What are the differences between 老子(​laotzu) and 庄子(​chuangtzu) in

regards to the Tao.

The teachings of​ ​lao tzu and ​chuang tzu contain contrasting views about the Tao, also

​ ​lao tzu’s writings dictate the benefits, idealistically, of

known as The Way. On one hand,

pursuing The Way and how this pursuit would create a morally just society, as opposed

to the “way of man”. ​ Chuang Tzu, on the other hand, presents a perspective on The

Way in the that is at odds with ​lao tzu since he believes that the purposeful journey of

The Way would cause everyone to neglect small nuances that the world provides.

Lao Tzu describes The Way of Heaven as an absolute, a way of living that leads to a

utopia in which there is ‘balance’ in the world1 . One of the ways he does this is by using

the image of a “bow” which counteracts the state in which it is in. He then extrapolates

this analogy to life, dictating that “The Way of Heaven reduces whatever is excessive

and supplements whatever is insufficient”. It is clear that this is not what is happening in

the present, since the purpose of human life now is predicated on greed and the

attainment ​ of excess, what ​Lao Tzu describes as the “way of man”. Furthermore, this

​
“way of man” that ​Lao Tzu describes is a proponent of self achievement, that in the

event that someone awarded with a Grammy, for example, then they would be the one

who gets credited with all the glory. The audience doesn’t realise that it took years of

instruction, training and learning from numerous teachers, mentors and contemporaries

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for that person to flourish. This is what ​lao tzu means when says that a sage “does not

rely on his own ability”, because in reality one’s own achievements can’t solely be

attributed to themselves due to their influences and mentors. When looking at the

overall writing of this particular passage, we can summarise it as a black and white

argument in favour of following The Way of Heaven since it leads to equality and

selflessness whereas The Way of Man leads to greed and selfishness. This shows that

Lao Tzu believes the fact that The Way of Heaven is an unspoken moral arbiter that

gives everything purpose.

Chuang Tzu is in disagreement with ​Lao Tzu in regards to The Way. This statement

couldn’t be more obvious when ​Chuang Tzu says that “The greatest Way is not cited as

an authority” because “When the Way is lit it does not guide”2 . His analogy of The Way

being a lit like a lantern provides a perfect illustration as to why there are flaws in the

sole pursuit of The Way. When an object is lit far away in the darkness, though it might

lead someone in the right direction, it doesn’t tell anyone about their immediate

surroundings, hence you would still be cautious and uncommitted to pursue the light.

This establishes the fact that ​Chuang Tzu doesn’t believe in the pursuit of The Way.

Chuang Tzu also doesn’t believe that everything has a purpose. He does this by giving

us a humourous story in which a man who loves and pampers his horse is smashed in

​
the head and kicked in the chest for smacking a fly on his horse3 . ​Chuang Tzu is

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 illustrating to us situations in which despite good intent, bad things can still happen. On

a deeper level, we could also say that people always believe that they are the ‘good

​ guy’ because they have good intentions. The example that ​Chuang Tzu shows that the

man had good intentions but his “love did damage” to his horse. A modern example of

this would be the modern American interventions in the Middle East, in which the

militaristic acts of oppression and hegemony are because ‘we’ need to ‘liberate’ them

and spread ‘freedom’. Some might argue that the intent of these interventions were evil

to begin with. However, it is safe to assume that there is some element of truth to the

idea of spreading freedom to countries that are oppressive to its people. What matters

is that the people who decided to invade Iraq believed that in some way, they were

doing good, yet their actions have destabilized multiple countries and have killed

thousands of innocent lives. This argument that ​Chuang Tzu presents to us illustrates

his belief in the greyness of morality, a contrast to ​Lao Tzu, to whom The Way is a black

and white answer to the question of morality.

The differences between ​Chuang Tzu and ​Lao Tzu can be summarised in 1 statement.

To that which being, ​Lao Tzu believing in the value in The Way as a guide that removes

humans from their own flaws, whereas ​Chuang Tzu believing that the ‘morally right

actions’ to situations are dependant on a wide variety of factors, which then forces the

answers to be subjective.