Translation

Our words are very easy to know, very easy to do.
Under heaven none can know, none can do.
Speech has its faction, involvement has its sovereign.
Man alone is without knowing, and because of this I don’t know.
Knowing self is rare, following self is noble.
Because of this, the sacred person wears coarse cloth and cherishes pure.

I (we) speech (word; say; talk) very (extremely; more than) easy (amiable) know (realize; tell), very (extremely; more than) easy (amiable) go (travel, do, be current).

land under heaven no one (nothing) can (be able to) know (realize; tell), no one (nothing) can (be able to) go (travel, do, be current).

speech (word; say; talk) have (exist) ancestor (clan; purpose), matter (affair; thing; involvement) have (exist) monarch (sovereign, gentleman).

husband (man) only (alone) nothing (without; not) know (realize; tell),

<grm> is <formal> this; that) use (take; so as to_and; as well as) I (we; self) no (not) know (realize; tell).

know (realize; tell) I (we; self) ? hope (rare, scarce, uncommon), standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) I (we; self) ?expensive (precious; noble).

<grm> is <formal> this; that) use (take; so as to_and; as well as) sage (sacred) human being (man, person, people, adult) by (marker for passive-voice clauses) coarse cloth (dull brown) mind (keep in mind, yearn for) jade (of a person: pure; fair).

Original

吾言甚易知、
甚易行。
天下莫能知、
莫能行。
言有宗、
事有君。
夫唯无知，
是以我不知。
知我者希，
则我者贵。
是以圣人
被褐怀玉。

Commentary, May 2011

Every so often the tonal nature of Chinese gives a curious twist, especially in something as out-there as the Tao Te Ching. I’ve been using the rising tone meaning of wei (?): only, alone, for this character. Although sometime it doesn’t makes a lot of sense. The dipping tone of this character means ‘yea’ which I’ve avoided using. This time I’m going to go with the third tone meaning which gives us this: Man, yea, is without knowing… etc. . Alone or only would also work, but this puts more pizazz into the statement… yea!

[Update: I went back to my tried and true rising tone meaning, only, alone. This conforms to how it is generally used. Another point I'd add here is how 夫fu (man, husband) took on a more 'sage like' meaning in the old day. Altogether this makes the line say something closer to, The sage alone doesn't know, and so I don't know. Boy, you can say that again!]

Speech has its faction alludes to how speech is symptomatic of some deeper faction (tribal agenda, motive, aim). It helps to not take words at face value, but instead peek under the hood of motivation to ponder what emotion the words spring from. A similar process applies to involvement in living. Underlying emotional needs and fears influence all action⁽¹⁾ whether speech or involvement. Seeing those underlying influences, in one’s self and in others, can be helpful if not enlightening. Fear and need drive action, making us do what we actually do, in spite of what we may otherwise imagine doing. Our mind’s ‘ideal world’ is boundless. We think we (and especially others) can “just do it”, in the vein of free will. Truth be told, we are at the mercy of the fears and needs felt in our reptilian brain. The only possible influence I have comes through knowing — moment to moment — how little free will I actually have. Accepting this prods me to see and understand what is going on behind the scenes: Only then is complete conformity realized. Such knowing self, following self is the only way I’ve found to accomplish [my] private ends.

With a slightly different choice of word meaning, ‘Speech has its faction’ becomes ‘Words have an ancestor’. This points to what underpins word meaning. In learning other languages I’ve found that emotion holds the key. Feeling the emotion source-spring of a word make it ‘native’ (intuitive, fluent). Without that emotional connection to the sound of a word, the word is merely noise. Any meaning it conveys actually resides how it translates to my native English. I stop translating only when I feel the meaning emotionally⁽²⁾.

Seen in this light, the idea that Our words are very easy to know, very easy to do. Under heaven none can know, none can do may make more sense. The emotion that gives a word meaning for me can often not be (or never be?) the same emotion you feel when hearing me say that word. Being in agreement only means we each trust we are, not that we actually are. It is somewhat surreal. A parallel of this occurs with color, what we each sense when we hear that something is blue can be quite different, especially if I am somewhat color blind in the blue end of the spectrum. Obviously the less concrete the words, the more no one in the world can understand them. Instead, we read into the words what we need (or fear) to hear.

Self knowing leads naturally to simplicity (wearing coarse cloth). Of course, in order to do any of this you need to know, yet think that you don’t know, to better avoid being hoodwinked by your preconceptions. Admittedly, that is a tall order which is why following self is noble. By the way, it is interesting to note how D.C. Lau translates my subjective, knowing self is rare, following self is noble, as a more objective, those who understand me are few; those who imitate me are honored.

⁽¹⁾ All action (or inaction) can be traced back to fear. Fear, as I define it, is our intuitive dread of entropy (loss, failure, death). This underlies the survival instinct in all living things. It is the subtle underbelly (cause) of the fear-based reactions (effects) with which we usually picture fear. See Fear Is The Bottom Line, Reward, Fear & Need, Fear Rules, and perhaps the glossary in One who speaks does not know?

⁽²⁾ This also applies to understanding and/or translating the Tao Te Ching. The reader can only understand what they already know intuitively within. That intuitive feeling you bring to the words is what gives it meaning. That is why understanding deepens over time as circumstance bring us to maturity. In other words, the Tao Te Ching’s point-of-view is deeper and broader than any words used to convey it. Words can never do it justice. This is what separates timeless words (usually scripture) from the rest.