Having just finished William Martin’s bookThe Sage's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for the Second Half of Life, I decided to reread poet Witter Bynner English translation of Laozi’s original first published in 1944, which I first read in the 1960s and again in 1996. Bynner introduction makes clear his desire to present the Old Master’s philosophy of life and the best way to live it. Laozi’s advises a simple life of quiet acceptance and humility with no attempt to control the behavior of others, a way of nonaggression and serenity. This is Bynner’s translation of these three passages:

43
As the soft yield of water cleaves obstinate stone,
So to yield with life solves the insoluble;
To yead, I have learned, is to come back again.
But this unworded lesson,
This easy example,
Is lost upon men.

56
Those who know do not tell,
Those who tell do not know.
Not to set the tongue loose,
But to curb it,
Not to have edges that catch
But to remain untangled,
Unconfused,
Is to find balance,
And he who holds balance beyond sway of love or hate,
Beyond reach of profit or loss,
Beyond care of praise or blame,
Has attained the highest post in the world.

67

Everyone says that my way of life is the way of a simpleton.
Being largely the way of a simpleton is what makes it worth while.
If it were not way of a simpleton
It would long ago have been worthless,
These possessions of a simpleton being the three I choose
And cherish:
To care,
To be fair,
To be humble.
When a man cares he is unafraid.
When he is fair he leaves enough for others,
When he is humble he can grow;
Whereas if, like men of today, be bold without caring,
Self-indulgent without sharing.
Self-important without shame.
He is dead.
The invincible shield
Of caring
Is a weapon from the sky
Against being dead. ( )

Er hangt een verdacht christelijk geurtje aan dit boek. Meermaals wordt er direct en indirect verwezen naar christelijke opvattingen. In hoeverre is zo een vertaling volledig betrouwbaar? De Chinese weergave van de tekst is in tradiioneeel Chinees. Het Chinees dat dus de Chinezen buiten China nog gebruiken. Het schrift dat men buitenlanders aanleert is echter het CCP Chinees schrift. Voor wie en waartoe is de oorspronkelijke tekst dus bedoeld?

Dit alles in rekening genomen zet het boek zeker aan om ook eens een andere vertaling terhand te nemen, want interessant is het wel. ( )

Escrito entre o sexto e quinto século antes de Cristo, essa coleção de filosofia poética possui tanto uma metafísica, quanto uma ética (já com um imperativo categórico da igualdade de tratamento), e princípios políticos, indicando o caminho da virtude, calcado no pertencer à situação, na não violência, na não intervenção, no fluir e sintonizar, cuja posição desinteressada permitiria o florescer do benefício da simplicidade.

O humano segue a terra, a terra os céus, os céus o Tao, e o Tao, a espontaneidade. O equilíbrio é criativo, mas se ajusta melhor na calma acontecer sem extremos, disturbios. E um guerreiro cumpre seus objetivos apenas porque não tem outra opção. Procura atingir o objetivo sem usar a força para a dominação. A terra e os céus são eternos porque não subsistem em si, abarcando em sua rede existencial muito de outros. A água é a coisa mais beneficial porque o faz sem competir com o que beneficia. O sábio e o líder devem ser como o elemento que promove o ajuste para que a situação flua com tranquilidade, ele mesmo anulando assim sua presença.

As coisas são macias e brandas quando vivas, e duras e rígidas quando mortas. Um exército será destruído quando se tornar forte, uma árvore quebrada quando crescer demais e enrigecer. O forte e duro é inferior, o suave e mácio se mantém na posição superior. A violência não leva a uma morte natural. A flexibilidade tranquila leva ao caminho. ( )

Fundamental to Chinese philosophy and religion, the Tao Te Ching is a simple guidebook for virtue, encouraging peace, understanding and humility. Ranging from political advice to common wisdom, it has also served as an inspiration to artists across the ages and throughout the world.

The Tao Te Ching has been translated more often than any other book except the bible. Both philosophical speculation and mystical reflection, the Tao Te Ching is about the harmony and flow of life and the necessity for affinity with it. Richard Wilhelm, renowned for his superb translation and commentary of the I Ching, helps us toward a more profound understanding of the work.