Zhuangzi’s Ancient Stories
Zhuangzi told stories to try and share the wisdom of the Universe. Do not directly read the story as it is. Try to see the wisdom of the unspoken. Master Lu will share his insights during the first call.
Most of the stories will come from the book, Zhuangzhi Speaks by Tsai Chih-Chung. We highly suggest you read pages 2-4 before reading other parables.
The first story comes from a different Daoist text, The Zhuangzi
The Zhuangzi, (4th century BCE) is one of the foundational texts of Daoism and one of the most radical philosophical works ever written. It is not a manual, not a doctrine, and not a moral system. It is a book meant to loosen the mind. We are revisiting this story as the foundational parable that sets the tone for our Yin/Yang experience.
Kun-Peng Story
The opening story tells of a giant fish named Kun that lives in the Northern Darkness. We are revisiting this story to reflect on the meaning of Yin and Yang. What do you see?
In the Northern Darkness, there lives an enormous fish named Kun. Kun is so immense that no one knows its true size—only that it stretches for thousands of miles. It lives deep in the dark waters, far beyond the reach of ordinary creatures.
At a certain moment, Kun changes. The fish transforms into a giant bird called Peng. Peng’s back is broad like a mountain range, and its wings spread like clouds hanging across the sky.
When Peng prepares to fly, the sea churns beneath it. Waves rise, and the wind gathers strength. Peng beats its wings and lifts off, ascending high into the air—rising ninety thousand li above the earth. It does not flap endlessly; instead, it rides the powerful currents of wind.
With this momentum, Peng travels from the Northern Darkness toward the Southern Brightness, a distant and luminous realm. The journey is long and requires the strength of great winds and open skies.
Along the way, small birds watch and laugh. They dart from branch to branch and scoff at Peng’s flight. “Why go so far?” they say. “We rise only a few feet into the air, land in the bushes, and that is enough for us.”
Peng does not respond. It continues its journey, carried by the vast wind, crossing immense distances that the small birds cannot imagine.
And so the story moves on, leaving the image of a fish that became a bird, a sky filled with wind, and a journey measured not in effort.
The Dream of the Butterfly – Page 26
Zhuangzi tells a short story:
He dreams he is a butterfly—completely free, fully a butterfly, with no awareness of being Zhuangzi.
When he wakes up, he is Zhuangzi again.
Then he wonders:
Was I Zhuangzi dreaming I was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming I was Zhuangzi?
The point isn’t to answer the question.
The point is to show that what we call reality and identity are not fixed. They shift. They transform.
