Spoilers. There are a few parts of the book, according to the translator, that are done in the manner of a Chinese folktale, which he tried to translate to a d

Spoilers. There are a few parts of the book, according to the translator, that are done in the manner of a Chinese folktale, which he tried to translate to a different style in English. I'm no expert, but I got the impression the sophont chapter was in this category. It has this otherworldly silliness with the multiple attempts to create a sophont going wrong in different dimensions, calculated to fit the repetitive pattern of a fairy tale. I think the thrust, which might be hard to read in translation, is this: we can't imagine the technology a superior alien species would come up with, so it's related as a fairy tale beyond technological realism. Anyway, I doubt it was meant to be hard sci-fi.