坐忘与顺世——简析庄子的通向自由之路

庄子为人处事的态度,似乎有两个完全不同的方面:一个是完全的出神状态或所谓"坐忘",完全逍遥在自己的精神世界里面;一个是完全的融入社会,完全顺应社会的要求。庄子有一种对现实社会的彻底绝望,这一绝望可能含有反抗社会的意味,同时也会导致行动上的软弱无力。庄子为人处世思想确实有自相矛盾和冲突的地方。他希望在精神绝对自由和社会的绝对不自由之间保持一种平衡,这只不过是一个注定无法实现的理想而已。

Trance and Conformance——Zhuang Zhou''''s Way of Life

Zhuang Zhou's way of life seems to be composed of two totally different aspects: a completely oblivious state,or "trance",where one stays carefree in one's spiritual world,and a demand of complete conformance to the society,a demand of accordance with the society.A thorough sense of despair can be traced in Zhuang Zhou,which contains a protest against the society and a weakness in action.There are self-contradictions in Zhuang Zhou's ideas of life.He wishes for a balance between the absolute spiritual freedom and the absolute tyranny in society,which is inevitably an illusion that never comes true.