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小道 (xiǎo dào) — narrow path, footpath, trail; backdoor route; shady or illegal means (esp. bribery) to get something done; minor arts / lesser skills (in traditional Confucian classification)

Definition

A single word that spans three unrelated senses: a narrow path (take the footpath), a backdoor / bribery route to get things done, and in classical Confucian usage, a 'minor art' like medicine — vs. the Confucian ideal 六艺.

noun
narrow pathfootpathtrailbackdoor routeshady or illegal means (esp. bribery) to get something doneminor arts / lesser skills (in traditional Confucian classification)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 小道。
    Cóng zhè tiáo xiǎo dào zǒu kě yǐ gèng kuài dào xué xiào.
    Taking this footpath can get you to school faster.
  • 小道，。
    Tā kào zǒu xiǎo dào ná dào le nà ge xiàng mù, hòu lái bèi chá chū lái le.
    He got that project through backdoor means and was later found out.
  • ，小道，。
    Zài gǔ dài, yī xué bèi rèn wéi shì xiǎo dào, bú shòu zhòng shì.
    In ancient times, medicine was considered a minor art and not valued.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

小xiǎosmall
道dàopath

小 gives narrow or minor, and 道 is a path, so the word can mean a small trail or an indirect route.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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