关键词: 齐物, 以道观之, 分而齐之

Abstract: Qiwulun, i.e., Zhuangzi Chapter 2 explores into the issue of equality. Logically speaking, “qiwulun” means “qiwu-lun”, that is, a doctrine of the equality of things on the one hand, and “qi-wulun”, that is, the equality of views of things on the other. As a doctrine of the equality of things, qiwu-lun holds that the equalization of things with differentiation is possible in treating all things in the world in spite of the variety of their appearance. In “qi-wulun”,“wulun”refers to different views of things in particular and all debates of rightness and wrongness in general. From the perspective of qi, i.e., equality, “qiwulun” demands to overcome both the differentiation of beings and the debates of rightness and wrongness in the realm of idea. Philosophically speaking, Zhuangzi does have his insights when he advocates to achieve the unified being from the perspective of the dao and to overcome the state that “the comprehension of the dao is sundered in pieces under the heaven”. However, as far as reality is concerned, besides the dimension of correlation and unity, the world contains the dimension of variety and differentiation: “Things are not equal- this is the fact of things.” The denial and rejection of differentiation and distinction will inevitably lead to an abstract understanding of being. The equalization of things with differentiation will also easily result in a speculative metaphysics which is distant from actual and concrete beings. The coexistence of the perspective of the dao and the abstract equalization brings Zhuangzi’s “qiwulun” complicated theoretical implications.