"Zhuangzi" has 33 chapters, including 7 inner chapters, 15 outer chapters, and 11 miscellaneous chapters.
It originally consisted of seven internal chapters, twenty-eight external chapters, fourteen miscellaneous chapters, three explanatory chapters, fifty-two chapters, and more than 100,000 words. After deletion, Guo Xiang divided it into three parts: internal chapters, external chapters, and miscellaneous chapters. There are thirty-three chapters, more than 200 large and small fables, and 65,920 words. Among them, there are seven inner chapters; fifteen outer chapters; Miscellaneous Chapter 11. The book is all-encompassing and has detailed discussions on the theory of cosmogenesis, the relationship between man and nature, the value of life, critical philosophy, etc.
"Zhuangzi", also known as "Nanhua Sutra", is a Taoist scripture written by Zhuangzi and his followers in the middle of the Warring States Period. After the Han Dynasty, Zhuangzi was respected as the true man of Nanhua, so "Zhuangzi" is also called "Nanhua Sutra". His book, "Laozi" and "Book of Changes" are collectively called the "Three Mysteries".
The book "Zhuangzi" mainly reflects Zhuangzi's critical philosophy, art, aesthetics, aesthetics, etc. It is rich in content, extensive and profound, covering many aspects such as philosophy, life, politics, society, art, and the theory of cosmogenesis.
Extended information:
"Zhuangzi" was written around the pre-Qin period. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" records fifty-two chapters, of which thirty-three are preserved today. Among them, there are seven internal chapters, fifteen external chapters, and eleven miscellaneous chapters. Except for the eight chapters in "Zhuangzi", they were all written by later generations. The whole book uses "fables", "tautology" and "卮yan" as the main forms of expression, inheriting Laozi's teachings and developing new ones.
He despised the etiquette, law and authority and advocated freedom and freedom. The inner chapters of "Equality of Things", "Xiaoyaoyou" and "The Great Master" concentratedly reflected this critical philosophical thought. The writing is unrestrained, magnificent and strange, and the meaning is beyond the ordinary.
The complete works of Zhuangzi are characterized by transcendent spirit, natural history aesthetics and critical thinking. Cheng Xuan Yingyun said: Zhuangzi "The inner chapters are clear about the principles, the outer chapters are about his deeds, and the miscellaneous chapters are clear about the directors. Although the inner chapters are clear about the principles, they are not without deeds; although the outer chapters are clear about the deeds, they are full of wonderful principles." Therefore, Mr. Wang Shumin It is believed that studying Zhuangzi should "get rid of the concept of internal and external miscellaneous chapters."
There are different opinions on the age of Zhuangzi's life, which is generally believed to be from 369 BC to 286 BC. When Zhuangzi died, the Song Dynasty had fallen. "Zhuangzi" says "the old capital of the old country, look at it calmly", obviously it was only called "the old capital of the old country" after the fall of the Song Dynasty. There is "The Biography of Zhuangzi".
Zhuangzi belongs to Taoism. It is easy to draw this conclusion from "Zhuangzi". Sima Qian commented: "Zhuangzi wrote more than 100,000 words." The current version of "Zhuangzi" has only 33 chapters with more than 65,000 words, divided into three parts: internal chapters, external chapters, and miscellaneous chapters. "Hanshu Yiwenzhi" contains "Fifty-two Chapters of Zhuangzi". In the Jin Dynasty, Guo Xiang's annotation of "Zhuangzi" deleted the second half of "The World Chapter" and the following content.
As for before the Tang Dynasty, there were fifty-two chapters in the complete version and thirty-three chapters in the incomplete version. It turns out that scholars believe that "Zhuangzi" was entirely written by Zhuangzi. Starting from the Song Dynasty, there has been a problem. It is believed that the inner chapters were written by Zhuangzi himself, while the outer chapters and miscellaneous chapters were made by descendants. The fragmentary Qin and Han bamboo slips of "Zhuangzi" unearthed in modern times prove that each chapter is an ancient book from the pre-Qin period.
Baidu Encyclopedia—Zhuangzi