Ziran

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Ziran (Chinese: 自然; Pinyin: zìrán, Wade-Giles: Tzu-yen, Korean: 자연, Japanese: 自然 (じ ね ん · し ぜ ん, jinen shizen)) is a key term in Daoism that literally means “Self-so ; so-out-of-himself; of-itself-like "means, or in other contexts" natural; spontaneous; Of course; voluntary; certainly; undoubtedly. ”The Chinese word is a two-character combination zi (自)“ nose; Self; from; since; due to ”and ran (然)“ correct; correctly; so; yes ”, which the latter is used as a suffix to denote adjectives or adverbs (similar to the English“ -ly ”). In Chinese culture, the nose is a common metaphor for a person's subjective view.  

origin

The word Ziran occurs in Daodejing (Chapters 17, 23, 25, 51) and refers to the structure of the Dao , which cannot be denoted by anything else. Ziran is a central term in Daoism, which is closely linked to the practice of Wuwei , "effortless action" or "unintentional action". Ziran can be assigned to the positive side of the Dao in contrast to Wuwei as belonging to the negative side of the Dao. Ziran refers to a state of simplicity, "as-it-is-ness" ("so-being-ness"), the most important quality that a Dao seeker must achieve. In order to get closer to the state of Ziran, one must separate oneself from unnatural influences and return to a completely natural, spontaneous state.  

Interpretations

In the course of time, Ziran was attempted to interpret its meaning structure from many different perspectives - due to its inherent wealth of seminars - in accordance with any definition of the conflicting definition. Most often it was interpreted as a pattern followed by the Dao (according to chapter 25 of the Daodejing), then the Dao of the heavens, this the earth and finally the human being. Wang's modern translation eliminates or suppresses the logical break - which the author of the Daodejing may have consciously accepted - that occurs in the collision of the ultimately arbitrary "direction of something (outside of oneself)" with the more natural "after- judging oneself ”is justified. Wagner has pointed out that it is precisely the obvious presentation of this break in Chapter 25 of the Daodejing “the abolition of any hierarchy, causality and succession (...) in identity” that characterizes the essential point in the Ziran concept. This can be understood as a manifestation of mystical structural patterns: In the dependencies in Daodejing 25 there is both “an analogue to the 'mystical stepped path', the successive transition into the absolute sphere, [as well as] the abrupt breakdown (...) of the same succession ( ...) a visualization of [of] transcategoriality. "

Exist through Ziran

Wing-Chuek Chan offers another translation of Ziran: "It is so of its own accord, from its own quality." This is an indication of another Taoist assumption, namely that the innumerable things exist because of their own qualities and not, because they were created to serve a purpose. The only thing that a thing or living being has to be in order to exist in accordance with Ziran is completely natural, unaffected by artificial influences.   

Further information

Ziran and Tianran are related concepts. Tianran refers to a thing that was created by heaven and which is ultimately unaffected by human influences, and thus denotes a thing that is also marked by ziran. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. One could say that a person who attains Ziran approaches the state of Tianran. Ziran was also interpreted in Buddhist terms as "non-substantial" or "without self-nature", i.e. as a synonym for emptiness.  

literature

  • Xiaogan Liu: On the concept of naturalness (Tzu-jan) in Lao Tzus Philosophy . In: Journal of Chinese Philosophy 25 (1998), pp. 422-446.
  • Hermann-Josef Röllicke: Self-Demonstration: The Origin of the Ziran Thought in Chinese Philosophy of the 4th and 3rd Centuries. v. Chr. Frankfurt / Main (etc.), 1996.
  • Markus Maria Wagner: Ziran and Isticheit: Self-origin in Laozi and Meister Eckhart . In: Adelheid Herrmann-Pfandt (ed.): Modern religious history in conversation. Festschrift for Christoph Elsas . Berlin 2010, pp. 525-542.
  • Rui Zhu: Lao-zi, Zhuang-zi and the aesthetic judgment . In: Asian Philosophy, 12 (2002), pp. 53-63.

Web links

  • Markus Maria Wagner: Naturalness and the use of the useless in Daoist classics . PDF version , accessed August 20, 2014.
  • Qingjie James Wang: "It-self-so-ing" and "Other-ing" in Lao Zi's Concept of Zi Ran . Hong Kong; Web version , accessed August 20, 2014.
  • Günter Wohlfart: Ziran - the ancient Chinese concept of freedom from nature and the West PDF version , accessed on August 20, 2014.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “self so; so of its own; so of itself ”, s. Edward G. Slingerland: Effortless action: Wu-wei as conceptual metaphor and spiritual ideal in early China . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. ISBN 0-19-513899-6 , p. 97.
  2. ↑ "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly “, s. Karyn Lai: Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent And Contextualized Self . Ashgate World Philosophies Series. ISBN 0-7546-3382-9 . P. 96
  3. ^ WA Callahan: A Linguistic Interpretation of Discourse and Perspective in Daoism . In: Philosophy East and West 39 (1989), pp. 171-189.
  4. ↑ "Wu-Wei 'not doing' 'means doing things in a natural way, not disturbing the patterns, rhythms and structures of the natural, not imposing one's own intentions on the intrinsic organization of the world." Markus Maria Wagner: Naturalness and the utility of the useless in Daoist classics , accessed August 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ "as-it-isness", s. CW Fu: Lao Tzu's Conception of Tao . In B. Gupta, JN Mohanty (Eds.): Philosophical Questions East and West . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham 2000. pp. 46-62.
  6. ^ David L. Hall: On Seeking a Change of Environment: A Quasi-Taoist. Philosophy . In: Philosophy East and West 37 (1987), pp. 160-171.
  7. ↑ Markus Maria Wagner: Ziran and Isticheit: Self-origin in Laozi and Meister Eckhart . In: Adelheid Herrmann-Pfandt (ed.): Modern religious history in conversation. Festschrift for Christoph Elsas . Berlin 2010, pp. 525-542.
  8. ↑ Markus Maria Wagner: Naturalness and the usefulness of the useless in Daoist classics , accessed on August 20, 2014.
  9. ^ "It is so by virtue of its own" Wang, Qingjie James (25 January 2003). "It-self-so-ing" and "Other-ing" in Lao Zi's Concept of Zi Ran . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  10. ↑ Wing-Chuek Chan: On Heidegger's Interpretation of Aristotle: A Chinese Perspective . In: Journal of Chinese Philosophy 32 (2005), pp. 539-557.
  11. ↑ Fabrizio Pregadio (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of Taoism MZ Vol 2. Routledge 2008. P. 1302.