On Features of Intuitive Thinking in Chuang Tzu's Three Ways of Argumentation

Intuitivism is an essential way of the artistic thinking in Chuang Tzu's san yan(the three ways of argumentation,i.e.: zhi yan,the seemingly incoherent but actually most natural and true statements;chong yan,quotations from the learned and/or celebrated;and yu yan,parables).In order to improve the reliability and artistic appeal of his essays,Chuang Tzu tried quite a few ways,such as uniting the infinite in one,showing the wu(nothing / without) by the you(existent),observing one thing from the perspective of another,setting off the inner by the outer,and contrasting the positive with the negative.By doing so,Chuang Tzu successfully established in his essays an artistic style that is characterized by open-mindedness in arguments and freedom from textual restraints.