成書源流

《莊子》書分內、外、雜篇，乃由戰國中晚期逐步流傳、揉雜、附益，至西漢大致成形；然而當時流傳版本，今已失傳。目前所傳《莊子》三十三篇，已經郭象整理，篇目章節與漢代亦有不同。內篇大體可代表戰國時期莊子思想核心；而外篇、雜篇發展則縱橫百餘年，參雜黃老、莊子後學形成複雜的體系。司馬遷認為莊子思想「其要本歸於老子」。然而就《莊子》書中寓言、義理及天下篇對老子思想所評述，老子與莊子思想架構有別，關懷亦不相同，所謂「道家」思想體系與《莊子》書，實經過長期交融激盪，經漢代學者整理相關材料，方才編定。

注疏

晉

• 《莊子注》廿一卷，司馬彪註。

• 《莊子注》又稱《南華真經註疏》，郭象註；唐陸德明音義孫毓修撰札記。

唐

• 《莊子注》，成玄英註。

宋

• 《莊子口義》，林希逸撰。

• 《南華真經義海纂微》百零六卷，褚伯秀撰。

明

• 《莊子通》十卷，沈一貫撰。

• 《莊子翼》，焦竑撰。

• 《南華真經旁註》，方虛名撰。

• 《南華發覆》，釋性撰。

• 《莊子內篇註》，憨山釋德清註。

清

• 《莊子集解》，王先謙撰。

• 《莊子集釋》，郭慶藩撰。

• 《南華經解》，宣穎撰。

內篇

內篇可謂莊學之內，一般認為應是莊子所著，是莊子思想核心，七篇可構成完整的理論體系。內七篇篇目都為三字，與外、雜篇取各篇篇首兩字為題不同，內篇篇目皆標明題旨，應屬後人所加。

逍遙遊第一

逍遙遊為莊子哲學總綱，展現莊子思想的境界與理想。「逍遙」原是聯綿詞，但也有學者將「逍遙」解釋為「消、搖」，也就是消解、消融的意涵。篇中點出「至人無己，神人無功，聖人無名」，與儒家、墨家乃至老子的理想生命型態做出分判，同時展現「莊學」的修養境界與工夫進路，以「無己」、「無功」、「無名」的工夫，消解形軀與世俗的羈鎖，達到超越的逍遙境界。

而所謂「逍遙」的境界，即是「無待」，莊子透過「乘天地之正，御六氣之辯，以遊於無窮者，彼且惡待之」加以豁顯，而託寓「藐姑射之山之神人」呈現這樣的高遠形象。

篇首以大荒無稽的寓言「北冥有魚，其名為鯤，鯤之大，不知其幾千里也。化而為鳥，其名為鵬，鵬之背，不知其幾千里也。」開始，透過鵬鳥與蜩、學鳩的對比，點出生命境界的不同，大鵬鳥可以「摶扶搖羊角而直上者九萬里」，飛到南冥。而像斥鴳之類的小鳥，所能飛到的不過數仞之間而已。藉此點出「小知不如大知，小年不如大年」的「小大之辨」。而其中小與大的境界差別，正在於「有待」與「無待」，亦即能否超脫外在事物的負累，甚至進而超越大與小的差別。

莊子在篇中還藉由堯要讓位給許由的寓言，指出「聖人無名」的觀點。須知，此處的聖人指許由而非堯。莊子推崇的是許由無視名位辭而不受的態度，暗中批判了作為儒家精神偶像的堯以名位為重、用最高的名位來匹配最有德之人的思想。最後透過魏王贈給惠施的大瓠瓜，點出世俗之人都受困於有用無用的刻板思考，反而無法見到生命的真實樣貌，彰顯生命最適切的「大用」。

齊物論第二

齊物論有兩種意涵，有學者認為是「齊物」之「論」，也有認為指「齊」諸「物論」。歷來皆認為本篇是《莊子》思想最豐富而精微的一篇，因而也最難掌握。歷代對於齊物論的注釋、說解在莊學之中最為可觀，無形中也增加後代學者解讀與詮釋的障蔽。

莊子透過齊物論意圖消解人類對於世俗價值的盲從與執著，解開「儒墨之是非」等各種是非對立的學說論辨。莊子並不對各種價值高低或學說議論重作衡定、釐清，認為如此反而治絲益棼，所謂是非更無終止。莊子認為止辯之關鍵，在於「照之以天」，洞澈價值與學說彼此之間相異卻又相生的道理，進而消辯、忘辯。因為所有辯論的爭端，都來自於人類對自我的「成心」，各學說都對其終極價值有所執著與預設，難以去除，根本無從建立論辯各方共同承認的前提，因而所有的辯論也無從解決任何爭端。所以莊子透過忘言忘辯的進路，超越彼此相非相生的對立，依順著萬物天生的自然，達到「道通為一」的境界。

