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Lieh-tzu: A Biographical Note
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"Our Master Lieh Tzu dwelt on a vegetable plot There is hardly anything known about Lieh-tzu's life. Some
authors even declare that he was but an allegorical character fabricated by In "Ch'ung-hsu chen-ching" (the Classic of Perfect Emptiness) - the book attributed to him - he appears only 18 times and not as a main
character. More serious even, neither does the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien mention anything related to Lieh-tzu. The reason might be that his writing had disappeared by the time Ch'ien lived. However, sources prior to the Historical Records do quote the Taoist master. On the other hand, Chuang-tzu cites Lieh-tzu and approaches him as a real personage. Here and there, he goes to the length of imitating his writing style. Most likely, if we take into account the story
in Book VIII, Chap. 6, Lieh-tzu was born around 450 B.C. As for the events of his lifetime, his trade, etc. - we know nothing... Undoubtedly he survived thanks to his many disciples' help. It seems that he willingly rejected a job offer at the princely palace, as one may find out from the confessions he made to his friend and co-disciple Pai-kao: The prince would have surely charged me with state affairs, inviting me to do great things. (II, 14) He was poor and
hungry, according to Book VIII, Chap. 6.
In Book IV, Chap. 6 from the Classic of Perfect Emptiness, there is a story about master Lieh-tzu's spiritual accomplishment by the time he was a disciple of Shang-tzu. We also have a narration from the master himself, which was widely quoted by various authors. We shall sum it up here:
My mind was frozen, my body in dissolution, my flesh and bones all melted together. I was wholly unconscious of what my body was resting on, or what was under my feet. I was borne this way and that on the wind, like dry chaff or leaves falling from a tree. In fact, I knew not whether the wind was riding on me or I on the wind. (II, 3)
The Classic of Perfect Emptiness includes many of Lieh-tzu's quotations on Notes:
in the Chêng State for forty years, and no man
knew him for what he was." (From the book Lieh-tzu)
The quotations are taken from the French version of the Classic of Perfect Emptiness, "Le vrai classique du vide
parfait", translated by Benedykt Grynpas, Gallimard, 1961 (II, 14) and from Lionel Giles version of this book: Taoist Teachings - Book of Lieh-tzu (1912) (II, 3).
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