Years before Buddhism came to China, giving a metaphysical explanation for world weariness, there was already a poetic tradition of resignation or perhaps despair. Consider, for example, this song, from the Shi Jing:
Don't escort the big chariot;
You will only make yourself dusty.
Don't think about the sorrows of the world;
you will only make yourself wretched.
Don't escort the big chariot;
You won't be able to see for dust.
Don't think about the sorrows of the world;
Or you will never escape from your despair.
Don't escort the big chariot;
You'll be stifled with dust.
Don't think about the sorrows of the world;
You will only load yourself with care.
This is the literal translation, by by Arthur Waley. A somewhat less literal, but much more poetic translation, is by Ezra Pound:
Let the Great Cart alone,
'ware dust.
Think not on sorrows
lest thy heart rust.
Push no great cart
lest dust enflame thine eye
brood not on sorrows
lest joy pass by.
Push not the great wheel spokes in moil and sweat
lest thou make thy troubles heavier yet.
The historical background to this poem is that in the Warring States period, members of the nobility would ride on chariots during battles, using bows as weapons. However, each chariot would be escorted by several dozen common soldiers, who would have to defend the lord riding in the chariot so the lord could shoot his arrows and gain the glory.
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