, Zhuangzi advocated naturalism, which greatly influncedthe aesthetic judgment of later generations-- worship of thesimple and rejection of the ornate.2.Talking without wordsHaving a deep understanding of the limitation of language , Zhuangzi often remarked on silence and enlightened others to pay attention to its function.He deemed that the subject should be contented with his words and know when to speak and when not according to the nature of Tao.3.Catching the meaning while forgetting the wordsZhuangzi thought that the purpose of writing and speaking is to express one's ideas .However,language is not sufficient for this purpose,so if one want to convey his ideas completely , he can't merely rely on language but should throw himself into the course o... |
