📖 Overview
This chapter contains the famous story of Carpenter Shi (匠石) and his friend — one of the most moving passages in the Zhuangzi. Carpenter Shi is so skilled with his axe that he can shave a speck of plaster from the tip of a man's nose without touching the skin. But after his friend dies, he refuses to perform the feat again: 'There is no one in the world worth doing it for.'
The chapter also contains Huangdi's encounter with a shepherd boy who teaches him that governing a horse is like governing the world — the key is not control but understanding.
🏮 Famous Stories & Parables
🏮 Carpenter Shi and the Wind Axe
Carpenter Shi can swing his axe with such precision that he shaves plaster from a man's nose without cutting the skin. But when his partner who stood still during the feat dies, he refuses to perform it again: 'There is no one left who can stand that still.' True mastery requires a match between the performer and the witness.
🏮 Huangdi and the Horse Boy
The Yellow Emperor, lost while traveling, meets a boy tending horses. He asks: 'Do you know how to govern the world?' The boy replies: 'Governing the world is like tending horses — just get rid of whatever harms the horses. There is nothing special about it.'