Monthly Archives: August 2019

唯與訶 其相去幾何 美與惡 其相去何若
[wei2] [yu3] [he1] [qi2] [xiang1] [qu4] [ji3] [he2] [mei3] [yu3] [e4] [qi2] [xiang1] [qu4] [he2] [ruo4]
“Yes” and “yep”, how close or far are they? Benevolence and evil, how close or far are they?
絕學無憂。唯之與阿，相去幾何？善之與惡，相去若何？
[jue2] [xue2] [wu2] [you1]。 [wei2] [zhi1] [yu3] [e1]， [xiang1] [qu4] [ji3] [he2]？[shan4] [zhi1] [yu3] [e4]， [xiang1] [qu4] [ruo4] [he2]？
Abandon learning without care, “yes” and “yep”, how close or far are they?… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 20”

絕聖棄智 民利百負
[jue2] [sheng4] [qi4] [zhi4] [min2] [li4] [bai3] [fu4]
Refuse sainthood and abandon wisdom, [and] the people benefit 100 fold
絕聖棄智，民利百倍﹔
[jue2] [sheng4] [qi4] [zhi4]， [min2] [li4] [bai3] [bei4]﹔
Refuse sainthood and abandon wisdom, [and] the people benefit 100 fold

This follows on from Chapter 18 (and can in some ways be argued to be the cycle from Chapter 17).… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 19”

故大道廢 案有仁義
[gu4] [da4] [dao4] [fei4] [an4] [you3] [ren2] [yi4]
Thus [when] the great Dao is lost [abandoned, stopped, revoked], then there can be kindness and compassion
大道廢，有仁義﹔
[da4] [dao4] [fei4]， [you3] [ren2] [yi4]﹔
[When] the great Dao is lost [abandoned, stopped, revoked], there can be kindness and compassion

When the Dao is lost, then there can still be kindness and compassion.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 18”

大上 下知有之 其次親譽之 其次畏之 其下母之
[da4] [shang4] [xia4] [zhi1] [you3] [zhi1] [qi2] [ci4] [qin1] [yu4] [zhi1] [qi2] [ci4] [wei4] [zhi1] [qi2] [xia4] [mu3] [zhi1]
The highest, those below [only] know [of] them; those after, are close and praise them; those after, fear and respect them; those after, are their mother
太上，下不知有之﹔其次，親而譽之﹔其次，畏之﹔其次，侮之。
[tai4] [shang4]， [xia4] [bu4] [zhi1] [you3] [zhi1]﹔ [qi2] [ci4]， [qin1] [er2] [yu4] [zhi1]﹔ [qi2] [ci4]， [wei4] [zhi1]﹔ [qi2] [ci4]， [wu3] [zhi1]。
The highest, those below do not know [of] them; those after, are close and praise them; those after, fear and respect them; those after, hate them

On the surface, these two sections are largely different, but they end up being very similar with different implications.… Read the rest here “道德经 Chapter 17”