Daodejing And Zhuangzi: Chapter Analysis

Knowledge of early Daoism is based mostly on two surviving books, the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. The Daodejing, or the Classic of the Way and It's Power, is attributed to Laozi of the sixth century BCE but more likely compiled in the third century BCE. A recurrent theme in it is the preference for the yielding over the assertive and silence over words. The highest good is like water: “Water benefits all creatures but does not compete. It occupies the places people disdain and thus comes near to the Way” (textbook, chapter 2). Interdependence and mutual transformation of all opposites is also common: “When everyone in the world see beauty in the beautiful, ugliness is already there. When everyone sees good in the good, bad is already there (textbook, chapter 2).” This translates to the idea that almost any purposeful action is counterproductive, and that the ruler should allow the return to a natural state where the people are ignorant and content. It's better if people know less, to be satisfied with their own lives and not envy their neighbors.

He shared much of the philosophy from Laozi, seeing the usefulness of uselessness and relativity of ordinary distinctions. He celebrated spiritual freedom and filled his book with flights of fancy, parables, and fictional encounters between historical figures (textbook, chapter 2). He searched for a conception of man's place in the universe that would reconcile him to death. How do we know life is better than death? Rational discrimination between alternative courses of action didn't appeal to him as much as simply knowing, a form of understanding that exists beyond the need to make