In Zhuangzi’s thought, *ziran* (自然) names the way things are when they arise and unfold “of themselves,” without coercion, calculation, or artificial shaping. It points to spontaneity and naturalness: beings following their own inherent tendencies rather than conforming to imposed standards or rigid distinctions. This “so-of-itself” character stands in contrast to deliberate contrivance, moralistic rule-following, and fixed categories such as right and wrong or noble and base. When life is governed by such artificial distinctions, it becomes anxious and divided; when it follows *ziran*, it moves with an ease that does not need justification.

Zhuangzi also presents *ziran* as the mode in which the Dao itself operates. The Dao does not command, design, or interfere; it allows the myriad beings to become what they are through their own natural unfolding. To align with the Dao, then, is not to obey an external law but to let one’s own life participate in this same unforced, spontaneous movement. In this sense, *ziran* is both a description of the cosmos and an ideal for human existence: a way of being in which each thing is permitted to be itself, without being pressed into a preconceived mold.

For human beings, this alignment with *ziran* is closely linked to *wuwei* (無為), often rendered as non-coercive or effortless action. The sage does not act from rigid doctrines or ego-driven striving; instead, responses arise fluidly from the situation, without deliberate calculation, yet are precisely fitting. This is the spontaneity beyond contrivance, illustrated in stories of consummate skill where action flows so naturally that effort seems to vanish. Such a life does not reject action, but it refuses forced effort and artificial self-fashioning.

Living in accord with *ziran* also entails loosening attachment to fixed identities, roles, and viewpoints. Zhuangzi’s ideal is a person who can “ride the changes of the ten thousand things,” flowing with shifting circumstances rather than clinging to a static self-image. This includes an attitude of acceptance toward life and death as natural transformations, not as events to be resisted or morally judged. Genuine freedom, on this view, does not come from dominating the world or perfecting a rigid virtue, but from allowing naturalness to express itself without obstruction.