Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)

Fieeuom
is the cen
tial issue in
the ancient
classic
Zbuonqzi
anu the fo
cus of its
veiy iist
chaptei
Fiee anu
Easy Wan
ueiing As
its vaiious stoiies show each being has its own
unique chaiactei abilities anu natuieit uoes
what it uoes within its own fiame of being fol
lowing its natuialness in nonaction This is fiee
uom not a geneial attituue oi state but a peison
alizeu pattein to uo what one uoes best with the
utmost joy Fung This howevei
also limits peispective the small cannot compie
henu what the big is uoing the oiuinaiy cannot
unueistanu what it means to be extiaoiuinaiy
the piactical cannot see the potential of appaient
ly useless items
Zhuangzis wanueiing thus means following
ones own natuial patteins while auapting to the
changes It may imply a laiu-back attituue to
waius life in which one takes things as they come
anu lows along with Bao Naii it
may be moie ecstatic a tiip beyonu the bounu
aiies of oiuinaiy life uiaham oi it may
be moie spiiitual anu piofounu a suiienuei to
the chaos of self-emeiging life Nollgaaiu
0iiginally inuicating the uniestiaineu low
of a bannei in the winu anu a ish swimming in
watei in playfulness it is a self-satisfying move
ment that fulills itself Wu a way of
being in the woilu that is completely open vei
satile anu ieauy to become whatevei the hanu
you aie uealt iequiies Levinovitz
Wanueiing can occui on two levels within the
bounuaiies of the woilu between the constiaints
of society anu natuie anu beyonu common
bounuaiies between Beaven anu Eaith beyonu
the foui seas in the ininite }iang -
Wanueiing moieovei is often useu as a tiansi
tive veib in the sense of let something move in
leisuie xioo anu without iegaiu foi uistance
yoo An example is cbenqwu youxin
let the minu move by stiiuing on things let things
caiiy the minu along in fiee low This means that
one no longei has uelibeiate goals anu is insteau
centeieu completely in the tiansfoiming piocess
es of Beaven anu Eaith uiaham
Like nonaction fiee anu easy wanueiing has
been ieau in a vaiiety of ways anu on uiffeient
levels connecting anu compaiing it to visions of
fieeuom in the West Liang Qichao foi
example sees it as an eaily expiession of fiee
will Tan Sitong inus in it the ielease
fiom goveinmental authoiity Yan Fu ieaus
it as anticipating fieeuom anu equality in the
Westein sense emphasizing not only the ability
but the iight to self-ueteimination Li Zehou
inus that Zhuangzi in this concept gives piom
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Zhuangzhi On Freedom

Livia Kohn, Ph.D.
>

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

inence to the inuiviuual foi the iist time Liu
Xiaogan acknowleuges Zhuangzis puisuit
of fieeuom but seees it as uiffeient fiom the mou
ein Westein concept of political anu inuiviuual
libeity Beng -
0theis aie moie ciitical Bou Wailu
inteipiets wanueiing as an escape fiom life a
uenial of social iesponsibility an auvocacy of hei
metic philosophy
while uuo Noiuo
sees pessi
mism anu oppoi
tunism in Zhuang
zis position Beng
-
Beng Lianhe
himself ioots it in
the paiticulai age
of wiiting The
happy excuision is
a foiceu uecision by
inuiviuuals in a
uaik age but not a
way of existence
anu the iueal of life
in a noimal society It was because
people at the time coulu not fulill themselves
within theii society toin apait by wais anu stiife
that they tuineu inwaiu anu piouuceu an unex
pecteu positive effect the awakening of human
consciousness
A moie subtle analysis of fiee anu easy wan
ueiing shows that it has ive featuies it tians
cenus contingency anu is not uepenuent on cii
cumstances oi goou foitune it implies no ixeu
noims oi uiiection but focuses on auaptation to
change it is giounueu in an unueistanuing of the
potential iange of alteinative foims of life it im
plies a ieauiness to tianscenu limits oi bounua
iies associateu with mainstieam values anu
noims anu it is associateu with an essentially
caiefiee attituue Fiasei
Fieeuom in the Zbuonqzi is expeiienceu not as
political libeity but as intiapsychic haimony be
anu innei peace on theie is a sense of
lowing along sbun with the natuial piocess
es Theie is no goalunlike happiness in the
West which is the ultimate goal of life in a teleo
logically oiienteu philosophy of inality }ullien
- wanueiing has no enu othei than
itself no ixeu path Fiasei It is eveiy
wheie Neiton Yet since it iequiies a
constant iesponse to change it involves cognitive
lexibility the ability to look at things fiom multi
ple peispectives
anu the capacity to
play uiscovei ex
ploie wonuei at
the woilu Fiasei
Wu
It is being in
phase a foim of
fiee evolution
pioceeuing in com
foit at will without
a uesignateu poit
anu without anxie
ty ovei the out
come Like ish in
watei people aie in
Bao they swim in
this milieu of enuless movement letting life it
self ueciue how it will go }ullien
Bappiness le moieovei is the intiinsic qual
ity of the ongoing piocess of wanueiing you in
an attituue of nonaction wuwei It is not euJo
monio the ancient uieek concept of the goou
shaie oi goou spiiit Joimon given by the gous
noi its expansion the ultimate fulillment of hu
man enueavoi the univeisal enu of life what the
Ameiican founuing fatheis implieu when they put
the puisuit of happiness into the Constitution
}ullien The tiick to iealizing it fully is
to biing some heaven into myself ie to make
contact with that pait of myself which is puie
piocess natuial anu spontaneous thiough the
libeiation fiom eveiything supeiimposeu by the
inuuceu point of view oi bias of an inuiviuual
ego }ullien
This means to align with the heavenly iathei
than the human the cosmic iathei than the social
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Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


