"For those who wanted to get away from politics (eg, hermits) or who were prevented from pursuing their political ambitions (eg, frustrated or exiled scholar-officials), the Zhuangzi was their counsel. Other than that, the Zhuangzi was not a major voice in Chinese political discourse, especially the political discourse on freedom where it could have been the most impactful.
The Zhuangists regarded freedom as a private endeavour, not as a political institution or collective effort. Consequently, it was left to each person to cultivate a personal space in order to enjoy some degree of personal freedom within the lifeworld, or to stay out of it. It is a tragedy of historic proportion that the Zhuangist approaches to freedom, especially his imagination of personal freedom within the lifeworld, were not factored into the way the state was conceived of and designed, both at the time when the text was composed and subsequently. It did not occur to the Zhuangists that we can, through institutional arrangements, constrain the state’s ability to intrude upon people’s personal freedom. How the Zhuangist imagination of personal freedom can be integrated into the Chinese conception of the state remains a daunting challenge for contemporary Chinese thinkers."
– from AEON: https://aeon.co/essays/zhuangzis-ancient-fable-about-the-personal-and-the-political
2 comments:
Another one (from a quotations website):
The greatest tragedy that can befall a person is the atrophy of his mind.
(But senile degeneration of the body can be just as terrible.)
"For those who wanted to get away from politics (eg, hermits) or who were prevented from pursuing their political ambitions (eg, frustrated or exiled scholar-officials), the Zhuangzi was their counsel. Other than that, the Zhuangzi was not a major voice in Chinese political discourse, especially the political discourse on freedom where it could have been the most impactful.
The Zhuangists regarded freedom as a private endeavour, not as a political institution or collective effort. Consequently, it was left to each person to cultivate a personal space in order to enjoy some degree of personal freedom within the lifeworld, or to stay out of it. It is a tragedy of historic proportion that the Zhuangist approaches to freedom, especially his imagination of personal freedom within the lifeworld, were not factored into the way the state was conceived of and designed, both at the time when the text was composed and subsequently. It did not occur to the Zhuangists that we can, through institutional arrangements, constrain the state’s ability to intrude upon people’s personal freedom. How the Zhuangist imagination of personal freedom can be integrated into the Chinese conception of the state remains a daunting challenge for contemporary Chinese thinkers."
– from AEON: https://aeon.co/essays/zhuangzis-ancient-fable-about-the-personal-and-the-political
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