{"id":11900,"date":"2020-04-09T21:02:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T01:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=11900"},"modified":"2021-04-09T00:09:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T04:09:58","slug":"principle-and-action-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=11900","title":{"rendered":"Principle and Action 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

← Chapter 3<\/a>   Chapter 5 →<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter 4<\/h2>\n

\nThe Tao is not substance, it is inexhaustible activity
\nActing does not increase it
\nAs it is unfathomable!
\nIt is like the primordial source of all things.
\nIt blunts the sharp
\nIt clarifies the confused
\nIt dims the bright
\nIt orders the elementary parts [\u201cpowder\u201d] (of matter)
\nIt is elusive and yet omnipresent
\nHow could it have been begotten?
\nIt is anterior (and superior) to the Lord of Heaven\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Commentary<\/h2>\n

Insubstantiality (\u201cemptiness\u201d) is emphasized, the pure activity of the Principle, that neither expands nor diminishes it (therefore in opposition both to the theory of \u201cbecoming\u201d of the Spirit, and to that of its deterioration through emanation). The Taoist image is also that of a vase that, while turning continually, what it contains remains full and in order to fill itself, still remains empty. \u201cPrimordial source\u201d is the abstract meaning of tsung<\/em> in the text, which is literally ancestor, the original father. If the image is conserved, given the part of the regulator typical of the Chinese head of the family, in the fourth line, following some translations, the idea of an ordering power can also be included. Then a natural connection is established with the four successive lines that are about the action of the Tao.<\/p>\n

For Taoist metaphysic, the two last lines are important, where the principle is called \u201cwithout origin\u201d — wu yuan<\/em> — superior and anterior to the King of Heaven (the Shangdi<\/a>), i.e., to the personal God. In this passage a certain circumspect way of expressing itself was emphasized linguistically, due to the part that the Shangdi had in the cult of the State under Chou\u2019s dynasty, when the Tao Te Ching was composed. It is like that through a concern for that conception of exoterism. But in the Introduction, we noted the irrelevance of the personal, theistic and anthropomorphic conceptions of the divine to the primordial tradition of the Far East, taken up in its abstract, metaphysical orientation by Lao Tzu. Chuang Tzu (II,3) makes clear that one can admit the principle of a universal regulator (from which the principle of every unity, family, people, etc. derives through participation) but on condition that one does not make a distinct personal being out of what is intended \u201cas an influence without a comprehensible form\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chinese text and literal translation<\/h2>\n

Chapter 4 (\u7b2c\u56db\u7ae0)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

\u9053\u6c96\uff0c
\n\u800c\u7528\u4e4b\u6216\u4e0d\u76c8\u3002
\n\u6df5\u516e\uff0c\u4f3c\u842c\u7269\u4e4b\u5b97\u3002
\n\u632b\u5176\u92b3\uff0c
\n\u89e3\u5176\u7d1b\uff0c
\n\u548c\u5176\u5149\uff0c
\n\u540c\u5176\u5875\u3002
\n\u6e5b\u516e\uff0c\u4f3c\u6216\u5b58\u3002
\n\u543e\u4e0d\u77e5\u8ab0\u4e4b\u5b50\uff0c
\n\u8c61\u5e1d\u4e4b\u5148\u3002<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

\n
\n

The Dao is empty,
\nBut when using it, it is impossible to use it up.
\nIt is profound, seems like the root of the myriad things.
\nBlunts its own sharpness.
\nUnravels its own fetters.
\nHarmonises its own light.
\nMixes with its own dust.
\nIt is unclear, but seems to have existed there.
\nI do not know whose son it is,
\nMaybe it was already created before the creator.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chuang Tzu makes clear that one can admit the principle of a universal regulator (from which the principle of every unity, family, people, etc. derives through participation) but on condition that one does not make a distinct personal being out of what is intended \u201cas an influence without a comprehensible form\u201d Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":227,"featured_media":12826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tao-te-ching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11900"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14267,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11900\/revisions\/14267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}