Of Motion and Metaphor: The Theme of Kinesis in Chuang Tzu

Abstract

This thesis explores some of the factors determinant of Chuang Tzu’s particular linguistic choices, especially the frequent appearance of terms and images concerned with the property of kinesis, which I define here as ‘the fact of movement or its characteristics’; I include as well sources of motion such as animals or organs of motion. This thesis demonstrates that Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) uses words and images that exemplify acceptance of chaos and rejection of rigidity, in clusters of images concerned with motion, and that there is resonance between the very words chosen and Chuang Tzu’s philosophical and historical situation. I show that in its advocacy of recognizing a continuum between the spiritual and material worlds Chuang Tzu may be viewed largely as a conservative, regionally specific, response to the increasingly secular world of the late Warring States period.