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This file is the work of Stan Rosenthal. It has been placed here, with his
kind permission, by Bill Fear. The author has asked that no hard copies,
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C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTORY NOTES:
PREFACE
BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
NOTES ON THE INTERPRETATION
TRANSLATION OF LAO TZU'S TAO TE CHING
1. THE EMBODIMENT OF TAO
2. LETTING GO OF COMPARISONS
3. WITHOUT SEEKING ACCLAIM
4. THE UNFATHOMABLE TAO
5. WITHOUT INTENTION
6. COMPLETION
7. SHEATHING THE LIGHT
8. THE WAY OF WATER
9. WITHOUT EXTREMES
10. CLEANING THE DARK MIRROR
11. THE UTILITY OF NON-EXISTENCE
12. THE REPRESSION OF DESIRES
13. UNMOVED AND UNMOVING
14. EXPERIENCING THE MYSTERY
15. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE TAO IN MAN
16. RETURNING TO THE ROOT
17. LEADERSHIP BY EXCEPTION
18. THE DECAY OF ETHICS
19. RETURNING TO NATURALNESS
20. BEING DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY MEN
21. FINDING THE ESSENCE OF TAO
22. YIELDING TO MAINTAIN INTEGRITY
23. ACCEPTING THE IRREVOCABLE
24. EXCESS
25. THE CREATIVE PRINCIPLE OF TAO
26. CENTRING
27. FOLLOWING THE TAO
28. RETAINING INTEGRITY
29. TAKING NO ACTION
30. A CAVEAT AGAINST VIOLENCE
31. MAINTAINING PEACE
32. IF THE TAO WERE OBSERVED
33. WITHOUT FORCE: WITHOUT PERISHING
34. WITHOUT CONTRIVING
35. THE BENEVOLENT HOST
36. OVERCOMING
37. THE EXERCISE OF LEADERSHIP
38. THE CONCERNS OF THE GREAT
39. SUFFICIENCY AND QUIETNESS
40. BEING AND NOT BEING
41. SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE
42. THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE TAO
43. AT ONE WITH THE TAO
44. SUFFICIENCY
45. CHANGES
46. MODERATING DESIRE AND AMBITION
47. DISCOVERING THE DISTANT
48. FORGETTING KNOWLEDGE
49. THE VIRTUE OF RECEPTIVITY
50. THE VALUE SET ON LIFE
51. THE NOURISHMENT OF THE TAO
52. RETURNING TO THE SOURCE
53. EVIDENCE
54. CULTIVATING INSIGHT
55. MYSTERIOUS VIRTUE
56. VIRTUOUS PASSIVITY
57. SIMPLIFICATION
58. TRANSFORMATIONS ACCORDING TO CIRCUMSTANCES
59. GUARDING THE TAO
60. RULING
61. HUMILITY
62. SHARING THE TREASURE
63. BEGINNING AND COMPLETING
64. STAYING WITH THE MYSTERY
65. VIRTUOUS GOVERNMENT
66. LEADING FROM BEHIND
67. THE THREE PRECIOUS ATTRIBUTES
68. WITHOUT DESIRE
69. THE USE OF THE MYSTERIOUS TAO
70. HIDDEN IDENTITY
71. WITHOUT SICKNESS
72. LOVING THE SELF
73. ACTING WITH A SUFFICIENCY
74. USURPING THE TAO
75. INJURING THROUGH GREED
76. AGAINST TRUSTING IN STRENGTH
77. THE WAY OF THE TAO
78. SINCERITY
79. FULFILLING ONE'S OBLIGATIONS
80. STANDING ALONE
81. MANIFESTING SIMPLICITY
LAO TZU
TAO TE CHING
TRANSLATED BY S.ROSENTHAL
I N T R O D U C T O R Y N O T E S
(Preface; Bibliography and References;
Acknowledgements;Introduction; Notes on the Interpretation)
PREFACE
A number of problems arise when translating any work from a written language,
such as early Chinese, into twentieth century English. One such problem
is the difference between the written forms of the two languages, another
is the difference between the two cultures, and a third is the time which
elapsed between the writing of the original work, in this instance, some
time between six hundred and three hundred years before the Christian era,
and the compilation of the textual arrangement by Wang Bih, dating from
the third century A.D., used today.
There are however, other problems for any translator/interpreter of this
work. The first is the number of changes in the form of written Chinese
characters since the original work was written. At least one such change
occurred prior to the arrangement of the text by Wang Bih, and at least
another three have been implemented since his time.
