Park Se-dang (朴世堂, 1629-1703) is a figure rebuked as a "disturbing enemy of the Confucian canon" (斯文亂賊), having composed the Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo (南華經註解刪補), the sole commentary on every chapter of the Zhuangzi (莊子) in Joseon Dynasty. This article purports to articulate the significance of Park Se-dang's composition of the Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo within Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century, through the comparison between him and Zhu Xi (朱熹, 1130-1200), the founder of Neo-Confucianism, the mainstream ideology of Joseon Dynasty, in their recognition of the Zhuangzi. Since Neo-Confucianism attained an absolute status as the canonical doctrine in Joseon Dynasty, the other thoughts, including the thoughts of the Laozi and the Zhuangzi, could not be discussed without their relationship with it. Park Se-dang's recognition of the Zhuangzi does not deviate far from Zhu Xi's recognition of it. While his composition of the Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo might be said to have inherited and deepened Zhu Xi's recognition, it can also be seen as an attempt to escape from Neo-Confucianism in some aspects. Due to this complication, when the faction of the Noron (老論, a faction separated from the Seoin in the Joseon Dynasty, the hard-liners) rebuked him as a "disturbing enemy of the Confucian canon," they did not mention neither his Shinjoo Dodeokgyeong (新註道德經, New Commentary on the Laozi) nor his Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo. In his Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo, Park Se-dang does not think that the Zhuangzi is in diametrical opposition to Confucian thoughts. Firstly, he emphasizes that Zhuangzi faces the actual world with ultimately positive concern, though from a critical perspective. Secondly, he seeks common grounds between the thoughts of Zhuangzi and Confucians, proving that Zhuangzi emphasizes human relationships between father and son or between king and subject. Thirdly, he illuminates Zhuangzi's theory of human nature from a new perspective in order to reestablish Confucian theory of human nature. Fourthly, he attempts to apply Zhuangzi's thoughts in order to overcome contemporary consumptive political feuds, including the splits of political factions or the disputes about ritual proprieties (禮訟論爭). Park Se-dang's composition of Shinjoo Dodeokgyeong and Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo was a complementary measure for Confucianism, his proper mainstay being Confucianism. He attempted to escape, not from Confucianism itself, but from the absolutism of Neo-Confucianism. In the 17th century Joseon Dynasty, when Neo-Confucianism was becoming dogmatized and absolutized as a canonical doctrine and a dominant ideology, Park Se-dang's composition of Namhwagyeong Joohaesanbo was a very innovative attempt, which shows that he established himself as a pioneer to escape Neo-Confucianism, having consolidated his own unique and progressive academic province, differentiating himself from traditional Confucian scholars in his objective.