comic-genius.jpg

Comic Genius

Good students hear about Dao and work hard, but they follow it. Average students hear about Dao, some remember, some forget. Bad students hear about Dao and laugh at it.

If it wasn't so hilarious, it wouldn't be Dao, so here are some of the jokes it plays.

退 Observing Dao obscures it, proving Dao refutes it, sorting Dao scatters it. Praising De degrades it and preaching defiles it. Developing De depletes it, supporting De demeans it and believing denies it.

A school with no lessons, a method too subtle to learn, a lecture too faint to hear, a metaphor with no meaning, Dao is a riddle with no answer, and Dao is only as convincing as it is a good sport.

Notes

This poem makes sense to me as bad puns to keep normals and nit-pickers on board.

The following Kroll vocabulary notes are meant to support my solution to what I take as two distinct puzzle grids.

In the expressions, joins a descriptive complement to an introductory verb phrase.

The and punchline expressions all describe Dao.

  • big method, technique has no niche, corner
  • big implement, vessel late to finish
  • big sound, voice faint message
  • unifying patterns that underlie variegated phenomena have no shape, structure
  • Dao is reticent, obscure, has no names
  • Dao is good at both absolving, forgiving and causing to conform, reconciling, accommodating

I'm not sure what to make of . It's a modern saying for something like, "Great talent takes time to mature," but that's out of sync with the irony of the other expressions. Cook's Guodian footnotes cover alternatives , , , , and , and summarize the use of in Lushi chunqiu as, "An analogy of how great men undertake great things only after a long period of preparation and observation, ... [and] that undertakings of great forethought are unappreciated until after their benefits are realized."

Vocabulary

shàng shǎng
一 1 + 2
top; superior, highest; go up, send up
shì
士 33 + 0
scholar, gentleman; soldier
wén wèn
耳 128 + 8
hear; smell; make known; news
dào dǎo
辵 162 + 9
path, road, street; method, way
qín qí
力 19 + 11
industrious, diligent, attentive
ér néng
而 126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
xíng háng
行 144 + 0
go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
zhī zhū
丿 4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
zhōng zhòng
丨 2 + 3
central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
ruò ré
艸 140 + 5
if, supposing, assuming; similar
cún
子 39 + 3
exist, live, be; survive; remain
wáng wú
亠 8 + 1
death, destroyed; lose, perish
xià
一 1 + 2
under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
dà dài
大 37 + 0
big, great, vast, large, high
xiào
竹 118 + 4
smile, laugh, giggle; snicker
bù fǒu
一 1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
zú jù
足 157 + 0
foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
yǐ sì
人 9 + 3
by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
wèi
火 86 + 5
do, handle, govern, act; be
攴 66 + 5
ancient, old; reason, because
jiàn
廴 54 + 6
build, establish, erect, found
yán yàn
言 149 + 0
words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
yǒu yòu
月 74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
míng mèng
日 72 + 4
bright, light, brilliant; clear
mèi wěn
日 72 + 5
obscure, dark; darken
jìn
辵 162 + 8
advance, make progress, enter
退
tuì
辵 162 + 6
step back, retreat, withdraw
大 37 + 3
ancient barbarian tribes
lèi
糸 120 + 15
knot; blemish, flaw, wicked
彳 60 + 12
ethics, morality, virtue
gǔ lù
谷 150 + 0
valley, gorge, ravine; Kangxi radical 150
tài tā
大 37 + 1
very, too, much; big; extreme
bái bó
白 106 + 0
white; pure, unblemished; bright
辰 161 + 3
humiliate, insult, abuse
guǎng guàng
广 53 + 12
broad, wide, extensive
tōu
人 9 + 9
to steal, burglar, thief
zhì
貝 154 + 8
matter, material, substance
zhēn
目 109 + 5
real, actual, true, genuine
yú yū
水 85 + 9
change; chongqing
fāng fáng
方 70 + 0
a square, rectangle; a region; local
wú mó
火 86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
阜 170 + 9
corner, nook, remote place
口 30 + 13
receptacle, vessel; instrument
wǎn
日 72 + 7
night, evening; late
chéng
戈 62 + 2
completed, finished, fixed
yīn
音 180 + 0
sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation; Kangxi radical 180
巾 50 + 4
rare; hope, expect, strive for
shēng
耳 128 + 11
sound, voice, noise; tone; music
xiàng
豕 152 + 5
elephant; ivory; figure, image
xíng
彡 59 + 4
form, shape, appearance
yǐn yìn
阜 170 + 14
hide, conceal; hidden, secret
míng mìng
口 30 + 3
name, rank, title, position
fū fú
大 37 + 1
man, male adult, husband; those
wéi wěi
口 30 + 8
only; yes
shàn
口 30 + 9
good, virtuous, charitable, kind
dài tè
貝 154 + 5
lend; borrow; pardon
qiě jū
一 1 + 4
moreover, also (post-subject); about to, will soon (pre-verb)
màn
曰 73 + 7
long, extended, vast; beautiful
miǎn wèn
儿 10 + 5
spare; excuse from; evade
màn mán
心 61 + 11
slow(ly), leisurely, sluggish
màn
糸 120 + 11
plain silk; simple, plain
wù mò
勹 20 + 2
must not, do not; without, never