wò 楃 instead of pu 樸 in the Mawangdui "A" text

[Bindi]

Is anyone familiar with the difference wò 楃 and wu 屋 from the Mawangdui "A" text make to the meaning of the lines where pu 樸 (translated as uncarved block) is currently written in the TTC?

 

One of the two (c. 168 BCE) Mawangdui silk manuscript versions of the Daodejing, discovered in 1973 by archeologists excavating a tomb, uses a rare textual variant character for pu 樸: wò 楃 "a house tent (esp. with a wooden roof)", written with the "tree radical" and wu 屋 "room; house" phonetic. The "B" text, like the received version, uses pu 樸 8 times in 6 chapters; the "A" text uses wò 楃 6 times in 4 chapters and has lacunae in chapters 19 and 57. The (c. 121 CE) Shuowen jiezi defines wo 楃 as muzhang 木帳 "wood canopy", and the (early 3rd century) Guangya defines it as choumu 幬幕 "curtain; cover". These variant words pú < *phrôk 樸 "unworked wood" and wò < *ʔôk 楃 "house tent" are semantically and phonologically dissimilar.

[Taoist Texts]

 

2 hours ago, Bindi said:

Is anyone familiar with the difference wò 楃 and wu 屋 from the Mawangdui "A" text make to the meaning of the lines where pu 樸 (translated as uncarved block) is currently written in the TTC?

I could not find any wu 屋  in A.

 

As to wò 楃  it occurs 4 times

https://ctext.org/pre-qin-and-han/ens?searchu=楃

there. with an unclear meaning, not obviously the same as pu 樸

Edited December 16, 2018 by Taoist Texts

[Apech]

14 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

There i

I could not find any wu 屋  in A.

 

As to wò 楃  it occurs 4 times

https://ctext.org/pre-qin-and-han/ens?searchu=楃

there. with an unclear meaning, not obviously the same as pu 樸

 

 

Interesting that it's wood - when I read 'uncarved block' I always, in my ignorance thought of stone.

[Taoist Texts]

10 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

 

Interesting that it's wood - when I read 'uncarved block' I always, in my ignorance thought of stone.

yes Interesting ,even more so because 朴 just means 'simple'. Translating it as an uncarved wood or whatever is a speculation.

[Apech]

4 minutes ago, Taoist Texts said:

yes Interesting ,even more so because 朴 just means 'simple'. Translating it as an uncarved wood or whatever is a speculation.

 

... and simple means 'one fold' or possibly 'no folds' ... does this tie in somehow?

[Bindi]

1 minute ago, Taoist Texts said:

yes Interesting ,even more so because 朴 just means 'simple'. Translating it as an uncarved wood or whatever is a speculation.

 

So to wildly speculate just a bit further, wò 楃 could conceivably mean something along the lines of 'simple room/house/tent', and the need to return to this.

[Apech]

7 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

So to wildly speculate just a bit further, wò 楃 could conceivably mean something along the lines of 'simple room/house/tent', and the need to return to this.

 

 

But he said wo doesn't appear as meaning pu.

[Bindi]

4 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

 

But he said wo doesn't appear as meaning pu.

 

From the wiki quote in the OP

One of the two (c. 168 BCE) Mawangdui silk manuscript versions of the Daodejing... uses a rare textual variant character for pu 樸: wò 楃 

 

[Apech]

1 minute ago, Bindi said:

 

From the wiki quote in the OP

One of the two (c. 168 BCE) Mawangdui silk manuscript versions of the Daodejing... uses a rare textual variant character for pu 樸: wò 楃 

 

 

Ah ok must be in B then.

[Taoist Texts]

15 minutes ago, Apech said:

 

... and simple means 'one fold' or possibly 'no folds' ... does this tie in somehow?

yes thats the idea in received DDJ. I am not sure about the Mawangdui versions.

 

Search for "樸" [Condition = Ignore case, Substring]

 

素	Adj. (2)  Simple, unadorned: 樸素 (person) simple, without ostentation of any kind; Words 15. 素朴 [su4pu2], adj., simple, unadorned (also wr. 素樸).

 

古	Words 15. 古樸 [gu2pu3], adj., (of manners) simple and plain, uncontaminated by modern fads.

 

朴	119B15   10B.22-2/75  ㄆㄨˊ [pu2] (also ㄆㄛˋ [po4]). [Var. of 樸 10B.81]

 

樸

139A25   10b.81-2/75  ㄆㄨˊ [pu2]. N. (1)  Uncarved wood, symbolic of original nature of man (Taoist). (2)  (Bot.) Aphananthe aspera, a plant whose dried leaves are used for polishing metal, woodwork. Adj. Simple, unadorned, honest: 民風淳樸，樸厚 the people are simple and honest, unspoiled; 樸 simple (living, furniture); 撲素 [pu2su4]1↓.

 

撲

Words 3. 樸質 [pu2zhi2], adj., unadorned, unsophisticated. 4. 樸馬 [pu2ma3], n., (AC) unbroken horse. 5. 樸實 [pu2shi0], adj., simple, direct honest: 樸樸實實(兒) adv., directly, in simple, direct way. 6. 樸學 [pu2xUe2], n., name of scholastic tendency (Manchu Dyn.) devoted to philological research and spurning speculative philosophy. 7. 樸素 [pu2su4]1, adj., (of dress, customs, way of living) simple. 8. 樸樕 [pu2su4]2, n., (AC) brush, underwood. 9. 樸野 [pu2ye3], adj., uncouth.

[Taoist Texts]

16 minutes ago, Bindi said:

 

So to wildly speculate just a bit further, wò 楃 could conceivably mean something along the lines of 'simple room/house/tent', and the need to return to this.

yes, defo it could. But I have not researched this issue in any depth.