A Detailed Introduction to Zhuangzi, one of the Saint Ancestors of Taoism 庄子
paulpengZhuangzi ,also known as Chuang Tzu(around 369 - 286 BC) was a philosopher during the Warring States Period and a representative figure of the Taoist school. His given name was Zhou, and he was from Meng in the State of Song (now Shangqiu, Henan). He lived in the same period as King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi.
In his early years, he served as an official in the lacquer garden. Later, he lived in seclusion, and his life was impoverished.
He was erudite and had a wide circle of friends. The King of Chu sent messengers to offer him a thousand pieces of gold and the position of prime minister, but he refused.
He was a successor of Laozi's thought and established a thought system with "Tao" as its main pillar.
In history, "Laozi and Zhuangzi" are often mentioned together. Zhuangzi's influence in Taoism is equivalent to Mencius' status in Confucianism, indicating that the basic ideological tendencies of Zhuangzi and Laozi are the same. However, in some specific aspects, Zhuangzi is significantly different from Laozi.
Laozi valued softness and advocated guarding against excess and fullness, seeking to maintain himself in real-life relationships. Zhuangzi, on the contrary, believed that real-life relationships were a severe constraint on human nature and advocated transcending real-life relationships to enjoy unrestrained freedom. His thought was based on "Tao". Zhuangzi also regarded "Tao" as the noumenon that existed before heaven and earth and gave birth to heaven and earth. However, he believed that this noumenon that gave birth to all things was not material but a spirit that existed independently from matter.
He said, "Is there something that gave birth to heaven and earth? The thing that gives birth to things is not a thing." ("Zhuangzi · Zhi Beiyou", hereinafter referred to as the chapter name for citations). He repeatedly stated that "Tao" was the one that "gave birth to heaven and earth", that is, the noumenon that gave birth to all things ("the thing that gives birth to things"). But it was precisely non-material ("not a thing"). This non-material "Tao" was "nothing" or "nothingness": "I can achieve the state of having nothing, but I haven't been able to achieve the state of nothingness." (Ibid.)
While talking about "Tao", Zhuangzi also mentioned "Qi". He even put forward the proposition that "the whole world is unified by Qi" (Ibid.). However, Qi was not "Tao" but a derivative of "Tao": "The clear and bright is born from the obscure, and the orderly is born from the formless. The spirit is born from Tao, the body is born from essence, and all things are born with their forms." (Ibid.)
Zhuangzi adhered to the concept of "Tao" to the end. He not only denied the materiality and originality of Qi but also doubted the authenticity of the world, asserting that "suddenly there is something and there is nothing, and we don't know whether there is something or nothing in the end." ("Qi Wu Lun") In his view, whether the world really exists or not is unknowable and uncertain.
However, the focus of Zhuangzi's theory of Tao is not on the demonstration of the noumenon but on the pursuit of the spiritual realm. As a spiritual realm, "Tao" is concentrated in the word "emptiness", that is, to forget about worldly affairs subjectively and transcend all real-life relationships.
Zhuangzi said, "Only Tao gathers in emptiness. Emptiness is the fasting of the heart." ("Ren Jian Shi") He believed that being without knowledge and desire in the heart, being unified and calm was the only way to attain Tao.
He further emphasized that in order to pursue the highest spiritual realm of "Tao", there are higher and stricter requirements for the practice of "emptiness", that is, "to be detached from the world", "to be detached from things", "to be detached from life", "to achieve enlightenment", and "to see the unique": "It is easy to tell the sage's talent about the sage's Tao. I still keep and tell it: After three days, one can be detached from the world; after being detached from the world, I still keep at it, and after seven days, one can be detached from things; after being detached from things, I still keep at it, and after nine days, one can be detached from life; after being detached from life, one can achieve enlightenment; after achieving enlightenment, one can see the unique; after seeing the unique, one can be beyond the distinction of ancient and modern; after being beyond the distinction of ancient and modern, one can enter the state of neither death nor life." ("Da Zong Shi") Being detached from the world, being detached from things, being detached from life, achieving enlightenment, and seeing the unique are the five steps of cultivating Tao and attaining Tao. From being detached from the world to seeing the unique, each step forward indicates a new level in the practice of "emptiness". This is a process of obliterating the boundaries of ancient and modern, life and death, and all things.
Zhuangzi's "Tao" is precisely this thoroughly nihilistic spiritual realm that is beyond the distinction of ancient and modern, neither dead nor alive, and in a state of chaos. This is the basic characteristic of Zhuangzi's theory of "Tao". "Tao" is a grand and comprehensive concept of wholeness and also the basic perspective from which Zhuangzi observed things. Starting from this perspective, Zhuangzi observed that the special essences and boundaries of all things, such as right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, big and small, more and less, long and short, noble and humble, longevity and premature death, life and death, etc., do not exist. Zhuangzi pursued a realm of "all things are unified by Tao", where right and wrong are leveled, people and self are equal, and the boundaries between things and the self are obliterated. Zhuangzi said, "From the perspective of Tao, things have no distinction between noble and humble." ("Qiu Shui") He observed problems based on "Tao", and not only "things have no distinction between noble and humble", but also there is no right or wrong, no beauty or ugliness, and no big or small. In a word, from the perspective of Tao, all things are unified.
