The Meaning Of Craftsmen And The Aesthetic Connotation In Zhuangzi

From the three dynasties of Xia,Shang and Zhou to the Warring States period,the craftsmen played an important role in society by right of the character of making artifacts at that time,which has been proved in some ancient books and records,such as Kaogongji(?????),Zuozhuan(????),Guoyu(????)and so on.Because of the large quantity and their characters of the craftsmen,the philosophers in the Pre-Qin Period signified making artifacts as governing the country.Meanwhile,the craftsmen began to be described in the literature.Compared with HanFeizi(?????),Mo-tse(????),Xuncius(????)and Guanzi(????),the figures of craftsmen became more distinct in Zhuangzi(????),and their connotations are more profound,which formed an independent and complete system.In Zhuangzi,the types of work involve the lacquerer,the carpenter,the blacksmith,the butcher,the mason,the painter and so on.Chuang-tzu school poured abundant thought essence into their daily work,elucidating their thoughts and connotations.They probed the philosophy of life of useless value from the craftsmen'value orientation.They placed the idea of emptiness in the dedicated labour attitude.Their fruits of labor manifested their tendency of advocateing natural.Finally,they advocated the connotations of “obtaining the significance and forgetting the words” from the skill inheritance.Moreover,the craftsmen'skills and the doctrines have the similarities.Elucidating senses by skills is craftsmen' feature.Thus,the craftsmen' special status could be manifested in Zhuangzi.By depicting magical skills,the craftsmen'realm of free and unfettered were revealed vividly.