The 996 rhythm of contemporary society has made people farther and farther away from the pastoral life of the medieval era, objectively speaking, the pastoral life of the medieval era, people's life is very hard, however, this kind of life has an advantage, that is, you can go home to rest at sunset.
In ancient times, there were no electric lights, so after returning home, people had a special benefit, and they could think quietly about life at home alone. This benefit is not available in the fast-paced contemporary world, so in the Middle Ages and in ancient times, there were many important thinkers in the history of mankind, while in modern times, there are very few thinkers.
The questions that thinkers think about are nothing more than heaven and earth, life and death, which make Shengdou Xiaomin seem meaningless, but these topics often make people who understand them have an epiphany about life. Thousands of years ago in China, there was a philosopher who comprehended the true meaning of life and death, and his thoughts had a great influence on later generations, so who was this person?
Image: A still of a woman sitting and thinking about a problem
1. Philosophy and Life
For most people, philosophy is a category that has little to do with life, after all, life needs to consume time and energy on firewood, rice, oil and salt, but if you don't contact philosophy at all, life will be dark.
1. The meaning of life
Many years ago, there was such a joke circulating on the Internet, the reporter asked a sheep herding baby, what is the purpose of herding sheep? The sheep herding baby replied that it was to save money and then marry a daughter-in-law and have a baby, and the reporter asked: Then what? The sheep herding baby said that let the child also herd sheep and continue to repeat his life path.
This paragraph makes people feel sad and ridiculous, saying that it is sad because the ancestors of the sheep baby have walked such a road, and the sheep baby itself intends to repeat the path of the ancestors, of course it is sad, and it is ridiculous because I feel that the knowledge of the sheep baby is too shallow.
But if you think about it carefully, the tragedy of the sheep herding baby, in fact, most people are interpreting, and what is even more sad is that many people are not aware of it, and philosophy, to a certain extent, is the doctrine of thinking about the meaning of life.
Image: Stills of a sheep herder with a child
2. The era of tool people
If we think about the life of contemporary people from a philosophical perspective, we will come to the conclusion that life is actually full of vanity, and its pursuit is also vain.
For example, when I was a teenager, my family paid a high amount of education funds, and it took many years for the cost of this fund to be recovered, and after contemporary young people go into society, starting a family and starting a business will also consume wealth, energy and time. After settling all this, the current generation of young people will find that they have played the role of parents of the past, and the next generation will continue to follow the path of their own.
When you reach the age of 35 or so, as a tool person, you often face a series of mid-life crises such as unemployment crisis, and you finally survive until your old age, and when you look back on your life, you will be dumbfounded.
Image: Stills from facing a midlife crisis
2. Zhuangzi philosophy
In fact, thousands of years ago, the philosopher Zhuangzi comprehended the true meaning of life and death and achieved transcendence.
1. The influence of Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi is a representative figure of the Taoist school, it is generally believed that Zhuangzi's thought inherited from Laozi, if we carefully read Zhuangzi's doctrine we will find that Zhuangzi is actually a complex version of Laozi, Laozi took a concise approach when expounding his thoughts, and Zhuangzi gave a detailed explanation of Laozi's doctrine.
Zhuangzi's attitude towards life pursues nature, and after reading Zhuangzi's writings, people will become open-minded and optimistic. Therefore, for thousands of years, Zhuangzi's works have been studied by countless readers, some of whom have learned Xi Zhuangzi's prose style, and others have learned Xi Zhuangzi's optimistic thoughts.
In short, for ancient China, although the ideas of Confucius and Mencius were officially promoted, without the interference of administrative forces, the works of Zhuangzi were still required to read by emperors and generals and ordinary scholars.
The picture comes from the Internet: Portrait of Zhuangzi
2. Zhuangzi's view of life and death
Life and death is one of the eternal topics of philosophy, in fact, many people are interested in philosophy, often based on the question of life and death. What is the world like before we are born? Why do we have to die? And what is the world like after death?
For these two answers, although technology has advanced to the current state, it is still a question that many people think about, of course, most people will lose their dignity in the face of life and death, and will become afraid and uncalm.
However, Zhuangzi's concept of life and death is very weak, and Zhuangzi believes that "the Tao is natural", which includes life and death.
Zhuangzi believes that life and death should be subject to nature, so when a new life comes, don't be excited about it, because when this new life comes, it also means death.
Image: A still from the advent of a new life
At the same time, the coming of life, like death, is beyond the control of human beings, so new life and death should also be treated equally, that is, if death is worth mourning, then new life is also worth grieving. Conversely, if the new life is considered to be celebrated, then death should also be celebrated.
Based on this thought, Zhuangzi believes that since life and death can be looked down upon, then everything in the world can be looked down upon, including gains and losses, success or failure. This thought of Zhuangzi has allowed many people in later generations to find a basis for balancing their mentality in the midst of failure and frustration.
In fact, even in the 21st century, Zhuangzi's theory still has reference significance, after all, this is also a kind of performance of not liking things and not being sad about themselves.
Image: A still from the woman's death
3. Freedom
In addition to life and death, freedom is also an eternal topic in philosophy, and the so-called freedom can be understood as a transcendent object. Freedom is relative, in fact, most people are not free, for example, almost everyone is born, after realizing that they exist, they need to do something they don't want to do, and they will encounter some things that they can't ask for.
This is especially true in contemporary society, for example, young people in first-tier cities are afraid to lose their jobs or get sick because they need to pay for financial expenses such as mortgages.
The philosophy of Zhuangzi believes that in this case, if you want to be free, you need to have a good attitude, when you have a good attitude, you can be transcendent, and look down on all the success and failure and vanity, then there will be no mental pressure, at this time, people will learn to be content and happy, so they will achieve inner freedom.
Image: Stills of young people at work
After all, as long as you don't pursue a car with a big city house and flexible needs, your own pressure is actually very small. Unfortunately, modern people have unconsciously forgotten this way of gaining freedom.