{41} Lesson 6
6.1. Readings: Classic of the Way and Virtue 1, Analects 5.1
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非 其 罪 也 。 以 其 子 妻 之 。 |
子 謂 公 冶 長 。 可 妻 也 。 雖 在 縲 絏 之 中 。 |
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有 名 。 萬 物 之 母 也 。 |
無 名 。 萬 物 之 始 也 。 |
名 可 名 也 。 非 恆 名 也 。 |
道 可 道 也 。 非 恆 道 也 。 |
{42} 6.2. Vocabulary
(Twenty-two new characters, two new uses)
道 dào n., a path; n., a way (of living); n., the right way to follow, the Way; n., a linguistic account of a way; n., the metaphysical foundation of the universe; t.v., to give a linguistic account of something
可 ke v., can be . . . -ed
非 fēi v., is-not (used to negate nominal sentences)
恆 (恒) héng s.v., to be constant
名 míng n., name; t.v., to give a name to
無 (无) wú t.v., to lack, to not have
萬 (万) wàn n., ten thousand, myriad
物 wù n., thing; n., kind of thing
之 zhī g.p. (subordinates one nominal phrase to another, showing possession or specification); n., him, her, them, it (third-person pronoun; must be the object of a verb or preposition)
始 shǐ n., beginning
母 mǔ n., mother
謂 (谓) wèi t.v., to say something of someone or something
公冶 Gōngyě n., Gongye (a two-syllable family name; literally “Duke’s Smelter” or “Dukesmith”)
長 Cháng n., Chang (a personal name)
妻 qì t.v., to give a wife to
在 zài t.v., to be in
縲絏 (缧绁) léi xiè n., fetters, ropes for binding prisoners
中 zhōng n., middle, midst
其 qí n., his, her, its, their
罪 zuì n., crime, fault
以 yǐ v., using, taking, by means of
{43} 子 zǐ n., daughter; n., Master; n. -master (honorific title following a family name); n. son; s.v., to be a son, to act as a son (should)
Nouns as Causative Verbs, 可 kě before a Verb, Stative
Verbs as Adjectives, Nominal Negation,
Unmarked Subordination, Subordination with
之 zhī, Coverbal 以 yǐ, Pronoun 其 qí
The first reading in this lesson is chapter 1 from the Classic of the Way and Virtue (道德經 Dào dé jīng).1 This work has traditionally been attributed to 老子 Lǎozǐ, who was supposedly a contemporary of Kǒngzǐ (who lived around 500 BCE). Consequently, the work is sometimes referred to as the Laozi. However, many scholars today believe that Lǎozǐ is a mythical figure, and that the Dào dé jīng is a compilation of anonymous sayings that gradually accumulated over centuries. For almost two millennia, the standard text of the Dào dé jīng was the version that accompanies the commentary by 王弼 Wáng Bì (who died in 249 CE).2 However, earlier versions of the text were unearthed from tombs in 馬王堆 Mǎwángduī (Hunan Province, in 1973) and 郭店 Guōdiàn (Hubei Province, in 1993). These versions differ from each other, and from the Wáng Bì version, sometimes in important ways. I selected the version of the passage in this lesson from one of the Mǎwángduī texts, {44} because the grammar in the Mǎwángduī version is clearer than in the Wáng Bì version.3
The second reading in this lesson is the complete text of Analects 5.1.4
6.3.1. Nouns as Causative Verbs
This reading further illustrates the fact that “word classes” in Classical Chinese are fairly flexible. Specifically, in their first and third occurrences in this reading, 道 dào and 名 míng are nouns (“way” and “name,” respectively), but in their second occurrences they are verbs (“to give an account of” and “to name”).5 Some words (like the nouns in this reading) usually appear as nouns, and are rare as verbs.
In Lesson 2, we saw nouns used as stative verbs. In Lesson 3, we saw that some nouns, N, act as transitive verbs attributively, meaning “to treat as N.” Here in Lesson 6, we see a noun acting as a transitive verb causally, meaning “to make into N.”6
Pattern:
N 
to make into an N
Example:
遠 遠之 Yuǎn zhī.
(He) is distant. (Someone) put him at a distance.
道 道之 Dào zhī.
a verbal account (She) put it into words.
