A Phenomenological Reading Of Spatiality In Guo Xiang’s Zhuangzi Zhu

Guo Xiang(252-312 AD) is a central intellectual figure of the Neo-Taoist movement in the era of the Wei-Jin Dynasties, whose thought spans the areas of ontology, epistemology and cosmology. Two fundamental ideas in his philosophical system are the concepts of the physical, external spatiality in which the myriad things exist, and the ontological, internal spatiality in which the myriad things advance their ontological development. Even though these concepts are treated independently in his Zhuangzi Zhu, the author contends that they, in fact, have an intimate relationship to one another. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between these two spatialities in Guo Xiang’s system, and to develop them to show the precise effects that external spatial environment can have on the ontological development of the myriad things.This thesis first explains the concept of “myriad things” with respect to Guo Xiang’s system, along with their process of individual ontological development(“duhua”). Then, this thesis provides a fundamental explanation to the twofold spatiality in his philosophical system. Upon this foundation, this thesis then uses Heideggerean phenomenological inquiry to further examine the relationship between external environment and internal ontological development, ultimately solidifying these findings through the use of examples provided by architecture and environmental science. Through the process listed above, the author demonstrates how, according to Guo Xiang’s philosophical system, external environment can limit or enhance the possibilities of the internal ontological development of the myriad things.This thesis is divided into six main sections:The first section is the “Introduction” which explains the author’s purpose for choosing Guo Xiang’s spatiality as the topic for this thesis, explicates the states of the current fields of study centering around Guo Xiang’s philosophy, and provides a brief analysis of the novel approaches taken in this thesis.The second section expounds the main concepts in Guo Xiang’s philosophical system(specifically “myriad things”, “duhua”, “fen”, “xing” and “rixin”), and provides a novel interpretation of “duhua” through the lens of its historicity.The third section provides an exegesis of Guo Xiang’s twofold concept of spatiality:the external environement in which the myriad things exist(explained by their“xiangyin” relationship); and the internal, ontological environment in which the myriad things advance their process of “duhua”(this “space” is also called “xuanming zhi jing”).The fourth section employs Heidegger’s theories of spatiality and architectural phenomenology to explain how external environment can limit or enhance the possibilities for development of the internal ontological development of the myriad things in Guo Xiang’s system.The fifth section further examines the relationship between the external spatiality and internal ontological development of the myriad things in Guo Xiang’s philosophical system through the employment of examples from the fields of architecture and environmental science.The sixth section is the “Conclusion”, which briefly discusses the various uses and issues produced by Guo Xiang’s concepts of spatiality.The author hopes that through the analysis of the twofold spatiality in Guo Xiang’s philosophical system, this thesis can provide novel insights into the ways that external environments affect the ontological development of those that exist within them.