Zhuangzi (c.369–c.286 BCE,) born Zhuang Zhou, also Chuang Tzŭ and “Master Zhuang,” was a central figure in classical philosophical Taoism. Zhuangzi, the foundational Taoist text known by his name, is a compilation of his and others’ writings at the height of the chaotic Warring States period (5th–3rd-century BCE.)
Little is known of Zhuangzi’s life if he was indeed a real historical figure. Born in the city Méng in the Sòng state, contemporary Anhui, he served as a bureaucrat.
Zhuangzi is the second significant figure in Taoism after Laozi, even though Zhuangzi was possibly never acquainted with Laozi. An unbiased observer of nature and social order, Zhuangzi criticized the philosophical and political establishments of his time.
The Zhuangzi, as edited by Guō Xiàng in c.312 BCE, consists of thirty-three chapters divided into three sections: ‘Nèi piān’ (“Inner Chapters” 1–7,) ‘Wài piān’ (“Outer Chapters” 8–22,) and ‘Zá piān’ (“Unclassified Chapters” 23–33.) Scholars believe that Zhuangzi wrote the seven chapters of the ‘Nèi piān,’ but the remainder of the Zhuangzi is possibly a compilation of other philosophers’ contemplations.
Known for his radical ideas and literary brilliance, Zhuangzi’s influence on Chinese philosophy through the ages is significant. His version of Taoist philosophy is thought to have been highly instrumental in the reception of Buddhism in China.
Prominent translations of Zhuangzi are Burton Watson’s Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Chuang Tzŭ (2002) and Brook Ziporyn’s Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries (2009.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Zhuang Zhou
Horses have hoofs to carry them over frost and snow; hair, to protect them from wind and cold. They eat grass and drink water, and fling up their heels…. Such is the real nature of horses.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Horses
We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Opinion
Everyone knows the usefulness of the useful, but n o one knows the usefulness of the useless.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: The Past
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Speech, Communication
The sound of water says what I think.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: One liners
Easy is right. Begin right, and you will be easy. Continue easy and you are right… The right way to go easy is to forget the right way, and forget that the going is easy.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Perfection
I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.
—Zhuang Zhou
Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Absence, Happiness
When there is no more separation between ‘this’ and ‘that,’ it is called the still-point of the Tao. At the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.
—Zhuang Zhou
All that is limited by form, semblance, sound, color is called object. Among them all, man alone is more than an object. Though, like objects, he has form and semblance, He is not limited to form. He is more. He can attain to formlessness. When he is beyond form and semblance, beyond this and that, where is the comparison with another object? Where is the conflict? What can stand in his way? He will rest in his eternal place which is no-place. He will be hidden in his own unfathomable secret. His nature sinks to its root in the One. His vitality, his power hide in secret Tao.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Man
Luck implies an absolute absence of any principle.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Luck
Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Education
A man who knows he is a fool is not a great fool.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Self-Knowledge, Awareness
By ethical argument and moral principle the greatest crimes are eventually shown to have been necessary, and, in fact, a signal benefit to mankind.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Ethics
Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Acceptance, Difficulty
My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it.
—Zhuang Zhou
The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.
—Zhuang Zhou
Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Satisfaction
The torch of doubt and chaos is what the sage steers by.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Doubt
He who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar.
—Zhuang Zhou
Topics: Fame
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