Zhuangzi's 'Gengsang Chu': A Pre-Qin Philosophical Inquiry into 'When the Inner Universe Is Tranquil and Settled, Celestial Light Emanates'
This article offers an in-depth reading of the central proposition 'When the inner universe is tranquil and settled, celestial light emanates' from the Gengsang Chu chapter of the Zhuangzi, integrating pre-Qin classical sources to elucidate its five-layered philosophical architecture: inner stillness, the sympathetic resonance of Heaven and humanity, the transcendence of intellective limits, and the order of the celestial Way.
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This article, spanning tens of thousands of words, has ranged from textual glossing and exegesis to philosophical elucidation, from the citation of pre-Qin classics to the corroboration of historical cases, striving from the perspective of the pre-Qin era to restore the original significance of the passage "When the inner universe is tranquil and settled, celestial light emanates." Yet the prose of Master Zhuang is like a celestial steed galloping through the sky, like dragons and serpents in flight -- no words can exhaust it. If the reader, prompted by this article, should give rise to even a single moment of the thought "I lost myself," then though the mark has not been hit, it has not fallen far wide.
Xuanji Editorial Board, respectfully inscribed
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