This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via anonymous FTP and COOMBSQUEST gopher on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU Date of the document's last update/modification 03/09/93 -------------------------------------------------------- THE TAO TEH CHING - part 1 of 5 original filename: taote1-5.txt -------------------------------------------------------- This file is the work of Stan Rosenthal. It has been placed here, with his kind permission, by Bill Fear. The author has asked that no hard copies, ie. paper copies, are made. Stan Rosenthal may be contacted at 44 High street, St. Davids, Pembrokeshire, Dyfed, Wales, UK. Bill Fear may be contacted at 29 Blackweir Terrace, Cathays, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK. Tel (0222) 228858 email fear@thor.cf.ac.uk. Please use email as first method of contact, if possible. Messages can be sent to Stan Rosenthal via the above email address - they will be forwarded on in person by myself - B.F. NOTE: You may find and odd sentence or missing information every now and again in the files. Hopefully not to frequently. This is because the files were originally written on a machine using CP/M and had to be converted to dos format. Many of the 5.25 disks were very old and had bad sectors - thus missing info. ...............................Beginning of file............................... ....................................1 of 5..................................... C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTORY NOTES: PREFACE BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION NOTES ON THE INTERPRETATION TRANSLATION OF LAO TZU'S TAO TE CHING 1. THE EMBODIMENT OF TAO 2. LETTING GO OF COMPARISONS 3. WITHOUT SEEKING ACCLAIM 4. THE UNFATHOMABLE TAO 5. WITHOUT INTENTION 6. COMPLETION 7. SHEATHING THE LIGHT 8. THE WAY OF WATER 9. WITHOUT EXTREMES 10. CLEANING THE DARK MIRROR 11. THE UTILITY OF NON-EXISTENCE 12. THE REPRESSION OF DESIRES 13. UNMOVED AND UNMOVING 14. EXPERIENCING THE MYSTERY 15. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE TAO IN MAN 16. RETURNING TO THE ROOT 17. LEADERSHIP BY EXCEPTION 18. THE DECAY OF ETHICS 19. RETURNING TO NATURALNESS 20. BEING DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY MEN 21. FINDING THE ESSENCE OF TAO 22. YIELDING TO MAINTAIN INTEGRITY 23. ACCEPTING THE IRREVOCABLE 24. EXCESS 25. THE CREATIVE PRINCIPLE OF TAO 26. CENTRING 27. FOLLOWING THE TAO 28. RETAINING INTEGRITY 29. TAKING NO ACTION 30. A CAVEAT AGAINST VIOLENCE 31. MAINTAINING PEACE 32. IF THE TAO WERE OBSERVED 33. WITHOUT FORCE: WITHOUT PERISHING 34. WITHOUT CONTRIVING 35. THE BENEVOLENT HOST 36. OVERCOMING 37. THE EXERCISE OF LEADERSHIP 38. THE CONCERNS OF THE GREAT 39. SUFFICIENCY AND QUIETNESS 40. BEING AND NOT BEING 41. SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE 42. THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE TAO 43. AT ONE WITH THE TAO 44. SUFFICIENCY 45. CHANGES 46. MODERATING DESIRE AND AMBITION 47. DISCOVERING THE DISTANT 48. FORGETTING KNOWLEDGE 49. THE VIRTUE OF RECEPTIVITY 50. THE VALUE SET ON LIFE 51. THE NOURISHMENT OF THE TAO 52. RETURNING TO THE SOURCE 53. EVIDENCE 54. CULTIVATING INSIGHT 55. MYSTERIOUS VIRTUE 56. VIRTUOUS PASSIVITY 57. SIMPLIFICATION 58. TRANSFORMATIONS ACCORDING TO CIRCUMSTANCES 59. GUARDING THE TAO 60. RULING 61. HUMILITY 62. SHARING THE TREASURE 63. BEGINNING AND COMPLETING 64. STAYING WITH THE MYSTERY 65. VIRTUOUS GOVERNMENT 66. LEADING FROM BEHIND 67. THE THREE PRECIOUS ATTRIBUTES 68. WITHOUT DESIRE 69. THE USE OF THE MYSTERIOUS TAO 70. HIDDEN IDENTITY 71. WITHOUT SICKNESS 72. LOVING THE SELF 73. ACTING WITH A SUFFICIENCY 74. USURPING THE TAO 75. INJURING THROUGH GREED 76. AGAINST TRUSTING IN STRENGTH 77. THE WAY OF THE TAO 78. SINCERITY 79. FULFILLING ONE'S OBLIGATIONS 80. STANDING ALONE 81. MANIFESTING SIMPLICITY LAO TZU TAO TE CHING TRANSLATED BY S.ROSENTHAL I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S (Preface; Bibliography and References; Acknowledgements;Introduction; Notes on the Interpretation) PREFACE A number of problems arise when translating any work from a written language, such as early Chinese, into twentieth century English. One such problem is the difference between the written forms of the two languages, another is the difference between the two cultures, and a third is the time which elapsed between the writing of the original work, in this instance, some time between six hundred and three hundred years before the Christian era, and the compilation of the textual arrangement by Wang Bih, dating from the third century A.D., used today. There are however, other problems for any translator/interpreter of this work. The first is the number of changes in the form of written Chinese characters since the original work was written. At least one such change occurred prior to the arrangement of the text by Wang Bih, and at least another three have been implemented since his time. The source of another problem has been described by Dr. L. Wieger (please see bibliography/reference section below) as, ".... the ignorance of scribes who continually brought to light faulty forms which were .... reproduced by posterity ....". Another problem related to those mentioned immediately above is the change in writing instruments used by Chinese scribes. With the