論莊子「即內聖即外王」的實踐型態

On Zhuang-Zi’s Practice of “Self-Cultivation is both a Political Management”

歷來的莊子研究，往往著重於「生命哲學」主觀面向，而未意識到其「外王」面的作用。這不但窄化了莊學理論的豐富性，同時也削損其回應時代變化的可能。本文目的，即在發掘莊子外王思想的線索，並探討其作用於人間世的方式。

以《莊》書對「有為之治」的批判觀之，莊子將一切存有問題歸因於「心知」之造作，書中所有工夫論述皆是對此而發。由於心知造作遮蔽德性，阻礙生命與外物的自然互動，而牽引外物脫軌亂序。因此問題之解答，即在解消心知造作以恢復德性作用。個體透過「德」的活動而與造化萬物的「道」相接，終而能與存在界達成本然的契合。故莊子的外王，只須無為修養，而不勞典制建構；「即內聖而即外王」一語，就此義可為莊子外王實踐的恰當表述。

 

In the past, the understanding of Zhuangzi’s thoughts often focused on the subjective aspects of the ""Life Philosophy "" without realizing its objective impact on society. This not only limited the richness of his thoughts, but also underestimated its ability to cope with the changes of the times. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to find clues about the “Outward Governance”（外王） in Zhuangzi’s thought, and to explore the ways in which it affects society.

The exploration starts from the “Root Problem”（「基源問題」） of Zhuangzi. It could be inferred from the acute criticism in the texts against “the interventionist governance”（有為之治） that Zhuangzi obviously blamed every existing problem on “Mind”（心知）, and any practice is developed for this. Because the paranoid structure of the Mind suppresses human nature（德）and hinders the natural interaction between life and external things, it causes the whole world to derail and disorder. The answer to this question is to untie the paranoid structure of the mind to restore the role of human nature. Through the spontaneous activities of human nature, the individual is connected with the ""Tao""（道）that creates all things, and finally the original fit between the individual and all beings can be realized. Therefore, Zhuangzi’s political practice only requires the cultivation of a ""Non-Interference"" attitude, not the construction of a specific system. In this sense, the best description of Zhuangzi’s political practice is the phrase ""Cultivation itself is politics"".