Oriental Health Aesthetics: The Time of Professor Qiu Zhenglun’s Explanation of the Book of Changes(61）

The story of Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly is recounted in the chapter “On the Equality of Things” in Zhuangzi. At one moment, he dreamt he had transformed into a butterfly, fluttering about vividly as a butterfly; the next moment, he dreamt the butterfly had transformed into Zhuangzi. The question is: Did Zhuangzi dream of becoming the butterfly, or did the butterfly dream of becoming Zhuangzi? After all, a butterfly and Zhuangzi are wholly unrelated, yet what ultimately caused this? It’s “物化” (wù huà)—the transformation of things, isn’t it? In stories like these, we see the idea of all things transforming and giving rise to one another. Zhuangzi’s philosophy should not be treated as mere intellectual knowledge; it must be studied with life experience. Why is he called Zhuangzi? Some scholars now suggest that his name implies “pretending” (装, zhuāng), which makes some sense.

What flavor did I find when reading Zhuangzi? I didn’t find optimism or pessimism—I believe those were labels later scholars imposed on him. As a successor of Daoism, Zhuangzi is said to have adopted a pessimistic outlook on life, but I don’t see it that way. Nor do I think he was an optimist. Optimism and pessimism are binary values we later projected onto him. So what did I find? I found one word—a flavor. Can you guess what it is? Sour, the taste of sourness. How did I come to this? I pondered over Zhuangzi for a long time without finding an answer. Finally, at the Langjiu Manor, where poets from Chengdu and Chongqing gathered for a poetry exchange, a bartender taught each of us to mix drinks. He explained that the human tongue has three taste zones: the tip, which perceives sweetness—symbolizing childhood and youth; the middle part, along both sides, which perceives sourness—symbolizing middle age; and the root, which perceives bitterness—symbolizing old age. We are now approaching, or have already entered, old age. But most of life is spent in the sour stage. Jiang-flavor liquor, for example, carries a complex sour flavor—a blend of all tastes, isn’t it? In middle age, with its diverse experiences, burdens, and complexities, life transforms into an indescribable blend of flavors—hence, sourness. In Zhuangzi’s words, I tasted precisely this flavor: sourness.