人類對於萬物的指稱，並非確定不變的，所有對於「指稱」、「名相」的執著或否定，總會陷入無窮無盡的迴旋之中。而所有的指稱、名相，都不是所指稱的「物」自身。所以莊子認為應讓所有的「彼」、「此」，所有的萬物各自依順本性，才能保持心靈真實的虛明與自由。

齊物論首段透過南郭子綦與子遊問答，提出「天籟」、「地籟」、「人籟」的不同，所謂「天籟」乃是「夫吹萬不同，而使其自已也，成其自取，怒者其誰也！」，也就是讓萬物能全幅展現自身，所謂的「天」就是「天然」，就是天生萬物的自然面目。南郭子綦說「吾喪我」，就是指透過主體工夫的修養，不讓心思外馳，無止盡地追求，而體察內在「真君」。所謂的「我」是指人的「成心」，會隨著言語，不斷往外追索。而「吾」是人的「超越主體」，莊子稱為「真君」、「真宰」，人心應回復最自然的虛靈狀態。這就是齊物論的工夫與境界。

養生主第三

這是一篇談養生之道的文章。「養生主」意思就是養生的要領。莊子認為，養生之道重在順應自然，忘卻情感，不為外物所滯。

全文分成三個部分。

第一部分至是全篇的總綱，指出養生最重要的是要做到緣督以為經，即秉承事物中虛之道，順應自然的變化與發展。

第二部分是庖丁解牛的寓言，以廚工分解牛體比喻人之養生，說明處世、生活都要「因其固然」、「依乎天理」，而且要取其中虛「有間」，方能「遊刃有餘」，從而避開是非和矛盾的糾纏。

餘下為第三部分，進一步說明聽憑天命，順應自然，「安時而處順」的生活態度。包含公文軒見右師、澤雉十步一啄、秦失弔老聃、薪火相傳四個寓言。

莊子思想的中心，一是無所依憑自由自在，一是反對人為順其自然，本文字裡行間雖是在談論養生，實際上是在體現作者的哲學思想和生活旨趣。

人間世第四

此篇談論自處與處世之道。包含七部分：

• 顏回與孔子：心齋。

• 葉公問孔子。

• 愛有所亡。

• 櫟社樹。

• 無用之樹。

• 「支離」。

• 楚狂接輿。

莊子以為人要有慈悲心和責任感，而又能「乘物以遊心，託不得已以養中」。所以顏回想拯救衛國人民；而子之愛親與臣之事君，二「大戒」也無可逃避。但是，一味直接求取「大用」，必遭橫禍；一味退隱自願「無用」，又白來這一趟，都不圓滿。必須知道要「入遊其樊而無感其名，入則鳴，不入則止」、盡人事而「自事其心」、「就不欲入，和不欲出」，因無用而大用。「因無用而大用」就是人間世合情合理的人生真實與態度。

德充符第五

此篇談論德。包含四部分：

• 三名兀者。

• 魯哀公問仲尼。

• 有人之形，無人之情。

• 惠子與莊子談論情。

「道德內全之無形符顯」就是莊子所說的「德充符」。《文始經》說：「聖人終不能出道以示人。」「道德內全」之人，外表是看不出來的。所以，《金剛經》也說：「不可以三十二相見如來。」德充符第五中，王駘、申徒嘉、叔山無趾、哀駘它等人，都是殘障或貌醜之人，可是他們都是「立不教，坐不議，虛而往，實而歸」、「不言而教，無形而心成」之才德內全的聖人。雖然五體殘障或面貌醜陋，只要道德內全，自有無形的符顯，使他們成為比身體健壯、面貌美好的人更尊貴的聖人。「道不在五形或肉身」，這是德充符第五的要義。

大宗師第六

大宗師就是道德與能力都達到頂點的真人或師者。他們已經「知天之所為，知人之所為」，而且「用兵也，亡國而不失人心；利澤施於萬物，不為愛人。」大宗師第六中，真人境界的描述很多，例如：「古之真人，不知說生，不知惡死；其出不訢，其入不距；翛然而往，翛然而來而已矣。不忘其所始，不求其所終；受而喜之，忘而復之。是之謂不以心捐道，不以人助天。是之謂真人。若然者，其心志，其容寂，其顙頯，淒然似秋，煖然似春，喜怒通四時，與物有宜，而莫知其極。」

