A stone for jade, words for meaning
The Shijing line depicts a material useful for working jade. Zhuangzi explicitly treats words as a means toward meaning after trap-and-snare analogies. The connection is editorial: both invite attention to means and ends, but only one develops a stated argument about language.
它山之石，可以攻玉A useful material is related to the task it can perform.
tls · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR1c0001_018.txt, lines 158–169言者所以在意，得意而忘言Words are related to meaning through a means-and-aim argument.
CHANT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR5c0126_026.txt, lines 434–441Make the comparison explicit
The Shijing line depicts a material useful for working jade. Zhuangzi explicitly treats words as a means toward meaning after trap-and-snare analogies. The connection is editorial: both invite attention to means and ends, but only one develops a stated argument about language.
詩經: A useful material is related to the task it can perform.
莊子: Words are related to meaning through a means-and-aim argument.
Which excerpt explicitly makes language the instrument?
Zhuangzi: 言者所以在意.
Shared words, images, or constructions do not by themselves establish common meaning, authorship, or origin. An explicit citation is identified only where the wording itself supports it.
zimai · AI-assisted editorial notes · Editorial pilot · not independently reviewed. Original learning material: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source text, scholarly reference, and editorial interpretation remain separately attributed.