The Hermeneutics of Contentious Imagery: What Exactly the Zhuangzi Has to Say about the Straw Dogs in the Laozi

The image of “straw dogs” (chugou 刍狗) is a simile used in chapter five of the Laozi (老子), in a passage generally understood as an explicit Daoist rejection of kind acts (or benevolence as ren 仁 was translated for a long time), well known as the basis of Confucian teachings. Further along the Daoist lineage of philosophical texts, the same image of sacrificial straw dogs also makes an appearance in the Zhuangzi (庄子), and this passage will become a welcome source of hermeneutic evidence for translators faced with the stark appearance of the image in the Laozi, that offers little elaboration on its meaning. James Legge adopted this hermeneutic approach in his early translation, offering a quote wherein the straw dogs seem to be treated somewhat cruelly, and reference to the Zhuangzi to interpret the Laozi for this particular image is a method that persists to the present day. English translations of this chapter see “not being ren” translated as emotively as “unkind”, “inhumane” or “cruel”. Although we cannot say that early forays in interpretation are responsible for later translation choices, we can assess the original interpretation against the broader context of the Zhuangzi as a whole. If we read further on in the original passage alone, we find a more developed context to consider, while searching the whole of the Zhuangzi for comparable passages offers an interesting foil for comparison. Beginning with a simple analysis of the term as it appears in the Laozi and its commentaries, this essay goes on to make a case for more thorough contextualization of challenging terms. We suggest seeking internal evidence and cross-reference between sympathetic texts, along with historical evidence, and consideration of authorial intent may be effective ways to offer a contextualized interpretation of “straw dogs” that may be more faithful to the concerns of authors employing the image.