In the first sentence at the beginning of the full text, Zhuangzi put forward a view that many people will be surprised: "My life is limited, but my knowledge is also limited. With the limit, there is no limit, and it is almost there; This is just a question of knowing! "What do you mean? Our life is limited, but our knowledge is infinite. Pursuing infinite knowledge with our limited life will inevitably hurt our bodies and make us lose our minds. If we know this will happen, wouldn't it be a very dangerous thing to do it? This sentence seems incredible, but it actually reflects Zhuangzi's concept of health preservation: foreign things are not more important than life.
Next, Zhuangzi expounded his concept of keeping in good health as a whole, that is, following the way of nature and taking things as the constant method. What is the right path of nature? In his article, Zhuangzi thinks: Do what the world calls good, do not covet fame, and do what the world calls evil, do not face the humiliation of execution. This is the right path of nature, and the right path of nature is to do things that are completely in line with nature. If you do things that conform to nature, you won't be greedy for fame and fortune and be punished. The so-called good and evil are worlds apart. In addition, Zhuangzi believes that as long as we can do things in the way of "observing destiny", we can protect ourselves and preserve our nature, without leaving any worries for our parents, and we can enjoy the rest of our lives.
Later, Zhuangzi used the story of knowing how to treat cows to explain that keeping in good health should conform to nature: when the chef slaughtered cows for Wen, his movements were skillful, his voice was like music, and Wen was amazed. After putting down the knife, the chef said, "I dissected the cow with a knife along the big gap between the muscles and bones according to the natural physiological structure of the cow. I have never met the place where the meridians meet and the flesh and blood are closely connected, let alone the big bones!" Excellent chefs change a knife every year because they are cutting meat with a knife, while ordinary chefs change a knife every month because they are cutting bones with a knife. In fact, there are gaps between the joints and other parts of the cow, and the blade is not very thick. I can make it easily, so my knife has been used for 19 years, but the blade still looks like it has just been ground. Whenever I meet something wrong where the tendons and joints get together, I will be extra careful and dare not be careless. Concentrated eyes, slow movements, slight knife potential. "
In this story, the chef/kloc-did not change the knife for 0/9 years because he dissected the cow along its natural structure when he slaughtered it. Zhuangzi took this opportunity to show that the key to keeping in good health is to conform to the laws of nature, and human intervention must not destroy the laws of nature, otherwise it will be as difficult as a knife in the hands of excellent chefs and ordinary chefs. In addition, chefs will be cautious and focused when they encounter places that are difficult to dissect, and their movements are slow and slight. This also shows that health preservation is not a one-off event, and it is necessary to calm down and follow a natural path.
Then Zhuangzi gave an example of a right teacher who was born with only one foot, in order to show that people's looks are given by God, not by people. Another example is a pheasant that was born on the edge of a swamp and was kept in a cage. Even if you are full of food and energy, you are unhappy after all, which shows that under the artificial change of the day after tomorrow, even if the material conditions are improved, it will eventually affect the innate spiritual nature. Through these two examples, it is expounded that people are born at first, so it is reasonable to follow nature in later life. Pursuing external fame and fortune is meaningless, but it will hurt your own nature.
Finally, Zhuangzi tells the story of his friend Qin Shi who came to offer condolences after Lao Dan's death, which shows that keeping in good health should not only conform to nature, but also forget the theme of emotion. Lao Dan's friend Qin Shi came to offer his condolences, cried a few times and left. Lao Dan's disciples were puzzled by this and asked, "Are you a friend of our teacher?" Qin Shi replied: "Yes." The disciple asked again, "Can you mourn your friend like this?" Qin Shi said, "Good." And explained: "Just now, I saw the old man crying in the hearse. He cried like his parents and children, and the young man cried like his children. It is against common sense and true feelings to like life and hate death. They all forget that people are inherited by nature and are determined by heaven. The ancients called this behavior a fault of deviating from nature. Your teacher should be born at the right time and die at the right time. This is the principle of conforming to nature. There is no need for sadness and joy in the heart. The ancients called it natural liberation. " In this story, Zhuangzi explained that people's life and death lies in adapting to nature, and there is no need to feel sad and happy about life and death. Forget emotions and conform to nature is the real way out.
At the end of the article, the candle with Zhuangzi as the lighting object will eventually burn out, but the example that the fire will never go out shows that the human body will eventually disappear, and it will last only if it conforms to nature.
To sum up, Zhuangzi elaborated the main idea of the whole article at the beginning of the article, and the way of keeping in good health is the right way to conform to nature. Later stories such as My Skillful Master, My One-legged Teacher, The Pheasant in the Cage, Qin Mourning all discussed this point in detail. In Zhuangzi's view, the so-called health preservation is actually to cultivate one's natural nature, forget emotions and not be trapped by foreign objects, so that even if the body disappears, the natural nature will last forever.