#1 The World of Tao
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1: An invitation to learn and apply ancient Taoist wisdom in your life.
Hey,
This is a repost of the first letter in this article series since the previous link was not working.
I made this piece web-only because I do not want to fill your email box with the same content.
This is the first letter of The Wisdom of Lao Tzu, a new series inviting readers to explore the world of the Taoist tradition.
I start with a deep dive into the foundational text of Taoism, Tao Te Ching (道德經).
In this series, you will find a curation of three English translations of the text to complement the original Chinese version.
To arrive at a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the text, I include some commentaries from two influential Chinese versions (see below) with my translations.
In the future, I will also include the text of Chuang Tzu (plus I Ching and much more) in this series. Considering that the book of Chuang Tzu contains much more comprehensive content and is rich in meaning for interpretations and expositions, I figure it will be a good source for obtaining a more profound understanding of ancient Taoism.
But let’s start with Tao Te Ching first.
**1**
道可道,非常道;名可名,非常名。
無,名天地之始,有,名萬物之母。
故常無欲,以觀其妙;常有欲,以觀其徼。
此兩者,同出而異名。
同謂之玄,玄之又玄,眾妙之門。
Border-crossing: English translations
#1 Lin Yutang’s version
The Tao that can be told of
Is not the Absolute Tao;
The Names that can be given
Are not Absolute Names.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the Mother of All Things.
Therefore:
Oftentimes, one strips oneself of passion
In order to see the Secret of Life;
Oftentimes, one regards life with passion
In order to see its manifest forms.
These two (the Secret and its manifestations)
Are (in their nature) the same;
They are given different names
When they become manifest.
They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery;
Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper Mystery
Is the Gate to the Secret of All Life.
#2 Edmund Ryden’s version
Of ways you may speak,
but not the Perennial Way;
By names you may name,
but not the Perennial Name.
The nameless is the inception of the myriad things;
The named is the mother of the myriad things.
Therefore,
Be ever without yearning so as to observe her obscurity;
Be ever full of yearning so as to observe what she longs for.
Both come forth alike and yet are named as opposites,
Alike they are called ‘abstruse’.
Abstruse on abstruse, the gate to all obscurity.1
#3 D. C. Lau’s version
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets;
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.
These two are the same
But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
Mystery upon mystery —
The gateway of the manifold secrets.2
Deeper dive
The sentence in this first chapter—“The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The Named is the Mother of All Things”—is important for understanding Taoism from an ontological perspective.
Yet, there is controversy regarding this textual tradition that reads “The Nameless” and “The Named.” Another textual tradition reads “non-being” as the origin of Heaven and Earth, and “being” as the source of all myriad things. More chapters in the book will refer to this point. (see chapter 40)
Wang Bi’s comment (226-249 AD) is also helpful for understanding Tao.
He said, “All that is being arises from non-being. And that which is formless and nameless is the beginning of the myriad things. When it has a form and a name, Tao will grow, cultivate, nurture, and regulate it as its Mother. This is to say that Tao — being formless and nameless, is the origin of the things of the world. They start to form without realizing why. This is indeed mysterious.” 「凡有皆始於無,故未形無名之時,則為萬物之始。及其有形有名之時,則長之、育之、亭之、毒之,為其母也。言道以無形無名始成萬物,萬物以始以成而不知其所以然,玄之又玄也。」3
A cultural note
Tao Te Ching, one of the foundational texts of ancient Chinese intellectual legacy, has received numerous interpretations and annotations throughout the centuries. Among the many versions in the Chinese language, Wang Bi and He Shanggong’s commentaries were considered authoritative until today.
Wang Bi, born in 226 AD, was an influential scholar of Tao Te Ching and I Ching (the Book of Changes). It is recorded that Wang Bi was particularly fond of Tao Te Ching in his youth. He died at 24 and left his commentaries on these two Taoist classics as a legacy. During the Wei-Jin period (220–589 AD), Tao Te Ching, I Ching, and Chuang Tzu were considered foundational texts of Neo-Taoist metaphysics (玄學). So Wang Bi’s mastery of these two texts is incredibly remarkable.
He Shanggong (Approximately 200 BC - ?), who allegedly lived in the Han dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), was among the first authors to interpret and write commentaries on Tao Te Ching. Yet, like the conundrum regarding its authorship, He Shanggong’s detailed biography remains a mystery.
In addition, two other versions through archeological excavations also contributed to research on this classic. The Mawangdui Silk Texts found in Changsha, Hunan Province, in 1973, included a version of Tao Te Ching written in the official script (隸書, a particular style of Chinese calligraphy, see below) during the Han dynasty.
In 1993, another version of Tao Te Ching was discovered at Jingmen, Hubei Province, China. The site was a cemetery in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (476 - 221 BC). Compared to the Mawangdui text, this version is more loosely arranged and lacks consistency.
Tao Te Ching is a book that has sparked many debates surrounding Taoism, including naturalist philosophy, cosmology, spirituality, political principles, metaphysics, statecraft, and war strategies.
By carefully examining the original text with its various translations, we may better understand its messages.
Thanks for reading!
Until next week,
Yuxuan
Daodejing, trans. Edmund Ryden. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 5.
Tao Te Ching, trans. D. C. Lau. (London: Penguin Classics, 1963), 5.
Wang Bi et al., Four Kinds of Laotse 老子四種 (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2016), 1.