Tao - te ching - Chapter 14

Quote:

We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.

Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure. Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless, and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.

We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao. (Legge version.)

Commentary:

This chapter is about the actionless (as modus operandi) of the Tao, believed James Legge.

I think he is right. But they are also two commentaries I must stress.

One by Moss Roberts, about the word One; and Ma Kou's, about the last verses of the chapter.

Moss Roberts explains that the Chinese word "One" is represented as a single horizontal stroke (__), a dividing line between unmanifest and the manifest, between Tao and the ten thousand (the universe).

It is about the life that emerges and collapses in the initial unmanifest state.

In Ma Kou's version of the text, the final part reads: "Knowing of the beginning means walking (on) the way".

I think the explanation should be: the ancient (view/experience of) Tao is the same or should help us walking the Way, even today. Thus, what was once should be forever.

This expression may be found in the Gospel according to Thomas. That is, a Gnostic scripture.

Ma Kou's translation of this chapter:

What you can't see
Is called invisible
What can't be heard
Is called inaudible
What you can't touch
It's called imperceptible.

Three indecipherable elements
That merge into one.

The upside is not luminous
The lower side is not obscure.

Indefinite it cannot be named.
Shapeless Shape
Imageless Image
Twilight indistinct.

One can't see its face
Nor follow its back.
Yet who follows the ancient way
Should be master over nowadays.

Knowing of the beginning
Means walking (on) the way.

Notes:
- Moss Roberts, Dao De jing, 2001, p. 60. You should read the entire paragraph to understand the above note.

- Ma Kour, Tao Te king, Albin Michel, 1984. Chapter 14, translation from French.

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Commentary by Jhian

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