Zhuangzi

Master Zhuang is the second most influential writer in Daoism. The book named after him, the Zhuangzi, includes 33 chapters and is divided into the inner chapters (1-7), the outer chapters (8-22), and miscellaneous chapters (23-33).

The Zhuangzi differs significantly in tone from the Dao De Jing because it is includes many parables and tales instead of only poetry. It can be difficult to understand at times and can require multiple readings (Zhuangzi, Introduction, page 21).

There is an uneven quality throughout the Zhuangzi with Chapters 1-7, 17-19, and 26 being particularly well written. Most see the inner chapters as the most important and they are written in a uniform poetic style.

“In the northern ocean there is a fish, called the Leviathan, many thousand li in size. This leviathan changes into a bird, called the Rukh, whose back is many thousand li in breadth. With a mighty effort it rises, and its wings obscure the sky like clouds.”

Zhuangzi, Chapter 1

Many of the remaining chapters are more of a reworking of the inner chapters, can even be called dull, and sometimes contradict the inner chapters (Complete Works of Zhuangzi, Introduction, pages 19, 21).

Inner Chapters

Outer Chapters

Joined Toes
Horses’ Hoofs
Opening Trunks
On Letting Alone
The Universe
The Dao of God
The Circling Sky
Self-Conceit
Exercise of Faculties
Autumn Floods
Perfect Happiness
The Secret of Life
Mountain Trees
Tian Zifang
Knowledge Travels North

Miscellaneous Chapters

Gengsang Chu
Xu Wugui
Zeyang
Contingencies
Language
On Declining Power
Robber Zhi
On Swords
The Old Fisherman
Lie Yukou
The Empire

Resources

Chuang Tzu, Mystic, Moralist and Social Reformer, Herbert A. Giles, translator. Bernard Quaritch 1889. Classic public domain translation.

Next: Zhuangzi Chapter 1