Zhuang Ze and Chinese Theater of Absurdity

Zhuang Ze was the origin of Chinese Theater of Absurdity for it emphasized absurd reality and the extraordinary experiences of human beings. In the West,the spirits pursued and appraised by the Western Theater of Absurdity unexpectedly matched the absurd spirits originated from Zhuang Ze. By case studies on classical literature, such as “Zhuangzhous Dreaming of Butterflies” and “Hunduns Dying of Digging Seven Holes”, this paper discovers the unique way of aesthetic search of Zhuang Ze and its thinking of human absurd existence, proving that absurdity is the truth of common internal experiences of human kind. The concept of Absurdity that bears real modern significance has been made and aesthetics of absurdity has been formed since the outcome of Zhuang Ze. Furthermore, it exerts great influence on later literature, especially on the birth and the development of Chinese Theater of Absurdity.