Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
大巧若拙 (dà qiǎo ruò zhuō)
Word for word from chapter 45
大巧若拙 (dà qiǎo ruò zhuō), “great skill seems clumsy”, comes from chapter 45 of the Dao De Jing and means that the truly skilled do not show off their skill.
Character by character
| 大 | dà | great, big |
|---|---|---|
| 巧 | qiǎo | cleverness, skill |
| 若 | ruò | like, as if |
| 拙 | zhuō | clumsy |
| 大巧若拙 | Truly skilled people do not show off, and may even look clumsy. | |
Where it comes from
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大直若屈，
Great straightness seems bent,
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大巧若拙，
great skill seems clumsy,
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大辩若讷。
great eloquence seems to stammer.
How the meaning moved
The phrase is the middle one of three sayings in chapter 45: “Great straightness seems bent, great skill seems clumsy, great eloquence seems to stammer.” They follow the chapter's opening, “Great completion seems lacking, yet its use never wears out.” Skill at its height needs no flourish, so to an onlooker it can look plain or awkward.
The book is wary of ordinary skill: chapter 57 says that “the more skill and cunning people have, the more strange things appear,” with the same character 巧. Great skill is the opposite of that cunning. Today 大巧若拙 is said in praise of craftsmen, artists and writers whose work looks simple, and of people who keep their abilities out of sight. Taiwan's Ministry of Education dictionary (成语典) names it as the model of 大智若愚, “great wisdom seems foolish”.
Using it today
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老木匠做的椅子看上去很朴素，其实大巧若拙，坐了几十年都不松动。
lǎo mù jiang zuò de yǐ zi kàn shàng qù hěn pǔ sù, qí shí dà qiǎo ruò zhuō, zuò le jǐ shí nián dōu bù sōng dòng.
The old carpenter's chairs look plain, but their plainness hides great skill: after decades of use they have not worked loose.
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他的书法乍看笨拙，懂行的人却说这是大巧若拙。
tā de shū fǎ zhà kàn bèn zhuō, dǒng háng de rén què shuō zhè shì dà qiǎo ruò zhuō.
His calligraphy looks clumsy at first sight, but connoisseurs say it is great skill that seems clumsy.