Zhuangzi

<brief intro section required>

The Historical Zhuangzi

<history section needed>

The Zhuangzi Text

Though many Chinese philosophers and historians (from the esteemed Sima Qhian onward) have grouped the Zhuangzi and the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) under the heading “Daoism” (Taoism), the two texts share as many differences as they do similarities. For instance, though they both possess a similar cosmological scheme (centered on an ineffable, though utterly immanent Way (Tao) and both advocate a similar ethic of action (called wu-wei), they present these ideas in a radically different manner. While the Dao De Jing is characterized by short, cryptic aphorisms, the Zhuangzi is notable for its use of multiple (often divergent) styles in making its points. In a given section, the text uses parables, dialogues, paradoxes and even jokes as teaching tools – each aiding in imparting the philosopher’s unique perspective.

The text itself is typically divided into three sections: the Inner Chapters (sections 1-7), the Outer Chapters (8-22) and the Miscellaneous Chapters (23-33). Of these, only the Inner Chapters are thought to originate from Zhuangzi himself, as they bear an internally consistent style and philosophical outlook. In contrast, the Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters vary considerably in terms of approach, philosophical stance, and even quality. This disjunction in quality underlies Arthur Waley’s statement that “some parts are by a splendid poet, others are by a feeble scribbler” (1956, p. 256).

As with many edited volumes, modern textual criticism has isolated some particular philosophical strata within the Outer and Miscellaneous sections of received text. Specifically, they argue for the presence of a “School of Chuang-tzu,” “Primitivist,” “Yangist,” and “Syncretist” strand – each with its own philosophical agenda and idiosyncratic interpretation of the source material (See Graham, 1989; Liu, 1991). Because of these later accretions, the philosophy sections below will primarily use examples from the Inner Chapters (due to the common consensus that they represent the oldest and most authentic elements of the text).

Philosophical Themes in the Zhuangzi

Tao and Cosmology

The first philosophically notable feature of the Zhuangzi is a cosmology centered on Dao (Tao) and Heaven. In it, Dao has three primary meanings: it is understood as the ontological source of creation, the process of constant change that characterizes the created world, and the path of human action that can align individuals with this overarching cosmic process. Heaven, in this framework, is primarily used both as a counterpart to Earth (in descriptions of the natural world) and as a synonym for the “processual” aspect of the Dao (see Chan, 1963; Graham, 1989).

The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi feature a notable creation account that demonstrates two of these three understandings of Dao.

The Way has its reality and its signs but is without action or form. You can hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but you cannot see it. It is its own source, its own root. Before Heaven and earth existed it was there, firm from ancient times. It gave spirituality to the spirits and to God; it gave birth to Heaven and to earth. It exists beyond the highest point, and yet you cannot call it lofty; it exists beneath the limit of the six directions, and yet you cannot call it deep. It was born before Heaven and earth, and yet you cannot say it has been there for long; it is earlier than the earliest time, and yet you cannot call it old (Zhuangzi (ch. 6), BW 77).

As can be seen, this account explicitly describes the Dao in its roles as cosmic originator and as path of practice. Zhuangzi further explores this unique understanding of Tao and Heaven through the parable of the “piping of the earth.” In it, a student asks his venerable teacher how to effectively meditate (making “the body like a withered tree and the mind like dead ashes”). The teacher replies that doing so requires one to “hear the piping of Heaven.” When asked to extrapolate, he continues:

The Great Clod [Tao] belches forth breath and its name is wind. So long as it doesn’t come forth, nothing happens. But when it does, then ten thousand hollows begin crying wildly…. And when the fierce wind has passed on, then all the hollows are empty again.

Tzu-yu [the student] said, “By the piping of the earth, then, you mean simply [the sound of] these hollows, and by the piping of man [the sound of] flutes and whistles. But may I ask about the piping of Heaven?”

Tzu-ch’i said, “Blowing on the ten thousand things in a different way, so that each can be itself – all take what they want for themselves, but who does the sounding?” (Zhuangzi (ch. 2), BW 31-32)

In this tale, the relationship between Tao and Heaven is elucidated: the Tao is the source of change and action in the World (as it is the ultimate cause of the wind), and Heaven is the worldly, instantiated form of this process (as it is credited for directly causing action (by “blowing on [each of] the ten thousand things in a different way”). For this reason, the text suggests that one who can understand “the Way [Tao] … may be called the Reservoir of Heaven” (Zhuangzi (ch. 2), BW 40; See also Zhuangzi (ch. 6), BW 73).

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Chan, Wing-tsit. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.

Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings. Translated and with an introduction by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.

Chuang Tzu: Seven Inner Chapters and Other Writings from the Book Chuang-tzu. Translated and with an introduction by A. C. Graham. London: Allen & Unwin, 1981.

Fowler, Jeaneane. An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism. Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 2005.

Graham, A. C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1989.

Liu Xiaogan. “Wuwei (Non-action): From Laozi to Huainanzi.” Taoist Resources 3.1 (July 1991). 41-56.

Peerenboom, R. P. Law and Morality in Ancient China: The Silk Manuscripts of Huang-Lao. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993.

Waley, Arthur. Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1956.