Tao Te Ching The Way of Virtue Translated by Patrick M. Byrne

ISBN: 0-7570-0029-0 Length: 128 Pages Size: 5.5 X 8.5-inch Format: Quality Paperback Category: Religion / Chinese Price: $10.95 Availability: In Print Click below for: Synopsis • Contents Introduction • Reviews

Synopsis

The Tao Te Ching has served as a personal road map for millions of people. It is said that its words reveal the underlying principles that govern the world in which we live. Holding to the laws of nature--drawing from the essence of what all things are--it offers both a moral compass and an internal balance. A fundamental book of the Taoist, the Tao Te Ching is regarded as a revelation in its own right. For those seeking a better understanding of themselves, it provides a wealth of wisdom and insights.

Through time--from one powerful dynasty to another--many changes have been made to the original Chinese text of the Tao Te Ching. Over the last century, translators have added to the mix by incorporating their interpretations. While jackhammering its original text, some have created beautiful versions of the Tao Te Ching in the name of poetic license. Others have relied on variant forms of the original, while still others have added their own philosophical spins to the material. For those readers who are looking for a purer interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, researcher Patrick M. Byrne has produced a translation that is extremely accurate, while capturing the pattern and harmony of the original. Here is a Tao Te Ching that you can enjoy, understand, and value.

Patrick M. Byrne, PhD, received his undergraduate degree in Asian studies and philosophy from Dartmouth College, a certification from Beijing Teachers University, his master’s degree from Cambridge University, and his doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University. He has served as a visiting lecturer at both Dartmouth and the Beijing Normal University. Dr. Byrne is currently Chief Executive Officer of Overstock.com, a successful internet site. He travels extensively throughout the world.

Contents

Introduction

The Historical Record by Si-Ma Qian

BOOK 1: TAO

Bibliography

About the Translator

Introduction

Legend has it that an elderly scholar in ancient China, an historian and philosopher perhaps twenty years the senior of Confucius, journeyed to the western edge of the empire with the intent of wandering off into the wilderness. There at the frontier a gate-keeper, concerned that such a respected man of learning was soon to be lost to the barbarian lands, asked the scholar to write a book to leave at the border. The old man distilled a lifetime of learning into about five thousand two hundred and fifty words, then left.

There are over four hundred commentaries on those words, and fragments of several hundred more. It is the most dissected and analyzed book in Chinese literature; its effect on Chinese culture and thought rivals that of Confucius and Buddha. After the Bible, it is the most frequently translated piece of literature in the world; there are more than forty English versions.

Yet the old man was laconic to the point of obscurity; rarely do any two commentaries agree on the exact meaning of his words, and agreement between translators has been rarer still. What is rendered by one, for example, as “The ruler in always carrying out the Tao / Does not abandon his tranquility and sedateness” is given by another as “Therefore the sage travels all day / Without leaving his baggage.” To complicate matters even further, it seems notes scribbled in the margins by some scholars were mistaken for lines of text by later readers, until literally dozens of versions of the book came into being. These in turn spawned more commentaries aimed at reconstructing the original text.

At some point in the process, probably in the second century B.C., the text was divided into eighty-one chapters. By the time of the great historian Si-ma Qian (Sze-ma Ch’ien, 185-136 B.C.?), the Herodotus of the Orient, the chapters had been arranged in two books: the first thirty-seven comprise the “higher” Book I, discussing Dao, while the latter forty-four make up the “lower” Book II, discussing De. Dao and De translate loosely as “way” and “virtue” (more on these concepts later); thus the book became known as the “Scripture of the Way of Virtue,” the Dao De Jing.

The Historical Records of Si-ma Qian indicate that the old man, whose name Lao-zi ($) means literally “old fellow” or “old master,” met with Confucius in approximately 518 B.C. Si-ma Qian states elsewhere, however, that Lao-zi’s son served as a general in 273 B.C. This and other discrepancies have led scholars to date Lao-zi and his text from as early as the sixth century B.C. to as late as the second century B.C. For some time it has been suggested that Lao-zi never existed, and that the book attributed to him is a mere compilation of ancient sayings. According to this thesis, the biography given in the Historical Records was only Si-ma Qian ‘s account of a legend of Lao-zi that had worked its way into Chinese folklore. Though it is plausible that a compiler of a book such as Lao-zi’s might attribute it to a fictitious “Old Master,” given the traditional Chinese respect for age, the work is too coherent and contains too strong a theme to be merely a collection of ancient adages. And while its representation of Heaven seems influenced by Mo-zi’s notion of the Will of Heaven, it also presents us with a philosophy distinct enough from others in the Chinese tradition that we may safely assent to its being the work of one man, expanded and revised by many.

The most accepted text, the one considered most original, is that of Wang-bi (226-249 A.D.). The Ho-shang Kung text is alleged to be three hundred years older, but there is good reason to doubt its authenticity. In 1973, the Mawang-dui text (literally translated “horse-king-mound,” but known in the West as the “Silk Text”) was discovered in Hunan. The order of the chapters in the Silk Text is completely reversed from that of the other versions, and it seems to predate even the Ho-shang Kung. For the moment, however, the Wang-bi text is still the standard version, and except in those parts where another version is obviously superior in clarity or consistency, the Wang-bi is the one I have translated here.

