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[Yes, more of this stuff, taking it almost exactly ⅓ of the way.]
The textual history of the Dao De Jing is complicated. It was initially passed down in several separate traditions known through a handful of incomplete texts that managed to survive the first Qin emperor’s censorship program of 212-213 BCE, which affected Daoist texts even worse than Confucian traditions. Eventually, in the 2nd century CE, a more-or-less complete reconstruction was put together by an unknown editor, which was preserved not as its own text, but rather by being embodied in two early 3rd century CE commentaries explaining it. This is the standard text I’m translating. (Note that not all texts found online match mine—there are several versions out there, incorporating various editorial emendations accreted over the millenia.)
And then there’s two complete manuscripts found 50 years ago in a tomb in Mawangdui, Hunan, which was sealed up in 168 BCE, recording a different textual tradition—with variations, as the two aren’t identical—my previously mentioned “other texts.” One of the more interesting, if not necessarily useful, differences are those of order. This covers everything from shuffling a few lines around to one huge difference: swapping the order of the two sections, putting dé before dào. Which, um, yeah, I don’t know what to make of, or not yet. I bring this up because one medium-sized change shows up in this installment: standard chapters 22-24 are Mawangdui chapters 24, 22, 23. This somewhat alters the progression of the argument, and I don’t know what to make of this either.
As of this installment, I’ve switched to rendering 德 dé as “potency” but consider it a token representing whatever final translation I land on. Still minimal comments. Is too much. Still can’t cope.
Classic of the Way and its Potency (provisional title), chapters 20-28
( Discard learning and have no grief )
And that is all I have for now—I haven’t even looked at the next chapter yays. It’s possible my obsessive brain will return to this, but I surely haven’t minded the break and a chance to work on other things.
Index of Chinese translations
---L.
Subject quote from Numb, Linkin Park.
The textual history of the Dao De Jing is complicated. It was initially passed down in several separate traditions known through a handful of incomplete texts that managed to survive the first Qin emperor’s censorship program of 212-213 BCE, which affected Daoist texts even worse than Confucian traditions. Eventually, in the 2nd century CE, a more-or-less complete reconstruction was put together by an unknown editor, which was preserved not as its own text, but rather by being embodied in two early 3rd century CE commentaries explaining it. This is the standard text I’m translating. (Note that not all texts found online match mine—there are several versions out there, incorporating various editorial emendations accreted over the millenia.)
And then there’s two complete manuscripts found 50 years ago in a tomb in Mawangdui, Hunan, which was sealed up in 168 BCE, recording a different textual tradition—with variations, as the two aren’t identical—my previously mentioned “other texts.” One of the more interesting, if not necessarily useful, differences are those of order. This covers everything from shuffling a few lines around to one huge difference: swapping the order of the two sections, putting dé before dào. Which, um, yeah, I don’t know what to make of, or not yet. I bring this up because one medium-sized change shows up in this installment: standard chapters 22-24 are Mawangdui chapters 24, 22, 23. This somewhat alters the progression of the argument, and I don’t know what to make of this either.
As of this installment, I’ve switched to rendering 德 dé as “potency” but consider it a token representing whatever final translation I land on. Still minimal comments. Is too much. Still can’t cope.
Classic of the Way and its Potency (provisional title), chapters 20-28
( Discard learning and have no grief )
And that is all I have for now—I haven’t even looked at the next chapter yays. It’s possible my obsessive brain will return to this, but I surely haven’t minded the break and a chance to work on other things.
Index of Chinese translations
---L.
Subject quote from Numb, Linkin Park.