但是真人不必「駕鶴飛昇」，就能自由出入於仙境與人間，他們的言行心境是如何？大宗師第六說：「吾師乎！吾師乎！齏萬物而不為義，澤及萬世而不為仁，長於上古而不為老，覆載天地、刻彫眾形而不為巧。此所遊已。」又說：「墮肢體，黜聰明，離形去知，同於大通。」所以，入於「遊戲三昧」，「同於大通」，才是真正莊子所說的大宗師。

應帝王第七

應帝王第七談的是君主治理國家應該採用的方法。道家治國的理念是「民主自由，無為而治」，應帝王第七的見解當然也是一樣。所以，「正而後行，確乎能其事者而已矣」，「功蓋天下而似不自己，化貸萬物而民弗恃，有莫舉名，使物自喜，立乎不測，而遊於無有者也」，「遊心於淡，合氣於漠，順物自然，而無容私焉，而天下治矣。」

道家視宇宙萬物為一體，所以有「天地一指也，萬物一馬也」的說法。因此，莊子對萬事萬物的態度，也一樣採取不幹預的方法。對民心民情、萬事萬物，若「用心若鏡，不將不迎，應而不藏」，就能勝物而不傷。否則，（寓言）對渾沌「日鑿一竅，七日而渾沌死」，就大大不美矣！

外篇、雜篇

外、雜篇來源駁雜，秦漢以來，多數仍認為與內篇同屬莊子作品。宋代蘇軾指出其中有四篇，應非莊子所作。清代王夫之論析外、雜篇思想與內篇不同，不是莊子之書。至今，一般認為外雜篇，應是莊子後學及道家相關學者所作，經長期積累，由漢朝人所編匯，附於內篇之後。外雜篇之編纂，反映漢朝人對莊子思想與道家體系的理解。《史記》中司馬談論六家要旨所論道家，與今日學者所論，差異很大，即可見其中梗概。《莊子》外、雜篇，篇目雖雜，大體包括述莊、黃老、無君等主要內容。

外篇

駢拇第八

馬蹄第九

胠篋第十

本篇闡述老子思想，反對聖人、仁義等概念，主張「聖人不死，大盜不止」，蘊含反智論點。姚鼐說：「胠篋篇是先秦時文字，此人蓋有慨於始皇，故言最憤激。」

在宥第十一

此篇類似胠篋，闡發老子思想。但羼入莊子泯是非的主張，以及黃帝和廣成子談長生的段落，結構較駁雜。

天地第十二

此篇談論道本於自然。包括黃帝遊於赤水北、堯與許由、孔子問老聃離堅白、子貢南遊等部分。

天道第十三

此篇混雜老子、莊子、儒家思想，假託堯、舜、齊桓公、老子、孔子等人之對話，文中出現「素王」一詞，應為漢代作品。

天運第十四

此篇主張以天地為宗，師法自然。文中出現六經一詞，為漢代作品。開頭有問天三段，之後皆為責難孔子之文。

刻意第十五

「刻意」篇批評各種刻意有為的人生態度，認為只有「虛無恬淡」才合「天德」，「澹然無極」是「天地之道」、「聖人之德」，要求「無為」，主張「貴精」。「貴精」即不失「純」、「素」，這樣的人是「真人」。稱恬淡、寂漠、虛空、無為，是天地賴以存在的基準，是德行的最高境界。

繕性第十六

秋水第十七

以起首二字為篇名。秋水的思想本於齊物論。但形式上，秋水比齊物論有更嚴密的推理邏輯，談論認知事物的複雜性。

包括七段：

• 河伯與北海

• 夔、蚿、蛇、風。

• 孔子匡之圍。

• 公孫龍問魏牟。

• 楚國神龜。

• 鴟得腐鼠，因嚇鵷鶵。

• 濠梁之辯。

文中提到公孫龍與魏牟對談、燕王噲讓國、秦代建立的「太倉」等，大概是秦漢間的作品。

秋水篇名言：「井蛙不可以語于海者，拘于虛也；夏蟲不可以語于冰者，篤于時也；曲士不可以語于道者，束于教也。」

至樂第十八

達生第十九

本篇闡發養生主。認為養生是與自然化合，王夫之評論其文句深刻。包含以下部分：

• 總論通達本性的重要。

• 列子問關尹。

• 痀僂者承蜩。

• 仲尼論外重內拙。

• 田開之論養生。

• 祝宗人說彘。

• 齊桓公見鬼。

• 鬥雞寓言。

• 孔子觀於呂梁。

• 梓慶削木。

• 東野稷御。

• 工倕。

• 扁子論至人之德。

山木第二十

田子方第二十一

知北遊第二十二

無為謂

知北遊中有個人叫無為謂，名字意思是無為而又無言。在知北遊裡面的寓言故事中，有一個叫「知」的人，向北遊歷來到玄水旁，登上一個名叫「隱弅」的山丘，在那裡遇上了無為謂。知向無為謂請教問題，問了好幾遍無為謂都不回答。知後來碰到黃帝，知對黃帝說：「我向無為謂請教問題，無為謂不回答我，為什麼呢？」黃帝說：「正是因為無為謂什麼也不回答、什麼也不知道，那才是真正了解大道的。而你和我最終不能接近大道，是因為我們什麼都知道。」

