Tao Te Ching: A Translation of the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian 0231118163, 9780231118163

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Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching

Translations from the Asian Classics

Translations from the Asian Classics Editorial Board Wm. Theodore de Bary， Chair Paul Anderer Irene Bloom Donald Keene George A. Saliba Haruo Shirane David D. IV. Wang Burton Watson

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching A Translation o f the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian

R O B E R T G. H E N R IC K S

Columbia University Press New York

lA i Columbia University Press Publishers Since i 8c>3 New York

Chichester, West Sussex

Copyright © 2000 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lao-tzu [Tao te ching. English] Lao Tzu*s Tao Te Ching : a translation of the startling new documents found at Guodian / Robert G. Henricks. p. cm — (Translations from the Asian Classics) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-231-11816-3 I. Henricks, Robert G., 1943II. Title. III. Series BL1900.L26E5 2000 99-37496 299'.51482— den CIP ©

Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For the two women I love，who, for reasons I do not understand, also seem to love me— — Pat and Anna

C o n te n ts

Preface

ix

A Note on the Romanization

xi

Introduction i The Site: Location and Date of the Tomb 4 The Texts Found in the Tomb 5 La 〇ii A y B, and C 6 Punctuation and the Issue of Chapter Divisions 8 Interesting Cases: Chapters 19, 30, and 63 11 The Philosophy of the "Bamboo Slip L a o \iy i j Conclusion— What Is the aBamboo Slip La 〇{iyy? 19 Translation of the uBamboo Slip La 〇i i yy Translator’s Notes z 5 Lao^i A 27 Lao^i B 83 Lao^i C iii Appendixes Appendix I. Sima Qian’s “Biography of Laozi” 133 Appendix II. Line-by-Line Comparisons isy Appendix III. Punctuation Marks and Determination of Chapter Divisions 189 Notes

19J

Bibliography Index

22g

223

Preface

Before proceeding to the introduction, the reader should be aware of two things. First， photographs and transcriptions of the bamboo slip manuscripts found at Guodian in 1993 were made public in May 1998. That means that scholarly work on these slips has just begun, and many articles are in the process of being pub­ lished. Thus some of my colleagues will surely argue that this book is premature and that translation of the a Bamboo Slip L a o \iy should await the publication of the scholarship now under way. This is a fair criticism. Many of the opinions expressed and conclusions reached in this book must be regarded as preliminary and tentative. A few years from now, I am bound to consider changing some words and lines in the translation and my understanding of what these slips are and how they are related to the complete text of La 〇{i is bound to evolve. Nonetheless, I believe that the signifi­ cance of this new find warrants bringing it to the attention of general readers and Sinologists who do not focus on early China as soon as possible. Changes to this translation, where they are needed, can be published in a second edition if there is sufficient interest. Second, in May 1998, 1 co-hosted, with Sarah Allan, an International Confer­ ence on the Guodian Lao^i at Dartmouth College. This was scheduled to coin­ cide with official release of the book Guodian Chumu ihujian 店楚墓竹簡， Bamboo Slips from the Chu Tomb at Guodian) (Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1998). At this conference, Professor Allan and I were joined by thirty-one scholars from all over the world— — specialists on the L a o ^ early Daoism, and early Chinese history, language, literature, and philosophy— for the world first academic dis­ cussion of this latest find. The stimulating exchange of ideas at the conference helped me in writing this book to an immeasurable extent. This discussion makes liberal use of the papers presented at that conference and the handouts provided

x

by some participants. When I have used someone else’s ideas， I have tried to give credit where it is due. O f the people attending the conference I must single out at least five to whom I am deeply indebted: (I) Peng Hao ( 彭？ 告)， curator of the Jingzhou Museum in Hubei province, who kindly gave me a copy of his initial transcription of the Guodian Za— materials， including the piece called “Taiyi shengshui” （ 太一 生 7jx, The Great One Gave Birth to Water). He also reviewed changes that I made to the transcription and provided useful advice. He is sharp, unassum­ ing, and clever— a delightful person with whom I hope to work for many years. (2) Tomohisa Ikeda ( 池 田 知 久 )， professor of Chinese philosophy at Tokyo University, who is a prolific scholar, probably known best in the West for his work on the “Wuxing” （ 五 f 亍 ， The Five Ways of Conduct) manuscript from Mawangdui. Professor Ikeda produced a detailed, line-by-line study of the aGuodian L a o ^ y along with his own transcription, which he freely distributed to everyone attending the conference. It is with his permission that I cite from these “notes” （ 厶々 •/，筆言己)， although he considers this work preliminary and has no plans to publish his work in this form. (3) Xing Wen (Jfß lecturer in archae­ ology at Beijing University, who is a young, exceptionally talented scholar whom I met several years ago when he was doing research at Harvard. We have kept in touch via e-mail ever since. As I worked on my translation, we had many fruitful exchanges, especially in regard to the structure and meaning of aTaiyi shengshui.M (4) William Boltz, professor of Asian languages at the University of Washing­ ton, to whom I am indebted for help with phonological issues both during and after the conference and for referring me to the valuable work on archaic pro­ nunciations by Dong Tonghe (董 fW| ^ ) . (5) Finally, I am grateful to Sarah Allan, the Burlington Northern Professor of Chinese Studies at Dartmouth College, who initially proposed that we host this conference and who knew all the right people in China to make it happen. Robert G. Henricks Hanover， N H January 1999

A Note on th e R om anization

In this book I follow the trend in the field, using the pinyin system of romanization instead of the more familiar but dated Wade-Giles system. This may initially confuse some readers， who will find “Laozi” where they expect to see “Lao Tzu” and Dao de jin g where they expect to see Tao te ching. But readers will find that the initial consonants in the pinyin system, in most cases, more accurately reflect the Mandarin pronunciation. Thus Tao te ching^ correctly pronounced, has always been “dow” （ as in “Dow Jones Industrials”) ， “duh” （ as in the word “dummy ”)， “jing” （ as in “Jingle Bells”). The problematic initial consonants when reading words in pinyin are “z” （which reads like “dz”) ， “zh” （ which is close to “j”) ， “c” (which in the Wade-Giles system would be “ts’ ”) ， “x” (which sounds like an initial “sh”)， and “q” （ which sounds like an initial “ch”). Using the pinyin system, the title of this book becomes L a o ^is Dao de jing ： A Translation o f the Startling New Documents Found at Guodian.

Bamboo slips from “La ii A ”• 〇

From a color slide, courtesy o f Peng Hao, Associate Director o f the Jingihou Museum.

Introd u ctio n

Few controversies in modern Chinese history have lasted longer and involved more scholars than that concerning Lao Tzu, the man, and Lao Tzu, the book. It has lasted for forty years, engaged dozens of debaters, and produced half a mil­ lion words. And the battle is still continuing, both in China and in the West. — W ing-tsit Chan, The Way o f Lao

1963

Archaeologists made a major find in 1973 with the discovery of two copies of the ( 老子 ） among a library of texts in a tomb at Mawangdui (,馬王堆)， South-Central China. Since this tomb had been sealed in 168 B.c., these were by far the earliest copies of this important text scholars had ever examined.' In con­ tent, these copies of Lao^i generally correspond to later editions we have of the text. Although these copies lack the chapter divisions found in current editions,2 they contain all eighty-one chapters; in fact the chapter sequence, with three exceptions, is exactly what we expect it to be.3However, for reasons still in con­ tention, Parts I and II of the book— sometimes called the “Dao” part of the book (chapters 1—37) and the aD e 9 part of the book (chapters 38—81), respec­ tively—•are reversed in the Mawangdui copies. This edition of the L a o ^ in a sense, is a De daojing instead of a Dao dejing. But in 1993 an earlier version of Za 叩•was found in a tomb at Guodian ( 郭店 ） ， Hubei province， and this new form of the text promises to be even more important than the Mawangdui copies for all readers interested in the history of how this text was composed. Study of the ZA—a/i ( 竹 簡 老 子 ， Bamboo Slip as this is called by the Chinese,4 is bound to bring back into focus an issue that has been hotly debated during the twentieth century: Exactly when— and by what means— — did the book we know as the Lao\i come into being?

The traditional Chinese position on this— which remains a popular view in the West— is that the entire book was written by a single person called the "old Master'' (Laozi), who lived at the time of Confucius, that is, around 500 b. c .5 This position is based largely on the official “Biography of Laozi，” written by Sima Qian ( 司馬遷)， the Grand Historian of China， included in his 从 々 7 ( 史 言己， Records of the Grand Historian)， a work completed around ioo b.c .6 This position was vigorously challenged by a distinguished group of young scholars writing in China in the 1920s and 1930s.7 The majority view of those scholars was that the book was clearly produced during the MWarring States'5 period (403-222 b.c .); it could not have been written by someone who lived at the time of Confucius， that is， in the “Spring and Autumn” period (722-481 b.c .) .8 Many regarded it as a book that had been written in the first half of the fourth century.9 But the most serious challenge to the traditional view came in 1963 with publi­ cation of D. C. Lau^ translation: Lao T^u: Tao Te Ching.10In Appendix 2 of this book (aThe Nature of the WorkM), Lau persuasively argued that the L a o ^ in reality， “is an anthology, compiled by more than one hand，” in which “pre-existing passages” from various sources, passages that might make quite different points but share a word or a phrase in common, have been combined by editors over the years to form what we now see as eighty-one “chapters.”11 He uses as an example the first two sections of chapter 5 in the text， arguing that “There is no connexion between the two passages other than the fact that they are both about ‘heaven and earth.’”12 Citing his translation, the sections in question read: (1) aHeaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs; the sage is ruthless, and treats the people as straw dogs/' (2) wIs not the space between heaven and earth like a bellows? It is empty without being exhausted; The more it works the more comes o u t/' On the date of the text, Lau felt that usome form of the Lao tiu existed by the beginning of the third century b. c . at the latest.”15But Lau’s contemporary and longtime colleague at the University of London, Angus Graham, in a book pub­ lished toward the end of his career, argued that theZa 〇 {/ appeared anonymously in China around 250 b.c .'4 While the views of Lau and Graham remain influential here in the West, in China, within the past decade, there has been a remarkable reversion in schol­ arly writings to the traditional view. In his translation and study of the Huangdi

如叹 ( 黃帝四經 ， Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor)， Chen Guying (陳鼓 應)， for example， flatly declared that， in his opinion ， “Za%/ is the work of one

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person and one time.”” Li Xueqin (李學勤） concurred， arguing in part that the Mawangdui “Huang-Lao” ( 黃老 ) materials rely on the But Li also recycled evidence first used in the 1920s and 1930s to show that Confucius knew Laozi and in fact criticized some of the things he said in his book.'6 Why is the ^Bamboo Slip La 〇ii" important to the discussion of this particular issue? First, the tomb in which these materials were found dates to around 300 b.c. (for more detail on this, see below); thus these materials are even older than the Mawangdui copies. But what has been found at Guodian is not a complete copy of the text， raising the possibility that the “complete text” as we know it today did not yet exist at that time. Also, only sixteen of the thirty-one chapters as for the rest, in some cases a few lines are found on these slips are “complete ”； missing (when we compare these versions with later editions), and in others all that we find is the beginning or middle part of a chapter, to which, it would appear, other sayings were added at some later date. What is now chapter 64 in the text is here seen clearly as two, distinct achaptersZ， the first twelve lines con­ stituting one achapterZ， the second nine to ten lines constituting another. Perhaps most important of all, the seventy-one slips on which we find sayings of originally constituted three different “bundles ” （ {“，糸且)， distinguished by the size and style of the slips. These three groups have been labeled i(La 〇ii A，” “B，” and “C” （ /Ya，甲； >， 乙； 知; 丙， respectively). But none of these has a title. And the fact that these sayings were grouped into three different bundles might suggest that, in the minds of those making the copies, they were actually three different “books.” We have no way of knowing if any one of these bundles, or all three bundles taken together, were understood by the tomb occupant and his contemporaries, as a book that they knew as the Lao^i. Finally, in bundle aC /' in addition to the slips containing sayings from the L a o ^ there are four­ teen slips constituting a cosmological essay, called— based on the opening lines of the piece— “Taiyi shengshui” （ The Great One Gave Birth to Water). In short, the basic questions to be answered about these bundles found at Guo­ dian are (1) What are they? (2) Exactly how are they related to the text that we now know as the La 〇{i? and (3) Where do they fit in terms of the overall history of the development of this text? We will return to these questions. But first we must say more about the tomb and the site of the tomb in which these new slips were found. Second, we must carefully review the contents of each of these “bundles” and discuss the punctuation marks on the slips and the question of “chapter divisions.”

4

The Site ：Location and Date of the Tomb The “Bamboo Slip was found in “Chu tomb no. I” （ 楚 墓 一 號 ） at Guodian. Guodian'village is presently part of Jingmen city ( 荆 門市 ） in Hubei province, but during the Warring States period it was the locus of a cemetery on Mount Ji ( 紀山， Jishan)， a cemetery that served the inhabitants of the city of Ying ( 呈 [5)• Ying was the capital of the ancient state of Chu， and it was located about 9 kilometers directly south of Jishan. According to Liu Zuxin ( 劉祖信)， director of the Jingmen City Museum, one of the archaeologists who excavated the tomb， there are twenty some “groups” of tombs that remain on Jishan ， amounting to more than 300 grave mounds: all of these await excavation.17The exploration of tomb No. 1 in October 1993 was not part of a long-range plan; the decision to carry this out was made because the tomb had been robbed, more than once in recent years, and water was getting into the tomb through a passage cut by one of the thieves.18 The date of the tomb is discussed in detail in the site report published in the journal Wenwu.'9The conclusion reached there is that the tomb dates to the middle or late middle part of the Warring States period— — that is to say, the late fourth or early third century B.c. Since the tomb is clearly a “Chu” tomb in orientation ， style, and design, burial must have occurred before 278 B.c., the year in which Chu was defeated by Qin and the city of Ying was destroyed. But the types of objects put into the tomb and the artistic motifs that adorn the grave goods suggest a late fourth-century date. Strong parallels are noted with bronzes and pottery items found at “Baoshan tomb no. 2” ( 包 山 二 號) in 】 ingmen ， which dates to 316 B.c.， and “Wàngshan tomb no. I” （ 望 山 一*號） in Jiangling ( 江陵 )， for which the date is 332 b.c .2 。 The identity of the tomb occupant is unknown. However, since there was a mound over the grave, he was clearly a member of the aristocracy, not a com­ moner. But since there were not multiple layers of coffins— — simply one inner coffin (guariy and one outer coffin (guoy — early ritual texts would place the occupant among the shi ( J t ) class, the lowest rank of the aristocracy. But there is an additional clue to this person's identity. One of the items found in the grave is an “eared cup” （ " 心:， 耳杯 )， which is inscribed with the words “Teacher of the Eastern Palace” （ 心/1踩 {Az.M心東宮之師 ) . As Li Xueqin has pointed out, since the “Eastern Palace” was the residence of the “heir apparent” （ ra々 心太子)， there is a good reason to believe that the person buried herein was his tutor.21If our dating of the tomb is correct, the deceased was the tutor of

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either Xiong Wan ( 熊完)， who assumed control as King Kaolie ( 考烈王 ） in 262 B.c” or Xiong Heng ( 熊橫 )， who became King Qingxiang ( 頃 襄 ） of Chu in 298 B.c.

The Texts Found in the Tomb This would be consistent with the types of texts put into the tomb. Instead of the “almanacs” 日書)， records of divination， and “inventories” of items sent along with the dead 遣策 ) that we find in other Chu tombs，22 the bamboo slips put into this tomb constitute a philosophical library, the type that might well have belonged to a teacher. O f the more than 800 slips found in the tomb， 730 slips have writing on them, and the documents “Zaop ， A， B， and C，” account for only 71 of those slips. When the rest were sorted by specialists, fifteen other texts were distinguished in the collection and named as follows:23(1) MTaiyi shengshui” (The Great One Gave Birth to Water)，24 (2) “Ziyi” ( 維衣 ， Black Robes)， (3) “Lu Mugong wen Zi Si” ( 魯 穆 公 問 子 思 ， Duke Mu of Lu Asked Zi Si)， (4) “Qiongda yishi” ( 窮達以時 ， Success [in Developing Virtue] Depends on Living at the Right Time)， (5) “Wuxing” ( 五行 ， The Five Ways of Conduct), (6) “Tang Yu zhi dao” (唐虞之道 ， The Ways of Yao and Shun)，” (7) “Zhongxin zhi dao” （ 忠 信 之 道 ， The Way of Loyalty and Sincerity)，（ 8) “Cheng Zhi wenzhi” （ 成之 聞 之 ， Cheng Zhi Once Heard It Said)， （ 9) “Zun deyi” （ 尊德 義， Venerate Virtue and Righteousness)， （ io) “Xing zi ming chu” （ 性自命出， Human Nature Emerges from Fate)， （ I I ) “Liu de” （ 六I碧， The Six Virtues)， and (12-15) “Yucong” ( 語 叢 ， 1， 2, 3, and 4, Collected Sayings, I ， II ， III， and IV). With the exception of “Taiyi shengshui”一 like the Lao^i a Daoist text— these materials are largely Confucian. Even more striking, it is possible that as many as eight of these texts belonged to the now-lost Zi Si ii (Master Zi Si), the collected writings of Zi Si (492—431 b.c.)— Confucius’s grandson— and his disciples, which in Han times consisted of twenty-three pian sections or chapters).26uZiyi/> which is now/j/an (chapter) 33 in the ( 禮言己， Record of Rites)， has long been regarded as the work of Zi Si? and Li Xueqin has suggested that the main text {jirtg) of a Wuxingwmight be his writing as well, with the commentary i^huan) the work of his disciples.27 The fact that “Ziyi” and “Wiixing” were apparently bundled together in the present collection seems to support this thesis.28 Also bundled together were “Lu Mugong” and “Qiongda yishi•，’ Zi Si was the teacher of Duke Mu of Lu who died in 377 b.c.29 Finally, bundled together, on slips of

6

the same length and style as those used for “Ziyi” and “Wiixing，”3。 were the selections “Cheng Zhi wenzhi，” “Zun deyi，” “Xing zi ming chu，” and “Liu de•，’ Thus the Guodian texts are a gold mine of information not only for scholars working on the La 〇{i; from them we can learn a great deal about the thought of Zi Si and the development of Confucian thought in the period between Confucius and Mencius, that is, from the fifth to the early fourth century B.c.31It is important to have translations and studies of these new texts as soon as possible.

Laozi A9B,and C Lao^i A The document labeled uLa 〇ii A" is the largest of the three groups, consisting of thirty-nine slips. The slips are 32.3 cm long ， “cornered” at the top， and the distance between the two cords that had kept the slips tied together is 13 cm. The original sequence of the slips cannot be determined since they are not numbered, and there is no indication of which slip was first and which was last. Because the content of the Lao^i passages is familiar to us, wherever a passage or chapter continues from the bottom of one slip to the top of the next, we know that the latter followed the former. But when a chapter ends at the bottom of a slip, we do not know which of a number o f possible slips came next. La 〇ii A includes five slips where a chapter begins at the top of a slip. Thus, these thirty-nine slips can be grouped into five different “units，” a unit of slips being a group of slips that we know were in sequence. Using the chapter numbers from our current editions of the Lao^i (no chapter numbers are used on the slips themselves), the “chapter” sequence in these five units is as follows: Unit i (slips 1—20) begins with what to us is chapter 19 in the L a o ^ which is followed by materials from chapters 66, 46, 30, 64 (part 2)， 37, 63, 2, and 32. Unit 2 (slips 21—23) begins with what we recognize as chapter 25 and is fol­ lowed by the middle lines of chapter 5. Unit 3 (slip 24) consists of a single slip on which we find the first six lines of what is now chapter 16. Unit 4 (slips 25—32) begins with the first half of what is now chapter 64 and is followed by chapters 56 and 57.32 Unit 5 (slips 33-39) consists of four chapters, now numbered as chapters 55, 44, 40, and 9.

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This sequence of the five units is the one used in Guodian Chumu ihujian. This is not necessarily the original sequence of these units. We do not yet know— and this is true of the “units” in all three of our bundles— which unit came first， which unit came last, and the original order of the units in between. In other words， it is not necessarily true that “chapter 19” was the first chapter in Za 叩•A and that chapter 9 was the last: Lao^i A might have begun with chapter 55, or chapter i6? and so on.33 (However, as shown below, there is reason to believe that the final unit in Lao^i A was either 4 or 5, and that unit 4 was directly pre­ ceded by unit 1.) Noting the sequence of chapters— or parts of chapters— — within each of these units, it is clear that this arrangement of the chapters in Lao^i is unlike anything we have ever encountered before.34Were the chapters that form each of these units simply chosen at random? Is this simply a collection of someone ’s favorite sayings that were copied down with no thought given to the sequence of the material? That might be one’s initial impression. But as Wàng Bo ( 王博 ) has pointed out, in reality, the chapters in each of these units seem to be grouped together by theme.35 The chapters in units 1 and 4 are all concerned in one way or another with “ruling the state” 治國)； in units 2 and 3, we find “cosmological” observations~descriptions of the Dao ( 道， the Wày) and its relation to the ten thousand things. In unit 5, the main theme is “self-cultivation” 饥 ， 修身)， with advice on how to live a long, healthy life. Wang also suggested that all the chapters in L a 〇ii B are concerned with aselfcultivation，” while those in jLao# C—-not counting the aTaiyi shengshuiwselec­ tion— return to the matter of “ruling the state.” This is a thesis readers should keep in mind when reading the translations.36 In addition, reflection needs to be given to the sequence of chapters and parts of chapters in each of the units— is there significance to this particular order? This is something that has not as yet been addressed. Lao^i B Lao^i B consists of eighteen slips. The slips are 30.6 cm long, level on top, and

the distance between the cord marks is 13 cm. Here too, we can distinguish some units in the collection, although we do not know how these units were arranged when the slips were still tied together. Unit i (slips i - S j begins with what is now chapter 59 in the text, followed by portions of chapters 48 and 20. The unit ends with the full text of chapter 13.

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Unit 2 (slips ^-12) consists o f a single selection~chapter 41. Unit 3 (slips 13-18) begins with what are now the middle six lines of chapter 52, followed by chapters 45 and 54 in their entirety.37

La ii C consists of twenty-eight slips. Chapters from theZa 〇{z account for four­ teen of the slips, with MTaiyi shengshuiw constituting the rest. These slips are 26.5 cm long, level on top, and the distance between the cord marks is 10.8 cm. As noted above, aTaiyi shengshuiMis treated as a separate text in Guodian Chumu ihujian^ though the editors note the possibility that these slips were originally part of La ii C.38 There seems no reason to doubt that this was true, since the aTaiyi,J slips are the same length and style as the slips in Lao^i C, and the callig­ raphy is the same. Unit i (slips 1—3) consists of chapters 17 and 18 in the La {i. Unit 2 (slips 4 S ) is now chapter 35 in the Lao^i. Unit 3 (slips 6-10) is an abbreviated version of what is now chapter 31. Unit 4 (slips 11—14) consists of the second half of what is now chapter 64 in the text, but this is a different version of the same set of lines found in unit 1in Lao^i A. t/mr 5 卜沒，on/?. zjJ is “Taiyi shengshui，” part i. on/?. ^ is “Taiyi shengshui，” part 2. U nity (slips 10-14, onpp. 13—14) is aTaiyi shengshui/' part 3.39 As mentioned above, these “units” were not necessarily in this order in the original bundle of slips, and one of the things we need to ponder— both as scholars and as readers— is other ways in which these units could be arranged. In that way we might well discover a sequence that makes better sense in terms of the overall presentation of ideas in each of these documents.40 〇

〇

〇

Punctuation and the Issue of ChapteT Divisions The division of the Lao^i into its current eighty-one chapters was apparently done by Liu Xiang ( 劉向， c. 79~c. 6 B.c.). Liu Xin (劉飲 )，his son, quotes his father as saying: When we collated the text of the L a o ^ the imperial copy had two sections [— "]， the Grand Historian’s copy had only one section, while my own copy also had two sections. Taken together, internal and external copies

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provided a total of five sections; 143 chapters. We removed duplications, which amounted to three pian— 62 chapters— establishing a text in two parts with 81 chapters. The ‘upper book’ was put first， with 37 chapters， while the ‘lower book’ came second， with 44 chapters.4丨 The evidence seems to suggest that this division of the text into eighty-one chapters had nothing to do with determining where the text should be divided based on ideas and rimes. Rather， it was apparently based on “Yin and Yang” considerations: “81” is the perfect “Yang” number， the product of nine times nine. Throughout Chinese history, other ways were proposed for dividing the text. Yan Zun (嚴遵 [or Zhuang Zun ， 莊遵])， for example， divided the text into seventy-two chapters， while Wu Cheng ( 吳澄， 1249—1331) in the Yuan dynasty argued that the correct number of chapters should be sixty-eight.42Nonetheless, eighty-one remained the most popular number of chapter divisions, and it is the number of chapters we find in most editions of the Lao^i today. Looking back on what we know of the text before Liu Xiang made his divi­ sions— there is no punctuation in copy B of the Mawangdui manuscripts that would indicate chapter divisions. But in part II of copy A, there are black dots (•) in the text that seem to indicate where new chapters begin. There are eighteen of these dots; in most cases these confirm current chapter divisions. But there are exceptions: (1) the first two lines of chapter 46— — “When the world has the Way, ambling horses are retired to fertilize fields. When the world lacks the Way, war horses are reared in the suburbs”一 are set off from the rest of the chapter as a separate saying. (2) Chapter 51 is regarded as two distinct sayings (lines 1-5 and 6—10); they appear to have been put together because both sayings begin with the words “The Way gives birth to them” (t/aö Men度{A/， 道生之 ) • (3) The opening lines of chapter 52— — aThe world had a beginning which can be consid­ ered the mother of the world,>— are distinguished from the middle part of the chapter， that is,the lines that begin “Block up the holes, Close the doors.” （ 4) The first line of chapter 72— “When the people don’t respect those in power， then what they greatly fear is about to arriveM— is treated as a separate saying from the rest of the chapter. (5) Chapter 75 is here presented as two separate sayings (lines 1-6, and 7—11); again， these are sayings that begin in similar ways (“The reason why people starve，” and “The reason why people take death lightly”). It is also possible that chapter 64 was regarded as two distinct sayings in copy A as it is in the Guodian slips. But the silk is rotted away at the start of line io5where punctuation might have occurred.43

