Why did Zhuangzi satirize Confucius in Autumn Water?

Since Zhuangzi thought that personal knowledge was insignificant compared with everything, Confucius, as an individual, was also extremely humble in Zhuangzi's view.

Zhuangzi's excessive promotion of Confucianism's benevolence, righteousness, rites and music can be said to be abhorrent, because it violates his ideal natural nature of "carving is cutting, returning to simplicity and returning to nature".

Objectively speaking, Zhuangzi's criticism of Confucianism represented by Confucius has realistic basis and certain positive significance. Zhuangzi issued a strong protest, which can also be said to be a voice against alienation and demanding a return to humanity.

Extended data

Autumn Water is another long story in Zhuangzi. The first two words are titled, and the center is to discuss how people should know foreign things.

This article focuses on the dialogue between Hebo and Hai Ruo, and Hebo and Hai Ruo have seven questions and seven answers.

The first question and answer, write Hebo's self-centered mentality-"Happy and complacent, take the beauty of the world as your own". Herb thinks too much, while Hai Ruo never thinks too much, which is in sharp contrast. Hai Ruo's description of the vastness of the sea and the infinity of heaven and earth broadens people's minds.

In the second dialogue, the infinity of time and space and the uncertainty of things change are described, and it is pointed out that accurate understanding and judgment are not easy.

The third dialogue points out that there are many things in the universe that are "unspeakable and incomprehensible".

The fourth dialogue further discusses the impermanence of big and small.

In the fifth dialogue, we should break through the subjective limitations and persistence and look at everything with an open mind.

In the sixth conversation, He Bo asked, "What is the value of Tao?" Hai Ruo replied that knowing the Tao means knowing the laws of nature, which can help us to know the truth of things.

In the seventh conversation, Hebo finally asked, "What is heaven? What is a person? " Here, "heaven" refers to nature, "man" refers to man-made, and refers to running amok. Hai Ruo believes that truth is nature ("heaven") and impermanent nature is recklessness ("man"). Finally, Zhuangzi and Keiko swam on the Haojiang River, debated the chapter of fish and fun, and wrote Zhuangzi's artistic mentality of looking at things and Keiko's cognitive mentality of analyzing things.