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Zhuangzi (Chuang-Tzu)

Warring States Daoist thinker from Meng in Song, once a lacquer-garden official, whose parable-filled Zhuangzi argues for the equality of things

Also known as Zhuang Zhou · Zi Xiu · Nanhua Zhenren

Roles: Philosopher / ThinkerWriter / Poet

Zhuangzi, personal name Zhou, came from Meng in the state of Song (around modern Shangqiu, Henan). The Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) says he served as an official of the lacquer garden at Meng and lived in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi. When King Wei of Chu sent envoys with rich gifts to make him chief minister, he refused, saying he would rather play in a muddy ditch than be fattened as a sacrificial ox. He wrote more than a hundred thousand words, mostly in parables; the received Zhuangzi, edited by Guo Xiang of the Western Jin into thirty-three chapters in inner, outer and miscellaneous sections, includes Free and Easy Wandering and The Equality of Things. In 742 Emperor Xuanzong of Tang gave him the title True Man of Southern Florescence and renamed his book the True Classic of Southern Florescence (Nanhua zhenjing).

Life and times

c. 369 BCEBornZhou
500 BCEHundred Schools ContentionTook partConfucian, Mohist, Daoist, Legalist, and other thinkers debated ethics, human nature, and government across the rival states.
c. 286 BCEDied

Works

Literature · Prose37
1. ZhuangziZhouDaoist book of Zhuang Zhou and his school: fables of free wandering and the equality of things
2. Zhuangzi: Free and Easy WanderingZhou
3. Zhuangzi: Autumn FloodsZhou
4. Zhuangzi: The Mastery of Nurturing LifeZhou
5. Zhuangzi: On the Equality of ThingsZhou
6. +25 more
7. Open all works→
Literature · Sayings22
1. The Frog at the Bottom of the WellZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: a narrow-minded person with a tiny view of the world
2. Learning Enough to Fill Five CartsZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: vast learning, enough books to fill five carts
3. Learning to Walk in HandanZhouIdiom from a Zhuangzi fable: imitating others blindly and losing one's own skill
4. Work of Ghostly Axes and Divine CraftZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: craftsmanship or scenery too fine for human hands
5. The Horse That Harms the HerdZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: the black sheep who harms the whole group
6. +17 more
  1. A Mantis Blocking a ChariotZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: a mantis blocking a chariot, hopeless overreach
  2. Fearless in the Face of DangerZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: calm and fearless in the face of danger
  3. Dong Shi Imitates the FrownZhouIdiom from a Zhuangzi tale of Dong Shi aping Xi Shi: blind imitation that backfires
  4. Vivid as LifeZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: lifelike and vivid
  5. Three in the Morning, Four in the EveningZhouIdiom from a Zhuangzi fable of the monkey keeper: fickle and inconsistent
  6. Cook Ding Carves the OxZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi tale of Cook Ding: mastery that comes from grasping the pattern
  7. Sighing Before the Vast OceanZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi's river god before the sea: feeling powerless before something vast
  8. Ample Room for the BladeZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: ample room for the blade, effortless skill
  9. Leaving the Altar to Do the Cook's JobZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: overstepping one's role to do another's job
  10. Pleased and Fully SatisfiedZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi's Cook Ding: thoroughly pleased with oneself
  11. Masters of the Great WayZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi: a master of the Great Way, a learned expert
  12. Soaring Straight Up on the WhirlwindZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering: rising fast on a great wind
  13. Cook Ding Sees No Whole OxZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi's Nourishing the Lord of Life: skill so perfect one sees no whole ox
  14. The Perfected Person Has No SelfZhouLine from the Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering on forgetting the self
  15. Laughed at by Those Who Know the WayZhouIdiom from the Zhuangzi's Autumn Floods: the River God shamed before the sea
  16. The Roc's Ten-Thousand-Li JourneyZhouIdiom from Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering: the giant roc's journey, a boundless future
  17. The Morning Mushroom Never Sees a Month Begin or EndZhouFamous line from Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering: the short-lived cannot know the long
Literature · Fables9
1. The Frog in the WellZhouFable from the Zhuangzi: a frog boasts of its well to a turtle from the Eastern Sea
2. Learning to Walk in HandanZhouStory from the Zhuangzi: a youth from Yan goes to Handan to learn its gait and forgets his own
3. The Mantis Blocking the ChariotZhouImage from the Zhuangzi: Qu Boyu likens rashness to a mantis raising its arms against a chariot
4. Dong Shi Imitates Xi Shi's FrownZhouFable from the Zhuangzi: a plain woman copies Xi Shi's frown and sends her neighbours fleeing
5. Three in the Morning, Four in the EveningZhouFable from the Zhuangzi: a keeper swaps his monkeys' morning and evening nut rations
6. +4 more
  1. Cook Ding Carves the OxZhouFable from the Zhuangzi: Cook Ding carves an ox along its natural lines, his blade ever keen
  2. Sighing Before the Vast OceanZhouOpening fable of the Zhuangzi's Autumn Floods: the River Lord reaches the sea and feels small
  3. Ample Room for the BladeZhouCook Ding's account in the Zhuangzi of his blade moving with room to spare through the joints
  4. Leaving the Altar to Do the Cook's JobZhouXu You's refusal of the throne in the Zhuangzi: the priest does not leave the altar to cook

Records

Zhuang Zhou of Meng, whose teaching returns to Laozi

Mid Warring States period

The Shiji says Zhuang Zhou was a man of Meng who served as a lacquer-garden clerk there, lived in the time of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi, and read widely, with a teaching that came back to the words of Laozi. King Wei of Chu, hearing of his worth, sent envoys with rich gifts to offer him the chief ministry; he replied that he would rather amuse himself in a muddy ditch, bound by no ruler, and never take office all his life.

References (1)

史記/卷063Source Wikisource (Chinese)

Wrote over a hundred thousand characters, mostly parables