Guo Xiang郭象

Style & Daoist names

style name Zixuan

Period

Western Jin

Dates

c. 252 — 312

School

Lao–Zhuang School (Pre-Qin Daoist Philosophy), Chongxuan (Twofold Mystery) School

Role

Scholar of Xuanxue (Learning of the Mysterious)Scripture CommentatorDaoist Philosopher

Birthplace

Henan (present-day Luoyang area, Henan)

Life

Guo Xiang, styled Zixuan, a native of Henan in the Western Jin, rose to the offices of Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate and Registrar to the Grand Tutor, was the representative figure of mid-period Xuanxue. His thirty-three-chapter Commentary on the Zhuangzi is the definitive edition of the transmitted Zhuangzi: building on Xiang Xiu's earlier commentary, Guo Xiang edited and fixed the Inner, Outer, and Miscellaneous Chapters, trimming the fifty-two-chapter version transmitted from the Han down to thirty-three chapters; thereafter the Zhuangzi circulated in Guo's recension, and the other ancient versions were entirely lost. The Shishuo xinyu (A New Account of the Tales of the World) records the claim that "Guo Xiang plagiarized Xiang Xiu's commentary," and scholars still debate the relationship between the two; the prevailing view is that Guo Xiang transmitted while also creating, forming his own system beyond Xiang's commentary. His thought centers on the concepts of "solitary transformation" (duhua) and "self-generation" (zisheng): the myriad things each transform in solitude within the realm of dark obscurity, with no creator and no dependence on anything else; the self-sufficiency of one's allotted nature (xingfen) is itself free and easy wandering (xiaoyao). From this he derived the thesis that "moral teaching (mingjiao) is itself naturalness (ziran)," offering scholar-officials a reconciling formula between holding office and inner transcendence. Guo Xiang was not a Daoist priest, but his Commentary on the Zhuangzi was wholly absorbed by Daoism: in the Tang dynasty the Zhuangzi was elevated to the status of the Nanhua zhenjing (Nanhua True Scripture), and the officially sanctioned commentary combined Guo's commentary with Cheng Xuanying's subcommentary; the Chongxuan School and Neidan theories of nature and mind likewise drew heavily on his doctrines of "naturalness" and "non-dependence."

Contributions & Influence

• Edited and fixed the Zhuangzi into thirty-three chapters, forming the definitive transmitted edition
• Wrote the Commentary on the Zhuangzi, originating the doctrines of "solitary transformation," "self-generation," and "allotted nature"
• Proposed that "moral teaching is itself naturalness," completing the reconciling direction of Xuanxue
• The Tang-dynasty officially sanctioned commentary on the Nanhua zhenjing was based on his commentary, influencing Daoist doctrine

Works

• Commentary on the Zhuangzi (Nanhua Zhenjing Zhu)
• Lunyu Tilüe (Outline of the Analects, lost)
• Commentary on the Laozi (lost)