CATEGORY OF 混 (HÙN, “PRIMORDIAL CHAOS”) IN FOUR GREAT CLASSICAL NOVELS

Abstract

混 (hùn, “primordial chaos”) is one of the most complex and multi-aspect concepts in Chinese philosophy. This category was fully developed in the Taoist texts, dating back to the 4th–3th centuries BC. Taoist philosophers interpreted the concept not just as the core of cosmogony, but also as the basis of all ethical and socio-political concepts. In Taoist texts all the meanings are distinctly positive and opposed to the concept of 乱 (luàn, “disorder”), which means destruction of the original chaotic (i. e., holistic) nature of the universe. To determine how this concept transpire in traditional Chinese culture and to what extent it is still considered to be positive, the author analyzed the usage of the word in the four great classical novels: Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber.