Musings of a Chinese Mystic: Selections from the Philosophy of Chuang Tzu

by Zhuangzi, Lionel Giles

This short collection of texts featuring Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi), the Taoist sage, is a good introduction to the core concepts of the Taoist worldview. The author, Lionel Giles, was an eminent Victorian scholar of Chinese society, who, most notably, also translated Sun Tsu's Art of War.--J.B. Hare

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

庄子 or 莊子 Zhūangzi (c. 369 BC - c. 286 BC).
Zhuangzi, or “Master Zhuang” (also known in the Wade-Giles romanization as Chuang-tzu) was, after Laozi, one of the earliest thinkers to contribute to the philosophy that has come to be known as Daojia, or school of the Way. According to traditional dating, he was an almost exact contemporary of the Confucian thinker Mencius, but there appears to have been little to no communication between them. He is ranked among the greatest of literary and philosophical giants that China has produced. His style is complex—mythical, poetic, narrative, humorous, indirect, and polysemic.

Reviews

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may or may not be the little book of Chuang Tzu which inspired Oscar Wilde's great piece, "A Chinese Sage," but it is about the same.

Of all the little wisdom books I have read, only the so-called Gnostic Gospel of Thomas compares to this for sheer sublimity.

[Michael Kress · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Eastern philosophy was Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, and it was suggested to me that I follow it up by reading Chuang Tzu. It is believed that the two authors were contemporaries, and that Chuang Tzu was a student of Lao Tzu. Both authors were followers of the Taoist religion, and the two books are similar in content. The material in Musings of a Chinese Mystic was inspired by the writings and teachings of Lao Tzu, and the two books complement each other very well.

The primary difference between these two books is that Tao Te Ching makes the use of short poetic verse while Musings of a Chinese Mystic uses parables. Musings elaborates on Tao Te Ching and I happened to enjoy it a little bit more. Although the poetry in Tao Te Ching is inspirational, it can seem homogeneous after a while. The parables in Musings present several unique situations, and they feature different characters like Confucius and Lao Tzu, among others. Finally, it is important to note that meditation was an important part of the Taoist tradition, so I believe that the authors intended for the reader to practice meditation in addition to the reading.

[Farhan Rafid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sage acts without movement, and thinks without thinking

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the musings are rather impenetrable to me because of the Chinese metaphysics at that time. Some are rather common or trivial in translation. Others are great. One such a great musing is the one about the indecision of Zhuangzi dreaming about being a butterfly or of the butterfly dreaming about being Zhuangzi.

[Cristina Chițu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Lawrence Lui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful ancient Taoist musings.

[Trev · Rating 5 out of 5]

"perfect happiness is the absence of happiness"