Teachings and Sayings of Chuang Tzu

by Zhuangzi, Herbert Allen Giles (Translator)

Generally regarded as one of the foremost works of philosophy in any language, this important book by a brilliant Chinese philosopher and one of Taoism's founding fathers has exerted a profound influence on Chinese thought and led to the development of Zen Buddhism. This new edition contains a number of the most relevant and accessible selections from that great classic.

Genres: Philosophy, China, Taoism, Religion

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 351

About the author

庄子 or 莊子 Zhūangzi (c. 369 BC - c. 286 BC).
Zhuangzi, or “Master Zhuang” (also known in the Wade-Giles romanization as Chuang-tzu) was, after Laozi, one of the earliest thinkers to contribute to the philosophy that has come to be known as Daojia, or school of the Way. According to traditional dating, he was an almost exact contemporary of the Confucian thinker Mencius, but there appears to have been little to no communication between them. He is ranked among the greatest of literary and philosophical giants that China has produced. His style is complex—mythical, poetic, narrative, humorous, indirect, and polysemic.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

a profound book in 60 pages. when two politicians were walking and talking by a river they passed chang tzu who was fishing they asked him "sir we have a problem we need a new president and knew you were a wise man will you lead us? and chang tzu said no and went back to fishing . it's a pretty funny book and questions authority and all its war greed and anger and instead it offers working with nature which we are . not against it. in other words the way (tao) or again in other words "know they self ".i really enjoyed the comic lampooning of Confucianism with its logic and slave like approach to life



(i never capitalize because there is no authority among words)

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant concept, beautifully done: The Book of Chuang Tzu (also known as Zhuang Zi), a Taoist classic, rendered as a comic book. I originally bought and read this about five years ago, and have returned to it periodically (usually as a change of pace from the Tao Te Ching, which I've read countless times). Chock full of wisdom *and* entertaining--what more could an aspiring Jedi Knight ask for? I tried reading the original once, and didn't make it very far--it's pretty opaque. This book distilled Chuang Tzu to his essence, with plenty of fun drawings to make it go down easy.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you know that I don't know what a fish thinks?