An extraordinary horde of aberrant, deformed, and grotesque beings inhabits the writings collected in the Zhuangzi. Crippled, malformed, hideous, foolish, eccentric, and even outlawed individuals conquer the central place of philosophical narration, traditionally proscribed for them, and create one of the most important and intriguing voices echoing through the text. Yet, for all their undeniably significant presence, scholars of ancient Chinese philosophy have paid surprisingly little attention to the topic of monsters. Structured into three sections and adopting a critical, strictly (...) philosophical standpoint, this paper aims to draw attention to the crucial role played by monsters in the Zhuangzi. The first section underlines the essential characteristics of these monsters and, most particularly, their disruptive dimension together with the challenge they pose to philosophical thinking. The second section offers a detailed review of the recent bibliography on the Zhuangzi with regard to analysis of these aberrant figures. Finally, based on contributions in the work of Jacques Rancière, the third section highlights the political scope embodied by the monstrous beings of the Zhuangzi. (shrink)

Most scholarly contributions analysing the Han Feizi tend not only to overlook the influence military literature might have had on its conception and unfolding, but also to assert that the figure of the ruler, as described in this text, and that of the commander, as portrayed in military treatises, are incompatible. In refuting this view, I shall attempt to demonstrate that the writings collected in the Han Feizi fully embrace the logic of military con- frontation, which entails, among other things, (...) the deployment of deception and irregular procedures as a necessary means to secure sovereign power and to achieve a complete control of the administration. Accordingly, I shall show that a comprehensive understanding of this important work in the history of classical Chinese thought is not possible unless one takes into account this convergence of shared ideas and concepts from both spheres, that of military strategy and that of political science as set forth in the Han Feizi. (shrink)

The main purpose of this article is to underline the crucial significance of laughter, a hitherto neglected matter in the study of the Zhuangzi. It aims to show that focusing on laughter is beneficial in order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of some of the most philosophically relevant problems in the Zhuangzi since a careful analysis of the role of laughter may reveal a great deal of debate concerning such issues as life, death, friendship, social relations, and ritual in (...) this text. This article discusses then the positive role that laughter plays in the Zhuangzi in contexts traditionally governed by the rules of seriousness, formality, and circumspection, from both an anthropological and a philosophical perspective. (shrink)

This is an attempt to demonstrate that in early China anecdotes and biographical scenes are not to be despised in philosophical examination but, on the contrary, merit close attention. By analyzing the encounter between the monarch Helü of the state of Wu and the celebrated strategist Sun Wu, as it is described in various ancient written sources, an attempt will be made to show that this event, far from being a trivial story, concentrates and explains some of the most important (...) ideas to be found in the work traditionally credited to the latter, The Art of War, as well as in other military treatises of the time. (shrink)