Guo Xiang (; 252–312) is credited with the first and most important revision of the text known as the '' Zhuangzi'' which, along with the ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' () or ''Laozi'' is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship and date of composition and compilation are debated. The oldest excavated por ...

'', forms the textual and philosophical basis of the

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

school of thought. He was also a scholar of

xuanxue Xuanxue (), sometimes called Neo-Daoism (Neo-Taoism), is a metaphysical Post-classical history, post-classical Chinese philosophy from the Six Dynasties (222-589), bringing together Taoist and Confucianism, Confucian beliefs through revision and di ...

''Zhuangzi''

The Guo Xiang

redaction Redaction or sanitization is the process of removing sensitive information from a document so that it may be distributed to a broader audience. It is intended to allow the selective disclosure of information. Typically, the result is a document ...

of ''Zhuangzi'' revised a fifty-two chapter original by removing material he thought was superstitious and generally not of philosophical interest to his literati sensibilities, resulting in a thirty-three chapter total. He appended a philosophical commentary to the text that became famous, and within four centuries his shorter and snappier expurgated recension became the only one known. This ''Zhuangzi'' recension is traditionally divided into three sections: ‘Inner Chapters’ (1-7), ‘Outer Chapters’ (8-22), ‘Miscellaneous Chapters’ (23-33). This division is quite old and is likely to have been part of the original recension. Guo's redaction focuses on his understanding of Zhuangzi's philosophy of spontaneity (; literally "self so"). This practiced spontaneity is demonstrated by the story of Cook Ding, rendered as Cook Ting in the Burton Watson translation (which is itself ultimately derived from the Guo Xiang recension): Here, the careful yet effortlessly spontaneous way in which Cook Ding is described cutting up the ox is both an example of the cognitive state of mind Zhuangzi associated with the Tao and the assertion that this state is accessible in everyday life.

In popular culture

In 1990, a computer-generated image of Guo Xiang's head was used as the logo for the Russian television production company VID. In 2017, the old logo was heavily redesigned.Телекомпания «ВИD» показала новую заставку. Совсем не страшную!
''Meduza'', 6 October 2017.

References

External links

Complete Works Of Chuang Tzu
translated by Burton Watson
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Zhuangzi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guo, Xiang Jin dynasty (266–420) philosophers Jin dynasty (266–420) Taoists 3rd-century births 4th-century Chinese philosophers 312 deaths Xuanxue 3rd-century Chinese philosophers

''Zhuangzi''

In popular culture

See also

References

External links