One day once upon a time, Zhuang Zhou dreamed that he had turned into a butterfly, a dancing butterfly. He was very happy and contented, and did not know that he was Zhuang Zhou. After a while, he woke up from his dream, but it was Zhuang Zhou who was lying stiffly in bed. I wonder if Zhuang Zhou dreamed and turned into a butterfly, or if a butterfly dreamed and turned into Zhuang Zhou?
This fable is a famous piece that expresses Zhuangzi’s thought of equalizing all things. Zhuangzi believes that if people can break the boundaries between life and death, things and self, they will be happy wherever they go. It is written in an ethereal way and is often quoted by philosophers and writers. ?
Original text of Zhuangzi’s Dream of Butterflies:
In the past, Zhuangzi dreamed of a butterfly, a lifelike butterfly, which expresses itself as suitable for one’s will and ambition, but one does not know Zhou. Suddenly I feel like I'm in a state of confusion. I don’t know if Zhou’s dream is a butterfly, and if a butterfly’s dream is Zhou, then Zhou and a butterfly must be different. This is called materialization. ("Zhuangzi: Equality of Things")
Translation:
In the past, Zhuangzi dreamed that he had become a butterfly, a very vivid and lifelike butterfly. How happy and comfortable he felt! I don't know. He was originally Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly I woke up, and in a panic I realized it was me, Zhuang Zhou.
I wonder if it was Zhuang Zhou who turned into a butterfly in his dream, or a butterfly who turned into Zhuang Zhou in his dream? There must be a difference between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly. This can be called the intersection and change of crops and me.
Extended information:
Related verses:
"Jin Se" Li Shangyin
The Jin Se has fifty strings for no reason, one string and one pillar. Thinking of Hua Nian.
Zhuang Sheng was obsessed with butterflies in his morning dream, and looked forward to the emperor's spring heart with cuckoos.
The moon in the sea has tears, and the sun in Lantian is warm and the jade produces smoke.
Can this feeling be remembered? It was just that I was at a loss at that time.
In the poem, "Zhuang Sheng dreamed of butterflies", "Looking at the emperor to hurt spring", "Moonlight pearls in the sea have tears" and "Lantian sun is warm and jade creates smoke" and other "allusions" are used together to form a beautiful, quiet, blurred and meaningful poem. It uses a sad mood to describe the poet's experience, lamenting that his years have passed and his ambitions have become empty, and his talents have been buried and cannot be used.
In the metaphors used, the poet borrows the confusion of "lost butterflies", the helplessness of "supporting cuckoos", the pain of "beads with tears", and the elusiveness of "jade smoke" to describe the poet himself. The past in life is like a dream, youth is fleeting and helpless, talents are buried, ideals and realizations are ethereal.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhuang Zhou Mengdie