Ziran or tzu-jan is a key concept in

Daoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

that literally means "of its own; by itself" and thus "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly". This Chinese word is a two-character

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

of ''zi'' () "nose; self; oneself; from; since" and ''ran'' () "right; correct; so; yes", which is used as a ''-ran''

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

marking

adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...

s or

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

s (roughly corresponding to English ''-ly''). In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's point of view.

Origin

The word 'ziran' first occurs in the ''

Daodejing The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion d ...

'' (17, 23, 25, 51, 64) and refers to the structure of Dao, which cannot be referred back to anything else. It is generally accepted that the philosopher

Laozi Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state ...

, author of the Daodejing, coined the term. Ziran is a central concept of Daoism, closely tied to the practice of wuwei, detached or effortless action. Ziran refers to a state of "as-it-isness," the most important quality for anyone following Daoist beliefs. To become nearer to a state of ziran, one must become separate from unnatural influences and return to an entirely natural, spontaneous state. Ziran is related to developing an "altered sense of human nature and of nature per se". When it comes to sensibility of Taoism, the moral import can be most found in ziran.

Contemporary reinterpretation

Ziran has been interpreted and reinterpreted in a great number of ways over time. Most commonly it has been seen as a model that was followed by the Dao, Heaven, Earth, and Man in turn, based on the traditional translation and interpretation of Chapter 25 of the Daodejing. Qingjie James Wang's more modern translation eliminates the logical flaw that arises when one considers that to model oneself after another entity may be to become less natural, to lose the 'as-it-isness' that ziran refers to. Wang reinterprets the words of Chapter 25 to be instructions to follow the model set by Earth's being Earth, by Heaven's being Heaven, and by the Dao being the Dao; each behaving perfectly in accordance with ziran. This interpretation reaffirms that the base nature of the Dao is one of complete naturalness. Wing-Chuek Chan provides another translation of 'ziran': "It is so by virtue of its own".Chan, Wing-Chuek (2005). "On Heidegger's Interpretation of Aristotle: A Chinese Perspective", ''Journal of Chinese Philosophy'' 32(4), 539-557. This brings up ziran's link to another Daoist belief, specifically that the myriad things exist because of the qualities that they possess, not because they were created by any being to fulfill a purpose or goal. The only thing that a being must be when it exists in accordance with ziran is ultimately natural, unaffected by artificial influences. Ziran and Tianran are related concepts. Tianran refers to a thing created by heaven that is ultimately untouched by human influence, a thing fully characterized by ziran. The two terms are sometimes interchangeably used. It can be said that by gaining ziran, a person grows nearer to a state of tianran. Ziran can also be looked at from under Buddha's influence, "non-substantial". It is then believed to mean 'having no nature of its own'. In this aspect it is seen as a synonym of real emptiness. D. T. Suzuki, in a brief article penned in 1959, makes the suggestion of ''ziran'' as an aesthetic of action: "Living is an act of creativity demonstrating itself. Creativity is objectively seen as necessity, but from the inner point of view of Emptiness it is 'just-so-ness,' (ziran). It literally means 'byitself-so-ness,' implying more inner meaning than 'spontaneity' or 'naturalness'".Suzuki, D. T. (1959). "Basic Thoughts Underlying Eastern Ethical and Social Practice." ''Philosophy East and West'' 9(1/2) Preliminary Report on the Third East-West Philosophers' Conference. (April–July, 1959)

Origin

Contemporary reinterpretation

See also

References

Further reading