Chinese Philosophy

The "Axial age" (roughly 800-200 BCE)

The debates of the 100 philosophical schools (400-200 BCE)

• The Debates of the Hundred Philosophical Schools Root 18:01, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Confucius' disciple: Mencius

• Mencius as a philosopher --Daniel S 05:53, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

Laozi: Daodejing

• The legend of Laozi and Daoism

Laozi's disciple: Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi Chinese Philosopher

From his life Zhuangzi or Chuang Tzu is a Taoist Chinese philosopher author of the Zhuangzi. There is not much information about his life and some might even question his existence. His writings are basically what we have as data about him and from them we can assume a little about his personality and points of view. Although some of his writings are compiled by his disciples it is said that he also wrote part of his books. It is also believed that he lived during the fourth century BCE. At least it is known that Huizi (390-319 BCE), who served in the court of King Hui of Liang, was his friend (Ivanhoe, Van Norden 207). He is well known within Daoism and might be second in importance after Laozi.

His Writings After compilation and editing his book is called The Zhuangzi and it consist of thirty-three chapters. The chapters are grouped and named like the first ones called the Inner Chapters. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) illustrates the division as follows: The Inner Chapters School of Zhuang Anarchist chapters Huang-Lao school

1. Wandering Beyond 17. Autumn Floods 8. Webbed Toes 11. Let it Be, Leave it Alone 2. Discussion on Smoothing Things Out 18. Utmost Happiness 9. Horse’s Hooves 12. Heaven and Earth 3. The Principle of Nurturing Life 19. Mastering Life 10. Rifling Trunks 13. The Way of Heaven 4. In the Human Realm 20. The Mountain Tree 11. Let it Be, Leave it Alone 14. The Turning of Heaven 5. Signs of Abundant Potency 21. Tian Zi Fang 15. Constrained in Will 6. The Vast Ancestral Teacher 22. Knowledge Wandered North (16?. Mending the Inborn Nature) (16?. Mending the Inborn Nature) 7. Responding to Emperors and Kings 23. Geng Sang Chu 24. Xu Wugui 28. Yielding the Throne 33. The World 25. Ze Yang 29. Robber Zhi 26. External Things 30. Discoursing on Swords 27. Imputed Words 31. The Old Fisherman 32. Lie Yukou

His writings demonstrate that he had an extensive vocabulary and draws freely from history and mythology. He is equally at writing poetry, logical analyses, dialogue, and narrative. His references to Confucius, Laozi, and the Mohist demonstrate that he was familiar with their ideas, though the absence of quotations leaves uncertain whether he had access to the same texts we do (Ivanhoe, Van Norden 207). He focuses on stories rather than presenting ideas systematically to illustrate his philosophies. As a Taoist he speaks about the dao (the Way) and values the importance of nature for humanity so much that most of the stories are about animals, trees, and basically nature. His style is just like that of writing fables, short stories with animal characters that teach a principle.

His relation to Confucius Zhuangzi is more a follower of his master Laozi but within his writings one can see how he constantly quotes and tells stories about Kongzi (Confucius). So he was in a way interested in Confucianism by using it as a tool for his teachings. He uses stories on Confucius like that in chapter five, Signs of Abundant Virtue, which makes Confucius the main character in conversations with Chang Ji and Duke Ai of Lu. In the story of chapter four, Yan Hui asks Kongzi if having integrity and conforming to superiors will work, like they did in olden times. Confucius then responds that no because he is making the mind his teacher and he must do a fasting of mind (Ivanhoe, Van Norden 228). At the same time Zhuangzi might use Confucius as a character on his stories rather than as a philosopher to follow. His style of parody is used to help people to relate to something and give more meaning to his ideas and using Confucius on this can be attractive to others specially Taoists and Confucians.

Inner Chapters The Zhuangzi has become renowned for a series of original insights into human nature and the nature of the cosmos and many of these are found in the ‘Inner chapters.’ These insights are communicated in a variety of literary styles: didactic narratives, poetry, and very short prose essays. Like its famous companion, the Daode jing, the Zhuangzi is grounded in the complementary ideas of Dao and De. Dao, the ‘Way,’ is an ineffable monistic principle that infuses and guides the spontaneous processes of all phenomena; De, ‘Inner Power,’ is the realized manifestation of this Way within all phenomena. Despite sharing these foundational ideas, these two Daoist works discuss them very differently. The Daode jing often presents the characteristics and features of the Way in a direct discursive analysis. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, plato.stanford.edu/entries/zhuangzi/#2).

