Zhuangxue Studies

Author: Cui Da Hua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: This book examines the life and works of Zhuangzi, describing his biography, exploring the evolution of the Zhuangzi from ancient to modern texts, and investigating how scholars have reconstructed lost chapters and fragments of the work. The author further presents and discusses the external appearance and content of Zhuangzi's thought from five perspectives: natural philosophy, philosophy of life, social critique, the epistemological structure of Zhuangzi's thought, the literary characteristics of Zhuangzi's philosophy, and the ancient scientific background. Against the backdrop of the entire development of Chinese philosophy, the author analyzes the similarities and differences, as well as the interactions, between Zhuangzi's thought and the various pre-Qin schools of thought. Additionally, the book specifically examines how and in what ways Zhuangzi's ideas influenced and permeated major Chinese intellectual and theoretical systems in history, such as Confucianism (including Confucian classics, Xuanxue, and Lixue), Taoism, Buddhism, and modern academic trends.