[updated October 2022]
Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream
庄 周 梦 蝴 蝶
庄 周 梦 蝴 蝶
蝴 蝶 为 庄 周。
一 体 更 变 易
万 事 良 悠 悠。
乃 知 蓬 莱 水
复 作 清 浅 流。
青 门 种 瓜 人
但 日 东 陵 侯。
富 贵 固 如 此
营 营 何 所 求？
Zhuang Zhou Meng Hu Die
Zhuang zhou meng hu die
Hu die wei zhuang zhou.
Yi ti geng bian yi
Wan shi liang you you.
Nai zhi peng lai shui
Fu zuo qing qian liu.
Qing men zhong gua ren
Dan ri dong ling hou.
Fu gui gu ru ci
Ying ying he suo qiu?
Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream
Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly
Or perhaps the butterfly dreamed of being Zhuangzi.
One body so easily transformed into another one
Ten thousand things change into a myriad of things.
Therefore realize Penglai water
To again arise pure from other more shallow flows.
In former days, outside the Blue Gate, Dong Linghou planted a garden of melons
Wealth and honor no doubt like this
Why spend so much time and effort to strive after what is so transitory?
Notes:
Zhuangzi: (ca. 368-286 BC) After Laozi, the most important writer and practitioner of Daoism. His is most famous for his writing “Inner Chapters”. The must-read book in English about some of his work is titled “The Way of lChuang Tzu”, by Thomas Merton.
The Butterfly Dream is where Zhuangzi revealed that one morning he was in the state between dream and no-dream. He had a very lucent dream that he was a butterfly. It was so real, that when he woke up, he did not really know if he was a butterfly, dreaming he was a man, or a man dreaming that he was a butterfly.
Penglai: Mythological island in the East China Sea. Home to the Chinese immortals.
Dong Linghou: Largest landowner during the Qin Dynasty. Feared for his life as the dynasty was beginning to break apart. He therefore retreated to his garden to plant and raise melons.