“The influence of Nietzsche in Wang Guowei's essay 'On the dream of the red chamber'” (Publication, 2004)
Year
2004
Text
Cai, Zong-qi. The influence of Nietzsche in Wang Guowei's essay 'On the dream of the red chamber'. In : Philosophy East and West ; vol. 54, no 2 (2004). (Nie14)
Type
Publication
Chronology Entries (2)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1903-1904 |
Wang, Guowei. Wang Guowei wen ji [ID D18279]. Wang Guowei schreibt : The period from the summer of 1903 to the winter of 1904 is one when I kept the works of Schopenhauer as my companion. What particularly delighted me in his works was his epistemology, through which I could see Kant’s theory in a better light. With regard to his philosophy of human life, the acuteness of his observation and the sharpness of his comments did not fail to delight my heart and liberate my spirit. However, later I gradually found in it instances of contradiction. Although 'On the Dream', written last summer, was grounded in Schopenhauer, I raised huge questions about it in the fourth section. I also came to the realization that his ideas were born of his own subjective temperaments but had little to do with objective knowledge. I did not begin to give an exhaustive expression of this view until I wrote the article Schopenhauer and Nietzsche... Schopenhauer uses his penetrating perception and in-depth research to prove that the nature of man is will. The ideal of his ethics is the elimination of will. But whether or not will can be eliminated is an unanswerable question (for a critique of this ideal, see the fourth section of 'On the Dream of the Red Chamber'). Nietzsche also regards will as the nature of man, but has doubts about Schopenhauer’s ethical theory of the elimination [of the will]. He says that the desire to eliminate this will is also a will.15 The parenthetical note given here by Wang himself firmly establishes Nietzschean origin of Wang’s questioning of Schopenhauer’s ideal of deliverance in 'On the Dream'... Nietzsche applies it [Schopenhauer's aesthetics] to practical life. What is the law of morality to his overman is the law of sufficient reason [to Schopenhauer’s genius]. According to Schopenhauer, the law of sufficient reason is not merely of no use to a genius. A genius can be called such only because he departs from it in his perception of things. According to Nietzsche, the law of morality is not merely of no use to the overman. The characteristic of the overman is that he transcends morality in his actions. According to Schopenhauer, the greatest knowledge lies in the transcendence of the law of knowledge. According to Nietzsche, the greatest morality lies in the transcendence of the law of morality. A genius exists because his knowledge cannot be bounded. An overman exists because his will cannot be restricted... What Nietzsche calls the natural state is just the opposite of Rousseau['s view]. Rousseau loathes the evils of the class society and has sympathy for the misery of the oppressed. So he often cherishes in his mind the propositions of equality, liberty, and freedom from persecution. He believes that in their natural state all men were equal and had freedom. There was no difference between the noble and the humble and no distinction between the rich and the poor. Therefore, his doctrine of education centers on the return to nature. What Nietzsche calls the natural state is absolute inequality. He contends that there are only a small minority of masters (Herren) and a great majority of slaves (Knechte) living here on earth. The fundamental difference between these two groups cannot be bridged like a deep gulf. This difference is not merely the difference of classes, but also the difference of human kinds. |
|
| 2 | 1904 |
Wang, Guowei. Nicai shi zhi xue shuo [ID D18280]. Wang Guowei schreibt : What Rousseau calls nature is very different in meaning from what Nietzsche calls instinct. What Rousseau calls a natural man cherishes the feeling of peace and harmony. What Nietzsche calls the instinctive mankind (i.e., natural man) is tough, cold, and ferocious. Considering this, Nietzsche’s theory is close to, not Rousseau’s, but Darwin’s. It is quite consistent with Darwin's theory of evolution. . . . As for Nietzsche, he says that the majority of the masses exist for the sake of the small number of great men; that is to say, the masses are but the preparation for great men. According to Nietzsche, the goal of mankind is to produce geniuses, whom he regards as the supreme model of mankind. The reason for man's existence and the purposes of all civilizations lies in this goal. |
|