China has a long tradition of philosophical inquiry concerned with the ultimate nature of reality—its being, origins, components, ways of changing.

The title of the work refers to the second chapter of the seminal treatise by Zhuangzi, (Chuang-tzu 莊子 “Master Zhuang” late 4th century BC) that philosophize subjective individuality, the subjective and objective and the center where all distinctions are merged in One.

Zhuangzi, writes "Joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, caution and remorse, come upon us by turns, with ever-changing mood. They come like music from hollowness, like mushrooms from damp. Daily and nightly they alternate within us, but we cannot tell whence they spring... But for these emotions I should not be. But for me, they would have no scope."