Dojo punch 0 1, with or without 02; As deep as the ancestor of all things. Defeat its spirit 04, solve its disputes 05, its light 06 and its dust 07. Zhan seems to have saved 08 after all. I don't know whose son 09 is, like the first one of Emperor 10.
Today's translation
Tao is empty but not poor. Unfathomable, like the ancestor of all things. Wear its cloak, solve its troubles, light but not revealing, and be in harmony with the world. Very subtle, as if nothing had happened! I don't know whose son it is, like the ancestor of heaven and earth.
comment
This chapter has nothing to say, and it is endless if it refers to something. Lao Tzu said, I don't know whose son it is, like the father of heaven and earth. This is a description and praise of Tao. In the words describing Tao, Lao Zi used the personification of literature and symbolic metaphor to describe the hazy artistic conception of Tao. This is difficult for some scholars who are not familiar with literary techniques to understand. Therefore, Mr. Wang said, "Both Tan Xian's Lao Zi and Ma Xulun's Lao Zi's Nuclear Criticism think this place is a literary place. Click here, the article is inconsistent and should be deleted. " Actually, it is not. Laozi is not only a philosophical work, but also a philosophical prose poem, which has the characteristics of literature and art, so when commenting on Laozi, we can't simply treat it as a philosophical work. When writing poems, poets often break through the restrictions of logical thinking and logical narration and use anthropomorphic metaphors to describe and praise the objects he describes. Laozi's four poems, "Defeat its spirit, resolve its disputes, and share its dust with its first poem", are exactly descriptions and praises of the hazy realm of the avenue. Liu Xizai, a critic in the Qing Dynasty, commented on Qu Yuan's Li Sao: "Li Sao has an eastern sentence, a western sentence, a sky sentence and an underground sentence, which are extremely open and closed, and some remain unchanged." ("Yi Jian Fu Jian") Learning the book "Lao Zi" should also be treated in this way.
As for the four sentences in this chapter, it is not difficult to understand if they are repeated in Chapter 56 of Laozi. These four sentences are not the only ones that appear repeatedly in Laozi's book. The theme of each chapter of Laozi is different. The repeated sentences in the book have their own uses and should not be regarded as literary works or mistakes. It is a common phenomenon that repeated sentence patterns appear in poetry. This is also a philosophical prose poem, which is different from other works.
Laozi's way is profound, subtle and unpredictable. See it, smell it and fight it. Nevertheless, as we said in the last chapter, the Tao of Laozi's universe ontology has material properties and belongs to materialism. Mr. Gao Feng said: "This chapter is Laozi's view of the world ... these are also the manifestations of idealism." Mr. Gao's point of view does not conform to Lao Tzu's Taoist thought.
Mr. Chen Guying's comments on this chapter are concise and to the point, which is very telling. The following contents are quoted for readers' reference.
The Tao body is empty. This virtual body is not nothing, but contains endless creative factors. Therefore, its function is endless.
This virtual Tao body is the root of all things. Here, Lao Tzu broke the creationism. ("Laozi's Annotation, Translation and Comment")
To annotate ...
0 1 Tao: refers to the universe itself. Rush: Virtual. Wu Cheng said: "The words are geographical, and the utensils are empty." Tao body is empty, so it is called "Tao Chong".
02 surplus: poor. Lin said, "It's empty. Although the Tao is empty, it is endless. "
03 Yuan: Wu Cheng said, "Yuan is unfathomable." Zong: Wu Cheng said: "Zong is still the zong of Zong Zi. The unity of the clan is the unity of all things, so it is called' the Sect of all things'. I dare not say it if I like it. " The sentence says: Tao is unfathomable, like the ancestor of all things.
04 to defeat its sharpness: Lin said, "If you defeat its sharpness, words will sharpen its horns." Sharp, ghost pepper also.
Solve its troubles: solve its troubles. Lin said to him, "To solve its disputes, it is said that it is orderly in chaos."
06 and its light: including convergence and brilliance. Lin said, "The light is not exposed, so it is called' harmony with its light'." Wu Cheng said: "Harmony is harmony, and harmony is concealment."
07 Let it dust: Lin said, "There is no dust but it is not self-cleaning, so it is called" Let it dust ". This Buddhist scripture is called' unclean'. " According to Wu Cheng, "these four sentences are useless."
Zhan: Lin said to him, "Zhan, you are invisible. If there is death, it seems that there is nothing, so it is said that' Zhan seems to have it'. That is,' hey, there is something in it'. " Wu Cheng said, "This sentence is also empty."
I don't know: Lin said, "I don't know whose son it is, but I still have doubts about beauty."
10 "Like the Emperor" sentence: Lin said: "Like, like also. God, heaven is also. It is said that it lies in the beginning of creation, so it is called' before the emperor'. The words' like' and' like' are both visible but invisible, and the language is set to describe its beauty. "