Zhuangzi · Philosophy

Free and Easy Wandering, and the Equanimity of Death

Zhuangzi&rsquo;s vision of spiritual freedom - <em>xiaoyao you</em>, &lsquo;free and easy wandering&rsquo; - soars with the vast Peng bird beyond every narrow measure, and completes itself in his serene acceptance of death, most famously when he drummed on a tub and sang at his own wife&rsquo;s funeral.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that xiaoyao you (&lsquo;free and easy wandering&rsquo;) is Zhuangzi&rsquo;s ideal of spiritual freedom - roaming beyond narrow perspectives and dependence, like the vast Peng bird - and that it completes itself in equanimity toward death, seen as a natural transformation (Zhuangzi drumming on a tub at his…

Leads to Friedrich Nietzsche.

Begin this lesson →
← All lessons on Zhuangzi

epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.