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    Daoism Notes from Norton's

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    9 views10 pages

    World Religion: Daoism 2

    Uploaded by

    Eric Zeng
    Daoism Notes from Norton's

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 10
    THE SCI 7 PTURE OF THE WAY AND ITS vinTUE 1 1515 From Book One 1 say that can be spoken of constant ways I not “hat can be named The Pee constant name, Bye tf as the begining of heaven and eats The aed asthe mothe ofthe myriad cesures beat yourself of dese in order to observe is secrets Hens tvays allow you rself to have desires in order to observe ate manifestations. sess two ave the same Tiediverge in name as they issue forth. But de rsame they are called mysteries, ystery upon mystery— Mast way of the manifold secrets. nu orld recognizes the beautiful as the beautiful, yet this is The whole ™' the whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only only the ugly: the bad. Thus Sor The diffe The long ans ‘The high an mething and Nothing produce each other; walt and the easy complement each other; dd the short offset each other; 'd the low incline towards each other; Kote and sound harmonize with each other; Before and after follow each other. ce keeps to the deed that consists in taking no action and Therefore the sag practises the teaching that uses n ‘The myriad creatures rise from it yet it claims no authority: Itgives them life yet claims no possession; It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude; Itaccomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit. 10 words. Itis because it lays claim to no merit That its merit never deserts it m Not to honour men of worth will keep the people from contention; not to lalue goods which are hard to come by will keep them from theft; not to display what is desirable will keep them from being unsettled of mind. peefore in governing the people, the sage empties their minds but fills fit bellien cekene gheir wills but strengthens their bones. He always Kes them innocent of knowledge ‘and free from desire, and ensures that clever never dare to act. that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail. Tes sre by D.C. Lau. ht = 1516 1 THE scRipTURE OF THE WAY AND ITS VIRTUE at v The way is empty, yet use will not drain Deep, it is like the ancestor of the myri Blunt the sharpness; Untangle the knots: Soften the glare; Let your wheels move only along old ruts. Darkly visible, it only seems as if it were there. T know not whose son it is. It images the forefather of God. creatures, nae hanoesctan It is empty without being exhausted: ‘The more it works the more comes out. Much speech leads inevitably to silence. Better to hold fast to the void. vi ‘The spirit of the valley never dies. This is called the mysterious female. ‘The gateway of the mysterious female Is called the root of heaven and earth. Dimly visible, it seems as if it were there, Yet use will never drain it. vu Heaven and earth are enduring. The reason why heaven and earth can be endur- ing is that they do not give themselves life. Hence they are able to be longlived. Therefore the sage puts his person last and it comes first, Treats it as extraneous to himself and it is preserved. Is it not because he is without thought of self that he is able to accomplish his private ends? vit Highest good is like water. Because water excels in benefiting the myriad }h them and settles where none would like creatures without contending wi to be, it comes close to the way. v Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as strg dogs:! the sage is ruthless, and treats the people as straw dogs. aw Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bellows Ina home itis the site that matters; In quality of mind it is depth that matters; In anally it is benevolence that matters; In speech it is good faith that matters; In government it is order that matters; 1. Effigies made to ward off evil influences: after being used, they were thrown into the stret ty ee PY jn action it does not contend that it is never at fault THE SCRIPTURE OF THE WAY AND ITS vinTUE | 1517 ity that matters; it is timeliness that matters. acause ist? Ix than fill it to the brim by keeping it upright fuer to have stopped in times ammer it to a point Harithe sharpness cannot be preserved for ever; ‘More may be gold and jade to fill a hall pat there is none who can keep them. Tobe overbearing when one has wealth and position [rio being calamity upon oneself. Tiretire when the task is accomplished {rhe way of heaven. rather x When carrying on your head your perplexed bodily soul? can ‘you embrace in your arms the One And not let go? In concentrating your breath can you become as supple