The Guodian slips are peppered with punctuation. We can distinguish four different marks or signs: (i) a sign consisting of two short strokes or lines (=); any character followed by these lines should be repeated. If a phrase or line is to be repeated, this sign is normally placed after each character in that phrase or line. (2) A short, thin line— like a hyphen or dash ( ). These lines are normally used internally in chapters to distinguish different parts of the chapter in much the same way— and in many of the same places— as a mark that resembles a back­ ward comma— — printed as (Z )— — was used in copy A of the Mawangdui manu­ scripts. (3) The sign that normally marks the end of a chapter is a small, black square ( ■ ) placed on the right side of the slip following the final character in the final line of the chapter. (4) There is a sign found only in Lao\i A— —Z — where it occurs at the end of chapters 9 and 57; this may indicate the end of a pian in the document as a whole.44 Wang Bo has proposed— and I agree— that units I and 4 (which ends with chapter 57) formed one of thesepian^ with units 2, 3, and 5 (which ends with chapter 9) constituting the other.45 Although punctuation normally helps clarify chapter divisions, the punctu­ ation marks noted above unfortunately are not used consistently throughout our sources; in some cases— in chapters 46 and 30, for example— the thin line normally used internally in chapters at the end of sentences or sections seems to indicate the end of the chapter. In addition, marks are sometimes used where they do not belong, being inserted one line or one character too soon (see notes to chapters 15 and 30). Consequently, there will probably be disagreements on what constitute chapter boundaries in these new sources. That said, if one uses this punctuation cautiously, while paying attention to other indicators as w ell/6how does the material on the Guodian slips seem to be divided in terms of chapters? Conclusions here are tentative in many cases, but my results can be summarized as follows (for a more detailed, chapter-by-chapter discussion of this problem, see appendix III): i. Chapters that are already complete. The following chapters in later editions are already understood to be achapters,> in the Guodian slips, and, generally speaking, the Guodian versions vary little in content and length from what we find in later editions. In most cases the wording is almost exactly the same. The chapters in question are 2, 9, 13,19,47 25, 35, 37, 40, 41， 44, 54,55,56,57,59, and 66. Keeping in mind that material from only thirty-one chapters of the Lao\i is represented in the Guodian slips， the number of chapters that are “complete ”一 sixteen— is not insignificant. Also, since all but four of these chapters— — 9, 37, 44?and 59—•were understood by D. C. Lau to be the products of editorial work,

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if Lau was correct, then the editing of these particular chapters must have been done before 300 B.c.， in fact， probably W /b efo re 300 b.c.48 2. Chapters that are slightly longer in later editions. Here I would include chap­ ters 15, 30, 31, 45, 46, and 48.49 In each of these cases we find a few additional lines at the beginning or end of the chapter in later editions. In chapters 15 and 45, those lines are already “in place,” so to speak， in the Guodian slips， but they are distinguished from the main body of the chapter by punctuation. 3. Passages to which a good deal has been added toform the chapter as wefin d it in later editions. What later become chapters 5, i6y 20, 52, and 63 are partial and incomplete in the Guodian slips. From chapter 5 we have only the middle lines of the chapter, which begin aThe space between heaven and earth— is it not like a bellows?,， î〇 In later editions, this section is preceded by four lines and followed by two. Similarly， the middle lines of chapter 52 (“Close the gates， block the holes>,) form a chapter in Lao^i B, but in later editions, parallel sayings of four lines each precede and follow these lines.51 From what would turn into chapters 16 and 20~ b o t h quite long— we have only the six or seven lines with which later forms of these chapters begin. Finally, in the Guodian slips the initial and final three lines of chapter 63 are smoothly seamed together to form a “chapter”； in later editions nine lines have been inserted between these six. 4. Two chapters^ which in later editions are one. What is now chapter 64 is clearly two chapters in the Guodian slips. As noted, two rather different versions of the second half of chapter 64 are found in La {i A and Lao^i C. Chapter 32, in later editions, might also belong in this group, since punctuation indicates that the first four lines are distinct from lines 5—12. But connections between these two sections are such that the punctuation mark may be an error (see the translation below). 5. One chapter^ which in later editions is two. Chapters 17 and 18 are clearly a single chapter in the Guodian slips; they are in sequence, with the first line of “chapter 18” beginning with the w ord 发 “ （ 古夂， therefore)* This is clearly the case 〇

in the Mawangdui copies of Lao^i as well.

Interesting Cases: Chapters 19, 30, and 63 There are quite a few chapters in the Guodian corpus that are either word-forword identical to later editions, or contain the occasional variant, but variants that do not greatly change our understanding of that chapter^ message. Naturally, there are exceptions, which are sure to be the focus of a good deal of research and writing. The following comments briefly on three of those chapters.

n

i. Chapter 19：The Guodian form of this chapter is potentially very signif cant; there has already been a good deal of discussion about it. This chapter normally reads: 、 1 2 3 4 5 6

Eliminate sageliness, get rid of knowledge, And the people will benefit a hundredfold. Eliminate humanity, get rid of righteousness, And the people will return to filial piety and compassion. Eliminate craftiness, get rid of profit， And there will be no robbers and thieves.

7 8

These three sayings, regarded as a text 卜饥 ， 文] are not yet complete. Thus we must add to them the following things:

9 Manifest simplicity and embrace the genuine. 10 Lessen self-interest and make few your desires.

Many scholars over the years, the present author included, have argued that the first line of chapter 20— “Eliminate learning and you will have no distress” 〇尤從 絕 學 無 憂 )一 should be the last line of chapter 19. Like lines 9 and 10, this is a four-character line, set out in the same grammatical pattern— verb-object verb-object.52If there are "three sayings^ that are not complete, surely three lines are needed at the end of the chapter. But in the Guodian slips, there is a full stop ( ■ ) at the end of line 10, which is followed by the beginning of chapter 66. Moreover, the line in question — "Eliminate learning and you will have no distress”一-occurs in Lao\i B (B ： 3)? where it is the first line in the the initial section of what is now chapter 20. But that is not the crucial thing in this new version of chapter 19. What is important in this form of the chapter is that there are significant variants in lines 1， 3, and 7. In place of “sageliness” （ Men发 ， 聖 ） in the Guodian slips we find the character 友 ； in place of ren ( 仁） a n d ( 義， humanity and righteousness), we find the characters 愚 and J意； and in place of the word wen ( 文， text) in line 7, we find the character 叟 • In the Wenwu transcription ， 友 is read as a phonetic loan (yYayVep， f段借字) for the word 心an ( 多 詳， argumentation); the character 愚 is understood as a variant writing of 偽 （ …以，hypocrisy)， and the character 慮， there written /意， is understood to mean 詐 (0 a ， deceit)， since the phonetic element in the character 慮 appears to be 且 which in archaic times was pronounced

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the same way as 詐 • Finally， the character 叟 in line 7 is understood to mean 男 辛 (Jbian^ distinctions).53 So, our translation of the Guodian form of the chapter— in which lines 5 and 6 occur before lines 3 and 4— would be something like this: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Eliminate knowledge, get rid of argumentation, And the people will benefit one hundredfold. Eliminate craftiness， get rid of profit, And there will be no robbers and thieves. Eliminate hypocrisy, get rid of deceit, And the people will return to filial piety and compassion.

7 8

But these three sayings, regarded as a distinction, are not complete. And perhaps we should add to them the following things.

9 Manifest simplicity, embrace the genuine, 10 Lessen self-interest, and make few your desires. “Sageliness” and “humanity and righteousness” are valued by the Confucians: For Confucius himself， “humanity” (a n ， often translated as “benevolence”) was the queen of the virtues. Thus, the Guodian form of this chapter— — in which these words do not occur— at first sight appears to be much less “anti-Confucian” than the chapter 19 in all later editions of Lao\L What does this mean? What are we to make of these changes? Put it this way: Is the Guodian chapter the original form of the chapter, which was changed at some point to make the chapter more pointedly anti-Confucian? Or?is the wording in later editions the original wording, meaning that the Guodian chapter was altered by someone who wished to downplay the anti-Confucian tone of the book? Recall that the other texts found in this tomb were predominantly Confucian.H This revelation will generate a lot of discussion, as well it should. One question raised is whether these two questions sum up all our options. It is conceivable, after all, that there never was an “original” version of the jLao". That is， given the work of Michael LaFargue and others who point to signs of aorality>, in so many parts of this book (three- to four-line series that are metric, parallel, and rimed), it is possible that slightly different versions of some of these chapters, or portions of chapters, circulated in China before any form of the text was written down.55Moreover, different versions of parts of the text could have been written d o w n e r the first time^ at different times in different parts of the country. The

i3

14

two versions of part 2 of chapter 64 included in the Guodian slips could be one indication that this was so. If it is the case； nonetheless, that one of these versions of the opening lines of chapter 19 was changed, I am inclined to think that the Guodian wording is the original wording and that the words “sageliness” and “humanity and righteousnessMwere later inserted as substitutions, possibly as a way of making the chap­ ter a statement against the philosophy of Mencius (fl. 350 B.c.). As we know, Mencius was fond of talking about uren and j r / ' and, unlike his master Confucius, he believed that everyone had the potential to become a “Sage.”0 Before leaving this chapter, let me note that I do not agree with the Wenwu transcription of the odd characters in lines 1， 3, and 7. My choices are explained below in the notes to my translation, but, for the moment at least, I would read 芙 as 辨 distinctions),7 愚 as 彳 匕（ Ai/a， transformation) as it is read elsewhere in the text, and 慮 as a variant writing of 慮 (/“， deliberation ， forethought, or planning).58Finally, I am inclined to understand ^ in line 7 as a variant writ­ ing of {shiy duty, mission, or agenda), which is the way it is read in chapter 55 {La ii A, A:i7).59Thus, my translation reads: 〇

1 2 3 4 5 6

Eliminate knowledge, get rid of distinctions, And the people will benefit one hundredfold. Eliminate artistry, get rid of profit, And there will be no robbers and thieves. Eliminate transformation, get rid of deliberation, And the people will return to filial piety and compassion.

7 8

But these three sayings regarded as your mission are not complete. And perhaps we should add to them the following things:

9 Manifest simplicity, embrace the genuine, 10 Lessen self-interest, and make few your desires.

I understand this as advice for someone who is planning to rule. And the ad vice—-as is commonly true in the L a 〇ii — is the opposite of what a ruler might think he should do. Should he not be a promoter of ^knowledge/' who encour­ ages artistic endeavors and actively atransformsMthe people through education, making them morally good? Should he not be someone who “deliberates” and “carefully thinks over” the daily affairs (jä 心事) of running the state?60 In the political thought of the Lao^i the answer to these questions is aNo.MAs we find

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out in chapters 37 and 57, the Daoist ruler udoes nothing, and the people transform on their own” (tvwive/ " zmn {/Ar/a， 無爲而民自 彳 匕) .6l If this reading is right， chapter 19 is still very “anti-Confucian，” but it is not yet “anti-Mencian.”62 2. Chapter3〇\ Punctuation separates the last line of chapter 46 (A ： 3) from the first line of chapter 30 (A:4)， but the mark used is the thin line normally found inside a chapter at the end of a sentence or section. In this case, since chapters 46 and 30 are clearly distinct in terms of ideas and message, this mark must indicate the end of a chapter. The Guodian version of chapter 30 consists of nine lines, but in later editions this is a much larger chapter. What is striking about this version of chapter 30 is that it really seems to be a “bare bones” form of the chapter, containing the lines needed to make the point and no more. Perhaps the best way to show this is to highlight the lines added in later editions by italicizing them in the translation.63 1 2

One who uses the Way to assist the ruler of men, Does not desire to use weapons to force his way through the land. Such deeds easily rebound. In places where armies are stationed^ thorns and brambles will grow. Great wars are always followed by famines.64

3 4

One who is good at such things achieves his result and that’s all. He does not use the occasion to make himself stronger still.

5 6 7

He achieves his result but does not brag about it; He achieves his result but is not arrogant about it; He achieves his result but is not conceited about it. He achieves his result^ y et he abides with the result because he has no choice.

8 9

This is called “achieving your result but not being vicious. Such deeds are good and endure. When things reach their prime, they get old； IVe call this “not the Way.” What is not the Way will come to an early end.

Line 9 in the Guodian form of the chapter ends the chapter with a fitting comment; the three lines tacked on to this in later editions seem only tangentially related to the main point of the chapter.65

15

The other change made in later editions is that the final line in the Guodian version— aSuch deeds are good and endure^ {qi ski hao change Ä ^ — was changed to aSuch deeds easily rebound>, {qi shi hao huany Ä ^ 3§) and was transposed to become line 3 in the chapter.66 3. Chapter 63: This version of what we know as chapter 63 of the text includes the first three lines of the chapter and the last two lines of the chapter, conflates lines 4 and 13, and omits the rest (a total of nine lines, i.e., the bulk of the chap­ ter). Line 4 normally reads ''Regard the small as large and the few as many'' (Jojcrao 也oyAao,大 /J 、 多少 )， with line 13 reading “Those who regard many things as easy will necessarily end up with many difficulties” ▲o/um， 多易 ;必 多難 )• The combination here reads “In affairs large or small， the more things you take to be easy, the more difficulties there are bound to be^ {daxiao {hi ▲ c jy r ü o n a n ，大 小 之 多 易 必 多 難 ) • So the translation of the chapter becomes: 1 2 3

Act without acting; Serve without concern for affairs; Find flavor in what has no flavor.

4

In affairs large or small, the more things you take to be easy the more difficulties there are bound to be. Therefore even the Sage regards things as difficult, And as a result in the end he has no difficulties.

5 6

Now the apparent “gap” in this chapter— in which the entire middle part of the chapter is missing (about fifty characters)— could be explained by sloppy copying. That is, as the copyist was writing this down, he skipped over the one or two slips on which the middle part of the chapter was written.67 The first two words in line 4— 大 小 （daxiao) — were at the bottom of one slip, while line 13一 多 易 必 多 難 (duoyi duo nan)一 was at the top of another slip, but a slip that was two more slips to the left. The problem with that solution is that line 4 in the Guodian slips isfully integratedby the possessive particle ^ ({Ar), making it likely that the nine additional lines in later additions were inserted into what was originally this short, unified statement. It is also important to note that one of the lines omitted in this form of the chapter— aRepay resentment with kindness^ {baoyuanyi dey nor­ mally line 5 in the chapter— is often brought forth as evidence that the Lao^i was

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in existence at the time of Confucius, the argument being that when Confucius is asked to comment on this saying in Analects 14:34, the source of the saying must be chapter 63 in the La 〇{i.6S Clearly this argument is not supported by what must be recognized as the earliest, known form of the chapter.

The Philosophy of the 4lBainboo Slip Laozi Since the Guodian slips contain material from only thirty-one of the present eighty-one chapters in the L a o ^ in attempting to understand what these three bundles are, we must pay attention to what is and is not included in these bundles in terms of the “philosophy” of the text. In other words， given the range of ideas, concepts, terms, and phrases that are familiar to us from current editions of the La 〇{iyare those ideas, terms, phrases, and so on, all present in this selection of sayings， or are some things left out? Do the passages cited mention the Dao, the “Way ”？ Is the Way fully described as the source of heaven and earth and the ten thousand things? Is it referred to as the “mother” of the ten thousand things， who nourishes and develops each of those things, bringing it to maturity? Is the Way described as something that cannot be heard or seen, as something that seems to “do nothing” （ 職寶心無爲)， while at the same time there is nothing that is left undone? Are people urged to “lessen” or “make few” their desires， and to “desire not to desire，” trying instead to “know when they have enough” 知足)？And what of the “Sage，” or the Sage ruler 饥 ，聖人)？Is he said to be someone who is thoroughly selfless, someone who "completes his affairs” yet wants no credit for all that he does? Is he someone who “serves with no concern for affairs” (jA/ 事 無 事 )？Do our chapters include those chapters that celebrate the power of aw ater/5 seeing it as a model of how the weak wins out over the rigid and strong? Is the “female” mentioned as being important with attention paid to the feminine, passive mode of action? Do we find the distinction made between “Being” （ yo“ ， 有） and “Non-being” （ 職，無） that we find in the complete form of the text? And so on. Actually, this is a surprisingly well-rounded treatment of Daoist thought as we know it from the Lao^i given the fact that we are dealing with only two-fifths of the text. Six of the ten chapters in the Lao^i in which wuwei (nonaction, to do nothing) is mentioned are included in the Guodian slips; both chapters that men­ tion wushi (aserve without concern for affairsM) are here.69All the chapters, save one, in which the word ^ {puy genuine, natural, uncarved wood) occurs are included in the Guodian corpus (15, 19, 32, 37, 57, but not 28)， and two of the

17

three chapters in which 知 足 （{A r» is mentioned in the are found in this collection (44 and 46, but not 33). Both chapters urging readers to 知止 to know when it is time to stop), 32 and 44, are also here. Still some terms are conspicuous by their absence, and some ideas are not developed or do not receive very full treatment. Whether these “omissions” are significant is one of the things that needs to be studied. In the meantime, follow­ ing are some of the omissions that I have noted. 1. O f the chapters in the Lao^i that go into detail in discussing the Dao— chapters 1，4, 6,14, 25, 34,51， and 52 (opening lines)— only one is present in the Guodian slips, chapter 25. 2. In the La {iythe Dao is sometimes referred to as the uOnew; the key chapters on this are i 〇? 14, 22, 39, and 42. None of these is included in these sources. 3. O f the chapters that mention the “Way of heaven” （ rranJao, 天道 ， or r/an 天 之 道 )，only one is represented— chapter 9. The other chapters in which this phrase occurs in the La {i are 47, 73, 77, 78, and 79. (Note that the Guodian bundles contain nothing from the Lao\i beyond chapter 66. Could chapters 67—81 in the Lao^i represent writings from some other source?)70 In this regard, we might also mention that the aantiaristocracyMchapters, which accuse the rich of living it up at the expense of the poor, are also in this later section~chapters 72,75,79,80, and 81— which do not show up on the Guodian slips. 4. Very little is made of the effectiveness of the feminine mode of behavior or of the passive and weak overcoming the active and strong. The key chapters on this are 28, 36, 43, 6 i? 76, and 78. Related to this in a way, the chapters in which water is used as a prominent symbol— chapters 8,34,43, and 78—-are also miss­ ing from the Guodian slips. (But water does play a significant cosmological role in aTaiyi shengshui,> in La {i C.) 5. Only two of the five chapters in which the Dao is referred to as “mother” are found in our slips— chapters 25 and 59. The other references to the umother>, are in chapters 16,20, and 52, but in the parts of those chapters that are not found in the Guodian slips. In addition, as Xing Wen has already noted, the "m other/ infant” metaphor— as a way of describing the relationship of the Way and the ten thousand things— does not appear in these slips.7' The key chapters are 20, 34, and 52; again, we have some lines from 20 and 52, but not these lines. Related to this, readers are j g e d several times in the Za 叩 •to “be like an infant” （y— W， 嬰 兒 or 赤子)； the lines— in chapters 10, 20, and 28— are not included in this selection.72 〇

〇

〇

Inroduction 6.

F in a lly , o n e o f th e c o m m o n p h ra s e s in th e Lao\i is " T h e r e f o r e th e S a g e /'

O fte n a t th e e n d o f c h a p te rs , fo llo w in g m a x im s th a t tell u s h o w th in g s s h o u ld o r s h o u ld n o t b e d o n e , w e find th e w o rd s “ T h e r e f o r e th e S ag e (d o e s s o - a n d - s o ) ” o r “ T h e r e f o r e th e S ag e (s a y s s o - a n d - s o ) .” In all cases， th e se lin e s a re re g a rd e d b y D . C . L a u as e d ito ria l c o m m e n ts .73 O f th e tw e n ty c h a p te rs in th e Lao^i in w h ic h th is p h ra s e o c c u rs — c h a p te rs 2, 3, 7 ,1 2 , 22, 26, 27, 29, 4 7 ,5 7 ,5 8 , 63, 64, 6 6 , 7 0 ， 72, 73, 77, 78, a n d 79— o n ly five a re p re s e n t in th e G u o d ia n slip s ( 2 , 57, 63, 64 ， a n d 6 6 ), a n d it is o m itte d in th is v e rs io n o f c h a p te r 6 6 .74

Conclusion

一

VtHiat Is the ''Bamboo Slip Laozi"?

T h e m a in q u e s tio n fo r u s to a n sw e r is: W h a t is th is c o lle c tio n o f slip s called th e " B a m b o o Slip Lao^i^ o r th e ^ G u o d ia n La {i9y? In th e m in d o f th e to m b o c c u ­ 〇

p a n t a n d h is c o n te m p o ra rie s , w h a t w a s in th e se th re e b u n d le s o f slips? D id a n y o n e o f th e m , o r a n y c o m b in a tio n o f th e m , c o n s titu te a a te x tMin th e ir m in d s? I f so, w o u ld th e y h a v e said th e n a m e o f th a t te x t w as th e La {i? R e g a rd le s s o f h o w 〇

th a t q u e s tio n is a n s w e re d , sin ce th is is n o t a c o m p le te v e rs io n o f La iiy a n d m a n y 〇

uc h a p te r s ,> in th e s e b u n d le s a re n o t c o m p le te , and th e c h a p te r s e q u e n c e , w h e re it c a n b e k n o w n , is u n re la te d to w h a t w e find in o u r m o d e rn e d itio n s , w h e re d o w e lo c a te th e se m a te ria ls in th e o v e ra ll h is to ry o f th e text? B efo re I ta k e a s ta n d o n th e se issu es o r p re s e n t m y c u rre n t th o u g h ts o n th e m , le t m e b e g in b y p re s e n tin g s o m e o f th e p ro p o s a ls a lre a d y m a d e b y o th e rs , in th e o r d e r in w h ic h th e y w e re p u b lis h e d . 1. In o n e o f th e e a rlie s t a rtic le s p u b lis h e d o n th e G u o d ia n fin d ， C u i R e n y i

(催

仁 義 ）to o k th e p o s itio n th a t th e se b u n d le s a re a c tu a lly th re e d iffe re n t b o o k s o r c o lle c tio n s o f sa y in g s a n d th a t ta k e n to g e th e r th e y c o n s titu te d o n e o f th e so u rc e s u s e d b y s o m e o n e to p ro d u c e th e b o o k th a t w e n o w k n o w as th e Z a 〇 {/.75 ( T h is is a d a rin g p ro p o s a l fo r a s c h o la r in C h in a to m ak e, a n d I sa lu te h im fo r h a v in g th e c o u ra g e to d o so.) In a d d itio n , h e a rg u e d th a t a De dao jing^ o f th e s o rt fo u n d at M a w a n g d u i, w a s n o n e th e le s s in e x isten c e s h o rtly a fte r th is tim e sin ce H a n Feizi (c. 280?—233 B .c.) c ites fro m a Lao^i in w h ic h th e D e a n d D a o se c tio n s w e re in th a t o r d e r .76 2. L i X u e q in a rg u e d in 1998 in a n e w sp a p e r a rtic le th a t th e “ G u o d ia n Z a 〇 { /” w a s o n e o f m a n y e d itio n s o f th e Lao^i c irc u la tin g in e a rly C h in a .77 H e c o n n e c te d th is p a rtic u la r v e rs io n w ith th e “ G u a n -L a o ” ( 關 老 ) b ra n c h o r sch o o l o f D a o is m ， in w h ic h th e c o n c e p t “ T a iy i” （ th e G re a t O n e ) p la y e d a sig n ific a n t ro le . (S o fo r L i, th e a T a iy i s h e n g s h u i>, in L ao\i C is c le a rly m e a n t to b e p a r t o f th e a te x t.>,)

19

20

T h e basis fo r a ssu m in g th a t th e re w âs su ch a “ sc h o o l” w ith th is p a rtic u la r em p h asis is fo u n d in c h a p te r 33 o f th e Zhuang^i

in w h ic h w e find th e w o rd s :

D eem in g the ro o t to be q u in tessen tial—•in c o n tra st w ith th e c ru d ity o f the th in g s w hich g ro w from it— deem in g it in ad eq u ate to be g u id ed by accum ulation o f preced en ts and-illum ined [shenming?

一

serenely sw elling alone w ith th e daem o n ic0 ^ ]— som e o f the ancient tra d itio n o f the

W ay is to be found in these, and G u a n Y in and O ld D a n [Lao D a n = Laozi] g o t w ind o f them and d elig h ted in them . T h e y fo unded th em in th a t w hich fo rev er is n o w h ere a n y th in g , and recognized as the so v ereig n o f them th e Suprem e O n e \^hu \h iy i taiyi^

主 之 以 太 一*]， th e y

deem ed

gentleness and w eakness, m o d esty and in fe rio rity to be th e ir m an ifesta­ tions, and em ptiness, tenuity, n o t d a m ag in g th e m yriad th in g s, to be th e ir substance.78

W h a t L i's th e sis d o e s n o t e x p la in is w h y , i f th is is a n a e d itio n >, o f th e Lao\i^ it is n o t c o m p le te : W h y a re so m a n y c h a p te rs o m itte d ? T h e o th e r s tu m b lin g b lo c k fo r m a n y o f u s in th e W est is th e a s s u m p tio n th a t G u a n Y in

(關尹 )

w a s a h is -

to ric a l p e rs o n (a s s u m in g th a t “ G u a n Y in ” is o n e a n d th e sam e as Y in X i [尹 喜 ， th e “ K e e p e r o f th e P a s s ”一 guanling9

th e p e rs o n w h o , S im a Q ia n te ll

u s, ask ed L ao zi to w rite th is b o o k in th e first p la c e .)79 3.

