Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics)

I've found this book to be more accessible than the Tao Te Ching and it really helps me see how one can incorporate the Tao Te Ching into every day life and it helped me understand what the Dao is (the story about the wind in the forest was super illuminating for me). It's clear the translator put a lot of effort into the book and the footnotes are frequently interesting or informative. I also greatly appreciated learning about the historical context in which the Zhuangzi was written. I actually haven't had any of my thinking and perspectives challenged by this book because I've long thought nearly identically to Zhuangzi. It's pretty interesting I think the same as a long dead Chinese man.I love his idea of the Course-Axis because I've long had trouble articulating that I frequently hold competing perspectives simultaneously and am very flexible with my perspectives. A lot of people nowadays look down on this and consider it flip-flopping/two-faced/hypocritical. I agree with Zhuangzi, though, that the Course-Axis is far better than being constrained to one way of thinking.Zhuangzi was a top tier critical thinker and this book is pure critical thought. Something distinct about Daoism is that it does not claim to have any answers to the universe, but instead fully embraces the unknowabilty of it all. Accepting there will never be any answers (merely perspectives) gives true freedom.

I bought because I was looking for a copy of Zhuangzi, but wasn't able to find any good free translations. This one is very well done, and the traditional commentaries are a very nice touch. The translator has put a lot of effort into making the text easy to understand for people who don't have background in Chinese literature. Tricky or ambigous spots will have a nice footnote with another possible translation or extra info you need to understand the passage. It has a glossary and points out key words that are the same in the original Chinese when they are translated in somewhat different ways according to how the English flows; this can be somewhat important to understand some of the arguments that are used based on the wording of the Chinese. The only downside is this doesn't contain the entire Zhuangzi. The inner chapters are fully present, but the translator has chosen to translate from the other parts when they support ideas from the inner chapters.

This translation easly surpasses all others in print, even though scholars will still, I'm sure, refer to the AC Graham version (I will). Ziporyn has translated into current American English with style and clarity while preserving enough of the Classical Chinese cast of the text to make this a translation for scholars as well as students. I appreciate too how he has varied the translation of key terms with footnotes in romanized Chinese, so we can appreciate the dexterity of the translator's art as well as the one sustained Chinese term. Especially valuable in this edition are the superb commentaries which give significant new insight into the passages, especially for me Guo Xiang, Wang Fuzhi, and Shi Deqing. I used this text for the first time in a discussion class at Shimer College this past semester; our discussions reached a level of maturity and insight early in the course as great or greater than we achieved in a whole semester in other years. Clearly, I recommend it highly!

This book came in good condition, and it worked well for class, even though I would not read it on my own.

In my prior review, I complained about Ziporyn omitting large swathes of the original Zuangzi. He has since released a complete version (which I own, and it's wonderful).But, you may ask, what's the point of buying this version? The commentaries. They are an incredibly invaluable source for delving deeper into the meaning of the Inner Chapters. I can't imagine how much work went into compiling, and I assume, translating the commentaries.In conclusion, Ziporyn is the GOAT.

Zhuangzi provides head-spinning paradoxes and dilemmas that prompt the journey of questioning life and its meaning. Though held as a Daoist text, his philosophy is not confined to Daoism (never would he classify his ideas into such a structure in the first place).

This book is, in my opinion, the crowning achievement of all Taoist writers. Its subtly humorous, incredibly wise, and infinitely applicable even for modern people. If you want to learn about Taoism or just want to read a good self-improvement book this is the book to get. The Tao Te Ching is often considered the book that built the foundation of Taoism as a philosophical/religious system. If that's the case then this book is the beautiful temple built on top of the foundation.

I chose Brooke Ziporyn's translation as a focus for a deeper dive into the Zhuangzi classic largely based on reputation as a translator. But my effort was stalled by the translation. Can't quite put my finger on it but I found Ziporyn difficult/awkward to read. At every turn I found my understanding at odds with Ziporyn's. It almost seemed like there was another influence guiding Ziporyn's interpretation. I already had read Zhuangzi translations from Lin Yutang and Burton Watson. Ultimately, I chose two other translators for my study, Chung Wu and Victor Mair, the later being very enjoyable and most informative.