Tekstlaag: Yangisten (Graham), Anarchisten (Liu)

Chen Guying: Discoursing on Swords: The Feudal Lords Return to Their Former Obedience and How to Pacify the Neighbors on All Sides.

Dit hoofdstuk is een vreemde eend in de bijt. Esther Klein laat zien dat elk ander hoofdstuk van de Zhuangzi een of andere intratekstuele link heeft met met ten minste één ander hoofdstuk. Hoofdstuk 30 staat op zichzelf. Het lijkt te putten uit een geheel andere subset van de taal. Op het gebied van Zhuangzi-studies is het hoofdstuk zo'n duidelijk problematisch geval dat de meeste geleerden hebben vermeden er veel historisch gewicht aan te geven.
Geleerden hebben zelfs de authenticiteit van dit hoofdstuk in twijfel getrokken (Klein 2022 in Chong 2022)

Roman Graziani, een van de weinige geleerden die dit hoofdstuk in detail heeft geanalyseerd, ziet een meesterlijke poging om het eeuwige probleem aan te pakken hoe je iemand kunt vertellen dat ze ongelijk hebben zonder ze rampzalig boos te maken.

Hij ziet een relatie met hoofdstuk 4 met de beroemde dialoog tussen Confucius en Yan Hui
waarin Confucius Yan Hui probeert te weerhouden om zijn diensten aan te bieden aan een tirannieke koning. De kans dat hij dat niet overleeft is groot.

Graziani:
.. it can be read as highlighting the theme of the possibility of exerting moral influence on a ruler resistant to it, which was left unresolved in chapter 4. In its stylized form, it provides a very sophisticated response to the question of the means available to the scholar or itinerant teacher in an account that features the most pow- erful figures of the time: the ruler of a kingdom and his men-at-arms, the crown prince surrounded by courtiers, and finally the traveling adviser (youshi 游士).
At first glance, this chapter appears to be a kind of swashbuckling story elevated to the level of a philosophical tale. By virtue of its picaresque dramaturgy based on jousting, by its length, continuity, and psychological depth, it no doubt is one of the best of the lessons taught by Zhuangzi himself in the Miscellaneous Chapters (zapian 雜篇). The text, which is long enough for the editors to have marked it out as a separate chapter, appears to start off as an adventure story. And yet, in spite of its thematic continuity with chapter 4 of the Zhuangzi and its intrinsic interest, the text has always—at least since Su Shi’s disparaging judgment on it in one of his Commemoration Texts (ji 記)—been viewed with scorn in both classical and contemporary exegesis. The chapter, which lacks a commentary by its known first editor Guo Xiang, is ignored by most commentators in their studies, since they believe that it was not written by Zhuangzi himself or by a member of his school, but belongs instead to the Warring States era literature on strategy. In sum, “Shuo jian” is the only chapter of the Zhuangzi to have been rejected out of hand, from the first line to the last, by scholars of all periods. (Graziani 2014, p 377)

Het verhaal gaat als volgt (ik geef de samenvatting van Graziani):

Zhuangzi is summoned to the Zhao court by the crown prince, who pleads with him to put an end to his father’s devastating passion for sword fights, because the knights in the kingdom have been decimated and rebellion is brewing among the lords. Zhuangzi also learns that the king only enjoys the company of arrogant, aggressive swordfighters, who loathe scholars such as himself, so he dresses up as one of them in order to meet the king, and shams an absolute invincibility. Thrilled to find a new opportunity to put his champions to the test, the king has a tournament prepared. When the day arrives, and combat is about to commence, Zhuangzi asks if he can present three swords so that the king can choose one for him to use. Written in the style of a poetic fantasy, the description of these swords, of their powers and their range, initially enchants the king, but then stupefies and overwhelms him. At the end of Zhuangzi’s passage of purple rhetoric, the king can no longer speak or even hardly breathe. He shuts himself away in his palace, and from then on regards his gladiatorial contests as shameful and unworthy of his rank. What he has loved he now despises. He cannot rave with his scoundrels any longer.

NL - Over zwaarden (S)
EN - Discoursing on Swords (W,R) - The Joys of Swordplay (Z) - The discourse on swords (G)
DE - Wenn die Schwerter sprechen (K)
FR - Les trois épées ou La persuasion selon Maître Tchouang (L)

Het hoofdstuk heeft 870 Chinese karakters en telt 1 paragraaf

paragraaf I Schipper pag. 393-397

Zhuang Zi en het zwaardvechten

Het hoofdstuk kent 1 dialoog.

1. Zhuangzi en Kui de kroonprins over het zwaardvechten van koning Web van Zhao --> Zhuangzi en koning Wen van Zhao (hst. 30-I pag. 393-397)