Table Of Content道德經
Dào Dé Jīng
The Way and Its Power
老子
Lǎo Zǐ
The Old Masters
translated by Patrick Edwin Moran
© 2009 Patrick Edwin Moran
Introduction i
Introduction
This book is eponymously known by its author, Lao Zi, and by the name Dao De
Jing, which Arthur Waley translated as The Way and Its Power. “Lao” is not a
Chinese surname, so the name “Lao Zi” does not mean “Master Lao.” “Lao”
means “old.” Since Chinese does not indicate either sex or number, “Lao Zi”
may mean “the old master,” or “the old masters.” Humans know nothing
beyond these sparse hints.
The first chapter has a structure that has long escaped attention. It indicates that
there are three levels on which everything can be understood:
One is the level that in Western thought can only be compared to God, or what
Meister Eckhardt calls the Godhead, “before” the creation of this Universe with
its space and time. Our space and our time begin and go forward from the
Creation. In modern physics the same general picture emerges: Our space and
our time begin with the Big Bang.
The second level is that of everyday experience in which humans see the surface
aspects of things, the wave tossed surface of the ocean, the stripes of the tiger, the
suspiration of a bamboo grove, the odor of newly fallen rain. Humans experience
these sense inputs without necessarily knowing anything deeper.
The third level is the noumenal, the level of what Kant called the “thing in itself.”
Tracing the chain of physical causes between rose and red never explains the
beginning of the chain and never explains the sensation of color at the other end.
Humans currently are conscious of issues of social construction and the idea that
minds take sense inputs and turn them into witches, holy men, fools, geniuses,
and all the myriad things of human experience. The Dao De Jing offers the hope
that humans can learn to put aside all acts of construction, or what it calls
“fabrication,” and see the Universe as it is before human motivations act upon it.
The first chapter is constructed of sentences that alternate between the noumenal
and the phenomenal. It describes the noumenal in terms of the interior aspects of
human gestation ‐‐ the embryo, and the phenomenal in terms of the external
aspects of female reproduction ‐‐ the lactating breasts of the mother. It parallels
these terms with the “ineffable efficacies,” which is written with a Chinese
character that indicates its placement in the category of things female and one of
its specific attributes as the minimal or even the infinitesimal, and the “fringes”
Introduction ii
which one could think of as the surface aspects of things such as the stripes of the
tiger that give humans warning without offering any real insight into the vitality
of the beast.
The Dao De Jing is not a “quietist” tract. The Daoists want power. However, they
do not want the kind of power that pushes others around. They want the power
to prevent diseases, provide clean water to common people, pacify conflicts, and
keep us all safe, but they want to do it in obscurity.
The Dao De Jing makes a clear connection between desires and perceptions that
are veiled as phenomena by self interest. These perceptions are necessary for
survival. Without self interest, humans would neither feed nor protect
themselves. So humans need to fabricate discrete entities such as “self,” “other,”
“victim,” “prey,” “nourishment,” “poison,” etc. in order to survive. However,
this process is subject to error. Preconceptions are necessary but they are not
always successful. They may be counterproductive outside of very limited social
contexts. So it is useful to be able to put preconceptions aside, and to put
preconceptions aside it is necessary to silence desire, to silence all subjective
feelings about the things that all humans constitute for their own use and may
take up as readymade items from their communities.
In other chapters the Dao De Jing introduces the idea of the “Uncarved Block,”
which is a physical image for the Universe as it is before humans mentally cut it
into manageable parts for their own use, or “fabricate” it.
Ultimately, not only “witches” and “ideal humans” dissolve and flow back into
the original unity, but even space and time leave human awareness, and the
human being no longer is separated from the One.
On the way to this kind of sagely deconstruction or de‐crystallization of the
Universe, partial healing of fractures between, e.g., “witches” and “real
humans,” can result in new and less problematical fabrications such as “female
schizophrenic patient of indeterminate age” and “nominally sane human being.”
All values are called into question: “You say that is good. In what sense is it
good? Who is it good for? Is it possibly bad for some others?”