{45} 6.3.2. 可 kě before a Transitive Verb
The character 可 kě has a number of important uses. In Lesson 6, we see that it can precede a transitive verb, TV, and change its meaning into “can be TV-ed.”7
Pattern:
TV 可 TV
TV can be TV-ed
Example:
名 可名 kě míng
to name (something) (something) can be named
6.3.3. Stative Verbs as Adjectives
As I explained in Lesson 1, stative verbs function similarly to adjectives in English, because they tell you the “state” or characteristics of something. In the current lesson, 恒 héng is a stative verb, meaning “is constant.” Like an English adjective, a stative verb can come in front of a noun, describing it.8
Pattern:
SV+N
an N that is SV
an SV N
Example:
恒道 héng dào
a way that is constant
a constant way
{46} Review: Notice the following contrast
善道 shàn dào a good way
道善。Dào shàn. The way is good.
The former expression is of the form SV+N; it is a nominal phrase, not a complete sentence.9 The latter expression is of the form N+SV; it is a complete sentence. See the difference?
6.3.4. Negating Nominal Sentences with 非 fēi
We were introduced to nominal sentences in Lesson 1, and we had another example in Reading 4 (是知也). The first and third sentences in Lesson 6 are also affirmative nominal sentences. So we know how to say in Classical Chinese that one thing is another thing. But how do we say that one thing is not another thing? The second and fourth sentences in Reading 6 introduce nominal negation.
Pattern:
N1 非 N2 也
N1 is not an N2.
As is the case with the affirmative version of a nominal sentence, N1 and N2 can be nouns, complex noun-phrases, or verbal phrases acting as nouns. In Reading 6, the second sentence is an example of this pattern.
Example:
非恒道也。 Fēi héng dào yě.
What word in this sentence is the N1? Trick question! There is no N1 stated explicitly in the sentence. It turns out that, in a nominal sentence in Chinese, the N1 can be implied by context. This is different from English, in which we must supply at least a pronoun as the subject of a sentence. In the sentence we’re looking at, the only plausible subject is the subject of the {47} previous sentence, which is 道 dào. So the sentence above is really equivalent to
道非恒道也 Dào fēi héng dào yě.
We now know what the N1 is. The N2 then has to be 恆道 héng dào. So the meaning of the sentence as a whole is
道 is not a 恒道.
The grammar of 非恒名也 is parallel to this.
In both English and Chinese, grammatical subordination of one phrase to another is often marked by a conjunction, like 如 rú, “if,” or 雖 suī, “although.” However, both languages also have contexts in which subordination is unmarked, usually for rhetorical or poetic purposes. Think of Caesar’s famous “I came, I saw, I conquered.” What he really means is, “I came, and then I saw what was there, and then I conquered it.” More prosaically, in English, “Do the crime, serve the time,” means “if you do the crime, then you will serve the time.” Grammarians call this phenomenon parataxis (when the clauses are coordinate) or hypotaxis (when one of the clauses is subordinate to the other).10
The first two pairs of clauses from the Dào dé jīng illustrate hypotaxis. The first one is equivalent to something like “If 道可道, then 非恆道,” or “道可道, but 非恆道.” We find a similar construction in Analects 8.1:
是可忍也。孰不可忍也。
Shì kě rěn yě. Shú bù kě rěn yě.
忍 rěn s.v., to endure
孰 shú n., what . . . ? (interrogative pronoun)
This can be endured. What cannot be endured?
If this can be endured, then what cannot be endured?
{48} 6.3.6. Subordination with 之 zhī
We already met one use of 之 zhī, in Lesson 4: as a third-person object pronoun. Here in Lesson 6 we meet another use: 之 as a grammatical particle that subordinates one nominal phrase to another. Specifically, 之 indicates that one thing belongs to another thing (kind of like the way possessives function in English) or specifies characteristics of a thing (kind of like a relative clause in English).11
Pattern:
N1 之 N2
the N1’s N2
the N2 of N1
the N2 that is N1
Examples
子之知 zǐ zhī zhì
the Master’s wisdom
齊之政 qí zhī zhèng
the government of Qi
知人之君 zhī rén zhī jūn
the ruler who understands others
君之知人 jūn zhī zhī rén
the ruler’s understanding others
that the ruler understands others
Notice that, as the last two examples illustrate, the N1 and N2 can be verbal phrases acting as nouns.
{49} 6.3.7. Coverbal 以 yǐ
以 yǐ is one of the most common words in Classical Chinese. 以 is a transitive verb, meaning “to take.” However, some verbs also function as coverbs. A coverb indicates the relationship between a noun and a verb, or one verb and another. Most frequently, 以 means “by means of” or “in order to.”12
Pattern:
V1 以 V2
to V1 in order to V2
以 N V
V 以 N
to V with N
to V by means of N
Example:
以其道誨之
(He) taught him by means of his way.
