Researches On Three Monographs Of Zhuangzi Studies Written In The Republic Of China

Zhuangzi (formerly translated as Chuang-tzu) plays an important role in traditional Chinese culture; Taoist school, for which he is the principal representative, and Confucian school constitute the two pillars of traditional Chinese culture. Thus, in the Chinese history, great store has been set to researches on Zhuangzi. According to the rough estimate by some local chronicles, from the time Prince Huainan of the Western Han Dynasty compiled Glimpse of Zhuangzi to Republic of China, there were over 700 kinds of monographs on Zhuangzi, among which there still exist nearly 400 kinds. In the past decades, achievements of researches on Zhuangzi and his ideas have been made in an endless stream, but most of them are annotations of Book of Master Zhuang, or elaborations on his ideas while seldom are summaries and comments on these research achievements from the perspective of history of studies on Zhuangzi. Summarizations on research achievements from Republic of China and afterwards are especially rare.In view of this phenomenon, this article, from the perspective of history of studies on Zhuangzi, tries to take as its objectives three influential monographs on studies of Zhuangzi and his ideas with distinctive features during the Republic of China. The author wants to reveal, through the comments on the contents and features of the three monographs, the primary characteristics of contemporary studies on Zhuangzi and his ideas, and wish to be helpful to the researches on the studies of Zhuangzi during Republic of China.The article is composed of five parts. The introductory part introduces the situations of the academic community during Republic of China, which is the base for the researches conducted by this article; the first chapter summarizes the features of Studies of Zhuangzi written by Lang Qinxiao discusses how Lang realized the interpretation means by which the western learning integrated into the studies of Zhuangzi, how Lang cited from various schools of thought and their exponents during the period from pre-Qin times to the early Han Dynasty, including words of Zhuangzi to make comparison and explanation, and makes comments on the significances of Lang's unprecedented chapter Appraisal of Studies of Zhuangzi; the second chapter makes comments on Researches of Zhuangzi written by Ye Guoqing, in which the author emphasizes the characteristics of his systematic method, as a historian, used inresearches of Book of Master Zhuang and mainly investigates his textual researches of Zhuangzi and Zhuangzi's articles, his expositions of Zhuangzi's theories, and his achievements and defects of probing into the histories in Book of Master Zhuang; the third chapter deals with Philosophy of Zhuangzi by Jiang Xichang, which focuses on Zhuangzi's "integration of philosophy and textual exegesis" (combination of modernization and tradition) and makes comments on Jiang' researches on Zhuangzi's studies and checks and annotations of Easy Journey ( Xiao Yao You), On Leveling All Things (Qi Wu Lun), The World (Tian Xia); the fifth part is the conclusion.