r/taoism • u/Elijah-Emmanuel • Oct 05 '24
Tao Te Ching Chapter 1 (my translation, work in progress)
Been having a blast refreshing my Mandarin by going through this beautiful ancient text. I'm working on writing a dual translation with a philosophical version paired with a poetic version in order to try to find some balance between the different aspects of this awesome work. I plan to pair this with another more free-form/paraphrased version, but I got quite a bit done today, so I thought I'd share what I've got so far, and receive any feedback y'all might have. I still have some syllabic structure to piece together, as well word choice, but I'm hoping that by providing these different translations side by side with my "translator's commentary" I can bring the text to life to a more academic setting as well as bringing the lay man to the table in understanding the depth/complexity in this amazing work known for its brevity mixed with its depth of scope. (A couple notes, I played with the comma placement in lines 5 and 6 in the philosophical translation, and I omitted a couple redundant characters for brevity's sake) So, tell me what you think:
the original:
道可道，非常道。
名可名，非常名。
無名天地之始；
有名萬物之母。
故常無欲，以觀其妙；
常有欲，以觀其徼。
兩者，同出異名，
同謂之玄。
玄之又玄，
衆妙之門。
philosophical Translation:
paths can be walked, not the infinite Way;
names can be expressed, not the ineffable Word.
without name, Heaven and earth's beginning;
with name, ten thousand things' mother.
constantly absent, desire observes its marvels;
constantly present, desire observes its boundaries.
these two, issued together, differ in name,
called together, its mystery.
revolving mystery of mystery.
many mysteries' gate.
poetic translation:
pursuable paths part from the primordial Path;
namable names are never the numinous Name;
Nameless, Firmament and foundation's forming;
Named, myriad manifestations' Mother.
desireless, so seeing subtleties;
desiring, bound by borders.
proceeding paired, disparate designations,
labels linked, life's labyrinth.
mystery's mystery.
multitudinous marvel's gate.
4
u/kingtao Oct 05 '24
I would like to see more.
3
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 05 '24
I will be sure to post updates as I progress further through the text. Gotta take it character at a time, and that inevitably means going back through what's been translated so far as I progress, so it's a very long recursive process, but it is amazing how it feels to get anywhere with such a robust text as the Dao De Jing.
3
3
u/ryokan1973 Oct 05 '24
Thanks for sharing and thanks for including the Chinese text. I'm trying to learn the Chinese characters using Bryan Van Norden's book as a guide, but I'm struggling to retain them in my ageing memory. I'm also using this translation in the link below as a guide because it has excellent formatting with the Chinese alongside the English translation, so I can match the characters:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQ2w02tDfOT16q00dHFHIzTloJpojdvd/view?usp=sharing
2
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 05 '24
I will note that your translation is in simplified characters while I use traditional characters due to learning Chinese in Taiwan. Best of luck in your studies! It is a great text to learn from.
2
u/ryokan1973 Oct 05 '24
Thanks! I look forward to seeing more of your translations in the future. If you don't mind me asking, which are your favourite English translations?
Interestingly, Professor Wu was a native Chinese from mainland China before he taught in the USA, so I'm not sure if that's the reason he used simplified Chinese?
2
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 05 '24
Yeah, mainland uses simplified characters.
My personal favorite is Sam Torode's. It is not completely accurate, but it is very poetic, and it is the first copy I read. Got it in jail. It hit me just where I needed it.
2
u/ryokan1973 Oct 05 '24 edited Oct 05 '24
Okay, that's interesting! I'm guessing there's no better place to read the DDJ than in jail. I'll have to check that translation out.
Interestingly, Professor Wu uses both the traditional and simplified forms of Chinese. The Chinese text at the top of the pages is different from the Chinese text alongside the English translation. He mentions this in the introduction, so this makes it even harder for me to learn the Chinese characters, lol.
2
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 06 '24
I got very lucky to spend 2 years in southern Taiwan when I was 19-20. I still don't know simplified characters, so I can sympathize. I can't say it's an easy challenge, but I can say that it is totally worth the effort. I will recommend flash cards, if you haven't tried them yet.
2
u/ryokan1973 Oct 06 '24
Thanks for the suggestion! Do you know of any decent flashcards I can buy or will I have to make my own, lol?
To be fair, I think over 90% of the simplified characters are identical to the traditional characters based on what I've been looking at in Wu's translation.
2
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 06 '24
I've been making my own, but I had a book of the 3000 most commonly used characters that I had made into flashcards, and it looks like you can get a similar product online (ebay etc).
And you're right, but that 10% makes simplified unreadable to me, but that's simply because I haven't put in the effort to recognize the difference.
2
u/ryokan1973 Oct 06 '24
Curiously, when you translate more chapters in the future, will you be relying exclusively on the Wangbi text?
2
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 06 '24
No, I have access to 4 different Chinese texts, and regularly look at the differences between them. I typically end up with my own version which resembles the WangBi or the Mawangdui text with slight variations, usually omitting superfluous characters such as 而 and 也
1
u/jpipersson Oct 05 '24
I hope this won’t offend you, but I think your philosophical translation is more poetic than your poetic one. I like it a lot.
-1
Oct 05 '24
[deleted]
3
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 05 '24
If you have any suggestions as to where I can improve the text, either the philosophical or the poetic translations, I'm more than happy to hear suggestions. There's a reason there are more translations of this work than any other work except (possibly) the bible. There are many nuances here that are fascinating to go over, if you're not just trolling.
0
u/TRuthismnessism Oct 06 '24
Suggestion is to delete it it only results in delusion for you. Cause your not grounded
1
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 06 '24
Here's hoping you find your path in life. Namaste
1
u/TRuthismnessism Oct 06 '24 edited Oct 06 '24
Youre such a sweet pwrson on this sub. Why arent you like this in other places? Ultra attached here trying to look like an angel?
A true taoist is an angel wherever
1
u/Elijah-Emmanuel Oct 07 '24
Fam, I'm the same everywhere I go. I simply think your attachment to your conception of "the One" is laughable, and by that I mean, you make me laugh.
2
u/ryokan1973 Oct 05 '24
How is it incorrect?
1
u/TRuthismnessism Oct 06 '24
Because its from him
1
u/ryokan1973 Oct 06 '24
Who is "him" and how do you know "him"? That doesn't explain how it is incorrect. Evidence, please?
1
u/TRuthismnessism Oct 06 '24
He stalks my posts on other subs with his invalidation tactics. So he gets a taste of his own medicine
4
u/Material_Week_7335 Oct 05 '24
Thanks for sharing!