DIVISION 10 (第十)

In bringing together your spiritual and bodily souls to embrace the One,
Can you not let go?
Can you focus qì into such softness you are a newborn again?
Can you polish the Xuán mirror to a clarity beyond stain?
Can you love the people and govern the state without resorting to action?
In opening and closing Heaven's Gate,
Can you play the part of the female?
In understanding all within the Four Reaches – Can you do it without using knowledge?
Give birth and nurture.
To give birth without possessing and foster without dominating,
This is called Xuán Dé.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Because people are intelligent and clever (Divisions 3 and 33), they follow some other dào, such as the teachings of Confucius (Division 18), or otherwise become separated from the Dào (Divisions 12, 18, 26, 33, 55). In order for people to follow the Dào they must commit their minds and souls to “embrace the One (一)” – the imperceptible aspect of the Dào that can be approached (Division 14) and attained (Division 39). People are admonished to keep their spirits unadulterated and tranquil like a newborn's, and practice Xuán Dé, which is to raise children and let them develop without controlling or dominating them. They are also admonished to perceive their own Xuán (Division 2) so clearly they understand themselves well; govern other people like a shèng rén (sage) (Division 3); and come to know the world without knowledge (Division 47).

In following the One so close as to "embrace" it, people learn to acquire, or rather, reacquire, the kind of cháng dé (constant dé) everyone displays when they are just born (Divisions 28 and 55) but then lose as they develop;

Qì and the Gates of Heaven. Ancient Chinese commonly believed that a living person normally has ten souls – three hún (魂) and seven pò (魄)^[1]. When a person dies the ten souls disintegrate – the hún find there way to heaven and permanently become spirits called shén (神), but the pò lose their existence^[2]. While alive, a person receives qì (氣) as nourishment from Heaven by breathing them in through the nostrils^[3], which are the Gates of Heaven^[4]. Thus, “playing the part of the female” while “embracing the One” with respect to receiving qì means that the person is receptive to the Dào of Heaven.

Significantly, one's anatomical Gates of Heaven corresponds to the Xuán Pìn Gate, the feminine valley spirit that serves as the root of Heaven (and Earth) (Division 6).

Cháng dé and becoming newly born. Among the Lǎo Zǐ's approximately five thousand words, qì (氣) appears only thrice -- once here, and once in divisions 42 and 55. Here, the Lǎo Zǐ says that one can focus qì in such as way as to become a newborn again. While this is not a total physical transformation, the result and benefit is important in two ways.

The first is that an adult, like a newborn, is totally dependent on its mother, which is the Dào, being mother of all things (Division 25) which is beneficial (Division 52). This relationship is instinctual, i.e., beyond trust, since a newborn has no understanding of trust, which is one aspects of a newborn's cháng dé, the highest form of dé (Divisions 28 and 55).

While a person cannot become a newborn again, a person who has embraced the One can attain the dé like that of newborn's by focusing qì into “softness”, a state of spiritual purity and tranquility, which is the second transformational results and benefit. The Sù Wèn says, “The orb of the liver is the root of all extremes and the residence of the hún"^[5]. (The Sù Wèn (素問) or Basic Questions is one of the two books that compose the Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng (黃帝內經), the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. Like the Lǎo Zǐ, the Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng is composed of 81 divisions within two books, the second being the Líng Shū Jīng (靈樞 經) or variously translated as the Classic of the Divine or Spiritual or Numinous Pivot. The Huáng Dì Nèi Jīng became a Jīng during the Han dynasty, though some scholars believe the Sù Wèn existed at the time the Lǎo Zǐ was being formulated^[6]). These extremes are kinds of adulterations accumulated through life as the Sù Wèn explains in the following anecdote^[7]:

Oxen and horses when led properly can easily wade through the marsh. When let loose, however, they will sink deeper and deeper and can never get out again by themselves. So they have to die. People are just like this. When first born their original spirit is pure and tranquil, profound and unadulterated. But then people gradually take in shaped objects. Those in due course define the six senses.

The eyes will covet color.
The ears will be obstructed by sound.
The mouth will be addicted to flavors.
The nose will always take in smells.
The mind will be intent on refusing and coveting.
The body will desire to be slimmer or fatter.

From all these ups and downs of life, no one is able to wake up by himself. Thus, the sages with compassionate consideration established the doctrine to each people reform. They made them use inner observation of the self and body in order to purify the mind.

Division 12 addresses the plight of adulterated senses and spirit head on.