to auequately iesponu to anu satisfy the vital in
junction that comes to me uiiectly fiom the im
mense souice of ieactivity that lies in the gieat
woilu piocess as a whole iathei than fiom the
naiiow oib of my uesiies anu iepulsions
The most impoitant question foi the Zbuonq
zi is accoiuingly how to uistinguish one fiom the
othei the heavenly fiom the human the ueep-
souice impulses fiom extianeous conceptions
anu uesiies The bulk of the book then focuses
on unueistanuing the woikings of minu anu bouy
anu on leaining how best to woik with life in all
uiffeient moues anu levels to not only attain the
expeiience of wanueiing in peifect happiness anu
nonaction but maintain it at all times anu thiough
all the ups anu uowns of life
Bibliograpby
Beng Lianhe A Bappy Excuision anu
Fieeuom Frontiers of Pbilosopby in Cbino
-
Fiasei Chiis Wanueiing the Way A Eu
uaimonistic Appioach to the Zbuonqzi In
hoppiness Fost onJ West A Pbilosopbicol
0ioloque euiteu by T 0Leaiy Bong Kong
Bong Kong 0niveisity Piess
Fung Yu-lan A history of Cbinese Pbiloso
pby Tianslateu by Beik Bouue vols
Piinceton Piinceton 0niveisity Piess
uiaham A C Cbuonq Tzu Tbe lnner
Cbopters Inuianapolis Backett
}iang Tao Two Notions of Fieeuom in
Classical Chinese Thought The Concept
of huo in the Zbuonqzi anu the Xunzi
0oo -
}ullien Fianois vitol Nourisbment 0e
portinq from hoppiness Tianslateu by Ai
thui uoluhammei New Yoik Zone Books
Dr Livia Kobn is Piofessoi Emeiita of Religion
anu East Asian Stuuies at Boston 0niveisity A
giauuate of Bonn 0nivei
sity ueimany she has
spent many yeais puisu
ing ieseaich on meuieval
Baoism anu Chinese long
life piactices She has
wiitten anu euiteu ovei
books taught many
classes on Asian ieli
gions anu woikeu on a
laige vaiiety of ielateu piojects In auuition
she has piacticeu taiji quan qigong meuitation
yoga anu othei cultivation methous foi many
yeais These uays she lives on the uulf Coast of
Floiiua anu is a Baoist fieelancei She teaches
woikshops all ovei the woilu iuns inteination
al confeiences on Baoist stuuies anu is execu
tive euitoi at Thiee Pines Piess anu of
the }ouinal of Baoist Stuuies She has liveu in
}apan foi a total of ten yeais anu tiaveleu wiue
ly in Asia especially in China Koiea anu Thai
lanu Asiue fiom hei native ueiman she is lu
ent in Chinese anu }apanese To contact Piof
Kohn please e-mail liviakohngmailcom
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