The thought of Zhuangzi is studied in a two dimensional way in this thesis: (i) a comparison between his thought and that of two important philosophies in the pre-Qin period, Laozi and Confucius; and (ii) an interpretation of the Inner Chapters from the approach of philosophy of life.

Chapter 40 of the Dao de jing (道德經) highlights three elements of chang dao (常道). Zhuangzi captures two of them, its mechanism and usefulness, and proposes a new vision of seeing the world. However, he skirts around the third element, the paradigm of you-wu (有一無), and does not reflect on the questions of cosmology and ontology in the thought of Laozi. Zhuangzi also denies the possibility of having universal agreement among human beings, which Laozi does not deny.

Zhuangzi sometimes uses Confucius a...[ Read more ]

The thought of Zhuangzi is studied in a two dimensional way in this thesis: (i) a comparison between his thought and that of two important philosophies in the pre-Qin period, Laozi and Confucius; and (ii) an interpretation of the Inner Chapters from the approach of philosophy of life.

Chapter 40 of the Dao de jing (道德經) highlights three elements of chang dao (常道). Zhuangzi captures two of them, its mechanism and usefulness, and proposes a new vision of seeing the world. However, he skirts around the third element, the paradigm of you-wu (有一無), and does not reflect on the questions of cosmology and ontology in the thought of Laozi. Zhuangzi also denies the possibility of having universal agreement among human beings, which Laozi does not deny.

Zhuangzi sometimes uses Confucius as his spokesman in the Inner Chapters because there is a possible connection between their doctrines. They have agreement on the foundation of rites and they share the same art of living in the human world: act according to circumstances. But their attitudes toward the disordered world are different. Confucius intends to save it but Zhuangzi aims to survive in it.

However, the philosophy of life of Zhuangzi is active. He does not only emphasize survival, but also highlights the importance of recognizing one’s value. The ideas of self-establishment (有樹) and detachment (無待) represent the framework of Zhuangzi’s philosophy of life. These ideas work together to create an endless mechanism, which enables people to have their self-establishment, to have a sense of appreciation towards others and to deal with the hardships in human lives.