Chuang Tzu
Chuang Tzu (Kwuangze) (Master Chuang) (c. 399–295 b.c.e.) Title given Chuang Chou, Chinese Taoist philosopher, whose work contains fables, parables, and anecdotes. Chuang Tzu’s basic premise in his work is that the Tao is the universal way of everything, pervading the entire universe. One becomes free only when one identifies with the Tao. There is no right or wrong because such concepts always stem from a point of view. For example, life is good and desirable and death is evil only from the point of view of the living. How does one know that the reverse is not true? One of the most famous episodes in his work is the account of his mourning for his wife.
When Chuang Tzu’s wife died, Hui Tzu went to console him. He found the widower sitting on the ground with his legs spread out at a right angle, singing and beating time on a bowl.
“To live with your wife,” said Hui Tzu, “and see your eldest son grow up to be a man, and then not to shed a tear over her corpse—this would be bad enough. But to drum on a bowl and sing; surely this is going too far.”
“Not at all,” replied Chuang Tzu. “When she died, I could not help being affected by her death. Soon, however, I remembered that she had already existed in a previous state before birth, without form, or even substance; that while in that unconditioned condition, substance was added to spirit; that this substance then assumed form; and that the next stage was birth. And now, by virtue of further change, she is dead, passing from one phase to another like the sequence of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And while she is thus lying asleep in eternity, for me to go about weeping and wailing would be to proclaim myself ignorant of these natural laws. Therefore I refrain.”
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
