[TTC Study] Chapter 16 of the Tao Teh Ching

[dust]

I wonder... if another ancient text had been dug up at Guodian instead of the Laozi, with nothing to compare it to, and there was a line with that character, would everyone have assumed it was related to 云? Or that  天道熉熉  was comparable to 天物云云?

[dawei]

I wonder... if another ancient text had been dug up at Guodian instead of the Laozi, with nothing to compare it to, and there was a line with that character, would everyone have assumed it was related to 云? Or that  天道熉熉  was comparable to 天物云云?

 

The character would be 雲 and not 云, as the latter is just a more modern understanding of the former.   I can't make any comments on 熉 as I don't see anyone but you suggesting this.   So I have nothing to research further. 

[dust]

Actually the simpler form, 云, appears to be the earliest version, found on the bones. Like a lot of characters it unnecessarily gained complexity. Logically, a form similar to 云 almost certainly existed in Chu at that time.

 

But fair enough if you have nothing further to say -- there's not much we can do about it without access to more/better material.