庄子的实用观:无用之用

Zhuang Zi's Pragmatic Approach to the "Use of the Useless

庄子把常人所说的有一般效用之物,称作"小用";把引人进入大道、保人享尽天年等具有非常使用价值的东西,称作"大用"。庄子的学说不能帮助世人争权夺利,求名求荣,却能助人修身养性、延年益寿。庄子毕生所倡导的就是要人们追求这种"大用"。庄子在乱世暴政的特定社会条件下提出了无用之用思想。"无用",指无用于暴政。"之用",指保全自身。通过"不材"、"中道"、"与时俱化",为人们设想了一套处乱世的方法。它体现了庄子对人生命存在的热爱和关注,深藏着一个平民知识分子的愤世精神和对劳动人民的同情。无用之用是应付暴君乱世的权宜之计,切不可不分时代地随便搬用。

Zhuang Zi regarded all things that ordinary people thought to be general use as 'little use'; the things of extraordinary use, which included a spiritual guide to leading people onto Great Way or helping them live out a life in peace, as 'great use'. What Zhuang Zi tried to do is not to seek fame and game but to help them cultivate mind and improve character. His lifelong goal was to search for 'great use'. He proposed the concept of the 'use of the useless' to live through a period of turmoil: people ought to stand aloof from being used by the tyrannical regime, while making great use of cultivating original nature. Pretending to be worthless, noncommittal, adaptable to circumstances is the motto Zhuang Zi suggested that people follow in troubled times. It is evident that Zhuang Zi, a cynical intellectual, encouraged unfortunate people to live on to the end, cherishing the shreds of their traditional dignity under the oppressive regime. It is an alternative measure to go through turbulent days with a caveat that the motto of the 'use of the useless' should only be viewed as a matter of practical expediency.