Abstract Oscar Wilde wrote a long review in 1890 on Herbert Giles' English translation of the Zhuangzi,which was published in 1889.Wilde read Zhuangzi's Taoist thinking as a philosophy for individual freedom against all forms of government.That was of course Wilde's own philosophy,the sort of Fabian socialism as he understood it.In Wilde's philosophy,the aestheticism of art is beyond morality and politics and is a near anarchistic liberalism.His aesthetic thoughts on art surprisingly bore some resemblance or affinities with the Taoist ideal of ruling with non-action.Though Wilde was ignorant of Chinese and no expert of Taoism,his artistic and intellectual sensibilities made it possible for him to make some insightful remarks on Zhuangzi's ideas.As this review is not usually taken notice of in modern Wildean criticism,nor is it included in most Wilde selections,it is thus important to pay some critical attention to Wilde's views on the translation of the Zhuangzi.
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