Thus Spake Master Chuang: A Structural Exegesis of Taoist Philosophy

This work provides a structural method for decoding and integrating the hidden message of the Chuang Tzu, one of the most important, as well as one of the most abstruse texts of ancient Chinese philosophy. With the help of Rankian interpretation this structural method demonstrates that the Taoist philosophy of the Chuang Tzu is chiefly a psychological and partly a behavior-oriented system of pain-avoidance. The behavior-oriented part of the Chuang Tzu’s message is obvious and as such has been much commented by former and later scholars. Accordingly, the major contribution of this book to the field of Taoist philosophy is its demonstration of the Chuang Tzu’s psychological system of pain-avoidance. This book will appeal to those interested in hermeneutic methodology, structural analysis, Taoist philosophy, and the application of Otto Rank’s psychology.