Introduction to "He Guanzi"

The author of "He Guanzi" is said to be a hermit from Chu State during the Warring States Period. According to the annotation of "Sui Zhi": "The hidden people of Chu." The annotation of "Han Zhi" says: "The people of Chu live in the deep mountains and wear He as their crown." His name is unknown and he is known as He Guanzi. Below is my carefully compiled introduction to "He Guanzi". Welcome to read and collect it.

"He Guanzi" is said to have been written by He Guanzi, a hermit from Chu State during the Warring States Period. They live in the deep mountains and use heisen as their crowns. Customs and General Meanings say: "After the ancient sage He Guanzi, there was the Guan family." "Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi" recorded an article and listed it among Taoists. It also says: "The people of Chu live in the deep mountains and have the heli as their crown." "The Book of Sui Jing Ji Zhi Zi Taoist Type" and "Old Tang Book Jing Ji Zhi Zi Lu Taoist Type", "New Book of Tang" and "Song History, Art and Literature" are all It is recorded in three volumes, and the number of chapters is more than before. It is suspected that it was due to the benefit of the Han Dynasty.

The content of this book is mainly based on Laozi’s moral theory, mixed with the science of punishment. Liu Xie and Han Yu praised his writing, while Liu Zongyuan said that his words were despicable and were falsely entrusted by good people. There are now nineteen chapters in three volumes of "He Guanzi Jie" written by Lu Dian of the Song Dynasty. Renjun, king of the Qing Dynasty, compiled a volume of "The Lost Wen of He Guanzi", which can be found in "The Lost Wen of Classical Books". There are recent scholars Wu Shigong's "Wu Zhu on He Guanzi" and Zhang Jincheng's "Commentary on He Guanzi".

Since the Tang Dynasty, scholars of all ages have held various doubts about the book "He Guanzi". After the Mawangdui silk copy of "Laozi" appeared, some scholars pointed out that its content was quite different from "He Guanzi". It is closely related to "Zi" and is quoted in many places, which shows that this book is not a fake book; it can be seen that "He Guanzi" was written in the late Warring States Period, which also provides mutual evidence for the year when "Laozi" was written.

The following is a brief explanation of He Guanzi's views:

Cosmology

"He Guanzi. "Tai Lu" says: "Therefore, heaven and earth are formed from Yuan Qi, and all things are multiplied by Heaven and Earth." "Yuan Qi" can be regarded as the chaotic unity before heaven and earth were divided.

"He Guanzi. "Tianquan No. 17": "Connecting all things to control the heaven and the earth, uniting and fighting with the same root, the destiny is the universe." The one that closes the sky is called the universe, and the one that separates the universe is called the universe. The two are dependent on each other, so they are said to have the same root.

"He Guanzi" says: "When things are extreme, they are in reverse, and life is called circulation." If it reaches its peak, it will inevitably decline; otherwise, it will prosper, and things on earth will circulate forever. We must always know the principle that things will turn upside down when they are extreme, and things will fall when they are full.

"He Guan Zi Du Wan Eighth" says: "The phoenix is ??a bird of fire and the essence of Yang." It means that the natural attribute of the phoenix is ??fire.

In the era without calendars, "He Guanzi" has been able to observe the weather through astronomy, saying: "When the handle of the bucket points to the east, everything in the world is spring; when the handle of the bucket points to the south, everything in the world is summer; when the handle of the bucket points to the west, everything in the world is summer. , the world is autumn; the handle of the Dipper points to the north, and the world is winter." It can be seen that ancient China knew how to use the direction of the handle of the Big Dipper as the standard for determining seasons.

In addition, this passage in "He Guanzi" also uses the spring constellation Ursa Major and the Big Dipper to identify directions and calculate time. This is the most basic common sense in astrological observation.

Ethics

He Guanzi said: "He who has a thousand virtues is called a hero." A hero is an outstanding person like a hero.

He Guanzi said: "A humble person is born in a useless state."

