Tiān-hé (天合): Martistry in the Making as Nonself-cultivation

Prof Dr Ruyu Hung, Department of Education, National Chiayi University, Taiwan

This paper aims to explore the ancient Chinese Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi’s philosophy of education regarding craftsmanship cultivation in relation to the contemporary context. Zhuangzi’s craftsmanship cultivation is not merely the acquisition of finest skill, but also an art of living. As the craftsperson achieves one’s mastery and artistry, which I coin ‘Martistry’, i.e., – mastery and artistry combined, one elevates oneself into the state of dào. Being drawn into the daoful state, the craftsperson, experiencing the artful state, becomes an artist. Through wholehearted dedication to skill-practising, the joy and fulfilment one attains can be life‑enhancing, or in Zhuangzi’s word, yǎngsheng (養生, life-nurturing). In brief, the cultivation of craftsmanship can optimistically be understood as a way of life-enhancing and a way of seeking the dào. The attainment of the ultimate craftsmanship—martistry—is the moment of experiencing nonself and ultimately, dào, which benefits the practitioner and the spectator, the executor and the viewer, and the educator and the student. This educational process of learning, practising, refining skills, and ultimately attaining martistry is fundamentally a process of self-growth and self-cultivation, I will argue.

I draw on the stories of Cook Ding—one of the most renowned among many anecdotes in the Zhuangzi—and of the woodcarver Chìng to examine the various phases of craftsmanship cultivation, in comparison with the well-known Dreyfus learning model of skill acquisition and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow. The craftsman Cook Ding, through nineteen years of practice and embodied engagement, attains an extraordinary level of skill in carving an ox not merely as a matter of technical mastery, but manifesting a profound sense of artistry or ‘martistry’. Moreover, the woodcarver Chìng completed an exquisite wooden bell-stand and recounted the achievement as ‘using Heaven to accord with Heaven’, rather than ‘using the human to accord with Heaven’. In the words of Zhuangzi, it is a matter of ‘tian hé’ or ‘yǐ tian hé tian’, meaning ‘Heavenly Attunement’. Overall, Zhuangzi casts new light on contemporary education, prompting a reconsideration of the purpose, process, and content of education, and, more importantly, the meaning of working, learning, and living.

Bio

Ruyu Hung is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy of Education at National Chiayi University, Taiwan. Her research focuses on Daoism, deconstruction, phenomenology, ecopedagogy, and intercultural studies. She has published extensively in both Chinese and English. In 2022, she was elected a Fellow of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia. Her publications include the edited volume Nature, Art, and Education in East Asia: Philosophical Connections (Routledge, 2023) and the award-winning monograph Education between Speech and Writing: Crossing the Boundaries of Dao and Deconstruction (Routledge, 2018). She is also the lead editor of a forthcoming volume on Daoist Philosophy of Education, part of Bloomsbury's Philosophy of Education in Asia series.

Everybody is welcome. The presentation is free to attend. For catering planning purposes, please register until 16th September 2026 with Dr Karsten Kenklies under: karsten.kenklies@strath.ac.uk