Chuang-tzu: The Tao of Perfect Happiness: Selections Annotated & Explained

The Chuang-tzu is the second major text of the Taoist tradition. It was compiled in the third century BCE and follows the lead of the oldest of all Taoist texts, the Tao-te-ching (Book of the Tao and Its Potency). Using parable, anecdote, allegory, and paradox, the Chuang-tzu presents the central message of what was to become the Taoist school: a reverence for the Tao—the “Way” of the natural world—and the belief that one is not truly virtuous until one is set free from the burden of circumstance, personal attachments, tradition, and the desire to reform the world. Leading Taoist scholar Livia Kohn provides a modern translation of key selections from this text and accessible commentary on Taoist principles.