Asa babe? Can you polish your mysterious mirror? And leave no blemish? Can you love the people and govern the state Without resorting to action? When the gates of heaven open and shut Are you capable of keeping to the role of the female? When your discernment penetrates the four quarters Are you capable of not knowing anything? It gives them life and rears them. Iegives them life yet claims no possession; Itbenefits them yet exacts no gratitude; Itis the steward yet exercises no authority. Such is called the mysterious virtue. XI Thirty spokes Share one hub. an the nothing therein to the purpose in hand, and you will have the use Uitte cart Knead clay in order to make a vessel. Adapt the nothing therein the purpose in hand, and you will have the use of the vessel. Cut out pusand windows in order to make a room. Adapt the nothing therein to the 'pse in hand, and you will have the use of the room. ‘Thus what we gain is Something, yet it is by virtue of Nothing that this can be put to use. ect Seti isofthe spirit which rises into 3. Thats, your mind Kn SEE I5ie 1 THE scRipTURE OF THE WAY AND ITS VIRTUE xu urs! make man's eyes blind; five col Seca his ears deaf; ‘The five notes make The five tastes injure his palate; Riding and hunting | Make his mind go wild with excitement; Goods hard to come by Serve to hinder his progress- Hence the sage is For the belly Not for the eye- ‘Therefore he discards the one and takes the other. xu Favour and disgrace are things that startle; High rank is, like one’s body, a source of great trouble. What is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are things that startle? Favour when it is bestowed on a subject serves to startle as much as when it is withdrawn. This is what is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are things that startle. What is meant by saying that high rank is, like one's body, a source of great trouble? The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble have > Hence he who values his body more than dominion over the empire can be entrusted with the empire. He who loves his body more than dominion over the empire can be given the custody of the empire. xiv What cannot be seen is called evanescent; What cannot be heard is called rarefied; What cannot be touched is called minute. These three cannot be fathomed And so they are confused and looked upon as one. Its upper part is not dazzlings Its lower part is not obscure. Dimly visible, it cannot be named And returns to that which is without substance. This is called the shape that has no shape, The image that is without substance. This is called indistinct and shadowy. Go up to it and you will not see its head; Follow behind it and you will not see its rear. Hold fast to the way of antiquity In order to keep in control the realm of today. The ability to know the beginning of antiquity Is called the thread running through the way. 4. Green, red, yellow, white, and black. They, like to a category in the Five Agents system of ‘kc Bee notes the pentatonic scale) and the five Fespondences, a set of systematic 3850055) {ster (sour, sweet, bitter spicy, and salty), belong between different categories see table 2 THE SCRIPTURE OF THE WAY AND ITS VIRTUE 1 1519 XIX serminate the sage, discard the wise, he people will benefit a hundredfold; Arterminate benevolence, discard reetitude, Eatihe people will again be filial; jarerminate ingenuity, discard profit, Ef there will be no more thieves and bandits. These three, being flbe adornments, are not enough he people must have something to which Ae ee esp attach themselvegs 12 Which they gshibit the unadorned and embrace the uncarved block? Have little thought of self and as few desires as posoible, XXxI Inhis every movement a man of great virtue Follows the way and the way only. Asa thing the way is Shadowy, indistinct. Indistinct and shadowy, | Yetwithin itis an image; | Shadowy and indistinct, | Yetwithin it is a substance. | Dim and dark, | Yet within it is an essence. | This essence is quite genuine And within it is something that can be tested. From the present back to antiquity Its name never deserted it. Itserves as a means for inspecting the fathers of the multitude. How do I know that the fathers of the multitude are like that? By means of this. Xx Bowed down then preserved; Bent then straight; Hollow then full; Wor then new; Alittle then benefited; Alot then perplexed. herefore the sage embraces the One and is a model for the empire. He does not show himself, and so is conspicuous; © does not consider himself right, and so is illustrious; le does not brag, and so has merit; does not boast, and so endures. ise i ' because he does not contend that no one in the empire is in a position seomend with him, ing 