Fetching
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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Let the reader refer to the version of the twenty-fifth chapter of Lao’s treatise, and to 1 Natur. Quaest. lib. II, cap. xlv. 2 Martineau’s ‘ Types of Ethical Theory,’ I, p. 286, and his whole ‘ Conjectural History of Spinoza’s Thought.’ 8 34 is equivalent to the Greek % 65és, the way. Where this name for the Christian system occurs in our Revised Version of the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles, the literal rendering is adhered to, Way being printed with a capital W. See Acts ix. 2; xix. 9, 23; xxii. 4; xxiv. 14, 22. CH. III. INTRODUCTION. 15 the notes subjoined to it. There T4o appears as the spontaneously operating cause of all movement in the phenomena of the universe ; and the nearest the writer can come to a name for it is‘ the Great T4o.’ Having established this name, he subsequently uses it repeatedly; see chh. xxxiv and liii. In the third paragraph of his twentieth chapter, Kwang-3ze uses a synonymous phrase instead of Lao’s ‘Great T4o,’ calling it the ‘Great Th, about which there can be no dispute, as meaning ‘the Great Path,’ ‘Way,’ or ‘Course!, In the last paragraph of his twenty-fifth Book, Kwang-jze again sets forth the metaphorical origin of the name Tdo. ‘T4o,’ he says, ‘cannot be regarded as having a positive existence ; existences cannot be regarded as non-existent. The name Tao is a metaphor used for the purpose of description. To say that it exercises some causation, or that it does nothing, is speaking of it from the phase of a thing ;—how can such language serve as a designation of it in its greatness? If words were sufficient for the purpose, we might in a day’s time exhaust the subject of the T&éo. Words not being sufficient, we may talk about it the whole day, and the subject of discourse will only have been a thing. TAo is the extreme to which things conduct us. Neither speech nor silence is sufficient to convey the notion of it. When we neither speak nor refrain from speech, our speculations about it reach their highest point.’ The T4o therefore is a phenomenon; not a positive being, but a mode of being. L4o’s idea of it may become plainer as we proceed to other points of his system. In the meantime, the best way of dealing with it in translating is to transfer it to the version, instead of trying to introduce an English equivalent for it. 2. Next in importance to T4o is the name T hien, meaning at first the vaulted sky or the open firmament of heaven. In the Confucian Classics, and in the speech of the Chinese 1 ak . The Khang-hst dictionary defines tha by 1, road or way. Medhurst gives ‘road.’ Unfortunately, both Morrison and Williams overlooked this definition of the character. Giles has also a note in loc., showing how this synonym settles the original meaning of T4o in the sense of ‘road.’ 16 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. III. people, this name is used metaphorically as it is by our- Usage of the Selves for the Supreme Being, with reference
2Giles has also a note in loc., showing how this synonym settles the original meaning of T4o in the sense of ‘road.’ 16 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. III. people, this name is used metaphorically as it is by our- Usage of the Selves for the Supreme Being, with reference term Thien. especially to His will and rule. So it was that the idea of God arose among the Chinese fathers; so it was that they proceeded to fashion a name for God, calling Him Ti, and Shang Ti, ‘the Ruler,’ and ‘the Supreme Ruler.’ The TAoist fathers found this among their people ; but in their idea of the Tao they had already a Supreme Concept which superseded the necessity of any other. The name Ti for God only occurs once in the Tao Teh Xing; in the well-known passage of the fourth chapter, where, speaking of the Tao, L4o-jze says, ‘I do not know whose Son it is; it might seem to be before God.’ Nor is the name Thien very common. We have the phrase, ‘Heaven and Earth,’ used for the two great constituents of the kosmos, owing their origin to the T4o, and also for a sort of binomial power, acting in harmony with the T4o, covering, protecting, nurturing, and maturing all things. Never once is Thien used in the sense of God, the Supreme Being. In its peculiarly Téoistic employment, it is more an adjective than a noun. ‘The Tao of Heaven’ means the T4o that is Heavenly, the course that is quiet and undemonstrative, that is free from motive and effort, such as is seen in the processes of nature, grandly proceeding and successful without any striving or crying. The Tao of man, not dominated by this Tao, is contrary to it, and shows will, purpose, and effort, till, submitting to it, it becomes ‘the Tao or Way of the Sages,’ which in all its action has no striving. The characteristics both of Heaven and man are dealt with more fully by Kwang than by Lao. Intheconclusion of his eleventh Book, for instance, he says :—‘ What do we mean by T4o? There is the T4o (or Way) of Heaven, and there is the Tao of man. Acting without action, and yet attracting all honour, is the Way of Heaven. Doing and being embarrassed thereby is the Way of man. The Way of Heaven should play the part of lord; the Way of man, the part of minister. The two are far apart, and should be distinguished from each other.’ CH. III. INTRODUCTION. 17 In his next Book (par. 2), Kwang-jze tells us what he intends by ‘Heaven:’—‘ Acting without action,—this is what is called Heaven.’ Heaven thus takes its law from the Tao. ‘The oldest sages and sovereigns attained to do the same,’—it was for all men to aim at the same achievement. As they were successful, ‘vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, quietude, silence, and non-action’ would be found to be their characteristics, and they would go on to the perfection of the Tao}
