Living through dying in the Zhuangzi

Turner, Kevin James (author)

Daoist thought is well-known for its emphasis on “nothingness” as a mode of optimal living in the world. This optimal living in the world is what the Zhuangzi 莊子 calls “caring for life” (yangsheng 養生). This “caring for life”, exemplified by the butcher’s story, has been understood as an analogy for securing safety in turbulent social times and as a satirical account of ritual. However, what neither of these readings have noticed is how the Zhuangzi’s story of the butcher uses “death” to present a theory on optimal living. This article analyzes death in relation to “negation” (wu 無), “forgetting” (wang 忘), and the body. As a story about “living through dying”, the idea of “caring for life” can be connected to other themes of death and dying in the Zhuangzi that paradoxically lead to greater experience, connection with Dao, and fullness of life. Through an examination of death and dying in relation to methods of cultivation, this article will argue that the Zhuangzi’s idea of “caring for living” should be understood as “living through dying”.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Zhuangzi, caring for life, death, negation, self-cultivation
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 29-55
• Numbering: Vol. 13, no. 2
• ISSN on article: 2232-5131
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2025.13.2.29-55
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies = Azijske študije
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Živeti skozi umiranje v Zhuangziju

Abstract

Daoistična miselnost je znana po svojem poudarku na »niču« kot načinu optimalnega življenja v svetu. To optimalno življenje v svetu Zhuangzi 莊子 imenuje »nega življenja« (yangsheng 養生). Ta »nega življenja«, ki jo ponazarja zgodba o mesarju, je bila dojeta kot analogija za zagotavljanje varnosti v nemirnih družbenih časih in hkrati kot satiričen prikaz obrednosti. Vendar pa nobena od dosedanjih interpretacij ne opazi, kako Zhuangzijeva zgodba o mesarju uporablja »smrt« za predstavitev teorije optimalnega življenja. Ta članek analizira smrt v povezavi z »odsotnostjo« (wu 無), »pozabo« (wang 忘) in telesom. Kot zgodba o »življenju skozi umiranje« se ideja »nege življenja« lahko poveže z drugimi temami smrti in umiranja v Zhuangziju, ki paradoksalno vodijo k popolnejši izkušnji, povezavi z daotom in polnosti življenja. S proučitvijo smrti in umiranja v povezavi z metodami kultivacije bo ta članek zagovarjal tezo, da bi bilo treba Zhuangzijevo idejo »nege življenja« razumeti kot »življenje skozi umiranje«.

• Keywords: Zhuangzi, »nega življenja«, smrt, odsotnost, samokultivacija