(He) taught him his way.
其 qí is a possessive pronoun, equivalent to the English “his,” “her,” “its,” or “their.” (其 has other uses in Classical Chinese; we’ll encounter some in later lessons.) Technically, in a subordinating nominal construction with 之 zhī, it replaces the first noun and the 之.13
Pattern:
N1 之N2 其 N2
The N2 of N1 its/his/her/their N2
{50} Examples:
子之知 zǐ zhī zhì 其知 qí zhì
the Master’s wisdom his wisdom
齊之政 qí zhī zhèng 其政 qí zhèng
the government of Qi its government
君之知人 jūn zhī zhī rén 其知人 qí zhī rén
the ruler’s understanding others his understanding others
Compare the following Wáng Bì version of Dào dé jīng chapter 1 to the Mǎwángduī version that we read above:
道可道。非常道。
名可名。非常名。
無名。天地之始。
有名。萬物之母。
You will see that we have a few different words in this version:
常 cháng s.v., constant
天地 tiāndì, n. Heaven and Earth; the universe
Three differences are especially noteworthy. First, the Mǎwángduī version uses the expression 萬物 wàn wù twice, whereas the Wáng Bì version uses first the expression 天地 tiāndì and then the expression 萬物.
Second, notice that the Mǎwángduī version uses 恆 where the Wáng Bì version uses 常. Why? There was a “taboo” in China against using characters that occur in the personal name of a reigning emperor. 劉恆 Liú Héng was emperor from 179 BCE to 157 BCE. During his reign, the text was recopied with 常 substituted for 恆,14 and later copies {51} perpetuated these changes. Consequently, we know that Mǎwángduī version dates from before 179 BCE.15 Small differences like that are often very informative.
Third, even in this brief passage, we can see that the Mǎwángduī version uses the grammatical particle 也 much more frequently. It is generally true that the Mǎwángduī version is less ambiguous and easier to understand because of its greater use of grammatical particles. Recall the line from the Dào dé jīng that we saw in Lesson 4. I used the Mǎwángduī version in that reading. The corresponding Wáng Bì version lacks the 也 at the end of every sentence in that quotation.
6.4.2. Styles of Translation: Boodbergian vs. Drydenian
Professor Peter Boodberg (1903–1972) offered an interesting translation of the Wáng Bì version of the opening of the Dào dé jīng:
Lodehead lodehead-brooking: no forewonted lodehead;
Namecall namecall-brooking: no forewonted namecall.
Having-naught namecalling: Heaven-Earth’s fetation,
Having-aught namecalling: Myriad Mottlings’ mother.16
{52} This is an interesting effort at stretching English to its breaking point in order to come up with a rendering that matches the connotations of the original Chinese text (as Boodberg understood those) as closely as possible. However, it is unhelpful as an actual translation, because it cannot be understood by anyone lacking an encyclopedic knowledge of both English and Chinese philology. Boodberg’s version illustrates one extreme in philosophies of translation.
A paradigmatic example of the other extreme in translation is presented by the poet John Dryden (1631–1700), who defended his loose renderings of Greek and Latin authors by saying:
. . . I desire the false Criticks would not always think that those thoughts are wholly mine, but that either they are secretly in the Poet, or may be fairly deduc’d from him; or at least, if both those considerations should fail, that my own is of a piece with his, and that if he were living, and an Englishman, they are such as he wou’d probably have written.17
The problem with Dryden’s approach is that Homer (for example) is not a contemporary Englishman, so if your translation of the Odyssey sounds like what a poet living in London would write, you have failed to accurately present the original work. To avoid both these extremes, ask yourself the following questions before, during, and after the translation process.
- Who is my translation for? Am I writing for scholars who I can expect to already know a lot of background, or for undergraduates who are wrestling with this text for the first time, or for casual {53} readers who will be flipping through this work for their book group?
- Will my translation make sense to my target audience? In other words: is my translation actually into English? This might seem like an obvious point, but you would be surprised how often people come up with “translations” that are little different from Boodberg’s in readability.
- Is my translation faithful to the original text? Is the target audience likely to walk away thinking the original text is expressing just what they would say or (equally bad) embodies some cartoon stereotype about “Oriental culture” [sic] that they were predisposed to believe before they read the text?
6.4.3. Alternative Translations of Classic of the Way and Virtue 1
Keeping the preceding principles in mind, what are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the following translations of the opening phrases of the Wáng Bì version of the Dào dé jīng?18
“Tao can be talked about, but not the Eternal Tao.
