Dao De Jing, chapter 3
Wednesday, 24 July 2024 07:54![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer[No excuses. None. Did it anyway. DON’T JUDGE ME.]
Not esteeming worthy men makes the people not compete;
Not prizing rare goods makes the people not steal;
Not seeing what they might desire makes their minds[3-1] not be disturbed.
Because of this, the rule of a sage
Empties their minds and fills their bellies,
Weakens their wills and strengthens their bones.
He strives to make the people have no knowledge or desires.
[He? This?] makes men with knowledge not dare act.
[When] they do not act,[3-2] then there is no disorder.
[3-1] Other texts have “the people”
[3-2] Other texts omit this phrase
不尚贤，使民不争；
不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；
不见可欲，使心不乱。
是以圣人之治，
虚其心，实其腹，
弱其志，强其骨。
常使民无知无欲。
使夫知者不敢为也。
为无为，则无不治。
Fun fact: in our best reconstituted pronunciations of Old Chinese during the supposed time of Laozi, about three-quarters of the Dao De Jing rhymed. (Thanks to 2500 years of language evolution, few traces of this remain in any Modern Chinese dialect.) So, yes, lineating as poetry is appropriate.
Yes, this is a direct jab at Confucianism and similar philosophical systems. With all the fuss made about the importance of the concept of 无为, inaction, in Daoist thought, I’m amused to see its first use is not as an ideal for the sage but rather not wanting scholar-officials to get uppity.
On a purely technical level, the crisscross parallelisms of ll.5-6 (empty/fill weaken/strengthen mind/will belly/bone) is breathtaking. From the perspective of a modern progressive westerner, this is breathtaking in an entirely other way, of course.
---L.
Not esteeming worthy men makes the people not compete;
Not prizing rare goods makes the people not steal;
Not seeing what they might desire makes their minds[3-1] not be disturbed.
Because of this, the rule of a sage
Empties their minds and fills their bellies,
Weakens their wills and strengthens their bones.
He strives to make the people have no knowledge or desires.
[He? This?] makes men with knowledge not dare act.
[When] they do not act,[3-2] then there is no disorder.
[3-1] Other texts have “the people”
[3-2] Other texts omit this phrase
不尚贤，使民不争；
不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；
不见可欲，使心不乱。
是以圣人之治，
虚其心，实其腹，
弱其志，强其骨。
常使民无知无欲。
使夫知者不敢为也。
为无为，则无不治。
Fun fact: in our best reconstituted pronunciations of Old Chinese during the supposed time of Laozi, about three-quarters of the Dao De Jing rhymed. (Thanks to 2500 years of language evolution, few traces of this remain in any Modern Chinese dialect.) So, yes, lineating as poetry is appropriate.
Yes, this is a direct jab at Confucianism and similar philosophical systems. With all the fuss made about the importance of the concept of 无为, inaction, in Daoist thought, I’m amused to see its first use is not as an ideal for the sage but rather not wanting scholar-officials to get uppity.
On a purely technical level, the crisscross parallelisms of ll.5-6 (empty/fill weaken/strengthen mind/will belly/bone) is breathtaking. From the perspective of a modern progressive westerner, this is breathtaking in an entirely other way, of course.
---L.
no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 16:29 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 17:17 (UTC)As much as the philosophy intrigues, I think I'd enjoy living in a Daoist régime as little as I would a Confucian state.
no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 17:30 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 17:59 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 18:08 (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 22:52 (UTC)Heh, but one wouldn't wish for inaction across the board, yes? Like, dear farmers, please continue your toil....
no subject
Date: 24 July 2024 23:04 (UTC)no subject
Date: 25 July 2024 17:36 (UTC)no subject
Date: 26 July 2024 15:10 (UTC)