The principle Taoist canon
consists of a compilation of aphorisms attributed to Lao Tzu. This
collection is known as the Tao Te Ching or the Way of Power.
The second major figure in Taoism was Chuang Tzu (399 - 295 BCE) who refined the teachings of Lao Tzu.
Like Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzuunderstood
the changing nature of things. Based on this vision of life,
he introduced the notion of self-transformation as part of the Taoist vision of
life as an ever moving, ever-changing continuum. Like Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu
also understood the constructed nature of reality and ,hence, the relativity of
anything that may be deemed as real or true. One of his best known lessons on this theme was one
where he stated:
"I, Chuang Tzu, dreamed I was a butterfly and was happy as a
butterfly. I was conscious that I was quite pleased with myself, but I did
not know that I was Chuang Tzu. Suddenly, I awoke, and there was I, visibly Chuang Tzu.
I do not know whether it was Chuang Tzu dreaming that he was a butterfly or the
butterfly dreaming that he was Chuang Tzu. There must be a distinction
between Chuang Tzu and the butterfly. The one, however, may be the other.
This is the transformation of things."
The teachings in Chuang Tzu,the book named after him, became
influential in the development of a branch of Taoist studies known as philosophical Taoism or Tao chia.
Exerts from Chuang Tzu
The following are excerpts for Chuang Tzu:
On the Nature of the Universe:
"Do the heaven's revolve? Does the earth stand still? Do the sun and the
moon contend for their positions? Who has the time to keep them all
moving? Is there some mechanical device that keeps them going
automatically? Or do they merely continue to revolve, inevitably, of their
own inertia?
"The sage has the sun and the moon by his side. He grasps the universe
under his arm. He blends everything into a harmonious whole, casts aside
whatever is confused or obscured, and regards the humble as honorable.
While the multitude toil, he appears to be stupid and non-discriminating. He
blends the disparities of ten thousand years into one complete purity. All
things are blended like this and mutually involve each other."
"The universe is the unity of all things. If one recognizes his identity with
this unity, then the parts of his body mean no more to him than so much
dirt, and death and life, end and beginning, disturb his tranquillity no more
than the succession of day and night."
On the Human Mind:
"The mind of the perfect man is like a mirror. It does not lean forward or
backward in response to things. It responds to things but conceals nothing of
its own. Therefore it is able to deal with things without injury to its
reality."
On the Place of Humans in the Universe:
"The universe gives me my body so that I may be carried, my life so I may
toil; my old age so I may repose, and my death so I may rest. To regard
life as good is the way to regard death as good. A boat may be hidden in a
creek or a mountain in a lake. These may be said to be safe. But at
midnight a strong man may come and carry it away on his back. An ignorant
person does not know that even when the hiding of things, large or small,
is perfectly well done, still something will escape you. But if the
universe is hidden in the universe itself, then there can be no escape
from it. This is the great truth of things in general.
We possess our body by chance and we are already pleased with it. If our
physical bodies went through ten thousand transformations without end, how
incomparable would this joy be! Therefore the sage roams freely in the
realm in which nothing can escape and all endures. Those who regard dying
a premature death, getting old, and the beginning and the end of life as
equally good are followed by others. How much more is that to which all
things belong and on which the whole process of transformation depends
on the Tao."
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