Chapter 11 Section 4 An expert who has seen through life and death

Da means to understand; when you understand, you are open-minded and open-minded.In terms of dealing with the world, Zhuangzi fantasizes about absolute freedom and freedom.When dealing with life and death, Zhuangzi advocates open-mindedness, not to be happy because of life, but to suffer from death. To treat life and death with an open-minded attitude, we must first understand the truth of life and death.Zhuangzi said that all things live and die, and the dead leave seeds, and the seeds give birth to a new generation, one after another, one generation after another, turning on the "Tao Jun" of heaven and earth, forming a circle.Not only can they produce offspring of their own kind, but they can also become something different from themselves.In the book, a very strange list of species evolution is listed.It is said that a certain seed got water and gradually turned into moss; the moss grew on the hills and became plantain; plantain turned into a kind of aquatic plant later, the roots of this aquatic plant became grubs, and the leaves became butterflies ;butterfly turns into a kind of worm, and this kind of worm turns into a bird; the spittle of the bird turns into a jealous little worm, and this little worm turns into some kind of grass, and after several changes, it turns into a leopard, a leopard Become a horse, and the horse becomes a man; after the man dies, he participates in this change again.Therefore, each thing is itself a kind of "seed", and the seed produces another thing, and the end of the life of this thing is the beginning of the life of another thing.Beginnings followed by endings, endings followed by beginnings, the circle of life has no beginning and no end.

Zhuangzi's list seems ridiculous and absurd today.But it is a remarkable improvement compared to the myth that God created man.And he also pointed out that land creatures evolved from water creatures, and higher-level creatures evolved from lower-level creatures. Why can everything transform into each other?Zhuangzi said that they are all formed by the aggregation of qi, and "the ears of the whole world are connected with one qi" ("Zhuangzi Zhibei Tour").When the qi gathers, it becomes a person, when the qi disperses, the person dies; ("Zhuangzi Zhibei Tour") This is true for people, and it is also true for things.The existence of all things is like some flickering spots, which appear for a while and disappear for a while.Heaven and earth are also one thing, but only one big thing.This is true of objects, and so are the phenomena produced by the changes in motion of objects.Safety and danger alternate with each other, disaster and happiness generate each other, and when it reaches the extreme, it will turn around, and this will end and the other will begin.A person who attains the Tao is to be in this circle, to allow things to change, not to interfere with them, and not to ask them; not to ask where they come from, not to ask where they are going, and not to ask why they are. Just grasped the hub of Tao.

In the history of Chinese philosophy, it can be said that Zhuangzi was the first to clearly point out that matter is the aggregation of Qi, and death is the dissipation of Qi.Gas is roughly equivalent to the material of an object.Laozi said that the outcome of changes in misfortune and fortune is unpredictable; Zhuangzi made a more in-depth explanation of the changes in safety, misfortune and fortune by means of the gathering and dissipating of qi. The rotation and alternation of safety and danger, misfortunes and blessings are so endless and elusive, so why do people care about the honor, disgrace and reputation of the world!All things are also changing in this way, their lives are so short, it is difficult to know where they are going, so why bother to care about their life and death!The same is true for people, life is short, like a horse crossing a small ditch, passing by in a flash, so why should we be greedy for life and afraid of death?Between heaven and earth, it is like a big melting pot, it casts all things, and all things will return to this melting pot to be recast.If a person with a furnace pipe hears a piece of metal shouting, "I've become a metal! I've become a metal!" he will definitely think that this is an unlucky metal.If a person also shouted happily: "I have become a man! I have become a man!" that must be an unlucky fellow!A person's life and death are like the alternation of day and night.Life is like a tumor formed between heaven and earth; death is the rupture of the tumor.People should accept the arrangement of fate calmly.

In the book, there are many short stories about life and death.The most famous one is Zhuangzi singing while his wife is dead.Huizi came to pay his respects, and asked him, "I've been with you all my life, bearing children for you, working hard all my life, and when you die, you don't cry, but you sing on a clay pot. Isn't that too much?" Zhuangzi replied. She said: "That's not the case. Why didn't I feel pain when she just died? But when I thought about it, there was no life in this world at the beginning, not only lifeless but also formless, not only formless but also lifeless. In the trance Qi was produced in the air, the air changed into form, and the form gained life again. Now this life has changed back, just like the replacement of spring, summer, autumn and winter. People safely returned to the original infinite and vast home, but I groaned. Crying loudly, you really don’t understand fate. I don’t cry because of this.” He also said that Zhuangzi was dying, and his disciples discussed how to bury him properly.Zhuangzi said: "Why bother? The heaven and the earth are my coffin, the sun and the moon are my jade, the stars are my jewels, and all things are my utensils. Why should I bury them?" The disciples said, "We are afraid of crows and eagles. I want to eat you."Zhuangzi said: "Don't bury it in the open air to feed the crows, but bury it in the ground to feed the ants. Isn't it partial to snatch it from the crow's mouth and feed it to the ants?"

There is a story in the book: Zi Sanghu, Mencius Fan, and Ziqin Zhang forgot about life and death and became close friends.Later when Zi Sanghu died, Confucius sent Zigong to mourn the funeral. Mencius fan and Ziqinzhang, one of whom composed music and the other played the qin, sang together: "Sanghu, Sanghu, you have returned to the original, and we are still living here! Hey, hey, hey!" Zigong asked, "Singing to a dead body, is it proper etiquette?" The two looked at each other with a smile and said, "You know what etiquette is!" Zigong came back and reported to Confucius, who said : "I shouldn't have sent you there. They know that everything is born in one breath, and life is just a superfluous tumor to them. How can they obey the etiquette of ordinary people?" There is another story: Zisi, Ziyu, Zizi Li and Zilai regarded life and death as one thing, and became close friends.Later, Ziyu became ill, his chin was close to his navel, and his shoulders were higher than his head. Zisi asked, "Do you hate this shape?" Ziyu said, "Go! I have nothing to hate. If you put my arm If I become a chicken, I will crow; if I turn my butt into a wheel, I will mount it on a cart; if I calmly adapt to the changes of things, I will have no troubles. The end of life and death is to be content with fate.