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Does anyone have a translation for the writing on the neijing tu? I cant find one on the web.

Hey Dao Bums - One of my friends currently studying in Taiwan at NTU is currently 1/3rd through translating Professor Ge Guolong's (戈國龍) 2010 book, "Ten Discourses on Daoist Alchemy". It's a an enlightening commentary on alchemy texts written by a professor of religion at the China Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. It's a major undertaking for my friend because the book is over 140,000 Chinese characters long. He has the backing of Red Pine, who most people on DaoBums will know, being the author of the best selling translation of the Tao Te Ching in English. Because this would take months of dedicated work, most likely in seclusion, he recently set up a Gofundme page in case anybody was interested in backing the project, and enjoying early access perks, things like that. Personally, I'm very excited about it because the book is a bridge between philosophy and practice. From the samples I was shown, I found Professor Guolong's writing to be super clear, and a breath of fresh air compared to other esoteric alchemy manuals like "Taoist Yoga" for example. Instead of making you feel more confused, the text reads like an elucidation and makes alchemy directly understandable and accessible to the modern Chinese and now Western mind. I can also highly recommend my friend as an outstanding translator (having lived in China for a decade), and a wonderful spiritual cultivator. I can also vouch for the value of these texts for your own cultivation. Here is an outline of the chapters for example, but you will find more information on his official page. Chapter outline 1. Unsurpassed Destiny 2. Illuminating the Mind to See Its True Nature 3. The Portal of the Mysterious Pass 4. Advancing the Fire and Gathering the Medicine 5. Empty, Nonexistent Qi 6. Dual Cultivation of Xing and Ming 7. Primordial Jing and Primordial Shen 8. Two Heavens and Earths 9. Going Back to the Root, Returning to the Source 10. Universe and Individual, Interconnected As was posted in the Daoist sub-section, we really need more translators of Chinese texts like this. Think about how many of Master Nan Huai Chin's books still haven't been translated in English for example, and how valuable each and everyone is to our community at Dao Bums. The truth is there are no translators working on them. And the reason is that you need a very high level of Chinese and you also to be an advanced practitioner of these arts. The market is so small that it's not even worth the time and effort from a financial standpoint for the people who meet this criteria. So when someone is motivated to take months out of his life to complete a project like this, just so we all benefit, I think we should encourage it, at least as Dao Bums. Thumbs up from me.

Was unsure where to post this question? Does anyone have some good resources on ancient Chinese grammar or modern translation techniques of ancient Chinese grammar?

Hi: I'm hoping someone can help me translate this inscription, which is on a taoist statue I recently purchased. There was a little bit of a language barrier between me and the woman who sold it to me. I would be very grateful! I also am attaching a photo of the full statue, in case anyone knows any further information about it. Thanks!

I have been an independent researcher on Tao philosophy since 1999. I hope to contribute to our understanding of the mystery of Tao. My first analysis is published as The Dynamic Tao and its Manifestations (2004). For the next 8 years, have been absent from most discussion groups due to my continued work on the principle and logic in the Tao Te Ching. I will soon publish my new works. I hope to be able to spend some time online to discuss the principle and logic of Tao. There will be some major hurdles to overcome, since very few people will believe in a logical Tao philosophy.

Duplicate entry.

Over in the topic for ch. 10 of the Daodejing, Takaaki starting delineating his concept of American Taoism, and got in trouble for being off topic. I'm pretty fascinated (as a Taoist, and an American, and possibly but I'm not sure an American Taoist.) So here's a place where it's unequivocally on topic.