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Ziran
Ziran, also rendered in the Wade-Giles romanization as tzu-jan, is a key concept in Taoism and East Asian Buddhism that literally means 'of its own' or 'by itself' and thus "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly."
This Chinese word is a two-character compound of zì (自; 'self', 'oneself', 'from', 'since') and rán (然; 'right', 'correct', 'so', 'yes'), which is used as a -ran suffix marking adjectives or adverbs (roughly corresponding to English -ly). According to the Shuo Wen lexicon, the character 自 zi means "nose." In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's point of view.
Ziran is a central concept in Daoism, closely tied to the practice of wuwei (non-action). Ziran refers to a state of "just-so-ness" or "as-it-is-ness," a quality of naturalness and spontaneity which can be seen as a specific personal virtue, as well as a description of the unfolding of natural processes. The term ziran first appears in early Daoist sources, like the Dao De Jing (chapters 17, 23, 25, 51, 64), the Zhuangzi and the Taipingjing. Early Daoist sources depict sages who cultivate ziran by abandoning unnatural and contrived influences, returning to an entirely natural, spontaneous state. Ziran is thus related to developing an "altered sense of human nature and of nature per se".
The Dao De Jing (DDJ) contains various passages which mention ziran, such as the following:
(Chapter 25): The Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is also great. In the country there are four great things, and the king sits as one. People are ruled by the earth, the earth is ruled by heaven, and the Dao is ruled by itself (ziran).
According to Wang Bi’s commentary and the Heshanggong commentary, ziran here refers to the very nature of the Dao. In another other passage, the DDJ uses the term to describe how actions happen spontaneously in a well ruled kingdom:
Merits were achieved and matters were finished smoothly, even though the people said we are this by ourselves (ziran).
Other passages of the DDJ discuss the ethical side of ziran, indicating how true virtue is not something that occurs through education or through unnaturally forcing people to be virtuous:
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Ziran
Ziran, also rendered in the Wade-Giles romanization as tzu-jan, is a key concept in Taoism and East Asian Buddhism that literally means 'of its own' or 'by itself' and thus "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly."
This Chinese word is a two-character compound of zì (自; 'self', 'oneself', 'from', 'since') and rán (然; 'right', 'correct', 'so', 'yes'), which is used as a -ran suffix marking adjectives or adverbs (roughly corresponding to English -ly). According to the Shuo Wen lexicon, the character 自 zi means "nose." In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's point of view.
Ziran is a central concept in Daoism, closely tied to the practice of wuwei (non-action). Ziran refers to a state of "just-so-ness" or "as-it-is-ness," a quality of naturalness and spontaneity which can be seen as a specific personal virtue, as well as a description of the unfolding of natural processes. The term ziran first appears in early Daoist sources, like the Dao De Jing (chapters 17, 23, 25, 51, 64), the Zhuangzi and the Taipingjing. Early Daoist sources depict sages who cultivate ziran by abandoning unnatural and contrived influences, returning to an entirely natural, spontaneous state. Ziran is thus related to developing an "altered sense of human nature and of nature per se".
The Dao De Jing (DDJ) contains various passages which mention ziran, such as the following:
(Chapter 25): The Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is also great. In the country there are four great things, and the king sits as one. People are ruled by the earth, the earth is ruled by heaven, and the Dao is ruled by itself (ziran).
According to Wang Bi’s commentary and the Heshanggong commentary, ziran here refers to the very nature of the Dao. In another other passage, the DDJ uses the term to describe how actions happen spontaneously in a well ruled kingdom:
Merits were achieved and matters were finished smoothly, even though the people said we are this by ourselves (ziran).
Other passages of the DDJ discuss the ethical side of ziran, indicating how true virtue is not something that occurs through education or through unnaturally forcing people to be virtuous: