The Dao of Doodles

Minh-Hoang Nguyen

30-09-2025

Created by ChatGPT

One fine morning, an artist stumbles into Kingfisher’s cave. “Eyes and fingers!” he groans. “They defy me! Anatomy, veins, bones, pupils—why must they squirm so?”

Kingfisher, fresh from meditating on the sound of moss growing, nods with cosmic sympathy. “You need Zhuangzi,” he says. “He once taught a butterfly how to paint with its wings.”

Together, they visit Master Zhuangzi reclining on a hammock woven from palm leaves.

“Master,” says Kingfisher, “this artist seeks the Dao of drawing finger bones and ocular orbs.”

Zhuangzi opens one eye, which promptly blinks in three dimensions. “Ah,” he says, “the finger is not a finger, and the eye is not an eye. They are soup. Vein, skin, bone, shape—ingredients. Stir them well, and you get Dao stew.”

The artist blinks. “So... I should cook my sketches?”

“No,” Zhuangzi chuckles. “You must wander. Unfetter your brush. Let your lines dance like drunken cranes. Draw not the parts, but the whole. The Dao does not dissect—it doodles in wholeness.”

The artist embarks on a pilgrimage through absurdity. He paints with his dreams. He sketches through a thunderstorm of enlightenment. Weeks later, he returns to Kingfisher, glowing like a lantern in a cave of confusion, and asks Kingfisher to present the results to Zhuangzi. Of course, Kingfisher is delighted to help show the artist’s progress.

So, Kingfisher comes to see Zhuangzi.

“Master,” says Kingfisher, “the artist embraces the Dao, improving his technique.” Kingfisher goes on explaining all the technical innovations adopted by the artist in so doing.

Zhuangzi listens unfalteringly, with a smile behind his beard.

After Kingfisher’s report and explanations, Zhuang asks if the painting is here for him to examine.

Of course, Kingfisher immediately shows Zhuangzi the best painting sent by the artist.

Zhuangzi peers at the drawings, showing his astonishment at seeing the progress, squinting at Kingfisher like wanting to ask something...

“Yes,” says Kingfisher proudly. “To preserve the wholeness of vision. No more messy anatomy. Just pure, undisturbed Dao.”

Silence...

Zhuangzi stares. His beard twitches. His eyebrow raises. Then, with the grace of a falling leaf, he faints. Next to him, the painting of a face wearing sunglasses and a hand in a glove.

Later, awakening, Zhuangzi murmurs, “The Dao is best left unillustrated.”

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Zhuang Zhou. (1964). Zhuangzi.

[3] Laozi. (1868). Tao Te Ching.