Skill and Mastery: Philosophical Stories from the Zhuangzi presents an illuminating analysis of skill stories from theZhuangzi, a 4th century BCE Daoist text. In this intriguing text that subverts conventional norms and pursuits, ordinary activities such as swimming, cicada-catching and wheelmaking are executed with such remarkable efficacy and spontaneity that they seem like magical feats. An international team of scholars explores these stories in their philosophical, historical and political contexts. Their analyses highlight the storiesunderlying conceptions of agency, character and cultivation; and relevance to contemporary debates on human action and experience. The result is a valuable collection, opening up new lines of inquiry in comparative East-West philosophical debates on skill, cultivation and mastery, as well as cross-disciplinary debates in psychology, cognitive science and philosophy.

Karyn Lai is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Languages. She specialises in comparative Chinese-western philosophical research, drawing insights from Chinese philosophies to engage in debates in areas including moral philosophy, environmental ethics, reasoning and argumentation, and epistemology.



Wai Wai Chiu is Assistant Professor at Lingnan University. His interests include pre-Qin Daoist and Mohist philosophy, especially epistemology and ethics. He has published articles on Zhuangzis conception of knowledge, language and efficacious action; as well as Mozis conception of benefit.

Introduction (Karyn Lai and Wai Wai Chiu)

Part I Reflections on Skill

1 Skilful Performances and the Zhuangzis Lessons on Orientation (Wai Wai Chiu)

2 Skill and Nourishing Life (Franklin Perkins)

3 Skill and Emotions in the Zhuangzi (David Machek)

4 Zhuangzis Politics from the Perspective of Skill (Timothy Connolly)

5 Elusive Masters, Powerless Teachers and Dumb Sages: Exploring Pedagogic Skills in the Zhuangzi (Romain Graziani)

6 Skill and Embodied Knowledge: Zhuangzi and Liezi (Steven Coutinho)

7 The Unskilled Zhuangzi: Big and Useless and Not So Good at Catching Rats (Eric Schwitzgebel)

Part II The Stories

8 Cook Ding: A Meditation in Flow (James Sellman)

9 Wheelwright Bian: A Difficult Dao (Lisa Raphals)

10 The Cicada-Catcher: Learning for Life (Karyn Lai)

11 The Ferryman: Forget the Deeps and Row! (Chris Fraser)

12 The Unresponsive Fighting Cocks: Mastery and Human Interaction in the Zhuangzi (Wim De Reu)

13 The Swimmer: (Albert Galvany)

14 Woodworker Qing: Matching Heaven with Heaven (Kim-chong Chong)

15 The Naked Scribe: The Skill of Dissociation in Society (Hans-Georg Moeller)

16 The Forger: The Use of Things (Wai Wai Chiu)