A fa s c in a tin g th e sis h a s b e e n d e v e lo p e d b y th e s c h o la r G u o Y i

( 享 斤 ) .8o

G u o b e lie v e s th a t th e c h a p te r s e q u e n c e in th e G u o d ia n b u n d le s is s u p e r io r to th e c h a p te r se q u e n c e in c u rre n t e d itio n s o f th e L a o ^ sin ce in m a n y cases, as n o te d , s e q u e n tia l c h a p te rs a re h e re c o n n e c te d b y th e m e . I n a d d itio n , as h e c o rre c tly p o in ts o u t, th e in itia l lin e s o f c h a p te r 48 c o m b in e d w ith th e in itia l lin e s o f c h a p ­ te r 20, w h ic h d ire c tly follow , m ak e v e r y g o o d sen se as a sin g le , u n ifie d c h a p te r. H e a lso sees a c o n n e c tio n w ith th e Zhuangii in te rm s o f c o n s tru c tio n . T h is L a o ^ like th e Zhuang^ is d iv id e d in to th re e pian^ w h ic h m ig h t b e called — as th e y a re in th e Zhuangii— “ N e i p ia n ” ( 内

篇， O u te r

篇 ， In n e r

S e c tio n )— Z a 叩•A ， ‘‘W ai p ia n ”

（ 夕f

S e c tio n )— Z ao p . B ， a n d “ Z a p ia n ” ( 雜 篇 ， M isc e lla n eo u s S e c tio n )—

Z a o " G ' (A c tu a lly ，

C

心r a th e r

“ m is c e lla n e o u s ” in c h a ra c te r, th e c h a p te rs

see m less fo c u se d in te rm s o f th e m e , a n d o n e th in g in c lu d e d is a s e c o n d v e rs io n o f th e sam e lin e s fro m 64 th a t a re a lre a d y fo u n d in L a {i A .) 〇

B u t G u o ^ m o st c re a tiv e th e sis is th a t th e re w e re a c tu a lly tw o d iffe re n t Lao^is in a n c ie n t C h in a . T h e first w a s w r itte n ， as S im a Q ia n tells u s ， b y L i E r o r Li D an

(李聃 ) ， a ro u n d

(李耳)，

th e tim e o f C o n fu c iu s ， a n d G u o ’s c o n v ic tio n is th a t it

Inroduction is p re c is e ly th a t te x t— th e “ T h r e e - S e c tio n Z a 叩 ” 一 th a t h a s b e e n fo u n d a t G u o d ia n . T h e se c o n d , th e fo r e r u n n e r o f all m o d e rn e d itio n s , w a s w ritte n b y th e se c o n d D a n S im a Q ia n m e n tio n s ， D a n ( 檐

） th e G ra n d H is to ria n o f Z h o u ， w h o

m e t w ith D u k e X ia n o f Q in in 374 B.c.82 T h e first Lao^i w a s ta k e n o v e r in fu ll b y th is s e c o n d D a n , b u t to th is h e a d d e d m a te ria ls o f h is o w n . A ll th e c h a p te rs in o u r c o m p le te e d itio n s o f th e L a {i th a t d e al w ith th e Ma rts o f ru lin g ^ (wang shuy 〇

王術)，

a n d all th e c h a p te rs w ith a “ L e g a lis t” feel to th e m w e re c o n trib u te d b y

th is se c o n d a u th o r, a c c o rd in g to G u o .83 4.

X in g W è n ( 邢 文 ) ， like h is m e n to r L i X u e q in ， a rg u e s th a t th e “ G u o d ia n

La ii" w a s a d iffe re n t v e rs io n o f th e L a o \i fro m th e o n e th a t serv ed as th e a n c e sto r 〇

o f o u r c u r r e n t e d itio n s (yVn心n Z a o p • ，今 本

老 子 ) . 84 I t b e lo n g e d to a d iffe re n t

lin e a g e , a d iffe re n t lin e o f te x tu a l tra n s m is s io n . L ik e L i? X in g b e lie v e s a T a iy i s h e n g s h u iw is an im p o rta n t p a rt o f th is fo r m o f th e te x t a n d b e lo n g s in Lao^i C . I n fa c t, in X in g ’s o p in io n , th e “ G re a t O n e ，” a ssu m e s th e c o sm o lo g ica l ro le p la y ed b y th e “ O n e ” in o u r c u rre n t e d itio n s o f th e Z a 叩

A n o th e r d is tin c tio n b e tw e e n

th e tw o fo rm s o f th e te x t is th a t th e W a y as a m o th e r Mis, as n o te d , h a rd ly m e n ­ tio n e d in th e G u o d ia n c h a p te rs ; m is sin g to o is th e a m o th e r /c h ild w m e ta p h o r d e v e lo p e d in c u rre n t e d itio n s (in th e se c o n d h a lf o f c h a p te r 20, in c h a p te r 34, a n d in th e in itia l lin e s o f c h a p te r 52).

W h a t is th e a u th o r 's p o s itio n ? W h a t w o u ld h e call th is n e w ly d is c o v e re d m a te ­ ria l w e re h e " fo rc e d to g iv e it a n a m e M? L e t u s b e g in w ith th e q u e s t i o n ~ d i d th e se th re e b u n d le s ta k e n to g e th e r c o n s titu te a b o o k , a b o o k called th e La {i? 〇

W o u ld th e to m b o c c u p a n t a n d h is c o n te m p o ra rie s h a v e called it th a t? It is p o s sible. B u t sin ce n o n e o f th e m a n u s c rip ts h a s a title ， th e re is n o w a y to c o n firm o r d e n y it. N o r am I c o n v in c e d th a t th e th re e ta k e n to g e th e r w e re u n d e rs to o d as a a te x t,Msin ce I can th in k o f n o re a s o n w h y a u n ified te x t w o u ld in c lu d e tw o d if­ fe re n t v e rs io n s o f th e sam e e x act c h a p te r (i.e ., th e s e c o n d p a rt o f c h a p te r 6 4 ).86 B u t w a s th e re a v e rs io n o f th e L ao\i in e x iste n c e at th is p e rio d o f tim e , fro m w h ic h th e m a te ria ls w e find o n th e se slip s w e re sele c ted ? T h e d e lib e ra te g r o u p ­ in g o f c h a p te rs in to u n its a c c o rd in g to th e m e , as n o te d in L ao\i A a n d Lao^i B? m a k es th is a p la u sib le o p tio n . H o w e v e r, i f th a t is tru e , I w o u ld a rg u e th a t a n y

Lao^i th a t se rv e d as th e s o u rc e fo r th e se slip s w a s n o t y e t Mc o m p le te .w I t c o n ­ ta in e d s o m e c h a p te rs to w h ic h o th e r lin e s w o u ld la te r b e a d d e d (e .g ., c h a p te r 30) a n d p a ssa g e s th a t w o u ld la te r b e sizable “ c h a p te rs ，” th r o u g h th e a d d itio n o f w h a t a p p e a r to b e u n re la te d sa y in g s (e .g ., c h a p te rs 5, 16, 52). B u t, g iv e n th e d iffe r­ e n c e s in th e le n g th a n d sty le o f th e slip s in e a c h o f th e se b u n d le s, it see m s lik ely

21

th a t th e se slips w e re c o p ie d fro m a t le ast th re e d iffe re n t s o u rc e s a n d p o s sib ly m o re . I t is e v e n p o ssib le th a t in d iv id u a l c h a p te rs — o r u n its o f c h a p te rs — in e a c h o f th e b u n d le s w e re c o p ie d fro m d iffe re n t o rig in a l s o u rc e s. H o w else c an w e e x p la in th e fa c t th a t, in u n it i o f Lao^i A ? dao (th e a W a y M) is w ritte n fxj u n til w e re a c h c h a p te r 32 in th e u n it (th e final c h a p te r), w h e n it s u d d e n ly c h a n g e s to

道 ？ 87

D o e s th a t m e a n , th e n , th a t th e b o o k o f Lao\i^ th e c o m p le te te x t,88 d id n o t y e t e x ist in 300 B .c.? N o t at all. In fa c t it is lik e ly th a t a t le ast o n e v e rs io n o f th e

La {iy th e c o m p le te te x t, a n d p o s sib ly m o re th a n o n e v e rs io n , w a s in e x isten c e b y 〇

300 B .c.? if n o t e a rlie r. B u t th is c o n c lu s io n h a s n o th in g to d o w ith th e G u o d ia n slips. I t is b a se d o n tw o th in g s . T h e first is th a t th e s im ila ritie s a n d d iffe re n c e s o f th e M a w a n g d u i c o p ie s, w h ic h w e re m a d e a ro u n d 200 B .c ./ 9 a re su c h th a t th e y a p p e a r to re p re s e n t tw o lin es o f tra n s m is s io n fro m a c o m m o n a n c e sto r. S in ce it ta k es tim e fo r tw o lin e s to d iv e rg e to th e e x te n t e x h ib ite d in th e M a w a n g d u i c o p ies, I h a v e n o tro u b le b e lie v in g th e ir c o m m o n a n c e s to r w a s in c irc u la tio n b e tw e e n 300 a n d 250 b .c ., a n d p o s sib ly e a rlie r. T h e se c o n d th in g th a t s u p p o rts th is c o n c lu s io n is th a t th e / / a n (喻

老)

c h a p te rs “J ie Z a o ”

（ 解老）

a n d “Y u Z a 。 ”

a p p e a r to m e a n “ E x p la in in g th e Z a o p ” a n d “ Illu s tr a tin g th e

re sp ec tiv e ly , a n d , a lth o u g h w e d o n o t k n o w fo r s u re w h e n th e se w e re w ritte n , g iv e n H a n F eizi’s d a te s — ?28o—233 B .c.— — w e c a n n o t b e to o fa r o f f c o u rs e i f w e p u t th a t a t c. 250 B.c. O f c o u rs e , w e c a n n o t b e s u re th a t th e Lao^i H a n Feizi k n e w a n d c ite d w a s th e c o m p le te te x t as w e k n o w it to d a y , sin ce h e o n ly c o m m e n ts o n lin e s fro m a to ta l o f 23 c h a p te rs. (C u rio u s ly , o n ly five o f th e se c h a p te rs a re fo u n d in th e G u o d ia n slips: c h a p te rs 41 ， 4 6 ,5 4 ,5 9 , a n d 6 4 .) O n th e G u o d ia n slip s— all th a t w e k n o w f o r c e rta in is th a t th e y w e re b u rie d a ro u n d 300 B .c.; w e d o n o t k n o w , fo r e x am p le, w h e n th e y w e re " c o p ie d /" w h e n th e y w e re m a d e. T h e y m ig h t h a v e b e e n m a d e s h o rtly b e fo re th e fu n e ra l to a cc o m ­ p a n y th e d e c e a se d . B u t i f th e se slip s c o n s titu te d th e lib r a r y o f th e d e c e a se d , th e y w e re p ro b a b ly m a d e m u c h e a rlie r, p e rh a p s as e a rly as 350 B .c.90 H o w e v e r, th a t d o e s n o t h e lp u s d a te th e sa y in g s o n th e slip s, sin ce th e G u o d ia n slips a p p e a r to b e “ c o p ie s ” o f “c o p ie s .” T h a t is， th e y d o n o t re p re s e n t “ o rig in a l w r itin g ， ” o r s o m e o n e 's id e as o r w o rd s w ritte n d o w n fo r th e first tim e . M o re o v e r, th e y a re n o t th e p ro d u c ts o f o ra l d ic ta tio n . T h e scrib es w h o m a d e th e se slips w e re ^ lo o k in g a t” th e ir s o u rc e s — p re s u m a b ly o th e r slips— as th e y w e re w r itin g .91 So, th e slips th a t se rv e d as th e s o u rc e o r s o u rc e s fo r th e G u o d ia n slips— w h e n w e re they m ade? W e h a v e n o w a y o f k n o w in g . B ey o n d th is— if w e a g re e th a t a t le ast so m e o f th is m a te ria l c irc u la te d o ra lly b e fo re it w a s w ritte n d o w n — lies th e e v e n m o re diffi­ c u lt q u e s tio n o f w h e n th a t m a te ria l w a s first “ c o m p o s e d .” 92

T ranslation of th e ^Bamboo Slip Laozi

T ran slato r^ Notes

1. T h e tra n s c r ip tio n o n w h ic h th is tra n s la tio n is b a se d w a s d o n e b y P e n g H a o t a )> w h o k in d ly s e n t m e a c o p y o f h is o rig in a l w o rk . T h is is th e sa m e tr a n ­ s c rip tio n th a t s e rv e d as th e b a sis fo r th e tra n s c rip tio n p u b lis h e d in J in g m e n s h i b o w u g u a n , Guodian Chumu ihujian ( ÿ

[5店 楚 墓 竹 簡 ) • W h e r e

I h a v e a lte re d

P e n g H a o ’s o rig in a l, I h a v e d o n e so o n th e b asis of: ( I ) Q iu X ig u i’s ( 裘 n o te s to G“ 。 如n

錫圭）

{A— a n ; (2 ) T o m o h isa Ik e d a ’s ( 池 田 知 久 ) tra n s c rip tio n

in “J in g m e n s h i b o w u g u a n G 献 //a n

b iji”

（ 荆 門 市 博 物 館 《郭

店 楚 墓 竹 簡 》 筆言己) ， w h ic h w a s d is trib u te d to p a rtic ip a n ts a t th e in te r n a ­ tio n a l c o n fe re n c e o n th e “G u o d ia n

a n d (3) m y o w n re a d in g o f th e o rig in a l

c h a ra c te rs b a se d o n th e p h o to g r a p h s o f th e slips. S o m e o f m y r e n d e rin g s m a y see m o v e rly “ lite ra l， ” b u t I b e lie v e th a t in itia l tra n s c rip tio n s s h o u ld b e as fa ith fu l to th e o rig in a l as p o s s ib le ， a g re e in g w ith B oltz th a t th e “ tra n s c r ip tio n sh o u ld reflect e x a c tly w h a t is w ritte n a n d n o th in g m o r e . T h e “ M o d e rn E q u iv a le n ts ” a re th e “ c h a r a c te rs ” c u rre n tly u se d fo r th e “w o r d s ” th a t, in m y ju d g m e n t, th e a u th o r(s ) o r e d ito r(s ) in te n d e d . In m o s t b u t n o t all cases, m y r e n d e rin g s a g re e w ith th e in d e n tific a tio n s p ro p o s e d b y th e e d ito rs o f Guodian Chumu ihujian. 2. T h e o rig in a l p u n c tu a tio n m a rk s a re in d ic a te d in th e tra n s c rip t io n , w ith th e e x c e p tio n o f th e s ig n th a t in d ic a te s re p e titio n ( 二) • T h e “ sm all lin e s ” th a t n o rm a lly in d ic a te a p a u se o r b re a k w ith in a c h a p te r a re in d ic a te d b y th e s ig n

一； fo r

th e “b la c k s q u a r e s ” th a t n o rm a lly m a rk th e e n d o f a c h a p te r， I u se 3. Ita lic iz e d w o rd s a n d lin e s in th e tra n s la tio n in d ic a te g a p s in th e te x t w h e re slip s a re b ro k e n . I h a v e in d ic a te d w h a t I th in k th e m issin g c h a ra c te rs p ro b a b ly w e re b y p u ttin g th o se c h a ra c te rs in [brackets] u n d e r th e h e a d in g a M o d e rn E q u iv a le n ts .”

(藤 ( 漢 和 大 字 典 )•

4. F o r “ a rc h a ic p r o n u n c ia tio n s ,” I h a v e m a in ly re lie d o n T ö d ö A k iy a s u ’s

堂 明 保 ）re c o n s tr u c tio n s ，

fo r w h ic h see h is Ä am va

H o w e v e r, w h e re v e r a rc h a ic rim e c a te g o rie s h a d to b e c h ec k e d , m y a u th o r ity w a s D o n g T o n g h e (董 同 辭 ) ， JA a 哪

(上 古 音 韻 表 稿 ) •

5. D o tte d lin es in th e tra n s la tio n (....) in d ic a te p la ce s w h e re lin e s h a v e b e e n a d d e d in la te r e d itio n s (fo r w h ic h see th e c o m p a ra tiv e te x t in a p p e n d ix I I ) . S o lid lin e s in th e tra n s la tio n (____ ) m e a n th a t, b a se d o n th e p u n c tu a tio n m a rk s u s e d in th e G u o d ia n slips， th is “c h a p te r” w a s p ro b a b ly u n d e rs to o d at th e tim e th e se co p ies w e re m a d e as tw o, d is tin c t p a ssa g e s (u s e d in c h a p te rs 15, 32, a n d 45). 6. W h e r e m e n tio n is m a d e in th e n o te s o f th e “X ia n g ’e r lin e a g e ” o r th e “ H e s h a n g g o n g lin e a g e ” a n d so o n ， w h a t is in te n d e d is a g r o u p o f e d itio n s fr o m v a rio u s tim e p e rio d s ， w h ic h o rig in a te d in th e X ia n g ’e r ( 想 爾 ) re c e n s io n o f th e o r th e H e s h a n g g o n g ($可上公 ) re c e n s io n o f in h is se m in a l s tu d y Roshi kosei

^

S h im a K u n io

IE) d is tin g u is h e d

(島

男)，

a to ta l o f six s u c h

re c e n s io n s a n d lin e a g es, a n d it is to h is w o r k th a t I re fe r in th o s e n o te s. F o r th e d is tin c tio n s b e tw e e n “ te x t” a n d “ r e c e n s io n ” a n d “ lin e a g e ” a n d “ e d itio n ， ” see H a ro ld D . R o th , “ T e x t a n d E d itio n in E a rly C h in e se P h ilo s o p h ic a l L ite r a tu r e .” 7. F in a lly , in a p p e n d ix I I , th e W a n g Bi

(王 5® )

e d itio n c o n s u lte d w a s th e e d i­

tio n in p o p u la r u se. H o w e v e r, it is c le a r fro m th e c o m b in e d e ffo rts o f S h im a K u n io , R u d o lf W a g n e r, a n d W illia m B o ltz th a t th is is n o t th e f o r m o f th e te x t u s e d b y W a n g Bi h im s e lf.2

Laozi A

A：i (Chapteng)1 1

E lim in a te k n o w le d g e , g e t rid o f d is tin c tio n s,

2

A n d th e p e o p le w ill b e n efit o n e h u n d re d fo ld .

3

E lim in a te a rtis try , g e t rid o f p ro f it ，

4

A n d th e re w ill b e n o ro b b e rs a n d th ie v e s.

5

E lim in a te tr a n s f o r m a tio n ， g e t rid o f d e lib e ra tio n ，

6

A n d th e p e o p le w ill r e tu r n to filial p ie ty a n d c o m p a s s io n .

7

B u t th e se th re e s a y in g s , re g a rd e d as y o u r m issio n , a re n o t c o m p le te .

8

A n d p e rh a p s w e s h o u ld a d d to th e m th e fo llo w in g th in g s :2

9

M an ifest sim p lic ity , e m b ra c e th e g e n u in e ，

10

L e sse n s e lf-in te re s t, a n d m ak e fe w y o u r d e sire s.

Comments and Notes LINES 1—6 ：

In all o th e r e d itio n s o f the Z a 叩， the line sequence is I—2 , 5—6, 3—4. M o reo v er， and o f g re a te r im p o rtan ce, in o th e r ed itio n s line 1 n o rm a lly reads ^E lim inate sageliness,

(絕 聖棄矢□)， w hile line 5 (o r line 3) reads “E lim in ate h u m anity， get rid o f rig h teo u sn ess” (糸 色仁 棄 義 )• W h ile it m ig h t seem ， th e re fo re ， th a t the G u o d ia n lines in this c h ap te r are less b latan tly “a n ti-C o n fb c ia n ” 一 since g et rid o f k n o w le d g e ”

‘‘sageliness，’ “hum an ity ，，’ and "‘rig h teo u sn ess，’ are the hig h est o f C onfucian values— — I do n o t th in k th a t is tru e ， as I have a rg u ed in th e in tro d u c tio n . “ M orally tra n sfo rm ing the people th ro u g h ed u ca tio n ” （ yzaoAwa， 教彳

匕） and

“careflilly d elib e ratin g daily

affairs55 {lushiy ] ^ N$ ) are b o th th in g s w e w ould expect o f a good ruler. Q iu X ig u i w ould have us read line 5: “E lim inate h y p o crisy ( 戀 = wW， 偽 ) ， g et rid o f decep tio n ( 慮 = fAa， 詐) .” 3 B ut in m y o p in io n this m isses th e p o in t; th e a u th o r is u rg in g ru lers to “e lim in ate” th in g s th a t w ould n o rm a lly be th o u g h t o f as good. In line w ith th is， I here translate y/ao ( 巧， 放） n o t as “ craftiness，” as is c o m m o n ly d o n e b u t ， ra th e r， as “a rtistry .” T h e reference is to the kind o f “ artistic skill” th a t results in “goods th a t are h ard to o b ta in ” (mm

心 fÄz. Awo, 難 得 之 貨 ) • T h e

o pposite o f y/ao ( 巧) ， as w e

see in c h ap te r 45 (B ： 7), is {huo (JtH, clum sy o r unskilled). l in e

7:

貞 ， w e find 文 (w^n， text o r passage). T h e follow ing Li Jiah ao ( 李 家 浩 )， u n d e rsta n d

In later ed itio n s， in place o f the ch arac te r e d ito rs o f the W enw u tra n sc rip tio n ，

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip this c h aracter as bian

), w hich th ey reg ard as a p h o n etic lo an for bian

dis­

tin c tio n ). B ut this sam e c h arac te r occurs in c h a p te r 55 b elo w (A : 17), w h ere it is read a—

(使 ， to cause o r c o n tro l).4 R ead in g shi h ere as a n o u n , w e w ould tra n slate it as

“o rd e r,” o r “ m issio n ，” o r “c h arg e ，” w hich w orks w ell if w e u n d e rsta n d th e c h ap te r as advice to a w o u ld -b e ru le r.5

l in e s

9 -10:

It has lo n g been th o u g h t th a t the first line o f c h ap te r 20 should really b e read as th e last line o f c h ap te r 19: th u s line 11 w o u ld b e ^E lim inate le a rn in g and have n o u n d u e c o n c e rn ”

（ 糸 色學無憂)•

Like lines 9 and 10, this is a fo u r-ch a ra c ter phrase; m o re-

over, lines 9 ,1 0 , and i i lo o k like th ey m ig h t be rim ed (/?!/， 撲;

谷欠; a n d 义 如，憂)•

In a d d itio n , this w o u ld p ro v id e “th re e ” sayings to be added to th e “th re e ” sayings in th e o p e n in g p a rt o f th e passage (lines

B ut th e o p e n in g lines o f c h a p te r 20—

b e g in n in g w ith “E lim in ate le arn in g and have n o u n d u e c o n c e rn ” 一 form a distinct u n it (B :3) in th e G u o d ia n m aterials.

29

A：i (Chapter 19)1 Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

皆智弃 芰

絕 知棄辨

2

民利百怀 圓

民利百倍

3

皆放弃 利

絕 巧棄利

4

跳剔亡又圓

盜賊無有

5

皆憑弃 慮

絕 化棄慮

6

民复 季子圓

絕 復孝慈

7

三言以爲貞不足

三言以爲使不足

8

或命之或容豆■

或令之有所屬

9

見索保墓

視素抱樸

1〇

少人須欲圓

少私寡欲

Translation of the wBamboo Slip Lao^i

A：2 (ChapteT 66)6 1

T h a t w h ic h a llo w s th e riv e rs a n d seas to s e rv e as k in g s o f th e sm all v a lle y s tre a m s ,

2

Is th e ir a b ility to b e b e lo w th e sm all v a lle y stre a m s.

3

T h e r e f o r e , th e y c a n s e rv e as th e k in g s o f th e sm all v a lle y s tre a m s .

4

T h e S a g e 's p re s e n c e a t th e fr o n t o f h is p e o p le , re s u lts fro m p u ttin g h im s e lf b e h in d th e m .

5

T h e re a s o n h e is a b o v e th e m is th a t in h is w o rd s h e is b e lo w th e m .

6

B u t a lth o u g h h e is o n to p o f h is p e o p le , th e y d o n o t re g a rd h im as h e a v y ;

7

A n d a lth o u g h h e is in f r o n t o f h is p e o p le , th e y d o n o t re g a rd h im as p o s in g a th re a t.

8

A ll u n d e r h e a v e n d e lig h t in a d v a n c in g h im w h ile n e v e r tir in g o f h im .

9

B ec a u se h e d o e s n o t c o m p e te ,

10

N o o n e in th e w o rld c a n c o m p e te w ith h im .

Comments and Notes LINES 1 - 2 ：

In v irtu a lly every e d itio n o f th e La iiy the w o rd acan Mo r wto b e ableM (nengy f ^ ) 〇

o ccu rs in line I b u t n o t in line 2. L ine I ，th e n ， n o rm a lly reads: “T h e reason rivers and seas can serve as th e kings o f th e sm all valley stream s.,> T h e G u o d ia n form o f line 2 is u n iq u e; in o th e r ed itio n s this is sim ply wIs th a t th ey are good at b e in g below th e m ” ( 以 其 善 下 之 ). LINES 4 - 7

：

In la te r ed itions, lines 4 and 6 b egin w ith “T h e re fo re .” A lso, in m o st later editions, lines 4 and 5 are reversed. Of* g re a te r im p o rtan ce, th e ad d itio n o f th e w o rd “d e sire ”

{ y uy WO

lines 4 and 5 in la te r ed itio n s tu rn s these lines into h y p o th etical o r c o n ­

d itio n al statem ents, im p ly in g w h at a ru le r should do ifhe w ants to be in fro n t o f and o n to p o f his people: “T h e re fo re in the S a g e ’s desire to be o v er the people, H e m u st in his w o rd s be below them . A nd in his desire to be o u t in fro n t o f th e people, he m u st in his self be b eh in d th e m .,>7 In th e G u o d ia n form o f the text, these are state­ m en ts o f fact.

