ABSTRACT
Translators have long noted the unique challenges of rendering Zhuangzi Zhou’s deeply poetic and metaphorical style into English. Many scholars have made reference to the continuity between humanity and nature found within the pages of the Chinese classics. The Zhuangzi is chock full of animal descriptions and shocking profanity that could serve as stellar examples of Zangwill’s point about morally thick metaphors. Some examples: the text begins with a story about an incredibly large fish that transforms into a phoenix-like bird, moving from abundant yin to the utmost yang and back again. If Zhuangzi’s moral ‘reals’ cannot be stated directly, the question remains how they could ever guide ethical action. The answer to that question might be the second most distinctive feature of a Zhuangzian non-cognitive moral realism. The Zhuangzi’s advice for self-cultivation was set up in opposition to the rigid practices of the Confucians and Mohists. As such, the attunement the Daoist sage sought is considered formless and ever-changing.
