Some of you will no doubt recall with a smile the discussions that took place here a few months back about translating Passage 60 from the Daodejing.
The Discussion started off at the Gialbo's Palace here, before continuing on at my more humble abode here and here (The topic generated about 300 comments-- mainly between Bill and me.)
Yesterday, Red Pine was kind enough to send along his rendition of the passage along with some very interesting notes-- which I now upload here.
For those of you who-- like me-- are fans of his translations, you will be happy to hear that a revised edition of his daodejing (from which this below will appear) is due out in the fall. Published by Copper Canyon Press, he says it should be in their Fall/Winter Catalog.
For what it's worth, I still prefer my rendition here-- shown at the bottom of the page in blue. Red Pine wn't budge though :)
Also, recommended is this Kyoto Journal Interview with Red Pine (also linked in wiki article)
**
Ruling a great state
is like cooking a small fish
when you govern the world with the Tao
spirits display no powers
not that they have no powers
their powers don’t harm the people
not that their powers don’t harm
the sage keeps them from harming
and neither harms the other
for both rely on Virtue.
In a poem bemoaning the absence of virtuous rulers, the Shihching (Book of Odes) says, “Who can cook fish / I’ll wash out the pot.” (Kuei: 4)
Li Hsi-chai says, “For the sage, ruling a state is a minor affair, like cooking a small fish.”
Ho-shang Kung says, “If you cook a small fish, don’t remove its entrails, don’t scrape off its scales, and don’t stir it. If you do, it will turn to mush. Likewise, too much government makes those below rebel. And too much cultivation makes one’s vitality wither.”
Han Fei says, “In cooking a small fish, too much turning ruins it. In governing a great state, too much reform embitters the people. Thus, a ruler who possesses the Way values inaction over reform.”
Te-ch’ing says, “A cruel government brings calamity down on the people. The people, however, think their suffering is the work of ghosts and spirits and turn to sacrifice and worship to improve their lot, when actually their misfortune is caused by their rulers.”
The Tsochuang says, “If the state is meant to flourish, listen to the people. If the state is meant to perish, listen to the spirits.” (Chuang: 32)
Wang Chen says, “The government that takes peaces as its basis doesn’t lose the Way. When the government doesn’t lose the Way, yin and yang are in harmony. When yin and yang are in harmony, wind and rain arrive on time. When wind and rain arrive on time, the spirit world is at peace. When the spirit world is at peace, the legion of demons can’t perform their sorcery.”
Wang Pi says, “Spirits don’t injure what is natural. What is natural gives spirits no opening. When spirits have no opening, spirits cannot act like spirits.”
Ch’eng Hsuan-ying says, “Spirits dwell in the yin, and people dwell in the yang. When both accept their lot, neither injures the other.”
Su Ch’e says, “The inaction of the sage makes people content with the way they are. Outside, nothing troubles them. Inside, nothing frightens them. Even spirits have no means of using their powers. It isn’t that spirits have no powers. They have powers, but they don’t use them to harm people. The reason people and spirits don’t harm each other is because they look up to the sage. And the sage never harms anyone.”
Wu Ch’eng says, “The reason spirits don’t harm the people is not because they can’t but because the sage is able to harmonize the energy of the people so that they don’t injure the energy of the spirit world. The reason neither injures the other is due to the sage’s virtue. Hence, they both rely on the virtue of the sage.”
Hsuan-tsung says, “‘Neither’ here refers to spirits and the sage.”
Li Jung says, “Spirits and sages help people without harming each other. One is hidden, the other manifest. But both rely on virtue.”
Sung Ch’ang-hsing says, “Spirits are spirits because they respond but can’t be seen. Sages are sages because they govern but don’t act. The virtue of sages and the virtue of spirits is the same.”
Commenting on the Taoteching is also like cooking a small fish. Better not to have caught it. Once having caught it, there’s no way to give it back its life. Commentators are divided as to whether the subjects of lines nine and ten are spirits and the people or spirits and the sage. Both are possible, given the usual ambiguous syntax of the Chinese language, but my reading gives the nod to spirits and sages.
These quotes are really helpful. I like his idea at the end: better not to have caught it. This pushes the wu-wei idea here a bit further than the conventional understanding of "don't do too much" by way of governing. Thanks.
Posted by: Sam | January 12, 2009 at 05:26 PM
Hi Sam, I'm glad you enjoyed the quotes-- I did as well, and in fact, "better not to have caught it" pretty much sums of the pain of the translator, don't you think? (yes, even Heidegger's translator)...
Things are so much richer in the sweet possibility of ambiguity.
The virtue of sages and the virtue of spirits.... indeed.
lacrimae rerum
Posted by: Peony (gazing at the murals at carthage) | January 12, 2009 at 06:01 PM