Philosophers

Zhuangzi

JWAHNG-dzuh

Also Known As Chuang Tzu

Citation Formats

General Reference

Philosophy Atlas. "Zhuangzi." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/philosophers/zhuangzi.

APA Style

Philosophy Atlas. (n.d.). Zhuangzi. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/philosophers/zhuangzi

BibTeX

@misc{philosophyatlas-zhuangzi,
  author = {Philosophy Atlas},
  title = {Zhuangzi},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/philosophers/zhuangzi},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A Chinese philosopher of the Warring States period, traditionally credited with the core inner chapters of the text that bears his name, one of the two foundational works of philosophical Daoism alongside the Tao Te Ching. Zhuangzi is known for a thoroughgoing relativism about human perspectives and values, illustrated in parables such as the butterfly dream, in which the philosopher wakes uncertain whether he is a man who dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly now dreaming he is a man, and for the ideal of wu wei, effortless non-striving action in accordance with the natural course of things. His exact dates and biography are known only through later, partly legendary accounts.

Facts

Disputed

Birth Year

369 BCE

Traditional dates (roughly 369 to 286 BCE) rest on later biographical accounts rather than contemporary records; scholars treat the precise years as approximate.

Death Year

286 BCE

See the birth-year note: known only from later, partly legendary accounts.

Tradition

Classical Chinese philosophy, Daoism 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Laozi

Why this is disputed. Zhuangzi is traditionally read as extending Laozi's thought, but the historical relationship between the two, and even whether Laozi was a single person, is unresolved; see the open question recorded on Laozi.

In Branch

Epistemology

Metaphysics

Traditions Founded

Daoism

Zhuangzi is credited as the school's second foundational figure, extending Laozi's themes through parable rather than being its earliest source.

Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Works Attributed

Zhuangzi

Why this is disputed. Traditional attribution to Zhuang Zhou is not seriously disputed for the seven inner chapters; modern scholarship holds the outer and miscellaneous chapters were added by later authors over centuries, so authorship of the text as a whole is not a single-author claim.

Source Zhuangzi (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

s.v. Zhuangzi

Quote, s.v. Zhuangzi