At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists discovered entities such as
the photon that could not be seen directly, but they could be reliably created one
by one in special devices and could be reliably collected on a detection screen.
But use an experimental apparatus that asks a photon about its wave
Introduction iii
characteristics and the answer will be a description of certain features of its wave
nature, e.g., its wave length, its frequency, its energy, whether it has interfered
with itself and, if so, how. Use an experimental apparatus that asks a photon
about its particle characteristics and the answer will be, e.g., its relativistic mass,
its point of impact on the detection screen, the momentum it delivered to the
atom in the detection screen where it showed up, etc. Is a photon a wave or a
particle? In Lao Zi’s terms, it is both as a phenomenon and neither as a
noumenon. Look at the Uncarved Block and it is invisible. Fabricate the block
one way and it appears as a wave. Fabricate the block another way and it
appears as a particle.
Double‐slit
A classic example of this kind of dual phenomenal nature is the double‐split
experiment. In the modern version of this experiment, a laser pointer is aimed at
a white screen a few feet away. Then a screen is set up to interrupt the path of the
laser beam, and the beam does not reach the detection screen. Next a single slit is
introduced, and a spot appears on the detection screen. Without careful
examination one might conclude that this light is consistent with a particle
description of the light that arrives there, but close examination will show that
part of the light is delivered to smaller spots on each side. This pattern is actually
consistent with diffraction, which is a wave phenomenon.
When a second slit is made in the screen, an extended pattern of “fringes”
appears, and its strongest point is immediately behind the center post in the
double‐slit apparatus. That single fact makes it impossible to regard the photons
as particles, and the extended pattern that results can only be understood as the
result of interference between two wave patterns, one going through each slit.
Introduction iv
The obvious conclusion, based on this much of the experiment, is that light has to
be some kind of wave.
If the rate of delivery of photons is slowed down to the point that only one
photon goes through the apparatus at a time, the same pattern of fringes will
eventually build on the detection screen. (It may be useful to collect the evidence
on a sheet of photographic emulsion.) Again, it appears that light is a wave, and
that single waves pass partly through one slit and partly through another slit.
However, if one looks at the pattern that builds up, it is absolutely clear that each
photon hits the screen at a single point ‐‐ which is only consistent with a particle
explanation of light.
CH NPA Pinyin English Dao De Jing 道德經
1
第一章
道 ㄉㄠ` dào way, course
：
可 ㄎㄜˇ kě can
道 ㄉㄠ` dào way, course
=
(導) ㄉㄠˇ dǎo direct
﹐
非 ㄈㄟ¹ fēi not
常 ㄔㄤ´ cháng constant
道 ㄉㄠ` dào way, course
；
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng name
：
可 ㄎㄜˇ kě can
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng name
﹐
非 ㄈㄟ¹ fēi not
常 ㄔㄤ´ cháng constant
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng name
。
無 ㄨ´ wú not have
