lienshan Posted January 23, 2009 Mawangdui B chapter 1 dao4 ke3 dao4 ye3 a-Dao admissible Dao (pause) fei1 heng2 dao4 ye3 isn't constant a-Dao (pause) ming2 ke3 ming2 ye3 a-name admissible name (pause) fei1 heng2 ming2 ye3 isn't constant a-name (pause) wu2 ming2 wan4 wu4 zhi1 shi3 ye3 without a-name ten-thousand things go-to conception (pause) you3 ming2 wan4 wu4 zhi1 mu3 ye3 with a-name ten-thousand things go-to breast-feeding (pause) gu4 heng2 wu2 yu4 yi3 guan1 qi2 miao3 therefore constant without desire because-of observing the secret heng2 you3 yu4 yi3 guan1 qi2 suo3 jiao4 constant with desire because-of observing the that-which cry liang3 zhe3 tong2 chu1 pair these together to-appear yi4 ming2 tong2 wei4 strange names are together the-stomach xuan2 zhi1 you4 xuan2 darkness + its existing darkness zhong4 miao3 zhi1 men2 multitude secrets go-to the-opening The first four lines of the Dao De Jing chapter 1 are like the mohist distinctions (bian1). The four mohist terms are ke3 admissible, bu4 ke3 not admissible, shi2 right, fei1 wrong. ming2 ke3 ming2 a name admissible name shi2 heng2 ming2 is a constant name The distinction above tells something about the way I treat heng2 constant in my translation. The phrase constant observing is used in both the lines 7 and 8. Someone observing is you3 existing, but is able to observe both wu2 not existing and you3 existing according to the lines 7 and 8. Therefore is constant you3 existing according to the terms of the lines 5 and 6. These two corresponding distinctions explain in other words: you3 ke3 ming2 an existence admissible name shi2 you3 you3 is an existing existence you3 ke3 ming2 an existence admissible name fei1 wu2 you3 isn't a not existing existence That's why translations like "isn't the constant name" and "isn't the constant Dao" are fei1 wrong. That's why translations like "isn't constant the name" and "isn't constant the Dao" are shi2 right. lienshan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
