Zhuangzhou's Dream of a Butterfly

"Zhuangzhou's Dream of a Butterfly" is a Daoist anecdote, an allusion found in the chapter "On the Equality of All Things ( 齊物論 Qiwu Lun )" in The Book of Master Zhuang ( 莊子 Zhuangzi ). According to this book, Zhuangzi dreamed of changing into a butterfly and fluttering about and even forgetting that he was Zhuang Zhou; but when he woke up, he felt he was Zhuang Zhou again. Then he wondered which was true, Zhuang Zhou dreaming of changing into a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of changing into Zhuang Zhou? In the view of Daoist philosophers and Daoist believers, it is in fact unnecessary to distinguish artificially between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly, because if the mind is in a state of undifferentiated integration of things and self, the great Dao remains in one's heart.