When the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Man alone doesn’t detest,
Because of this not detested.
Because of this the wise person,
Knows himself without seeing himself.
Loves himself without valuing himself.
Hence, gets rid of one and seeks the other.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word for Word
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Archive: Characters and past commentary
Corrections?
There are no corrections per se, but I’ll repeat what I said last month for chapter 71 about the word fū (夫). Its use in that chapter was more odd than usual. This time Man alone (fū 夫) swings just one way.
Fū (夫) in the high tone translates as husband; man, porter, manual worker, scholar, old fogey; conscripted laborer (old). In the rising tone, fú it translates classically as: this, that; he, she, they; (exclamatory final particle); (initial particle, introduces an opinion). In the Word for Word, I just put the common current usage, which here falls short. However, none of these other meanings makes that much difference, at least to me. It really boils down to how a reader interprets the meaning of whatever word occupies that position. The next best choice as I see it would be: this, that; he, she, they, but as you see that isn’t much different from the generic Man.
Reflections:
This chapter conveys for me a real sense of how opposites are inextricably connected. It is hard to feel that because we usually focus intensely on one side or the other at a time. Although, you could also say, how one side or the other is intensely ‘focusing on’ (affecting) us. I guess it all depends upon which side of the mirror you are standing. The peculiar thing lies in even talking about it truthfully. Thought itself relies on focusing on one side or the other. How can thought, or its offspring speaking and writing, grasp or think about the whole? Naturally, that doesn’t stop us from trying, does it! Take the first two lines:
When the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
the people (civilian) no (not) fear (respect) power (impressive strength), 民不畏威，(mín bù wèi wēi,)
standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) big (large; great; major) power (impressive strength) to (until; > extremely; most). 则大威至。(zé dà wēi zhì.)
As you can see, this is a quite accurate translation of the Chinese. D.C. Lau put it in more understandable terms.
When the people lack a proper sense of awe,
Then some awful visitation will descend upon them.
That demonstrates how it is useful to read both, (1) your favorite understandable translation, and then (2) the Word for Word to challenge the understandable… or vice versa. For example, what is a proper sense of awe? The character here is wèi (畏) fear; respect. It helps to consider the relationship between respect and fear, and after that, how these relate to a proper sense of awe.
Let’s check the dictionary. Awe = A feeling of respect or reverence mixed with dread and wonder; Awful = extremely bad; unpleasant; 2. inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible 3. solemnly impressive; inspiring. The Chinese character implies that the meaning lies somewhere between Awe and Awful.
D.C. Lau’s It is by being alive to difficulty that one can avoid it from the previous chapter (71) also speaks to these first two lines of chapter 72. Interestingly, this “being alive…” is far from being an accurate translation of 71. Naturally, I don’t blame him… that is one bizarre chapter.
Anyway, when I can embrace the worst possibilities in life, when the worst happens, the worst doesn’t descend upon me. Sure, there may be pain, but if I’m approach life very soberly—not trying to hide from life—I am at difficulty’s level, so to speak. As the two poles are inextricably connected anyway, all I’m doing in fact is minimizing my perception of difference by seeking to perceive what is called profound sameness!
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Perhaps Not would be a better choice of words than Without for these next two sentences. Of course, there are other choices too. The Chinese word here is wú (无): nothing; nil; not have; there is not; without; not; regardless of; no matter whether, what, etc. That word, by the way, is the wu often heard in the cliché, wéi wú. Its full form is wéi wú wéi, which first appears in chapter 3, and again in 63… wéi wú wéi, (为无为), do (act; act as; serve as) nil (without, not) do (act; act as; serve as).
The point here is that these two and following sentences describe the behavior of the Man alone (fū 夫). I find it more helpful to view this as a description of how any wise Man alone would behave. Nevertheless, I know it is very tempting to insert an implied ‘should’ here. I, you, he, she, they ‘should’ not meddle… they ‘should’ loves themselves without valuing themselves. If you believe in free will, you are liable to read it that way I suppose, rather than as a clear statement of simple fact.
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