Group 3: Daoism: Zhuangzi

The Zhuangzi is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period which contains
stories and anecdotes that exemplify the carefree nature of the ideal Taoist sage. Named for its
traditional author, "Master Zhuang", the Zhuangzi is one of the two foundational texts of
Taoism, along with the Tao Te Ching.
The Zhuangzi is a compilation of his and others' writings at the pinnacle of the philosophically
subtle Classical period in China (5th–3rd century BC). The period was marked by humanist and
naturalist reflections on normativity shaped by the metaphor of a dào—a social or a natural path.
He used his literary and philosophical skills to refute the Confucians and Mohists (followers of
Mozi, who advocated “concern for everyone”). Zhuangzi is best known through the book that
bears his name, the Zhuangzi, also known as Nanhua zhenjing (“The Pure Classic of Nanhua”).
Life and death are both natural stages of a human being, and if we value a person's life, he
reasons, we should likewise value their death. This stands in contrast to the idea that valuing a
person leads inevitably to grief at their death.
The Zhuangzi (also known in Wade-Giles romanization romanization as Chuang-tzu), named
after “Master Zhuang” was, along with the Laozi, one of the earliest texts to contribute to the
philosophy that has come to be known as Daojia, or school of the Way.

NOTION OF GOOD

Zhuangzi taught that what can be known or said of the Dao is not the Dao. It has neither initial
beginning nor final end, nor limitations or demarcations. Life is the ongoing transformation of
the Dao, in which there is no better or worse, no good or evil. Things should be allowed to
follow their own course, and men should not value one situation over another. A truly virtuous
man is free from the bondage of circumstance, personal attachments, tradition, and the need to
reform his world.
The relativity of all experience is in constant tension in the Zhuangzi with the unity of all things.
When asked where the Dao was, Zhuangzi replied that it was everywhere. When pushed to be
more specific, he declared that it was in ants and, still lower, in weeds and potsherds;
furthermore, it was also in excrement and urine. This forceful statement of the omnipresence of
the Dao had its parallels in later Chinese Buddhism, in which a similar figure of speech was used
to describe the ever-present Buddha (Buddhist scholars, especially those of the Chan [Zen]
school, also drew heavily on Zhuangzi’s works). Zhuangzi was par excellence the philosopher of
the unattached man who is at one with the Dao.

SAMPLES OF TEACHINGS
Zhuangzi taught that what can be known or said of the Dao is not the Dao. It has neither initial
beginning nor final end, nor limitations or demarcations.
Life is the ongoing transformation of the Dao, in which there is no better or worse, no good or
evil. Things should be allowed to follow their own course, and men should not value one
situation over another.
A truly virtuous man is free from the bondage of circumstance, personal attachments, tradition,
and the need to reform his world.
In the "Zhuangzi", Master Zhuang teaches that there is no absolute distinction between good and
evil. He uses the example of a man who cuts his finger off while chopping wood. The man feels
pain and sorrow at first, but then he realizes that if he had not cut his finger off, he would have
continued to chop wood and eventually would have cut his whole hand off. So, in a way, the man
is actually happy that he only lost his finger.
In another example, Master Zhuang teaches that there is no absolute distinction between life and
death. He tells the story of a man who dreams that he is a butterfly, fluttering around in the air.
The man is happy and content in his dream, but when he wakes up, he realizes that he is actually
a man, not a butterfly. The man is sad at first, but then he realizes that if he had been a butterfly
in his dream, he would have eventually died. So, in a way, the man is actually happy that he is
alive and not a butterfly.
These examples show us that, for Master Zhuang, there is no absolute distinction between good
and evil, life and death. Everything is relative and depends on our perspective.

FAMOUS LINES

“Rewards and punishment is the lowest form of education.”

“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.”
“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”
“To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders.”