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.