lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
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Those who rise on tiptoe don’t stand [steady];
Those who stride wide don’t walk [steady];
Those who show themselves off aren’t renowned;
Those who assert themselves aren’t clearly seen;
Those who praise themselves aren’t rewarded;
Those who are proud of themselves don’t last long.
They are, within the Way, “excess food and extra trips,”
Things that are sometimes hated,
Hence one who has the Way doesn’t serve them.

企者不立;
跨者不行;
自见者不明;
自是者不彰;
自伐者无功;
自矜者不长。
其在道也,曰:馀食赘行。
物或恶之,
故有道者不处。

In the “other texts,” this comes before chapter 22. Given l.3-6 are direct inversions of ch22.8-11, I can see why the chapters might be placed together. The quoted phrase in l.7 was understood in medieval Chinese as an idiom meaning “leftovers and warts,” referring to excesses you don’t want to encounter, but despite setting it off somewhat pompously, as if it’s an colloquialism inappropriate for formal texts like this, at the time of writing it seems to have been understood literally, and I have so translated it.

---L.
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Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

April 2025

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