Confucianism and Zhuangzi Opposing Sensibilities to Rationalize Death and Afterlife

Name:
Tutor:
Course:
Date:
Analysis on Book Zhuangzi
While Confucianism and Zhuangzi use a methodical, naturalistic view of life that does not appeal to the notion of divinity or personal afterlife, both ethical traditions have differing perceptions of death. On the one hand, Confucianism perceives and manages death through specific cultural practices that are designed to facilitate order, beauty, and congruence to human proceedings and conduct. On the other hand, Zhuangzi examines and deals with death through comprehension of and distinguishing with natural processes. Instead of resorting to ritual propriety, Zhuangzi focuses on situating the individual within nature and so eliminate any conflict between the two. This essay will conduct a comparative examination of the notion of death and afterlife in Confucius and Zhuangzi. The thesis of this paper is: Both Confucianism and Zhuangzi apply opposing ethical and aesthetic sensibilities to rationalize death and afterlife, although the latter addresses death as an inevitable and natural event in a more wholesome manner.
Even though the differing perceptions of death found in Confucianism and Zhuangzi characterize the central conflicting orientations of the two philosophies, the two ethical traditions do not have concerns with permanent transcendence to afterlife. Confucianism and Zhuangzi do not focus on the afterlife since there is little of it to know but rather concentrate on everyday life. Both view life and death as part of the transcendence of things and the infinite transformation of things. Because it is impossible to understand the beginning and end of the changes of things, both Confucianism and Zhuangzi find it more worthwhile to focus on aligning with the natural world in this life than anticipating an afterlife after death. The impossibility of understanding the afterlife is aptly put by Tzu Chi of the Eastern Suburb: “…We have no idea when and how life will end. But how can we try and decide that they are not destined? Given that we have no idea how and when they began, how can we try and decide that they are destined? Given that there is something there, how is it possible to claim that there are no ghosts? If there is nothing there, how can we possibly claim that there are ghosts?” (Palmer et al.).
If both Confucianism and Zhuangzi agree that it is futile to focus or anticipate the afterlife, they have opposing ethical and aesthetic temperaments concerning death, especially the link between human culture and the far-reaching realm of nature. For instance, Confucianism insists on an extensive system of ritual propriety to guide all aspects of life because it the most operational way of organizing the natural word and so attain both social order and material welfare. The ethical tradition maintains that aligning human and cultural practices with natural conditions are what separates man from the lesser creatures and is part of fulfilling our human capacities. For this reason, ritual propriety is necessary bring order, beauty, and congruence to human moral, political, and aesthetic aspects. Nature is itself without any order and therefore imposing ethical-cultural patterns is critical to imposing order onto both life and death. Death calls f...