This book is a biography and collection of teachings of Zhuang Zhou, one of the founding fathers of Taoism and successor of Laozi. Albeit his talent in literature and philosophy, he chose the career as a manager of a lacquer plantation over that of a minister appointed by the king, because he would not give up his cherished freedom. He and Laozi are usually called "Lao Tzu" collectively. His thought is crystalized in the book by the name of himself, and two famous chapters of it are A Happy Excursion and Uniformity Theory.