From"Virtue"to"Virtuousness Friends":Ethical Reconstruction in De Chong Fu of Zhuangzi
The"ultimate virtue"in De Chong Fu has both the inherent characteristic of being"virtual"and not"real",as well as the external effect of being"real"due to being"virtual".There are two manifestations of this external effect:one is that ordinary peo-ple and even those with virtue are"teachers",that is,"taking virtue as a teacher".The second is that ordinary people become friends under the influence of people with the highest virtues,which is the so-called"Virtuousness Friends".Although"taking virtue as a teacher"is more fundamental and sophisticated,the invisibility or retreat of virtuous individuals such as Wang Tai,Bo Hun,and Ai Tai in De Chong Fu makes"taking virtue as a friend"an obvious and concrete way of rebuilding ethics.The self enlightenment of"be-ing friends with virtue",which occupies a higher position,helps to weaken the discipline and infringement of the hierarchical structure and power will in secular ethical relationships,thus laying an equal ethical foundation for interaction,mutual transformation,and mutu-al formation between people.
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