Chapter of the Week: #59

Carl

Good luck and may all the migrated data have supreme integrity!

Can't wait to see the new site. If I were a betting girl, I would bet you do it in well under a week, Luke.

It's been so quiet here....do I hear crickets?

Carl

Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.

Chapter 59
In ruling the people and in serving heaven it is best for a ruler to be sparing.
It is because he is sparing
That he may be said to follow the way from the start;
Following the way from the start he may be said to accumulate an abundance of virtue;
Accumulating an abundance of virtue there is nothing he cannot overcome;
When there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limit;
He can possess a state;
When he possess the mother of a state
He can then endure.
This is called the way of deep roots and firm stems by which one lives to see many days.


Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!

Carl

[Note: I italicize phrases I borrow from the chapter, and link to phrases I borrow from other chapters to help tie chapters together. While making it more tedious to read, :? the Tao Te Ching is best pondered in the context of the whole.]

An old friend of ours came to the Sunday meeting last week. He said he had trouble understanding D.C. Lau’s translation and found Jane English’s translation so much clearer. That prompted me to wonder what a translation is anyway? How is a translation not simply an interpretation? Off to the dictionary:

Translate: to reproduce a written or spoken text in a different language while retaining the original meaning
Interpret: to establish or explain the meaning or significance of something

So they are fundamentally the same. You can’t translate something without interpreting meaning or significance (1). Now, being able to read the source Chinese, I reckon nothing exemplifies this more than translating the Tao Te Ching. I notice that many translations diverge far from the actual Chinese. Why? Probably because it is written in Chinese ... Nah, rather because it is written so sparingly, with lots of space, i.e., [chref=14]that which is without substance[/chref], left over for interpretation. Another major factor is the interpreter’s world view, e.g., a person with humanist leanings can't help but add in that ‘flavor’ when they interpret the Tao Te Ching. Of course, this applies to everybody whether one is interpreting or simply reading another interpretation. What we see when we read are our own biases look back at us :shock:. Perhaps, the less ‘clear’ an interpretation feels, the more deeply we must look within. See, even my incompetent translations have a silver lining.

As literal yet sensible as I can do today:
Nothing manages human affairs as naturally as thrift.
Being thrifty is said to obey nature from early on.
Obeying nature from early on is said to seriously store up moral character.
Seriously storing up moral character, normally without exception overcomes all.
Overcoming all without exception, normally no one knows your utmost.
No one knowing your utmost, you can have the country.
Having the mother of the country, you can long endure.
This is called a deep origin, a solid root, and a long life of watching the way.

The literal translation:
govern (rule, manage) people affairs heaven (sky, day, nature) none ( no, nothing) as if( like, seem, if, you) stingy (thrifty, miserly).
man only (alone) stingy (miserly) correly say (call, meaning) early (long ago) serve (obey, be accustomed to).
early (long ago) serve (obey, be accustomed to) say (call, meaning) of heavy ( serious, deep,) accumulate virtue (moral character; kindness).
heavy (serious, deep) accumulate virtue (moral character; kindness) standard (norm, follow) invariably (without exception) can (able, overcome).
without no can (be able to, overcome) no one (nothing) knows his extreme (utmost point, pole).
no one (nothing) knows his extreme (utmost point, pole) can have (exist) country (state, nation).
have (exist) of country (state, nation) mother can long (older, grow, increase) long time.
correctly (this, yes) say (call, meaning) deep (profound, intimate) root (base, cause, origin) solid (originally) foundation (root),
long grow ( give birth to, grow, life, have, raw) long time look at (watch, inspect) of way

(1): Naturally such murky intermingling hardly applies to translating a plumbing manual, or other practical procedure based matters.