In the introduction to his Zhuangzi translation, the American scholar Burton Watson concluded: 'Whoever Zhuang Zhou was, the writings attributed to him bear the stamp of a brilliant and original mind.' Sima Qian's 1st century BC Records of the Grand Historian, the first of China's 24 dynastic histories, has a biography of Zhuangzi, but most of it seems to have simply been drawn from anecdotes in the Zhuangzi itself. He is thought to have spent time in the southern state of Chu, as well as in Linzi, the capital of the state of Qi. He is generally said to have been born around 369 BC at a place called Meng ( 蒙) in the state of Song (around present-day Shangqiu, Henan Province), and to have died around 301, 295, or 286 BC. Nothing is concretely known of Zhuangzi's life. The Zhuangzi is named for and attributed to a man named Zhuang Zhou, who is customarily called 'Zhuangzi' ('Master Zhuang', from Mandarin Chinese Zhuāngzǐ 莊子). A masterpiece of both philosophical and literary skill, it has significantly influenced major Chinese writers and poets for more than 2000 years from the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) to the present.

Though primarily known as a philosophical work, the Zhuangzi is regarded as one of the greatest literary works in Chinese history, and has been called 'the most important pre- Qin text for the study of Chinese literature'. While other ancient Chinese philosophers focused on moral and personal duty, Zhuangzi promoted carefree wandering and becoming one with 'the Way' ( Dào 道) by following nature.

The fables and anecdotes in the text attempt to illustrate the falseness of human distinctions between good and bad, large and small, life and death, and human and nature. Its main themes are of spontaneity in action and of freedom from the human world and its conventions. The Zhuangzi consists of a large collection of anecdotes, allegories, parables, and fables, which are often humorous or irreverent. Named for its traditional author, 'Master Zhuang' ( Zhuangzi), the Zhuangzi is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, along with the Tao Te Ching. The Zhuangzi ( Chinese: 莊子, historically romanized Chuang Tzŭ) is an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period (476–221 BC) which contains stories and anecdotes that exemplify the carefree nature of the ideal Taoist sage.

The book of chuang tzu