# Talk:Zhuangzi (book)

Hello, I want to try determine the views of the Zhuangzi on filial piety. I'll try to look for sources. Let me know if you know any sources, and if you think it would be a good section. My last source suggested most if it's views were subtley critical, but Remsense didn't think it was a great source. This information would be good to know in general even if you don't put it in the article, it's contextualizes the Zhuangzi in relation to Chinese philosophy. It could always go in the filial piety article instead.FourLights (talk) 12:38, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

This source seems to address what you are looking for.  Let me read through the chapter and get back on this.
I Chiu, W.W. (2022). “Let the Parents Forget You”: Filial Piety (xiao 孝) in the Zhuangzi. In: Chong, Kc. (eds) Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92331-0_24 TheIntrospectorsfacts (talk) 21:29, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
According to the cited chapter, filial piety does not occupy a central role in Zhuangzi. Instead, it is addressed in a passage known as "Let the Parents Forget You." Zhuangzi offers an alternative perspective on the parent-child relationship, moving beyond the rites and reverence emphasized in Confucianism. He argues that, like any other human interaction, filial piety should be rooted in genuine care and authenticity. While exalted rites can sometimes be superficial, leading to alienation and tension, Zhuangzi’s concept of "forgetting" fosters a state of ease and comfort.
The author argues that Zhuangzi's perspective on filial piety offers a valuable view to modern family life for its egalitarian and flexible approach.
As the article already achieves a good article status, I ll leave it to the primary contributors as for whether this point worth an addition. TheIntrospectorsfacts (talk) 19:09, 29 December 2024 (UTC)

Hello, I do not believe all the Zhuangzi was written in the late Warring States period.  I agree much of it was likely compiled in the late Warring States period.  Shen Dao has Zhuangist type ideas going back to the Jixia Academy. Zhuangist type ideas influence Xun Kuang, who would be considered in the later Warring States period.  Much of it might have been written in the late Warring States period, but the Inner Zhuangzi's current predates the late Warring States period. They make their way to the Han Feizi, but if anything Zhuangist currents were starting to fade by the late Warring States period in favor of the Guanzi, Tao te Ching, and Huang-Lao "political Daoism" Huangdi Sijing, which has Zhuangzi type influence in at least one book.FourLights (talk) 09:59, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

I would be up to include small commentary and quotation from a lost chapter partly preserved one of the Imperial Readers (I don't recall which one without reading up on this again). You could object or comment where to put it. For instance, I could put it at the end.FourLights (talk) FourLights (talk) 07:51, 2 November 2025 (UTC)