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Abstract
Name of ph. D. Student: Su-Hua Chen
Department: Department of philosophy, college of Liberal Arts
Advisor: Professor Huang- Chieh Yu
Thesis: A Study on Shao Yong's life aesthetics: From His Statements of "Being Occupied with True Happiness" and "Being United with The Universe"
Key Words: Heart, Happiness, Dao, Beauty, Sweet Home, Viewing Things from the Perspective of Things, the True Happiness is in Heart, the Unity of Heaven and Humanity, Aesthetics of Life.
Total pages: 220 pages
Contents Abstract
In Shao Yong's (1011-1077) Yichuan Jirang ji, vol. 8, third part of the Five Chants under the Woods: "Guests and friends should not blame the unrestrained behavior, be-cause the true happiness is in heart". The motivation of the study is to find out why the "true happiness is in heart". The study is oriented towards the questions of the aesthetic approach of the "true happiness is in heart" or the life approach of the "unrestrained behavior" and the "true happiness is in heart". And the study is based on the Huangji jingshi and the Yichuan Jirang ji. From the aesthetic approach, the "de-scriptive method" is first adopted to describe Shao Yong's ideological factors and interrelationships between "Heart-Happiness-Dao-Beauty" and "Heart-Life-Dao-Fortune" at a macro level. Later, the "questioning method" is adopted to microscopically question the process of beauty of "Heart-Happiness-Dao-Beauty" and the life process of "Heart-Life-Dao-Fortune". The two processes intersect in the Dao, forming the philosophy of his life history. The core of the philosophy of heaven and humanity is to "investigate the funda-mental principles of all things in the world and to gain a thorough understanding of the human nature to achieve the supreme goal of transforming life". To gain a thorough understanding of the "human nature" is considered the Dao, and to comply with the "emotions" of all things is called virtue. By bringing the "principle" of all things and the "principle" of life to the fullest, the unity of heaven and humanity is achieved. From the thought that "the teaching without involving heaven and humanity cannot be called a teaching" from the School of Principle, the opportunity-catching issue of "being good or bad at a time", to the self-settling question of "being at peace or in sorrow", one should act according to principle, and this "principle" refers to the law of "Dao". With the aesthetic perspective of "the teaching that does not reach happiness cannot be called a teaching", and the aesthetic approach of "viewing things from the perspective of things", the ultimate happiness of the "true happiness is in heart" can be explored by assimilating the "true happiness of the heavenly principle". From the viewpoint of "man is the spirit of all beings", it is realized that "all things are also me, and I am also all things; nothing is not me, and I am everything". In this way, the separation of time and space is obliterated, all things are united as one, and the original peace is regained. Therefore, happiness is achieved without seeking, and the self-oriented ability to "think and act in the same way" is a way to both virtue and aesthetics, transcending the peacefulness and happiness of oneself, and generating the power of "love" through the intuitive emotions. Through the thought and practice of self-discipline and well-behaved with one's ability, the freedom to enter into the creation of the world and its everlasting cycle is attained. Freedom leads to art, and art liberates the self. This proves the image of "Sweet Home" in which life is art and art is life. The "poetic habitat of man" is a beautiful sense of existence that must be supported by the human spirit, and the vividness and beauty of thought construct the aesthetics of human existence and poetic life. It is a purposeless purpose without utilitarianism, manifesting Shao Yong's unrestrained "happy man" life style. He was a practitioner of life in unity with the Dao, and fulfilled his life aesthetics of the "unity of heaven and humanity".
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