The Xuán Mirror. Xuán is the unified mystery of a particular thing in which the thing is perceived two different ways depending on whether the observer is in a state with or without desire (see Division 1). Looking into the Xuán mirror, the observer examines himself with and without desire in order to gain understanding of oneself. Division 33 says:

To understand others is to be knowledgeable;
To understand yourself is to be wise.

To "polish the Xuán mirror to a clarity without stain" is to examine oneself impartially, the approach others should use to understand the observer (Division 7).

FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Hun", Encyclopedia Britannica Online . Accessed March 28, 2009.

[2] Mura, Kunio, “Gui”, The Encyclopedia of Taoism, A-Z, Volume 1, edited by Fabrizio Pregadio, pp.458-9.

[3] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, p.165.

[4] Wile, Douglas, The Art of the Bedchamber: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics Including Women's Solo Meditation Texts, State University of New York Press, 1992, p.142.

[5] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, p.166.

[6] "Huangdi Neijing", Wikipedia. Accessed March 28, 2009.

[7] Kohn, Livia, The Taoism Experience: An Anthology, State University of New York Press, 1993, pp.172-173.

DIVISION 9 (第九)

To hold it upright and fill it,
Better to have stopped in time.
Hammer it to a point,
It won't be preserved for long.
When gold and jade fill the hall,
Their possessor cannot keep them safe.
Arrogance and pride with wealth and rank,
On their own bring disaster.
To retire when the task is done is the Dào of Heaven.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The Dào of Heaven is to stop when the task is done for going beyond what is needed entails costs and risks that exceed the benefit.

Division 9 gives four examples why the Dào of Heaven should be followed.

In the first case, a cup that is held and then filled only until it is full conserves effort and material and avoids one from being bothered by the excess.

In the second case, sharpening a point beyond what is needed is a waste of effort since its nature is to become dull over time anyway, as the Dào blunts the sharp Division 4.

In the third case, once one has striven to fill a room with treasures one must undertake the additional burden of keeping them secure though nothing more can happen to it but have the amount reduced.

Arrogance with pride with wealth and rank represents a never ending desire to acquire more and more wealth and rank which risks “favor and disgrace” (Division 13) and the shortening of one's life (Division 44).

Overall, by following the Dào of Heaven, one can avoid danger and live a long life (Division 44).

DIVISION 8 (第八)

The highest good is like water.
The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things
And yet never strives.
It dwells in places the masses of people detest.
Therefore, it is close to the Dào.
In a home, it is the site that matters.
In quality of mind, it is depth that matters.
In giving, the good thing (is being like) Heaven.
In speech, it is good faith that matters.
In governing, the good thing is order.
In affairs, the good thing is ability.
In activity, the good thing is timeliness.
It is because it does not contend that it is never at fault.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Water, which descends from Heaven and ends up in an abyss that covers the Earth, symbolizes the Dào's greatest goodness. Water symbolizes the selflessness (Division 7) and impartiality (Division 5) of the Dào in that it nourishes all life and, thus, benefits all things no matter what people think of it. Water also symbolizes humbleness in that it always seeks the lowest of places (Division 39). By inference, water underlies every idea of being beneficial. Finally, water acts effortlessly and without conflict, the very essence of wú wèi.

Division 8 is a logical continuation of both Divisions 3 and 4, in which the former discusses what an ideal society should be like and the latter refers to the Dào as a watery abyss. Division 8 is also a continuation of both Divisions 5 and 7, in which the former characterizes the Dào as impartial and the latter characterizes the Dào as selfless. In seeking the lowest places, water symbolizes humbleness (Division 39).

The goodness of a home is not the house, but in its situation on Earth where the environment enables people to grow food and become physically strong (Division 3), and presumably, build and maintain a good house that appears to thrive like a tree rooted in the watered ground.

The goodness of mind is depth beyond knowing like a watery abyss (Divisions 4 and 15), which is enlightenment (Division 16).

The goodness of giving is being generous as water falls from Heaven^[1].

In relations with others, i.e., speech, goodness is good faith and trust that promotes social harmony and minimizes conflict like water, which doesn't contend.

The goodness of government is in that it benefits the people ruled at large with peace and order, which is symbolized by water's inability to contend. The government of the shèng rén is described in Division 3.

In an endeavor the goodness is the skill and competence in which it is done; and in deciding to act the goodness is in the timing at which it is done. Skill, competence, and timing are necessary for acting by wú wèi, which again, is like water.