Outer Chapters With writings as profound and vibrant as these the historical Zhuangzi must have had quite a devoted group of followers and it is to them -- in all likelihood -- that we owe both the transmission of his ideas beyond his lifetime and at least six chapters of new material, much of it consisting of narratives written in the style of the ‘Inner chapters’ but generally not demonstrating the same creativity and rhetorical skill. Zhuangzi is a figure in about one quarter of these narratives, which were probably based on stories told by his immediate disciples and written down after his death. The chapters in this section, 17-22, are almost completely devoid of the philosophical essays, jottings, or even the diatribes we find in the first third of the book. Yet they contain some of the most famous narratives in the entire text. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, plato.stanford.edu/entries/zhuangzi/#2).

Character When his wife died, Huizi came to mourn her and he found Zhuangzi sitting, singing, and beating tub. Huizi said: “You lived with this person, raised children, and grew old together. Not to cry when she died would be bad enough. But to beat a tub singing! Isn’t that too much? So he answered: When she died, how could I help being affected? But as I think the matter over, I realize that originally she had no life; and not only no life, she had no form; not only no form, she had no vital energy (qi). In the limbo of existence and non-existence, there was transformation and the vital energy emerged. The vital energy was transformed to be form, form was transformed to become life, and now birth has transformed to become death. This is like the rotation of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter. (Ivanhoe, Van Norden 247). When Zhuangzi himself was at the point of death, his disciples began to talk about an elaborate burial for him. Zhuangzi immediately stopped the discussion by declaring that he did not need the paraphernalia of a great funeral, that nature would be his inner and outer coffin, the sun and the moon his jade rings, and the stars and the planets his jewelry. All creation would make offerings and escort him. He needed no more. Somewhat taken aback, his disciples declared that they were afraid that the crows and the buzzards might eat him. To this Zhuangzi replied, “Above the ground it’s the crows and the kites who will eat me; below the ground it’s the worms and the ants. What prejudice is this that you wish to take from the one to give to the other?” (Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/116716/Zhuangzi) Some of the Stories Dream of the Butterfly Perhaps one of the most famous stories is the dream of the Butterfly. One night, Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly a happy butterfly, showing off and doing as he pleased, unaware of being Zhuangzi. Suddenly he awoke, drowsily, Zhuangzi again. And he could not tell whether it was Zhuangzi who had dreamt the butterfly or the butterfly dreaming Zhuangzi. But there must be some difference between them! This is called the transformation of things. The horse lover Once upon a time in ancient China, there was a man who loved horses. He loved everything about them and wanted to spend all his time with them, so it was not surprising that he became a horse breeder by trade. Whenever he was not taking care of horses, he would be watching them or talking about them.

His most favorite possession was a stallion of a rare and valuable breed. He looked after its needs with far more attention than his own needs. He would often use a basket to catch its droppings and a container to hold its urine, so he could quickly remove the bodily wastes from the presence of his beloved steed.

One morning, he followed his daily routine and brought top-quality feed and a sweet treat for the horse. As the horse was munching on the feed, he busied himself grooming the horse from head to tail. He admired the horse as he worked, thinking: "Look at its powerful legs! No question about it, I have done a great job with this one." He could not wait for the day of the unveiling, when he would trot out this prize stallion on display. How his peer would be envious!

The buzzing of an insect interrupted his pleasant daydream. It was a mosquito flying around. Despite his best efforts to clean the stables, there were still too many insects. Much to his annoyance, this particular mosquito landed on the horse near its tail. "Trying to feast on the blood of my stallion? I'll teach you!" Angrily, he slapped at it on the horse's backside.

The horse, startled by the sudden slap, reacted reflexively. Its powerfully muscled legs kicked out and struck the man dead center. Such was the force of the kick that the man died instantly. The horse resumed munching on the feed, without awareness or care that its master was dead. (Chuang Tzu's Stories and Teachings, http://www.truetao.org/chuang/) The story of the happy fish One day Zhuangzi and Huizi are strolling on Bridge Hao. Zhuangzi: "Look how happy the fish are just swimming around in the river." Huizi: "How do you know they are happy? You are not a fish." Zhuangzi: "And you are not me. How do you know I don't know the fish are happy?" Huizi: "Of course I'm not you, and I don't know what you think; But I do know that you're not a fish, and so you couldn't possibly know the fish are happy." Zhuangzi: "Look, when you asked me how I knew the fish were happy, you already knew that I knew the fish were happy. I knew it from my feelings standing on this bridge." (Cultural China, http://history.cultural-china.com/en/38History5840.html)

References Van Norden, Bryan W.; Ivanhoe, Philip J. (2011-01-21). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, second edition Cultural China, http://history.cultural-china.com/en/38History5840.html Chuang Tzu's Stories and Teachings, http://www.truetao.org/chuang/ Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/116716/Zhuangzi Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, plato.stanford.edu/entries/zhuangzi/#2 The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/zhuangzi/Daniel S 03:34, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Excourse

• The benefits of Eastern Medicine in the Western context 161.28.201.73 18:51, 4 October 2012 (UTC)