He Guanzi said in thousands of chapters: "The dew of the anointing falls, and the white elixir hair comes out." This is what happened. "

Political Views

"He Guanzi's Military Policy": "The wise beget the saints, the saints beget the Tao, and the Tao begets the law." This means that the highest entity of existence is "the law", Refers to the legal system. "Tao generates law" means that the legal system is produced by the highest existence "Tao", which makes the legal system have supreme sanctity.

He Guanzi said: "The husband's destiny is natural. The wise may not necessarily get it. The unworthy may not lose it."

He Guanzi said: "One leaf can cover it. The eyes cannot see Mount Tai, the ears are blocked by two beans and cannot hear the sound of thunder."

He Guanzi said: "Yi Yin keeps the wine."

He Guanzi said: "Those who praise. "The right to die."

Expansion:

Introduction and appreciation of the main contents of "He Guanzi"

According to "Historical Records of the Zhao Family" and "The Biography of Lian Po" It can be seen that Pang Nuan attacked Yan and killed Ju Xin in the fifth year of King Zheng of Qin (242 BC). From this, it can be inferred that He Guanzi lived from the 15th year of King Nan of Zhou (300 BC) to the 27th year of Qin Shihuang (220 BC). )about.

The current edition of "He Guanzi" contains three volumes and nineteen chapters, which benefited many from the chaos of later generations, and contains many of Huang Lao Xingming's words. Among them, chapters such as "Circulation" and "Daoduan" elaborate on philosophical thoughts. His political views were expounded in the "Wang Xi" and "The Rules of Heaven".

"Circulation" describes the theory of cosmogenesis in the author's theoretical system, which is the prototype of the "vital energy" theory. The "one" refers to "Tao", which is the origin of "qi" and "all things". He Guanzi School believes that "Qi" is the bridge between "Tao" and all things in the universe. The empty and formless thing is "One", the thing that contains all things is called "Tao", and the thing that forms all tangible things is "Qi". The combination of "Qi" and "Tao" constitutes the different types of all things. "One" and "Tao" here have different names but the same essence. They are not only the highest abstract principle, but also the origin of "qi" and "kind". And "qi" is the origin of "class", and "class" is the result of the movement and change of "qi".

The idea of ??"one family from all over the world" is expounded in chapters such as "Wang Xi", "Heavenly Rules", and "Du Wan". This is a political theory that combines the theories of Taoism, Legalism, Confucianism, and Mohism and is attributed to Huang-Lao's school. He advocated the principle of ordering, "respecting the emperor and begging his ministers"; implementing the dual policy of "alternating civil and military affairs" and "applying both punishment and morality"; he also advocated "appointing talents and empowering them", pointing out that the relationship between sages and virtuous people is that of monarch and minister; It pays great attention to the art of war and emphasizes the decisive role of strong soldiers and wise kings in the prosperity of the world.

The theory of "inaction" is also a major theme elaborated in "He Guanzi". This kind of "inaction" is not passive inaction, it is active inaction under the guidance of Taoist "inaction" theory, which puts forward the political view of "imperial deification".

The contribution of "He Guanzi" to ancient philosophy is that it transformed the "Tao" theory of Laozi's philosophy and clearly proposed the theory of "Yuan Qi" for the first time in the history of Chinese philosophy. The "vital energy" theory had a direct impact on the formation and development of materialist philosophy in the Han Dynasty. It pioneered Wang Chong's materialist "vital energy natural theory" and provided a theoretical basis for the historical trend of national unification that emerged at that time.

The current version of "He Guanzi" contains nineteen chapters, and "Han Zhi" records one chapter, which is listed as Taoism. "Sui Zhi" contains three volumes. Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty called it sixteen chapters. Chao Gongwu of the Southern Song Dynasty stated in "Junzhai Shuzhi" that his book had eight volumes. The current version of "He Guanzi" is based on the annotated version of Lu Dian of the Song Dynasty collected in the "Sibu Series" of the Commercial Press as the current version. In addition, the "Complete Book of Hundred Masters" printed by Shanghai Saoye Shanfang and the "Collection of Zhuzi" printed by Shanghai World Book Company are also included. In 1990, single editions of "Zhuzi Baijia Series" and "He Guanzi" were published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.