Chou Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Big (dà) Page 248, Entry 01 Pronounced tai (falling tone). The opposite of small. Book of Changes (Yijing), Hexagram Qian: Great and magnificent is the Qian origin. Laozi, Dao De Jing: There are four great things in the universe; the Way is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the King is also great. Zhuangzi, Heaven and Earth Chapter: To unify different things is called great. Zeyang Chapter: Heaven and Earth are the greatest among all physical forms; Yin and Yang are the greatest among all breaths. Also refers to the beginning. Book of Rites (Liji), Wen Wang Shizi: The Son of Heaven inspects the school; he strikes the drum to assemble students at daybreak. Commentary: When the sun first rises, the drum is struck to summon the students so they arrive early. Also refers to universal or comprehensive. Book of Rites, Jiao Te Sheng: Universally repaying Heaven, with the sun as the primary focus. Also refers to fat or excellent. Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili), Gong Shi Dafu Li: Among the dishes presented by the scholar, there are specially selected large pieces of meat; assistants identify the large pieces of meat from the various dishes to offer to the guests. Commentary: Great refers to specifically selected fat, excellent portions cut into pieces for use in sacrificial offerings. Also refers to exceeding. Strategies of the Warring States (Zhan Guo Ce): None can exceed the Great King. Also refers to long. Erya, Shi Qi: A jade tablet (gui) measuring one foot and two inches is called a jie. Commentary: Great means long. Also refers to Dou Da, a title for officials. In the Song Dynasty, there were two Dou Da official posts: one for the supervision of tea and horses, and one for the supervision of mines, metallurgy, and currency casting. Also refers to Cuoda, a scholar. Records of Tales (Shu Yan Gushi): A poverty-stricken scholar with a narrow perspective; if you gave him a hundred thousand strings of coins, he would fill the room with them. Also refers to Tangda, a name for a bow, found in Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), Xia Guan. Also refers to the four great elements: earth, water, fire, and wind, found in Buddhist scriptures, Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yuanjue Jing). Also a surname. Descendants of the Ting clan, found in Comprehensive Account of Customs (Fengsu Tong). Also pronounced tai (falling tone). Book of Changes: Great and supremely great. Book of Documents (Shujing) and Book of Odes (Shijing): Great King, Great Master. Book of Rites: Great soup, great sacrificial ox. Pronounced tai. Also pronounced zuo. Du Fu, Tian Gou Fu: Not sparing energy to help others, capable of gazing far to consider things magnificent. Also pronounced tuo. Fierce or extreme. Book of Rites, commentary on a child not wearing fur garments: Zheng Kangcheng believed it was too warm. Xu Miao read this as tuo. Also rhymes with di (falling tone). Book of Odes, Da Ya: Although you are young, your influence is great. Zheng Zitong: Yang Shen says that the character is not read as jia; the rhyme dictionaries do not record it in the twenty-second rhyme category. Researching the Huainanzi: During the time of King Kang of Song, a sparrow gave birth to a sparrowhawk. Divination stated: A small creature giving birth to a large one signifies the certain conquest of the world. Great rhymes with below; in ancient times there was also a reading of jia. Shuo Wen Jie Zi: Heaven is great, Earth is great, and man is also great. The character shape resembles a human figure. Xu says: Originally the ancient form of the character for person. Another theory says it is pronounced da; in the classics and historical records, the characters for great, too, and supreme are interchangeable.