Customer Reviews

Zhuangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Now you can enjoy the essence, wit and wisdom of Chuangzi brought to life through cartoons. Near the edge of each page, you'll also find the story written in Chinese characters.

Through these popular and illustrated stories, you'll get a taste of "listening to the music", living spontaneously, free from social encumbrances, free from the strict rules of conduct of Confucianism - in harmony with the Tao, surrendering to the moment and enjoying whatever situation presents itself.

This lovely book presents the wisdom of Chuanzi through about 78 enlightening metaphorical stories.

The Chinese Tao is not easily accessible to the Western mind because culturally, historically, linguistically and philosophically, the eastern mind sees the world differently. What Chih-Chung Tsai (CC Tsai) and Brian Bruya have done is provide insights to Taoism that are easily accessed by you and me living in the western world. The illustrations, while simple, assist in bridging the gap between east and west. This is a mind treat, something you give yourself because, well, it's just pleasant. At the same time, it's profound, tapping into thousands of years of wisdom, coming from the Tao's most famous commentator Chuang-tzu (Zhuangzi in pinyin). Each story, generally only a page or two and seldom more than 150 words, strikes at the heart with the accuracy of an archer's arrow. If you are at all curious about what the Tao might mean to you, this is a delightful way to begin to take a peak. If you are already familiar with the concepts of Taoism, you may find this a refreshing new look at an ancient awareness.

This book is a great primer on Daoism. At the same time, the illustrations are often downright funny. The comic format makes it perfect for the compulsively busy friend you want to give some Daoist inspiration. I've read though this book countless times and always seem to find some new insight every time I pick it up. It is worth every penny.

Chinese philosphy is so pragmatic, always useful. These book makes easy to understand many important fact present in life. Sadly, the other books of this series aren't available. I hope they got reprinted. If you can't get one copy of this book, you'll see that some things change when we leave our static point of view. Great Book.

What a wonderful book. It is such an easy read. The illustrations are great and the stories convey profound wisdom in an entertaining fashion. The humor is gentle. One will grow in wisdom without even realizing it by reading this book. What a gem.

It's not every day you see a book on any Eastern philosophy that is easily accessible by pretty much anybody who can read. With /Zhuangzi Speaks/, Tsai Chih Chung has given us a great gift. I must admit that I initially had low expectations for a cartoon version of Chuang-Tzu's writings. After having read through it, however, I say with confidence that this is truly a wonderful book that makes the sometimes puzzling Taoist principles much easier to understand.

/Zhuangzi Speaks/ is definitely worth a read by fledgling and long-time Taoists alike, as well as their loved ones (who may not understand much about the Tao), and anyone else who is even the least bit curious about Chuang-Tzu and his ideas.

Zhuangzi Speaks!

if youve read Lao Tzu

if you havent read Lao Tzu

read Zhuangzi!

a VERY pointed and understandable method of contemplating the tao!

laced with Zhuanzi's style of humor, the illustrator brilliantly portrays the fundamentals of the tao.

life is meant to be lived, and Zhuangzi points the way!

Heard about this artist. This book is a must for all fans of Zhuangzy. I was so happy to read it. Really enjoyed this book!

Cai Zhizhong has written an entire series of "_____ Speaks", covering every Chinese philosopher of note that I know, but Zhuangzi Speaks is, in my opinion, the best of them all.
The format of the "_____ Speaks" books are all fairly simple. An excerpt from the philosopher's book is narrated over a short comic, and following the comic Cai Zhizhong explains to meaning of the excerpt. The art itself is skillfully simplistic (and cuuuuute!), and while some of the art is humorous in itself, Cai never sacrifices meaning for humor.
Most Chinese philosophical writings, such as those by Zhuangzi, Confucius, and Mencius, lend themselves well to this format because of how they are written - as short stories or snippets of conversation that can easily be converted to comic form.
Zhuangzi is my favorite philosopher by leaps and bounds, and reading all of Cai's books on the philosophers and philosophies was amazingly fun. However, these books do not just convert the written word into a comic - Cai also attempts to explain their meaning, which for many Chinese philosophers is very open for interpretation. I have some issues with how Cai interprets the philosophers in his other "_____ Speaks" books, but when writing about Zhuangzi Cai really shines; he has an amazingly canny and adept grasp on the meaning behind Zhuangzi's anecdotes. Seeing as Cai is quite Daoist himself his more intimate understanding of the philosophy makes sense, and reading his simple explanations will help anyone who is having trouble understanding an anecdote.

Brian Bruya had a hard job to do while translating. Not only did he have to translate Cai's writing, but he also had to translate Zhuangzi's. Zhuangzi was a master of the Chinese language and would use it in artful and complicated ways, which makes him notoriously hard to translate. Bruya's translation doesn't impress, but it gets the job done.

All in all, if you have any interest in Zhuangzi and Zhuangzi's take on the Dao, buy this book.

I enjoy cartoons and spiritual/philisophical themes...so I decided to surprise myself by purchasing this book without any idea of who Zhuangzi was. I was pleasantly surprised. The drawings and words beautifully illustrated the Taoist themes, and I felt transported into ancient China. All the while I was reading a cartoon book...what a joy.