Title

Did Zhuangzi Turn Left?: Re-evaluating Wang Hui’s Analysis of Zhang Taiyan

Author

Tsai Yueh-chang

Genre

Article

Pages

141-174

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202403_54(1).0004

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Wang Hui 汪暉, Guo Xiang郭象, Zhang Taiyan 章太炎, Interpreting the Qiwulun齊物論釋, the equality of things

Abstract

Wang Hui 汪暉, the prominent figure of China’s New Left, once refined the concept of the “equality of things” as interpreted in Zhang Taiyan’s 章太炎 (1869- 1936) Interpreting the Qiwulun 齊物論釋. Wang’s refinement involved a high level of theoretical expansion, and he endowed this concept with important socialist principles. This study seeks to relativize Wang Hui’s materialist philosophical interpretation of Interpreting the Qiwulun through an analysis of Zhuangzi’s and Zhang Taiyan’s explanation of substance-function theory (tiyong lun體用論), their conceptions of language and their theories of self-cultivation. This study also reveals how Guo Xiang’s 郭象 (c. 252-312) traditional interpretation of classicism laid the groundwork for Wang Hui’s materialism.