Dao De Jing, chapter 10
Friday, 9 August 2024 07:51![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerAh—when you hold as one your mortal and immortal souls,
Might they indeed never separate?
When you gather the vital breath and make it pliant,
Might [it? you?] indeed be [like] a baby?
When you cleanse your mysterious perception,
Might you indeed be faultless?
When you love the people while ruling the state,
Might that indeed not be wise?
When [your?] heaven’s gate opens and closes,
Might this indeed be acting as a female?
When your fame reaches everywhere,
Might that indeed not be wise?
[What] bears them[?], nourishes them[?],
Bears yet doesn’t possess,
Acts yet doesn’t rely upon,
Leads yet doesn’t dominate:
This is called the Mysterious Virtue.
载营魄抱一，
能无离乎？
专气致柔，
能婴儿乎？
涤除玄览，
能无疵乎？
爱民治国，
能无知乎？
天门开阖，
能为雌乎？
明白四达，
能无知乎？
生之、畜之，
生而不有，
为而不恃，
长而不宰，
是谓玄德。
The subjects of each clause are all implied in the original and outright guesses, even those not explicitly so marked—heck, I’m not even sure who the two explicit pronouns refer to. The mortal soul remains with the body after death, while the immortal soul can depart. “Vital breath” is a placeholder translation for 气 qì, that energy behind wuxia martial arts and fantasy daoist superpowers. (Well, maybe not “placeholder” but no one seems to have found a better one.) The heaven’s gate bit goes whoosh over my head and, going by the hosts of divergent commentaries, most everyone’s, but I’m not alone in seeing culture-typical misogyny. Some apologists equate “acting female” with the calmness or receptivity of yin. The “Mysterious Virtue” is the same virtue as the title, having its debut mention.
Errata slip to the last couplet of ch.2 and 8: it turns out 夫唯 is a set phrase, both characters of which introduce a tangential change of subject (the grammar I learned this from claims DDJ uses the duplication “unnecessarily and rather pompously”). My provisional rendering of it is now in regards to which, though suggestions are welcome. (Speaking of which might work, but that feels too conversational.)
My useful takeaway: sometimes that cryptic text really is being pompous.
---L.
Might they indeed never separate?
When you gather the vital breath and make it pliant,
Might [it? you?] indeed be [like] a baby?
When you cleanse your mysterious perception,
Might you indeed be faultless?
When you love the people while ruling the state,
Might that indeed not be wise?
When [your?] heaven’s gate opens and closes,
Might this indeed be acting as a female?
When your fame reaches everywhere,
Might that indeed not be wise?
[What] bears them[?], nourishes them[?],
Bears yet doesn’t possess,
Acts yet doesn’t rely upon,
Leads yet doesn’t dominate:
This is called the Mysterious Virtue.
载营魄抱一，
能无离乎？
专气致柔，
能婴儿乎？
涤除玄览，
能无疵乎？
爱民治国，
能无知乎？
天门开阖，
能为雌乎？
明白四达，
能无知乎？
生之、畜之，
生而不有，
为而不恃，
长而不宰，
是谓玄德。
The subjects of each clause are all implied in the original and outright guesses, even those not explicitly so marked—heck, I’m not even sure who the two explicit pronouns refer to. The mortal soul remains with the body after death, while the immortal soul can depart. “Vital breath” is a placeholder translation for 气 qì, that energy behind wuxia martial arts and fantasy daoist superpowers. (Well, maybe not “placeholder” but no one seems to have found a better one.) The heaven’s gate bit goes whoosh over my head and, going by the hosts of divergent commentaries, most everyone’s, but I’m not alone in seeing culture-typical misogyny. Some apologists equate “acting female” with the calmness or receptivity of yin. The “Mysterious Virtue” is the same virtue as the title, having its debut mention.
Errata slip to the last couplet of ch.2 and 8: it turns out 夫唯 is a set phrase, both characters of which introduce a tangential change of subject (the grammar I learned this from claims DDJ uses the duplication “unnecessarily and rather pompously”). My provisional rendering of it is now in regards to which, though suggestions are welcome. (Speaking of which might work, but that feels too conversational.)
My useful takeaway: sometimes that cryptic text really is being pompous.
---L.
no subject
Date: 9 August 2024 17:40 (UTC)I see the denials have fallen by the wayside. ;-)
no subject
Date: 9 August 2024 20:12 (UTC)It was becoming too much work to invent yet another clever way to express my denial. Consider it always there, but omitted because understood -- like the subjects of every single sentence in that passage.