Zhuangzi (book)

The Zhuangzi (historically romanized Chuang Tzŭ) is an ancient Chinese text that is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, alongside the Tao Te Ching. It was written during the late Warring States period (476–221 BC) and is named for its traditional author, Zhuang Zhou, who is customarily known as "Zhuangzi" ("Master Zhuang").

The Zhuangzi consists of stories and maxims that exemplify the nature of the ideal Taoist sage. It recounts many anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables, often expressed with irreverence or humor. Recurring themes include embracing spontaneity and achieving freedom from the human world and its conventions. The text aims to illustrate the arbitrariness and ultimate falsity of dichotomies normally embraced by human societies, such as those between good and bad, large and small, life and death, or human and nature. In contrast with the focus on good morals and personal duty expressed by many Chinese philosophers of the period, Zhuang Zhou promoted carefree wandering and following nature, through which one would ultimately become one with the "Way" (Tao).

Though appreciation for the work often focuses on its philosophy, the Zhuangzi is also regarded as one of the greatest works of literature in the Classical Chinese canon. It has significantly influenced major Chinese writers and poets across more than two millennia, with the first attested commentary on the work written during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). It has been called "the most important pre-Qin text for the study of Chinese literature".

The Zhuangzi is presented as the collected works of a man named Zhuang Zhou—traditionally referred to as "Zhuangzi" (莊子; "Master Zhuang"), using the traditional Chinese honorific. Almost nothing is concretely known of Zhuang Zhou's life. Most of what is known comes from the Zhuangzi itself, which was subject to changes in later centuries. Most historians place his birth around 369 BC in a place called Meng (蒙) in the historical state of Song, near present-day Shangqiu, Henan. His death is variously placed at 301, 295, or 286 BC.

Zhuang Zhou is thought to have spent time in the southern state of Chu, as well as in the Qi capital of Linzi. Sima Qian included a biography of Zhuang Zhou in the Han-era Shiji (c. 91 BC), but it seems to have been sourced mostly from the Zhuangzi itself. The American sinologist Burton Watson concluded: "Whoever Zhuang Zhou was, the writings attributed to him bear the stamp of a brilliant and original mind". University of Sydney lecturer Esther Klein observes: "In the perception of the vast majority of readers, whoever authored the core Zhuangzi text was Master Zhuang."

The only version of the Zhuangzi known to exist in its entirety consists of 33 chapters originally prepared around AD 300 by the Jin-era scholar Guo Xiang (252–312), who reduced the text from an earlier form of 52 chapters. The first 7 of these, referred to as the 'inner chapters' (內篇; nèipiān), were considered even before Guo to have been wholly authored by Zhuang Zhou himself. This attribution has been traditionally accepted since, and is still assumed by many modern scholars. The original authorship of the remaining 26 chapters has been the subject of perennial debate: they were divided by Guo into 15 'outer chapters' (外篇; wàipiān) and 11 'miscellaneous chapters' (雜篇; zápiān).

Today, it is generally accepted that the outer and miscellaneous chapters were the result of a process of "accretion and redaction" in which later authors "[responded] to the scintillating brilliance" of the original inner chapters, although close intertextual analysis does not support the inner chapters comprising the earliest stratum. Multiple authorship over time was a typical feature of Warring States texts of this genre. A limited consensus has been established regarding five distinct "schools" of authorship, each responsible for their own layers of substance within the text. Despite the lack of traceable attribution, modern scholars generally accept that the surviving chapters were originally composed between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC.

Excepting textual analysis, details of the text's history prior to the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) are largely unknown. Traces of its influence on the philosophy of texts written during the late Warring States period, such as the Guanzi, Han Feizi and Huainanzi, suggest that the Zhuangzi's intellectual lineage had already been fairly influential in the states of Qi and Chu by the 3rd century BC. Sima Qian refers to the Zhuangzi as a 100,000-character work in the Shiji, and references several chapters present in the received text.