Zhuang Zi

The Taoist book Zhuang Zi (《莊子》) of the same name is believed to have been written by Zhuangzi and others.

One of the book's most famous passages is usually referred to as "Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly" (莊周夢蝶 zhuang1 zhou1 meng4 die2) from the chapter "On Arranging Things" (alternately, "Discussion of Setting Things Right"; 齊物論 qi2 wu4 lun4, the second part of the book). The idiom originates from the event that one night, Zhuangzi dreamed that he was a carefree butterfly flying happily. And after he woke up, he thought that maybe he was actually a butterfly dreaming that he was a person. It hints at many questions in the philosophy of mind and epistemology, such as Descartes' famous question of how one knows one exists. The name of the passage has become a common idiom.

In general, Zhuangzi's philosophy is rather antinomian, repeatedly arguing that our experience is limited and that using our limited tools (language, cognition, etc.) to judge all things (wanwu) is foolish. Zhuangzi's thought can also be considered a precursor of multiculturalism and subjectivism, with its recognition of many value systems. A good example of this is the fourth section of "The Great Happiness" (至樂 zhi4le4, the 18th section of the book), where Zhuangzi talks to a skull he sees lying at the side of the road. Zhuangzi expresses sorrow that the skull's former owner is now dead, but the skull retorts, "How do you know it's bad to be dead?" In another example, again from "On Arranging Things," one person points out to another that there is no universal standard of beauty:

Mao Qiang and Li Ji [two beautiful courtesans] are what people consider beautiful, but if fish see them they will swim into the depths; if birds see them, they will fly into the air; if deer see them, they will gallop away. Among these four, who knows what is rightly beautiful in the world?

However, this subjectivism is balanced with a kind of sensitive holism in the conclusion of this well-known debate called "What Fish Enjoy" (魚之樂,py yu2zhi1le4):

Chuang Tzu and Hui Tzu were strolling along the dam of the Hao River when Chuang Tzu said, "See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That's what fish really enjoy!"

Hui Tzu said, "You're not a fish - how do you know what fish enjoy?"

Chuang Tzu said, "You're not I, so how do you know I don't know what fish enjoy?"

Hui Tzu said, "I'm not you, so I certainly don't know what you know. On the other hand, you're certainly not a fish - so that still proves you don't know what fish enjoy!"

Chuang Tzu said, "Let's go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy - so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao." (Section XVII Autumn Floods, tr. Burton Watson)

Zhuangzi's philosophy was very influential on the development of Chinese Buddhism, especially Chan, and Zen which evolved out of Chan.

See also: Taoism, Lao Zi

External Link

• The Book Zhuang Zi
• The 33 sections of the Zhuangzi

Referenced By