Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought, the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing -- in part or in whole -- a work known by his name, the Zhuangzi. Scott Watson, American but resident of Japan, poet and teacher, has long been a student of the work of Zhuangzi, at least as interpreted and translated by scholars in the past. Dreaming Zhuangzi is not Scott's translation of the work of the ancient Chinese philosopher. Rather it is Scott's prose and poetry as influenced by Zhuangzi. Scott Watson is a fan of and has translated and published poetry of the itinerant Japanese poet Santoka.
