| dc.description.abstract | The primary concern of the thesis is the attitude with which mankind shouldaptly entertain in their confrontations with life’s absurdness and death, so as to acquire the physical, mental, and spiritual tranquility and comfort. As we present the interrogation of “what exactly contributes to such extreme agonies to which I am
subjected“, what can we be intellectually enlightened in Zhuang-zi’s philosophy of fate or destiny (ming)?
This essay conducts the investigation through the historical backgrounds which evolved from the “mandate of the heaven (tian ming)” in early pre-Qin dynasties to
fate or destiny (ming)”. I first clarify Confucian attitude and understanding of ming as a development of the primitive concept of tian ming with new innovations. Ming
refers to the compelling external force with inevitability, while tian ming refers to the
acknowledgement that mankind is the creature as a moral being. Zhuang-zi differs radically from Confucian way of thinking. Zhuang-zi’s philosophy of ming is principally constructed on the demands for sentiments, with its
logical point of departure with sufferings, such as birth, aging, diseases, and death, towards the freedom and emancipation of life. Zhuang-zi points out that ming has two directions of development: one is that mankind’s finitude (the limitations of life) overwhelms one’s authentic self and causes all the pains of human life. The other direction is the manifestation of the authentic self, which transcends the limitations of life and finally attains freedom and emancipation. In the former case, the formation of human body leads necessary to life and death, good and bad luck, rich and poor. In this course, the ming that confers to us is a natural limitation, which we could not change but to accept as it comes without any complain. Tsung-san Mou argues that “the idea of ming is neither an objective reality in space-time, nor a sort of knowledge;
therefore we can only sustain it in an accepting or not accepting ways..”
Nevertheless, our pre-judging mind cannot help but make subjective selection and evaluation of our living world, thus leads to various judgments and distortions of
values. We are disposed to view the world in terms of right or wrong, good or bad and become sufferers of such “natural punishment”. We thus could not be free. This is
precisely why Zhuang-zi asserts that “ming is to follow the natural course”, to let things be, to observe the changes as it may, so as to discover the transcendental
dimension of our life. This means that we guide our life with our authentic heart/mind.
Yet, after arriving at our authentic self, we need to come back to our living world to realize the Dao in living as nature unfolds without any rejection. Zhuang-zi places
ming on the same theoretical level with Dao, de (virtue), chi (matter), tian, and hsin (nature), indicating that they are intrinsically and structurally one unity. Likewise, Fu-kuan Hsu disputed the differentiations between nature and virtue. Consequently, the seemingly arbitrary ming is no longer a chaos of our phenomenal world and we furnish an onto-genetic (or causal) explanation of our fate. Hence, there is not the
least distinction between ming and Dao. To consolidate further the result, I analyzed and established that fortune-teller could not determine our fate. To transcend our fate means to live well within time, in the companion of with evil. Lastly, in this thesis, I have establish the correctness of Guo Xiang’s commentaries, as well as refuted some misconceived ideas such as Zhaung-zi’s allegedly preference of death over life, his rejection of morality, the prevalent belief that his thesis of “inward sageness and outward kingliness” is the same as Confucianism, and that Zhaung-zi offers elusive emancipation rather than practical solutions for life.
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