invention of the paint brush, the efficient 'fibre tipped pen' (made from vegetable fibre soaked in ink, and held in a hollow bamboo tube) fell into disuse. The resultant change in writing style was due to the fact that the writer had less control over the stroke of a brush than of an instrument with a fine, firm tip. Despite this handicap, the brush could be used to paint on silk, and was considered to produce a more 'artistic' form of calligraphy than the earlier instrument. Furthermore, it became almost a 'hallmark of a gentleman' to write in a free, flowing and virtually illegible style. There can be no doubt that this was the cause of many errors which were made and subsequently compounded. A further problem is the possibility of confusion, caused in part by the multiple meanings of some of the limited number of characters said to have been used in the original text, this being attributed to the cryptic style of Lao Tzu. It is also in part a result of the nature of early Chinese grammatical structure itself. Even if a literal translation were desirable, it would make little sense to the reader schooled only in Western grammar, who would therefore be unfairly presented with the problem of 'guessing the missing words', which, it may be said, is a primary function of the translator of any work such as this. Having discussed the problems which exist for the translator of such a work as the Tao Te Ching, it is only reasonable to mention briefly the problem which exists for the reader, concerning the significance of various influences upon a translator. There are already at least forty-two English translations of this work (listed by Clark Melling of the University of New Mexico), each, I am sure, carried out as ably and honestly as was possible. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, for any person not to be influenced by the philosophy, beliefs, culture and politics of their own society, historical period and education system. Even a brief glance at various translations of the work of Lao Tzu will illustrate how such a 'hidden curriculum' surreptitiously imposes itself upon even the most honest of men, thus creating a major problem for the reader. This is the case even for the reader who merely hopes to see an accurate English rendering of the work, but the reader's problems are compounded if he or she seeks a translation which presents a reasonably accurate description of Taoism (Tao Chia), the 'system' of which the Tao Te Ching is a major work. It must be said of the existing English translations, that most treat the Tao Te Ching as a literary or poetic work, whilst many others treat it as a work of mysticism, rather than a work of classical scholarship, which I believe it to be, describing the key concepts of Taoist philosophy (tao chia) expressed in a poetic manner. My intention here has been to provide a translation suitable for those readers wishing to discover something of that philosophy, as described in one of its major works. On the matter of 'translation', I should state that I consider the term to be a misnomer when applied to an English rendering of this classical Chinese work. For the reasons mentioned above, I believe that any such work is at least as much, and probably more a matter of interpretation than of literal translation. This problem is admirably expressed by Arthur Hummel, former Head of the Division of Orientalia at the Library of Congress when he writes in his foreword to Dr. C.H. Wu's translation (referenced), "Any translation is an interpretation .... for the language of one tradition does not provide exact verbal equivalents for all the creative ideas of another tradition." Whilst I have tried to ensure the accuracy of my own sources, this does not of course guarantee the accuracy of the result. Furthermore, since I have not attempted to be literally accurate in my interpretation, and because this rendering is not intended to compete with such translations, I have listed below some titles, including ten translations of the Tao Te Ching, which have been of value in this undertaking. They are listed in order to acknowledge the work of the translators, as well as to provide alternative sources for those readers wishing to conduct their own research and comparisons. The other titles are those of books on the Chinese language, and these are listed for the benefit of those readers wishing to undertake their own translations. BIBLIOGRAHY AND REFERENCES 'Tao Te Ching', translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, is published by Wildwood House. It concerns itself with the 'spiritual level of being', and contains Chinese characters written in a cursive form which although not always easy to read, are certainly aesthetically pleasing. However, the photographs which illustrate this edition are also pleasing to the eye, and it is as much for the illustrations as for the translation that this edition is recommended. 'Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching' is translated by D.C. Lau, and published by Penguin Books in their 'Penguin Classics' series. It is currently in its seventeenth printing, the first edition dating from nineteen sixty-three. Although this translation is written in a style which I find rather too literal for my own taste, it carries a very lucid introduction, as well as footnotes, a glossary and a reference section, all of which recommend it to the reader who wishes to check reference sources. 