Scholarship too is a winding path to a hidden place — you can't rush the arrival.
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history
From Chang Jian's (常建) Tang-dynasty poem 《题破山寺后禅院》 (Inscribed at the Meditation Hall Behind Poshan Temple). Full couplet: 『曲径通幽处，禅房花木深』— 'a winding path reaches the hidden place; the meditation hall lies deep among flowers and trees.' One of the most-quoted couplets in Chinese landscape aesthetics, and a design maxim for classical Chinese gardens like Suzhou's 拙政园.
usage
Also routinely contracted to the 4-character 曲径通幽. Applied to gardens, architecture, essays — anything where indirection enriches the destination.