For example: (1) "All things are unified by Tao" is an important proposition in Zhuangzi's view of matter. Zhuangzi's view of matter requires people to observe the material world beyond all specific substances: "There is nothing that is not like this, and there is nothing that is not acceptable. Therefore, whether it is a small grass or a big pillar, an ugly woman or a beautiful Xishi, all kinds of strange things are unified by Tao. Their separation is also their formation; their formation is also their destruction. For all things, there is no formation or destruction, and they are all unified by Tao." ("Qi Wu Lun") A "ting" is a small grass, and a "ying" is a big pillar; "Li" is an ugly woman, and Xishi is a beautiful woman. Zhuangzi believed that from the perspective of Tao, there was no distinction between the smallness of the "ting" and the bigness of the "ying", the ugliness of "Li" and the beauty of Xishi, and the formation and destruction, etc. The view of "all things are unified by Tao" requires that "life and death are regarded as the same path, and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable are regarded as the same principle" ("De Chong Fu") and "All things are of the same origin, and life and death have the same form" ("Tian Di").
(2) "The transformation of things" is an important concept in Zhuangzi's view of development, indicating that things change with "Tao" and are in a state of constant flux, so they do not and cannot have a definite essence. Zhuangzi once explained this concept with the famous example of his dream of becoming a butterfly. He said that he once dreamed of becoming a butterfly and flew freely, feeling very happy. At that time, he didn't think that he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and clearly realized that Zhuang Zhou was here and he was not a butterfly. Whether Zhuang Zhou turned into a butterfly in his dream or the butterfly turned into Zhuang Zhou in its dream, no one could figure it out. In an instant, the later situation does not know the previous situation, and this situation does not know the other situation. Things change in various ways and are unpredictable.
This is called "the transformation of things" (Ibid.). As a spiritual realm, "Tao" has the basic content of freedom. "All things are unified by Tao", the unity of the subject and the object, and "the transformation of things" are all necessary conditions for freedom. Because to enter the spiritual realm of freedom, one must obliterate the differences and boundaries between people, between things, and between the subject and the object, and achieve the elimination of both right and wrong and the forgetting of both things and the self. The freedom that Zhuangzi talked about is the pursuit of absolute spiritual freedom. Among them, "being without dependence" is particularly emphasized.
Zhuangzi believed that to obtain true freedom, one must overcome the contradiction between having dependence and not having dependence. Having dependence means having conditions. The "being without dependence" that Zhuangzi talked about is a spiritual self-liberation, that is, "sitting in oblivion": "Abandon the body, discard intelligence, leave the form and get rid of knowledge, and be in harmony with the great unity. This is called sitting in oblivion." ("Da Zong Shi") "Sitting in oblivion" means achieving the state of having nothing inside and outside, that is, the forgetting of both things and the self, and thus being able to enjoy freedom: "Forget one's liver and gallbladder, leave behind one's ears and eyes, go back and forth between the beginning and the end, not knowing the end, wandering in a daze beyond the dust, and enjoying freedom in the cause of inaction." (Ibid.) Zhuangzi connected the cosmology, epistemology, and outlook on life into a whole with "Tao" as the framework. The cosmology and epistemology are the foundation of the theory of freedom in life, and ultimately it is concluded as freedom. Zhuangzi and his theory have had a great influence in history. Sima Qian wrote the "Biographies of Laozi, Zhuangzi, Shen Buhai, and Han Fei", and mentioned "Laozi and Zhuangzi" together. After the Wei and Jin dynasties, the metaphysicians highly praised Laozi and Zhuangzi. In the eyes of some people, Zhuangzi's status was even higher than that of Laozi. The phrase "Laozi and Zhuangzi" was changed to "Zhuangzi and Laozi". Ji Kang once said "reading Zhuangzi and Laozi" (see "A Letter of Resignation to Shan Juyuan"); Guo Xiang said "This is the talk of Zhuangzi and Laozi" (see the annotation of "Zhuangzi · Xiao Yao You"); Sun Sheng had the statement of "asking about Zhuangzi and Laozi" (see "Questions and Rebuttals about Laozi"); Liu Xie commented that "Zhuangzi and Laozi gradually declined, and the landscape poetry flourished" (see "Wen Xin Diao Long · Ming Shi"). Yan Zhitui listed "Zhuangzi" as the first of the "Three Mysterious Books": "Zhuangzi, Laozi, and the Book of Changes are collectively called the Three Mysterious Books." (See "Yan's Family Instructions · Mian Xue Pian")
