INTERNATIONAL TAO CULTURE ASSOCIATION
2025-06-08 Sunday 农历五月十三
Zhuangzi
22

     Zhuangzi (c. 369 BC - 286 BC), whose given name was Zhou and courtesy name was Zixiu. A native of Song Guomeng (now northeast of Shangqiu, Henan Province). He once served as a clerk in the Mengqi Garden. According to the "Biographies of Laozi and Han Fei" in the "Records of the Grand Historian", he was a contemporary of King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi. When King Wei of Chu heard of his talent, he sent a generous sum of money to welcome him and promised him to be his prime minister. However, he refused to take office and never held an official position for the rest of his life. His learning covers all aspects and he has written over ten thousand words. However, its essence lies in the words of Laozi. It inherits and develops Laozi's viewpoint of "the Dao follows nature", believing that the "Dao" is omnipresent. Emphasize the self-generation and self-transformation of things. Deny that there is any master. He put forward the concepts of "unifying the world with one breath" and "Human life is the gathering of qi; gathering leads to life." "Scattering leads to death." He was the founder of the Zhuangzi School in the Pre-Qin period. Later, Taoism inherited the doctrines of Taoism. Through the evolution of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, the doctrines of Laozi and Zhuangzi became the core content of Taoist thought. Zhuangzi is regarded as a deity by Taoism. In Volume 14 of the "True Edict", it is said that Shi Sang, the young master, was given a minor instruction. He hid in the Baodu Mountain, took the Zhaoyu Fire Pill, ascended to heaven during the day, and made up for the Taiji imperial examination. In the second month of the first year of the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (724), he was conferred the title of "Nanhua Zhenren". The book he wrote, "Zhuangzi", was called "Nanhua Zhenjing" by imperial edict. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he was conferred the title of "Subtle Yuantong Zhenjun".