An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)

The meaning of zhiyan (至言) in the Zhuangzi varies. In chapter 12, zhiyan is antithetical to suyan (俗言) or “customary sayings”. On the other hand, zhiyan is prima facie an expression employed for heart-mind cultivation in chapter 21. Yet again, contrarily, zhiyan is what “eliminate [language expressi...

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Main Author: Koo, Hao Wei
Other Authors: Kwok Sai Hang
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78926
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author Koo, Hao Wei
author2 Kwok Sai Hang
author_facet Kwok Sai Hang
Koo, Hao Wei
author_sort Koo, Hao Wei
collection NTU
description The meaning of zhiyan (至言) in the Zhuangzi varies. In chapter 12, zhiyan is antithetical to suyan (俗言) or “customary sayings”. On the other hand, zhiyan is prima facie an expression employed for heart-mind cultivation in chapter 21. Yet again, contrarily, zhiyan is what “eliminate [language expressions]” in chapter 22. Why do they mean differently? How do they relate to one another? Which of them appears most relevant with other parts of the Zhuangzi? When left unexplored, zhiyan may prove to be a challenging term to comprehend. This paper tries to make sense of zhiyan’s differing appearances. It speculates that the appearances of zhiyan can, overall, be discussed under the backdrop of knowing. Specifically, the appearances of zhiyan in chapters 12–22 were discussed under different understandings of knowing such that it is possible to interpret them progressively, and relate them to the etymology of zhi (至), so as to be able to achieve a meaningful interpretation of zhiyan. In this, I argue that the understanding of zhiyan in chapter 22 is the most relevant with other parts of the Zhuangzi.
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spelling ntu-10356/789262019-12-10T10:58:43Z An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言) Koo, Hao Wei Kwok Sai Hang School of Humanities Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese The meaning of zhiyan (至言) in the Zhuangzi varies. In chapter 12, zhiyan is antithetical to suyan (俗言) or “customary sayings”. On the other hand, zhiyan is prima facie an expression employed for heart-mind cultivation in chapter 21. Yet again, contrarily, zhiyan is what “eliminate [language expressions]” in chapter 22. Why do they mean differently? How do they relate to one another? Which of them appears most relevant with other parts of the Zhuangzi? When left unexplored, zhiyan may prove to be a challenging term to comprehend. This paper tries to make sense of zhiyan’s differing appearances. It speculates that the appearances of zhiyan can, overall, be discussed under the backdrop of knowing. Specifically, the appearances of zhiyan in chapters 12–22 were discussed under different understandings of knowing such that it is possible to interpret them progressively, and relate them to the etymology of zhi (至), so as to be able to achieve a meaningful interpretation of zhiyan. In this, I argue that the understanding of zhiyan in chapter 22 is the most relevant with other parts of the Zhuangzi. Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy 2019-11-04T07:05:49Z 2019-11-04T07:05:49Z 2019 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78926 en Nanyang Technological University 40 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese
Koo, Hao Wei
An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title_full An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title_fullStr An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title_full_unstemmed An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title_short An exposition of the Zhuangzi’s zhiyan (至言)
title_sort exposition of the zhuangzi s zhiyan 至言
topic Humanities::Philosophy::Chinese
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78926
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