Callias (370 BCE)

Chuang-tzu, also Chuang chou (tzu means ‘master’, c.370–286 BCE). Considered by Taoists to be (with Lao-tzu) one of the founders of philosophical Taoism.

He is traditionally the author of the work bearing his name, Chuang-tzu (or Nan-hua chenching). Of its thirty-three chapters, 1–7 (the ‘inner books’) are perhaps his own, the fifteen ‘outer’ and eleven ‘mixed’ chapters are thought to be by his pupils. As with Lao-tzu, the Tao and its te are open to realization by all people. It requires well-directed and unattached action (wu-wei) and meditative concentration on the constantly changing nature of the world, which, when realized and discarded, leaves only the Tao.

Wisdom consists in recognizing distinction and perceiving the relation:

Chuang Chou dreamed that he was a butterfly, fluttering about, not knowing that it was Chuang Chou. He woke with a start, and was Chuang Chou again. But he did not know whether he was Chuang Chou who had dreamed that he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Chuang Chou. Between Chuang Chou and the butterfly there must be some distinction: this is what is called, ‘the transformation of things’.

Callias d. c.370 BC, Athenian leader, one of the generals of the Peloponnesian War. In his old age Callias was one of the ambassadors sent to Sparta with Callistratus to negotiate a peace treaty in 371 BC The treaty was ineffective, and friction between Epaminondas of Thebes and Agesilaus II of Sparta became acute. Callias was a rich man and his wealth was ridiculed by his contemporaries, including Aristophanes. His house is the scene of Xenophon's Symposium and Plato's Protagoras.