Yang Zhu杨朱

Style & Daoist names

Master Yang, Yang Sheng

Period

Warring States

Dates

c. 395 BCE — c. 335 BCE

Role

Daoist Philosopher

Birthplace

State of Wei (alternatively Qin)

Life

Yang Zhu, a thinker of the early Warring States period, was ranked alongside Mo Di in renown; Mencius said that 'the words of Yang Zhu and Mo Di fill the world.' His doctrine centered on 'valuing the self,' 'esteeming one's own person,' and 'prizing life,' holding that one should 'preserve one's nature intact and keep one's authenticity whole, not letting the body be burdened by things,' and that he 'would not pluck out a single hair to benefit the world' (in Mencius's words, largely critical in intent). No writings of Yang Zhu himself survive; his views are scattered across the Mencius, the Zhuangzi, the Han Feizi, the Lüshi chunqiu, and the 'Yang Zhu' chapter of the Liezi. Scholars generally regard him as an early branch of Daoism, a development of Laozi's thought of 'valuing the body,' and a distant source of the later Daoist concern with prolonging and valuing life. Whether the hedonistic views expressed in the received 'Yang Zhu' chapter of the Liezi truly represent Yang Zhu's own thought has long been disputed.

Contributions & Influence

• Advanced the doctrines of 'valuing the self,' 'prizing life,' and 'preserving one's nature and authenticity intact'
• Founded the Daoist tradition of valuing life, which influenced later Daoist conceptions of nourishing life