衛理賢，這位基督教傳教士，一方面給中國宣揚基督福音，另方面卻醉心於中華傳統文化。氏翻譯了先秦的儒、道主要經典。其中尤以〈易經〉的德文本，更成為西方世界翻譯〈周易〉的藍本。本文就其所譯莊子〈南華真經〉中的環保思想，作一反省。一方面藉以了解道家在先秦時代已經預示了環保的哲學思想，尤其是莊子的「鳥養養鳥」的自然觀，真的開展了保護野生動物的理念；另一方面認識這位德國傳教士對中文造詣之深，以及對〈莊子〉的深度理解。衛氏以「主觀觀念論」來介紹〈莊子〉給德語世界，展現其愛自然、愛生命的情操。衛氏對〈莊子〉的詮釋，除了參考傳統的注莊之外，還加上其自身貫通中西的素養，其中尤其顯露其廣闊的心胸，本其對基督宗教「至上神」信仰，卻仍能容忍並欣賞道家的「汎神觀」。

　　　　　As a Protestant missionary and a sinologist, Richard Wilhelm had a double mission in life. One was to proselytize the Christian religion to the Chinese, the other was to introduce Chinese philosophy to European people. Through his German translation of the Chinese classics, especially the Confucian and Daoist writings, he was well-known in the western world. This article would like to show how Wilhelm translated Zhuang Zi's “Nan Hua Zhen Jing” using a naturalistic, environmental approach. The term “nature” is, without a doubt, a central concept for Lao Zi as well as Zhuang Zi. Nature is contrasted with “culture”, the essence of Confucian philosophy. Wilhelm grasped how deeply Zhuang Zi used allegories, fables and myths to portray his philosophy and wisdom. The Daoists appealed to a “Returnoun a la natur” just like many other naturalists. As a subjective idealist, Zhuang Zi is both a poet and a wise man. As a poet, he wonders about nature. As a wise man, he protects nature from all human cultural attack. As a monotheist, Wilhelm tolerates a Daoist pantheistic world-view in hopes of contributing to a world religion.