Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; also rendered in the

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

who lived around the 4th century BCE during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

, a period of great development in

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...

, the Hundred Schools of Thought. He is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name, the '' Zhuangzi'', which is one of two foundational texts of

Taoism 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', ' ...

, alongside 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 ...

''.

Life

The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

's ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'', and most of the information it contains seems to have simply been drawn from anecdotes in the ''Zhuangzi'' itself. In Sima's biography, he is described as a minor official from the town of Meng (in modern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

) in the state of

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, living in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi (late fourth century BC). Sima Qian writes that Zhuangzi was especially influenced by

Laozi Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

, and that he turned down a job offer from King Wei of Chu, because he valued his personal freedom. His existence has been questioned by Russell Kirkland, who asserts that "there is no reliable historical data at all" for Zhuang Zhou, and that most of the available information on the ''Zhuangzi'' comes from its third-century commentator, Guo Xiang.

Writings

Zhuangzi is traditionally credited as the author of at least part of the work bearing his name, the ''Zhuangzi''. This work, in its current shape consisting of 33 chapters, is traditionally divided into three parts: the first, known as the "Inner Chapters", consists of the first seven chapters; the second, known as the "Outer Chapters", consist of the next 15 chapters; the last, known as the "Mixed Chapters", consist of the remaining 11 chapters. The meaning of these three names is disputed: according to Guo Xiang, the "Inner Chapters" were written by Zhuangzi, the "Outer Chapters" written by his disciples, and the "Mixed Chapters" by other hands; the other interpretation is that the names refer to the origin of the titles of the chapters—the "Inner Chapters" take their titles from phrases inside the chapter, the "Outer Chapters" from the opening words of the chapters, and the "Mixed Chapters" from a mixture of these two sources. Further study of the text does not provide a clear choice between these alternatives. On the one side, as Martin Palmer points out in the introduction to his translation, two of the three chapters

cited in his biography of Zhuangzi, come from the "Outer Chapters" and the third from the "Mixed Chapters". "Neither of these are allowed as authentic Chuang Tzu chapters by certain purists, yet they breathe the very spirit of Chuang Tzu just as much as, for example, the famous 'butterfly passage' of chapter 2." This passage encapsulates Zhuangzi’s radical questioning of reality and identity. As noted in La Pléiade’s edition of “Taoist Philosophies Volume I”, it’s placement at the end of the chapter is noteworthy, given that the tension between dream and reality is introduced earlier (e.g., sections 49–50) and revisited elsewhere in the text (e.g., Chapter 6, 21). The passage emphasises the Zhuangzian solipsistic dilemma: existence is confined to the present moment of self-awareness, yet the self is paradoxically a flux of identities—perceived as fragmented by others but synthesized into a cohesive, multiform, and multitemporal whole.''Philosophies taoïstes'', La Pléiade, p. 186. On the other hand, chapter 33 has been often considered as intrusive, being a survey of the major movements during the "Hundred Schools of Thought" with an emphasis on the philosophy of Hui Shi. Further, A.C. Graham and other critics have subjected the text to a stylistic analysis and identified four strains of thought in the book: a) the ideas of Zhuangzi or his disciples; b) a "primitivist" strain of thinking similar to

in chapters 8–10 and the first half of chapter 11; c) a strain very strongly represented in chapters 28–31 which is attributed to the philosophy of Yang Zhu; and d) a fourth strain which may be related to the philosophical school of Huang-Lao. In this spirit, Martin Palmer wrote that "trying to read Chuang Tzu sequentially is a mistake. The text is a collection, not a developing argument." Zhuangzi was renowned for his brilliant wordplay and use an original form of '' gōng'àn'' (Chinese: 公案) or

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

s to convey messages. His critiques of

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

society and historical figures are humorous and at times ironic.

Notes

Citations

References

* Ames, Roger T. (1991), 'The Mencian Concept of Ren Xing: Does it Mean Human Nature?' in Chinese Texts and Philosophical Contexts, ed. Henry Rosemont, Jr. LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court Press. * Ames, Roger T. (1998) ed. Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi. Albany: State University of New York Press. * Bruya, Brian (translator). (2019). ''Zhuangzi: The Way of Nature''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. . * * * Graham A.C, ''Chuang-Tzû, the seven inner chapters'',

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, London, 1981 ** ''Chuang-tzu: The Inner Chapters and other Writings from the Book of Chuang-tzu'' (London: Unwin Paperbacks, 1986) * * Hansen, Chad (2003). "The Relatively Happy Fish," ''Asian Philosophy'' 13:145-164. *Herbjørnsrud, Dag (2018).
A Sea for Fish on Dry Land
" the blog of the Journal of History of Ideas. * * * *
(Google Books)
* Merton, Thomas. (1969). ''The Way of Chuang Tzu''. New York: New Directions. * * * * * Waltham, Clae (editor). (1971). ''Chuang Tzu: Genius of the Absurd''. New York: Ace Books. * **''The complete work of Chuang Tzu'', Columbia University Press, 1968 * *

External links

Zhuangzi
Bilingual Chinese-English version (

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the Lond ...