Reading the 'Chuang-tzu' in the T'ang dynasty: The commentary of Ch'eng Hsuan-ying (fl. 631-652)

To a great extent, Ch'eng Hsuan-ying (fl. 631-652) was writing in the tradition of Kuo Hsiang, but the culture that had formed in the Liang-Ch'en and which continued until Ch'eng's day mixed Buddhism and Taoism, and sanctioned ambition for power and fame, good taste for literature and fashion, quest for knowledge, and love for debates. This all found its way into his commentary on the Chuang-tzu.;A concentration on hsuan (mystery) and hsu (void) is found in Ch'eng's reading of the Chuang-tzu. The "mystery," as manifested in his commentary, mainly refers to the "double mystery" (ch'ung-hsuan), a term more associated with the Lao-tzu and its commentators in the medieval period. In spite of this, the "double mystery" he uses in interpreting the Chuang-tzu is differently oriented. Even though, as in his remarks on the Lao-tzu, the "double mystery" is used by Ch'eng in the sense of the Way, emphasis is given to the specific procedures this concept suggests for reaching the realm of the Way and the transcendental character of the latter. The complexity of Ch'eng's expression, however, reveals itself, on the one hand, in that his awareness of the importance of the procedures seems to have been suggested by his engagement with certain Buddhist concepts, of which the "Four Propositions" is crucial and, on the other hand, once Ch'eng applies to the Chuang-tzu the logic of the "Four Propositions," he always finds that the Chuang-tzu itself has already--and often better--elaborated the very idea of the "Four Propositions.".;Ch'eng Hsuan-ying sees the "void" as a very important concept in the Chuang-tzu, interpreting it mainly in terms of the Taoist practices he finds in the book. For him, to be void is to "forget," to shut down one's senses and the heart, the world, body, and spirit, so as to be one with the Way.;Ch'eng Hsuan-ying has sometimes been criticized for employing Buddhist ideas in his commentary on the Chuang-tzu, such that the text may have been misinterpreted. A close study shows, however, that he is trying to make use of the Chuang-tzu in arguing in defense of medieval Taoism on certain heated issues in the Buddhist/Taoist debates of his time. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).