LINE 8 ：

Like the M aw angdui copies， th e G u o d ia n slips o m it th e w o rd “th e re fo re ” from th e sta rt o f this line w h ere it is c o m m o n ly found in o th e r editions.

l in e

9:

In th e M aw angdui copies, this line is in th e form o f a qu estio n : wIs it n o t because he is n o t con ten tio u s? MB ut this is a d eclarativ e statem e n t in alm ost all la te r e d itio n s, as it is h ere in th e G u o d ia n slips.

T ra n sla tio n o f the ^ B am b oo S lip

A

： 2 (Chapter 6 6 )

La〇{in

33

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

江拇所以爲百浴王

江海所以爲百谷王

2

以亓 能爲百浴下

以其能爲百谷下

3

是以能爲百浴王

是以能爲百谷王

4

聖人之才民前也以身塗之

聖人之在民前也以身後之

5

亓 才民上也以言下之

其在民上也以言下之

6

亓 才民上也民弗厚也

其在民上也民弗後也

7

亓 才民前也民弗害也

其在民前也民弗害也

8

天下樂進而弗詁

9

以丌 不靜也

天下樂進而弗厭 以其不爭也

1〇

古天下莫能衰之靜

故天下莫能與之爭

A：3 (Chapter 46)® 1

O f v ic e s -r -n o n e is m o re o n e ro u s th a n w a n tin g to o m u c h .

2

O f d e fe c ts— n o n e b rin g s m o re s o r r o w th a n th e d e s ire to g a in .

3

O f d is a s te rs 9— n o n e is g re a te r th a n n o t k n o w in g w h e n o n e h a s e n o u g h .

4

T h e c o n te n tm e n t o n e h a s w h e n h e k n o w s th a t h e h a s e n o u g h —

5

T h is is a b id in g c o n te n tm e n t in d e e d .

Comments and Notes In later ed itio n s this c h ap te r begins w ith th e lines: aW h e n th e w o rld has th e W ay, am bling ho rses are used to fertilize fields. W h e n th e w o rld lacks the W ay, w a r horses are reared in th e su b u rb s.” In th e M aw angdui copies， these lines have already m ade th e ir w ay in to th e tex t in fro n t o f wO f vices . . . w B ut th e y are distin g u ish ed as a separate saying b y p u n c tu a tio n in M aw angdui copy A .'° LINE I ：

L ine 1 is o m itte d in som e fo rm s o f the text. A lso, in m o st cases, an o n e is m o re

厚]

o n e ro u s

th a n ” is sim p ly “ n o n e is g re a ter [ J a ， 大] th a n .” F in a lly ， fo r

“w a n tin g to o m u c h ”

甚欲 ) ， o th e r editions have

“h a v in g th in g s th a t can be

可欲)•

d esired ” LINE 2 ：

T h e p hrase “n o n e b rin g s m o re so rro w [can ， 潛] th a n ” is n o rm a lly “n o n e is g re a ter

[day ^ ；] th a n Min la te r editions, b u t th e M aw angdui copies have can as w ell. l in e s

2

and

3:

T h e se are reversed in la te r editions. B ut n o te th a t th e G u o d ia n sequence seem s best, since line 3 leads n a tu ra lly in to line 4.

Translation of the aBamboo Slip La {i" 〇

A：3 (Chapter 46, lines 3-7)

35

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

辠

莫 厚 客 甚 欲

罪 莫 厚 乎 甚 欲

2

咎 莫 僉 容 谷 辱

3

化莫大容不智足

咎 莫 僭 乎 欲 得 過莫大乎不知足

4

智足之爲足

知足之爲足

5

此亙 足矣_

此恆 足矣

36

A： 4 (Chapter 30)

1

O n e w h o u se s th e W ay to a ssist th e r u le r o f m e n

2

D o e s n o t d e sire to u se w e a p o n s to fo rc e h is w a y th r o u g h th e la n d .

3

One who is good at such things achieves his result and that’s all.

4

H e d o e s n o t u se th e o c c a s io n to m a k e h im s e lf s tr o n g e r still.

5

H e a c h ie v e s h is re s u lt b u t d o e s n o t b r a g a b o u t it;

6

H e a c h ie v e s h is re s u lt b u t is n o t a r r o g a n t a b o u t it;

7

H e a ch ie v e s h is re s u lt b u t is n o t c o n c e ite d a b o u t it.

8

T h is is called ''a c h ie v in g y o u r re s u lt b u t n o t b e in g v ic io u s.

9

S u c h d e e d s a re g o o d a n d e n d u r e .'2

Comments and Notes lin e 2:

T h e G u o d ia n form o f th e line is u n iq u e in a d d in g th e w o rd “d e sire ”； o th e r e d itio n s sim ply say “D o es n o t use w eapons • • • ” LINES 2 AND 3 ：

In m o st la te r editions, th ree lines have b e en in serted betw een lines 2 and 3 ： (1) wSuch actions quickly lead to rev en g e” ； （ 2) “ In places w here arm ies are cam p ed ， th o rn s and b ram b les w ill g ro w ” ； and (3) “A fte r g re a t b a ttle s， th ere are alw ays years o f m isfo rtu n e .” T h e last o f these lines is also o m itte d from th e M aw angdui copies, w hile th e first o f the lines— “Such actions qu ick ly lead to re v e n g e ” ( 其 事 好 還 ) 一 is th e final line o f th e ch ap te r in th e G u o d ia n slips (b u t th e w o rd in g is n o t e xacdy th e sam e).

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao\i L IN E

4：

37

T h e M aw angdui copies use the im perative n eg ativ e wu ( ^ ) here, p h ra sin g this in te rm s o f an o rd er: “D o n o t use this occasion

l in e s

5 -7 :

In th e M aw angdui copies, and in th e X ia n g ’er lineage, th e line sequence is 6 ,5 , 7; in m o st o th e r editions, th e line sequence is 6, 7 ,5 . O f g re a te r im portance, the im p era­ tive n egatives wu ( ^ : ) and

are used in these lines in later editions, again

tu rn in g th e lines in to “o rd e rs ,” th a t is, “do it this w ay.” In the G u o d ian slips w e find th e n eg ativ e fu ( ^ ) , w hich sim ply negates th e verb and im plies an object th a t fol­ low s th e verb. H ow ever, in passage C ：3 (n o w c h a p te r

is used in a line w hich

clearly m u st be read as a directive— — uN e v er reg ard them (w eapons) as beautiful th in g s ”

〇 咖

…

，弗美也） • So

w e can n o t be sure th a t> w as n o t intended as an

im p erativ e n egative in these lines as w e ll.'3

l in e s

7

and

8:

B etw een lines 7 and 8, later editions add a line th a t n o rm a lly reads wH e achieves his resu lt b u t o n ly because he has no choice.M

l in e

9:

T h a t this is th e final line o f this Mc h a p te rMin th e G u o d ia n slips is indicated by p u n c ­ tu atio n . (F o r th e placem ent o f this p u n c tu a tio n m ark see th e in tro d u c tio n .) L ater form s o f th e chapter, inclu d in g the M aw angdui copies, have th ree additional lines: a W h e n th in g s reach th e ir prim e they get old. W e call this *not the W a y / W h a t is n o t th e W ay w ill com e to an early e n d .” T h e se lines are n o t en tirely in ap p ro p ria te here since th e th em e o f th e c h ap te r is “ sto p p in g in tim e ,” reaching y o u r goal b u t n o t forcefully goin g b ey o n d it.

38

A：4 (Chapter 30) Transcription'

Modern Equivalents

I

以衍銮 人宝 者

以道佐人主者

2

不谷以兵強 於天下

不欲以兵強 於天下

3

善者果而已

善者果而已

4

不以取強

不以取強

5

果而弗货

果而弗伐

6

果而弗喬

果而弗騎

7

果而弗輪_

果而弗矜

8

是胃果而不強

是謂果而不強

9

丌

其事好長

_

事 好 _長

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Za {/” 〇

A：5 (ChapteT is)14

39

1

T h o s e w h o w e re g o o d a t b e in g n o b le in a n tiq u ity '5

2

W e re w ith o u t d o u b t s u b tle a n d p ro f o u n d , m y s te rio u s a n d p e n e tr a tin g ly w is e .16

3

So d e e p th a t th e y c a n n o t b e k n o w n .17

4

F o r th is re a s o n w e p ra is e th e m in th e fo llo w in g w a y :

5

H e s ita n t w e re th e y !18 L ik e s o m e o n e c ro s s in g a riv e r in w in te r.

6

C a u tio u s w e re th e y ! L ik e s o m e o n e w a ry o f h is fo u r n e ig h b o r s .'9

7

D e fe re n tia l w e re th e y ! L ik e g u e sts.

8

A c c o m m o d a tin g w e re th e y ! L ik e m e ltin g ice.

9

N a tu ra l a n d g e n u in e w e re th ey ! L ik e w o o d th a t h a s n 't b e e n c a rv e d .

10

U n d iffe re n tia te d w e re th ey ! L ike m u d d y w a te r.

ii/ i

W h o c a n b e m u d d y , y e t th r o u g h tra n q u ility g ra d u a lly c le a r? 20

1 2 /2 W h o c a n b e still, y e t th r o u g h m o tio n g ra d u a lly stir? 13/3 T h e o n e w h o e m b ra c e s th is W a y d o e s n o t d e sire to b e o v e rly full.

(lines 11—13 seem to be regarded as a separate passage)

Comments and Notes LINE I ：

In place o f “good at b e in g n o b le ” （ M an ww.

善爲士者) ，

m any editions o f

the La iiy in clu d in g th e M aw angdui copies, have Mgood at follow ing (o r p racticin g ) 〇

th e W ay ” （ jÄan w wVaqAe ， 善爲道者 ) • T h e o n ly lineage th a t co n sisten tly uses the G u o d ia n form o f this line is th a t based on th e X ia n g ’e r recen sio n .11

lin e 2:

In no o th e r ed itio n does this line b e g in w ith bi essarily).

w ere w ith o u t d o u b t, w ere nec­

4〇

LINES 3 AND 4 ：

A ll o th e r k n o w n editions w e have o f th e text insert th e line a It is o n ly because th e y c an n o t be k n o w n ’： betw een these tw o lines.

lin e 4:

0

In all la te r editions, th e w o rd song ^ , to sing o u t th e ir praises) is replaced b y rong t o d escrib e).22 M oreover, line 4 n o rm a lly includes th e w o rd qiang in g th e tran slatio n

), y ie ld ­

T h e re fo re , w ere I forced to describe them . . . M

lin e 10: L a te r editions add a line to this sequence o f lines, e ith e r b efo re o r a fte r line 10: “ B road, all-em b racin g w ere they! Like a valley.” Since the w o rd “m u d d y ” connects lines 10 and 11, this line should be b e fo re line 10 if it is used. LINES II AND 1 2 ：

T h e w o rd s “w ho can ” （ jAm nen 给

孰會巨） are o m itted

from these lines in th e M aw ang-

dui copies; this is also o ften the case in sam ples from th e X ia n g ’er lineage. T h u s b o th lines becom e statem ents: “M uddy w ater, th ro u g h tranquility, g ra d u a lly clears.” T h e p u n c tu a tio n m ark at th e end o f th is line, as n o ted above, is clearly in e rro r; it should have b een p u t at th e end o f line 10. L ines 11-13 are rim ed.

lin e 13: T h e w o rd ao v erly M{shang,

) is n o t attested in o th e r editions. O f m o re im p o rtan ce,

m ost la te r editions add tw o lines to th e end o f this chapter. T h e se are n o rm a lly p h r a s e d : 夫唯不盈， 故能蔽不新成• T ran sla tio n s o f these lines v a ry greatly. O n e w ay to read th e lines w ould be: wIt is precisely because he is n o t full th a t he th e re fo re can w e ar o u t w ith o u t b e in g re n e w e d .” 25

Translation of the wBamboo Slip Lao\i

A：s (Chapter 15) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

古之善爲士者

古之善爲士者

2

必非溺玄造

必微妙玄造 深不可識

4

是以爲之頌

是以爲之頌

5

夜客

豫 乎 如 冬 涉 川

6

猷客

猶乎其如畏四鄰

7

敢客丌 奴客.

嚴乎其如客 渙乎其如釋

8

屯乎其如樸 沌瘩 亓 奴涯

沌乎其如濁

清 生呈 舍舍豈 腩腩 谷 者者不 朿 注者 以以衍 涅 庀此 能能保 竺竺

孰能濁以靜者將徐清 孰能安以動者將徐生 保此道者不欲尚 盈

A：6 (Chapter 64, paTt 2)24 1

T h o s e w ho^act o n it r u in it,

2

T h o s e w h o h o ld o n to it lo se it.25

3

T h e r e f o r e th e S age d o e s n o th in g , a n d as a re s u lt h e h a s n o d is a s te rs ;

4

H e h o ld s o n to n o th in g , a n d as a re s u lt h e lo ses n o th in g .

5

T h e ru le to fo llo w in a p p ro a c h in g all m a tte rs , is—

6

I f y o u 'r e as c a re fu l a t th e e n d as y o u w e re at th e b e g in n in g

7

Y ou w ill h a v e n o d is a s te rs .

8

T h e S age d e sire s n o t to d e sire a n d p la c e s n o v a lu e o n g o o d s th a t a re h a rd to o b ta in .

9

H e te a c h e s w ith o u t te a c h in g , a n d b a c k s a w a y fro m m a tte rs in w h ic h th e m a sse s g o to excess.

10

A s a re s u lt, th e S age is a b le to h e lp th e te n th o u s a n d th in g s to b e w h a t th e y a re in th e m se lv e s, a n d y e t h e c a n n o t d o it.

Comments and Notes LINES I AND 2 ：

In m o st editions o f the

th e first “it” （ fA/， 之） in b o th o f these lines is im plied

b u t o m itted . H ere the ch arac te r is included as it should be.

l in e

5:

T h is line could also be read “W h e n yo u get close to co m p letin g affairs.” R ead e ith e r w ay it differs considerably from w h at is n o rm a lly said in this place: “ In p e o p le ’s p e rfo rm in g th e ir duties, th ey alw ays ru in th in g s w hen th e y are rig h t at th e p o in t o f c o m p le tio n .”

l in e

6:

T h is line b egins w ith 49cites two guwert (ancient script) forms of the character (yuan)ynoting the sources as Mancient editions of theZaö{z,, (guLa 〇i^ 古 老 子 )• The character 源 does not occur in any of our current editions of the La 〇 ii.

T ranslation o f the “ B a m b o o Slip Z a — ’’

A ：ii

(ChapteT 25)

57

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

又腊 蟲成

有狀混成

2

先天墜生

先天地生

3

效継 萤 立不亥

寂繆獨立不改

4

可以爲天下母

可以爲天下母

5

未 智 7T名

未知其名

6

燊 之曰道

字之曰道

7

虜強 爲之名曰大

吾強 爲之名曰大

8

大曰塵

大曰潰 潰曰遠

10

曰這 這曰反

h

天大墜大道大王亦大

天大地大道大王亦大

12

國中又四大安王尻一安

域中有四大安王處一安

9

1

墜

人法地

天

地法天

天潛道 道潛自妖_

天法道

1 3 人灃 14 15 16

遠曰反

■灃

道法自然

58

A：i2 (Chapter 5,lines 5-7)50

1 2 3 4

The space between heaven and earth— Is it not like a bellows?5' Though it is empty it does not collapse; When put into motion it sends forth all the more.

Comments and Notes The four lines that precede these lines in later editions are: ^Heaven and earth are not humane; they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs. The Sage is not humane; he treats the common folk as straw dogs.MThe only point in common between these two sayings, as D. C. Lau has already noted, seems to be the mention of Mheaven and earth. This is one of the examples Lau uses in support of his argument that at least some of the chapters in the Lao^i are made up of sayings from different sources that make different points but share a word or phrase in common. As we have noted in the introduction the Guodian evidence seems to support his point. The “straw dogsMlines are cited as a unit in the Wen\i^ with no mention of athe space between heaven and earth.,，n The two lines that follow these lines, in the Mawangdui copies at least, are: MMuch learning means frequent exhaustion. That is not so good as holding on to the mean.

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao^i

A：i2 (ChapteT 5, lines 5-7)

59

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

天墜之勿

天地之間

2

丌 猷囤 藿與

其猶囊管與

3

虛而不屈

虛而不屈

4

違而愈出圓

動而愈出

A：i3 (Chaptet i6, lines 1-6)55 1 2

Take emptiness to the limit; Cautiously guard the void.56

3 4 5 6

The ten thousand things, side by side they arise; Sitting still we await their return. Now, the forms come forth in great numbers, But each returns to its root.

Comments and Notes LINES I AND 2 ：

In line I， where later editions have y/ ( 極，extreme，limit)， the character on the Guodian slips is 5 >which is transcribed as heng (fs., constant). But the guwen (ancient script) form of hengw^s virtually indistinguishable from the right side of j i (極)，” and the reading ofyz. here seems preferred for continuity with later editions， In line 2, where most later editions havejing (|ÿ ), , It is possible to have the “each” refer back to the “ten thousand things” of* line 3, but that is grammatically awkward. Nonetheless, if we assume that is the case, and read yuanyuan in line 5 asyuanyuan (HI HI, round and round), we get a valid and inter­ esting reading: wThe Way of heaven goes round and round, And each returns to its root.>，6' My own feeling, for the moment at least, is that the character ^ (tian) in line 5 should be read as 夫 — the two characters were virtually indistinguishable in ancient script62— and that the character 道 （ Jao) is a mistake for 艏 ， the character in the opening line of A:ii (chapter 25), which seems to mean [huang form).63 line

6: The rest of the chapter, using my translation of the Mawangdui copies, reads as follows:64

line

7 8 9 10 11 12

This is called tranquility. “Tranquility”一 This means to return to your fate. To return to your fate is to be constant; To know the constant is to be wise. Not to know the constant is to be reckless and wild; If you're reckless and wild, your actions will lead to misfortune.

13 14 15 16 17 18

To know the constant is to be all-embracing; To be all-embracing is to be impartial; To be impartial is to be kingly; To be kingly is to be like heaven; To be like heaven is to be one with the Dao; If you're one with the Dao, till the end of your days you'll suffer no harm.

61

A：i3 (Chaptet i6, lines 1-6) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

I

至虛亙 也

至虛極也

2

獸中笤 也

守盅 篤也

3

萬勿方复

萬物旁作

4

居以須這也

居以須復也

ï

天道員員

夫狀云云

6

各這亓 堇

各復其根

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip

A:i4 (Chapter 64, p art i)6s 1 2 3 4

What is at rest is easy to hold What has not yet given a sign is easy to plan for. What is fragile is easily broken.66 What is minute is easily scattered.

5 6

Act on it when it does not exist; Establish order before it turns into chaos.

7 8 9 10 11 12

The biggest of trees grows from the tiniest shoot; A tower nine stories high begins with one pile o f dirtf1 A height o f eight hundredfeet starts from under your foot.

Comments and Notes 5: All other editions have "before it comes into existenceM{weiyouy 7 ^ ^ ) . lin e

LINES I I - I 2 ：

These lines exist in two different forms， the other one being “A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step” （ 千 里 之 行 始 於 足 下 ) . Since both lines end with {uxia under your foot, or a single step), there is no way of knowing which line was written on the Guodian slip. But both Mawangdui copies have W A height of eight hundred feet/>68and Shima Kunio has shown that this was the form of the line in the Yan Zun and Xiang’er lineages, and in the original Wang Bi recension as well.69In any event, lines 10 and 12 rimed.70M A journey of a thousand li . . . Mseems to have originated with the Heshanggong recension.

63

64

A：i4 (Chaptet 64, paît 1) Transcription 安也易来 也

Modern Equivalents 其安易持也

I

7T

2

亓 未窕也易思也

其未兆也易謀也

3

亓 囊也易畔也

其毳 也易判也

4

亓 幾也易棧也

其幾也易散也

5

爲之於亓 亡又也

爲之於其無有也

6

祠之於亓 未昝

治之於其未亂

7

合

□

合[抱之木

8

□

口 □末

9

九成之臺

九成之臺

10

甲□

□ □

起 [於 累 土 ]

ii

□

□

□ □

[百刃之高

12

□

□

足下_

始於]足下

□ □

生於毫]末

Translation of the MBamboo Slip La i i n 〇

A：i5 (Chaptet 56)71 1

Those who understand it say nothing about it; those who talk about it do not understand it.

2 3 4 5 6 7

He closes the holes, Blocks the gates, Softens the glare, Settles the dust, Severs the bonds, And unties the knots.

8

This is called the Mysterious Union.

9 10 11 12 13 14

Therefore there is no way to get intimate with him, But there is also no way to shun him. There is no way to benefit him, But there is also no way to harm him. There is no way to ennoble him, But there is also no way to debase him.

15

As a result, he is the noblest thing in the world.

Comments and Notes LINE I ：

The references to an “it” （ fAz.，之） in this line are omitted in later editions， resulting in translations that say something like: wOne who knows does not speak, and one who speaks does not know.” 2 AND 3： The verbs are normally reversed in later editions: He “blocks” the holes and “closes” the gates.

LINES

l in e

6:

This normally reads “files down the sharp edges” y/ /W， 挫其銳 )• My translation is tentative since the characters on the Guodian slips—勤 and — are unknown.

65

Ikeda suggests reading the first as a phonetic loan f o r X 虽 lj， *p‘nwk， to cut， sever), and the second as a writing of ying ( ?bound up, entangled).71Another possibility— which would not change the meaning— would be to read the second as the character 纓 〇 /1尽 ， tied up or bound) and the first as a phonetic loan for the character 包Ij (J>a〇y ^pok), which provides a better phonological match for the phonetic element cA以畜， *t‘1〇 k). LINES 4 - 7 ：

The Mawangdui copies share this sequence with the Guodian slips, but in other editions the order is normally 6—7 and 4—5. Either sequence is acceptable in terms of the rime， since the riming words are “gates” (men)， “dust” (cä饥 )， and “knots” (» •

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao^i

A： i5 (Chapter 56) Transcription

67

Modern Equivalents

智之者弗言言之者弗智知之者弗言言之者弗知 兌門光塵纓紛 其其其其其其 閉塞和同 刨解

2

閔亓 逸

3

賽亓 門

4

和亓 光

5

週亓

6

窗 )亓 齄

7

解亓 紛

8

是胃玄同

是謂玄同

9

古不可辱天新

故不可得而親

Iff許

1〇亦不 „

可辱而疋 不可辱而利

12

亦不可辱而害

13

不可导 而貴

亦不可得而疏 不可得而利 亦不可得而害 不可得而貴

14

亦可不可辱而戔

亦可不可得而賤

15

古爲天下貴■

故爲天下貴

A:i6 (ChapteT 57)7: 1 2 3

Use the upright and correct to order the state; Use irregular methods when using the troops; But be unconcerned with affairs if you want to take over the world.

4

How do I know this is so?

5

Well, the more taboos there are in the world, the more rebellious the people will be; And the more sharp weapons the people possess, the more disordered the state will be. The more people know, the more “oddities” will be produced; And the more “exemplary goods” are put on display, the more robbers and thieves there will be.74

6 7 8

9

Therefore the words of the Sage put it this way:

10

I am unconcerned with affairs, and the people on their own enjoy good fortune; I do nothing, and the people transform on their own; I love tranquility, and the people on their own are upright and honest. I desire not to desire, and the people on their own are content with the plain and unadorned.

11 12 13

Comments and Notes: 4: Like the Mawangdui copies, the Guodian slips omit the answer to this question, which is normally found in later editions: “By this.” lin e

5-6: The Guodian slips omit the xia Ç f ybelow) from t i a n x i a the world) in line 5, suggesting a reading of aThe more taboos heaven has/' or uThe more taboos there are about heaven9 for the first part of the line. However, I think in this case tian on its own must mean “world.” Alternatively, it could mean “the ruler” ：7Van could lin e s

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip

stand for “ruler” or “father” in early texts when used in the context of social relations. At the end of this line, later editions have pin poor) where the Guodian slips have pan (B^ ), which we here read as pan , to rebel). So line 5 normally reads wThe more taboos there are in the world, the poorer the people will be.MIn some ways pin poor) seems a better choice here than pan ( ^ ) - For one thing, pin rimed better with Aim (昏， chaotic)， the final word in line 6, than did /?an， and one expects lines 5 and 6 to rime since 7 and 8 clearly did (y/ [起， *k‘iu3g]， and j o “，[有， *fiiu9g]).75 In addition, the final character in line 10 (|g ) could be read as a variant writing of fu ("g, wealth); in this way, lines 5 and 10 would nicely contrast. But since “taboos” are imposed to avoid “bad fortune，” I think it is better to read the final word in line 10 as a variant writing of fu good fortune); that is, the people enjoy good fortune even though the ruler is unconcerned with taboos and prohibi­ tions.76If this choice is right, the final word in line 5 need not be/?m, and pan in this case might be used in response to the worderM{iheng^ 正) that line 1 desires, just as the mention of “sharp weapons” （ //y/，利器 ） in line 6, might refer back to line 2.77 I continue to think that lines 1 and 2 are suggestions that k)， 4 (pliant， *niog)， and 7 (firm, *kag) were phonologically similar, even though they did not fully rime. lin e 6:

In the Wang Bi recension, the word quart complete) is substituted forjuan (J^, penis), which makes sense only as a phonetic loan. Where other editions have juan^ the Guodian slips have an unknown character, which is understood to be ran ( ^ ) . I suspect this is a variant writing of yang ([^), which, like juan^ means the penis.88 l i n e 10:

Like the Mawangdui copies, and in contrast to later editions of theZaoçz, the Guodian slips omit the word “knowing” （ fÄz.， 知）from the start of this line. Lines 10 and ii in later editions are: “Knowing harmony is known as ‘the constant.’ Knowing the constant is called ‘being wise.’’’ l i n e 15 :

All other editions of the L a o ^ including that represented by the Mawangdui copies, add a line at the end of the chapter: MWhat is not the Way will come to an early end.” As noted above (A:4, chapter 30)， lines 14 and 15 plus this additional line are also found at the end of chapter 30 in later editions.

