The Liezi

The Liezi is a work attributed to the Daoist, Lie Yukou who, according to the traditional account, lived during the later part of the fifth and first part of the fourth centuries BCE. This places him between the first wave of philosophers of the pre-Han "Hundred Schools" (notably Lao Zi, Confucius, Mozi and Deng Xi) and the second wave, from mid-fourth to the end of the third centuries BCE. Thus, he may be said to have responded to the former and prefigured the latter. The Liezi we have today is the recension by the Xuanxue (Dark Learning) scholar Zhang Zhan and is accompanied by Zhang's commentary, which is an engaging work, presenting profound philosophical ideas in a straightforward, down-to-earth and sometimes humorous way.