Courage and Well-Being in Early Chinese Daoist Philosophy
Courage and Well-Being in Early Chinese Daoist Philosophy
Ai Yuan
ABSTRACT
This paper presents early Chinese Daoist thought on well-being in the Zhuangzi. The Zhuangzi focuses on how to live a good life instead of what constitutes a good life. To the Zhuangzi, well-being (le 樂) comes from maintaining an attitude of acceptance (an 갛) and performing non-purposive action (wuwei 無 為), even when dealing with situations beyond human control (ming 츱). This understanding of living a good life is dramatically different from the purposeful pursuit of well-being through action. Instead, to live a good life, the Zhuangzi requires one to uphold a form of courage (yong 澹) which requires one to willingly accept what is beyond human control without regret, anger, and useless struggle. Through this courage, one can participate in one’s life without avoiding its challenges. By demonstrating how and why one’s courage to accept uncontrollable situations provides a means to live a good life, the Zhuangzi presents us a different understanding of well-being.
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