Zhuangzi Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Zhuangzi legend, widely current among the people of China and among Chinese worldwide, originated here and has a history of more than two thousand three hundred years. Zhuangzi, named Zhou and styled Zixiu, was according to the Shiji a man of Meng in the Warring States period and a famous thinker, philosopher and man of letters of Chinese history; he developed Laozi's doctrine and was one of the founders of the Daoist school.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dongming, anciently called Donghun, lies in the west of Heze city, Shandong. In the Warring States period Zhuangzi's story already began to circulate. He once served as an official of the lacquer garden, soon resigned and withdrew to live in poverty, sometimes supporting himself by making straw sandals and fishing, but he despised fame and profit. King Wei of Chu offered him a great sum to serve as minister and he firmly declined. The folk legends derived from Zhuangzi's experience and feeling about society, nature, life, morality and politics number, by statistics, more than a hundred and twenty, of which thirty or forty are often told, their content touching Zhuangzi's origins, his principled attitude to politics, nature and life and the origin of special objects connected with him. In Dongming there still remain such relics as the stele of Yang Risheng's rebuilding of the Zhuangzi temple, the lacquer-garden site, the South Huashan site, the Dengyun bridge stele, the Zhuangzi temple and Zhuangzi's tomb. The Zhuangzi legend not only contains Zhuangzi's original and profound views on the universe, nature, society, life and morality, but more represents Zhuangzi's attitude to great and small, many and few, beauty and ugliness and the little things of life, so that his cosmology, view of nature and view of life are left to later ages in the form of folk legend. His legends of following nature, preserving one's true nature, treasuring life and taking things calmly have great recognition and affinity among Chinese at home and abroad and are a brilliant treasure of Chinese national culture.
Burning Incense Produces Bowls and Plates
One of the Zhuangzi legends current in Dongming.
The Half Head of the Lion Before the Zhuangzi Temple
One of the Zhuangzi legends current in Dongming.
The Lacquer-Garden Site
The relic where Zhuangzi is said to have served as an official of the lacquer garden.
The Zhuangzi Temple and Zhuangzi's Tomb
Relics in Dongming connected with Zhuangzi.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Zhuangzi legend is deeply rooted in the people, its linguistic features especially striking, and the geographical places, ways and customs and classical allusions it involves all have local features.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Zhuangzi legends have become an important source for the study of Zhuangzi culture.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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