Western Interpretations of a Daoist Classic: The Reception of Zhuangzi

Western Interpretations of a Daoist Classic: The Reception of Zhuangzi

Richard John Lynn, Professor Emeritus of Chinese Thought and Literature
University of Toronto

Thursday, May 5 at 11:00am EDT (Attend in person or online)
*Free event; donations accepted.

The Western reception of the Zhuangzi (Chuang-Tzu), a foundational text of the Chinese philosophical tradition and the cornerstone of Daoist thought, has a long history prior to the appearance of the first integral translations in the 1880s. It is best studied as part of the European encounter with South and East Asian religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism in the 17th and 18th centuries, a religious and cultural experience that profoundly shaped the development of modern Orientalism. This search to expand Western religious perspectives by discovering in Asia's non-Abrahamic religions parallels and precedents for basic Judeo-Christian beliefs about God, creation, and the individual soul, was ultimately compromised by imperialist ambitions and commercial greed during the 19th century.

Professor Richard John Lynn has held positions at universities in New Zealand, Australia, U.S.A. and Canada. In 1999, he was appointed Professor of Chinese Thought and Literature at the University of Toronto until his retirement in 2005. He has more than 100 book sections, journal articles, and reviews published on pre-modern Chinese poetry and poetics, literati culture, intellectual history, and the visual arts, and is the author of translations such as The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi and The Classic of the Way and Virtue: A New Translation of the Tao-te ching of Laozi as Interpreted by Wang Bi. He is currently working on a translation and study of the Daoist classic, Zhuangzi, with commentary of Guo Xiang (Columbia University Press, 2020), and a study of Huang Zunxian's literary experiences in Japan (1877- 82).

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