Zhuangzi glossary

 

Hidden.

縵者,                     màn zhĕ.     plain
窖者,                     jiào zhĕ.      deep
密者。                     mì zhĕ         hidden

These terms have their own meter but don't rhyme. It is also unclear whether they are meant to be read as nouns or adjectives. 縵 màn means "plain silk" or, as an adjective, "unadorned." 窖 jiào is a root cellar; so possibly, by extension, "deep." 密 is an adjective, "secret." The 者 zhě that follows each of them is a particle with a variety of uses. Sometimes it nominalizes what came before; sometime just functions more or less as a pause. Again, the connection of this verse to its context is obscure. Does it describe the mental struggles in the previous verse? Or the fears in the following one?