Names can be named, but not the Eternal Name.” (John C. H. Wu, Tao Teh Ching [New York: St. John’s University Press, 1961])
“The TAO, or Principle of Nature, may be discussed [by all]; it is not the popular or common Tao [i.e., the tao-li of ethics dealing with the 四端 and the 五常]. Its Name may be named [i.e., the TAO may receive a designation, though of itself it has none]; but it is not an ordinary name, [or name in the usual sense of the word, for it is a presentment or ειδωλον of the Infinite].” (Frederick Henry Balfour, Taoist Texts [London: Trubner & Co., 1884], p. 2; glosses in original)
{54} “The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.” (Arthur Waley, The Way and Its Power [New York: Grove Press, 1958], p. 141)
“That Which Is Called The Tao Is Not The Tao
The flow of energy. . . .
Here . . .
It . . .
Is . . . ” (Timothy Leary, Psychedelic Prayers: After the Tao Te Ching [Poet’s Press, 1966])19
Free practice materials—including quizzes and additional readings—are available at www.hackettpublishing.com/chinese-for-everyone-support.
1. For an English translation, see Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, p. 163.
2. Nerd note: Wáng Bì wrote one of the two most important commentaries on the Dào dé jīng and also wrote a very influential commentary on the Classic of Changes. Tragically, he died when he was only twenty-three years old. When I consider how much he achieved in such a brief life span, I am reminded of comedian Tom Lehrer’s quip: “When Mozart was my age, he had been dead for three years.”
3. Nerd note: There were two versions of the Dào dé jīng found at Mǎwángduī. In Lesson 6, I use the “A” version, and in Lesson 4, I use the “B” version.
4. For an English translation, see Ivanhoe and Van Norden, Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, p. 13.
5. Some translations (including the one in Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy) interpret the verbal use of 道 in this line as “to treat as a path; to walk on.”
6. Nerd note: For more, see Pulleyblank, IV.3, pp. 25–26.
7. Nerd note: For more, see Pulleyblank, IV.1, pp. 23–24, and V.4a, especially p. 42; Kroll, p. 239.
8. Nerd note: For more, see Pulleyblank, IV.2, pp. 24–25.
9. Nerd note: Okay, in the right context, 善道 could be a complete sentence, meaning “to regard the way as good” (if the 善 were being used attributively).
10. Nerd note: For more on this in Chinese, see Pulleyblank, XV.1–2, pp. 148–49.
11. Nerd note: This use of the Classical Chinese 之 zhī is equivalent to the Modern Chinese 的 de, or the Modern Japanese の no.
12. For more, see Pulleyblank, V.6a.i, especially pp. 47–48; Kroll, pp. 544–45.
13. For more, see Kroll, pp. 353–54; Pulleyblank, IX.1c.iii, p. 80.
14. Nerd note: Texts had to be recopied on a regular basis, because the silk and bamboo they were written on decayed rapidly. (The papyrus that was used to record texts in the ancient Mediterranean had the same problem.) You might know that paper was invented in China, but that didn’t happen until around 100 CE, in the Eastern Han dynasty, long after the period that Kǒngzǐ and (supposedly) Lǎozǐ lived.
15. Nerd note: How do we know that the change didn’t occur the other way? Maybe the text originally had 常 and copyists just substituted the synonymous 恆 in some versions? One reason is the principle known as lectio difficilior (“harder reading”): if there are two alternative readings of a text, the one that involves a more obscure word or grammatical construction is more likely to be earlier. Why? A copyist is more likely to substitute a more common word or one he already knows for one in the original text that is uncommon or that he does not recognize than the other way around. And 恆 is less common a word than 常.
16. Nerd note: The original source is “Philological Notes on Chapter One of the Lao Tzu,” reprinted in Alvin P. Cohen, ed., Selected Works of Peter A. Boodberg (University of California Press, 1979), p. 480, but you can also find it in a delightful website: Ken Knabb, ed., “Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (175+ Translations of chapter 1),” Bureau of Public Secrets (October 2004), http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/tao-te-ching.htm (accessed March 6, 2019).
17. Dryden, Preface to Sylvae, or the Second Part of Poetical Miscellancies (1685), from Bartleby, https://www.bartleby.com/204/180.html (accessed August 12, 2018). Emphasis mine.
18. I discovered some of these translations via Knabb, “Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching,” but have confirmed the translations and publication data.
19. Nerd note: Younger readers may not have heard of Timothy Leary. He became infamous in the 1960s for advocating the alleged philosophical and therapeutic benefits of ingesting large amounts of hallucinogens. It shows.