dpumpernickel

1. ONE BEGINNING OF THE WAY 道可道/導, A way that can show the way, ⾮恒道殹. contradicts and runs contrary to hearts and minds constant ways, POW! 名可命, A name/concept that can designate and command, ⾮恒名也. contradicts and runs contrary to hearts and minds constant names/concepts. 無名, Nameless… without identity, before concepts, before and devoid of the impressions of language, before thought, in the void of awareness, a pure unadulterated animalistic state of instinct, 萬物之始也. is the beginning and origin of everything. 有名, To have a name, an identity, a concept, …language, 萬物之母也. is the mother, the nurturer, of everything. 故恒無欲以觀其眇/妙, Therefore, a heart and mind constantly desireless in order to clearly observe subtleties, 恒有欲以觀其所僥. a heart and mind constantly desiring in order to clearly observe things coveted. 此兩者同出, These 2 things… assemble together in presentation, 異名同謂. a distinctive name and concept unifies in report.1 ⽞之有⽞之, Profundity and ambiguity go to having profound ambiguity come about, 眾眇/妙之⾨. the door of numerous subtleties. 1. So… simultaneously, when presenting something or advancing one’s way, be both desireless and desiring. This leads to a distinctive and distinguished name. This is ambiguity, because it invites people to step through the door and try to uncover what one is really reporting! They have to read between the lines! To show the way and have the power to command and create names and concepts, break worldviews and ingrained habits by doing or saying things contrary to one’s own and others current, beliefs, and worldviews. Why does this work? Because a “right” way of doing something implies a “wrong” while in actuality these distinctions are invented. So by merging them both together, we see both sides of the coin as a whole, and then the whole thing dissolves into void. In essence, play “Opposite Day” to show the way. PLEASE, be aware of this concept and the tendency to mimic it from others… which is a tendency to be “influenced”… which is why is is essential to remain in the void (Chapter 52) and disassociate from language! Also if one is feeling shrewd, turn people’s habitual associations that they’ve mimicked over time, and shape them to one’s own ends. That means manipulating the symbols, rituals, habits, perceptions, concepts, and language that people have acquired through mimesis (and remember to delicately weave, otherwise one will contribute to furthering mimetic desire, and therefore competition and the inevitable violent scapegoating), which leads us to the last chapter, Chapter 81, that says “the way of a serene mind, is to profit and benefit, yet… not quite injure”!…Which is why it is best to cultivate this knowledge everywhere (Chapter 54)… and overall reduce desire in the first place.

Translated from https://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=jaseng54&logNo=90169460338 aka the Beijing University Laozi (Beida). Was written in Early Clerical script ~100BCE-ish? Guodian additions used Scott Cook’s: The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: A Study and Complete Translation. Written in Chu Script, ~300BCE-ish? Used almost every source available: Wiktionary (untrustworthy), zi.tools (excellent), BaikeBaidu.com (excellent), Multi-function Chinese Character Database (excellent), Dong-Chinese, Baxter-Sagart, etc, then used every ancient dictionary available: Shuowen Jiezi (all commentaries), Erya, Fangyan, Jingdian Shiwen, Tangyun, Guangyun, Peiwen, Yunfu, Kangxi, Guangya, etc. Duan Yucai has been especially helpful, and most of the translation comes directly from the correct entries of his in the Shuowen Jiezi. Also intertwined cosmology and (hopefully an accurate) ancient Chinese perception. Finally, translated directly from understanding each glyph’s image. Still probably fucked this up somewhere. This will look different in some places drastically. I have not made most of the substitutions that almost all other people have and have stuck with mostly original as interpreted in the bamboo in addition to merging meanings. You will clearly see my bias in the foreword and key. -Pumpernickel P.S. Not allowing me to upload files, here's link to Proton Drive. https://drive.proton.me/urls/HEG7TZ4ECG#ZQIuk77d9MCU

Came here to share my translation of the DDJ from the Beida Laozi.