{"id":13984,"date":"2021-03-04T19:38:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gornahoor.net\/?p=13984"},"modified":"2021-03-19T21:18:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T01:18:39","slug":"principle-and-action-18-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/?p=13984","title":{"rendered":"Principle and Action 18-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2190 Chapter 17<\/a> Chapters 20-21 →<\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter 18<\/h2>\n

The Way was lost
\n\u201cBenevolence and righteousness\u201d were put in its place
\nBy skill and cunning (having lost original simplicity)
\nGreat hypocrisy ensued
\nThe chain of blood that was tied to the origin was broken
\nAnd was replaced with family sentiments
\nWhen the kingdoms fell into disorder
\n\u201cGood ministers\u201d became prominent.<\/p>\n

Chapter 19<\/h2>\n

Remove (petty) wisdom, put prudence aside
\nAnd the advantage to the people will be very great
\nHumanitarianism and morality are not proclaimed
\nAnd a spontaneous solidarity [= from the family] will return to rule in society
\nUtilitarian goals will be devalued, self-absorbed action will be despised
\nAnd guilty acts will vanish in society.
\n(But even) these three particularly
\nDo not have to be followed to the letter
\nWhat is essentially necessary:
\nTo be (oneself) in rough, natural, candour
\nDetached from particular ambitions, liberated from vain desires.<\/p>\n

Commentary<\/h2>\n

There is a visible continuity between these two chapters. Proclaiming \u201cvirtues\u201d is for Taoism merely the sign of a corrupt society. See Chapter 38: \u201cSuperior virtues do not announce themselves as virtues.\u201d It speaks instead of the \u201cnon-virtues of virtues\u201d, the latter understood as artificial corresponding to a pedantic exterior that, more than restoring an integral life, will only increase the damage by favouring hypocrisy and cunning. The Taoist argument in that sense, not without reference to a second-rate or poorly understood Confucianism, often went beyond the sign. \u201cBenevolence and righteousness\u201d — ren<\/em> and yi<\/em> — are precisely the cardinal Confucian virtues. Even family sentiments reduced to conventional and obligatory behaviour are decadent. (Chapter 18) See Chuang Tzu<\/strong> (XIII,5):<\/p>\n

\nThese concerns about benevolence and righteousness recall a man who beats a drum while searching for a fleeing son, with the only effect of making him flee even further\u2026 Unite your influence to that of the Principle rather than imposing artificial virtues, and you will be able to achieve something.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From the last line of Chapter 19 the positive reference point is clarified: conduct derives from being oneself, rather than reflecting a norm of society. The elimination of desires, as vain desires, must not be understood here in an ascetic, forced, or renunciatory sense. It is the fundamental idea of Taoism, that in man a complex of desires, tendencies and interests is not at all \u201cnatural\u201d; it is an error, it is something artificial and parasitic. One is truly oneself — and one is on the Path — when one is liberated from it. Then true virtues are also manifested. \u201cMorality\u201d, far from restoring this state of natural equilibrium, moves even further from it, adding another stratification to a stratification . An effective image:<\/p>\n

\nThe beginning is what I call the thaw (the dissolution of the concretion of the exterior I), after that the stream begins to take its course.\u201d (Chuang Tzu, XXIII, 3)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a certain way, the same double application is reaffirmed in the chapter that follows. Among the excrescences in respect to the natural state, which one must prune, the world of intellectualism and of the social distinctions between \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d is also included. However, in contrast, being oneself is what brings you quite far, along the line of the Transcendent Man in his closed and impenetrable form. The reference, as will be seen, is in the first person — it is almost the only passage of the Tao Te Ching<\/em> in which the author speaks of himself: however, with the visible intent of sketching out a model.<\/p>\n

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

Chapter 18 (\u7b2c\u5341\u516b\u7ae0)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n\u5927\u9053\u5ee2\uff0c\u6709\u4ec1\u7fa9\uff1b
\n\u667a\u6167\u51fa\uff0c\u6709\u5927\u507d\uff1b
\n\u516d\u89aa\u4e0d\u548c\u6709\u5b5d\u6148\uff0c
\n\u570b\u5bb6\u660f\u4e82\u6709\u5fe0\u81e3\u3002
\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\nWhen the Dao is lost, so there arises benevolence and righteousness.
\nWhen prudence and wisdom appear, there is great hypocrisy.
\nWhen family relations are not right, there is filial piety and paternal affection.
\nWhen the state is confused and chaotic, there is loyalty and faithfulness.\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Chapter 19 (\u7b2c\u5341\u4e5d\u7ae0)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n\u7d55\u8056\u68c4\u667a\uff0c\u6c11\u5229\u767e\u500d\uff1b
\n\u7d55\u4ec1\u68c4\u7fa9\uff0c\u6c11\u5fa9\u5b5d\u6148\uff1b
\n\u7d55\u5de7\u68c4\u5229\uff0c\u76dc\u8cca\u7121\u6709\uff1b
\n\u6b64\u4e09\u8005\uff0c\u4ee5\u70ba\u6587\u4e0d\u8db3\uff0c
\n\u6545\u4ee4\u6709\u6240\u5c6c\uff1a
\n\u898b\u7d20\u62b1\u6a38\uff0c
\n\u5c11\u79c1\u5be1\u6b32\u3002
\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\nAbandon holiness, relinquish prudence; the people will flourish a hundredfold,
\nAbandon benevolence, relinquish righteousness; and people will return to filial piety and affection.
\nAbandon cleverness, relinquish gain; and thieves and robbers will not appear.
\n As I know such three to be no mere words,
\n Stay true to that which is reliable.
\n Recognise simplicity, embrace purity,
\n Lessen the self, diminish desires.\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These concerns about benevolence and righteousness recall a man who beats a drum while searching for a fleeing son, with the only effect of making him flee even further\u2026 Unite your influence to that of the Principle rather than imposing artificial virtues, and you will be able to achieve something. 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":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13984","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\/13984","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=13984"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14132,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13984\/revisions\/14132"}],"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=13984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gornahoor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}