| roots | pinyin, English |
| 彳? | chì step, wëi small |
| subtle | JL, VM, AL, CM, PI |
| The Subtle (formless) | WC |
| small | WO |
| minute | L1, RH |
| extremely small | EC |
| infinitesimal | AW |
| Bodiless | PC |
| intangible | LY [cap.], FE, LG, DC [cap.],JS |
| Incorporeal | W1 |
| immaterial | C1 |
| ethereal | RP |
| gossamer | DH |
| elusive | AH |
| formless | DL |
| Vague | WW |
| abstruse | GR |
MWD has 'ming zhi' and transposes 'wei' with 'yi' (line 2); <140313>L2, RH, VH, and AH refer to this. RP follows the standard.
| subtle | PC, LY, W1, FE, EC, AH, RH, LG, CM, DL, PI, VM, DH, WC, AW, GR |
| minutely subtle | L1 |
| with a subtle and exquisite penetration, comprehended its mysteries | JL |
| refined and deeply enlightened | C1 |
| Dark, wondrous, profound, penetrating | AL |
| aimed at the indiscernible | and penetrated the dark | RP |
| mysterious and profound | Their inner state baffles all inquiry | JS |
| unfathomable and beyond description | WW |
| one with the invisible forces of the hidden | WO |
| A man of subtlety with deep insight | DC |
MWD-A is missing all text. MWD-B has 'da 達' for 'töng'; <140313>AH follows. GD has 'zao 造' for 'töng'.
AH notes it starts with 'bi ['were certainly']'. RP follows the standard, but adds a mark between 'mìao' and 'xúan'.
140314 GR makes a point of combining each pair into one word; 'subtle' refers to 'wëi mìao'.
| subtle | LY, RH, WC, L1, EC, AL, CM, VM, W1, DL, PI, AH ['within'] |
| hiding, hidden | RP, JL ['(of his procedure)'], WW ['the something'] |
| invisible | WO, C1 |
| faint | L2 |
| small dark | LG |
| dusky | DH |
| obscurity | JS |
| dimming | AW |
| common sense | DC |
| profound | GR |
| This is an explanation of the secret | PC |
| perception of the nature of things | FE |
MWD has 'wei-alt 胃' for 'wèi'. <140313>RP and AH follow the standard.
| minute | LY, L1, C1, EC, RH, CM, AW, WC, GR |
| small | W1, FE, RP, JS, DL, DC |
| still small | WO |
| very small | JL |
| still scant | PC |
| miniscule | VM |
| fine | AL |
| little things | LG |
| slight | DH |
| just beginning | AH |
| faint | PI |
| still in bits and pieces | WW |
MWD is missing all text. <140313>AH has 'qí wëi yê yì¹ sàn yê' obviously out of sympathy to MWD which uses 'yê 也' much more frequently: the surviving line 1 has this structure.