Chinese philosophy specialists examine the Zhuangzi, a third century B.C.E. Daoist classic, in this collection of interpretive essays. The Zhuangzi is a celebration of human creativity—its language is lucid and opaque; its images are darkly brilliant; its ideas are seriously playful. Without question, it is one of the most challenging achievements of human literary culture. Thematically, the Zhuangzi offers diverse insights into how to develop an appropriate and productive attitude to one's life in this world. Resourced over the centuries by Chinese artists and intellectuals alike, this text has provoked a commentarial tradition that rivals any masterpiece of world literature. Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi continues the interpretive tradition as Western scholars shed light on selected passages from the difficult text, offering the needed mediation between available translations of the Zhuangzi and the reader's process of understanding. Taken as a whole, this anthology is a primer on how to read the Zhuangzi.

Ideal for students and scholars alike, this edition of Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) includes the complete Inner Chapters, extensive selections from the Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters, and judicious selections from two thousand years of traditional Chinese commentaries, which provide the reader access to the text as well as to its reception and interpretation. A glossary, brief biographies of the commentators, a bibliography, and an index are also included.

The Zhuangzi is one of the great classic Taoist texts. Zhuangzi (or Zhuang Tzu) himself was born during the upheavals and chaos of China's Warring States period (475-221 BC). His outstanding written style, vivid and fantastical imagination, and marvelous fables exercised a profound influence on the formation of traditional Chinese culture, whilst he himself occupied a commanding position amongst the thinkers of the day. He disdained worldly fame and profit and lived in transcendent calm and unaffected ease. Amidst the rush, busyness, and ever-increasing tempo of life today it is easy to become lost and exhausted. However, Zhuangzi and his wisdom can teach us how to find spiritual comfort in this vast world of ours. This book takes the essence of Zhuangzi's classic and in a single phrase or topic or even a story in its commentary provides us with a concise and original interpretation in an easily understood form. It combines the philosophy of the classic with modern life. In this dialogue with the sages of Chinese philosophy, we can understand the real meaning of life.

Presents wide-ranging and up-to-date interpretations of the Zhuangzi, the Daoist classic and one of the most elusive works ever written.

The Zhuangzi is one of the great classic Taoist texts. Zhuangzi (or Zhuang Tzu) himself was born during the upheavals and chaos of China' s Warring States period (475&– 221 BC). His outstanding written style, vivid and fantastical imagination and marvelous fables exercised a profound influence on the formation of traditional Chinese culture, whilst he himself occupied a commanding position amongst the thinkers of the day. He disdained worldly fame and profit and lived in transcendent calm and unaffected ease. Amidst the rush, busyness and ever-increasing tempo of life today it is easy to become lost and exhausted. However, Zhuangzi and his wisdom can teach us how to find spiritual comfort in this vast world of ours.This book takes the essence of Zhuangzi' s classic and in a single phrase or topic or even a story in its commentary provides us with a concise and original interpretation in an easily understood form. It combines the philosophy of the classic with modern life and takes the reader through 1,000 years of history. In this dialogue with the sages of Chinese philosophy there is both an exchange and collision of ideas that absorb a life force from their wisdom, provide an understanding of the real meaning of life and place us in the modern world, calm and confident in our conduct.Open this book and then, like the kunpeng, journey at will in the liberated poetic world of Zhuangzi.

New Visions of the Zhuangzi is a collection of thirteen essays on the ancient Daoist philosophical work, presenting new angles and approaches. It overcomes the traditional division of schools in favor of topics, sheds new light on key philosophical notions, examines Zhuangzi's use of language, and explores issues of his use of language. In addition, it also applies modern neuroscience to its instructions, explores its vision of the ideal mind, and connects Zhuangzi's teachings to issues of education and community relevant in contemporary society.

Explores the cosmological and metaphysical thought in the Zhuangzi from the perspective of nothingness. Zhuangzi and the Becoming of Nothingness offers a radical rereading of the Daoist classic Zhuangzi by bringing to light the role of nothingness in grounding the cosmological and metaphysical aspects of its thought. Through a careful analysis of the text and its appended commentaries, David Chai reveals not only how nothingness physically enriches the myriad things of the world, but also why the Zhuangzi prefers nothingness over being as a means to expound the authentic way of Dao. Chai weaves together Dao, nothingness, and being in order to reassess the nature and significance of Daoist philosophy, both within its own historical milieu and for modern readers interested in applying the principles of Daoism to their own lived experiences. Chai concludes that nothingness is neither a nihilistic force nor an existential threat; instead, it is a vital component of Dao’s creative power and the life-praxis of the sage. “Chai provides an elaborate philosophical meontological interpretation of the ontology/cosmology found in the Zhuangzi and the implications for existential practice. It’s a close, careful, but in many respects quite original reading of the classic that contributes significantly to the field of philosophical Daoist studies.” — Geir Sigurðsson, author of Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning: A Philosophical Interpretation

This comprehensive collection brings out the rich and deep philosophical resources of the Zhuangzi. It covers textual, linguistic, hermeneutical, ethical, social/political and philosophical issues, with the latter including epistemological, metaphysical, phenomenological and cross-cultural (Chinese and Western) aspects. The volume starts out with the textual history of the Zhuangzi, and then examines how language is used in the text. It explores this unique characteristic of the Zhuangzi, in terms of its metaphorical forms, its use of humour in deriding and parodying the Confucians, and paradoxically making Confucius the spokesman for Zhuangzi’s own point of view. The volume discusses questions such as: Why does Zhuangzi use language in this way, and how does it work? Why does he not use straightforward propositional language? Why is language said to be inadequate to capture the “dao” and what is the nature of this dao? The volume puts Zhuangzi in the philosophical context of his times, and discusses how he relates to other philosophers such as Laozi, Xunzi, and the Logicians.

Brook Ziporyn's carefully crafted, richly annotated translation of the complete writings of Zhuangzi—including a lucid Introduction, a Glossary of Essential Terms, and a Bibliography—provides readers with an engaging and provocative deep dive into this magical work.