Poem 4 Translation Notes, Tao Te Ching

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Here is the 4th poem in Putonghua with English gloss. The hanzi are taken from Yellowbridge.

(The Classical Chinese words are listed here alphabetically with English gloss, you may want to open it in a separate window.)

道	沖，	而	用	之	或	不	盈。
dào	zhong1,	ér	yòng	zhī	hùo	bù	yíng
way	cup,	yet	use	of	perhaps	not	become full

淵	兮，	似	萬	物	之	宗﹔
yuān	xī	sì	wàn	wù	zhī	zōng
abyss	(pause)	seems	myriad	object	of	worship

挫	其	銳，	解	其	紛，
cùo	qí	rùi,	jiě	qí	fēn
defeat	that	sharp,	separate	that	varied

和	其	光，	同	其	塵﹔
hé	qí	guāng,	tóng	qí	chén,
harmony	that	glossy,	similar	that	dust,

湛	兮	似	或	存。
zhàn	xī	sì	hùo	cún
sunked	(pause)	seems	perhaps	exist

吾	不	知	誰	之	子？
wú	bù	zhī	shéi	zhī	zǐ
I	not	know	who	of	child

象	帝	之	先。
xiàng	dì	zhī	xiān
image	emperor	of	before

Bikol Translation
Here is the translation.

4
Чan Paчagih saroŋ panharok
Sah paggamit daчih napapanoч
Pagkararum.
Siriŋ sah sanlaksaŋ bagaybagay nah sarambahon

Minadaчog sah matarum,
Minahurusay sah чiribaчibah.
Minaчuruyon sah makikintab,
Minapaчagid sah maчaчalpog.

Pagkalubog.
Siriŋ sah garoh yaчon
Daчih koh чaram kuŋ kiчisay nah чakiч
Ladawan nin suчanoy nah hadeч.

Translation Notes
I translated dào here as “Paчagi” since that is what I think is the abstract meaning in this instance. I don’t exactly remember the term for the water dipper so I used “panharok”. I used “pagkararum” instead of “kararuman” since the implied meaning is not the depths, but the state of being deep. fēn could mean also “saralak” or mixed, which are to be sorted, so “husay” is to be used not “laчin” to separate and sort. I cannot use “lubtoh” for sunked since it just means to dip but not necessarily mean submerged. There is no word for emperor in Bikol, so I used the word “hadeч” or king.

My Interpretation.
The Way can be likened to a dipper. It never gets filled, even when constantly used. It can go deep; profound like objects of worship. It defeats the sharp, sorts the mixed, harmonizes the shiny, makes similar the dusty. It exists even if dipped, sunked and submerged. No one knows where its from. Its like an image or symbol of a potentate of ancient times.

A Side Note
This description of the Way as a dipper reminds me of my youth when I stayed with my grandmother who lived close to the woods. She owns a big clay water jar (dulay) which she uses to store drinking water. It has a covering and to get water in it, I have to use a coconut shell dipper. That was a long time ago and I don’t have a photo of it. But have a look at the photoss shown below.

Photo of a clay jar from this site.

The dipper is like this dipper beside the jar, but made of ordinary-looking coconut shell and with a short handle made of bamboo..

It looks very similar except that there is no rosary and no faucet. It is put up high above the ground called banggirahan like this stock photo but bigger. Here is a photo from of an uncleaned water jar that has moss in it. Water jars have to be cleaned regularly to be very hygienic.

A New Approach to Tao Te Ching Translation, Poem 1

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When I did a preliminary comparison of my translation with others, I discovered two sites that have the original Classical Chinese plus their literal meaning, in Zhongwen and in Dao is Open. Because of this discovery, I will be approaching my translation project of Tao Te Ching differently, in contradiction with my previous post, where I mentioned that I basically have no access to the Classical Chinese. I will translate from there instead of translating from Derek Lin’s, and this needs revision of my original translation of poem 1.

I will write down the romanization of the characters using Pinyin and then their literal word for word gloss, taking both from Zhongwen. The pinyin letters and their IPA equivalents are as follows for those interested in how to read the pinyin letters Pinyin [IPA]: b [p], p [pʰ], d [t], t [tʰ], g [k], k [kʰ], m [m], n [n], l [l], z [ts], c [tsʰ], zh [tʂ], ch [tʂʰ], j [tɕ], q [tɕʰ], f [f], s [s], sh [ʂ], r [ʐ], x [ɕ], h [x], r [ɻ], y [j] or [ɥ], w [w]. The vowel nucleaus and their tones are romanized as follows: a,ā,á,à,ǎ,e,ē,é,è,ě,i,ī,í,ì,ǐ,o,ō,ó,ò,ǒ,u,ū,ú,ù,ǔ,ü,ǖ,ǘ,ǜ,ǚ.

The Classical Chinese words are listed here alphabetically with English gloss, you may want to open it in a separate window.

So here is the first poem in Putonghua with English gloss. The hanzi are taken from Yellowbridge.

