The title of Zhuangzis Fourth Inner chapter is In the World of Man.

It talks of how
man should live his life in the world. In this chapter, it is clear that we are put into this world but
we do not have a choice. This deals with the way of living in a society. In Zhuangzis vision,
society was corrupted a long time ago ever since rulers began worrying about governance and
created rituals, norms, titles (ming), and laws to regulate people. Full of bad lords and greedy
people, society became more and more a dangerous place to survive. Zhuangzi does not attempt
to present any remedy for changing the social reality, nor does he intend to suggest that we
should renounce our social lives. 1We have no say as to whether we wanted to be born in a
certain body, certain family, certain context or certain time. We are simply thrown into this
world. And what his emphasis is on how we should live our lives happily in this corrupted world.
And in this life, we would often think that the more we do, the better off we are. Many in
history, who had devoted their lives to saving the world from decadence, either failed or
aggravated the situation, because they ought against what they had not overcome inside
themselves. Therefore, Zhuangzi teaches us that if you want to help others help yourself first; if
you want society to be just be yourself first. Perfect yourself before perfecting others! When
youre not even sure what youve got in yourself, how do you have time to bother about what
some tyrant is doing?2
We think that the more we are under the spotlight, the more correct our path in life is.
This is why we always try to make something out of ourselves. We work hard and do our best to
be of service to others. We try to be as useful in the world as possible. But Zhuangzis take on
this is quite different from the norm. He says that we try to work our way to the world. We live
between beings into the world. But what we think is useful is useless after all. We tend to see
things in their fragmented opposites. Whats important is that we see things as a whole not
1 (Shang, 2006)
2 Ibid.

really as opposites. It is only our perception but in reality its just us. The good and bad is only
good and bad in relation to we or to man. If you take away the in relation to, theres no good
and bad. Good and bad is just equal. If you take away the in relation to, that is reality. And to
add to this, he also claims that in heavens eyes, the opposites that we claim are actually not
there.
We actually dont know what the useless can do until we use it. The things we deem as
useless actually have some form of benefit to us. Take for example a tree that is standing in zen
garden. Usually, we would say that that tree is of no use for us. But on a hot day, that useless
thing actually provides us with shade to make the feeling a little bit cooler. Also, we shouldnt
think that being useful will prolong our lives. The next statement may hurt but it is the truth.
People forget something useful after theyve used it. The tendency of man is inclined to wanting
to be useful than to be useless. But look at what happens to those who are perceived to be useful.
In actual society, the first ones society kills are the useful ones. It is through the preservation of
the self that you can help. Take a look at our heroes. Look at Andres Bonifacio; did he not die
because he wanted to be under the spotlight? Look at Dr. Jose Rizal, would he not have lived
longer if he had not gone against the government at that time? When it comes to the
preservation of our lives, it is better to be unnoticed because by doing so, we will be able to
preserve our lives more like this. For Zhuangzi, it is better to live while dragging your tail in the
mud than to be the turtle who is honored in the temple but is dead.
I know that this goes against the Confucian values that have been implanted in us.
Confucius told us to always know what is right and fight for it. He taught us that we should
always stand up for what is good and just even if it means going against your own family if they
are not following what is good and just. For the Confucian, it is better to die for an ideal. These
are the values that have been long rooted in our souls. But Zhuangzi challenges these ideas. He
poses a question, What now after your death? If you are already dead, how can you fight? How

can you still stand up for all these things you believe in? Life and being alive are the most
important things.
It might seem hard to imagine someone living his life as prescribed by Zhuangzi. But he
actually lived out what he taught. He put no value on wealth, fame, honor and the like. Instead,
he chose to live his life as he saw fit. He said that we should just go with the flow and our
function will appear by itself. And true enough look at him now. His philosophy is still being
used by people.
The first thing I thought of when I read this chapter was that there was so much
Heidegger in this section. Like Zhuangzi, he claimed that we are just beings thrown into this
world. Our thrown-ness cannot be decided by us. But instead, this is something that we are
just really thrown into. It is something we arrive at without choosing to do so. And both
philosophers also claim that life is very important. However, in Heidegger, he uses death as a
reminder to make something out of ourselves. While for Zhuangzi, it is alright to just go with the
flow. For Heidegger, it was about you know you are going to die, that your time on earth is
limited and this is why you should not just live your life without care. He uses the idea of limited
time on earth to urge us to make meaning out of this world. He says that because you know that
you are one day going to day, you should make the most out of your limited time in this world.
Another philosopher that came to mind while reading this chapter is Friedrich Nietzsche.
He was a German philologist, philosopher, cultural critic, poet and composer. He wrote several
critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a
fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism.
Nietzsche's key ideas include the Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy, perspectivism, the
Will to Power, the "death of God", the bermensch and eternal recurrence. One of the key tenets
of his philosophy is the concept of "life-affirmation," which embraces the realities of the world in

which we live over the idea of a world beyond. It further champions the creative powers of the
individual to strive beyond social, cultural, and moral contexts.
At first look, the connection between both philosophers is quite unclear. What most
people know about Nietzsche is related to a pop song. I remember my sociology and
anthropology professor telling us that Nietzsche was concerned about what does not kill you
make you stronger. And I suppose that if this is the light you see Nietzsche in, it would be quite
puzzling to see his connection to Zhuangzi. But what I think connects Nietzsche to Zhuangzi is
the main focus of their work.
The main concern for both philosophers is to liberate human from the human-all-toohuman boundaries of their freedom through various ways of overcoming and cultivation. In fact,
both Zhuangzi and Nietzsche make use of the child as a metaphor to describe someone who has
reached the ultimate state of liberation- the true man and the bermensch. 3
Zhuangzis true man is one who does not rebel against want, does not want to show off so
much that wants to be in the spotlight, does not deliberate on her doings, she does not label
between life and death. She is one with the heaven and earth. While for Nietzsche, the
bermensch is the over-man who has supreme achievement. He creates his new values by
following his instinct of freedom and his will to power. Both Zhuangzi and Nietzsche might seem
a bit too farfetched from each other at first. But once we have looked at both their philosophies,
we will find that both their efforts are tied to bringing man back to his true nature. They both
wish that men would transcend these boundaries and limitations that we have imposed on the
world.

3 Ibid.

Bibliography
Shang, G. L. (2006). Liberation As Affirmation: The Religiosity of Zhuangzi And
Nietzsche . State Univ of New York Pr.