老龍吉

知北遊中還有個仙人叫老龍吉，他是神農的老師。妸荷甘是神農的同學，一起拜老龍吉為師。神農靠著几案，把門關著，在大白天裏睡覺，中午時，妸荷甘推門進去，說：「老龍死了！」神農拿著拐杖起來，「嚗」一聲擲落拐杖而笑著說：「上天知道我鄙陋懈怠、所以要老師離我而去。完了，老師沒有啟發我這些狂妄的言論，就自己死去了啊！」

弇堈吊知道了這事，說：「體會道的人，天下一切君子都將歸附於他啊。如今對於道，連秋毫之末的萬分之一也未能得到的人，尚且知道要深藏他狂妄的言論而死，又何況真正體會道的人呢！道看起來沒有形狀，聽起來沒有聲音，人們對於它的說法是昏晦幽暗，所用來討論的道，並不是真正的道。」

雜篇

庚桑楚第二十三

徐無鬼第二十四

則陽第二十五

外物第二十六

寓言第二十七

讓王第二十八

盜跖第二十九

說劍第三十

漁父第三十一

列禦寇第三十二

天下第三十三

以「天下」為題。全篇分七段，是記錄先秦諸子百家歷史淵源，並且加以批評的總結性文章，是中國學術批評史的開山之作，歷來都頗受學者重視。與之類似的總結性的先秦論文是《荀子·非十二子》。

天下篇首次提出了「內聖外王」概念。基本思想是，「古之人其備乎」，貫徹內聖外王之道，後世分裂為百家，「皆有所明，不能相通」，「不見天地之純」。「悲夫，百家往而不反，必不合矣！後世之學者，不幸不見天地之純，古人之大體，道術將為天下裂。」

天下篇描述《莊子》，「以天下為沉濁，不可與莊語，以卮言為曼衍，以重言為真，以寓言為廣。"即不能用莊重書面語言跟人生大夢中的人論道，故寫作方式是「用隨意自然的論點來推演、借重先賢的事例使人信服，並以豐富的寓言拓展思想。」

關于作者有三種說法：一派認為是莊子，一派認為是戰國末期的莊子後學，一派認為本篇成于西漢初期。

篇目舉隅

《刻意》是《莊子·外篇》中一篇，一共分為三節。篇名按取自文章首句「刻意尚行」，刻意是「克制欲意，雕飾心志」的意思。本篇是論述養神之道。《知北游》是《莊子·外篇》中的一篇，以篇首的三個字為篇名，可自然分為十一個部分。主要論述宇宙的本原和本性及人應怎樣對待宇宙和外部事物。「道在屎溺」語出其中。《盜跖》是《莊子·雜篇》中的一篇，盜跖為人名，可分為三部分。中心是抨擊儒家，指斥儒家觀點的虛偽性和欺騙性，主張返歸原始，順其自然。

風格特色

《莊子》汪洋恣肆，浪漫主義色彩濃厚，變化莫測，幽默諷刺，採用大量神話傳說與寓言故事來表達主題，「寓言十九，重言十七」，引証歷史故事與古人的話。修辭方面，善用譬喻和擬人法，詞彙豐富，文辭變化多端（「卮言日出」）。

陶弘景《真誥》稱「仙書《莊子內篇》，義窮玄任之境」，同《妙法蓮華經》、《上清經》，足以包括萬象，體具幽明。

參考書目

以下為莊子的相關參考論著資料：

• 晉郭象注、唐成玄英疏：《莊子》

• 清郭慶藩：《莊子集釋》

• 清王先謙：《莊子集解》

• 王叔岷：《莊子校釋》

• 陳鼓應：《莊子今注今譯》

• 黃華珍：《莊子音義研究》（北京：中華書局，1999）。

• 吳怡：《莊子內篇解義》

• 張遠山：《莊子復原本》

注釋

延伸閱讀

外部鏈接

• 中國哲學書電子化計劃提供的 《莊子》全文 ，較之維基文庫增加了索引。

History

Zhuang Zhou

The Zhuangzi is presented as the collected works of a man named Zhuang Zhou—traditionally referred to as "Zhuangzi" (; "Master Zhuang"), using the traditional Chinese honorific. Almost nothing is concretely known of Zhuang Zhou's life. Most of what is known comes from the Zhuangzi itself, which was subject to changes in later centuries. Most historians place his birth around 369 BC in a place called Meng (蒙) in the historical state of Song, near present-day Shangqiu, Henan. His death is variously placed at 301, 295, or 286 BC.

