The Way to Inner Peace Finding the Essence of Dao through the Sayings of Zhuangzi

The Zhuangzi is one of the great classic Taoist texts. Zhuangzi (or Zhuang Tzu) himself was born during the upheavals and chaos of China’s Warring States period (475–221 BC). His outstanding written style, vivid and fantastical imagination, and marvelous fables exercised a profound influence on the formation of traditional Chinese culture, whilst he himself occupied a commanding position amongst the thinkers of the day. He disdained worldly fame and profit and lived in transcendent calm and unaffected ease. Amidst the rush, busyness, and ever-increasing tempo of life today it is easy to become lost and exhausted. However, Zhuangzi and his wisdom can teach us how to find spiritual comfort in this vast world of ours. This book takes the essence of Zhuangzi’s classic and in a single phrase or topic or even a story in its commentary provides us with a concise and original interpretation in an easily understood form. It combines the philosophy of the classic with modern life. In this dialogue with the sages of Chinese philosophy, we can understand the real meaning of life.

Zhuangzi (c.369-286 BC), was a philosopher of the Warring States period and a representative personality of the Taoist School. Chen Yinchi is professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan University Shanghai and supervisor of doctoral candidates. His fields of research include Taoist thought and literature. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 1999/2000. Tony Blishen is a retired British diplomat who studied Chinese and Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and at the Deng Zhi’ang College of Chinese in Hong Kong, China. He was British Consul in Beijing for three years from 1965 to 1967 and later Counsellor of the British Embassy in Tokyo.