Dao De Jing, chapter 15
Wednesday, 21 August 2024 09:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerCertain skillful gentlemen of ancient times
Examined the subtle mysteries thoroughly,
So deep we cannot know them.
In regards to which, since we cannot know them,
I’ll strive to depict them:
[Hesitant as] a yù beast—like one fording a winter stream,
[Vigilant as] a yóu ape—like one wary of all his neighbors,
Solemn—like a guest[15-0],
Melting—like a [frozen] river breaking up[15-1],
Plain[15-2]—like unworked wood,
Broad [of mind]—like a valley[15-3],
Hard to see through—like muddy water.[15-4]
Who can [clear up] muddy water? —by stillness it gradually clears.
Who can make [a life] calm? —by long actions one gradually lives.
Those who protect this Way don’t desire fullness.
In regards to which, not being full, they can conceal [themselves as] not fresh nor whole.[15-5]
[15-0] All texts have 容 “appearance,” universally assumed to be a variant form of 客 “guest” and frequently amended to that (as I’ve done)
[15-1] Other texts have “placid … frozen marsh”
[15-2] Other texts have “amorphous”
[15-3] Other texts have “finely decorated … opulence”
[15-4] Other texts swap lines 11 and 12.
[15-5] Another text has “Because of this, they can [appear] shabby and not whole”
古之善为士者，
微妙玄通，
深不可识。
夫唯不可识，
故强为之客：
豫兮若冬涉川；
犹兮若畏四邻；
俨兮其若客；
涣兮若冰之将释；
敦兮其若朴；
旷兮其若谷；
混兮其若浊。
孰能浊以静之徐清？
孰能安以久动之徐生？
保此道者，不欲盈。
夫唯不盈，故能蔽不新成。
The “other texts” from Mawandui diverge from the standard more than previous chapters. More wordplay: in l.3, what’s not known is ambiguously both the mysteries and the gentlemen aka Daoists, but in l.4 is clearly only the latter. The yù is a legendary beast described as a large elephant, known for its hesitant behavior, while the yóu is a legendary ape known for abducting young human women, whom they then guarded carefully.
[Doing the math: I’m posting three chapters a week, which seems sustainable in my current obsessive state. My first compilation had 9 chapters, which is a 9th of the whole (81 chapters), so three weeks to the next one. Sliced another way, that’s 27 weeks to finish it off … which means … taking half a bloody fucking year on this?! ARGH] [:stomping off smh:]
---L.
Examined the subtle mysteries thoroughly,
So deep we cannot know them.
In regards to which, since we cannot know them,
I’ll strive to depict them:
[Hesitant as] a yù beast—like one fording a winter stream,
[Vigilant as] a yóu ape—like one wary of all his neighbors,
Solemn—like a guest[15-0],
Melting—like a [frozen] river breaking up[15-1],
Plain[15-2]—like unworked wood,
Broad [of mind]—like a valley[15-3],
Hard to see through—like muddy water.[15-4]
Who can [clear up] muddy water? —by stillness it gradually clears.
Who can make [a life] calm? —by long actions one gradually lives.
Those who protect this Way don’t desire fullness.
In regards to which, not being full, they can conceal [themselves as] not fresh nor whole.[15-5]
[15-0] All texts have 容 “appearance,” universally assumed to be a variant form of 客 “guest” and frequently amended to that (as I’ve done)
[15-1] Other texts have “placid … frozen marsh”
[15-2] Other texts have “amorphous”
[15-3] Other texts have “finely decorated … opulence”
[15-4] Other texts swap lines 11 and 12.
[15-5] Another text has “Because of this, they can [appear] shabby and not whole”
古之善为士者，
微妙玄通，
深不可识。
夫唯不可识，
故强为之客：
豫兮若冬涉川；
犹兮若畏四邻；
俨兮其若客；
涣兮若冰之将释；
敦兮其若朴；
旷兮其若谷；
混兮其若浊。
孰能浊以静之徐清？
孰能安以久动之徐生？
保此道者，不欲盈。
夫唯不盈，故能蔽不新成。
The “other texts” from Mawandui diverge from the standard more than previous chapters. More wordplay: in l.3, what’s not known is ambiguously both the mysteries and the gentlemen aka Daoists, but in l.4 is clearly only the latter. The yù is a legendary beast described as a large elephant, known for its hesitant behavior, while the yóu is a legendary ape known for abducting young human women, whom they then guarded carefully.
[Doing the math: I’m posting three chapters a week, which seems sustainable in my current obsessive state. My first compilation had 9 chapters, which is a 9th of the whole (81 chapters), so three weeks to the next one. Sliced another way, that’s 27 weeks to finish it off … which means … taking half a bloody fucking year on this?! ARGH] [:stomping off smh:]
---L.