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Nur abdur Rashid, on:
The Book
of Meaning (Dao -- Way)
and Life (Te -- Virtue Virtuous Essense)
The Tao Te Ching -- by Lao Tzu
The Richard Wilhelm Edition (H. G. Ostwald, translator; Arkana Press, 1985)
For those familiar with the Wilhelm/Baynes unequaled introduction to the I-Ching, you may be happy to learn that there is also a Richard Wilhelm introduction to the Tao Te Ching. I find this book quite helpful towards understanding more deeply the Heart of the 'Intuitive' element of the Eastern Mind (if I might be so bold as to suggest such a positive 'stereotyping'). That intuitive element finds expression not only in Daoism, but also in the Zen form of Buddhism--as well as in other mystical offshoots (or the flip side) of various exoteric religious expressions around the world.
Through Wilhelm's insightful translation we begin to hear the Heart of Lao Tzu (whether this 'Lao Tzu' be a literal, historical personage; or be 'he' the figurative 'Composite Truth' of the ageless, proverbial 'Old Master' of accumulated Asian philosophical distillations).
Legend has it that one Lao Tzu--in reading the 'signs of the times'--decided to high-tail it to the nearby western pass; opting, thereby, for opting-out of a floundering social/political decadence. In so doing, he ostensibly preferred the way of preserving, for a brighter day, some rarified element in his possession.
But hearing the exposition of the Dao (meaning / Way) and Te (Life / Virtue) ourselves; are we too not tempted to turn and head for the hills? And is that 'retreating' a defeatism, an egotistical escapism -- or would it be, in fact, an advance for the overall burgeoning integrity of Heaven and Earth?
Lao Tzu did seem to prefer and advocate a turning away from the world, a certain finding-one's-own-way sort of attitude. Upon first reading, one may find it hard to appreciate: "What benefit could this possible 'escapism' have on society, at large?" And there were those of Lao Tzu's subsequent following who made much of this 'head-for-the-hills' posture -- a posture of seemingly "opting-out of" any path that would have one engaging in a flawed social structure.
But, in spite of the fact that Lao Tzu purportedly withdrew through the mountain pass at Xian Gu, as legend has it--seeing no greater hope for reversing the trend of the autumnal dissipation of his own current society--his goal was, in effect, 'one-with' that of Confucius: To present an example (a Way) that could lead to an enlightened social state in the world; albeit the Lao-Tzu way would champion the perfection of one person at a time, if need be.
The Way suggested by Lao Tzu and Confucius, both; is based on one-and-the-same system of ancient metaphysics--a metaphysics originating in and derived from the anonymous text and accumulated commentaries that comprise the I-Ching (or Book of Changes). An intriguing book, itself, of poetic proverbs and deep metaphors of wisdom; the I Ching is purported to have been so dear to Confucius that he worked through and had to rebind his own personal copy some three times or more. The Dao and Te, then, did not originate with Lao-Tzu or Confucius, but were concepts already present in the 'cosmology' elucidated by the I-Ching. But, while confucius (from his take on the I Ching) seemed to emphasize collective Moral conduct and the rules that govern it; the Lao Tzu tradition, on the other hand, became associated with a wariness of trying to reform society through what Lao Tzu may have seen as limited and limiting "conventions" of rites and "rectitude" and limiting "conventions" of justice.
The Richard Wilhelm Touch
From Germany, Richard Wilhelm went to China--as a Christian missionary, at first. Being there at a time that was exceptionally dangerous for Westerners, he took ill--and perhaps would have perished there, had one reverent Chinese scholar (of the I Ching and other classics) not protected Wilhelm and not personally took up the 'mission' of nourishing Wilhelm back to health. Through the relationship that blossomed between these kindred souls, the I Ching and its many commentaries (an possibly other works) were translated from Chinese into German, and from German back into Chinese. Shortly after this monumental and providential task was complete, the Chinese scholar passed away, perhaps relieved in the confidence that this ancient treasure was now made accessible to the Western mind and heart through this timely companionship.
In the process of securing his own 'salvation' and restoration to physical life, Wilhelm in turn, gained a sincere and humble appreciation for the heart and soul of his host; for the heart and soul of China; and, no doubt, for the depth and profundity of the salvific truth in the I Ching and other Asian 'scriptures' of this sort. One cursory glance at any of the interpretations brought to us by Wilhelm shall confirm that we in the West are particular indepted to the collaboration of these scholars--for Wilhelm's missionary zeal Eastward was no less than that of his host to convey these treasures back to the West.
Furthermore, Wilhelm's humility allows him to translate the heart of these texts into language and concepts that are all the more accessible to the western mindset. Often, in his own commentary, Wilhelm will digress to select appropriate scripture from the Bible--scripture which capture in one-to-one correspondence, the internal quidance and essence and subtle nuances of the Chinese passage at hand.
Dicition and Interpretation
And so, we find as well, the Wilhelm edition of the Tao Te Ching is a particularly salient interpretation. Though there be many translations, particularly by oriental scholars translating from East to West; Wilhelm makes the Heart of Lao Tzu much more accessible (to Westerners, at least), by relying on some very helpful Judeo-Christian concepts and diction that might elude most scholars and translators who are native to Asia.
