Zhuangzi Selected and Commented On

Author: Qian Xianmin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: The book Zhuangzi is a profoundly influential work in the history of Chinese thought and literature. Later historians and philosophers often linked Laozi and Zhuangzi in terms of their ideological origins. The author of this book introduces Zhuangzi's main ideas and selected excerpts from Zhuangzi, along with distinctive commentary, from seven aspects: ideological origins, personal charm, social criticism, later doctrines, compassionate sentiments, political concepts, and the origin of speech. This book is divided into seven chapters, each introducing Zhuangzi's ideas from different perspectives. Each chapter is further divided into three sections, totaling twenty-one sections.
Chapter 1: Zhuangzi's Ideological Origins. The birth of Zhuangzi's philosophy has its social background and ideological foundation.
Chapter 2: Zhuangzi's Personal Charm. To truly understand Zhuangzi's philosophy, one must first understand his character.
Chapter 3: Zhuangzi's Social Criticism. "All dreams must end. In dreams, one does not know oneself as a guest; only for a moment does one revel in pleasure."
Chapter 4: Zhuangzi's Advocacy for a Worldly Life. In times of chaos, how can one eliminate suffering? This is the central concern of Zhuangzi. He believed that in life, one suffers not only from "external punishments" but also from the torment of "internal punishments."
Chapter 5: Zhuangzi's Compassionate Sentiments. "Seemingly emotionless, yet full of emotion." On the surface, Zhuangzi appears "emotionless," but inwardly, like Confucius and Mozi, he loves people.
Chapter 6: Zhuangzi's Political Concepts. Some argue that Confucius and Mozi were "worldly," while Zhuangzi was "otherworldly." By "worldly," it is often meant that they cared only about the individual and not society. This is a misinterpretation of Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi indeed believed that the individual was more important than society, and that rulers had no right to sacrifice individual happiness in the name of society.
Chapter 7: Zhuangzi's Way of Speaking. The Dao cannot be spoken, yet it must be spoken. How can one navigate the dilemma of speech that cannot be spoken?