Monthly Archives: July 2019

道德经 Chapter 16

至虛 極也 守靜 督也 萬物旁作 吾以觀其復也 天物雲雲 各復歸於其根
[zhi4] [xu1] [ji2] [ye3] [shou3] [jing4] [du1] [ye3] [wan4] [wu4] [pang2] [zuo4] [wu2] [yi3] [guan1] [qi2] [fu4] [ye3] [tian1] [wu4] [yun2] [yun2] [ge4] [fu4] [gui1] [yu2] [qi2] [gen1]
Reach [attain] emptiness, to an extreme degree, maintain calmness, to the utmost, the Ten Thousand Things work side-by-side, I observe their repeating [repetition] [by this], the things of heaven become sprawling [many and disordered], each returns back to its source
致虛極，守靜篤，萬物並作，吾以觀復。夫物芸芸，各復歸其根。
[zhi4] [xu1] [ji2]， [shou3] [jing4] [du3]， [wan4] [wu4] [bing4] [zuo4]， [wu2] [yi3] [guan1] [fu4]。 [fu2] [wu4] [yun2] [yun2]， [ge4] [fu4] [gui1] [qi2] [gen1]。
Reach [attain] extreme emptiness, maintain the utmost calmness, the Ten Thousand Things work in unison, [thus] I observe their repeating [repetition], these things [the Ten Thousand Things] grow and flourish [and multiply constantly], each returns back to its source

The top translation for the first 8 characters on the top is more of a poetic delivery which is a bit rough to translate into plain text.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 16”

道德经 Chapter 15

古之善爲道者 微眇玄達 深不可志
[gu3] [zhi1] [shan4] [wei2] [dao4] [zhe3] [wei1] [miao3] [xuan2] [da2] [shen1] [bu4] [ke3] [zhi4]
The virtue of the ancients made [for] those who follow the Dao, profound, subtle, obscure, penetrating, deeper than can be understood [lit. kept in mind]
古之善為士者，微妙玄通，深不可識。
[gu3] [zhi1] [shan4] [wei2] [shi4] [zhe3]， [wei1] [miao4] [xuan2] [tong1]， [shen1] [bu4] [ke3] [zhi4]。
The virtue of the ancients made [for] scholars, profound, subtle, obscure, penetrating, deeper than can be understood [lit.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 15”

道德经 Chapter 14

視之而弗見 名之曰微 聽之而弗聞 名之曰希 捪之而弗得 名之曰夷
[shi4] [zhi1] [er2] [fu2] [jian4] [ming2] [zhi1] [yue1] [wei1] [ting1] [zhi1] [er2] [fu2] [wen2] [ming2] [zhi1] [yue1] [xi1] [min2] [zhi1] [er2] [fu2] [de2] [ming2] [zhi1] [yue1] [yi2]
Looked at but not seen, its name is [called] “mysterious”, listened to but not heard, [its] name is [called] “rare”, felt but not obtained, [its] name is [called] “foreign”
視之不見，名曰「夷」﹔聽之不聞，名曰「希」﹔搏之不得，名曰「微」。
[shi4] [zhi1] [bu4] [jian4]， [ming2] [yue1] 「[yi2]」﹔ [ting1] [zhi1] [bu4] [wen2]， [ming2] [yue1] 「[xi1]」﹔ [bo2] [zhi1] [bu4] [de2]， [ming2] [yue1] 「[wei1]」。
Looked at but not seen, [its] name is [called] “foreign”, listened to but not heard, [its] name is [called] “rare”, held but not obtained, [its] name is [called] “mysterious”

The words in this section traditionally have a contextual translation in most translations of the DaoDeJing rather than the more literal translations I have gone with.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 14”

道德经 Chapter 13

寵辱若驚 貴大梡若身
[chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1] [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1]
Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise, value [brings] great misfortune as if it were [your] self
寵辱若驚，貴大患若身。
[chong3] [ru3] [ruo4] [jing1]， [gui4] [da4] [huan4] [ruo4] [shen1] 。
Dote on disgrace as if it were a surprise, value [brings] great misfortune as if it were [your] self

These sections are a bit tricky as it is hard to gather exactly what is going on without the context provided below.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 13”

道德经 Chapter 11

卅輻同一轂 當其无 有車之用也
[sa4] [fu2] [tong2] [yi1] [gu3] [dang1] [qi2] [wu2] [you3] [che1] [zhi1] [yong4] [ye3]
30 spokes [of a wheel] become [come together as] a hub, but what is missing [empty] gives the carriage its usefulness
三十輻共一轂，當其無，有車之用。
[san1] [shi2] [fu2] [gong4] [yi1] [gu3]， [dang1] [qi2] [wu2]， [you3] [che1] [zhi1] [yong4]。
30 spokes [of a wheel] become [come together as] a hub, but what is missing [empty] gives the carriage its usefulness

A solid wheel works, but is heavy.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 11”