My goal in translating this work was to provide as near a word-for-word rendering of the Chinese as possible while maintaining the flavor and readability of Lao-zi’s words. Although the number of previous translations might seem to preclude my contributing anything further to our understanding of the Dao De Jing by translating it again, as D.C. Lau wrote, “unfortunately it cannot be said that it has been best served by its numerous translators, as the nature of the work attracted many whose enthusiasm for Eastern mysticism far outstripped their acquaintance with Chinese thought or even with the Chinese language.” Most translations seem to be poetry draped over a framework of Lao-zi’s words, while a few stand at the other end of the spectrum and detail the development of the text and the differences between various versions at any given point, without ever clearly expressing the thoughts contained therein. Yet, certain as I was that I had something to offer with my translation, after finishing it I am equally certain that I have not exhausted the field.

The Chinese text consulted for my translation was that contained in Dr. Paul Carus’s book Tao Teh King. Dr. Carus in turn held to the Wang-bi text, with several incorporations of the Su Cheh, Nishimura, Tetzugaka Kwan Philosophical Institute, and Stanislas Julien texts and interpretations. Dr. Carus’s version was compared throughout with those contained in Man-jan Cheng’s and Ch’en Ku-ying’s works, the latter providing excellent references concerning the nonstandard texts. The original text of Si-ma Qian’s biography of Lao-zi, which follows this introduction, is also from Dr. Carus’s book.

Lao-zi’s words contain many latent messages and obscure references which only a reader familiar with Chinese history and customs would understand. Rather than making manifest hidden meanings within the translation of the text itself, and thereby losing the flavor of the Chinese, I have whenever possible left the English as cryptic as the original while explaining further implications in notes at the ends of the chapters. In the notes I also point out the places where the texts diverge, and give some alternate interpretations of certain lines. I have written my own commentaries on the important chapters, and these follow the notes.

All transliteration follows the pinyin system now used in mainland China, except for names customarily transliterated by another system, and Chinese words in quotes from writers who used other systems. (For example, in pinyin Lao-zi’s book is titled Dao De Jing, while in other systems it is written Tao Teh King or Tao Te Ching.)

The indentation throughout the text has been designed to convey the rhythm of the original. The Chinese of Lao-zi is full of parallel structures, parenthetical asides, rushes and pauses. It sings and mumbles and even gasps at times, all in a way for which there are no typographical symbols. By indenting certain lines I sought to display these parallelisms clearly and allow the reader, if reading aloud at a natural pace, to hear the music of Lao-zi’s work.

Several of the most important concepts in the Dao De Jing were impossible to render into idiomatic English without loss, so they are explained here. As is often the case with Chinese words, we find no exact equivalents in English but need to approximate the meaning by combining the denotations and connotations of several words:

Dao: “Road, way, passage, zone, doctrine, officer, to say, method, rationality, reason, line.” The concepts of “rationality,” “system,” and “saying” contained in this word have led some to consider it the equivalent of the Greek logos, which has been translated into English as “word.” (“In the beginning was the Word.”)

De: “Moral character, virtue, moral excellence, heart, mind, kindness.” Perhaps best approximated by the Greek arete.

Jing: “Scripture, canon, classic.” Used to refer to the Chinese classics (Confucian, Daoist, and others) and Buddhist scriptures, as well as in the Chinese name of the Christian Bible and even, in modern times, the “canonical” writings of Marxism-Leninism.

Wu-wei: Wu means “without”; wei means “to do, cause, make, effect.” The two together imply a state of effortless non-striving, though this does not exactly mean doing absolutely nothing. Often, wu-wei may be best translated simply as “effortlessly.”

Pu: The character shows a tree next to a thicket, meaning uncut wood. Wood that is uncut or unworked, that has not been embellished, stands as a symbol for the sage in Lao-zi’s writing. A man who is pu is simple, honest, and unaffected.

“The ten thousand things”: All the myriad objects and things in the world.

“All under Heaven”: Lao-zi’s way of saying “the empire” or “the universe.”

“Sage”: The man for whom Lao-zi is writing. In some usages in Chinese it implies holiness, though for Lao-zi it simply means a wise man, often a philosopher-king.

In closing, I would like to express my thanks to Skip Whitson of Sun Publishing; Andrew Main, my conscientious editor there; Estelle Schultze, my agent; Robert Henricks, who showed me where to begin and how to continue with this translation; and especially to Dr. Li Hua-yuan Mowry, to whose long hours, incredible dedication, and inexhaustible patience I owe the completion of this work.

Reviews

"[This book] is an exquisite, slim volume that allows us to read Lao Tzu’s teachings with the original rhythm and flow of the Old Master’s poetic presentation. Byrne writes beautiful and clear commentaries with alternate translations noted after the chapters rather than within the translation. This is a version of the Tao Te Ching that would be wonderful for and is relevant for those at a point of discernment regarding quiet but passionate service to our world."

--Interchange Magazine, May 2002

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