Chuang-tzu “The usefulness of The Useless”Theory

• Main Authors: Ju Yu-Ling, 朱玉玲
• Other Authors: 莊萬壽
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6pkd5s

碩士 === 臺北市立師範學院 === 應用語言文學研究所 === 91 === Chuang-tzu, the book, is a very important classic of Taoist, and its main written style is fable.“He expounded them in odd outlandish terms, in brash and bombastic language , in unbound and unbordered phrases… ”（“The World Under Heaven Chapter33”）expressed Naturalism and Non-action, the main idea of Taoist. Among Chuang-tzu’s fables, a very special theme which was included by Inner chapters, Outer chapters and Complex chapters was the discussion“the usefulness of the useless. ” In the end of “In The Secular World”,there was a sentence：“Everyone knows the usefulness of the useful, but no one knows the usefulness of the useless. ”Owing to the thought of“the usefulness of the useless”was always not being known or being misunderstood as a negative and shirking thought, Chuang-tzu tried to explained it hard and clearly by“Free/Happy Wandering”,“In The Secular World”（included by Inner chapters）,“Mountain Tree”,“Knowledge Wandering in The North”（included by Outer chapters）,and “Outer Things”（included by Complex chapters）.He used many different roles, parables, and themes of the fables to express his opinions, trying his best to make clear the thought of“the usefulness of the useless. ” The basic thought of“the usefulness of the useless ”was to destroy the traditional single value exited in the society. At the beginning of twenty-first century, our urgent task is trying to develop a new idea of pluralism. It’s helpful for us to broaden our horizon and give us more insight of some contemporary subjects such as aesthetics and environmental protection by understanding the real meaning of “the usefulness of the useless ”.