A Study On The Implication Of "Qi Wu" In Wang Bi’s Philosophy

As the founder of Zhengshi metaphysics,Wang Bi built up his unique philosophy system of "No-thingness" in the way of supporting Taoism into Confucianism and understanding Confucianism and Taoism.The main sources of Wang Bi’s Taoist thought are Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.The former has a direct and obvious impact on him,but the latter is relatively secret.In addition to the sentences in Chuang Tzu quoted or used in Wang Bi’s text,there are many similarities between Chuang Tzu’s thought and Wang Bi’s philosophy system,among which the most speculative and metaphysical "Qi Wu" thought is the most prominent.Wang Bi’s philosophy system can be divided into three levels: the root theory of "Zhi Ben Gui Wu",the Gong Fu theory of "Chong Ben Ti Wu",and the realm theory of "Fan Ben Tong Wu".The three levels have certain similarities with the thought of "Qi Wu".Firstly,from the perspective of root theory.Wang Bi’s metaphysical construction is based on two basic categories: "Wu-You" and "Ben-Mo"."No-thingness" is the highest category in Wang Bi’s philosophy,which has both the cosmological meaning and the ontological meaning,and is the unity of the two.This corresponds to Chuang Tzu’s explanation of the metaphysical origin of "Qi Wu" from the perspective of time generation and spatial existence.Meanwhile,on the basis of this,Chuang Tzu’s later studies put forward the concept of "Wu Wu Zhe",achieving the unity of cosmology and ontology,with which Wang Bi’s metaphysical construction is in a continuous line.Secondly,from the perspective of Gong Fu theory.The recognition and practice of noumenon are the both side of Gong Fu theory.Wang Bi’s theory of Gongfu is based on the "Yan Yi Zhi Bian" and unfolded on the "Ben Mo Zhi Bian".On the issue of the relationship between "Yan" and "Yi",Wang Bi absorbed Chuang Tzu’s criticism of language,defined the function and boundary of language.Meanwhile,Wang Bi drew on the idea of "De Yi Wang Yan" to put forward such propositions as "Bian Ming Xi Li","De Yi Wang Xiang","De Xiang Wang Yan",and the way to overcome language limitations to express ontology.On the issue of the relationship between Ben and Mo,Wang Bi drew on Chuang Tzu’s idea of deducing the principle of "Qi Wu" with the relationship between Ben and Mo,and proposed the theory of "Chong Ben Xi Mo" and "Chong Ben Ju Mo",as well as the approach to understanding and practicing the noumenon.At the same time,Wang Bi’s thought of "Ming Jiao" transcends Chuang Tzu’s "Cheng Xin",enabling his Gong Fu theory to combine both individual and society,"Ti Wu" and "Yong You".Finally,from the perspective of realm theory.For the question of "whether sages have feelings",Wang Bi,based on the analysis of the negative effect of "emotion" in the thought of "Qi Wu",used the idea of "heartlessness means forgetting feelings",and put forward the idea of "sages have feelings without burden".As for the realm reached by sages,there are similarities between Wang Bi’s generalization of "Yu Dao Tong Ti" and the thought of "Dao Tong Wei Yi".In terms of political philosophy,Wang Bi’s proposition of "the rule of sages" is connected with Chuang Tzu’s exposition of the relationship between rulers and the people.In addition,Wang Bi inherited and developed Chuang Tzu’s view of nature and proposed a unique natural pattern.