Zhuang Zhou is thought to have spent time in the southern state of Chu, as well as in the Qi capital of Linzi. Sima Qian included a biography of Zhuang Zhou in the Han-era Shiji, but it seems to have been sourced mostly from the Zhuangzi itself. The American sinologist Burton Watson concluded: "Whoever Zhuang Zhou was, the writings attributed to him bear the stamp of a brilliant and original mind". University of Sydney lecturer Esther Klein observes: "In the perception of the vast majority of readers, whoever authored the core Zhuangzi text was Master Zhuang."

Textual history

The only version of the Zhuangzi known to exist in its entirety consists of 33 chapters originally prepared around AD 300 by the Jin-era scholar Guo Xiang (252–312), who reduced the text from an earlier form of 52 chapters. The first 7 of these, referred to as the , were considered even before Guo to have been wholly authored by Zhuang Zhou himself. This attribution has been traditionally accepted since, and is still assumed by many modern scholars. The original authorship of the remaining 26 chapters has been the subject of perennial debate: they were divided by Guo into 15 and 11 .

Today, it is generally accepted that the outer and miscellaneous chapters were the result of a process of "accretion and redaction" in which later authors "responded to the scintillating brilliance" of the original inner chapters, although close intertextual analysis does not support the inner chapters comprising the earliest stratum. Multiple authorship over time was a typical feature of Warring States texts of this genre. A limited consensus has been established regarding five distinct "schools" of authorship, each responsible for their own layers of substance within the text. Despite the lack of traceable attribution, modern scholars generally accept that the surviving chapters were originally composed between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC.

Excepting textual analysis, details of the text's history prior to the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) are largely unknown. Traces of its influence on the philosophy of texts written during the late Warring States period, such as the Guanzi, Han Feizi and Huainanzi, suggest that the Zhuangzi intellectual lineage had already been fairly influential in the states of Qi and Chu by the 3rd century BC. Sima Qian refers to the Zhuangzi as a 100,000-character work in the Shiji, and references several chapters present in the received text.

Many scholars consider a Zhuangzi composed of 52 chapters, as attested by the Book of Han in 111 AD, to have been the original form of the text. During the late 1st century BC, the entire Han imperial library—including its edition of the Zhuangzi—was subject to considerable redaction and standardization by the polymath Liu Xiang (77–6 BC) and his son Liu Xin ( – AD 23). All extant copies of the Zhuangzi ultimately derive from a version that was further edited and redacted to 33 chapters by Guo Xiang , who worked from the material previously edited by Liu. Guo plainly stated that he had made considerable edits to the outer and miscellaneous chapters in an attempt to preserve Zhuang Zhou's original ideas from later distortions, in a way that "did not hesitate to impose his personal understanding and philosophical preferences on the text". The received text as edited by Guo is approximately 63,000 characters long—around two-thirds the attested length of the Han-era manuscript. While none are known to exist in full, versions of the text unaffected by both the Guo and Liu revisions survived into the Tang dynasty (618–907), with the existing fragments hinting at the folkloric nature of the material removed by Guo.

Manuscripts

Portions of the Zhuangzi have been found among the bamboo slip texts discovered in tombs dating to the early Han dynasty, particularly at the Shuanggudui site near Fuyang in Anhui, and the Mount Zhangjia site near Jingzhou in Hubei. The earlier Guodian Chu Slips—unearthed near Jingmen, Hubei, and dating to the Warring States period —contain what appears to be a short fragment parallel to the "Ransacking Coffers" chapter ( of 33).

The Dunhuang manuscripts—discovered in the early 20th century by Wang Yuanlu, then obtained and analysed by the Hungarian-British explorer Aurel Stein and the French sinologist Paul Pelliot—contain numerous Zhuangzi fragments dating to the early Tang dynasty. Stein and Pelliot took most of the manuscripts back to Europe; they are presently held at the British Library and the . The Zhuangzi fragments among the manuscripts constitute approximately twelve chapters of Guo Xiang's edition.

A Zhuangzi manuscript dating to the Muromachi period (1338–1573) is preserved in the Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto; it is considered one of Japan's national treasures. The manuscript has seven complete selections from the outer and miscellaneous chapters, and is believed to be a close copy of a 7th-century annotated edition written by the Chinese Taoist master Cheng Xuanying.

