Skip to content
Coordinates of Thought
Sign in

Thinker · TH-0013

Zhuangzi

Daoist thinker from the state of Song whose name is attached to a book of parables, dialogues and arguments, of which the 'Inner Chapters'…

FollowStart a topic about Zhuangzi

莊子

Also known as Chuang Tzu, Zhuang Zhou

c. 369 – c. 286 BCE · Meng, State of Song

Traditions: Chinese

Schools: Daoism

Daoist thinker from the state of Song whose name is attached to a book of parables, dialogues and arguments, of which the 'Inner Chapters' are usually attributed to him. His playful, sceptical writing questions fixed perspectives and celebrates spontaneous, skilful living.

Key ideas

  • Perspectivism: the limits of any single standpoint
  • The butterfly dream and doubts about the waking/dreaming divide
  • Skill and spontaneity, as in the story of Cook Ding
  • Equanimity toward death as part of natural transformation

Major works

  • Zhuangzi: Inner Chapters (1–7)
  • Zhuangzi: Outer and Miscellaneous Chapters (partly by later followers)

In the conversation