TERMBASES
This is a famous statement made by Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC)on how beauty is relative. Originally it meant there was no difference between a beauty and an ugly person, because they both came from and reflected Dao. The character 厉 (lai) meant 癞 (lai, covered in scabs) in ancient Chinese. Whether a person is beautiful or ugly is but a subjective perspective in the mind of the beholder. Besides, beauty can turn into ugliness, and vice versa. Zhuangzi, from the perspective of the origin of all things, stressed that beauty and ugliness are both in accord with Dao and are inherently the same. This idea has encouraged later literary critics to look at all things, including literary works, from the perspective that opposite things complement each other.
In its original meaning, dao (道) is the way or path taken by people. It has three extended meanings: 1) the general laws followed by things in different spheres, e.g. the natural order by which the sun, moon and stars move is called the way of heaven; the rules that govern human activities are the way of man; 2) the universal patterns followed by all things and beings; and 3) the original source or ontological existence of things, which transcends form and constitutes the basis for the birth and existence of all things, and for the activities of human beings. In their respective discussions of Dao, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism imbue it with very different connotations. While benevolence, righteousness, social norms, and music education form the basic content of the Confucian Dao, the Buddhist and Daoist Dao tends to emphasize kong (空 emptiness) and wu (无 void).
This refers to a worldview or lifestyle that seeks to reconcile differences and contradictions among things. In “On Seeing Things as Equal”, Zhuangzi（369？-286 BC） analyzes the unpredictable nature of the world to reveal that different or opposing things are inherently interconnected. In striving to understand the world, one should therefore first of all identify the interconnectedness among all things in the world, see all as equal, and abandon personal preferences, likes and dislikes. In this way, one’s heart can be above all material things and free from their constraints and influences, and the differences and contradictions among things will no longer burden one’s mind or one’s life.
This is a form of the existence of things when the boundary between things is broken and one thing transforms into another. The term “transformation of things” comes from Zhuangzi, in which the author Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC) illustrated the concept in the fable Zhuangzi Dreamed of Becoming a Butterfly. He believed that the boundary and difference between oneself and others, between in a dream and being awake, and between all things can be broken. Consequently, one may achieve the transformation between one thing and another. However, if one holds onto the difference between oneself and the others, one cannot achieve the transformation of things, as if in a dream. If one is bent on transforming things, one may still fall into a dream.
Being a supreme domain in terms of principle, li (理) exists in different things and manifests itself in different forms. “There is but one li, which exists in diverse forms” – this is an important way in which the Song- and Ming-dynasty thinkers viewed the forms in which li exists. As li has different meanings, its one-and- diverse composition is also interpreted in different ways. First, as the origin of universe in an ontological sense, li runs through all things. The li of each thing is not a part of li, rather, it is endowed with the full meaning of li. Second, representing the universal law governing all things, the universal li expresses itself in the form of different guiding principles in specific things. The li of each thing or being is a concrete expression of the universal li. The concept of li being one and same ensures unity of the world, whereas its diversity provides the basis for multifarious things and hierarchical order.
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