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 -ransuffix 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. ISBN0-19-513899-6, p. 97
^Lai, Karyn. Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent And Contextualised Self. Ashgate World Philosophies Series. ISBN0-7546-3382-9. p. 96
^Callahan, W. A. (1989). "A Linguistic Interpretation of Discourse and Perspective in Daoism", Philosophy East and West 39(2), 171-189.
