Editing Zhuang Zhou (section)

== Life ==
{{see also|Zhuangzi (book)#History}}
The only account of the life of Zhuangzi is a brief sketch in chapter 63 of [[Sima Qian]]'s ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-30|title=Daoism Series 23: 荘子 Zhuang Zi|url=https://purplecloudinstitute.com/daoism-series-23-荘子-zhuang-zi/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Purple Cloud|language=en-AU}}</ref> and most of the information it contains seems to have simply been drawn from [[anecdotal evidence|anecdotes]] in the ''Zhuangzi'' itself.{{sfnp|Mair|1994|p=xxxi-xxxiii}} In Sima's biography, he is described as a minor official from the town of [[Mengcheng|Meng]] (in modern [[Anhui]]) in the state of [[Song (state)|Song]], living in the time of [[King Hui of Wei|King Hui of Liang]] and [[King Xuan of Qi]] (late fourth century BC).{{sfnp|Ziporyn|2009|p=vii}} Sima Qian writes that Zhuangzi was especially influenced by [[Laozi]], and that he turned down a job offer from [[King Wei of Chu]], because he valued his personal freedom.{{sfnp|Horne|1917|pp=397–398}}

His existence has been questioned by Russell Kirkland, who asserts that "there is no reliable historical data at all" for Zhuang Zhou, and that most of the available information on the ''Zhuangzi'' comes from its third-century commentator, [[Guo Xiang]].{{sfnp|Kirkland|2004|pp=33–34}}