The early Chinese text traditionally attributed to Zhuangzi is the Zhuangzi.
The work is named after Zhuang Zhou, a philosopher who probably lived during the Warring States period. It is a major source for philosophical Taoism and is famous for stories, paradoxes, humor, and reflections on language, knowledge, change, and freedom.
The text is traditionally divided into 33 chapters. Scholars commonly distinguish seven “Inner Chapters,” which are often considered the most closely connected with Zhuang Zhou, from later material in the “Outer” and “Miscellaneous” chapters.
One of its best-known passages is the butterfly dream, in which Zhuangzi wonders whether he dreamed of being a butterfly or is now a butterfly dreaming of being Zhuangzi. The work is not a straightforward manual of doctrine; its stories often challenge rigid distinctions and fixed claims to certainty.