Flowing everywhere
returning to the First Breath
guiding everything
Erdos 2023
V28
Recognize the male
but hold on to the female
and be the world’s maid
being the world’s maid
don’t lose your Immortal Virtue
not losing your Immortal Virtue
be a newborn child again
recognize the pure
but hold on to the base
and be the world’s valley
being the world’s valley
be filled with Immortal Virtue
being filled with Immortal Virtue
be a block of wood again
recognize the white
but hold on to the black
and be the world’s guide
being the world’s guide
don’t stray from your Immortal Virtue
not straying from your Immortal Virtue
be without limits again
a block of wood can be split to make tools
sages make it their chief official
a master tailor doesn’t cut
Lao-Tzu Taoteching translated by Red Pine
Hold your male side with your female side
Hold your bright side with your dull side
Hold your high side with your low side
Then you will be able to hold the whole world
When the opposing forces unite within
there comes a power abundant in its giving
and unerring in its effect
Flowing through everything
It returns one to the First Breath
Guiding everything
It returns one to No Limits
Embracing everything
It returns one to the Uncarved Block
When the Block is divided
it becomes something useful
and leaders rule with a few pieces of it
But the Sage holds the Block complete
Holding all things witin Himself
he preserves the Great Unity
which cannot be ruled or divided
Lao-Tzu Taoteching translated by Johnathan Star
TE-CH’ING says, “To recognize the Way is hard. Once you recognize it, holding on to it is even harder. But only by holding on to it can you advance on the Way.”
MENCIus says, “The great person does not lose their child heart” (Mencius: 4B.I2)
WANG TAO says, “Sages recognize ‘that' but hold on to ‘this’ . Male' and female’ mean hard and soft. Pure' and base’ mean noble and humble. White' and black mean light and dark. Although hard, noble, and light certainly have their uses, hard does not come from hard but from soft, noble does not come from noble but from humble, and light does not come from light but from dark. Hard, noble, and light are the secondary forms and farther from the Way. Soft, humble, and dark are the primary forms and closer to the Way. Hence, sages return to the original: a block of wood. A block of wood can be made into tools, but tools cannot be made into a block of wood. Sages are like blocks of wood, not tools. They are the chief officials and not functionaries’
CH’ENG HSUAN-YING says, “What has no limits is the Tao’
CONFUCIUS says, “A great person is not a tool” (Lunyu: 2.12).
CHANG TAO-LING says, “To make tools is to lose sight of the Way”
SUNG CH’ANG-HSING Says, “Before a block of wood is split, it can take any shape. But once split, it cannot be round if it is square or straight if it is curved. Lao-tzu tells us to avoid being split. Once we are split, we can never return to our original state.”
PAO-TING Says, “When I began butchering, I used my eyes. Now I use my spirit instead and follow the natural lines” (Chuangtzu: 3.2).
WANG PANG Says, “Those who use the Tao to tailor leave no seams”
In lines three and four, I (Red Pine) have followed Tunhuang copies P.2584 and s.6453 in reading hsi (maid/female servant) for the standard hsi (stream) as more in keeping with the images of the preceding lines. In lines eight through twenty-one, I (Red Pine) have followed the Mawangtui texts, which fail to support the suspicions of some commentators that these lines were interpolated. Reverence for the spirit of wood is still shared by many of the ethnic groups along China’s borders. During Lao-tzu’s day, the southern part of his own state of Ch’u was populated by the Miao, who trace their ancestry to a butterfly and the butterfly to the heart of a maple tree. It has been suggested that Lao-tzu was somehow affiliated with the Miao, if not through blood or family ancestry then marriage. This verse is not present in the Kuotien texts. Instead of the usual ch’ang (immortal/ constant), I (Red Pine) have preferred the character heng (immortal/constant), present in both Mawangtui texts, as it also means “crescent moon” and is used by Lao-tzu elsewhere in the Taoteching with both the lunar image and immortality in mind, as in verse 1. The last four lines recall the images and wording of the first two lines in verse 16.
為天下谷 Wei t’len hsia ku: “becomes the world’s valley.” One who understands his own glory, his own perfection, is naturally humble, and plays out his own role in the world. By this humility he becomes “Heaven’s river,” a conduit of grace, an instrument through which the virtue of Heaven can flow. Johnathan Star