The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature Paperback – October 13, 1997

bought this as a gift for my husband and he really enjoyed it

I have became interested in this book after reading âaeThe Tao Speaksâ by the same author. Previously, I have read the Tao Te Ching years ago, and found it a mostly unintelligible and illogical document. For years I have given up on trying to understand anything because it made little sense. That is, until I met this wonderful cartoon series by Zhizhong Cai. Here I found even some of the most complicated and esoteric principles of Taoism explained using brilliant flowing art and very simple examples from ordinary experience. The Zhuangzi is the perhaps lesser known of the two masterpieces of Taoist literature. I actually like it more than the Tao Te Ching. [Zhuangzi is the one who dreamed about a butterfly, and woke up wondering whether heâ(tm)s really Zhuangzi who dreamed of a butterfly, or whether heâ(tm)s really a butterfly whoâ(tm)s now dreaming heâ(tm)s Zhuangzi]. I find the cartoon panels very illuminating and hilariously funny at the same time. It makes the principles of Zhuangzi much more lucid and vivid, and easier to remember and understand.This book is a little bigger than the Dao speaks, containing almost 125 pages each having roughly 6 panels per page. The art is very beautiful and interesting. Further, the edition I have (which is square in shape) has a side panel in every page containing the text of the Zhuangzi in Chinese (reading top to bottom the traditional way). I found that very interesting and adds an artistic touch to the volume. It is also useful to me since I am currently learning Chinese. Note that (1) there are two books about Zhuangzi: this one and another called âaeThe Zhuangzi Speaksâ, and that (2) there is an older edition of this series which omits this panel (so the book has a more rectangular aspect ratio). What I donâ(tm)t like is that they changes the titles of the books between the two series (used to be âaeThe Sayings of Zhuangziâ Books 1 and 2). So once I bought Book 2 thinking it corresponds to the book I donâ(tm)t have (âaeThe Zhuangzi Speaksâ), and ended up with the same book I possess. So be careful. In any case it wasnâ(tm)t such a big mistake, as the price was right and I ended up giving the second book as a gift.

You may think, that the world we live in makes no sense. You may desperate to find poetry, pure joy and deep understanding of the true nature of things. Then please, take a wonderful moment of freedom and happyness and browse through "the Dao of Zhuangzi". The art of Tsai Chih Chung is unique and the message is enlightning.