KINGFISHERISH
WANDERING
Minh-Hoang Nguyen
AISDL
Copy igh © 2025 AISDL / Minh-Hoang Nguyen
All igh s ese ed
The cha ac e s and e en s po ayed in his book a e ic i ious. Any simila i y o eal pe sons, li ing
o dead, is coinciden al and no in ended by he au ho .
No pa o his book may be ep oduced, o s o ed in a e ie al sys em, o ansmi ed in any o m o
by any means, elec onic, mechanical, pho ocopying, eco ding, o o he wise, wi hou exp ess w i en
pe mission o he publishe .
ISBN-13: 979-8269223599
Co e design by: Nguyen Thi Quynh Yen
P in ed in he Uni ed S a es o Ame ica
CONTENTS
Ti le Page
Copy igh
Fo ewo d
King ishe ish Wande ing
Zhuangzi on King ishe ’s Quie Pe ch
Wha Zhuang Zhou Has o Say abou he Bi d Village
The Daois Angle and King ishe
The Dao o Doodles
Ripples o Dao in a Conse a ion Talk
Is Peng Real?
Ul ima e Ha mony wi h Dao
Qin Shi Huang’s D eam o Dao
Lao and Zhuang, oo, Had Thei Flaws
On Wu Wei Wages wi h Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi-King ishe Dialogue on Value Exchange
Asking Zhuangzi o Res o e Jus ice
The Wonde o Uselessness
The Cha ac e “An” (安)
Acknowledgmen
Re e ences
Abou The Au ho
FOREWORD
I once asked mysel wha eedom uly is.
I , on any gi en mo ning when I wake up, I could go somewhe e else and
do some hing di e en —would ha be eedom? Mos people ha e a
des ina ion hey mus each and a se o asks al eady de ined he momen
hey open hei eyes. I am no excep ion.
Fo many, he sense o eedom can be ound in choices: aking a b eak
om wo k o a el, changing hei li es yle, seeking new pleasu es, o
buying hemsel es some hing no el and ashionable. I, oo, lo e eedom—
bu I ound li le meaning in hose hings.
So, o a ime, I li ed wi hou pu pose, ying o a oid a ixed mind and
le ing li e d i as i would. I e en belie ed ha was Laozi’s wu wei (non-
ac ion) way o li ing—un il I had he o une o wo k wi h P o esso Vuong
Quan Hoang.
While wo king wi h him, I o en hea d s o ies om Wild Wise Wei d o e
co ee a a s ee co ne . The collec ion’s o iginal i le was The King ishe
S o y Collec ion, so we a ec iona ely called i King ishe .
F om he e y i s ime, I was cap i a ed by i s hinking—so wonde ully
“wei d,” ye en i ely logical and humo ous. The s o ies don’ jus wis he
mind; hey challenge p ejudice, b inging bu s s o laugh e in e wined wi h
momen s o deep e lec ion.
I is p ecisely hese absu di ies o King ishe ha ha e gi en me p ecious
momen s o sel - e lec ion. Th ough hem, when I look back a my ea lie
phase o aimless, spon aneous li ing—which I once mis ook o wu wei—I
now see i as an illusion. I was like d eaming mysel a bu e ly like
Zhuangzi, bu ne e waking mysel up.
Is ha uly eedom?
The eedom o swimming in wa e belongs o he ish, no o he bi ds. So
pe haps ue eedom is o emain a bi d, ye le one’s mind u n owa d he
ish.
A he e y leas , like King ishe , who li es in he wo ld o bi ds, ye s ill
sees himsel playing in he wo ld o ish.
¤
Indeed, King ishe has gi en wings o my d eam, guiding me owa d he
Dao (道)— he Way ha leads back o my ue na u e—so ha once again I
may wande eely wi hin my own hough s. Ye his ime, I can lea n om
Mas e Zhuang: o awaken om he d eam and ask: was i I who d eamed I
was a bu e ly, o he Bu e ly who d eamed i was Me?
Achie ing such eedom o mind has helped me ealize ha Wild Wise
Wei d is like Zhuangzi’s Nan Hua Jing: A a wo k ha guides he people o
he Dao, expands he mind, and makes philosophy accessible—libe a ing
ye ne e p eachy o igid.
Zhuangzi is o en called he philosophe o unce ain y, while King ishe is
he philosophe o absu di y. I he wo we e o mee and con e se, wha a
ascina ing dialogue ha would be!
