Early Zhuangzi Commentaries

The Zhuangzi is a text needing no introduction. As one of the principle works of Chinese Daoist philosophy, the Zhuangzi may be a well known title but few have grasped its true meaning. Although the commentary by Guo Xiang does so extremely well, it is taken for granted as being the only one worthy of in-depth discussion. This book forgoes the commentary of Guo Xiang, offering a phonetic and hermeneutic reading of the other five major commentaries in use prior to the Tang dynasty, many of which survive in fragmentary form as glosses to the Zhuangzi Yinyi (Sounds and Meanings of the Zhuangzi) by Lu Deming. While they may not possess the sophistication of Guo Xiang, they nevertheless provide us with an important investigative tool when it comes to the sounds and meanings of the Zhuangzi. Indeed, the various phonetic and hermeneutic interpretations of these early commentators can only further our understanding of this linguistically beautiful but philosophically challenging text while freeing us from the weight of commentarial authority traditionally assigned to Guo Xiang.