Zhuangzi
Also known as: Chuang Tzu, The Book of Zhuangzi, Zhuang Zhou, Nanhua Zhenjing, Nan Hua Jing, Zhuangzi (Guo Xiang Recension)
A foundational Daoist classic of parables, dialogues, and meditations that probes the limits of language and knowledge, celebrating spontaneity, transformation, and freedom in accord with the Dao.
Description
Framed as anecdotes and playful dialogues, the Zhuangzi dismantles rigid distinctions—right and wrong, self and other, life and death—through satire, paradox, and vivid images. The Inner Chapters (1–7) articulate core themes: carefree wandering, equalizing things, nurturing life, and emptying the mind. The Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters broaden the canvas with tales of craftsmen, sages, rulers, and tricksters that dramatize effortless skill and attunement to the Way. Rather than prescribe rites or laws, the text models perspectival shifts and radical humility before the flux of things, inviting readers to roam beyond conventional boundaries into the spontaneity of the natural world.
Historiography
The transmitted text derives largely from Guo Xiang’s early 3rd-century CE recension and commentary, which standardized the work into 33 chapters and omitted materials he deemed spurious or redundant. Earlier strands include the Inner Chapters, plausibly closer to Zhuang Zhou’s circle, while the Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters reflect multiple hands and schools. Medieval Daoist canons enshrined the text (often under the honorific Nanhua Zhenjing), and it drew extensive commentaries across centuries, shaping Chinese aesthetics, Buddhism–Daoism exchanges, and later global philosophy through modern translations.
Date Notes
Inner Chapters likely closer to Zhuang Zhou (late Warring States). Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters are composite accretions. The received 33-chapter text is Guo Xiang’s early 3rd-century CE redaction/commentary.
Major Characters
- Zhuangzi
- Hui Shi
- Laozi
- Liezi
Myths
- Zhuang Zhou’s Butterfly Dream
- The Happiness of Fish
- Cook Ding and the Way
- The Monkey Keeper’s Parable
- Zhuangzi and Huizi at the Hao River
Facts
- The received 33-chapter text is chiefly the work of Guo Xiang’s early 3rd-century CE redaction with commentary.
- The Inner Chapters (1–7) are widely regarded as the earliest and most philosophically cohesive stratum.
- Zhuangzi advances perspectival skepticism about fixed distinctions, emphasizing spontaneous accord with the Dao.
- Craftsman parables (cook, wheelwright, woodcarver) exemplify skillful action aligned with natural patterns (wu-wei).
- The famous Butterfly Dream questions identity stability and the reliability of waking knowledge.
- Dialogues often stage Confucius to subvert moralizing certainties and ritual formalism.
- Guo Xiang’s commentary profoundly shaped later readings and became canonical in Daoist and literati circles.
- The work influenced Chan/Zen Buddhism, Chinese aesthetics, and modern comparative philosophy.
- Key motifs include fasting of the mind (xinzhai) and sitting in forgetfulness (zuowang).
- Many Outer/Miscellaneous tales likely stem from diverse Daoist and syncretic Warring States circles.