E en hough P o . Hoang no longe in ends o con inue he s o y se ies, my
cu iosi y compels me o imagine wha would happen i King ishe —an
eccen ic bi d om he qui ky Bi d Village—we e o mee Mas e Zhuang,
one o he mos well-known Daois philosophe s.
Wi h his kind pe mission, I ha e aken he libe y o sending King ishe
back o he Wa ing S a es e a, o wande and con e se wi h Zhuangzi— o
see, a e all, how absu di y and unce ain y di e , and how hey migh be
one.
Tha is he eason his book is named King ishe ish Wande ing.
¤
(*) Rema k: Each s o y in his collec ion s ands en i ely on i s own—
spon aneous and independen . Thus, he logic o one s o y is no de e mined
by he de ails o ano he ; each ollows only i s own in e nal hy hm and
meaning.
KINGFISHERISH
WANDERING
Minh-Hoang Nguyen
AISDL
Dedica ed o Nan Hua Jing & Wild Wise Wei d
ZHUANGZI ON
KINGFISHER’S QUIET
PERCH
Zhuangzi pauses a he edge o he Bi d Village o wa ch King ishe
peace ully land on a hin b anch abo e he pond. Wi hou a wi ch, he
se les in as i he owns he place while he illage bi ds a e busy engaging
ehemen ly in dawn gossip.
Pe ching u ns in o medi a ion he momen King ishe elaxes in o he
b anch, ye s ays eady o any sneaky ish. He inhales he mo ning like i ’s
his a o i e ea, exhales wha e e wo ies he ne e bo he s o pick up, and
le s hough s loa o like waywa d ea he s. Wa ching him, Zhuang admi s,
“I migh be a e e ed hinke , bu King ishe li es he Dao mo e han I
know abou i .”
Dao bubbles h ough all beings like sp ing wa e —no schola ’s obes
equi ed. King ishe hasn’ c acked open a single sc oll, ye he’s al eady
luen in i . His balanced, unhu ied hush says mo e abou li e’s u hs han
a moun ain o dus y books.
The Bi d Village disco e s Dao by copying King ishe ’s simple ibe:
Find you own com y b anch, whe he i ’s a ga den wall o a ki chen
s ool.
B ea he like you’ e lapping you wings, bu no o a ligh .
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I wan o exp ess my deepes g a i ude o P o esso Vuong Quan Hoang o
p o iding me wi h in aluable ideas, ad ice, and wholehea ed suppo ,
which enabled me o begin and comple e his book.
REFERENCES
[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Wei d. h ps://books.google.com/books?
id=N10jEQAAQBAJ
[2] Zhuang Z. (2022). Zhuangzi. Columbia Uni e si y P ess.
h ps://cup.columbia.edu/book/zhuangzi/9780231123877/
[3] Lao Z. (n.d.). Dao De Jing. h ps://c ex .o g/dao-de-jing/ens
[4] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2024). Explo ing he ole o ejec ion in
schola ly knowledge p oduc ion: Insigh s om g anula in e ac ion
hinking and in o ma ion heo y. Lea ned Publishing, 37(4), e1636.
h ps://doi.o g/10.1002/leap.1636
[5] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Na u e Quo ien . Paci ic
Conse a ion Biology, 31, PC25028.
h ps://doi.o g/10.1071/PC25028
[6] Nguyen MH, Ho MT, La VP. (2025). On “An” (安): Inne peace
h ough unce ain y, na u e quo ien , and ha mony wi h Dao.
h p://books.google.com/books/abou ?id=NIKMEQAAQBAJ
[7] Nguyen MH. (2024). How can sa i ical ables o e us a ision o
sus ainabili y? Visions o Sus ainabili y, 23(11267), 323-328.
h ps://doi.o g/10.13135/2384-8677/11267
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Minh-Hoang Nguyen
D . Minh-Hoang Nguyen ea ned his
Ph.D. om Ri sumeikan Asia
Paci ic Uni e si y in Japan. He was
awa ded Young Ou s anding
Scien is i le by Phenikaa
Uni e si y whe e he has been
wo king as a esea ch scien is a
he Cen e o In e disciplina y
Social Resea ch since 2020. In
2024, he ecei ed he Vie namese
Blaze Jou nalism P ize o his
publica ion o he eco-su plus
cul u e.
D . Nguyen has published nea ly 200 a icles and book chap e s in pee -
e iewed jou nals, and been anked among op ci ed publishing academic
au ho s acco ding o he Else ie -S an o d Ranking in 2025. This li le book
is his only ic ional wo k.