Wilhelm explains, for example, that the Chinese word Te may be translated as moral virtue, or bounty, or "to be grateful,... but he goes on to prefer the translation: Life. On this choice Wilhelm writes:
I have decided to [so] translate this [Te] throughout; and to justify my decision I give its Chinese definition: 'What beings receive in order to come about is call TE'. I have therefore translated the word as 'Life' (following John 1:4: 'In him was life, and the life was the light of Man'). It would have been equally possible to translate Te as 'nature', 'essence', 'spirit', 'power' -- translations which have been used frequently in the Analects of Confucius; but I have avoided these here, because they clash with other terms used in the text. The common rendering 'virtue' -- which is more appropriate to later treatises on morals -- suits Lao Tzu even less than it suits Confucius.
The efficacy of this choice on the part of Wilhelm is particular appreciated in a passage I personally found most inspiring and insightful--in Book II (Te), the very first passage that introduces the Te of the Dao Te Ching. Passage 38 reads:
does not know about Life
therefore he has Life.
Whosoever does not cherish Life
seeks not to lose Life;
therefore he has no Life.
Whosoever cherishes Life
does not act and has no designs
Whosoever does not cherish Life
acts and has designs.
Whosoever cherishes love acts but has no designs.
Whosoever cherishes justice acts and has designs.
Whosoever cherishes morality acts
and if someone does not respond to him
he waves his arms about and pulls him up.
Therefore: If DAO is lost, then Life.
If love is lost, then justice.
If justice is lost, then morality.
Morality is the penury of faith and trust
and the beginning of confusion.
Foreknowledge is the sham of DAO
and the beginning of folly.
Therefore the right man abides with fullness
and not with penury.
He lives in being, not in sham.
He puts the other away and adheres to this.
Let us consider that decline while comparing a more ordinary translation, courtesy of D. C. Lau, Professor Emeritus, Chinese University of Hong-Kong:
On the left Wilhelm's choices; on the right Professor Lau's choices
Wilhelm ----- D. C. Lau
Life ----- Virtue
love ----- benevolence
justice ----- rectitude
morality ----- rites
Let us attain to Life, then; and all else (subsequent) shall be added unto this.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
In Humility we do not boast of what we 'know' -- as if we 'know'...
Without self-centered desire, then "Self" may act
and the historical "I" may embody a degree of "Life" which
overshadows even love and makes justice and morality obsolete.
"And My Law shall be written in their hearts."
Psalms 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them ...
Another favorite rendering that I find most helpful to us all, is Wilhelm's introduction of the term or the idea of the "Man of Calling" -- in place of the less descriptive translation: "sage." The Man of Calling, has something to do, something to further, even in his preference for the focus on the Dao, beyond. The Man of Calling is:
The man who embodies Life in himself, the ideal man; the individual who, by putting away his individual inclinations and wishes, completely corresponds to the principle of Life. He does not live himself and does not seek anything for himself, but lets Life express Itself through him. In this position he is, in a sense, a cosmic power.
As we began this review in search of the Heart of Lao Tzu; let us consider a telling excerpt from Richard Wilhelm's concluding commentaries.
In the Commentary: The Teachings of Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) Wilhelm writes:
Yang Zhu is a historical personality. At the time of the Confucian Mencius, his teaching had already attracted such a circle of disciples and followers that Mencius counted Yang Zhu among his main adversaries. He attacked Yang Zhu for his egotistical views which, he thought, rejected and dissolved all relations in the state and between states. He would not give a hair from his head to benefit the world: this showed a selfishness which made it impossible for men to live together.
In the book of Lie Zi we have an exposition of the teaching of Yang Zhu which is a welcome complement ot Mencius' account. According to Lie Zi, Yang Zhu was a disciple of Lao Tzu who had not fully understood the latter's teaching but had developed it in a one-sided manner. In this respect Lao Tzu suffered much the same fate as Confucius. Just as the teachings of confucius were at first turned by the main branch of his school into a one-sided and more or less narrow-minded ritualism, so Lao Tzu's teaching was turned into a one-sided and thus restricted naturalism.
In Zhuang Zi we find a tale in which Yang Zhu seeks instruction from Lao Tzu. He asks whether a man who is keen and strong, who has penetrating powers of reasoning and an ever-present sense of clarity, who is untiring in his search for DAO -- whether such a man could be put on the same level as the wise kings of ancient times.
Lao Tzu rebukes him in rather rough terms, and then continues: 'The works of the wise kings were such that they filled the whole world with them, and yet it did not look as if they came from them. They formed all beings and gave them presents, and the people were not aware of it. They stood in the immeasurable and walked in non-existence.'
These passages reveal Yang Zhu to be a ruthlessly sharp-witted thinker. He profiles Lao Tzu's views on letting-go and non-action, in other words the complete assimilation of man into the context of Nature. But he lacks Lao Tzu's kindness and breadth, and therefore his views appear extreme. All activity is rejected. A pessimistic fatalism pours a caustic fluid over the whole of life. The strongly-flavoured libation leaves a bitter after-taste. Everything is totally vain. Good and evil are completely unimportant, as are all other differences between men.
