Zhuangzi

The Zhuangzi, was a very famous Chinese philosopher who narrated various anecdotes and stories. These stories are a fundamental part of the philosophical teachings of Daoism. His thoughts are highly diverse, but very disorganized at the same time. Every story or statement of Zhuangzi, even though brief and rambled, has a philosophical viewpoint. He creates a fantasy world, with imaginary characters, and uses it as a ground to talk about issues surrounding life and death, without fear. Throughout his stories, Zhuangzi maintains the truth that the validity of any claim, is context or perspective oriented. He attacks the belief that there are any firm facts in the world and emphasizes on having individual flexibility to adjust one’s self in relation…

lifestyle in accordance with nature, where one follows the path of least resistance wherever possible. This accepting viewpoint of death can be found throughout the Zhuangzi, expressed in several different parables (for such a short work, death comes up a surprising number of times). In one chapter, [sentence]. In another story, four old masters become friends after agreeing that “life and death, existence and annihilation, are all a single body (80).” When one of them, Master Yu, falls…

focused more so on oneself. Throughout Watson 's depiction, Zhuangzi illustrates Daoist traditions and how they are implemented, along with criticism of Confucius and how he is portrayed in a negative light. Confucius passed away in the 4th century B.C. Thus, leaving the world with his idealistic thoughts, views, and teachings revolving around individual relationships, virtue of self, and a cultivation…

Gilgamesh and The Acceptance of Death “Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?” —Epicurus The Epic of Gilgamesh speaks to the human fear of death and the death of the people who they love and care for. It answers to the existential question of what comes with death and what of the life and connections that have been made during our time one Earth. The character Gilgamesh goes through different stages while…

someone’s life, though, after they have passed? In the book Zhuangzi, translated by Burton Watson, a man named Zhuangzi loses his wife and describes to the reader how someone’s death should be treated. When Zhuangzi did lose his wife, Zhuangzi’s friend Huizi went to Zhuangzi to express his condolences for his wife passing, but entered to hear Zhuangzi pounding on a tub and singing. Just as anyone else would, Huizi believed that what he had just entered to hear and see was an awkward way for…

The writings of Zhuangzi illustrate the primary Daoist principles and traditions through fantastical means - talking animals, moving skulls, fish that are many thousands of miles wide… and other times the text is clear, almost overly so, in describing the foundations of Daoism and Zhuangzi’s thoughts. A particularly significant part of Watson’s translation is the role of Confucius. A historically and religiously significant person from Chinese history, it is no surprise that he appears over and…

Although Confucius established basic societal rules during the twilight years of the Zhou dynasty which normally is enough to garner some form of respect, Zhuangzi is not so quick to flatter him. That is not to say that Zhuangzi outright insults the man responsible for the Confucian tradition, but the Confucius that is depicted in Zhuangzi’s writings in neither a man that has achieved divine and objective truth nor is it a man that uses false logic in order to prescribe a remedy for curing the…

family? Zhuangzi says we have no way of living a happy and accomplished life if we have a flawed idea of prosperity. Everything we have learned, achieved, dreamed of, and worked for in this life is virtually useless. Our imminent demise will slowly reach out, and one day snatch us away from everything we have ever loved; at face value it sounds absolutely terrifying. However, throughout the book Zhuangzi Speaks, the parables we read reveal to us that the reality of life is death. After actually…

I overall found Zhuangzi Speaks to be a very interesting book with a lot of insight. Even more so, I feel that even though the book was written so many years ago, it still has relevant information and solid advice more the modern day. With this in mind, a story that I though was the most interesting and particularly profound was the story of Zi Gong’s Snow-White Clothes. The story follows two students of Confucius, Yuan Xian and Zi Gong. Specifically, the story focuses on the differences in…

Therefore, Zhuangzi believed knowledge was not fixed in a manner that Descartes believed in, rather it was different for individuals based on their interpretations and experiences. As a result, Zhuangzi did not believe in any collective truth, but separate truths for each person, whereas Descartes conveys the idea that there is only one truth. Descartes stated that the only true knowledge is the knowledge one can know for certain and the rest of the knowledge is deceitful. The foundational…