7.3 the ancients had it, ‘Bowed down then preserved’, is no empty say- "uly it enables one to be preserved to the end. 50, ‘original nature, before ‘socialization. nN 1526 | THE BOOK OF MASTER ZHUANG ansformation. The Book of Master Zhuang is a and ‘Confucians and Mohists. Zhuangzi questions ee oy tion of reason: specifically, he points 4 ¢°¥%: age, which rests on human-centered co the nature of life. Through varied georttPal lar people, he presents a way of being in rhe’ hit fn harmony with the Dao that involves maintaining a balance of contro] focused attention) and letting go or losing oneself in the task at hand t spontaneously to changes and difficulties (see "The Secret of Caring fo “Mastering Life’). ‘The Book of Master Zhuang ha: drama of change for its critique of both lation of knowledge and applica sibilities and limitations of langu categories that rigidly constrai emphasize the skills of particu (eareang ted .s confounded generations of scholars s, render Zhaangzi’s unique vision and evocative literary style in other | By ae The ateenth century at least three Eny translations of teases done by Frederic Henry Balfour (1881), Herbert Giles (1889), and James te (1891)—-were circulating in Europe and attracting considerable attention, Ose Wilde, for example, in 1890 wrote an introduction to Zhuangzi and his teachignt for a general readership (see “A Chinese Sage,” below) after reading Giless tn lation, Martin Buber, the prominent Jewish philosopher, essayist, and translate, appears to have availed himself of both Giles's and Legge’s translations in produc, ing his German version of the work in 1910 (see his Zhuangei commentan, below), Henry Miller, in a book published in 1956, mentioned that among the books in his library was Musings of « Chinese Mystic—selections from Giles } translation—alongside Allen Watts's The Spirit of Zen (1936) and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. In 1965, the well-known Trappist monk Thomas Merton pub- lished The Way of Chuang-Tzit, his “readings” of the Book of Master Zhuang; since he did not know Chinese, he based his free renderings on existing translations into English, French, and German. Though the Book of Master Zhuang has not achieved the same international recognition as The Scripture of the Way and lis Virtue, in the West it has served as a catalyst for philosophical thought—in the twentieth century, for example, Martin Heidegger seems to have been aware of ‘Zhuangzi and his writings—and for debate, especially among those working in comparative philosophy. ecking to PRONOUNCING GLOSSARY Lao Dan: lao dawn Zhuangzi: chuang-tou Zhuang: chuang Free and Easy Wandering In the northern darkness there is a fish and his name is Kun.! The Kun is so huge I don't know how many thousand li? he measures. He changes and becomes a bird whose name is Peng. The back of the Peng measures | dont know how many thousand li across and, when he rises up and flies oft Ms wings are like clouds all over the sky. When the sea begins to mover this bird sets off for the southern darkness, which is the Lake of Heaven: The Universal Harmony records various wonders, and it says: “Wher 1 Peng journeys to the southern darkness, the waters are roiled fo" 1 sti thousand li. He beats the whirlwind and rises ninety thousand li, Teaxstaren ay Burton Watson, 1. Literally. “Bish roe" (a paradox, since the fish is 2. One Ii measures about V4 mile described as huge). THE BOOK OF MASTER ZHUANG | 1527 h-month gale.” Wavering heat, bits of dust, living things blown he snfelwind—the sky looks very blue, Is that its real color, or is it of ig by He far away and has no end? When the bird looks down, all he see is 9 bis blus “ot piled up deep enough, it won't have the strength to bear up 2 ifwater Pour a cup of water into a hollow in the floor and bits of trash oa jg Tike boats. But set the cup there and it will stick fast, for the ‘isa on shallow and the boat too large. If wind is not piled up deep Yuet tee it have the strength to bear up great wings. Therefore when {pouty Hees ninety thousand li, he must have the wind under him like the Fete en can he mount on the back of the wind, shoulder the blue that: oF thing can hinder or block him. Only then can he set his eyes to aye wes and the little dove laugh at this, saying, “When we make an The CiMhly up, we can get as far as the elm or the sapanwood tree, but effort ans we don't make it and just fall down on the ground. Now how is ‘to go ninety thousand li to the south!” nf ro the green woods nearby, you can take along food for three ‘some back with your stomach as full as ever. If you are going a you must grind your grain the night before; and if you are going

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