Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Outer Chapters
Selected Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi, preserving later expansions, stories, polemics, and philosophical developments.
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Texts
Zhuangzi — Knowledge Rambling in the NorthThe twenty-second chapter of the Zhuangzi — Knowledge seeks the Dao from silence, forgetting, and speech, and finds it everywhere. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — Perfect EnjoymentThe eighteenth chapter of the Zhuangzi — on perfect enjoyment, the drumming on the basin, and the skull that prefers death to life. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — The Floods of AutumnThe seventeenth chapter of the Zhuangzi — the river spirit, the Northern Sea, and the joy of fishes. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — The Full Understanding of LifeThe nineteenth chapter of the Zhuangzi — on mastering life through naturalness, the hunchback who caught cicadas, the waterfall swimmer, and the bell-stand carver who forgot himself. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — The Tree on the MountainThe twentieth chapter of the Zhuangzi — on the paradox of usefulness and uselessness, the empty boat, Confucius in distress, and the concubine who forgot her beauty. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — Tian Zi-fangThe twenty-first chapter of the Zhuangzi — on the teacher who cannot be quoted, the Dao apparent at a glance, the death of the mind, and the true draughtsman who draws without drawing. Translated by James Legge, 1891.Zhuangzi — Webbed ToesThe eighth chapter of the Zhuangzi — against artificial virtue, for the nature with which we are endowed. Translated by James Legge, 1891.