FOOTNOTES
[1] This line is translated by Henricks from the Mǎ Wáng Duī Text B. The comparable line from the Wáng Bì commentary is about good associates or allies being rén (Confucian benevolence; see the commentary in Division 3 on rén). The Wáng Bì version was rejected on two grounds. First, by holding rén to be good, it strongly contradicts other divisions within the Lǎo Zǐ, particularly Division 18. Second, the Mǎ Wáng Duī text is about four centuries older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text. While this doesn't mean the Mǎ Wáng Duī version is actually that much older than the Wáng Bì commentary's text, I speculate that rén was inserted by some Han dynasty official who wanted the Lǎo Zǐ to portray Confucianism in a more positive light or fell victim to the Han synthesis. By Wáng Bì's time, the Han dynasty had just collapsed, and with it the Confucianism formed the basis for Han governance.^[2]

[2] Hooker, Richard, “The Chinese Empire: The Former Han”, World Civilizations: An Internet Classroom and Anthology, Washington State University, Richard Hooker and Paul Brians (principal editors), 1996 (June 6, 1999 update).

DIVISION 4 (第四)

The Dào is empty,
Use it; it never needs filling.
Like an abyss! It seems to be ancestor to the ten thousand things.
It blunts the sharp,
Unties the tangles,
Softens the glare,
And settles the dust.
Submerged! It seems perhaps to exist.
I do not know whose son it is.
It is an image of what precedes God.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
The Dào is an ancient, limitless void that is the ancestor of all creation. Though it is empty but somehow like water, the Dào can be used to help bring peaceful relations between people and bring peace of mind.

The sharp, tangled, glared, and dusty are all extreme states, and the Dào moderates them by dulling, untying, softening, and settling them, respectively. As both abyss (yuān 淵) and submerged (zhàn 湛) have etymologies related to water^[1], the Lǎo Zǐ compares the effects of the Dào to the effects of water. (Division 8 says water is close to the Dào, and Division 34 compares the Dào to a flood.) Sharpened metal implements become dull as they oxidize and react with other compounds in water. A tangled or knotted cord loosens when it shrinks after water expands it or as water facilitates rotting. Clouds and fog block light. Rain removes the dust from the air.

The physical transformational effects of water are metaphors for the transformational effects of the Dào on people. As opposed to glare and dust which occur naturally, the sharpened and the knotted result from the efforts of people, though we can have glare from one's attire (see Division 3).

As for sharp, the Lǎo Zǐ uses it to describe the violent capacity of weapons (see Divisions 36 and 53). The dulling effect of the Dào on weapons is peace. So the dào is to blunt the sharp (see Division 56), a general call for pacifism.

As for tangles, contention among people is brought about by entangled human relationships rooted in ambitions and desires (Division 3). Contention is reduced when the roots of conflict, personal ambitions and desires, are extinguished (see Divisions 19 and 57). So the dào is to loosen tangles (see Division 56).

As for glare, people can flaunt “alluring things” to cause others to be confused (Division 3). The softening effect of the Dào is modest attire, that will reduce confusion. So the dào is to soften the glare (Division 56).

See Division 42 on the Dào's role in being the ancestor of all things.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Sears, Richard, Chinese Etymology. Accessed February 28, 2009.

DIVISION 3 (第三)

Do not honor the worthy
So that the people will not contend with one another.
Never prize rare treasures and people will not steal.
Never flaunt alluring things and the people won't be confused.

Therefore, in the government of the shèng rén:
He empties the minds of his people
And fills their bellies;
Weakens their ambition
And strengthens their bones.
He constantly keeps them without knowledge (zhī 知) and without desire,
Then those who know (zhì 智) are those who never presume to act.
Act by wú wèi
Then nothing is not in order.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
Division 3 is a summary prescription of the shèng rén's (sage's) approach to governance, which primarily consists of working to minimize people's ambitions and desires, and ensuring they are well-fed and physically strong. In admonishing the shèng rén that governs to empty people's minds, Lǎo Zǐ obligates him to teach the people how to obtain enlightenment. By doing so, the nation will be orderly.

The nature of people is to compete for honors (also see Division 13), to covet rare things of value, and to react to those putting on alluring displays. Respectively, these behaviors promote disorder by risking disputes, cheating, and strife; theft; and disturbances caused by misunderstanding of motives. Thus, the Lǎo Zǐ's dào is to not bestow any honors, prize rare things, or put on displays that incite desire.

