The Zhuangzi, or Writings of Master Zhuang, which tradition places in the origins of philosophical Taoism, is celebrated in China as the most beautiful work of all time. His audacious theses and his dizzying metaphysical lessons make these texts one of the most radical forms of ancient Chinese thought, at the antipodes of Confucian humanism, of his gray wisdom and his hypocritical religion of kindness. Each of the chapters in this book focuses on a particular theme (the virtuous gesture, violence, animals, mourning, ecstasy, personal instruction) and is organized around anecdotes and dialogued stories, often ironic and puzzling The comments, accompanied by unpublished translations, are always focused on a double register: the meaning that the texts had at the time they were written, in relation to the prevailing ideas of the time (about ritual, sacrifice, divination, cosmology), and t...read more
