Weller, Chapter 2
Chinese Words for "Nature":
ziran: "self-evidently"+"spontaneously". The most recent word for nature, though not directly related to the western ideas; this is more along the lines of "within something's nature", I think.
tian: "Tian comes closest to the meaning of nature as an inherent force directing the world" (Weller, 21).
sanshui: "mountains and water", far closer to the Western concept of nature than most of these.
benxing: "the inherent quality of something" (Weller, 23)
Of course, with so many ideas of nature, it's clear that there will be different ideas about how man can (or should) interact with it. Most of the concepts discussed in chapter 2 feature religion and nature; Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Fengshui each have their own concepts of man's role in nature. It's more than a little confusing.
Also, the huoyu and dongchong xiacao sound completely disgusting. Just had to say it. I don't think I could bring myself to eat that, even to be polite.
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