论《庄子》“物无贵贱”说之双重意蕴

Dual Connotations of "Equal Gentleness in Things" in Zhuangzi

《庄子》一书内在地包含着的政治批评和哲学创造双重意蕴,并非互相分离的两个不同向度。其"物无贵贱"说提供了理解这一内在关系的文本。就思想的秩序而言,庄子对于以"贵贱"对立呈现的等级制度的抗议,优先于认识论的"是非"之辩;而通过后者所达到的境界,为解构"贵贱"对立开启了来自主体的可能性。但其实现,尚需要将对"贵贱"的解构,从认识活动转变为实践活动。以农业经济为基础、通过血缘纽带组织起来的宗法社会,不可能超越"人的依赖"关系,不可能出现类似现代平等的社会理想。因此,庄子"物无贵贱"说,虽然也保留着微弱的乌托邦倾向,但其主流不是通过"齐其不齐"去改变客观世界,而是改变主观世界,进达"不齐而齐"。即一方面抑制物质欲望和追逐名利地位的冲动,修养以改变自身;另一方面通过创造活动,将"物无贵贱"发展为诗性表达的系统理论。前者是道德,进一步通达生死智慧,所以又接通宗教;后者是哲学,借助"寓言、重言和卮言"等诸种修辞方式的交错,开启如何"以道观之"的前景。庄子学的历史为研究中国古代"人的相同性"理论为何没有发展出权利平等的观念,提供了一个重要案例。

Political criticism and philosophical creation are intrinsic related connotations in Zhuangzi,instead of being isolated dimensions.The idea of 'equal gentleness in things' in this book showed us a good point to comprehend the relation between the two connotations.Zhuangzi put logical priority to protesting the hierarchy of differentiate the gentle and simple instead of epistemologically distinguishing the right and wrong,while the latter helped people to form the possibility to deconstruct the contradictory relation of gentle and simple.But to make this deconstruction come true,he needed to develop it from cognition to practice.In the background of agricultural and patriarchal clan society,even Zhuangzi couldn’t break away the interpersonal dependency,and imagine about modern social ideals such as equality.Therefore,although Zhuangzi’s 'equal gentleness' had some Utopianism tendency,his main intention was not to rebuild an objective world by 'making the unequal equal,' but to rebuild a subjective world to achieve 'feeling equal out of unequal.' On the one hand,one improves himself,practicing to control his own desire to material comforts and aspiring to fame and fortune;on the other hand,he acts creatively,developing the idea 'equal gentleness' to poetic theory system.The former is ethical,relevant to wisdom of life and death,and consequently leads to religion in the end.And the latter is philosophical,expressed by allegory,respectful words and random words,and is to reveal a hopeful perspective in the view of Dao.The history of Zhuangzi learning has provided a valuable demonstration on why the modern concept 'equal rights' couldn’t be derived from ancient Chinese idea of 'people’s sameness.'