Ziran

Ziran
Ziran
	Seal of ziran
Chinese name
Chinese	自然
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	zìrán
Wade–Giles	tzu4-jan2
IPA	[tsɹ̩̂ɻǎn]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	tự nhiên
Korean name
Hangul	자연
Japanese name
Kanji	自然
Kana	じねん, しぜん
Romanization
Transcriptions
Romanization	jinen, shizen

Ziran (Chinese: 自然) is a key concept in Daoism that literally means "of its own; by itself" and thus "naturally; natural; spontaneously; freely; in the course of events; of course; doubtlessly".^[1]^[2] This Chinese word is a two-character compound of zi (自) "nose; self; oneself; from; since" and ran (然) "right; correct; so; yes", which is used as a -ran suffix marking adjectives or adverbs (roughly corresponding to English -ly). In Chinese culture, the nose (or zi) is a common metaphor for a person's point of view.^[3]

^ Slingerland, Edward G. (2003). Effortless action: Wu-wei as conceptual metaphor and spiritual ideal in early China. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513899-6, p. 97
^ Lai, Karyn. Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent And Contextualised Self. Ashgate World Philosophies Series. ISBN 0-7546-3382-9. p. 96
^ Callahan, W. A. (1989). "A Linguistic Interpretation of Discourse and Perspective in Daoism", Philosophy East and West 39(2), 171-189.

[1] Slingerland, Edward G. (2003). Effortless action: Wu-wei as conceptual metaphor and spiritual ideal in early China. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513899-6, p. 97

[2] Lai, Karyn. Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent And Contextualised Self. Ashgate World Philosophies Series. ISBN 0-7546-3382-9. p. 96

[3] Callahan, W. A. (1989). "A Linguistic Interpretation of Discourse and Perspective in Daoism", Philosophy East and West 39(2), 171-189.

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