8 From the present back to the past,
9 Its name has never gone away.
10 It is by this that we comply with the father of the multitude [of things].
11 How do I know that the father of the multitude is so?
12 By this.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
Text A is essentially the same as Text B. There are a number of character variants in both texts that at this stage of our research seem best identified with the characters we find in the standard text.
Both Ma-wang-tui texts literally say, “The things of the Way” (tao chih wu) at the start of line 2 where later editions have “As for the nature of the Way [literally—As for the Way’s being a thing]” (tao chih wei wu). My feeling is that the wei was mistakenly left out in both Ma-wang-tui texts, since the basic unit throughout the chapter is the four-character line.
The standard text of Lao-tzu has “From the past to the present” in line 8; it now seems clear that the reverse form is correct since the last words in lines 8, 9, and 10 all would have rhymed (“past”/ku, “gone away”/ch’ü, “father”/fu).
For line 10 the standard text has “It is this we use to examine the origins of the multitude.”
[CHAPTER 24]
1 One who boasts is not established;
2 One who shows himself off does not become prominent;
3 One who puts himself on display does not brightly shine;
4 One who brags about himself gets no credit;
5 One who praises himself does not long endure.
6 In the Way, such things are called:
7 “Surplus food and redundant action.”
8 And with things—there are those who hate them.
9 Therefore, the one with the Way in them does not dwell.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
Text A omits the character “the one who” (che) in line 2; otherwise the two texts appear to have been identical.
The Ma-wang-tui texts have “to cook” (ch’ui) in line 1 where other texts have “to stand on tiptoe” (ch’i). The intended character is surely the ch’ui that means “to blow” but also “to boast or to brag”: The entire chapter, after all, concerns egotism. Chou Tz’u-chi and Hsü K’ang-sheng both read ch’ui as a mistake for ch’i. D. C. Lau has “He who blows cannot stand.” It is interesting that the Chinese word for “blow” could come to mean “boast or brag” and that one of our own words for a braggart is a “blowhard.”
Line 2 in the standard text is “He who strides forward does not go”; that line does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts. Moreover, the order of lines 1-5 is not the same as what we normally find. The usual order is 1, extra line, 3, 2, 4, 5. The “shows himself off” (shih) in line 2 in the Ma-wang-tui texts in other texts of the Lao-tzu is rather “sees himself as right” (shih).
In line 9, the Ma-wang-tui texts literally say, “Therefore, the one who has desires …” (yu-yü-che), where all other texts say, “The one who has the Tao.” Arguments by others to the contrary, I persist in thinking that “desires” here is a mistake for the “Way,” perhaps the result of the fact that the small seal forms of “desires” and “Way” are not all that dissimilar. Note that lines 8 and 9 occur again, verbatim, at the start of chapter 31, and again the Ma-wang-tui texts say, “the one who has desires.”
D. C. Lau makes sense of the phrase by translating “a man of ambition.” Hsü K’ang-sheng shares my opinion that “the one with desires” is not consistent with the thought of the text. Chou Tz’u-chi, on the other hand, if I understand him correctly, would translate the last line “Therefore those with desires do not dwell in it,” with the “it” meaning the Tao—still meaning that “having desires” is not a good thing.
[CHAPTER 22]
1 Bent over, you’ll be preserved whole;
2 When twisted, you’ll be upright;
3 When hollowed out, you’ll be full;
4 When worn out, you’ll be renewed;
5 When you have little, you’ll attain [much];
6 With much, you’ll be confused.
7 Therefore the Sage holds on to the One and in this way becomes the shepherd of the world.
8 He does not show himself off; therefore he becomes prominent.
9 He does not put himself on display; therefore he brightly shines.
10 He does not brag about himself; therefore he receives credit.
11 He does not praise his own deeds; therefore he can long endure.
12 It is only because he does not compete that, therefore, no one is able to compete with him.
13 The so-called “Bent over you’ll be preserved whole” of the ancients
14 Was an expression that was really close to it!
15 Truly “wholeness” will belong to him.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
Text A, in what must be a copy error, has “Bent over then gold” (or “metal”—chin) in line 1 instead of “whole” (ch’üan), and in line 2, Text A has “settled/still” (ting) instead of “upright” (cheng). In lines 8 and 9, Text A reverses the qualities of “prominent” (chang) and “brightly shine” (ming), in this way according with later editions. Most of line 13 is now missing from Text A.
Most editions of the Lao-tzu have “direct” or “straight” (chih) in line 2 where Text A has “still” (ting) and Text B “upright” (cheng), and lines 8 and 9 are normally reversed, with the standard text here (as in chapter 24 above) again having “does not see himself as right” (pu tzu-shih) in the present line 8 instead of “does not put himself on display” (also pu tzu-shih).
In what may be an important variant, the Ma-wang-tui texts have “hold on to the One” (chih-i) in line 7 where all other known texts have “embrace the One” (pao-i). It has been argued that “hold on to the One” is a Legalist phrase, but the evidence is not conclusive. Also in line 7, the Ma-wang-tui texts tell us the Sage will in this way become the “shepherd” (mu) of the world, not its “model” (shih); with “shepherd” being a known reference to the ruler in the political writings of the time, the sayings in this chapter would seem to have a specific, political focus instead of a general one. (On the “shepherding” of the ruler note also the comments above, on chapter 61.)
