A Rhetorical Study of “Xiaoyaoyou” in “Zhuangzi” Focusing on Invention and Arrangement

The first chapter of Zhuangzi, “Xiaoyaoyou (逍遙遊),” is a summary of the world of enlightenment that Zhuangzi pursues. This paper aims to understand the meaning of Xiaoyaoyou by applying the concepts of invention and arrangement in rhetoric.<br/> In the first part of the chapter of “Xiaoyaoyou,” the world of absolute freedom is depicted through the flight of the giant fish Kun, which has transformed into the bird Peng. This paper analyzes the flight of the giant bird Peng flying from the northern sea to the southern sea, and through this, reveals that the absolute freedom spoken of in “Xiaoyaoyou” is a spiritual expansion that breaks away from worldly stereotypes, that is, transcendence. In addition, Zhuangzi specifically presents the appearance of a saint who has reached the realm of absolute freedom through fables. In other words, a saint who has attained the enlightenment of absolute freedom is a person whose self-consciousness has completely disappeared and who has become one with nature. If so, the way to expand awareness and transcend the self to reach the state of absolute freedom is to realize the great usefulness of uselessness by changing one’s thinking, as can be seen in the fable in which Hui Shi and Zhuangzi talk about the leather tree.