'Truth and Nature', by Cheng Lin, published in Hong Kong, does not claim to be a translation, but interprets the Tao Te Ching in a very interesting manner. Two arrangements of the Chinese text are included, one according to the arrangement of Wang Bih. The reader wishing to use the original language as a source will find the Chinese text in this edition of value. It must be emphasized however, that there are a number of Chinese texts available. Whilst these usually conform to Wang Bih's arrangment of the text, they do vary in detail. 'The Simple Way of Lao Tsze' (sic) is a very pleasant analysis of the Tao Te Ching first published by 'The Shrine of Wisdom' in London some sixty years ago. It contains many footnotes, and is an interpretation rather than a direct translation, attempting to describe the 'spirit' of Taoism, and doing so without pretence. However, some readers may find the nomenclature somewhat esoteric (although it is only reasonable to expect that the same criticism might be levelled at my own interpretation). 'Lao-Tzu: "My Words are very easy to understand" ' by Man-jan Cheng, translated by Tam C.Gibbs, and published by North Atlantic Books, is a Confucionist (rather than Taoist) rendering. It therefore contains material of value to the student who wishes to 'see both sides of the coin'. This edition consists of a series of lectures by Man-jan Cheng, and includes the Chinese texts of both the Tao Te Ching and the lectures. The printing of the Chinese characters is large and clearly printed, which commends it to the student requiring a text in the 'original' language, although it must be emphasized that there are a number of differences between the Chinese text in this edition and that of Dr. Wu, mentioned immediately below. The translation by Dr. J.C.H. Wu is in its eighteenth printing, a fact which will not surprise any reader of this delightful little edition. Small in size, and containing an excellently drafted Chinese text, this translation is likely to appeal to the reader who is of the Catholic faith. 'The Way and Its Power' is the title of the translation by Arthur Waley, published as 'A Mandala Book' by Unwin Paperbacks. As the translator himself says, it "represents a compromise...", but even so it is possibly the most widely read translation in the U.K. It is for this reason that it is included it as a reference work worthy of reading. The use of the word 'power' in the title of this translation provides a clue to the style of the translator, who employs very strong academic (but non-Taoist) arguments, which are made in his copious introduction. The translation entitled 'Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu', translated by A.J. Bahm, and published by Frederick Ungar is well supported by notes in an 'afterword'. The translation itself is written in a very pleasant and easy-to-read style, which is (unfortunately) unusual for the work of a professor of philosophy. 'Tao: A New Way of Thinking' by Chang Chung-yuan, published by Harper and Row, is a translation which contains excellent commentaries and footnotes. The translator undoubtedly has expert historical and philosophical knowledge which he puts to good use in this excellent edition, in which he compares various aspects of Taoist philosophy with that of European philosophers. The tenth translation used for my own researches is 'The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu' translated by James Legge as one of a two volume set of 'The Texts of Taoism', published by Dover Publications. Although written in eighteen-ninety, this translation withstands the test of time extremely well. The translator was very knowledegable in his subject, as well as of Chinese philosophy, literature and religions, and does not hesitate to state his opinions, arguing a strong case where these differ from those of other translators from the Chinese. Because of the changes in calligraphic style mentioned earlier, any student wishing to conduct their own research into the Chinese text of the Tao Te Ching will need to be at least familiar with the relationship between modern and classical Chinese characters. An outstanding book covering the 'middle period' is the 'Ch'ien Tzu Wen' (Thousand Character Classic) of Chou Hsing-szu, written some time between 507 and 521 A.D., an excellent English language edition being that edited by F. W. Paar, with calligraphy by Fong-Chih Lui, and published by Frederick Ungar in 1963. This edition also carries translations in French, German and Latin. Although it is not a rendering of the Tao Te Ching, it contains many passages from that work. 