《列子》美学:无欲与纵欲的杂烩

Aesthetics in Liezi:A Mixture of “Ridding oneself of Desire” with “Indulging in One's Desires”

《列子》的《天瑞》、《黄帝》、《仲尼》等篇,认为人性无智无情,要求达性之人“美恶爱憎不滑其心”,提出“无乐无知”是“无所不乐无所不知”的“真乐知”,反对逐情循欲而求生避死,体现了前期玄学——道家思想的特色。然而在《杨朱》篇中,《列子》则提出了完全不同的思想。在这里,人性不再是无情无欲的,而是有情有欲、有乐有苦、有爱有憎的,“从性而游”就是“欲无不尽,情无不达”的享乐主义,体现了后期玄学的变异。

In the articles of Tianrui, Yellow Emperor, Zhongni in Liezi, it is held that a man is intellectless and emotionless by nature, asking people who are driven by emotions not to care about beauty, evil, love and hatred. It also points out that 'being happy about everything and be familiar with everything' is 'true happiness and knowledge' , opposing people to hanker after love and give way to desires, or to seek survival and escape death. All these mentioned have embodied Xuanxu ( a metaphysical sect in the Wei and Jin Dynasties that tried to integrate Taoism with Confucian doctrine) in the earlier period-the essence of Taoism. But the idea proposed in Yangzhu is totally different. It contends that a man, by nature, has emotions and desires, joy and bitterness, love and hatred. 'Giving way to ones emotions' is to seek pleasures and indulge in endless desires, which has revealed deviations of Xuanxu in the later period.