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Two thinkers, side by side

Life

Portrait of Liezi
Liezi

c. 450 BCE – c. 375 BCE

DaoistChinese

The Daoist who rode the wind. Let go of striving, and even the self begins to dissolve.

Portrait of Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi

c. 369 BCE – c. 286 BCE

ChineseDaoist

Born State of Song

Am I a man who dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming it is a man? He turned philosophy into wild, luminous stories.

Connection

Liezi kindred Daoist Zhuangzi — The Liezi and the Zhuangzi share the same wild, parable-driven Daoism of dreams and transformation.

Shared Ideas

The DaoWu Wei

Ideas

The DaoWu Wei
The DaoWu WeiInner Freedom

Words

“The dead are like those who have set out on a journey and forgotten to return.”

— Liezi

“Once Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly. A butterfly flitting about. He did not know he was Zhuang Zhou.”

— Zhuangzi

“The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you have gotten the fish, you can forget the trap.”

— Zhuangzi

Key Moments

c. 450 BCE

Born in Zheng

c. 400 BCE

Riding the Wind

c. 400 BCE

The Man Who Feared the Sky Would Fall

c. 375 BCE

Death in Legend

c. 369 BCE

Born in Song

c. 340 BCE

Declining the Prime Ministership

c. 330 BCE

The Butterfly Dream

c. 286 BCE

Death in Song

Works

The Liezi

Zhuangzi

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Volume I · Ancient Greece · 624-262 BCE