道	可	道,	非	常	道。
dào	kě	dào,	fēi	cháng	dào
way	can	way	not	permanent	way

名	可	名，	非	常	名。
míng	kě	míng,	fēi	cháng	míng
name	can	name,	not	permanent	name

無，	名	天	地	之	始﹔
wú	míng	tiān	dì	zhī	shǐ
without	name	heaven	earth	of	beginning

有，	名	萬	物	之	母。
yǒu	míng	wàn	wù	zhī	mǔ
have	name	myriad	thing	of	mother

故	常	無，	欲	以	觀	其	妙；
gù	cháng	wú	yù,	yǐ	guān	qí	miào
reason	often	without	desire,	continue	observe	it	wonder

常	有，	欲	以	觀	其	徼。
cháng	yǒu	yù,	yǐ	guān	qí	jiào
often	have	desire,	continue	observe	it	frontier

此	兩	者，	同	出	而	異	名，
cǐ	liǎng	zhě,	tóng	chū	ér	yì	míng
this	two	thing	together	issue	yet	differing	name

同	謂	之	玄。	玄	之	又	玄，
tóng	wèi	zhī	xuán,	xuán	zhī	yòu	xuán
together	call	of	distant,	distant	of	again	distant

眾	妙	之	門。
zhòng	miào	zhī	mén
crowd	wonder	of	gate

Bikol Translation
Here is the revised full translation.

1
Чan чagih nah naчiчaчagih, bakoч чan minadanay nah paчagih.
Чan ŋaran nah naчiŋaŋaran, bakoч чan minadanay nah paŋaran.
Чan daчiŋ ŋaran чan pinagpuчonan kan laŋit чasin dagaч
Чan чigwaŋ ŋaran чan чinaч kan sanlaksaч nah bagay
Kayaч, pirmiŋ daчiŋ nasaч, nahihiliŋ чan ŋaŋalasan kaчinih
Pirmiŋ чigwaŋ nasaч, nahihiliŋ чan haŋgahan kaчinih

Чiniŋ duwah gumirinikan sabay чalagad magkaчiribah sah ŋaran
Чan pagigiŋ sararoч чinaчapod nah harayoч
Karayoчan sah saroч paŋ karayoчan
Tatah kan maŋah ŋaŋalasan nah durupilan.

Translation Notes
The first two lines have parallel structure, just like the next 4 lines as well. For this reason, I translated them with almost the same structure morphologically : (1) чagih/ŋaran, (2) naчiчaчagih/naчiŋaŋaran, (3) paчagih/paŋaran. The 1st dào (footprint, tracks) is related to the 3rd dào (means, way, manner, method) in that the 3rd is an abstraction of the 1st. And чagih or чagihчagih (way of life, way of existence) is something that can be told, described, expressed, enunciated, for its meaning is “story of existence/life”.

I have translated the first dào as “footprint, tracks” instead of “way/path” since my understanding is that “way of existence/life” can be followed or practiced or be a guide, yet can never be the constant Way but an approximation of it, so that it should not be confused with the way. The Way (the 3rd dào) to me is an abstraction of the physical way like Jesus’ way: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and biblical phrases “way of peace”, “way of righteous”, “way of truth” “way of God”.

The second dào is often translated as “be spoken”, “be told”, “be said”, with Legge (1891, “be trodden”), Mair (1990, “be walked”) and Muller (2005, “be followed”) differing from others. Both Muller and Legge did not translate the two other occurences of ‘tao’ so my favorite would be Mair’s “The ways that can be walked are not the eternal Way” and Hansen’s “To guide what can be guided is not constant guiding”. There is a discussion here that the “be trodden/walked” are not the proper translations since these meanings are not found in Matthew’s Chinese Dictionary (1972). I don’t think that is a flaw of the translation at all, since I think the verbal “be spoken/said/told” meaning is derivative of the nominal meaning “doctrine”, after Daoism/Taoism flourished or became established. The original nominal meaning I think is “road/way”, so the verbal meaning has to be “be trodden/walked” originally, as is also explained here. My 2nd dào means “be a guide/ followed”. I have the option of translating dào either as чagih or dalan, but only чagih can be used with both noun and verb having related meanings. I also did not use agihan (road,path,route, lane) for the 1st dào as it is not parallel with ŋaran in the 2nd line in word structure.

I revised some more words in my original translation. Gikan (origin) was changed to puчon, which can mean both as ‘begin’ or ’start’ as that’s the meaning of shǐ. Guān was translated as hiliŋ which has related nominal and verbal meanings instead of masid (observe). Jiào was translated as haŋgahan (border) rather than kasagkuran (ending). Other words: zhòng is durupilan (crowded, crammed), xuán is rayoч (distance) instead of hiwagaч (mystery) and wèi is чapod (called).

My Interpretation.
What possesses no name (the nameless) is the source of the universe (the named). The universe is the source of every other nameable things. The nameless and the universe started together inspite of the nameless having no name. As for the named (the universe “turned into one, all together, the whole”), its name is not derived from its true essence, thus its constant name is yet to be named. The tracks of the named will not lead to the nameless. The tracks of the nameless are the eternal tracks, which will yield the constant name of the named. If the nameless and the universe are viewed as one with an empty mind or mushin (without expectations and preconceptions), one has a front-seat view and can see what it really is and appreciate its beauty and wonders. Otherwise, one is viewing it from the frontiers and can see mostly the borders, far from where one can view with clarity. Their unity is also called distance. Distance is the reason for its obscureness. These two distances compound each other, but is the door to its crammed wonders and beauty.

The way of the universe and the nameless.
Here is a photo taken by Ali Al-Hajji posted in of a man walking in a desert and captures all the elements of the first poem, from the sky, the earth and the footprints as path or way.