The Zhuangzi is a foundational Daoist text of anecdotes, parables and fables, written during the late Warring States period and traditionally attributed to Zhuang Zhou, whose authorship modern scholarship restricts to the seven inner chapters; the remaining outer and miscellaneous chapters accumulated through later authorship. It explores spontaneity and freedom from convention, is famous for the butterfly-dream passage, and emphasizes a relativism that dissolves artificial human distinctions. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Publication YearCompiled across the late Warring States period (476-221 BCE) by Zhuang Zhou and later contributors rather than published at a single date; -300 marks a representative point within that period. Original Language Classification
Genre / Form Connections
Authored By
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)
In Branch
Sources
1. Zhuangzi (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction
It was written during the late Warring States period (476-221 BC) and is named for its traditional author, Zhuang Zhou.
Lead, ancient Chinese text sentence
The Zhuangzi (historically romanized Chuang Tzu) is an ancient Chinese text that is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, alongside the Tao Te Ching.
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