Lao Tzu for Everyone
Students, Scholars,
& Seekers
Chinese-English Interlinear
Peter Gilboy, Ph. D.
regarding the characters
used in this translation.
Lesson 25
Why is there
something,
and
not nothing?
天tiān
(大 outstretched hands
+ a line above indicating the horizon)
sky, heaven, celestial, source
The question "Why is there something and not nothing?" is in the background of every other question we ask. It is unanswerable of course. That's why explanations always take the form of allegory, myth, and fable.
The current trend is to say, "Oh, it was the big bang." But that only settles it if we can also can answer who or what is the "banger."
Plato tells us that "philosophy begins with wonder."* Wonder is natural to us, beginning with infants so wide-eyed, as if asking, "What's going on here?" And then later as children with that perennial question, "Why?" Later, after absorbing the assumptions and beliefs of the othesr, we have it all figured out, and settle in to a groove. Wondering about such things goes to the background of our life. Wondering may even seem quite silly to us.
"Wondering" means that "I don't know." That is good starting point because, as long as I know that I don't know, I am still open to something new, a disclosure of something that I can't quite understand yet.
Of all our wondering, "Why is there something?" remains the most important question. Scientists can't answer the question, not really. But it is answerable as we simply stop and begin to wonder about all the new beginnings happening around us right now.
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* ". . . for wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder." (Plato, Theaetetus 155c-d, tr. Jowett)
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Interlinear
Line 1
There is something
unformed and yet whole,
born before
heaven and earth.*
有yǒu 物wù 混hùn 成chēng
have thing murky/chaos complete
先xiān 天tiān 地dì 生shēng
first/prior heaven earth birth
There is something chaotic, complete,
before heaven and earth born.
Again, the genesis stories found in our many traditions are not depicting a time in the past, but the genesis of the present moment. Regarding this line, we could ask: "What is the source of all the new beginnings in front of us right now?"
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*Compare to line 3 of Lesson 1.
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Line 2
It is still!
It is self-contained!
Standing alone
and unchanging.
寂jì 呵hē 繆móu 呵hē
still/silent (exclaim) bound (exclaim)
獨dú 立lì 而ér 不bù 改gǎi
alone stand and not change
Silent! Bound!
Standing alone and not changing.
Can be as heaven earth’s mother.
"Standing alone" does not mean that the Way is off by itself in some corner. It is "alone" because there is nothing other than the Way. It is all that there is, and the potential for even more.
We recognize that something is changing, only because of its backdrop that does not change. We know that a bird has taken flight only because the terrain around it is constant. We know that we are changing--developing from young to older--only in contrast to that things around us that aren't changing like this.
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*Compare to line 4 of Lesson 1.
Note: The standard editions have an additional line after this one not found in the MWT or the Guodian editions.
周zhōu 行xíng 而ér 不bù 殆dài
make a circuit walk and not danger
Reaching everywhere without fail.
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Line 3
Think of it as
the mother
of heaven and earth.*
可kě 以yǐ 為wéi 天tiān 地dì 母mù
able use as/become heaven earth mother
Silent! Bound!
Standing alone and not changing.
Able to be regarded as heaven and earth’s mother.
Lao Tzu does not say that the Way is the "mother" of heaven and earth. Instead he says, "Think of it as . . .," or "Regard it as . . ." He is simply analogizing the Way to something that we might better understand.
"Heaven and earth" here, is not a religious reference. It means "the whole world around us."
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*Compare to line 4 of Lesson 1.
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Line 4
I do not know
its name,
so I just call it
"the Way."
吾wú 未wèi 知zhī 其qí 名míng
I not yet know (pron.) name
字zì* 之zhī 曰yuē 道tào
courtesy name (pron.) say way
I do not yet know its name.
I courtesy-name it , saying Way.
The Way is "nameless," as Lao Tzu has said throughout. He gives it a name, though, so it can be thought about and considered.
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*Compare this line to line 3 of Lesson 1.
*字zì, courtesy name. This is a polite but secondary or public name, a kind of nickname taken by a male family member when reaching marriageable age. 字zì, is often translated as “style,” and as such, the line is typically translated, “I style it the Way.” The English word “style” though, is seldom used now in contemporary American speech.
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Line 5
But if I had to
give it a name,
I would call it "great."
吾wú 強qiáng 為wéi 之zhī 名míng
I strong make/do (pron.) name
曰yuē 大dà
say great
I forced to make its name,
say great
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Line 6
Great means
"spreading out."
Spreading out means
"reaching everywhere."
Reaching everywhere means
"returning to itself."
大dà 曰yuē 逝shì
great say proceed/flow
逝shì 曰yuē 遠yuǎn
proceed/flow say far off
遠yuǎn 曰yuē 反fǎn
far off say return/repeat
Great is called flowing,
flowing is called distant,
and distant is called returning
As in so many places, Lao Tzu reaches for words to say what cannot be explained.
The word “ex-plain” literally means to flatten something out. (from ex "out" + planus "flat") So, when someone “ex-plains” something to us, it removes all the dimensions and layers from it. Its depth is gone. It is now a flat thing lying there on the page and asking nothing of us.
Explanations are traps. Every good teacher knows this. Rather than ex-plaining, every good teacher patiently leads the student toward his or her personal understanding.
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Line 7
The Way is great.
Heaven is great
Earth is great.
The ruler
is also great.
道tào 大dà
way great
天tiān 大dà
heaven great
地dì 大dà
earth great
王wáng 亦yì 大dà
king also great
Way is great
Heaven is great
King also great.
This line should halt is in our tracks. Lao Tzu just described the Way as "self-contained," "standing alone," and "unchanging." For want of a better word he calls the Way "great."
Why would he now include heaven, earth, and the even the rulers as also great? The answer is that the Way, being "self-contained," "standing alone," and "unchanging" necessarily includes all in the realm, all in the world, all that we know.
This is simply another way of saying the same thing that Lao Tzu has been saying in each lesson--that while there is Oneness, there is also multiplicity, the many things in the world around us.
The human mind, only knows objects outside itself. It cannot grasp Oneness. The most that Lao Tzu can do is reach for words that, however inadequate, might point us toward that same understanding. See here for more on "nonduality."
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Line 8
The realm
has four greats,
and the ruler
is among them.
國guó 中zhōng 有yǒu 四xì 大dà
country middle has four great
而ér 王wáng 居jū 一yī 焉yān
and king dwell one place
In the country, there are four greats,
and the king dwells in 1 place.
In saying the ruler is on of the "greats," Lao Tzu is informing rulers and their subjects that the ruler is not exempt from the laws of the Way.
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Line 9
We abide in the
law of earth.
Earth abides in the
law of heaven.
Heaven abides in the
law of the Way.
And the Way, well,
the Way is simply itself.
人rén 法fǎ 地dì
great obey/law earth
地dì 法fǎ 天tiān
earth obey/law heaven
天tiān 法fǎ 道tào
heaven obey/law way
道tào 法fǎ 自zì 然rán
way obey/law self so-ness
Humanity obeys earth
Earth obeys heaven.
Heaven obeys the Way
The Way obeys itself.
We have to ask here, "How many laws are there?"
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Note: the character 法fǎ has a number of senses which may not be easily captured in English with a single word. It refers to a legal principle, a regulation, a pattern, or a model to be obeyed and followed.
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