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng name
，
天 ㄊ|ㄢ¹ tiān heaven
地 ㄉ|` dì earth
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
始 ㄕˇ shǐ beginning
。
有 |ㄡˇ yǒu have
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng name
，
萬 ㄨㄢ` wàn myriad
物 ㄨ` wù creature
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
母 ㄇㄨˇ mǔ mother
。
故 ㄍㄨ` gù therefore
常 ㄔㄤ´ cháng constantly
CH NPA Pinyin English Dao De Jing 道德經
2
無 ㄨ´ wú not have
欲 ㄩ` yù desire
，
以 |ˇ yǐ in order to
觀 ㄍㄨㄢ¹ guān observe
其 ㄑ|´ qí its
妙 ㄇ|ㄠ` miào ineffable efficacy
；
常 ㄔㄤ´ cháng constantly
有 |ㄡˇ yǒu have
欲 ㄩ` yù desire
，
以 |ˇ yǐ in order to
觀 ㄍㄨㄢ guān observe
其 ㄑ|´ qí its
徼 ㄐ|ㄠ` jiào fringes
。
此 ㄘˇ cǐ these
兩 ㄌ|ㄤˇ liǎng two
者 ㄓㄜˇ zhě (the one who =) things
，
同 ㄊㄨㄥ´ tóng same; together
出 ㄔㄨ¹ chū come out
而 ㄦ´ ér and, yet
異 |` yì different(ly)
名 ㄇ|ㄥ´ míng named
，
同 ㄊㄨㄥ´ tóng same; together
謂 ㄨㄟ` wèi speak of ... as
之 ㄓ¹ zhī it
玄 ㄒㄩㄢ´ xuán dark and mysterious
。
玄 ㄒㄩㄢ´ xuán dark and mysterious
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
又 |ㄡ` yòu again
玄 ㄒㄩㄢ´ xuán dark and mysterious
，
眾 ㄓㄨㄥ` zhòng multitude
妙 ㄇ|ㄠ` miào ineffable efficacy
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
CH NPA Pinyin English Dao De Jing 道德經
3
門 ㄇㄣ´ mén door, gate, portal
。
Chapter One (One possible translation)
As for ways, if one can be directed along it, it is not the constant Way. As for names, if it
can be given as a name, it is not a constant name. Nameless is the beginning of Heaven
and Earth. Named is the mother of the myriad creatures. So always be without desire in
order to observe its ineffable efficacies, and always be with desire in order to observe its
outer fringes. These two come out together and are differently named. Together, they
are spoken of as the dark and mysterious. The most dark and mysterious of all the dark
and mysterious is the portal of the myriad creatures.
第二章
天 ㄊ|ㄢ¹ tiān heaven
下 ㄒ|ㄚ` xià below
皆 ㄐ|ㄝ¹ jiē all
知 ㄓ¹ zhī know
美 ㄇㄟˇ měi beauty, beautiful
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
為 ㄨㄟ´ wéi to be
美 ㄇㄟˇ měi beauty, beautiful
﹐
斯 ㄙ¹ sī therefore; this
惡 ㄜ` è evil
已 |ˇ yǐ (final particle=) that's all there is to it
。
皆 ㄐ|ㄝ¹ jiē all
知 ㄓ¹ zhī know
善 ㄕㄢ` shàn good
之 ㄓ¹ zhī subordinating particle
為 ㄨㄟ´ wéi to be
善 ㄕㄢ` shàn good
﹐
斯 ㄙ¹ sī therefore; this
不 ㄅㄨ´ bú not
善 ㄕㄢ` shàn good
已 |ˇ yǐ (final particle=) that's all there
CH NPA Pinyin English Dao De Jing 道德經
4
is to it
。
故 ㄍㄨ` gù therefore
有 |ㄡˇ yǒu to have
無 ㄨ´ wú to not have
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
生 ㄕㄥ¹ shēng born
﹐
難 ㄋㄢ´ nán difficult
易 |` yì easy
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
成 ㄔㄥ´ chéng complete
﹐
長 ㄔㄤ´ cháng long (time, etc.)
短 ㄉㄨㄢˇ duǎn short
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
<較 ㄐ|ㄠˇ jiǎo compare > (delete erroneous character)
〔形ㄒ|ㄥ´ xíng form 〕 (replace with correct character)
﹐
高 ㄍㄠ¹ gāo tall, high
下 ㄒ|ㄚ` xià low
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
傾 ㄑ|ㄥ¹ qīng turn upside down
﹐
音 |ㄣ¹ yīn voice; musical notes; sound
聲 ㄕㄥ¹ shēng instrumental musical sounds
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
和 ㄏㄜ´ hé respond, harmonize
﹐
前 ㄑ|ㄢ´ qián fore
後 ㄏㄡ` hòu aft
相 ㄒ|ㄤ¹ xiāng mutually, reciprocally
隨 ㄙㄨㄟ´ suí follow
。
是 ㄕ` shì it
以 |ˇ yǐ to take ... to do something
聖 ㄕㄥ` shèng Sage
人 ㄖㄣ´ rén human beings
處 ㄔㄨ` chù take their place in
無 ㄨ´ wú not have
