Gongsun ran a school and received patronage from rulers, advocating peaceful means of resolving disputes amid the martial culture of the Warring States period.

Comparatively few details are known about his life, and much of his work has been lost—only six of the fourteen essays he originally authored are still extant.

[3] In book 17 of the Zhuangzi, Gongsun speaks of himself: When young, I studied the way of the former kings.

These paradoxes seem to suggest a similarity to the discovery in Greek philosophy that pure logic may lead to apparently absurd conclusions.

As Gongsun Long enjoys the favor or rulers, his work also concerns social order.

[4] The Gongsun Long Zi reads: Heaven, earth, and their products are all things [物 wu].