The Complete Works of Zhuangzi (Translations from the Asian Classics)

Product Information

Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t know if he were Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly, there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things. 3 – The Secret of Caring For Life

The Complete Works of Zhuangzi, translated by Burton Watson The Complete Works of Zhuangzi, translated by Burton Watson

He who knows he is a fool is not the biggest fool; he who knows he is confused is not in the worst confusion. Western scholars have long noticed that the Zhuangzi is often strongly anti- rationalist. Whereas reason and logic became the hallmark of Ancient Greek philosophy and then the entire Western philosophical tradition, Chinese philosophers preferred to rely on moral persuasion and intuition. [36] The Zhuangzi played a significant role in the traditional Chinese skepticism toward rationalism, as Zhuangzi frequently turns logical arguments upside-down to satirize and discredit them. Zhuangzi did not entirely abandon language and reason, but "only wished to point out that overdependence on them could limit the flexibility of thought." [36] Influence [ edit ] Ah, this is marvelous!” said Lord Wenhui. “Imagine skill reaching such heights!” Cook Ding laid down his knife and replied, “What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now—now I go at it by spirit and don’t look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop, and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and follow things as they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, much less a main joint. The Zhuangzi is presented as the collected works of a man named Zhuang Zhou, who is customarily known by the title "Zhuangzi" ( 莊子; "Master Zhuang"). Almost nothing is concretely known of Zhuangzi's life. He is usually said to have been born around 369BC in the state of Song, in a place called Meng ( 蒙) near present-day Shangqiu, Henan, and is supposed to have died around either 301, 295, or 286BC. [1] He is thought to have spent time in the southern state of Chu, as well as in the Qi capital of Linzi. [2] The Han-era Records of the Grand Historian includes a biography of Zhuangzi, but it seems to have been sourced mostly from the Zhuangzi itself. [3] The American scholar Burton Watson concluded: "Whoever Zhuang Zhou was, the writings attributed to him bear the stamp of a brilliant and original mind." [4]This is Daoist philosophy¿s central tenet, espoused by the person¿or group of people¿known as Zhuangzi (369?. When one ceases to judge events as good or bad, man-made suffering disappears and natural suffering is embraced as part of life. ).

The Complete Works of Zhuangzi on JSTOR

In Zhuangzi’s eyes, man is the author of his own suffering and bondage, and all his fears spring from the web of values created by himself alone.

Works by Burton Watson

For the purpose of understanding Zhuangzi, Hui Shi’s key saying strikes at the use of similarity to ground realism: The relation between Laozi [Lao Tzu] and Zhuangzi within Taoism is a growing puzzle. The only verifiable intellectual influence on Zhuangzi was Hui Shi (370–319 bce), a language theorist. Zhuangzi had a longstanding friendship with the monist dialectician, and he mourned Hui Shi’s death as depriving him of the person “on whom he sharpened his wits.” Goldin, Paul R. (2001). "The Thirteen Classics". In Mair, Victor H. (ed.). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 86-96. ISBN 0-231-10984-9.

The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu translated by Burton Watson The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu translated by Burton Watson

After Carpenter Shi had returned home, the oak tree appeared to him in a dream and said, “What are you comparing me with? Are you comparing me with those useful trees? The cherry apple, the pear, the orange, the citron, the rest of those fructiferous trees and shrubs—as soon as their fruit is ripe, they are torn apart and subjected to abuse. Nivison, David Shepherd (1999). "The Classical Philosophical Writings". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 745-812. ISBN 0-521-47030-7. Confucius’s, starts from different standards, different 成 chéng constructed commitments to linguistic The Zhuangzi is the most influential purely literary Chinese work dating from before China's imperial unification in 221BC. [37] Its literary quality, imagination and creativity, and linguistic prowess were unprecedented in the period of its creation. [37] Virtually every major Chinese writer or poet in history, from Sima Xiangru and Sima Qian during the Han dynasty, Ruan Ji and Tao Yuanming during the Six Dynasties, Li Bai during the Tang dynasty, to Su Shi and Lu You in the Song dynasty were "deeply imbued with the ideas and artistry of the Zhuangzi." [38] Early times [ edit ]

What Is Semantic Scholar?

The best way to approach Zhuangzi, I believe, is not to attempt to subject his thought to rational and systematic analysis , but to read and reread his words until one has ceased to think of what he is saying and instead has developed an intuitive sense of the mind moving behind the words, and of the world in which it moves. Once, Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering about, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know that he was Zhuang Zhou. between us and the course(es) of nature. 4.2 The Conceptual Foci of Chinese Daoist Normative Theorizing Further, the motivation for being open to other schemes of knowledge presupposes the potential value of acquiring them. The openness of youth is valuable only because it offers a greater range of possibilities of knowledge. If we were to treat openness as a principled anti-knowledge stance, then perspectivalism would give us no reason to value it. How, then, can I know that what I call Heaven is not really man and what I call man is not really Heaven? There must first be a True Man before there can be true knowledge. What do I mean by a True Man? The True Man of ancient times did not rebel against want, did not grow proud in plenty, and did not plan his affairs. A man like this could commit an error and not regret it, could meet with success and not make a show. A man like this could climb the high places and not be frightened, could enter the water and not get wet, could enter the fire and not get burned. His knowledge was able to climb all the way up to the Way like this.

The Complete Works of Zhuangzi (Translations from the Asian The Complete Works of Zhuangzi (Translations from the Asian

In my earlier selected translation, Zhuangzi: Basic Writings, I tried to avoid the feeble scribbler, presenting only sections 1–7, 17–19, and 26. The present work, however, is a complete translation of the Zhuangzi, and the reader must take the dull parts with the good. Yan Hui said, “My family is poor. I haven’t drunk wine or eaten any strong foods for several months. So can I be considered as having fasted?” Zhuangzi focuses on the social perspective, though he sometimes notes differences in perspective within the same person at different times. His main target is the way conflicting attitudes come from using different moral language. He uses the moral debate between Confucians and Mohists as the key example. Utilitarian Mohists say Confucian traditionalism is immoral because it leads to bad consequences. Confucians say utilitarianism is immoral because it leads to doing what is wrong. Each criticism presupposes precisely the moral point that is in dispute.Zhuangzi emphasizes the possibility of innumerable competing standpoints. Occasionally, however, he emphasizes the almost tragic inevitability involved once we take one possible path. Once we have started down a dao, we seem doomed to elaborate and develop it in a kind of “rush to death.” Youth is the state of being comparatively open to many possible systems of shi–fei. As we grow and gain “knowledge,” we close off possibilities and flexibility. Zhuangzi exploits the analogy of youth and flexibility. Nothing can free us from the headlong rush to complete our initial commitments to shi and fei as if they were oaths or treaties. We rush through life clinging to the alternative we judge as winning. “Is life really as stupid as this? Or is it that I am the only stupid one and there are others not so stupid?” Ivanhoe, P. J. (1993) Zhuangzi on skepticism, skill, and the ineffable Dao. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 61(4), 639–654 You have had the audacity to take on human form, and you are delighted. But the human form has ten thousand changes that never come to an end. Your joys, then, must be uncountable. Therefore, the sage wanders in the realm where things cannot get away fro Møllgaard, E. (2007) An introduction to Daoist thought: Action, language, and ethics in Zhuangzi. New York: Routledge