庖  丁  解  牛
A magical and skilled form of craftsmanship
Once Upon a time, there was a renowned cook named "Ding". 
从前，有一个著名的厨师叫“丁”。ox
One day, King Hui of the state of Liang watched the cook carving up an ox. Up went his hand, down went the knife, cutting it with extremely precise movements.
有一天，梁惠王看到这个厨子在宰牛，只见他他手起刀落，动作非常精确。
The King praised Ding, "Your skill is excellent!"
梁惠王称赞丁说：“你的技术真好！”
The cook answered, "I can do it so dexterously because I am very familiar with the physiological structure of the ox. I see perfectly well each and every part of the ox, which is
no longer a whole ox to me. I have a clear mental picture of where its joints and main and collateral channels are, and know exactly where to start cutting and how much force is needed."
厨子回答说：“我能做得这么灵巧，因为我对牛的生理结构非常熟悉，我对牛的每一个部位都了如指掌，这对我来说已经不再是一头完整的牛了。我心里清楚地知道它的关节和主、副脉在哪里，知道从哪里开始切割，需要多少力量。”
The King was amazed at his explanation.
国王对他的解释感到惊讶。
The cook further talked about the reason why he can master the skill so well. "The knives of others become blunt after being used for a short time, whereas I have used my knife for 19 years and slaughtered nearly 1,000 oxen, and it is still as sharp as a new blade. However, when I come across a complicated structure, I would be cautious and conscientious, and I would make sure there are no unforced errors in my movements. I cut swiftly but lightly with great concentration and care."
厨师进一步谈到了他能如此熟练地掌握这项技能的原因。”别人的刀用了不长时间就变钝了，而我用了19年的刀，屠宰了将近1000头牛，仍然锋利如新刀。然而，当我遇到一个复杂的结构，我会谨慎和认真，我会确保我的动作没有失误。我会全神贯注的去切割。”
After hearing this, King Hui of Liang said he can learn from the cook Ding. "What you said is wonderful! From you I have learned the way of cultivating my mind and developing my character."
梁惠王听后说他可以向丁厨师学习。“你说的太好了！我从你那里学到了修身养性的方法。”
This is the etymology for the Chinese idiom Pao Ding Jie Niu. Pao 庖 here means the cook. Ding 丁 is a name. Jie means to dissect something. Niu is an ox. Literally speaking, the idiom means The cook Ding dissected an ox. But we use this phrase to indicate that someone can do his work with a kind of magical skilled craftsmanship just like the cook Ding. Such a person is highly respected by people thanks to his professionalism.
这是中国成语庖丁解牛的词源。庖这里指的是厨师，丁字是一个名字，解的意思是解剖某物，
牛是牛，从字面上讲，这个成语的意思是丁厨师把牛解剖了，但我们用这个词来表示，有人可以像丁厨师一样，用一种神奇的技艺来完成他的工作。这样的人会因为他的专业精神而受到人们的高度尊重。