The Ma-wang-tui texts have “he does not praise them” (fu-chin) at the start of line 11 where later editions say “he does not praise himself” (pu tzu-chin).
The words “the world” (t’ien-hsia) are normally found in line 12—namely, “that, therefore, no one in the world is able to compete with him”; they do not occur here.
Finally, lines 14 and 15 are somewhat different in the Ma-wang-tui texts from what we normally find. Line 14 normally reads, “How can these be false words?!” (ch’i hsü-yen tsai). The rhetorical particle ch’i does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts (though it might be implied) and for “false” they read rather chi—which means either “close to/almost” or “auspicious” (the suggestions, respectively, of Hsü K’ang-sheng and Chou Tz’u-chi). Also, in line 15 the omission of the particle erh (“and”) seems to make the last line one clause instead of two (Chan translates, “Truly he will be preserved and [prominence and credit] will come to him.”)
One way in which the paradox “Bent over, you’ll be preserved whole” is seen to be true is illustrated by the story of “Crippled Shu” in chapter 04 of the Chuang-tzu. In Watson’s translation that reads, “There’s Crippled Shu—chin stuck down in his navel, shoulders up above his head, pigtail pointing at the sky, his five organs on the top, his two thighs pressing his ribs. By sewing and washing, he gets enough to fill his mouth; by handling a winnow and sifting out the good grain, he makes enough to feed ten people. When the authorities call out the troops, he stands in the crowd waving good-bye; when they get up a big work party, they pass him over because he’s a chronic invalid. And when they are doling out grain to the ailing, he gets three big measures and ten bundles of firewood. With a crippled body, he’s still able to look after himself and finish out the years Heaven gave him
. How much better, then, if he had crippled virtue!”
[CHAPTER 23]
1 To rarely speak—such is [the way of] Nature.
2 Fierce winds don’t last the whole morning;
3 Torrential rains don’t last the whole day.
4 Who makes these things?
5 If even Heaven and Earth can’t make these last long—
6 How much the more is this true for man?!
7 Therefore, one who devotes himself to the Way is one with the Way;
8 One who [devotes himself to] Virtue is one with that Virtue;
9 And one who [devotes himself to] losing is one with that loss.
10 To the one who is one with Virtue, the Way also gives Virtue;
11 While for the one who is one with his loss, the Way also disregards him.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
The author clearly plays with the double meaning of te (“virtue” but also “gain” or “attain”) in lines 8 and 10. The word te allows the author to move back and forth between the pairs of “the Way and Virtue” on the one hand and “gain and loss” on the other. Thus, lines 8-10 also mean:
8 One who [devotes himself to] attaining is one with that gain;
9 And one who [devotes himself to] losing is one with that loss.
10 With the one who is one with his attainment, the Way also gets him.
11 While for the one who is one with his loss, the Way also disregards him.
The “devotes himself to” (ts’ung-shih) is as one would do with a career. “Virtue” in this context is probably best understood as the “power” of the Way in things, not moral virtue. Thus some people might be more intent on using the power of the Way in themselves than in being one with the Way. In this sense, line 10 might best be read as “To the one who is one with Virtue, the Way also empowers him.”
Line 9 in Text A mistakenly begins, “The one who, the one who” (che che) instead of “The one who [devotes himself to] losing” (shih-che). In all other respects, what survives of Text A does not differ from Text B in any significant way.
There is a “Therefore” at the start of line 2 in the standard text; however, the omission of that word is common.
In line 4 in the standard text the author answers his question—“Heaven and Earth”—the characters “Heaven and Earth” then being repeated at the start of line 5. But the question is really rhetorical and the reader already knows the answer.
While lines 7, 8, and 9 in the standard text are essentially the same as we have here, after line 9 that text is quite different grammatically and in terms of content. Wing-tsit Chan’s translation serves well to point up the differences:
He who is identified with Tao—Tao is also happy to have him.
He who is identified with virtue—virtue is also happy to have him.
And he who is identified with the abandonment (of Tao)—the
abandonment (of Tao) is also happy to abandon him.
There is nothing in the Ma-wang-tui texts that corresponds with the first line, and there is no mention of anything being “happy.” Moreover, in lines 10 and 11 in the Ma-wang-tui texts it is the Way that does something in the second part of each line, not Virtue (or attainment) and abandonment.
Finally, note that the final line in the chapter in later editions of the text—“It is only when one does not have enough faith in others that others will have no faith in him”—does not occur in the Ma-wang-tui texts.
[CHAPTER 25]
1 There was something formed out of chaos,
2 That was born before Heaven and Earth.
3 Quiet and still! Pure and deep!
4 It stands on its own and doesn’t change.
5 It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth.
6 I do not yet know its name:
7 I “style” it “the Way.”
8 Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it “the Great.”