The source of another problem has been described by Dr. L. Wieger (please
see bibliography/reference section below) as, ".... the ignorance of scribes
who continually brought to light faulty forms which were .... reproduced
by posterity ....".
Another problem related to those mentioned immediately above is the change
in writing instruments used by Chinese scribes. With the invention of the
paint brush, the efficient 'fibre tipped pen' (made from vegetable fibre
soaked in ink, and held in a hollow bamboo tube) fell into disuse. The
resultant change in writing style was due to the fact that the writer had
less control over the stroke of a brush than of an instrument with a fine,
firm tip. Despite this handicap, the brush could be used to paint on silk,
and was considered to produce a more 'artistic' form of calligraphy than
the earlier instrument. Furthermore, it became almost a 'hallmark of a
gentleman' to write in a free, flowing and virtually illegible style. There
can be no doubt that this was the cause of many errors which were made and
subsequently compounded.
A further problem is the possibility of confusion, caused in part by the
multiple meanings of some of the limited number of characters said to have
been used in the original text, this being attributed to the cryptic style
of Lao Tzu. It is also in part a result of the nature of early Chinese
grammatical structure itself. Even if a literal translation were desirable,
it would make little sense to the reader schooled only in Western grammar,
who would therefore be unfairly presented with the problem of 'guessing
the missing words', which, it may be said, is a primary function of the
translator of any work such as this.
Having discussed the problems which exist for the translator of such a work
as the Tao Te Ching, it is only reasonable to mention briefly the problem
which exists for the reader, concerning the significance of various influences
upon a translator.
There are already at least forty-two English translations of this work (listed
by Clark Melling of the University of New Mexico), each, I am sure, carried
out as ably and honestly as was possible. However, it is difficult, if
not impossible, for any person not to be influenced by the philosophy, beliefs,
culture and politics of their own society, historical period and education
system.
Even a brief glance at various translations of the work of Lao Tzu will
illustrate how such a 'hidden curriculum' surreptitiously imposes itself
upon even the most honest of men, thus creating a major problem for the
reader. This is the case even for the reader who merely hopes to see an
accurate English rendering of the work, but the reader's problems are
compounded if he or she seeks a translation which presents a reasonably
accurate description of Taoism (Tao Chia), the 'system' of which the Tao
Te Ching is a major work.
It must be said of the existing English translations, that most treat the
Tao Te Ching as a literary or poetic work, whilst many others treat it as
a work of mysticism, rather than a work of classical scholarship, which
I believe it to be, describing the key concepts of Taoist philosophy (tao
chia) expressed in a poetic manner. My intention here has been to provide
a translation suitable for those readers wishing to discover something of
that philosophy, as described in one of its major works.
On the matter of 'translation', I should state that I consider the term
to be a misnomer when applied to an English rendering of this classical
Chinese work. For the reasons mentioned above, I believe that any such
work is at least as much, and probably more a matter of interpretation than
of literal translation. This problem is admirably expressed by Arthur Hummel,
former Head of the Division of Orientalia at the Library of Congress when
he writes in his foreword to Dr. C.H. Wu's translation (referenced), "Any
translation is an interpretation .... for the language of one tradition
does not provide exact verbal equivalents for all the creative ideas of
another tradition."
Whilst I have tried to ensure the accuracy of my own sources, this does
not of course guarantee the accuracy of the result. Furthermore, since I
have not attempted to be literally accurate in my interpretation, and because
this rendering is not intended to compete with such translations, I have
listed below some titles, including ten translations of the Tao Te Ching,
which have been of value in this undertaking. They are listed in order
to acknowledge the work of the translators, as well as to provide alternative
sources for those readers wishing to conduct their own research and comparisons.
The other titles are those of books on the Chinese language, and these are
listed for the benefit of those readers wishing to undertake their own
translations.
BIBLIOGRAHY AND REFERENCES
'Tao Te Ching', translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, is published
by Wildwood House. It concerns itself with the 'spiritual level of being',
and contains Chinese characters written in a cursive form which although
not always easy to read, are certainly aesthetically pleasing. However,
the photographs which illustrate this edition are also pleasing to the eye,
and it is as much for the illustrations as for the translation that this
edition is recommended.
'Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching' is translated by D.C. Lau, and published by Penguin
Books in their 'Penguin Classics' series. It is currently in its seventeenth
printing, the first edition dating from nineteen sixty-three. Although
this translation is written in a style which I find rather too literal for
my own taste, it carries a very lucid introduction, as well as footnotes,
a glossary and a reference section, all of which recommend it to the reader
who wishes to check reference sources.
'Truth and Nature', by Cheng Lin, published in Hong Kong, does not claim
to be a translation, but interprets the Tao Te Ching in a very interesting
manner. Two arrangements of the Chinese text are included, one according
to the arrangement of Wang Bih. The reader wishing to use the original
language as a source will find the Chinese text in this edition of value.
It must be emphasized however, that there are a number of Chinese texts
available. Whilst these usually conform to Wang Bih's arrangment of the
text, they do vary in detail.
'The Simple Way of Lao Tsze' (sic) is a very pleasant analysis of the Tao
Te Ching first published by 'The Shrine of Wisdom' in London some sixty
years ago. It contains many footnotes, and is an interpretation rather
than a direct translation, attempting to describe the 'spirit' of Taoism,
and doing so without pretence. However, some readers may find the nomenclature
somewhat esoteric (although it is only reasonable to expect that the same
criticism might be levelled at my own interpretation).
'Lao-Tzu: "My Words are very easy to understand" ' by Man-jan Cheng, translated
by Tam C.Gibbs, and published by North Atlantic Books, is a Confucionist
(rather than Taoist) rendering. It therefore contains material of value
to the student who wishes to 'see both sides of the coin'. This edition
consists of a series of lectures by Man-jan Cheng, and includes the Chinese
texts of both the Tao Te Ching and the lectures. The printing of the Chinese
characters is large and clearly printed, which commends it to the student
requiring a text in the 'original' language, although it must be emphasized
that there are a number of differences between the Chinese text in this
edition and that of Dr. Wu, mentioned immediately below.
The translation by Dr. J.C.H. Wu is in its eighteenth printing, a fact which
will not surprise any reader of this delightful little edition. Small in
size, and containing an excellently drafted Chinese text, this translation
is likely to appeal to the reader who is of the Catholic faith.
'The Way and Its Power' is the title of the translation by Arthur Waley,
published as 'A Mandala Book' by Unwin Paperbacks. As the translator himself
says, it "represents a compromise...", but even so it is possibly the most
widely read translation in the U.K. It is for this reason that it is included
it as a reference work worthy of reading. The use of the word 'power' in
the title of this translation provides a clue to the style of the translator,
who employs very strong academic (but non-Taoist) arguments, which are made
in his copious introduction.
The translation entitled 'Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu', translated by A.J. Bahm,
and published by Frederick Ungar is well supported by notes in an 'afterword'.
The translation itself is written in a very pleasant and easy-to-read style,
which is (unfortunately) unusual for the work of a professor of philosophy.
'Tao: A New Way of Thinking' by Chang Chung-yuan, published by Harper and
Row, is a translation which contains excellent commentaries and footnotes.
The translator undoubtedly has expert historical and philosophical knowledge
which he puts to good use in this excellent edition, in which he compares
various aspects of Taoist philosophy with that of European philosophers.
The tenth translation used for my own researches is 'The Tao Te Ching of
Lao Tzu' translated by James Legge as one of a two volume set of 'The Texts
of Taoism', published by Dover Publications. Although written in eighteen-
ninety, this translation withstands the test of time extremely well. The
translator was very knowledegable in his subject, as well as of Chinese
philosophy, literature and religions, and does not hesitate to state his
opinions, arguing a strong case where these differ from those of other
translators from the Chinese.
Because of the changes in calligraphic style mentioned earlier, any student
wishing to conduct their own research into the Chinese text of the Tao Te
Ching will need to be at least familiar with the relationship between modern
and classical Chinese characters.
An outstanding book covering the 'middle period' is the 'Ch'ien Tzu Wen'
(Thousand Character Classic) of Chou Hsing-szu, written some time between
507 and 521 A.D., an excellent English language edition being that edited
by F. W. Paar, with calligraphy by Fong-Chih Lui, and published by Frederick
Ungar in 1963. This edition also carries translations in French, German
and Latin. Although it is not a rendering of the Tao Te Ching, it contains
many passages from that work.
'Chinese Characters' by L. Wieger, translated from the French by L. Davrout
(mentioned previously) is a lexicon with etymological lessons, but also
contains both a phonetic dictionary and a dictionary of characters arranged
by 'radicals' (the means by which it is possible to 'find' a character written
in 'Kanji', the root form of both Chinese and Japanese writing in a dictionary).
