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Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism

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Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism The Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism american university studies Series V Philosophy Vol. 201 PETER LANG New York ! Washington, D.C./Baltimore ! Bern Frankfurt am Main ! Berlin ! Brussels ! Vienna ! Oxford The Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism Translated with Annotations and Commentaries by Chung Wu PETER LANG New York ! Washington, D.C./Baltimore ! Bern Frankfurt am Main ! Berlin ! Brussels ! Vienna ! Oxford Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zhuangzi. [Nanhua jing. English] The wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism : Zhuang Zi / translated with annotations and commentaries by Chung Wu. p. cm. — (American University studies V. Philosophy; v. 201) Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Wu, Chung. II. Title. III. Title: Zhuang Zi. BL1900.C5E5 299.5’1482–dc22 2007024358 ISBN 978-1-4331-0078-9 ISSN 0739-6392 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek. Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de/. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2008 Chung Wu Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York 29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006 www.peterlang.com All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in Germany Contents Introduction . 1 A An Overview of Schools of Philosophical Thought in the Pre-Qin Period in China . 1 B The Impact of Political Instability on the Rise of Private Tutoring System . 4 C Resurgence of Daoism as a Way to Spiritual Freedom: The Life and Work of Zhuang Zi . 6 D A Brief History of the Zhuang Zi and Plan for the Present Work . 15 I The Inner Series 1 A Leisurely and Blissful Journey [逍 遙 遊] (three sections). 23 2 On Equality [齊 物 論] (seven sections) . 35 3 Nurturing the Spirit [養 生 主] (three sections) . 57 4 The Mundane World [人 間 世] (seven sections) . 63 5 The Fortitude 德[ 充 符] (six sections) . 81 6 The Grand Tutor [大 宗 師] (10 sections) . 93 7 Governance by Non-Action [應 帝 王] (six sections) . .111 II The Outer Series 8 Webbed Toes [駢 拇] (two sections). 121 9 Horses’ Hoofs [馬 蹄] (two sections) . 129 vi THE WISDOM OF ZHUANG ZI ON DAOISM 10 Stealing Trunks [胠 篋] (two sections) . .135 11 On Being Content and Comfortable [在 宥] (five sections) . .145 12 Heaven and Earth [天 地] (14 sections) . .159 13 The Way of Heaven [天 道] (eight sections). .177 14 Heavenly Revolutions [天 運] (seven sections). .189 15 Sharpening the Will [刻 意] (three sections) . 205 16 Polishing the Natural Disposition [繕 性] (three sections) . .211 17 The Autumn Rain 秋[ 水] (seven sections) . .217 18 Extravagance [至 樂] (six sections). .231 19 Understanding Life [達 生] (12 sections) . .241 20 The Mountain Tree 山[ 木] (nine sections) . .253 21 Tian Zifang [田 子 方] (11 sections) . .267 22 Zhi Wandering North [知 北 遊] (11 sections). 281 III The Miscellaneous Series 23 Gengsang Chu [庚 桑 楚] (12 sections) . 297 24 Xu Wugui [徐 無 鬼] (15 sections) . .311 25 Zeyang [則 陽] (11 sections) . .331 26 Things External [外 物] (13 sections). 347 27 The Allegories 寓[ 言] (seven sections). .359 28 Abdication [讓 王] (15 sections). .367 29 Zhi, the Brigand [盜 跖] (three sections) . 383 30 A Discourse on Swords [說 劍] (two sections). 399 31 The Old Fisherman 漁[ 父] (two sections) . 405 32 Lie Yukou [列 禦 寇] (12 sections) . .413 33 All Under Heaven [天 下] (eight sections) . 423 Epilogue . 441 Bibliography . 443 Index of Personal Names . 447 Introduction A. An Overview of Schools of Philosophical Thought in the Pre-Qin Period in China “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In the long history of China, the period from ca. 730 to 221 B.C., known to the historian as the era of pre-Qin philosophers, stands out as the most prolific and prominent period in the founding of many leading schools of philosophical thought. I shall begin with a survey of the more influential schools of thought, each with its leaders and their central beliefs. As some of them were contemporaries of Zhuang Zi, formerly Chuang Tzu, he referred to them often in his writings. The reader will find from time to time the following brief descriptions to be a useful source of information for easy reference. The Confucianists. The foremost scholars in this pre-Qin period were the Confucianists, led by