Julius Skoolafish Writes Julius’ Book Mentions
Great stuff, Phi. Thanks for sharing. I will go now and ponder and reflect some more. Interesting that my translation of Tao Te Ching #57 begins:
"Govern your country with integrity,
Weapons of war can be used with great cunning,
But loyalty is only won by not-doing."
I would expect this kind of "Chinese reading" from ignorant "Karl Haemers". But not from you, my friend!
But nonetheless...Wow it's delighted to know that you can read classic Chinese and come up with such strange translation!
I can read classic Chinese and Chinese Classics too. Perhaps not as fluently and as well as you do… But just enough to “decipher” the message of Tao Te Ching.
I do know that many Chinese scholars themselves such as Hu Shih, Lin Yutang did struggle to read and comprehend Tao Te Ching themselves! Not to mention a bunch of Western scholars in Eastern classics such as Giles, Awley Demieville, Hurwitz.. also struggled to translate Tao Te Ching.
As a matter of fact even Alan Watts had to spend his last years in this world to read, understand, and comprehend such concise book. Alan Watts explained his understanding and his comprehension of Tao Te Ching in his last book “Tao, The Watercourse Way”
I bought this book decades ago. Read it many times over. And still have it with me now to keep my brain and mind some kind of exercise. If you feel interested, You guys still can read, listen to his humorous comprehension of Eastern philosophy at:
https://alanwatts.org/
By the way, here is the famous anarchistic chapter 57 titled “simplicity- good customs” (Thuần phong 淳 風) in original classic Chinese characters:
57: 淳 風
以 正 治 國. 以 奇 用 兵. 以 無 事 取 天 下. 吾 何 以 知 其 然 哉? 以 此: 天 下 多 忌 諱 而 民 彌 貧. 民 多 利 器, 國 家 滋 昏. 人 多 伎 巧, 奇 物 滋 起. 法 令 滋 彰, 盜 賊 多 有. 故 聖 人 云: 我 無 為 而 民 自 化. 我 好 靜 而 民 自 正. 我 無 事 而 民 自 富. 我 無 欲 而 民 自 朴.
Well, the last word is always yours!
PhiQuyenChinh-TheTaoOfAnarchy
PS
WOW - firstly, my APOLOGIES, Phi. I in no way meant to infer that I could read and translate Chinese characters - I cannot. I was referencing the hard copy (translation) on my shelf (at least I made the effort) - translated by John H McDonald. Now that you press me, I looked up a few other references and cannot believe just how many different variations there are in translation of just that first line.
Plugging your shared Chinese characters into Yandex Translate the first line becomes: "Rule the country with righteousness" - or "Rule the country with justice". Of course the concept of 'heavenly mandate' is central here.
Secondly THANK YOU for your informative and forthright posts.
I humbly defer to your translation and interpretation of Tao Te Ching.
I'm off down the Alan Watts rabbit hole now, with appreciation.