Zhuangzi

When one comes into contact with a Chinese painting, the style is almost instantly recognizable. The attention to detail, craftsmanship, and vast depictions of elaborate landscapes appear to pay homage to mother earth in an attempt to reach a state of eternal balance with nature and life. Before this equilibrium could be achieved, one must attain internal discipline. This was required before one began mastering their brushwork in Chinese culture. In Mai Mai Sze’s “The Way of Chinese Painting,” 1959

By traditional accounts, Daoism, or Taoism as it is also known, was founded during the sixth century BCE in China under the influence of the legendary philosopher Lao Tzu and the Tao Teh Ching (Coogan 222), but, as with every religion, this origin has been questioned (Jurji 24). The validity of Lao Tzu has been brought into question, and many believe the Tao Teh Ching is actually the work of several authors in one compilation of ideas thought well before the sixth century or even fourth century

is a continuous balance between all things. As the Zhuangzi (Chang-tzu) says “The highest for Yin is freezing as Yang highest for would be boiling. Zhuangzi or better known as Master Zhang has the understanding that the coldness comes from the Heavens and the warmth comes from the Earth. With the way these two intertwine it forms peace, so in a way it gives life to all things. Even though nothing is seen this may be the law for everything.”(Zhuangzi, Chapter 21).

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life.(google.com/images)” Unlike John Lennon, some see happiness as a shallow goal in life. Some think wisdom, self-improvement, or improving the world is more worthwhile and unselfish. Yet philosophers throughout history still thought

Confucianism and Taoism have contrasting views on both religion and politics. However, they stem from a similar goal and have similar beliefs. Confucianism is mainly centered around virtue and ethics as a means to an ordered society and believes that an ordered society is what people should strive for. Taoism, on the other hand, focuses on the individual life in relation to the Tao, or "way of nature." Both are considered philosophies and not religions and acknowledge a path that a person should

Zhuangzi’s philosophy but is different from his examples. The closest example would be the story of the butcher. “A good butcher changes his chopper every year because he chips it. And average butcher changes it every month because he breaks it” (Zhuangzi, ch.3). This is demonstrating two people, doing essentially the same thing, but the way they do it makes their life more or less difficult. As the butchers gain a greater understanding of the oxen they become more proficient. “When I first began

He sniffed the odour and it was enough to make man drunk for three days. It turns out to be a completely unusable tree, said Zhuangzi, “and so it has been able to grow this big. Aha!—it is this unusableness that the Holy man makes use of!” —Zhuangzi, In the World of Men Mr Lame-Hunchback-No-Lips talked to Duke Ling of Wei, and Duke Ling was so pleased with him that when he looked at normal men he thought their necks looked too lean and

occur when two forces were perfectly matched. Yin and yang also inspired art works and scenes in movies, such as the film Hero. One famous disciple of Daoism was Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi was credited with writing one of the famous and foundational Daoist works, the Zhuangzi. It consisted of fables and anecdotes about the carefree nature of Zhuangzi as the

This text often emphasizes the Heaven as the supreme power over everything below it. In contrast to Heaven, which represents purity, power, and righteousness, Zhuangzi depicts humanity as people that interfere with the natural way, like their punishment for criminals, as well as creative beings that can come up with ideas about the world and themselves, like knowing what is right and what is wrong. Although he

The overall point of Zhuangzis skepticism is that there is always going to be things that we are not certain of and there are always going to be limitations in our knowledge. One of the interesting things that Zhuangzi talks about his a dream he once had where he was a butterfly. The dream was so vivid that the overall point was that since “there is no mark by which we