Mysterious Tao of Taihe: The Realm View of Ancient Chinese Philosophers: The Realm View of Ancient Chinese Philosophers

Author: Chen Wangheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: What humans cannot do without is a spiritual homeland, because all animals create their own material homes. Even birds that fly all over the sky have their own "nests" to return to and rest. What distinguishes humans from other animals is not the ability to make tools, as at least chimpanzees can use branches to obtain honey. Nor is it human social organization, as biological observations have shown that ant colonies have clear hierarchies and well-defined "social" structures. What makes humans the "rarest of all creatures" is that humans have thoughts and a spirit, that is, a rational understanding of their existence, their environment, and their way of existence. Therefore, what sets humans apart from other animals is that humans not only have material homes but also a spiritual homeland. This spiritual homeland is not only a spiritual refuge for humans but also their spiritual belonging. What humans might lose is not the environment, because the environment always exists, even if it may become scarce and harsh. However, human science and technology are sufficient to explore "new continents." It is not the material home, either, because the so-called technological limits are still just Earth's limits. Beyond Earth, there is the solar system, the Milky Way, and the entire universe. Are people not already conceptualizing the colonization of other planets in the solar system? Moreover, scientists have discovered that it is possible to transform certain exoplanets into habitable "paradises" suitable for human habitation. Although scholars from the "Club of Rome" have been shouting loudly year after year, and although the fighters of "Greenpeace" have repeatedly sailed their sailboats "unwittingly" to obstruct nuclear-powered warships, if "God" has created humans, He will not block their path. Therefore, a shocking conclusion and answer is that humans easily lose their spiritual homeland, their spiritual belonging, that is, the "species" nature of humans, ultimately human beings themselves. Although humans have achieved "a farewell between humans and apes" by making tools and thinking, separating themselves from the natural world, and, through the promotion of humanism and the liberation of thought, escaped the Middle Ages and freed themselves from the shackles of the gods, their minds may still wander because they cannot build a spiritual homeland to rely on, ultimately placing them in the same situation as other species. Is this the fate of humans, or a tragedy that humans have directed themselves? In the past thousand years, people have liberated themselves from the rule of gods through the power of the spirit, restored human dignity, primarily spiritual dignity. Spiritual freedom has brought about human science and technology, that is, a leap in the ability to understand and conquer nature.