'Chinese Characters' by L. Wieger, translated from the French by L. Davrout (mentioned previously) is a lexicon with etymological lessons, but also contains both a phonetic dictionary and a dictionary of characters arranged by 'radicals' (the means by which it is possible to 'find' a character written in 'Kanji', the root form of both Chinese and Japanese writing in a dictionary). This book also contains a number of examples of 'early period' characters which will be of value to those readers interested in the calligraphy and other graphic communication. In similar vein, 'Analysis of Chinese Characters', by G.D. Wilder and J.H. Ingram, published by Dover Publications, complements the work of Wieger, listing one thousand and two characters, together with derivations and modern alternatives. Chang Hsuan's work on 'The Etymologies of 3000 Chinese Characters in Common Usage', published by Hong Kong University Press, also shows the derivations of many Chinese characters, from the 'small seal' script. Unfortunately however, this book contains virtually no English and is therefore intended primarily for the student who is already proficient in the Chinese language. The earliest form of Chinese writing predates even the Tao Te Ching, and possibly originates from the same period as the original I Ching of Fu Hsi. This writing consists of characters inscribed on bone, shell and antler horn, the collection being known as 'The Couling-Chalfant Collection of Inscribed Oracle Bones'. The collection has long been dissipated, some pieces being in the Royal Scottish Museum (Edinburgh), some in the Carnegie Museum (Pittsburg), other pieces in the British Museum (London), and the remainder in the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago). Fortunately though, an excellent catalogue exists, drawn by F.H. Chalfant, edited by R.S. Britton, and published by the Commercial Press, Shanghai, in 1935. This book illustrates each of the pieces, showing the characters inscribed on the original material. It is a particularly valuable work for those interested in tracing the origins of many of the Chinese characters in use to this day. Translations are not provided. The philosopher Chuang Tzu, a follower of Lao Tzu, did much to clarify the somewhat criptic style of his teacher. The book 'Chuang Tzu' translated by H.A. Giles, published by Unwin Paperbacks, renders the sayings of the later master into English in a clear and fine literary style. This book, said to have been originally written by Chuang Tzu himself sometime between the fourth and third centuries before the Christian era, contains a number of references to the Tao Te Ching. For this reason it is a valuable book, but its value is increased by the humour and depth inherent in Chuang Tzu's writing. It may be of interest to some readers that the dictionaries I have used are Lin Yutang's 'Chinese English Dictionary of Modern Usage', published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Andrew Nelson's 'The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary', published by Charles E. Tuttle. Since it may seem strange that I have used a Japanese dictionary to translate a Chinese work, it is perhaps worth mentioning that many Japanese characters are Chinese in origin, and that the characters in Andrew Nelson's dictionary are listed in a sequence, and according to a system different from the same characters in the dictionary by Lin Yutang. Although the spoken Chinese and Japanese languages differ considerably, the written Japanese language has its roots in the Chinese. I therefore use the Japanese dictionary as a 'cross-reference' for finding the meaning of characters which I have difficulty in locating by Lin- Yutang's arrangement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The fact that I have not listed more of the forty-two English translations of the Tao Te Ching is not meant to reflect in any way on their quality, but simply means that I have not used them on this occasion; all of them, of course, have something of value to offer. Since I have acknowledged the work of other translators and interpreters, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the help I received from my own teachers, each of whom attempted to aid my understanding and development in his own unique manner. The reason why I refrain from mentioning them by name in print is not due to disrespect, but rather out of respect for the Taoist belief that, "To boast of one's teachers is to try to give credence to one's own words." Fortunately it is not considered boastful to mention in print, one's own students. It is therefore with pleasure and gratitude that I acknowledge the help I have received from those who consider me their teacher, and through whose questions I have gained so much. On this occassion my special thanks go to Ian (and his wife, Jeanette) for their company, the help they provided without being asked, and for their patience; to Michael, who did most of the proof-reading; to Jackie who transcribed my notes to the 'word processor' (which does not know that its 'sixty-four bit binary system' is an outcome of Taoist 'yin-yang' philosophy) and who tried to ensure that what I had written made sense; and to Judith, particularly for providing me with a copy of her B.A. dissertation 'A Comparison of Plotinus and Chuang Tzu', which was of great help in explaining some of the more obscure phrases in other translated texts. Finally, I take this opportunity (on behalf of Judith and all other members of the English speaking Zen Taoist community) to thank Professor Cavendish, former Professor of Philosophy at Saint David's University College, Lampeter, who personally supervised her dissertation, which is of value to us all. ..................................End of file.................................... ....................................1 of 5.......................................