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Zhuangzi 莊子

c. 369–286 BCE · Chinese (Daoist)

The playful skeptic of fixed perspectives and the famous butterfly dream.

Primary Source

Primary Source

昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶

Original (Chinese)

“Once Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly ... now he does not know whether he is a man dreaming he is a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he is a man.”

Zhuangzi, ch. 2 (Qiwulun)

Biography

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Major Works

Key Concepts

Influence & Modern Scholarship

Secondary Scholarship

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Connections

Thinkers in conversation with Zhuangzi:

Thinker

Laozi

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