What is Zuowang (坐忘)?
Sitting in forgetfulness — a Taoist meditation practice of emptying the mind, forgetting the self, and merging with the Tao. Described in the Zhuangzi. Described in the sixth chapter of the Zhuangzi, zuowang means letting go of body, mind, knowledge, and self. It is one of the earliest Taoist meditation forms and influenced Chan/Zen sitting practice.
Key Takeaways
- Zuowang (坐忘, "sitting in forgetfulness") appears in the Zhuangzi's sixth chapter (大宗师, "The Great Ancestral Master"), where Yan Hui (颜回) describes it to Confucius.
- The term is often glossed by the phrase 堕肢体，黜聪明 ("drop the limbs, expel the senses"), setting aside the body, the intellect, and the self.
- Yan Hui calls it entering "the great communion" (同于大通, tong yu datong); it is among the earliest Taoist contemplative practices and later influenced Chan/Zen seated practice.
- Chinese: 坐忘 (Zuowang).
Understanding Zuowang
The term zuowang (坐忘) is spelled out in the Zhuangzi's sixth chapter (大宗师, "The Great Ancestral Master"), in a dialogue between Confucius and his favorite disciple Yan Hui (颜回). Yan Hui reports that he has forgotten benevolence and righteousness, then ritual and music, and finally that he has "let go of the body and expelled the senses" (堕肢体，黜聪明), discarding form and knowledge to be "one with the great communion" (同于大通). Confucius, surprised, accepts the description and calls Yan Hui his better. The account is significant because it anchors a Taoist contemplative ideal inside a Confucian dialogue, and because the phrase later named a distinct seated practice — one that Chinese tradition numbers among the earliest Taoist practice forms and that later Chan/Zen and internal-alchemy writers drew on.
How to Practice Zuowang
- About Zuowang — Sitting in forgetfulness — a Taoist meditation practice of emptying the mind, forgetting the self, and merging with the Tao. Described in the Zhuangzi. Described in the sixth chapter of the Zhuangzi,
- The Piping of Heaven — Who blows through the ten thousand hollows?
- The Bird That Was a Fish — Scale changes everything
- The Cicada’s Laughter — Every world feels complete from the inside
Further Reading
Related Guides
- What is Stillness? — Zuowang is the Taoist practice of stillness
- What is Qi? — Zuowang meditation harmonizes the flow of qi
- What is Zhuangzi? — Zhuangzi describes zuowang (sitting in forgetfulness) in Chapter 6
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Zuowang in Taoism?
Zuowang (坐忘, "sitting in forgetfulness") is a Taoist contemplative practice named in the Zhuangzi's sixth chapter (大宗师, "The Great Ancestral Master"), where Yan Hui (颜回) describes reaching it and Confucius accepts it — a striking moment since Yan Hui is the disciple Confucius valued most.
What does 坐忘 mean?
坐 (zuo) means "sit" and 忘 (wang) means "to forget," so the phrase is "sitting in forgetfulness"; the forgetting is not absent-mindedness but the deliberate letting-go of the body, the senses, knowledge, and the self.
Why is Zuowang important?
It is one of the earliest documented Taoist seated practices and a reference point for how "sitting in forgetfulness" was later taken up in Chan/Zen and Daoist internal-alchemy traditions, so it connects the Zhuangzi to a long line of later practice.
Also Known As
Chinese: 坐忘. 坐忘, Sitting in Forgetfulness