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Visual Inhibition of Taoism

From:社科报原创2022-10-28 14:08

Gong Huanan wrote in the fourth issue 2022 of the Journal of Nanjing University (Philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences)that in Taoism which advocates cultivation of mind, the outward vision was inhibited by self-reflection and determination. Lao-tzu was opposed to "indulging in sensual pleasure" and objected to mind’s outward pursuit by following the vision, and strongly advocated the use of ethics to discipline vision. Chuang-tzu, on the one hand, criticized people's attention to appearance on the outside, and advocated abolishing and abandoning the vision and its objects. On the other hand, Chuang-tzu was especially vigilant about the guiding and shaping influence of the vision on "mind", opposing mind being disturbed by vision.Taoism opposes outward vision and advocates the theory of visual inhibition. Conscious visual inhibition makes Chinese thought focus on inner life, which not only restrains further growth of the vision thinking that germinated in the pre-Qin period, but also restrains the impulse of Chinese thought to open eyes to see the world. Seeking inner peace becomes the main theme of Chinese thought.