Over 2,500 years ago, Zhuangzi of East Asia was not simply one of the Chinese philosophers or one of the Hundred Schools of Thought.
(…) He shows us that the values ​​we spend our entire lives trying to obtain are not only worthless but also harmful to our lives.
(…) Zhuangzi’s insight is that all the commonly accepted values, the values ​​we cling to, are merely variations on the ‘carrot and stick’ logic.
--- p.5~6, from “Publishing a Book”

Let's vehemently reject becoming a talent, someone useful to the system! Let's fully enjoy our own desires, not those of others! Let's not seek justice, whether in the grand scheme of things—nation or society, or in the small, like our company or family—and if we don't like it, let's coolly leave! This is why the "Zhuangzi" remains anti-establishment and revolutionary, even 2,500 years ago, and why it remains a book for our lives, not a textbook for the system.
--- p.14, from “Prologue”

People, past and present, tend to evaluate things based on their usefulness.
Even as a child, the question I heard most often was, “If I do that, will I get rice or cooked rice?”
(…) The same was true during the Warring States Period in China (403 BC – 221 BC) about 2,500 years ago.
It was a time when survival and competition were the top priorities for individuals, societies, and nations.
In this respect, the slogan “A rich nation and a strong military” is symbolic.
How can we make a nation wealthy and a strong military? This logic applies equally to individuals.
How can individuals become wealthy and powerful?
--- p.27~28, from “Hymn to Philosophy - Tales of the Underworld”

Let's say a person gets on someone else's boat and crosses the Yellow River.
If another ship were to accidentally collide with this one, who would be more upset: the owner or the people who got on board? It would probably be the owner, who feels the urge to "this is my ship."
Consider also the case of inter-floor noise.
Even if they live in the same house, who would be more sensitive to noise between floors: a renter or an owner? If they have similar personalities, the homeowner is likely to be more sensitive.
(…) This all has to do with the age-old human prejudice that what I have defines me, or in other words, that I am what I have and what I have is me.

--- p.56, from "Have Fun! Your Life - The Story of an Empty Ship"

We must make a decision.
Will I break through this narrow world? Or will I shrink myself and adapt to it?
(…) That’s why wind is important.
Because the wind is a symbol of a bigger world, a symbol of others outside our narrow world.
Gon dreams of a bigger world through the wind, and Bung wants to ride the wind to go to a bigger world.
It's about choosing a world that suits your size.

--- p.73~74, from "The Wind Blows, So I Must Live! - The Tale of the Great Bong"

The elder brother smiles brightly in front of them and says,
Aren't you mistakenly thinking that the world is a round cylinder and that if you push it, you'll fall and die? And aren't you taking your own lives because you foresee destruction?
The eldest son speaks of hope with a smile.
The edge of the cylinder is not a cliff, and the outside is not a precipice either.
When you look from the land where you are standing, the distant sea seems to drop off like a cliff, but when you go there yourself, it seems like there is no such thing as a cliff or precipice.

--- p.119, from “The World is Not One - The Story of Hand Medicine”

Without learning from others, or without 'being with' and forming relationships with others, life and experience are impossible.
Manual workers know very well that they cannot do their jobs properly if they do not respect others.
Whether it be other people, cows, trees, fish, iron, titanium, land or water.
On the other hand, mental labor captured in the world of command and obedience has difficulty properly relating to others encountered in the world of life.
Because others who are objects of domination and control cannot become companions in our lives.
--- p.134, from “Dancing with the Others - The Story of Pojeong”

If there is no wind noise, that is fine, but if there is wind noise, that sound necessarily presupposes 'a certain hole' and 'a certain wind'.
And even when the two meet, they don't all make the same sound.
The shapes of the holes vary, and the winds are also plural in speed and direction.
Depending on the shape of the hole and the strength and direction of the wind, each produces its own unique wind sound.

--- p.151, from “The Sound of the Wind in the Empty Sky - The Story of the Wind”

The key words to understand Zhangzi's thoughts are 'other' and 'context'.
Of course, Jangja does not conceptualize and use this keyword.
In fact, these two keywords were first conceptualized and thematically addressed in the late 20th century.
This is probably why the storybook called "Zhuangzi" still doesn't seem outdated.
Already 2,500 years ago, Zhuangzi pondered the other and the context to a degree that rivaled even modern Western philosophers.

--- p.189, from “Beyond Good and Evil - A Story of Hypocrisy”

During the Warring States Period, as barbarism, disguised as civilization, intensified and expanded in an irresistible trend on the Chinese mainland, philosophers who confronted it head-on emerged.
It was the eldest son.
(…) Through his short but powerful story of life and death, Zhuangzi dreamed of a human being who could resist domestication, a human being who resolutely refused to be tamed by rewards and punishments, a human being who enjoyed freedom as much as a wild horse or a wolf.
--- p.223, from “The Secret of Leisure and Confidence - Private Life Stories”

Sincerity can be interpreted as ‘a fulfilled heart.’
(…) The settler mind, that is, the sincerity, comes with a strong desire to possess my home, my land, and further, what is mine.
On the other hand, nomads leave their current place without hesitation if they don't like it.
(…) It is the insight that if there is no sincerity, there is no right or wrong, or that a settled life creates right or wrong.

--- p.279~286, from “What Jangja Saw in the Gwangmakjiya - The Story of the Sacred Heart”

Now, the last piece of advice from the master comes into view.
“Do not go further than this, just follow this (無適焉, 因是已)” This is a story about not going beyond the full situation where you feel that “nothing in the world is bigger than the tip of an autumn hair,” the sorrowful situation where you feel that “no one in the world lives longer than a child who died young,” and the wondrous situation where you feel that “the world was born with me,” but rather following this situation.

--- p.314, from "Right Here, Don't Go Any Further! - One Story"

The will to freedom, to neither dominate nor obey others, or the will to love, to support others rather than rely on them, are the principles of the “undisturbed” Liezi.
(…) The word ‘consistency’ may be the fate that those who have emptied their hearts must endure.
If Zarathustra spoke thus, then this is how Liezi lived.

--- p.355~357, from "This is how Yeolja lived! - The Story of Yeolja"