Dao, Technê and Cultivating Life: Following Cook Ding’s Lead
Author：Chung-Hung Chang
Abstract / PDF Download
According to Zhuangzi, the meaning of Yang-Sheng is all about life-cultivation.
This can be seen from the fact that it is one of Yang-Sheng’s requirements to
keep good company with one’s parents. The story of Cook Ding, as presented
in the book by Zhuangzi, is meant to provide an insight into the importance
of technê in life. To put it briefly, technê is important not because it can bring
about flow experience, but because it can reveal the world as one in which
one can wander about and be playful with valuable things in multiple dimensions.
Thus, it is a necessary condition for anyone who wants to cultivate the meaning
of life to be able to master at least some skills, especially the ones involved
in keeping good company with one’s parents. As a consequence, Zhuangzi is
quite successful at giving a daoist twist to filial obedience, though he confines
himself not to pursue further ethical and/or political theorizations.