The Thought Of "You" In The Axial Age Of China

This thesis discusses the thoughts of "you"(游) in the Spring-Autumn and Warring Period(770BC——221BC) in China in the perspective of the philosophy of Confucius,ZhuangZi and QuYuan.This thesis is divided into five parts.The first part is a brief introduction which includes the purpose of this study as well as its significance.The second part is about the conception of "you" in Confucius' thought. And the third part analyzes the free and easy wandering in ZhuangZi's philosophy. The fourth part deals with the idea of "you" in QuYuan's thought.The last part shows their differences in "you",and compares their ideas of "you" in China with corresponding theory in western countries.Confucius once said:"Let the will be set on the path of duty;Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped;Let perfect virtue be accorded with." what he said is connected with "Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts." Confucius entered the realm of arts by the way of "you",and opened the system of"Tao"(duty...) by playing with relaxation and enjoyment in the arts.Art,generally composed of six sections,included etiquette,music,archery,horse-riding,reading and mathematics at that time.These activities were not only playing skills but also arts. Once we found the relaxation and enjoyment in the arts,we may also discover morality and virtues in the arts.Morality is connected with arts.Setting the will of duty leads to the real knowledge,and playing in the arts keeps "Tao" lively.It is a dynamic system without losing seriousness.Etiquette,which is one of the arts,is not only works in everyday life,but also has the function of religious worship and human relationship.Marketing business between aristocracies should comply with a certain ceremony in ancient times.However,trading between countrymen didn't need to,so they enjoyed wandering in the market and sharing more lively space.The religious worship in ancient China not only had mandatory process and serious ceremonies,but also contained the subtle factor of playing games.Compared with "you",religious worships and human relationships in communication were different,because "you" is always in a relaxed state.But they are not isolated from each other.A country with right principles and good government has both etiquette and "you"."You" could get rid of tension,which stemmed from etiquette,while etiquette made up for unorganizedness,which stemmed from "you".Due to the harmony in the restriction and freedom,"Tao" then would come into existence.Free and easy wandering in ZhuangZi's life contains a rich connotation.At first, it is different from Kun's,LieZi's and Song Rongzi's,because his activity didn't rely on anything.Second,the location of "you" was in the human world."You" means both restriction and freedom.Because of "you",society would perform the right function and individuals would live an orderly life."You" can also manifest changes and concealment.The former indicates that changes happen in the outside but not inside of an object.Behind "you" in concealment are peace and obedience.The later has the same process as "you".Concealment doesn't mean abandoning the world but speculating the world well.Third,when we say "you" exists in the real world we also mean that it does "'in the village of nowhere".In order to enter "you" and "the village of nowhere",we should fast the mind and neglect everything.In these two ways,we deny our mind many times and then we could have a pure soul which fits for "Tao" finally.Qu Yuan was exiled and experienced double roaming both in body and in soul. He was caught in a dilemma.On one hand,he would not do what people did.On the other hand,he also couldn't play freely in nature,throwing away political troubles,let alone returning to original belief.His mind had a painful travel.QuYuan also travelled in fairyland where he could get rid of the pain of mind and set free the soul temporarily.Therefore,although Qu Yuan underwent an exile of his soul and couldn't find a way out,he had the wings of imagination in the illusory world.Both Confucius and ZhuangZi had the recreational and playing experience.The happiness in Confucius" heart was the same as it was in ZhuangZi's.It is the harmony between man and nature.However,the society at that time hadn't provided a happy space for them.When etiquette was in disorder,Confucius chose to get upon a raft, floating about on the sea,but QuYuan chose to drown himself in the MiLuo River. The thoughts of "you" in the Axial Age of China had some consistent points and different points as well,compared with "the theory of play" in western world.As far as self—cultivation is concerned,both China and western world emphasizes harmony and freedom physically and mentally.However,different ways of thinking between two countries result in the difference in the idea of "you".In addition,"the theory of play" in western countries focuses on the aesthetic by means of arts,while the idea of "you" in China focuses on human's life and moral standards.