Episode 05 - The Cook and His Cleaver

The piece below for Dark Mountain Issue 8 Technê was my first essay published in a book, or indeed anywhere other than on the T'ai Chi school blog which I started in 2005. Thankfully, it was edited down by Steve Wheeler from a rambling sprawl to this short essay, where I attempt to get to some of the deeper aspects of Chuang Tzu's wonderful teaching story. I have updated it very slightly for you today. I recommend getting Thomas Cleary's Taoist Classics Volume 1 for his masterful translations, but other renditions of the story are available to read immediately online if you search 'Cook Ting'…Published here with full transcript, notes and more images, December 5th 2022. Get full access to Uncivil Savant at carolineross.substack.com/subscribe