The Early Taoists and the Recluses
The recluses were thus individualists who "desired to maintain
'their personal purity." TIley were also, in a sense, defeatists who
,thought that the world was so bad that nothing could be done for it.
,One of them is reported in the AMlects to have said: "The world is
,a swelling torrent, and is there anyone to change it?" (XVIII, 6.) It
was from men of this sort, most of them living far away from other
imen in the world of nature, that the Taoists were probably originally
drawn.
The Taoists, however, were not ordinary recluses who "escaped the
world," desiring to "maintain their personal purity," and who, once
in retirement, made no attempt ideolOgically to justify their conduct.
f.~THE FIRST PHAS)\ OF TAOISM: YANG cnu 61
On the contrary, they were men who, having gone into seclusion, attempted to work out a system of thought tha t would give meaning
to their action. Among them, Yang Chu seems to have been the
earliest prominent exponent.
Yang Chu's dates are not clear, but he mllst have lived between
the time of Mo Tzu (c. 4ne. 381 B.C.) and Mencius (c. 371-C. 289
B.C.). This is indicated by the fact that though unmentioned by Mo
Tzu, he, by the time of Mencius, had become as influential as were
thc Mohists. To quote Mencius himself: "The words of Yang Chu
and Mo Ti fill the world." (Mencius, IIIb, 9.) In the Taoist work
known as the Lieh-tzu, there is one chapter entitled "Yang Chu,"
which, according to the traditional view, represents Yang Clm's philosophy.* But the authenticity of the Lieh-tzu has been much questioned by modem scholarship, and the view expressed in most of the
"Yang Chu" chapter is not consistent with Yang Chu's ideas as reported in other early reliable sources. Its tenets are those of extreme
hedonism (hence Forke's title, Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure),
whereas in no other early writings do we find Yang Ghu being ac·
cused as a hedonist. Yang' Chu's actual ideas, unfortunately, are nowhere described very consecutively, but mus
t be deduced from scattered references in a number of works by other writers
早期道家和隐者
隐者正是这样的“欲洁其身”的个人主义者。在某种意义上，他们还是败北主义者，他们认为这个世界太坏了，不可救药。有一位隐者说：“滔滔者天下皆是也，而谁以易之？”(《论语·微子》)这些人大都离群索居，遁迹山林，道家可能就是出于这种人。
可是道家也不是普通的隐者，只图“避世”而“欲洁其身，不想在理论上为自己的退隐行为辩护。道家是这样的人，他们退隐了。还要提出一个思想体系。赋予他们的行为以意义。他们中间，最早的著名的代表人物看来是杨朱。
杨朱的生卒年代未详，但是一定生活在墨子(公元前约479一前约381年)与孟子(公元前约371一前约289年)之间。因为墨子从未提到他，而在孟子的时代他已经具有与墨家同等的影响。孟子本人说过：“杨朱、墨翟之言盈天下。”(《孟子·膝文公下》)《列子》是道家著作，其中有一篇题为《杨朱》。照传统的说法，它代表扬朱的哲学。但是现代的学者已经深深怀疑《列子》这部书的真实性，而且《杨朱》篇中的思想，大都与其他先秦的可信的资料所记载的杨宋思想不合。《杨朱》篇的主旨是极端的纵欲主义，而在其他的先秦著作中从来没有指责杨朱是纵欲主义的。杨朱的思想真相如何，可惜已经没有完整的记载了，只好从散见于别人著作的零星材料中细绎出来。

We have to jump into the water and then gain the knowledge with experience.
我们必须跳入水中，用经验获得知识。

We have to use books and experience as source simultaneously to get what we want to know.
我们必须同时使用书籍和经验作为来源，才能得到我们想知道的东西。

Yang Chu's Fundamental Ideas
The MencillS says: "The principle of Yang Chu is: 'Each one for
himself: Though he might have profited the whole world by pluck·
ing out a single hair, he would not have done it." (VITa, 26,) The
Lil-shih Ch'un-ch'iu (third century B.C.) says: "Yang Sheng valued
self." (XVII, 7.) The Han-fei-tzu (also third century) says: "There
is a man whose policy it is not to enter a city which is in danger,
nor to remain in the army. Even for the great profit of the whole
world, he would not exchange one hair of his shank.... He is one
who despises things and values life." (Ch. 50.) And the Huai-Mn·tzu
(second century B.C.) says: "Preserving life and maintaining what
is genuine in it, not anowing things to entangle one's person: this is
what Yang Chu established." (Ch. 13.)
• See Anton Forke, Yang Chu's Garden of PleCISUre, and James Legge, Th"
Chinese Classics, VallI, Prolegonuma, pp. 92'9.62 A SHORT HISTORY OF CIIIN1:SE PHILOSOPHY
In the above qnotations, the Yang Sheng of the Ui·shih Ch'unch'iu has been proved by recent scholars to be Y,lllg Chn, while the
man who "for the great profit of the whole worlel, would not ex,
change one hair of his shank" must also be Yang Chu or one of his
followers, becausc no other man of that time is known to have held
such a principle. Putting these sources together, we can deduce that
Yang Chn's two fundamental ideas were: "Each onc for himself,"
and "the despising of things and valuing of life." Such ideas arc precisely the opposite of those of Mo Tzu, who held the principle of an
all-embracing love.
The statement of Han Fei Tzu that Yang Chu would not give up
a hair from his shank even to gain the entire world, differs somewhat
from what Mencius says, which is that Yang Chu would not sacrifice a single hair even in order to profit the whole world. Both statements, however, are consistent with Yang Chu's fundamental ideas.
The latter harmonizes with his doctrine of "each one for himself";
the former with that of "despising things and valuing life." Both may
be said to be but two aspects of a single theory
杨朱的基本观念
《孟子》说：“杨子取为我，拔一毛而利天下，不为也。”(《尽心上》)《吕氏春秋》(公示前三世纪)说：“陌生贵己。”(《审分览·不二》)《韩非子》(公元前三世纪)说：“今有人于此，义不入危城，不处军旅，不以天下大利易其胫一毛，……轻物重生之士也。”(《显学》)《淮南子》(公元前二世纪)说：“全性保真，不以物累形：杨子之所立也。”(《汜论训》)
在以上引文中，《吕氏春秋》说的阳生，近来学者们已经证明就是杨朱。《韩非子》说的“不以天下大利易其胫一毛”的人，也一定是杨朱或其门徒，因为在那个时代再没有别人有此主张。把这些资料合在一起，就可以得出杨朱的两个基本观念：“为我”，“轻物重生”。这些观念显然是反对墨子的，墨子是主张兼爱的。
《韩非子》说的杨朱不以天下大利易其胫一毛，与《孟子》说的杨朱拔一毛而利天下不为也，有些不同。可是这两种说法与杨朱的基本观念是一致的。后者与“为我”一致，前者与“轻物重生”一致。两者可以说是一个学说的两个方面。

Illustrations of Yang Chu's Ideas
"The men of antiquity, if by injuring a single hair they could
have profited the world, would not have done it. Had the world been
offered to them as their exclusive possession, they would not have
taken it. If everybody would refuse to pluck out even a single hair,
and everybody would refuse to take the world as a gain, then the
world would be in perfect order."
古之人损一毫利天下，不与也；悉天下奉一身，不取也。人人不损一毫，人人不利天下：天下治矣

He must live midway

双轨分析

好

早安

取中

鸿鹄

一心向善

平凡之路

中庸

西瓜