中国文化英语教程unite2

Unit2Laozi'sPhilosophyofNon-actionName：陈立影20162213010王典20162213026Content•Laozi'sLifeandThought•NaturalnessandNon-action•ThePhilosophyofNon-contention•ReturningtoaNewbornStateLaozi'sLifeandThoughtLaozi(571-471BC)wealsocalledhimLaoDanisareclusewholivedduringtheSpringandAutumnPerio.Hewassaidtohaveonceheldalowcivilpositionintheroyalcourt,inchargeofthearchivalrecordsoftheZhouDynasty.TheClassicoftheWayandVirtueistheLaozi'swork,whichconsistsofjust5000Chinesecharacters.Itslengthisshort,butit'sthebasisofDaoismandtheessenceofLaozi'sthought.NaturalnessandNon-actionManyofLaozi'senlighteningviewsarebasedonLaozi'sphilosophyofnaturalnessandnon-action.“Naturalness”meansthateverythinghasitsownlaws,humansshouldnotbreakthelawofnature.Thisisalsothewaytoresolvingtheconflictsbetweenhumansandnature.Non-actionistheguaranteeof“naturalness”.Andmeansthathumanenterprisesshouldbebuildonthebasisofnaturalness,notonanyatenmptstointerrupttherhythmofnature.AfterLaozi,Zhuangzi(369-286BC)carriedonLaozi'sphilosophyandtoldastoryabouta“uselesstree”.Thestoryisaboutasupertreeandacarpenter.Whilepeoplethrongedtoworshipit,thecarpenterpassedwithoutalook.Andhisapprenticewascurious.Thecarpentertoldhimthatthetreeproductuselesswoodthatwasthereasonwhyithadbeenabletolivesolong.Thewiasdomofthe“uselesstree”liesexactlyinitsuselessness,oritsnaturalness.Whatis“Non-action”?Wuwei:means”non-action”or”totakethingslettheirowncourse”,proposedbyLaoZi,isnotdoingnothing,butcomplytonature,excludestheunnecessaryindulging,andnotreluctantlyusingpeople’spowertointerferethenaturalorsociallawsowndevelopment.老子提出无为，不是什么也不做，而是指要顺应自然，排除不必要的妄为，不要强求人事。ThePhilosophyofNon-contentionOnthebasisof“naturalness”and“non-action”,Laoziproposedtheviewof“overcomingthestrongbybeingweak”.Thisviewisbasedontheexistenceofwar.AccordingtoLaozi,warspringsfromhumanity'sbloateddesires.Andhethoughtthegreatestvirtueislikewater.WaterisinvinciblebecauseitnourishesalllivingthingsonEarthanddesiresandcontendsfornothing.Waterisweak,howereithasalotofenergy.Ifhumanscanlearnfromwater,manyconflictswillbeavoided.ReturningtoaNewbornStateLaozibelievedthatsageswhohadthehighestvirtueallresemblednewborns.Thehighistcultivationwastoreturntothestateofanewbornbaby.Howere,afterthebirth,theoriginallypuremindsbecometaintedwithchaoticcolorswiththeirgrowth.Humancultureoftenturnintobloateddesires.Thiswillleadtowar.Bloateddesirehasdamagedtheeaternalworldaswellaspoisonedthehumanmind.Desiredisturbspeaceofmind.TheTaoismWhatis”theway”?Itistheruleofthenature.Weneedtoobservethenatureandunderstandingthewayofit,sothatwecanuseittobenefitus.“道”就是自然规律；顺其自然，则受益于自然。Lao-Tzu’ssayings:上善若水。Thehighestgoodislikewater.人往高处走，水往低处流。Manstrugglesupwards;waterflowsdownwardsTHANKYOU