Chuang Tzu lived around the 4th Century BC. The Chuang Tzu was, at least predominantly, written by him, and it is a great book.
From the Encyclopaedia Britannica: Chuang-tzu's eccentricities stem directly from his enlightened fatalism.
Enlightenment for Chuang-tzu comes with the realization that everything in life is One, the Tao.
Chuang-Tzu taught that what can be known or said of the Tao is not the Tao. It has no beginning or end,
no limitations or demarcations. Life is subject to the eternal transformation of the Tao, in which there is no
better or worse, no good or evil. Things should be allowed to follow their own course, and men should not value
one situation over another. A truly virtuous man is free from the bondage of circumstance, personal attachments,
tradition, and the need to reform his world. Chuang-tzu declined an offer to be prime minister .. because he did
not want the entanglements of a court career.
Besides all of that, he is very funny.
Excerpts:
Once Chuang Chou dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Chuang Chou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Chuang Chou. But he didn't know if he was Chuang Chou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Chou. Between Chuang Chou and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things.
from Chuang Tzu
Once, when Chuang Tzu was fishing in the P'u River, the king of Ch'u sent two officials to go and announce to him: "I would like to trouble you with the administration of my realm."
Chuang Tzu held on to the fishing pole and, without turning his head, said, "I have heard that there is a sacred tortoise in Ch'u that has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it wrapped in cloth and boxed, and stores it in the ancestral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its bones left behind and honored? Or would it rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud?"
"It would rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud," said the two officials."
Chuang Tzu said, "Go away! I'll drag my tail in the mud!"
from Chuang Tzu
T'ien K'ai-chih said, "I have heard the Master say, 'He who is good at nourishing life is like a herder of sheep-he watches for stragglers and whips them up.'"
"What does that mean?" asked Duke Wei.
T'ien K'ai-chih said, "In Lu there was Shan Pao-he lived among the cliffs, drank only water, and didn't go after gain like other people. He went along like that for seventy years and still had the complexion of a little child. Unfortunately, he met a hungry tiger who killed him and ate him up. Then there was Chang Yi-there wasn't one of the great families and fancy mansions that he didn't rush off to visit. He went along like that for forty years, and then he developed an internal fever, fell ill, and died. Shan Pao looked after what was on the inside and the tiger ate up his outside. Chang Yi looked after what was on the outside and the sickness attacked him from the inside. Both these men failed to give a lash to the stragglers."
from Chuang Tzu
Carpenter Shih went to Ch'i and, when he got to Crooked Shaft, he saw a serrate oak standing by the village shrine. It was broad enough to shelter several thousand oxen and measured a hundred spans around, towering above the hills. The lowest branches were eighty feet from the ground, and a dozen or so of them could have been made into boats. There were so many sightseers that the place looked like a fair, but the carpenter didn't even glance around and went on his way without stopping. His apprentice stood staring for a long time and then ran after Carpenter Shih and said, "Since I first took up my ax and followed you, Master, I have never seen timber as beautiful as this. But you don't even bother to look, and go right on without stopping. Why is that?"
"Forget it-say no more!" said the carpenter. "It's a worthless tree! Make boats out of it and they'd sink; make coffins and they'd rot in no time; make vessels and they'd break at once. Use it for doors and it would sweat sap like pine; use it for posts and the worms would eat them up. It's not a timber tree-there's nothing it can be used for. Thats how it got to be that old!"
After Carpenter Shih had returned home, the oak tree appeared to him in a dream and said, "What are you comparing me with? Are you comparing me with those useful trees? The cherry apple, the pear, the orange, the citron, the rest of those fructiferous trees and shrubs-as soon as their fruit is ripe, they are torn apart and subjected to abuse. Their big limbs are broken off, their little limbs are yanked around. Their utility makes life miserable for them, and so they don't get to finish out the years Heaven gave them, but are cut off in mid-journey. They bring it on themselves-the pulling and tearing of the common mob. And its the same way with all other things.
"As for me, I've been trying a long time to be of no use, and though i almost died, I've finally got it. This is of great use to me. If i had been of some use, would I ever have grown this large?
from Chuang Tzu
