2 pieces from Zhuangzi — each retold in modern English and traced to its source.
Prince Hui watches his cook carve an ox with such fluid precision that blade and bone seem to part by mutual agreement. The cook has been using the same knife for nineteen years. He explains why — and the prince concludes he has learned something about living.
Zhuangzi and Huizi are walking on a bridge over the Hao River when Zhuangzi makes a remark about the fish below. Huizi takes exception — you are not a fish, he says, so how could you possibly know anything about fish happiness? What follows is one of the most famous short arguments in Chinese philosophy.