{"id":4225,"date":"2019-11-09T14:39:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T14:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-wordsvocabulary\/chinese-idiom-pao-ding-jie-niu\/"},"modified":"2019-11-09T14:39:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-09T14:39:01","slug":"chinese-idiom-pao-ding-jie-niu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/fr\/chinese-idiom-pao-ding-jie-niu\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Idiom -\u5e96\u4e01\u89e3\u725b"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Chinese<\/div>\n

A cook was butchering an ox for Duke Wen Hui.
The places his hand touched,
His shoulder leaned against,
His foot stepped on,
His knee pressed upon,
Came apart with a sound.<\/p>\n

He moved the blade, making a noise
That never fell out of rhythm.
It harmo<\/em>nized with the Mulberry Woods Dance,
Like music from ancient times.<\/p>\n

Duke Wen Hui exclaimed: "Ah! Excellent!
Your skill has advanced to this level?"<\/p>\n

"What I follow is Tao,
The cook puts down the knife and answered:
Which is beyond all skills.
"When I started butchering,
What I saw was nothing but the whole ox.
After three years,
I no lo<\/em>nger saw the whole ox.<\/p>\n

"Nowadays, I meet it with my mind
Rather than see it with my eyes.
My sensory organs are inactive
While I direct the mind’s movement.<\/p>\n

"It goes according to natural laws,
Striking apart large gaps,
Moving toward large openings,
Following its natural structure.<\/p>\n

"Even places wher tendons attach to bones
Give no resistance,
Never mind the larger bones!<\/p>\n

"A good cook goes through a knife in a year,
Because he cuts.
An average cook goes through a knife in a month,
Because he hacks.<\/p>\n

"I have used this knife for nineteen years.
It has butchered thousands of oxen,
But the blade is still like it’s newly sharpened.<\/p>\n

"The joints have openings,
And the knife’s blade has no thickness.
Apply this lack of thickness into the openings,
And the moving blade swishes through,
With room to spare!<\/p>\n

"That’s why after nineteen years,
The blade is still like it’s newly sharpened.<\/p>\n

"Nevertheless, every time I come across joints,
I see its tricky parts,
I pay attention and use caution,
My vision concentrates,
My movement slows down.<\/p>\n

"I move the knife very slightly,
Whump! It has already separated.
The ox doesn’t even know it’s dead,
and falls to the ground like mud.<\/p>\n

"I stand holding the knife,
And look all around it.
The work gives me much satisfaction.
I clean the knife and put it away."<\/p>\n

Duke Wen Hui said: "Excellent!
I listen to your words,
And learn a principle of life."<\/p>\n

  <\/div>\n