73

A：i7 (Chapter 55) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

謹憲之厚者

含德之厚者

2

比於赤子

比於赤子

3

蟲

螝 癘 蟲蛇弗菴

4

攫鳥歃 獸弗扣

據鳥猛獸弗扣

5

骨漀 堇 柔而捉固

骨弱筋柔而握固

6

未智札戊之合赤惹

未知牝牡之合陽怒

7

精之至也

精之至也

8

冬日客而不惪

終曰呼而不嗄

9

和之至也

和之至也

S

Ä

它 弗蓄

和曰圍

和曰常

h

智和曰明

知和曰明

12

資生曰素

益生曰祥

IO

13

心貞槩 曰強

1 4 勿墜則老 15

是胃不道圓

心使氣曰強 物壯則老 是謂不道

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaop ”

A:i8 (ChapteT 44)89 1 2 3 4 5

Fame or your health— which is more dear? Your health or possessions— which is worth more? Gain or loss— in which is there harm? When attachments are great there is bound to be waste; If you store much away, you are bound to lose a great deal.

6 7 8

Therefore, if you know contentment you will not be disgraced, And if you know when to stop, you will not be harmed. As a result, you will live a long time.

Comments and Notes Allowing for the use of synonyms, phonetic loans, and variant writings, the word­ ing here is exactly the same as we find in other editions, with the exception of line 5, in which the words “much” （ Aot/，厚） and “great” （ 也0 , 多） are reversed. Also, like the Mawangdui copies， the Guodian version omits a “Therefore” at the beginning of line 4 and puts one at the start of line 6; this in contrast to most later editions.90A possible point of interest is the fact that there is internal rime in lines 1-7. The riming words are: line i, shen (health) and qin (dear); line 2, huo (possessions) and duo (more); line 3, wang ( loss) and hing (harm); line 4, ai (attachments) and fei (waste); line 5, cang (stored away) and wang (lose); line 6 , {u (contentment) and t u (disgrace); and line 7, ^hi (stop) and dai (harm). Also, the final word in line 8— jiu (long time)— rimed with the final word in line 7, dai (harm).9'

75

A：i 8 (Chapter 44) Modern Equivalents

篱笤篙 身貨良 與與與 名身貴

名與身孰親

新多 疠

Transcription

身與貨孰多 得與亡孰病

4

甚悉必大暨

甚愛必大費

5

周蹙必多資

厚藏必多亡

6

古智足不辱

故知足不辱

7

智走不怠

知止不殆

8

可以長舊_

可以長舊

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip

A:i9 (Chapter 40)92 1 2

“Returning” is the way the Way moves;95 “Weakness” is the way the Way works.

3 4

The things of the world arise from being, And being comes from non-being.94

Comments and Notes 3 a n d 4: A literal translation of the Guodian words would be: MThe things of the world arise from being, and they arise from non-being.” That is to say, the word “being” （ yött， 又 / 有)， which is repeated in all other editions we have of the text， is not repeated on the Guodian slips. But with the Wenwu editors, I think this is a mistake; the copyist simply forgot to add the sign for “repetition” （ =) after the 义 仙in line 3.95 However, Chen Guying is delighted with this form of the line, since he believes that the Way w both “being” and “non-being”； hence it is correct to say that “the things of this world arise from being, and they arise from non-being.w The phe­ nomenal things of the world actually come from both.96 lin e s

”

77

A：i 9 (Chapter 40) Modern Equivalents

1

返 也 者 道 僮

也

反 也 者 道 動 也

2

溺也者道之甬也

弱也者道之用也

3

天下之勿生於又

天下之物生於有

4

生於亡■

[有 ] 生 於 無

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaofz ”

A: 2〇 (ChapteT 9)97 1 2 3 4

To accumulate until you have filled it Is not so good as stopping in time. When swift flowing waters gather against it It cannot hold out very long.

5 6 7 8

When gold and jade fill your chambers No one can safeguard them. Arrogance resulting from wealth and rank On its own brings on disaster.

9 10

When the deed is done withdraw— Such is heaven’s Way.

Comments and Notes The theme of the chapter is consistent throughout; it is established with metaphors in the opening lines, talked of directly in lines 5—8, and repeated in the closing lines， in which we are reminded that this is, after all, the way things work in nature. When the heat of summer becomes sufficient to ripen the crops, it stops, and the weather cools down. In the Chinese， lines 4,6,8, and Io rime， and the passage consists almost entirely of four-character lines.98 LINES 1 - 2 :

One image that comes to mind is that of filling a cup or a vase to the brim so that it is top heavy and easily spilled. Later editions tend to say “to hold” （ cA/，持） where we here translate “to accumulate.” I am following the lead of the Wenwu editors in reading the character ^ as {hi (tîË/^jS), for which one definition isj i to accu­ mulate or build up).99Either word is appropriate, but Maccumulate,>seems to fit well with the overall theme of the chapter. lin e 3：

This line is normally translated “To pound it out and give it a point” (in the sense of sharpening a sword or a knife), the characters being chuai er rui \hi ffjj ^ ^ ) But the characters here are man er qun ^hi rfj] where tuan refers to the rapid and swirling motion of water, and means “a crowd” or “to amass.” While we might replace (揣 ， *t‘uan) with cAtta/ (揣 ， *ts‘ïuar)， arguing that it is simply

79

a case of using a different radical, it is more difficult to see how we could get from (群 ， *giu9n) to n// ( 銳 ， *diuad). But I suspect that the Guodian form of this line is the correct one and that the later version developed from this by mistake. What confirms this is the fact that the characters used in this line in Mawangdui copy B phonetically agree with the Guodian words, and not with the words used in later editions. The Mawangdui characters are 拖 （ *tuan)而 允 （ *giu9n)之 •100 But what is the point of lines 3 and 4? The answer might be provided in the following words of Li Kang (李 康 ， c. 196—264): “When a tree stands above all the rest in the forest, the wind is sure to break it; and when a mound stands out from the shore, the fast flowing water is sure to overwhelm it [liu bi tuan ihiy ^ This image certainly fits in with the point made in the rest of the chapter.

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip

A:2〇 (Chapter 9) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

耒 而涅之

持而盈之

2

不不若已

不不若已

3

湍而羣 之

湍而羣 之

4

不可長保也

不可長保也

5

金玉涅室

金玉盈室

6

莫能獸也

莫能守也

7

貴福喬

貴福驢

8

自遺咎也

自遺咎也

9

攻述身退

功遂身退

10

天之道也

2

天之道也

Laozi B

84

B:i (ChapteT 59)1 1

For ruling humanity and serving heaven, there is nothing so good as

2

keeping things in reserve. Only if you keep things in reserve will you early submit;2

3 4 5

Early submission— this means to repeatedly build up your virtue^ I f y 〇 ^ repeatedly build up your virtue^ there is nothingyou cannot overcome;3 I f there is nothing you cannot overcome, no one knows how far you

6 7

can go;4 If no one knows how far you can go, you can possess the whole world; And if you possess the w orlds mother, you can last and endure.

8

This is called the Way o f deep roots, afirm base^ long life, and long-lasting vision.

Comments and Notes LINE I ：

“Keeping things in reserve” (w， 嗇) refers to the act of storing grain after the harvest， and, by extension, se also means Mfarmer/5 One school of thought reads this line: “For ruling humanity and serving heaven， there is nothing so good as being a farmer.” LINES 2 AND 3:

Where later texts advise “early submission” 早月艮[or 伏 or 復] ) in both lines， the Guodian slips seem to urge “preparing early” （ fao心 早 備 )• Since the focus of the chapter seems to be ^nourishing life^ {yangshengy ^ 生 ） ， and long life results from conserving one^ vital energies and powers (qiy jingy and shen^ 彳申 一respectively, breath, essence/semen, and spirit), and since the earlier one starts to “prepare” the better， it is tempting to see the Guodian reading as correct.5 However， the characters 備 （ 為以 .） and 月艮（ 如 were pronounced much the same in antiquity *biu5k and *biusk— so either could have served as a phonetic loan for the other. And since bei is consistently used as a phonetic loan for fu in the other Guodian texts (see “Zun deyi，” “Cheng Zhi wenzhi，’’ and part 3 of the “Collected Sayings’’） ， I suspect it is used here in that way as well.6 一

LINE 7 :

In all other editions of the Lao^i^ this line says uIf you possess the mother of the

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaof/’’

state/kingdom” (有國之母 )， which does not make a lot of sense， since the reference must be to the Dao. The guo ([^) in this line must be read to m tznyu (j^ ) — the Guodian character is 隊一and Mthe mother of the whole worldw then corre­ sponds to other references we find to the Dao, like Mthe mother of the world,J 天地之母 ） in 下之母 ） in chapter 25, and “the mother of heaven and earth” （ chapter 52.7 l in e

8:

This is normally read as two lines: 8: “This is called having deep roots and a firm base”； and 9: “It’s the Way of long life and long lasting vision.” That remains a valid reading. But since the word “Way” （ 道， *dog) at the end of 出e line is meant to rime with “endure” (舊， *giog) at the end of line 7 ,1 think this might be better read as one line. Thus we have a single line, consisting of two-character adjective/noun phrases that appear to be phonetically balanced.8 Meter and Rime: The attention paid to meter and rime in this passage is quite striking. The first four lines are seven-character lines, in which the phrase pattern produces a rhythm of 4 /3 ,3 /4 ,4 /3 , 3/4. Lines 5 to 7 are then eight-character lines with a rhythm of 3/5, 4 /4 ,4 /4 , while the final line is a thirteen-character line— twelve if we omit the final particle， ( 也)一with a rhythm of 2/4/4/25 1. For the rime pattern, the second and fourth words in the first line— “humanity” and “heaven”一rime (^nien and *t‘en); but the last word in the line— se *si9k)— establishes the rime that will be used in lines 2 to 6. Moreover, there is both internal and end rime in each of these lines: in line 2, MreserveMand +ku3g) — shifts the rime to one that will match with “the Way” （*dog )at the end of line 8.9

85

86

B：i (Chapter 59) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

紿 人事天莫若嗇

治人事天莫若嗇

2

夫唯畜是以是是以

夫唯嗇是以早是以

3

長備是胃□□口

早備是謂[重積德

4

□ □ □ □ 口克圓

重積德則無]不克 [無 ] 不 克 則 莫 知 其 極

6

□不克則莫智丌 亟 莫智丌 亟 可以又蜮

莫知其極可以有域

7

又馘 之母可以長口

有域之母可以長[久

8

□ □

疋 Ö冃

5

9

曰

□

□

長生售 見之道也■

深 根 固 柢 ]長 生 舊 視 之 道 也

T ra n sla tio n o f the “ B a m b o o S lip Z a o p ”

B:2 (C hapteT 4 8 , lin e s 1 -5

1 2 3 4 5

) 1。

Those who [toil at] their studies increase day after day; Those who practice the Way, decrease day after day. They decrease and decrease, Until they reach the point where they do nothing at all. They do nothing, yet there is nothing left undone.

Comments and Notes LINE I

In the Mawangdui copies, this line begins with the word wei to work at)— “Those who work at their studies.” But this is omitted in the Guodian slips. Parailelism with the words in line 2 seems to demand it {wei xue {he ^ vs. wei dao [he xfi ^])> so this is probably a slip by the scribe. However, it is not grammati­ cally necessary for the line to make sense. 4: Punctuation at the end of this line ( _ ) might indicate that these four lines were seen as a self-contained unit and that line 5 is simply a related saying or an editorial comment. With the character wei added to the start of line i, lines 1 and 2 would be balanced, five-character lines, and lines 3 and 4 would be four-character lines (if we omit the particle je [也] from the end of line 4). lin e

5: This line does not occur in either of the Mawangdui copies, nor does it occur any­ where else in either of those La 〇{i manuscripts. This prompted the scholar Gao Ming to argue, in several publications, that the concept of wdoing nothing, and yet there being nothing left undone” er 说 以謂以•[無 爲 而 無 不爲 ])， was not in origin a Daoist notion; this is a saying that developed in Legalist texts making its way into the La 〇{i at some later date." The problem with this argument is that al­ though this line does not occur in chapter 48 in the Mawangdui copies, it is not that it was omitted; rather, the silk on which these words might have been written has rotted lin e

87

88

away. But the size of the gap in both texts is large enough to accommodate the six characters in question.12In any event, the presence of the line here seems to resolve this issue. The three lines added to this “chapter” in all later editions we have of the text are: ^Getting control of the world, can only be done if you have no interest in matters of* ruling無事]• If you are interested in matters of ruling, you’ll be unworthy of getting control of the world.,5There is no reason why these lines should be part of this chapter, and, as noted in the introduction, the present five lines move directly into another saying on “learning，” and together they might have been understood as constituting a single “chapter.”

Translation of the MBamboo Slip La {i 〇

B：2 (Chapter 48)

89

Transcription

1

學者日益

Modern Equivalents 學者曰益

2

爲道者曰

3

勇之或昊

損之又損

4

以至亡爲也_

以至無爲也

1

爲道者曰損

無爲而無不爲

B:3

(C h a p te T

2

〇,

l i n e s 1- 7) ”

1

Eliminate learning and you will have no distress.

2 3 4 5

Pleasant agreement and angry rejection— How far apart are they? Beautiful and ugly— What exactly is the difference between them?

6 7

Those who are feared by the people Must also, because of this, fear others.

Comments and Notes LINE I ：

For the view that this line should be the last line in chapter 19 instead of the first line of chapter 20, see the “Comments and Notes” to passage A:i (chapter 19). But, as Xu Kangsheng has recently argued, the content of learning is really “distinctions，”

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaop ”

value distinctions, in many cases, which lead to disagreement and conflict, the kinds of distinctions the author here calls into question.'4 7: The copyist inserts punctuation ( _ ) before the word “others” (ren，人 )， which would seem to indicate that the word ren is the first word in the passage that follows (chapter 13), and that punctuation is followed in the Wenwu transcription.'5In addi­ tion, in almost all later editions of the Lao\i^ this line simply says a Cannot not be feared>, {buke buweiy ^ ^ ^ But ren is also found at the end of this line in Mawangdui copy B， 丨6which, like the Guodian slips, also adds an ( 以） after the 心 (可)， the particle that brings “because of this” into the line. Thus I suspect the punctuation mark before the word ren was inserted one space too soon. Further support for reading the text in this way is the fact that having the character 人 be the first word in the following passage， “chapter 13，” is elsewhere unattested. And， as others have already argued, concluding that the distinction between uthose who fear” and “those who are feared” is not a permanent one— these “opposites” can easily turn into one another— fits very well with the chapter’s overall theme.17 However, the evidence provided by meter and rime complicates the issue. Were we to read 畏 as the final character of the line， the chapter would balance in terms of the rhythm, having äs the number of characters in each of the lines 4, 3,4, 3,4,4, 6 ( = 3, 3). And the end rime, line by line, would be: (I) .iog or i3u， （ 2) har， （ 3) fiar， (4) -ak, (5) niak, (6) -iu^r (or iu3i), and (7) -iu3r. So if the last character in line 7 were 畏， the sound would have resonated, in a sense, with the final character in line i. Moreover， having 人 as the first character in chapter 13 would at last provide a balanced beginning to that chapter, with five characters in lines 1 and 2. So this issue is not easily resolved. The deciding factor for me is that if 人 had been the initial character in chapter 13, there should be some sign of it in lines 3 and 7 of chapter 13, but there is not. My translation of the additional lines in chapter 20, based on the Mawangdui copies, reads as follows:'8 lin e

8

Wild, unrestrained! It will never come to an end!

9 10 11 12 13

The multitudes are peaceful and happy; Like climbing a terrace in springtime to feast at the tailao sacrifice. But I am tranquil and quiet— not yet having given a sign. Like a child who has not yet smiled. Tired and exhausted— as though I have no place to return.

91

92

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

The multitudes all have a surplus; I alone seem to be lacking. Mine is the mind of a fool— ignorant and stupid! The common people see things clearly; I alone am in the dark. The common people discriminate and make fine distinctions; I alone am muddled and confused. Formless am I! Like the ocean; Shapeless am I ! As though I have nothing in which I can rest. The masses all have their reasons [for acting]; I alone am stupid and obstinate like a rustic. But my desires alone differ from those of others— For I value drawing sustenance from the Mother.

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao^i

B:3 (Chapter 2〇, lines 1-7)

93

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

I

龄 學亡惪

絕 學無憂

2

唯與可

唯與訶

3

相去幾可

相去幾何

4

凫 衰亞

美與惡

5

相去可若

相去何若

6

人之所曩

人之所畏

7

亦 不 可 以 不 曩

_人 亦 不 可 以 不 畏 人

B：4 (Chapter 13)19 1 2

“Favor” is really “disgrace”一 it is like being in bondage. Be wary with matters that cause great distress一 treat them as if they could mean your life.

3

Why do I say “Favor is really disgrace ”？

4 5

Receiving favor puts you in a dependent position.20 If you get it, it is like being bondage;

6 7

If you lose it, it is like being in bondage. This is what I mean by aFavor is really disgrace— it is like being in bondage. ”21

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

And why do I say "Be wary with matters that cause great distress— — treat them as if they could mean your life”？ The reason we have great distress Is that we have bodies; If we did not have bodies, what would we worry about} Thereforey with someone who values taking care o f his life more than running the world ， To him we can entrust the world. And with someone who dotes on his life as if it were the whole world, To him we can turn over the world.

Comments and Notes l in e s

i —7:

This represents a new approach to a chapter that has given commentators and trans­ lators fits for thousands of years. This interpretation might be wrong; but it at least treats line 3 as complete, and it explains why in lines 4 to 6 the author is concerned only with the getting or losing of Mfavor.>, Line 1 is normally translated ^Regard favor and disgrace with alarmM{chongju ruo jing^ ^ ^ ) . But if chongru is understood as Mfavor and disgrace^ when the author asks in line 3 uWhat do I mean by chongju?^ we would expect him to talk about both things. He does not; he talks only about “favor.” Thus I propose that we fare better by reading cAong/“ as “favor

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaop*

" disgrace” or “to be favored is to be insulted/disgraced.” Since that is not a claim one would normally make, he then proceeds to explain what he means. In addition， where later editions all have “alarm” （ yzn备 驚)， the Guodian slips have the character jzn 发 (缀 / 綴， to be bound up, wrapped up in cords， ensnared). Although this can be read as a phonetic loan for “alarm” （the archaic pronunciations being *kiëi)， and respectively), I see no reason to do that, since someone who has been “favored” becomes “obligated”or “tied” to his patron; in addition， his fate then becomes “wrapped up” with the fate of his patron. But there is another possibility to consider. If the punctuation mark that follows the character ww•(囊/ 畏） at the end of the previous passage was meant to indicate repetition, line i in this passage would then be read peopled favor as being in bondage” （ 畏 人 寵 辱 若 緩 )， or possibly “Fear favor in the same way that you fear being bound” （ 畏 寵 辱 若 緩 ).22With the second of these, lines I and 2 would then be parallel; we would have two five-character lines that both begin with a verb/ object phrase and end with “若 X.” Moreover， the first and last characters in each of those lines would have been phonetically close— wei ^-iuar) and gui ( ÿ ；, *kiu^d);ying and shen ^thien). But again, were this the case, one would expect to find the word wei fear) repeated in lines 3 and 7. lin e 3 :

In many later editions, including the edition represented by the Mawangdui copies, the characters ^ ^ (ruojing) are included at the end of this line. Understood in the usual way, this would be translated, MWhy do I say ^Regard favor and disgrace with alarm’？ ” Although we might be tempted to think that those words were erroneously omitted, the Guodian form of the line— f 可 謂 寵 辱 is actually very common, and it was continued in the Xiang’er and Heshanggong lines of the text.23 一

lin e 4 :

In the Heshanggong recension, this was changed to “Disgrace is inferior” （ 辱爲 下 )， and on occasion a line was inserted before this: “Favor is superior” （ 寵 爲 上 )• Clearly some readers did not understand what the author was trying to say: how could “favor” be something inferior?14 lin e 12:

This assumes that the Guodian form of the line matched what we find in the Mawangdui copies— 故 貴 爲 身 於 爲 天 下 • Of the later recensions， the only one that comes close to this form of the line is the Xiang’er recension. Most later edi-

96

tions have “Therefore with one who values his life as much as the world (故 貴 以 身 爲 天 下 ) .”

LINES I 2 - I 5 ：

My comment on these lines in my 1989 translation bears repeating.16 The sentiments of chapter 13— — that the person who should be entrusted with ruling the world is precisely the one who cares more for his own life than he does for the wealth, honor, and power he would have by ruling the world— show up again in the Zhuangii in a section that A. C. Graham identifies as ^Yangist^ (representing the views of the “individualist” Yang Chu and his school). The first anecdote in chapter 28 of the Zhuangii reads, MYao resigned the empire to Hsu Yu. Hsu Yu refused it. Next he resigned it to Tzu-chou Chih-fu. 'It might not be a bad idea to make me Son of Heaven/ said Tzu-chou Chih-fu. ^However, at the moment I am worried about a serious ailment. Vm going to put it right, and haven't time just now to put the em­ pire right/ The empire is the most important thing of all, but he would not harm his life for the sake of it, and how much less for anything else! Only the man who cares nothing for the empire deserves to be entrusted with the empire.’’17

Translation of the ^Bamboo Slip La ii 〇

B:4 (Chapter 13)

97

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

態辱若顥

寵辱若纓

2

貴大患若身

貴大患若身

3

可胃態辱

何謂寵辱

4

態爲下也

寵爲下也

5

辱之若蘩

得之若纓

6

遊之若蘩

失之若纓

7

是 胃 態 辱 _蘩

是謂寵辱若纓

8

□

9

虔所以又大患者

吾所以有大患者

10

爲 _又 身

爲吾有身

h

□

口 □□若 身

迓 虜亡身或可

□

[何 謂 貴 大 患 ] 若 身

及 吾 無 身 有 何 [患 ]

12

□ □ □ □ □ 爲天下

[故

13

若可以茁天下矣_

若可以驼 天下矣

14

悉以身爲天下

愛以身爲天下

1 5 若可以法天下矣_

貴爲身於]爲天下

若可以寄天下矣

98

B：5 (Chapter 41)18 1 2

The ablest students, when they hear of the Way, with effort can get started on it; Mediocre students, when they hear of the Way, it is as if they are lost and

4

confused; With the dullest of students, when they hear of the way, they laugh aloud at it. But if they did not laugh aloud at it, it could not be considered the Way.29

5

Therefore, as we find it in the fixed sayings:

6 7 8

The bright Way seems dispersed; The level Way seems uneven;30 The Way that goes forward seems to retreat.

9 10 11

The highest virtue seems to be [low like] a valley; The greatest purity seems to be soiled; Vast virtue seems insufficient.

12 13 14

Steadfast virtue seems to be lax; Genuine substance seems to be flawed; The greatest square has no corners.

15 16 17

The greatest vessel is slowly completed; The greatest sound makes little noise;3' The greatest image is lacking in form;

18 19

The Way is great yet has no name\ It is good at beginning and good at completing.

3

Comments and Notes LINE I ：

This is one of many lines in the Lao^i that can be translated several different but equally valid ways. In the “modern edition” of the the second part of this line is normally qin erxing {hi (^J ffij fT ^ effort they are able to do it, or with

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaop ”

effort they are able to follow it). But in the Mawangdui copies this wording changes to jin neng xing {hi ( H tb fT are just barely able to do it). (But jin [ S ] and qin [勤] are interchangeable, so this could still be “with effort they are able to do it.’’) In the Guodian form of the line, MitM({A/) at the end of the line is replaced by yu qi 叹 （ 於元中 ， into it， or into its core or center).31 Here, the second part of line 1 could be read: “are barely able to get into it，” “with an effort they can get into it，” or, most optimistically， “by making an effort they can travel right to its core.” Unfortunately， there is no way to decide which reading is “right.” lin e 2:

Like line 1, this can be read different ways. The second half of the line, in later editions， reads mo can 厂“o 而n以若存若亡， literally “like keep, like lose，” or “some things they get， some things they don’t，” or “some things they remember, some *mu3n, con­ they forget,Mand so on). But cun ( ^ y *dzu9n) is replaced by hurt fused) in the Guodian slips. Since hurt is commonly used as a phonetic loan for wen ( 聞， IU3n， hear) in these slips— in fact right here in these lines— we might val­ idly translate “it is as if they hear it but then forget it.” But I rather like the literal reading.33 lin e 5:

It is possible that “fixed sayings” (y/anjan， 建言) was actually the name of a book ， in which case we should translate: ^Therefore, in the Jianyan we find.,>34The punc­ tuation mark at the end of this line presumably indicates that what follows are wellknown, possibly ^cited/5sayings. The lines that follow are metric and rimed. lin e 6 :

In almost all later editions this line says uThe bright Way seems to be dark [mei^ 昧]•” But in place of me/ (*mu3d), Mawangdui copy B has> / (費， *p‘iu3d)， while the Guodian slips have the character ^ (J>o^ *bu9t). I would suggest reading fei (scattered, dispersed, or diffused) as the intended word, for which bo was a phonetic loan. lin e s 7 an d 8:

These lines are reversed in almost all later editions.35 lin e s 6- 19:

In the Chinese， lines 6 to 8 are rimed (*bu3t， *liu3d， and *t‘u3d)， as are lines 9 to 14 (*kuk， *niuk， *tsiuk， *tug， *diug， and *i)iug)， and 15 to 19 (*dhiei)， *thiet), *tsiei)，

99

*mier), and *dhiei)).36Also, with two exceptions (lines n and 19), they are all fourcharacter lines. In terms of symmetry, we would expect the three uWaywlines (6—8) to be followed by the three “Virtue” lines (9 ,11， and 12)， with all the lines that begin with “Great” (10, 14 17) grouped together. Such is not the case， but one wonders whether this represents the original sequence. 一

19: We cannot be sure what the final line was in the Guodian version. But since there is space for about five characters, it must have been slightly different from what we find in later editions. Using eight characters, Mawangdui copy B， for example， says aOnly the Way is good at beginning things and also good at bringing things to completion.” The Chinese for my suggested translation would have been:善始且 lin e

善 ßSt

T r a n sla tio n o f the a B a m b o o S lip

B :5

(Chapter 4 i )

101

Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

上士昏道堇 能行於丌 中

上士聞道勤能行於其中

2

中士昏道若昏若亡

中士聞道若聞若忘

3

下士昏道大关 之

下士聞道大笑之

4

弗大关 不足以爲道矣

弗大笑不足以爲道矣

5

是以建言又之■

是以建言有之

6

明道女孛

明道如費

7

遲道女績

夷道如類

8

□道 若 退

[ 進 ]道 若 退

上德如谷

10

上慝女浴_ 大白女辱

9

上慝女浴_

上德如谷

10

大白女辱

大白如辱

h

生慝女不足

廣德如不足

12

建慝女口

建德如[偷

13

□卣

質 ]貞 如 渝

M

大方亡禹

大方無隅

1 5 大器曼成

大器慢成

16

大音祗聖

大音細聲

17

天象亡莹

大象無形

18

道 □□口

道[衮 無名

19

□

9

女愈

□

□

□

La〇iin

□

大白如辱

善始且善成]

B：6 (Chapter 52, lines 5-10)37

1 2 3

Close the gates Block the holes And to the end of your days you will not toil.

