Ruan Ji’s Essay on Zhuangzi and Zhuangzi Study at the Turn of Han and Wei Dynasties

This paper proposes a new reading of Ruan Ji’s Essay on Zhuangzi.Scholars have argued that Ruan’s essay honored Taoist spontaneity and criticized Confucian moral teachings.However,this paper argues that written around 247,Ruan’s essay actually offered a fresh interpretation of Zhuang Zi’s philosophy in that it considered the idea of equality of all things as the main thread that underlies Zhuang Zi’s thought.Thus Ruan attempted to harmonize the “inner-worldly” Confucian moral teachings and the “other-worldly”Taoist pursuit of spontaneity.In this regard,Ruan’s understanding of Zhuangzi anticipated the interpretations of Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang on Zhuangzi that came decades later.