Iñaki Preciado

Zhuang Zi

Original title:

Zhuang Zi.

About the book:

Zhuang Zi, perhaps the greatest Taoist writer of all times, flourished around the 4th Century b C. The book which bears his name is composed of 33 chapters, the first 7 of which have been definetly attributed to him by modern criticism.

For Zhuang Zi, the supreme good in human beings is found in harmony and freedom, attained by spontaneously following one’s own nature. Central to Zhuang-Zi’s thought is the doctrine of non-action (wu-wei), that is to say, of detached action. It is the heart of Taoist spontaneity: letting all things run their natural course, rejecting the mental differences between good and evil, life and death. Such oppostions are unending changes, they should not be taken as a beggining or an end.

The sage must identify with the Tao and live his life spontaneously, abolishing aims and desires, and thus attaining genuine freedom. This doctrine presents a clear affinity with Buddhist thought.

Although the Zhuang-Zi stems back to 4th Century b C., it reached its peak at the time of Wei Jin, exerting great influence amongst Chinese thinkers, and forming with the Tao-te-king (o Lao-Zi) and the Lie-Zi, Taoism’s classical trilogy. Its influence on Western thought has also been of great importance.

About the author:

Iñaki Preciado’s translation of the Zhuang-Zi, from the original Chinese text, can be considered a masterpiece, both due to his general erudition and his meticulous faithfulness to the sources . Iñaki Preciado has also translated the Lie-Zi (in this same collection), the Lao-Zi and Milarepa’s Life.