The main focus of this study will be a consideration of ‘xū’, or emptiness, within the Zhuangzi. The study of this emptiness will shift from the metaphysical and the physical to the relationship between reality and emptiness. ‘Shí’, or reality, refers to the intention to have a grasp on the world in its visible form, while emptiness refers to the participation of the body in changes which go beyond the visible world. This study can therefore be subdivided into three areas of research: The first area is the expansion of the senses that have been deliberately shackled and becoming open to aspects of reality which have not yet been experienced. This involves the skill of cultivation and a review of the subjective realm of metaphysics. The second area is the search for experiences which the body has already gone through, but which are hard to perceive, and this is related to the expansion of the imagination. The third area is the study of the relationship between reality, which can be confirmed to be true, and physical experiences of emptiness which are on the verge of becoming reality.
This study argues that both Guo Xiang and Wang Fuzhi's perceptions of and elaborations on Zhuangzi are based on the duality of reality and emptiness. Whether in Guo Xiang’s physical and emotional reality or Wang Fuzhi's beginning of matter and opening of form, the body expresses a fluidity that cannot be grasped by the mind, but which in turn can be explained by both emotions and the concept of Qi. Guo Xiang created a dichotomy between feelings and sensations, which can be separated into the deliberate integrating of sensual desires with a true understanding between bodies. In Guo Xiang's Commentary on the Zhuangzi, ‘gǎn’, or sensation, is considered to be the foundation of a sage king's governance. Wang Fuzhi argues that although we are confined to the visible form and we cannot see the interactions between and changes in the visible and invisible worlds at every instant, the body that undergoes change does, however, retain all the perceptual experiences that precede the world of seeing and hearing, and precede the moment of awareness. Even if these experiences are formed in turbulent conditions, the visible will become an objectless experience once it disappears into the invisible world. Wang Fuzhi consistently stresses the importance of valuing and loving the body, because these experiences (emptiness) which are not consciously recognized indicate the different connotations of things which are deliberately internalized, that is, the body holds all the potential to change the status quo of contradictory juxtaposition.
Finally, this paper will conclude with Wang Fuzhi's ‘Renewal as Beginning’ theory, which is a further affirmation and creation of the physical experience of emptiness introduced in Zhuangzi. Qi has a function of collective memory which not only influences the mood and behavior of individuals, but it also spreads and is conserved in communal bodily experiences, even those experiences which are difficult to perceive. If we wish to discuss how we are to know that things are as they are, this paper argues that: continuing to cultivate, value, and expand the body's ability to discern differences is perhaps the most important preparation for the creation of an ideal subject.