Two central ideas not mentioned in this division are essential for understanding the Lǎo Zǐ's positions on good government. First, the objective of good government is to benefit the people by maintaining order (see Division 8). The second, articulated in Division 65, is that governing is hard because ordinary people are too knowledgeable, presumably, clever in seeking ways to fulfill the ambitions and desires that contribute to social disorder.

Furthermore, by admonishing the shèng rén to "Act by wú wèi" (or maybe more clearly, “Act without acting”), the shèng rén needs to be so skilled at governing that the act of governing is effortless. This would seem to rule out the use of force, as the Lǎo Zǐ articulates in Divisions 30 and 36. Given all these constraints, the Lǎo Zǐ's prescription to the shèng rén is to create and maintain a social order with the features described in this division below.

The shèng rén ensures that his people are well-fed and physically strong. He works to moderate their ambitions, and prevents them from becoming mischievous and desirous.

The shèng rén “empties minds,” which has two meanings that emanate from the use of two different words for knowledge – zhī (知) and zhì (智) that both appear concurrently in this division and Division 33, the latter noted by Chen^[1]. The etymology of zhī (知) is to be wise in speech^[2], i.e. it is the display of wisdom through the use of words. As zhī knowledge depends on words it is inherently distorted and untrustworthy (Divisions 1 and 2). The shèng rén is admonished in Division 2 to practice the teaching that uses no words, and so seeks to instill knowledge through other means. However, the ideograph zhì (智) is zhī (知) with the symbol of the sun (日 rì) under it^[3]. In this division, zhì (智) is the most legitimate form of knowledge recognized in the Lǎo Zǐ, which is the understanding of cháng (常), because when one understands cháng one becomes enlightened (Division 16). In particular, in order to understand cháng (常) one must empty one's mind (Division 16).

Finally, Division 27 says the shèng rén excels at saving people. Achieving enlightenment is the most important aspect of salvation in the Lǎo Zǐ. In saying the shèng rén who governs empties people's minds, the Lǎo Zǐ implicitly directs him to help his people attain enlightenment. Such efforts promote happiness and good social order since the enlightened don't act. The directions also implicitly make the shèng rén who governs an advocate and teacher of the Lǎo Zǐ's Dào.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Chen, Ellen M., The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary, Paragon House, St. Paul, MN, 1989, p.136.

[2] Sears, Richard, "知 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.

[3] Sears, Richard, "智 (zhī)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed September 7, 2009.

DIVISION 1 (第一)

The Dào that can be spoken of
Is not the Everlasting Dào.
The Name that can be named
Is not the Everlasting name.
The unnamed is the origin to all Heaven and Earth;
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.

Therefore, always be without desire
In order to observe the hidden mystery;
Always be with desire
In order to see the manifestations.
Though the two are the same,
Once they arise they differ in name.
One in the same they are called Xuán.
Xuán within Xuán,
Gateway of all mystery.

COMMENTARY by Koeng S. Wan:
All creation is a mystery. To gain a complete understanding of any part of it, even as it exists right now, is impossible, though one can learn how to observe it more completely by understanding Xuán.

The Lǎo Zǐ starts with a disclaimer – the Dào can't be fully explained to the reader because it is being described with words (names). Words cannot capture the total essence of a thing as the "Everlasting name" for a "Name" cannot be "named". However, this division does not explain what the Dào is. Furthermore, Division 2 identifies other shortcomings of words.

Understanding of any particular thing, including the Dào, originates from a unified mystery of it called Xuán (玄) (translated as "Darkness" or "Dark-Enigma") that has two separate expressions that people cannot perceive simultaneously. One expression, manifestation (jiào 徼), is acquired with desire. The other expression, hidden mystery (miào 妙), is aquired without desire. Complete understanding is attained by acquiring both expressions. The two expressions are so different that we give them different names, though they both originate from the same thing, Xuán. Consequently, understanding of Xuán itself (Xuán within Xuán), is the key to a complete understanding of every thing.

Overall, “The Name that can be named” refers to all words collectively. By asserting that, “The Name that can be named is not the Everlasting name”, the Lǎo Zǐ, in its distrust for language, distinguished itself from both Mohism and Confucianism, schools of thought that competed directly with the Daoism of the Lao Zi^[1].

The “unnamed” that is the origin to all Heaven and Earth is the Dào (Division 42). Dào itself is a term used only as a designation and not a "name" (see Division 25).

The “named” that is the mother of the ten thousand things is Heaven and Earth, mentioned in the previous line.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Hansen, Chad, "Taoism", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (editor), section 4.