9 “Great” means “to depart”;
10 “To depart” means “to be far away”;
11 And “to be far away” means “to return.”
12 The Way is great;
13 Heaven is great;
14 Earth is great;
15 And the king is also great.
16 In the country there are four greats, and the king occupies one place among them.
17 Man models himself on the Earth;
18 The Earth models itself on Heaven;
19 Heaven models itself on the Way;
20 And the Way models itself on that which is so on its own.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
Text A appears to have been exactly the same as Text B, but portions of lines 3, 11, 12, and 18-20 are now missing.
The standard text adds a line between lines 4 and 5—“It operates everywhere and is free from danger.” Also, in line 5, almost all other editions of the Lao-tzu have “the mother of the world” (t’ien-hsia) instead of “the mother of Heaven and Earth.”
In line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have the negative wei (“not yet” or “never”) where other texts have the simple pu (“do not”), giving the reading “I do not yet know [or I have never known] its name,” instead of “I do not know its name,” the distinction drawn in lines 6-8 between that of “name” (ming) and “style” (tzu) being the distinction made in ancient China between a man’s name and his style. The “name” is given at birth, is very formal and rarely used in public address; the “style” is taken at “capping” age, when a young man becomes an adult, and is commonly used in public address with friends who are on familiar terms.
The standard text has a “Therefore” at the start of line 12, and in line 16 has “in the realm” (yü-chung) where the Ma-wang-tui texts have “in the country” (or “state”—kuo-chung).
Readers of this chapter are sometimes troubled by the fact that the last line seems to present us with something that is even superior to the Way—“that which is so on its own” (tzu-jan—sometimes translated as “nature”). I think this is just another way of saying that the Way is that reality that truly exists out of its own power, the one and only thing that does not depend for its existence on other things.
[CHAPTER 26]
1 The heavy is the root of the light;
2 Tranquility is the lord of agitation.
3 Therefore the gentleman, in traveling all day, does not get far away from his luggage carts.
4 When he’s safely inside a walled-in [protected] hostel and resting at ease—only then does he transcend all concern.
5 How can the king of ten thousand chariots treat his own person more lightly than the whole land?!
6 If you regard things too lightly, then you lose the basic;
7 If you’re agitated, you lose the “lord.”
COMMENTS AND NOTES
The last line not only refers back to the point made in line 2 but points out to would-be rulers that in this way they lose their chance to be “lord” (or “ruler”—chün) of the whole land.
Text A is essentially the same as Text B—though more on this below. In line 3, Text A is like the standard text in having “does not become parted from (li) his luggage,” where Text B has “get far away from (yüan).”
The Ma-wang-tui texts have “Therefore the gentleman” (chün-tzu) in line 3 where the standard text has “Therefore the Sage” (sheng-jen); this is a common variant. And in line 5 the Ma-wang-tui texts have “the king of …” (wang) where later texts all have “the ruler of …” (chu).
The addition of several grammatical particles in lines 4 and 5, and a slight change in wording in 4, greatly clarify what these lines are intended to say. The standard text, translated by Wing-tsit Chan, reads as follows: “Even at the sight of magnificent scenes, He remains leisurely and indifferent. How is it that a lord with ten thousand chariots Should behave lightheartedly in his empire?” For “magnificent scenes” (jung-kuan) the Ma-wang-tui texts have—it appears—“walled-in hostel” (huan-kuan), and grammatically the line, at least in Text A
, follows the pattern “only when you have X condition, do you then have Y result.”
The added particle yu (“than”) in line 5 shows us that two things are being compared—that is, the wise king will not look upon his own person as less important than the whole land. The standard text lacks this yü.
[CHAPTER 27]
1 The good traveler leaves no track behind;
2 The good speaker [speaks] without blemish or flaw;
3 The good counter doesn’t use tallies or chips;
4 The good closer of doors does so without bolt or lock, and yet the door cannot be opened;
5 The good tier of knots ties without rope or cord, yet his knots can’t be undone.
6 Therefore the Sage is constantly good at saving men and never rejects anyone;
7 And with things, he never rejects useful goods.
8 This is called Doubly Bright.
9 Therefore the good man is the teacher of the good,
10 And the bad man is the raw material for the good.
11 To not value one’s teacher and not cherish the raw goods—
12 Though one had great knowledge, he would still be greatly confused.
13 This is called the Essential of the Sublime.
COMMENTS AND NOTES
In line 12, Text A has “greatly blind” where Text B (in agreement with later texts) has “greatly confused.” Line 4 in Text B actually begins, “The good counter (shu) and closer of doors.” But it seems clear that the copyist mistakenly started to copy line 3 again.
The Ma-wang-tui texts have a number of variant characters in the opening lines (1-5), but they do not substantially affect the meaning.
In line 6 the Ma-wang-tui texts have “and never rejects anyone” (erh) where the standard reading is “and therefore never rejects anyone” (ku). Line 7 in the standard text simply repeats line 6, starting from “constantly good at,” substituting “things” (wu) for “men” (jen). Wing-tsit Chan translates the two lines, “Therefore the sage is always good in saving men and consequently no man is rejected; He is always good in saving things and consequently nothing is rejected.”
Lao-Tzu- Te-Tao Ching Page 15
