Zhuangzi

Timeline

1. c. -369–-320Meng · BozhouZhuangzi, whose personal name was Zhou, was a native of Meng in the state of Song. He once served as an official in the lacquer gardens but later withdrew from public life. Living in poverty, he nonetheless refused the lavish offer of the King of Wei of Chu to become his chancellor, expounding through parables a philosophy of free and easy self-contentment and following nature.
2. c. -320–-286State of Song · ShangqiuIn his later years Zhuangzi devoted himself to writing and teaching, exchanging debates with scholars such as Hui Shi. His thought survives in the Zhuangzi; the inner chapters are generally considered his own work, while the outer and miscellaneous chapters contain additions by disciples or later followers, forming a vast and profound Daoist textual system.