CHUANG-TSE. Chuang-tzu.
(1) Taoist sage, ca. 369-286 B.C.E., also known as Chuang Chou; author of the Taoist classic, Chuang-tzu. He and Lao-tzu are considered the founders of philosophical Taoism (tao-chia). Little is known about his life apart from the fact that he was born in what is now Ho-nan province, was married and held a minor administrative post in Ch’i-yüan. Being unwilling to serve under a prince or ruler, he lived in humble circumstances. His philosophy owes much to the teachings of Lao-tzu. He was a relentless critic of Confucianism.
A historical work dating from the Western Han Dynasty contains an anecdote that may serve as evidence of Chuang-tzu’s strong sense of independence: “King Wen of Chou, having heard about Chuang Chou’s talents, sent a messenger laden with expensive presents to invite him to join his court and offer him a post as minister. Chuang Chou laughed at the offer and said, ‘A thousand pieces of gold is no mean sum, I readily admit, and the office of minister is no doubt an honorable one. But have you ever seen an ox on its way to be slaughtered? Having been carefully fattened over a number of years, it is bedecked with richly embroidered ribbons and led to a great temple. At that moment, that ox would dearly love to be a little pig to which no one pays any heed, but it is too late then. Leave me! Do not sully me! I would rather wallow joyfully in a dirty puddle than be led on a rope by the ruler of a kingdom. I live as I please and so shall never accept an official post’ ” (Kaltenmark 1 98 1 , p. l 25ff.).
(2) Taoist classic by Chuang-tzu also known as The Divine Classic of Nan-hua (Chin. Nan-hua chen-ching). The Chuang-tzu consists of thirty-three chapters, the first seven of which are called the “inner” books and were actually written by Chuang-tzu. The fifteen “outer” and eleven “mixed” books, on the other hand, are believed to be the work of his disciples. The themes dealt with by Chuang-tzu are in part identical with those to which Lao-tzu addresses himself in the Tao-te ching, and the views of both authors on such matters as the nature of the Tao and the essentially coincide. “fhe Chuang-tzu furthermore attaches central importance to unmotivated action (wu-wei), stresses the relativity of all opposites, the identity of life and death, and the importance of meditation as a means of becoming one with the Tao.
Nature herself is seen by Chuang-tzu as a never-ending transformation of appearances. He was thus one of the first to point to the illusory nature of the world. However, the Chuang-tzu also shows the influence of non-Taoist movements, and Hui Shih, Chuang-tzu’s closest friend, played an important part in the development of its philosophy. The book contains numerous attacks on Confucius (K’ung-tzu) and his teachings. For example, Chuang-tzu rejected the Confucianist cardinal virtues of fellow-feeling (Jen) and uprightness as artificial concepts that could easily become no more than mere ideas without any correspondence to living reality.
The Chuang-tzu is valued both for its philosophical insights and as a work of great literary merit.
Chuang-tzu considers the harmony and freedom attainable by following our own nature the highest good a human being is capable of realizing. He further considers the egalitarianism of institutions that ignore the originality and uniqueness of people to be a major cause of human suffering. For that reason he is categorically opposed to “government by government,” arguing instead that the world can only be kept in order by nongoverning, i.e., by a ruler adhering to the principle of unmotivated action. Book 7 of the Chuang-tzu gives the following description of an ideal ruler: “The goodness of a wise ruler covers the whole empire, yet he himself seems to know it not. It influences all creation, yet none is conscious thereof. It appears under countless forms, bringing joy to all things. It is based upon the baseless and travels through the realms of Nowhere.”
Book 3 gives the following advice: “Resolve your mental energy into abstraction, your physical energy into inaction. Allow yourself to fall in with the natural order of phenomena, without admitting the element of self, and the empire will be governed.” Chuang-tzu rejects all distinctions between good and evil, claiming that there are no universally valid criteria by which to judge such matters. This view is reflected by the title of Book 2, “The Identity of Contrasts.” He even considers life and death to be essentially identical, because they are part of the flow of everlasting change and transformation, rather than a beginning or end. This helps to explain his -in the Confucianist view- frivolous reaction to the death of his wife. He came to realize “that she had already existed in a previous state before birth, without form, or even substance; that, while in that unconditioned state, substance was added to spirit; that this substance then assumed form; and that the next stage was birth. And now, by virtue of further change, she is dead, passing from one phase to another, like the sequence of spring, summer, autumn and winter. And while she thus lies asleep in Eternity, for me to go about weeping and wailing would be to proclaim myself ignorant of these natural laws. Therefore I refrain.”
Again and again the Chuang-tzu returns to the subject of longevity. It mentions a Master Kuang Ch’eng, who lived for twelve hundred years, and one called Kui who had in his possession a prescription that enabled him to gain the appearance of a child. Indeed, Chuang-tzu describes various methods for attaining immortality that came to be of paramount importance in later religious Taoism (tao-chiao). Book I, for instance, tells of a divine sage living on Miao-ku-she mountain, ‘”whose flesh is like ice or snow, whose demeanour is that of a virgin, who eats no fruit of the earth [pi-ku] but lives on air and dew [an allusion to various breathing techniques: hsing-ch’i, fu-ch’i] and, riding on clouds with flying dragons for a team [fei-sheng], roams beyond the limits of mortality. His being is absolutely inert. Yet he wards off corruption from all things, and causes the crops to thrive.”
Although Chuang-tzu would not appear to attach particular importance to either physical (tao-yin) or breathing exercises, Book 1 points out that the pure men of old draw breath “from their uttermost parts” (lit. “with their heels”). This might be an oblique reference to the practice known as embryonic breathing (t’ai-hsi). The chuang-tzu moreover contains descriptions of such meditative practices as tso-wang (in Book 6); and the dialogue (in Book 11) between the Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti) and Master Kuang Ch’eng-tzu can be seen as a complete instruction in a Taoist meditation technique that employs visualizations. All such practices are said to result in the acquisition of supernormal powers. Those fully skilled in them are said to be immune against fire and water and capable of ascending to the clouds, riding through the air on dragons, healing the sick, and ensuring a rich harvest. With these teachings Chuang-tzu contributed toward the development of the cult of the immortals (hsien). (Quotes from Giles 1961.)
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on Chuang-tzu
External links: Lao-tzu / Taoism / Tao-chia / Confucianism / Nan-hua chen-ching / Tao-te ching / Wu-wei / Confucius (K’ung-tzu) / Tao-chiao / Pi-ku / Hsing-ch’i / Fu-ch’i / Fei-sheng / Tao-yin / T’ai-hsi / Tso-wang / Huang-ti / Hsien