“Chuang Tze and the king of Chu”: Silva Mendes and his adaptation of Taoist classics

Abstract

This article aims to introduce the work Excerptos de Filosofia Taoista by Manuel da Silva Mendes, whom is considered to be the first Portuguese to study and disseminate the Chinese Taoist tradition. By analyzing the poem: Chuang Tze e o rei de Chu, the present article claims that this poem is an adaptation of the classic book of Chinese thought’s stretch Nán Huá Jīng (南華經), by Zhuāngzǐ (莊子). To this end, will be made a comparative analysis between the original poem in classical Chinese and the English translation by the Scottish sinologist James Legge.