4 5 6

Open the holes Excel in affairs And you will never reach the end of your days.

Comments and Notes LINES I AND 2 ：

In later editions these lines are reversed. l in e

3:

For “toil” （ reading 无 as

[矛 务 ])， all later editions use the synonym “labor” （ y/n，

勤) • LINE 5 ：

In later editions the first word in this line is j i ( ^ ) , which is understood to mean “meddle in” or “get involved in.” But the Guodian character is 賽 (jczz.)， the same that at the start of line 2 means “to block” ( 賽 = 塞 ) • In their notes to the text, the Wenwu editors suggest that we read this as which means shi to realize) or an to rest in).38But there is no reason not to read this as sai in the sense of Mto excel” or “to be successful in.” The synonymy/ might have been used to replace this to avoid confusion with the meaning of sai in line 2.

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao\i L IN E 6 ：

With gfc (J^y to save) as the final character in this line in later editions, this is nor­ mally translated M And till the end of your days you will not be saved.,> But the final character in the Guodian slips is 麥 （ = 來） （ /a/， to come)， notyzw. Since it is likely that lines 3 and 6 are intended to rime— the meter here, line by line， is 3, 3, 4; 3, 3, 4— if we are correct in reading the last word in line 3 as wuy the last word in line 6 should rime with ^miog. The word lai provides us with a close match— ^mbg—but the word qiu (5^ , *gi〇 g, to seek, or to attain) would be better. Since the characters for lai and qiu^ in antiquity as well as today, were hard to distinguish, it could be that the lai ( ^ ) in the text really ought to be qiu (5^). But with either word the reading remains the same. The lines that precede these in later editions are:39 1 2 3 4

The world had a beginning, Which can be considered the mother of the world. Having attained the mother, in order to understand her children, If you return and hold on to the mother, till the end of your life you will suffer no harm.

The lines that follow in later editions are:40 11 12 13 14 15

To perceive the small is called “discernment.” To hold on to the pliant is called “strength /， If you use the rays to return to the source of the light, You will not abandon your life to peril. This is called Following the Constant.

It seems likely to me that this set of nine lines originally constituted a unified saying; note that lines 13 and 14 parallel lines 3 and 4. What connects lines 5—10 of the chapter with lines 1-4 is the common concern with atill the end of your daysMor “till 出e end of your life” （ m似Aen [没 身]， or {Aon炉 Aew [終身]).4,

103

B:6 (ChapteT 52 , lines 5 -i 〇 ) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1

閟 亓 門

閟 其門

2

賽亓 逡

塞其兌

3

冬身不S

終身不務

4

啓亓 逸

啓其兌

5

賽亓 事

賽其事

6

冬身不签

_

終身不來

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao^i

B：7 (Chapter 45)42 1 2 3 4

W hat is most perfect seems somehow defective; Yet you can use it, and it never wears out. W hat is most full seems to be empty; Yet you can use it, and it never runs dry.

5 6 7

Great skill seems to be clumsy;43 Great gains seem to be losses;44 Great straightness seems to be bent.

8 / 1 Activity overcomes cold; 9/2 Tranquility overcomes heat. 10/3 Pure and tranquil, you can stabilize the whole world. (Lines 8—10 seem to be understood as a separate saying.)

Comments and Notes 5-7: The line sequence here is normally 7,5, and 6.

lin e s

l i n e 6:

Equally valid— “Great advances seem like retreats.” In almost all later editions— where this is the last line of the series— this line is wGreat eloquence seems to stam­ mer and stutter^ {da bian ruo nay ^ ^ ^ 5ft ). We can trace the development of this line from the Guodian form to this later form by means of the Mawangdui copies. Mawangdui copy B， like the Guodian slips， has “loss” or “retreat” (cAa， ,饳 ) at the end of this line, while copy A has the unidentified character 炳 • It now seems clear that this character, like the character (rui) in chapters 7 and 9 in copy A, was a phonetic loan for 退 (mz， retreat). That not being clear to a copyist,炳 was written as (nay stammer), at which point the character ^ {cheng) (or [yirtg\)^ at the beginning of the line was changed to something that meant the opposite, “eloquence”； hence the character 辯

i〇5

l 〇6

LIN ES 8 - 1 0 ：

Normally found as the final lines of chapter 45, these three lines are set off from what precedes and what follows on the Guodian slips by punctuation. And they seem to have little in common with the preceding lines in that chapter, all of which are four-character lines， and all of which begin with the word “great” （ 心，大 ） • Here, lines 8(1) and 9(2) are three-character lines (though they could be read as a single six-character line, just like line i 〇 [3]). The cadence in this little passage, with each character being a syllable， is: 1， 2, 3; 1， 2, 3; 1， 2— — 3, 4,5, 6. The first two words in line 10~ q in g (pure) and jing (tranquil)— — rime with the last— ding (stable), and the final words in lines 8 and 9 were also close to riming with ding. The archaic finals were *ts'ai) (cold), *nian (heat), and *det) (stable).46

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip

B：7 (Chapter 45)

10 7

Transcription

Modern Equivalent

大成若夬

大成若缺

丌 甬不幣.

其用不弊

3

大涅若中

大盈若沖

4

7T

1 2

甬不寡.

其用不窮

拙 訕屈 若若若 放成植 大大大

大巧若拙 大成若絀 大直若屈 募秤飛

9

青

_然

10

清 清 爲天下定I

靜勝然 清 靜爲天下定

i〇8

B:8 (ChapteT 54)47 1 2 3

What is firmly implanted cannot be pulled out;48 What is firmly embraced cannot be lost. As a result, the sacrifices of your descendants will never end.49

4 5 6 7 8

If If If If If

9 10 11 12

Look at the family from the point o f view o f the family; Look at the village from the point of view of the village; Look at the state from the point of view of the state; Look at the world from the point of view of the world.

13 14

How do I know the condition o f the whole world? By this.

you cultivate it in your self, your virtue will be pure; you cultivate it in your family, your virtue will be overflowing; you cultivate it in your village, your virtue will be longlasting; you cultivate it in your state, your virtue will be rich and full; you cultivate it throughout the world, virtue will be widespread.

Comments and Notes The message here sounds very Confucian， and the wording is reminiscent of “The Great Learning，” where we find the words: “The ancients who wished to manifest their clear character [ming de^ bright virtue] to the world would first bring order to their states. Those who wished to bring order to their states would first regulate their families. Those who wished to regulate their families would first cultivate their personal lives.’”0 4-8: Like the Mawangdui copies, the Guodian slips omit the word “in” （ yw， 方 令 ） in each of these lines. Thus line 4 begins, literally speaking, MCultivate it your own person.” But the preposition should be included, since the basic unit throughout the chapter is the four- or eight-character line. Without the yu^ lines 4 to 7 are sevencharacter lines. In any event, there is internal rime in each of these lines, the riming words being “person” and “pure ”；“family” and “overflowing”；“village” and “longlasting”； “state” and “rich and foil”； and “world” and “widespread.”51

lin e s

Translation of the wBamboo Slip Lao^i

8 AND 9： Later editions normally have an additional line here: “Look at your self from the point of view of your self.MThere is a gap in the Guodian slips at this point, but it is not large enough to accommodate this additional line.

L IN E S

13 AND 14： Because the bottom part of this slip is broken, we cannot be sure how this chapter ended. To a similar question in passage 16 in Lao\i A (chapter 57), the reply of wBy this” 〇 c/，以 it匕 ） is not given. But the present chapter could not end with an unanswered question， and the words “By this” seem appropriate if we are correct about the ConfUcian tone of the message: if I want to know the “condition” or ^present stateMof the world, I can know by knowing myself.52 L IN E S

109

B：8 (Chapter 54) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

善建者不釆 善保者不兌 子孫以丌 祭祀不乇

善建者不拔 善抱者不脫 子孫以其祭祀不輟

8

攸之身丌 «乃卣 攸之蒙丌 慝又舍 攸 之 ë 丌 惪 乃長 攸之邦丌 ® 乃奉 攸之天下□ □ □ □

修之身其德乃眞 修之家其德有餘 修之鄉 其德乃長 修之邦其德乃豐 修之天下[其德乃普

9

□ 1□ □ 蒙 以砦觀驻 以邦觀邦 以天下觀天下

以家觀]家 以鄉 觀鄉 以邦觀邦 以天下觀天下

虏 可 以 智 天 □□口 □ □

吾何以知天[下之然 以此】

I

2 3

4 ï

6 7

IO h

12

13 14

Laozi C

112

C：i (Chapters 17 and 18)1 1

W ith re g a rd to th e v e ry b e st ru le rs , th e p e o p le b e lo w sim p ly k n o w th e y a re th e re .

2

W ith re g a rd to th o s e o n e ste p d o w n , th e y lo v e th e m a n d p ra is e th e m .

3

W ith re g a rd to th o s e a n o th e r step d o w n , th e y fe a r th e m .

4

A n d w ith re g a rd to th o s e y e t a n o th e r ste p d o w n , th e y re v ile a n d in su lt th e m .2

5

W h e n tr u s t is in su fficien t, th e re w ill b e n o tr u s t in re tu r n .

6

H e s ita n t a re th ey ! I n th e ir c a u tio u s u se o f w o rd s .

7

T h e y c o m p le te th e ir a ffa irs a n d finish th e ir task s,

8

Y et th e c o m m o n fo lk say， “ T h e s e th in g s h a p p e n e d all o n th e ir o w n !”

9

T h e r e f o r e , w h e n th e G re a t W a y is re je c te d ， it is th e n th a t “ h u m a n ity ” a n d “ rig h te o u s n e s s ” sh o w u p o n th e scen e;

10

W h e n th e six re la tio n s a re n o t in h a rm o n y , it is th e n th a t w e h e a r o f “ filial p ie ty ” a n d “ c o m p a s s io n ” ；

11

A n d w h e n th e s ta te is in c h a o s a n d d isa rra y , it is th e n th a t th e re is p ra is e fo r th e “u p rig h t o fficials.”

Comments and Notes l in e

7:

In the M aw angdui copies， the w o rd s “ affairs” （ dz. ， 事）and “tasks”

功 ）are

reversed. B ut the G u o d ia n o rd e r seem s preferable in te rm s o f rim e. L ines 6 and 8 clearly r i med— ow n)

一

( 言， *t)iän ， w o rd s )， w ith the ran ( 然） o f " r a n (*nian， o n th e ir

and “tasks” (*kur)) at the end o f line 7 w as close to rim ing w ith “tru s t” (ja n ，

f g , ^sien) at the end o f line 5.3

l in e

9:

It is th e “T h e re fo re ” at the head o f this line th a t indicates this is a single passage and should n o t be divided in to tw o chapters. In later editions, this ath e re fo re Mis m ain ­ tained on ly in th at represented by the M aw angdui copies.

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Zaoçi LINES 9 AND IO ：

113

In all la te r editions, a line is in serted b etw een these lines: MW h e n k n o w led g e and w isd om ap p ear， it is th e n th a t w e have g re a t hy p o crisy .”

l in e s

9 -1 1 :

T h e se are balanced e ig h t-c h a ra c te r lines, w here w e w o u ld expect to find in tern al rim e w ith th e fo u rth and e ig h th w ords: th a t is ， “ rejected ”

廢)

and “ rig h teo u s-

ness” (y/ ， 義) ， “h a rm o n y ” ( 心， 和) and “co m passion” ( a •，慈) ， and “ch ao s” (/wan，

喬L) and

“officials” （ cAen， 臣） • B ut th a t is n o t the case.4

C：i (Chapters 17 and 18) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

I

大上下智又之

太上下知有之

2

丌 即 新譽之

其即 親譽之

3

丌 旣悬 之

其即 畏之

4

丌 即 丈之

其即 侮之

5

信不足安又不信

6

猷容丌 貴言也

信不足安有不信 猶乎其貴言也

7

成事述杠

成事遂功

8

而百眚 曰我自妖也

而百姓曰我自然也

9

古大道货 安又悬 義

故大道廢安有仁義

10

六新不和安又孝孥

六親不和安有孝慈

ii

邦蒙綣 燮安又正臣国

邦家昏亂安有正臣

Translation of the wBamboo Slip La i i n 〇

C：2 (Chapter 3s)5 1 2

Grasp the Great Image and the wholç world will come; Come, and suffer no harm, for security and peace will be great.

3 4 5

Music and sweets— for these travelers stop. Consequently, when the Way utters words— Bland and insipid! Their lack of flavor.

6 7 8

Look at it— not enough to be seen; Listen to it— — not enough to be heard, Yet it cannot be exhausted.

Comments and Notes l in e s

1 -3 :

The first three lines are essentially balanced, six-character lines,6with internal rime on the third and sixth words: “image” （ 象， *giar)) and “come” （ 往， “harm” (害， *ftad) and “great” （ 大， *dad); and “sweets” （ 倉 耳 ， *ni3g) and “stop” （ 止， *tbg). 4: The “Consequently” 咖 ， 古 夂 ） at the head of the line is also found in the Mawangdui copies, but it is omitted in all other later editions. In addition, the Mawangdui copies add “we say” 日） after “words”: “As a result, of the Wày’s speaking we say ••• ”

lin e

l in e

8:

In later editions, the words ause itJ, {yong \hi) are added to this line so that it paral­ lels lines 6 and 7: aUse it— — it cannot be exhausted.”7In the Guodian version, lines 6, 7, and 8 are meant to be read as a single line: “Look at it— not enough to be seen; listen to it— not enough to be heard， yet it cannot be exhausted.”8 Lines 6 and 7 remind us of the opening of chapter 14 of the La 〇iiy where we find aWe look at it and yet do not see it. . . . We listen to it and yet do not hear it.M

115

C：2 (ChapteT35) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

I

鉍 大象天下往

執大象天下往

2

往而不害安坪大

往而不害安平大

3

樂與餌您 客走

樂與餌過客止 故 道 [之 出 言 ]

5

古 道 □□口 淡可丌 無味也

6

見之不足見

視之不足見

7

聖之不足昏耳

聽之不足聞

8

而不可旣也■

而不可旣也

4

淡呵其無味也

Translation of the MBamboo Slip La ii 〇

C：3 (Chapter 31)9

1 2 3

When the gentleman is at home he values the left; When using weapons he values the right. Therefore we say, weapons are instruments o f ill omen\

4

If you have no choice but to use them, it is best to be dignified and reverent.10

5 6 7

Never see them as things of beauty." To see them as things of beauty is to delight in the taking of life. And if you delight in killingyyou will not achieve your aim in the world.12

8 9 10 11 12

Therefore, in auspicious affairs we honor the left; While in matters of mourning we honor the right. As a result, [when they go into batde] the lieutenant general stands on the left, While the supreme general stands on the right. This means they act as they would at a funeral rite.

13

Therefore, when large numbers o f people are killed, stand before them in grief and sorrow. When the battle is won, then act as you would at a funeral rite.

14

Comments and Notes 3: In later editions， chapter 31 begins with this line， normally phrased: “As for fine weapons, they are instruments of ill omen.M，3Then follow two lines also found at the end of chapter 24: wBut there are those who hate them. Therefore, those who have the Way, with them do not dwell. lin e

3: In the Mawangdui copies, this line reads: “Therefore， weapons are not the instru-

lin e

117

ments of the gentleman,” followed by “they are instruments of ill omen.”14 But more common in later editions is the reading: “Weapons are instruments of ill omen,” followed by “They are not the instruments of the gentleman.” With the critical characters missing, the Guodian line could have said either of these— that weapons are instruments of ill omen, or that they are not the instruments of the gentleman. I think that the former follows more logically from the preceding line. 5: In most later editions， this line is “When victorious he (i.e.， the gentleman) does not see them as things of beauty.MBut the Guodian form of the line is continued in the Mawangdui copies and, later, in the lineage based on the Xiang^r recension.

lin e

l in e

8:

In most later editions, there is no MTherefore>, at the start of this line. But it is also present in the Mawangdui copies and the Xiang’er recension. 9: In most later editions， the word “inauspicious” (x/on尽 凶) is used here instead of “mourning” （ 如； 1发，喪)• But the Mawangdui copies also have “mourning，” as do many copies in the Xiang’er lineage. lin e

13: No other version of the Lao^i has MThereforeMat the start of this line.

lin e

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Za〇 {/

C：3 (Chapter 31) Transcription

Modern Equivalents 君子居則貴左

2

君子居則貴左 甬兵則貴右

3

古曰兵者

4

□辱已而甬之錚綣 爲上

不]得已 而 用 之 恬 龔 爲 上

5

弗敕 也

弗美也

6

敢之是樂殺人

美之是樂殺人

7

夫 樂 口□□以辱志於天下

夫 樂 [殺 不 可 ] 以 得 志 於 天 下

8

古吉事上左

故吉事上左

9

喪事上右

1

10

□

□

口□口

是 以 軍 居 左

用兵則貴右 故曰兵者[不祥之器也

喪事上右 是以偏將軍居左

上 }Ü 軍 居 右

上將軍居右

12

言以斃豊居之也

言以喪禮居之也

13

古殺□□則以恣悲位之

故 殺 [人 衆 ] 則 以 哀 悲 立 之

h

14

戰_ 則以斃豊居之■

戰勝則以喪禮居之

C：4 (Chapter 64, part 2)15 1 2 3 4

Those who act on it ruin it, Those who hold on to it lose it. The Sage does nothing, and as a result he has no disasters; He holds on to nothing, and as a result he loses nothing.

5

If you’re as careful at the end as you were at the beginning ， you’ll have

6

no disasters. As for people's disasters— they always ruin things when they're just about to complete them.'6

7 8

9

Therefore, the Sage desires not to desire and places no value on goods that are hard to obtain; He learns how to unlearn and backs away from matters in which the masses go to excess. Therefore, the Sage could help the ten thousand things to be what they are in themselves, but he dare not do it.

Comments and Notes 3： The word “Therefore” is normally found at the head of this line. In later editions， it is only omitted in the Heshanggong recension. (Note that it is present in the version of this passage preserved in Lao\i A.)

lin e

lin e s

5 a n d 6:

In later editions, these lines are reversed, and the wording of line 6 is not exactly the same. For “As for people ’s disasters” (人之敗也 ) at the start of this line， we find “In people ’s performing their duties” （ 民之從事也 ） in later editions. (In passage A:6, lines 6 and 5 are reversed as they are in later editions, but the initial line there is “The rule to follow in approaching matters [is this]”一仏 丄 {A/y/， 臨事之紀 )• l in e

8:

As in all later editions, but in contrast to the words used in passage A:6, this line begins with “He learns how to unlearn” （ 尤從“ 尤此，學不學 )• In A:6, this line

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Za {z ” 〇

begins “He teaches without teaching” or “He teaches not to teach” (yïao 為 wyïao, 教 不教

).

LINE 9 ：

The “Therefore” at the head of this line is omitted in later editions (but passage A:6 also includes it).17In common with later editions— — and in contrast to what we find in passage A:6— this line ends， however， with the words “but he dare not do it” （" /w g a n W

而弗敢爲

V 8

Rime and Meter: Although they belonged to different rime groups in archaic Chinese, the words “act” (爲， *ftiuar) and “ruin” （ 敗， *puäd) in lines I and 3 were phonologically close; the same is true of the words “hold on to” （ 執， *ti3p) and “lose” （ 失， *thiet) in lines 2 and 4. In line 5, which is essentially an eight-character line, there is internal rime with words 4 and 8 ($台， *thbg ， begin; and 敗事， *dzÏ3g， disasters). Finally， lines 7, 8, and 9 rimed ( 貨， *huar， goods;過， *kuar， excess; and 爲， *ftiuar， do it)， and if we remove the opening “Therefore the Sage” from line 7, and add the character 人 to line 8 (present in all later editions), lines 7 and 8 become balanced, nine-character lines, in three- and six- character units.

m

C：4 (Chapter 64, paTt 2) Transcription

Modern Equivalents

1 2

爲之者敗之

爲之者敗之

塾之者遊之_

3

聖人無爲古無敗也

執之者失之 聖人無爲故無敗也

4

無 墊

無 執 故 [無 失 也 ]

5

Iff 冬 若 5 則 無 敗 事 宜 _

慎 終若始則無敗事矣

6

人之敗也亙 於丌 虞成也

人之敗也恆 於其且成也敗之

古 □□口

敗之_ 7

是 以 □人 欲 不 欲 不 貴 戀

是 以 [聖 ] 人 欲 不 欲 不 貴 難 得 之 貨

辱之貨 學不學這衆之

8

學不學復衆之所過

所逃_ 9

是以能補蠆 勿之自妖而 弗敢爲■

是以能輔萬物之自然而弗敢爲

Translation of the ^Bamboo Slip Lao^i

C:5 “Taiyi shengshuV ’ Part I (slips 1 -8 ,10-12)’9 Note: In the Wenwu transcription, the MTaiyi shengshui,> selection is divided into three parts: slips i—8 are seen as a unit, slip 9 stands alone, and slips 10-14 are treated as the third part of the text.201 think that slips 10—12 follow directly from the end of slip 8; I will translate and discuss slips 9, 13—14 in the next section. Here, I maintain that the “this” at the end of line 8 means both the “process” herein described and the “source of the process”一Taiyi, the “Great One.” Does this mean that “Great One” is the “name” 名） of what we “refer to as” (糾/，謂) or “designate” ({z.， 字 ）the “Dao ”？ Not necessarily. Relevant here are the lines in chapter 25 of the La 〇ii^ where speaking of the source of heaven and earth, the author explains: aI do not yet know its name 名] ; I simply ‘call it’ [{/ çA/，字之] the Dao. Were I 声 rce心o give it a name, I would say it’s ‘The Great’ [Ja， 大] Lines io-i2 make the same distinction between what something actually w， that is， its “name,” and how we “refer to” that thing, what it is “called” （ wW， 言 胃 )， that is， its “designation” （ p’， 字 )•

Translation

(a) The Great One gave birth to water. Water returned and assisted Taiyi, in this way developing heaven. Heaven returned and assisted Taiyi, in this way developing the earth. Heaven and earth [repeatedly assisted each other], in this way developing the “gods above and below.” The “gods above and below ’。 repeatedly assisted each other, in this way developing Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang repeatedly assisted each other, in this way developing the four seasons. The four seasons repeatedly assisted each other, in this way developing cold and hot. Cold and hot repeatedly assisted each other, in this way developing moist and dry. Moist and dry repeatedly assisted each other; they developed the year, and the process came to an end. Therefore, the year was produced by moisture and dryness; moisture and dry­ ness were produced by cold and hot. Cold and hot and the four seasons, were produced by Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang were produced by the agods above and below.” The “gods above and below” were produced by heaven and earth ， and heaven and earth were produced by the Great One. This being so, the Great One is concealed in water and moves with the four seasons. Completing a cycle, [it starts] over again; [we regard this beginning as] the mother of the ten thou­ sand things: first it is depleted, then it is full; we regard this beginning as the guiding principle of the ten thousand things.22 This is something that heaven

n

cannot destroy, the earth cannot smother, and Yin and Yang cannot produce. The gentleman knows this is referred to as [“the W a y ( s l i p s i—8) (b) What is below is soil; yet we refer to it [wei ihiy as the earth: what is above is air; yet we refer to it as heaven. In the same way, Mthe WayMis its designation [{/，字]• “But， may I ask， what is its name 名]？ ” One who uses the Way to work at his tasks certainly relies on its name; for this reason his tasks are completed and he endures. When the Sage works at his tasks, he also relies on its name; as a result his deeds are achieved and he suffers no harm. With heaven and earth ， “name” and “designation” both stand together. But when we move beyond these domains, we can think of nothing that would fit [as a name], (slips IO-I2)

Comments and Notes Interest in the god named “Taiyi” ( 太 一^or 大 一 the Great One) has been consid­ erable among scholars in China with the realization that one of the paintings found in Tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui in 1973 is a picture of Taiyi, with the deities Leigong (雷公， Lord Thunder) and Yushi ( 雨師， the Rain Master) standing to his right and his left.23Taiyi is portrayed as a god with a red face and red legs, antlers on top of his head, arms that appear to be wings, and a mouth that could be a bird's beak. This portrayal of god— of the “supreme” god who lives in the sky— — as a fusion of bird and dragon (the antlers— dragons have horns), can be traced back to Shang dy­ nasty times (c. 1500 b. c .).24 But in pre-Qin philosophical texts， “Taiyi” is simply another name for the “Dao，” the Way， which is how it is used here. As Ge Zhaoguang (葛 $ 匕光) has recently shown， “Taiyi，” “Dao，” and “Taiji” （ 太極， the Great Ultimate) are terms that are used interchangeably in texts of this era.25The term wTaiyiMitself is never used in the jLaoj；/. But, as seen in the complete form of the text， the “One” seems to be used to mean the Way in several chapters (10, 22, 39,42)， and in chapter 25, as noted, the author claims that, were he forced to give it (the Way) a name, he would say it is the “Great” 〇 /a，大 ) • Cui Renyi and Li Xueqin both believe that MTaiyi shengshui,> is related to chap­ ter 42 of the La 〇ii^ which opens in the following way: aThe Way gave birth to the One; the One gave birth to the Two; the Two gave birth to the Three; and the Three gave birth to the ten thousand things.’’26However, Cui thinks it is clear that chapter the former is abstract and symbolic, while the 42 of the is on “Taiyi”； latter talks about actual things.17 Li argues, to the contrary， that “Taiyi shengshui” must be later than the received edition of the La 〇{i since, although the Way is often

Translation of the “Bamboo Slip Za叩 ”

talked about as the MOneM{yi) in the La 〇iiy the phrase wGreat OneM(taiyi) does not yet occur.28Isabelle Robinet, on the other hand, has argued19these are two quite different cosmological views, in that, in contrast to chapter 42 of the La 〇{i— in which successive things aproduceM{sheng, 生） one another— in “Taiyi shengshui” things are produced, but then they “return” and interact with or “assist” Taiyi， thus producing additional things. Finally, as some scholars have already noted, cosmological schemes in which everything in the world originates from the aGreat Oneware found in many texts, including the “Zhongxia ji” （ 仲夏糸 己， Midsummer) chapter of the cAwn—tt ( 呂氏春秋， Mr. Lu’s Spring and Autumn) and the “Li yun” （ 禮運， Changes in the Rites) chapter of the Liji. The relevant lines in the MLi yunMare: MFor this rea­ son, the rites must originate with the Great One [dayi9 ^ —]: It separates, forming heaven and earth; revolves, creating Yin and Yang; changes, creating the four sea­ sons; and orders all things, creating the ghosts and the gods.30 The Lushi chunqiu account begins with the words MThe Great One produced the two principles [liangyi, 兩儀]， which produced Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang changed and transformed， one ascended, the other went down.’’31 Then in succession are mentioned heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, stars and constellations, the four seasons (some being hot and some cold), and finally the ten thousand things: “The ten thousand things emerged from the Great One and were transformed [Àwa， 彳匕 ， given form? given life?] by Yin and Yang.

