"All existing things are really one. We regard those that are beautiful and rare as valuable, and those that are ugly as foul and rotten. The foul and rotten may come to be transformed into what is rare and valuable, and the rare and valuable into what is foul and rotten."
-Zhuangzi (庄子, 369-286 B.C.E. )
Zhuangzi was an influential philosopher that lived during the Warring States Period. His view on life could be considered pessimistic; as life is limited, Zhuangzi saw it foolish to pursue knowledge (something unlimited) in an impermanent existence. For Zhuangzi, knowledge is relative, i.e. one perceives things differently depending on their role in the world. For example, in the fourth section of "The Great Happiness", Zhuangzi expresses pity to a skull he sees lying at the side of the road. Zhuangzi laments that the skull is now dead, but the skull retorts, "How do you know it's bad to be dead?"
Another famous parable that Zhuangzi wrote of is typically referred to as "Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly" (莊周夢蝶 Zhuāng Zhōu mèng dié):
"Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn't know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi. Between Zhuangzi and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things."
Although considered a Daoist philosopher, Zhuangzi knew little about Daoism himself. His ideas pertaining to relativism and the impermanence of things had a strong influence on the Chinese school of Chán (or Zen in Japanese) Buddhism.
Here is a link to Zhuangzi's famous self-titled work: http://www.daoisopen.com/ZhuangziTranslation.html
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