Content

The Zhuangzi consists of anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables that are often humorous or irreverent in nature. Most of these are fairly short and simple, such as the humans "Lickety" and "Split" drilling seven holes into the primordial "Wonton", or Zhuang Zhou being discovered sitting and drumming on a basin after his wife dies. A few are longer and more complex, like the story of Lie Yukou and the magus, or the account of the Yellow Emperor's music (both ). Most of the stories within the Zhuangzi seem to have been invented by Zhuang Zhou himself. This distinguishes the text from other works of the period, where anecdotes generally only appear as occasional interjections, and were usually drawn from existing proverbs or legends.

Some stories are completely whimsical, such as the strange description of evolution from "misty spray" through a series of substances and insects to horses and humans, while a few other passages seem to be "sheer playful nonsense" which read like Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky". The Zhuangzi is full of quirky and fantastic character archetypes, such as "Mad Stammerer", "Fancypants Scholar", "Sir Plow", and a man who fancies that his left arm will turn into a rooster, his right arm will turn into a crossbow, and his buttocks will become cartwheels.

A master of language, Zhuang Zhou sometimes engages in logic and reasoning, but then turns it upside down or carries the arguments to absurdity to demonstrate the limitations of human knowledge and the rational world. Sinologist Victor H. Mair compares Zhuang Zhou's process of reasoning to Socratic dialogue—exemplified by the debate between Zhuang Zhou and fellow philosopher Huizi regarding the "joy of fish". Mair additionally characterizes Huizi's paradoxes near the end of the book as being "strikingly like those of Zeno of Elea".

Notable passages

==== "The Butterfly Dream" ====

The most famous of all Zhuangzi stories appears at the end of the second chapter, "On the Equality of Things", and consists of a dream being briefly recalled.

The image of Zhuang Zhou wondering if he was a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man became so well known that whole dramas have been written on its theme. In the passage, Zhuang Zhou "plays with the theme of transformation", illustrating that "the distinction between waking and dreaming is another false dichotomy. If one distinguishes them, how can one tell if one is now dreaming or awake?"

"The Death of Wonton"

Another well-known passage dubbed "The Death of Wonton" illustrates the dangers Zhuang Zhou saw in going against the innate nature of things.

Zhuang Zhou believed that the greatest of all human happiness could be achieved through a higher understanding of the nature of things, and that in order to develop oneself fully one needed to express one's innate ability.

"The Debate on the Joy of Fish"

Chapter 17 contains a well-known exchange between Zhuang Zhou and Huizi, featuring a heavy use of wordplay; it has been compared to a Socratic dialogue.

The precise point Zhuang Zhou intends to make in the debate is not entirely clear. The text appears to stress that "knowing" a thing is simply a state of mind: moreover, that it is not possible to determine whether "knowing" has any objective meaning. This sequence has been cited as an example of Zhuang Zhou's mastery of language, with reason subtly employed in order to make an anti-rationalist point.

"Drumming On a Tub and Singing"

A passage in chapter 18 describes Zhuang Zhou's reaction following the death of his wife, expressing a view of death as something not to be feared.

Zhuang Zhou seems to have viewed death as a natural process of transformation to be wholly accepted, where a person gives up one form of existence and assumes another. In the second chapter, Zhuang Zhou makes the point that, for all humans know, death may in fact be better than life: "How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?" His writings teach that "the wise man or woman accepts death with equanimity and thereby achieves absolute happiness."

Zhuang Zhous death

Zhuang Zhou's own death is depicted in chapter 32, pointing to the body of lore that grew up around him in the decades following his death. It serves to embody and reaffirm the ideas attributed to Zhuang Zhou throughout the previous chapters.

List of chapters

Themes

The principles and attitudes expressed in the Zhuangzi form the core of philosophical Taoism. The text recommends embracing a natural spontaneity in order to better align one's inner self with the cosmic "Way". It also encourages keeping a distance from politics and social obligations, accepting death as a natural transformation, and appreciating things otherwise viewed as useless or lacking purpose. The text implores the reader to reject societal norms and conventional reasoning. The other major philosophical schools in ancient China—including Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism—all proposed concrete social, political, and ethical reforms. By reforming both individuals and society as a whole, thinkers from these schools sought to alleviate human suffering, and ultimately solve the world's problems. Contrarily, Zhuang Zhou believed the key to true happiness was to free oneself from worldly impingements through a principle of 'inaction' (wu wei)—action that is not based in purposeful striving or motivated by potential gain. As such, he fundamentally opposed systems that sought to impose order on individuals.