Kong Qiu, better known as Confucius (551–479 B.C.) and his followers, Meng Ke, better known as Mencius (ca. 380–295 B.C.), and Xun Qing, also known as Xun Zi1 (ca. 313–221 B.C.).2 Confucianism centers on ren– the noblest form of love, filial piety, loyalty, and forgiveness. In this book, many spurious conversations have been written between Confucius and his disciples and others. Before Confucius, the mainstream philosophical thought in China was loosely covered in the term Ru, meaning elegance and scholarship based on the five classical works, namely the Books of Poetry, History, the Yi, Rites, and Music. Since Confucius edited these existing classics and elaborated on them, and founded his own school of philosophical thought, the term Ru has continued to be used for his teachings in China to this day. “Confucianism” is simply an English equivalent of Ru and “Confucianist,” an English equivalent of Ru Jia. 2 THE WISDOM OF ZHUANG ZI ON DAOISM The Daoists.3 Undoubtedly, Lao Dan, better known as Lao Zi (b. ca. 571 B.C.), was the founder of Daoism. His ideas, as presented in the Dao De Jing, were so original and revolutionary that we do not know where they came from. The center of his teachings is: Live by the law of nature. According to Chap- ter 33:54 near the end of this book, there was a man named Guan Yin at the time of Lao Zi. But nothing about him has passed down to us. There is a book called the Guan Yin Zi, but it is an outright forgery. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the two characters guan yin mean the title of an officer of a pass at that time. A story tells when Lao Zi resigned his office as an archivist of the Zhou dynasty, he intended to leave the capital city and go to a land of wilder- ness. As he traveled through a pass, its guan yin asked if he would like to leave some words to posterity. Lao Zi obliged and wrote what is now known as the Dao De Jing, and then disappeared. That is why his death date is unknown to us. We have the insolvable conundrum in this case whether guan yin could be the title of a pass officer who had spoken to Lao Zi or the personal name of a presumed Daoist or both. A little later than Lao Zi, there was Lie Yukou, also known as Lie Zi, who lived in the fifth century, B.C. Unfortunately, most of his writings were lost. What is available to us is a collection of parts of his thought. About two hundred years later, came Zhuang Zhou, also known as Zhuang Zi (369–286 B.C.). As we shall see soon, Zhuang Zi quoted Lao Zi’s words many times in his writings. He also mentioned Lie Zi from time to time in his book, such as Chapters 1:1, 7:5, 21:9, and 32:1. We do not know of any other Daoist of fame who lived between the time of Lao Zi, Lie Zi, and Zhuang Zi. At this time in history, Daoist ideas were greatly overshadowed by Confucianism. Not until five hundred years later, did Daoist teachings gain some respectful attentions under the pen of Wang Bi (34), who annotated the Dao De Jing of Lao Zi. The first annotation of the Zhuang Zi came a little later (see below). The Mohists.5 What we now know of Mohism comes from the Mo Zi, a compilation of the philosophy of Mo Di6 (ca. 490–403 B.C.). Qin Guli was a better-known disciple; others were Sui Chao and Hu Fei. Mohism preaches love without distinction and is against any offensive war. The Mohists were energetic practitioners of their belief. They were a group of ordinary people, well organized and well disciplined. They toiled tirelessly, often beyond their physical strength, to dissuade warring kings from committing cruelty to the common people. They were second in number only to the Confucianists. Hence, in this period, Confucianism, Daoism, and Mohism formed the three Introduction 3 legs of a tripod of the major philosophical thought of China. However, by the end of the pre-Qin period, Mohism had lost most of its influence. The Legalists. One of the earliest was Guan Zhong (ca.720–645 B.C.). He was prime minister of the Qi State. The book, Guan Zi, is a collection of essays on political matters presumed to have come from his ideas, if not his pen. Confucius had kind words about his administration. Deng Xi (d. 501 B.C.) practiced law and was well known for his schemes and tricks in argu- ing his cases in court. For the latter, he is considered by some historians to be a logician. Later, Gongsun Yang, also known as Shang Yang (d. 338 B.C.), Shen Buhai (d.
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