ChiDragon

Animals learn by natural instinct. Children learn to burn their fingers with fire. It is called the childish play. Practice is a more serious play if you want to call it play.

Actually, it doesn't mean "only" here. You are hopping around and I cannot keep track of the meaning anymore. Edited to add: BTW This is my last revision to stay within context for lines 4 and 5. 4. 夫唯不可識， 4. Therefore, because(唯) it was difficult to comprehend, 5. 故強為之容。 5. Then, it was difficult to describe them,

So, a Tai Ji student has to learn from a good teacher and always depends on having a teach and never be one's own.....???

You are a gentleman and a scholar....

"man only" perhaps it would be.....人唯 Please keep in mind this is classic. In classic, 夫唯 is different from 人唯. This is my last comment on this. Take it or leave it....!!!

That's why he did nothing for being Wu Wei.....

What would Lao Tzu do? Nothing.....!!!

Ref: 夫 Particle 夫 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin fú)​(literary) sentence-final, meaning "Is it not?"

Yes, but from a non native is fine. However, for a native, it has to restricted to the linguistic comprehension. 勇气: the exact meaning is "courage". If one really wants to learn the Classic, it should learn the right way. Thus something close is not enough.... You see, you have to go through a whole bunch of references to get the meaning of a characters. There was still a great uncertainty on your part. For me, I can just jump right into it and get you an answer except with some difficult meanings of some classic characters.

夫秦有虎狼之心 Therefore, Qin had the courage of a wolf >>> Therefore, Qin has the heart of a tiger and wolf. Note: The heart of a tiger and wolf implies evil and aggressive in Chinese thinking. 夫战,勇气也 Therefore (in) war, bravery rises >>> To Fight, that's courage. When men are at war, their bravery rises 悲夫! Such sorrow! >>>Sad, isn't it...??? Is ok, It is hard to get over the hurdle with this.

Taomeow.... So, how far are you in your Tai Ji lessons.....???

Yes, you are right but the nose by itself is a NOSE rather than oneself as yourself.

There are no rules, it was straightly up to the comprehension of each individual how fluent in the classic.

use at the beginning of the sentence 夫 fú 【助】 用于句首,有提示作用(Used at the beginning...) 夫秦有虎狼之心。——《史记·项羽本径》 夫六国与秦皆诸侯,其势弱于秦。——宋·苏洵《六国论》 夫战,勇气也 用于句中,舒缓语气(used in the middle....) 乃歌夫“长铗归来”者也。——《战国策·齐策》 用于句尾名，表示感叹 孟子曰：“术不可不慎。”信夫!——清·方苞《狱中杂记》 悲夫!有如此之势，而为秦人积威之所劫。——宋·苏洵《六国论》 另见fū

This character is so difficult to explain now because people are hardly using that way anymore. But in classic, 夫 was used at the beginning and the end of a phrase as a particle. Ref: 夫 Particle 夫 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin fú) ​(literary) sentence-final, meaning "Is it not?" ​(literary) initial particle which introduces a topic

Taomeaow.... I don't think that you are in China with your teacher right now. Do you still practice Tai Ji on your own....??? Do you think that "It energizes and vitalizes" was a psychological issue....??? I think self practice has a lot of self discipline and determination which trains the mind for mental and physical control or "Yi".

Here is the hard part for someone that doesn't have knowledge of the Classic Chinese. 夫, in this case, it means "therefore" rather than "a man". 唯 means only or "because of" but not "alone". There is a nuance between the two meanings of the English words. It is very easy for a non-native as well as a modern Chinese to misinterpret the characters in classic. PS.... Your translation is not saying what it says in the phrases. Based what I'd told, would you like to try to translate that again....???

Everything is OK, except the NOSE for 自 doesn't belong there.

Did you know your avatar had a stroke.....few weeks ago....???

Thank you for the explanation. I never had anything in mind that a Westerner guarantees misguided cluelessness. I was only saying that they described in words are so differently than what I had been reading in my native literature. I think I said many times, practice is the key but the words don't count that much. I am sorry it came out to be so offensive. Anyway, let's put this aside now.

oh... Thanks....!!! I'm so sorry. My mind was not oriented with western thinking. One day I will figure out what your previous message meant.

samwardell... Welcome...!!! May I point out to you that the "Tao" is different to each philosopher. Tao to Confucius is the morality which is the conducts of the people. Tao to LaoTze is Nature. His philosophy is to follow the course of Nature. Tao to Zhuang Zi is the principle of living and learn to live as a hedonist and libertarian. You are right about ZZ being a "wanderer". Wanderer to ZZ means to be a man free of any restriction rather than traveling around the world. PS.... If Zhuang Zi is not a Taoist, then nobody is.

One insisting to maintain the integrity of one pure idea was considered to be chauvinistic and supremacist. PS.... I do respect the decision of the MODs. However, if you are part of the loop, then please keep your statements as impartial as possible.

Perhaps for those who live in a democratic society, the only thing they have known is equality. However, there were lot of situations which are not. If there wasn't any preference for one group or another, then, the Tao Te Ching wouldn't have bad been written. LaoTze wrote the ideas in the Tao Te Ching was based on inequality. He saw the ruling class were high above with no sympathy nor justice for the people.

Please keep in mind. During the Warring states, the Chinese didn't know that there were other parts of the world existed. The ancients most ofter used the term 天下(tian xia), underneath heaven, was referring to China only. Thus to answer your question, the Tao Te Ching was meant for the Chinese only at the time. In the modern time, the world becomes international. Hence, the definition of 天下(tian xia, underneath heaven), have become broadened to the entire world rather than just China. For the sake of this discussion, the time period was limited to China only.