The Zhuangzi describes the universe as being in a constant state of spontaneous change, which is not driven by any conscious God or force of will. It argues that humans, owing to their exceptional cognitive ability, tend to create artificial distinctions that remove them from the natural spontaneity of the universe. These include those of good versus bad, large versus small, and usefulness versus uselessness. It proposes that humans can achieve ultimate happiness by rejecting these distinctions, and living spontaneously in kind. Zhuang Zhou often uses examples of craftsmen and artisans to illustrate the mindlessness and spontaneity he felt should characterize human action. As Burton Watson described, "the skilled woodcarver, the skilled butcher, the skilled swimmer does not ponder or ratiocinate on the course of action he should take; his skill has become so much a part of him that he merely acts instinctively and spontaneously and, without knowing why, achieves success". The term "wandering" is used throughout the Zhuangzi to describe how an enlightened person "wanders through all of creation, enjoying its delights without ever becoming attached to any one part of it". The nonhuman characters throughout the text are often identified as being useful vehicles for metaphor. However, some recent scholarship has characterized the Zhuangzi as being "anti-anthropocentric" or even "animalistic" in the significance it ascribes to nonhuman characters. When viewed through this lens, the Zhuangzi questions humanity's central place in the world, or even rejects the distinction between the human and natural worlds altogether.

Political positions in the Zhuangzi generally pertain to what governments should not do, rather than what they should do or how they may be reformed. The text seems to oppose formal government, viewing it as fundamentally problematic due to "the opposition between man and nature". Zhuang Zhou attempts to illustrate that "as soon as government intervenes in natural affairs, it destroys all possibility of genuine happiness". It is unclear whether Zhuang Zhou's positions amount to a form of anarchism.

Western scholars have noted strong anti-rationalist themes present throughout the Zhuangzi. Whereas reason and logic as understood in Ancient Greek philosophy proved foundational to the entire Western tradition, Chinese philosophers often preferred to rely on moral persuasion and intuition. Throughout Chinese history, the Zhuangzi significantly informed skepticism towards rationalism. In the text, Zhuang Zhou frequently turns logical arguments upside-down in order to satirize and discredit them. However, according to Mair he does not abandon language and reason altogether, but "only wishes to point out that over-dependence on them could limit the flexibility of thought". Confucius himself is a recurring character in the text—sometimes engaging in invented debates with Laozi, where Confucius is consistently portrayed as being the less authoritative, junior figure of the two. In some appearances, Confucius is subjected to mockery and made "the butt of many jokes", while in others he is treated with unambiguous respect, intermittently serving as the "mouthpiece" for Zhuang Zhou's ideas.

Comparison with the Tao Te Ching

The Zhuangzi and Tao Te Ching are considered to be the two fundamental texts in the Taoist tradition. It is accepted that some version of the Tao Te Ching influenced the composition of the Zhuangzi; however, the two works are distinct in their perspectives on the Tao itself. The Zhuangzi uses the word "Tao" less frequently than the Tao Te Ching, with the former often using 'heaven' in places the latter would use "Tao". While Zhuang Zhou discusses the personal process of following the Tao at length, compared to Laozi he articulates little about the nature of the Tao itself. The Zhuangzis only direct description of the Tao is contained in "The Great Ancestral Teacher", in a passage "demonstrably adapted" from chapter 21 of the Tao Te Ching. The inner chapters and the Tao Te Ching agree that limitations inherent to human language preclude any sufficient description of the Tao. Meanwhile, imperfect descriptions are ubiquitous throughout both texts.

Influence

Of the texts written in China prior to its unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, the Zhuangzi may have been the most influential on later literary works. For the period, it demonstrated an unparalleled creativity in its use of language. 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".

Antiquity

Traces of the Zhuangzis influence in late Warring States period philosophical texts such as the Guanzi, Han Feizi, and Lüshi Chunqiu suggest that Zhuang Zhou's intellectual lineage was already influential by the 3rd century BC. During the Qin and Han dynasties, with their respective state-sponsored Legalist and Confucian ideologies, the Zhuangzi does not seem to have been highly regarded. One exception is "Fu on the Owl"—the earliest known definitive example of fu rhapsody, written by the Han-era scholar Jia Yi in 170 BC. Jia does not reference the Zhuangzi by name, but cites it for one-sixth of the poem.

The Six Dynasties period (AD 220–589) that followed the collapse of the Han saw Confucianism temporarily surpassed by a resurgence of interest in Taoism and old divination texts such as the I Ching, with many poets, artists, and calligraphers of this period drawing influence from the Zhuangzi. The poets Ruan Ji and Xi Kang—both members of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove—admired the work; an essay authored by Ruan entitled "Discourse on Summing Up the Zhuangzi" is still extant.

