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 a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...

romanization as Chuang Tzu), was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the

4th century BCE The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspect ...

during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

, a period of great development in

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developm ...

, the

Hundred Schools of Thought The Hundred Schools of Thought () were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China. An era of substantial discrimination in China ...

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

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

Life

The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of Sima Qian's ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'', and most of the information it contains seems to have simply been drawn from

anecdotes An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous, ...

in the ''Zhuangzi'' itself. In Sima's biography, he is described as a minor official from the town of Meng (in modern

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

) in the state of

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

, living in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi (late fourth century BC). Sima Qian writes that Chuang-Tze was especially influenced by Lao-Tze, and that he turned down a job offer from King Wei of Chu, because he valued his personal freedom. The validity of his existence has been questioned by Russell Kirkland, who asserts that "there is no reliable historical data at all" for Chuang Chou/Zhuangzi, and that "the ''Chuang-tzu'' known to us today" is better attributed to its "commentator", the third-century writer Kuo Hsiang''.''

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 Sima Qian 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." 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

Laozi Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state of ...

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 Chu Yang Zhu (; ; 440–c.360 BC), also known as Yang Zi or Yangzi (Master Yang), was a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States period. An early ethical egoist alternative to Mohist and Confucian thought, Yang Zhu's surviving ideas appear primar ...

; 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 of parables 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. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

society and historical figures are humorous and at times ironic.

Influence

Zhuangzi has influenced thinking far beyond

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

. The German philosopher Martin Buber translated his texts in 1910. In 1930,

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...

asked for Buber's translation of Zhuangzi after his Bremen speech "On the Essence of Truth". In order to explain his own philosophy, Heidegger read from chapter 17, where Zhuangzi says to the thinker

Hui Shih Hui Shi (; 370–310 BCE), or Huizi (; "Master Hui"), was a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States period. He was a representative of the School of Names (Logicians), and is famous for ten paradoxes about the relativity of time and space, ...

: The historian of ideas Dag Herbjørnsrud concludes: "It may therefore be difficult to say where the philosophies of Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi end and where the most influential German thinking of the twentieth century starts .. The 20th century Chinese philosopher and essayist

Hu Shih Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberal ...

considered Zhuangzi a Chinese forerunner of evolution. In the chapter "''Supreme Happiness''", Zhuangzi described the transmutation of species.

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, 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 ...

's translation) - Chinese Text Project
The Zhuangzi "Being Boundless"
Complete translation of Zhuangzi by Nina Correa
Chuang Tzu at Taoism.net
Chuang Tzu's Stories and Teachings - translations by Derek Lin
Zhuangzi
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Zhuangzi
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

translated by Patricia Ebrey
Chuang-tzu at Taopage.org

The Legge translation of the complete Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) updated * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhuang Zhou 360s BC births 280s BC deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 4th-century BC Chinese people 4th-century BC Chinese philosophers 3rd-century BC Chinese people 3rd-century BC Chinese philosophers Metaphysicians Chinese ethicists Chinese logicians Cultural critics Guqin players Moral philosophers People from Bozhou People whose existence is disputed Philosophers from Anhui Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of language Philosophers of logic Philosophers of science Political philosophers Proto-anarchists Proto-evolutionary biologists Chinese social commentators Social critics Social philosophers Taoist immortals Zhou dynasty philosophers Zhou dynasty Taoists 4th-century BC religious leaders 3rd-century BC religious leaders