3As they were successful, ‘vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, quietude, silence, and non-action’ would be found to be their characteristics, and they would go on to the perfection of the Tao} The employment of Thien by the Confucianists, as of Heaven by ourselves, must be distinguished therefore from the T4oistic use of the name tq denote the quiet but mighty influence of the impersonal T4o; and to translate it by ‘God’ only obscures the meaning of the TAoist writers. This has been done by Mr. Giles in his version of Kwang-jze, which is otherwise for the most part so good. Everywhere on his pages there appears the great name ‘God ;’—a blot on his translation more painful to my eyes and ears than the use of ‘ Nature’ for TAo by Mr. Balfour. I know that Mr. Giles’s plan in translating is to use strictly English equivalents for all kinds of Chinese terms*. The plan is good where there are in the two languages such strict equivalents; but in the case before us there is no ground for its application. The exact English equivalent for the Chinese thien is our heaven. The Confucianists often used thien metaphorically for the personal Being whom they denominated Ti (God) and Shang Ti (the Supreme God), and a translator may occasionally, in working on books of Confucian literature,employ our name God for it. But neither Lao nor Kwang ever attached anything like our idea of God to it; and when one, in working on books of early T4oist literature, translates thien by God, such a rendering must fail to produce in an English reader a correct apprehension of the meaning. There is also in Awang-3ze a peculiar usage of the name Thien. He applies it to the Beings whom he introduces as 1 The Tao Teh Xing, ch. 25, and Awang-3ze, XIII, par. 1. 2 See ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,’ vol. i, p.1, note 2. (35) Cc 18 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. UI.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Let the reader refer to the version of the twenty-fifth chapter of Lao’s treatise, and to 1 Natur. Quaest. lib. II, cap. xlv. 2 Martineau’s ‘ Types of Ethical Theory,’ I, p. 286, and his whole ‘ Conjectural History of Spinoza’s Thought.’ 8 34 is equivalent to the Greek % 65és, the way. Where this name for the Christian system occurs in our Revised Version of the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles, the literal rendering is adhered to, Way being printed with a capital W. See Acts ix. 2; xix. 9, 23; xxii. 4; xxiv. 14, 22. CH. III. INTRODUCTION. 15 the notes subjoined to it. There T4o appears as the spontaneously operating cause of all movement in the phenomena of the universe ; and the nearest the writer can come to a name for it is‘ the Great T4o.’ Having established this name, he subsequently uses it repeatedly; see chh. xxxiv and liii. In the third paragraph of his twentieth chapter, Kwang-3ze uses a synonymous phrase instead of Lao’s ‘Great T4o,’ calling it the ‘Great Th, about which there can be no dispute, as meaning ‘the Great Path,’ ‘Way,’ or ‘Course!, In the last paragraph of his twenty-fifth Book, Kwang-jze again sets forth the metaphorical origin of the name Tdo. ‘T4o,’ he says, ‘cannot be regarded as having a positive existence ; existences cannot be regarded as non-existent. The name Tao is a metaphor used for the purpose of description. To say that it exercises some causation, or that it does nothing, is speaking of it from the phase of a thing ;—how can such language serve as a designation of it in its greatness? If words were sufficient for the purpose, we might in a day’s time exhaust the subject of the T&éo. Words not being sufficient, we may talk about it the whole day, and the subject of discourse will only have been a thing. TAo is the extreme to which things conduct us. Neither speech nor silence is sufficient to convey the notion of it. When we neither speak nor refrain from speech, our speculations about it reach their highest point.’ The T4o therefore is a phenomenon; not a positive being, but a mode of being. L4o’s idea of it may become plainer as we proceed to other points of his system. In the meantime, the best way of dealing with it in translating is to transfer it to the version, instead of trying to introduce an English equivalent for it. 2. Next in importance to T4o is the name T hien, meaning at first the vaulted sky or the open firmament of heaven. In the Confucian Classics, and in the speech of the Chinese 1 ak . The Khang-hst dictionary defines tha by 1, road or way. Medhurst gives ‘road.’ Unfortunately, both Morrison and Williams overlooked this definition of the character. Giles has also a note in loc., showing how this synonym settles the original meaning of T4o in the sense of ‘road.’ 16 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. III. people, this name is used metaphorically as it is by our- Usage of the Selves for the Supreme Being, with reference
