One day, Zhuangzi attended a funeral and passed by the grave of his frequent debating partner Huizi, overcome with mixed emotions. Turning to his followers, he told a story.
In the ancient capital of Ying, a man accidentally got a speck of lime on the tip of his nose—a layer so thin it looked like a fly's wing. He asked a master carpenter to chop it off with an axe. The carpenter swung the blade with lightning precision, slicing away the lime without touching the skin, while the man stood perfectly still, showing no fear. This story, from *Zhuangzi*, "Xu Wugui," illustrates the ultimate trust between two experts and is now used to describe a bold, precise solution to a delicate problem.
The craftsman, completely unruffled, swung his axe with a sudden whoosh, slicing through the air like a gust of wind; the lime was shaved off cleanly without a trace, yet the nose remained perfectly unharmed. The man from Ying stood there without changing his expression, steady and composed.
When the Duke of Song, Lord Yuan, heard of this feat, he was deeply intrigued and summoned the craftsman, saying, "Please try the same on me—chip away the lime from the tip of my nose." The craftsman replied, "I once accomplished this, but the partner who stood so still for me has long since passed. I have no worthy counterpart to attempt it again." After recounting this tale, Zhuangzi sighed, "Since Huizi died, I have lost my debating partner. There is no one left to argue with me."
Zhuangzi told this story, praising the artisan's extraordinary skill and the man from Ying's remarkable courage and composure, calling them the perfect partners in craft.
Later generations derived the idiom "Wielding the Axe with the Wind" from this story, meaning extremely skilled and masterful craftsmanship. They also took the term "Fuzheng" from it, expressing respect and gratitude for someone who helps revise one's writing.
Source: *Zhuangzi*, "Xu Wugui"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "运斤成风" came to describe a bold, precise solution to a delicate problem.