Chuang Tzŭ and the Butterfly Dream

The Book of Chuang Tzŭ is the most famous Taoist classic beside the Tao Tê Ching of Lao Tzŭ. But in contrast to the Tao Tê Ching, it bears the marked stamp of an individual author, Chuang Tzŭ.

The book, as we know it, has thirty-three chapters, traditionally divided into three parts. Chapters 1-7 are called ‘the inner chapters’, chapters 8-22 ‘the outer chapters’, and chapters 23-33 ‘the mixed chapters’. All agree that the ‘inner’ chapters are written by Chuang Tzŭ himself, but many are of the opinion that the ‘outer’ chapters may have been written by disciples. Most scholars furthermore agree that the ‘mixed’ chapters originated in related, and perhaps much later, schools. But the lines between what is ‘genuine Chuang Tzŭ’ and what is not cannot be drawn with certainty.

Chuang Tzŭ lived in the second half of the fourth century B.C. We know that from a short biography by the Chinese historian Ssŭ-ma Ch'ien (145-86 B.C.), who also informs us that for a long time he was a public employee, but later refused to serve kings or dukes even when specifically asked on account of his remarkable intelligence and learning. He preferred to keep his freedom.

This focusing on freedom is essential in Chuang Tzŭ. But to refuse an office is only the logical consequence of possessing true freedom, which is a liberation from the bondage of the mind and unity with the eternal Way, Tao. The ‘true man’ is the mystic who has experienced and is able to live in this unified world. Seen from this point of view it is possible for Chuang Tzŭ to praise Tao as it unfolds in the eternal cosmic transformations, in which the birth, life and death of man also join in the most obvious way.

Chuang Tzŭ's deep contact with the eternal enables him to see the relativity of things and he loves to make fun of man's prejudices and tendencies to judge everything from his own standpoint.

The core in Chuang Tzŭ is the mystical which unfolds in a uniquely fabulist and poetic creativity. Chuang Tzŭ is a great storytell