« I love California | Main | Maybe Logic »

Way

posted by Zed on February 16 2003 23:48

Been going through Ursula Le Guin's translation of Tao Te Ching again. Chapter 18 struck me as relevant to the times:

In the degradation of the great way
come benevolence and righteousness.
With the exaltation of learning and prudence
comes immense hypocrisy.
The disordered family
is full of dutiful children and parents.
The disordered society
is full of loyal patriots.

|

Comments

Le Guin’s translation is the best I've ever found. Gotta love it.

Posted by edward on February 17 2003 06:29

I can't pick a single favorite; there are so many that illuminate the text in different, interesting ways.

Jonathan Star's recent translation of the same chapter pleases me, too. Last eight lines:

If you need rules to be kind and just,
if you act virtuous,
this is a sure sign that virtue is absent.
Thus we see the great hypocrisy.


Only when the family loses its harmony
do we hear of "dutiful sons".
Only when the state is in chaos
do we hear of "loyal ministers".

Posted by Scott on February 23 2003 14:44

Le Guin's has some notes on the translation, including comments on other translator's interpretations. Some aren't paricularly recognizably from the same source...

from Le Guin's ch. 49:

They mingle their life with the world,
they mix their mind up with the world.
Ordinary people look after them.
Wise souls are children.

From Witter Bynner's:

If I am true enough;
I feel the heart-beats of others
Above my own
If I am enough of a father,
Enough of a son.

I'd like to compare and contrast some other versions.

Posted by Zed on February 23 2003 17:41

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)