庄子

莊子

Zhuāngzǐ

proper noun #63,997

Meanings

1 Zhuangzi (Taoist philosopher)

About Zhuangzi

c. 369–286 BC · 思想家 thinker

Warring States thinker counted with Laozi as a founder of Taoism. His book of parables tells how he dreamed he was a butterfly, 庄周梦蝶, and woke unsure which of the two was dreaming.

Also called 庄周、南华真人

Characters

庄

Zhuāng

village; hamlet; solemn; grave

子

zǐ

son; child; master; philosopher

Literally 'Master Zhuang'. 子 was a common honorific suffix for philosophers in ancient China.

Examples

HSK 3

我最近在读庄子的书。

Wǒ zuìjìn zài dú Zhuāngzǐ de shū.

I've been reading Zhuangzi's books recently.

Tips

usage

Say 庄子 with a full third tone: 子 means 'Master', as in 孔子. With a toneless zi (zhuāngzi), the same characters are a colloquial word for 'village'. His book gave Chinese the chengyu 庖丁解牛, 'Cook Ding carves the ox', for effortless mastery.

Stroke Order

庄 zhuāng

子 zǐ

庄子