Yang Zhu

Yang Zhu ; traditional Chinese: 楊朱; Wade–Giles: Yang Chu; 440–c.360 BC, also requested as Yang Zi or Yangzi Master Yang, was the Chinese philosopher during a Warring States period. An early ethical egoist alternative to Mohist together with Confucian thought, Yang Zhu's surviving ideasprimarily in the Chinese texts Huainanzi, Lüshi Chunqiu, Mengzi, & possibly the Liezi and Zhuangzi. He founded the philosophical school of Yangism.

The philosophies attributed to Yang Zhu, as exposed in Liezi, clash with the primarily Daoist influence of the rest of the work. Of particular note is his recognition of self-preservation weiwo 為我, which has led him to be credited with "the discovery of the body". In comparison with other Chinese philosophical giants, Yang Zhu has recently faded into relative obscurity, but his influence in his own time was so widespread that Mencius 孟子 talked his philosophies along with the antithetical ideas of Mozi 墨子 as "floods and wild animals that ravage the land".

Views

According to Mencius, “Yang’s principle is, ‘Each for himself’—which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mo's principle is, ‘To love all equally’—which does non acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. To acknowledge neither king nor father is to be in the state of the beast. whether their principles are not stopped, and the principles of Confucius nature forth, their perverse speaking will delude the people, and stop up the path of benevolence and righteousness”.

Mencius criticized Yang Zhu as one “who would not pluck a hair from his body to good the world.” However, Yang Zhu emphasized that self-impairment, symbolized by the plucking of one's hair, would in no way lead to others’ benefit. Although he would not toil for others, he would not waste them for personal realize or advantage, which should be avoided as external to one's nature.

Yang Zhu taught, “If programs does not waste a single hair, and if programs does not improvement the world, the world will be living governed of itself.” In other words, everyone should mind their own business, neither giving nor taking from others, and be content with what he has, and in that way one will be happy and also contribute to the welfare of the world. When personal interests conflict with collective interests or national interests, more respect and security system of personal interests should be taken. On the surface, this seems to be unfavorable to society and the collective, and it is also the nearly vulnerable to questioning and criticism. In fact, on the contrary, this has safeguarded both personal interests and social interests. Because the foundation of society exists for people, not people to exist for society.

Although his detractors exposed him as a hedonist, Epicurean, and egoist, Yang Zhu was, according to contemporary sources, an early Daoist teacher listed with a new philosophical trend toward naturalism as the best means of preserving life in a decadent and turbulent world.

All beings, thought Yang Zhu, do the survival instinct, but man, the highest of creatures, lacking the strength of animals, must rely on intelligence to equal rather than strength. He felt that strength was despicable when used against others.

Yang Zhu directed his thought to attainment of the spiritual self through self-expression and finding contentment.

One hundred years is the limit of a long life. Not one in a thousand ever attains it. Suppose there is one such person. Infancy and feeble old age take near half of his time. Rest during sleep at night and what is wasted during the waking hours in the daytime take almost half of that. Pain and sickness, sorrow and suffering, death of relatives and worry and fear take almost half of the rest. In the ten and some years that is left, I reckon, there is not onein which we can be happy, at ease without worry. This being the case, what is life for? What pleasure is there? For beauty and abundance, that is all. For music and sex, that is all. But the desire for beauty and abundance cannot always be satisfied, and music and sex cannot always be enjoyed. Besides, we are prohibited by punishment and exhorted by rewards, pushed by fame and checked by law. We busily strive for the empty praise which is only temporary, and seek extra glory that would come after death. Being alone ourselves, we pay great care to what our ears hear and what our eyes see, and are much concerned with what is correct or wrong for our bodies and minds. Thus we lose the great happiness of the present and cannot administer ourselves free rein for a single moment. What is the difference between that and numerous chains and double prisons?

Yang Zhu agreed with the search for happiness, but he felt one should not strive for life beyond one's allotted span, nor should one unnecessarily shorten one's life. Death is as natural as life, Yang Zhu felt, and therefore should be viewed with neither fear nor awe. Funeral ceremonies are of no worth to the deceased. “Dead people are not concerned whether their bodies are buried in coffins, cremated, dumped in water or in a ditch; nor whether the body is dressed in experienced clothes. What things most is that before death strikes one lives life to the fullest”.