On the Debate between Two Children about Japan and Philosophy in Liezi

Liezi is an important pre-Qin Taoist classic. The evaluation of this book is that it contains great wisdom. Liezi, male, was born after Laozi and Confucius and before Zhuangzi. Therefore, there are records about Confucius in Liezi. In the book Zhuangzi, there are records about Liezi. Although Liezi was a thinker in the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago, there are still many philosophical thoughts worth pondering by modern people.

Liezi: An interesting person who can fly against the wind.

Zhuangzi records that Liezi can fly against the wind. It is true that in the eyes of modern people, this is just a myth and legend, and Liezi is just a legendary flying fairy. But Liezi is undoubtedly one of the few people who can "fly" in the written history books, bearing the romance and warmth of the ancients.

I didn't know there was such an interesting person as Liezi until I read Zhuangzi, and I didn't know there was such an interesting book as Liezi. There are many fables and myths and legends in Liezi, some of which are familiar and unfamiliar to us, and some of which we think we know but actually only read half.

For example, the foolish old man moved mountains, and every day Kuafu, two sons contended for the day, lingering sound, mountains and rivers moving clouds, alarmism and so on.

Liezi is a very interesting person. Under the guidance of his teacher nothing, he helped his wife feed pigs and cook. He lived in Zheng all the year round, but no one appreciated him for more than 40 years, just like ordinary people.

One year, there was a famine in Zheng and Liezi was going to defend the country. As a result, when the students asked Liezi for advice, Liezi began to talk about his philosophy: there is no life and there is no change.

Liezi's philosophy: there is no life, and there is no change.

This is the law of existence, development and change of things understood by Liezi.

In my opinion, Liezi's biochemical philosophy can be explained by the following modern language: things have life and death changes, but they cannot perceive life and death changes. Although the life and death of things can't be seen by the naked eye, in fact, things have been changing.

This is true of tangible and intangible things, such as life, yin and yang, and the four seasons.

In life, from birth or conception, every day, every moment and every moment is constantly developing and changing, which constitutes life itself.

In fact, each of us is living and dying, but limited by life itself, we can't perceive this change. Many people don't realize this until the end of their lives.

Similar to the above point of view, Lao Tzu classified it as "Tao can be Tao, extraordinary Tao" in the first sentence of Tao Te Ching, which explained the development and changes of things; Confucius, a Confucian school, attributed this development and change of things to a word "Yi", which means change, and everything in the universe is always changing. In Buddhist theory, this is called impermanence.

And this change itself is a normal state. Liezi spoke this truth, Tao Te Ching spoke this truth, and Zhuangzi spoke this truth. The Book of Changes makes this truth easier to understand. Buddhists classify impermanence as one of the three major dharma seals. The three dharma seals in Buddhism are impermanence, selflessness and nirvana silence.

If this endless change is the essence of Liezi, then the fable story is a detailed interpretation of this endless change. Let's talk about the well-known "two children debating Japan".

Pediatric "two-child debate day" is not simple.

"Two Children Arguing about the Sun" is a short story that is now included in primary school textbooks, telling an event that happened when Confucius traveled eastward. If the source of this story is not carefully confirmed, many people will think that this story comes from The Analects of Confucius. In fact, this story comes from Liezi.

Confucius saw two children arguing about the distance from the sun.

A child thinks, "The sun is near at sunrise, but far away at noon."

The reason is, "the sun is as big as a hood at sunrise and as big as a small dish at noon." Isn't this something that looks small from a distance and looks big from a distance? "

Another child thinks: "The sun is far away when it just rises, and it is close at noon."

The reason is: "When the sun rises, it is freezing. At noon, it's like putting your hand in hot water. It's not hot when it's near, and it's not cold when it's far away? "

In the end, Confucius could not decide. The two children laughed: I thought you were knowledgeable!

Is the story of Two Children Debate Day simple? It's complicated Children's problems are simple, natural and everyday, but they are not simple. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west every day, which is a very common thing, but there are great problems.

Because of curiosity, children are eager to know the unknown world and discuss this problem. This is completely normal. This story is really brilliant for Confucius, a saint with a child problem.

The Deep Connotation of "Two Children Arguing about Japan"

Now, after looking up a lot of information, some people still think that the sun is near at noon, and some people think that this story is Liezi laughing at Confucius.

Let me draw a conclusion first. Confucius can never be right. Because, whether it is hot at noon or cold in the morning, or the sun is small at noon in the morning, these things have nothing to do with the distance between the sun and the ground.

The specific analysis is as follows:

Everyone in middle school geography class has learned that the alternation of the four seasons on the earth has nothing to do with the distance from the sun. In other words, summer is not because the sun is close to the earth, and winter is not because the sun is far from the earth.

For example, the earth's orbit around the sun is similar to an ellipse. In winter in the northern hemisphere, the earth is at perihelion, and the distance between the earth and the sun in winter solstice is even closer than that in summer solstice, which is 5 million kilometers.

The diameter of the earth is only1.2000 kilometers, which is almost insignificant compared with the distance between the sun and the earth 1.496 million kilometers. So the difference between the distance from the sun to the ground at noon and in the morning can be ignored.

The alternation of seasons is caused by the change of the direct point of the sun, that is, it is related to the thickness of sunlight passing through the atmosphere.

In the morning and at noon, this solar change is similar to the alternation of four seasons, which is only related to the thickness of sunlight passing through the atmosphere, and has nothing to do with the distance between the sun and the earth.

According to modern science, "two children argue about the sun" is explained as follows: in the morning, the atmosphere through which the sun passes is thicker, and at noon, the atmosphere through which the sun passes is smaller. Is the sun near the earth in the morning or at noon? Because the relative position of the earth and the sun has been changing, the distance is indeed uncertain.

More interesting philosophical speculation in the book

If "two children arguing about the sun" is a philosophical speculation about astronomy, so is the fable of "worrying about the sky", which is not as simple as a joke. If you are interested, you can read the full text of alarmism. There are three levels of philosophical speculation about alarmism, because considering the understanding and acceptance of primary school students, the current textbooks only include the first level. Now when we use this idiom in our daily life, we usually use the first level.

The fable of Yugong moving mountains also comes from Liezi, in which the speculative thought is mainly reflected between Yugong and the wise. The foolish spirit is always worth learning, and its descendants are infinite, which is always worth remembering.

The story of Zi Gong's weariness of learning may be read by fewer people. Speculative thinking is also interesting and profound. Zigong didn't want to study for a while, so he asked Confucius for leave and wanted to have a rest. Confucius replied that there is no rest in life except in the grave. Zi Gong then lamented that death was too great! Is this conversation interesting? Confucius responded brilliantly as a teacher, and Zi Gong understood brilliantly as a student.

Confucius commented: "Here! You know that. People know the happiness of life, but they don't know the pain of life; Knowing the fatigue of old age, knowing the loss of old age; Knowing the evil of death, I don't know the interest of death. "

Judging from the argument between Confucius and Zigong, there is no doubt that Confucius and Zigong reached an agreement on the issue of life and death and saw through life and death.

The story of Zi Gong's weariness of learning tells the two ends of life. As for the process between life and death, Zhou Wenwang's teacher Xiong Ji spoke more clearly. In Jizi's view, people change from birth to aging, but this change is subtle until aging.

summary

From the above analysis, Liezi's method of telling the truth is very ingenious. It adopts the fable method and is deeply loved and understood by people. Classic books such as The Tao Te Ching and The Book of Changes, which are widely circulated in China, contain great wisdom of life and rich philosophical thoughts. They are very interesting and worth studying and learning from.