Interpret "white horse not horse" as "white horse is not horse", Gongsun Long will definitely "die of anger"

Gongsun Long (c. 320 BC – 250 BC), surname Gongsun (公孙), courtesy name Long (名龙), zi bing , and Zhao ren of the Warring States , was a master of the pre-Qin nomenclature. In this book, "Gongsun Longzi", its "Traces" is the result of the collection of Gongsun Long's deeds by later generations, and the five "Theory of Transmutation", "The Theory of Jianbai", "TheOry of White Horses", "TheOry of Pointing Things", and "Theory of Nominal Reality" are credible as the works of Gongsun Long himself. Although "White Horse Non-Horse" was not founded in Gongsun Long, his "White Horse Theory" is the most well-known to the world. However, the true meaning of the "white horse is not a horse" thesis has always been difficult for the world to understand exactly.

What is a "white horse"? Gongsun Long once said in the "Theory of Nominal Reality": "Heaven and earth and what they produce are also things." He also said, "The name of the husband is also true." "He acknowledges the objectively existing objects and gives them specific names." The "name" of the "white horse" is used to refer to the "reality" of the white horse in reality, and Gongsun Long does not deny this. He said in the Treatise on the White Horse: "Horses have inherent color, so there are white horses." He also said, "Hema and White, renamed White Horse." Gongsun Long does not deny the white horse in reality, but it is only a "horse" limited by "white".

What does the word "non" mean? Scholars have interpreted "white horse not horse" as "white horse is not horse" (Feng Youlan: History of Chinese Philosophy, The Complete Works of Sansongtang, Vol. 2), and some have interpreted it as "white horse is not equal to horse" (Qu Zhiqing: "On the Philosophical Thought of Gongsun Long", Social Science Front, No. 1, 1979). Gongsun Long once systematically discussed his "two without one" thesis in the article "The Theory of Change", which also serves the topic of "white horse is not a horse", "non" means "none", he is saying that the white horse has no horse, no white, that is, the white horse is not a horse, the horse is not white, and Gongsun Long is by no means simply arguing that "a white horse is not equal to a horse" This common sense. Gongsun Long equates the "difference" and "not equality" between the two things with "non" and "nothing", and where there is a difference between the two things, the relationship is "non", and there is no connection. Gongsun Long said in the "White Horse Theory": "Asking for horses, yellow and black horses can be caused; seeking white horses, yellow and black horses cannot be caused." To make the white horse a horse is also to be sought. The one who asks for one, the white horse is not different from the horse also. Then he said, "The horse has no way to take the color, so the yellow and black horses can respond; the white horse, there is to take the color, and the yellow and black horses all go to the color, so only the white horse can respond to the ear." Those who have not gone have to go, so it is known that the white horse is not a horse. Gongsun Long's idea of "white horse not horse" is to argue that "white horse is not horse" through the inequality and difference between "horse" and "white horse".

What does the word "horse" mean? This is the key to the inability of scholars for thousands of years to understand exactly what "white horse is not horse" means. Gongsun Long is more unique among pre-Qin thinkers, and its uniqueness lies in the fact that he is not satisfied with the thinking of the real world, and he strives to make abstract thinking about the real world, forming a so-called other world composed of universal phases.

Gongsun Long said in the "Treatise on Firm Whiteness": "Things are white, not sure what they are white; things are firm, not sure what they are." Indefinite, concurrent. He also said, "Firm and not with the stone are firm and things, and not with the things are firm and firm." "It describes this other world. In that chapter, he went on to say: "Bai Gu cannot confess himself, and evil can white stones and things? If the white must be white, then it is not white stone or thing but white. Yellow and black follow. The "white stone" in the real world has shown that "white" can "white stone and things", then "white" can "confess", that is, "white must be white", and the person he discusses is the "white" of the universal phase, and the "strong must be strong" is the same, that is, the other side of the world composed of universals does not depend on the real world and is an independent existence.

According to Gongsun Long, the "white horse" in reality is formed by the union of "white" and the common phase of "horse", and the "White Horse Theory" says: "The horse is not a horse with white, and white is not white with a horse." Hema and White, compound name White Horse. The so-called "horse is not white as a horse" is the universal meaning of "horse", and "white is not white with horse" is the common meaning of "white". Here Gongsun Long cuts off the connection between the physical object and the more fundamental world on the other side, and he continues in the "White Horse Theory": "The white one, uncertain of what is white, can forget it." The white horse, the white is white. The one who is white is not white. This is "mabai non-white". The whiteness of the "white horse" exists in the real world in the form of a special phase, as "fixed white", it is not the kind of "white" that exists in the other world in the universal form, that is, it is not "indefinite white", and there is no connection between the two. Gongsun Long's so-called "fixed white is not white" is also "ma bai non-white", and the "white" of his "non-white" is "indefinite white", which is the "white" that can be "combined" for things, and is the universal meaning of "white". In the same way, "white horse is not a horse" is equivalent to "the one who determines the horse is not a horse", and the "horse" of its "non-horse" is "the horse of the indefinite horse", which is the "horse" that can be "combined" by the color, and is the common meaning of "horse".

"White horse is not a horse" means that the horse of "white horse" exists in the real world in a special form, as a "fixed horse", it is not the kind of "horse" that exists in the other world in universal form, that is, it is not an "indeterminate horse", and there is no connection between the two. It is not universal. The pre-Qin script is concise, multi-word, and each Chinese character has multiple meanings. The special meaning of horses and the common meaning can be expressed by the word "horse", but in Gongsun Long's thesis of "white horse not horse", the "horse" of "non-horse" only takes the common meaning of "horse". The special meaning of "horse" is borne by the "white horse", "yellow horse" and "black horse" and other "names". Scholars interpret Gongsun Long's "white horse is not a horse" as "white horse is not a horse" according to the literal meaning, which is lost in generality; if it is interpreted as "white horse is not equal to horse", it is inaccurate.

Gongsun Long's "non" is "none", that is, "different" and "not equal", and the reverse can be inferred that his "is" is "immediately" not different" and "equal", and his thinking mode is "A is A". A thing can only "be" itself, only has a connection with itself, and there is only a difference between it and anything else, no connection. Gongsun Long cut off the proper connection between things, every thing is isolated in the world, so his world is a world where things are separated, this is his world view, so he said in the "Theory of Nominal Reality": "Those who are separated from the world, so they are alone and righteous." Everything under the world is "separated", each thing can only be itself, that is, "alone", and there is no connection between things. The white horse can only be a white horse, and the "name" of "white horse" can only be used to refer to the "reality" of the white horse, if it is used to call the horse, or white, it is not allowed, it is used to call the yellow horse, the black horse, the same can not, so Gongsun Long also discussed in the "Theory of Nominal Truth": "The other stops at the other, this stops here, can; each other and this and this, this and this, this and that, can not." Husband's name, really also. To know that this is not this, to know that this is not here, is not to say also; to know that the other is not the other, to know that the other is not also, is not to say also. Gongsun Long's idea of the specificity of name and reality is not only the core of "TheOry of Nominal Reality", but also the outline of the book "Gongsun Longzi", which runs through his entire work.

Column Editor-in-Chief: Wang Duo Title Image Source: Visual China Photo Editor: Yong Kai