Ancillary Notes on Zhuangzi 南华真经副墨

Composed by Lu Xixing of the Ming Dynasty.

It consists of eight volumes and was completed in the Wuyin year of the Wanli reign period (1578).

The title Fumo (Marginal Notes) derives its meaning from "the disciple of marginal notes" in the Dazongshi (The Great Master) chapter of the Zhuangzi.

Ancillary Notes on Zhuangzi

This work interprets the Zhuangzi by summarizing the main ideas of the text in sections; after each chapter, it also includes poems to encapsulate its gist. The author held that: "The Nanhua Jing (The True Scripture of Southern Florescence) is clearly a commentary on the Daode Jing (The Classic of the Virtue of the Dao). To read the Nanhua Jing, one must first read the Daode Jing, and above all, grasp the purport of its discourse." Therefore, when explaining chapter titles and content, he often pointed out their origins in certain phrases or meanings from the Daode Jing: for instance, he argued that "such arguments and insights in the Qiwulun (On the Equality of All Things) are derived from Laozi’s concept of 'mysterious unity'"; and that "the Pianmu (The Extra Fingers) chapter takes Dao and De as the orthodox and regards Ren and Yi (benevolence and righteousness) as appendages, which can be well compared with Laozi’s idea that 'when Dao is lost, De appears; when De is lost, Ren appears; when Ren is lost, Yi appears'". The annotations often cross-referenced content within the Zhuangzi to strive for a consistent interpretation. It also incorporated Buddhist doctrines and occasionally cited Confucian scholars’ discussions to explain its core meanings. Regarding the relationship between the inner, outer, and miscellaneous chapters among the thirty-three chapters of the handed-down Zhuangzi, the author believed that the inner chapters "fully expound the doctrines of nature and destiny, Dao and De, as well as neisheng waiwang (inner sageliness and outer kingship)"; the outer chapters "serve as a complement to the inner chapters and elaborate on their unexpounded implications"; and the miscellaneous chapters are Zhuangzi’s scattered works, "with chapters of varying lengths, all tracing back to the fundamentals of Dao and De, thus functioning as a commentary on the Daode Jing". He also referred to the Tianxia (Under the Heaven) chapter as Zhuangzi’s postscript, which "traces the origins of philosophical schools from ancient to modern times and claims their inheritance for himself, similar to the purpose of the final chapter of the Mencius". After its completion, this work gained considerable attention. Jiao Hong of the Ming Dynasty quoted it extensively in his Zhuangzi Yi (Wings to the Zhuangzi). However, it was not widely printed and circulated.

It is included in the Jingdian (Classics) category of the Zangwai Daoshu (Daoist Texts Outside the Daoist Canon).