125

n6

C：5 MTaiyi shengshuifwPart I Transcription (a )大

一 生 水 ，水 反 補 大 一 ，是 以 成 天 。天 反 補 大 一 ，是 以 成 墜 。 天 墜 □ ! □ □ 也 ，是 以 成 神 明 。神 明 這 相 補 也 ，是 以 成 衾 昜 。倉 昜 這 相 補 也 ，是 以 成 四 時 。四 時 這 補 也 ，是 以 成 倉 然 。倉 然 這 相 補 也 ，是 以 成 溼 澡 。溼 澡 這 相 補 也 ，成 成 而 步 。古 成 者 ，溼 澡 之 所 生 也 。溼 澡 者 ，倉 然 之 所 生 也 。倉 然 者 ，四 時 者 ，倉昜 之 所 生 。倉 昜 者 ，神 明 之 所 生 也 。神 明 者 ，天 ■ 之 所 生 也 。天 墜 者 ，大 一 之 所 生 也 。是 古 大 一 蹙 於 水 ，行 於 時 ，迹 而 或 □ 口 □ □ 蠆 勿 母 。罷 玦 罷 涅 ，以 忌 爲 蠆 勿 經 。此 天 之 所 不 能 殺 ，墜 之 所 不 能 臺 ，倉 昜 之 所 不 能 成 。君 子 智 此 之 胃 □ □

(b )下

□ □ □ □ □

。 （ slip s 1 - 8 )

，土 也 ，而 胃 之 墜 。上 ，槩

也 ，而 胃 之 天 。道 亦 丌 志 也 。青

昏 丌 名 ？ 以 道 從 事 者 必 甩 丌 名 ，古 事 城 而 身 長 ；聖 人 之 從 事 也 ，亦 甩 丌 名 ，古 杠 城 而 身 不 剔 。天 墜 名 态 竝 竝 。古 炻 丌 方 不 田 相 □ 。口 口 口 。 （ slip s 1 0 -1 2 )

Modern Equivalents (a )太

一 生 水 ，水 反 輔 太 一 ，是 以 成 天 。天 反 輔 太 一 ，是 以 成 地 。

天 地 [ 復 相 輔 ] 也 ，是 以 成 神 明 。神 明 復 相 輔 也 ，是 以 成 陰 陽 。陰 陽 復 相 輔 也 ，是 以 成 四 時 。四 時 復 輔 也 ，是 以 成 滄 然 。滄 然 復 相 輔 也 ，是 以 成 滋 燥 。滋 燥 復 相 輔 也 ，成 歲 而 止 。故 歲 者 ，滋 燥 之 所 生 也 。滋 燥 者 ，滄 然 之 所 生 也 。滄 然 者 ，四 時 者 ，陰陽 之 所 生 。陰 陽 者 ，神 明 之 所 生 也 。神 明 者 ，天 地 之 所 生 也 。天 地 者 ， 太 一 之 所 生 也 。是 故 太 一 藏 於 水 ， 行 於 時 ，舟 而 又 [ 始 ，以 紀 爲 ] 萬 物 母 。一 缺 一 盈 ，以 紀 爲 萬 物 經 。此 天 之 所 不 能 殺 ，地 之 所 不 能 埋 ，陰 陽 之 所 不 能 成 。君 子 知 此 之 謂 [ 道 ？] 。

(b )下

，土 也 ，而 謂 之 地 。上 ，氣 也 ，而 謂 之 天 。道 亦 其 字 也 。請 問 其 名 ？以 道 從 事 者 必 詫 其 名 ，故 事 成 而 身 長 ；聖 人 之 從 事 也 ， 亦 鉈 其 名 ，故 功 成 而 身 不 傷 。天 地 名 字 並 立 。故 過 其 方 不 思 相 [ 當 ] 。口 □ 口 。

Translation of the MBamboo Slip Lao\i

C:6 “Taiyi sheTigshui,” PaTt II (slips 9 ,13-14}» Translation (tentative):

(a) The Way of Heaven values weakness. To cut away34 at what is complete in order to add on to life is to attack using force, to punish using . . . (slip 9) (b) [Heaven is incomplete] in the northwest. What is below it (i.e., the earth) is high and firm. The earth is incomplete in the southeast. What is above it (i.e., the sky) [is low and soft (?). When what is above is lacking,] there is a surplus below, and when what is below is lacking, there is a surplus above, (slips 13—14)

Comments and Notes If we are right in connecting slips 10 to 12 of this selection with slips 1 to 8, we are left with the problem of what to do with slips 9,13, and 14. All three slips are diffi­ cult to translate lacking a context; all three could be translated in many different ways. We must also decide whether the three are connected: Is it possible that the three formed a unit that began with slip 9? What is clear is that slips 13 and 14 assume the reader’s familiarity with a well-known Chinese cosmological myth, a myth cited in the Huainanii as follows:35 uIn antiquity Gonggong [ i t 工] fought with Zhuanxu [願須 ] over who would be God. [Having lost]， he got angry and butted Mount Buzhou [不周之山 ]• Heaven’s pillar then broke, and earth’s cord snapped, so that heaven now dips down in the northwest. As a result, the sun and the moon, along with the stars and constellations, now move in that direction. In addi­ tion, the earth no longer fills up the space in the southeast. Thus the rivers, flood waters, and the dust and the dirt now settle in that direction.>, To elaborate: Sarah Allan has persuasively argued that the ancient Chinese un­ derstood the cosmos to be in the shape of a turtle; the upper shell of the turtle was the dome of the sky, while the under shell served as the earth’s surface.36 The sky was held in place over the earth by four mountains/pillars (= the legs of the turtle), located in the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest. In addition, there were ^cords^ {wei, connecting heaven and earth, to keep the two from separat­ ing completely should anything happen to one of the pillars (i.e., the mountains). When Gonggong broke the northwestern pillar, naturally the dome/shell then tipped in that direction, putting such stress on the wcordMin the southeast that it broke. As

12

a result, heaven and earth are no longer level; they are closer together than they once were in the northwest, and further apart in the southeast. While that explains what slips 13—14 might mean, what can we make of slip 9? My translation assumes that key words in the expression mean what they mean in the La 〇ii. In the La 〇{iyin the opposition of qiang strong or force) and ruo (§ f, weak or soft), it is the soft and the weak that overcome the strong and the firm.37 Moreover, wto add on to life^ {yisheng^ 益生） is condemned in chapter j 5 in the lines: MTo add on to life is called a ^bad omen, [xiangy |^ ]; For the mind to control the breath— that is called ‘forcing things’ 強 ].”38Still， what is meant by “cutting away at what is complete” 肖！J 成) is not clear without knowing more of the original passage. Is it possible that all three of these slips are meant to be read together? It is tempt­ ing to see a connection since the word qiang ( ^ ) is prominent in both passages. The text for my “high and firm”一wWhat is below it is high andfirrn9— is gao y i qiang (高以強 )• translated this way is a positive thing， whereas it is condemned in slip 9. But gao y i qiang could be translated in different ways, since the y i that I translate as “and” more commonly means “by this means” or “because of.” Thus gao y i qiang could also be read ais high as the result of violence,Mand the parallel line that refers to the sky might have been “is low as the result of violence.” So another translation of slips 13—14 might be: Heaven is incomplete in the northwest. What is below it (i.e., the earth) is high as the result of violence. The earth is incomplete in the southeast. What is above it (i.e., the sky) is low as the result of violence. Where what is above is lacking, there is a surplus below, and where what is below is lacking, there is a surplus above.” （ slips 13—14) The “violence” would refer, of course， to the act of Gonggong. The question then would become could the words in slip 9— MTo cut something off from what is complete in order to add on to life”一also refer to Gonggong^ deed?39They might, especially since he broke off part of a pillar that was already ^complété/' ^nAyisheng (to extend life) could also be translated as “to better your life.” Unfortunately, the words xuecheng— “to cut off from what is complete”一and yisheng— “to better your life”一still do not exactly describe Gonggong^ actions and his situation. As a result, I cannot yet argue with any certainty that these three slips were meant to be read together.40

Translation of the ^Bamboo Slip Lao\in

C:6 “Taiyi shengshuV ’ Part II

129

Transcription

( a ) 天 道 貴 漀 ，雀成者，以益生者；伐於鹗 ，責 於 □ ，□ 口 □ 。口 □ □ (slip 9) ( b ) 於 西 北 ，丌 下高以_ 。墜不足於東南，丌 上□ □ 口 。□口 □口 者 ，又余於下，不足於下者，又余於上 。 ■ (slips 13-14) Modern Equivalents

⑷ 天 道 貴 弱 ，削 成 者 ，以 益 生 者 ；伐 於 強 □ □ □

，責 於 □ ，口 □ 口

( b ) 於 西 北 ，其 下 高 以 強 。地 不 足 於 東 南 ，其上[ 底以強 。不足於 上 ] 者 ，有 餘於下，不足於下者，有餘於上 。 ■

Appendixes

Appendix I S im a Q ia n s c 74. A nother them e that does not show up in this selection o f chapters is the WI alone” them e in the second part o f chapter 20 (“T he masses do this… I alone do this”） and elsewhere in later editions. 75. Cui R enyi， “Shitan Jingm en z h u jia n Z a o f/de niandai，” especially p. 41. 76 . 1 take issue w ith this conclusion. H an Feizi seems to select chapters, o r portions o f chapters, on w hich he will com m ent com pletely at random ; the order he follows should not be taken as indicating the o rd er o f chapters in the version o f the L a o \i that he was using. T he im portant point, how ever, is that he is clearly citing from a ^book^ that he knew as the Lao^i. 77. Li X ueqin， “Jingm en G uodian C hujian suo 丨ian G uanyin yishuo” [荆 門郭 店楚簡所見 É ★ 遺說] ， i 中國文物報 ]， April 8, 1998. 78. Translated by A. C. G raham , Chuang T^u\ The Inner Chapters (London: G eorge A llen & U nw in, 1981), pp. 281—82. 79. See appendix I for a translation of Sima Qian’s biography of Laozi. 80. G uo Yi， “ C ong G uodian C hujian Z a 吓 • kan qiren qishu” [從郭店楚 簡 《老子》看老子其人其書]， ja/yYtt [哲學访 究 ， Philosophical Research] (July 1998): 4 7 • 81. Ibid., pp. 48—49. 82. Ibid., pp. 53—55. 83. W ho, G uo suggests, is actually the person w ho served as the archivist in Zhou— not Li E r— and the D an w ho saw the Zhou in decline and left was also this second Dan: He fled to the state o f Q in, w here he m et w ith D uke X ian, as our sources all tell us. Taking refuge in Q in, he proceeded to develop Legalist thought. T his is all possible. But the evidence we have can neither prove n o r disprove this thesis.

203

84. X ing W en, wLun G uodian Lao^i yu jinben L a o \i bu zhu yixi.M 85. Recall that the chapters in the L a 〇i i in w hich the D ao is equated w ith the “O ne” 一chapters 10, 22, 39, and 4 2 _ are n o t found on the G uodian slips. 86. As H arold R oth has pointed o u t， “even a cursory attem pt at textual criticism com paring the tw o parallel versions o f chapter 64, lines 10—18 in the received Lao T\u found in bundle A, verse 6 and C verse 5 clearly indicates that they could n o t be taken from each o th er n o r could they have had a com m on sourcew ( wSome M ethod­ ological Issues in the Study o f the Kuo T ien L ao T\u Parallels>, [paper presented at the international conference on the “G uodian jLaop， ” May 1998]， p. 5). T his is one

o f the reasons that Roth 一and I agree w ith him on this_ suspects that Mthe three bundles o f bam boo strips that contain the Kuo T ien Lao T^u m aterial did n ot even

come from the same source” （ ibid. ， p. 4)• 87. T his m ight also explain w hy there is a blank space left on the slip betw een the end o f chapter 2 (A ： 9) and the beginning o f chapter 32 (A: 10); that is, the copyist changed to another source for the text o f chapter 32. D ao is again w ritten fxj in MLiu deMand "Collected Sayings, P art I,Mwhile in ^C ollected Sayings, P art II,Mthe char­ acter used is f |j . A nother significant variation is th at in Lao^i A and L a o \i B the negative “w ith o u t” is consistently w ritten as 亡 （ w/an发 ) ， as it is in the Shang oracle bones, while in La 〇 i i C, the m ore fam iliar character Ä (wu) is used. T h e significance o f these changes m ust be explored. 88. By Mcom pletewtext, I mean one containing the eighty-one chapters in current editions in term s o f “content”; it need n o t be divided into chapters. In m y view ， the M awangdui copies are wcom plete>, versions o f the L ao\i.

89. C opy A appears to have been m ade before the reign o f H an G aozu, Liu Bang ( 劉邦， r. 206-194 b.c.) since it does not avoid the taboo on his personal nam e ( 厶 an 尽， state). Copy B does avoid this taboo— changing all ubangs'9 in the text to guos (S I), and was probably m ade during the reign o f Liu Bang. (See, for example, H enricks, L a o -t：[u Te-tao chingy p. xv.) 90. T he high quality o f the calligraphy on the slips suggests that the latter is true; these w ere not done in a “slap-dash” fashion to be p u t into a tomb. Sarah A llan has suggested to me that these texts m ight well have belonged to the teacher o f the deceased. 91. Perhaps the clearest evidence we have dem onstrating that this was the case occurs in chapter 59 (B :i), where the copyist repeated the w ords shiyi \ao before he finished the l i ne— ( 是以早， 是以早備 ) • I believe th at the same is true o f the M awangdui copies o f the L ao\u A lthough it is com m only argued that the “phonetic loans” we find in these copies are the result o f unlearned scribes taking oral dictation, I am convinced that the scribes w ho w rote them w ere ^looking at” previous copies. Two cases should make this clear.

(I)

In chapter 27 (in copy B)，

line 3 reads: “T h e good counter doesn’t use tallies o r chips,” then line 4 begins “T h e good counter^ closer o f d o o rsM(H enricks, Lao-t^u Te-tao ching^ pp. 240—41). T h e

N o te s

character g counter) was w ritten dow n but then blotted o ut w hen the scribe realized he was m istakenly repeating the previous line. Line 4 ought to begin: MT h e good closer o f doors.M(2) T h e o ther example is in chapter 7 (again in copy B). Here the line “H e puts him self in the background yet finds him self in the foreground” should be followed by wP uts self-concern ou t o f his m ind, yet his self-concern is preserved.” But, having started the second line correctly, the scribe mistakenly ended the line w ith the end o f the previous line— “P uts self-concern out o f his m ind ， ， finds him self in the foreground" (ibid., pp. 200—201). 92. T h a t is, w hen w ere these sayings first form ulated as ideas and w ords and spoken, so that they could be m em orized and start to circulate orally? T h e w ork o f Liu X iaogan (^|J ^ in w hich he notes that the syntactic patterns o f rim ed parts o f the La 〇{i often m atch those o f the Shi ( f ^ , Book o f Songs), m ight suggest that such sayings w ere form ulated as early as the “Spring and A utum n” period (722—481 b .c .) . (See Liu’s article， zaoqi shuo zhi xin zheng” [ 〈 老子》早期說之

〇 Ë]j Daojia wenhuayanjiu 4

(1994 )： 419—37.)

Translator notes 1. W illiam G. Boltz， “T he Study o f Early C hinese M anuscripts: M ethodological Prelim inaries” (paper presented at the international conference on the “G uodian

La 〇{ i / y May 1998), p. 1. He elaborates, ^M anuscripts should be transcribed so as to reveal the exact form o f w hat is w ritten as precisely and unam biguously as possible w ithout introducing any interpolations, alterations o r other extraneous material based on assumptions, biases o r subjective decisions o f the scholar-transcriber o r o f anyone else.” 2. W ang Bi often quotes the text in his com m entary, and in m any places his cita­ tions do n o t correspond to w hat we now find in the text that circulates w ith his com m entary attached. For the evidence on this, see Shima Kunio [島 男] ， iîôrÂ/ •[ 老子校正 ] (Tokyo: Kyüko shoin ， 1973); R u d o lf G. W agner， “T h e W ang Bi Recension o f the Lao^iy 9 Early China 14 (1989): 27—54; and W illiam G. Boltz, wT he Lao t{u Text T h at W ang Pi and H o-shang Kung N ever Saw /5 Bulletin o f the School o f Oriental and African Studies 48.3 (1985): 493—501.

Laozi A 1. Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 3, slips 1—2. 2. My reading o f 或命之或客豆 would b e 或令之有所屬， reading the last tw o characters as phonetic loans. Q iu X igui {Guodian Chumu ihujian^ pp. 113—14 n 5)， proposes a different re a d in g : 或 命 之 或 呼 屬 （ “Some people nam e them ， others note the categories to which they belong,,[?]) T h e reconstructed archaic pronunciations o f the relevant w ords are: ( I ) Am (乎 o r 呼， *fiag)， （ 2) (戸 斤 ， *siag )，

205

2 〇6

(3) dou ( 豆，*dug)， and (4) jäw ( 屬， *dhiuk ).他 and

似0 w ere b o t h ^ ( 魚）

group

w ords in term s o f rime, while dou and shu were both hou ( f ^ ) group words. 3. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 113 n 3. He argues that the phonetic elem ent in the character

慮一w hich

he transcribes as

慮一is qie ( 且， *ts‘iäg)， w hich

w ould make

this, in term s o f archaic pronunciation, a phonetic loan for ^ha (^tsäg). O n the char­ acter note that this character is found again in chapter 18 {L a 〇i i C , passage 1), where it is understood to mean Awa ( 彳 匕 )； it is also used for Awa ( 彳 匕 ） in chapter 37 in copy A o f the M awangdui m anuscripts. T he archaic pronunciation o f ( 彳 匕 ） was

*huar while that o f wei ( ^ ) was *fiiuar. 4. It is also transcribed as shi ( f ^ ) in ^Collected Sayings, IV /' for w hich see Guo­ dian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 217, and th ro u g h o u t the selections MLiu de^ and MZun deyi.M 5. D ing Yuanzhi ( 丁原植） agrees w ith this reading and argues that the character wen ( )C ) in this place in the M awangdui copies developed from w riting shi ( 3^ )

[郭 店 竹 簡 { 老 子 》釋

incorrectly (in

析與硏究] [Taibei: 6.

W anjuanlou ， I998] ， P. I I )• p. 3, slips 2—

7. Henricks, Lao-t^u: Te-tao ching^ p. 154. 8. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 3, slips 5—6. 9. Reading Awa ( 化， *huär) as a phonetic loan for 发

奶 （ 禍， *ftuar).

10. See Henricks, L ao-t\u: Te-tao ching^ pp. 114—15. 11. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 3, slips 6—8. 12. T he last line is JT 事 女 子 But I suspect that the cÂûtz客（ 長） that seems to begin the following passage— chapter 15 in current editions— actually belongs at the end o f this line. T h e copyist has punctuated the text one character early. For evidence, I offer three pieces o f evidence: (1) T his passage ends w ith a series o f four-character phrases. It makes no sense, then, that the final line w ould consist o f only three characters. (2) Chang (§ ,* d ia r) ) rim es w ith the last character o f the preceding line qiang *giai)). (3) In no other case does chapter 15 o f the Lao^i begin w ith the w ord chang. N ote that the final w ord in line 7— 矜 (y/n)， here w ritten

輪一m ight have marked a phonetic transition to the final tw o lines. X u Shen (許 慎 ) ， in 出e 从 奶 糾心/ 中• （ 舍文解字 ) ， claims that the “phonetic” o f y/n was //n尽 ( 令， See X u Shen [許慎 ] ， com p. ， [說文解字注 ] ， annotated by Duan Yucai [段玉裁 ] (repr. Shanghai: Guji， 1981)， i4A.3(5b， p. 719. 13. T he negatives wu ( ^ : ) and wu (^7J) are never used in the G uodian Lao^i docu­ ments. 14. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 3, slips 8—10.

15. For the argum ents for m oving the character chang ( § ) from the head o f this passage to the end o f the previous one, see note 12 above. 16. U n d e rsta n d in g ^ / ( 非， *piu9r) and

( 溺， *näg) as phonetic loans for uW ( 微，,

*m iu 3r) and /mao ( 妙、 ， *mi： )g). T h e final character in this line is norm ally J a 達， and the G uodian graph is understood to be da in the W enwu transcription. H ow ever, as

Ikeda has already noted

n 38) the G uodian graph is exactly the same as that

found on “ Baoshan slip 137，” a graph read as few 造 （ see Zhang Shouzhong

[張守 [包山楚簡文字編] [Beijing: W enwu Press, I99 6]，

中] ，

p. 22). M oreover, the G uodian graph does no t correspond to the version o f da ^ preserved by Xia Song [夏辣] in his 寶n 士Ae/疼少rm [古文四聲韻 ] (5.12b， 224:498). And, \ao (*dzDg) w ould have rimed w ith miao (*miDg) in the line, providing internal rime; this is no t true o f da C dat). 17. Zhi

is com m only used for shi ( | ^ ) in the Mawangdui copies as well.

18. Reading y ( 夜 ， *çliâg) as a phonetic loan for

（ 豫， *(Jiag).

19•哭is used for //n ( 鄰 ） in copy B o f the Mawangdui m anuscripts as well. 20. T he archaic pronunciations o f ^hu ( 竺) and shu (§^l) were *tiok and *dhiok,

respectively. CÏ ( 朿 ) ， here used for/./n 尽 ( 靜， *dziei))， was pronounced *ts‘ieg in antiquity. 21. See Shima Kunio, Röshi köseiy p. 82. 22. T h e worcbong ( 頌， *giui)) could be read as a phonetic loan for 厂(?叹 ( 容， *giui))， b u t as Tom ohisa Ikeda [、 池田矢口也] has pointed o u t， in the (9A.2b ， p. 416), the character H is noted as the Mlarge sealM({houwen^ }〇 f〇 rm s〇 ng ( “Jingm enshi bow uguan biji” [荆 門 市 博 物 館 《 郭店 楚 墓 竹 簡 》筆 I 己 ] [paper p resen ted at the in tern atio n al conference on the “G uodian Zaofz，’’ May 1998]， n 40) [hereafter cited as “Biji”]. From this it seems likely that tong was derived from song. 23. C opy B o f the M awangdui m anuscripts om its the next to last line; in copy A, the line reads wIt is precisely because he does not wish [to be full].>, 24. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ pp. 3—4, slips 10-13. ^ h e first h alf o f w hat is now chapter 64 constitutes a distinct passage: see A: 14. Passage C ：4 provides a second, and different, version o f this passage. 25. Literally， “T hose w ho hold on to it 少 wan ( 遠) it一that is， “put it at a distance” o r “find themselves separated from it.” But I suspect this 遠 is a mistake for 遊， the character used in line 4. Q iu X igui {Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 114 n 28) points out that the latter character is com m only used for shi to lose) in C hu script. 26. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 4, slips 13—14. 27. For 愚 as phonetic loan for 化， see the notes to passage A:I note 3 above. 28. T he character p ( 足) is om itted on the G uodian slips， b u t this m ust be a mistake. O n ci ( ^ ) as phonetic loan for jin g ( | f ) , see note 20 above. 29. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 4, slips 14—15. 30. Henricks, Lao-t^u Te-tao ching^ p. 148. 31. For the relevance o f this line to the issue o f dating the text, see the introduction. 32. Guodian Chumu ihujiany p. 4, slips 15—18. 3 3. A lthough “sound” 聲) is com m only used as a phonetic loan for “sage” {shengy 34.

2 ) in copy A o f the M awangdui m anuscripts, here we find the reverse.

