Abstract:

The distinction between “specialized skills” and “universal skills” has given rise to the evolution of craftsmanship, and artifacts’ “shielding” has caused philosophy to neglect the root exploration of artisans’ existence for a long time. Artisans cannot be “skillful” before they know the “skills”. Heidegger, Chinese traditional philosophy and other study on artisans believe that craftsmanship can be attributed to both the revelation of experience and the knowledge of ideas. The evolution of craftsmanship from proficiency to the integration of artifacts and skills, from local culture to teaching and dissemination, and from concept conformity to skill practice shows the transformation of craftsmanship in terms of knowledge form, cognitive process and practice mode, and redefines people’s cognition of craftsmanship as well as its significance and value. Exploring craftsmanship under the new historical conditions is conducive to cultivating contemporary artisans with all-round physical and intellectual development while adhering to traditional skills, so as to achieve high-quality development of humans.

Key words: artisans, craftsmanship, transformation, evolution, unity of the Dao and technique