Guo Xiang
Encyclopedia
Guo Xiang is credited with the first and most important revision of the text known as the Zhuangzi
which, along with the Laozi
, forms the textual and philosophical basis of the Taoist
school of thought. He was also a scholar of xuanxue
.
The Guo Xiang redaction
of the text revised a fifty-two chapter original by removing material he thought was superstitious and generally not of philosophical interest to his literati sensibilities, resulting in a thirty-three chapter total. He appended a philosophical commentary to the text that became famous, and within four centuries his shorter and snappier expurgated recension became the only one known.
This Zhuangzi recension is traditionally divided into three sections: ‘Inner Chapters’ (1-7), ‘Outer Chapters’ (8-22), ‘Miscellaneous Chapters’ (23-33). This division is quite old and is likely to have been part of the original recension.
Guo's redaction focuses on his understanding of Zhuangzi's philosophy of spontaneity . This practiced spontaneity is demonstrated by the story of Cook Ding, rendered as Cook Ting in the Burton Watson
translation (which is itself ultimately derived from the Guo Xiang recension):
Here, the careful yet effortlessly spontaneous way in which Cook Ding is described cutting up the ox is both an example of the cognitive state of mind Zhuangzi associated with the Tao and the assertion that this state is accessible in everyday life.
, a Russian TV Company has used a modified image of Guo Xiang's death mask
as their logo.
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...
which, along with the Laozi
Laozi
Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
, forms the textual and philosophical basis of the Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
school of thought. He was also a scholar of xuanxue
Xuanxue
Xuanxue , Neo-Taoism, or Neo-Daoism is the focal school of thought in Chinese philosophy from the third to sixth century CE. Xuanxue philosophers combined elements of Confucianism and Taoism to reinterpret the Yijing, Daodejing, and Zhuangzi.The name compounds xuan 玄 "black, dark; mysterious,...
.
The Guo Xiang redaction
Redaction
Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple source texts are combined and subjected to minor alteration to make them into a single work. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent work...
of the text revised a fifty-two chapter original by removing material he thought was superstitious and generally not of philosophical interest to his literati sensibilities, resulting in a thirty-three chapter total. He appended a philosophical commentary to the text that became famous, and within four centuries his shorter and snappier expurgated recension became the only one known.
This Zhuangzi recension is traditionally divided into three sections: ‘Inner Chapters’ (1-7), ‘Outer Chapters’ (8-22), ‘Miscellaneous Chapters’ (23-33). This division is quite old and is likely to have been part of the original recension.
Guo's redaction focuses on his understanding of Zhuangzi's philosophy of spontaneity . This practiced spontaneity is demonstrated by the story of Cook Ding, rendered as Cook Ting in the Burton Watson
Burton Watson
Burton Watson is an accomplished translator of Chinese and Japanese literature and poetry. He has received awards including the Gold Medal Award of the Translation Center at Columbia University in 1979, the PEN Translation Prize in 1981 for his translation with Hiroaki Sato of From the Country of...
translation (which is itself ultimately derived from the Guo Xiang recension):
Cook Ting was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-huiWen HuiWen Hui , style name Manji , was a minister of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Wen Hui was a reputed administrator of Cao Wei. After many successful performances as a local official in the late Han Dynasty, Wen Hui returned to the capital and ended up becoming a...
. At every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee, zip! zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as though he were performing the dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping time to the Ching-shou Music.
"Ah, this is marvelous!" said Lord Wen-hui. "Imagine skill reaching such heights!"
Cook Ting laid down his knife and replied, "What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now I go at it by spirit and don't look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and follow things as they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, much less a main joint."
"A good cook changes his knife once a year, because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month, because he hacks. I've had this knife of mine for nineteen years and I've cut up thousands of oxen with it, and yet the blade is as good as though it had just come from the grindstone. There are spaces between the joints, and the blade of the knife has really no thickness. If you insert what has no thickness into such spaces, then there's plenty of room, more than enough for the blade to play about it. That's why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is still as good as when it first came from the grindstone.
Chapter 3 - The Secret of Caring for Life
Here, the careful yet effortlessly spontaneous way in which Cook Ding is described cutting up the ox is both an example of the cognitive state of mind Zhuangzi associated with the Tao and the assertion that this state is accessible in everyday life.
Trivia
VIDVID (TV Company)
VID is a TV production company in Russia, started by Vladislav Listyev since 1990. It is best known for producing the television programmes Wait for Me, designed to help people find loved ones and Pole Chudes which is a popular Russian version of Wheel of Fortune.VID is known both for its logo,...
, a Russian TV Company has used a modified image of Guo Xiang's death mask
Death mask
In Western cultures a death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits...
as their logo.
See also
- Xiang XiuXiang XiuXiang Xiu is one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.His most famous contribution is a commentary on the Zhuangzi, which was later used and amended by Guo Xiang. After his friend Xi Kang was killed by the ruling Jin dynasty, Xiang carefully interpreted his previous antagonistic words to the...
- ChanZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
- Chinese philosophyChinese philosophyChinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
- LaoziLaoziLaozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
- ZhuangziZhuangziZhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...
- VIDVID (TV Company)VID is a TV production company in Russia, started by Vladislav Listyev since 1990. It is best known for producing the television programmes Wait for Me, designed to help people find loved ones and Pole Chudes which is a popular Russian version of Wheel of Fortune.VID is known both for its logo,...