What is the Wheelwright Bian Story About?
Author：Wim De Reu C. Lynne Hong
Abstract / PDF Download
The wheelwright Bian story in chapter 13 of the Zhuangzi is generally read in terms of the inexpressibility of skill. Connections with other Zhuangzi passages on skill and language skepticism readily suggest themselves, and this is indeed the direction in which the story has been developed and contextualized in the scholarship. In this paper, we take an alternative approach. Prompted by the observation that the status of books is a topic not only in the wheelwright story but also in three other sections of chapter 13, we attempt to read the story in the context of its chapter. The three main parts of the paper correspond to questions regarding books suggested in the wheelwright story: questions pertaining to the function of books, to the reason why books are criticized, and to what is absent from books. In addressing these issues, we will draw on a variety of clues present in chapter 13. The picture that will emerge is one in which the wheelwright story is seen as part of a political polemic. To the extent that the story is part of a political polemic, it is less obviously about skill and language per se.