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Through the exchange in the above excerpt we can begin to see how the benefit of even the state and society is, in fact, a concern of the Tao Te Ching. More importantly, that larger social benevolence is ultimately a function of getting our selves out of the way and letting the Life that is within us act in accordance with the Way that nourishes all. In the west, we have an expression to this effect of: Let go and Let God.
Other passages that convey insight into the Heart of the Tao Te Ching.
Passage 7
Heaven is eternal and Earth lasting.
They are lasting and eternal
because they do not live for themselves.
Therefore can they live forever.
Thus also is the Man of Calling:
He disregards himself,
and his Self is increased.
He gives himself away
and his Self is preserved.
Is it not thus:
because he desires nothing as his own
his own is completed?
Passage 49
The Man of Calling has no heart of his own.
he makes the people's heart his own.
'To the good I am good;
to the non-good I am also good,
for Life is goodness.
To the faithful I am faithful;
to the unfaithful I am also faithful,
for Life is faithfulness.'
The Man of Calling lives very quietly in the world.
People look for him and listen out for him with surprise,
and the Man of Calling accepts them all as his children.
But, perhaps the most famous passage, of all the sayings attributed to this elusive Lao Tzu,
is the passage regarding the "journey of a thousand miles."
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A tree that can fill the span of a man's arms
Grows from a downy tip;
A terrace nine stories high
Rises from hodfuls of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts from beneath one's feet.
Book 2, Chapter 64
trans. by D.C. Lau (1963).
In approaching the Heart of Lao Tzu,
and seeking the ties that bind East and West,
all begins now. A worthy journey.
In honor of Wilhelm, Lau, and Lao-Tzu,
we end with a relevant hymn:
In Christ There is No East or West
In Christ there is no East or West,
In him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord,
Close binding all mankind.
Words: John Oxenham, 1908
Links to other sites on the Web
Sky Blue Dreams
A House and A Hill
Tao Tae Ching; Wilhelm Edition
D. C. Lau Edition
Tao Tae Ching; Wilhelm Edition
Wilhelm, R; Liu, Darrell; Tao Te Ching: The Book of Meaning and Life. 1988; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140190600/104-3901181-3583148
D. C. Lau Edition
Lau, D. C. (translator); Tao Te Ching (Penguin Classics); 1985; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140190600/104-3901181-3583148
Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York
-- reference for the Lao-Tzu image at top
Roerich, N; Paintings (1874-1947); 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.roerich.org/wwp.html
Paul Halsall's Brooklyn College Chinese Culture Page
-- reference for the 2nd Lao-Tzu
Halsall, Paul; Brooklyn College Core Web Pages. 1999; 6 April, 2004
-- http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/images/laotzu.jpg
Richard Wilhelm -- The Man
Ralph; School of Wisdom; RICHARD WILHELM'S HOME PAGE. 1999; 6 April, 2004
--http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/wilhelm.html
Histories of the I-Ching
Hilary; Online Clarity; I Ching histories. 2002 ; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources/histories.html
An online Wilhelm/Baynes I-Ching
Rabelais, Akira; Richard Wilhelm's and Cary F. Baynes translation "I Ching: Or, Book of Changes" [3rd. ed., Bollingen Series XIX, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967, 1st ed. 1950)] -- 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.akirarabelais.com/i/i.html
Princeton University Press Wilhelm/Baynes I-Ching; Review/Purchase
Wilhelm, R.(Translator); Baynes, C. F. (Editor); The I Ching or Book of Changes. 1967; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/069109750X/
In Christ There is no East or West -- Anectdotes and Lyrics
During WWII two ships were anchored together, one was filled with Japanese and the other with Americans, all waiting to be returned to their own country. Suddenly, one began to sing, "In Christ There Is No East or West." Then from the other ship another joined in. Soon former enemies were all praising God together.
Schaefer, Missionary Family; You bring the Hymnal, I'll bring the History. 3/24/04; 6 April, 2004
-- http://schfrs.crosswinds.net/hymns/east.htm
History of the Hymn -- John Oxenham (Words) Harry T. Burleigh (Music)
Gungl, Steve; Duge, John. Grace Notes. 6/16/01; 6 March, 2004
-- http://www.sfcentral.org/ministries/music/gracenotes/gn587.htm
William Arthur Dunkerley -- John Oxenham (pseudonym) Biography
Brown, Robert; Norton, Mark, "The One Year Book Of Hymns" (c) 1995;
Church Organ Systems 11/26/02 ; 6th March, 2004
-- http://www.churchorgansystems.com/hymnregistNOV02.html
Harry T. Burleigh -- Biography
Jones, Randye L.; AfroCentric Voice in "Classical" Music. 2002; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.afrovoices.com/burleigh.html
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Comments
King, M.L..; Advice for Living. (c) 1958; 2002; 6 April, 2004
-- http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/papers/vol4/580200-001-Advice_For_Living.htm
© 2000 nurabdurrashid@hotmail.com