As for the character f% here read as jä / ( 始)： This may be a phonetic loan

since the archaic pronunciation o f si ( W() was ^sb g while shi ($ p ) was read as *thi3g. A nother explanation is that the graphs 司 and 台 w ere virtually indistinguishable in archaic script. ' 35. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 4, slips 18—20. 36. W here other editions have the w ord “sm all” （ xzao, /J、 ) ， the character here is

妻（ y， wife). T h e W enwu editors suggest that this should be read as wW ( 微， *m iu 3r ， subtle); but, in agreem ent w ith Li Ling, I prefer to read this as % /( 細， *ser， trivial o r unim portant) (Li Ling [李零]， “D u G uodian C hujian [讀郭店楚簡《 老 子 》 ] [paper presented at the international conference on the “G uodian jLaofz，” May 1998]). T he archaic pronunciation o f qi ( ^ ) was *ts'er. It could also be read as

a phonetic loan for d i ( ^ , ^ter, low or low ly). 37. 堕 is the way “earth” （ 石， 地） was w ritten in C hu script. See， for exam ple ， Teng Rensheng, Chuxi jianbo wen^ibian^ pp. 963—64. 38. For reading a ( 言 司 ) as «fA/ ($ 台 ) ， see note 34 above. ZAe ( 折， *tiat， break) is a

phonetic loan for {A/ ( 制， *tiad， to regulate o r put into order).

39. N ote that lines 1 to 4 seem to be self-contained in term s o f the rim e (the final w ord in line 2 [士n ， 臣， *ghien ， subject] rimes w ith the final w ord in line 4 賓， *pien, subm it as a guest]). 40. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ pp. 4—5, slips 21—23. 41. Reading 敗 a s /ï ( 寂） and 總 as m“ （ 穆) • These w ould have rimed: *dzök and *miok. 42. For m ore on the distinction betw een how we “refer” to som ething， o r its “style” (p.， 字) and its “nam e” (m/n尽 名) ， see the translation o f “Taiyi shengshui” part I ， C:5, and the introductory “n o te.” 43. T h e character translated as “realm ” is

國 (^1^)， which

we w ould norm ally

translate as “state，” b ut that makes no sense， since this is som ething that em braces heaven, earth, the Way, and the king. I suggest, therefore, that we read this as the same w ord that is used in B:i (chapter 59) below. If the a u th o rs intention was to say “state,” he w ould have used the character 厶 an展（ 邦) • N ote that in the M awangdui m anuscripts, where bang in copy A is always changed to guo in copy B, the original in copy A in chapters 25 and 59 is guoy a sure indication that there was a distinction betw een bang and guo { o ty u ) . In addition, it m ust be th a ty u m eant som e­ thing larger, m ore all-em bracing than wstate.w T h e use o f y u ( J ^ ) in song 303 in the Songs m ight be relevant here. K arlgren^ translation o f the pertinent lines reads:

“O f old, G od gave the appointm ent to the m artial T ’ang; he regulated and set boundaries [{hengyuy 正 for those four qu arters>, (B ernhard Karlgren, The Book o f Odes [Stockholm: Museum o f Far Eastern A ntiquities, 1950], p. 263). T h u s^ « means

“bounded space,” b u t that could include all space that is know n. 44. Q iu X iguiJs note 51, in Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 116. 45. Ibid., p. 153 n 47, reading the left side o f the character as the phonetic elem ent instead o f the radical.

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46. In this way, the second and fourth characters in the line— 狀（ fAi/an於 *dzïai)) and {cheng, *dhiei))— would have rimed. 47. Guodian Chumu [hujian, p. 217. 48. Ibid., p. 219 n 17. 49. X ia Song [夏辣] ， ed. ， (?嫌 饥 [古 文 四 聲 韻 ] ， p. 1.31b， in the vSV/rw ywarwAw [四庫全書 ] edition (repr. Shanghai: G u ji ， 1987)， 224:432. 50. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 5, slip 23. 51. A t the “G uodian Z a 叩 conference, D onald H arper suggested that the char-

acter 奮, in the expression 围 霍 （ bellows) m ight be a variant w riting o f 管咖 奶 ， pipe), in w hich case it should not be read ^ syu e ( ^ ) (as it is read in the W enwu transcription). T his makes good sense given the phonetic elem ent o f the character in question; also, lines 1 and 2 would then presum ably rim e (*kän and ^kuan, respec­ tively). 52. Lau, Lao T^u: Tao Te Ching^ p. 166. 53. See Shima Kunio, Röshi köseiy p. 62. 54. H enricks, Lao~t{u Te-tao chingy p. 196. 55. Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 5, slip 24. 56. R eading 善 as the 而 ( 篤) that is found here in later editions. These two characters w ere used interchangeably in ancient texts. T h e character 善 is defined as hou (i5 ) in the Shuowen j i e \ i (in the Shuowen jie^i {Aw, 5.29a, p. 229). 57. See, for example, Zhang X uan ¥S]y The Etymologies o f 3 0 0 0 Chinese Char­ acters in Common Usage (H ong Kong: H ong Kong U niversity Press, 1968), pp. 305 and 416. 58. It is also preferred over heng on phonological grounds. Lines 2 and 4 rim ed, and lines 1 and 3, if we read this w ord asyï, w ould have been phonologically close:

極 (*kiak) ， 作（ *tsak)， and 善 (*tok) ， 復（ *biuak). 59. Ikeda, MB iji/>n 134. 60. It is possible that xu and ju are both phonetic loans for o ther characters or different w ays o f w riting other characters. T his is som ething that awaits further research. T he right side o f 須 » ， for example, differed little from the character ^

(the right side o f guan) in ancient C hu script as we can see from the samples in

Teng Rensheng, Chuxi jianbo weniibian (pp. 701 and 707). T hus xu m ight be an ancient way o f w riting “look at” o r “see.” A lso,y“ and 简 w ere phonetically close in archaic term s, pronounced *kiag and ^rjag respectively. But the character that is always used for 純 （ I)， on the G uodian slips is 虔. 61. W ang Bo m ade this proposal at the ^G uodian L ao\i" conference. A nother possibility is raised by Ikeda in “Biji” （ n 137): to translate (my choice o f w ording ， not his) this as “T he W ay o f Heaven [generates things] in m ultiple num bers.” 62. See the samples in Teng Rensheng, Chuxijianbo wen\ibian^ pp. 15 and 787. See also Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 115 n 45, on the confusion in the slips in the use o f the characters f u y tiany and er (ff〇 )- All three characters looked much the same at this time.

63. Note that both characters— ^ in chapter 25 and x& {dao) in this line一 - are in later editions, including that represented by the Mawangdui copies, replaced by the character 物 （ w/tt， thing). This suggests that they stand for the same word (William Boltz first made this suggestion)， and “form，” in both cases， makes better sense than the “Way.” 64. Henricks, L ao-t[u Te-tao chingy p. 218. 65. Guodian Chumu \hujiany p. 5, slips 25—27. 66. “Fragile” is 霖， w hich the W enwu editiors read as a phonetic loan for 脆 （ 〇 « .， brittle), the character found here in later editions. But there seems no reason n o t to see this as 毳 ( 〇 «•)， w hich refers to “very fine hair.” 67. T h e character translated “begins” is w ritten as 甲（ )/a ) on the G uodian slips. Ikeda thinks that this transcription is w rong and that the character is actually 3 (yV), which w ould then stand for {qi, begins) (Ikeda, ^B iji/5 n 146). It is true that the characters 甲 and 己 looked a lot alike in C hu script (for samples o f each， see Teng Rensheng, Chuxijianbo wen^bian^ pp. 1054 and 1064), b u t the G uodian charac­ ter is clearly ^ . I suspect the copyist m eant to w rite o r possibly (j[uq) — since the right side o f 作 looked a lot like 甲 [ibid. ， p. 661)— b ut w rote 甲by mistake. 68. A ctually copy B has fA/gao ( 百千之高) ， b u t， if G ao M ing ( 局明） is rig h t， this 千 (y/an) should be read as 刃 （ ren) (ÄwAw Z a 叩 [ 帛 書 老 子 校

注] [Beijing:

Zhonghua shuju ， 1996]， pp. 136—37).

69. See Shima Kunio, Röshi kösei^ p. 188. 70. In his study o f the poetical parts o f the L a o ^ K arlgren noted that lines 1, 2, and 5 in this chapter rim e, as do lines 3 ,4 , and 6. T h e finals in lines 10 and 12 are 十 (m ， *t‘ag) and （ 尤 /a ， *fiäg). See his “T h e Poetical Parts o f L ao-T sï，” Gör士 ; ^

卞

Högskolas Àrsskrift 38: 3 (1932): 3—45.

71. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 5, slips 27—29. 72. Ikeda ， “ Biji，” n 152. 73. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 5, slips 29—32. 74. As others have already noted (C hen G uying, X u K angsheng), the G uodian and M awangdui copies o f Û itL a o ^ like the X ia n g ^ r and H eshanggong recensions, have (faw u y exem plary things, i.e., beautiful and valuable things) in this line, while other editions have ^ (fa ^ ngy laws). It seems clear th at faw u was the earliest reading. G ao Ming {BoshuLao^ijiao^hu^ p. 106) cites the H eshanggong com ­ m entary on this: a/< Wy Shuowen jieii {huy iA， 5a?p. 3). 85. Note that lines 10 to 13 all rime— 常 （ *dhiai))， 明（ *miäi))， 祥 d ia i) ) ， and 強 (*giai))— but the rime changes for lines 14 and 15 (老 [/如，*log] and 道 [心 >，*dog]). 86. See Shima Kunio, Röshi köseiy p. 170, for the main variations by lineage. 87. For various forms of this line, see ibid. It appears as though the original Wang Bi and Xiang’er recensions also had the line in this form. 88. For the identification as rany see Guodian Chumu ihujiany p. 116 n 71. This line needs a grammatical connective, and ran would serve that purpose, but then there would be no subject for the verb 怒 (nw， gets firm/stiff). I suspect that the connective [fO (er)^ which is found where it belongs, right before juan nu^ in all later editions, was omitted by the copyist for the sake of balance within the line; without the er^

line 6 becomes an eight-character line in which characters 4 and 8— 戊 *mug) and *nag)— though they do not rime, were phonologically close. On the identification of 赤 as 陽 ( p n 客)一yang is written without the radical in wTaiyi shengshui>, {Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 13, slip 2), and in the present case I suspect that 上 (Man尽 ) has replaced 日 (，/) as the top part of the character. (For the writing of shang [上] in this way, see Shuowenjie[i ihuy iA.3a, p. 2). Teng Rensheng shows that ^ {yang) was sometimes written with an additional element on top, an element that could be mistaken for 上 (shang)y but which would probably be transcribed as 止 ({A/) {Chuxijianbo wen^ibian^ p. 738). So the copyist might be writing that form of yan客，omitting，however， the element 日 （")• 89. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 6, slips 25—27. 90. The “Therefore” is also omitted from the start of line 4 in the Heshanggong lineage， and the Xiang’er lineage maintains the “Therefore” at the start of line 6. (See Shima Kunio, Röshi kösei^ p. 148.) 91. The archaic pronunciations of dai^ and jiu were, respectively, ^tiog, and *giog. 92. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 6, slip 37. 93. The omission of the particle ^ ({hi) must be a mistake. 94. Lines 1 and 2 rime— 動 (*dui)) and 用 （ *4iui))— and the word for “non-being” at the end of line 4— 亡 （ 而叹 ，*miar))— probably sounded better in this context than its later replacement (wuy ^miuag). 95. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 117 n 75. 96. Chen Guying， “Chu du jianben [初 讀 簡 本 《老 子 》 ] (paper presented at the international conference on the ^Guodian Lao^i^ May 1998), p. 2. Chen raises this issue and goes into it in some detail in his recently published Lao^i jinihu jin yi (Taibei: Commercial Press, 1997), pp. 205—8. Related to this, Chen under­ stands wu ^nd you as nouns in lines 3 and 4 of chapter 1 of the Lao^i: 始 and 有 ，名 萬 物 之 母 和 yïny，pp. 47-52). 97. Guodian Chumu ^hujiany p. 6, slips 37—39. 98. In the Guodian version the two exceptions to this are lines 4 and 7. Line 4 has five characters， but the final 也 (ye) could be omitted and is probably added to mark the metaphorical relationship of lines 1 to 4 to what follows in lines 5 to 8. Line 7 has only three characters, but I suspect the connective ffîj (er) has been incorrectly left out. The rime words are “maintain” (*pog)，“safeguard” (*thiog)，“disaster” (*kog)， and “Way” (*dog). There is also internal rime in line 9 with the characters in the second and fourth positions:攻 述 （ *diu3t)身 退 （ "Vusd). 99. Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 117 n 76. Note that the Mawangdui copies both have 値 in this location. 100. At the MGuodian L a o ^ conference, William Boltz and I spent some time discussing these lines, and he suggested that the later form of this line probably came about when someone wrote 允 (ywn) as 兌 (也/)， something easy to do. Following this， the change was made from 湍 to 揣 ， and 允 to 銳 .

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ioi. From Li Kang [李 康 ]， “Yunming lun” [運 命 論 ， Essay on Fate)， as cited in 213 Yan Kejun ed., Quart shanggu sandai Qin Han sanguo liuchao wen 古 三 代 秦 漢 三 國 六 朝 文 ] (Taibei: Zhongwen chubanshe，1972)，2:i295. Laozi B 1. Guodian Chumu Lao^iy p. 7, slips 1—3. 2. For the end of line 2 and the start of line 3, the copyist incorrectly wrote:夫售 嗇 是 以 是 是 以 最 備 • The original was probably:夫 售 嗇 是 以 最 = 備 =• y There is a full stop punctuation mark (m ) at end of this line, which nor­ mally signals the end of a passage or chapter. Here, this clearly ought to be M=Z， the sign that means “repetition” ； in fact the last three words should be repeated (i.e.， the line should end with 亡 = 不 = 克 =). 4. As it was in line I in chapter i6 (A:13)， the character 亙 here must be a mistake for the right side of the character 極 （ yY). If the “sense” of the line does not affirm that, the rime scheme certainly does. 5. Chen Guying， following the arguments of Yao N ai (姚 鼎 )， had read “submit” here to mean “prepare” （ 厶 以•)， the word that we find in the Guodian slips. See his [《 老子$

註譯及評介 ] (H o n g K o n g : Z h o n g h u a sh u ju ， i9 87 )，

p. 296. 6. In the “Collected Sayings， Part III，’’ 心/ stands fo r> on p. 212, while on p. 211， where what is intended is the word bei (aprepare,,)>the character {bei) is written without the radical 厂en (i.e•，蒲)• 7. On the meaning of 义 “ （ 域） as “realm” or “the entire， known world，’’ see note 43 in La 〇ii A. 8• 深 被 (*thiem k9n ) ， 固 柢 (*kagter) ， 長 生 (*diar)siei))， and 舊 視 (* g io g d h ie r). 9. 舊 fo r久 is a common substitution in the Guodian slips. The Wenwu editors seem to understand it as a “phonetic loan，” but that may not be necessary. The two words could be used interchangeably in ancient texts. 10. Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 7, slips 3and 4. 11. SeeGaoMingrBoshuZaa^ jiayibenyujinbenZaafzkanjiaozhaji” [帛 書 《老 子 》甲 乙 本 與 今 本 《老 子 》^ [j校 札 記 ]， in Wenwu bianji weiyuanhui [文 物 編 輯 委 員 會 ]， ed.， [女 物 資 料 叢 刊 ] (Beijing: Wenwu Press, 1978), 2: 209—21; see also idem, BoshuLao\ijiao^hu^ pp. 54—57. 12. As I pointed out in my 1981 article, MThe Philosophy of Lao-tzu Based on the Ma-wang-tui Texts: Some Preliminary Observations，” rAe Study o f Chinese Religions 9 (October 1981): 60—61. 13. Guodian Chumu Lao\i^ p. 7, slips 4 and 5. 14. Xu Kangsheng [許 抗 生 ]， “Chudu Guodian zhujian Z*a〇 {/” [ 初 讀 郭 店 竹 簡 《老 子 》 ] (paper presented at the international conference on the “Guodian Lao^i^ May 1998), p. 2. 15. Guodian Chumu L a o ^ p. 118.

214

16. The text in copy A is missing at this point, but the general assumption seems to be that A and B were the same. 17. Xu Kangsheng makes this point in aChudu Guodian zhujian Lao^i.n So does Gao Ming in Boshu L ao\i jiao^hu^ pp. 317—18. 18. Henricks, Lao-t^u Te-tao chingy p. 226. The MI alone,5 refrain in these lines is very reminiscent of the Chuci tradition. 19. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 7, slips 5—8. 20. The one granting the favor is clearly in the higher position. 21. Note that, in place of the character 若 (n/ö，like), the scribe has inserted a small line after the character ^ (ru). Since line 1 is herein being repeated, clearly the ruo ought to be there. Qiu Xigui suggests that the punctuation mark here— the same short line ( _ ) that elsewhere marks the end of a section in a chapter— might indicate that a character has been omitted (Guodian Chumu zhujian, p. 119 n 7). I can think of at least two other explanations. The first is that here, as it does in pas­ sage B:i (chapter 59), this line is used to mark arepetitionZ， something normally indicated by

N o te s

Line 3 was in fact written as an eight-character line in a number of cases where the final four words were J a er xzaô (大而笑 之 ) • (On this point， see Jiang Xichang [蔣 錫 倡 ]， Zao心 [老 子 校 話 ] [Taibei: Minglun chubanshe，1971]， p. 270.) 30. The Shuowen jie^i ^hu notes that the guwen character ^ {chi, slow) was read as ^ {yi, level or even). See Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 119 n 12. In the Wenwu transcription characters 3 and 4 in this line are shown to be missing. However, the characters 女 績 appear on “fragment 20” in the appendix, “Fragments of Slips” {Guodian Chumu ihujian^ p. 108), and Li Jiahao (correctly, I think) suggests that this fragment belongs at the end of slip 10 in copy B (Li Jiahao [李 家 浩 ]， “Du GiW/cm 和yïan yiyi” [讀 《郭 店 楚 墓 竹 簡 》 遺 議 ]， Z A o n 肅 [中 國 哲 學]， no. 2〇(October 1998): 339~0 ) • 他 Z(績 ， would be a phonetic loan for the more common lei *liuod). 31. The third character in this line remains unidentified. But Qiu Xigui {Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 119 n 15) suggests that it might be a variant writing of ^ (qi)y which he believes was a phonetic loan for (xiy rarefied), the word used here in later editions. 32. This reading is unattested elsewhere. 33. Suggested to me by Sarah Allan. 34. Ikeda (“Biji，” n 235) shows that books with similar titles are cited in other sources; “Fayan” （ 法言） （ in the ZÄwan沉 z)，“Yiyan” （ 逸言） （in the and “Yinyan” (隱言) (in the D. C. Lau translates this line: “Hence the CAzen yen has itM(Lao T\u: Tao Te Ching^ p. 102). 35. With the exception of the Fu Yi edition (see Shima Kunio, Röshi köseiyp. 142). 36. Assuming that the last words in lines 18 and 19 were ming ( ^ ) and cheng as they are in later editions. 37. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 8, slip 13. 38. Ibid., p. 119 n 19. 39. Henricks, Lao-t^u Te-tao ching^ p. 126. 40. Ibid. 41. In later editions of the La 〇{iywhat is now chapter 8 was probably constituted in the same way. That is, the beginning and end of the chapter are a unified saying, while the middle part of the chapter constitutes a separate saying, which is only vaguely connected with the beginning and end. In that case, the common concern is with things that are ^good^ {shany ^ ) . (See Henricks, Lao-t^u Te~tao ching^ p. 202.) 42. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 8, slip 13. 43. Reading f出as (拙)• 44. Reading chu (gfÜ, bend or yield) as chu decrease or retreat). 45. As in Mawangdui copy A. Although some might conclude that da cheng at the start of this line must be a mistake since line 1 already began in that way, I do not see this as a problem. Line 1 requires line 2 and rimes with it; the same is true with lines 3 and 4. Lines 5 to 7 form a new, distinct unit, in which the final characters share the

215

2j6

phonetic element chu (ttl). However, cheng might have been changed toying ( ^ ) in Mawangdui copy A to clarify the distinction. Note that cheng mAying are seman­ tically and phonetically similar; in archaic Chinese, cheng was pronounced ^dhiei), w h i l e w a s pronounced *diei). 46. The final word in line 9(2) in Mawangdui copy A Jio n g *kiweng), clearly rimed with the ding in line 10(3). In lines 8 (1) and 9 (2), ^ could be read as \ao hot and dry) instead of {ao activity), and qing ( ^ ) could be read as qing cool) instead of jin g ( |p , tranquil). These are the readings preferred in the Wenwu transcription. But surely the author was saying something more profound than Mheat conquers cold, and cold conquers heat.” The Wenwu editors also believe that the author meant re hot) when writing rany but I see no reason for making this change. Re (*niat) would have rimed neither with cang nor dirige and from the wTaiyi shengshui” selection in C， it is clear that can尽 （ 蒼 = 繪） and 厂an were the words used to mean “cold and hot” in the Guodian slips, whenever or wherever these slips were written. Later， they were changed to Aan (寒 ） and re (熱)， the pair used in current editions. 47. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 8, slips 15—18. 48. This way of writing the character 拔 (^a)— 辦一 is attested in Xia Song, Guwen sishengyun (5.13b), where his source is a Ugu L a o \in (ancient edition of the La 〇{i).

49. The character (tun) should be changed to ^ (tuo) at the end of this line in the transcription {Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 118). Tuo was presumably a phonetic loan for cAi«?( 綴 ) • Thus, lines I to 3 rimed:拔 （ *bät)，脫 （ *duat)， and 綴 （ *tiuat). 50. Translated by Wing-tsit Chan, A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press，1963)，p. 86. The “Great Learning” 大 學 )， has been attributed to the grandson of Confucius, Zi Si. 51. In most editions “widespread” is/m (普)， but it is (博) in Mawangdui copy B. Of these t w o , ( * p ‘ag) gives us the better rime with the of nanx/a (天 下 ， *liag); the archaic pronunciation of bo was *pak. 52. There is space for about five characters at the end of the slip. Ikeda (“Biji，” n 2 Ö I ) suggests the following reading: 虔 可 以 智 天 [ 下 然 哉 。 A 此 ] ; but it could also have been [ 下 之 然 。以 此 ] • The parallel with line 4 in chapter 57 suggests that the missing characters were 下 之 然 也 夫 . But， as noted， that would mean the chapter ended with an unanswered question. Laozi C 1. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 9, slips 1—3. 2. In his Guwen sishengyun^ Xia Song noted that wu (f§) was written ^ in a guwen edition of the Xiaojing [0： Classic of Filial Piety) (Guwen sishengyun^ 3.10a; 224:456).

N o te s

3. Lines I and 4 also rimed ( 又， *fiiu3g， and 侮 ， *miu3g); not so, the final words in lines 2 and 3—p (譽 ， $iag) and mw.(畏， （iusr). 4. Zhou Fagao’s reconstructions are:廢 *pjwar,義 *ngia;和 *gwa，慈 *dzji3Y; 亂 *lwan， and 臣 *djien (//anf/ 以/YnyzVzAtt/ [漢 字 古 今 音 囊 ，A Pronouncing Dictionary of Chinese Characters] [Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 工 973])5. Guodian Chumu [hujian^ p. 9, slips 4—5. 6. If we omit, for this purpose, the grammatical er ( f î n ) in line 2. 7. Either用 ; ^ 不 可 旣 o r 用 之 不 足 旣 . 8. This is indicated by the grammatical particle^ (tb,) at the end of lines 5 and 8. Also, line 8 may have rimed with line 5:味 （ *miuad/miu3i) and 旣 （ *kiar/ki3i). 9. Guodian Chumu \hujian^ p. 9, slips 6-io. 10. In most later editions, the phrase I have translated “dignified and reverent” is r/am/a/z (f舌淡， *dâm dam). But for Ja/i， the Guodian slips have the character 縐 ， a character that, like the Mawangdui characters and if|, appears to use long ( f |, *liui]) as the phonetic. It seems unlikely that any of these could have been a phonetic loan for Jan, which means “poor，” “weak,” or “lacking in flavor.” I suspect 襲， *kuu))， which means “reverent.” The Guodian the intended word here is 发 ön发 （ character, without the asilkMradical, is catalogued in Teng Rensheng, Chuxi jianbo wenii bian (p. 204), where he identifies it with the character (gong). 11. The negative fu ( ^ ) must be read here as an imperative; the Mawangdui copies have the correct negative—-wu Note that this could mean that the string of fu 9s in chapter 30 (A： 4, lines 5—7) should also be read as imperatives. 12. My guess is that the three missing characters here were 殺 and 不 可 . 13. The word “fine” （ y/a，佳） is omitted in the Mawangdui copies. See Henricks， Lao-t^u Te-tao chingy p. 248. 14. Ibid. 15. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 10, slips 11—14. 16. In the Wenwu transcription, the character /J is understood as a phonetic loan for qie (且 )， which I would here read as jiang (}|^, to be about to). For this grammatical use of the particle _ ， see Pei Xuehai [裴學 海 ]，GWAw [古書虛 字 集 釋 ] (Taibei: Guangwen shuju，1971)， p. 655. 17. There， 《 tä如 ( 是 故 ) ; here， (是(乂). 18. In passage A:6, the line ends “yet he oz/möf do it” 似叹 肩/，而弗育^ 爲 ). 19. Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 13, slips 1—8, 10—12. 20. See Guodian Chumu ^hujian^ p. 125. 21. SAe/z/mn尽 (彳 申明)一 which I have translated “the gods above and below”一 as A. C. Graham noted in his work on the (鶴 冠 子 )， “is a pair of concepts which has always resisted English translation” (Graham, “A Neglected Pre-Han Philosophical Text: Ho-kuan-t\uyw Bulletin o f the School o f Oriental and African

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Studies 52.3 [1989]: 515). He went on to note, aIn Ho-kuan