The first chapter of the Chuang-tzu, titled "The Happy Excursion," (庄子第一章，逍遥游）is a simple text, full of amusing stories. Their underlying(蕴含） idea is that there are varying degrees in the achievement of happiness. A free development of our natures may lead us to a relative kind of happiness; absolute happiness（至乐） is achieved through higher understanding of the nature of things.

To carry out the first of these requirements, the free development of our nature, we should have a full and free exercise of our natural ability. That ability is our Te, which comes directly from the Tao. Regarding the Tao and Te, Chuang Tzu has the same idea as Lao Tzu. For example, he says: "At the great beginning there was Non-being(泰初有无）. It had neither being nor name and was that from which came the One(无有无名）. When the One came into existence, there was the One but still no form (一之所起，有一而未形）。When things obtained that by which they came into existence, it was called the Te."(物得以生，谓之德）（ch12). Thus our Te is what makes us what we are. We are happy when this Te or natural ability of ours is fully and freely exercised, that is, when our nature is fully and freely developed. (德是人之所以成为人， 或说，“德”是人的本质。）（当人得以充分并自由发挥他的天赋才能，即”德“时，我们就快乐）