The harmony of man and nature, as is already discussed, is one of the most fundamental philosophical concepts of our cultural legacy. It keeps us in close touch with nature. It is a great asset for modern tourism. It can be an eye-opener for you. Therefore, further development of this idea should not be unwelcome here. Some aspects of this concept are:
Man and nature form an indivisible whole.
There are very strong affinities between them.
They are in sympathy with each other.
They are references and functions of each other.
Nature has all the virtues of man.
Man should seek the absolute freedom of body and mind.
We will expound these points briefly. They help us to derive the greatest pleasure from tours of natural scenery.
The unity of man and nature is best found in the creation myth of Pan Gu, a god living in an egg-like cosmos. He kept growing for thousands of years in this chaos, splitting it into heaven and earth. When he died, various parts of his body became various parts of physical world. To reduce this myth to simplest terms, Pan Gu is nature and nature is Pan Gu. To the Chinese mind, nature and man is an organic entity. Extensions of this theory are: Man can not be isolated or separated from nature, man can not keep a distance from nature, man can not set himself in opposition to nature.
To explain this myth in Zhuangzi's words, heaven and earth coexist with man, the myriad things in the world and man are united as one, Man has spiritual communication with heaven and earth, the human soul can make happy excursions to the beginning of the world.
Two fables by Zhuangzi describe this ideal state of the unity of man and nature. One is his dream of a mythical butterfly, the other is his sympathy with swimming fish.
When Zhuangzi the saint-philosopher woke up from a dream, he could not tell whether he was human transformed into a butterfly or a butterfly transformed into a human.
When he took a walk with his logician friend Huishi on a brook, enjoying the swimming fish in the clear stream, they had a debate. He said the little creatures were happy. When challenged how without being the fish he could know they were happy, he retorted: "You were not me, how could you claim that I can not feel they are happy?"
According to the Han Dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu and philosophers of the Yin-Yang school, man and nature are similar to and in sympathy with each other. In their minds, nature and man are one; nature has the feelings and the mind of man; man is the exact copy of nature; together nature and man give birth to the myriad things.
These concepts of the relationships of man and nature are shared by various other schools of Chinese philosophy as well. The affinities, similarities, sympathy, references and functions of man and nature bring us so close to nature. They make a tremendous asset of modern tourism.
Chinese philosophers, especially Confucianists, assign all the virtues of man to nature. With both man and nature sharing the same virtues, it naturally follows that man breathes and feels with nature and its beautiful objects, his soul makes happy excursions with them, he emphasizes with them, he is totally identified with them, eh and the beautiful things he is viewing reach the state of "mutual forgetfulness". In the case of Zhuangzi, he and the butterfly were totally identified so that he could not tell whether he was a butterfly turned into a human or a human turned into a butterfly.
Confucius is quoted as saying that the benevolent love mountains, the knowledgeable love waters. In the minds of Chinese scholars, nature is human and intelligent; heaven is masculine and virile; earth is feminine and gentle. Mountains and waters have all the virtues of man: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, faithfulness.....
The noted patriotic poet Qu Yuan 2300 years ago compared himself to beautiful plants and flowers, auspicious birds and animals. Since then, it has become a tradition of literature to assign various virtues of man to animals and plants. The tiger is majestic, the lion matchless in prowess, the horse valiant; the cattle are hardworking and uncomplaining, the dog is symbolic of faithfulness, the monkey is agile and intelligent, the turtle and the crane are signs of longevity, the love birds Yuanyang are symbol of eternal love and ideal marriage.
In the plant kingdom, man has "three winter friends", the pine, the bamboo and the winter-sweet; there are the "four gentlemen ",the winter sweet, the bamboo, the orchid and the chrysanthemum. Here is very modest list of plants and flowers and their related virtues:
pine-unyielding integrity
orchid-secluded gentleman
chrysanthemum-modest gentleman
wintersweet-braving winter snow
bamboo-noble integrity and modesty
lotus flower-purity against dirty environment
The personification of nature as a tradition makes Chinese feel close to nature. There have been recluses married to nature. The majority who could not be liberated from a busy secular life could bring nature into their gardens and courtyard. The Song Dynasty scholar official Su Dongpo left us a rich legacy of travelogue, and poetry portraying the magnificent beauty of nature. His closeness to nature is best expressed in his two verses "I'd rather go without meat, but my home cannot go without a bamboo garden".
The absolute freedom of body and mind in Zhuangzi's teaching has been inherited and developed in Chinese philosophy, medicine, regimens and literature. This wish is projected onto celestials, fairies and immortals, who are able to ride clouds and winds and wander beyond the boundaries of lands and seas. Since Zhuangzi, natural beauty is said to be the work the celestials, fairies and immortals. Literary and artistic works are said to have the bones and elegance of superhuman beings. All scenic spots are interpreted by their association with gods and fairies enjoying absolute freedom.
There is a tinge of mysticism in these Chinese concepts of man and nature. It gives a tint of mysterious beauty to nature. At the same time, it endows us with a mysterious ability to appreciate natural beauty.
Armed with this ability, we can now turn to the other aspect of natural beauty-the more tangible and describable beauty.