Taoism and Buddhism

The Zhuangzi has been called "the most important of all the Daoist writings", with the inner chapters embodying the core ideas of philosophical Taoism. During the 4th century AD, the Zhuangzi became a major source of imagery and terminology for the Shangqing School, a new form of Taoism that had become popular among the aristocracy of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Shangqing School Taoism borrowed numerous terms from the Zhuangzi, such as "perfected man", "Great Clarity", and "fasting the mind". While their use of these terms was distinct from that found in the Zhuangzi itself, their incidence still demonstrates the text's influence on Shangqing thought.

The Zhuangzi was very influential in the adaptation of Buddhism to Chinese culture after Buddhism was first brought to China from India in the 1st century AD. Zhi Dun, China's first aristocratic Buddhist monk, wrote a prominent commentary to the Zhuangzi in the mid-4th century. The Zhuangzi also played a significant role in the formation of Chan Buddhism—and therefore of Zen in Japan—which grew out of "a fusion of Buddhist ideology and ancient Daoist thought." Traits of Chan practice traceable to the Zhuangzi include a distrust of language and logic, an insistence that the "Way" can be found in everything, even dung and urine, and a fondness for dialogues based on koans.

Medieval and modern eras

In 742, an imperial proclamation from Emperor Xuanzong of Tang canonized the Zhuangzi as one of the Chinese classics, awarding it the honorific title . Nevertheless, most scholars throughout Chinese history did not consider it as being a "classic" per se, due to its non-Confucian nature.

Throughout Chinese history, the Zhuangzi remained the pre-eminent expression of core Taoist ideals. The 17th-century scholar Gu Yanwu lamented the flippant use of the Zhuangzi on the imperial examination essays as representing a decline in traditional morals at the end of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Jia Baoyu, the main protagonist of the classic 18th-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, often turns to the Zhuangzi for comfort amid the strife in his personal and romantic relationships. The story of Zhuang Zhou drumming on a tub and singing after the death of his wife inspired an entire tradition of folk music in the central Chinese provinces of Hubei and Hunan called "funeral drumming" that survived into the 18th and 19th centuries.

20th and 21st centuries

Outside of East Asia, the Zhuangzi is not as popular as the Tao Te Ching and is rarely known by non-scholars. A number of prominent scholars have attempted to bring the Zhuangzi to wider attention among Western readers. In 1939, the British sinologist Arthur Waley described it as "one of the most entertaining as well as one of the profoundest books in the world". In the introduction to his 1994 translation, Victor H. Mair wrote that he "felt a sense of injustice that the Dao De Jing is so well known to my fellow citizens while the Zhuangzi is so thoroughly ignored, because I firmly believe that the latter is in every respect a superior work."

Western thinkers who have been influenced by the text include Martin Heidegger, who became deeply interested in the oeuvres of Laozi and Zhuang Zhou during the 1930s. In particular, Heidegger was drawn to the Zhuangzis treatment of usefulness versus uselessness. He explicitly references one of the debates between Zhuang Zhou and Huizi within the third dialogue of Country Path Conversations, written as the Second World War was coming to an end. In the dialogue, Heidegger's characters conclude that "pure waiting" as expressed in the Zhuangzi—that is, waiting for nothing—is the only viable mindset for the German people in the wake of the failure of national socialism and Germany's comprehensive defeat.

Selected translations

• Herbert Giles (1889), Chuang Tzŭ: Mystic, Moralist and Social Reformer, London: Bernard Quaritch; 2nd edition, revised (1926), Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh; reprinted (1961), London: George Allen and Unwin.

• James Legge (1891), The Texts of Taoism, in Sacred Books of the East, vols. XXXIX, XL, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Fung Yu-lan (1933), Chuang Tzu, a New Selected Translation with an Exposition on the Philosophy of Kuo Hsiang, Shanghai: Shangwu.

• Burton Watson (1964), Chuang tzu: Basic Writings, New York: Columbia University Press; 2nd edition (1996); 3rd edition (2003) converted to pinyin.

• Burton Watson (1968), The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, New York: Columbia University Press.

• A. C. Graham (1981), Chuang-tzu, The Seven Inner Chapters and Other Writings from the Book Chuang-tzu, London: George Allen and Unwin. Translation notes published separately in 1982 as Chuang-tzu: Textual Notes to a Partial Translation, London: School of Oriental and African Studies.

• Victor H. Mair (1994), Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu, New York: Bantam; republished (1997), Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

• Brook Ziporyn (2009), Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries, Indianapolis: Hackett.

• Brook Ziporyn (2020), Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings, Indianapolis: Hackett.

• Richard John Lynn (2022), Zhuangzi: A New Translation of the Daoist Classic as Interpreted by Guo Xiang, New York: Columbia University Press.

• Christoph Harbsmeier & John R. Williams (2024), The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi: With Copious Annotations from the Chinese Commentaries, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.