Not Translating 道 (dào)

The Lǎo Zǐ, Division 25:

There was something nebulous existing,
Born before Heaven and Earth.
Silent, empty,
It stands alone and does not change.
And undergoing no change
Goes round and does not weary,
Which may be called the mother of all under heaven.
I do not know its name,
And I give it the designation of the Dào.
And if I must name it, name it Vast.
Vast means it is passing beyond.
Passing beyond means it is gone far away.
To say it is far away is to say it is returning.
Therefore, the Dào is great;
Heaven is great;
Earth is great;
And the (sage) king is great.
In this realm there are four things that are great,
And the (sage) king is one of them.
Humans follow Earth.
Earth follows Heaven.
Heaven follows Dào.
The Dào follows self-becoming.

Dào, as a thing, is most often translated into English as way^[1]. Dào is just not a word, it is a sophisticated philosophical, religious, and cultural concept. That is why in this presentation of the Lǎo Zǐ herein, the word dào when used as a noun is not translated because dào is the Chinese concept. The purpose of this commentary, after all, is to acquire an understanding of what the Lǎo Zǐ is saying about about Dào.

Dào when used as a noun, like the typical Chinese noun, can be singular or plural. So dào may refer to a collection of ways. Dào is also a verb, so one can be dào-ing. It is also a homonym, so way is just one meaning. So what follows is a short discussion of dào.

Dào as a noun. Some synonyms for dào are course, method, manner, mode, style, means, practice, fashion, and technique^[2]. Chair Professor of Chinese Philosophy at Hong Kong University Chad Hansen explains that dào "is the answer to a 'how' or 'what-to-do' question" that is "prescriptive or normative" as one speaks of "ways in advising someone"^[3]. For Chinese, there are literally ways and different ways people do things – good things, bad things, any thing. In the Zhuāng Zǐ, Köng Zĭ (Confucius) says:

"Fishes breed and grow in the water; man develops in the Tâo. Growing in the water, the fishes cleave the pools, and their nourishment is supplied to them. Developing in the Tâo, men do nothing, and the enjoyment of their life is secured. Hence it is said, 'Fishes forget one another in the rivers and lakes; men forget one another in the arts of the Tâo.'" (Zhuāng Zǐ, Chapter 6)^[4]

Each Chinese system of beliefs has its own dào. The author or authors of the Lǎo Zǐ were very mindful of competing ideas of Köng Zĭ and so explicitly distinguished their notions of dào in several chapters of the Lǎo Zǐ from the dào articulated by Köng Zĭ's followers. The two approaches are starkly different and the implications of their thinking point to totally different approaches to living.

"Confucius and his followers wanted to change the world and be proactive in setting things straight. They wanted to tamper, orchestrate, plan, educate, develop, and propose solutions. Daoists take their hands off of life, and Confucians want their fingerprints on everything. Imagine this comparison. If the Daoist goal is to become like a piece of unhewn and natural wood, the goal of the Confucians is to become a carved sculpture. The Daoists put the piece before us just as it is found, and the Confucians polish it, shape it, and decorate it."^[5]

Nonetheless, the Lǎo Zǐ uses dào as a metaphor for road or path to guide one to a desired destination or salvation^[6]. After all, the ideogram of dào is a person's head over a road^[7]. Its etymology is "a man walking in the streets or a road"^[8].

Dào as a verb. When dào is used as a verb, it is often translated as speak, tell, expressed, defined in words or stated^[9]. Chad Hansen believes these translations are too narrow because dào is used normatively, i.e. it means to guide as in to recommend, advocate, acknowledge, endorse, or as an activity, giving guidance^[10]. By not translating dào as a noun but leaving the translations of dào as a verb, my hope is that the prescriptive aspect of the Lǎo Zǐ catches on, so that the reader understands that he is being given instructions or direction.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Hansen, Chad, "Taoism", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (editor).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] The Writings of Kwang-dze (Chuang-tse) translated by James Legge, Sacred Books of the East, Volume 39, Oxford University Press, 1891.

[5] Littlejohn, Ronnie, “Daoist Philosophy”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Jeffery L. Richey (editor); James Fieser and Bradley Dowden (general editors). Accessed December 20, 2008.

[6] Hansen, Chad, "Taoism", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (editor).

[7] Sears, Richard, "道 (dào)", Chinese Etymology. Accessed December 20, 2008.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Hansen, Chad, "Taoism", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (editor).

[10] Ibid.

IMAGE CREDIT
Tao Calligraphy by Xing An-Ping