Abstract
AbstractIt was Zhuangzi who first introduced the concept of “zhen (true)” and revealed its important philosophical meanings in early Chinese philosophy. He also created other “zhen” related concepts, such as “zhen ren (true man)”, “zhen zhi (true knowledge)”, etc. In the Zhuangzi, “zhen” has the meaning of absolute truthfulness, but it also contains rich semantic meanings such as naturalness, primitiveness, simplicity, sincerity, etc. It is the opposite of anything artificial, and has a dimension of divinity towards the Daoist transcendental horizon of Heaven and Dao. “Zhen ren (true man)” represents the Daoist transcendent ideal personality and embodies the basic Daoist ideas and doctrines, such as keeping a life free from the corrupt social reality, conforming to the Dao and nature, being in a unity with the Heaven, etc. It is the highest level of horizon an individual can arrive at through Daoist personal cultivation. Zhuangzi also linked “zhen ren” with concept of “zhen zhi (true knowledge)”. But this “true knowledge” cannot be understood in the sense of western epistemology. For Zhuangzi, to acquire the “zhen zhi” means breaking through the boundary between Heaven and human and ascending to the transcendent level of existence of “zhen”.
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