Zhuangzi - Being Boundless tr by Nina Correa.pdf - Chuang-Tzu (Zhuangzi) - morefaya2006

Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)

The book known as The Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) is considered to be one of the first and

foremost texts on philosophical Daoism. It's placed on a par with Laozi's Dao De Jing.

The Zhuangzi offers up stories and fables that can get the mind questioning and eventually

laughing at the absurdities. Some of the text poses answers to intellectual and spiritual

questions about life that seem to ring true no matter who reads them, and they can be applied

to any age in history.

The Zhuangzi is a book that can be read over and over, and with each reading a new insight

can be found. If someone reads Zhuangzi and comes up with prescriptive Truths from it, then

they've lost the humor and dichotomy of Zhuangzi. Best to keep an open mind and have fun.

About Zhuangzi:

- Zhuangzi (pinyin) and Chuang Tzu (Wade/Giles) are the two ways of spelling his name in

the English language. The Wade/Giles spelling was adopted in the mid 19th century so as to

make it easier for English speaking people to pronounce the Chinese characters. In1959 the

pinyin spellings were adopted on a world wide level as an easier method for pronunciation of

the characters. Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) translates as "Master Zhuang" ("Master Chuang").

- Zhuang Zhou (Chuang Chou) was his given name. Chinese names are the reverse of English

names in that the family name appears first and the individual's name appears last.

Zhuangzi is said to have lived from about 370-300 BCE in the city of Meng in the state of

Song. Song was located in the eastern section of what's now known as Henan province, near

the northeastern border of the state of Chu.

Although little is known of his life, it's been stated in the Historical Records of Sima Qian that

he once tried his hand as an official at the Lacquer Garden, however it isn't known what a

"laquer garden" actually is - it could refer to a type of garden, a city building or possibly the

name of a library. In any event, it's obvious that he was well educated and had a mastery of

the language, as well as having much knowledge of ancient Chinese history. Despite his

apparent education, he rejected positions in government.

Zhuangzi is now regarded as a major player in Daoism (grouped with Laozi and Liezi), but

there's no evidence he had any disciples at the time. As a matter of fact, the earliest written

texts attributed to Zhuangzi is the compilation made by Guo Xiang toward the end of the third

century CE, who supposedly edited down the original work from 52 to 33 chapters and placed

the chapters in the order we have them today.

There's also some disagreement as to whether Zhuangzi wrote the entire book credited to his

name. Most agree that the first seven chapters, called "the Inner Chapters" were written by

Zhuangzi himself. Chapters 8-22, called "the Outer Chapters", are thought to have been

written later by his followers. Chapters 23-33, called "the Mixed Chapters", are believed to be

a compilation of the writings of Zhuangzi and other philosophers of the time.

In 742 CE Emperor Xuanzong of Tang mandated honorific titles for Daoist texts, and he gave

the new name of Nan Hua Zhen Jing (True Classic of Southern Florescence) to the Zhuangzi,

alluding to the fact that Zhuangzi came from South China. However, most people still refer to

it as The Zhuangzi (The Chuang Tzu).

About the Zhuangzi section at Dao Is Open:

ZZ Links - Provides access to other web sites where much has been written about the

philosophical ideas of Zhuangzi, as well as links to English translations and Chinese texts. It

also includes a list of books I have in my own library which reference Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi Translation - Provides access to my own English translations of Zhuangzi.

Glossary/Index - Includes information on the people, places and things mentioned in

Zhuangzi. It's separated alphabetically into sections: "A to N" and "P to Z" using the pinyin

spellings.

Enjoy-

Nina

12/13/06

Zhuangzi Chapter 1 ~ Carefree Roaming

In an unexplored area in the far north, there was a fish whose name was Kun. The Kun was so

big that no one could figure out how many feet across it was. It transformed into a bird whose

name was Peng. No one could figure out how many feet across its back was. When it burst

into flight, its wings seemed to hang in the sky like clouds. This bird had the capacity to make

its move to an unexplored area in the far south where the sky was like a large lake.

From Qi Xie's "Tales of the Supernatural" (a book of legends and myths):

Xie wrote:

"On the Peng's migration to the unexplored south, it beat against the water for a thousand

miles. It spiraled upward like a cyclone for thirty thousand miles. It traveled for six months

before it stopped to rest. Horses went wild. Dust and dirt flew everywhere. The creatures on

the earth had their breath taken away by all that wind blowing everywhere."

The sky is one shade of blue. Is that its original color? No matter how far it extends, is it

without an end? Might the sky appear the same when looking down from above?

If water doesn't accumulate to create enough depth, then it wouldn't be able to hold up a large

boat. Spill a cup of water into a crack on the kitchen floor, then a mustard seed could float on

the water like a boat. Try to float the cup in the same amount of water and it would stick to

one spot, as the water is too shallow and the boat is too big.

If enough wind hasn't accumulated to be forceful, then it wouldn't be able to support large

wings. At a height of thirty thousand miles the wind is unhindered by what's below and only

there can the wind reach full force. With the blue sky above the Peng's back, and nothing in

its way to hinder it, only then can it chart a path to the south.

A cicada and a young dove laugh together while saying:

"We decide to take off and fly to see what we can find in the branches of elm trees.

Sometimes we don't reach them, and tumble back to the ground to land. What's the point of

going up to thirty thousand miles to try to get to the south?"

Go for a three mile hike in the woods, and your stomach will still be full. Go for a thirty mile

hike, and you might need to stay overnight and prepare food. Go for a thousand mile hike, and

for three months you'd have to find food. What do those two creatures think they know!

Restricted knowledge isn't as good as expansive knowledge. Having few experiences isn't as

good as having many experiences. How do we know this is so? A morning mushroom doesn't

have any concept of the phases of one moon's monthly cycle. A cricket doesn't have any

concept of the changes of the seasons. Their experiences are limited. South of the state of Chu

there's a fabled elf for whom spring lasts five hundred years and autumn lasts five hundred

years. In ancient times there was a gigantic tree for whom spring lasted eight thousand years

and autumn lasted eight thousand years. And Peng Zu (a legendary man who is said to have

lived for eight hundred years) even today is considered special for his long life. Everyone

wants to match him - doesn't that cause them much grief!

Tang's questions to Ji (one of his wise ministers) were about this point:

"In the far north where nothing grows there's an unexplored sea that seems like a lake in the

sky. In it is some sort of fish that's a thousand miles wide, and no one knows its length. It's

been given the name Kun. There's some sort of bird that's been given the name Peng. Its back

is like Mount Taishan, and it has wings that hang down like clouds in the sky. It can spiral

Zhuangzi - Being Boundless tr by Nina Correa.pdf

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