LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Chuang Tzu: Chuang-Tzus
built 606 days ago
Compared to the Tao-te ching, the Chuang-tzu appears to have enjoyed little attention during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). However, with the emergence of the Hsuan-hsueh (Neo-Taoism) at the beginning of the third century CE this changed. Although some of the educated gentry in this movement read the work as much as art as philosophy, and especially as an inspiration for a more care-free existence away from the tribulations of political life, many others, like Kuo Hsiang, were more concerned with the work's metaphysical import. This interest in metaphysical issues was shared by Chinese Buddhists of the period, and through the ensuing exchange the Chuang-tzu's thought and spirit entered the new religion, having a formative influence on the character of the Ch'an School in particular. Hsuan-hsueh ideas and the Chuang-tzu ... influenced Religious Taoists of the period, particularly those more mystically inclined such as the Mao Shan sect who took a special interest in the text, using it as a guide to meditative practices.
Source:
Chuang-tzu (Zhuangzi) was born more than a century after the death of Confucius during the time of the Warring States (403-221 BCE) – when states fought for imperial power. During this time there arose many schools of thought, each attempting to describe how to return to a state of harmony. Confucius headed the most important of these. Two other important schools were the Mohists and the Daoists. Chuang-tzu’s philosophy was a brand of Daoism.
Source:
Chuang-tzu is good at using metaphor to express his ideas. He says: 'Being restricted by living space, the frog living in a well cannot talk about the sea; being restricted by life-span, the worm living in the summer cannot talk about ice.'(6) In other words, everybody's consciousness is limited by space and time, which presumes that a human being is necessarily unable to know the world in its entirety. Moreover, each individual has different interests, education, occupation and life-span, so his or her judgement is inevitably affected by his or her own experience and knowledge. This results in personal prejudice - a major obstacle to understanding the real world. Chuang-tzu says: 'Forming one's own judgement without one's prejudice being involved is just like starting today but arriving yesterday, that is, entirely impossible.'(7) That is to say, having a judgement means having a prejudice and abolishing prejudice means abolishing a judgement. Therefore, an individual's cognition is inseparable from his or her prejudice.
Source:
The Chuang-tzu ... touches on the topics of death and the Immortals. Death is equated with life, and the wise are depicted as welcoming the transformation as fusion with the Tao. The Immortals, as they came to be called, are "perfect men" or "supreme men" who have no anxiety, have the faces of children, and effortlessly fly upward with a fluttering (hsien) motion. They exemplify the Taoist ideals of effortlessness and spontaneity, and are praised throughout the Chuang-tzu. Probably intended as allegorical or literary figures by the author, the Immortals (hsien) came to occupy central interest in religious Taoists, who classified these heavenly beings in a detailed way, attempted to emulate their characteristics, and even to locate them geographically in order to learn their secrets. {7}
Source:
When Chuang-tzu was about to die, his disciples signified their wish to give him a grand burial. "I shall have heaven and earth", he said, "for my coffin and its shell; the sun and moon for my two round symbols of jade; the stars and constellations for my pearls and jewels; will not the provisions for my interment be complete? What would you add to them?" The disciples replied: "We are afraid that the crows and kites will eat our master." Chuang-tzu rejoined: "Above, the crows and kites will eat me; below, the mole-crickets and ants will eat me; to take from those and give to these would only show your partiality." (Quotes from James Legge: "The Texts of Taoism", vol.XXXIX).
Source:
Chuang-tzu uses simple analogies with natural objects to illustrate his paragon. In illustrating personal behavior, he refers to a big, gnarled tree that is of no value to the woodcutter. "You have this big tree and you are distressed because it is useless. Why don't you plant it in Not-Even-Anything Village, or in the field of Wide and Boundless, then relax and do nothing by its side, or lie down for a free and easy sleep under it? If there is no use for it, how can it come to grief or pain?"
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Chuang-Tzus