This book also contains a number of examples of 'early period' characters
which will be of value to those readers interested in the calligraphy and
other graphic communication.
In similar vein, 'Analysis of Chinese Characters', by G.D. Wilder and J.H.
Ingram, published by Dover Publications, complements the work of Wieger,
listing one thousand and two characters, together with derivations and modern
alternatives.
Chang Hsuan's work on 'The Etymologies of 3000 Chinese Characters in Common
Usage', published by Hong Kong University Press, also shows the derivations
of many Chinese characters, from the 'small seal' script. Unfortunately
however, this book contains virtually no English and is therefore intended
primarily for the student who is already proficient in the Chinese language.
The earliest form of Chinese writing predates even the Tao Te Ching, and
possibly originates from the same period as the original I Ching of Fu Hsi.
This writing consists of characters inscribed on bone, shell and antler
horn, the collection being known as 'The Couling-Chalfant Collection of
Inscribed Oracle Bones'. The collection has long been dissipated, some
pieces being in the Royal Scottish Museum (Edinburgh), some in the Carnegie
Museum (Pittsburg), other pieces in the British Museum (London), and the
remainder in the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago). Fortunately
though, an excellent catalogue exists, drawn by F.H. Chalfant, edited by
R.S. Britton, and published by the Commercial Press, Shanghai, in 1935.
This book illustrates each of the pieces, showing the characters inscribed
on the original material. It is a particularly valuable work for those
interested in tracing the origins of many of the Chinese characters in use
to this day. Translations are not provided.
The philosopher Chuang Tzu, a follower of Lao Tzu, did much to clarify the
somewhat criptic style of his teacher. The book 'Chuang Tzu' translated
by H.A. Giles, published by Unwin Paperbacks, renders the sayings of the
later master into English in a clear and fine literary style. This book,
said to have been originally written by Chuang Tzu himself sometime between
the fourth and third centuries before the Christian era, contains a number
of references to the Tao Te Ching. For this reason it is a valuable book,
but its value is increased by the humour and depth inherent in Chuang Tzu's
writing.
It may be of interest to some readers that the dictionaries I have used
are Lin Yutang's 'Chinese English Dictionary of Modern Usage', published
by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Andrew Nelson's 'The Modern
Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary', published by Charles E.
Tuttle.
Since it may seem strange that I have used a Japanese dictionary to translate
a Chinese work, it is perhaps worth mentioning that many Japanese characters
are Chinese in origin, and that the characters in Andrew Nelson's dictionary
are listed in a sequence, and according to a system different from the same
characters in the dictionary by Lin Yutang. Although the spoken Chinese
and Japanese languages differ considerably, the written Japanese language
has its roots in the Chinese. I therefore use the Japanese dictionary as
a 'cross-reference' for finding the meaning of characters which I have
difficulty in locating by Lin- Yutang's arrangement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The fact that I have not listed more of the forty-two English translations
of the Tao Te Ching is not meant to reflect in any way on their quality,
but simply means that I have not used them on this occasion; all of them,
of course, have something of value to offer.
Since I have acknowledged the work of other translators and interpreters,
it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the help I received from my
own teachers, each of whom attempted to aid my understanding and development
in his own unique manner. The reason why I refrain from mentioning them
by name in print is not due to disrespect, but rather out of respect for
the Taoist belief that,
"To boast of one's teachers
is to try to give credence
to one's own words."
Fortunately it is not considered boastful to mention in print, one's own
students. It is therefore with pleasure and gratitude that I acknowledge
the help I have received from those who consider me their teacher, and through
whose questions I have gained so much. On this occassion my special thanks
go to Ian (and his wife, Jeanette) for their company, the help they provided
without being asked, and for their patience; to Michael, who did most of
the proof-reading; to Jackie who transcribed my notes to the 'word processor'
(which does not know that its 'sixty-four bit binary system' is an outcome
of Taoist 'yin-yang' philosophy) and who tried to ensure that what I had
written made sense; and to Judith, particularly for providing me with a
copy of her B.A. dissertation 'A Comparison of Plotinus and Chuang Tzu',
which was of great help in explaining some of the more obscure phrases in
other translated texts.
Finally, I take this opportunity (on behalf of Judith and all other members
of the English speaking Zen Taoist community) to thank Professor Cavendish,
former Professor of Philosophy at Saint David's University College, Lampeter,
who personally supervised her dissertation, which is of value to us all.
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