Chapter One of the TTC

[ChiDragon]

9 minutes ago, Nungali said:

it seems an ongoing thing with you Mr.  Dragon

 

Never mind. As long we and all understood the principle of  Wu Wei the same way, I'll be happy. The rest is insignificant. Peace!

Edited January 3 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

 

On 01/01/2026 at 1:41 AM, 心神 ~ said:

When I look up the meaning of each character, this is what I find: …

 

Which dictionary did you use?

 

 

[ChiDragon]

51 minutes ago, Cobie said:

Which dictionary did you use?

 

Does it matter which one it was used? At least, she picked the right one! 

[DynamicEquilibrium]

4 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

 

Does it matter which one it was used? At least, she picked the right one! 

Indeed! 

[心神 ~]

13 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

Which dictionary did you use?

 

 

The main ones are MandarinSpot, Xiaoma, and Chisho. But I pulled from quite a few for this one.

 

[Cobie]

 

1 hour ago, 心神 ~ said:

… MandarinSpot, Xiaoma, and Chisho …

These are all dictionaries for the use of the characters in modern Chinese. You need a dictionary for the meanings as used in transcripts of Classical Chinese.  There often is some difference in the meanings. I use: A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, Author: Paul W. Kroll 

 

 

Edited January 6 by Cobie

[steve]

4 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

These are all dictionaries for the use of the characters in modern Chinese. You need a dictionary for the meanings as used in transcripts of Classical Chinese.  There often is some difference in the meanings. I use: A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, Author: Paul W. Kroll 

 

 

 

May I ask, do you speak and/or read Mandarin @Cobie?

[Cobie]

These three are not the same:
 

古文 (gu3 wen2) Classical Chinese ; 

 

文言文 (wen2 yan2 wen2) Literary Chinese ; 

普通话 (pu3 tong1 hua4) Mandarin.

 

Most sinologists use the words Classical and Literary for different periods (pre/post Han).

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by Cobie

[ChiDragon]

8 hours ago, Cobie said:

These are all dictionaries for the use of the characters in modern Chinese. You need a dictionary for the meanings as used in transcripts of Classical Chinese.  There often is some difference in the meanings. I use: A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese, Author: Paul W. Kroll 

Beside using a good dictionary, you also need someone who speak the language to explain the true context for you. Otherwise, you are still working in the blind.

One day, I had dropped by a Chinese book store. I picked a book with the title of "A complete guide of Chi-Gung(氣功)" by Daniel Reid. He is an Englishman. His Chinese father-in-law introduced Chi-gung to him. So, he practiced and decided to write a book about it in English. He wrote the book with the help of many knowledgeable Chi-Gung masters in Taiwan. Especially, his wife, for her astute assistance interpreting esoteris Chinese materials. I was reading his book as I am reading it in Chinese. It seems that everything is flowing in my mind as I knew it already. 

Edited January 6 by ChiDragon

[Cobie]

 

11 minutes ago, ChiDragon said:

… you are still working in the blind.

 

Always happy to disagree with you.  

 

Quote

…. everything is flowing in my mind as I knew it already. 

That’s great, I am very happy for you. 

 

 

Edited January 6 by Cobie

[DynamicEquilibrium]

On 02/01/2026 at 5:29 PM, ChiDragon said:

 

Wu Wei is a compound character. 

Wu Wei is a term with a philosophy behind it. The word Wu is meaningless if it was treated alone here. 

無 名天地之始

If Wu is a term to name the beginning of heaven and earth it may be very close to 道.

Someone defined Wu as a synonym for Tao, so what about Wu wei as "Tao action" something like that ? 

Edited 5 hours ago by DynamicEquilibrium

[Nungali]

Except Tao   'doesnt act '      

 

 

TTC 25 : 

...  I don’t know what else to call it
so I’ll call it Tao.
What’s it like?
I can tell you this much: it’s great. ... ''

 

- Hogan translation.

[DynamicEquilibrium]

10 minutes ago, Nungali said:

Except Tao   'doesnt act '      

 

 

TTC 25 : 

...  I don’t know what else to call it
so I’ll call it Tao.
What’s it like?
I can tell you this much: it’s great. ... ''

 

- Hogan translation.

 'Tao effect' ?