📖 Overview
What is true happiness? This chapter explores the question through a series of provocative stories. Zhuangzi argues that the conventional pursuit of wealth, fame, and pleasure is not true happiness — and neither is the ascetic pursuit of suffering.
When Zhuangzi's wife dies, his friend Huizi finds him sitting on the ground, drumming on a tub and singing. Huizi is shocked: 'She lived with you, raised your children, grew old with you. How can you drum and sing?' Zhuangzi replies: 'When she died, I was devastated. But then I reflected: before she was born, she had no form; before that, no qi. Something changed and she was born; now she has changed again and is dead. This is like the progression of the four seasons. If I were to weep and wail, it would show that I do not understand destiny.'
🏮 Famous Stories & Parables
🏮 Zhuangzi Drums and Sings at His Wife's Death
Zhuangzi's wife dies. Huizi finds him drumming on a pot and singing. 'How can you?' Huizi demands. Zhuangzi replies: 'Before birth, she had no form. Something changed and she was born. Now she has changed again. This is like the four seasons. Weeping would show I don't understand destiny.'
🏮 The Skull in the Desert
Liezi picks up a skull in the desert and asks it about death. That night, the skull appears in his dream: 'The dead have no king, no seasons, no cares. Our happiness exceeds that of the living.' Liezi tests it: 'Shall I restore you to life?' The skull frowns: 'Why would I give up this peace for the worries of the living?'
🏮 The Marquis of Lu and the Seabird
A beautiful seabird lands near the capital of Lu. The Marquis, delighted, treats it to a grand banquet of wine, music, and beef. The bird is terrified — it will not eat or drink, and dies within three days. Zhuangzi comments: 'You should feed a bird what birds eat, not what you eat.' Imposing your own values on others is the opposite of care.