this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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I find comfort in the Zhuangzi, a text that later became associated with daoism.
To me, the zhuangzi is about accepting the inevitablity of change by remembering that the human scale is only a small part of the crazy and unknowable universe we exist in.
It's hilarious, an obvious work of genius, and surprisingly modern. Unlike the dao de jing, it uses nonsense and satire to make very real and relevant points about the human plight.
Do you have an example or excerpt? I'd be interested in reading the absurdist parts, myself.
He's the guy who said he wasn't sure whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man.
It's said that when his wife died his friend found him drumming and singing. When asked why he was behaving inappropriately, he said. "if I weren't singing I would cry, and then I would have forgotten that all things are constantly transitioning into something else."
There's also a certain amount of philosophical one-up-manship.
'Inner' Chapters, written by Zhuangzi with scholarly comments and context: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/23427
'Outer' Chapters with chinese text (sorry probably better options out there): https://ctext.org/zhuangzi/outer-chapters
Niether Lord Nor Subject, by Bao Jingyan (another daoist text I find incredibly beautiful and calming. It's ~8min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs23tDAaEho
That's a section I love from chapter 6.
This is the end of the inner chapters. Note that 'Hundun' means both chaos and wonton, so think something like a metaphorical primordial meatball.
Gotta appreciate philosophy that knows how to stick the punchline.
That's just the bit we think Zhuangzi definitely wrote, but the 'outer' and 'miscellaneous' chapters have some good stuff. The happiness of fish story from Autumn Floods really sticks with me. The whole chapter on Cutting Satchels is a vicious refutation of the state:
this chapter is especially interesting when you compare it in style and subject to Neither Lord Nor Subject.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=Gs23tDAaEho
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Thanks! Can you recommend a book / translation?
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/23427
Here's a combined translation/commentary from a scholar. It has some important context.
It's only the 'Inner' chapters - this is the section that is generally accepted as written by Master Zhuang himself because it's "governed by a single creative vision". The 'outer' and 'miscellanious' sections still have some great chapters - 'stealing' is one of my favorites.
Also, here's an 8m video of a semi-related daoist text called Neither Lord Nor Master. I find it so relevant. The first sentence is basically: Confucians say heaven ordained authority, but that's a lie told by people who benefit from oppression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs23tDAaEho