2Giles has also a note in loc., showing how this synonym settles the original meaning of T4o in the sense of ‘road.’ 16 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. III. people, this name is used metaphorically as it is by our- Usage of the Selves for the Supreme Being, with reference term Thien. especially to His will and rule. So it was that the idea of God arose among the Chinese fathers; so it was that they proceeded to fashion a name for God, calling Him Ti, and Shang Ti, ‘the Ruler,’ and ‘the Supreme Ruler.’ The TAoist fathers found this among their people ; but in their idea of the Tao they had already a Supreme Concept which superseded the necessity of any other. The name Ti for God only occurs once in the Tao Teh Xing; in the well-known passage of the fourth chapter, where, speaking of the Tao, L4o-jze says, ‘I do not know whose Son it is; it might seem to be before God.’ Nor is the name Thien very common. We have the phrase, ‘Heaven and Earth,’ used for the two great constituents of the kosmos, owing their origin to the T4o, and also for a sort of binomial power, acting in harmony with the T4o, covering, protecting, nurturing, and maturing all things. Never once is Thien used in the sense of God, the Supreme Being. In its peculiarly Téoistic employment, it is more an adjective than a noun. ‘The Tao of Heaven’ means the T4o that is Heavenly, the course that is quiet and undemonstrative, that is free from motive and effort, such as is seen in the processes of nature, grandly proceeding and successful without any striving or crying. The Tao of man, not dominated by this Tao, is contrary to it, and shows will, purpose, and effort, till, submitting to it, it becomes ‘the Tao or Way of the Sages,’ which in all its action has no striving. The characteristics both of Heaven and man are dealt with more fully by Kwang than by Lao. Intheconclusion of his eleventh Book, for instance, he says :—‘ What do we mean by T4o? There is the T4o (or Way) of Heaven, and there is the Tao of man. Acting without action, and yet attracting all honour, is the Way of Heaven. Doing and being embarrassed thereby is the Way of man. The Way of Heaven should play the part of lord; the Way of man, the part of minister. The two are far apart, and should be distinguished from each other.’ CH. III. INTRODUCTION. 17 In his next Book (par. 2), Kwang-jze tells us what he intends by ‘Heaven:’—‘ Acting without action,—this is what is called Heaven.’ Heaven thus takes its law from the Tao. ‘The oldest sages and sovereigns attained to do the same,’—it was for all men to aim at the same achievement. As they were successful, ‘vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, quietude, silence, and non-action’ would be found to be their characteristics, and they would go on to the perfection of the Tao}
3As they were successful, ‘vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, quietude, silence, and non-action’ would be found to be their characteristics, and they would go on to the perfection of the Tao} The employment of Thien by the Confucianists, as of Heaven by ourselves, must be distinguished therefore from the T4oistic use of the name tq denote the quiet but mighty influence of the impersonal T4o; and to translate it by ‘God’ only obscures the meaning of the TAoist writers. This has been done by Mr. Giles in his version of Kwang-jze, which is otherwise for the most part so good. Everywhere on his pages there appears the great name ‘God ;’—a blot on his translation more painful to my eyes and ears than the use of ‘ Nature’ for TAo by Mr. Balfour. I know that Mr. Giles’s plan in translating is to use strictly English equivalents for all kinds of Chinese terms*. The plan is good where there are in the two languages such strict equivalents; but in the case before us there is no ground for its application. The exact English equivalent for the Chinese thien is our heaven. The Confucianists often used thien metaphorically for the personal Being whom they denominated Ti (God) and Shang Ti (the Supreme God), and a translator may occasionally, in working on books of Confucian literature,employ our name God for it. But neither Lao nor Kwang ever attached anything like our idea of God to it; and when one, in working on books of early T4oist literature, translates thien by God, such a rendering must fail to produce in an English reader a correct apprehension of the meaning. There is also in Awang-3ze a peculiar usage of the name Thien. He applies it to the Beings whom he introduces as 1 The Tao Teh Xing, ch. 25, and Awang-3ze, XIII, par. 1. 2 See ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,’ vol. i, p.1, note 2. (35) Cc 18 THE TEXTS OF TAOISM. CH. UI.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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