Motif
decline from primordial non-injury to warfare and coercion
decline_from_primordial_non_injury_to_warfare_and_coercion
A motif of the World Ages and Cosmic Decline family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
daoist
-
Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer LANGUAGE. / CHAPTER XXVIII. / ON DECLINING POWER. / CHAPTER XXIX.; lines 12777-12905 confidence: high
In Shên Nung's days, people are described as unconcerned about where they slept or went, knowing mothers but not fathers, living among wild deer, tilling, weaving, and having no thought of injuring others; this is called an age of perfect virtue.
The passage contrasts the non-injuring age of Shên Nung with the Yellow Emperor's battle, later depositions, killings, and the strong oppressing the weak.
read in the book →