Free copy of the Dao De Jing as an academic paper

[Morphius]

This is probably the most in-depth translation of the DDJ to date: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364643573_The_Daodejing_A_2022_Translation

Edited October 23, 2022 by Morphius
More descriptive so it doesn't appear as a fake link

[wandelaar]

Can you explain why that is probably the most in-depth translation of the TTC? There are countless other translations available so your claim is rather extreme...

[Sketch]

Every translation is the most in depth one yet. "Traduttore, traditore”.

 

This one seems a bit flat...but then,  it's not in my own "pet vocabulary ".

 

Engaging with the language of the Dao De Jing is an extremely worthwhile effort,  and I'm enjoying this take on Lao Tzu. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Sketch

[Cobie]

I’m not impressed, to say the least.
E.g. (page 88, notes ch 1, #3) re cháng 常/héng 恆 -  not even a mention of the taboo on emperors names. Bizarre.

 

~~~
Also at https://terebess.hu/english/tao/ramsden.pdf 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Cobie

[Sketch]

Constructively,  it would read better with some attention to line breaks.

[wandelaar]

The conclusion of the article is OK:

 

Quote

In conclusion it could be summarised that Lǎozǐ’s Dào is the profound, mysterious and abstruse aspect within emptiness that has produced everything we see. Lǎozǐ described this concept as emptiness in action. Lǎozǐ uses feminine similes such as, the valley spirit, the profound female and the mother to represent it. Lǎozǐ said people should aim to return to the Dào, which meant a return to the peaceful, still, content and quiet state of (original) being. The techniques used to do this were simplicity (in living), non-contention, knowing when enough is enough (or no excesses), to be humble and frugal, to have no (or little) desires and aspirations, to be like water, to use the concept of softness and to take nature’s way as a guiding principle on how to live. From these core ideas Lǎozǐ developed the five quiescences: quiescence of the profound, quiescence of emptiness, upper quiescence, quiescence of non-contention and quiescence of nature.

As the Dàodéjīng may have been a text primarily for rulers, it does appear that Lǎozǐ’s cornerstone philosophy for ruling was based on the idea of letting things take their natural course and to not interfere too much. He called this idea, the profound quiescence. Lǎozǐ uses the sage as an exemplar for rulers to model themselves on and primarily describes them as men who do not interfere, do not contend, do not use their wisdom, do not accumulate possessions, do not go extremes, puts themselves behind the people, are modest and just let the people live naturally, whereby they benefit a hundred-fold and love their ruler.

 

But this is more or less the standard view of those who see the TTC as a mainly philosophical text. So there's no reason to proclaim this translation as probably superior to all others. However I don't have the expertise to say anything about the details of the translation, so I will leave commenting on that aspect to others.

Edited February 23, 2023 by wandelaar

[ChiDragon]

I do believe that the quoted conclusion is the closest reflection of the philosophy in the TTC.

[Cobie]

4 hours ago, Sketch said:

… Traduttore, traditore …

Se non è vero, è ben trovato 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Cobie

[Sketch]

Chi non fa, non falla

Edited February 24, 2023 by Sketch

[Cobie]

no worries, look at my post count!