The Butterfly As Companion: Meditations on the First Three Chapters of the Chuang Tzu

Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press (SUNY), 1990. First Edition. Large octavo in pale blue pictorial paper boards; xiv, 509 pages; end notes; index. Fine with very faintest of edge wear (negligible); as new. Hardcover. ISBN: 0887066852

Another quality scholarly work from this much-esteemed pubilsher. Contents: Prologue: Companion to the butterfly. Preliminary meditations. Invitation by a butterfly. Why companion, not commentary. Conversation with a roadside skull. The poetic Chuang Tzu. Chapter 1: Hsiao Yao Yu: soaring. and roaming. The Kuo Hsiang text. Translation with glosses. Meditation. three readings. The stories. Roaming, laughing. A close look. Chapter 2: Ch'i Wu Lun: things, theories. sorting themselves out. The Kuo Hsiang text. Translation with glosses. Meditations. four readings. Survey. A detailed look. What all this means. Philosophy and "things even-ing themselves out". Chapter 3: Yang Sheng Chu: nourishing life. its inner principle. The Kuo Hsiang text. Translation with glosses. Meditations. three readings. Coherence and interrelations. Segments and words. Our understanding of the message. Epilogue: The butterfly as companion. Inconclusive meditations. Meaning. Irony. Play. "Companion.". Notes: Includes indexes.