Zhuangzi: Basic Writings

Considered the two primary texts of Daoism, Zhuangzi and the Dao de Jing are both getting at the same thing. However, I personally found Zhuangzi to be more humorous, story-like, and enjoyable (not that the Dao de Jing is not wholly incredible and unique~ it's really unfair to compare the two, but nonetheless).Watson includes the inner chapters and outer chapters, getting the 'basic writings' covered and leaving the reader with a sound essence of the Dao. The stories may be puzzling to someone unfamiliar with Daoism, Zen, or the 'enlightened mind'. However, if one's mind is ripe for this kind of wisdom, the stories contain wonderful messages and good humor.I recommend this to anyone interested in Eastern religion, mysticism, natural living, 'enlightenment', or Chinese philosophy. I read this book for a course on Eastern Religion and Philosophy and enjoyed it so much that my professor suggested reading the entirety of Zhuangzi. So if you enjoy this, good news.. there's more!

Very interesting book for people practicing Zen today. This writing clearly has a bearing on our practice today and its origins. I would have liked a little more commentary on where it fits in with ancient Taoism and historical events of the time.

I'm enjoying Zhuanzi, but can't say I'm crazy about the interpreter. He just doesn't seem to get it.

In good shape and will be used for a college class.

Nice book

Great book!!!!!! just what I ordered..This book was needed for class & has a wonderful and interesting perspective!! thank you!

This book was purchased as a gift for someone who was very pleased with it since it is hard to get this edition, so it was worth it.

This is a very different book than the Lao Tzu. It's written in a much less poetic style, but I find Zhuangzi more readable for that reason. The style is more conversational, and well rendered into contemporary English by Burton Watson.These inner chapters contain only the core of a much longer work. Over the 2200 years since its writing, many accretions had crept into the work, including commentaries and addenda by other authors. Watson strips those away and leaves only the central and most vivid writings. Some of those may already be familiar to today's reader. For example, this book originates the man dreaming to be a butterfly dreaming to be a man. Zhuangzi offers many more of these anecdotes, too long to be analogies but too short for fables. He also calls on the history and mythology of his time - not always distinct from each other - and creates mythology of his own, whether he meant to or not.That mythology lived on in Chinese alchemy, when Zhuangzi's magical sages were taken as literal beings. Zhuangzhi lived on, too, in Taoism's eventual alignment with Buddhism. His cryptic, non sequitur style of answer seems to foreshadow the koans of the distinctly Chinese and Japanese schools of Buddhism.This is a wonderful complement to the Lao Tzu. If that book is the art of enlightenment, then this is more like the practical craft. I recommend it highly to any student of eastern classics.I must add that Zhuangzi is a more recent romanization of "Chuang Tzu" - different renderings of one name. It is easy to become confused and think that the two were different writers. It is especially confusing since Watson published this same material many years ago under the "Chuang Tzu" spelling, and now as "Zhuangzi." While I have the highest respect Burton's scholarship, I think that this difference-without-a-difference should be made more explicit.

A superb book that's full of wisdom, philosophy, keen observation of humanity and a surprising amount of wit and humour. Kudos to the author(s) for writing a book that's for the most part as relevant today as when it was written about 2500 years ago. Kudos too, to the translator who's kept the translation lively and not let the ambiguities of the language stifle the narrative. Apparently the archaic and flowery Chinese of the original text allows many different interpretation and Burton Watson encourages the reader to read other versions. He also gives different possible interpretations of some passages but does a grand job of letting the text flow.If, like I did, you're ummming and ahhhing about which version to get, this is a great one to start with but I'll probably buy some other versions as well. Partly to see what another translator makes of it but mainly cos this book is so damned good.

I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation, however, I felt that the English version read well. It's clear and carries the reading along in an engaging manner. I've read a couple of other translations, but this one was the most enjoyable.